He Lan Tianxia

Led by Murong Junlan, ten thousand elite troops quietly left the city gates at nine o'clock that night and lay in ambush in the mountain valleys east of the city. Sure enough, at midnight, the Wubei army slowly approached the city gates. When they reached the vicinity of the moat, the soldiers on the city walls spotted them. At a command, a volley of arrows rained down, terrifying the Wubei soldiers into fleeing in terror.

After a while, the Wubei Kingdom launched a second attack, this time on a significantly larger scale than the first. Looking at the flickering torches, Murong Junlan's brows furrowed deeply. He thought to himself, "The Wubei Kingdom intends to seize the city in one night. It seems tonight's decisive battle will be very difficult." Without hesitation, he led ten thousand elite soldiers, spears in hand, into the fray.

The Wubei Kingdom, believing their plan to be flawless, was caught off guard by an unexpected attack. They were thrown into disarray, losing several generals in the process, and in a fit of rage, reinforced their forces with tens of thousands more. Meanwhile, Murong Junlan's army was elite and valiant. By noon the next day, the tide of battle had clearly turned. Murong Junlan's ten thousand soldiers had routed the enemy's sixty thousand, achieving repeated victories. Murong Junlan planned to sound the retreat and return to the city to rest and resupply, ordering his deputy to raise a white flag of truce. However, the enemy ignored this and continued to send troops in droves, seemingly preparing for a protracted war.

Because Murong Junlan's initial plan was to swiftly repel the enemy, he hadn't brought any rations. His soldiers fought for over ten hours without eating or drinking, and their strength was waning. While repelling the enemy, Murong Junlan instructed his deputy to request food and water supplies from within the city. Upon receiving the report, the Emperor immediately ordered supplies to be dropped outside the city. The supplies were dropped, but upon seeing them, the enemy launched a fierce offensive. Murong Junlan's soldiers had no time to collect them and could only watch helplessly as the food was trampled underfoot.

Seeing this, Murong Junlan was anxious. For such a small kingdom as Wubei to possess such military strength, Murong Junlan didn't even need to investigate to suspect they had external assistance; perhaps it was a troop of Xiongnu soldiers. Thinking this, and recalling Prime Minister Jin's actions, Murong Junlan suddenly remembered the phrase "internal and external troubles." He began to feel that his actions last night had been poorly planned, or perhaps he had fallen into a trap; he had underestimated the enemy. Now, what troubled Murong Junlan most was that the enemy was doing everything they could to prevent them from returning to the city. If they forced their way back, and if they weren't stopped in time, Wubei soldiers might seize the opportunity to enter when the city gates opened. What to do? With no other choice, Murong Junlan had no choice but to continue the battle.

The battle raged until sunset the following day. The soldiers were exhausted, clearly running out of strength, hungry and thirsty, causing them to retreat step by step. Murong Junlan observed this, and suddenly he pulled on the reins, sending his Red Hare leaping to his lieutenant's side. He drew a thin rope and swept it around, forcing the enemy generals away, then whispered, "I'll draw them away. You take the soldiers—back to the city."

"Your Highness, let this humble general go." Just as the deputy general was about to spur his horse away, Murong Junlan pushed off with both feet, and the Red Hare shot off like an arrow.

"Your Highness, be careful." The lieutenant could only watch as Murong Junlan charged toward the enemy's headquarters.

Watching the invincible, god-like Marshal Murong of the Du Yan Kingdom whirl towards them like a tornado from afar, Commander Chunwei, on duty at the Wubei Kingdom's camp, wore a serious expression. He dared not underestimate his enemy, nor did he intend to engage in direct combat, mainly because he couldn't win. Therefore, Chunwei decided to use his previous strategy to lure the enemy deeper into his territory. He whispered a few words in the ear of a guard, who obeyed and left. Then, Chunwei successively dispatched several generals to fight two against one, trying to buy as much time as possible.

Who was Murong Junlan? A few mere generals were nothing in his eyes. It started with two against one, then four against one, then six against one, lasting over three hundred rounds, leaving the generals helpless. Murong Junlan feinted with his spear, then unleashed a devastating sweep, wounding several generals. Murong Junlan swung his spear straight at Chunwei, who, startled, hastily ordered, "Fire arrows!" and mounted his horse to meet the attack.

While the generals were fighting, the soldiers on both sides stopped. Murong Junlan's deputy took the opportunity to lead most of the soldiers back to the city, leaving only a small number to guard the rear.

Chunwei, unwilling to linger in battle, fled in disarray after only a few dozen rounds, heading towards the grove. As the saying goes, to catch a thief, first catch the king. Murong Junlan, having been bogged down for two days, was quite displeased. He hadn't dared to lead his soldiers into full-scale combat, focusing only on engaging in skirmishes, because he was concerned about the sheer number of enemy troops and the potential for heavy losses. He couldn't bear to risk his soldiers' lives. His current objective was to draw the enemy's attention away, giving his deputy a chance to lead the troops back to the city, so he was going to unleash a fierce and decisive attack. Seeing Chunwei flee, Murong Junlan gave chase without hesitation.

As darkness fell, torches flickered faintly in the woods. Murong Junlan wondered if Chunwei had set up an ambush here. Before he could think further, he heard a woman's cry for help: "Your Highness, save me!"

Yan'er? Murong Junlan panicked and strained to hear more clearly, only to hear Chunwei's voice: "Prince Murong, your princess is in our hands. How about we negotiate or play the hero?"

Murong Junlan reined in his horse and looked around. He saw a group of soldiers holding torches in the woods opposite him. In the middle of them was a woman who was bound hand and foot, and her mouth was gagged with a cloth. How did Yan'er end up in their hands? Did his father break his promise, or was his grandmother causing trouble behind the scenes? He didn't have time to think about these things. Now there was only one mission: to rescue her.

"Your Highness, how about we discuss the terms?" Chunwei shouted loudly.

Murong Junlan was too lazy to waste words with him, so he brandished his spear and charged forward.

"Release the arrows!" Chunwei gave the order, and a rain of arrows shot towards Murong Junlan.

Murong Junlan wielded his spear like a rapidly spinning wheel, causing arrows to fall to the ground.

"Release, release!" The soldiers wanted to retreat when they saw Murong Junlan charging forward recklessly, but when they heard Chunwei shout the order, they had no choice but to continue firing arrows. Chunwei then grabbed the woman who was bound hand and foot and fled.

Earlier, fearing to accidentally harm the woman, Murong Junlan hadn't dared to use any drastic measures. But seeing the woman being abducted, Murong Junlan immediately pulled on the thin rope, and the soldiers fell to the ground. Murong Junlan then lifted the reins and spurred his horse to give chase.

With a whoosh, the thin rope in Murong Junlan's hand danced like a snake. Chunwei felt a chilling wind behind him, but he still risked his life to lead Murong Junlan deeper into the trap according to the original plan. The trap was just ahead, and he could almost see Murong Junlan struggling as he fell into it, a look of gleeful mockery on his face. He thought to himself, "What bravery and skill in battle, what superior strategy? He still falls for my schemes, Chunwei's."

Just as the horse stepped over the trap, Chunwei threw the woman he was holding down. In a flash, Murong Junlan spurred the saddle, pulled the reins with his left hand, and the horse shot forward like an arrow. He used a swift movement with his right hand to scoop up the woman who was about to fall into the trap. Suddenly, Murong Junlan felt the horse's center of gravity drop sharply. He cried out, "Oh no, a trap!" To avoid falling in with the horse, he rolled on the ground with the woman, then thrust his palm in the direction the horse was falling. The Red Hare, indeed a fine steed, used the momentum from the palm strike to leap into the air, rear up, and make a sharp turn, managing to escape the trap's edge.

Murong Junlan grabbed the woman and leaped back onto his horse. Just then, Chunwei, who had been stunned by Murong Junlan and the Red Hare's superb skills, suddenly snapped out of his daze and belatedly shouted, "Release the arrows!"

Holding a spear and reins in his left hand, gripping the woman in his right, and dodging incoming arrows, he simply couldn't manage everything. Just as Murong Junlan mounted his horse, an arrow whistled and struck his left arm. He felt a numbness and thought to himself, "Oh no, the arrow is poisoned!" Realizing the arrow was poisoned, Murong Junlan dared not linger; he needed to reach the city before the poison took effect. So, he placed the woman in front of him, tightened the reins without even untying the rope, and the horse galloped like the wind towards the imperial city.

With their commander missing and several lieutenants wounded and receiving treatment, and most of Murong Junlan's previous soldiers already inside the city, the Wubei soldiers were left idle. After fighting for a day and a night, they were indeed exhausted, and some soldiers simply sat down to rest. It was already late afternoon, the sky was dark with thick clouds and no moon, only a few torches flickering at considerable distances, and the battlefield reeked of blood.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swirled by and vanished in an instant, leaving only the rapid sound of horses' hooves to make it clear that it wasn't an illusion.

"Fire!" Chunwei shouted angrily as he chased after them. But by the time the soldiers picked up their bows and arrows, the wind had already swept past.

"Your Highness." The soldiers below the city recognized Murong Junlan.

"Open the city gates." Murong Junlan shook his slightly dizzy head; he knew the poison had spread throughout his body.

"Yes."

As the city gates slowly closed, Murong Junlan shook the woman who had fainted from fright in front of him and softly called out, "Yan'er!" before tumbling off her horse with a thud. To this day, Murong Junlan still believes he saved Yan'er.