After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

The news of Zhou Zhinian's murder will spread quickly, and if nothing unexpected happens, pursuers will arrive in the next two days.

Now that Chen Futu has Qin Liangyu and Gao Shun by his side, he can defeat the enemy if they number less than ten thousand. However, it would be unwise to confront them head-on if they number more than ten thousand.

Li Huaifeng took out a map and pointed to a spot.

"We've wasted a lot of time on the way. An urgent imperial edict has arrived. If we continue to parade through the city, we might be unnecessarily intercepted. It's best to stay as far away from the county town as possible."

The road back north was blocked, but fortunately the imperial court did not have a large army to mobilize at the moment. The nearest reinforcements to Ning County were at Kaiyang Pass, which was 300 miles away. Moreover, the Daqian court would not mobilize a large army for a few thousand people.

Therefore, the current opponents are the army dispatched directly from the capital by the imperial court, as well as the troops gathered in the cities, counties and passes along the way. Roughly speaking, they will encounter at least 50,000 troops intermittently along the way.

"Then let's take a detour."

Chen Futu did not want to suffer losses in vain, so he decided on a route to continue advancing northward from the Beixing Mountains.

It is worth mentioning that Qin Liangyu's White Spear Army was most skilled in mountain warfare, and could resist the imperial army if they were caught up in the mountains.

For the next two days, the guards scouted ahead, while the army followed behind, continuing along the mountain path.

Occasionally, they would encounter people on the road trying to evade corvée labor, but Chen Futu did not heed Wu Shangde's advice to kill them in order to protect the route.

At dusk, as the camp was being set up, a scout suddenly came to report.

"Your Highness, we have discovered that the White Cavalry are pursuing us from the direction of Ning County, and they are only fifteen li away from here."

"How many people? Who is leading the army?"

"Three thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry transferred from the passes, led by the eldest son of the Minister of War, Guo Yunqi."

"It turned out to be him."

Chen Futu thought some powerful figure had arrived, but it turned out to be just that good-for-nothing scoundrel.

While in the capital, Chen Futu had many conflicts with Guo Yunqi, especially when the Prince of Zhenbei was alive. In a fit of rage, Chen Futu slapped Guo Yunqi more than a dozen times because Guo Yunqi allowed a vicious dog to bite a pregnant woman in the street, and that's how the feud began.

Now that Guo Yunqi has come after us, he must have brought some powerful figures with him, otherwise he wouldn't dare to come.

"Yes, Guo Yunqi has a general by his side who wields a large daylily axe. He is extremely strong and seems to possess great power."

"Probe again and report again."

"Here."

After the scouts left, Chen Futu summoned four generals.

Li Huaifeng said in a deep voice, "Guo Yunqi is just an ordinary person. But I know the man who wields the Xuanhua axe. He is Guo Xiong, the adopted son of the Minister of War. It is said that he is strong enough to lift a tripod, but I don't know if it's true."

Wu Shangde curled his lip. "The old emperor sent such a纨绔 (wán kù, a spoiled brat) here. Who does he think he is?"

"Young Master Guo is just here to gain prestige. The old emperor deliberately let the Minister of War arrange his own men because he knew that I had a grudge against Guo Yunqi and was certain that the Minister of War would do everything in his power to kill me."

"Your Highness, please give the order."

Qin Liangyu and Gao Shun were not as talkative as Li and Wu. They were personalities formed by the system, with boundless loyalty. As long as Chen Futu gave the order, they would not hesitate to charge into the midst of a large army single-handedly.

"Hmph, I don't care if Guo Xiong is strong enough to lift a cauldron or carry a pig, they won't get away today. General Qin, the enemy knows I have a personal guard and a trapping camp, but they don't know I also have White-Spear Soldiers. You can lead your troops to set up an ambush."

On the way here, there was a dense reed bed and a flat woodland, perfect for an ambush.

Once the main army arrives in pursuit, she can launch a surprise attack from the rear.

In this battle, we are determined to defeat Guo Yunqi and see if Minister Guo will regret not raising his son well!

Qin Liangyu accepted the order and left, with Du Hongxue following behind.

The place they were in was a dry riverbed in the mountains, perfect for a fierce battle.

Chen Futu ordered the Trapped Camp and his personal guard to be on high alert. Before long, the sound of dense hoofbeats came from afar. Leading them were his mortal enemy Guo Yunqi and the man carrying a large axe.

Chen Futu ignored Guo Yunqi and instead stared at the burly man in astonishment.

The opponent was about two meters tall, with arms thicker than an average person's legs. His axe blade gleamed coldly, exuding a murderous aura.

Upon seeing this, several guards instinctively moved closer to Chen Futu, ready to protect him at any moment.

The two sides were several feet apart. Guo Yunqi, wearing a bright silver chainmail and holding a riding whip, looked very imposing. Seeing that Chen Futu had less than two thousand men, he was beaming with pride. "Chen Futu, what did I tell you? Sooner or later, I will personally cut off your head!"

Chen Futu tightened the reins and said sarcastically, "Young Master Guo, I suspect you're not Minister Guo's biological son. If you were, why would he send you to your death?"

"You surnamed Chen! You dare to talk so arrogantly even when you're about to die! I will lead three thousand knights and eight thousand elite soldiers to kill you as easily as taking something out of a bag. If you know what's good for you, get off your horse and surrender!" Guo Yunqi shouted with a ferocious face.

Chen Futu remained calm and sneered, "If it weren't for your father, the Minister of War, protecting you, it wouldn't be unreasonable to skin you alive and stuff you with straw, given all the evil deeds you've committed. Now that you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, I'll skin you alive and send you back to your father."

"Chen Futu, you deserve to die!"

Guo Yunqi was absolutely furious.

No matter when or where, Chen Futu always maintained that aloof and superior demeanor when facing him.

Even now, after being stripped of his title and losing the protection of the Prince of Zhenbei, he remains arrogant, which infuriates Guo Yunqi.

He went to great lengths to chase after him, just to see Chen Futu kneeling at his feet, begging for mercy!

"Guo Xiong, lead your troops to kill him, capture him alive, I want to personally behead him!"

"Here."

Guo Xiong accepted the order, picked up his Xuanhua axe and charged forward, instantly filling the dry riverbed with the sounds of battle.

Without saying a word, Gao Shun led his troops to meet them, and then the two generals each led several hundred personal guards to attack from both flanks.

Chen Futu did not participate in this battle because Guo Xiong was very strong and had a clear advantage over Gao Shun in terms of strength. However, Gao Shun was experienced in combat, and the two fought evenly.

As a commander, if your strength is still weak, it is best not to take risks.

So, under the protection of several guards, Chen Futu and Guo Yunqi looked at each other from a distance, and Chen Futu even gave Guo Yunqi the middle finger.

Guo Yunqi nearly ground his teeth to powder when he saw the familiar gesture.

He was all too familiar with that gesture!

Back in the capital, Chen Futu often gave him the middle finger. He didn't understand what the middle finger meant, but he could guess it was an insult.

Seeing Guo Yunqi's anger, Chen Futu beckoned again, as if calling a cat or dog.

"Chen Futu, if I don't kill you today, I swear I'm not a human being!"

Whether Guo Yunqi was eager to make a name for himself or was simply out of his mind, he actually led his men to attack.

At this moment, the two generals led less than seven hundred personal guards to resist the enemy's attack. The river channel was limited, so Guo Yunqi chose to outflank them.

The five guards' expressions hardened, and they quickly protected Chen Futu.

Chen Futu called out to Guo Yunqi, "I'm right here, come here!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the shouts of battle from the women in the distance swept across the mountains and rivers.