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

“Your Highness is right. The Prince of Zhenbei was loyal and devoted. Now that his body is barely cold, the Emperor is trying to exterminate the Prince of Zhenbei’s entire lineage on trumped-up charges. What use is such a heartless and ruthless emperor?” Li Huaifeng rebuked Zhao Qi.

"You traitor, shut up! Kill me or torture me, it's all up to you!"

Zhao Qi stubbornly raised his head, refusing to yield, his mouth full of blood, revealing his obsession and madness.

He was a blindly loyal man.

Chen Futu frowned and said, "Those who carry firewood for the masses should not be buried in people's hearts."

His short sentence silenced the surrounding crowd.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qi and several other officials, who were lying on the ground, trembled violently, their eyes becoming glazed over, as if they were hearing a sacred instruction.

As for Li Huaifeng, Wu Shangde, and the scholars in the crowd, they were all dumbfounded, staring at Chen Futu with incredulous eyes.

Such philosophical words, could only come from a playboy?

"What a fine example of someone who carries firewood for the masses! We must not let him be buried in the hearts of the people!"

Zhao Qi suddenly laughed loudly, then said with a sense of relief, "Chen Futu, a defeated general has nothing to say. I have only one last wish: my lord is in the south, and I must not die facing north!"

Chen Futu nodded. "General Gao, we have fulfilled Lord Zhao's wish."

"Here."

Gao Shun dragged Zhao Qi to a distance and beheaded him with a single stroke.

As for the other officers, seeing Zhao Qi's head separated from his body, they all turned pale and begged for mercy.

Chen Futu sneered three times: "Those who kill will always be killed. I will also let you die facing south, thus preserving your reputation for loyalty and integrity."

"Your Highness, please don't!"

"We are willing to surrender, we are willing to surrender—"

Soon, the commotion subsided, all the officials were beheaded, and the next step was to ransack the government treasury.

Surprisingly, the treasury found a total of 15,000 taels of silver and more than 3,000 shi of grain, while only a few hundred taels of silver were found in Zhao Qi's house.

Li Huaifeng remarked with emotion, "This Zhao Qi is indeed an honest official."

"Your Highness, wildfire cannot burn it all, it will spring up again with the spring breeze. It would be better to exterminate the entire Zhao family."

Wu Shangde is ruthless.

Chen Futu did not agree; he did not want to leave a bad reputation among the people as someone who slaughtered his entire family.

Instead, he had several hundred taels of silver sent back to the Zhao residence.

Then Chen Futu stayed in Linbei County for two days, mainly to recruit defectors, distribute food, settle the families of surrendered soldiers, and win the hearts of the people.

Sure enough, after showing them favor, six thousand soldiers were willing to submit to the Northern Army, and some even wanted to find an opportunity to move their entire families to the northern frontier.

Chen Futu was fairly satisfied with the result, but it was a pity that he could not stay in Linbei County for long, otherwise he could have subdued the remaining four thousand soldiers.

Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, a report arrived, and both civil and military officials looked displeased.

"Your Majesty, an urgent battle report from the north!"

"explain."

On the dragon throne, the old emperor's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water. He already knew that Guo Xiong had been defeated and Guo Yunqi had been captured. He had a premonition that the news that came back this time was not good either.

"The rebels marched north out of the mountains on the 13th and engaged in a major battle with the Northern Allied Forces at Takizumihara. All 25,000 of our soldiers were wiped out."

hiss--

The officials were filled with fear and trepidation.

The old emperor's gaze sharpened, and he roared, "What did you say? You've lost?"

"Due to a misjudgment of intelligence, the Northern Allied Army mistakenly believed that the rebels numbered only four thousand. As a result, the commanders of each city led their troops out to fight. When the two armies met, they discovered that the rebels numbered more than ten thousand. In the rush, they were unable to form a battle formation and were utterly defeated by the rebels. In the end, the commanders of each city were beheaded, and as many as ten thousand surrendered."

"How is Linbei County doing?"

"After defeating the allied forces, Chen Futu immediately eliminated the weapons of the surrendered soldiers and arranged for his trusted generals and two hundred personal guards to blend into the defeated army and escape back to Linbei County. Zhao Qi and other officials fell into the trap and were captured from the city gate. They have all been beheaded, and Linbei County has fallen into Chen Futu's hands."

The messenger had finished speaking.

The imperial court erupted in chaos, with officials fiercely condemning Chen Futu and expressing their astonishment at his power.

The old emperor had a terrible headache, but he didn't show any sign of rage.

The Minister of War stepped forward, gritting his teeth, and said, "Your Majesty, Chen Futu has been plotting for a long time, which shows that he has long harbored rebellious intentions!"

"Minister Guo, is there any point in saying these things now?"

"Your Majesty, the rebels have abducted my child. I am deeply troubled. I beseech Your Majesty to raise a large army to punish the rebels and bring peace to the nation and the people."

"Hmph, if I remember correctly, Chen Futu wrote you a letter demanding money, didn't he? What do you plan to do about it?"

"I will certainly not do as he wishes!"

Minister Guo spoke with absolute certainty, yet he dared not look the old emperor in the eye.

Seeing this, the officials also stepped forward, requesting that troops be dispatched quickly, otherwise it would be too late for Chen Futu to return to the northern frontier.

"Order the northern cities to prepare their troops and horses, and make every effort to block Chen Futu's route back north. In addition, summon Yan Sheng, the commander of Yangguan, to personally lead 100,000 troops to the north to block the rebels' retreat and kill Chen Futu."

The imperial edict was issued, and a great upheaval ensued in the capital.

The brothels and taverns were filled with discussions about the northern battlefield.

"I never expected the Prince of Zhenbei to be so powerful, breaking through three formations in a row!"

"Shh, you don't want to die."

"What's there to be afraid of? No matter how powerful he is, he can't go back to the northern frontier. As far as I know, it's hundreds of miles from Linbei County to the major towns in the northern frontier. All available troops at the passes and cities along the way have to be mobilized, which would amount to at least tens of thousands."

"Hehe, it is said that the heir of the Prince of Zhenbei said something in Linbei County."

"What?"

"Those who carry firewood for the masses should not be buried in people's hearts."

In a private room in an attic, a stunningly beautiful woman received a calligraphy copybook. Gazing at the maxims on the copybook, she fell into a long silence.

The man opposite said strangely, "Your Highness, this Prince Zhenbei's heir is quite capable; I underestimated him."

Liu Longyue shook her head and said with a complicated expression, "It's not just you who underestimates him. From the king to the common people, everyone in the Great Qian Kingdom underestimates him. He is very strong and is qualified to be my opponent."

“Your Highness, isn’t your praise a bit too much? Chen Futu has always been known as a playboy. These are probably just suggestions from his subordinates. I don’t think he himself is a capable person.”

"Not at all. I heard that he has two elite troops under his command: the Trapped Camp and the White-Spear Soldiers. The Prince of Zhenbei is loyal to the court and would not secretly cultivate his own confidants. Therefore, these two elite troops were trained by Chen Futu. His talent and ambition are far greater than I expected."

“He needs to return to the northern frontier to be qualified to plan for the future. Now, there is a large army blocking his way back north, and even Yan Sheng, the garrison commander of Kaiyang Pass, is personally leading 100,000 troops to attack him. He can't go back. If he is captured and brought back to the court, only death awaits him.”

"Who knows? I'm actually starting to feel a little excited..."

Liu Longyue burned the calligraphy copybook to ashes, then turned her clear eyes to the north, a strange smile unconsciously appearing on her lips. "Prince Zhenbei, let me see how far you can go."