The Young Swordsman of Dalu

In the Northern Dynasty's imperial court, Murong Xuan was furious: "You bunch of good-for-nothings! I've been feeding you lavishly all the time, but when it's time to use you, you're all so easily defeated. What use are you to me?"

“Your Majesty, although the Great Lu Kingdom has not fought a war for many years, the morale of their army has been preserved. Our Northern Dynasty has only recently ended its war with the Western Regions, and the morale of our army is still recovering. Therefore, our Northern Dynasty army was at a disadvantage in this battle,” a minister said.

"It's all sophistry, utter trash!" Murong Xuan roared again.

The court fell silent. The ministers, watching the roaring Murong Xuan, dared not even breathe too hard, for fear that they might be slaughtered by him if they were not careful.

"Has the envoy from the Western Regions arrived yet?" Murong Xuan shouted.

"Your Majesty, the envoy from the Western Regions fled back to the Western Regions army at the third watch of the night today."

"Shameless scoundrel, despicable man," Murong said fiercely.

"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"

"Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. Keep fighting. I refuse to believe that my mighty Northern Dynasty army cannot cross the small city of Beijiang," Murong Xuan said.

"Marshal Han Jue is injured and recuperating in the army. He cannot fight any longer in the near future."

"Change the commander! Let Tuoba Hongrui take on the position of marshal, and let Han Jue return to Yancheng to recuperate," Murong Xuan said.

"Changing commanders on the eve of battle is a major taboo. Besides, Marshal Han and General Tuoba have never gotten along. Wouldn't Marshal Han have some reservations about this?"

“Now, whoever is capable should be promoted. If they bring personal grudges into it, I will never give them an important position again,” Murong Xuan said.

Soon, in the Northern Dynasty's border army, Han Jue received an imperial edict to change commanders. Although Han Jue was unwilling, he knew that their young emperor never hesitated to do things. After handing over the command to Tuoba Hongrui, he obediently returned to Yancheng.

Tuoba Hongrui of the Northern Dynasty was a man with lofty ambitions from a young age. He dreamed of leading the Northern Dynasty army across the northern border city and all the way to the southern border of the Great Lu Kingdom, and then continuing south to completely unify the Central Plains.

During the war between the Northern Dynasties and the Western Regions, Tuoba Hongrui achieved remarkable results. He led 500 men to launch a surprise attack on a 50,000-strong army from the Western Regions and actually won the battle.

Most importantly, Tuoba Hongrui was only in his early twenties, a young general at the height of his arrogance. Han Jue looked down on him, believing that Tuoba Hongrui's victories were all due to luck, and had many complaints about him. Tuoba Hongrui, however, respected Han Jue quite a bit, after all, Han Jue was a veteran general of the Northern Dynasty and had great prestige in the army, so they had never had a direct conflict.

The Great Lu Kingdom has been at peace for over twenty years. Although it has never slackened in its military efforts, it still lags behind the Northern Dynasty in cultivating young generals. Currently, it only has some generals who are over fifty years old, and the young people are still not up to the task and cannot be trusted. Cultivating a new generation of talent is imperative.

Over the years, Wenxian Pavilion has done exactly what the imperial court has not done. Since Li Chaoyang established Wenxian Pavilion, he has been recruiting talents from all over the country, hoping that they will be used for the country in the future. It must be said that Li Chaoyang has a very far-sighted vision.

News of the change of commander in the Northern Dynasty quickly reached the city of Beijiang. Li Chaoyang said, "Tuoba Hongrui is a talented young man who has achieved early success. He has a good military talent. He has led his troops to victory against the Western Regions army with fewer troops. He has experience in fighting the enemy, but we should not underestimate him."

"The Grand Marshal is right, we must take this seriously," Shangguan Chenxing said.

Wenjie was helping to carry wounded soldiers in the army when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the busy crowd. After settling the wounded soldiers in, he walked over and called out, "Miss Liang! Is that you?"

Liang Feiyan turned around abruptly. She had imagined this scene countless times, and today it had finally come true. Seeing Wenjie, she was overjoyed: "Second Young Master, are you alright?"

"I'm alright, just a minor scratch. The medic has already treated it. Miss Liang, what brings you here? The battlefield is incredibly dangerous," Wenjie said.

“I’m here to fight the enemy. Not only am I here, but Elder Li’s granddaughter, Li Wei, is also here. Look, she’s bandaging the wounded over there,” Liang Feiyan said.

“You’ve been too careless. This is war, it’s brutal,” Wenjie said.

“Who says women can’t go to the battlefield? We’re here now, aren’t we?” Li Wei retorted as she walked over.

"Does Uncle Li know you're coming?" Wenjie asked.

"If my grandfather finds out, will we still come?" Li Wei said.

"Yes," Liang Feiyan said with an awkward smile.

“You sneaked into the group, how could you possibly endure this forced march?” Wenjie said.

“We are not delicate women; we are martial artists and not so fragile,” Li Wei said.

"There are too many wounded. I should go and treat them first," Liang Feiyan said.

"Sister Feiyan, let me help you." Li Wei chased after her.

“I’ll go too,” Wenjie said.

Wenfei returned to Yuxuan Palace through the secret passage. It was broad daylight, and Yuxuan Palace was very quiet. The Empress Dowager of the Northern Dynasty no longer lived here. Apart from a few guards, everyone else in the palace had been transferred to the palace.

Wen Fei carefully scaled the walls of Yuxuan Palace, then climbed over another wall to reach the Northern Dynasty's imperial palace. Curious about the young emperor's activities, he bypassed numerous sentries and entered the emperor's Qingyuan Palace. He quietly slipped into Murong Xuan's bedchamber, assuming that with the war raging, Murong Xuan would be reviewing memorials or discussing military matters with his ministers. However, when Wen Fei saw Murong Xuan lying on his dragon bed, entangled with palace maids, he realized he had overestimated Murong Xuan.

"You dog emperor!" Wen Fei couldn't help but curse in his heart.

Wen Fei was about to leave when he was spotted by the palace guards. Immediately, shouts rang out from inside the palace: "Assassin! Catch the assassin!"

Using his lightness skill, Wen Fei leaped over the palace walls and raced towards the city gate of Yancheng. By the time the pursuers reached the gate, Wen Fei had already successfully escaped. As he left the city, he even winked at the guards at the gate, who muttered, "Are you crazy?!"

When Wenfei returned to the border army, he heard that Li Chaoyang had come to the northern frontier. He was not excited at all. But when he heard that his second brother had returned, he was overjoyed. He found a fast horse and immediately returned to the northern frontier city.

Upon seeing Wenjie, Wenfei immediately threw himself into Wenjie's arms: "Second brother, I missed you so much! You're amazing, you actually managed to bring reinforcements."

"Wenfei, I heard from General Shangguan that you also went into battle and fought bravely. You are truly remarkable," Wenjie said.

“Second Brother is the real hero,” Wenfei said.

“Elder Li is here, let’s go see him quickly,” Wenjie said.

"Second Brother, you know there's some misunderstanding between me and Pavilion Master Li that I can't explain. If we meet, he'll only find fault with me and won't give me a friendly look, so I'm not going to see him anymore," Wen Fei said with difficulty.

"Look how embarrassed you are. My grandpa won't eat you." Li Wei appeared in front of Wen Fei.

“Tomboy, you’re here too!” Wen Fei said, pointing at Li Wei.

“And me too,” Liang Feiyan said.

"Sister Feiyan, you're here too! I'm so happy! Second Brother, why didn't you tell me that Sister Feiyan was here as well?" Wenfei said.

"I haven't had a chance to tell you yet," Wenjie said.

"Wenjie, the Grand Marshal wants you to come into the tent!" Shangguan Chenxing said as he came over.

"Should all of us go over there?" Wenjie asked, pointing at Wenfei and the others.

“Yes, all of you have passed!” Shangguan Chenxing said with a smile.

"I won't go, General Shangguan," Wen Fei said, trying to escape.

"We must go!" Shangguan Chenxing stopped Wenfei, so Wenfei had no choice but to follow Wenjie and the others into the tent to see Li Chaoyang.

"Ugh! What bad luck! I should have known better than to come back," Wenfei said.