The Young Swordsman of Dalu

Meanwhile, on the northern battlefield, Li Chaoyang was leading his troops in a fierce battle against Tuoba Hongrui. The Lu army was clearly at a disadvantage. Watching his soldiers fall one by one, Li Chaoyang felt as if he had returned to his youth, when he followed the late emperor in his campaigns, rising again and again from piles of corpses. Their valiant fight back then was for the sake of their descendants, so that they would not suffer the pain of war. But now, they were repeating the same mistake, dragging their soldiers and the people on the border into the flames of war once again.

"What a sin!" Li Chaoyang thought to himself.

"Grand Marshal, we are completely surrounded. Let's break out! Otherwise, we'll all die here."

"All soldiers, fight to break through the encirclement!" Li Chaoyang commanded.

"Where are you going, Li Chaoyang!" Tuoba Hongrui blocked Li Chaoyang's retreat.

"Capture Li Chaoyang alive!" The Northern Dynasty army shouted in unison.

"Kill!" Li Chaoyang shouted tragically.

The soldiers of the Great Lu Kingdom were once again filled with fervor, brandishing their weapons and fighting with all their might to protect their Grand Marshal.

Both armies were bloodthirsty. The Lu army was in imminent danger. The encirclement was getting tighter and tighter, but there was no end to the Northern Dynasty army. Li Chaoyang was old after all. The long-term fighting had exhausted him. He seemed to see the Battle of Nanshan again. Just when he was about to give up, Wen Jun led his men to rescue him from the pile of dead bodies.

At this moment, the sounds of battle shook the heavens. Wenjie bravely took the lead, riding his warhorse and fighting his way to Li Chaoyang. He thrust his spear at Tuoba Hongrui, displaying his years of martial arts skills to the fullest. Tuoba Hongrui could only parry at this moment, and had no strength to fight back. Seizing the opportunity, Tuoba Hongrui rode away and fled. Wenjie pursued him closely, chasing him all the way to the vicinity of the Northern Dynasty's camp before stopping.

The moment Li Chaoyang saw Wenjie, he knew that the danger on the northwest border had been averted.

The 100,000-strong Western Region army besieging Beijiang City received the order to withdraw from Nabulu Khan, and Shangguan Chenxing led Wenjie and the army to support Li Chaoyang.

The Northern Dynasty army thought that a large number of reinforcements from the Great Lu Kingdom had arrived. Some were so frightened that they fled in panic, while others laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Tuoba Hongrui, who had fled back to his camp, was furious. He then received news from his scouts that the Western Regions had withdrawn their troops, and he angrily cursed, "Those traitors from the Western Regions, they cannot be trusted!"

When news of the defeat reached the Northern Dynasty's imperial palace, Murong Xuanlong was furious: "Tuoba Hongrui, an incompetent fool! Who else is capable of fighting for me?"

"Your Majesty, the situation is currently unfavorable for our Northern Dynasty. The Western Regions army has retreated, and we must remain vigilant against them," the minister said.

"The Western Regions, shameless scoundrels, ungrateful wretches who will never be satisfied! They've infuriated me!" Murong Xuan roared.

"Your Majesty, the situation has now reversed, and it is time for us to find the Empress Dowager."

"You scoundrel! If you spout any more nonsense, I'll chop you up!" Murong Xuan said angrily.

"Your Majesty, apart from a few sycophants who fawn over you, there are very few capable people left in the court. Only by bringing back the Empress Dowager can our Northern Dynasty have any hope."

"Are you implying that I am a useless piece of trash, even less capable than an old woman about to be buried?" Murong Xuan said.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider!" Many of the previously silent senior officials knelt in the main hall.

"I was too soft-hearted back then and spared your lives. Did I spare you so that you would cause me trouble? You deserve to die! Guards! Get them all out of here! Kill them without mercy!" Murong Xuan had become completely insane.

"Stop! If you keep killing, my Northern Dynasty will have no one left to use. Do you really want us to be destroyed? You rebellious son!" Jin Yuanying appeared in the main hall.

"Grandmother! You're not dead!" Murong Xuan exclaimed incredulously.

"You want me to die to make way for you, don't you?" Jin Yuanying said as he walked onto Murong Xuan's imperial throne. Murong Xuan stood up from his throne, trembling. He knew his grandmother's iron-fisted methods.

Kim Won-young sat on the throne, while Murong Xuan stood to one side.

"Your Majesty, have you had enough fun?" Kim Won-young asked.

"Enough! Everything that the Empress Dowager and her grandson did was for the Northern Dynasty!" Murong Xuan argued.

"You listened to the slander of petty men and launched a war against the Great Lu Kingdom without distinguishing right from wrong, causing our Northern Dynasty soldiers to sacrifice themselves in vain. As the ruler of a country, you do not know how to cherish your soldiers and the people. How can you expect to gain the support of the people? You want to seize power for yourself, and I will grant your wish. In the past few days, you and your lackeys have done so many things that have brought disaster to the country and the people. The whole country is in chaos. You are a sinner of the Murong royal family! If I do not take back your power today, I, Jin Yuanying, will become a sinner of the Northern Dynasty royal family. How can I face my ancestors in the afterlife?" Jin Yuanying said.

“Grandmother, I am now the Emperor of the Northern Dynasty, and no one can depose me,” Murong Xuan said stubbornly.

"Guards, take the emperor back to his palace to rest! Drag those shameless scoundrels out and behead them!" Jin Yuanying said authoritatively.

"Welcome back to the palace, Empress Dowager!" The ministers felt much more at ease seeing Kim Won-young.

"My dear ministers, you have been frightened!" Jin Yuanying comforted them.

At the border, Li Chaoyang left troops to guard the area, while the rest withdrew to the city of Beijiang.

"Wenjie!" Sang Ziqi saw Wenjie riding a warhorse with great imposing presence outside the city gate.

"Sang Ziqi!" Wenjie dismounted.

"What a false alarm! We were all prepared to perish together with the Northern Frontier City," Sang Ziqi said.

"It's alright! We won!" Wenjie said.

"Second Young Master, isn't Fourth Young Master with you?" Changsheng asked as he walked over.

"No, I don't know where he is either. I think he should be alright," Wenjie said.

"That's good! Congratulations, Second Young Master, on your great victory," Changsheng said.

“This is our joint effort,” Wenjie said.

The Western Regions army retreated unwillingly. Grand Marshal Mirobu did not want to return empty-handed. He wanted to take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the Northern Dynasty. He lingered on the border of the Northern Dynasty, and Jin Yuanying saw through his intentions.

"It's easy to invite a wolf into the house, but hard to send it away. It seems I'll have to use all our resources to drive this wolf cub from the Western Regions away," Jin Yuanying said.

"Should I step in?" Ji Wuchang asked.

“We in the Northern Dynasty don’t need an outsider like you to help us with our affairs,” Kim Won-young said.

"Alright! I'll just wait and see what happens," Ji Wuchang said with a smile.

"Kim Soo-kang, receive the order! Lead the Kim family army to the border of my North Korea at top speed and send Mirobu away," Kim Won-young said.

"I accept the order!" Jin Yuanshou said.

After Jin Shoukang left, Ji Wuchang said, "Who is Jin Shoukang to you? Is he a descendant of your Jin family? Don't you have any brothers?"

"He is my sworn brother's son. Back then, my father adopted his father as his godson, and my sworn brother took our surname, Jin. My father built the army he led into the Iron Army of the Northern Dynasty. When he passed away, he entrusted the Jin family army to my sworn brother," Jin Yuanying said.

"I see! Your grandfather was quite farsighted," Ji Wuchang said.

"But he cruelly separated us," Kim Won-young said helplessly.

“His actions are indeed infuriating. Do we have any other options? No matter what, we haven't escaped your father's grasp,” Ji Wuchang said.

"Don't you hate him?" Kim Won-young asked.

“I don’t hate him. He’s gone. Aren’t we together now? He won’t bother us anymore anyway,” Ji Wuchang said.

“What I admire about you, Ji Wuchang, is your magnanimity,” Jin Yuanying said.

"Alright! Hahahaha!" Ji Wuchang's laughter echoed from Yuxuan Palace.