Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Xu..."

Clapping~

At the end of the official road, a series of horse neighs and thunderous hooves echoed.

After receiving Zhang Yu's secret letter, Wanyan Zongbi personally led thirteen iron cavalry to meet him.

"Hurry, faster! We must rescue Mr. Zhang no matter what!"

Wanyan Zongbi had feelings for Zhang Yu. If it weren't for Zhang Yu's guidance, he would have remained just an ignorant and reckless man who only knew how to fight on the battlefield.

To obtain the throne of the Great Jin Dynasty, Zhang Yu's assistance would be indispensable.

Therefore, he risked his life to leave Xiangzhou Prefecture and head south to find an opportunity to rescue Zhang Yu.

"Fourth Prince, look! That's..."

As they passed through a dense forest, a sharp-eyed cavalryman suddenly raised his hand and pointed ahead.

Wanyan Zongbi immediately looked up and his pupils contracted: "It's you, sir! Quick, go and meet him!"

But the guards stopped him: "Fourth Prince, calm down. Look, Mr. Zhang has many pursuers behind him. We are outnumbered, and it is not advisable to expose ourselves at this time."

Wanyan Zongbi gritted his teeth, but had no choice but to wait helplessly in the dense forest for Zhang Yu to get closer to a safe distance before making a rescue.

"Giddy up, giddy up!"

At this moment, Zhang Yu, desperately trying to escape, kept pulling on the reins, fleeing for his life.

He glanced at the pursuers who were now far behind him and breathed a sigh of relief.

As everyone knows...

"Gap calibration complete!"

"Upward tilt 50 degrees, ready!"

The independent brigade's artillery had already aimed its guns at the most suitable positions.

After doing all this, the artillery captain said to the gunner, "Gangzi, if you can hit the target with this shot, I'll ask the brigade commander to give you a surname."

Upon hearing this, Gangzi immediately perked up: "You said it yourself!"

After saying that, he grabbed a howitzer shell, aimed it at the muzzle, and stared at Zhang Yu's carriage ahead.

"one two Three!"

After silently counting to three, Gangzi decisively let go and bent to the side.

The howitzer slid down the mortar barrel to the bottom of the breech and made contact with the primer firing pin in an instant.

boom--

A clear voice sounded.

The howitzer drew a perfect arc in the air and landed precisely on the running carriage.

"Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up!"

Zhang Yu continued to urge the horses forward.

"Mr. Zhang, don't panic, I'm here to save you!"

Seeing that the time was ripe, Wanyan Zongbi couldn't wait to ride out of the forest to meet him.

"Your Highness, Fourth Prince!"

The moment Zhang Yu saw Wanyan Zongbi, his eyes lit up.

Boom~

But the next moment, the grenade landed precisely on the carriage, making a loud bang, and blood and flesh flew everywhere, with dried dates scattering all around.

"Xu~"

Hundreds of meters away, Wanyan Zongbi's warhorse was startled and bolted, throwing him off.

When the dust settled, Zhang Yu was nowhere to be seen in front of Wanyan Zongbi; only jujube paste scattered on the ground and the horse's body torn to pieces remained.

"No, no, Mr. Zhang, you'll be alright. You're a genius."

Wanyan Zongbi stumbled and staggered into the pile of jujube paste mixed with blood and began searching.

Finally, the emperor pays off.

After some searching, Zhang Yu's face was finally found in the pile of jujube paste.

"Mr. Zhang!"

"Cough cough~"

Zhang Yu coughed twice, his cheeks twitching as he opened his eyes.

"Your Highness, you've finally arrived."

"Mr. Zhang, don't say anything yet, I'll get you out of here right away."

Wanyan Zongbi was about to continue digging through the pile of jujube paste when Zhang Yu stopped him.

"Your Highness, please don't move. I feel like my butt is missing. Could you help me find it?"

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Zongbi looked around but didn't see any buttocks.

Just when he thought Zhang Yu seemed to be dazed by the shell, he looked up and saw a lower half of a body hanging from the treetop a few meters away.

Instantly, his face turned ashen.

Taking a deep breath, he said to Zhang Yu, "Mr. Zhang, your butt is fine. It just got up in the tree. I'll get it down for you later."

"It's good that your butt is okay."

Zhang Yu was barely breathing, yet his mind was clear.

This is a sign of a final burst of energy before death.

"Fourth Prince, I have a few words to say to you."

"Mr. Zhang, please speak. I'm listening."

"With the Chu Kingdom's intervention, this war is unwinnable. If the Great Jin wants to preserve its foundation, it can only spit out everything it has swallowed in order to appease the Chu Kingdom and survive."

Wanyan Zongbi was full of resentment: "Then all the sacrifices my Great Jin made have benefited others."

Zhang Yu shook his head: "Fourth Prince, listen to my advice. Chu is not Song. In the Battle of Bian River, our Jin army of over 100,000 elite troops was completely annihilated."

If the fighting continues, the Jin dynasty simply cannot afford the losses. The most urgent task is to persuade the king to defend the ancestral lands of the four states, establish friendly relations with the Chu state, and then proceed with other plans gradually.

Wanyan Zongbi: "But if we do that, won't our Great Jin have to recuperate for hundreds of years?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. After the Battle of Bianhe, Wanyan Loushi was killed in action. The only capable general left in the Jin Dynasty is the Fourth Prince."

Besides the Chu people, the Jin dynasty also faced threats from the Yan state. Fighting on two fronts, the Jin had no chance of victory.

"Even so, the State of Chu may not be willing to let this go."

"Then we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. Your Highness, protect the four states, and the Great Jin can rise again. If the four states are destroyed..."

That was the end of the story.

"Sir, I'm listening, why have you stopped talking?"

Wanyan Zongbi looked closely and saw that Zhang Yu had already died.

He died with his eyes open, looking as if he couldn't close them in peace.

Boom~

Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and another shell landed on the mountainside not far away, startling Wanyan Zongbi so much that he bent over and dared not get up.

"Fourth Prince! Run! The pursuers are closing in!"

"Sigh, let's go!"

Wanyan Zongbi took one last look at Zhang Yu, then turned and leaped onto a spare horse, heading north.

……

Guangling County, the residence of Prince Kang.

"Bianjing has been recovered, what are we going to do!"

"Why retake Bianjing at this time? It would ruin everything."

Officials such as Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan paced back and forth in the palace, their hearts filled with melancholy.

Wang Boyan: "What should we do now? The Jurchens have returned north and the capital has been recovered, but no one has come to invite Prince Kang to the capital. What exactly is Yue Fei trying to do?"

Qin Chuan said, "Reporting to the Right Chancellor, Yue Fei's troops have crossed the Bian River and launched the Northern Expedition, intending to recover all the northern territories lost by the Song Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Huang Qianshan couldn't help but scoff: "A Northern Expedition? What a joke! Do you think the Jurchens are so easy to deal with?"

Qin Chuan continued, "In the Battle of Bian River, Yue Fei nearly annihilated over 100,000 Jin troops, and the Jin's war god, Wanyan Loushi, even perished in the icy river."

With the Jin army's main force completely lost, even self-preservation is in question. A northern expedition at this time would indeed be an opportune moment.

At this point, Qin Chuan's eyes narrowed: "Moreover, according to news from Bianjing, Yue Fei's slogan for his Northern Expedition was to welcome back the two emperors and recover the lost territories."

Wang Boyan said urgently, "No, absolutely not! If the two emperors return to court, what will happen to Prince Kang? Absolutely not!"

Huang Qianshan: "Then we can only negotiate with Bianjing. We must let Prince Kang enter the capital first!"