Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

The next moment, as if to confirm Sun Xiji's guess, a noisy battle cry rang out, and Song Li appeared behind the carriage with thousands of iron cavalry.

"Lord Sun, the court has treated you well, but instead of serving the country, you've colluded with traitors. Now that I've caught you red-handed, what do you have to say? If you know what's good for you, kneel down and surrender immediately, and come back to Jiangxia City with me to await the court's judgment." Song Li saw Sun Xiji and Xie Xichui talking not far apart and immediately took the initiative to speak.

"General Song, if I were to say that I absolutely had no intention of betraying the court, would you believe me?" Sun Xiji's face twitched upon hearing Song Li's accusation, and he asked with a wry smile.

"Lord Sun, the facts are right before your eyes. Do you think I, this general, would believe your sophistry?" Song Li said with a sneer.

"Grand Tutor, things have come to this point, Song Li won't believe anything you say. Let's return to Great Chu together. Men, escort the Grand Tutor back to the camp!" Xie Xichui shouted with a joyful expression as he saw the situation developing in the direction Cao Changqing had predicted.

The next second, thousands of Western Chu cavalrymen charged towards Song Li and his men.

"Brothers, follow me to take down the traitors. I will then ask the Prince for credit on your behalf. Come and fight with me!" Song Li raised his spear and led the Guangling cavalry to meet Xie Xichui's Western Chu cavalry.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells..."

Suddenly, the two sides' cavalry clashed, and the sounds of fierce fighting echoed through the heavens and the earth. Every second, cavalrymen were killed and fell from their horses, and every second, fresh lives were lost.

"Master, what should we do now?" Sun En stood in front of the carriage, sword in hand, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light as he watched the two sides at war.

"Sun En, I need you to do something for me now. Immediately deliver this letter to Tai'an City and personally hand it to Grand Secretary Zhang Julu. Remember, it must be personally handed to Zhang Julu; you must not delegate it to anyone else." Upon hearing Sun En's question, Sun Xiji quickly glanced at the battlefield before taking out a prepared letter from his robes and handing it to Sun En.

"Master, I'm going to deliver the message, what about you?" Sun En asked Sun Xiji hesitantly.

“You don’t need to worry about me, I have my own place to go.” Sun Xiji sighed.

"this..."

“Sun En, I have never asked anyone for a favor in my life. Please consider this my request. Please deliver the letter to Zhang Julu immediately. If you delay, it will be too late.” Sun Xiji looked at the hesitant Sun En and bowed deeply to him.

"Don't worry, sir. I will give my life to deliver the letter to Zhang Julu." Upon seeing this, Sun En immediately grabbed Sun Xiji, preventing him from bowing down.

Immediately afterward, Sun En hid the letter in his bosom. The next second, he leaped forward with lightning speed, charging towards a warhorse that had lost its master. He then mounted the horse and galloped wildly towards Tai'an City.

On the other side, Song Li led the Guangling cavalry in a fierce battle against Xie Xichui's Western Chu cavalry, and in a short period of time, more than two hundred of them were lost.

Seeing this, Song Li knew that they couldn't continue fighting like this, otherwise it would result in both sides suffering heavy losses.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on Sun Xiji, who was standing alone beside the carriage. He then shouted, "The one standing beside the carriage is that old scoundrel Sun Xiji. Whoever can help me capture him will be promoted one rank and receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver."

As Song Li shouted, his men, who were originally locked in fierce combat with the Western Chu cavalry, immediately turned their eyes to Sun Xiji with shining eyes.

"Not good! Everyone, follow me and protect the Grand Tutor! We must not let them succeed!" Xie Xichui's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He immediately abandoned his entanglement with Song Li and led his cavalry to gallop towards Sun Xiji.

His main purpose in this trip was to escort Sun Xiji back to the Great Chu. As one of the former Three Dukes of Western Chu, Sun Xiji's reputation alone was enough to maintain stability in the Great Chu court. If he were killed, Xie Xichui's trip would have been in vain.

Seeing that his plan had worked, Song Li immediately shouted again, "Everyone can shoot arrows to kill Sun Xiji, whether he lives or dies. Killing this man is a great achievement."

With a loud shout from Song Li, dozens of arrows shot towards Sun Xiji.

"A bunch of bastards, don't even think about hurting the Grand Tutor." Seeing this, Xie Xichui got up and leaped off his horse, appearing in front of Sun Xiji just before the arrows came flying.

"Fire arrows! Fire arrows and kill them..." Song Li saw Xie Xichui go to protect Sun Xiji, but instead of panicking, he had a smug smile on his face.

Taking advantage of Xie Xichui's predicament due to Sun Xiji, he immediately led his cavalry to break through the formation of the Western Chu cavalry, splitting them into two parts.

"Damn it, Song Li is too cunning! Teams D and C, stay behind to cover the rear, the rest of you, retreat with me!" On the battlefield, once one side's formation is broken, defeat is inevitable. Xie Xichui knew the situation was hopeless when he saw the Western Chu cavalry break through their formation, and immediately gave the order to retreat.

Song Li just caught him off guard with the help of Sun Xiji. If he doesn't go to rescue Sun Xiji, the Grand Tutor will inevitably be shot and killed by the Guangling army.

However, if they were to save him, the Western Chu army would be left with a fatal flaw due to the temporary absence of their commander, allowing the enemy to break through their formation.

As soon as Xie Xichui gave the order, the Western Chu cavalry immediately split into two hundred-man squads and charged towards Song Li's cavalry, relentlessly entangled with them.

Taking advantage of the situation, Xie Xichui led Sun Xiji and the remaining cavalrymen and galloped towards the Western Chu camp.

"Chase them! Follow me! Don't let them escape!" Song Li, as expected of Zhao Yi's trusted subordinate, broke through the rearguard of two hundred cavalry in less than a quarter of an hour and then chased after Xie Xichui and the others in the direction they had fled.

"Whoosh, whoosh..." Arrows shot forward one after another.

Song Li led the elite Guangling cavalry, all of whom were veterans of countless battles. Each of them was skilled in archery and riding, and almost every volley of arrows could kill several Western Chu cavalrymen, making Xie Xichui furious.

These Western Chu cavalrymen were the elite of the Western Chu army, each one a pillar of the army. Now, many of them had been mercilessly shot dead, causing Xie Xichui's heart to bleed.

But he knew he couldn't stop now. His cavalry formation was in disarray, and they were outnumbered. If they turned to fight back, they would only suffer a crushing defeat.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the bowstrings of the Guangling army had become a nightmare for the Western Chu cavalry. Every time the bowstring rang out, it meant that a Western Chu cavalryman had been shot and killed.

A sense of pessimism and despair gradually spread among the Western Chu cavalry. Several cavalrymen even broke away from the ranks and fled into the dense forests on both sides of the official road, clearly having lost their will to fight.