Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

"Yes, General."

His men immediately stepped forward to drag the man out of the room.

The black-faced, beardless man stared wide-eyed, shaking his head in terror.

"woo woo woo woo--"

His mouth was gagged, and he could only make muffled noises to express his resistance.

"Pull it out!"

Dou Qingran ignored his struggles and waved his hand, giving the order in a deep voice once again.

Two more henchmen immediately stepped forward and together dragged the black-faced, beardless man away.

Not long after, there was no further movement.

The head of the black-faced, beardless man was quickly delivered to Zhou Ning's desk, along with a letter from Dou Qingran.

When Zhou Ning saw the unseeing head of his trusted confidant, he was terrified.

After reading Dou Qingran's letter, he was so angry that he rolled his eyes.

His hands trembled as he angrily shouted, "Dou Qingran! You've gone too far!"

After saying that, he slammed his hand heavily on the table.

He was so angry!

It really pissed him off!

Dou Qingran actually dared to openly provoke him!

They also said they only gave him two choices: either he step down, or they would fight him to the end.

Dou Qingran, you traitor, you want me to abdicate?

I bother!

Even if I die, I will never abdicate in favor of you!

He then turned sharply to the group of men below and commanded in a deep voice, "Pass on my order: everyone rest for a day, and we will begin the attack at daybreak!"

He simply couldn't take it anymore.

This time, we're determined to teach Dou Qingran a lesson!

Upon hearing this, the group of people waiting below all replied with wry smiles, "Yes, Your Majesty."

That's it, there's no going back now.

After Dou Qingran had the head of the black-faced, beardless man delivered to the other side, he began to conduct various simulations with his subordinates in front of the sand table.

It wasn't until midnight that he finished arranging the defenses for the next few days.

The next day, before dawn, Dou Qingran heard shouts of fighting coming from the other side.

The lieutenants below, hearing the noise, all gathered around.

Yu Hao said eagerly, "General, it seems the other side can't wait any longer and is about to start a fight. General, let me go and meet them."

"General, I'm in too. I'll go and meet those useless officials in the court."

Upon hearing this, others also expressed their desire to show off their skills.

Dou Qingran's eyes suddenly darkened, and she hurriedly ordered, "Everyone, prepare yourselves for battle!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Hao and the others immediately responded in unison, "Yes!"

Dou's army soon clashed with the ragtag group of officials from the imperial court.

Waste is truly waste.

The hastily assembled soldiers of the imperial court had virtually no fighting ability; how could they possibly be a match for the battle-hardened Dou family army?

Before the two sides had even exchanged a few blows, some officials from the imperial court were already trying to sneak away.

One has two.

Soon, more and more soldiers surrendered voluntarily, kneeling on the ground and begging Dou's army for mercy.

Dou Qingran sat steadily on his warhorse. Seeing this situation, he lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while before waving his hand to his men and ordering in a deep voice, "You can spare their lives, but you cannot release them. Arrest them all and await their fate!"

"Yes, General!"

Yu Hao clasped his hands in response, then smiled and led his men to tie up the person.

Awesome! Today was really awesome.

The imperial army is truly useless; they're not even as good as those barbarians in the north.

Those barbarians could at least fight him to the end, but these people from the imperial court, well, he hadn't even really fought them yet, and they were already kneeling down begging for mercy. How pathetic.

So, not long after, all the soldiers on the imperial side who did not want to die were bound hand and foot and imprisoned by Dou's army.

Those who put up a last-ditch resistance were all killed with a flurry of blows.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning was so enraged that he overturned the table on the spot.

He is angry!

They can't win a fight, and they can't possibly give up their position.

Previously, when he secretly sent someone to the northern lands to find the barbarian's confidant, Dou Qingran also beheaded him.

Now, it would be impossible for Zhou Ning not to be afraid.

He was actually terrified, but in order to maintain the dignity of an emperor, he had to put on a brave face no matter how scared he was.

Fortunately, Dou Qingran sent another letter, which read: "Your Majesty has also seen the disparity in strength between the two sides. If Your Majesty insists on continuing the fight, I am willing to fight to the end. However, I will certainly not be as polite as I am now."

"If Your Majesty is sensible, I may spare your life."

The reason Dou Qingran kept sending messages to Zhou Ning was simply because she didn't want to kill those innocent soldiers.

Judging from the soldiers captured today, most of the soldiers assembled by the imperial court were forced to be brought to the battlefield to make up the numbers, and they probably didn't want to fight.

People die in war.

Dou Qingran didn't want to hurt the innocent, so she decided to start with Zhou Ning.

If Zhou Ning had retained even a shred of kindness, those innocent soldiers wouldn't have had to fight to the death.

But if Zhou Ning is determined to fight him to the end, he really has to continue.

After reading the letter, Zhou Ning crumpled it into a ball.

He was about to be driven mad by Dou Qingran.

Only now did he realize that the incompetent officials in the imperial court were no match for the Dou family army.

But he didn't want to admit defeat now.

After thinking about it for a long time, he finally made a decision in his heart.

He had to hurry back to the capital, which was his base of operations.

So that night, Zhou Ning left the main force behind and secretly fled to the capital with a few trusted subordinates.

By the time Dou Qingran realized that the person was no longer in the opposite camp, Zhou Ning had already run back to the capital.

the other side.

After Zhao Yan, Yang Sanlang, and others captured Yuzhou, they left some people behind and continued their journey north without stopping.

After passing through Qingzhou, they easily dealt with the governor of Qingzhou.

Leaving the rest of the people behind, Zhao Yan and Yang Sanlang headed north alone.

When they passed through Baima Town in northern Qingzhou, the two of them made a special trip to Chenjiagou.

Finding that there were hardly any people in the village and not being able to find Chen Chong and the others, the two sighed and continued heading north.

Without Zhou Ning in charge, the rabble of the imperial court is utterly ineffective.

Before Dou Qingran could even send anyone to the scene, the other side sent someone to negotiate a peace.

When Zhao Yan and Yang Sanlang arrived, Dou Qingran was negotiating with the imperial court.

The incompetent officials in the imperial court said that Dou Qingran should let them go and the war would be called off.

Dou Qingran naturally did not want to release him easily.

He said in a deep voice, "I can release them, but you must state your position today: will you surrender or not?"

That's right.

He wanted to turn these people to their side on the spot.

Zhou Ning is fast, isn't he?

Haha, so he managed to turn all of Zhou Ning's soldiers against him.

Upon hearing this, the soldiers on the imperial side all clamored to surrender.

They want to join Dou's army.

If Zhou Ning, who was far away in the capital, knew that this was the result of his escape, he would probably be so angry that he would die on the spot.