He hadn't forgotten the trap he'd set back then, which had caused him to be plagued by illness ever since. If the Ding Wang army caught him, they would surely skin him alive.
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out.
Failure at the last moment, it was truly failure at the last moment!
His bright future was right before his eyes. With just half a day more, Liangzhou City would have fallen!
At that time, he could have entered the Great Jin with the Northern Di army and then sought revenge against Ding Wang, Xiao Tingyi.
Who knew that as soon as he walked out of King Keda's tent, he was knocked unconscious, then bound hand and foot, stuffed into a sack, and after being jostled for who knows how many days, he was delivered to Ding Wang.
"Where is the Northern Di's King Keda?"
Yang Zhao snorted coldly, "You are indeed a loyal servant. But it's a pity you followed the wrong master. King Keda is dead, all the Northern Di elites have been annihilated, and it will likely take decades to rise again."
After hearing Yang Zhao's words, Luo Hong was so angry he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
He had meticulously planned for so many years, waiting for this opportunity, only to have it turn out like this...
"Idiot! Idiot!"
The Northern Di people were truly strong but simple-minded. They had already cut off the reinforcements, destroyed the fire thunder, and even had people colluding with them from the inside, yet they still couldn't take Liangzhou City.
If King Keda wasn't an idiot, then who was?
If the Northern Di people weren't idiots, then who were they?
"You're good at shifting blame, aren't you? Don't you look at what you are? You think you've outsmarted the Prince once, so you can outsmart him every day? You are the real idiot."
Yang Zhao usually didn't curse, but when he cursed Luo Hong, he wanted to curse him to the bone.
"You've been fleeing for so many years, and you even incited the Di Rong to unify the grasslands. The various tribes were living well, but you had to form the Northern Di army and even attempted to conquer Liangzhou. It's truly the height of foolish dreams! Now, not only are you severely weakened, but you almost faced extinction."
"Hmph, what's the point of keeping such stupid tribes? Might as well exterminate them. It's embarrassing enough to be alive."
Yang Zhao had always thought he had defected to the Northern Di and was instigating them to expand their territory and conquer the world.
But judging by the current situation, this person was simply using the Northern Di. He didn't care if the Northern Di were annihilated or not, or if they conquered the world.
If they had been lucky enough to take Liangzhou City, the Northern Di's King Keda would likely have died as well.
For a moment, he didn't know whether to pity him or laugh at him for inviting a wolf into the house.
"Since I've been captured by you, I know there's no way out. Just give me a quick death."
He closed his eyes, putting on a brave face to meet death. Yang Zhao would not let him have his way.
So he said fiercely, "Don't dream. You want to die? That's unlikely! A person like you must be used to offer sacrifices to the flags for the soldiers of Great Jin who died in this battle!"
Mentioning the sacrifice ceremony, even Luo Hong, who was not afraid of death, felt a chill.
The sacrifice ceremony of Great Jin was no simple matter. It was equivalent to hanging him high on a pole, slowly draining his blood onto the flag, and even after death, he would be exposed for three days and three nights, then burned to ashes. Not only would he suffer in death, but he would not be spared even after death, with no complete corpse left and no burial. It was truly cruel.
He glared at Yang Zhao with wide eyes, and suddenly his eyes flashed, attempting to bite his tongue to commit suicide. However, Yang Zhao was quick and dislocated his jaw, leaving him only to let out "ah ah ah" sounds alone in the dark prison, facing the countdown to his death.
After walking out of the dark prison, Yang Zhao ordered, "Don't let him die. Feed him some water and food at appropriate times. As for his jaw, there's no need to fix it. That way, he won't be thinking of dying quickly every day. Dream on! How much suffering did the Prince endure to recover? I only wish he could taste some of it!"
"Yes! General Yang, don't worry. Your subordinate knows what to do!"
Yang Zhao nodded and then left the place.
In the study, the leader of the Iron King Eagle Squad was discussing the details of the Liangzhou battle with Ding Wang, Xiao Tingyi.
He had taken his men to infiltrate the Northern Di's camp, but that didn't mean they didn't have people watching Liangzhou City. However, they wouldn't act until the city was about to fall.
This had been agreed upon with the soldiers when he made arrangements.
"As the Prince guessed, the surrounding countries indeed became restless. The most active among them was the Linggui Kingdom. If we hadn't arrived in time, they would have reaped the benefits without lifting a finger."
Xiao Tingyi was not surprised when this was mentioned.
In his opinion, if he were the ruler of another small country, he would also take this opportunity to get a piece of the pie. Wasn't Jiao Ren's rise to power like this!
However, Great Jin was not Southern Yue. As long as he was here, he would protect Great Jin's peace and the people's happiness for a day.
"The Linggui Kingdom is the most powerful country outside Liangzhou City. Its ambition to annex more territory is not a recent one. Now that there's an opportunity, it's only natural for them to jump out. Cats don't dislike fish; their actions are understandable."
"The Prince is right. However, while deterring the Linggui Kingdom, your subordinate unexpectedly discovered something that seemed strange, so I've come to report it to the Prince."
"What is it?"
"Most of the people of the Linggui Kingdom have a faint, peculiar smell. It's hard to say what the smell is, but your subordinate feels there's something fishy going on!"
A peculiar smell, and most people had it. Could it be something they ate or drank that caused such a widespread occurrence?
For a moment, he couldn't pinpoint the reason, so he ordered.
"Find a few skilled scouts from the army and go to the Linggui Kingdom to investigate. It might be some kind of epidemic, which would be troublesome."
"Yes."
This was also his greatest concern. Spring had arrived, and everything was reviving; anything could happen.
In the Eastern Capital City, news of the great victory at Liangzhou had not yet arrived. Bai Siruo prayed at home every day, hoping that Xiao Muqian would return safely.
Now that the third branch of the family had left, the Bai Mansion had returned to its former peaceful state. Such days were much more comfortable, but also a bit boring.
Therefore, when she had nothing to do, she often visited the Feng family.
Firstly, she could talk and keep Ayyao company. Secondly, she could take Yunli to play, and share some of the workload with Wen Shi.
Yunhe returned only a few days ago and then went back to Yunqi Academy with Bai Silang.
Now, Feng Hai's injuries, Feng Jinxu's and Prime Minister Bai's illnesses had all improved. Especially Feng Jinxu, there were rumors that he would be able to return to court in April.
Emperor Qi had a somewhat favorable impression of him. Coincidentally, Liang Quanbin, the Minister of Dali Temple, had gone to Jinling City, so all the officials in Dali Temple were promoted by one rank. He had dodged this illness in a timely manner.
Therefore, the transfer order had been issued, and he would officially take office as the Shaoqing of Dali Temple in early April.
A promotion of two ranks, he was now an official of the fourth rank, which made many people envious. He even outshone Bai Dalang, who was of the fifth rank.