Tearing the Prince's Clothes after Withdrawing Marriage
Chapter 512 - 511: Unexpectedly, It’s a Fool

Chapter 512: Chapter 511: Unexpectedly, It’s a Fool

No one knew why, under these clearly disadvantageous circumstances, Chu Qianli still decided to lead a mere fifty thousand soldiers in a frontal assault on the city.

It was undoubtedly a path to certain death!

"It seems that this legendary Princess Qianli is after all just a little girl, too childish,"

Chang Ming said with a face full of joy as he reported the news to Long Tianliu.

Previously, they had sent people to investigate, and received messages saying that Chu Qianli was a person extremely skilled in commanding troops and moving generals.

But, there was another saying, one that always involved Prince Yexuan.

In other words, it might well be that Prince Yexuan had always been helping her from the shadows.

Whether she truly had real talent and solid learning, even Long Tianliu himself couldn’t see clearly.

However, this time, leading fifty thousand troops straight to the Imperial City was simply courting death.

Chang Ming was incredibly excited, "Your Majesty, please allow your subordinate to personally take command of the troops and capture her!"

But Long Tianliu’s brows remained furrowed; he always felt that things weren’t so simple.

"Has anyone seen with their own eyes that Chu Qianli is really among the army?" Committing to such an act of suicide was too strange!

"She is there! Not only is she there, but Wei Qiong and Long Ziyue are also present, Your Majesty, this time, they are really putting everything on the line to capture Dragon City."

Chang Ming didn’t have any particularly different thoughts on this.

He said, "This subordinate guesses that it’s because Prince Yexuan has left, and their army over at Jicheng is being defeated step by step. Chu Qianli is probably being driven to desperation."

"Now, mustering all their strength to capture Dragon City signifies realizing that Jicheng will soon fall."

"Once Jicheng falls and Dragon City hasn’t been captured, then their army will only have the option to retreat."

By then, having distanced themselves from Dragon City, even thinking of assaulting it again might become an opportunity they will no longer have.

It’s not always possible for their troops to approach Dragon City.

This logic, Long Tianliu understood all too well himself.

This time, Chu Qianli’s army had already made it to the doorstep of Dragon City, and that was because Feng Yexuan had previously helped her capture Jicheng, paving a broad road for her.

But now, as Jicheng was on the verge of falling back into the hands of the Royal Army, Chu Qianli had no choice but to retreat or fight; there was no chance for her to stay put.

Once Jicheng was lost, the Royal Army would join forces with the army here at Dragon City and collectively move against them.

Which is to say, missing this opportunity, Chu Qianli might spend her entire life without the chance to lead an army near Dragon City again.

So, is this Chu Qianli herself, trying to seize the last opportunity?

But, it seems too risky.

There’s no chance of winning at all.

Indeed, it’s too competitive.

Compared to Xiyue at a similar age years ago, the gap is not just a little!

"Good!" Long Tianliu finally smiled after figuring it out, "Chu Qianli, since you’ve come to seek death, I shall oblige!"

"Your Majesty..." Chang Ming was somewhat surprised, what did His Majesty mean by this?

Yet Long Tianliu stood up, his voice grave, "This time, I will personally lead the charge and bring back the head of Xiyue’s daughter!"

...

The Empress herself led the troops.

Forget Chu Qianli’s army getting close to Dragon City, now, even their retreat route was nearly sealed off.

Three days later, when the army retreated, they found they had no escape.

"Your Highness, our brothers have suffered heavy casualties..."

Wei Qiong came back carrying new injuries, but this time, she no longer had the heroic fervor from before.

Now, she no longer held any hopes of capturing the city and only wished to lead her brothers to safety.

"Your Highness, we must retreat immediately. Jicheng is about to be overrun, and if we do not retreat now, there will be no way out."

With a thump, General Wei Qiong knelt before Chu Qianli.

Her voice raspy, she said, "Your Highness, I know this is your only chance to get close to Dragon City, and you do not wish to miss it, but... but our brothers, they really can’t hold on any longer!"

Upon seeing this, Long Ziyue also knelt down beside General Wei Qiong.

"Your Highness, isn’t there a saying ’With green hills left, there’s no need to worry about firewood’? If we retreat now, we may not have another chance to attack Dragon City in the short term, but at least we can preserve most of our forces."

"As long as we protect our army well, in the future, we will definitely have another opportunity to fight back!"

General Wei Qiong nodded eagerly: "Your Highness, please consider the brothers’ unwavering loyalty to you and retreat!"

If we do not retreat now, once the only road out of Jicheng is sealed off, we will truly have nowhere to run.

Tens of thousands of brothers will spill their blood here, dying without a whole corpse.

"Your Highness..."

"Why retreat?" Chu Qianli looked at them, spreading the map of the terrain out in front of them.

"This Huqi Mountain Range is so vast, we can hide within it. Why can’t we just take refuge there to preserve our strength?"

At this moment, Chu Qianli’s spirit remained as vibrant as it was in the beginning, as if she had never suffered a defeat.

She said, "As long as we hide there, we can regroup the troops in good order. It’s still very close to Dragon City, and we will soon have another opportunity to continue the siege."

"Your Highness, this Huqi Mountain Range is treacherous and easier to defend than to attack..."

"Isn’t that exactly to our advantage?" Chu Qianli chuckled.

Long Ziyue and General Wei Qiong looked at each other, their expressions extremely grim.

Long Ziyue said, "But Your Highness, if you can think of this, Long Tianliu certainly can as well. She must have already sent a large force to occupy Huqi Mountain."

"Exactly, as soon as we enter, the ambush inside and the pursuers outside will converge to encircle us. We will be trapped like turtles in a jar!"

General Wei Qiong was somewhat disappointed.

She had once firmly believed in her own judgment, thinking that Chu Qianli was a very capable figure.

But why had she recently become... so foolish and incompetent? Why had she lost even the most basic ability to judge?

Could it be that the past tales of her being divinely prophetic on the battlefield were only because she had Prince Yexuan backing her?

If not, why were they victorious in battle after battle when Prince Yexuan was here?

But as soon as Prince Yexuan left, they were completely trapped in a deadlock?

"Your Highness..."

"There’s no need for further discussion; I have decided that the army will immediately withdraw into the Huqi Mountain Range!"

"Your Highness..."

"General Wei Qiong, are you thinking of defying a military order?"

How could Wei Qiong dare? She looked towards Long Ziyue, hoping Long Ziyue would speak up for everyone.

After all, she and the prince had once been good friends, and perhaps Long Ziyue could persuade Your Highness.

Yet unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, Long Ziyue nodded and said, "Yes! I will go now to organize the troops and immediately retreat into Huqi Mountain!"

...Chu Qianli actually led the army into the Huqi Mountain Range.

The moment Empress Long Tianliu received the scout’s report, she was utterly relieved.

She had thought that everything was part of Chu Qianli’s strategy, only to find out that the young girl had no such cunning plans at all.

She was completely, a fool.

Chang Ming chuckled with great pleasure: "I heard that General Wei Qiong defied a military order and was flogged with twenty large boards. She is still recovering from her injuries! Your Majesty, this time, it seems heaven is on our side!"

Empress Long Tianliu snorted with a smile, "My personal guards have long been in Huqi Mountain, lying in wait for them! Good! Send out the troops at once. I want to trap Long Xiyue’s daughter to death in Huqi Mountain!"