Chapter 206: All the foreshadowing was for Cheng'er.

Chapter 206: All the foreshadowing was for Cheng'er.

Xue Qingning scoffed, "You seem to know everything perfectly well."

Then, as if she had found a sore spot, she spoke shamelessly:

“Even if you retreat to five hundred miles away, there is still Luoyang City. You will never be able to come back.”

"Retreat five hundred li, and the young prince will never return to Luoyang City. This is truly outrageous!"

Zhao Zhendong's eyes were like candles, and he hated Xue Qingning to the core.

Shen Nanzi knew she would ask them to withdraw their troops. "She wants to buy time until the Xue family's army arrives in Luoyang."

"Their army must be larger than ours, and able to completely control Luoyang."

"So that's how it is!" Zhao Zhendong's breathing became heavy. Thinking that his military power had almost been taken away by the Xue family, he thought, "They must have seized someone else's troops again. This Xue family is really audacious."

"What do we do? His Highness Prince Jing is still hanging from the city wall. We must rescue him quickly!"

Imperial Censor Zhang thought victory was assured today, but unexpectedly, Prince Jing was captured by Xue Qingning, disrupting his previous plans.

The most anxious people were not those who had followed Xie Yan from beginning to end.

Victory was within reach, but now this unexpected turn of events has occurred. How can they accept it?

Shen Nanzi glanced at Xie Yan. Her brother was killed by him, and Xie Yan's death was a perfect revenge for her.

However, Xie Yan can influence Prince Qi, so if we use him to attack the Xue family again, it will be a piece of cake.

This is much better than leading troops into battle and fighting against various forces, which is wasteful of resources and harms the people.

Her goal was for the country to be peaceful and prosperous, and for Cheng'er to ascend to the throne.

"Yes, we must save Prince Jing."

"Our goal on this trip is to rescue Xie Yu and then attack the city. Now that Xie Yan has caused this unexpected incident, we need to reconsider our plans."

Upon hearing that Shen Nanzi had agreed to save Prince Jing, Imperial Censor Zhang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said:

“Princess Jing, the Second Princess will definitely force us to retreat first. We can only leave a small number of people to meet Prince Jing.”

"Then we'll have to start from here."

"Why was Prince Jing arrested?" Shen Nanzi had been wondering. "He doesn't seem like someone who can be arrested so easily."

Xie Chengze's eyes flickered slightly as he looked again at the man in black on the city wall.

Just as he was about to speak, Imperial Censor Zhang said, "Based on my understanding of Your Highness, Your Highness was either forced into this matter, or he would never have been so easily captured by the Xue family."

Zhao Zhendong also said, "His Highness Prince Jing is meticulous in his actions. This old minister also feels that something is amiss, but for now, we can only retreat and protect His Highness."

Shen Nanzi: "Xue Qingning is a fickle person, so we'll be fickle too."

"Once we rescue Prince Jing, we will secretly leave behind an elite force, then send out news of the Xue family's rampant activities and launch a counterattack immediately."

"At that time, the morale of the defending army will surely collapse, and we will not need many troops to take back Luoyang."

Recapture of Luoyang is equivalent to taking control of the central government, and the civil and military officials can be put to use immediately.

This is especially important in the final struggle for the throne.

Otherwise, why would the Xue family refuse to leave this place no matter what, and why would the King of Liang eventually have to come to Luoyang for a visit?

The three discussed it for a while and finally agreed with Shen Nanzi's opinion.

Xue Qingning couldn't wait any longer. She drew a long sword from a soldier beside her and pointed the blade at the ropes binding Xie Yan.

Her eyes now held a reckless glint: "Withdraw your troops immediately, or I will cut the ropes and smash him into a bloody pulp."

Her voice was arrogant and unrestrained.

For a moment, the entire army of Prince Cheng below the city wall held their breath.

The army stretched as far as the eye could see, disappearing into the yellow sand and dust. For a moment, it seemed as if the wind had stopped and all was quiet.

Shen Nanzi raised her eyes, about to speak, when Xie Yan waved his hand, signaling them not to retreat.

Zhao Zhendong was shocked: "His Highness actually ordered us not to retreat, but to attack the city directly!!"

Shen Nanzi was also somewhat shocked. Why was Xie Yan doing this? If he attacked the city directly, wouldn't he be thrown off the city wall and killed by Xue Qingning immediately?

Why would Xie Yan rather die than let them attack the city, when there was clearly still a lot of room for maneuver in this matter?

Imperial Censor Zhang was extremely flustered. He immediately dismounted and knelt on the ground, crying out, "Your Highness, what are you saying! Attack the city directly? Don't you value your life?"

On the city wall, Xue Qingning seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world: Xie Yan actually wanted to sacrifice himself to help her and her son seize the throne.

The knife in her hand trembled; she couldn't believe that Xie Yan had given up his life again for Shen Nanzi and her child.

This time, she knew there was no backup plan, because Xie Yan simply didn't have time to make any arrangements.

He will surely die if he falls.

Xie Yan looked at Shen Nanzi and her son, his eyes filled with reluctance, but he still nodded resolutely and gestured with his hands.

While others didn't understand, Imperial Censor Zhang instantly grasped the meaning.

Prince Jing instructed him to hand over the imperial seal to Xie Chengze, and all the senior officials supported Prince Chengze's ascension to the throne.

Prince Jing's power has all been transferred to Prince Chengze.

This is him giving his last words!

Prince Jing is truly prepared to die; he intends to hand over the throne, which is within his grasp, to Prince Chengze.

Imperial Censor Zhang knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly and pounding his chest, crying, "Prince Jing, I can't do it, I can't do it!"

"Your Highness, let's withdraw our troops and discuss everything in a more comprehensive manner. Even if we don't become the masters of Yunhan, I still hope that you live."

"His Highness wouldn't want you to be like this either."

Xie Chengze deduced from Zhang Yushi's words that his father was going to die.

Even though he hated him, hated his neglect over the years, hated his bullying of his mother, hated his father-son relationship with Xie Hongrui...

This led him to question his own origins at one point.

Hating him had become his strength to live, but when he thought of Yunxiao, there was hesitation and reluctance in his eyes.

The little hands gripped the reins, love and hate intertwined.

Xie Yan's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Shen Nanzi and Xie Chengze. He had a thousand words in his heart, but at this moment, he couldn't utter a single one.

He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would want to live and be unwilling to die.

Just now, Shen Nanzi appeared to be saving him, but in reality, she was saving Xie Yu.

She knew Xue Qingning's character; Xue Qingning's choice of him was merely a feint, a deliberate diversionary tactic to impress Zhang Yushi and Zhao Zhendong.

This is so that we can make good use of them in the future.

In fact, she knew perfectly well that Xue Qingning would not let him go.

Although it was an unchangeable fact, at that moment, he knew that Shen Nanzi would never fall in love with him again.

Even though she had survived, Shen Nanzi still hated him in the end.

It's better to die now than to be hated by that mother and son your whole life, so that Yunhan can have a ruler as soon as possible.

If the troops retreat, this war for the throne will be prolonged indefinitely.

Sacrificing just one of him would bring peace to the people of Yunhan sooner, so it would be a worthy death.

Now, he has paved the way for Cheng'er's rise to power.

He believed that with Shen Nanzi's current composure, eliminating the Xue family would be just around the corner.

After his death, not only will Xie Chengze be able to ascend the throne tomorrow, but he will also be unable to see who Shen Nanzi wants to be with.

He will not suffer.

Xie Yan looked at the mother and child again and issued a powerful command, "General Zhao, listen to my order, attack the city immediately."

He wanted to see his son take this step with his own eyes, and he wished him a smooth and successful life ahead.

The sound carried.

Zhao Zhendong knew what this order meant. Back then, Prince Jing helped him reclaim the land that Fang Shuo had taken from him, which saved the lives of the Zhao family.

From then on, the Zhao family would only follow Prince Jing's lead.

After Prince Jing's death, his son became the object of the Zhao family's loyalty.

Zhao Zhen, exuding an imposing aura, his armor gleaming coldly, raised his sword and shouted, "All soldiers, heed my command! Advance! Attack! Luo! Yang! City!!"