The military officer of the Northern Hu brought his subordinates and set fire to the tents. Pei Yan stood close by and was seen by a few of the guards standing near the tents.
Miss Niu ran out with the support of two maids. Although she wasn’t dressed like a n.o.ble lady, Miss Niu still adorned various gold and silver accessories. With such a flashy outfit, she was easily spotted amidst the crowd of soldiers by the Northern Hu soldiers.
“Kill!” the military officer of the Northern Hu commanded loudly. With the killing happening so close to her, Miss Niu was terrified. However, she suppressed the urge to scream and tried her best to command her two legs away from this place.
An arrow flew over and shot the left eye of the guard that was aiding Miss Niu to escape.
“Ah——”
The guard held onto his eye and fell to the ground, shrieking. His screams terrified everyone around.
Miss Niu finally let out a screech. “Madam, hurry!” The two maids were also terrified but they knew that if anything happened to Miss Niu, they would definitely lose their lives. Thus, these two maids could only try their best to drag Miss Niu along to escape.
A soldier’s corpse was sent flying. On his way down, his arm accidentally struck Miss Niu’s stomach. Miss Niu didn’t dare to stop but blood rapidly flowed down and stained her pants.
Pei Yan only turned away after he saw that Miss Niu’s body turn limp and was being dragged like a corpse by the two maids.
“Xiang Nong is not here!” a Northern Hu soldier shouted at the military officer.
“Let’s talk after we kill these Yongning dogs!”
At this point, the military officer already knew that the precious jewels had affected his judgment. Xiang Nong had countless of guards, how could an insignificant military officer like himself win over Xiang Nong and his guards?
But it was too late for him to turn around so the military officer could only thicken his skin and continue to motivate his subordinates. “How could a Yongning dog be a Northern Hu man’s opponent? Let’s kill them, kill all the Yongning dogs!”
The frantic sound of horses galloping travelled over. Pei Yan stood in an area with low light and looked over to the origins of the noise. The banner embroidered with wolf head fluttered in the wind. This was the King flag of the Northern Hu, Modou has killed his way over.
“Kill.” Modou crisply commanded with one concise word.
The two maids continued to drag their motionless madam. They turned around and wanted to beg Miss Niu to run faster but after a glance, their faces drained of colour. Miss Niu’s lower body was drenched in blood and she had already lost consciousness.
One of the maids reached out and shakily touched Miss Niu’s belly. “How is it?” the other maid asked hysterically.
Pressing into her stomach, the maid looked at Miss Niu’s lower body. The foetus had already slid out of her and was clumped up in a ball. “It’s gone,” the maid sat on the floor in a daze.
At this moment, a platoon of rebel soldiers also arrived. Before they could take a break, this platoon was tangled up with the Northern Hu army in a fierce fight. Miss Niu was carried by a few soldiers and immediately brought to Xiang Nong.
“Quick! Take a look at her!!” Xiang Nong remained stoic even after seeing Miss Niu’s condition and only commanded the two burly madams from the female camp.
The two madams ran forward and before long, they were able to pick up a partially developed foetus of a boy under Miss Niu.
For years, Xiang Nong had been antic.i.p.ating for a son. Even thought he could control his emotions well, Xiang Nong still couldn’t bear to see the dead body of his son. Xiang Nong’s eyes were red when he stared at the two maids who had dragged Miss Niu to escape.
“It was Young Madam’s little brother!” a guard who followed along shouted loudly. Everyone’s gasps could be heard in the relatively small open field. “His face had a medicine plaster on it.” the guard kneeled and pointed to his own face.
“Scoundrel!” a general following Xiang Tiange reacted and immediately went forward to kick the guard, “You’re going to push all the blame on Young Lord?!?”
“Yes ah,” another general spoke, “We weren’t even aware the woman was pregnant, yet Young Lord knew?”
Niu Nanning was standing beside Xiang Nong this whole time and when he saw his daughter drenched in blood. He was dumbfounded.
At this moment, a few ridiculing eyes turned towards him. Advisor Niu’s body trembled and he suddenly fell to his knees exclaiming, “Great Lord, you have to seek revenge for my daughter ah!!!!”
He lost his reputation. Not only that, he just lost his precious grandson and his daughter looks like she is about to die. What is he supposed to do now?!
Although Niu Nanning didn’t do well in the imperial exams, he still managed get Xiang Nong’s trust and became the number one strategist of the rebel forces. Niu Nanning wasn’t an idiot and he knew that if Xiang Tiange didn’t die now, the person dying would definitely be him.
“You could get revenge,” another general that didn’t respect Niu Nanning spoke up, “But how do we find the perpetrator? We can’t simply act based on the words of an insignificant soldier.”
“Great Lord!” Niu Nanning banged his head to the ground in front of Xiang Nong.
“Report!” Just then, a messenger soldier rushed over on a horse. He dismounted and kneeled after arriving beside Xiang Nong. “Great Lord, the Young Lord has killed General Lin!”
General Lin was sent by Xiang Nong to look for Xiang Tiange. There was silence on the field and everyone looked at each other. The Young Lord has rebelled?!
“Modou is here!”
“The Northern Hu have killed their way over——”
…...
Continuous sound of attacks could be heard nearby. “Mount your horses!” Xiang Nong commanded. Niu Nanning remained still in the same spot and watched as Xiang Nong brought his troops and rode past him.
Just then, Miss Niu woke up and was struggling to sit up when a general of the rebel forces rode past her and flicked his reins.
The battle horse s.h.i.+fted its direction slightly and his left hoof landed on Miss Niu’s stomach. Miss Niu let out a scream but the battle horse continued to trample over her.
Who would purposely look under the horses when they were fighting in a war?
The guards who were protecting Miss Niu also had a tacit understanding with the generals of the rebel forces and scattered their horses. Initially, they didn’t agree with Advisor Niu anyway. Also, if this wretched girl managed to give birth to the Great Lord’s son and earns his favour, wouldn’t they have listen to Niu Nanning in the future? The generals would rather die than listen to him!
In no time, Miss Niu became a pile of meat and her two servants also had the same fate. After the troops rode away, Niu Nanning saw the pile of meat and fainted without saying a word.
“The matter is settled,” while Great Lord Xiang and Modou were fighting, Pei Yan stood in the campsite and told Xiang Tiange, “Young Lord should consider establis.h.i.+ng your own sect.”
After hearing what Pei Yan had to say, Xiang Tiange was not prepared for this and stood there dazedly for a long time.
“You’re a sinner.” Ning Xiaoyao whispered to Pei Yan.
“If that woman gave birth to a son, Young Lord would definitely die,” Pei Yan seemed to care deeply for Xiang Tiange, “Niu Nanning tries to kill Young Lord at every opportunity. He didn’t even let it go at the presence of facing the enemy today. What I am doing is called strike first to get the upper hand.”
“What my lil bro says is right,” Ning Xiaoyao agreed with Pei Yan. Xiang Tiange suddenly pointed his sword at Pei Yan. Ning Xiaoyao jumped and wanted to say something but was pushed back by Pei Yan. “Young Lord wants to kill me?”
“Don’t fight! Let’s talk nicely.” Ning Xiaoyao was stuck behind Pei Yan but she still tried to break up the fight.
“Young Lord!” one of the rebel soldiers ran out from the campsite towards Xiang Tiange. Looking fl.u.s.tered, he lowered his voice, “The baby in Miss Niu’s stomach is gone and all her guards say that it’s the work of Young Lord.”
“Was it a boy or a girl?” Pei Yan asked.
“It was a boy. Young Lord, my family’s general advises you to find a place to hide and let him think about a solution.”
The rebel soldier turned and ran back towards the campsite. “That’s Senior General Liu’s underling,” a subordinate standing at Xiang Tiange’s side looked nervously at him, “Even Senior General Liu can’t protect Young Lord?”
“It’s better to get the pain over with than to prolong the agony,” Pei Yan coldly chuckled, “You will be abandoned sooner or later. It is better to take advantage of your current situation and form your own group.”
Xiang Tiange’s expression looked terrible but he stopped pointing the sword at Pei Yan.
“We’re leaving.” Pei Yan pulled Ning Xiaoyao away.
“Where are you going?” Xiang Tiange caught Ning Xiaoyao’s arm. Ning Xiaoyao asked Pei Yan, “Ya, where are we going ah?”
“Of course it’s to get away from here,” Second Young Master Pei replied, “We’re not interested in the throne, why should we stay?”
“We’re going to travel the world,” Ning Xiaoyao gave Xiang Tiange a reply. Xiang Tiange didn’t let go of Ning Xiaoyao’s hand.
“You can’t leave now ah,” Ning Xiaoyao pointed at the people behind Xiang Tiange. “Do you want us to help you fight Xiang Nong?” Pei Yan asked Xiang Tiange. Young Lord Xiang slowly released his grip.
“We can help.” Ning Xiaoyao raised her hand.
“Let me have a few words with her privately.” Xiang Tiange calmly said to Pei Yan. Pei Yan released Ning Xiaoyao’s other hand.
Xiang Tiange brought Ning Xiaoyao to a side and lowered his voice, “Please take care of Erya and Xiaoqiu for me.”
“Mhm, definitely,” Ning Xiaoyao nodded.
“Could you let me know the general direction you’re going?” Xiang Tiange asked again, “I’ll come find you guys after everything is over.”
Ning Xiaoyao thought about it and realised she had to go and save people. Other than that, she wasn’t sure where else she’d be.
“Young Lord, since you have your troops, it would be easier for me to find out your whereabouts, I’ll look for you instead.”
“You also want me to form my own sect?” Xiang Tiange asked Ning Xiaoyao another question.
“This is up to you ah. As long as this country doesn’t fall in the hands of the Northern Hu.”
Raising his hand to cup Ning Xiaoyao’s face, Xiang Tiange wanted to say something but stopped himself. In the end, he reminded Ning Xiaoyao, “Be careful while travelling.” With his current qualifications, he couldn’t ask this lady to stay by his side. Since he couldn’t keep her by his side, he could only send her away.
Ning Xiaoyao reached out and hugged Xiang Tiange. “You be careful too. See you soon.”
Ning Xiaoyao and her group got on their horses and rode towards the north, quickly disappearing into the horizon.
“Young Lord, where are we going?” Xiang Tiange’s subordinates didn’t dare to ask why Young Lord’s wife would leave at a time like this but they had to ask this question.
“Kill the Northern Hu,” Xiang Tiange also mounted his horse.
“Where are we going?” Ning Xiaoyao also asked Pei Yan. There were dead bodies all over the road. Soldiers of the rebel forces and the Northern Hu. Who knows how many more lives will be sacrificed in this war.
“Let’s leave this place before we decide.” Pei Yan rode his horse beside Ning Xiaoyao, “Do you still want to have another round with the Northern Hu?”
Ning Xiaoyao shook her head. She really didn’t want to.