Ping City was located in the northernmost part of Dayao and was only half a day away from Great Xia's Tiesuo Pass.
This small city with a population of less than 50,000 was like the tip of a knife pointing at Great Xia for decades, preventing them from advancing.
The walls of Ping City were 15 meters tall and covered with all kinds of burn marks and repair marks. Many bloodstains had already seeped into the walls.
At this time, Ping City was more dilapidated than usual. There were many scattered gravel outside the city, which was left by Great Xia's catapults.
Logically speaking, the soldiers and civilians of Ping City should be able to take a good rest after the Great Xia army retreated. However, torches were lit both on and outside the city. Hong Wu led a group of generals outside the city to welcome them.
After waiting for a short while, they heard the sound of hooves coming from the darkness. Everyone was delighted.
A moment later, silhouettes began to appear in the darkness and became clearer.
Hong Wu immediately saw the heads hanging on the winged cavalry. The aboriginals didn't have the habit of cutting off their enemies' heads as trophies of war. They always carried the heads of their comrades back to the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
When he saw the glaring head hanging beside Li Tanhua's mount, Hong Wu's expression remained unchanged, but he sighed in his heart.
Lin Yaoqi was very talented, and Hong Wu thought highly of him. There was a high chance that Lin Yaoqi would reach Hong Wu's level in the future.
When he saw Qi Shui, Hong Wu shouted, "I welcome Your Majesty." At the same time, he stared daggers at Ren Baqian, who was on Qi Shui's back.
After all, this incident was because of him.
Even though the empress had returned and destroyed the Nine Pavilions to become the fifth most powerful expert in the world, he hoped that such a thing would never happen.
Not to mention that Ren Baqian was riding the same mount as the empress. He actually dared to do so, and Her Majesty actually allowed it.
Not only him, but the other generals were also astonished.
Ren Baqian felt that everyone was looking at him and felt a little awkward.
It was fine when they were outside, but now that he was riding the same mount as the empress under the watchful eyes of the generals, it seemed a little inappropriate. Furthermore, after this incident, these people definitely wouldn't like him. It was better for him to obediently jump down.
However, just as he was about to jump down from Qi Shui's back, he felt his waist go numb and couldn't move half of his body. Then, a hand grabbed onto his clothes and firmly held him in place.
"Let's talk inside the city," the empress said to everyone.
"Yes." Everyone immediately responded.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ren Baqian and the empress rode into the city together. However, Hong Wu and a few others noticed the empress's petty actions and secretly shook their heads.
When they entered the city, everyone's attention was on the winged cavalry that accompanied them. At a glance, everyone realized that there was something wrong with the number of winged cavalry. It wasn't that there were too few of them, but that there were too many of them.
At present, seven out of the ten winged cavalry teams had returned. This meant that the empress had at most three winged cavalry teams, which amounted to more than 400 people.
According to what they knew, this group of people had been intercepted at least three times. The first time was near Mt. Yuyang, and the second time was at the entrance of Mt. Lianyin. More than 6,000 Great Xia soldiers died in battle. They had already obtained this information from Great Xia, but when they looked over, they actually didn't see any decrease in the winged cavalry.
There was also the interception at the Falling Moon Gorge. Even though everyone didn't know the specifics, they could more or less make some guesses. As such, Hong Wu arranged for Lin Yaoqi to lead 1,000 soldiers to fetch the empress.
But now, the heads of those 1,000 people had been brought back. Everyone could see the heads hanging on both sides of the winged cavalry's mounts and also Lin Yaoqi's head. Logically speaking, the situation of the battle should have been very tragic, but the winged cavalry didn't suffer any casualties.
This made everyone extremely flabbergasted.
On the way back to the city, everyone did a careful count. A total of six people were missing, and there were exactly six empty mounts.
Everyone had question marks in their hearts as they didn't know what exactly happened. Were the winged cavalry really that powerful? Out of the seven other teams, only four didn't encounter any interception. The other three teams also suffered quite a lot of casualties. One of the teams only had half of its people return, and the rest were all wounded.
After entering the general's residence in the middle of Ping City, Ren Baqian was arranged to rest while the empress and the generals sat together.
"Originally, I was going to personally welcome Your Majesty, but a few days ago, Great Xia started to attack Ping City. I had no choice but to stay here and send Captain Lin Yaoqi to welcome Your Majesty. Please forgive me, Your Majesty," Hong Wu said.
"It doesn't matter." The empress waved her hand.
"Your Majesty …" Hong Wu first apologized, then couldn't help but say.
"We were really too rash this time."
The empress coldly waved her hand and said, "You don't have to say anymore, I know what I'm doing."
She had a strong aura, but one of her hands was pinching her fingers in her sleeves. How could she not know that she was rash this time? She just didn't want to hear it from others. Furthermore, she had just chosen him as her husband, and he was already poisoned to death. Furthermore, he was poisoned to death. How could she put her face?
Furthermore, she didn't want to see Ren Baqian die.
After all, in so many years, this was the first time someone had moved her heart. It was the first time she felt her heart palpitate with excitement.
It was just that she couldn't tell outsiders about these things and her maiden feelings.
Hong Wu looked at the empress for a long time and could only sigh in his heart. Her Majesty had changed. In the end, he had no choice but to ask, "Your Majesty, did your journey go smoothly?"
The empress tilted her head and thought for a while before replying, "It could be considered smooth."
"Is there any army intercepting at the Falling Moon Gorge?"
The empress sneered, "There's someone called Jia Yugong and the Zhu Mu Elders. The two of them have been waiting for decades and were lucky enough to enter the top ten in the world. They actually dared to plot against me. "
Hong Wu was slightly taken aback. The Zhu Mu Elders were indeed troublesome to deal with. They were actually invited by Great Xia.
After news of the empress beating up Hua Sanliu in the Nine Pavilions came back, he knew that Her Majesty definitely used a secret technique to stimulate her bloodline. She definitely hadn't recovered yet. Looking at her aura just now, she indeed hadn't recovered. She wasn't even at 50% of her peak condition. If she encountered the Zhu Mu Elders, it would be difficult for her to escape.
However, at this moment, the empress was sitting here safe and sound.
Immediately, he asked, "How are the two of them now?"
"Of course, I sent them to look for Hua Sanliu." The empress snorted.
Everyone in the hall was shocked. On this trip, not only did the empress kill Hua Sanliu, but she also killed the Zhu Mu Elders who had just entered the top ten. Even Hong Wu found it difficult to deal with the two of them when they joined forces.
If Ren Baqian was here, he would definitely jump out and say, "Your Majesty is well-versed in both literature and martial arts. Dongfang Bubai is the only one who reigns supreme."
However, this group of people actually only cared about exclaiming in admiration and didn't have anyone to flatter her.
Therefore, the empress always felt that Dongfang Bubai was more likable.
Hong Wu was also surprised. However, it wasn't good to ask about this matter. It was better to ask the winged cavalry later.
"Your Majesty is mighty," Hong Wu finally said. Following which, everyone in the hall cheered, "Your Majesty is mighty."
"Lin Yaoqi's troops were completely wiped out. What happened?" Hong Wu asked again. Not only did he want to know about this matter, but the others also wanted to know about it.
"You can ask the winged cavalry later." The empress shook her head slightly.
Lin Yaoqi's troops were ambushed and completely wiped out on the way. She wasn't willing to talk about this matter.
After a few more words, the empress said, "I'm tired. All of you can leave first. We will discuss this matter tomorrow."
After everyone left, only Hong Wu was left standing at the same spot.
"Great General, is there anything else?" When the empress was alone with Hong Wu, her attitude was much friendlier.
"I would like to ask if the rumor that Your Majesty poisoned everyone from the Nine Pavilions and the 4,000 people at Mount Lianyin is true?"
The empress nodded.
"Was it Deputy Prefect Ren's doing?" Hong Wu could be said to be one of the people who understood the empress the most. Perhaps there were some things that he wasn't clear about, but he was certain that the empress didn't know how to use poison.
The empress thought for a while. It should be his doing, so she continued to nod her head.
"Your Majesty, this person's methods are really dangerous. Furthermore, as far as I know, he has seen the bichi before. I'm afraid it's not appropriate for him to stay by your side," Hong Wu said.
Even though Ren Baqian looked weak and couldn't even defeat a child, it was indeed terrifying to poison thousands of people to death. Furthermore, he was by the empress's side.
However, looking at Her Majesty's previous attitude, he could only persuade her in a roundabout way and hope that she would reconsider.
"This is my personal matter. I already know about the bichi incident. There's no need to mention this matter again." The empress's face turned serious.
Seeing this, Hong Wu knew that he couldn't persuade Her Majesty anymore. He could only helplessly say, "In that case, I will send Your Majesty to rest."
The empress nodded her head slightly.
Seeing the empress walk into the room, Hong Wu withdrew his gaze and sighed after a long time.
At this moment, his mood was even more complicated than watching his daughter grow up to be played with by a pig. At first, he didn't take that person seriously. But now, he felt that he wasn't as simple as he thought.
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