Prince Zhao Arrives! My Son Zhanjun, Poor Defense!

While Zhu Zhanjun was mercilessly cleaning up the remnants of the Oirats on the snowy plains, a swift horse had already broken out of the valley, speeding towards the Great Ming's central military camp.

"Report--! Great victory! Great victory!"

The messenger scrambled into the large tent, his armor still stained with blood, but his face alight with a near-maniacal ecstasy.

"Reporting to the Emperor! Prince Zheng... Prince Zheng, he... he annihilated Yesen's five thousand hidden troops!"

"What?!"

Zhu Di shot up from his seat. Zhang Fu, Xue Lu, and the other generals around him all wore expressions of disbelief.

"What did you say? Say it again!"

Zhu Di grabbed the messenger by the collar, his eyes wide, his voice trembling.

"Prince Zheng, leading three thousand Great Snow Dragon Riders, ambushed Yesen's fifty thousand troops at Hulu Pass!"

The messenger, too excited, spoke incoherently.

"His Highness... he turned the tables, outflanked them from the rear, and with one charge... one charge, he broke through the Oirat formation!"

"Yesen... Yesen was shot off his horse by His Highness himself and captured alive!"

"The fifty thousand Oirat army, except for a few who fled, was almost... completely wiped out!"

"Hiss--"

A collective gasp echoed through the tent.

Ambushed?

Captured Yesen alive?

Annihilated fifty thousand troops?

These words, strung together, formed an unparalleled impact that struck the hearts of these battle-hardened old generals.

They had won battles before, even classic battles of fewer against more.

But three thousand against fifty thousand, while being ambushed, not only winning but winning so decisively, and even capturing the enemy commander alive...

This was beyond their comprehension of warfare.

"That kid... that kid..."

Zhu Di released the messenger, his lips moving for a long time, yet he found no words to describe his feelings.

Shock?

Surprise?

Or... fear?

He realized that his perception of his grandson had once again been redefined.

He thought he had overestimated him, but in reality, he had still vastly underestimated him.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Fu forced himself to snap out of his immense shock. He bowed to Zhu Di, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"This is Heaven protecting our Great Ming! Prince Zheng has achieved an unparalleled feat!"

"Issue my decree!"

Zhu Di took a deep breath, the complex emotions in his eyes finally transforming into a sweeping pride.

"The entire army will break camp! Advance to Hulu Pass! To support my grandson!"

"Also, send people to interrogate! Interrogate those Oirat prisoners thoroughly!"

"I want to know how Yesen knew my grandson's marching route! Why did he dare to set an ambush there!"

Zhu Di's voice was bone-chillingly cold.

He wasn't a fool; Yesen's ambush was suspiciously thorough.

Without an inside mole, such a thing could never have happened.

Soon, the Embroidered Uniform Guard brought back several captured Oirat Commanders of Ten Thousand from the Hulu Pass battlefield.

Under the Embroidered Uniform Guard's torture, which could make an iron man confess, those Commanders of Ten Thousand couldn't last half an hour before crying out and revealing everything.

When the blood-stained confession was placed before Zhu Di, the temperature in the entire central military tent seemed to drop to freezing point.

The confession clearly stated that messengers sent by Prince Han and Prince Zhao had actively contacted Yesen, leaking Zhu Zhanjun's unit's marching route and deployment, and promising to divide Mobei after the deed was done.

"Good... good..."

Zhu Di looked at the confession, trembling with rage. He slammed his palm onto the table, and the commander's desk, made of hard wood, was shattered into pieces by his strike.

"Good sons... my good sons!"

"I'm not dead yet! And they dare collude with foreign enemies to harm the imperial grandson!"

"Guards!"

Zhu Di roared.

"Summon Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu and Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui to see me immediately!"

Meanwhile, Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu and Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui were leading their "reinforcement" army, which had arrived fashionably late, just outside the perimeter of the Ming army's camp.

All along the way, they had been fantasizing about how, upon their arrival, they would find Zhu Di surrounded, then lead their troops in a charge, crush the enemy army, achieve unparalleled merit, and thus win the Emperor's favor.

"Second Brother, do you think Father Emperor will be so moved to tears when he sees us?"

Zhu Gaosui asked, a smug smile on his face as he rode his horse.

"Naturally!"

Zhu Gaoxu puffed out his chest, an arrogant expression on his face.

"We are Father Emperor's most capable sons! Eldest Brother, that fatty, and Zhanji, that bookworm, how can they compare to us?"

"As for that useless Zhanjun..."

A glint of malice flashed in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes.

"By now, he should have been chopped into mincemeat by Yesen."

"Failure to protect the Emperor and dying in the chaos of battle—no one will say anything."

The two looked at each other and smiled, seeing the undisguised ambition and smugness in each other's eyes.

Just then, a panicked eunuch on a swift horse galloped up to them.

"Your Highness Prince Han, Your Highness Prince Zhao, the Emperor... the Emperor's oral decree is to summon both Your Highnesses to the central command tent for an immediate audience!"