The news struck Zhuge Jingcheng like a rolling thunderbolt, sending him staggering several steps backward.
His eyes widened. He felt his hopes and his official career slipping away.
He still wanted to put up a fight, but on one side of the city wall, an army bore down on him with the force of a blade splitting bamboo.
On the other side, a little over a hundred people had cut their way through the thousands from the Escort Guild and the Cave of No Worries.
Whichever side he looked at, the situation was grim.
His cause was lost...
But Zhuge Jingcheng could not understand how such a favorable situation had turned into a failure to capture even a hundred rebels.
These were no ordinary rebels, but he was a Provincial Governor!
"Governor, should we send troops to suppress them?"
Beside him, an officer asked gravely.
Qingzhou City had ten thousand elite soldiers. If they were sent in, capturing all hundred-odd rebels would be no problem.
"Father! Don't cause any more casualties! Let us go!"
Just then, a piercing cry rang out from the other side of the wall.
Zhuge Jingcheng's heart trembled, and he hurried over to the other side.
He found Zhuge Qing standing below the wall, shouting up at him.
Fury surged through Zhuge Jingcheng. He immediately snatched a bow and arrow from a nearby soldier, drew the bow, and aimed at her.
"Governor!"
"What are you doing?"
The soldiers beside him did not know that Zhuge Qing was not Zhuge Jingcheng's biological daughter. The sight terrified them.
Zhuge Jingcheng said nothing. He simply kept the arrow trained on her.
Trembling hands were a cardinal sin when drawing a bow. As a Provincial Governor, Zhuge Jingcheng should never have made such a mistake.
But the person he was aiming at now was his own daughter, and he could not keep his hands from shaking.
Scenes of his past with his daughter flashed before Zhuge Jingcheng's eyes like flowers glimpsed from a galloping horse, making his hands tremble even harder.
He thought his daughter would dodge. Failing that, Ning Que, standing beside her, would save her.
But Zhuge Qing did not move aside. She simply stood in the snow, her breath misting in the cold as she looked up at him.
Ning Que showed no intention of protecting her either. He merely cleared the obstacles from her path.
Their calm gazes seemed to say—If you want to kill your daughter so badly, then do it.
"..."
In the end, that arrow never flew.
With both hands trembling, Zhuge Jingcheng finally lowered the bow.
It was a strange feeling. He clearly wanted to kill this daughter who was not his own flesh and blood, yet he simply could not bring himself to do it.
"Governor, are we still sending the troops?"
Beside him, the officer asked hesitantly.
Zhuge Jingcheng returned to the outward-facing side of the wall. He had spent nearly all this time running between the two sides.
Looking down at the dark mass of troops below, Zhuge Jingcheng's expression changed.
True, if he sent his army to suppress them, Ning Que's hundred men would amount to little.
But equally, the moment they dared to act, every member of Flowing Sand under Mu Lingfeng's command would attack en masse.
His troops did have better equipment, but everyone on Flowing Sand's side was an expert.
"Open the gates!"
Zhuge Jingcheng gave the order.
The messenger from the Capital City beside him blanched. "You mustn't! Governor Zhuge, have you forgotten the Minister's orders? Even if you die, you cannot let these rebels leave!"
"Shhk!"
The next instant, cold steel flashed.
Zhuge Jingcheng suddenly drew his sword, and a head flew into the air.
It was the messenger's head.
This time, Zhuge Jingcheng's hands did not shake.
"I said, open the damned gates."
Zhuge Jingcheng slowly exhaled. For the first time, he felt a chill.
"Rumble..."
The enormous city gates swung open with a deafening rumble.
At that moment, everyone stopped fighting as one and silently watched the gates slowly opening.
Ning Que looked at Zhuge Qing and let out a long breath. "We can get out now..."
Zhuge Qing said nothing, but at that moment, she felt an urge to burst into tears.
The other escorts and Bounty Hunters were also panting heavily as they lowered their blades.
The instant the gates opened, they knew they had lost.
Several thousand people had failed to kill a mere hundred-odd rebels.
The gates slowly opened, gradually revealing Flowing Sand's main force.
Ning Que led Yin Jiuyou and the others toward them.
He panted heavily, excitement dancing in his eyes.
Because this was the force backing him!
They might be rebels, but rebels could overturn the entire Dynasty!
Amid the swirling snow, Ning Que led his group of several hundred to join Flowing Sand's force of nearly ten thousand.
Not a sound was uttered along the way. There was only the crunch, crunch of shoes treading through snow.
Only a few hundred meters remained, yet the road felt so long.
Mu Lingfeng, Luo Qingwan, and the others fixed their gazes on Ning Que, their eyes brimming with excitement and emotion.
This was the former Juzi's son!
He was not only striking in appearance, but gifted in both strategy and warfare.
Had Ning Que not repeatedly turned back the raging tide along the way, Yin Jiuyou alone could never have brought them to the main force.
"The snow stopped..."
Ning Que looked up at the sky.
Dawn was breaking now, and the snow had stopped along with it.
Without realizing it, they had fought their way through the city for an entire night...
The following morning.
Li Province, the Capital City.
A secret letter was urgently delivered to the residence of Wang Yong, Minister of Personnel.
Wang Yong had stayed awake all night, waiting for good news.
Soon, a letter was brought in.
Wang Yong tore it open impatiently.
But as soon as he finished reading, his expression changed.
"They let them escape?!"
He had been growing drowsy, but now all trace of sleepiness vanished.
He practically leaped to his feet and hurried off in a particular direction.
Morning court was approaching.
The civil and military officials made their way to court in twos and threes.
Within the court, the civil and military ministers had formed their own little factions.
For instance, Wang Yong, Minister of War, Zhao Chengfeng, Minister of War, and Deng Shigao, an envoy from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, belonged to one such faction.
They had jointly issued the orders to send men after Ning Que and ensure he remained in Qingzhou.
"Minister Wang, what has you in such a panic?"
Zhao Chengfeng asked with a cheerful smile.
"Something terrible has happened! Zhuge Jingcheng, the Provincial Governor of Qingzhou, failed to capture those rebels and let them escape!"
"What? He didn't catch them?"
His words landed like a thunderclap. Zhao Chengfeng's and Deng Shigao's expressions immediately changed.
Zhao Chengfeng, the Minister of War, was particularly furious. "How could Zhuge Jingcheng fail to catch them? He's a Provincial Governor, yet he couldn't even capture a rebel? What an utter disgrace!"
Stroking his goatee, Deng Shigao said slowly, "Now that he's escaped Qingzhou, I fear the mountains will be high and the emperor far away. No one will be able to threaten him anymore!"
A sharp glint flashed in Wang Yong's eyes. "No hurry. I've already included the events in Qingzhou and the murder of Lotus Town's county magistrate in a memorial. When morning court begins, I'll report it to Her Majesty at once! Let her decide!"
Deng Shigao's and Zhao Chengfeng's eyes both lit up.
They had merely wanted to conceal the marriage alliance, but now Ning Que was a rebel!
They could leave the marriage alliance entirely unmentioned and simply report that rebels were plotting a revolt!
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