Just as Helen had said, when she and Han Shuo returned to the army's encampment, her family's trusted followers knew nothing about it. Feluodia had clearly acted on his own, intending to capture Helen alive and take her away.
Feluodia's carefully laid plan had been to take Helen back to the Xilun Duchy and hand her over to Marquis Kekalu. Once her family's troops lost Helen, their pillar of support, Kekalu, backed by Benedict Sackville, would surely be able to defeat them and take the position of Grand Duke of the Xilun Duchy.
After Han Shuo and Helen returned to the encampment, they did not openly appear together before everyone. With Han Shuo's abilities, meeting Helen without anyone noticing presented no difficulty at all.
They were not far from the Xilun Duchy. After returning, Helen dealt with the matter of Feluodia, saying that they had encountered assassins along the way and all met unfortunate ends. She did not reveal Feluodia's betrayal.
The next day, the army headed back toward the Xilun Duchy, with Han Shuo following unnoticed.
The Xilun Duchy was equivalent to a province of the Lancelot Empire, with five cities and more than a dozen towns of various sizes. Xilun City, in the middle, was the duchy's center and was governed by its Grand Duke. The other four city lords were marquises, one of whom Helen Tina had killed during the previous internal uprising.
Marquis Kekalu was the lord of Xijie City, one of those four cities. During the previous uprising, Kekalu had shown no intention of rebelling, yet now he had suddenly made his move. The man certainly knew how to bide his time.
Han Shuo returned to the Xilun Duchy with Helen. This time, Helen's personal guard numbered thirty thousand, all commanded by trusted members of