Noble First Daughter-in-law

Chapter 1085 Disastrous Failure
In the early morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone through the thick clouds onto the vast grassland, countless vultures and goshawks were already circling in the sky.

The sunlight also illuminated the tragic scene on earth.

In Huyang Valley, corpses were everywhere, as the troops on both sides retreated quickly and only buried the bodies of the dead soldiers in a hurry. The thin layer of soil could not cover up the stench of the corpses. The bloody smell attracted nearby jackals and hyenas to compete for food. These beasts made greedy growls and dug out pale and incomplete limbs from the soil, with faces of fear and regret.

Then, footsteps were heard from one side of the valley.

The sound was not loud. The beasts first looked up vigilantly, and then found that there were not many people coming, so they did not leave, but just tore the flesh and blood hard.

The faces of the people who saw this scene showed not only regret and unwillingness, but also a bit of desolation, especially Gao Feng and Jiang Kesheng, who had not slept all night and had red eyes. The two of them directed their men to shout loudly and wave swords, trying to drive away the beasts. The jackals and hyenas were frightened and took two steps back, but then came back bravely and continued to gnaw.

Jiang Kesheng sighed, then turned to Gao Feng, who was still having people search for the body, and said, "Brother Gao, the princess must not be here."

Gao Feng looked up at him: "Oh?"

Jiang Kesheng said: "My people saw that the princess and her companions did not escape into the valley, but were surrounded by the enemy's generals - if the enemy knew her identity as the princess, they would definitely not kill her easily."

"..."

"Besides, they were walking so fast and they didn't go to Tongguan. I guess they were going back to Hulaoguan."

"..."

"His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is at Hulao Pass now. A living Princess Qin is priceless to them."

"..."

Hearing this, Gao Feng's face showed a mixed expression of worry and joy - he was happy that Shang Ruyi was fine. After all, this was the eldest lady he had protected for many years, and now she had become the Princess of Qin, and was extremely precious. If he had not protected her well and she had lost her life, then he, Gao Feng, would not have to go back to see the Shen couple alive.

What worries me is...

He took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and said to Jiang Kesheng: "In this case, let's go to Hulao Pass and tell Qin the news-"

Before the word "king" was uttered, the jackals and hyenas that were eating the corpses suddenly raised their heads and looked behind them.

There was a sudden sound of heavy horse hooves accompanied by a slight vibration of the ground. Everyone felt something and looked quickly towards the front of the valley. They saw a group of people and horses galloping towards them on the open grassland, and soon they were right in front of them.

Jiang Kesheng had sharp eyes and recognized the tall figure leading the way at a glance. He said in surprise, "Your Highness!"

Gao Feng also rushed over.

A large group of people and horses came galloping, and immediately scared the jackals and hyenas into fleeing in all directions. Jiang Kesheng and Gao Feng led the rest of the people and ran out of Huyang Valley. As soon as they reached the valley entrance, the group of people and horses stopped. The people at the front of the team tightened the reins, and the horses under them neighed and stood up, stomping heavily on the ground that was already soaked with blood with their raised hooves, stirring up a cloud of dust filled with the smell of blood, which also made the people on the horse frown.

The person who came was none other than Yuwen Ye, who had rushed from Hulao Pass with his men overnight.

Jiang Kesheng, Gao Feng and everyone else hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "Your Highness, we are here to see Your Highness!" Yuwen Ye did not speak, but glanced at everyone with a solemn look that carried a hint of fear - just now, when he was running towards here, he had already smelled the blood and corpse stench in the wind from afar, and saw vultures circling in the sky, and heard the howling of jackals and hyenas, but he did not hear the sound of fighting. He had already felt something in his heart, until he got closer and closer to Huyang Valley, looking at the tragic scene here and the figures of Jiang Kesheng and others, his heart sank completely.

At this time, he took a deep breath and finally allowed himself to speak, but his deep voice was unusually hoarse: "Where is she?"

When everyone heard this, they all lowered their heads.

Only Jiang Kesheng had no choice but to slowly raise his head, and he met Yuwen Ye's bloodshot red eyes, which were staring at him as if they wanted to dig out his blood and bones.

Jiang Kesheng immediately lowered his head and said, "I deserve to die."

Yuwen Ye gritted his teeth and said, "I ask, where is she?"

Jiang Kesheng knocked his head heavily on the ground, unable to utter a word.

And his actions have already said it all.

He rushed here day and night, and his already tense nerves were like a bow that had been stretched to the limit. At this moment, there was a buzzing sound in his head, as if the bowstring had broken. Yuwen Ye felt a black screen in front of his eyes, and he almost fell off his horse.

The few guards following behind him had already dismounted, but when they saw this, they hurried forward and said, "Your Highness!"

Yuwen Ye instinctively tightened his grip on the reins and managed to stabilize himself. People around him could even hear the sound of him gritting his teeth. He then said in a deep voice, "What's going on? Tell me clearly!"

Jiang Kesheng raised his head at this time, his pale face full of regret, and said: "After we forced Ashina Zhuye's troops to retreat in Xiazhou, we followed the princess all the way south, preparing to rush to Dongdu to meet up with Your Highness, but just four days ago, we suddenly heard that a large group of troops from Hebei were going to pass through Huyang Valley. The princess sent people to spy and verify several times, and confirmed that the other party was Xiao Yuansui's subordinates, and they took this road, most likely to march into Guanzhong, so-"

Having said this, he was so regretful that he could hardly continue.

In fact, he had advised Shang Ruyi that even though their team of heavily armored cavalry had shown great prowess when facing the Turkic Khan Zhuye before, facing an enemy force of tens of thousands, it would be like an ant trying to shake a tree, and they would most likely be defeated here.

And Shang Ruyi was not unaware of the truth.

But at this point, she and they had no other choice. Once these 80,000 troops passed through the Huyang Valley, Chang'an, which was already undermanned, would be threatened, and Yuwen Ye and his men would have to turn back to rescue. In this way, the Eastern Capital, which was halfway conquered, would be in vain.

and so--

Gao Feng's throat choked and he said in a deep voice: "The princess has decided to defend Huyang Valley."

Yuwen Ye kept squeezing the reins, his knuckles crackling, and asked, "And then?"

Jiang Kesheng raised his head and looked at him, his eyes red as he said, "Yesterday, the enemy army took a detour to the back of the valley, and the princess and the others were all captured!"

Yuwen Ye took a deep breath and then asked, "Where are they going now?"

Gao Feng immediately said, "After they captured the princess, they did not continue forward through Huyang Valley, but turned back. If I am not mistaken, they should have gone south to Luoyang."