A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

When Luo Shao fell off his horse, his guards were nearly driven mad with fright.

"Your Highness!"

"Help the prince!"

Luo Shao's face was half-buried in the mud, and his lips trembled several times before he could catch his breath.

He didn't die.

But that last stab almost killed me.

"Pingyang...has fallen?"

He grabbed the scout by the collar, his eyes bloodshot and frightening.

"Say it again!"

The scout knelt on the ground, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Your Highness, Pingyang City has fallen. General Chen Sen has died in battle, and his deputy was also killed by Wei Zhao with an arrow. The east gate has been opened, most of the Qinggu Army has surrendered, and the Xinwu Army has changed its flag."

Luo Shao's vision went black again.

Two hundred thousand.

That's two hundred thousand!

It wasn't 20,000, it wasn't 2,000; it was the wealth he had accumulated over the years, the city of Pingyang, the granaries, the armor, and the foundation that gave him the confidence to call himself the King of Weinan.

He only asked Chen Sen to stay for seven days.

Seven days!

It's that simple: close the city gates, let the logs and stones roll down, conserve the food, and wait for the Ninth Prince's reinforcements to arrive.

Is this difficult?

As a result, Chen Sen lost his way in half a day.

long time!

Luo Shao let out a strange laugh, which made all the guards lower their heads, not daring to look at him.

"Chen Sen is an idiot."

He gritted his teeth, his nails almost digging into the guard's wrist.

"I ordered him to defend the city, but who told him to play the hero? Who told him to trample on Wei Zhao? Does he even deserve it?"

No one dared to answer.

After Luo Shao finished cursing, he felt even more choked up.

When Pingyang was lost, he didn't just lose an arm; his spine was broken.

Sixteen cities were lost, Pingyang was lost, the granary was lost, and the main force of the Qinggu Army surrendered.

King of Weinan?

What does he have left now?

A royal title, a group of scattered soldiers, and allies in the Nine Kings' Tent who, though seemingly lively, are actually allies who want to use him as a stepping stone.

Luo Shao felt colder and colder as he thought about it.

Wei Zhao will not stop just because Pingyang has fallen.

That man could manage grain supplies, pacify the people, and accept surrendered soldiers. He would then use his grain to feed the millions of refugees in Golden City, use his armor to replenish the Xinwu Army, and finally use his head to frighten those nine bastards in Chenqiao.

The accounts are crystal clear.

It was so clear that Luo Shao felt like vomiting blood.

"Has the Xinwu Army caught up yet?"

The scout quickly reported, "After entering the city, Wei Zhao did not immediately pursue them. He is currently inventorying the treasury, accepting the surrender of the Qinggu Army, and posting notices to reassure the people."

Didn't they pursue it?

Luo Shao had just begun to have a glimmer of hope when he immediately strangled himself to death.

It's not that we won't pursue it.

Wei Zhao wasn't in a hurry at all.

That's even scarier.

People in a hurry will panic, and panic will expose their weaknesses.

But the fact that Wei Zhao was able to stabilize the city, the grain supply, and the surrendered soldiers after conquering Pingyang shows that he didn't consider himself a problem at all.

In Wei Zhao's eyes, Luo Shao was already meat in the pot.

It's just a matter of eating it a little earlier or a little later.

"no."

Luo Shao pushed aside his guards and staggered toward the Chenqiao camp.

"Send a message! Send a message to the Ninth Prince!"

His voice cracked.

"Pingyang has fallen, and the reinforcements cannot proceed along the original route! Make them change course! Change course immediately! Anyone who continues along the original route is simply committing suicide!"

The guards scrambled to fetch the horse.

Luo Shao stood there, his hands still trembling.

He realized it was too late.

With the loss of Pingyang, all the routes that could have directly reached the outskirts of Pingyang were now exposed to Wei Zhao's watchful eye.

If the Red Blade Army continues along the original route, it will not be a rescue, but rather handing their necks to the blades of the New Martial Army.

We need to go around it.

Taking a detour takes time.

What he lacks most is time.

When the battle report was delivered to the main tent in Chenqiao, Han Dashan was holding a wine bowl.

Upon hearing the first sentence, the wine bowl in his hand froze in mid-air.

"What did you say?"

The scout lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to lift his head.

"Pingyang City has fallen."

Old Zhou stopped playing with the short knife.

The smile on Du Heng's face also disappeared.

Qin Lie stood in front of the military map, his finger pressed on the Pingyang position, and didn't move it for a long time.

No one spoke in the tent, except for the cup lid next to Xue Feng tapping lightly.

Han Dashan stared at the scout, his thick face twitching.

"Didn't Chen Sen have 200,000?"

"Yes."

"Isn't Pingyang a city with high walls and thick ramparts?"

"Yes."

"Isn't the grain enough to last two months?"

"Yes."

Han Dashan suddenly kicked over the table.

"How the hell did it disappear in such a short time?!"

The scout crouched even lower.

No one could answer that.

They knew Wei Zhaoqiang.

With Lu Song killed, Xin Wu established, the Sacred Fire extinguished, and sixteen cities of Weinan captured in three days, no one dared to regard Wei Zhao as a sickly man relying on the ancestral blessings of the Wei family.

How could they take Pingyang, which was defended by 200,000 men, in half a day?

This is not strength.

They just overturned the chessboard they had just set up.

Du Heng looked down at the military map, his fingers slowly tightening.

He had originally planned to use the Huainan navy to intercept the Xinwu grain route and delay Wei Zhao for a few days.

But now that the Pingyang granary has fallen into Wei Zhao's hands, whether or not the grain supply is cut off in the short term, it may not hurt Wei Zhao.

That's disgusting.

While they were still calculating what Wei Zhao lacked, Wei Zhao had already taken Luo Shao's entire treasury for himself.

Old Zhou stood up.

"The Red Blade Army cannot follow the original route."

Han Dashan looked at him.

Old Zhou's face looked very grim.

"Pingyang is in Wei Zhao's hands, and the eastern official road is his Achilles' heel. If my 30,000 troops continue forward, they will be attacked from the flank as soon as they leave the southern route of Chenqiao."

Ma Chengyi cursed.

"Then what do we do? Watch Luo Shao die?"

The tent fell silent again.

Watching Luo Shao die is unacceptable.

How can we save it?

The original plan was to hold off Wei Zhao in Pingyang for seven days, while the Ninth Prince's reinforcements would advance from several directions, forcing the Xinwu army to retreat.

Pingyang was gone in half a day, and instead became a thorn in Wei Zhao's side.

Qin Lie finally spoke.

"Reinforcements halt."

If Luo Shao were inside the tent, he would probably jump up and curse on the spot.

Han Dashan's eyes darkened.

"stop?"

Qin Lie pointed to the military map.

"It's not that we don't want to help, it's that we can't follow the original route. The Red Blade Army will take the Nanliang Road, the Iron Ridge Army will go through the West Pass, and the Hedong Army will cross the Qingshi Ridge. The three routes will be staggered, so we don't all rush into Pingyang at once."

Xu Zhongmou frowned.

"The detour will add at least three more days."

Qin Lie glanced at him.

"Do you have a faster way?"

Xu Zhongmou, shut up.

Three days may not seem like much, but in Wei Zhao's hands, it could mean a city, an army, or a head.

Xue Feng's face turned pale, and he finally stopped putting on airs as a member of the old Wei imperial family.

"If Weinan is gone, will Anling be next?"

This time, no one laughed at him.

Because everyone is thinking the same thing.

Wei Zhao's knife was too fast.

By the time they had just begun to combine their forces, the front lines had already changed dramatically.

Han Dashan slowly sat back down, his palms resting on the edge of the table.

"The Black Mountain Army's vanguard moved thirty li south."

Old Zhou looked at him.

Han Dashan gritted his teeth.

"Don't look at me like that. Luo Shao can die, but Wei Zhao can't be allowed to devour him so easily."

He didn't like Luo Shao.

Even that useless Luo Shao has his uses.

Even if it's just a piece of trash, it can still give you a chance to catch your breath.

If Wei Zhao were to swallow Weinan whole, the next target would be Chenqiao.

Then these so-called rebel kings will have to see for themselves just how tough the White-Clad Killer's spear really is.

On the city wall of Pingyang, when Wei Zhao returned the longbow to his personal guard, his shoulder and arm were still aching.

That arrow shot felt great.

The deputy general was nailed to the ground three miles away, and the Qinggu Army on the city wall was terrified on the spot. Pingyang changed its flag within half a day.

Standing atop the city wall, Wei Zhao looked toward Anling and whispered, "Luo Shao will be destroyed in ten days at most."