Isolated town in northern border region

We've arrived in Cangwu City.

Xiao Lie reined in his horse and looked at the last prefecture in the northern border region.

The city wall is still standing, but it is riddled with holes. Half of the crenellations have collapsed, and most of the tiles on the city gate tower have been blown away by the wind, revealing the charred wooden beams.

The city gate was wide open, with one of the two door panels leaning askew and the other lying on the ground, bearing traces of fire.

On the city wall, several military flags of the Great Chu were torn to pieces, thrashing in the cold wind as if weeping for the city.

The number of people entering and leaving the city gate was sparse, and they all hunched over, shrank their necks, had no expression on their faces, and their eyes were empty.

Bisu followed behind Xiao Lie, biting her lip, her eyes reddening.

"Your Highness, this..."

Xiao Lie did not answer.

He looked around for a long time before finally dismounting. His boots made a dull thud as they stepped onto the frozen, hard earth.

The honor guard followed lazily behind.

Fifty people, fifty horses, flags askew, and someone yawning.

These men were drawn from the Imperial Guards in the capital; none of them were willing to come to the northern frontier to die.

The way they looked at Xiao Lie was no different from how they looked at an exiled prisoner.

The junior officer leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Your Highness, the government office is in the east of the city. Let's hurry. This place... is not safe."

Xiao Lie glanced at him but didn't say anything.

The group entered the city.

The houses on both sides of the street were low and dilapidated; some had collapsed halfway, and some had their doors removed and used as firewood.

Several elderly people squatted at the base of the wall, motionless, like clay sculptures.

A child sat on the doorstep, holding a broken bowl. The bowl was half full of something black, and it was impossible to tell what it was.

Just then, cries came from ahead.

It's not just one person crying; it's many people crying.

The screams of women, the cries of children, the pleas of the elderly, along with the sounds of banging on doors, cursing, and things breaking, all mingled together like a boiling pot of nightmares.

Xiao Lie reined in his horse.

Bisu's face turned pale.

"Your Highness..."

Dust billowed at the street intersection ahead.

A group of figures were moving about, dressed in tattered military uniforms, holding knives and guns, kicking down doors, dragging civilians, and throwing grain sacks onto horses.

An elderly man with white hair was holding the leg of a defeated soldier and crying out.

"Sir, that's my whole family's food supply!"

He was then kicked to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time.

A young woman was dragged out of a house by two fleeing soldiers. Her clothes were torn in half. She struggled desperately and screamed for help.

But no one came forward to help.

"They are defeated soldiers from the Great Chu..."

Bisu's voice trembled.

Xiao Lie remained silent.

He sat on horseback, his gaze sweeping across the entire street corner, like an eagle counting its prey.

The defeated soldiers numbered about 120 to 130; they were organized and not scattered individuals.

Among the crowd was a man in his thirties on horseback, with a scar on his face that ran from his eyebrow to his jaw. He was carrying a knife and shouting orders.

"Your Highness, let's retreat outside the city and take shelter for a while."

The junior officer leaned closer, his voice very low.

"There are only a few dozen of us, and these defeated soldiers are in a frenzy. We can't stop them."

Xiao Lie didn't look at him.

He dismounted and drew his sword from his waist.

The sword tip scraped against the quiet street with a particularly harsh sound, like tearing a piece of silk.

"stop!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it was full of energy, cutting through the cries and noise, and clearly reaching the ears of every fleeing soldier.

The fleeing soldiers turned around.

What they saw was a young man in white, holding a long sword, standing in the middle of the street.

Behind him were dozens of crooked cavalrymen, their flags embroidered with the words "King Ning of Great Chu" and "Pacifier of the Northern Border".

The defeated soldiers were taken aback at first.

Then he laughed.

"Prince Ning? That deposed bastard prince?"

"Hahaha, you wouldn't be trying to gain military merit at this hellish place, would you?"

The scarred leader reined in his horse and turned around, glancing sideways at Xiao Lie with a contemptuous smile on his lips.

"Oh, so it really is a prince! What, bringing dozens of people to entertain me?"

Several defeated soldiers joined in the laughter, showing no regard whatsoever for Xiao Lie's accompanying imperial guards.

In their eyes, the Imperial Guards were nothing more than a bunch of naive children hiding in the capital.

Xiao Lie ignored him.

He took out a bright yellow imperial edict from his bosom, unfolded it, and held it above his head.

The north wind made the imperial edict flutter loudly, but the words on it were still clearly visible.

"I am Xiao Lie, the Prince of Ning of the Great Chu and the eldest son of the late Emperor! I have been ordered to pacify the northern frontier."

"You are soldiers of the Great Chu army, plundering the people. What is your crime?"

His voice was calm and authoritative, conveying authority without anger.

The north wind lashed his face, but he didn't even squint.

The laughter of the fleeing soldiers subsided somewhat.

The imperial edict is genuine, and his status as the late emperor's eldest son is also real!

They might not be afraid of a prince who had been banished from the capital, but they wouldn't dare to easily lay a hand on the late emperor's son.

The entire northern border was reclaimed by the late emperor at the cost of his life from the hooves of the northern barbarians. Now, every renowned general in the northern border was personally promoted by the late emperor.

Although the late emperor has been gone for seven years, no one in the five northern prefectures has forgotten his towering figure.

The scarred leader's expression changed for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal and spat on the ground.

"The late emperor's son? You? You dare to challenge me?"

He spurred his horse forward two steps, the tip of his knife pointing directly at Xiao Lie's chest, less than a foot from his clothes.

"I've been risking my life on the frontier for three years, and I've never seen a penny!"

"If I don't take it myself, am I supposed to wait for a piece of trash like you to pay my salary? Who do you think you are!"

"waste!"

He tilted his head, making his smile even uglier.

"However, you are, after all, a prince. If you want to stand up for yourself, then hand over all your valuables!"

"If I'm in a good mood, I might just give you face."

Someone in the honor guard took a half step back; the sound of armor clashing was very soft, but Xiao Lie heard it.

Xiao Lie did not move, nor did he even look at the knife pointed at his chest.

He just stared into the scarred leader's eyes as if he were looking at a dead man.

Then, a slight smirk appeared on his lips. He reached for his waist and slowly unfastened the jade pendant.

A jade pendant with dragon design bestowed by the late emperor!

With a warm and smooth texture and exquisite carving, five dragons are intertwined, gleaming faintly in the hazy light of the sky.

He held the jade pendant up to the light and said casually.

"This jade was a gift from the late Emperor. How much is it worth? Three thousand taels? Five thousand taels?"

The scarred leader's eyes widened.

Not only him, but the eyes of the fleeing soldiers behind him also widened.

They looted all day, but the grain and copper coins they stole weren't even worth a hundred taels of silver.

This jade pendant is enough for them to live on for a lifetime, enough to buy land and fields in the countryside, get married and have children.

The scarred leader swallowed hard, and the tip of his knife unconsciously lowered.

"Your Highness...is he really planning to show filial piety to me?"

His voice was filled with undisguised greed.

Xiao Lie smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly, like a cunning fox.

He weighed the jade pendant in his hand, as if it were a worthless trinket. The jade turned over in his palm and then fell back into his hand.

"want to?"

"Come and get it."

The scarred leader didn't move.

His two trusted men behind him couldn't resist any longer. They spurred their horses forward a couple of steps, their hooves making a crisp sound as they trod on the gravel.

Xiao Lie stood still, holding a sword in one hand and a jade pendant in the other, like a hunter luring his prey.

His posture was relaxed, even somewhat lazy, like a spoiled brat showing off his treasures.

"I am new to this place and unfamiliar with both people and people."

His voice was light and airy, carrying a hint of weakness.

"You have been stationed at the border for many years and must have a wide network of connections. I would like to make friends with you."

"Consider this piece of jade a small gift."

The scarred leader narrowed his eyes.

He stared at Xiao Lie's face, then at the jade, his mind racing with calculations.

That kid really is a good-for-nothing!

A prince actually wanted to buy his way out?

How could the late emperor have such a son?

He grinned, revealing a few yellow teeth.

He dismounted, strode up to Xiao Lie, and reached out to take the jade pendant.

"You're smart to know your place..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Xiao Lie's sword moved.

There was no cold glint, no sword aura, just an ordinary sword strike, slicing upwards across the scarred leader's throat.

fast!

The smile on the scarred leader's face hadn't even faded by the time they arrived.

They arrived so fast that the people around them hadn't even realized what was happening.

Blood spurted out, like a red ribbon.

The scarred leader clutched his throat, making a "hoarse" sound, like a chicken whose neck had been stepped on.

He staggered a couple of steps, fell to his knees with a thud, then lay on the ground, twitched a few times, and remained motionless.

Blood flowed from below his neck, spreading across a small patch of frozen earth, steaming hot.

The whole street was deathly silent, as if even the wind had stopped.

Xiao Lie squatted down, took his jade pendant back from the scarred leader, wiped the blood off the corpse's clothes, and hung it back on his waist.

His movements were slow and careful, as if he were doing something very ordinary.

Then he stood up and looked at the group of routed soldiers.

"Who else wants it?"