Gu Yunxi opened her eyes faintly, hearing constant cries of horror.

"Sister, sister... Wake up please..."

It was Prince Chen!

Shocked, Gu Yunxi sat up.

Lanxin was lying under the bed with a pale face. Blood had solidified at the corner of her mouth and her whole body was motionless and lifeless.

Prince Chen sat aside, covering his face and crying so badly,

"Lanxin!"

Gu Yunxi was shocked. She jumped barefoot to the ground without embroidered shoes and went prone beside Lanxin.

"Lanxin, what happened to you? Lanxin!"

What her fingers touched was a cold and slightly stiff body.

With a "buzz" in her head, Gu Yunxi sat on the ground limply with her tears rolling down from her blank eyes.

Lanxin died!

Why?

Before she lay down to sleep, Lanxin was still alive and kicking, following others to the front hall to have lunch.

But after she woke up, she, she unexpectedly...

Gu Yunxi turned her head blankly and faced Prince Chen with tears falling like rain. She grabbed his shoulders and shook them violently.

"Tell me. Tell me! What happened when I was asleep? How could Lanxin... How could she..."

"...I'm scared, little sister. I'm so scared!"

Treated by the girl like this, Prince Chen cried more loudly. He plunged his head into her arms, seeming to be irritated by something, and his body trembled severely.

"Ghost. There was a ghost... Just now the ghost rushed into the room and killed sister Lanxin. It was him. It was he who killed sister Lanxin..."

Ghost?

Gu Yunxi finally understood, gritted her teeth, and looked at the window sash.

As expected, it was wide open and she could see the courtyard in the room.

Gu Yunxi closed her eyes, her tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Your Highness, did that man wear a mask?"

The man on her opposite side nodded vigorously, looking horrified, and replied in a trembling voice.

"Yes, it was him... He was just the ghost who bit me in the imperial garden!"

"Ooh, Lanxin..."

Gu Yunxi trembled and crawled to the cold body, crying again.

She was still thinking about what happened when she entered the Palace. She finally found Lanxin, but Lanxin died tragically within a few days after entering the Eastern Depot. She really didn't know how to explain to Fan Lin when she met him in the future.

The other side of sorrow was hatred, overwhelming hatred!

She had the right prediction. As soon as she changed her appearance, the vicious masked man chased to the Eastern Depot then.

His purpose in killing Lanxin, her close friend, was only to warn her.

He also hated her. He hated her betrayal!

The cry of the man and the lady attracted Xiaoshen and his wife.

The banquet in the front hall would end soon, but Gu Yunxi hadn't arrived yet. So they came over to call her.

Entering the yard, they heard the sorrowful crying. The couple knew that something must be wrong, so they rushed to Gu Yunxi's room directly.

Then the people in the front hall were also called over.

After examination, it showed that Lanxin was killed by internal force which broke all the muscles and vessels in her body.

This conclusion made Gu Yunxi even more convinced that the masked man in Mount Yin really came back to look for her.

Gu Yunyao felt uneasy, hugging her sister and refusing to let her go. She said with tears on her cheeks,

"Yunxi, stay in the Palace with me for some time. No matter how good he was at kung fu, he can't break into the Palace alone. Follow my words."

Gu Yunxi wiped her face with a stubborn look and stern eyes,

"No, sister, I can't trouble you anymore. He comes to me for something else besides revenge."

Her watery eyes turned to Cheng Wanli, whose eyebrows moved then. He nodded tacitly,

"Don't worry. I will send someone to look after it carefully."

The thing Gu Yunxi and Cheng Wanli talked about was the jade flute that could be used as a hidden weapon.

At that time, the Eastern Depot asked Wu Yong about the secret of the flute, which turned out to be the key to unlock the secret design in Kunhuang Tomb.

Leng Qingtang knew how precious it was, so he immediately took it to a special place for good care.

The matter was of great importance. At this moment when two of Emperor Jingxiao's children were here, it was not convenient for Gu Yunxi and the Chiliarch to mention it clearly.

Gu Yunxi sniffed and then sighed.

"Lanxin was murdered in the Eastern Depot and she died for me. I am so useless. I'm so sorry for Mr. Fan..."

Cheng Wanli comforted her,

"Hey, don't worry about this. I will arrange for people to bury the girl and I will tell it to Fan Lin by myself."

Because of the catastrophic misfortune, the celebration feast ended unhappily.

Cheng Wanli ordered his subordinates to strengthen protection inside and outside the Eastern Depot and everywhere in the capital. After that, he sent several teams of guards to escort Concubine Yu and the Fourth Princess back to the Palace in civilian clothes. He also sent people to secretly protect the family of the medical sage Tantai.

Jiang Huaian watched Prince Chen Huanan Xin leaving, frowning with confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Cheng Wanli found out that something was wrong with him and asked.

Jiang Huaian shook his head slowly and his inquiring gaze remained in the direction where the young man disappeared. He seemed to be muttering to himself.

"That's weird... The bast*rd hates Miss Yun, but why did he only kill her maid and let Prince Chen go?"

...

Thirteen days after Leng Qingtang led the Imperial Guards into Dianyun, they met with the troops of the central and northwestern parts of Da Yi smoothly.

After fighting against the armies of Bo Ku and experiencing more than 20 rounds of fierce confrontations, Da Yi's armies finally broke through the border of Yunnan and marched southwards. Successfully, they regained two cities in Bo Ku that had been included in the territory of Da Yi.

The armies of Bo Ku retreated and moved into Xuede City, while Da Yi's soldiers and horses camped thirty miles outside the city.

During the soldiers' rest and recuperation, Leng Qingtang and several commanders and generals in the armies gathered in front of the sand table of the camp and studied several combat plans carefully.

Bo Ku had been an important frontier juncture of the Silk Road since ancient times. As early as thousands of years ago, there had been foreigners with golden hair and blue eyes who sold silk, tea, and various jade along the way.

It was a good day. The sky was clear and blue, and the hot wind on the plateau was dry. Compared with the climate of Central Plain, it was hotter here.

The armies of Bo Ku came to start a war.

The troops of both sides beat the drums in front of the formation and the clouds moved in all directions.

The front-wing troops of Da Yi were led by two Hussar Generals of the Northwest Army and Central Army.

At the middle-wing part, Leng Qingtang rode a horse in front of the army in armor, looking at the phalanx of Bo Ku in the distance.

On both sides of him were the fourth captain and the seventh captain of the Eastern Depot and the platoon leader of Imperial Guards.

In this confrontation, there was a new member in Bo Ku's troops who looked quite strong and swarthy. Holding a halberd in his hand, he killed three great soldiers of the Northwest Army in succession.

The Qinghu Camp of Central Army sent Ding Lie to fight against him.

Ding Lie held a spear and rushed to the front of the battle.

Immediately, the sound of drums rent the sky, drowning the sound of weapons.

The beacon-fire billowing around the battlefield blocked the scorching sun, and the surging air was filled with the pungent smell of metal friction everywhere.

Suddenly there were sad and shrill screams and the enemy general was impaled through the breastplate by Ding Lie. Blood spattered.

"Great!"

Leng Qingtang saw it clearly from the back and a cold light flashed past his eyes. He raised his hands and shouted.

"Beat the drum!"

That strong general of Bo Ku was naturally unwilling to show weakness. He waved the halberd in pain and fought in a cruel manner. Ding Jie wielded his silver spear freely and sharply.

They fought more than a hundred rounds.

Ding Jie's stirrup was broken by him, and he then fell under the horse.

The enemy general intended to cut his head. He rushed forward on horseback with a sharp broadsword.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Qinghu Camp was reshuffled. When Xiao Hua came with a broadsword, Ding Jie's horse got frightened and ran away.

Ding Jie's other foot was too late to pull off the stirrup and he was dragged back to the camp by the crazy horse with a narrow escape.

In front of the troops, the halberd was fighting against the broadsword fiercely. The moment the two horses changed positions, the general of Bo Ku was killed by Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua bent down and cut off the opponent's head with the broadsword in his hand.

The drums of Da Yi became stronger and stronger. The soldiers waved the flags frequently and their morale was boosted.

The commander in chief of Bo Ku was so angry that he yelled strangely. With an order, thousands of troops and horses rushed to the camp of Da Yi.

The two armies battled and the brutal hand-to-hand combat began officially. Leng Qingtang rode his horse to stare at the battlefield and a strange scarlet light flashed in his eyes.

Bo Ku's troops were well-trained. Compared with the army from the Central Plains, they were obviously more adaptable to the climate and environment of the plateau.

From the beginning to this moment, the armies of Da Yi had fought many times and they had had an energy loss already. They would be at a disadvantage in close combat for a long time, so over time, it seemed that they would be defeated.

Seeing this, Wei Zhao, the Hussar General of Northwest Army, cupped his hand in the other on horseback and asked for instructions,

"Master Leng, the war is not fit to continue. Please withdraw the troops."

Leng Qingtang's eyes were gloomy and his expression looked sullen.

"General, are you going to throw in the towel? Now the arrow is on the bow-poised to strike and we can't look back. We must get Xuede City today. Wenlong!"

"Master, I'm here!"

The platoon leader of Imperial Guards Liu Wenlong nodded and held the fist in the other hand.

"Give out my order! Imperial Guards move into Jiangtai Formation!"

"Yes, Master!"

Liu Wenlong turned to mount his horse with the Curled-up Dragon Flag in his hand, waved the flag into a half arc, and shouted loudly,

"Imperial Guards, get prepared! Listen to me! Move into nine Jiangtai Formations!"

"Imperial Guards, get prepared! Nine Jiangtai Formations!"

"Imperial Guards, get prepared!"

The passionate shouts continued.

Liu Wenlong raised the flag high and shouted again,

"Go!"

He took the lead, followed by countless red-robed and bronze-clad soldiers. They pulled out the broadswords in unison. The sound of rubbing rent the sky and silver light kept shining.

In an instant, Imperial Guards rushed into the center of the battlefield, following the command of the flag to change into different formations.

The soldiers of Bo Ku had never seen such strange army formations. Gradually, they were divided into two encirclement circles, then four, and then more.

The previous large-scale tangled warfare had been divided into many small-scale battles and one Imperial Guards camp could trap dozens to hundreds of enemy troops.

The soldiers of Da Yi had been tired already, but seeing the hope of victory at this time, they all regained their fighting spirit, joining Imperial Guards to fight against the enemy.

Imperial Guards and the guards of the Eastern Depot were both under the management of Leng Qingtang. As the guards were familiar with "nine Jiangtai Formations", Imperial Guards naturally had practiced it many times.

The commander in chief of Bo Ku Army could hear it clearly on the high-headed horse that the howls in every encirclement circle were extremely sorrowful.

The soldiers of Bo Ku kept falling. The yellow sand was stained by their blood and smashed into the mud.

The commander in chief finally couldn't sit still anymore. He raised his hand violently to signal.

Drums rang from the rear. Hearing that, the troops began to retreat crazily like bereaved dogs.

Leng Qingtang raised his sword, "Go!"

Da Yi's troops were in hot pursuit. They wanted to strike while the iron was hot and they were bound to gain the third city this day.

The enemy troops were about to arrive at Xuede City.

Suddenly, clouds covered the sun.

Bursts of colored smoke drifted over, spreading towards the front wing of Da Yi Army slowly in the teeth of the wind.

"The smoke is poisonous!"

Someone shouted. Then soldiers immediately fell to the ground one after another like an ebb tide.

The formation turned into chaos.

The middle-wing and rear-wing armies ran and retreated hurriedly. Soldiers who were too late to run fell down. They either vomited or wailed in pain with their hands on their abdomen.

"Toxic smoke! Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

"Retreat quickly!"

This time, Da Yi Army was defeated and retreated to the base camp.

Some of the soldiers who were lucky enough to be rescued after being poisoned by the smoke were lying in the tent. All of them looked pale, rolling on the spot, and shouting constantly.

Several military doctors had examined them in turn, but they only knew that they were poisoned, not knowing how to detoxify them.

Leng Qingtang went there in person. Seeing the injured soldiers, he turned anxious inevitably.

People living in the border area had already moved during the war, so it was hard to find an insider to ask about the poison in a short time.

When he was wondering what to do next, someone entered the tent and reported that 40,000 soldiers of Lang Army had arrived at the garrison and the leader Lang Mucha was eager to meet the Master at this moment.