Zhao Bugui’s golden armor shimmered with the domineering aura of a powerhouse, and his eyes were filled with disdain.
In his eyes, Dan Prefecture was the territory of savages, and they represented backwardness.
Shuoyan Xiong, facing him, glared. “You insulted my Great King! I think you no longer wish to leave this place!”
With that, Shuoyan Xiong gave a sharp whistle.
The melodious whistle spread throughout the entire camp. Immediately afterward, the Wolf Cavalry in the camp rushed out with their weapons.
Zhao Bugui’s expression gradually grew ugly. Although his martial prowess was formidable, facing so many cavalry soldiers left him feeling somewhat lacking in confidence.
Shao Xuxue’s expression did not change as she said indifferently, “I’m looking for Li Zhen. Tell him that Shao Xuxue has arrived!”
“So what if you’ve arrived? Does This King need to come out and kneel to welcome you?”
A calm voice rang out.
The Wolf Cavalry Army immediately began forming ranks, every soldier placing a clenched fist against their chest.
Shuoyan Xiong did the same and retreated to one side.
Li Zhen, dressed in black brocade robes and a long robe, held the Overlord Spear as he slowly rode forward.
An invisible aura emanated from his body.
Shao Xuxue looked at the familiar yet strange Li Zhen before her. The myriad emotions in her eyes turned into silence. The Li Zhen of today was like a blazing sun, faintly accompanied by heavenly might; his imposing presence made him seem like an entirely different person from before.
Zhao Bugui was also somewhat astonished.
No matter how much he had heard, all the news about Li Zhen had been hearsay. Now that he had truly seen him, he could only say that the difference was like heaven and earth. The True Qi surging throughout his body was all proof of the military report from back then.
His martial cultivation had reached above the fifth rank!
How was that possible!
Emotion stirred in Shao Xuxue’s eyes. After a moment of silence, she looked directly at Li Zhen before her.
“Come back with me!”
Hearing the voice he had once yearned for day and night, Li Zhen slowly shook his head and said calmly, his heart as still as an ancient well:
“Go back to become lambs waiting to be slaughtered? Become tools for the Shao Siblings?”
“Li Zhen, come back with me now. It’s not too late for anything!”
There was a hint of stubbornness in the young woman’s voice.
“Shao Xuxue, our engagement was severed in the imperial court. If you are speaking as This King’s fiancée, you have no such qualifications. If you are here as the Great General Princess of Great Yu to capture This King—
then there is no need for further words. We shall settle this with a fight!” Li Zhen raised the Overlord Spear in his hand, and the Wolf Cavalry behind him immediately began drawing their sabers.
An aura of slaughter slowly emanated from the Wolf Cavalry.
Shao Xuxue’s eyes were filled with shock and stunned disbelief.
The Li Zhen of the past had never spoken such harsh words to her. Now, he actually intended to cross blades with her?
Was this really the Li Zhen she knew?
“Do you truly intend to lose yourself in this land of exile? Is ruling over these barbarians really that important to you? More important than I am?”
A faint glimmer of tears shone in Shao Xuxue’s eyes.
“Hahahaha—” Hearing her words, Li Zhen threw back his head and laughed loudly. Yet after only a moment, his laughter abruptly stopped, and not the slightest trace of a smile remained on his face.
“What an utterly ridiculous thing to say! Shao Xuxue, back then in the imperial court, Shao Xuji coerced me, and you remained silent. When I left, you even threatened me! And now you say this?
Never forget that Shao Xuji became emperor because his surname is Shao, while I, Li Zhen, became chancellor of Great Yu through my own strength!
I, Li Zhen, am no longer chancellor of Great Yu. I am Prince Zhen of Dan Prefecture! The master of the Great Zhen Royal Court, the master of the Wolf Cavalry!”
Li Zhen’s unrestrained voice rose with the breeze straight into the Nine Heavens!
“Zhen!”
“Zhen!”
“Zhen!”
The Wolf Cavalry looked at that radiant figure and shouted in unison.
Li Zhen was their master!
Li Zhen looked at the eyes that had once been so precious to him. Now, they were filled with coldness.
Whether that made him cold-blooded or overly dramatic,
this was simply Li Zhen’s nature.
Tears welled in Shao Xuxue’s eyes.
She had lowered herself so thoroughly to speak to him, yet Li Zhen was still acting this way. What exactly did he want her to do?
Why was Li Zhen being so unreasonable?
Wasn’t it merely a trivial matter?
Shao Xuxue wiped away the tears about to fall and said forcefully, “Li Zhen, back then in the imperial court, it was merely a minor matter, and you were the one who first disregarded the rites owed to the emperor. Yet now, why do you make it sound as though Great Yu was forcing you?
I’ll tell you one last time. This is also your final chance. If you reject me, from this day onward.....”
“A broken mirror is difficult to reunite. From now on, you and I will have no affection between us. After today, you will be the princess of Great Yu, and I will be the Great King of Dan Prefecture!”
There was not the slightest wavering in Li Zhen’s expression. His manner of speaking was utterly calm, as though he were discussing something completely unrelated to himself.
“I’ll finish that sentence for you!”
“Fine! From now on, we have nothing to do with each other! Now, we should discuss your unauthorized slaughter of Great Yu’s Black Cavalry!”
Shao Xuxue was instantly enraged by Li Zhen’s attitude.
Why couldn’t he lower his head and admit his mistake to her?
Since that was the case, she could not be blamed.
Wasn’t he claiming to be the master of the royal court? Then she would destroy his royal court.
She would leave him homeless!
Wherever he went then, she would pursue him and kill him there.
She would make Li Zhen understand that after offending Shao Xuxue, he would spend the rest of his life living in the shadows, beneath the darkness!
“The matter of your killing the Black Cavalry?” Li Zhen let out a snort of laughter and turned back to beckon with his finger.
Shuoyan Hexu immediately rode to the entrance, where he dragged out a figure by an iron chain.
“Great King!”
Shuoyan Hexu respectfully handed the chain to Li Zhen.
Li Zhen pulled on the chain and flung a figure beneath his horse.
“Shao Xuxue, do you know who this person is? Chun Xu, the black cavalry deputy general!”
Li Zhen pressed the spearhead against his chest and let out a mocking laugh.
“Li Zhen, you’re audacious!” Zhao Bugui’s pupils contracted. How had Li Zhen become so brutal?
His methods of tormenting people were enough to make one’s heart tremble.
The black cavalry deputy general of Great Yu was a prominent figure of Northern Cold Pass, yet now he was reduced to the state of a house dog......
Shao Xuxue was also deeply shaken.
How could Li Zhen have done such a thing?
Chun Xu had not eaten for several days, and his aura was weak. He raised his head with difficulty. When he saw Shao Xuxue, joy flickered in his battered eyes.
“Princess...... Princess, you are....”
Before he could finish speaking,
a sharp sound rang out.
The crimson spearhead instantly pierced through his chest, and a streak of blood stained the ground red.
The joy that had just erupted in Chun Xu’s eyes suddenly faded. His body went rigid as he struggled to turn around and stared at Li Zhen in disbelief.
After roughly two seconds, Chun Xu’s head fell limply to the ground.
The blood began flowing faster and faster.
Li Zhen withdrew the spear and snorted coldly.
Killing him had actually been letting him off easy.
Sitting atop his horse, he leaned forward slightly and said ominously, “So what if I killed him?”
This sudden turn of events made Zhao Bugui faintly draw in a cold breath.
Was this decisive person, almost frighteningly so, really Li Zhen?
That literati who had been powerless to bind a chicken?
“Li Zhen, you are trampling upon the noble bloodline of Great Yu and willingly degenerating! What’s more, you have openly killed a citizen of Great Yu right in front of me!”
Flames leaped in Shao Xuxue’s eyes.
She was a woman, but she was also the great general of Great Yu.
Li Zhen was trampling upon her dignity.
Hearing Shao Xuxue’s words, Li Zhen threw his head back and laughed loudly, rocking back and forth before raising his arm and shouting.
“The bloodlines of my sons of Dan Prefecture are no worse than yours! Your Black Cavalry is utterly helpless before my Wolf Cavalry! The commander-in-chief fled, and the deputy general died.
If This King had not deliberately spared them,
do you think those more than three thousand Black Cavalry soldiers could have returned to Northern Cold Pass? Bloodline is not determined by what you say, but by the facts!”
.....
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