Chapter 233 Defeat

The Blood Rain Sect had stood firm in the martial world for ten years, proving these assassins had real skill—nothing like the useless idiots Luo Jingshen thought they were.

Although Pei Yuanfeng had the ability to lead troops, he had no command authority. Luo Jingshen, relying on his status as the crown prince, constantly bossed him around, so he could only follow him forward.

At this moment, the Blood Rain Sect was already fraught with danger, fully prepared for battle.

The war horn had sounded, and assassins armed with bows stood on the watchtowers.

Even the hidden slopes around were filled with assassins holding crossbows.

Not only that, they had also made gunpowder and buried it in advance along the path the Xuanzi Army had to take.

Danger lay ahead, but Luo Jingshen was completely unaware.

Seeing that no one from the Blood Rain Sect came out, he thought they were afraid and immediately sent a soldier to issue a challenge.

"Listen, assassins of the Blood Rain Sect! Surrender now, and His Highness the Crown Prince of the Dongchen Kingdom will spare your lives. Otherwise..."

Before the herald could finish, an arrow pierced his brow.

Blood Flower withdrew her crossbow, a disdainful curl tugging at the corner of her lips beneath her veil.

"What a lousy crown prince! Do you think I'm afraid of him?"

"Kill them all. Leave no one alive."

With those words, she turned and walked away gracefully.

Arrows rained down like a storm, accompanied by violent explosions and the sound of rolling boulders, all aimed at Luo Jingshen's troops.

Luo Jingshen was terrified—he had never seen such a scene. His face turned ashen as he desperately retreated in panic.

"Someone protect me! Retreat! Quickly, escort me out!"

Thousands of Xuanzi soldiers fought desperately, risking their lives to cover Luo Jingshen and carve out a bloody path for him.

Even so, more than half of them were dead or wounded.

After escaping some distance, Luo Jingshen thought he was safe. Just as he stopped to catch his breath, he heard the roar of beasts again.

"Howl—howl—"

Pei Yuanfeng's face changed dramatically. When he saw the green eyes in the forest, his heart jumped into his throat.

"Not good—wolves! The smell of blood has attracted a wolf pack!"

"Your Highness, let my men cover the rear. Run down this path to the foot of the mountain!"

Luo Jingshen's face turned green.

Wolves were pack animals; once they targeted someone, it usually meant a fight to the death.

Why was he so unlucky?

He had come all this way without even seeing the leader of the Blood Rain Sect, and now he was utterly humiliated.

Luo Jingshen lamented his bad luck, but his legs obediently carried him down the mountain.

In his panic, he accidentally stepped on a stone and tripped, then rolled down the slope like a ball.

His head was covered in bumps, and he was knocked unconscious.

When he woke up, he was in a hunter's snare, his foot caught in a trap, unable to move.

Luo Jingshen screamed in terror, "Help! Help!"

"Pei Yuanfeng! Come save me!"

Luo Jingshen was full of regret thinking about how many Xuanzi soldiers had died. If only he had listened to Pei Yuanfeng and not led the troops forward.

When Emperor Jingyang found out, he definitely wouldn't let him off the hook.

Luo Jingshen spent the night in the trap, cold and hungry. By the time Pei Yuanfeng led his men to find him, he was almost numb from the cold.

Pei Yuanfeng quickly ordered his rescue. "Your Highness, are you all right?"

Luo Jingshen didn't want to talk to him. He only said, "Take me back."

All his former glory was gone. His face was scratched by branches, his clothes covered in dirt—he looked utterly disheveled.

Pei Yuanfeng brought him back and summoned a royal physician.

When Emperor Jingyang learned that out of five thousand Xuanzi soldiers, fewer than a thousand had returned, he was so furious he coughed up blood.

What had Luo Jingshen promised him before he left?

He said he would annihilate the Blood Rain Sect and bring back the wealth from its treasury.

He never expected things to turn out like this.

Emperor Jingyang had placed such high hopes on Luo Jingshen; now he was deeply disappointed.

But when he heard that Luo Jingshen had returned gravely wounded and barely survived, he felt more anger and frustration.

After all, he was his son. Emperor Jingyang couldn't bring himself to punish him.

But not punishing him would leave the spirits of over four thousand Xuanzi soldiers without closure.

In the end, Emperor Jingyang docked Luo Jingshen’s salary for a year and ordered him to copy Buddhist sutras a thousand times to pray for the fallen soldiers.

Pei Yuanfeng was dissatisfied with this outcome. He believed the deaths of the Xuanzi soldiers were entirely due to Luo Jingshen’s stubbornness.

If he had been willing to listen to even a little of Pei Yuanfeng’s advice, the casualties would not have been so heavy.

But Emperor Jingyang gave him no chance to explain.

Since he had assigned Luo Jingshen to wipe out the Blood Rain Sect, dissatisfaction with Luo Jingshen was the same as questioning his decision. Pei Yuanfeng was immediately given thirty strokes with a rod.

The reason was: "The crown prince is at fault, but Deputy General Pei failed to properly advise him on leading the troops and allowed the crown prince to be seriously injured. You deserve punishment."

Ji Yuntang wasn't surprised at all.

She hadn't expected Emperor Jingyang to send Luo Jingshen up the mountain to destroy the Blood Rain Sect.

But luckily, she had been sharp enough to go up the mountain early and empty the Blood Rain Sect's treasury, leaving him a huge mess.

Weiyang Palace.

Consort Li’s eyelid had been twitching from morning till night for an entire day. When she learned that Luo Jingshen had failed to suppress the bandits on the mountain and had been carried down by the Xuanzi Army, her heart had never been at peace.

Until news arrived that the assassins who attacked Luo Qingge on the street had actually been hired by the Tenth Princess, Consort Li got so angry that she even wanted to kill Luo Qianxue.

She immediately summoned Luo Qianxue to question her about the matter.

“Mother, you called for me…” As soon as Luo Qianxue stepped into Weiyang Palace, Consort Li slapped her across the face.

Covering her cheek, Luo Qianxue stared at Consort Li in disbelief.

“Mother, you hit me?”

Consort Li was furious. Her usual gentleness disappeared in an instant, like a lion with its fangs bared.

“You little wretch! Who allowed you to hire assassins on your own to kill Luo Qingge? Do you have any idea that what you did nearly cost the Crown Prince his life?”

She now understood all too well: the thirty thousand taels of silver Luo Qianxue had taken from her the day before had not been for medical treatment, but to hire assassins from the Blood Rain Sect and arrange for them to kill Luo Qingge.

In fact, Consort Li had initially approved of this approach, as she too had long disliked Luo Qingge.

But the trouble was that, because of the interference of these assassins, Luo Jingshen would volunteer to wipe out the Blood Rain Sect.

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