Ping Zhao Lu

Chapter 145 Killed

Lianzhou, the governor's office.

The guard came trotting from the front yard with a panicked look on his face and hurried steps, and rushed straight into the front hall.

Yuan Jianshan, who was leisurely drinking tea in the front hall, was startled by the sudden noise and couldn't help but frowning slightly.

He slowly put down the teacup in his hand, looked at the panting servant, and said in a deep voice, "Why are you so panicked? Tell me slowly."

The guard didn't even bother to wipe the sweat off his forehead and said anxiously, "Sir! The Crown Prince's men are coming!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Jianshan's brows furrowed instantly, and he thought to himself: "Didn't they say it would take another day or two to arrive? How could they come so quickly?" He slowly stood up, gently waved his sleeves with both hands, and his eyes revealed a hint of doubt and worry.

"I don't know the reason either." The guard bent down and shook his head repeatedly, his tone full of panic. "Sir, they are waiting at the door right now."

Yuan Jianshan took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and then walked out the door.

When Yuan Jianshan walked quickly to the door, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

The leader was dressed in dark blue clothes, holding a sharp blade, leading several fully armed officers and soldiers, standing there upright.

They all had serious expressions and were stern. They looked aggressive, as if they were coming to call for punishment.

Yuan Jianshan gathered himself together, hesitated for a moment, then strode forward, exchanged standard greetings with them, and then politely asked, "Excuse me, sir, who are you..."

Shi'an ignored the other party's question. His face was stern as he suddenly raised the token high in the air and shouted at the top of his voice, "We are following the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. We request that Governor Yuan immediately approve the dispatch of a team of elite troops to the city gate to maintain order among the refugees. We must ensure that the team led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can enter the city smoothly and unhindered. This matter is of vital importance and must not be mistaken!"

When Yuan Jianshan saw this scene, his face instantly became gloomy. He frowned tightly and sighed continuously.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, "Your Excellency, you may not know that Lianzhou is currently in a difficult situation. The city is in chaos. Whether it is military manpower, financial resources, or various material reserves, they are all in serious shortage. Your Highness the Crown Prince wants to allocate a whole group of troops. This is really a bit..."

Before Yuan Jianshan could finish, Shi'an shouted sternly, "His Highness has said that the troops must be dispatched immediately without any delay!" As he spoke, an extremely sharp blade was placed across Yuan Jianshan's fair neck in the blink of an eye.

Shi'an's eyes were cold and fierce as he stared at Yuan Jianshan intently, threatening him, "I hope Governor Yuan will not embarrass us."

Governor Yuan: “…” Who is making things difficult for whom?

*

The night was gloomy, and the entire forest was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere. Occasionally, the wind blew, and the leaves rustled.

Looking forward along the winding forest path, you can see a village hidden in the mountains.

This mountain stronghold is built on the mountain, surrounded by dense forests and steep mountains, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

At this moment, Shang Jiu was leaning quietly behind a thick tree trunk. He lowered his head slightly and looked at County Lieutenant Hu who was ambushing under the grass not far away.

County Captain Hu raised his hand cautiously and gestured slightly to the south.

Shang Jiu understood what he meant and quickly turned his head to look in the direction of County Captain Hu's finger.

Through the hazy moonlight, he vaguely saw several people on patrol in the mountain village walking towards them slowly.

Shang Jiu did not dare to be careless and immediately held his breath and concentrated.

However, at this extremely tense moment, a loud sneeze suddenly came from somewhere.

"Ah!"

The sudden sneeze sounded particularly harsh in the quiet night, breaking the tranquility of the night like a thunderclap.

The patrol officers who were slowly approaching became alert instantly after hearing the sound, and quickened their pace to rush towards the source of the sound.

Shang Jiu's expression suddenly became serious.

He acted decisively and quickly signaled his companions who were lying in ambush to retreat. After receiving the order, everyone stood up and prepared to evacuate.

However, no one expected that just as they turned around and took a few steps, a group of ferocious bandits holding long knives appeared on the road ahead.

These bandits had obviously planned this in advance and rushed towards Shang Jiu and others with great momentum.

Seeing this, Shang Jiu thought to himself that something was wrong. He glanced sideways at County Lieutenant Hu who also looked frightened, then looked around and tightened the sharp blade at his waist.

At this moment, being attacked from both sides, there is no way to retreat.

Faced with such a critical situation, he had no choice but to grit his teeth, draw the sword at his waist, and go into battle to kill the enemy.

In an instant, there were cries of killing and corpses everywhere.

After an unknown amount of time, the enemy became more and more courageous and their manpower increased.

Shang Jiu breathed slightly, thinking that if this continued, he would probably die here.

He turned his head and looked around, but still couldn't see the figure of County Lieutenant Hu, so he knew he had fallen into a trap.

The subordinates around him fell one after another, and now only a few are still struggling to hold on.

"Sir, we will block them for you. You can take the opportunity to leave through the path below!" A soldier leaned towards Shang Jiu and whispered.

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand to signal the other soldiers to gather around and protect Shang Jiu, blocking wave after wave of attacks for him.

Shang Jiu's heart suddenly tightened. Looking at the determined and resolute faces in front of him, and the endless stream of enemies around him, he knew that he had no choice at this moment.

So he gritted his teeth, suppressed his inner grief, and acted according to the advice of his subordinates.

Under the cover of everyone, Shang Jiu carefully moved towards the cliff behind him.

Just as he was about to successfully jump off the cliff and escape, the bandits on the side seemed to have noticed his intention and rushed up like a hungry wolf, blocking his way.

At this moment, his men were fighting fiercely with this group of desperate criminals and had no time to pay attention to him.

Seeing this, Shang Jiu had no choice but to draw out his sharp blade again and deal with this group of people.

However, he was outnumbered and gradually felt overwhelmed.

He didn't know when all the shocking scars appeared on his body, and each wound was as painful as if it were burned by fire.

The men around him fell one after another in a pool of blood.

A trace of despair flashed in Shang Jiu's eyes.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a chill from behind. Before he could react, an icy sword mercilessly pierced his body.

The severe pain spread throughout his body in an instant, making him almost faint.

Out of instinct, Shang Jiu used up his last bit of strength to turn around and kicked the attacker hard.

With a scream, the man flew straight out like a kite with a broken string, and then fell heavily under the cliff.

At the same time, he finally gave up and a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth. His vision began to blur and his body swayed, as if he would fall down at any moment.

Despite this, he tried his best to steady himself, using the little consciousness he had left to control his body, and leaped backwards...