Chapter 597: Chapter 593, Chapter 594: Deng Tian Falls in Battle, Huai State in Peril

Gongsun Yan laughed twice, as a response.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour and seeing that the vanguard had already entered, Gongsun Yan was about to order the middle and rear troops to also enter the city to enjoy the fruits of victory.

"Report——"

"General Gongsun, it’s bad news. There’s an enemy ambush inside the city, we’ve been deceived..."

A soldier from the Chong Army ran back in a panic to report.

"What?" Gongsun Yan’s expression changed, he looked towards the walls of He City, only to see the originally sparse defending troops on the wall suddenly become dense, aiming their crossbows towards the bottom of the wall.

"Report——, General, it’s bad news, the city gate has been closed by the enemy, the vanguard... can’t get out." At this moment, another Chong Army soldier ran over in a panic to report.

"What did you say..."

Gongsun Yan’s expression completely changed, he shouted sternly: "Why aren’t you quickly going up to rescue them, break open the city gate, cover the vanguard’s escape."

"Understood."

But this time, it wasn’t as simple as attacking the city before, the Chong Army couldn’t even get close to the walls.

"General, it’s no use, there are too many enemy troops, and the arrows are too dense, we can’t charge up."

The previously reporting Chong Army soldier came back looking utterly dejected.

Gongsun Yan’s heart sank, then he looked towards Liang Mu and said: "Duke Liang, follow me to lead the army to break the city, and we must save the vanguard."

Since the small soldiers couldn’t charge up, he would lead the assault personally, and with two Upper-Grade Martial Artists advancing, they could break the city by force, they couldn’t let the vanguard be lost in vain.

Liang Mu just nodded when Diwu Fusheng said: "Wait, look at the top of the city wall, both of you."

Gongsun Yan and Liang Mu followed Diwu Fusheng’s gesture and looked towards the top of He City’s wall.

Only to see two elderly men appear on the city wall, of unknown origin.

And those two elderly men seemed to have noticed them on the city wall, one of the elderly men stroked his beard and smiled: "Everyone, I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time."

His voice was loud, louder than the army’s noise, and very clearly reached their ears.

"It’s Xiao Jing!" Liang Mu’s face suddenly turned grim.

The Liang and Xiao Families are both among the Seven Great Noble Families, and there have been many marriages between them, so naturally Liang Mu knew Xiao Jing.

"How can he be here?" Gongsun Yan’s expression was extremely unsightly.

"After we killed General Xiao Ce last time, he didn’t return, and listening to his words, our surprise attack must have been exposed a long time ago." Diwu Fusheng said.

"If Xiao Jing is here, then who is the person next to him?" Hui Cheng frowned as he looked for a long time, finding the two elderly men on the wall extremely unfamiliar.

"That’s the Patriarch of the Wu Family, Wu Yanqing. I didn’t expect him to be here too." Liang Mu said gravely.

"Damn it!"

Gongsun Yan clenched his fists tightly, the sound of his knuckles cracking could be heard, and the idea of leading the assault disappeared at this moment.

Xiao Jing and Wu Yanqing, both are renowned Divine Power Realm Martial Artists, they have even killed Chu Ce before, although he is younger than the other party, as they had never fought before, Gongsun Yan had no absolute confidence in defeating them.

If there were no high-end forces on the other side before, Gongsun Yan would naturally dare to lead the assault given the army accompaniment, but now that the high-end forces of both sides are basically equal, it’s down to a battle of manpower.

And now the other side is defending the city, while they are ambushed, the situation is clearly unfavorable.

...

On the top of He City’s wall.

Actually, Xiao Jing was somewhat lacking confidence, he has hidden illnesses, and the last time when dealing with Chu Ce, Wu Yanqing was also injured, and for Divine Power Realm Martial Artists, when one is old like Wu Yanqing, injuries are not easily healed.

Therefore, two injured Divine Power Realm Martial Artists could not exhibit the strength of their peak state, they can handle martial artists below Third Grade, but facing those of the same realm would be extremely taxing.

Thus, facing the enemy’s strong offense, Xiao Jing was not confident.

"I really didn’t expect that King Chong would truly join forces with Lu Sheng, it’s a bit tricky now." Wu Yanqing’s face was solemn, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"It seems Duke An’s pressure, after his recovery of the North, was too great for Lu Sheng and King Chong, King Chong even invited Patriarch Liang." Liu Ji said softly, shaking a folding fan behind them.

"Neither Prince Huai, King Chong, nor Lu Sheng have appeared yet." Zhao Liang said next to Liu Ji.

"General Zhao, we must promptly report the situation here to Duke An and ask for swift reinforcements." Xiao Jing said to Zhao Liang, who truly controlled the military power stationed in Huai State.

If Chen Mo doesn’t come, they truly cannot hold Huai State.

Moreover, because Chen Mo previously went north to resist the Jin Xia Barbarian Race, he took almost all of the Pottery Bombs with him.

Huai State also didn’t have a gunpowder workshop, so currently, they have no hot weapons at hand.

"Indeed, this time we barely stopped the enemy with the information General Wen provided earlier, otherwise He City would’ve been lost, if the enemy attacks a few more times, we won’t hold." Wu Yanqing said.

"Please rest assured, when I received General Wen’s news, I immediately sent someone to Linzhou. We only need to hold until Duke An arrives." Zhao Liang said solemnly.

Xiao Jing pondered for a moment, nodding his head.

Wu Yanqing then thought of something, saying: "Doesn’t Jiangnan have nearly twenty thousand Fish Scale Guards, General Nangong could send troops to assist us first."

"I’ll send a message to General Nangong now." Zhao Liang nodded.

...

Linzhou, Xiangyang.

The local examination had reached the last day, nearing its end.

And the test papers for the first exam, through Chen Cultivator, Zuo Lianglun, Geng Songfu, and over a hundred hired reviewers, mostly elders from various places, working overtime and cross-examining, have been fully compiled.

For fairness and rigor, the top ten in the first exam, Chen Cultivator, Zuo Lianglun, and Geng Songfu cross-examined the papers once more, and after confirming there were no objections, the list was handed to Chen Mo.

At this moment, Chen Mo was considering naming a clothing store.

The tailors, workers, and female workers for the clothing store had been found, and even the first location had been chosen and was being renovated.

They were just waiting for Chen Mo to come up with a store name.

In this world, clothing stores are usually named like certain clothing shops, fabric stores, or ready-made clothes shops, nothing particularly novel.

But for Chen Mo, who isn’t great at naming, this was rather challenging.

After thinking for a while, Chen Mo said to Xia Zhiqing and Ning Wan: "Let’s call it Yimei Clothing Shop."

"Yimei, meaning clothes are beautiful. It’s a good name, easy to remember, and clearly expresses the idea." Ning Wan said after pondering a while.

Xia Zhiqing nodded slightly, also thinking it was good.

"Let your subordinate Qing Dance be the shopkeeper, as her figure and appearance are quite good, wearing our clothing from Yimei, standing in the shop will attract customers." Chen Mo said to Ning Wan.

"Husband, even if you didn’t say so, I was planning on recommending her. Previously at Fu Ze Restaurant, she did quite well." Ning Wan smiled.

"Then let’s settle it."

Just as Chen Mo finished speaking, a maid walked over from afar, saying: "Sir, here is the list of the top ten from the first exam sent by Master Chen Cultivator."

"Oh?" Chen Mo hurriedly accepted to check it out.

Xia Zhiqing and Ning Wan also curiously gathered to take a look.

Xia Zhiqing exclaimed with surprise: "Isn’t this Sun City the person who previously praised my husband with a poem? He even ranked first in the first exam."

"Seems this person is truly talented, not just good at flattering." Ning Wan laughed.

"There are two more exams yet to be compiled, it’s still uncertain who will ultimately be first." Chen Mo wasn’t particularly concerned.

"Husband, how many do you plan to select for this local examination?" Xia Zhiqing asked.

"From the northern vacancy, at least five hundred need to be selected from a state, but ultimately it depends on the scores; if they don’t meet the standards, I’d rather have fewer but better-qualified ones." Chen Mo said solemnly.

"Sir, General Sun has a matter to report." Just then, another maid hurriedly came over to convey.

Chen Mo’s brows furrowed.

Moments later, in the study.

"Marquis, it’s not good, Huai State is in emergency."