Seeing Dugu Hong escape, Fang Zinan raised the sword in his hand and ordered the army to stop chasing.
Hai Yue saw that Fang Zinan was not in a hurry to give chase, so she asked unhappily: "Great General, why don't we take advantage of the victory to give chase?"
Fang Zinan said in a deep voice: "Our goal is to help King Dongyu recover, not to deal with a mere general. Right now, Dugu Hong's army has been defeated, and Li Qiming's troops have been defeated by General Xiao. East Peace City is empty, we should immediately attack the city. "
Hearing Fang Zinan's order, the army turned around and marched towards Eastside Peace City.
An hour later, the army had arrived outside Eastcalm City and was attacking the city at high speed.
In the Eastern Ning City, the Grand Preceptor was playing with a group of kabuki in the palace when he suddenly saw the Military Advisor running over in a flurry, shouting, "Grand Preceptor, things aren't looking good. This is incredible. The army of the Southern Marsh Kingdom is slaughtering their way into the city."
"What happened?"
"Fang Zinan's army has already defeated Dugu Hong, and Li Qiming is also being killed by Xiao Tianyuan. The guards in our city are weak, so why don't we leave quickly?"
The Grand Preceptor shook his head and sighed. "Where do we go now?"
The Military Advisor thought for a moment and said, "In my opinion, why don't we leave the city temporarily and defend the western mountains until Hu Guhong returns to rescue you?"
"That shouldn't be too late. Our lives are more important, we have to protect this Grand Preceptor's life first!" As he spoke, he fled out of the city under the protection of his bodyguards.
When the Grand Preceptor retreated, many of the city guards had no desire to fight on. They were originally King Eastwood's troops and had no choice but to surrender. Now that the Grand Preceptor had fled, they hurriedly opened the gates to welcome him back, allowing them to easily take over the city.
After the great army entered the city, many citizens were so frightened that their faces turned pale, because after the Grand Preceptor's army had occupied East Peace City, they had burned, plundered, committed all sorts of crimes, and killed many civilians.
When Fang Zinan saw this, he immediately sent out an order to the soldiers.
Hai Yue brought along her soldiers and came to the main street, shouting to the common people: "General Fang Zinan of the Southern Marsh Country has ordered that wherever the army of the Southern Champion Kingdom goes, they are not to harm a single blade of grass, they are not to disturb the residents, and they are not to commit adultery or plunder. Those who disobey the order are to be executed!"
The people of the city only dared to open their doors and windows to look outside after hearing this military order.
The great army slowly entered the city. When Fang Zinan arrived outside the palace, someone immediately shouted, "The great general has arrived."
When the commoners heard this, they all began to cheer, "The great general is here! Quickly go and see him!"
Very soon, the commoners gathered in front of the palace to catch a glimpse of Fang Zinan. When they saw his handsome face, they could not help but applaud him: "The great general is here, great general!"
Some sharp-eyed commoners saw King Dongyu and Princess Liu Li and shouted, "Our emperor is back, and so is our princess!"
"Your Majesty, you're finally back!"
"Your Majesty, we missed you!"
She really didn't expect that this was the first time Fang Zinan had taken command of a great army, but he was astute and decisive. After defeating Dugu Hong, he had actually attacked the city, catching the Grand Preceptor's troops unprepared, and had even successfully made it into Eastcalm City. In her heart, she didn't know how to describe the admiration and admiration Fang Zinan had for her.
"King Dongyu, Princess Liu Li, the army has successfully invaded the city. Please enter the palace." After making the arrangements, Fang Zinan spoke to Dongfang Ming and Princess Liu Li.
Dong Fang Ming said worriedly, "Great General, although we've entered the city, the Grand Preceptor has always been cunning. I'm afraid that he'll make a comeback."
"Please rest assured King Dongyu, I've already sent people to investigate the Grand Preceptor's whereabouts. If there's any news, we'll immediately inform the emperor."
It was at this moment that Guard Hou Ding suddenly reported, "Great General."
"What's the situation in East Peace City?"
"General, the situation has been brought under our control. Many of the troops have surrendered to us."
Fang Zinan was composed as he asked, "Where's the Grand Preceptor?"
"According to the prisoners, the Grand Preceptor took the Military Advisor to the western mountains outside the city."
"Good!" We'll catch up immediately. " Fang Zinan turned his head and said to Dongfang Ming, "King Dongyu, let's chase after the Grand Preceptor now." Why don't you stay with the princess in the palace? "
Dongfang Ming shook his head decisively. "That won't do. This duke will go with the general and personally capture the Grand Preceptor to avenge this enmity."
"That's right!" I want to go with the army as well! " Dong Fang Luo Li also stood up with her eyes wide open.
Fang Zinan knew that they had already made up their minds and that there was no way he could persuade them. He nodded, "Alright, let's go straight to the West Mountain."
By the time the army reached the Western Mountain, the Grand Preceptor had already occupied the top of the mountain. Although fear and trepidation appeared on his face, he had no intention of surrendering.
"Grand Preceptor, East Peace City has been breached. You're already spent. To avoid more casualties, you should just surrender!"
"Pfft!" Look clearly at who these people are! " The Grand Preceptor laughed coldly as he had the soldiers carry a group of people to the front of the mountain. Fang Zinan didn't know who they were, but he didn't expect Dongfang Ming and Princess Liu Li's faces to pale before he blurted out, "Crown Prince, Empress!"
It turned out that the Grand Preceptor's captors were the crown prince and empress of Dongyu Country. When Dongfang Ming saw this, his expression turned ugly and he murmured, "Empress, crown prince!"
Dong Fang Luo Li shouted, "Release the empress and crown prince right away."
When the Crown Prince saw Dongfang Ming and Princess Liu Li, he also shouted, "Your majesty, my royal sister."
"Fang Zinan, right now, the empress and crown prince's lives are in my hands. If you don't want them to die, then immediately retreat, or else I'll set them on fire and burn them to death," the Grand Preceptor ordered.
"Grand Preceptor, you're too despicable! How dare you use a man who can strike without a right to strike as a hostage?"
The Grand Preceptor didn't think so. "The victor is the king, the loser is the thief. What's there to be humble about fighting?" Aren't you all pretending to retreat and draw our troops to battle? Don't tell me you guys aren't despicable? "
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
The Crown Prince shouted, "Father, Sister, don't worry about me. Kill this dog and avenge me!"
"Royal brother …" Dong Fang Luo Li looked like she was about to cry.
Hai Yue shouted angrily, "Grand Preceptor, if you have the ability, come down and fight!"
The Grand Preceptor looked at everyone and gave a cold snort. "If you have the guts, then withdraw your troops and wait for my reinforcements to arrive before fighting us."
Hai Yuheng was so angry that she wanted to jump up and say, "Bullshit!"
The Grand Preceptor only stared at Fang Zinan. "Fang Zinan, if you don't retreat now, I'm going to set fire to the city!"
"Wait!" Fang Zinan immediately stopped them. He gritted his teeth and said with great difficulty, "Retreat!"
"General …" None of the soldiers wanted to see such a good opportunity be lost for nothing.
Fang Zinan turned around and said, "The lives of the crown prince and empress are more important!" Everyone had no choice but to retreat with Fang Zinan when they heard their commander say that.
Dong Fang Luo Li gave him a grateful look.