When Gong Xiaohua brought three thousand cavalry to Xu Mountain Pass, it was already early morning the next day. But when they were about to enter the city, suddenly a group of soldiers came out from the city gate and surrounded Gong Xiaohua on the spot.
Gao Hu stood above the city gate, looking down and commanding: "Arrest her and wait for her punishment."
"Yes."
"May I ask General Gao, I don't know what mistake I have made?" Gong Xiaohua asked Gao Hu who was above the city gate.
"Yes, General, this battle, thanks to Gong's soldiers, we were able to escape death. I hope the general will reconsider," the infantry captain who returned to the city with Gong Xiaohua explained.
"I hope the general will reconsider," the soldiers knelt down one after another, pleading.
Seeing many people pleading for Gong Xiaohua, Gao Hu was furious. He said to Gong Xiaohua: "On top of Juanjian Mountain, you competed with the Third Prince of Dawei. You should have captured the Third Prince and taken him to Daye as a hostage for negotiation."
"But you, instead, let him get away. This is a battle between two armies, not about your personal honor. Your actions have caused Daye to lose an important bargaining chip."
After Gao Hu finished speaking, he said to the many soldiers below: "If you continue to plead for her, you will be punished according to military law."
Hearing this, the generals and soldiers chose to bow their heads and did not dare to speak again.
Seeing this, Gao Hu was very satisfied. Then he scolded the people below: "What are you still waiting for, do it."
"Yes."
Qin Er and Qin Shiyi, standing in the ranks, saw that Gong Xiaohua was about to be taken away. They were about to rush forward to rescue her, but were stopped by Gong Xiaohua shaking her head.
The two of them had also used false identities to sneak into the army. On the chaotic battlefield earlier, their identities were accidentally exposed.
Fortunately no one noticed. Now back in the army camp, they could not give people any more handles.
"General Gao, I just want to ask, how did you and the twenty thousand elite soldiers you brought back get back here?"
"You! Sharp tongue!"
"Still slightly inferior to you."
"Humph, I will report your mistakes myself and let His Majesty decide. In the meantime, Commander Gong will have to endure this."
After speaking, he shouted at the people below: "What are you still waiting for, do it."
"Yes."
This time Gong Xiaohua did not speak again. Resisting was meaningless since the other party had clearly wanted to convict her.
She was detained alone in a camp tent within the army camp, with heavy soldiers guarding her and forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.
When Gao Hu led twenty thousand remnants back to Xu Mountain City, someone had already reported Gong Xiaohua's victory over the enemy to him.
This battle could have been a great victory, but unfortunately he had fallen into the enemy's trap due to a moment of carelessness, and now only twenty thousand troops remained of the original hundred and twenty thousand.
If His Majesty knew about such a disastrous defeat, he would surely be furious. He would be hard pressed to escape blame, with punishments ranging from the death penalty to dismissal and exile.
So he conspired with his military adviser to try to shift the blame onto others as much as possible, so that His Majesty would only fault him for oversight.
Fortunately, General He had died at Juanjian Mountain, so most of the responsibility could be pushed onto him. Some of the anger could also be transferred onto Gong Xiaohua.
Moreover, Minister Lin had already instructed that Gong Xiaohua must die on the battlefield. This would definitely make Minister Lin personally plead for him in front of His Majesty.
Considering all this, His Majesty would definitely be lenient with him.
In a hidden corner of the army camp, Qin Er, Qin Shiyi, found Li Zichen to discuss Gong Xiaohua's imprisonment.
"Brother Li, what should we do now? This Gao Hu has no skill in fighting battles, but is very good at shifting blame. And such a scoundrel can actually become a general, bah." Qin Shiyi said angrily.
"Why don't we directly break into where the young mistress is being held tonight and rescue the young mistress directly?" Qin Er said.
"Not for now. This battle was a big blow to Daye. Gao Hu is desperate and will bite anyone now. He just wants to divert the anger of the imperial court towards him. If Xiaohua suddenly disappears, Gao Hu will definitely take advantage of the situation. His Majesty will surely be furious then." Li Zichen thought and said.
"Humph, if it wasn't for the young mistress, the entire Xu Mountain Pass could have been wiped out. He was able to salvage his life only because of her help. But he still wants to get rid of her after she helped him, how shameless." Qin Shiyi said with disgust.
"Gao Hu is backed by Minister Lin's faction. To prevent them from covering up for each other, we must send a letter explaining the whole story to the young master as soon as possible."
For now we can only do this and hope the young master can rescue the young mistress.
"But Brother Li, what should we do now? We can't just watch the young mistress being detained and do nothing, right?"
"What is most important for you now is to keep an eye on Xiaohua's situation at all times. If anything is wrong, Xiaohua's safety takes priority."
"Brother Li is right. Shiyi and I will go now. Brother Li, if you need us, you can come to the infantry camp as usual."
"Okay, be careful in everything, don't reveal your identities."
"Don't worry."
After saluting Li Zichen, the two immediately turned around. Seeing no abnormalities, they hurried away.
Only after they had been gone for a while did Li Zichen emerge from the corner and head towards the assault camp.
The army had only forty thousand troops left from the original hundred and forty thousand.
The casualties at Juanjian Mountain led to a complete reorganization of the troops now, but Li Zichen was still in the assault camp.
The Dawei army camp had suffered nearly thirty thousand casualties in this battle, but they had annihilated a hundred thousand enemy troops, a great victory.
If not for the variable Gong Xiaohua, it was possible their entire army of a hundred and twenty thousand could have been wiped out.
"Reporting to the two princes, a scout has just reported that the woman who defeated the Third Prince, was arrested by Gao Hu's men as soon as she reached the Xu Mountain city gate."
"Oh? On what grounds?"
"On the grounds of letting the Third Prince get away, causing Daye to lose an important bargaining chip."
"Damn him, this is the first time I've seen such a shameless person. Second brother, let's attack Xu Mountain city and take that woman away. We just need someone of her talent."
"Xu Mountain city is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We can't force an attack."
"Also, after this battle, their troops are now equal to ours. With Gao Hu's personality, he will only shrink in the city and won't easily be tricked into coming out to fight again."
"Since Daye has suffered heavy losses, they may send someone to negotiate peace. We can dictate all terms of loss to them then."
"But what about that woman?"
"Damn, she's just a woman after all, no matter how capable, still a woman. What, are you moved by her charm?"
"No, I'm not."
"That's best. Our Dawei dynasty has every kind of woman. How can we easily harm Dawei's interests for another nation's woman?"
