142 Swap hostages

was cursing the soldiers of Dazhou or himself couldn't be determined. After some cursing, he could only send someone to report to Prince Zannan who had yet to enter the city."What's that" The vanguar...142. Exchange of Hostages

Upon hearing news about his son, the Marquis Nan rushed to see Ye Liuy despite still being bedridden with illness. After understanding the entire situation, he pushed away those who were assisting him and knelt before Ye Liuy respectfully, saying, "The grace Your Royal Highness has bestowed upon my family is unforgettable. Please accept this humble old man's salute." Ye Liuy was taken aback.

She quickly left her desk and personally helped the Marquis Nan up, saying, "Your Excellency must not do so. This Consort does not dare to claim such honors. Besides, regardless of his status as a son of the Southern Marquisate, this Consort cannot but help him out of respect for my elder sister." Tears welled up in the Marquis Nan's eyes; although the Southern Marquis' heir is not the only male descendant of their generation, he is the sole son and the one who can uphold the entire family as the successor. If anything were to happen to him, they would have to adopt from a collateral branch, but there are no outstanding candidates in that line. The Southern Marquisate might very well end with this generation.

"My dog of a son is incapable and his defeat has brought trouble upon Your Royal Highness." Being captured after a military defeat is not something honorable, so the Marquis Nan does not wish for anything glorious from his son now; he only hopes that he can return alive to leave a legacy.

Ye Liuy comforted him softly, "Victory and defeat are common in warfare. The Southern Warlord of Xi Ling is known as the God of Battle there. It's not shameful for the Southern Marquis' heir to lose to such a formidable figure. As long as he's alive, there will always be a day when he can win."

The Marquis Nan thanked her solemnly, "Your Royal Highness, thank you."

Xi Ling agreed without hesitation after receiving the letter requesting an exchange of hostages with Jiangxia City. After all, the Southern Warlord is the commander-in-chief of Xi Ling's army; any mishap would leave the troops leaderless and cause chaos in Xi Ling as well. On the other hand, the Southern Marquis' heir is merely a marquisate heir. Even if the Marquis Nan enjoys considerable prestige in Chu Capital, for the Chu Army just beginning their campaigns, his influence on Mo's army might not even match that of a captain. This exchange was so favorable it seemed unbelievable.

Both sides quickly prepared for the hostage exchange, scheduled to take place three days later at a small hill five miles outside Jiangxia City. Ye Liuy brought along Qin Feng and Zhuo Jing, as well as several specially trained soldiers from Qin Feng's unit and a dozen bodyguards. Although captured by Jiangxia City, the Southern Warlord still carried himself with grace and did not look like someone in his predicament. Seeing Ye Liuy, he...

He gave her a faint smile, but she didn't acknowledge him and simply had someone take him away.

In comparison to Prince of Southern King, the situation of Marquis Shizhi was much worse. The Marquis Shizhi was dragged out from behind by Western Capital people, covered in injuries and looking exhausted. Leading the Western Capital side was none other than Li Tengfeng, Crown Prince of Southern King, whom Ye Li had met a few times before when he visited the Western Capital. Evidently, he rushed over as soon as he received the news from Xiangyang. Seeing him similarly

situated on horseback, Ye Li was taken aback and smiled, "Your Highness, it's been a year since our last meeting. How have you been" Lifting her brows nonchalantly, she replied, "Fairly well, I would have said very well but for the Marquis Shizhi and your country’s unwillingness to give me an opportunity." Li Tengfeng smiled, "Warfare is a man's business. As a princess consort, you should be wearing silk and eating fine food instead of getting involved in these mundane matters" Sighing, Ye Li said, "I am but a mortal; how can I transcend the secular world Prince Li, let’s not talk about this anymore. May I ask what is going on with Marquis Shizhi now"

Li Tengfeng turned and looked at the Marquis Shizhi who was being escorted by someone behind him before apologizing to Ye Li, "On the battlefield, a sword has no eyes. The Marquis Shizhi sustained some injuries; I hope Your Highness won’t be angry"

Ye Li gave a faint smile and said calmly, "No problem, I understand that Prince Li is reminding me not to be too lenient with prisoners of war." Raising her delicate hand slightly, she made a simple gesture. ZHUO Jing answered immediately and acted swiftly; only two sharp cracks could be heard before a cry rang out from behind. Mo Fei, who was standing next to the Southern King Prince on his left side, had his arm bent strangely.

Li Tengfeng’s expression changed slightly as he stared at Ye Li with lightning eyes. Ye Li remained calm and gave a smile to Li Tengfeng after glancing sideways towards the somewhat surprised Southern King Prince, "Prince Li, I don’t like to abuse prisoners of war. But...I always believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This time, Mr Mo did it on my behalf, but if there is another opportunity next time, I wouldn't mind doing it personally on the Southern King Prince’s body. Or...is your injury healed"

Li Tengfeng was silent for a moment before instructing someone beside him, "Take Marquis Shizhi over."

Two soldiers supported the Marquis Shizhi to walk towards Ye Li's side; Ye Li waved her hand and said, "To ensure fairness, take Prince of Southern King over." Qin Feng nodded his head as two people took the Southern King Prince away to the opposite side. They exchanged places at the middle when suddenly, a deep voice from the other side rang out, “Attack!” Before anyone could react, the Southern King Prince quickly retreated while the soldiers charged forward like arrows released from a bow; one towards the Marquis Shizhi and another towards Ye Li. At the same time, several figures shot out from Li Tengfeng’s side as well along with showers of arrows. All these happened in an instant.

The two large Chu soldiers standing in the middle suddenly moved to block the Southern Marquis Heir. The Xiling soldier who had lunged at the Southern Marquis Heir felt a chill over his heart even before he reached him and fell down, still unable to believe what just happened. Another soldier did not try to stop Ye Li from approaching but instead lunged at Prince Zhen Nan who was retreating. Just as the Xiling man had been dealt with.

The soldiers ignored the Southern Marquis Heir and pounced on Prince Zhen Nan together with their comrades nearby.

By this time, the Southern Marquis Heir had recovered from his shock. Regardless of his numerous wounds, he followed in pursuit. Clearly not expecting the two ordinary-looking Chu soldiers to have such nimble skills, Prince Zhen Nan was impressed by how well they worked together as if they were one person. As a top-notch expert himself, even after losing an arm, Prince Zhen Nan remained fearless against these soldiers. However, the soldiers were clearly different from what Prince Zhen Nan had known about Chu’s army, for they seemed very adept at dealing with experts like him. In no time when they exchanged several moves did more people rush over and surround him. Not a single one of them was flustered by the numbers; instead, it appeared as though they had rehearsed this maneuver countless times.

Ye Li's bodyguards immediately engaged in combat with the Xiling soldiers. After observing for just a moment, Ye Li could tell that these people, although dressed like ordinary soldiers from Xiling, were not actually soldiers but more likely experts from the martial arts world. Ye Li looked up at Lei Tengfeng who was watching him across the battlefield and sneered coldly, “Kill them!”

"As you wish!"

The bodyguards and soldiers accompanying her immediately became excited as they sharpened their weapons and charged towards the Xiling people. In no time, a full-on battle was underway.

The truth that two fists are hard-pressed to fight four hands was once again proven by Qin Feng’s specially-trained warriors. As the fighting around them came to an end, Prince Zhen Nan became a prisoner of Chu for the second time. Ye Li raised her eyebrows approvingly as she watched Prince Zhen Nan being brought back in chains. The prince's smile seemed rare and bitter, "The Military Families' Army is well-trained; I admire it." Ye Li smiled and said, “Your Excellency is too kind. As one of the best experts in the world, your guidance would be a great honor for them.” She gestured at the soldiers who had just successfully defeated another expert with satisfaction. Although each soldier was injured to some degree, their spirits were high as they stood up straight and saluted Prince Zhen Nan after hearing Ye Li's words, saying, “Thank you for guiding us, Your Excellency.” To be honest, even if Prince Zhen Nan only had one arm left, he was still more difficult to deal with than Mu Qingcang, the number one expert of Chu. Judging from everyone being injured, it seemed that they were able to defeat him because they had experience defeating Mu Qingcang before.

The Southern King would find it even more difficult. This was because the Prince of Nan’an refrained from fighting to the death with them due to his own status, otherwise casualties on their side were inevitable.

The Prince of Nan’an’s face twitched slightly as he looked at Ye Li and asked, "What does Princess Consort Ding plan to do now"

Ye Li smiled sweetly, saying, "Your Highness is making things difficult for this consort. Originally, everyone was exchanging hostages amicably and going home – wasn’t that perfect But now, what should this consort do"

Across from her, Lei Tengfeng sighed bitterly, saying, "Princess Consort, it’s this Prince’s fault. Please forgive his father." Ye Li replied coolly, "The Young Master speaks lightly; if either the Southern Marquis’ son or this consort had been injured instead of him, how would he feel now" Lei Tengfeng knew that he was in the wrong and said with a sigh, "As long as it’s within my ability, Princess Consort can just say it." It was indeed because he acted rashly today, thinking Ye Li wouldn’t be prepared but only to find out she might have been waiting for him to move. After a moment of contemplation, Ye Li asked, "Will the Young Master lead his army out of Da Chu"

Lei Tengfeng’s expression darkened as he said, "Princess Consort is making things difficult for this Prince."

Ye Li raised an eyebrow and looked at the Prince of Nan’an helplessly. She said, "Your Highness, it turns out that even a small city like Xinyang isn’t worth much to you; is the Prince of Nan’an in Xi Ling really so cheap" The Prince of Nan’an smiled faintly as he replied, "Our Western Region lost countless soldiers in capturing Xinyang. It’s not something my son can decide on his own, and Princess Consort is making things difficult for him." Ye Li narrowed her eyes slightly before saying quickly, "Alright, this consort won’t make it difficult. Five thousand tons of grain and five million taels of silver."

"Princess Consort speaks too freely!" Lei Tengfeng frowned. Ye Li snorted coldly as she said sternly, "Chop off the Prince of Nan’an’s other hand!" Zhuo Jing nodded and said, "Understood."

As Zhuo Jing indeed pulled out a saber from one of his soldiers behind him to strike at the Prince of Nan’an, Lei Tengfeng hurriedly stopped him. "Princess Consort, hold it!"

Ye Li looked at him coolly and after a moment, Lei Tengfeng finally nodded. He said, "Alright, agreed upon that word. But this Prince needs time. And Princess Consort must guarantee my father will not be harmed, otherwise this Prince will kill every single person from Dong Chu wherever his army goes!" Ye Li’s smile turned colder as she replied, "Five days later, still here. Also, it would be best if the Young Master hadn’t said those words just now. Otherwise, this consort wouldn’t mind killing all of Xi Ling’s generals. For example, someone like Zheng Bian. Of course, this consort doesn’t mind wiping out all of Xi Ling either!"

Lei Tengfeng was shaken; he looked at Ye Li deeply before nodding. "Agreed."th a heavy sigh, her beautiful face filled with anxiety and helplessness."Mother..." Princess Changle ran into the hall, seeing her mother’s tired expression and asked worriedly, "What happened Did so...