Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

Thirty li outside the capital, the official road gradually narrows.

The trees on both sides grow denser, forming the poplar forests commonly found in the northern suburbs of the capital region.

In winter, the leaves have all fallen, and the bare branches point to the leaden sky, like countless gnarled hands.

The carriage moved slowly.

Of the three hundred veterans, less than half could keep up with the carriage.

Wang Dashan led fifty men who could still ride horses ahead to scout the way, sending messengers back every mile to relay messages.

Li Si led the rear guard, helping those who were too weak to walk onto several hastily requisitioned oxcarts—which were bought in a village outside the city with two hundred taels of Xiao Chen's one thousand taels of silver.

"Your Highness, Black Pine Ridge lies ahead."

Zhao Tie rode alongside the carriage and whispered, "This place is densely wooded and the road is narrow; it's a dangerous spot. Should we take a detour?"

Xiao Chen lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the sky.

It was nearly noon, but the sky was overcast, and it looked like it was about to snow.

The wind blew in from the north, carrying a biting chill.

"How much longer will it take to get here by taking the detour?"

"If we walk another twenty li and don't reach the post station before dark, we'll have to spend the night in the wilderness."

Xiao Chen glanced at the ranks behind him. The veterans were walking with difficulty, and some of the older ones were already panting heavily.

"No beating around the bush."

He said, "Make sure the people ahead are alert, the convoy speeds up, and gets through as quickly as possible."

"Yes."

The order was passed down, and the team moved a little faster.

But even at its fastest, there are limits.

Those veterans and those oxcarts could never go fast.

As we entered Black Pine Ridge, it grew even darker.

The forest was so dense that it blocked out the sun.

Although it was noon, it felt like dusk.

Thick layers of fallen leaves had accumulated along the roadside, and the horses' hooves made a dull thud as they stepped on them.

The wind whistled through the bare branches, sounding like someone was crying.

Xiao Chen sat in the car, holding the poisoned dagger in his hand.

With the carriage curtain half-rolled up, his gaze swept across the woods beside the road.

It's so quiet, not even a bird chirping.

No, even in winter, there should be birds in a forest like this.

"Uncle Zhao," he said in a low voice, "tell everyone to be on guard."

Zhao Tie noticed it too.

He made a hand gesture, and Li Si in the rear immediately understood. The veterans silently dispersed, and those who could still fight quietly reached for the knives at their waists.

The procession continued onward.

After turning a corner, there's a downhill section of road ahead, which becomes narrower and has steep slopes on both sides.

Just then—

"call out!"

A sharp whistling sound cut through the air.

Xiao Chen almost instinctively ducked, and an arrow grazed his scalp before embedding itself in the carriage floor with a thud, the white feathers at the end of the arrow still trembling.

"There's an ambush!"

Zhao Tie roared and rolled off his horse, drawing his sword in the process.

Almost simultaneously, more than a dozen arrows shot out from the woods on both sides, heading towards the convoy.

"Protect His Highness!"

Wang Dashan roared from the front, and the fifty veterans spurred their horses back and used their bodies to block the carriage.

The arrows struck the man with a dull thud.

An old soldier groaned and fell off his horse, an arrow lodged in his chest.

"Dismount! Find cover!" Zhao Tie, experienced as he was, immediately gave the order.

The veterans rolled off their horses, using horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts as cover, and drew their weapons.

These people were veterans; although they were old and disabled, their reaction to the enemy was still intact.

Xiao Chen lay in the car, looking out through the gap in the curtain.

Twenty or thirty people rushed out of the woods, dressed in black, masked, and carrying knives.

His movements were crisp and his steps were steady; he was clearly a trained fighter.

What's even more striking are the knives in their hands—standard-issue horizontal swords, issued to the military, not something ordinary bandits could afford.

"Not bandits," Xiao Chen murmured.

Before he could finish speaking, the man in black had already pounced on him.

Hand in hand.

The flash of blades, the glint of blood, and the screams of agony.

The veterans were old and hadn't touched a knife in years; several of them fell in a single encounter.

But these people's ferocity was also aroused—they had all crawled out of piles of corpses, they were afraid of dying, but even more afraid of dying in misery.

"Fuck your ancestors!"

A one-armed veteran, holding a knife in his mouth and a shield in one hand, forcefully knocked over a man in black.

Another lame veteran lay on the ground, specializing in slashing people's ankles.

There was also an old soldier who had lost one eye, leaning against the wheel of a car, with a broken bow in his hand, shooting arrows one after another, each arrow biting into flesh.

But there were too many men in black, and they were very skilled.

Zhao Tie was surrounded by three men in black and was struggling to defend himself.

He had difficulty walking and relied entirely on sheer grit to keep going; he was already bruised and battered.

A man in black seized an opening and slashed at the carriage with his sword.

Xiao Chen was in the car.

"Your Highness, be careful!" Uncle Fu rushed over and used his body to shield you.

At that very moment—

Xiao Chen moved.

Instead of dodging, he shoved Uncle Fu aside and rolled out of the car.

The man in black's knife missed its target, striking the cart shaft and sending wood chips flying.

Taking advantage of the rolling motion, Xiao Chen slashed with the dagger in his hand.

The movements were incredibly fast.

The man in black didn't even see clearly before he felt a chill on his neck.

He looked down and saw blood gushing from his throat. Then everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground.

The other men in black were taken aback.

Their orders were to kill an unfavored prince.

Intelligence reports that the prince is weak and incompetent, and has only three old servants and three hundred old, weak, and disabled soldiers by his side.

But the person in front of me, their skills, their eyes…

Xiao Chen stood up, blood dripping from the dagger in his hand.

He looked at the men in black who had surrounded him, his voice icy: "Who sent you?"

The men in black didn't answer, but exchanged a glance and pounced at the same time.

Three knives, slashing from three directions.

Instead of retreating, Xiao Chen advanced, charging straight at the blade.

Just as the knife was about to reach him, he ducked, slid past the blade, and then slashed upwards with the dagger, cutting open the man's abdomen.

Then, taking advantage of the momentum, he bumped into the man in black on the left.

The two collided.

The knife on the right has arrived.

Xiao Chen didn't have time to turn around, so he simply fell forward and rolled around in the snow.

The blade grazed his back, tearing his cloak.

He grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at the man's face.

Snowflakes stung my eyes.

The man in black paused.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Xiao Chen had already sprang up, plunged the dagger into his ribs, twisted it, and pulled it out.

Blood spurted out, scattering like a red flower on the snow.

Within a few breaths, the two men died.

The remaining men in black finally became afraid.

This man is too efficient at killing; he's so efficient that he doesn't seem like a pampered prince, but rather like a professional assassin.

"Retreat!" the leader of the men in black hissed.

But it's too late to get a refund.

Zhao Tie had already dealt with the three men and was blocking the intersection with a blood-dripping knife in his hand.

Wang Dashan led a dozen or so veterans to flank them from behind. Although they were few in number, their eyes were bloodshot, like wolves that had seen blood.

"Leave them alive," Xiao Chen said.

The battle ended quickly.

Five of the men in black died, and the rest were all subdued.

Three veterans died and seven or eight were wounded.

Corpses lay scattered on the snow, their blood staining the snow a dark red.

Xiao Chen walked up to a man in black who was being held down, squatted down, and pulled off his mask.

An ordinary face, around thirty years old, with a scar on his chin.

"Who sent you?" Xiao Chen asked.

The man gritted his teeth and remained silent.

"search."

Zhao Tie came up and began groping the man.

Soon, he pulled out some things from his pocket: a few pieces of silver, a dagger, and a wooden plaque.

The wooden plaque was about the size of a palm, dark and heavy, with an eagle carved on the front and the number seven on the back.

"This is..." Zhao Tie's expression changed.

"Items from the military."

Xiao Chen took the wooden plaque and stroked the engravings on it. "The eagle is the mark of a scout, the numbers are the identification number, and you are people in the military."

The man in black's pupils contracted.

"How did scouts from the Beijing Garrison end up becoming bandits?"

Xiao Chen looked at him, his voice very soft, "Let me guess. Did someone pay for it, or did someone give the order?"

The man in black remained silent, but sweat was already beading on his forehead.

Xiao Chen wasn't in a hurry. He stood up, walked to the other corpse in black, and examined it carefully.

The knife is a standard cross-blade, but the serial number on the handle has been ground off.

The arrows were military arrows, but the fletching was ordinary white feathers, not the military-grade eagle feathers.

The boots are made of cowhide, but the pattern on the soles...

He lifted one foot and looked at the sole of the shoe.

The soles of my shoes were covered in mud, but there was something in the mud—a few small pieces of glazed tile, gleaming in the snow.

Glazed tiles.

Xiao Chen picked up a piece and held it up to the light. "There aren't many places in the capital that use glazed tiles."

The Imperial Palace, the Prince's Mansion, the mansions of several Dukes...

He looked at the man in black who was being held down: "Which mansion did you come from?"

The man in black shuddered.

Xiao Chen didn't ask any more questions.

He walked back to the carriage, rummaged through his luggage for paper and pen, and quickly drew a few strokes by the light of the snow.

Then, holding the paper, he walked back to the man in black.

There was an eagle drawn on the paper, exactly the same as the one on the wooden sign.

But there's an extra mark around the eagle's eyes—a very subtle scratch that's barely noticeable unless you look closely.

"The wooden plaques used by the Beijing Garrison scouts had different eagle-eye carving techniques for each garrison."

Xiao Chen pointed at that spot with the tip of his dagger. "The eagle eye of the Third Battalion is flat, the eagle eye of the Fifth Battalion is concave, and the eagle eye of the Seventh Battalion... has a small notch."

This area belongs to the Seventh Battalion.

The man in black turned deathly pale.

"Who is in charge of the scouts from the Seventh Battalion?"

Xiao Chen answered his own question, "Let me think about it."

The commander of the Seventh Battalion of the Beijing Garrison was surnamed Chen and named Chen... Chen Ji.

Chen Ji's younger sister was a concubine in the Fourth Prince's household.

With each word he spoke, the man in black paled a little more.

By the end, the man's lips were trembling.

"You were sent by the Fourth Prince."

Xiao Chen sheathed his dagger, his tone as calm as if he were asking what he was having for dinner, "He ordered you to disguise yourselves as bandits and ambush me at Black Pine Ridge."

There will be a generous reward after the deed is done. Right?

The man in black finally broke down.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"

I was just following orders; I had no choice in the matter!

The Fourth Prince said that he couldn't sleep because you survived to reach the Cold Abyss... I still have an elderly mother to support at home, please spare my life, Your Highness..."

He kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead hitting the frozen ground with a loud thud.

Xiao Chen stared at him for a long time.

Then he said, "I won't kill you."

The man in black was taken aback, then hope appeared in his eyes.

"Go back and tell Fourth Brother."

Xiao Chen squatted down to look him in the eye and said, "I appreciate his 'good intentions'."

I will remember this kindness.

Once I've established myself in Hanyuan, I'll definitely repay him properly.

After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Let him go."

Zhao Tie panicked: "Your Highness! This is like releasing a tiger back into the mountains..."

"Let him go."

The man in black, as if granted a pardon, scrambled away and quickly disappeared into the woods.

"Your Highness, why is that?" Zhao Tie asked, puzzled.

Xiao Chen did not answer.

He walked back to the carriage, lifted the curtain, and said to Uncle Fu, who was shivering inside, "Uncle Fu, it's alright now."

Uncle Fu's face was deathly pale, and his lips trembled as he stammered, "Is...is it the Fourth Prince?"

"Who else could it be?"

Xiao Chen said calmly, "The person I'm most worried about after I leave is him."

After all, I am the legitimate son. Although my mother was a palace maid, I am the emperor's son in name only.

As long as I live, I'm in his way.

"But, but this is too much..." Uncle Fu couldn't finish his sentence.

"Too hasty?"

Xiao Chen laughed, "It was a bit too hasty."

I made my move before even leaving the capital region; that's too unseemly.

"That's fine, though. The more anxious he gets, the more flaws he'll reveal."

He looked at Zhao Tie: "Uncle Zhao, take stock of the casualties."

Write down the names of the brothers who died in battle. If they have family members, their compensation will be doubled.

"If you're injured, bandage it properly."

"Yes."

"Captain Wang."

"Your humble servant is here!" Wang Dashan limped over, his leg wound hastily bandaged.

"You're a good person."

Xiao Chen looked at him and said, "Three died and five were injured."

But they killed five of them and captured seven alive.

A veteran is a veteran.

Wang Dashan's eyes welled up with tears: "Your Highness, we..."

"I know what you're trying to say."

Xiao Chen interrupted him, "From today onwards, you are not abandoned pawns, but soldiers of the Prince of Jingbei."

The brothers who died in battle are someone I, Xiao Chen, owe them.

Those who are alive, I owe you a way to live.

He paused, his voice particularly clear in the cold wind:

"No matter how bitter the cold is, I will make sure you are well-fed and warmly clothed."

No matter how dangerous the northern border is, I will ensure you have houses to live in and fields to cultivate.

Once I've established myself, those of you who wish to retire and return to your rural homes will be given land and cattle.

Want to continue following me—

He scanned the veterans, the men who had just shed their blood for him:

"I'm letting you put on your uniforms again, pick up your weapons, and be soldiers with dignity."

The veterans fell silent.

Then, I don't know who knelt down first.

One, two, three... all the surviving veterans knelt down.

Kneeling in the snow, kneeling in pools of blood, kneeling beside the corpses of their comrades.

"I am willing to die for Your Highness!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it was heavy, striking everyone's heart.

Xiao Chen helped Wang Dashan up, helped Zhao Tie up, and helped everyone who was still kneeling up.

"Get up, everyone. We still have a long way to go."

He looked north. "We need to get to the post station before dark. These people..."

He pointed to the corpses of the men in black, "Strip them of their clothes and weapons, take anything useful. Throw the bodies in the woods to feed the wolves."

"Your Highness, those horses came from the right place, you can ride them," Zhao Tie said.

"The horse was taken away too."

Xiao Chen said, "From today onwards, all these things belong to us."

He got back into the carriage.

Before the carriage curtain was lowered, he took one last look at the woods.

The snow started falling again, and soon it would cover the bloodstains, the corpses, and this brief battle.

It was as if nothing had happened.

But some people and some things, once they happen, can never be undone.

The carriage continued on its way.

The wheels rolled over the snow, over pools of blood, over lives that had just died, heading north, ever north.

Inside the car, Xiao Chen closed his eyes, his fingers unconsciously stroking the dagger.

"Fourth Brother," he said softly, "this is just the beginning."