Extreme Frontier Army: Starting from the bottom ranks, conquering the chaotic world

At the beginning of Yin hour, the Eighth Battalion.

On the haystack, Ji Ruxue watched helplessly as the black jade token fell into the brazier.

It felt like I'd been stabbed in the chest.

Zhao He leaned forward, his hands convulsively reaching out to grab at the air.

That was the top-level secret order from the Lanyue Pavilion.

The sign is a symbol of the Great Yan imperial power; seeing the sign is like seeing the Grand Princess in person.

Lu Jing treated it like a piece of tile that was too hard to even wipe his butt, and tossed it lightly into the red-hot charcoal.

Zhao He just wanted to rush over and fish the jade pendant out of the fire.

But Lu Jing's fine steel saber was stuck next to the brazier.

If he dares to reach out, this madman will definitely chop off his claws without hesitation.

Ji Ruxue swayed forward.

She originally thought that Lu Jing took out the jade pendant to intimidate Zhao He by using his power.

This trick is shameless, but it works.

She was already planning in her mind what means she would use to get the token back after Zhao He led his troops away, and incidentally cut out Lu Jing's tongue to feed to the dogs.

As a result, that bastard threw the sign directly into the fire pit!

That was top-grade black jade, a tribute from the Western Regions. It was fire-resistant, but it couldn't withstand being dry-burned in charcoal like that.

Once the cloud-like patterns and anti-counterfeiting designs on the plaque are cracked by high temperatures, the plaque becomes a useless stone.

Without a token, how could she mobilize the three thousand imperial guards outside Yanmen Pass?

Ji Ruxue's chest heaved violently, and a faint tearing sound came from the ripped part of her precious bright red palace dress.

She could no longer tolerate it.

This is tantamount to rebellion; it's no longer a matter of whether or not one is humiliated!

Ji Ruxue threw off the tattered cloth covering her legs and stood up, leaning against the haystack.

Even covered in mud and with his hair disheveled, his aura as a ruler who had long held the power of life and death was still incredibly oppressive.

She was prepared to reveal her identity directly.

Even without guards, even with the risk of being exposed and assassinated, today I will have those armored soldiers outside chop this arrogant and ignorant scoundrel into mincemeat.

"Lu Jing! You're a madman!"

Zhao He roared angrily, "How dare you damage royal artifacts! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family! Attendants, seize this traitor!"

The hundreds of armored soldiers on the periphery were sent shivers down their spines by the shattered roar.

Damaging royal artifacts?

The crime was so serious that the spearmen at the front instinctively gripped their rifles, ready to stab Lu Jing through.

"I am..."

Ji Ruxue took a deep breath and uttered just three words.

"Clang!"

Lu Jing kicked over the broken stool he was sitting on.

He casually picked up a half-burnt piece of the broken spear shaft from beside his feet, shoved the stick directly into the brazier, and vigorously stirred it a couple of times in the glowing embers.

They forcefully pressed that top-grade jade pendant into the bottom layer of charcoal ash in the brazier.

"A royal token?"

Lu Jing suddenly pointed the broken wooden stick at Zhao He's nose, the sound deafening.

"Bullshit, you endless spiral of stinking bullshit!"

Zhao He was so startled by the sudden outburst of profanity that he stepped back.

Ji Ruxue's words "Princess of the Great Yan" were abruptly swallowed back by this powerful and forceful curse.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and she almost immediately suppressed her impulse.

Revealing your identity now might not be enough to control the situation.

Since Zhao He dared to lead his troops to surround the camp at night, he would never have prepared only one explanation.

The soldiers outside haven't fully chosen sides yet. Once she speaks, Lu Jing's burning of the tokens will become treason, and Zhao He's shooting of the arrows will be brought up on the spot. The entire camp will be turned into a bloody mess.

The worst part is that Lu Jing, that madman, doesn't follow the rules at all.

She has to wait for an opening.

"You...you dare to speak so arrogantly even when you're about to die!" Zhao He said, pointing at the brazier in a trembling voice.

Lu Jing strode across the brazier, the chainmail he wore, stained with the blood of the Northern Barbarian centurion, clanging with a metallic sound.

His face was full of righteous indignation, as if he had suffered a great injustice. He stared at Zhao He with eyes full of heartache at being betrayed.

"I just crawled out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood from the Northern Barbarians' main camp! I personally searched the crotch of a Northern Barbarian centurion with my own hands!"

The audience was silent.

Everyone was stunned by those words.

Lu Jing held the glowing wooden stick and waved it around in mid-air with great force.

"This is clearly a counterfeit token used by Northern Barbarian spies to disguise themselves and attempt to infiltrate Yanmen Pass of our Great Yan! It's crudely made, made of inferior materials, and doesn't even have any anti-counterfeiting features!"

"And the result?"

Lu Jing approached Zhao He, the wooden stick almost piercing Zhao He's nostrils.

"Commander Zhao, in the middle of the night, from ten paces away, and with such dim firelight, you recognized this fake plaque as a 'royal token' at a glance?"

"With your eye for detail, you're wasting your talent by not working as a screen protector installer under an overpass!"

Zhao He's mind went blank, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Lu Jing gave him no chance to breathe; his logic was shaky, but his momentum was overwhelming.

"The moment you saw this fake sign, you immediately declared it a royal relic without any investigation, and even went so far as to lead troops to seize it?"

"You've memorized this script way too well, haven't you? How many times did you practice this line in front of the mirror beforehand?"

The armored soldier next to him, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn't help but steal a glance at Zhao He.

Lu Jing suddenly turned around, facing the hundreds of armored soldiers holding swords and spears around him, and beat his chest in anguish.

"Brothers! How did these northern barbarians manage to sneak up right under our Eighth Battalion's noses? Why is it that while blood is flowing at the front, our centurion is hiding in the rear camp with his elite reserves?"

The soldiers' eyes began to subtly change.

The lower-ranking soldiers were already seething with anger at the corruption and inaction of the higher-ups.

Tonight, the Northern Barbarians broke through the pass, and the Eighth Battalion lost so many lives, yet Zhao He is causing internal strife here, incurring the wrath of the masses.

At the back of the crowd, someone muttered in a low voice, "We didn't receive any orders to reinforce the vanguard last night."

Zhao He's face darkened, and he shouted sharply, "Shut up!"

This shout, ironically, drew even more attention to him.

Lu Jing turned his head again and stared at Zhao He's face with the eyes of someone looking at a traitor.

"explain!"

"Did you conspire with those northern barbarians all along, deliberately letting them break through the pass, just to help them assassinate the imperial envoy!"

"You recognized this counterfeit token from the Northern Barbarians, so you think I killed our own people who came to make contact, and that's why you're so eager to kill me to silence them!"

The heavy, black pots that came crashing down on Zhao He made him dizzy and disoriented.

He spent half his life in the military and witnessed countless power struggles in officialdom.

But I've never seen such a thuggish fighting style that completely disregards martial ethics and immediately accuses someone of treason and collusion with the enemy.

Unfortunately, this rogue logic contains a fatal flaw.

Zhao He did indeed send someone to fire a poisoned arrow, which nearly hit the princess.

If he insists now that the token is a genuine royal artifact, it would be tantamount to admitting that he knows the eldest princess is with Lu Jing.

Knowing that the Princess was there, he still ordered to "kill them all with hacks and slash them, leaving no survivors." That was treason, and even the execution of nine generations of his family wouldn't be enough to warrant such punishment.

If he said he didn't recognize the token, then Lu Jing could have burned it as a forgery by a Northern Barbarian spy, which would have been reasonable and legal, and even a great achievement.

Advancing means death, retreating means death.

Zhao He felt his vision blurring, and his back teeth clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound.

"Lu Jing...you...you're spouting nonsense!"

Zhao He's chest heaved violently with anger. He gripped the hilt of his knife, pulled it out halfway, and then forcefully pushed it back in.

He dared not gamble.

Looking at Lu Jing's confident face, she felt increasingly uneasy.

This madman dared to burn the token in public and dared to pin the blame for murdering the imperial envoy on him. Has he already obtained the confession of the guard who shot the arrow?

The soldiers around him looked at him with awe and then with suspicion, and some even whispered among themselves.

Zhao He's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had grasped at the last straw, and he pointed sharply at Ji Ruxue next to the haystack.

"Fine, even if that token is of dubious origin!"

His voice was sinister, carrying a sense of desperation and recklessness.

"Then tell me, what's the story with this woman? Crimson palace attire, silk and satin—she doesn't look like someone you'd find in a death row camp! You keep accusing her of being a Northern Barbarian spy; did you perhaps find this woman in the crotch of the Northern Barbarian centurion?"

All the soldiers' eyes were on Ji Ruxue.