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

Ji Ruxue's affected manner revealed an arrogance that suggested she was certain of victory.

Lu Jing ignored her and reached out to pull over a rusty, chipped copper basin from the side.

The basin contained half a basin of cold water that Shen Qingqiu had just fetched.

He casually threw a towel into the water and started rubbing it.

"Two taels of silver for the door panel, plus five taels for the fright fee."

He wrung out the wet towel and wiped his face haphazardly.

"I'll give you a 20% discount since you're a hostage in distress. Take the money, or pay with your life."

The head guard, the one standing to Ji Ruxue's left, suddenly twitched his eyelids, and veins bulged on his forehead.

Having spent half their lives in the military, accompanying the eldest princess in and out of the palace, even military officers of the third rank had to bow and scrape before them.

Today, in this lowly military camp overflowing with excrement and urine, a rogue soldier actually dared to ask the Great Yan Princess for two taels of silver for a door panel.

"presumptuous!"

The head guard stepped forward, flicked his thumb, and with a "clang," half of a gleaming steel knife sprang out of its sheath.

"Are you blind?! Standing before you is Her Highness the Great Yan Princess! Get over here right now, kneel down, and kowtow!"

Shen Qingqiu frowned upon hearing the words "Princess".

Her father had been the Minister of Revenue, and he knew the terror of imperial power better than anyone else in the camp.

That's a bloodline suppression etched into the very bones; a single word can cause hundreds or even thousands of people to be beheaded.

Even if they are in dire straits now, they are still of noble birth.

The skinny monkey buried his face in the rotten grass, sticking his butt out and shaking wildly.

Ji Ruxue was very satisfied with the reaction of these lowly ants.

She walked slowly into the tent.

Four Silver Wolf Guards followed, swords drawn, and surrounded Lu Jing.

"Lu Jing".

She sneered at the man who was still wiping his face.

"Last night was an emergency, and I will forgive your crude behavior because you inadvertently helped me out of the predicament. But you should never have destroyed my secret order for Lan Yue Pavilion."

Her bright red skirt swept across the ground as she took a step forward.

"Damaging royal artifacts is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Disrespecting the royal family is punishable by slow slicing. Disobeying orders will result in immediate execution."

Ji Ruxue gritted her teeth.

"Now, considering you still have some skill, I'll spare your life."

She raised her chin and pointed to the muddy ground in front of Lu Jing.

"Kneel down. Kneel three times before me and hand over the command of your dozens of men. They will be taken over by my guards. From now on, you will be a pawn to atone for your crimes. As long as you escort me safely back to the capital, I may show mercy and spare your life."

Lu Jing threw the towel into the copper basin.

A layer of dark red bloodstains floated on the water.

He was thinking to himself.

Does this woman have all her skill points focused on her breasts?

With only four wounded infantrymen, he thought he could stage a coup and seize power in this cannibalistic cannon fodder camp?

Do you really think this is a rehearsal for a palace drama, where everyone has to bow down and worship just because someone announces their name?

Lu Jing sighed and slowly stood up.

As he moved, the chainmail he had stripped from the Northern Barbarian centurion rattled and clanged.

The head guard saw that he not only did not kneel, but stood up straight, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes.

"court death!"

The head guard suddenly raised his right leg and kicked the copper basin in front of Lu Jing hard.

"Clang!"

The chipped copper basin flew out and smashed into the earthen wall.

The dirty water mixed with blood in the basin splashed into the air, soaking Lu Jing.

In the blink of an eye, the head guard drew his longsword, which flew straight at Lu Jing's face with a piercing whistling sound.

The sword stopped less than two inches from Lu Jing's throat.

The chilling sword aura sent shivers down Lu Jing's spine.

"His Highness ordered you to kneel, are you out of your mind?" The head guard gritted his teeth, the tip of his sword trembling slightly, ready to plunge it into the throat of this ruffian at any moment.

Shen Qingqiu covered her mouth, not daring to even breathe.

Ji Ruxue watched coldly, her hands clasped in front of her.

She was waiting for Lu Jing to back down, waiting for this bastard who had used her as a punching bag and spanked her yesterday to cry and kowtow for mercy.

however.

Lu Jing looked down at the tip of the sword, then at the guard captain's murderous face.

Suddenly, he raised his right hand.

He stretched out his index and middle fingers and pinched the sharp blade.

The guard captain was taken aback and subconsciously tried to pull forward, only to find that the other party's two fingers were like iron clamps, and the sword was stuck in mid-air, not moving at all.

"Why are you so angry so early in the morning?"

He casually flicked the tip of the sword to the side with his finger.

The head guard had a look on his face as if he'd seen a ghost.

Lu Jing strode forward, stepping over the sword blade and standing in front of Ji Ruxue.

Lu Jing was so close that he could smell the scent of blood mixed with expensive incense on Ji Ruxue's body, and Ji Ruxue could see the scabbed wound on his collar.

Ji Ruxue instinctively wanted to back away, but stopped in her tracks.

No refunds.

If she were to step down, the princess's authority would be completely shattered.

"What...what do you want to do?" she asked, trying to maintain her composure.

Lu Jing lowered his head, his naked gaze sweeping back and forth across her face, like someone sizing up a sow for sale in a slaughterhouse.

"Your Highness, the Eldest Princess."

Lu Jing grinned, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.

"Have you been in the palace too long and lost your mind? This is the border region, and you're talking to me about the laws of the Great Yan?"

These words were like resounding slaps to Ji Ruxue's face.

The four Silver Wolf Guards were enraged and charged forward, swords in hand.

"Don't the hell move!"

Lu Jing pulled out the rusty iron dagger from his lower back and pressed it directly against Ji Ruxue's flat abdomen.

The cold metal penetrated through the fabric, causing Ji Ruxue to shudder violently.

The four guards also stopped in their tracks, hesitant to act for fear of harming the innocent.

"If you dare to harm His Highness, I guarantee you'll die a horrible death!" the head guard roared.

"Shut your beak."

Lu Jing gently poked Ji Ruxue's clothes twice with the tip of his military dagger.

Let me give you an overview of the current market situation.

He stared at Ji Ruxue's eyes, which were blazing with anger.

"First, you went on an incognito tour with a top-secret route, only to be surrounded and ambushed by the Northern Barbarian Iron Cavalry as soon as you left the pass. What does this mean? It means there's a major traitor within the high command of your Northern Xuan Army. Right now, there are far more people who want you dead than those who want you alive."

Ji Ruxue's face turned slightly pale.

This is the reality she least wants to face.

"Secondly, last night when Zhao He led his troops to besiege the camp, he recognized your token at a glance. Instead of kneeling, he tried to hack us to death. This shows that the mole can mobilize officers at least at the centurion level."

Lu Jingkong used his left hand to pat Ji Ruxue's shoulder.

"Elder sister, you're no longer some powerful princess; you're just a hot potato that could be silenced at any moment. These four wounded soldiers, with their injuries, are supposed to escort you back to the capital? They won't even be able to leave this death row camp before Zhao He turns them into pincushions under the pretext of 'military spies.'"

Ji Ruxue gritted her teeth, stubbornly refusing to admit it.

"My men are worth ten men each. As long as I reveal my identity, the commander of the Northern Xuan Army will not dare to fail to protect me."

"One against ten?"

Lu Jing laughed, looking at her as if she were an idiot.

"That was before. Now they're exhausted, injured, and starving all night. Believe it or not, if I just shout out, 'There are five lone fat sheep in the tent, carrying dry rations and loose silver,' those hundreds of starving death row inmates outside could devour you whole, skin and bones, within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!"

Upon hearing this, the captain of the guard and the other three Silver Wolf Guards' expressions completely changed.