Xiao Xun is dead, King Shuomo has been escorted back to Beijing by Xie Yanlai, and the situation seems to have finally stabilized.Xie Yanlai was cautious all the way, but still encountered an ambush on the way.The person who came here was not an ordinary bandit, he was familiar with the tactics of the army, and his goal was not to rob King Shuomo, but to take Xie Yanlai's life.Xie Yanlai quickly judged that the person behind the scenes was not the Xiaonan remnant, but someone who knew his marching habits better.But the ambush occupied the ground, so he could only protect the escort team and retreat while fighting.

The killers secretly bribed by Xie Yanfang have already been ambushing both sides of the mountain road.Xie Yan came to break through several times but was forced back to the edge of the cliff. The soldiers around him fell one after another.He could have given up on King Shuomo to save his life, but he knew that if the captives were lost, the border battles and the peace talks with Chu would be disrupted again.At the last moment, he handed over King Shuomo to his trusted lieutenant and led the pursuers away.When the sword light approached, he was forced to fall into the cliff, his life or death unknown.

The news spread back to the capital, and the Chu Dynasty almost lost control on the spot.She had just finished killing Xiao Xun with her own hands, but before she could wait for Xie Yan to return, she heard the sad news that he had fallen off a cliff.But she quickly grasped the doubts from her grief: Xie Yanlai's route was extremely secretive, and those who could set up an ambush in advance must have the core information in the army; the ambushers did not take away King Shuomo, but only focused on killing Xie Yanlai, indicating that what they were really afraid of was that Xie Yanlai returned to the capital alive.Chu Chao reorganized all the clues, and Xie Yanfang's name finally could no longer be avoided.

She began to look back at the death of her parents, the burning of blood, and the fall of Weijiacun, Axiang and Wangcheng.Every line can eventually lead to Xie Yanfang.In the past, Xie Yanfang was always like a sober bystander, cleaning up the mess for the court, stabilizing the situation for the young emperor, and covering up scandals for the Xie family.Only now did Chu Chao see clearly that he was the one who was best at pushing others to the edge of the knife.She did not arrest Xie Yanfang immediately because the evidence was not enough to convince the whole court, and also because if Xie Yanfang sensed danger, she would definitely attack Xiao Yu first.

The Autumn Hunting Conference was approaching, and the Chu Dynasty decided to take advantage of the situation.She deliberately showed her fatigue in court, making Xie Yanfang think that Xie Yanlai's death had crushed her.Mu Xiaoman and the Public Security Bureau secretly mobilized manpower to find out Xie Yanfang's arrangements around the hunting grounds.Chu Chao knew that Xie Yanfang would use this autumn hunting to force her to hand over military power, so she followed the other party's path.Xie Yanlai's life or death was uncertain, so she couldn't place her hope on a miracle; she wanted to tear Xie Yanfang's game apart with her own hands when he was at his most proud.

After Xie Yanlai fell off the cliff, the escort team was almost in chaos.The deputy general followed his last order to protect King Shuo Mo, fought desperately to break through, and sent the people to the nearest military town.When the ambushers saw their main target falling off the cliff, they still wanted to continue chasing the remnants, but were intercepted by the Chu family's old troops who arrived.After several survivors were brought back alive, their statements were inconsistent, and they only repeatedly mentioned a sum of money from Gaoyang.When Chu Chao heard the word Gao Yang, the last bit of luck in his heart disappeared.

She did not set up a memorial for Xie Yanlai, nor did she allow anyone to say that he was dead.Someone advised her to accept the reality. The cliff was filled with rapid water and rocks, and her chances of survival were extremely slim.The Chu Dynasty only ordered people to search along the river and blocked the news.If Xie Yanlai was still alive, spreading the news too early would lead to a second pursuit; if he was really gone, she would have to find out the person who harmed him first.At night, Chu Chao sat alone under the lamp and turned through the pages of the old battle reports left by Xie Yanlai.The handwriting was still there, but the life or death of the person who wrote it was unknown. She finally couldn't help but blush.