Chapter 180 Reporting
Not to mention Wang Xiaojie's defeat, Zhao Ji successfully raided the Khitan royal court, killed Li Jinzhong, and captured a large number of family members of Khitan high-ranking officials. It can be said that it was a great victory.

Li Shaogu revealed some information about Khitan and Snake Spirit, which made Zhao Ji worried. In addition, the army was running out of food, so he decided to withdraw his troops and return south.

After bringing along a bunch of Khitan captives, the Zhou army's marching speed inevitably slowed down a lot, and it took some more time to meet up with Yang Xuanji.

With the cooperation of Li Lusu and the Xi people, Yang Xuanji seized the opportunity when the Turkic army was not yet firmly established, took the initiative to attack, and won a small victory.

Seeing that the Zhou army was on guard, the invading Turkic falconry division was already thinking of retreating. But when Zhao led his army to withdraw, they thought that Zhou reinforcements had arrived, so they dared not fight again and fled back to the Turkic army in disgrace.

The raid was successful, the Turks withdrew, and Zhao Ji's soldiers were immersed in joy.

However, a thick layer of gloom shrouded Zhao Ji's central military tent. The sad news of Wang Xiaojie's defeat extinguished all the joy like cold water.

The Zhou army had no idea about the location of Zhao Ji and Yang Xuanji's troops. The Xi people got this information from the Khitan.

Zhao Ji's face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water could be squeezed out of it, and he was writing furiously.

Li Lusu stood in the tent, trembling as he described the situation: "…It is said that General Wang led his troops to break through the siege, reorganized the remaining troops, and slowly retreated back to Pingzhou. Although the Khitan army won, they also suffered heavy losses and were unable to pursue, so they had to rest on the spot in preparation for another battle."

Li Dafang lowered his head and lamented in his heart. This time on the journey north, he lost many of his troops but did not gain any benefits. He was almost burned to death. It was a huge loss.

Now the main force of the Zhou army suffered another defeat. If Li Jinzhong had not been dead, he would have regretted making the wrong bet.

Zhao Ji stopped writing and saw Li Dafang's expression changing back and forth. He asked with a smile: "Why do you look so unhappy? Are you regretting it and planning to defect to Khitan?"

Li Dafang suddenly woke up and noticed that Zhao Ji was talking to him. He quickly clarified: "What are you talking about, Governor? I have already followed you to defeat the Khitan royal court. How can I talk about defecting to Khitan?"

Zhao Ji nodded and said, "That's great. You two brothers have made great contributions this time. I will report them to His Majesty one by one. You just wait for the court's reward."

"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief." The two brothers thanked him together.

Zhao Ji waved his hand, and the Li Dafang brothers immediately understood and left the tent.

"General Wang was too impatient and fell into the Khitan's trap of luring the enemy. Fortunately, the Khitan suffered heavy losses while our army still has strength. We can barely say that both sides suffered losses." Zhao Ji sighed.

Yang Xuanji frowned and said worriedly, "Commander-in-chief, although it is a pity that General Wang was defeated, the more important thing right now is the Turks! If the Turks want to intervene in the war between Da Zhou and Khitan, things will be troublesome."

Zhao Ji stood up from his position, holding two documents in his hands, and walked to the tent and said, "Old General, you don't know. In Youzhou, Di Gong and I once saved the life of Jili Khan. The Khan swore a solemn oath that he would never be an enemy of the Great Zhou in his life."

"Later, the Khan came to Chang'an in person to pay homage to Your Majesty, and the two countries agreed to form an everlasting alliance. This is also the reason why we were able to pass through the Turkic region last time."

"If Jili Khan is untrustworthy, why would he send an awkward Eagle Division in secret? If he sends all his main forces to attack, I'm afraid our army will suffer a great loss."

Yang Xuanji nodded, as if deeply touched, and said: "I have heard about Jili Khan. This Turkic falconry division really came and left in a strange way."

"This battle is truly the strangest one I have ever fought in my life. However, the matter is of great importance, so the governor should report it to the court as soon as possible. The officials in the court will make the decision."

Zhao Ji handed two documents to Yang Xuanji and said, "What the old general said is very true. I have two memorials here, one is a list of names of meritorious service for all the soldiers, and I will give it to General Wang, asking him to present it on my behalf."

"There is another one concerning the Turks, which was submitted directly to Fengge Luantai. Please take a look at it, old general, to see if there are any omissions."

Yang Xuanji did not shy away from it and directly took the two documents and began to read them.

The Turkic part was a little vague, saying that the Turkic side's attitude was unclear, and perhaps there was a misunderstanding between the two armies. The army was ready to fight the Khitan at any time, so the court was asked to be cautious in its relationship with the Turks, and it would be best to send a senior official to coordinate to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

The one requesting merit is even more interesting. In addition to listing the names of meritorious soldiers, Zhao also emphasized Wang Xiaojie.

His words were extremely humble, praising Wang Xiaojie highly, praising his planning, and attributing the success of the raid to Wang Xiaojie's proactive attack that attracted the main force of the Khitan.

After Yang Xuanji saw it, he burst out laughing and returned the things to Zhao Ji: "The governor is not greedy for credit at all. The governor can report these things to the court himself. General Wang should not have taken any credit."

Zhao Ji shook his head and said, "I was telling the truth. If it weren't for General Wang, our army's journey wouldn't have been so smooth. And given General Wang's character, if I bypassed him, I'm afraid there would be resentment. We still need to unite as long as the Khitan is not destroyed."

On the other hand, Wang Xiaojie would be doing me a big favor, so why not do it?

Moreover, the snake spirit is still watching in secret, and it is possible that it will secretly replace the military reports. The news must be reported in a safe way.
-
In Dongxishi Valley, in the Khitan camp, Sun Wanrong and Xiao Qingfang were having a secret conversation.

Sun Wanrong was in high spirits and could hardly hide his pride because of the great victory he had recently won over the Zhou army.

On the other hand, Xiao Qingfang frowned because of Wang Xiaojie's escape, showing some dissatisfaction.

"Marshal, how can you let Wang Xiaojie escape? Once he goes back, my Snake Spirit's accomplices in the Zhou army will be in danger." Xiao Qingfang said with a grim face.

Sun Wanrong heard this, smiling as usual, but with a hint of helplessness: "General Xiao, the battle between the two armies was extremely fierce that day. Although our army won, it was a tragic victory. We were unable to pursue Wang Xiaojie."

"We are really powerless, not that we don't want to. If General Xiao has any other requests, we will definitely meet them as compensation. Is that okay?"

After hearing this, Xiao Qingfang's tense expression relaxed a little. Just as she was about to further express her opinion, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the tent.

Yi Yuanyu stumbled in, knelt down in front of Sun Wanrong, and cried: "Marshal! Marshal! The Khan has passed away... The royal court has been breached by the Zhou people."

Sun Wanrong felt like being struck by lightning when he heard this. His body swayed and he almost fainted.

But he quickly calmed down, forced himself to cheer up, and asked sternly: "What's going on? How did the Zhou people know the location of the royal court? The royal court was breached, so how come you are here!"

Yi Yuanyu couldn't stop crying when he heard this: "It was the Xi people. The Xi people sided with the Zhou army. They betrayed the two envoys sent by the Khan."

"They gave away the location of the royal court, and Zhao Ji led his army to raid the royal court. He captured the families of the marshal and the Khan."

"Zhao Ji also set fire to the royal court, and countless people died in the flames. Marshal, you must avenge your people!"

Xiao Qingfang breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Yi Yuanyu say this.

She quickly asked a more crucial question: "Before your Khan died, did he leave any last words about who would inherit the throne?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wanrong's face flushed and he immediately turned his gaze to Yi Yuanyu, waiting for his answer with anticipation.

Yi Yuanyu immediately came to his senses: "Before the Khan died, he asked the Marshal to inherit the Khanship."

Sun Wanrong immediately shouted: "Zhao Ji, I cannot coexist with you!"

Then he finally fainted in grief and relief.

(End of this chapter)