360. A Heavy Defeat

Did the crown prince have the ability to turn the tide?

Fang didn’t think he could do that. As for Long and s.h.i.+… they thought even if the crown prince was capable, they wouldn’t allow him to make it!

But that would happen some time later.

After all, it would take some time for the army to reach the border from the imperial city.

However, Long and s.h.i.+ still couldn’t rest without worries.

They knew that by sending the crown prince to the border, Emperor Zhou could achieve a lot and his real purpose was still to help Zhou Suye.

This man, Emperor Zhou’s most beloved son, had taken action these days!

On this day, two Shadow Guardians who were ordered by Long to manage some of Fang’s business on the surface told him that Zhou Suye had personally contacted them.

Long raised his eyebrows when he heard that. “He went to contact you so soon?”

The Shadow Guardians knew that Long seemed to be asking, but he was already thinking, so they didn’t say anything.

Long touched his chin and said, “You can play the fool for the first three times. Keep silent for the fourth time, be swayed for the fifth time, and show some hesitation for the eighth time. If he meets you for more than ten times, you can pretend that you hate your master very much, but don’t agree to work with him so soon. After he meets you for two more times, you can finally agree, but you must show your loyalty to him directly, saying you hope he can help you get revenge. As for what kind of hatred there is between you and your master, you can think about something by yourself.”

The Shadow Guardians immediately understood. “Yes! We understand!”

Since these two Shadow Guardians were sent to work in public, they were naturally very intelligent. So Long didn’t worry much about them.

After the two Shadow Guardians left, s.h.i.+ came over from the other side.

“You told them to agree with him after they meet for a dozen times. Will it be too long?”

Long smiled. “How come? If they’re persuaded just after a little contact, even an idiot would doubt them.”

s.h.i.+ looked at him. “Do you really plan to let the two of them work for him?”

“Yes.” Long nodded. “Our main enemies are still Zhou Suye and Emperor Zhou, right?”

s.h.i.+ agreed on that, but he still worried about something. “Even if they go to work for Zhou Suye, they won’t be trusted in a short time.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Long waved his hand disapprovingly. “I don’t need them to be trusted soon. After the crown prince is defeated, our pace of action must be quickened. So they just need to be with him.”

After a pause, s.h.i.+ said slowly, “You only need to know Zhou Suye’s whereabouts.”

“Yes. As his subordinates, they’ll get more detailed information than other Shadow Guardians, won’t they?”

That was reasonable, so s.h.i.+ nodded in agreement. “But Zhou Suye will have to take them by his side.”

“It is very likely,” Long said.

“Oh?” s.h.i.+ squinted at Long. “What makes you think so?”

“If someone comes to take refuge in us, who are confident and powerful, should we ask our subordinates to deal with them, or should we keep an eye on them by ourselves? If we can test them in person, it’ll be better and safer, right?”

s.h.i.+ slowly closed his eyes when he heard that. He found that Long’s ability to read people’s minds was improving.

Although Long wasn’t a good fighter, brutal force was never the key to success.

s.h.i.+ opened his eyes and said softly, “Let’s wait and see what Zhou Suye will do.”

Long smiled and walked over. Holding s.h.i.+ in his arms, he kissed s.h.i.+’s chin.

“Qingzhou, what were you thinking just now?”

He was naturally aware of the slight strangeness of his express earlier, so he just asked.

s.h.i.+ looked at him and said calmly, “I was just thinking that your ability to read people’s thoughts is getting better.”

“Oh?” Long blinked as if he was wronged. “Qingzhou, I said that because I hope we can go back soon. Qingzhou, are you afraid of me?”

s.h.i.+ sneered and rolled his eyes. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

Long laughed when he heard that. “So you’re not afraid of me.”

s.h.i.+ rolled his eyes again. “If I really want to do something to you, I can do it with only one hand. Why do you think I’m afraid of you?”

After hearing that, Long pulled his collar and took two steps backward.

“Ah, Qingzhou, you… what do you want to do to me?”

s.h.i.+ became speechless.

Long’s lower lip trembled. “Qingzhou, you… you can’t do anything to me. I’ll resist.”

s.h.i.+ turned around and left.

Long laughed and immediately followed up…

The Shadow Guardians’ actions wouldn’t be hidden from Fang. Besides, if it were to be carried out according to Long’s plan, Fang’s cooperation would also be required, so the two Shadow Guardians went to meet him first.

Although Fang was a little puzzled after hearing everything, his trust in Long allowed him to agree to the Shadow Guardians first.

Soon after, the Shadow Guardians left.

That night, Fang went to meet Long.

Long explained it all at once. After a while, Fang left.

Long hugged s.h.i.+ and continued to sleep.

After more than eight days, the crown prince’s army arrived at the border.

Just then, inside Qin Yuechun’s camp.

Liu Suifeng, Ouyang Chuan, Qin Yuechun, and one of his generals were sitting together.

There was a war map lying in front of General Qin.

The other general said, “The reinforcements of Eastern Darkness have arrived.”

Liu smiled and said, “I’ve been waiting for him for a long time.”

General Qin looked serious. “We must win a landslide victory this time, but we can’t underestimate the enemy.”

“We must strike a blow to the arrogant crown prince. I’ve stayed in the imperial palace for a while and I know the crown prince’s character. If we can lure him out, it would be better. This man can be humiliated, but can’t be killed.”

General Qin nodded. “We understand.”

He originally thought that only their empress had gone to Eastern Darkness. Only recently did he know that even their emperor had gone to the imperial palace of the enemy state.

For this reason, General Qin didn’t sleep well for three nights.

Although he was cooperating with their action at present, he still hoped that Long could come back.

If Long was caught, all of them would be finished, right?

He thought the emperor was really messing around, but as a minister, he could only think to himself.

Besides, he found the emperor had really changed a lot.

Of course, he thought Long was changing in a good direction, although sometimes Long still ran wild.

One day later, the crown prince, who just arrived at the border and wanted to show his capabilities, directly began to fight against the army of Heaven Dragon.

According to the plan, Liu Suifeng and his men let the crown prince “go deeper.”

Some generals of Eastern Darkness saw through the “ambition” and “tricks” of Heaven Dragon.

However, no matter what the generals said, the crown prince just didn’t listen to them.

In his opinion, the guards at the border were good for nothing!

So, it wasn’t because the army of Heaven Dragon was powerful.

Moreover, he believed that as long as he beat back all the attacks of the enemy with a crus.h.i.+ng force, he would make a hit.

Then, his status would definitely rise!

His position as the crown prince would be secured!

Therefore, the crown prince didn’t want to take it slowly. He just hoped that he could defeat the army of Heaven Dragon quickly.

The crown prince was headstrong, so he naturally fell into the trap Liu Suifeng and the others had designed.

When the crown prince’s vanguard was surrounded, the generals of Eastern Darkness had no choice but to go there to rescue them.

Because a lot of people had been held hostages, the army of Eastern Darkness suffered heavy losses.

But in the end, the crown prince was still “rescued” by their own army.

The crown prince thought it was really gratifying!

The news that the crown prince led the army to a crus.h.i.+ng defeat and he was almost taken prisoner was sent to the imperial city of Eastern Darkness soon.

Emperor Zhou was furious.

At the court meeting, all the ministers were panicky, but only Fang laughed inwardly.

After returning to the mansion, Fang immediately told Long and s.h.i.+ about the crown prince.

Long rejoiced. “Haha, that idiot, it seems that we all overestimated him.”

s.h.i.+ calmly looked at Long who was laughing. “Did you overestimate him? Didn’t you guess that he would fail?”

“Hahaha…” Long laughed. “Yeah, I guessed he would fail, but I didn’t expect him to fail so soon. It’s such a short time.”

“Maybe we should think about what Emperor Zhou will do next,” s.h.i.+ said.

Hearing that, Fang also said, “Yes, we should really think about it.”

Long smiled. “What is there to think about? There are only two possibilities. First, he’ll let the crown prince stay there longer and wait for him to make more mistakes. But I don’t think it’s highly possible. After all, it will cost the lives of soldiers. As the ruler of a nation, Emperor Zhou shouldn’t make such a stupid move. Of course, if he is crazy, it’ll be quite another matter. Another possibility is that he’ll throw a tantrum and recall the crown prince. Then, Zhou Suye will be sent to the battlefield!”

Both s.h.i.+ and Fang fell silent when they heard the words, thinking about the possibilities.

After a while, s.h.i.+ said slowly, “The latter situation has a higher possibility.”

Fang nodded in agreement. “Mhmm. I also think it’s more likely.”

The corners of Long’s mouth curved up. “Really? Both of you think so… Indeed, I also think the latter is more likely!”

So, the three of them began to discuss the latter situation.

Finally, Long said, “If he sends Zhou Suye to the battlefield, we must show generosity and brotherly love. Besides, we can’t embarra.s.s Emperor Zhou this time.”

Both s.h.i.+ and Fang looked at him.

Long smiled. “We have to save his face… If the crown prince returns, he will be killed on the way. If he doesn’t return… humph, the more outstanding Zhou Suye is, the less likely the crown prince will let him go!”