How could it be him?

As retainers who had followed Gao Wu in battle for a lifetime, Gao Yuan's shout immediately prompted everyone to draw their broadswords and form a defensive formation, shielding the carriage and the female family members in the center.

Gao Yuan jumped down from the carriage and went to the front of the convoy, squinting at the approaching group.

"System, can you scan the situation of the enemy forces ahead?"

"Yes, beginning scan..."

"Name: Zhang San, Position: Centurion of the Great Qian Left Guard, Comprehensive Evaluation: D+."

"Name: Li Si, Position: Centurion of the Great Qian Left Guard, Comprehensive Evaluation: D+."

... "Name: Song Ren, Position: Qianniu Guard of the Great Qian Third Prince's Mansion, Comprehensive Evaluation: C."

"Name: The Emperor, Attributes: Master of Painting and Calligraphy, Ruthless and Merciless, Position: Great Qian Third Prince, Comprehensive Evaluation: B+: Intelligence A+, Internal Affairs A, Charisma S."

He was here. He actually came in person. Gao Yuan hadn't expected that fellow The Emperor to come personally.

With the enemy strong and himself weak, Gao Yuan had no choice but to look at his item warehouse.

One Summon Card and one Cheat Card. He had originally wanted to hide his strength and use them later.

But he had to use them now. If he couldn't get past this hurdle, not only would the event fail, but he would also likely end up dead.

Didn't you see the character's attributes were literally 'ruthless and merciless'? Would he leave any survivors?

Gritng his teeth, Gao Yuan asked the system in his heart,

"System, if I summon someone now, will it cause a commotion?"

Gao Yuan was worried that if a person suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it would scare everyone else witless.

"Rest assured, Host. I am a high-level system; such a situation will not occur."

"Good. Use the summoning card."

"Host is using the S-rank Random Talent Summoning Card. Randomizing..."

A large number of character cards appeared on the semi-transparent screen before him, and then the images began to cycle rapidly.

"A general, a general... It must be a general who can fight..."

"The Overlord, the Overlord... even the Slave of Three Surnames is fine... Li Cunxiao, this one is good, this one is good..."

The speed of the cycling images slowed down. It looked like it was about to stop on Li Cunxiao, but suddenly the card slid past, and a person he had never heard of appeared.

"Congratulations to the Host for randomly drawing the S-rank General: Xia Luqi."

Gao Yuan's less-than-abundant knowledge of history hit a massive blind spot at this moment.

"Xia Luqi? Who is that?"

The system was quite considerate and immediately posted Xia Luqi's character introduction.

"Name: Xia Luqi, Courtesy Name: Bang Jie, Attributes: Peerless Fierce General, Slayer of a Hundred, Comprehensive Evaluation: S;"

"Xia Luqi: A famous general of the Later Tang during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period;"

"Main Achievements: Personally defended Li Cunxu and killed over a hundred men with his own hands; captured Wang Yanzhang alive; one of the four 'Slayers of a Hundred' recorded in official history."

"Holy... Holy crap, he's amazing!"

Gao Yuan was even stuttering in his mind. One of the four 'Slayers of a Hundred,' the man who captured Iron Spear Wang Yanzhang—ranked second in the 'Romance of the Late Tang and Five Dynasties'—alive.

With such a record, if he wasn't amazing, who was?

"System, I freaking love you!"

If the system had an avatar, Gao Yuan would definitely hold her and give her a few good kisses.

"System, where is Xia Luqi? Where is my Bang Jie?"

Just as he finished speaking, a flash of golden light flickered before his eyes, and immediately, a figure riding a tall horse galloped from the distance.

The man came before Gao Yuan, dismounted, and bowed in greeting.

"This humble general Xia Luqi pays respects to my Lord."

Gao Yuan finally saw the man clearly: 1.9 meters tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a face full of curly whiskers.

He wore black Mingguang lamellar armor, a broadsword at his waist, and a beautiful fox tail hanging from it.

Beside him was a tall, pitch-black horse with shiny, smooth fur. Hanging from the victory hooks on the horse were an iron spear, a powerful bow, and a quiver of arrows.

"Bang Jie, you may rise."

Gao Yuan gave a virtual assist to help him up and looked toward the front.

"The situation is critical right now. Please assist me, Bang Jie."

"Understood!"

"Be very careful. These people are no ordinary mountain bandits or horse thieves; they are soldiers from the Left Guard and the Third Prince's mansion in disguise."

A flash of surprise crossed Xia Luqi's eyes, but it quickly transformed into a surge of battle intent.

"Rest assured, Lord. Bang Jie understands."

Xia Luqi flipped onto his horse and headed toward the front of the convoy.

Gao Yuan's voice had been very loud just now, startling those inside the carriage.

Zhao Xiyao opened the window, her bright large eyes looking at Gao Yuan with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Gao Yuan, you say the people ahead are my third brother's men? What evidence do you have? And why?"

Gao Yuan didn't look at her, only giving a cold laugh.

"Heh, I have no evidence right now, and I don't know why either. But you'll find out in a moment."

As they spoke, the distance between the two forces was already less than a hundred paces.

One could see The Emperor's arrogance from this; he didn't choose to utilize the impact of cavalry, but instead opted for close combat.

This showed he was very confident in the combat strength of his mansion guards and the Left Guard soldiers.

As the group came to a halt, one person left the ranks and stepped forward.

"I am Hu Ba, the Second Chief of Black Wind Fortress on Mount Dang! If you want to live, leave your money and women behind, or I'll make sure you suffer the consequences!"

Gao Yuan climbed onto the carriage and shouted at the top of his lungs,

"I didn't expect a dignified Qianniu Guard from the Great Qian Third Prince's mansion to moonlights as a highway robber."

A flash of panic appeared in Song Ren's eyes.

"You... don't you talk nonsense and try to implicate the Third Highness!"

The Emperor helplessly covered his forehead. This lackey of his was loyal enough, and his martial arts weren't bad, but unfortunately, his brain wasn't very sharp; he had given himself away with a single sentence.

Unable to watch any longer, The Emperor squeezed his horse's flanks to step forward and tore off his face mask.

"Everyone says the third son of the Gao Family is a waste, but it turns out he's a talent. How did you find out?"

Gao Yuan couldn't exactly say the system told him, so he rolled his eyes and thought of an excuse.

"Though I lack the strength to even truss a chicken, I was born into a family of generals. What kind of horse thieves or mountain bandits could ride military-grade warhorses and use custom military weapons?"

"As for how I knew it was you, Third Prince, it's simple—I just had to analyze the situation."

"Hahaha, you are indeed a talent. It's a pity you're going to die here today."

The Emperor's gaze turned cold, and he immediately ordered,

"Leave no one alive."

Hearing that familiar voice, Zhao Xiyao opened the carriage door and lifted the curtain to see the face she had been thinking of day and night.

Upon hearing The Emperor's cold and heartless kill order, tears began to flow uncontrollably.

Gao Yuan walked to the side of the carriage and pushed the sobbing Zhao Xiyao back inside, closing the door behind her.

"Stay inside, all of you. It'll be over soon."

At the front, the two forces had already engaged. Although they lacked armor, they were all elites, and the situation quickly became a stalemate.

At this moment, the role of the fierce General Xia Luqi became apparent.

With a long spear in one hand and a broadsword in the other, he charged through the crowd, and within moments, a dozen corpses lay around him.

Though Gao Yuan didn't know how to lead troops in battle, he had watched countless war movies.

Seeing his precious starting team members falling one by one was heartbreaking. Looking at the cold-faced The Emperor in the distance, he immediately thought of a way to break the deadlock.

Regardless of whether he could be heard, he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Bang Jie! Don't get bogged down in fighting! To catch the bandits, first capture their leader! Kill The Emperor to drive back the enemy!"

Seeing that Xia Luqi didn't react, Gao Fu also stood up, his thin and aged body letting out a massive roar,

"General Xia! Capture the leader!"

This time, Xia Luqi finally heard. Although he was a fierce general type, he wasn't a completely brainless brute.

He slashed an enemy to death, saved a soldier, and looked up at the dozen or so people on horseback not far away, confirming his target.

Then, Xia Luqi began to rampaged through the lines to gather men, quickly assembling a strike force of over twenty soldiers.

Only then did he shift his target, letting out a great roar as he charged toward where The Emperor was located.