Jin Tiancheng still hadn't figured out what was happening, but Yin Zhenghe had already charged out of the great tent. He pointed at Kang Luo and his men and bellowed, "Men! Don't let them get away! Get them..."

Kang Luo's face was livid. He looked like a man who'd just lost both parents.

So Gaoli had dared poison his trusted man, his favorite officer, and now they wanted to take him alive. They had some goddamn nerve.

Once he fought his way out, he'd make Gaoli pay dearly for this.

Of course, he had to fight his way out first.

"Men, kill them...!"

Kang Luo roared and cut a Gaoli soldier's throat with one stroke. Blood spattered across his spotless white robe like red plum blossoms bursting open.

Yin Zhenghe frowned slightly. "Seize them! Don't let them get away..." he shouted. "Mark this minister's words: if they get out, none of us will live."

Gaoli soldiers came pouring in from every direction.

Kang Luo really was a fierce fighter. With his fifty men, he hacked his way through the crowd.

Jin Tiancheng came running out of the great tent. He looked at Kang Luo under attack, then turned to Yin Zhenghe. "Do you realize that after this, there's no chance Gaoli and Nanyue will ever make peace?" he roared.

Yin Zhenghe was dead serious. "Third Prince, if I don't do this... we'll all die here, and there won't be any peace talks at all."

Jin Tiancheng went a little pale. All he knew was that if these talks failed, things would go badly for him when he got home.

"Stop! All of you, stop...!"

Nobody stopped. The roar of battle shook the sky, and wine and women had hollowed Jin Tiancheng out long ago. Weak and short of breath, he couldn't make himself heard over it at all.

He turned his head and shouted, "Runner! Pass on my order: tell them all to stop...!"

"No!" Yin Zhenghe roared, cutting him off. "Third Prince, capturing or killing Kang Luo is the only way out for us now."

Jin Tiancheng shouted back,…