Chapter 103

 

Li Cien’s request was not one that Li Zhi could decide on her own.

She brought Li Cien to Xie Lanxu, who was deeply engrossed in studying a game of chess.

“You want to follow us to the battlefield?” Xie Lanxu looked up at her, surprised.

In front of him was a completely chaotic chessboard, likely the result of him attempting to replicate a strategy from the book he was reading. However, instead of revealing the strategy hidden within the book, Xie Lanxu seemed to have hidden the strategy in his own confusion, leaving the board inscrutable and nonsensical.

“Yes!” Li Cien spoke passionately, her eyes sparkling with determination. “Ever since returning to the capital, I’ve been studying hard. Over the past year, I’ve visited foreign tribes, learned their languages, and now I’m fluent in Mandarin, Yi, Rakshasa, and even Hei Huo’s tribal language. Give me enough time, and I can learn the languages of every tribe on the grasslands. I’m certain I can be useful. Your Highness, please take me with you!”

“You’re willing to let her take such risks on the battlefield?” Xie Lanxu asked Li Zhi, turning his attention to her.

Of course, she wasn’t willing.

When Li Cien first came to her with this idea, she had been vehemently opposed to it.

“Cien convinced me,” Li Zhi said, glancing at her younger sister. “I understand her. She refuses to resign herself to a mundane life. She doesn’t want to be like other women, sewing and waiting for a marriage that might never fulfill her. She’s right—on the battlefield, we’ll need someone who understands the language of the Yaxiu tribes.”

Xie Lanxu still had his reservations.

He raised an eyebrow and said meaningfully, “Taking you to Baisha is one thing. But if you conspire with your sister again—”

“I won’t!” Li Cien immediately pounded her chest in a vow of loyalty. “From now on, you’re my brother-in-law! How could I possibly harm my brother-in-law?”

This new form of address visibly delighted Xie Lanxu, and a wide smile began to play on his lips.

“Well, then,” he said, “if your sister agrees, I see no reason to oppose it.”

“Brother-in-law, you’re the best! Long live my brother-in-law!” Li Cien cheered with glee.

At her feet, Xiao Li—their little dog—leaped up on its hind legs, wagging its tail frantically as if it could share in Li Cien’s joy.

Xie Lanxu was clearly basking in the flattery, so much so that he didn’t even notice he was holding his chess manual upside down. The unbridled pride on his face, coupled with his effort to conceal it, left Li Zhi unable to hold back her laughter.

After Li Cien left, Xie Lanxu extended a hand toward Li Zhi.

She took it, and with a light tug, he pulled her into his lap.

As she leaned against his chest, she caught the faint, comforting scent of osmanthus blossoms.

Outside, the osmanthus tree in the courtyard had bloomed one final time, its golden petals falling like a fragrant rain in the cool autumn breeze. Jia Sui had swept the petals away repeatedly, but no matter how diligent she was, traces of the flowers always lingered on the tables and floors indoors.

The scent of the tree filled the entire Li residence, wafting down the streets for miles.

For Li Zhi, the fragrance seemed to soothe her restless mind. Even on nights when she woke from nightmares, the scent drifting through the night air, combined with the warmth of Xie Lanxu’s arm beneath her head, helped her drift back to sleep.

Xie Lanxu buried his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply before murmuring in a low voice, “I could stay like this all day, doing absolutely nothing.”

At their feet, Xiao Li jumped and wagged his tail even more enthusiastically, clearly seeking attention.

The little pup, who had grown noticeably larger with each passing month, was no longer the tiny bundle who could stretch out across Li Zhi’s lap. Now, even laying just his upper body on her lap was a struggle.

Li Zhi patted his head, her expression softening as a hint of melancholy crept into her heart.

Tomorrow, they would leave the capital, embarking on a journey to the unfamiliar territory of Baisha. What lay ahead was uncertain, and the unknown weighed heavily on her mind.

Scooping up Xiao Li, she lay back against Xie Lanxu’s chest. He held her securely, while she held the dog.

Sensing her unease, Xie Lanxu gently patted her arm in a comforting rhythm.

Xiao Li, despite his increasing size, curled up quietly in her arms, offering a rare moment of calm.

While Xie Lanxu resumed studying his chess manual, Li Zhi gradually drifted off to sleep, lulled by the peacefulness of the moment.

For the first time in a long while, her heart felt truly at ease.

—

The Yan Empire dispatched a 200,000-strong army to reclaim Baisha.

On the day they set out from the capital, the massive procession flooded the entire main road like a mighty river, surging forward endlessly.

Though 200,000 was an impressive number, Baisha was vast and sparsely populated. It would be nearly impossible to subdue the Yaxiu tribes by sheer force alone. To make matters worse, the grasslands were home to dozens of smaller tribes. If the Yaxiu King succeeded in rallying them to his cause, this war could turn into a quagmire that would drag the Yan Empire down.

Even if Xie Lanxu felt no personal loyalty to the Yan Empire, a failure on the battlefield would undoubtedly result in severe punishment for him as the commanding general.

As his companion, Li Zhi didn’t have to endure the hardships of the soldiers, who either marched on foot or rode on horseback.

Instead, she and Li Cien traveled comfortably in a carriage.

Jia Sui and Jia He accompanied them all the way to Langfan Pavilion before stopping to see them off. Even after the carriage had traveled a great distance, Li Zhi could still make out their small, waving figures in the distance.

Besides the two of them who stayed behind in the capital to tend to the family home, Li Xiangsheng, Hei Huo, and the three Moqi brothers went with the army. The Moqi brothers, in particular, had been itching to prove themselves and could hardly wait to distinguish themselves on the battlefield.

During the day, the army marched tirelessly through wind and rain.

At night, military councils were held to discuss strategy.

After a month and a half of relentless travel, the army drew closer to the fallen city of Baisha. As they approached, scouts began to report sightings of Yaxiu spies with increasing frequency.

The tension in the air grew thicker with each passing day.

Although the Moqi brothers tirelessly attempted to capture a Yaxiu scout alive, all they ended up with were corpses. The scouts were fiercely loyal to their nobles, their minds filled with unshakable devotion, and they showed no hesitation in taking poison to end their lives when captured.

After several failed attempts, the Moqi brothers gave up on capturing a live scout. However, when Xie Lanxu learned about their struggles, he casually asked, “Have you ever caught a rabbit?”

The Moqi brothers, who had grown up around the Mingyue Tower, naturally had experience catching rabbits. But their idea of rabbit-catching was shooting them with arrows and then picking up the bodies.

Xie Lanxu’s version of catching rabbits, however, involved digging pits and setting traps to make the rabbits come to them.

To the Moqi brothers’ astonishment, Xie Lanxu personally demonstrated his method, successfully capturing a Yaxiu scout who had ventured into their camp.

Before the scout could poison himself, Xie Lanxu dislocated his jaw and broke his arms and legs. The entire process was conducted with eerie efficiency, and not a single scream escaped the scout’s lips. His eyes bulged wide, bloodshot and filled with terror.

The Moqi brothers, usually fearless, stood to the side, utterly speechless and shivering.

“This one will stay with me for now,” Xie Lanxu announced, tossing the limp scout to the ground as he casually pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hands. “I’ll see if I can reason with him. If not, we’ll just capture another.”

That night, no one in the camp dared approach the tent where Xie Lanxu and the scout were.

Whatever “reasoning” Xie Lanxu used with the scout remained a mystery, one that Li Zhi neither wanted to investigate nor uncover. She only knew that by dawn, every soldier in the camp had learned to avoid that tent.

The next morning, just before the army was to strike camp and move out, Xie Lanxu had still not emerged. Li Zhi, Li Cien, and several others stood outside the tent, uncertain whether they should go in to fetch him.

Nobody wanted to enter that tent.

The tent itself was marred with strange stains that had appeared overnight, fueling the imagination and sending shivers down their spines. Finally, when Moqi She was practically pushed forward like a sacrificial lamb to knock on the tent’s entrance, the flap lifted, and Xie Lanxu stepped out.

He looked immaculate, as if he had never been near anything bloody.

Seeing the group waiting outside, Xie Lanxu didn’t seem surprised.

“He didn’t know much,” Xie Lanxu said with a faint smile, “but he said enough. He turned out to be a reasonable fellow. I wasn’t disappointed.”

Spotting Li Cien standing behind Li Zhi, Xie Lanxu’s gaze softened, and he suddenly called out, “Sister.”

Li Cien blinked in disbelief, glancing around before pointing at herself. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Xie Lanxu’s smile widened. “You call me brother-in-law, so naturally, you’re my sister. Come take a look—I even left his tongue intact, just so he could speak.”

With that, he lifted the tent flap, revealing the scout lying motionless on the ground inside. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, it would have been impossible to tell he was still alive.

“Sister, do you like your brother-in-law’s gift?” Xie Lanxu asked, his voice light and teasing. “If you don’t like this one, I can always catch another for you.”

What could Li Cien say? What dared she say?

“N-no need… I love it… I absolutely love it…” Li Cien stammered, her face pale as a sheet.

Satisfied, Xie Lanxu nodded. “Good.”

And so, the once-proud and ferocious Yaxiu scout, now a pitiful, broken figure, was handed over to Li Cien, as though he were no more than a gutted, flayed fish.

Xie Lanxu’s favoritism, though directed at Li Cien, ultimately stemmed from his love for Li Zhi.

As Moqi She passed by Li Zhi, he couldn’t resist leaning close to whisper, “Do all Central Plains women have such… unique tastes?”

…Not quite.

This was just her personal preference, Li Zhi thought wryly.

—-

Half a month later, the army camped thirty miles outside Baisha City, near the border with the Mingyue Tower region.

Scouts reported that news of the Yan army’s approach had already reached Baisha City. The city’s walls bristled with soldiers in armor and archers ready for combat. From the walls hung the dried and decayed head of the former Baisha Governor.

That night, a tense and urgent military council was held inside Baisha City.

“The Yan army is led by Xie Lanxu, the one who beheaded Moqi Chuanmin?” sneered General Shuer, seated at the head of the council table. “I’m not foolish enough to believe in the power of familial bonds. Now that he’s come to Baisha, he’s as good as dead.”

“According to our scouts, the Yan Empire has deployed around 250,000 troops. After accounting for their supply lines, their actual combat force is no more than 220,000,” reported a burly, bearded man seated lower down the table.

Shuer dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand. “There’s no need to worry. Even if they outnumber us, as long as we hold our ground and defend Baisha, they won’t be able to breach our walls.”

Despite his confidence, the expressions of the other Yaxiu nobles around the table remained grim.

They were no fools. They knew that this was the last stretch before the autumn harvest, and food supplies in the city were running critically low. If the Yan army laid siege to Baisha, their current provisions wouldn’t last long.

Even after plundering nearby villages and granaries before the Yan army’s arrival, they still didn’t have enough to sustain their troops.

The commoners within the city walls might not understand the divine right of the Yaxiu nobles, but hunger was a universal language. If food ran out, and both the enemy outside and unrest inside threatened them, how much chance did they really have?

“Has the King sent any instructions?” someone asked anxiously.

“Hold Baisha City at all costs,” Shuer said firmly. “If we keep the city, we’ll have a gateway to the Central Plains. And if we manage to take Xie Lanxu’s head, so much the better.”

The Queen of the Yaxiu Kingdom, herself a member of the Yi Kingdom’s royal family, was none other than Moqi Chuanmin’s sister.

The idea of attacking Baisha while the Yan Emperor was ill had been hers.

If they could kill Xie Lanxu, there would undoubtedly be rich rewards from the Yaxiu Kingdom.

“If we’re lucky, the Yan army won’t even have a chance to fight us,” Shuer added confidently. “Our Kingdom’s assassins have already infiltrated Xie Lanxu’s camp.”

At this revelation, the Yaxiu nobles’ spirits soared.

Excited whispers filled the room as they envisioned the head of the Yan general being paraded through their city by morning.

As night deepened, the city walls of Baisha burned bright with torches, and the Yaxiu soldiers stood on high alert, tense and focused.

Meanwhile, in the Yan army camp, a figure dressed in standard Yan armor slipped quietly through the bustling soldiers, carrying the hope of Shuer and the Yaxiu Kingdom.

His destination? Xie Lanxu’s command tent.