Chapter 104

Edited By: Mim

Inside the Yan army’s main command tent, the atmosphere was tense, illuminated by bright candlelight.

Seated around the tent were the key generals for this campaign. In the center stood a massive sand table, nearly the length of two arms, meticulously recreating the geography of Baisha and its surroundings. The towns, rivers, mountains, and troop movements of both sides were laid out clearly for all to see.

Xie Lanxu had gathered them here to finalize the strategy for the upcoming battle.

However, not everyone was happy about Li Zhi and Li Cien’s presence in the tent.

“It’s inappropriate for women to remain in the command tent during a military council,” one gruff voice declared, breaking the tense silence.

The generals turned toward the source of the complaint. The speaker was a burly man with a thick waist and powerful arms, each of his ten fingers bearing deep calluses from gripping his axe.

This man was Fan Jian, a general commanding 5,000 elite troops sent from Wen City as reinforcements. Though rough in demeanor, he was known for his competence on the battlefield.

Xie Lanxu made no move to defend Li Zhi. He simply sat back in his tiger-skin chair, offering her a quiet, confident smile. He trusted that Li Zhi could handle this on her own.

And handle it she did. Li Zhi signaled her brother Li Xiangsheng to stand down, then addressed Fan Jian with a calm smile.

“General Fan,” she began, “you are a man of great stature and courage. Are you truly afraid of a weak woman like me? When the night is quiet, does that fear not gnaw at your conscience?”

Fan Jian’s face reddened with anger. “Afraid of you? What nonsense! Women don’t belong on the battlefield!”

“And why not?” Li Zhi asked, tilting her head.

“Because… because women were born to marry and raise children! They have no place in war!” Fan Jian bellowed, his voice booming.

Li Zhi chuckled softly, shaking her head. “I thought, perhaps, the general might have some profound insight or perhaps a personal grudge—perhaps you were bested on the battlefield by a woman? But no, it turns out your reasoning is nothing more than the ignorant ramblings of fools.”

Her words cut deep, and Fan Jian’s face turned an even brighter shade of red. He slammed his hand on the table and stood abruptly.

“Your Highness,” he addressed Xie Lanxu directly, “forgive my bluntness, but is this truly how you manage your troops—allowing women to sit in on military councils?”

Xie Lanxu, seated languidly in his chair, leaned an elbow on the armrest and rested his chin on his hand. A faint, amused smile played on his lips as he replied in a soft, almost gentle tone:

“Ah, yes, we must abide by military regulations.”

Fan Jian’s chest puffed out in smug satisfaction—until Xie Lanxu added, his tone sharp as a blade:

“And what do the regulations say about insubordination?”

“Fifty strokes of the rod,” came the immediate reply from Moqi Ji, the eldest of the Moqi brothers.

“Take him out,” Xie Lanxu commanded, his smile never faltering.

Fan Jian’s eyes widened in disbelief. Before he could react, Xie Lanxu’s personal guards had seized him and dragged him out of the tent.

The silence in the tent was deafening. Xie Lanxu glanced around at the assembled generals, still smiling.

“There’s no need to be so tense,” he said lightly. “I’m a reasonable man. Now, let’s get back to the matter at hand. Does anyone have a brilliant plan for taking Baisha City?”

As the sound of Fan Jian’s punishment echoed from outside, Moqi Ji broke the awkward silence.

“Has Your Highness considered using water as a weapon?”

“Go on,” Xie Lanxu prompted.

“Baisha City lies downstream of the Wei River,” Moqi Ji explained. “If we divert the river’s flow into the city, we can force them to surrender without a fight. The water isn’t swift enough to cause major casualties—it would rise no higher than a person’s knees—but it would ruin their grain stores and weaken their defenses.”

Another general shook his head in disagreement. “Diverting the river would take too much effort. I say we destroy the city gates and launch a direct assault.”

The tent buzzed with heated discussion, each general presenting their own strategy.

Meanwhile, a figure dressed in standard Yan army armor slowly edged closer to Xie Lanxu.

Li Zhi, initially engrossed in the debate, noticed the suspicious individual pulling a small mechanism from his sleeve. Her heart sank as she realized what it was.

“Ah-Li, watch out!” she shouted instinctively.

In that instant, the assassin pressed the trigger on his hidden weapon. A flurry of silver needles shot toward Xie Lanxu, perfectly aligned for a fatal strike.

Before the needles could reach their target, Li Xiangsheng stepped forward, unsheathing his gleaming blade.

But it wasn’t Li Xiangsheng’s sword that stopped the attack.

A golden-threaded whip lashed through the air, knocking the needles aside with a loud crack.

All eyes turned to the source of the whip. Standing behind the Moqi brothers, disguised as a lowly soldier, was none other than Moqi Danliao—their younger sister.

“Danliao?!” Li Cien gasped in shock.

Li Zhi recognized her immediately as well. Normally flamboyant and impossible to miss, Moqi Danliao had somehow managed to blend in perfectly with the other soldiers. Her face was scrubbed clean of makeup, her skin darkened with powder, and her tall frame hidden beneath standard-issue armor.

Having thwarted the assassin’s attack, Moqi Danliao calmly recoiled her whip. Meanwhile, Li Xiangsheng tackled the would-be assassin to the ground, pinning him with ease.

The assassin had come prepared. As soon as he launched his concealed weapon, he didn’t bother to check whether his attack was successful—he decisively swallowed poison.

Li Xiangsheng checked the assassin’s pulse and then looked toward Xie Lanxu, who had remained calm and composed throughout, without even moving an inch.

“Just an appetizer,” Xie Lanxu said coolly. “Cut off his head and send it back to Baisha City as a gift.”

“You knew there would be an assassin?” Moqi Danliao asked, her voice sharp with suspicion.

“Are you asking me?” Xie Lanxu responded, his tone mild.

Moqi Danliao gritted her teeth, then grudgingly addressed him, “…Godfather.”

“I didn’t know there would be an assassin,” Xie Lanxu said, standing from his tiger-skin chair. “But I knew I wouldn’t die. If killing me were that simple, then they’re far too naive.”

The Moqi brothers exchanged nervous glances. Finally, they pushed their eldest brother, Moqi Ji, forward to take responsibility.

“It was my decision to bring my sister disguised as a soldier into the army. Please punish only me, Your Highness,” Moqi Ji said, bowing deeply.

But Moqi Danliao stepped forward, her neck stiff with defiance. “I said I’d take full responsibility if anything went wrong, and I meant it! This was my idea, and none of them could stop me!”

Though it seemed Xie Lanxu had not been aware of Danliao’s infiltration into the camp, Li Zhi knew him well enough to recognize that his calm demeanor betrayed prior knowledge. He must have allowed it intentionally, even if he hadn’t explicitly acknowledged it until now.

“Li Zhi mentioned to me that a camp full of men can be inconvenient for women,” Xie Lanxu began. “I approved Moqi Danliao’s presence in the camp, disguised as a man, to secretly protect her.”

Moqi Ji and his brothers froze in surprise, looking at Danliao, who was equally stunned.

Li Zhi saw that Xie Lanxu had no intention of punishing Danliao and quickly added, “That’s right. His Highness had already approved it. It’s just that with everyone busy with military affairs lately, I hadn’t had the chance to inform you all.”

Moqi Ji finally caught on to Xie Lanxu’s intentions. Bowing, he said meaningfully, “Your Highness is truly merciful.”

Xie Lanxu stepped off the platform and walked toward the sand table in the center of the tent.

“Let’s get back to the matter at hand,” he said. “I already have a strategy in mind for taking Baisha City.”

“Please enlighten us, Your Highness,” Moqi She said eagerly.

“It’s harvest season,” Xie Lanxu began. “The grain stores in Baisha City won’t be able to sustain its population of 100,000 for long. All we need to do is encircle the city, cutting off every possible escape route. Not even a mosquito should be able to fly out. At the same time, those ‘mosquitoes’ hoping to come to Baisha’s aid from the grasslands will inevitably fly in.”

He picked up a white flag representing the forces of the Yaxiu royal court from the far side of the sand table and placed it outside Baisha City. Then he grabbed a black flag, representing his own forces, and tipped over the white flag.

“We will bide our time and eliminate the reinforcements from Yaxiu. This will drain the Yaxiu royal court of its remaining strength. When no more mosquitoes dare to come, the ones inside Baisha City will starve until they can’t hold on any longer.”

Xie Lanxu’s voice grew colder, his hand knocking over the white flags one by one. He moved the black flags strategically across the sand table, sweeping through the markings representing the scattered tribes on the plains.

“And when they finally fling open their gates in desperation—” Xie Lanxu continued, tipping over the last of the white flags in Baisha City, “—that’s when we’ll wipe them out entirely.”

The audacity of his plan left many of the assembled generals in shock.

“Your Highness doesn’t just intend to reclaim Baisha City; you plan to attack all fourteen tribes of the plains?” a general who had traveled with him from the capital asked in disbelief.

“The fourteen tribes answer to the Yaxiu royal court,” Xie Lanxu said calmly. “Every winter, they raid the Yan borderlands. If we have the courage to cut down the tree, why should we fear the branches?”

A faint smile played on his lips as he continued, “If we can subdue the fourteen tribes, it will be a victory that cements your names in history books. Promotions, titles, everlasting glory—it’s all within reach.”

“However…” a general hesitated. “Yan has tried to conquer the fourteen tribes before, but the grasslands are too vast. The tribes are nomadic, constantly on the move. Even if we could engage them, they know the terrain far better than we do, making it easy for them to escape. It’s not an easy task.”

“We don’t need to annihilate them,” Xie Lanxu said, his eyes gleaming. “We just need to herd them.”

“Herd them?” Moqi She was intrigued.

“Fight as we advance,” Xie Lanxu explained, “and drive them into the desolate desert. Let the desert finish the job for us. Once they’re in the desert, nine out of ten will die. Those who survive will likely turn to cannibalism. And if anyone does manage to make it out of the desert alive, they won’t have the strength to return. The threat to Yan will be neutralized.”

Moqi She’s enthusiasm grew. “If this works, the Baisha borderlands could enjoy peace for at least fifteen years!”

Xie Lanxu laid out the broad strokes of his military plan. Seeing no objections, he dismissed the council but asked Li Zhi and the Moqi siblings to remain behind.

“You four are my most trusted confidants in the army,” Xie Lanxu began, his tone softer and more intimate. “I have an important task—one I trust to no one but you.”

Moqi Ji, deeply moved by Xie Lanxu’s words, immediately knelt in allegiance. Still grateful for the earlier leniency shown toward his sister, he didn’t hesitate to pledge:

“Your Highness, we are at your service. Just give the word, and we will risk our lives to carry it out!”

“I need to leave the army camp for a time,” Xie Lanxu said. “Li Zhi will come with me. Her absence won’t raise suspicion, but mine might. I need someone to impersonate me in the camp to maintain morale. Moqi Li, I believe you’re the most suitable candidate for this task.”

Li Zhi froze. She hadn’t expected Xie Lanxu to plan a sudden departure, much less drag her along.

Where was he planning to go?