Leaving the lands of Chisha Mountain, Song Yueyao found a carriage and horse depot and picked a horse with decent stamina.
The fastest way to the capital was to pass through Xunzhou and take the official post road connecting the two states. Trade between Liangya Prefecture and Xunzhou had always been frequent. Although she had never traveled this road herself, she had heard that merchant caravans were constantly coming and going, the sounds of carts and horses never ceasing day or night.
But today, as she stepped onto this post road, she realized something was wrong.
Too quiet.
Quiet enough that only the wind and the dull thud of hooves on the yellow earth remained.
Several new checkpoints had been set up along the road, garrisoned by Xunzhou soldiers. Anyone coming from the direction of Liangya Prefecture had to be inspected and pay enough silver before being allowed through.
But Song Yueyao was traveling from Xunzhou toward Liangya, and no one stopped her to ask questions.
She looked at the carved flower carriages and brand-new sedan chairs passing by. By the looks of their procession, they seemed to be wealthy families, but they had even more escorts than servants. Trunks and boxes were piled high on the carriage roofs, so heavy that the axles creaked under the pressure.
She sidestepped to let a hurried convoy pass, her gaze sweeping over the nameplates hanging from the sedans: Liangya Prefecture Zhou Clan, Liangya Prefecture Chen Estate, Liangya Prefecture...
All of them, one after another, were large households from Liangya.
The rolling wheels kicked up dust. The scene didn't look like a journey—it looked like an evacuation.
Song Yueyao reined in her horse, turned back to look at the distant caravan, then glanced at the empty road ahead. Her brow furrowed slightly.
She casually grabbed a passing escort and asked, "What's happening in Liangya?"
"The barbarians have attacked again!" The man saw she was coming from the opposite direction and kindly advised, "Miss, you're still heading to Liangya at a time like this? You should go back to Xunzhou. We're all fleeing to Xunzhou to take shelter."
Song Yueyao's eyes darkened instantly. Without another word, she clamped her legs around the horse's belly and sped off at a gallop.
She traveled day and night, taking difficult shortcuts, but the closer she got to the capital, the stronger her unease grew.
Refugees in flight were everywhere along the way.
She dealt with several bands of marauders taking advantage of the chaos to plunder. From the tearful and sorrowful words she overheard, she pieced together the truth: the barbarians had already captured four cities and were driving straight into the heart of the kingdom, heading toward the capital.
Unlike more than ten years ago, when they had to chew through border cities one by one, advancing step by step, this time they struck directly at the vital points, pointing their swords at the royal capital.
The pity was that the loyal ministers and capable generals of the past had been nearly wiped out under the slander of Grand Preceptor Yin. Now treacherous officials held sway, and the few military commanders left in the court were nothing but incompetent fools unworthy of their posts!
All they knew was indulging in pleasure and entertainment; they had never even seen the blood of the battlefield.
No wonder they were defenseless, retreating in defeat, losing five cities in a row.
Thinking of this, Song Yueyao whipped her horse even more urgently. "Giddyup!"
---
In the Nine Heavens Grand Hall.
"Report—!"
A messenger soldier practically crawled and stumbled into the main hall, falling to his knees.
"The barbarian army has breached Deer City! Our twenty thousand troops... failed to hold it; the entire force was annihilated!" His voice trembled. "Several school officers were decapitated, their heads displayed on the city walls..."
A civil official immediately pressed, "The school officers were exposed on the walls—what about the commanding general leading this campaign?"
"General Su saw that the situation was unfavorable and abandoned his troops to flee! Only Commander Xiao led the soldiers in a lone, stubborn defense, holding out until the very moment the city gates were breached. Now Commander Xiao has also been hung on the city wall, with only his last breath left. The barbarians want to... to slowly drain the life out of him!"
By the end, the soldier's eyes were red, and he could no longer hold back his sobs.
"Blast it! Every last one of them is blasted!"
A sudden yell exploded from the dragon throne. Song Hu kicked over the maidservant massaging his legs beside him, his face ashen. "Deserting in battle, costing me twenty thousand soldiers—this pack of trash, they all deserve to die!"
"Your Majesty, please calm your wrath." Grand Preceptor Yin slowly stepped forward, holding a Bagua divination plate in his hand. "The barbarians have only attacked with fifty thousand men. Liangya has many able-bodied men; we can conscript another few tens of thousands."
Song Hu snorted coldly. "Without good generals, conscripting more is just sending them to their deaths!"
Grand Preceptor Yin smiled faintly. "Your servant has just divined the nation's fortune. Liangya shows a great omen of good luck—this time we will surely turn misfortune into good fortune."
"What good strategy does the Grand Preceptor have?"
"Your Majesty, why not—" Grand Preceptor Yin stepped forward a few paces, "—temporarily surrender to the barbarians?"
At these words, silence fell over the entire hall.
"When Your Majesty attains eternal life in the future, there will naturally be a chance to turn the tables. The great enterprise of unification—why worry it will not be achieved?"
"No, absolutely not!"
The newly appointed Chamberlain suddenly knelt down heavily. "Your Majesty! The barbarians are brutal by nature; they commit every evil under the sun, sparing neither young nor old! If we truly surrender, how could they treat the people of Liang Prefecture well? And how could they spare the imperial city? This is nothing less than inviting a wolf into the house!"
Grand Preceptor Yin's gaze sank, and he cast a sidelong glance at him, a trace of mockery hanging on the corner of his mouth. "Oh? Then why doesn't the Chamberlain tell us—what other foolproof plan do you have?"
He paused, then let out a light laugh. "Right now, there isn't even a talent capable of leading an army. Could it be... that the Chamberlain wants to personally take up his sword and go into battle?"
As his words landed, the officials in Grand Preceptor Yin's faction all broke into scornful laughter.
The Chamberlain ignored the laughter and only bowed his head lower, but his voice grew even more resolute:
"Commander Xiao..."
"Your servant implores Your Majesty to quickly dispatch an elite unit to rescue Commander Xiao!"
"Xiao Yan was a veteran of the Nie Family Army, once a deputy general under General Old Nie."
"It was only because he had been repeatedly suppressed that he was reduced to the post of commander. If not for General Su's desertion on the battlefield, forcing Commander Xiao to hastily take command, this battle might not have been lost, and Deer City might not have fallen!"
Tears in his eyes, he knocked his head heavily to the ground, his voice hoarse and desperate:
"Commander Xiao is a rare military talent! Your servant begs Your Majesty to send someone to rescue him and lead the army to attack the barbarians!"
Grand Preceptor Yin's mockery grew stronger, and he leisurely brushed the dust off his sleeves. "The Chamberlain talks lightly enough. Now that Deer City has fallen, the barbarian army is stationed right on the spot, and the city walls are heavily guarded. Going to rescue him is no different from scooping dirt right under the barbarians' noses."
He looked around, sneering coldly:
"Might I ask the Chamberlain, where do we find such an elite force? And who has the skill to carry out the rescue?"
"I will go rescue him!"
A voice of indignation suddenly cut through the heavy atmosphere in the hall.
Everyone followed the sound and saw a woman striding boldly into the hall. Her dark-colored skirt and blouse were covered in dust, her hair bun was loose, the strands at her temples blown wild by the wind—she had not the slightest trace of proper appearance or manners.
When she drew closer, an old courtier stared hard, his face suddenly changing color. It was none other than the eldest princess consort, who had been married off in a political alliance to the Yuebai tribe several months ago!
---
In the corner of the palace wall.
Two heads, one above and one below, poked out furtively.
Wu Li disdainfully adjusted the black cap on his head, looking down at the head below him, and asked helplessly, "Do we really have to sneak into the imperial city this way?"
He had a hundred more dignified methods—whether using mind-confusing gu worms or the arts the old man had taught him.
There was no need to be this ridiculous.
Chai Xiaomi turned back and looked him up and down.
The young man, dressed in eunuch's robes, managed to pull off a unique charm.
She couldn't bring herself to say it out loud, but the idea of this disguise came more from her own playful mischief.
Like playing dress-up, she desperately wanted to see Wu Li in different outfits, personally creating a miracle Wu Li.
Of course, it wasn't entirely just for fun.
She lowered her voice and explained, “You don’t know this, but there’s a cunning old man by the side of Song Hu, the lord of Liangya Prefecture. I’ve heard he knows esoteric arts like the Eight Gates and can even divine the secrets of heaven. I’m not sure of his background—if you rashly use any kind of magic, you might alert the enemy.”
These “hearings” were, of course, from the book she had read. The more mysterious a supporting character seemed, the more uncontrollable she felt. She had to tread carefully and stay on guard.
Chai Xiaomi was completely focused on the direction of the main hall, unaware that a squad of imperial guards was patrolling around the corner just then.
Just as she turned her head to speak, she was suddenly spun around, and in the next moment, she was pressed behind a large ornamental stone amid the flower bushes.
“Don’t make a sound.”
The young man’s warning whispered low in her ear, his warm breath brushing against the nape of her neck.
Then, a series of footsteps approached from afar, slowly passing by behind the stone.
Wu Li held her, his chin resting against her shoulder, as he peered through a gap in the rockwork.
Chai Xiaomi instinctively pressed her lips together and squinted, but then she noticed with alarm that something was quietly creeping up his back.
She looked closer—it was a centipede!
Although she had grown somewhat desensitized to snakes, venomous insects, and bats by now, she simply could not tolerate this kind of creepy, multi-legged creature!
What was worse, the centipede was nearly at Wu Li’s shoulder, wriggling toward her face.
Chai Xiaomi let out a sharp gasp.
A scream was about to burst from her throat when a pair of lips sealed her mouth tightly shut.
Wu Li covered her mouth, perfectly still, only loosening his hold after the footsteps had completely faded into the distance.
“Didn’t I tell you not to make a sound?” He lowered his head and gave her cheek a light, playful bite, as if punishing her. “Were you deliberately going against me?”
“No…” she whimpered in defense, “There was a huge centipede on your back!”
She hurried around to check behind him.
But there was no centipede at all. How had it disappeared in just a few moments?
Wu Li curved his lips slightly, soothingly patting her head as he brushed past the decorative hairpin in her hair. The maid’s hair ornament looked unexpectedly lovely on her. “You must be too tense—you must have seen things.”
