Chen Xi pondered for a moment, then comforted her: "This is a good thing."
Mu Ning didn’t understand. She turned to look at him. Under the pitch-black twilight, everything around them was blurred, with only the faint light from the window outlining Chen Xi’s silhouette.
Chen Xi gazed out the window, his voice drifting slightly: "When faced with the fall of a nation, with people displaced and corpses strewn across the fields, anyone with a moral compass would want to do something for their country and for the suffering civilians."
"She has martial skills, and her father is a military general. Perhaps she has harbored a desire to protect and serve her country since childhood, but because of her identity as a woman, she couldn’t put her learning to use for the nation."
"Especially in times when the country is broken and families destroyed—she possesses abilities and burning passion, her heart filled with grief and anger, yet she can do nothing."
He lowered his head to look at Mu Ning: "Not everyone can be as fortunate as us, able to meet the Lord."
Mu Ning understood his words, but still felt a slight worry: "What if—what if she ends up exposing us all? Wouldn’t all our efforts be in vain?"
Chen Xi chuckled lightly: "Why don’t you look on the bright side? What if we win her over? And through her, perhaps we could even win over Hua Yuanyi?"
Mu Ning’s mouth slightly hung open. For the first time, she realized that Chen Xi was not only daring in his actions but bold in his thinking as well.
Chen Xi sighed, his eyes vacant: "Lady Mu, you’ve been following Old Mu, and while you may have experienced life and death, Old Mu is still alive, and so is your father."
"But the rest of us..." his voice carried a tone of defiance, "The rest of us have truly experienced the fall of our country and the destruction of our homes. Our families, people we knew and didn’t know, an entire city—almost all were soaked in blood."
"So there’s nothing for me to fear. If we’re exposed, it’s just one life lost."
He smiled again, with a hint of sarcasm and pride: "If we’re exposed, we die. But even if the Great Prince finds out, does he dare to come to Ge Feng?"
Mu Ning’s heart ached. She knew something of the Liang City incident, but Yan Country had endured far more than just a single Liang City.
Some places had suffered even more brutally—entire cities slaughtered clean.
She wasn’t good at comforting others, so she simply lifted her chin high: "That’s right. If he dares to come, the Lord will make sure he never returns."
Chen Xi’s lips curved upward: "So there’s no need to worry too much. The Lord is right—we must unite all forces we can and win over everyone we can."
Mu Ning nodded: "Mm. But this was indeed our mistake. If it weren’t Hua Ruo who discovered us, but someone else..."
Chen Xi agreed: "So we must learn from this. From now on, we can never make such a mistake again."
When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Ge Feng City was already bustling with activity.
Jiang Jin walked along the sunlit streets, feeling pleased—until the moment didn’t last long.
As soon as she arrived at the county office, Ding Ying handed her a report: "Lord, a letter from Lin County."
Jiang Jin’s expression turned serious. Though letters from Lin County were rare, each one had been shocking.
She read the letter from beginning to end, her face growing even grimmer: "Go fetch Yun Ci, Zhou Sui, and Xia Chanyi. We have matters to discuss."
The three arrived swiftly. Jiang Jin handed them the letter: "Qu Shilang has returned to Wuqin. His next target will surely be Lin County. Everyone, tell me—should we keep Lin County or not?"
Yes—keep it or not?
Even she hadn’t expected that the covert operative she’d placed there had, due to sheer ability, risen to the second-highest position.
Lin County’s situation was unique and extremely brutal. When Jiang Jin had initially deployed the covert agents, she had considered whether to abandon it.
After much deliberation, she ultimately decided to send people in.
Lin County’s location was strategically important—it wasn’t far from Chongzhou or Juanzhou, and more importantly, it was only one county away from Wuqin, where the Great Chanyu Qu Zhao resided.
Considering the danger involved, she had sent her "top student" Ye Shang to Lin County, along with four other equally outstanding covert agents to support him.
"Is Luo Lan reaching his limit?" Zhou Sui asked, though his tone indicated he already knew the answer.
He was well aware that Luo Lan controlled Lin County. In fact, Luo Lan had been rescued from prison by the Lord, Zhou Sui, and Yun Chengxuan.
But what he never expected was how Lin County had developed under Luo Lan’s leadership.
He couldn’t help but glance at Xia Chanyi. Her earlier refusal to stay in Lin County clearly suggested she had foreseen this outcome.
Xia Chanyi pressed her lips together. She had indeed seen that Luo Lan had become somewhat unhinged, willing to go to any lengths to slaughter the barbarians.
Jiang Jin nodded: "That’s right. According to the letter, apart from four to five thousand Han civilians unwilling to resort to cannibalism, Lin County still has over fifty thousand troops."
"Though these people have some combat capability, they’re ultimately a rabble with limited fighting power—and could even desert or turn against us at any time."
In Lin County, civilians who refused to engage in cannibalism were treated as the lowest-class slaves and sources of food.
This was no joke. Back then, the few thousand residents of Lin County had nearly all been consumed.
Though Jiang Jin had left supplies in Lin County, as Luo Lan recruited more people, the food quickly ran out.
So they began eating Qu Zhao’s people. Lin County was surrounded by the Qu Zhao tribes, who had attacked the city many times.
When the attacks ceased, Luo Lan would have the corpses of Qu Zhao warriors dragged back into the city, providing them with food.
Sometimes, with too many corpses, they’d turn them into dried meat rations for future consumption.
After multiple failed attempts to capture Lin County, the Qu Zhao tribes simply halted their assaults.
Don’t misunderstand—this wasn’t because the Qu Zhao were weak. A tiny Lin County had resisted them for so long.
At its peak, Lin County had hosted over a hundred thousand troops, all lured there by promises of "capturing a Han city" and "entering the city to get a full stomach."
Luo Lan accepted everyone who came, without discrimination. At the most crowded times, there wasn’t enough space, and many soldiers simply lived on the city walls.
The population surged rapidly, making the food shortage even worse. The Qu Zhao wouldn’t engage them any more, so out of desperation, Luo Lan led his men out of the city to capture Qu Zhao people or seize their grain, salt, oil, and other supplies.
But despite their numbers, his troops had little combat effectiveness. Without the protection of city walls, they were easily wiped out whenever they ventured out.
It wasn’t that Luo Lan hadn’t tried to train them. He had, but with little success.
The people he recruited were a chaotic mix—many were lawless bandits and vagrants who had entered the city just to eat their fill. They couldn’t care less about military discipline.
Desperate, they started eating the city’s civilians.
When residents tried to flee or resist, Luo Lan used brutal methods to turn them into "military rations."
Especially those civilians unwilling to join in cannibalism—he saw them as lacking conviction and they were the first to be consumed.
Yet as the city’s population dwindled, Luo Lan realized things couldn’t go on like this. If all the civilians were gone, what would they eat? Themselves?
So when new Han people entered the city—even if not not strong enough to serve as soldiers—he kept them alive and had them till the land within the city for farming.
Those few thousand civilians survived just barely on their own supplies and meager harvests.
But everyone knew the truth: these people were Luo Lan’s "reserve food," raised for the day Lin County truly ran out of grain...
Xia Chanyi frowned: "If we give up Lin County, do we still try to save those civilians who refuse to eat human flesh?"
Jiang Jin nodded: "Yes. I’ll send people to assist, do everything possible to rescue these civilians."
Yun Ci mused, "Lin County holds a strategic position. If we could bring it under our control, it would greatly aid our future counteroffensive."
Zhou Sui shook his head, "Our forces are limited. If we stretch our lines too thin, we risk being easily broken through."
He then turned to Jiang Jin, "My Lord, are you planning to take Donghu Commandery once spring arrives next year?"
