Li Zan rubbed his nose. He had indeed hoped to secure more leverage in their future cooperation.
Unfortunately, from start to finish, the party in control never seemed to be on their side; the other party simply refused to play by any expected rhythm.
These words would have been more fitting coming from the General, but the General had completely lost his momentum the moment Princess Jinyang said, "I shall go and beg my father the King for forgiveness."
At that moment, he too came to understand the General's feelings—Princess Jinyang truly left no room for anyone else.
Jiang Jin looked at Lu You and the others, each wearing a different expression. "Lin County is an isolated city, but we have repeating crossbows. As long as we hold the city firmly, Qu Zhao won't find it so easy to take Lin County."
"So, as things stand, this cooperation works more in your favor."
Lu You and his men found themselves at a loss for words. Only the howling wind filled the pavilion.
They knew, deep down, that one of the key reasons Jiang Jin had chosen to cooperate with them was the dock.
But they were also well aware that soldiers didn't necessarily need a dock to land—it was simply more troublesome for loading and unloading supplies.
What the Great Qing needed were weapons, food, and, most of all, a powerful ally to stand together against the barbarian tribes.
Jiang Jin glanced toward the dock. The Jinyang army had already boarded their ships.
She wasted no more time: "That's it. If there's anything you need later, you can send word to Lin County—someone there will handle it."
Lu You opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, he said nothing. He bowed respectfully and stepped aside.
Jiang Jin took the lead and left, with Zhou Sui half a step behind her.
Lu You hesitated for a heartbeat, then called out anyway: "General, this subordinate... is ashamed."
He dared not say he was guilty, lest the General respond with, "Then go down and apologize to His Majesty."
Zhou Sui paused mid-step, lowered his gaze to Lu You, who remained bowed, and said in a cold voice: "You... take care of yourself."
With that, he strode away quickly.
Dong Si, as if completely unaware of the tense atmosphere, smiled and said, "Many thanks for Left General's horses this time. Truly fine steeds."
The muscles in Lu You's face twitched. He forced a stiff smile. "You're too kind."
Dong Si gave a faint, knowing smile, nodded at the group, and with long strides caught up with Jiang Jin.
It wasn't until Jiang Jin's fleet had slowly departed from the dock that the cold look finally settled back onto Lu You's face.
Li Zan sighed. "General, dwelling too much on the past won't do you any good."
Lu You's expression darkened. After a long pause, he sighed again. "I'm just afraid Princess Jinyang will seek retribution."
Li Zan looked at the receding fleet and shook his head. "If she truly intended to retaliate, she wouldn't have agreed to cooperate with us."
If Lu You hadn't come to the dock today, or hadn't said those words, perhaps Princess Jinyang wouldn't have been so relentless.
They would have simply been partners, just as they had been quite amicably before.
"Besides," Li Zan continued, "what standing would she have to seek retribution? The Yan Kingdom has already fallen. Even as a legitimate princess, she no longer holds any true claim to legitimacy."
Lu You's expression eased somewhat. He gave Li Zan a look, then slowly paced away.
Soon, only Li Zan and Jin Feng remained in the pavilion.
Jin Feng looked at him with a complex expression. "Do you truly believe the princess isn't legitimate?"
Li Zan frowned. "Otherwise, how was I supposed to console the General?"
Jin Feng's eyes flashed with 'I knew it.' That's what he'd thought—if even he could see it clearly, there was no way Li Zan, a clever man, couldn't.
The Yan Kingdom was practically gone. What was the point of talking about legitimacy?
Not to mention, even if Jiang Jin weren't a princess, she could still make a play for power, at least within Fengzhou.
If someone had told him before that a woman could contend for the world, he would have scoffed.
But ever since he had followed Jiang Jin to take Lin County, his views had changed completely. Jiang Jin was no ordinary woman—she couldn't be judged by conventional standards.
Li Zan patted the military coat on his shoulder. "Getting along well with the Jinyang army?"
Jin Feng puffed up with a hint of pride. "Of course. I'm generous, sincere, handsome, and charismatic—hey, where are you going? I'm not done talking..."
The sea wind was biting, the waves towering, and the freezing temperature added considerable difficulty to navigation, slowing their pace considerably.
Ice had formed on the deck, the crenellations, the ship's rails, and the mast—requiring constant clearing.
Inside the four-story cabin, a single brazier burned, yet it was still so cold that one's teeth chattered.
Dong Si pulled his rabbit-fur collar tighter. "If only we could build a heated wall on the ship."
Xia Chanyi chuckled. "We have cotton-padded coats and military overcoats. That's already plenty good."
She looked at Jiang Jin. "My lord, what do you think Left General meant by those words?"
Jiang Jin held her hands above the brazier, feeling the warmth. "He probably wanted to tell me of his helplessness back then, hoping I'd understand his choices."
"Two: he has no intention of contending for the throne, and he wanted me to lower my guard against him."
By calling himself a subject and assuming a posture of shame, he was clearly telling her: back then, he had no choice—he only wanted to protect the people of the Great Qing; he hadn't deliberately defied orders, nor did he have any designs on the throne.
A typical case of wanting to have his cake and eat it too.
That was why she hadn't held back. Since he had chosen that path, he couldn't expect everyone to understand and approve.
There's no right or wrong; everyone's perspective is different, and the scales they carry in their hearts are different too.
She wouldn't judge his actions, but he shouldn't use the common folk to morally coerce her either.
Dong Si sneered. "Utterly hypocritical."
Zhou Sui said helplessly, "If everyone had been of one mind, how could our Yan Kingdom have..."
The group fell silent, listening to the angry roar of the waves outside.
Jiang Jin, however, didn't seem too bothered. "It's only human. If anything, he sees the situation more clearly than the noble families of Ze'a Commandery—he could prove a decent partner."
Even so, Dong Si was still fuming. "A traitor and a rebel! He should have handed over the Great Qing and the army to you, my lord."
Jiang Jin couldn't help but laugh. Only Dong Si would so naturally assume that the Yan Kingdom was meant to be hers.
To her surprise, Xia Chanyi nodded in agreement. "He is a traitor indeed—neither loyal nor righteous."
Zhou Sui sighed. "If he truly had given the Great Qing and the army to my lord, that would have been real loyalty and righteousness, and it would have helped reclaim the Yan Kingdom."
"But unfortunately, he won't do that, because everyone has their own selfish motives."
In truth, Dingyang's fall back then had been far more tragic than anyone realized. It was the deepest wound in Zhou Sui's heart.
Jiang Jin was taken aback. She looked at them and was about to speak when she heard Yun Chengxuan's shout from the lookout perch: "Auntie, Auntie, there's a ship!"
As one of the 'spy-glass' crew, Yun Chengxuan was extremely diligent. Despite the freezing cold and ice-cold sea wind, he held his post at the lookout without fail, determined to prove his indispensable worth.
The others were startled and quickly climbed up to the lookout.
Yun Chengxuan's nose was bright red from the cold, but his face was full of excitement as he pointed in a direction. "Look! There's a ship—it's sinking!"
Jiang Jin, Dong Si, and Zhou Sui all pulled out their telescopes at almost the same time.
Xia Chanyi: "..." Seriously? Do you people ever think about how I feel?
The distance was too great. Xia Chanyi squinted, but she couldn't make it out. She narrowed her eyes further, still couldn't see clearly—only a faint black dot.
But Jiang Jin could see it perfectly well. She was stunned speechless because— the ship was indeed sinking!
Dong Si was thrilled, yet also regretful. "What a shame. What a waste of a good ship."
