The soldiers of Southern Wu exchanged glances. Shangguan Mao had been subjected to such humiliation, yet he remained as calm as still water, without the slightest ripple.
The soldiers soon lost interest and turned away.
On a hillside in the distance, a burly figure watched the Yan Kingdom county commandant and soldiers working in the fields below, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
He was Yan Jian, the commander stationed at Yuanzhou Ferry County in Southern Wu.
The deputy commander frowned. “General, the crops will be harvested soon. Are we really going to give them food when that happens?”
Yan Jian nodded. “Of course.”
He smiled again, his tone laced with mockery. “If we don’t give them food, that old fool Shangguan Mao will certainly fight us to the death.”
The deputy commander snorted. “What could he possibly use to fight us? He’s so old he can barely lift a blade.”
Yan Jian shot him a sidelong glance. “Shangguan Mao isn’t that old. He’s only in his fifties. It’s just that life hasn’t been kind to him these past few years.”
Seeing the deputy commander’s unconvinced expression, he reminded him, “Don’t underestimate the soldiers from Wenlong County in the Yan Kingdom. They’ve managed to hold the county this long against the Jiao army. That alone proves they’re no ordinary men.”
The deputy commander shook his head. “As I recall, the Jiao army didn’t attack them very often. They only wanted to starve them out.”
Yan Jian smiled. “It isn’t that they didn’t attack. They did attack, but they failed to take the county. Only then did they give up on assaulting it and switch to a siege, hoping to starve the defenders to death. But as you can see, two or three years have passed, and they’re still alive, still guarding that border city of the Yan Kingdom.”
Of course, Southern Wu’s assistance had played no small part in that.
The deputy commander fell silent. After a while, he said, “Wenlong County has nothing left. It’s just an empty city. What’s the point of holding on to it? Why don’t they give it up?”
Yan Jian sighed. “What’s the point? It’s the territory of the Yan Kingdom. Even if all they’re guarding is an empty city, it’s still the territory of the Yan Kingdom.”
“We may be on opposing sides, but I admire them. They’re real men.”
The deputy commander was puzzled. “General, I don’t understand. Why give them food? Wouldn’t it be better to let them all starve to death?”
Yan Jian glanced at him. “Would you rather face a fallen Yan Kingdom or the Jiao army?”
“The Yan Kingdom, naturally,” the deputy commander answered without hesitation. “The Yan Kingdom is nearly destroyed already. It’s long since lost the strength it had in the past, so we have nothing to fear from it.”
Yan Jian nodded. “Exactly. As long as Wenlong County remains in the Yan Kingdom’s hands, it serves as a buffer zone for us. Otherwise, we’ll be neighbors with the Jiao army, and the slightest misstep could put us into direct conflict with them.”
“Right now, Shangguan Mao is our neighbor, keeping the Jiao army’s eyes off us. So it’s in our best interest to keep Shangguan Mao and his men alive.”
The deputy commander finally understood, though resentment still filled his heart. “The Yan Kingdom used to clash with us all the time. Now we have to help them in their hour of need. Just thinking about it makes me furious.”
Southern Wu was less than half the size of the Yan Kingdom and had once been the weaker side.
Yan Jian was helpless. “What choice do we have? We’re under attack from two barbarian tribes. Now, all we have left is Yuanzhou. If we also come into conflict with the Jiao army, we truly won’t have a chance of survival.”
As he spoke, the corners of his mouth lifted. “Shangguan Mao has quite a talent for enduring humiliation. Even after being insulted like that, he can still swallow it.”
The deputy commander looked toward the Yan Kingdom soldiers in the distance, who were sweating as they worked for Southern Wu like slaves. He bared his teeth in a grin. “He must have a turtle’s blood in him.”
“Haha.” Yan Jian laughed heartily and patted the deputy commander on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go down and see my beauty.”
Not far from the fields stood a farmstead. It was Yan Jian’s temporary residence.
Yu Yue was scrubbing clothes in the courtyard. Though she wore plain cloth garments, her slender figure and delicate features made her strikingly beautiful.
“Oh, how pitiful. The daughter of a county magistrate has actually fallen so low that she has to wash our general’s clothes and clean up his messes.”
A coquettish woman swayed over, her voice soft and affected.
Yu Yue ignored her and continued working with her head lowered.
Jealousy flashed through the woman’s eyes. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you think you’re too good to speak to us?”
She covered her mouth and giggled. “Perhaps you’ll be my sister someday. We’d better get along well, so the general won’t be put in a difficult position.”
Seeing that Yu Yue seemed not to have heard her, the smile on the woman’s face faltered. She secretly ground her teeth.
“Are you looking down on me? Heh. Your Yan Kingdom is practically gone now, and you’re relying on our Southern Wu to keep you afloat. What makes you think you have the right to look down on me?”
Yu Yue looked up at her, her eyes blank with confusion. “Were you saying something just now?”
The woman was so enraged that she nearly choked. “You…”
Before she could finish, Yu Yue lowered her head and went back to her work. She muttered under her breath, “I thought I heard a dog barking just now. Strange. Where did that vicious dog come from?”
The woman’s face flushed red with anger. She was about to curse when Yan Jian sauntered into the courtyard with his hands behind his back.
She immediately replaced her fury with a delicate smile and hurried over to him. “General, you’re back. You must be tired. Shall I massage your shoulders?”
As she spoke, she pressed herself against him.
Yan Jian clearly enjoyed her obsequious manner. He pinched her waist, drawing a soft moan from her.
He threw his head back and laughed, then gave her buttocks two more squeezes before saying, “Leave.”
The woman was displeased, but she didn’t dare disobey him. She merely answered sweetly and swayed away.
Only then did Yan Jian turn his attention to Yu Yue. “Well? Have you thought it over?”
Yu Yue wiped the sweat from her brow. “General Yan, your concubine just shared a secret with me, but I don’t quite understand it. Perhaps you could help clear things up?”
Yan Jian grew interested. “Oh? What did she say?”
Yu Yue answered with an utterly serious expression, “She said she’s been with you for so long, yet you still don’t know how deep she is. She also said that even at your slowest, you’re still very fast, and she can only cry out twice—she can’t even manage a third.”
She tilted her head, her face full of confusion. “General Yan, what exactly did she mean?”
It took Yan Jian a moment to understand the meaning behind her words. His face flushed red, then turned livid.
But he quickly regained his composure. A dark glint flashed in his eyes as he stepped forward and seized Yu Yue by the chin. “Why don’t you find out for yourself?”
From his expression, Yu Yue knew that she had hit the mark.
She had never expected that this military officer, who had taken one concubine after another, was actually impotent.
She had overheard the servants whispering about it a few days earlier.
It wasn’t that she had deliberately wanted to provoke him. She had simply had enough of this impotent man and his flock of women harassing her these past few days.
For the sake of food and medicine, she had endured every humiliation, washing his clothes and cooking for him like a servant. Yet that only encouraged them to go further.
She slapped Yan Jian’s hand away and took two steps back. “Please show some restraint. The clothes have been washed, and I’ve finished today’s work. I’ll be leaving now.”
“Two hundred pounds of grain.”
Just as Yu Yue was about to walk past him and leave the courtyard, he reached out to stop her. “Spend one night with me, and I’ll give you two hundred pounds of grain. How about it?”
A cold glint flashed through Yu Yue’s eyes. “How about no?”
She tried to go around him and continue outside.
A vicious look crossed Yan Jian’s eyes. He suddenly grabbed Yu Yue and pulled her into his arms. “You provoke me and think you can just walk away? Do you really take me for a man with an endless supply of patience?”
Yu Yue panicked for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. She didn’t struggle. Instead, she said calmly, “Are you trying to start a war with the Yan Kingdom?”
