Of the Crown Prince’s forces of over sixty thousand stationed in the encampment, nearly fifty thousand were concentrated at the center, with several thousand deployed on each flank and at the rear.

Snow Aunt and Tuoba Keyan’s targets, beyond the rear camp where the grain was stored, included two comparatively smaller camps on either side — one situated near the high mountains, and one near the forest.

The two of them scaled the mountains together and took cover in the woodland.

When the guards on one flank changed shifts, several wolf howls rose from the forest at the foot of the high mountains.

The dozen or so incoming guards rushed hastily toward the mountain flank — and entirely without suspecting it, two figures in black slipped into the encampment amid the commotion.

Snow Aunt and Tuoba Keyan were exceptionally skilled in the light-body arts. In the darkness of night, they wove between tent and tent without being discovered.

At each tent they came to, they used a specially made short tube to pierce through the canvas and blow white mist inside.

The two worked together seamlessly, threading their way through nearly all of the camp on the right side without being detected even once.

The dozen or so patrolling guards found nothing suspicious. They took their positions one by one along the outer perimeter, entirely unaware of what was happening within.

Inside the encampment, the soldiers resting in their tents were still sound asleep — deeply so.

Having slipped past one obstacle after another, Snow Aunt and Tuoba Keyan arrived at the encampment at the rear of the formation.

When at last the granary burst into flames, the soldiers in the camp finally reacted.

The Crown Prince was positioned at the central camp, and the elite forces were concentrated there as well. With so many troops spread across such a vast camp, those in the center could not learn of events at the periphery in time.

“Fire!”

“Sound the alarm — water, bring water!”

“The granary is burning!”

“Enemy infiltrators — stand to arms!”

The granary blazed with roaring flames, and the nearby soldiers all rushed toward the rear.

Before long, the rear encampment descended into chaos.

Shortly after the granary was set ablaze, Snow Aunt and Tuoba Keyan had already appeared in the camp nearest to the high mountains.

Using the confusion, they swiftly completed their tasks, did not linger, and immediately withdrew.

Even when they were spotted near the end, Snow Aunt and Tuoba Keyan quickly disappeared into the mountain gully and vanished without a trace.

“Give chase — we must bring them back!” The low, heavy voice of the guard captain leading the pursuit rang out.

“Yes!” The hundred or more soldiers who surged to follow responded in a single voice.

No one could believe that such havoc had been caused by a mere two soldiers from the enemy side.

Snow Aunt and Tuoba Keyan had put great thought and preparation into this operation.

Before the sky began to lighten, several men were already kneeling outside Zhan Yuheng’s tent.

Zhan Yuheng’s upright figure stood at the entrance of the tent, with Feng Qingyin — wrapped in a thick, fluffy robe — following just behind him inside.

“What is the situation?” Zhan Yuheng’s voice was colder than the winter wind outside.

“In response to Your Highness the Crown Prince.” One of the men kneeling raised his eyes briefly. “The fire at the granary has been extinguished.”

“Because the water source was some distance away, half the grain stores were burned.”

Zhan Yuheng’s brow furrowed slightly. His gaze fell on another of the men kneeling on the ground.

The man looked up for a moment and immediately dropped his head again.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince — at least six thousand or more of our soldiers have been poisoned. As for what kind of poison it is, the Imperial Physician has not yet reached a determination.”

Zhan Yuheng tilted his head and looked up at the sky. He drew in a long breath, then let it out slowly.

He looked down at another of the generals and his voice fell to its coldest.

“Who did this? Any captures?”

“In response to Your Highness — our soldiers only saw two people, but…” The general knelt and pressed his forehead to the ground.

“Over a hundred of our brothers gave chase, but we were ambushed in the mountain gully and nearly completely annihilated.”

“In — in response to Your Highness the Crown Prince, we still do not know who is responsible.”

“Two people?” Zhan Yuheng’s thick brows furrowed lightly. “You are certain it was only two people?”

The kneeling general drew in a long breath, raised his eyes to meet Zhan Yuheng’s gaze, and shook his head.

“In response to Your Highness — we cannot be certain. However, the brothers said they only saw two figures in black. One was rather slight — likely a woman. The other was of tall and large build.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, these two must be from the enemy’s ranks. Should we prepare to launch an assault?”

Zhan Yuheng cast one glance in the direction of the enemy’s position, then waved his hand.

“Maintain battle readiness at all times. No slackening. Go — await orders!”

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince.” Several of the kneeling generals rose, retreated several paces, and only then turned to leave.

Watching the last of those who needed to depart take their leave, Feng Qingyin took small, mincing steps forward.

“Crown Prince Elder Brother.” She took hold of Zhan Yuheng’s hand and pressed her lips together lightly. “It must be Feng Jiu’er.”

“She has come back — it must be her. Is she not skilled at using poison? It must be her.”

The man’s large hand was very cold, yet Feng Qingyin did not mind in the least — she even cradled his hand and held it against her chest.

“Crown Prince Elder Brother, it is cold outside — can we go in and speak?”

Zhan Yuheng glanced back, nodded, and turned to walk back into the tent alongside Feng Qingyin.

“Your health is not good — rest more.” The man’s low voice sounded within the tent.

Feng Qingyin raised her eyes to meet Zhan Yuheng’s gaze and blinked her large, luminous eyes at him.

“Crown Prince Elder Brother, I know you still cannot bear to let Jiu’er be harmed — even in the midst of pursuit, you would not allow anyone to injure her in the slightest.”

“But she has come back and poisoned thousands of our soldiers at one stroke. Does the lives of our brothers count for nothing?”

She held Zhan Yuheng’s hand and gave it a slight shake.

“Crown Prince Elder Brother, won’t you clear your head? She has the Ninth Prince now — she is not the same Jiu’er as before.”

“Think about it — would the Jiu’er of old have played games with thousands of lives at once?”

“The Jiu’er of today, for the sake of the Ninth Prince, is capable of anything. Even if the Ninth Prince told her to kill you, she would not hesitate for a moment.”

Feng Qingyin’s words, one sentence after another, struck against Zhan Yuheng’s heart like blows.

How much pain he felt within — Feng Qingyin was not unaware. But this was precisely the result she wanted.

Only when the pain had numbed him completely would he begin to hate. Was that not so?

Had it not been for his own men interfering in the middle, Feng Qingyin should have been able to kill Feng Jiu’er on her flight to safety.

Yet as it turned out, she had still been given a chance to escape.

Learning that Feng Jiu’er had returned to Yamu City and even defeated the Crown Prince’s forces, Feng Qingyin felt an unbearable restlessness gnawing at her.

Right now, there was only one opportunity left to destroy Feng Jiu’er. How could she afford to let it slip by?

Sensing the man’s aura, cold to its very extreme, Feng Qingyin bowed her head and let the corners of her lips curl slightly.

“Crown Prince Elder Brother, our child is growing by the day. I do not want him to be born in a military camp — can you understand?”

“I want to go home, and bring the child’s father home with me.” Feng Qingyin raised her eyes to look at Zhan Yuheng and pressed her lips lightly together.

“Report!” Suddenly, the voice of a man came from outside.

Zhan Yuheng took the opportunity to withdraw his hand from Feng Qingyin’s grasp and turned to look back.

“Enter.”

Qing Yun nodded, stepped forward and walked into the tent — with someone following behind him.

The man who came in behind Qing Yun raised his eyes to glance at Zhan Yuheng, then immediately dropped to his knees on the ground.

The man now kneeling was the guard captain who had gone together with Ling Long to pursue Feng Jiu’er and Jian Yi.

“This subordinate pays respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!”