Even a strapping young man might have struggled to break free of Ziqing’s grip — let alone an elderly man!

Ziqing marched forward briskly, dragging him along, her whole bearing, her presence, her cold, grim little face making all the elderly men and women sitting on the ground instinctively clear a path for her!

They were, after all, just a group of elderly folk who’d never seen much of the world, believing that keeping peace was the wisest course. They had assumed that leaning on their age would be enough to intimidate Han Ziqing into backing off, with no one daring to lay a hand on them. They never imagined this girl would actually go through with it!

No matter how old you got, there was nothing you feared more than death!

Just as the crowd began instinctively cowering backward, the old man finally snapped back to his senses, letting out a shriek like a pig being slaughtered, “You wretched girl, let go of me! What do you think you’re doing? I’m this old already, and you still won’t let me be — have you no shred of humanity left? Let go! Let go! You wicked creature!”

Ignoring the old man’s struggling and cursing entirely, Ziqing simply refused to let go, offering not another word of response.

Only once she’d dragged him a fair distance outside the courtyard did she finally fling him away with force!

The moment he was released, the old man, ignoring the pain entirely, scrambled straight back up and ran back into the crowd.

Ziqing didn’t bother chasing him. She simply snorted coldly. “Yingzi, bring me a shovel!”

A shovel?

What was she planning to do?

Yingzi was puzzled but immediately handed one over respectfully.

To everyone’s astonishment, Ziqing began digging a hole right on the spot, shovelful by shovelful, and before long, she’d dug out a sizable pit!

She drove the shovel down hard into the pit, planted one foot on top of it, put a hand on her hip, and looked coldly at the crowd. “Yingzi, drag people over here. Da Zhou is claiming this land in Mobei — anyone who has no business being here gets buried right on the spot.”

The moment these words came out, the old man who’d spoken up earlier was the very first to bolt. His wrist had already been rubbed bloody by this wretched girl’s grip, and he knew perfectly well — she meant every word.

The moment he ran, an entire crowd immediately followed suit. The elderly were always the quickest to bow to strength and the most easily frightened.

More and more people fled, and the Mobei clan elder cried out desperately, “Come back! Come back! You useless bunch, come back, what are you all so afraid of! I refuse to believe she’d actually go through with something so heartless — heaven won’t let something like that slide forever!”

The clan elder and several elders kept cursing and pleading in the same breath, but in the face of a direct threat of death, no one was listening to them anymore. In no time at all, the entire crowd had scattered and vanished!

Watching from the side, Yingzi nearly burst out laughing. He had to admit, the princess consort was fierce, incredibly cool — not a single wasted word, and one shovel had scared off an entire crowd of impossible old troublemakers!

In the end, only the clan elder and a handful of elders remained. Ziqing looked at them coldly, then said impatiently, “Yingzi, are you going to drag them over here or not?”

The moment she spoke, before Yingzi could even make a move, not just the elders but even the Mobei clan elder himself immediately turned and fled, scrambling away as pathetically as a drowned dog.

This bunch of stubborn old fools didn’t deserve any courtesy at all — the more courteously you treated them, the more they’d take advantage of their age to push further, spouting endless self-righteous lectures at you all the while.

Once everyone had cleared out, Yingzi finally let out a breath of relief, walking over and giving her a thumbs up. “Your Highness, that move was brilliant, truly brilliant! Scare them once like that, and let’s see if they still dare come cause trouble again!”

“I wasn’t trying to scare them. Losing one wouldn’t have been much of a loss.” Ziqing said coldly, turning to walk away.

Because they were so-called kinsmen, because of some shared bloodline, did that mean it was acceptable for savage Xiongnu and Xiliang troops to destroy Mobei?

Because Mobei technically belonged jointly to Xiliang and the Xiongnu, did that mean they were allowed to come destroy it, while she, an outsider, wasn’t allowed to protect it?

What kind of twisted logic was that? Had they even once thought about the children of their own tribe, the women?

In war, it was always the children and women who most needed protection. Massacres and cruelty — as a mercenary, she had witnessed far, far too much of it.

If that bunch of stubborn old fools hadn’t left, she genuinely wouldn’t have minded burying a few of them, as a lesson to the rest.

Once they’d all gone, Ziqing composed herself and returned to the courtyard.

The map spread across the table wasn’t actually a map of Mobei at all, but a map of Xiliang. Even Yingzi found himself utterly puzzled, unable to work out exactly what his mistress was scheming!

Just then, a guard suddenly came hurrying in. “Report! Something’s happening at the western defensive line — Nangong City’s forces are leading the charge, they’re attacking!”

“News travels fast, don’t they — already know I’ve arrived!” Ziqing snorted coldly, instructing Yingzi to hold the position, then immediately mounted her horse and galloped off toward the front line!

Xijing’s military strength was limited, after all, having sent only a single archery unit of a little over three hundred men from Akbachu in support. The rest consisted of the three mercenaries Ziqing had stationed here herself!

On the other side, leading the charge were Nangong City’s forces, each one formidable in martial skill, followed by Xiliang’s main army — according to scouts, over five thousand strong!

Yingzi, still uneasy, chased after her regardless.

At the western defensive line, Bingchan had already deployed everything exactly according to Ziqing’s instructions!

The moment Ziqing dismounted, she snapped the reins to send her horse trotting off, and Yingzi landed right behind her. He’d expected to see a solid defensive line, but looking around, there wasn’t a single soldier in sight anywhere!

“Your Highness, where is everyone?” Yingzi asked, startled.

It wasn’t Ziqing who answered him, but Bingchan, her voice faint and eerily hard to pinpoint in direction. “Right here!”

Yingzi startled, spinning around urgently — and if he hadn’t been able to sense her presence, he genuinely wouldn’t have been able to spot Bingchan at all, standing right there beside him!

Dressed head to toe in pure white, blending seamlessly into the snow-covered mountain forest — without paying close attention, she was truly invisible!

This kind of snow-white garment must have been specially made!

Yingzi hurriedly straightened up and looked around more carefully, finally spotting the actual defensive line.

Along the entire line, positioned between the two mountains, spaced roughly ten paces apart, stood white-clad archers, lying flat on the ground — on snowdrifts, on rocks, beside tree trunks. Without careful attention, they’d simply be mistaken for snow-covered stones or wooden posts.

What a masterful technique of concealment!

Yingzi immediately understood. Picturing the scene of Xijing soldiers charging forward, utterly unaware that sharp arrows lay waiting right in front of them, he couldn’t help but feel his blood surge with excitement, eager for the battle to begin.

“Put this on!”

Ziqing handed him a white garment, a smile curving at her lips, and abruptly leaned forward, lying flat on the ground all day, blending perfectly into the snow!

Bingchan gave Yingzi a smile as well, curling herself up beside a rock — without careful attention, in the dim light, she’d easily be mistaken for a mound of snow!

At that moment, the distant sound of hoofbeats drew steadily closer. Yingzi hurried to put on the white garment and leapt up into a tree!

The hoofbeats thundered closer — it was the two young lords of Nangong City, personally leading their troops!

The two young lords, both extraordinarily skilled in martial arts, were eager to seize this opportunity to prove themselves, hoping to catch Han Ziqing off guard before the Xiliang army even arrived, and win glory for Nangong City!

But soon enough, a scout brought unwelcome news: “Report, Eldest Young Master, Second Young Master — no enemy forces detected ahead!”

“How is that possible? Didn’t they say Han Ziqing was coming here personally?” the second young lord of Nangong asked, puzzled.

“Heh, some mere woman daring to come to the battlefield — I’d guess we’ve simply scared her off.” the eldest young lord of Nangong scoffed disdainfully.