Near the Qingming Festival, rain had been falling for days. The rain washed the streets of the capital city clean, bringing vibrant signs of life everywhere.

More than a month had passed since the Wei Dynasty’s troops departed from the capital.

Near Jiuchuan lay an endless desert.

“Official He,” a young deputy commander entered the tent and addressed the female official who was drawing maps on the ground. “As you ordered, we’ve reduced the number of cooking stoves in the camp.”

He Yan smiled and said, “Thank you.”

The deputy commander looked at the young woman before him with some reflection. When the Fuyu Army, who had previously followed General Fei Hong, learned that their new commander was a young woman, many were reluctant. He couldn’t blame them for being critical – after serving under Wei Dynasty’s General Fei Hong, they couldn’t help but compare other commanders to him. Though He Yan’s courage as a woman on the battlefield was admirable, she had never independently commanded troops in battle, and her martial abilities were unknown. Even though she had won victories in Rundu and Jiyang, the Right Army Commander had been there to oversee operations.

Now, she was alone.

Fighting battles differed from simple combat. Emperor Zhao Kang might have appointed her due to the Right Army Commander’s influence, but the Fuyu Army wasn’t truly convinced.

In the month since arriving near Jiuchuan, they hadn’t been there long. Jiuchuan, originally a city in the desert, was now occupied by the Wutuo people. Instead of launching an immediate attack upon reaching Jiuchuan, He Yan had the army camp nearby. After several days, the soldiers began to complain.

But the deputy commander knew things weren’t as they appeared.

Having served in the Fuyu Army before, though he hadn’t worked closely with the former General Fei Hong, he knew of the general’s bold character. While the woman before him hadn’t yet shown such fierce courage, she displayed greater rationality and calmness.

The camping location was perfectly chosen – suitable for both attack and defense. Being near a winding passage made it easy to detect movement and adjust retreat plans. The deputy commander found it strange that although this was He Yan’s first time in Jiuchuan, she seemed very familiar with the terrain and experienced in desert survival.

He couldn’t know that He Yan was the former “General Fei Hong,” who had first fought with the Fuyu Army against the Xi Qiang people in Mo County. Mo County wasn’t far from Jiuchuan and had similar terrain.

“My Lord,” the deputy commander’s gaze fell on the long scroll before He Yan, “are you drawing a terrain map?”

“The Wutuo forces are substantial and well-prepared. Although the Fuyu Army trains daily, they haven’t seen battle for several years. Combined with the heavy losses from the Huayuan battle, our forces are inferior to the enemy. I cannot rashly attack and disregard these soldiers’ lives. Before that, knowing both ourselves and the enemy ensures victory in every battle.”

Each day, she had Wang Ba and the others scout around Jiuchuan’s outskirts from a distance. They didn’t need to get too close but managed to familiarize themselves with the surrounding terrain. She would venture deeper herself, and after several days, finally completed a comprehensive map. With this map, they could maximize the effectiveness of the Fuyu Army despite their numerical disadvantage against the Wutuo forces.

However… He Yan sighed inwardly. She had known the Wutuo people had years to recuperate and would have substantial military strength, but until actually reaching Jiuchuan, she hadn’t realized just how formidable their forces were. If it were just Jiuchuan, that would be manageable, but if the other three locations were similar, this would be a difficult campaign for Wei.

Over these years, Emperor Wen Xuan prioritized civil matters over military ones, allowing Wei’s forces to stagnate while the Wutuo people gained the initiative. It seemed the previous battles at Huayuan, Rundu, and even Jiyang were merely deceptions – the Wutuo forces hadn’t revealed their true strength, aiming to lower their guard.

Indeed, how else could these four cities have fallen so quickly?

“My Lord, please mind your health,” the deputy commander hesitated before adding, “You’ve been sleeping very little these past few days…”

“It’s fine, I know my limits,” He Yan replied without looking up.

Seeing her response, the deputy commander could say no more and withdrew with a bow.

After he left, someone else called from outside, “Official He.”

He Yan responded, “Come in.”

Jiang Jiao and Shi Tou entered.

They addressed He Yan as “Official He” in public like other soldiers, as she hadn’t yet been granted a general’s title, but in private, they still called her “Brother He.”

These two were meticulous and steady in their work. The Fuyu Army’s original elite forces had been sacrificed by He Ru Fei, leaving few capable people. He Yan entrusted important matters to Shi Tou and the others.

She looked up at the two approaching men and asked, “Have you detected any movement from the Wutuo forces?”

Jiang Jiao answered, “A group of Wutuo soldiers left the city to scout during the night, but they didn’t approach our camp, just looked around nearby before leaving. Following your instructions, we didn’t pursue them. But there’s been no movement these past two days.” He asked, “Brother He, shall we continue waiting?”

“Wait,” He Yan said firmly. “We won’t attack the city first. Let them come after us.”

“Luring the enemy?” Jiang Jiao was startled. “But if they launch an attack against us, won’t we be at a disadvantage? After all, their forces outnumber ours now.”

“Don’t worry,” He Yan smiled. “The Wutuo people are cunning and suspicious. They would never send all their troops out of the city. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have camped here safely for so many days. Their night scouts were merely trying to assess our situation.”

He Yan stood and walked to a wooden tray in the tent filled with sand formed into small hills, marked with rice grains. She picked up a branch and pointed out to them: “Moreover, our camp’s position has a canyon passage behind it for retreat. The Wutuo forces fear we might have an ambush set up along the escape route, so they won’t act rashly.”

“I’ve faced the Wutuo people before in Jiyang and Rundu. If Ma Ka and Hu Ya Te’s people have sent word back to the Wutuo nation, the Wutuo leader in Jiuchuan should know my name. But he can’t be certain whether I’ll lead troops. He looks down on me, yet because of the Rundu and Jiyang incidents, he doesn’t dare underestimate me completely. Can you guess what he’ll do?”

“What will he do?” Jiang Jiao asked, confused.

“He’ll try to prove I’m incompetent, to find evidence to justify looking down on me,” He Yan smiled. “Though I don’t quite understand why Wutuo commanders always act this way if they want to see a woman who’s all reputation with no real ability to lead troops, I’ll show them what they want to see.”

“So,” Shi Tou, who had been silent, suddenly brightened, “those cooking stoves…”

“We’ve camped here for days without making any moves, making the Wutuo people suspect we might be planning something, which is why they send scouts at night. If I were them, seeing the decreasing number of cooking stoves, I would think it’s because their commander is a woman, the troops don’t respect her, and they fear Jiuchuan’s mighty Wutuo army, so many soldiers have deserted. This would make them underestimate us.”

“When they lower their guard and send troops deep into our territory, we can set up an ambush.”

Jiang Jiao was excited at first, then hesitated and said, “But Brother He, didn’t you say the Wutuo people are cunning and suspicious, and would never send all their troops out of the city…”

“Yes,” He Yan looked at him, “so they’ll only send part of their forces, and that’s the part we’ll eliminate. If they dared to deploy their entire army, we’d be at a disadvantage.”

“Haven’t you considered capturing them all at once?” Shi Tou asked, puzzled.

He Yan patted his shoulder: “You’ve never been on a real battlefield, so you don’t understand that true warfare can’t be won in a day or two. The Wutuo people far surpass us in military strength – we shouldn’t attack their strengths with our weaknesses. I never planned to engage them head-on. Luring them in deep and eliminating part of their forces will be enough to damage their morale, then we can proceed step by step.”

“To win a war, you must have patience and maintain composure to reach the end,” He Yan smiled slightly, “This is just the beginning.”

Jiang Jiao and Shi Tou looked at the armor-clad woman before them. They had known of her exceptional martial skills and strategic mind back in Langzhou Guard, but now, seeing her here leading an army and calmly spreading her net, they truly began to understand her capabilities.

“Brother He,” Jiang Jiao joked, “you’ve only had one more battle than us at Jiyang, yet you seem so experienced.”

“That’s different,” the woman’s lips curved upward, “I was born to fight.”

Outside, the wind stirred up clouds of yellow sand across the desolate desert, making the banners flutter.

Shi Tou murmured, “Ji County isn’t far from here. I wonder how General Yan is doing?”

“Ji County…” He Yan’s gaze grew heavy.

She had heard the plague there had already spread.

…

Outside the city, by the rivers in the fields, corpses were piled high.

A group of soldiers were digging deep pits filled with bodies wrapped in white cloth, already emitting the stench of decay. The scene resembled hell on earth.

In roughly constructed thatched shelters, dozens of people lay on coarse cloth, barely alive, their bodies showing signs of festering wounds. A young man nearby was brewing medicine, occasionally stirring the herbs in a huge vat with a large iron ladle.

Though not particularly strong, he struggled to stir the medicinal herbs in the enormous vat. Soon, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he showed no signs of slacking. His once-pristine white robes were now stained with mud and blood. His hands, which used to only hold a folding fan, now either wielded silver needles for treatment or carried bowls of life-saving medicine.

The plague in Ji County was more severe than anticipated.

After the Wutuo people occupied Ji County, they massacred civilians in the city and abducted women. Numerous corpses were carelessly discarded by the riverbanks. Being spring, a plague soon broke out. The Wutuo people drove all surviving Wei civilians out of the city, leaving them to fend for themselves. When Lin Shuang He and Yan He arrived at Ji County, the fields outside the city were filled with mountains of corpses.

Lin Shuang He, as a physician, thought he was accustomed to life and death. However, upon arriving, he was still shocked by the devastation.

Yan He’s forces were needed to deal with the Wutuo people, and there weren’t many military physicians. As Lin Qing Tan’s grandson, everyone advised Lin Shuang He against personally treating these patients – if he contracted the plague… However, he ignored these well-meaning suggestions. If he feared death, he wouldn’t have chosen to come here in the first place.

The dead civilians couldn’t be buried on the spot. They could only be cremated, and once reduced to white bones, buried in deep pits. This was the best solution possible. Even so, the crying and wailing of surviving family members could be heard daily.

He ladled the brewed medicine into broken bowls, letting them cool slightly before carrying them to the thatched shelters to feed the patients.

Previously, he had been a fastidious young master with some vanity. Even when treating female patients in Shuo Jing City, he would smile more brightly at those who were cute and well-dressed. But now, though these patients emitted strange odors and were filthy and grotesque, he showed no disgust.

The patient Lin Shuang He was helping to sit up was a woman, presumably still young, though quite plain-looking and somewhat plump. Lin Shuang He brought a spoonful of medicine to her lips. As she carefully drank it, she looked at the gentle and handsome young master before her, her face slightly reddening, as if even her pain had lessened somewhat.

“Doctor Lin, I can manage on my own,” she said softly.

“That won’t do,” Lin Shuang He said seriously. “How could I let a beautiful lady drink medicine by herself? I am, after all, a gentleman who cherishes the fairer sex.”

The patients in the thatched shelter all smiled kindly at his words.

This Doctor Lin was not only good-looking but also good-natured, unlike that stern and fierce general. He was always smiling. He would joke with everyone, chatting about all sorts of topics. Though people might not see tomorrow’s dawn, though these were tense and sad times, his attitude never changed. With him around, the atmosphere lightened considerably, as if nothing was different from usual, as if they might wake up and Ji County would be as it was before, with everything resolving itself.

After feeding medicine to all the patients in the shelter, Lin Shuang He advised them to rest well before collecting all the bowls.

He washed all the used bowls with boiling water before stopping to rub his shoulders, finally having a chance to examine himself. However, seeing the various stains on his clothes, he stared blankly for a while before giving up.

The reason was that all the white robes he had brought had been cut up to make bandages for the patients’ wounds. Now, this was his last piece of clothing, with no other white robes left to change into.

Lin Shuang He walked toward another area.

Yan He’s forces had engaged the Wutuo people several times, with both victories and defeats. The terrain outside Ji County was complex, and with the Wutuo people inside the city, it was easy to defend but difficult to attack, leaving the battle in a stalemate. Fortunately, Yan He himself wasn’t affected by this, appearing to be in good spirits, and troop morale remained high. Moreover, the plague had been somewhat contained now, and the panic had stopped spreading. Although the battle wouldn’t be easy to win quickly, things were gradually moving in a positive direction.

Last night’s surprise attack had resulted in a small victory for Wei. There were many new wounded, and some soldiers had died in battle. The fallen soldiers were buried on the spot. Lin Shuang He had other military doctors treat the wounded first while he took charge of the most dangerous plague patients.

At that moment, by the river in front of the tent, some lightly wounded soldiers were sitting and talking. Yan He was sitting on the ground without much dignity, drinking water.

Lin Shuang He dragged his tired feet over and held out his palm in front of Yan He.

Yan He was puzzled and swatted his hand away: “What are you doing?”

“General Yan,” Lin Shuang He licked his lips, “I’ve been busy treating patients until now, and you haven’t even saved me a bowl of wild vegetable soup. I’m starving to death. At least give me something to eat.”

Yan He rolled his eyes, took out a dry biscuit from his chest, and threw it into his hand, “Eat then, don’t choke to death.”

Usually, Lin Shuang He would certainly argue with him, but today he was truly exhausted and hungry, so he just sat down next to him and took a big bite.

The biscuit was dry and harsh, scratching his throat as he swallowed, and the taste could hardly be called delicious. Lin Shuang He really did choke. Yan He looked at him with disdain and handed him his water flask, “Are you a starving ghost reincarnated?”

Lin Shuang He quickly took the flask and took a big gulp, only speaking after swallowing the biscuit: “Brother, I haven’t eaten all day today, even prisoners are treated better than this. Not only do you have no sympathy, but you also insult me. Are you even human?”

Yan He looked at the disheveled appearance of the person opposite him, instinctively wanting to make some harsh remarks, but when he saw his stained clothes, he swallowed the mockery that had come to his lips.

Never mind, to tell the truth, Lin Shuang He’s conduct on this mission had surprised him. Originally, Yan He thought that although Lin Shuang He had been to the Langzhou Guard before, there hadn’t been any fighting there, and living in the garrison was hardly experiencing the hardships of common people. He had expected this pampered young master to cry and complain upon reaching Ji County. Unexpectedly, from the beginning to now, Lin Shuang He hadn’t uttered a single complaint.

Although he wasn’t at the front lines crossing swords with the Wutuo people, caring for the wounded soldiers and comforting civilians frightened by the plague was no easy task.

And it was dangerous.

Yan He snorted without answering.

Lin Shuang He took a few more bites of the biscuit and drank some water. With something in his stomach, he felt less uncomfortable and became energetic again. He looked at Yan He and said: “Yan Nan Guang, I’ve suffered greatly here, so when we return to Shuo Jing, you must report my merits here truthfully to the Emperor. At least reward me with some official position. I’ve never suffered like this in my life. This kind of biscuit, in the past, even my family’s dogs wouldn’t eat it.”

“As soon as you recover, you start talking nonsense,” Yan He sneered. “Nobody forced you to eat here. Besides, I haven’t seen you suffering much. Even at a time like this, you still have the mood to joke and flirt with women. Lin Shuang He, your habit of pursuing women wherever you go really can’t be changed.”

“Don’t act so righteous,” Lin Shuang He scolded him. “You’re married with a child, while I’m still single. How do I know which lady might be my destiny? Of course, I have to try. You tied yourself to one tree early on, and now you’re jealous of others picking flowers and smelling grass. Are you sick?”

Hearing this, Yan He was about to retort when a passing soldier exclaimed in surprise: “General Yan, you have a child?”

Yan He glared at Lin Shuang He. Lin Shuang He coughed lightly – Xia Cheng Xiu’s pregnancy hadn’t been announced yet. But now that someone had heard, there was no point in denying it. So Yan He said: “Not born yet, still in my wife’s womb.”

The soldier, who looked to be in his thirties with a dark complexion and somewhat simple appearance, sat down upon hearing this and scratched his head: “That’s wonderful news. When the general returns after winning this battle, you’ll be able to see your child. Just like me back then.”

“You?” Yan He asked, “You have children?”

“Obviously,” Lin Shuang He couldn’t help saying, “You think you’re the only one in the world who can be a father?”

The man scratched his head and smiled, “Yes, two of them. The older one is three years old, the younger one just turned one month. This time when I went back, I wanted to spend more time with my wife, but then the Wutuo people came… I promised my wife that when I return after winning the battle and receive my pay, I’ll buy a silver necklace for my little son. And my eldest daughter, when I left, she was crying so much, it broke my heart…”

Yan He had never been an approachable person. Due to his noble birth and proud nature, even when dealing with subordinates, he always maintained a certain arrogance. But today, because this man shared the identity of “father” with him, he unusually spoke more.

He asked: “Is your daughter very close to you? You live in the military camp, so you don’t go home much, right? How can she still be close to you?”

Lin Shuang He was puzzled: “Are you seeking advice from predecessors about potential future problems?”

Yan He scolded him: “Shut up.” Then he looked eagerly at the man before him, “Go on.”

“Well… I don’t really know,” the man was a bit confused. “I do go home rarely, but every time I return, I remember to bring her favorite malt candy and buy pretty fabric for my wife to make her new clothes. General Yan doesn’t need to worry, people say daughters are close to their fathers. If your wife bears a daughter, the little miss will be close to General Yan.”

Yan He was delighted by his words, but then became serious again, “What if it’s a son?”

“Wouldn’t that be even better?” the man said, “The general can keep young master by your side, father and son fighting together, no need to be apart.”

Yan He had an epiphany and looked at the man before him: “I didn’t expect you, as a father, to be quite wise.”

Lin Shuang He listened speechlessly from the side.

The man, having received praise from his superior, smiled foolishly for a while, then suddenly fell silent. After a moment, he sighed and said: “My little daughter kept holding onto my leg when I left. I know she was afraid I’d die on the battlefield. If,” he looked at the distant sky, “if I could just return alive, I’d buy her her favorite candy cakes.”

Yan He was stunned for a moment, then also looked into the distance.

The long sky was dyed red by the sunset, the remaining sun like blood, the plains gentle and silent.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “She’ll get to eat the candy cakes you buy.”