“I know you wanted to let me sleep well.”
Chu Zhao got up, pinching the chicken leg between two fingers and holding it before Xie Yanlai’s eyes.
“But you should have at least taken away the chicken leg, shouldn’t you?”
Xie Yanlai raised his eyebrows and said: “At the time, you were crying while eating, eating quite deliciously. Seeing how much you liked it, what if taking it away made you unable to sleep?”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help laughing first.
Chu Zhao feigned anger: “Insubordination! A’Le, drag him out and beat him.”
A’Le laughed and said: “I can’t beat him.” Then she suggested, “We could call Uncle Zhong to beat him. I’ve noticed Uncle Zhong always wants to beat him.”
Xie Yanlai scoffed. Chu Zhao laughed heartily.
“Alright.” After she finished laughing, Xie Yanlai said, “Miss Chu has slept well and is in good spirits, yes?”
Chu Zhao nodded.
Xie Yanlai said: “Then please march out. The Xi Liang army has assembled and come again.”
A’Le clenched her hands, her expression tense.
Chu Zhao was calmer. She knew that repelling Xi Liang once wouldn’t end things. Hearing that Father had died, Prince Xiliang would certainly come again.
“General Xie.” She flung the chicken leg away and declared loudly, “Bring this palace’s armor!”
Although General Xie felt these words should have been directed at the maid A’Le, at a time like this he didn’t quibble over such small details and responded yes.
“Your Majesty, please.”
……
……
When Chu Zhao arrived at the central military tent, the assistant generals and military advisors were all present, gathered around the sand table in heated discussion.
“What’s the current situation?” Chu Zhao asked.
Zhong Changrong said: “It’s the vanguard army of Xi Liang’s Chi’na division. They’ve launched a surprise attack on the fortress. We’ve already dispatched troops for support.”
Chu Zhao and Xie Yanlai looked at the sand table.
Other military officers also pointed things out to them.
“Your Majesty, please rest assured. The defenses under the Left General’s command are tightly arranged.”
“Not only will we annihilate this vanguard army, we can also seize the opportunity to divide our forces and attack the main force of the Chi’na division.”
“Let them come but never return, and give them a taste of their own medicine.”
Chu Zhao nodded.
Xie Yanlai suddenly frowned, pointing at a marker on the sand table: “Is the information about the Chi’na division’s main force location confirmed?”
An officer glanced at it and nodded: “It was reported by three routes of scouts from the Left General’s side.”
Xie Yanlai said: “Something’s not right.” He looked at the sand table. “Previously when Prince Xiliang’s army retreated, I was on the left flank. I personally pursued and saw the Chi’na division troops withdraw to rejoin the prince’s army. In just two days, they couldn’t possibly reach here. At most—”
He pointed to a spot on the sand table.
“They’d reach here.”
Zhong Changrong raised his hand and pushed him aside: “What do you know about marching speed, boy—move aside.”
He bent down to look carefully. The more he looked, the more serious his expression became. He slapped the table with a crack and cursed through gritted teeth.
“What is Old Guo doing? It’s not time for him to be old and dim-sighted yet!”
Chu Zhao understood and asked: “Is it a trap?”
Zhong Changrong said: “Although we can’t confirm it yet, the left flank army may not necessarily win this battle.”
Xie Yanlai scoffed from the side: “Deputy General Zhong’s words are too conservative. ‘May not necessarily win’—if two or three can escape alive without being surrounded, that would already be good.”
Zhong Changrong’s face flushed red.
But Xie Yanlai still wasn’t finished and added another sentence: “If General Chu were here, would you dare say such words to him?”
Zhong Changrong’s face immediately turned ashen. He wheezed, wanting to refute but unable to open his mouth—
When Xie Yanlai wanted to anger someone, he really could anger them to death. Chu Zhao quickly said: “Uncle Zhong, don’t talk about this anymore. Quickly think of a way to salvage and remedy the situation.”
Zhong Changrong exhaled forcefully and looked at the sand table, then asked the staff advisors and assistant generals: “How many troops are needed?”
The officers gathered around the sand table: “At least two routes.” They pointed with their hands. “One route to support the left flank vanguard army, one route to flank the Chi’na division from here. This way, we can not only resolve the left flank’s predicament but also achieve an unexpected victory.”
Zhong Changrong looked at them: “Are there enough troops available to deploy?”
The officers looked at each other, their expressions somewhat troubled, unwilling and reluctant to answer.
“Only enough for one route, I suppose,” Chu Zhao said for them, looking at the sand table.
An officer said in a low voice: “Xi Liang’s strategy targets all of us. If the left flank army falls into the trap and we mobilize other defensive forces to rescue them, the Xi Liang troops will take advantage and inevitably break through weak defensive lines—”
“But if we don’t make every effort to rescue them, the left flank army will certainly face a defeat,” another general said quietly.
Actually, victory and defeat were quite common on the battlefield—losing one battle was nothing, but now—
“Father just passed away. A defeat at this time would greatly affect military morale, popular sentiment, and the court,” Chu Zhao said. “One route of troops can work.”
She looked at Uncle Zhong.
“Uncle Zhong, you arrange troops to attack the Chi’na army. I’ll go support the left flank vanguard.”
Zhong Changrong said uneasily: “Miss, how will you go?”
Chu Zhao said: “Uncle Zhong, I actually also have a route of troops.”
Zhong Changrong froze, then immediately knew what she meant. His expression flushed red then ashen, his hands clenched into fists, but in the end he said nothing.
……
……
There were no high mountains or dense forests here, only undulating ravines, like a thousand wounds and holes.
A sharp bird call rang out in the sky above the ravines.
The bird call was not pleasant—hoarse, stiff, intermittent, as if someone’s throat were being strangled.
After the third or fourth call, a person leaped out of the ravines like a small deer.
“Ding Dachui,” Xiao Man cursed angrily. “What kind of ghost sound are you making!”
Ding Dachui was overjoyed to see her—he’d never imagined he’d feel this way one day, but never mind that.
“Miss Xiao Man!” he called out, running quickly over, then awkwardly explaining, “I can’t whistle. I still haven’t learned.”
Xiao Man said coldly: “If you can’t whistle, then don’t. You’re no longer one of us. Get lost quickly and go be your Empress’s guard.”
Ding Dachui said: “Once a bandit, always a bandit—Miss Xiao Man, I need to see the boss.”
Xiao Man sneered: “See the boss for what? To convey orders from your Empress?”
Ding Dachui nodded: “Yes.” Then, unafraid of Xiao Man’s cold face, he shouted loudly, “Mu Mianhong—the Empress has an edict—”
Xiao Man had never known this bandit had such a loud voice. She shouted angrily: “Shut your mouth!”
But even though Ding Dachui shut his mouth, someone had already emerged from the ravines behind.
The woman wore coarse cloth dress and skirt, a long whip wrapped around her waist, her face covered with cloth, just as before.
“What orders does Her Majesty the Empress have?” Mu Mianhong asked softly.
Ding Dachui looked at this woman and sighed inwardly. The boss was the boss—he could never replace the boss’s position in the Empress’s eyes. Good thing he hadn’t reported her.
“Boss,” he bowed in salute, then rose, and following Chu Zhao’s instructions, bowed again in salute. “Miss Chu says the battle situation is urgent. The commander has newly died. There aren’t enough troops at home. She asks to borrow the chief’s forces to go into battle and kill the bandits.”
Xiao Man sneered: “Her Majesty the Empress is truly polite. How could we deserve ‘borrow’? We are the bandits.”
“Xiao Man,” Mu Mianhong said. “It’s not Her Majesty the Empress borrowing from us.”
That earlier call of “the Empress has an edict” was requesting her to come out for a meeting.
She came out in response to the edict. Ding Dachui had bowed to her twice—the first was him seeing his old boss, the second was bowing on behalf of Miss Chu.
Miss Chu said there weren’t enough troops at home and came to borrow her forces.
It was Miss Chu making the request. It was Miss Chu’s family matter.
Mu Mianhong said to Ding Dachui: “We are all border commandery neighbors. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. Mu Mianhong will certainly do her utmost.”
Ding Dachui said no more, cupping his fists in salute, then turned and ran swiftly away.
Xiao Man said urgently: “Auntie, look at her. She won’t even call you—”
“Call me mother?” Mu Mianhong said, reaching out to pat Xiao Man’s shoulder. “If she called me mother at this time, it would instead be coercion.”
Her daughter was a kindhearted child.
She knew that as long as she asked, no matter what it was, Mu Mianhong would agree without hesitation.
But by inviting her in her capacity as a chief, she let Mu Mianhong act with honor and righteousness.
Mu Mianhong raised her head and released a bird call toward the sky. Compared to Ding Dachui’s earlier sound, it was clear and sharp, stirring up the ravines riddled with holes. Countless birds rose up in response, covering the sky.
When neighbors face trouble, protect home and hearth, safeguard peace, weather the crisis together.