The tent was just an ordinary commander’s tent. Chu Zhao didn’t display imperial pomp in the army; her food and lodging were the same as the soldiers’.

“The food is from the best restaurant in the commandery city,” Chu Zhao said, pointing at the table, then raised her eyebrows with a smile. “After all, we’ve already taken Zhongshan Commandery. As the Empress, eating something good isn’t a problem.”

Mu Mianhong looked at the girl’s elegant eyebrows dancing in the lamplight. It seemed today’s invitation to this late-night snack was thanks to that Young Master Xie.

Mu Mianhong smiled and sat down, picking up her bowl and chopsticks to examine the food.

“Xiao Man likes salty and savory food,” Chu Zhao said, pointing to a plate of fried fish. “She can eat a whole plate of these small yellow croakers in one go.”

Mu Mianhong picked up one and said: “So do I. The most common food in the stronghold is roasted meat and fried meat.”

Chu Zhao made an affirming sound and pointed to the other side: “She also likes these lotus leaf rolls. Chief, try them.”

Mu Mianhong said: “We rarely eat these. Haven’t seen them before.” She picked one up as she spoke.

For a moment it was quiet, the two ate their own food, and in the tent there was only the sound of the candle flame burning.

Chu Zhao didn’t let everyone fall into silence for too long.

“I invited the Chief here to explain something,” she said.

Mu Mianhong didn’t put down her bowl and chopsticks, only saying: “Your Majesty the Empress, please speak.” She also used the serving chopsticks to place some food on Chu Zhao’s plate. “You eat too.”

Chu Zhao didn’t refuse her gesture of reciprocity and didn’t say much, stating: “Prince Zhongshan surrendered one hundred thousand troops. The court will transfer these troops to the frontier army, but I want to split off fifty thousand to give to the Chief.”

Mu Mianhong chewed slowly, looking up at her, seeming to ponder, and asked: “Will they be soldiers or bandits?”

Chu Zhao said: “These troops were originally raised by Prince Zhongshan. Although the generals have all been purged, the soldiers have complex backgrounds and connections. According to the court’s intention, these soldiers should be scattered and distributed among the frontier army, but I think if we do that, first, it would be a waste of the combat effectiveness of these one hundred thousand troops, and second, it would also affect the frontier army’s combat effectiveness.”

Mu Mianhong looked at her, and for an instant her mind wandered. In a trance, she saw that young general again—

Inside at night, he had removed his armor, carrying the fresh scent after bathing, with sleeves rolled up, pointing with his slender fingers on the military map, then turning to call her.

“A Mian, come look. If these troops are deployed this way—”

Mu Mianhong asked: “Then what I need to do is—?”

“Tame them,” Chu Zhao said, lightly tapping the table with her chopsticks held backwards. “Break up these fifty thousand troops, then turn them into your people.”

Mu Mianhong took another bite of food, looking at her chopsticks, and nodded. “This way it won’t affect the frontier army and will add support.” She shook her head again. “But to achieve this goal will take time.” She raised her head to look at Chu Zhao. “Your Ladyship, you must have patience.”

Chu Zhao raised her eyebrows with a smile. “Not patience, but confidence. I have confidence that even without these fifty thousand troops, Xi Liang couldn’t break through the border commanderies.”

Mu Mianhong smiled and served her food again. “Your Ladyship is mighty. Since there’s no rush, that makes it easier.”

Chu Zhao pushed the command token toward Mu Mianhong. “I’ll speak with Uncle Zhong. When the time comes, he’ll send his own people to receive the troops, then under the pretext of training soldiers, hand fifty thousand over to you.”

Mu Mianhong acknowledged with a yes and took the command token, examining it in her hands, then smiled. “I never thought that one day I would hold the command token for court troops.”

She had originally been a bandit.

The target of suppression by court troops.

Chu Zhao was silent for a moment, then said: “I know this matter may seem inhumane, but right now I still cannot give the Chief any rewards or titles.”

Mu Mianhong looked at her.

“This is also my selfishness,” Chu Zhao said, not avoiding her gaze. “Right now I am the Empress. Revealing the Chief’s identity would do me no good.”

The words were very direct. For an Empress to have a mother who was a bandit was indeed nothing glorious.

Mu Mianhong’s face showed not the slightest trace of resentment. She made an affirming sound: “Not only would it do you no good, it would also be bad for the General. Since he has passed away, let him rest peacefully without further disturbance.”

Chu Zhao looked at her and said: “Also, revealing your identity would be bad for you too.”

Mu Mianhong looked at this girl, and a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes.

She was very beautiful. Even though marked by the passage of time, when her eyes lit up, she was like moonlight itself, making people drop their guard, making people want to look at her more—had Father fallen this way back then? Chu Zhao averted her gaze and picked up her tea to take a sip.

“You should know how I came to be this Empress. Since becoming Empress, the nation has faced many difficulties. Although I appear glorious on the surface, in reality there are obstacles everywhere. My relatives will be manipulated, threatened, or turn against me, or be harmed because of me.” She said softly, “If your identity becomes known, you will certainly become a target for everyone. I know you are very capable, skilled in martial arts, with troops at your command, but the calculations of human hearts in this world are too dangerous.”

She looked toward Mu Mianhong.

“You will encounter disaster because of me, and I will fall into difficulties because of you.”

“So, not being known—for you, for me—is the safest course.”

Mu Mianhong smiled. “I understand. Your Majesty the Empress, please rest assured.” She ate a few more bites of food, then picked up her soup to take a sip. “This flavor is also very good. I imagine Xiao Man likes it too?”

Chu Zhao nodded. This table of food was specially made according to Xiao Man’s tastes. She didn’t know Mu Mianhong’s preferences, but figured they should be the same.

“Your Majesty the Empress,” Mu Mianhong said, this time putting down her bowl and chopsticks and standing up. “I’ll go prepare right away.”

Chu Zhao also stood. “In a few days I’ll bring Ding Dachui and the rest of the Dragon Might Army back to the capital. You wait here for Uncle Zhong’s people to come receive the troops, then return to Yunzhong Commandery together with them.”

Mu Mianhong acknowledged with a good, looked at her once more, then turned and left.

Chu Zhao stood in place and let out a soft breath of relief.

So getting along with her wasn’t that difficult after all.

……

……

“How was it?”

“Chief, what did she say?”

As soon as Mu Mianhong returned to her own tent, several men eagerly surrounded her asking, their expressions excited and expectant.

“Did she acknowledge you?”

“Did she call you Mother?”

Mu Mianhong looked at everyone and smiled. “No.” Before everyone could react, she pulled out the command token and waved it. “However, she gave us the fifty thousand troops that Prince Zhongshan surrendered.”

The several men froze, seeming not to understand.

“Fifty thousand,” Mu Mianhong repeated. “What bandit in all the world has this many troops? From now on we’ll truly be the number one bandits under heaven.”

She spoke with a laugh. Two of the men laughed along, but another man came to his senses.

“What do you mean, Sister Hong,” he said. “This is a troublesome task. How easy is it to manage fifty thousand troops?”

Moreover, these were rebel troops raised by Prince Zhongshan.

This was clearly asking them to tame them.

The other two men also came to their senses.

“Chief, this is making us do work again!”

“You’ve done so much for her, and she won’t even call you Mother!”

“She won’t call you Mother but still has the nerve to make you do things. What does this mean?”

“Her surname is Chu, she’s Chu Ling’s seed—black-hearted and ruthless.”

“Father and daughter, neither are any good, just know how to manipulate you.”

Complaints came one after another. When the last sentence slipped out, the man was poked by someone beside him. He awkwardly stopped and looked at Mu Mianhong.

“Chief, I, I didn’t mean that,” he stammered to explain. “I’m not complaining about you.”

“Chief, we’ll do whatever you want us to do,” the earlier man also said. “We’re not afraid of anything. We’re just worried you’ll be wronged.”

The other man also nodded, his expression aggrieved. “Exactly. She can’t bully people like this.”

Mu Mianhong looked at the three of them and smiled. “I know how you all feel, but don’t worry. She’s not manipulating me, much less bullying me. She’s doing this for our benefit.”

She didn’t hide anything from her brothers and told them what Chu Zhao had said.

The three men’s expressions improved considerably.

“Being an Empress isn’t easy either,” one man muttered.

Mu Mianhong said: “Nothing is easy. Being an Empress, being the most superior person in the world, requires enduring the greatest hardships in the world.”

Another man hesitated, but couldn’t help saying: “But not acknowledging you publicly, not telling the world—in private she should at least acknowledge you, right?”

Mu Mianhong was silent for a moment.

“She dares to look at me now, doesn’t avoid me,” she said with a smile. “In her heart, she’s accepting me. There’s no rush.”

Saying this, she let out a soft sigh and looked up at the night sky.

“Though I acknowledge her and think of her, actually, I don’t know if I’m truly doing this for her.”

The three men exchanged glances. What did that mean? If not truly for her, then for what?

“I treat her as my daughter because I gave birth to her. A mother should, must, care about her daughter,” Mu Mianhong said. “But actually, I don’t know whether the one who cares about her is me, or merely a mother.”

Even more confused now, the three men stared at each other with wide eyes.

Mu Mianhong saw their expressions and laughed herself. She herself couldn’t explain it clearly either.

“However, just now, watching her eat in front of me and talk with me, I suddenly understood,” she said softly. “It’s me who cares about her. It’s me who is very happy to have a daughter. It’s me who feels very sad about abandoning her back then. I—”

As she spoke, she lowered her head to hide her suddenly tear-filled eyes.

The three men exchanged glances. Though the Chief acted delicate and feminine in front of everyone, in reality she killed without blinking and beat people without stumbling—shedding tears was almost unheard of—

“I don’t know how to say it either,” Mu Mianhong raised her head and smiled. “Just that everyone doesn’t need to worry. I’m very well, very happy.”

They could see that. The three men nodded and said no more: “Then Chief, you go ahead with your business.”

Watching Mu Mianhong enter the tent, the three men exchanged glances.

“But you know,” one man said in a low voice, “I think Chu Zhao is just like Chu Ling—smooth-talking, black-hearted devil. Look how the Chief is enchanted by just a few words—”

The other two men kicked him. “Say less.”

The three walked into the night with laughing and joking, while at this time, the black-hearted devil Chu Zhao sitting in her tent was staring blankly at the bowl before her.

In the bowl was a braised phoenix claw and a radish meatball.

These were what Mu Mianhong had placed in her bowl as a gesture of reciprocity just now.

What a coincidence—these two were her favorites. A’Le had specially asked the restaurant to make them.

Mu Mianhong knew her tastes.

She didn’t know Mu Mianhong’s tastes and had hosted her according to Xiao Man’s preferences. She was very familiar with Xiao Man now, and Xiao Man had always been together with Mu Mianhong.

But Mu Mianhong had never been together with her—only these recent days. But on military campaigns, eating and sleeping outdoors, drinking milk tea and gnawing on dry biscuits, there was no room for discussing taste preferences.

How did she know?