The sunset in the Northern Desert was blood-red, casting a long shadow on the silk-like golden sand, breathtakingly beautiful. But after sunset, fierce winds arose. The journey from the Northern Desert to Diecheng wasn’t far, but as the carriages and horses traveled through the desert, water sources were extremely scarce. They often traveled for days without seeing a single tree. Along the way, when strong winds howled, animal skeletons buried under the sand occasionally surfaced. Some were small, but others were the size of wolves.

When traveling at night, Hamu’er would look up at the stars to determine their direction. When they occasionally encountered trees, he would let the horses stop and dig beneath the vegetation. On lucky days, they might find a shallow layer of water.

Tonight, the horses were too exhausted to continue. Hamu’er had no choice but to let everyone stop and build a roaring fire on the sandy ground to drive away predatory beasts.

Duozhu also looked pitifully travel-worn, no longer the princess dancing under lanterns at the night banquet. The thin red gauze covering her head raised a cloud of dust with just a light flick.

After dismounting, she walked quickly to the carriage, rudely pulled open the curtain, and narrowed her beautiful eyes when she saw the two women inside.

Because they had been in the carriage, Gu Yi and Zhao Wan, though thin and sallow, didn’t look as disheveled as Duozhu and still maintained some dignity.

Duozhu held up a torch, waving it over their faces, the discontent in her eyes growing stronger. She raised her hand to pull the wooden hairpin from Gu Yi’s hair. “I like this. It’s mine now!”

Gu Yi had been leaning against the carriage wall like a salted fish, but when she suddenly saw Duozhu’s hand reaching for her hair, she quickly dodged backward.

Duozhu grew angrier: “You dare to dodge!” She grabbed the rope binding Gu Yi’s hands and dragged her out. Gu Yi bent over, struggling from side to side. As the two pulled and tugged, her wooden hairpin hit the carriage wall.

A loud ‘thunk’ sounded, instantly breaking the pin into two pieces that fell to the carriage floor with two ‘plop’ sounds.

Both women paused in their actions.

Hamu’er, sitting by the fire, heard the commotion and impatiently shouted: “Duozhu, have you had enough? Come back!”

Duozhu turned her head angrily, “Hamu’er, why do you always side with them?”

Hamu’er raised his eyebrows and laughed coldly, “If you want Naguo to die in Diecheng, I can kill them right now.”

Duozhu’s eyes suddenly darkened. She violently dropped the carriage curtain, “Hamu’er, you threaten me like this. When we get to Diecheng, I’ll tell Naguo and make him punish you severely!”

Hamu’er turned his eyes away, lowered his head to look at the fire, and ignored her.

With the curtain blocking the firelight, the carriage became dim again. Gu Yi, with her hands tied together, fumbled around for quite some time before finding the broken head of the hairpin on the carriage floor. She paused, then felt for the wooden handle beneath the red bead, which was now shorter. Cupping it in both hands with great effort, she stuffed it back into her waist.

Zhao Wan observed her movements, “It’s just a hairpin. Why not give it to her? She has a whip. Aren’t you afraid she’ll get angry and whip you?”

Gu Yi replied in a muffled voice: “This was given to me by His Majesty. I don’t want to give it to anyone else.”

Zhao Wan looked at Gu Yi with an extremely complex expression, but unfortunately, it was too dark in the carriage for Gu Yi to notice her expression at that moment.

“You… love him?”

Zhao Wan asked, and saw the shadowy figure of Gu Yi seemingly pause, then slowly nod, but say nothing.

After a moment of silence in the originally quiet desert night, several muffled sounds suddenly came from afar, seemingly from the sky.

Hamu’er looked up toward Diecheng and saw faint flashes of fireworks in the pitch-black night sky.

Golden fireworks as a signal—this was the sign of troop deployment.

In just a few short months, Xiaoyan had moved faster than he expected!

Hamu’er could no longer sit still. He glanced at the panting horses, kicked up several handfuls of yellow sand to quickly bury the fire, and said harshly: “Let’s go!”

*

On the fifteenth day, the Great Mu army had only taken half a month to defeat the Dantat forces in Diecheng several times. Over ten thousand Dantat soldiers had been killed or wounded, and thousands had defected and fled.

The former Dantat troops led by Yu Dai initially consisted of Dantat slaves gathered in Diecheng. In Dantat society, those in power were noble, the great clans were noble, while those born into slavery, regardless of gender, were slaves for life. But the Dantat population was not prospering, and many of the conscripted soldiers were slaves.

What Yu Dai—no, Hadai—promised to these slaves was the opportunity to no longer be slaves. Naguo knew he couldn’t kill all those who had been persuaded by Hadai to defect. If he killed them all, the Dantat would lose all morale.

He was the Great Lord’s youngest son, now over twenty years old. The Great Lord was aging rapidly. Although he favored Naguo, his days were numbered. Naguo’s brothers were all in their prime, each supported by major Dantat clans, like a pack of wolves and tigers eyeing him covetously.

If he lost this battle at Diecheng and lost his military power, upon returning to the royal city, he might not survive until the next full moon.

Naguo couldn’t afford to lose.

As he sat on a fur rug, frowning with worry, a voice came from outside the tent: “Hamu’er requests to see the commander.”

Naguo rubbed his brow and said, “Enter!”

Hamu’er, having changed into a suit of armor, entered the tent and said: “The letter has been sent to the Great Mu military camp by eagle.”

Naguo’s lips curved slightly upward as he raised his eyebrows and examined Hamu’er carefully for a moment.

“Hamu’er, your plan to use Xiaoyan’s consorts as bait to lure him to negotiations with the intent to kill him is indeed a poisonous strategy.” He rose and strolled around Hamu’er for several steps. “Brothers fighting against each other, you and your brother, your nephew facing each other in battle—how should I trust you?”

Hamu’er knelt on one knee and said: “Hamu’er’s loyalty is always dedicated to the Great Lord and the commander. Hadai and Hatazhu, from the day they defected, are no longer Dantat people, nor are they Hamu’er’s relatives! Xiaoyan fights for the Great Mu and is the enemy of the Dantat.”

Naguo bent down, looking directly into his eyes, and saw a pair of dark brown pupils without any ripples.

“Very well. Considering your loyalty to the Great Lord, I’ll trust you this once. If this plan succeeds, when we return to the royal city, I’ll make you my close minister. When I become the Great Lord, you will be my first minister.”

Hamu’er bowed again: “Thank you, Commander.”

*

Outside Diecheng, in the Great Mu military camp, Yu Dai held the letter and walked quickly to the central command tent.

The young officer guarding the tent saw him and respectfully called out: “General Yu.”

Yu Dai showed him the letter in his hand. The young officer immediately recognized Naguo’s seal and raised the tent flap: “General Yu requests an audience.”

Inside the tent, Xiaoyan was sitting with Zhou Lang, using a sand table to simulate troop movements. Seeing the object in Yu Dai’s hand, he immediately stood up and took it.

The letter contained just a few short lines, which he read three times.

Yu Dai saw his gloomy expression, with hints of bloodshot in his eyes. “Your Majesty…” He had just begun to speak when he was interrupted: “What does General Yu think of this?” Xiaoyan handed the opened letter to him.

Yu Dai recognized Hamu’er’s handwriting. “The handwriting is genuine.”

Hearing this, Zhou Lang quickly walked over, glanced at the letter’s contents, and frowned slightly. “Does Your Majesty intend to go to this appointment in three days? This is luring the enemy deep in. There may be an ambush. Wouldn’t it be better to plan more carefully? Naguo’s defeat is already certain. This move is surely inauspicious!”

Xiaoyan waved his hand: “I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I must go.” He couldn’t wait a moment longer.

Zhou Lang saw that after he spoke, Xiaoyan slowly rubbed his temples, his eyes cold and extremely impatient. Zhou Lang felt somewhat alarmed. Over the past few months, the Xiaoyan he had seen was very different from the Xiaoyan he had known in the Southern Desert Camp. Besides his growing imperial dignity, Xiaoyan had other thoughts in his mind. In this Diecheng campaign, he had traveled day and night from the capital, seemingly not just to fulfill his long-standing wish to subdue the Dantat.

Zhou Lang dared not persuade him further.

Xiaoyan stood in place, calmed his breath, and walked back to the sand table. “There are still three days until this event. After three days, we must take Naguo’s head.”

*

The three-day appointment was set at the Long Pavilion outside Diecheng.

Naguo had waited for less than a quarter of an hour when he saw Xiaoyan, wearing silver armor, indeed keeping the appointment, riding alone on horseback.

Naguo spoke: “It’s been years since we’ve met, Second Prince—no, Emperor. How have you been?”

Xiaoyan’s gaze met Naguo’s. He saw him sitting on horseback, with a red-cloth carriage stopped about ten paces behind his horse. Two Dantat men stood in front of the carriage, holding sharp weapons.

“I’ve been well.” He lightly pulled the reins, stopping his horse steadily in front of Naguo’s horse, with only two or three feet between them.

Naguo stared into his eyes, his gaze shifting to the shallow scar on his temple, and laughed softly. “You have Dantat blood flowing in your veins. Why do you persist in pressing us? You’ve become the Emperor of the Great Mu Dynasty. Isn’t that enough?”

Xiaoyan slowly shook his head. “You invited me here today. Let’s get straight to the point.”

Naguo clapped his hands several times. The Dantat men in front of the carriage lightly lifted the curtain. Xiaoyan glimpsed two figures seemingly sleeping inside, with Gu Yi leaning against the carriage wall next to the curtain.

The curtain immediately fell back down. Naguo smiled: “Be patient. The two esteemed guests are just tired and still sleeping. If you agree to my terms today, the two esteemed guests will certainly be returned intact.” His smile widened. “If not, they will have to stay in Dantat forever, buried here.”

Xiaoyan smiled faintly: “Feel free to speak.”

Naguo saw his calm expression, showing no sign of shock or anger. He hesitated for a moment before saying: “Today, if you withdraw your troops a hundred miles south of Diecheng, and Zhou Lang immediately leads his troops back to the Southern Desert, and you swear on your life never to invade Dantat again, I will return them to you tomorrow.”

Before he finished speaking, Xiaoyan laughed loudly several times. “Two people in exchange for the entire Dantat nation? Naguo, are you truly too naive?”

Naguo had, of course, guessed he wouldn’t agree. He laughed coldly: “Xiaoyan, it is you who is too naive.”

The bushes beside the Long Pavilion rustled slightly, and more than a dozen Dantat soldiers emerged, creating a situation of encirclement.

Naguo’s laughter hadn’t yet appeared on his face when he looked up and saw Xiaoyan wave his wide sleeve. A flash of silver light appeared on his left wrist—it was an extremely delicate crossbow.

He barely saw the movement before six finger-length silver arrows shot out simultaneously. Because the two were so close, the arrows flew as fast as shooting stars. One of them shot straight into Naguo’s forehead.

Naguo took a sharp cold breath, but before his eyes closed, his body fell backward off his horse.

Xiaoyan drew the long sword from his waist, spurred his horse forward, and with a horizontal sweep of his sword, cut off Naguo’s head. Blood splattered several feet away.

The surrounding Dantat soldiers shouted in unison and charged toward him.

Xiaoyan blocked with his sword, pulled the reins, and moved forward. Several fast horses galloped up behind him.

Zhou Lang arrived with more than a dozen cavalry, immediately engaging in combat with the Dantat soldiers present.

The red-cloth carriage had already traveled several miles away. The carriage driver had received orders to flee just moments after Naguo fell from his horse.

Xiaoyan galloped in pursuit, and after half a quarter of an hour, he caught up with the speeding carriage. With his long sword, he struck down the carriage driver.

However, when he took the reins and reined in the horses, he saw that both black horses had been stabbed with thin steel needles in their hindquarters, causing them to run forward like mad.

Looking down, he saw that the connection between the horses and the carriage was a ring of iron chains, impossible to break free quickly.

Xiaoyan immediately moved to the side and jumped onto the front edge of the carriage. Just as he pulled open the curtain, a sharp silver knife came toward his face.

He narrowly avoided it, with the knife tip lightly grazing the right side of his neck, drawing several small drops of blood.

Duozhu’s face inside the carriage was ferocious and frenzied. She gripped the silver knife and lunged at him again. Xiaoyan blocked with his sword, knocking the silver knife from Duozhu’s hand.

The carriage was moving rapidly, and the silver knife fell to the ground, disappearing in the rolling dust behind the carriage within moments.

Duozhu, before him, laughed loudly: “Kill me! Kill me, and there will be no antidote!”

Xiaoyan felt the shallow cut on his neck where the silver knife had grazed suddenly become numb. His ears heard a buzzing sound that seemed both near and far.

“What is this?”

Duozhu extended a finger and pointed at the silver armor on his chest. “Xiaoyan, Naguo is dead, and you must join him in death!”

Xiaoyan gripped his long sword, his head spinning. His limbs gradually weakened, his right hand trembling slightly, already struggling to hold onto the long sword.

Duozhu was about to reach out and push him toward the carriage when she saw Xiaoyan’s gaze quickly sweep through the interior of the carriage. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her left arm.

Duozhu couldn’t break free. The next moment, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. Looking down, she saw that Xiaoyan’s long sword had pierced through her stomach.

Duozhu screamed in pain, “You!”

Xiaoyan’s long eyebrows arched slightly. With his last ounce of strength, he pulled Duozhu and tumbled off the carriage.

Both of them fell together into the swirling dust.