Inside the Shanhai Army’s camp.

This was truly a force that looked like it had no discipline to speak of. If not for sheer numbers, there would not be a single impression of a great army’s grandeur.

The truly capable strategist, Military Advisor Hu Buyu, had long since been stripped of all real authority — he could not command so much as a single soldier.

And the one who actually held power was not the Tsunami King Mei Yan either. It was Mu Fengliu.

Mu Fengliu appeared to treat Mei Yan with the same deference as always. But the Shanhai Army’s generals all understood perfectly well that such deference was not worth much.

Hu Buyu had been neutralized; Mei Yan was also nothing more than a puppet who had been neutralized — though Mei Yan himself did not see it that way.

He still thought Mu Fengliu was his father’s most loyal subordinate, just as loyal to him.

On the contrary, he was the one who treated Hu Buyu — who had once received his father’s favor — with cold indifference, even contempt, because in Mei Yan’s view, Hu Buyu did not show him sufficient respect.

In truth, throughout the entire Shanhai Army, if one spoke of respect, their respect for Mu Fengliu far exceeded whatever they felt for Mei Yan.

Only Mei Yan himself, oblivious to it all, still believed he was the supreme authority.

Not even Mei Yan’s personal bodyguards — his most trusted attendants — were truly his. On the surface they called him “Great King” with every other breath, but in private they reported Mei Yan’s every move to Mu Fengliu.

At this very moment, Mu Fengliu leaned forward in a respectful bow and said: “Your Highness, how has the entertainment been lately?”

Mei Yan waved a hand. “Getting dull. It was a bit interesting at first, but doing the same thing every day — there’s no appeal left in it. Does the Advisor have any new ideas for amusement?”

Mu Fengliu smiled. “Speaking of amusement — does Your Highness know there is a lake roughly thirty li from camp?”

Mei Yan replied: “I know it. I’ve been there. Fishing is boring. Catching shrimp is boring… I thought the Advisor had thought of something good.”

“Your Highness, have you tried having the fishermen by the lake tow your boat through the water?”

Mei Yan blinked. “What do you mean by that, Advisor?”

Mu Fengliu said: “Round up some fishermen. Tie ropes around them and have them swim, pulling the boat Your Highness rides in forward. Your Highness stands at the prow, and if you see anyone not putting in enough effort — shoot them with a crossbow bolt.”

“Oh?”

Mei Yan’s eyes lit up. “That does sound interesting.”

Mu Fengliu continued: “The blood they spill may well attract large fish from the lake to come bite at them. That would be a sight worth watching.”

Mei Yan burst out laughing. “Splendid, splendid! You always see people eating fish — but fish eating people? I’ve never seen that. I’ll go tomorrow!”

Mu Fengliu’s motive, of course, was to have Mei Yan out of the camp and out of the way.

Mei Yan had long since lost any interest in attacking Longtou Pass. He didn’t enjoy fighting either. The depths to which this man could be depraved and moronic always managed to produce a new low.

“Your Highness, I’ve also heard that the lake floor may have large clams — and large clams sometimes yield pearls. You could have the fishermen dive down to the bottom and find them for Your Highness.”

Mu Fengliu said: “A lake outing really does have no end of amusement.”

Mei Yan roared with laughter. “The Advisor himself is the amusement! Forget all this business with military affairs — just stay by my side and keep me entertained!”

Mu Fengliu replied: “I still have a realm to win for Your Highness. You are a king today — one day you will be an emperor. Leave the realm to me, Your Highness. Just play to your heart’s content. And before long, you’ll have played your way right onto the throne.”

Mei Yan laughed with even greater delight. “Ha ha ha ha… if I became emperor, wouldn’t I have to call myself ‘We’ in the royal sense? Interesting — quite interesting. Why don’t you all just call me ‘Your Imperial Majesty’ starting right now!”

The cluster of men inside the great tent exchanged glances. They thought: what kind of man deserves to be called a king? If his father hadn’t built him this foundation, he would probably have been beaten to death by someone long ago.

“Your Highness, we need to pass through the pass first.”

Mu Fengliu said: “The title of Emperor — that comes after we reach the Jiangnan region.”

Mei Yan didn’t really care either way. He’d only said it in jest, so he smiled and replied: “Being emperor doesn’t sound like much fun anyway. Let’s talk about the lake outing instead… Advisor, you really won’t come with me tomorrow?”

“Your Highness, you enjoy your lake outing. I will take Longtou Pass in your name. Once the city falls, I’ll erect a few tower of victory monuments inside the walls for Your Highness to see.”

Mei Yan asked: “What’s a victory monument?”

Mu Fengliu explained: “A tower of heads — enemy skulls, piled up.”

Mei Yan thought about it and decided that something drenched in blood wasn’t much fun — certainly not as fun as a lake outing.

The next morning, Mei Yan led his personal guard out of the Shanhai Army’s camp once again, setting off for the lake thirty li away.

Mu Fengliu called the assembled generals together. His expression was grave. “Winter is approaching. If we cannot take Longtou Pass by then, we’ll have no choice but to withdraw with nothing to show for it. When we go back, we’ll be the laughingstock of ten thousand people. But if we can press our advantage now and take Longtou Pass — Jizhou’s thousands of li of fertile land, its tens of millions of people, are all yours.”

He paused to take a breath, and his tone eased. He pointed toward the entrance of the great tent. “That fool who just walked out — isn’t he entirely in our hands? With a puppet like that, how comfortable do you think our future lives will be?”

The men of the Shanhai Army all broke into laughter — and not a wholesome kind of laughter.

Everyone knew Mei Yan was an idiot. For instance, he was stupid enough that he had no idea how many women he even had.

Whenever he took a fancy to one, he snatched her up and gave her a consort title in imitation of emperors — then forgot about it afterward, leaving his personal guards and attendants to abuse those women behind his back, each of them with no decency left whatsoever.

So in these men’s eyes, the pathetic excuse for a king called Mei Yan was also a source of their entertainment.

“If we want our lives to get more and more comfortable, we need to prop that idiot Mei Yan higher and higher.”

Mu Fengliu said: “Yanzhou is just one corner of the world. What’s the point of playing within Yanzhou alone? Take Jizhou. Then take Yuzhou. Then march on Jingzhou, break through Daxing City — that is where the real game begins. The noble families and dignitaries in the capital — their household women are yours to enjoy.”

He smiled. “The consorts our king has bestowed are all false ones. If you want real consorts in your beds — we have to fight our way to Daxing City first.”

The group laughed again, and because of these words, a new gleam of anticipation appeared in their eyes.

Mu Fengliu naturally understood how to deal with men like these. Speaking to them of ideals, of ambition, of duty to nation and realm — all of it was meaningless.

They didn’t care about any of that. What they cared about was exactly what Mu Fengliu had just said.

“Therefore…”

Mu Fengliu raised his voice: “Today’s assault — give it everything!”

“Yes!”

A roar from the gathered men — and for the moment, something that actually resembled high morale.

—

Longtou Pass.

Zhuang Wudi looked somewhat haggard. He had been commanding the defense of the city for so long now — to say he was not tired would be a barefaced lie.

But he knew: hold on for two more months at most, and the Shanhai Army rebels would withdraw on their own.

The winter around Longtou Pass was even colder than the northern frontier near Beishan Pass. When that time came, simply pouring water from the battlements would be enough to stop the Shanhai Army’s people in their tracks.

“Report!”

Someone came rushing up from below, with unmistakable urgency.

“Report — General! Urgent military intelligence!”

The runner arrived with a bow. “General, we have just received an urgent dispatch from Jizhou — the Qingzhou rebel army, three hundred thousand strong, intends to join forces with the Shanhai Army in a pincer assault to take Longtou Pass.”

Hearing those words, the color drained from Zhuang Wudi’s face.

The runner continued: “The messenger rode through the night to get here. He overtook the Qingzhou rebel forces on the road — and collapsed from exhaustion the moment he arrived.”

He held out a letter with both hands. Zhuang Wudi took it at once and read it. He recognized Yan Qingzhi’s handwriting.

Yan Qingzhi wrote that the rebel forces’ momentum was enormous — it would be better to make plans early. If they were caught between the two rebel armies, the forces at Longtou Pass would not only be unable to hold the pass; they would be annihilated to the last man.

Accordingly, Yan Qingzhi counseled Zhuang Wudi to withdraw the Longtou Pass garrison to the northwest before the Qingzhou rebels arrived, clear of the Qingzhou army’s route of march — and surrender Longtou Pass.

“My men will not retreat. We would fight and die to the last.”

Zhuang Wudi exhaled slowly and said: “But if we retreat — with the rebel forces combined, their hundreds of thousands could drive straight at Beishan Pass and attack from both sides. If that happens, it is the main force that might be annihilated. Our Lord could lose everything — and with it, all of Jizhou, perhaps all of the Central Plains. We hold the line here. Every day we hold, we buy our king one more day… “

He looked at the gathered generals. Every eye was on him.

“I am issuing two orders.”

All of them stood at attention.

Zhuang Wudi said: “First order: send men to dismiss all the fellow countrymen who have come from across the land to support us here at Longtou Pass. The Qingzhou rebels number three hundred thousand — if they remain here, they will all die.”

“Second: every officer and soldier under my command is free to choose — stay or go. Those who choose to hold Longtou Pass and die beside me — I, Zhuang Wudi, will carry that in my heart. Those who wish to leave right now — I will not blame you either.”

He clasped his hands to all of them. “Whether you stay or go, you have fought beside me for more than two months. I owe you all my gratitude.”

He bowed deeply.

In the crowd, Elder Zhang Zhenren made brief eye contact with Tingwei Army battalion chief Zao Yunian, who understood immediately.

The two of them had come under Li Chi and Gao Xining’s commission. The agreement was this: if total annihilation became a genuine possibility, and Zhuang Wudi had already resolved himself to die — the two of them were to find a way to get Zhuang Wudi out.

Li Chi’s meaning was clear: better to lose Longtou Pass than to let the soldiers all die here.

If it were only the Shanhai Army attacking from outside, it would be manageable — with tens of thousands of civilians now here to lend their support, holding the pass was not the problem.

But now, with the Qingzhou rebels striking from behind — when the time came, escape itself would be impossible.

—

At the same moment, on the road from the northern frontier to Longtou Pass — still at least twenty days’ ride from Longtou Pass, not yet even to Youzhou.

Li Chi rode at a gallop and called out as he rode: “When we got the news, the Qingzhou rebels had already left Jizhou and were marching on Longtou Pass. But they have no supply lines — they have to plunder as they go. If we ride fast enough, we can get ahead of them and reach Longtou Pass first.”

Yu Jiuling said: “But we only have this force of just over a thousand Tingwei Army riders. Even if we get there, we probably can’t hold Longtou Pass.”

Li Chi replied: “I’m not going there to hold the pass.”

Yu Jiuling suddenly understood — Li Chi was worried about Zhuang Wudi.

That stubborn man. He would never give up the pass without a fight.

Yu Jiuling said: “They still don’t know the Black Wu have already retreated.”

At those words, Li Chi thought of something. He turned and gave an order: “Whenever we pass through a town or village — shout it out: the Black Wu have been defeated, Prince Ning’s great army is riding to the aid of Longtou Pass!”

Yu Jiuling caught Li Chi’s meaning immediately. He turned and shouted back: “Make it as grand as you can — tell them Prince Ning is personally leading an army of a hundred thousand to Longtou Pass!”

The Tingwei Army behind them acknowledged the order and passed it down the line.

From that point on, every time they passed a settlement with people in it, they raised their voices and shouted out: the Black Wu had been defeated and driven back — Prince Ning’s great army was riding for Longtou Pass.

This force of just over a thousand was all cavalry. To make the best possible time, each man had three horses and they minimized stops to rest.

Everyone rode with a burning urgency, terrified that the Qingzhou rebels might reach Longtou Pass before them.

—