Suzhou City.

Standing on the city wall, Tang Pidi gazed out beyond as though lost in thought, one hand resting on the battlements, his fingers tapping lightly in a steady rhythm.

When he received the urgent military report Li Chi had sent by express courier, Tang Pidi had abandoned Hangzhou without a moment’s hesitation — that city was a strategic prize capable of turning the tide of the war and shaping the fate of the realm.

Taking Hangzhou was like driving an iron spike into Li Xionghu’s lower back, forcing Li Xionghu to think constantly about his rear guard.

To pull out that spike, he would have to commit heavy troops to assault it — and Li Xionghu’s greatest asset was his overwhelming numbers. Split those numbers, and defeat was certain.

With Suzhou and Yangzhou taken, the Ning Army could have sat back in perfect ease and watched Prince Wu and Yang Xuanji fight it out — waiting for one to emerge victorious and take advantage of the exhausted winner.

Tang Pidi had even settled on a timeline: two months at most, before the twelfth lunar month, the Ning Army could press the opportunity and take Jingzhou.

As for Daxing — why rush to attack it? With no reinforcements and no stockpile of supplies, however strong Daxing’s walls were, they could not outlast three months of siege.

Encircle it from the twelfth month through the second month. No need to attack — the common people inside would rebel when they could no longer hold on, and the great noble families would surrender.

In Tang Pidi’s plan, the grand gift he intended to present to Li Chi was this: before next spring — before Li Chi’s birthday — he would help Li Chi seize the throne.

Li Chi did not know his own birthday. The day his master found him was the day that stood in for his birthday.

But then the Black Wu came. The Bohai and Sang allied forces came. And they shattered every one of Tang Pidi’s plans.

No matter. They would fight it all again another time.

Tang Pidi remained in contemplation for some time, then turned to look at Zhuang Wudi and Luo Jing. “One of you two must lead troops back to Yuzhou immediately.”

Luo Jing said, “Let Old Zhuang go. He is steady and reliable — better suited than I am.”

Zhuang Wudi glanced at Luo Jing, his eyes conveying: you’re complimenting me only because you don’t want to go back, and you couldn’t even muster any real sincerity for the compliment.

Luo Jing smiled back, his eyes saying: going back to guard home base is no fun. Better to fight here.

Tang Pidi said, “We originally had three hundred thousand troops. Shen Shanhu has already taken a hundred thousand north to Yanzhou. I will split off another hundred and twenty thousand to return to Yuzhou. Old Zhuang — that will be you.”

Zhuang Wudi was taken aback. “Why such a large commitment? Give me fifty thousand — there is no powerful enemy in Yuzhou at present.”

“Not at present. But perhaps not for much longer.”

Tang Pidi said, “Yang Xuanji is no match for Prince Wu — his defeat is certain. Jingzhou is ours. The Prince has withdrawn north, but the forces left behind in Jingzhou will be no fewer than a hundred thousand. That is enough for defense. Yang Xuanji does not have the courage to attack us head-on.”

Luo Jing nodded. “If he cannot quickly break through our forces in Jingzhou, Prince Wu will have him trapped — with our men in front and that old fox’s Left Martial Guard behind him. Yang Xuanji is as good as dead.”

Zhuang Wudi understood. “So Yang Xuanji will certainly break north through Yuzhou — either to take the long way back south, or to seize Yuzhou City directly.”

Tang Pidi said, “So you must take the greater part of the forces back.”

Luo Jing said, “Would the old fox take advantage of the moment?”

Tang Pidi said, “If there were no Black Wu incursion, he would. He is the man in this world who best understands how to win. His mind holds every possible path to victory. But now that the Black Wu are pressing on the border, with the Bohai and Sang alliance in Yanzhou — if Prince Wu attacked us now, he would be a sinner for ten thousand generations.”

Luo Jing still had his doubts. “That old scoundrel’s head is full of treachery. Who knows if he would actually do it.”

Tang Pidi said nothing more, but in his heart he thought… and that is precisely why I want Zhuang Wudi to go back.

If it were Luo Jing who led troops to Yuzhou, and Luo Jing learned that Prince Wu was not far away — he would not be able to restrain himself.

Prince Wu might not even march on Yuzhou, and Luo Jing would go and attack Prince Wu of his own accord, to avenge his father.

When that kind of thing seized hold of a man, what talk was there of being calm or not? Once that stubbornness took over, no one could talk Luo Jing down.

So it only appeared as though Tang Pidi had asked the two of them which one would go back. He had already calculated that Luo Jing would refuse.

“Then I’ll go prepare.”

Zhuang Wudi clasped his fists. “I’ll head down first.”

Tang Pidi made a sound of acknowledgment. Luo Jing said, “I’ll walk down with you. I’ll spare some weapons from my camp to supplement yours.”

The two walked side by side down from the wall. As they went, Luo Jing said, “Even though the Grand General reckons that old fox won’t move against us while things are as they are, do not let your guard down for a moment. The Grand General is right — that man is the greatest master of winning in this world. The instant word comes from the northern frontier that the Black Wu have withdrawn, he will strike at once.”

Zhuang Wudi nodded. “I know.”

Luo Jing sighed. “He has won his whole life…”

Zhuang Wudi sensed what was in Luo Jing’s heart and clapped him on the shoulder. “Later. When the time comes.”

Few words — but the meaning was unmistakable. Your score to settle is our score too. When the right moment arrives, the brothers will settle it together.

Luo Jing exhaled slowly. “Actually — I knew the Grand General wanted you to go back. So I was the one who said to let you lead the troops. If I went back, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.”

He tilted his head back and looked at the sky. “That old fox knows me too well. Even if he didn’t march on Yuzhou, he’d find ways to lure me out to fight. Killing me would rid him of a serious thorn in his side.”

Zhuang Wudi said, “And you know him too well.”

Luo Jing shrugged. “My flaws are too obvious. That’s the gap between me and the Grand General — just that one small distance. Not like you — you’re so far from the Grand General’s level, you’ve already given up on catching up.”

Zhuang Wudi: “The hell with you.”

Luo Jing burst out laughing.

Zhuang Wudi said, “The fighting here is hard going. Li Xionghu took a heavy blow — lost two hundred thousand troops — he won’t let this rest. Keep your head and don’t let the Grand General have anything to worry about.”

Luo Jing said, “I’m somewhat better when the Grand General is here — I’m still afraid of a real thrashing from the military rod, ha — but I still hate defense more than anything. If we’re going to fight, I want to charge forward.”

Zhuang Wudi sighed. “So the gap between you and the Grand General is not just a little bit.”

Several days later, the Ning Army finished assembling weapons, equipment, and provisions. A hundred and twenty thousand troops were placed under Zhuang Wudi’s command, marching back toward Yuzhou.

The several tens of thousands of Ning soldiers remaining in Suzhou could find themselves surrounded at any moment. After all, Li Xionghu still had a vast army.

Li Xionghu — who had suffered his first major defeat since rising up — was not going to swallow this quietly.

From the time he had set out from Yuezhou, marching on Yangzhou and Suzhou and then pushing into Jingzhou, Li Xionghu’s forces had essentially never tasted defeat. Even during the prolonged standoff with Prince Wu’s army at the Jingzhou border, he had never suffered any particular setback — the two sides had simply been unable to overcome each other.

Now that Tang Pidi had outmaneuvered him into losing several hundred thousand men, Li Xionghu would be desperate to recover face.

Moreover, his sworn brother commanded several hundred thousand troops and was still somewhere south of Jingzhou. If Li Xionghu sent word to summon him, and that second great enemy arrived, Suzhou would become an island in the middle of a vast ocean.

Yet Tang Pidi was not unduly worried, because Li Xionghu’s objective was not this Suzhou City alone — nor was it merely Tang Pidi’s head.

After returning his troops, Tang Pidi immediately ordered that provisions and supplies be stockpiled within Suzhou City with all speed, and preparations made to hold out for four to six months.

Tang Pidi estimated that Li Xionghu’s patience would last no more than half a year.

If a single Suzhou city pinned down his army of a million for six months, he would essentially have lost his chance to contest Jingzhou.

Yang Xuanji was no match for Prince Wu — but Prince Wu could not eliminate him either. Once Shuzhou sent reinforcements, Yang Xuanji would still be the strongest contender for Jingzhou.

At that point, Prince Wu’s greatest problem would not be Yang Xuanji — it would be running out of food.

It was already the eleventh month. The grain and supplies the court had scraped together for Prince Wu would not last much longer. Once the New Year passed and provisions ran thin between harvests, however formidable Prince Wu’s army was — what would they fight Yang Xuanji with?

That peerless lion — it would not be weakened by age, but by hunger.

Tang Pidi personally saw Zhuang Wudi off as the troops departed, then set about arranging the defense of Suzhou City.

While inspecting the supply depots, a personal guard hurried up to him. “Grand General — someone outside is requesting an audience. He says he is your younger brother.”

“My younger brother?”

Tang Pidi froze. He thought to himself: what younger brother do I have?

But because of this person who had appeared out of nowhere, Tang Pidi felt an inexplicable anxiety rise in him — not only anxiety, but a fear he could barely suppress.

Without ordering his subordinate to bring the person in, Tang Pidi strode quickly out of the supply depot, walking faster and faster until he was running.

Outside the depot gate, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen stood waiting. He wore a plain cloth robe and carried a small bundle on his back.

Clearly he had been traveling a long road through wind and dust — yet he had not sat down to rest. He stood with a very straight posture.

Tang Pidi came out and saw the young man, looked him up and down, and confirmed he had never met this person.

The young man saw Tang Pidi as well, examined him carefully, and determined that this was the older brother he had come to find.

The young man walked quickly to Tang Pidi, straightened his clothes, and knelt on both knees. “Elder brother.”

Tang Pidi reached out to help him up, and saw the black mourning cloth on the young man’s arm.

In that instant, Tang Pidi’s eyes went wide. In the next breath, he nearly lost his footing and stumbled.

“Father passed away nine months ago. I was an orphan Father took in. Not long after Elder Brother went south, I came to be by Father’s side, and have been there for several years now. After I arranged the funeral rites, I came south to find you. I have been traveling nine months.”

The young man spoke from where he knelt. Tang Pidi slowly sank to his knees as well. “Thank you — for seeing Father off on his final journey.”

Half an hour later. The general’s residence.

In the study, the young man said to Tang Pidi, “Father fell gravely ill last year, yet he would not let me write to you. He said you had great things to accomplish and must not be disturbed. He held on through the New Year, and then, beyond any help medicine could offer, Father was gone.”

Tang Pidi sat there, tears streaming down his face long since.

His mind was filled with the image of his father speaking to him on the steppe — telling him that since he was going back, he should be a great hero.

That day on the steppe, master and student had talked for a long, long time. As the sun set, the two of them had sat in the grass, and the sound of their laughter had drifted out far, far into the distance.

“How did you come to be with Father?”

“I was originally a slave of the Aijin. I am a person of the Central Plains — I was traveling with my family as traders and we were raided by steppe people. Our entire family was captured. My parents died of illness, and only I was left. Father took pity on me and went to petition the Aijin to take me in.”

The young man spoke in a calm, even tone, but the grief in his eyes made one’s heart ache to look at.

“My original name was Yuan Wuyou. So that the steppe people would not be suspicious, Father gave me a new name: Tang Qingyuan.”

Tang Pidi lifted his hand and rested it on Tang Qingyuan’s shoulder. “Stay by my side from now on.”

Tang Qingyuan nodded. “All right.”

Still that same quiet composure. He was like a child who was afraid of being a burden — his calm was merely the way he concealed his own careful, tentative reserve.

“Come with me.”

Tang Pidi pulled Tang Qingyuan along. “Let’s go to the main camp. I’ll tell everyone — my brother has come.”