Shen Zhuxi now understood entirely what it felt like to be a general’s wife at home.

Li Wu had gone off to battle, and once again she was unable to sleep all through the night.

Chunyu An was a renowned and formidable general, his ranks brimming with capable men, commanding three hundred thousand troops with which he had repeatedly defied the late Emperor’s edicts. For Li Wu to go and raid Chunyu An’s army would be far from as easy as taking down Pingshan Stronghold.

On top of that, the force going to raid Chunyu An’s procession was made up half of men who had originally been Pingshan Stronghold’s soldiers. The three tigers remained an uncertain element, and it was hard to say whether Da Hu and Er’hu might betray them midway.

The more Shen Zhuxi thought about it, the more her heart would not settle. She simply got up from the bed, combed and dressed herself, and sat in the bedchamber waiting for news from outside.

By the time the sky had grown dimly bright, the area outside the door was still perfectly quiet.

Shen Zhuxi blew out the candle that had burned all through the night, rose to her feet, and walked out the door, her eyes anxiously turned in the direction of the stronghold gates.

It was as though the heavens had heard her prayers — the stronghold suddenly erupted in noise, as if many people were pouring in at the same moment.

A familiar footfall, accompanied by the sound of armour clinking, rang out from beyond the door.

Feeling moved faster than thought, and action outran intention. By the time Shen Zhuxi came back to herself, she was already running toward the courtyard gate.

A tall figure pushed the gate open and stepped into the front courtyard.

“Li Wu!” Shen Zhuxi called out before she could stop herself.

Li Wu walked in wearing a full set of gleaming new armour, his head held high and chest square.

Seeing Shen Zhuxi running toward him, he quickened his pace.

“Why haven’t you slept?”

Shen Zhuxi stopped in front of him, her gaze sweeping him up and down with barely-contained urgency in her voice:

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

His earlier question found its answer naturally in her expression of concern.

He put on a show of difficulty and let out a sigh. “I took a small wound.”

“Where?!” Shen Zhuxi was alarmed, her eyes sweeping over him again.

“Here.” Li Wu placed his hand over his chest, looked at her intently and said, “Every other man’s wife throws herself into her husband’s arms after he returns from battle… why do I get nothing?”

Shen Zhuxi’s face burned scarlet in an instant.

“Our family is nothing like other families!”

“We’ve bowed to heaven and earth together, and we share the same bed — how exactly are we different?”

Shen Zhuxi was left utterly speechless by his perfectly reasonable counter-argument.

Other people were a true husband and wife. They were a false husband and wife. How could that possibly be the same?

“All right, all right…” Li Wu said, his tone put-upon. “My fate is a hard one — I risk my life and limb just to earn my wife money to wipe her bottom, and when I come home I can’t even get a warm welcome —”

Li Wu’s indignant rambling stopped dead.

Shen Zhuxi had wrapped her arms loosely around his waist, her scarlet face buried in his chest, not daring to lift her head.

She could hear his heartbeat.

A single resounding beat — like the great booming sound at the beginning of all things.

It shook her entire world.

As though scorched, she tore herself away from his chest, not daring to meet his gaze, flushed and indignant and without a word, she dropped her head and ran.

Li Wu’s gaze locked onto her crimson earlobe.

Only after she had run into the inner room and slammed the door shut with a bang did he return to his senses.

“…This little fool.”

He rubbed the back of his head, gave two quiet, satisfied laughs, then strode into the house with lively steps, his voice lifting in a buoyant tone he was not even aware of:

“Shen Little Fool! That didn’t count — you were too fast. Do it again!”

……

“Ow!”

Li Kun pulled his injured arm back and made as if to get up from the bed:

“You don’t know what you’re doing… I’m going to find Elder Brother…”

Li Que grabbed the person who had just stood and pulled him right back down.

“Elder Brother is busy. He has no time to look after you. Stop making a fuss and bear with it!”

Li Kun sat there unwillingly and let Li Que tend to his wound. When the cloth soaked in strong liquor was pressed against the injury, he hissed sharply and bared his teeth in discomfort.

Li Kun’s injury was only a surface wound. Once disinfected and bandaged, there was nothing more to worry about. The moment the knot was tied in the gauze, Li Kun was already off to the kitchen to wage another kind of battle.

Li Que removed his outer garment and then began tending to his own wounds.

“Use this.”

A voice rang out from the window — clear-toned and of indeterminate gender. Li Que looked up. Xiao Hu, who had changed out of her fighting clothes into a brilliant blue brocade robe, was perched sideways on the window frame with one leg, sending a round ceramic jar spinning across the floor.

Li Que did not reach for it. He looked back down and continued applying his medicine without expression.

“Come back another day.” He said.

“Why?” Xiao Hu tilted her head. “Are you throwing me a banquet to show your gratitude?”

“Because by tomorrow I will have set a trap. One arrow to send you on your way.”

“You won’t kill me.” Xiao Hu smiled. “Or rather — you can’t.”

“…Why?” Li Que looked up at her.

“Because your worthy Elder Brother won’t permit it.” Xiao Hu said. “The three tigers hold each other in check — all three are indispensable.”

“You flatter yourself a little too much.” Li Que said coldly. “If all three tigers are indispensable, then removing all three at once is the solution. What matters is the stronghold — not the three of you.”

“If removing us were feasible, it would have been done already. The only reason Li Wu kept us alive is because it couldn’t be done so easily.” Xiao Hu said with unhurried composure. “We have lived and multiplied in Pingshan Stronghold for generations. The stronghold’s people are bound together by kinship and blood. Kill the three tigers today, and there’s no telling whether the army might turn against you from within tomorrow. But keep us alive — that not only stabilises the stronghold people, it also sends a signal outward: this is a man of magnanimity.”

Li Que looked at her without a word.

Xiao Hu’s manner was relaxed, yet her voice carried certainty:

“If a person of ability heard of this, they would think — even with the three bandits who once stood against him, Li Wu is able to set grievances aside and put talent to good use. If I pledge my allegiance to him, I am sure to find a good future. “

She paused, then shifted her gaze to Li Que’s face with a faint smile.

“Isn’t that the very scheme your worthy Elder Brother has in mind?”

“…Someone so clever ought to know that second-guessing the intentions of the one above you is a great transgression for one who serves.”

“So is hiding your true capabilities and keeping them concealed.” Xiao Hu stepped down from the window frame and came fully inside the room. “I know you are his right-hand man — so I am telling you plainly just how much I am worth, and sparing us both the trouble of having you spend your energy calculating me.”

She picked up the ceramic jar from the floor and set it on the table before Li Que.

“No one knows wound medicine better than a doctor — except a bandit who deals in blood every single day. This is my family’s ancestral remedy for battle wounds. Ordinary cuts heal in a matter of days.” She sat down across from Li Que. “Don’t worry. I haven’t poisoned it. It was originally meant for Shen Zhuxi.”

The name, appearing without warning, made Li Que’s hand pause in its movement.

“I heard her asking someone for medicine last night. When I went out to fight today, I helped myself — borrowed — a jar from Er’hu’s things.” Xiao Hu said.

She left the rest unsaid.

Li Que asked: “If that’s so, why didn’t you give it to her?”

“I did send it over.” Xiao Hu said. “…They seemed a little busy, so I left.”

Li Que could more or less imagine what they had been busy with — primarily Elder Brother, who was busy finding ways to tease his sister-in-law.

“I don’t want it. Take it and go.” He said, succinct and final.

Xiao Hu’s gaze passed briefly over Li Que’s bared torso with a look of curiosity. “I have a question. In your eyes — am I a man or a woman?”

Li Que looked up at her, his expression tinged with contempt. “Do you think yourself a man or a woman?”

“I don’t know.” Xiao Hu said.

Her answer was unexpected. The movement of his hand applying medicine paused involuntarily.

“In your eyes, am I a man or a woman?” Xiao Hu asked with complete sincerity.

“I’m not blind.” Li Que said. “No matter how much like a man you behave, your body is a woman’s.”

“Then why, in front of me without your clothes, are you not the least bit embarrassed?”

Xiao Hu’s words fell. A brief silence followed inside the room. After that short stillness, the air — along with a cold laugh — resumed its flow.

Li Que dropped his eyes. The coldness in his already-detached gaze grew even icier, a thread of killing intent woven through, like a dagger just drawn from a block of ice.

His tone was laced with sarcasm: “Then you, upon seeing a man with his chest bare — why have you had no reaction?”

“Because I’ve long since grown accustomed to seeing it.” Xiao Hu said without thinking.

Li Que tied off the gauze over his wound, put on the clean garment he had ready, and stood.

“Will you leave on your own, or shall I personally see you out?”

Xiao Hu looked at the dagger that had appeared in his hand from who-knew-where, and made the sensible choice to stand.

“Leaving, leaving, I’m going right now… as if I wanted to come here in the first place…”

She headed to the door. Then, out of nowhere, a flash of clarity cut through the muddle of her thoughts.

The question she had thought went unanswered — perhaps he had already answered it after all.

She stopped and looked back at Li Que.

“You said earlier that you’ve known more women than I’ve eaten mouthfuls of pork —” she asked. “Where did you grow up?”

Li Que came toward her, dagger in hand.

“Leaving! Not another question — worse than grabbing a tiger by the tail —”

Xiao Hu had a whole collection of old and new injuries already. She had no desire to accumulate more here. Seeing that Li Que was in earnest, she turned without hesitation and ran.

This great battle had cost Li Wu’s main force relatively little.

The true casualties had been borne by Pingshan Stronghold’s original military strength.

The stronghold’s garrison, which had once been able to hold its own against the fake bald monk’s four hundred elite soldiers, had lost half its number in this single battle. What remained could only hover at the margins, dependent on those four hundred elite soldiers, and obey the commands of Li Wu and the false bald monk.

To say that Li Wu had not had the deliberate weakening of Pingshan Stronghold in mind when he made his tactical arrangements — that, Xiao Hu simply did not believe.

Pingshan Stronghold was now truly down to its last breath.

There was no other way forward but to sincerely pledge allegiance to Li Wu.

Li Wu was this cunning — how had Shen Zhuxi, a blank sheet of a person, ever come to walk this path alongside him?

Could it be that she had been conned into it by this master swindler?

Xiao Hu turned the thought over in her mind as she walked aimlessly through the stronghold, and found herself, without quite noticing how, at the back of the mountain.

She stopped at the edge of a lake where gentle ripples spread across the surface, looked down at the face reflected at her feet wearing a trace of bewilderment, and murmured quietly:

“…Are you, in the end, a man or a woman?”

……

After wiping out two thousand of Chunyu An’s military forces, Li Wu’s army had grown to five thousand.

True, a good number of them were elderly people, women, and children from the stronghold — yet the young ones raised inside a stronghold were not to be underestimated. Even a child of five could handle a blade with ease; those a little older, the young men and women, could ride horses and shoot arrows.

With land, soldiers, money, and grain now in hand, what lay ahead was no longer a matter of survival — it was a matter of growth.

Regarding the future development of the Huangya Stronghold, Li Wu called together the key figures of the stronghold and held a small military council.

Shen Zhuxi had not expected that she herself would one day be present at a military council.

And without a veil over her face, without a veiled hat on her head — the man who was nominally her husband had no inclination whatsoever to conceal her. On the contrary, he brought her into the open with great ease and an air of undisguised pride.

Compared to the first time she had appeared before others at the Pengcheng county office — when she had been mortified and afraid — Shen Zhuxi was now able to face many men with composure.

If there was still anything lacking, it was only a slight trace of reserve. But Li Wu was seated right beside her, and his presence gave her the final measure of courage she needed — enough to adopt the dignified bearing of a princess and lend Li Wu a formidable and commanding impression before the assembled eyes.

“A stronghold has everything one needs, yet no path to becoming a general or a minister. If we want to carve out a place for ourselves in this turbulent age, we have no choice but to come down from the mountain.” Li Wu said.

The long table on both sides was filled with people, the three tigers among them.

Da Hu spoke with deliberate care. “The world is vast. Once we leave the mountain — where do we go?”

Li Wu had long since thought it through and answered without hesitation: “The Great Yan is riddled with wounds from end to end. Countless cities have been seized by Liao forces and miscellaneous rebel armies. As long as we take one city, we will have a base from which to build our power.”

Er’hu slapped both hands together in delight. “Excellent! Win one, then win the next — once we have enough cities, we can do what those military governors do and appoint ourselves as governors, make ourselves lords, or even emperors —”

Shen Zhuxi’s eyes went wide. She had barely opened her mouth to protest when Li Wu, seated beside her, was already slapping his hand on the table with an air of unshakeable moral righteousness:

“What are you babbling about? I am a loyal subject!”

Er’hu stared at him in astonishment, looked him over from every angle, and found not a single trace of loyalty anywhere on the man.

“Once we have taken a city, we present it to the Great Yan and pledge our allegiance, and have them appoint me as a prefectural governor — of course, I will put in a good word for all of you for some sort of official post as well…”

Li Wu rested a hand on the back of his chair, cleared his throat, and continued:

“But before that — I must first go back to Xuzhou. The old dog of a Xuzhou prefect has wronged me far too greatly. I will absolutely go back and settle that score.”

Li Wu’s plan was passed by unanimous vote — he had just won a battle and was at the height of his prestige. No one questioned his decision.

“Since Elder Brother has decided to take up arms, should we not give this force a name?” Li Que said.

“A proper name.” Shen Zhuxi quickly added, terrified that Li Wu would open his mouth and produce something called the “Huangya Army.”

Oh Mother Consort up above — please protect her. She truly could not bear to become a member of the Huangya Army!

“Then let’s call it the Yellow —”

Li Wu’s words were not yet finished. Shen Zhuxi gave a start and cut him off with a rush of words: “Let’s call it the Azure Phoenix Army!”

“Azure Phoenix?” Li Wu frowned. “I think Yellow —”

“I like Azure Phoenix!” To change his mind, Shen Zhuxi said in her haste, without stopping to think: “Because you have an Azure Phoenix on you!”

The room fell pin-drop silent.

Countless pairs of eyes turned toward Li Wu and Shen Zhuxi.

When she came back to herself, Shen Zhuxi nearly died of mortified shame.

Li Que broke into vigorous, enthusiastic applause: “Sister-in-law loves him so deeply she loves everything connected to him — a touching sentiment indeed! This younger brother also thinks the name Azure Phoenix Army is excellent!”

Xiao Hu looked at the Li Que clapping with great energy as though she were seeing him for the very first time.

“Good — Azure Phoenix Army it is.” Li Wu changed his mind in an instant, though with a trace of genuine regret. “Even if it does not roll off the tongue quite as well as the Huangya Army…”

No matter how much he regretted it, Shen Zhuxi breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank the heavens, thank Mother Consort above!

She was finally free of the fate of being a member of the Huangya Army!