After the autumn harvest, it was the customary time for the prefectural governors to travel to the capital for their annual report. As expected, all four of them appeared at the command yamen first.

This year’s situation was slightly better than the year before. Though the fighting had caused some disruption, the Northern Territories had ended up with a slight surplus in income over expenditure, thanks to the new land brought under cultivation. Officials everywhere, as all officials do when confronted with some calamity, were inclined to use it to balance their accounts. The books of the Northern Territories looked considerably better than in previous years.

That alone would not be enough, however. A very large portion of the Northern Territories’ tax revenues had been retained locally. If they arrived at the capital with only what remained, it would not go down well.

In the end, Zhù Ying had to pull everything together and compose a memorial on their behalf explaining the situation. More effective than having them go to the capital to argue it out for themselves.

Zhù Ying did not decline. She received the several men with proper courtesy.

Host and guests having taken their seats, Zhù Ying said: “Your gentlemen will have a tiring journey. I wish you a swift departure and an early return.”

Prefectural Governor Yang glanced at Chen Fang, who was serving as company for the guests, and asked: “And how does the Commissioner herself report her work? This year, will she again send someone from the command yamen to travel to the capital together with those of us under her jurisdiction? That way we can also look out for each other on the road.”

Zhù Ying said: “But of course.”

Chen Fang’s expression crumpled. He had been at Zhù Ying’s side all this time and knew her plans. Originally, once the Northern Territories had been pacified, Zhù Ying’s commissioner post was due to be wound up and she was to return. This year should have been the time for her withdrawal.

But circumstances had changed: first came Marquis Leng replacing Marquis Zheng, then the split into two routes of forces, then the recent battle just fought, with the additional need to guard against Leili Atu exploiting any weakness to strike again. At this critical juncture, Zhù Ying could not leave — she could only revise her plans.

With the autumn harvest over, Zhù Ying’s plan was to conduct another circuit of inspection — particularly of the border defenses and the new army.

This was an outstanding opportunity — a chance to learn a great deal, and with good fortune perhaps even to be on the scene of a major battle. Chen Fang did not wish to leave.

Fortunately, Zhù Ying had not yet said whom she would send this year, and Chen Fang felt he still had a chance to remain and observe. He lasted until after the banquet, when Zhù Ying confirmed the arrangements with the prefectural governors: two days from now, on a fortunate day, she would send someone to accompany them to the capital.

Chen Fang was the last to remain. Zhù Ying said: “You have something to say?”

What a pity that the venerable uncle never drank wine, so there was no way to catch him agreeable when he was muddled from drink. Chen Fang felt a twinge of regret, composed his expression, and said with earnest sincerity: “Uncle has been detained in the Northern Territories for a long time. To prevent petty people at court from growing suspicious, reporting your continued devotion frequently is more fitting. The right person should be sent to do it. I made the trip back last year — should it not be someone else’s turn this year?”

Zhù Ying asked: “Are you hoping to go, or hoping to stay?”

“To stay! I want to stay at Uncle’s side and observe,” said Chen Fang, with complete self-assurance. “Ever since I came to Uncle’s side, I have learned one important lesson: a person should not only do one kind of thing, and should not, upon finding something they are reasonably good at, rest content and stop striving. I want to learn and see how things are managed on the local level. The opportunity to return to the capital — give it to someone who needs it more. What do you think…”

“Who do you think needs it more?”

Chen Fang hesitated a moment, then said quietly: “If you ask me, and if we weren’t currently in the midst of a busy period, Zhao Su would be a good choice.”

“He doesn’t need to come to the local level to learn and observe? Think of someone else.”

Chen Fang said: “Su Zhe is also very quick-minded — but it’s not quite convenient. Hmm — Xiang Le has only just been given a post, so he doesn’t quite fit either. Zhuo Que… his mind is a bit too calculating…”

Zhù Ying smiled and said: “Why must it be someone from my inner circle? Wouldn’t it be better to have a mixed group?”

“What does Uncle mean?”

Zhù Ying said: “Have Xiang Le and Qiu Yiming accompany Old Master Liang to the capital.”

“Old Master Liang? You’ve appointed him to the headquarters staff, but he’s just a…”

Just a figurehead. Old Master Liang was seventy-four this year and looked as though he had another ten years in him. He was well-regarded as a respected elder among the Northern Territories. In earlier years he had also served as an official, but later buried his father and then his mother in quick succession, and went through a total of six years of mourning in one stretch. During his mourning period, he had also studied the Book of Changes and written a commentary on it.

After Zhù Ying arrived in the Northern Territories, she had worked the local young people like draft animals but had been very attentive to the “men of learning” of the Northern Territories. Those in their prime, like Clerk Bao, were given official posts and put to work. Elderly figures like Old Master Liang were given honorary sinecures and set aside like honored ornaments. Then his sons and nephews were rounded up and put to work as draft animals.

It had to be said that the people of the Northern Territories had far more opportunities to hold office than the people of Wuzhou.

Zhù Ying said: “Precisely him! One way or another, the court has to be shown that the Northern Territories are at peace and that the people have given their allegiance, does it not?”

Xiang Le would carry her memorial to continue expressing loyalty, while Old Master Liang and Qiu Yiming were being sent to the court as something to put on display. The latter was essentially the same as the former — both served to show that Zhù Ying had been diligently working in the Northern Territories all this time, and had neither broken the law nor been overbearing.

Chen Fang said: “It would be ideal if Gu Tong could be sent.”

“He isn’t even a Prefect yet — why rush? Let him keep working.”

“Ah!”

Zhù Ying said: “First thing tomorrow morning, go and bring Old Master Liang here.” Old Master Liang held only a nominal post and did not regularly come to the yamen to report for duty; he lived at a country estate about thirty li outside the prefectural city. There was a lake beside the estate connected by running water to a great river, and in summer he would go there to escape the heat. Come winter he would return to the city to pass the cold season.

The next morning, Chen Fang went to fetch the old man, and Zhù Ying continued writing her memorials.

When one was not in the capital, memorials had to keep flowing to the capital without interruption — the Emperor had to be reassured of one’s loyalty. One memorial a month she found barely sufficient. There was no help for it. She now had soldiers under her command.

When she had finished writing the memorial, Zhao Su and Su Zhe came in to make their report: “Among the prisoners I searched through, I found no one from a prince’s unit — but there is one tribe whose members are from the maternal family of the barbarian overlord’s second son.”

Zhù Ying said: “The identities must be confirmed with certainty. Not every maternal uncle is necessarily loyal to any particular nephew.”

“Understood. It has already been verified…”

Zhao Su gave a further hushed account of some of the particulars, then laid out his plan — treating prisoners affiliated with the “Crown Prince,” Leili Atu, and the second prince differently from one another. The reasoning being that Leili Atu was the villain who had started the war, the “Crown Prince” was a foolish man who had been manipulated, and the second prince was an innocent bystander who had been dragged into things — and so different degrees of leniency would be shown.

All other cases to be handled according to the same logic.

Su Zhe said: “Marquis Leng has also sent back a reply — he says we can go ahead and act freely, he’ll hold firm on his end. As for the prisoners we wanted — he has singled them out for us. And — he says the barbarian overlord has four grown sons, and he has the means of contacting the other two.”

“What does he mean?”

“It concerns the Xida tribe.”

The matter traced back to Leili Atu’s “reforms.” Leili Atu had been centralizing the barbarian overlord’s authority and establishing a complete new system. This was good news for the overlord and the “Crown Prince,” but not necessarily for everyone else. Under the old arrangement, the other sons could each inherit a more substantial share; once power was centralized, what the younger brothers received relative to the “Crown Prince” would naturally be less.

Power, once concentrated, is rarely parceled back out.

Furthermore, the barbarian succession system was not as rigidly fixed as to require the eldest legitimate son. Their tradition also included the practice of “selection by acclamation.”

The Xida and other tribes already had thoughts of raising a new Khan in the barbarian overlord’s place. The “Crown Prince” stood shoulder to shoulder with his own father, which made him unworkable for their purposes — but the other princes were another matter.

Su Zhe said: “I think we should keep this even from the Xida tribe, and contact the other princes directly. The fewer people who know of this, the better.”

Zhao Su also said: “Correct. With two or three bold warriors, a single decisive strike — the barbarian overlord meets a sudden death, and chaos is certain to follow.”

Zhù Ying said: “The royal court is a thousand li from where we are. You speak as if it were simple. Whatever action is taken, one must think through the worst possible outcome.”

Zhao Su said: “Understood! I’ll draw up several alternative plans — surely at least one of them will work.”

“Good. We set out the day after tomorrow. You two will come with me north.”

“Yes.”

……——

The prefectural governors and Xiang Le and the others departed for the capital. Zhù Ying then set out with Chen Fang, Zhao Su, and others to travel north. Along the way she stopped to check conditions in the various localities — whether anyone had been privately levying additional taxes and duties, and at the same time examining the situation of the veteran soldiers on their newly reclaimed land and how they were getting along with the local population.

Zhù Qingjun took up her blade and mounted her horse, riding alert and watchful just ahead and to the side of Zhù Ying. The aura of deadly intent radiating from this young woman was something Lin Feng watched with undisguised envy. He sidled up to Zhù Ying’s side and said: “Adoptive Father — look at Little Sister, she’s the one who can’t be put in danger. I’m different! My family doesn’t depend on me — I have my elder brother. So isn’t it…”

Zhù Ying looked at him. Zhao Su, standing nearby, said: “Does that mean it would be fine if something happened to you?”

Lin Feng said: “Well, I’m not quite as precious, I suppose. No one’s truly heartbroken anymore — shouldn’t I be allowed a little more excitement? I’m not allowed to now, but —”

Zhù Ying said: “If your only reason is ‘excitement,’ keep your mouth shut.”

“No, no! It’s for my ambitions!” Lin Feng immediately corrected himself.

This drew laughter from all around.

Su Zhe said: “Then first you have to make people feel at ease about you, don’t you? Look at Qingjun, then look at yourself — try being a little more serious!”

“You’re not calling me ‘Uncle’ anymore, is that it?” Lin Feng said in an affected tone.

The two of them were bickering again.

And so the journey progressed at a leisurely pace.

Zhù Ying was touring the Northern Territories, and since Marquis Leng was also quartered there, she made a stop at his main camp along the way.

Marquis Leng’s camp was not very different from that of the late Marquis Zheng — the encampment was not much smaller than Marquis Zheng’s had been in his day, and the soldiers, fresh from a string of victories, carried themselves with even higher morale.

Marquis Leng also formed up his men at the camp entrance and sent the young Marquis Leng out to receive Zhù Ying at the gate. When Zhù Ying entered the main camp, it was Marquis Leng himself who came out to greet her — and he seemed even warmer than Marquis Zheng had been in his time.

Marquis Leng was smiling as he said: “I was just thinking of coming to see you — but knowing you were busy with the harvest, I held off and planned to go visit you in a few more days, and then here you are.”

Zhù Ying said: “The harvest is more or less in. I wanted to do another circuit. This fighting never seems to end, and with the commissioner post still assigned to me, I cannot afford to ignore it.”

The two of them talked as they walked into the main tent, and once host and guest were seated, Marquis Leng’s spread was no less generous than the late Marquis Zheng’s had been. Thanks to Zhù Ying’s management of the Northern Territories over the past year — producing a surplus even now — she had also supplemented Marquis Leng’s supplies somewhat. Marquis Leng received Zhù Ying with no stinginess whatsoever, and also had his men bring out two silver cylinders: “These are the finest tribute teas that were just brought to me. Take some back with you.”

Zhù Ying said: “Then I would be rude to decline.”

Both of them had, in their own way, emerged victorious from the recent fighting. Marquis Leng’s victory was the more brilliant one, and the words he returned to repeatedly were: “If not for you, nobody could have won this battle as we have.”

“I understand nothing of these matters.”

“Ah, but that’s not the point! Even if my own assessment is off, old Zheng never misjudged anyone — and since he saw great things in you, you are clearly the right person. As for battle — supplying the army comes first, the hearts of the people come second. Without the Northern Territories being this stable, the official army would not have won so easily.”

The two talked on about military matters, and Marquis Leng gave Zhù Ying a brief explanation of his “turning the hollow side into the substantial” — the circumstances at the time had made that the best approach. Marquis Leng had more men; if he hadn’t attacked on his own initiative, was he supposed to leave the hard fighting for Zhù Ying, who had fewer?

Zhù Ying said: “I understand. It’s like when two groups fight — there’s a difference between fighting for your life and letting the other side practice on you.”

“Exactly!”

The two grew more and more at ease with each other. Marquis Leng, seeing Zhù Ying’s subordinate General Ye in attendance, also put in a good word for him. General Ye’s performance this time had not been good. Zhù Ying said: “I’ve already submitted the memorial and given the court an explanation.”

General Ye quickly expressed remorse and gave his thanks.

Zhù Ying said: “What comes next is up to you. Don’t put me in an awkward position, and don’t fail the Marquis’s word spoken on your behalf.”

General Ye said earnestly: “Understood!”

That evening, Zhù Ying again took Zhao Su and Su Zhe to call on Marquis Leng.

The moment Marquis Leng saw the two of them, he said: “All the people you requested — I’ve been keeping them set aside. A fine approach this is — though…”

“Your instruction,” said Zhù Ying.

Marquis Leng waved a hand: “Not instructing — an old man rambling. Presuming on my age to say a word: some things can be done but cannot be spoken of; they can be acted on in the dark by one’s own hand, but cannot be handed off to others so that they know of it. If you do it and it bears fruit, you also have to find a different way to claim the fruit. This is about stirring up strife between a man and his sons! This is manipulation! The virtuous men will have something to say about it!”

So saying, he fixed his gaze squarely on Zhao Su.

Zhao Su understood: “The Office of Foreign Reception only negotiates peace with those who show promise.”

“Ah — and what peace? You cannot appear to be the one initiating.”

“Understood.”

Zhù Ying said: “He is a man who knows his own mind — and besides, the great affair of war between two nations cannot rest entirely on the outcome of a struggle for succession in their inner chambers, can it? Let’s talk about what concerns us. They two will attend to their matters, and we’ll prepare ours.”

Marquis Leng said: “You seem to me to be in something of a hurry. For someone in your position and mine — I still want an early decisive victory and a return to the capital. But you are a Military Commissioner: the longer you stay, the more entrenched you become, and the more your reputation grows. Stay in the Northern Territories a couple more years and your standing will be even more solid.”

Zhù Ying smiled: “Everyone has ambitions — but the present circumstances are wrong for it. I entered the capital at twelve, and everything I have achieved has been by never allowing myself to be carried away by wishful thinking. Right now, the best thing for everyone is to end this war as soon as possible. So we cannot leave victory or defeat entirely in others’ hands. Use every method available — who knows which one might succeed? But regardless, the foundation must still be one’s own strength.”

Marquis Leng said: “Quite so! But the capital — tsk!”

Zhù Ying smiled: “The north gets cold fast. How much winter clothing will you need over there to be replenished…”

……

Zhù Ying continued leisurely on her circuit, conducting another tour of the Northern Territories.

Passing through farmsteads, she also inquired about winter clothing for the households — the north was bitterly cold, and poor people were very short of winter garments. Every winter, some number of elderly people would freeze to death.

“Things are somewhat better this year,” said Luo Jiaxiu. “No additional levies. When people eat well enough, they naturally survive a bit longer.”

Most of the officials were diligent and law-abiding, and among them Luo Jiaxiu was outstanding. He had not only refrained from privately imposing new levies, he had not renovated his official residence either, and had personally gone into the countryside to verify conditions on the ground, while also coordinating with the garrison troops.

He was doing better even than Gu Tong.

Zhù Ying said: “There is still a shortage of clothing and food.”

Both of them could only sigh. No matter how hard the two of them worked, the winters of ordinary poor people were still terribly difficult. Even in a good year, the poor could not help but slip a little further year by year — until the world was remade and a new dynasty relaxed its grip and let people breathe again.

And all the more so in the Northern Territories.

Luo Jiaxiu said: “We still have to find a way.”

Yet even now, they were at a loss — all he could do was remain clean-handed himself and hold those under him to strict standards. Anything beyond that was truly beyond his reach.

Zhù Ying said: “Then let’s substitute.”

“Pardon?”

Zhù Ying thought for a moment: “We cannot shortchange the soldiers — they must be provided with winter clothing. The worn-out clothing being retired — take it out and distribute it. It will be a drop in the bucket, but still better than nothing.”

“That will do just fine,” Luo Jiaxiu suddenly brightened, “There are not that many of the extremely destitute elderly! Old clothing is still old clothing, but if it can keep out the cold, that is enough. Only you could have thought of that, Commissioner — I never did.”

Zhù Ying said: “It is not that I am more clever than you — it is simply that the army does not fall under your jurisdiction. As long as I am here, whenever you have ideas along these lines, speak up, and we’ll see whether they can be put into practice.”

Luo Jiaxiu smiled: “Very well!”

Continuing her circuit, Zhù Ying encountered Yao Jingxia again at the border. He had grown a thin mustache, his face was dark from the sun, and his eyes carried a faint light. The leather armor he wore was burnished to a shine in some places, and in others had worn to a dull, weathered darkness.

His father’s blood debt had, in a sense, been settled. It had been a general melee, and he only knew that someone from a certain tribe had killed his father — he did not know the specific person. He had long since killed far more enemies than the count needed to balance that debt, and his only remaining regret was not knowing exactly who was responsible.

Through his achievements in battle, he was now the highest-ranking military officer in the city. Zhù Ying looked him over carefully — these locally born soldiers, she had to admit, were sharper and more formidable than the men under General Ye, and carried themselves with more presence.

Zhù Ying asked about his troop numbers, supplies, and the latest intelligence on the barbarians across the border.

Yao Jingxia said: “There was a small probing action two days ago. They’ve always been like this over these past few years — like cats, coming to claw at you for a bit. If you get fed up and stop paying attention and treat it as ordinary, they’ll come at you properly and draw blood. We’ve all gotten used to it.”

This remark made General Ye’s face go slightly red, for he was precisely the one who had not yet gotten used to it and had been too slow to react.

Yao Jingxia also made a request to Zhù Ying for an additional five hundred men. These five hundred were not simply to be transferred freely — if drawn from other units, they had to be prised away from someone else. If newly recruited, a report had to be filed with the court. On top of that there were the equipment for five hundred men, and their ongoing rations and supplies.

Yao Jingxia was making this request only because he had recently distinguished himself in battle.

General Ye’s attention sharpened, and he kept a close eye on this young man.

Zhù Ying smiled: “Very well. Qingjun!”

Zhù Qingjun stepped forward, and Zhù Ying said: “Take five hundred soldiers and station yourself here! Serve as a joint defense!”

General Ye smiled silently — a fine solution. Yao Jingxia looked at Zhù Qingjun in surprise, thought for a moment, and then asked: “Does she come under my command?”

“Joint defense — you coordinate between yourselves,” said Zhù Ying.

“Yes.” The two of them answered simultaneously.

General Ye was about to make a jest, but before he could, Zhù Ying turned to Zhù Qingjun: “Don’t push yourself too hard. I want you to come back in one piece.”

Zhù Qingjun said: “You know me — wherever I am, I can always find my way home.”

Zhù Ying nodded: “The border — I leave it in your hands.”

……——

Zhù Ying returned and set about organizing the winter clothing, with Luo Jiaxiu and others helping to coordinate the exchange and distribution — collecting the old winter clothing from the army, washing and repairing it, then redistributing it to the most destitute elderly.

The front was also unsettled. There was no major fighting, but minor skirmishes were constant. The northern barbarians were not simply “using the same old tricks” — this was their nature. It was not easy for the other side to mass a large army at one time either. In the ordinary course of things they moved in small units, and this kept the border soldiers on their side in a constant state of harried irritability.

By the time winter came, the two sides had fought over a dozen engagements, large and small, on the western route alone.

Progress on Zhao Su and Su Zhe’s front was slow — but it could not be rushed. Making contact while evading detection, and then actually managing to reach a workable agreement — one journey back and forth, for anyone without excellent wayfinding skills, could take over a month.

Zhù Ying and Marquis Leng continued to meet the enemy’s main force head-on as their primary activity.

Finally, at the end of the eleventh month, Leili Atu and the “Crown Prince” led another army south, this time driving straight at General Ye’s defensive line. General Ye held off their initial assault, and reinforcements came from Marquis Leng.

Yao Jingxia and Zhù Qingjun once again fell back on the same approach as before, striking Leili Atu from behind.

Both sides were playing to a familiar script.

While the two armies were locked in fierce fighting, Leili Atu dispatched forces further west, beyond the boundaries of the Northern Territories, and captured two towns in rapid succession, looting them thoroughly. At the third town, they were halted by the local Prefectural Governor, who led the soldiers and citizens in a determined defense!

The route Leili Atu was taking was not entirely new — it was one that some had traveled southward hundreds of years ago. In recent times, however, no one had used it. The reason was its proximity to the Western Barbarian territories. Since the northern barbarians and the Western Barbarians had no alliance and held each other in mutual wariness, this stretch of land served as a buffer zone.

The Prefectural Governor who stopped Leili Atu was no stranger — he was Zheng Xi’s cousin on the maternal side. His father had been a military man, but the cousin himself was inclined toward literature, and had followed the civil official’s path. With a fine maternal uncle and a fine older cousin, the cousin had enjoyed a smooth official career, and at forty had already risen to the rank of Prefectural Governor.

The court sent written inquiries to Zhù Ying and Marquis Leng asking about the situation in the Northern Territories, and both reported on the military position. The court, at a loss, had no choice but to redeploy some of the imperial guards westward, while also ordering Zhù Ying and Marquis Leng to hold the barbarian forces and plan for an active offensive in the spring, to keep the barbarians pinned down and prevent them from causing trouble everywhere.

After consulting with Marquis Leng, Zhù Ying dispatched small units to strike deep into the barbarian rear to cause disruption.

No one could match Zhù Qingjun in this kind of operation. Starting from her command of five hundred, led by her as pathfinder and darting left and right, she was always hitting isolated and scattered tribes with complete surprise. She had begun with five hundred under her and led them in continual raids — those taken under her wing from the very start, those at the sharpest point, were dying off one by one.

Zhù Ying submitted a merit report for her, and she was promoted three ranks in succession. Marquis Leng cast an extremely envious eye on this girl. He thought it over carefully and, not feeling comfortable enough to say so outright, suggested: “The next time we push northward, I’ll send a crack unit to combine with this girl’s forces — she leads the way. What do you say?”

Zhù Ying said: “Let’s settle first on who gives the orders.”

“Fine — she does.”

Zhù Ying also reinforced Zhù Qingjun with elite troops so her men would not be overshadowed by those from Marquis Leng’s side.

Zhù Qingjun and Su Zhe were extremely close, and the two of them plotted together: even in dealing out punishment, they had to calibrate the severity. The forces of Leili Atu and the barbarian overlord always took the hardest hits, while those of the second prince, the third prince, and the various separate tribes were more easily let off.

Zhù Qingjun spent even the New Year on the border. In the first month, while Zhao Su was in the command yamen hosting a birthday celebration for Zhù Ying, Zhù Qingjun was out in wind and snow, putting up tents.

Leili Atu had no choice but to keep fighting, and his position was becoming somewhat more difficult. The reforms were producing results — his two successful plundering raids on towns were proof enough. But the results still left him less than satisfied. Marquis Leng was a hard nut to crack, and Zhù Ying’s side kept producing unexpected stratagems, giving him no peace.

Just as Zhù Ying had said, in the end it all came down to troops and provisions. Leili Atu could not afford the attrition.

Fortunately, he had deployed some half-hearted subordinate tribes as cannon fodder at the front — if they won, they destroyed a foreign enemy; if they lost, they eliminated a domestic threat. He could not come out the loser either way.

The barbarian overlord thought it over at length and issued an order to Leili Atu: “We cannot go on like this. The southern people’s vital force has not yet run its course — this is not the moment to destroy them. It would be better to negotiate peace.”

Leili Atu advised: “Even if we must negotiate peace, we cannot do it just like this. We must first inflict real pain on them — only then will they negotiate seriously and accept certain conditions. These past two years we too have suffered considerable losses, and we must recover something from them.”

The barbarian overlord found this reasoning sound, and decided to go to the front in person.

Battle was imminent. Marquis Leng, with the tension of an experienced general, made his troop dispositions, and personally came to Zhù Ying’s command yamen to confer with her: “Every sign points to a great battle coming. Though the court would split our forces, in this we must fight as one.”

Marquis Leng saw clearly: Zhù Ying devoted less of her energy to military affairs than to civil administration, and both the Northern Territories and the great army needed her to manage the civil side well. He voluntarily shouldered the greater part of the military responsibility.

Zhù Ying did not contest this with him, and asked: “What is your plan?”

Marquis Leng laid out two and a half defensive lines — with his own forces as the main force, and Zhù Ying’s western route as the flanking support.

“That half line depends on you!” Marquis Leng said. “If barbarian troops manage to break through, you must mobilize the civilian population at once! Only you can do that. The people of the Northern Territories — they follow you.”

After more than a year here, the soldiers and civilians of the Northern Territories did indeed follow Zhù Ying. Her orders, when they went out, carried more weight than anyone else’s.

Zhù Ying said: “Agreed.”

Marquis Leng also said: “Lend me the little Zhù girl! I know she’s a treasure, and I won’t cast pearls before swine.”

“Agreed.” Zhù Ying also had her mind on many things at once — spring was coming, and planting had to begin. If this battle dragged on further and disrupted the spring planting, the autumn harvest across the entire Northern Territories would make for very unpleasant reading at the court.

……——

This time, the barbarians were most accommodating.

On the seventh day after the barbarian overlord arrived at the front, they sounded their battle horns.

Zhù Ying was not at the front — she was still out urging Prefectural Governor Yang and others on the spring planting. Governor Wang’s prefectural spring planting had already been disrupted and other measures would have to be found. Then there was the transporting of military provisions, and all manner of inquiries from court envoys to be dealt with.

Marquis Leng at the front actually had it easier than she did.

Both sides continued to pour in forces, and losses mounted at a frightening pace.

At the end of the third month, the war came to an abrupt halt.

Zhù Qingjun sensed something was wrong and led a rapid strike to the spot where the enemy had been encamped, only to find they had been gone for half a day. From the traces left behind, the departure had been very hasty, and some things had been left that they would rarely have abandoned before.

Zhù Qingjun, unsure what to make of it, did not dare give chase recklessly, and came back to report to Marquis Leng. Marquis Leng dispatched scouts to investigate — and then it was Zhao Su and Su Zhe’s side who sent back word first: the barbarian overlord had died suddenly!

The four sons were all vying for succession. The situation nearly erupted into open civil war right there on the battlefield, and Leili Atu was compelled to escort the barbarian overlord’s remains back north.