“Absolutely not!”
Qing Xia suddenly set down her food and said solemnly, her face resolute as ice and snow, her eyes revealing tremendous determination as she said word by word in a deep voice: “Even if all evidence points to him, I absolutely will not believe it. Given Chu Li’s character, he would never stoop to such acts.”
“Song Yang, many times, the more something is seen with the eyes, the less it can be believed. You’ve also followed Chu Li for so many years—what kind of person he is, don’t you know? He can be ruthless, he can be resolute, he can bury alive two hundred thousand soldiers in one stroke, but he would never strike at the old and weak. Moreover, regarding rape of women—he would absolutely never condone his subordinates doing such things.”
Cold moonlight spilled across the ground. Qing Xia slightly raised her head, the clear cold moonlight pouring over her silver-white armor, making even her features appear desolate. Her voice suddenly became ethereal, carrying a trace of worry and hatred: “Someone has already made a move in secret, but they went too far and achieved the opposite effect. But you also saw today that even our own soldiers would believe it upon seeing this. So how could the Xiongnu not believe? Moreover, Huang Biao just recently plundered the Mongolian grasslands. Tell me—once the Xiongnu return home and see today’s scene, what will they do?”
Song Yang hadn’t thought this far. Hearing Qing Xia’s words, he couldn’t help but follow her line of reasoning. The more he thought, the more cold sweat appeared on his forehead, his brow tightly furrowed.
Qing Xia laughed coldly: “If the Xiongnu see this and connect it with our design to hold up their feet at Baideng Mountain, plus Huang Biao’s previous record, and get news that Chu Li brought heavy troops into the desert, then the first thing the Xiongnu will do is unite their forces to block the eastern routes, trap Chu Li to death in the desert, destroy the original intention of the Baideng Mountain alliance trade opening, and gather all forces to attack Huarong Trail, bypassing North Qin and Xichuan to attack Great Chu with full force. At that time, if Xichuan and North Qin add fuel to the fire, hmph, then our Great Chu will be in danger.”
Song Yang frowned tightly and said solemnly: “Would Xichuan and North Qin be involved in this? North Qin is our ally.”
Qing Xia shook her head: “I can’t be certain either—I’m just reasoning logically. In this world, there are never truly any allies, just driven by interests. Previously North Qin and Great Chu formed an alliance—Great Chu sought Eastern Qi and Nanjiang, North Qin sought Xichuan and the northern territories. Each taking what they needed, mutually supporting each other, with profits to be gained, naturally all was peaceful. But now, Chu Li first recovered Nanjiang, then pacified Eastern Qi—the entire east has been incorporated into our territory. Conversely, North Qin not only failed to take Xichuan but let Xichuan and the northern territories unite. If Great Chu takes Xichuan now, where would North Qin have a foothold? So if they intervene, I wouldn’t find it strange at all.”
“But His Majesty’s entry into the desert was secret? Even we didn’t receive news of it.”
“So I still suspect one person.”
Song Yang’s brow was tightly locked as he asked solemnly: “Who?”
“Qi’an.”
“The former Crown Prince of Qi?”
“Yes,” Qing Xia took a long breath, her eyes calm as she said slowly: “We ultimately still underestimated him. The forces he’s hidden during his years in Haishi are absolutely not to be underestimated. Even though we’ve generally controlled all of Eastern Qi, we can’t guarantee we’ve completely uprooted all his wings. Moreover, the southern rebellion wasn’t handled well—Qi Yan fled to sea with remaining forces and hasn’t been caught yet. With Qi’an’s intelligence and information network, constantly focused on Chu Li day and night, we inevitably have gaps in our vigilance. So I suspect this incident involves Qi’an revealing intelligence, with Xichuan and North Qin jointly deploying troops to frame Great Chu.”
“Then what should we do?” Song Yang’s face showed slight anger as he said solemnly: “The Xiongnu are fierce—if they truly entangle with us, it would indeed be more loss than gain.”
“Not just more loss than gain—there’s probably danger of national destruction.” Qing Xia’s brow furrowed lightly, her eyes narrowed: “If I were from North Qin and Xichuan, I wouldn’t just support the Xiongnu attacking Nanchu—I’d try to open all convenient doors for them, support them with supplies and provisions, and allow the Xiongnu passage to trigger full-scale war. Combined with Qi’an’s forces hidden in the southeast, Great Chu would surely have fires breaking out everywhere. With Chu Li trapped in the desert, Great Chu would be leaderless and inevitably fall into disadvantage. At that time, they could not only watch tigers fight from the mountain, but North Qin and Xichuan could secretly nibble away at northern territory and power. When we’ve fought to mutual destruction, they could opportunistically emerge to swallow Great Chu in one stroke, eliminating their greatest threat besides the Xiongnu.”
Qing Xia smiled coldly: “This stratagem is very well used. First, it can kill Chu Li—without him, Nanchu will surely erupt in succession struggles. Once internal chaos begins, they’ll be even less able to resist external attacks. Second, it can resolve the supply shortage caused by our previous plundering that left the Xiongnu unable to get provisions, leading to their borrowing grain from Xichuan and seizing from North Qin. Third, it can prevent us from opening trade with the Xiongnu, preventing us from developing national strength through the southeast’s prosperous commerce. Fourth, it can incite war between Great Chu and the Xiongnu, allowing them to nibble away at both Great Chu and Xiongnu forces, giving them opportunity to deploy troops. Four birds with one stone—though vicious, it’s truly useful.”
Song Yang looked at Qing Xia and said solemnly: “My lord, what should we do?”
The corner of Qing Xia’s mouth curved slightly as she said slowly: “Since we’ve uncovered this, how can we let them succeed? But they’ve gone to such great lengths and invested so much—if we don’t make use of it, we’d truly be letting them down.”
Qing Xia smiled cunningly, stood up, looked at the green pasture ahead, and said solemnly: “They can frame others—can’t we also redirect trouble eastward? Since they’ve struck so viciously this time, we’ll use their own methods against them, make them lift a rock only to drop it on their own feet.”
The night wind was desolate, howling like roaring beasts. The young general in white armor with a black cloak behind her had sharp eyes like an eagle soaring through the sky.
Over the following days, they encountered several more affected tribes. Everyone died horribly with twisted faces. The women of the tribes had been violated in ways that were absolutely outrageous—even swaddled infants couldn’t escape. There was even one baby who had been disemboweled with its small heart stuffed into its mother’s mouth, like a scene from hell itself. Throughout the journey, Qing Xia’s expression remained resolute, but her brow furrowed tighter and tighter. When formulating her strategy, she had still felt some reluctance and worried for North Qin, but if Qin Zhixiang had really committed such sins, then she need not sympathize with him anymore.
All things have cause and effect; what goes around comes around. Even if Qin Zhiyan were still in Qin state today, she couldn’t stand by and watch them use such inhumane methods against Chu Li. This wasn’t a battlefield, and those weren’t soldiers. Though she could also use these civilians to achieve her own purposes, she had never actually carried out slaughter herself. She had led them toward Xichuan—though mainly to weaken Xichuan’s strength, she had also given them a way to live. Now with Xichuan and North Qin joining hands in such ruthless extermination, it was too venomous.
The spread of warfare made it easy for Qing Xia and her forces to obtain provisions. The longer time went on, the closer the Xiongnu return armies drew, and the nearer the danger. Thus Qing Xia became increasingly careful and anxious. This evening, Qing Xia was resting when suddenly a small sound came from the distance. She cautiously stood up, walked around the camp, narrowed her eyes, and saw that girl named Aluobei had again quietly caught up from behind, leading her horse, somewhat tired, resting at a distance from the Chu army on the other side of the desert, looking rather bedraggled.
It was already late October, and the night weather was getting colder. That woman wore only a red riding outfit, clearly unable to ward off the deep night cold.
Seeing it was her, Qing Xia frowned slightly but paid no attention, turning to continue resting.
Just then, wolf howls suddenly came from the distance. Desert nights often had wolf calls, but this time the sound seemed closer. Qing Xia didn’t pay much attention. But after a while, the sounds grew closer and closer. The soldiers weren’t very afraid—they had ten thousand men. One or two lone wolves coming to them would just be extra food for everyone. But Qing Xia suddenly remembered Aluobei sleeping on the other side of the desert and felt somewhat worried. She picked up her long spear and stood up.
Just as she crested the desert, she saw a wolf over a person’s height confronting Aluobei. The girl in red clothing gripped her curved blade, eyes fixed tightly on the wild wolf, but made no sound. Though she knew Qing Xia’s army was nearby, she didn’t call for help.
At this moment Aluobei’s palms were full of sweat, her mouth dry, her hands almost trembling as she looked at the drooling wolf across from her, her heart pounding. But she just wouldn’t cry out for help—she didn’t want to show her unbraver side before that person. The wolf opposite seemed to grow impatient with waiting and suddenly howled, lunging forward.
Aluobei cried out in alarm, wildly swinging her blade in front of her. But just then, a black arrow suddenly whistled from behind, swooshing past Aluobei’s front and striking the wolf’s throat with a thud. The arrow’s force was tremendous, piercing straight through the wolf’s neck and emerging from the back. The wolf screamed and tumbled backward, rolling several times before collapsing limply on the ground, clearly dead.
Aluobei cried out and suddenly turned around to see the white-armored general standing on the high sand dune, expression cold, backlit by moonlight as she held a strong crossbow, cutting a heroic figure.
Qing Xia glanced at her without speaking, turned and walked back.
“Hey!” Aluobei raised her blade and called out loudly, chasing forward: “Wait!”
Qing Xia didn’t stop walking. Looking at the girl panting behind her, she said coldly: “Go home. Stop following us.”