South of Yuzhou, on the southern bank of the Chi River.

The Tianming Army had been chased by Prince Wu’s great force the whole way, retreating in the direction of the southwest — the past month had been nothing short of harrowing.

The Tianming Army was in no state of mind whatsoever to maintain military discipline. Before, to showcase Tianming King Yang Xuanji’s benevolence and virtue, the rules had been kept strict enough. But on this long retreat, they took whatever they could find as they passed through — caring nothing at all for their reputation.

Fighting and retreating like this, they had no choice but to abandon the plan to advance into Yuzhou and fell back into the northern part of Jingzhou.

Resting by the river, Yang Xuanji sat on a rock staring at the water flowing east, letting out one long sigh after another.

Such fine prospects, all ruined by Tang Pidi’s attack on Suzhou.

“What is this supposed to be?”

Yang Xuanji picked up a rock and hurled it into the water. The splash was enormous — and still not enough to vent his resentment.

“Is this what they call mutual benefit?”

That he could say such a thing told you how vast his grievance had grown.

He was referring to Prince Wu and Prince Ning Li Chi — what those two men had done was plainly mutual benefit, and only a fool would claim otherwise.

Tang Pidi had been ordered to assault Suzhou, forcing Li Xionghu to pull his troops back in defense, and Li Chi had taken Suzhou while also helping Prince Wu by drawing away one powerful threat.

This could be said to be Li Chi doing Prince Wu a favor — letting Prince Wu focus entirely on battling the Tianming Army.

Now the northern frontier was in crisis — what a perfect opportunity this should have been. He could have chosen not to retreat to Shuzhou at all, could have pushed straight through Yuzhou in one drive, then settled in to wait for Shuzhou reinforcements to arrive.

Going south from there, he could have marched into Jingzhou; going north, he could have driven all the way to Jizhou.

But Prince Wu had pushed hard, forcing them southwest, stubbornly refusing to leave open any path northward.

Was that Prince Wu returning the favor to Li Chi?

“That old bastard still doesn’t know who the real threat is.”

Yang Xuanji muttered to himself, the words saturated with boundless resentment.

“I am of the Yang imperial bloodline. Why is he chasing after me without letup? Shouldn’t he be seizing this moment to eliminate Li Chi instead? If the realm falls into my hands, it’s still a Yang family realm. But if he doesn’t eliminate Li Chi now, it may not be a Yang family realm for much longer.”

Hearing these words, not one of his subordinates dared respond.

When the Tianming King was in the middle of venting, whoever opened their mouth would be the one who got cursed at.

“My Lord.”

Yang Xuanji’s strategist Pei Chongshan forced himself forward, lowering his voice: “Your subordinate has something to say — I’m not sure whether I should say it.”

Yang Xuanji glared at him: “Say it!”

Pei Chongshan said: “My Lord, we have retreated into Jingzhou. Unless the unexpected occurs, the Xie family will certainly send men to intercept us — it’s possible Xie Xiu’s army is already waiting ahead. My Lord can see clearly that Prince Wu is no loyal minister — he has most likely already been bought by Li Chi, otherwise why would he hold Yuzhou on Li Chi’s behalf?”

“So your subordinate suspects that Prince Wu, that old bastard, has perhaps already secretly made contact with Xie Xiu — with him pressing hard from behind and Xie Xiu blocking from ahead, their intent is to pen us into Jingzhou and destroy us entirely…”

Yang Xuanji frowned: “Do you think I haven’t thought of all this already?”

Pei Chongshan said: “Your subordinate believes… your subordinate believes, my Lord should go.”

“What?”

Yang Xuanji’s frown deepened: “What exactly do you mean?”

Pei Chongshan said: “If we are truly penned in, my Lord will have no way out… My Lord has a body double whose appearance and bearing are almost identical to his own. Have the double impersonate my Lord and remain with the army, while my Lord takes the Azure Silken Guard, slips away from the main force, and returns to Shuzhou quietly by water.”

Yang Xuanji looked at him, his expression shifting rapidly.

“I still have three hundred thousand troops in hand. You want me to abandon them?”

Pei Chongshan said: “Three hundred thousand troops — once my Lord returns to Shuzhou, they can be raised again at any time. But if my Lord is surrounded, even Shuzhou itself, the root foundation, will fall into the hands of others.”

Yang Xuanji seemed to be jolted by this point, visibly startled for a moment.

“My Lord — there is still time to act now. Entrust the main army to a capable commander and have them fight their way toward Shuzhou. If they can break through, my Lord’s three hundred thousand troops remain intact. If they cannot…”

He looked at Yang Xuanji, and Yang Xuanji looked back at him.

After a long silence, Yang Xuanji gave a slow nod: “If we proceed as you suggest, extreme care must be taken — not a breath of this must leak out.”

“Yes, yes, of course…”

Pei Chongshan said: “That goes without saying.”

Yang Xuanji hesitated for a long while. Truthfully, this was an almost impossibly difficult decision to make — once word spread, his reputation would be ruined beyond any recovery.

“Ahh…”

Yang Xuanji let out a long sigh.

Why was it that all the luck in the world seemed to reside entirely in that one person — Li Chi?

Some days later, Yang Xuanji found his opportunity and slipped away from the main army, boarded a boat under cover of darkness with his personal guard, and departed by water.

The three hundred thousand Tianming Army troops had no idea their lord had discarded them and kept marching in the direction of the southwest.

Yang Xuanji’s covert flight back to Shuzhou gave the Dachu court an unexpected opportunity to catch its breath.

The three-way standoff in Jingzhou was also shattered by the Black Martial people’s massive invasion. Li Xionghu did not dare leave rashly, fearing losing Yangzhou again; Yang Xuanji had retreated. Jingzhou returned to a semblance of calm, and the fortunes of the Chu state somehow managed to limp on a little further.

The Chu army encampment.

Prince Wu’s subordinate general Zhang He asked him: “Your Highness — pursue any further and we enter Jingzhou. Should we send word to Xie Xiu?”

His meaning was this: if Xie Xiu’s cooperation could be secured, they might have a genuine chance of destroying the three hundred thousand Tianming Army entirely.

“No need.”

Prince Wu said with a smile: “Do you truly believe that even if we sent word, Xie Xiu would dare join hands with us?”

Zhang He, on hearing this, felt a jolt in his heart. After thinking carefully, he understood Prince Wu’s meaning.

Xie Xiu was currently commanding troops and holding Jingzhou. His forces were insufficient; if in this battle he joined hands with Prince Wu but was then maneuvered against by him, and Xie Xiu’s forces got drawn in and chewed up, then never mind destroying Yang Xuanji — Jingzhou itself would be lost.

For Prince Wu, this kind of scheme was almost trivially simple to execute.

All Xie Xiu needed to do was agree to it, bring his troops to block from the front — and Prince Wu could simply hold his own forces in check and wait. Let Yang Xuanji’s three hundred thousand batter against them until both sides were bled white, and then Prince Wu would order his troops forward.

That way, Jingzhou could be reclaimed for the court in the process.

Prince Wu said with a smile: “Xie Xiu is no fool, and Xie Huainan is even less of one. Even if Xie Xiu were willing to fight this battle, Xie Huainan would stop him.”

He looked toward Zhang He and said: “Besides, if I am not mistaken, before Prince Ning Li Chi departed north, he would certainly have left instructions for Xie Xiu — telling him under no circumstances to join forces with me.”

Zhang He allowed himself a small smile as well. Everyone knew: Prince Wu was the man in this world who best understood how to win.

“Let him go.”

Prince Wu lifted his tea and drank, his mood somewhat lightened — one could see even from his complexion that he had relaxed somewhat.

“Xie Xiu will not join forces with me, but Xie Xiu will harass Yang Xuanji all along the way and take whatever small advantage can be taken. Yang Xuanji, fearing I will make common cause with Xie Xiu and fearing I’ll profit at everyone else’s expense, won’t fight Xie Xiu — and will likely even offer Xie Xiu some incentive, since Li Chi never takes a loss.”

Zhang He said: “It’s not all bad. Letting Yang Xuanji retreat to Shuzhou — the first one he’ll have to fight when he next marches out will be Prince Ning Li Chi’s people in Jingzhou. Better to let them wear each other down to mutual devastation.”

Prince Wu nodded: “Precisely. Our grain supplies are already running critically low — pressing further holds no advantage whatsoever.”

He issued an order: “Pass command to the vanguard: beginning tomorrow, advance in forced march to pursue Yang Xuanji — three days of chase, then withdraw.”

Zhang He acknowledged the order at once, turned, and dispatched men to relay the command.

Two days later, Jingzhou, on a slope of Yellow Flower Mountain.

The three hundred thousand Tianming Army troops were forced to halt here — because Xie Xiu’s Ning Army was blocking the way ahead.

The commander now leading this force was Shi Fenghui, one of the Four Champions of the Tianming Army — a true case of being handed a desperate assignment. He was tasked with escorting a counterfeit Tianming King back south toward home, and felt utterly wretched about it.

This kind of job — if done well, there would be no reward to speak of. Whatever there was, it couldn’t be given openly; at most a quiet, private commendation, and in all likelihood nothing more than a few fine-sounding words. If done badly and three hundred thousand troops were lost on his watch, he’d be punished by the Tianming King when he returned.

Right now, the Ning Army was blocking the road ahead, and Prince Wu’s forces had been force-marching for two days behind them — the distance closing with every hour. Shi Fenghui’s heart was about ready to explode with anxiety.

Just then, a soldier came running in and reported that someone was outside requesting an audience — a messenger sent by the Ning Army.

Shi Fenghui thought it over and decided it was best to receive them, so he ordered the man brought in.

He had expected a herald sent by Xie Xiu. Instead, it was Xie Xiu himself.

“You’ve got some nerve.”

When Shi Fenghui saw Xie Xiu, his eyes narrowed.

He had accompanied Tianming King Yang Xuanji on the campaign into Jingzhou, and had crossed swords with Xie Xiu before. Later, when Xie Xiu had surrendered, the two had shared drinks several times, and there was a measure of mutual respect between them.

Seeing Shi Fenghui’s expression, Xie Xiu couldn’t help smiling: “My nerve isn’t that big — I simply calculated that you wouldn’t dare do anything to me here. If anything happened to me in your camp, you would truly have no way out.”

These words stirred something in Shi Fenghui. He asked immediately: “What do you mean?”

Xie Xiu sat down: “Aren’t you going to offer tea?”

Shi Fenghui said irritably: “I’m a defeated general who retreated home in sorry shape — do you think I have good tea to offer you?”

Xie Xiu smiled — a smile that only made Shi Fenghui more irritated.

“Fine, no tea.”

Xie Xiu smiled: “No tea is acceptable. But there is something you absolutely must have — without it, you truly cannot go home.”

Shi Fenghui asked: “What exactly do you mean?”

Xie Xiu said: “My Lord calculated that Yang Xuanji would slip away in secret. So I suspect — the Tianming King in your army is a fake, isn’t he?”

“Shut your mouth!”

Shi Fenghui stopped him immediately.

Xie Xiu said: “This is a serious matter — how can you not discuss it… My Lord said before departing north that the Tianming Army has its Four Champions. Two were lost in Jingzhou, one was kept at his side, so if Yang Xuanji quietly made his escape, only you could be leading this army.”

Shi Fenghui felt a jolt deep in his chest. He couldn’t believe that even this had been anticipated by Prince Ning — yet he also couldn’t admit it, and while his heart reeled, he kept his face expressionless.

“Stop pretending.”

Xie Xiu said with a smile: “My Lord’s original words, sent to you — Yang Xuanji has those Four Champions of his. Two were lost in Jingzhou. One was kept at his side. So if Yang Xuanji quietly ran, only Shi Fenghui could be commanding this army.”

Shi Fenghui’s eyes widened, and he stared at Xie Xiu in fury.

Xie Xiu returned his gaze with an expression that said plainly: don’t look at me, your grudge is with my Lord — stare at him instead.

“My Lord says: we can let you go back — but you must leave behind the weapons and armor of two hundred fifty thousand troops, all your bolt-throwers, all siege equipment, and every single horse. War horses and draft horses both — I’m not picky. I’ll take them all.”

Shi Fenghui slapped the table with a sharp crack: “This is outrageous.”

Xie Xiu said dryly: “Still pretending? Leave the gear, and I let you go — you take your three hundred thousand men home. You only lose weapons and armor. Yang Xuanji won’t blame you for it — believe me, once you get back, he’ll actually praise you.”

Shi Fenghui’s expression shifted through a series of changes. After a long moment, he slumped back into his seat: “And you’re certain there’s no trick to this?”

Xie Xiu said: “I’m not surnamed Yang. What trick would I have?”

Shi Fenghui somehow had no rebuttal to that, and fell silent again.

After another long pause, Shi Fenghui smiled too: “You don’t dare fight me, really. You’re afraid Prince Wu will use you as a weapon — you and I grind each other down to mutual ruin, and that old cunning fox is the one who profits.”

Xie Xiu said: “I don’t dare gamble. Do you?”

He smiled: “Let me pass along my Lord’s exact words to you… Shi Fenghui won’t dare fight any more than you do. Don’t mind his bluster — if he keeps going on, raise the price.”

Shi Fenghui: “…”

Xie Xiu asked: “I’ll head back now. Once you’ve made up your mind, send someone with a message.”

He said it, and truly moved to leave.

“Wait—”

Shi Fenghui stood up, deeply dejected: “I agree.”

Xie Xiu: “Good. Weapons and armor for two hundred eighty thousand troops, plus all bolt-throwers, war horses, and siege equipment…”

Shi Fenghui said furiously: “You’re shameless! A moment ago you said two hundred fifty thousand.”

Xie Xiu: “My Lord said: if Shi Fenghui agrees, you can add a bit more — he’ll give it to you. And if he doesn’t give it, add more.”

Shi Fenghui’s eyes went wide, staring at Xie Xiu in barely contained outrage.

Xie Xiu returned the stare with an expression that said plainly: your staring at me accomplishes nothing — the grudge is with my Lord, go stare at him.

“Fine.”

Shi Fenghui said: “As long as you keep your word, you can have it.”

Xie Xiu said: “I already told you — I’m not surnamed Yang. I don’t break my word.”

—