The members of Shangsang Academy exchanged bewildered glances. In seven hundred years, this woman was the first to lead troops and surround the academy.

She was also the first to want to relocate the academy — she was the kind of person who would stir up the fury of all of Qingzhou.

The feelings of Qingzhou’s common people toward the academy were much like the feelings those disciples of Master Zhou had for Master Zhou himself.

The master’s disciples took pride in the master; Qingzhou’s common people took pride in Shangsang Academy. Even the great bandit Gan Daode, who had once slaughtered people by the thousands, never dared to lay a hand on the academy — and so the people of the academy assumed that Prince Ning, in his ambition to seize the realm, would even less dare to commit such an outrage against all under heaven.

And yet, while they believed Prince Ning would not dare to do such a thing, they weren’t entirely certain of it, because the one commanding the troops was not Prince Ning — it was a woman.

In the eyes of those within the academy, women simply did not reason things out properly.

The academy had seven hundred years of history, its rules complete and its hierarchy strict. Those within the academy held the Sijiao Master as the highest authority, followed by the two masters Zhangli and Henggui. In the common people’s understanding, the Sijiao Master was the academy’s dean, while the masters Zhangli and Henggui were its vice-deans.

At this very moment, the Sijiao Master Sima Qucuo, his face a stormy shade of iron-grey, stepped down from the high stairs. Behind him, a group of academy disciples dressed in snow-white long robes followed.

With the Sijiao Master there to bolster their courage, they looked considerably more confident than before.

Sima Qucuo descended the stairs and looked at the woman still seated arrogantly in her chair, and a measure of displeasure crept into his gaze.

“Has Prince Ning sent troops here to destroy Shangsang Academy, which has stood for seven hundred years?”

Sima Qucuo asked, looking Shen Shanhu directly in the eye.

Shen Shanhu laughed. “Is this venerable elder trying to pin blame on Prince Ning? Save the effort — Prince Ning is not here, he is in Yuzhou. Whatever blame you throw will land on my head at most, and I’m not afraid.”

Sima Qucuo’s belly full of classical platitudes and grand moral arguments was stopped dead in its tracks by that single remark of Shen Shanhu’s.

Shen Shanhu rose, straightened her clothes, cupped her hands in a salute, and inclined her body slightly. “I am not here representing Prince Ning. I came of my own accord, looking to earn merit and reward — in other words, I want to flatter Prince Ning. That is why I wish to invite the esteemed masters of the academy to make the long journey to Yuzhou.”

Sima Qucuo said, “Even if we agreed to you, the people of Qingzhou would not. Touch the academy, and you will not be able to take a single step in Qingzhou.”

Shen Shanhu smiled. “Why don’t we make a wager?”

Sima Qucuo asked, “What kind of wager?”

Shen Shanhu said, “I have already arranged carriages and horses. Everything in the academy may be brought to Yuzhou. If the esteemed masters travel west with me, the people of Qingzhou will most certainly line the road to bid you farewell.”

“Impossible!”

Sima Qucuo said, “Have you lost your mind?”

Shen Shanhu said, “Master need only say whether you dare to wager. If, all along the western road, not a single Qingzhou citizen lines the road to see the masters off, not a single one bows in reverence — then I lose. Not only will I never trouble the masters about going to Yuzhou again, I will kneel outside the academy gates and make atonement — on my knees for seven days.”

Sima Qucuo was just about to speak when someone behind him cautioned, “Sijiao, please do not believe the ravings of this wicked woman. She only wants to force us out of the academy.”

Sima Qucuo looked at Shen Shanhu and said, “I ask you, General — if we refuse to go, do you intend to have us tied up and dragged there?”

Shen Shanhu nodded. “Yes, indeed.”

Sima Qucuo flew into a rage.

Shen Shanhu extended her hand. A guard at her side passed her a sheet of paper. Shen Shanhu shook it open and said, “Here is information I have already verified. Over the past year, the academy has sent out a total of more than one hundred and sixty disciples to various locations. The great majority went over to the side of the Heaven-Ordained King Yang Xuanji; a small portion went to the imperial court and Brother Li Hu’s side. Yet in the entire year, not a single person went to serve Prince Ning.”

She handed the paper to Sima Qucuo. “Please look it over and see if there are any omissions.”

Sima Qucuo said angrily, “Since when is there such a principle in the world — that one cannot be permitted to seek one’s own future? Must everyone go to Prince Ning’s side to be considered right?”

Shen Shanhu said, “Yes, indeed.”

She returned to her chair and sat down, speaking in an unhurried tone. “As a general under Prince Ning’s command, I naturally must think on his behalf. You have dispatched people to serve his enemies while sending not one person to his side — can this not be understood as your having clearly declared your position?”

Something in Sima Qucuo’s heart lurched, because in this woman’s calm and even tone, he heard the bone-chilling edge of killing intent.

Shen Shanhu said, “I have already said a great many words to you. As a battle commander under Prince Ning’s banner, my duty is to eliminate his enemies — and eliminating enemies does not necessarily have to happen on the battlefield.”

She glanced sidelong at the sabre cradled in a guard’s arms. “It would be better for the master to choose the more dignified option.”

Two days later, more than a thousand disciples of Shangsang Academy had all boarded carriages. Countless precious and rare texts from the academy were also loaded up, and some hundreds of carriages set off toward the west.

Sima Qucuo sat inside his carriage, thinking to himself that he would watch and see — when the citizens blocked them along the road, how would this female general manage to extricate herself.

The common people of Qingzhou would never in a thousand years allow the academy to be moved away.

And yet, what he could never in a thousand years have imagined was that all along the route they traveled, the common people were truly there, lining the road to bid them farewell.

Countless people bowed low to the ground before them, shouting words of gratitude — and all of it left the academy members utterly bewildered.

After traveling for an entire day like this, Sima Qucuo suddenly came to his senses, wondering what method that female general had used to produce such a reaction from the common people.

Well before Shen Shanhu had gone to the academy, she had already sent people to post notices throughout the various localities, stating that the esteemed masters of Shangsang Academy had decided to make a long journey to pay their respects to Prince Ning — to beseech Prince Ning to reduce and exempt taxes for the people of Qingzhou, and to beseech Prince Ning to treat the people of Qingzhou with kindness.

The notices further stated that if Prince Ning was willing to exempt the people of Qingzhou from three years of taxes and cease collecting grain, the members of the academy would be willing to remain at Prince Ning’s side for three years, returning to Jishan once the three years were complete.

With this, the common people were genuinely moved beyond measure. They organized themselves spontaneously and lined the road along the academy’s westward journey to send them off.

At the head of the procession, Shen Shanhu sat astride her warhorse. She casually broke off a branch from a weeping willow by the roadside, stuck it between her teeth and bit down. The faintly bitter taste was something she had, surprisingly, come to rather like.

“Little Aunt.”

A guard lowered her voice and asked, “This business — Prince Ning never ordered us to do it. If when we return Prince Ning is angry, what do we do?”

Shen Shanhu smiled. “Prince Ning is sure to be angry.”

The guard was even more puzzled. “Then why does Little Aunt insist on delivering all these pedants to Yuzhou, only to displease Prince Ning? Surely this means ending up on bad terms with everyone?”

Shen Shanhu said, “Alone, I captured both Yanzhou and Qingzhou. General Luo Jing was magnanimous enough to credit me with the full merit of Qingzhou’s conquest. With merit that great, how should the reward be given? The generals under Prince Ning’s command have all followed him longer than I have. If my reward were to rank above theirs, even if they said nothing, they would feel a measure of displeasure in their hearts.”

She smiled. “So… committing a small fault isn’t such a bad thing.”

The guard listened, thoroughly muddled, and felt only that she herself was dim-witted.

Shen Shanhu glanced at her and knocked her on the head. “At a time like this, too much merit, too high a reward — that’s no good, no good. Others have been generous, so I cannot be petty.”

The female soldier still didn’t quite grasp the meaning within Little Aunt’s words. She kept feeling that merit was just merit — why go to all this trouble?

It was on the return journey, halfway back, that a scout came riding up with news. He reported that he had learned that Prince Ning’s great army had, two days prior, passed along a road some tens of li to the south, marching under the banner of Grand General Tang Pidi.

The moment Shen Shanhu heard this, her eyes lit up at once.

She gave the order for the main column to proceed on its own, while she led her personal guard regiment to ride after the direction Tang Pidi’s army had gone.

Their party was small and riding light cavalry, and after only a day’s chase they had caught up with the rear guard of Tang Pidi’s eastern expedition force.

By the time they caught up to the central command position, it was already afternoon.

When Tang Pidi heard that Shen Shanhu had arrived, he inexplicably felt a faint flutter of something in his chest — and why he felt it, he himself wasn’t entirely certain. The feeling was simply inexplicable.

He went out personally to welcome her, and when he saw Shen Shanhu, an inexplicable measure of warmth and concern had crept into his gaze as well.

When Shen Shanhu saw Tang Pidi appear before her, she silently called out to herself three times: *Compose yourself, young lady.* Only then did she manage not to react too fiercely.

She jumped down from the saddle and sauntered over to Tang Pidi, turning her head to spit out the stalk of grass she’d been chewing.

This manner of hers — had it been a man, from any angle it would have looked exactly like a street-corner loiterer.

But as she carried it off, it came across as a certain carefree, unrestrained, three-parts dashing spirit.

She raised an eyebrow at Tang Pidi. “Only now arriving?”

Tang Pidi smiled. “It is you who has only now arrived.”

Shen Shanhu shrugged her shoulders and walked up to Tang Pidi, the two of them standing no more than half a step apart.

Tang Pidi said, “General Shen, your journey has been—”

Shen Shanhu suddenly tilted her head and looked straight at him. “Don’t say those polite words. I came because I missed you — you understand, don’t you? I didn’t come all this way to hear a few pleasantries from you, and I’m not here to exchange pleasantries with you. I have been away from Yuzhou for nearly two years now. I missed you — that is all there is to it. I came to see you once, and my heart is very glad.”

With that, she cupped her fists in a salute. “Alright then. Now you know — I still have to hurry back to Yuzhou to report.”

Tang Pidi opened his mouth, and in just that brief moment of hesitation, Shen Shanhu had already turned and mounted her horse.

“No need… no need to be in such a rush.”

Tang Pidi, impossibly, actually — stuttered.

He forced himself to smile naturally. “Since you are already here, why not stay for a meal before heading back.”

Shen Shanhu sat astride her horse and leaned forward slightly, asking in a low voice, “Do you dare to drink? If you dare, then I will stay for dinner before leaving. If you do not dare, then forget it.”

Tang Pidi said, “The army has its rules — no drinking while on the march.”

Shen Shanhu burst out laughing. “Ha! Then what is the point of that? I wanted to get drunk and sleep with you, but now there is no chance of it. We’ll talk again later.”

She wheeled her horse to leave.

Tang Pidi’s face — actually flushed red.

That young woman had spoken such free-spirited, one might even say outrageous words, without the faintest trace of color in her cheeks. Tang Pidi, who stood tall and towering above all, found his own face faintly warm.

Shen Shanhu waved a hand. “All of you, move back. I have a few words to say to the Grand General.”

Tang Pidi’s people and Shen Shanhu’s people weren’t foolish enough not to read the situation — they hadn’t been standing particularly close to begin with, and now, hearing Shen Shanhu’s words, they immediately retreated to a much greater distance.

Shen Shanhu did not dismount. Instead, she urged her horse forward until she was right before Tang Pidi, and looked at him seriously. “Other people establish merit and achievement to win titles and high office. This young lady establishes merit and achievement only to sleep alongside you — the kind of sleeping alongside for an entire lifetime.”

She said these words without the slightest sense that she ought to feel embarrassed or ashamed, and without the faintest awkwardness.

She looked at Tang Pidi and said, “I am in no hurry to hear your reply. After you have finished fighting this battle and returned, say it then.”

Tang Pidi opened his mouth, and his throat moved up and down.

Then he turned and called to a guard: “Bring paper and brush.”

The guard hurried to fetch the paper and brush. Tang Pidi wrote a few words on the paper, folded it, and said, “Help me deliver this to our lord.”

Shen Shanhu showed no sign of disappointment and tucked the letter inside her armor. “Understood. I wish the Grand General a triumphant victory.”

Tang Pidi said, “You may read it first before delivering it to our lord.”

Then he cupped his fists in a salute. “Safe travels.”

Shen Shanhu called out in acknowledgment, wheeled her horse, and departed. She had ridden for nearly two days to catch up with Tang Pidi, and yet she left after only a handful of words.

Even those female soldiers felt a measure of pity on Little Aunt’s behalf, though they did not dare to open their mouths and say anything.

After departing and riding on for roughly half a day, they stopped to rest, and Shen Shanhu found herself wavering over whether or not to look at what the letter contained.

Yet she also felt that reading someone else’s correspondence was a terribly rude thing to do, and she could not make up her mind.

Then she recalled that Tang Pidi had said she could read it first — and in the end she could bear it no longer, and so she took it out and opened it.

On the letter were only six words: *Help me prepare the betrothal gifts.*

In an instant, Shen Shanhu’s hands actually trembled faintly.

A moment later, she threw her head back and burst into laughter.

She laughed with her hands on her hips.

Capturing Yanzhou and capturing Qingzhou — in her heart, they fell far short of these six words.

—