“Xiao Man is already very capable, Xiao Man is already very capable.”

The gentle female voice repeated in her ear, like a lullaby hummed in childhood.

Xiao Man buried herself in the warm embrace, crying until her nose stung.

Before Auntie had departed, she said she would place people along the route in case Xiao Man needed them.

Just now, whether it was Chu Zhao or that military officer Old Bai, though neither said anything, Xiao Man could tell they had already prepared to die.

If Chu Zhao died here—

She had rushed out recklessly, like a headless fly continuously calling out the stronghold’s signal.

She actually hadn’t expected to get a response.

They had left the capital in haste, constantly changing routes, taking remote paths. After leaving the border commandery, she had come to know just how vast Da Xia was—

When she truly heard a response, she could hardly believe it, let alone now actually seeing Auntie.

Auntie had come in person. Auntie was here. Auntie was here.

She had always thought herself very capable—at such a young age she could ride horses and kill people, dared to lead a group away from familiar surroundings to rush to the capital, and in the capital had even stormed into the imperial palace.

Little Xiao Man feared neither heaven nor earth.

But at this moment, throwing herself into Auntie’s arms, she realized how helpless she was, how afraid. She had always been the child protected by Auntie.

“I didn’t expect to encounter you either.” Auntie’s voice gently explained to her, her hand patting and soothing the girl’s back. “Ever since receiving your letter, though I’ve never been an official, I know that accompanying high position and great power must be danger. So I came out myself. Taking over a few more strongholds along the road means having more eyes and ears—”

“Manman, don’t be afraid. Even if you hadn’t met me, you would certainly have met someone else. All our stronghold’s people have come out. Every road from the capital to home has our people.”

They certainly couldn’t reach the capital, so traveling a few more steps along the road meant getting a bit closer to that girl, and feeling a bit more at ease.

Xiao Man in her arms suddenly sat up—now was not the time to indulge in family affection.

There were still family members facing life and death crisis.

“Auntie.” She grabbed the woman’s arm. “Quickly, Chu Zhao is being surrounded and attacked.”

The woman looked at her and nodded: “I know.” She reached out to wipe the blood from Xiao Man’s face.

Without looking down, Xiao Man knew how frightening her appearance must be right now—covered in blood all over. Seeing her like this, Auntie must have guessed something had happened, but Auntie still held her in her arms to comfort her—

Chu Zhao had never had this opportunity.

She couldn’t let Chu Zhao never have this opportunity!

“Their numbers aren’t that many, but they’re very formidable. Chu Zhao and Old Bai said they’re government soldiers, carefully selected fierce warriors, come to assassinate.”

“We’ve already retreated to this position.”

Xiao Man drew positions on the ground. Though tear tracks still marked her face, her voice had already recovered its clarity. The woman said nothing, seriously watching the terrain map she drew.

Three or four other men also flew over from the distance, standing to the side with grave expressions, listening to Xiao Man speak.

……

……

When they saw the girl throw herself into the new boss’s arms crying, Ding Dachui led his brothers away.

The person who came was one of their own people—they wouldn’t meddle unnecessarily.

Ding Dachui led his brothers to retrieve the wild boar they’d dropped earlier, planning to let the newly arrived guests taste the delicacies of their mountains—

As the thought flashed through his mind, he found it somewhat amusing.

Was this to show off? To let these people know how worthy their stronghold was of being taken over?

But Ding Dachui hadn’t led his men very far when urgent bird calls came from the stronghold, accompanied by clanging sounds—

This was the assembly order.

Bird calls were the customary method used by these newcomers, but the time had been short and the signals numerous. Ding Dachui and the others couldn’t remember them all, so they used wooden clappers instead.

Ding Dachui and the others hurried back to the stronghold and saw the new boss leading that girl out.

Standing close, they could clearly see the girl’s disheveled appearance, her body covered in bloodstains.

“Brothers.” The new boss’s voice was gentle but clearly transmitted to everyone’s ears. “A big job has come. Let’s all go make our fortune together.”

……

……

Night fell, and the mountains seemed instantly swallowed by darkness.

It was as quiet as if no one existed.

Only those nearby could hear each other’s breathing.

A’Le slightly stood up, gazing forward. There were no longer the earlier rain of arrows, flames, or roars ahead. After the intense battle earlier to cover Xiao Man’s escape, the enemy seemed to have retreated.

This seemed like a very good opportunity to leave, but neither Old Bai nor Chu Zhao said these words.

A scout even whispered to Old Bai with admiration: “Miss is truly composed.”

Though Chu Zhao was the Empress, from the night they learned she was General Chu’s daughter, they had grown accustomed to calling her Miss. The Dragon Might Army was not Da Xia’s troops—they were the private soldiers of the Late Emperor and General Chu.

The Empress was the Empress of all under heaven. Miss was their Miss. It was different.

“Goes without saying.” Old Bai said in a low voice. “It’s not like you haven’t seen Miss’s valor.”

Though that night’s situation hadn’t been as perilous as this.

The scout said quietly: “Of course I know Miss is valorous. I mean Miss is valorous but doesn’t act recklessly.”

Since encountering the bandits, Chu Zhao had been advancing and retreating with them, avoiding without saying an extra word, never giving orders. Even though ahead it clearly looked like the enemy had retreated, she didn’t ask even once whether they should break through—

While these two conversed in low voices, on the other side Chu Zhao reached out to press A’Le down: “Don’t stand. Be careful of hidden arrows.”

A’Le once again hid behind the mountain rocks with Chu Zhao.

“I wonder how Xiao Man is.” A’Le couldn’t help saying quietly.

Chu Zhao said: “Don’t worry. Though she’s young, she’s very composed and does things with good judgment.”

A’Le nodded. She hadn’t speculated that Xiao Man was dead or had run away. Instead, she firmly believed that Xiao Man was their hope.

Old Bai crawled over from the side, saying quietly: “From here to the nearest government office, even with a fast horse takes half a day, plus the return trip—Your Highness, if we endure through tonight, we’ll be fine.”

This night would not be easy to endure. Chu Zhao nodded, then realizing Old Bai couldn’t see, she hummed in acknowledgment: “Tonight will certainly be a fierce battle.”

They were waiting for reinforcements. The enemy would naturally guard against reinforcements and would certainly try to eliminate them before reinforcements arrived.

A flaming arrow suddenly flashed at that moment.

Like a ray of light tearing through the night.

Old Bai roared: “Engage the enemy.”

Firelight consumed the mountain night, but the continuous mountains were like a barrier, isolating all of this deep in the mountains.

Far from the plains outside the mountains, even standing on the tallest tower, one couldn’t see what was happening in the mountains.

“I wonder how things are going.” Xiao Xun said to himself.

Tie Ying frowned: “It’s been so long and they still haven’t taken them down, when their numbers aren’t even that many.”

Xiao Xun turned to look at him: “Tie Ying, you’re underestimating her again. Have you forgotten why we’re here?”

In the tower with its scattered lamplight, Tie Ying’s face could be seen flushing red in an instant—shame, but even more so grief and indignation.

Xiao Xun no longer looked at him, gazing out at the night: “At this moment, I should have been in the imperial palace. In the Imperial Garden there’s a Linglong Mountain, and on the mountain is Linglong Pavilion. When I was in the palace as a child, I particularly loved going there to play. Standing on Linglong Pavilion, one could see the entire Imperial City—”

His gaze was distant.

“The Imperial City, so vast.”

As a child, he had feared this massive Imperial City, thinking how difficult it would be to leave from here.

Back then his fear was because he was still young, afraid due to ignorance.

Now of course he wouldn’t be afraid. Instead he would think—if the Imperial City is so vast, if one could stand above it and be its master, that feeling must be very good.

It was just a pity he fell one step short.

Tie Ying clenched his fist: “All the good work of that Chu woman! I’ll go capture her right now!” Having said this, he was about to jump down from the tower.

Xiao Xun held him back: “What’s the rush? Wait until she’s captured, then we’ll go rescue her. Wouldn’t that be better?”