Spring in the northwest was very short. At first, it was no different from winter, just changing from cold winds to dust storms that, like the winter winds, struck painfully against people’s faces and made it impossible to open their eyes.

Then, after the wind blew here and there and finally stopped, the sun in the sky became scorching hot.

One moment you’d be shivering in cotton clothes, the next moment you’d be sweating profusely.

The soldiers standing on the fortress couldn’t help but take off their cotton robes, which they hadn’t yet changed to lighter clothes, and place them on their heads for shade.

Since the Western Liang King was defeated and the Western Liang people relocated far away, strictly speaking, this place was no longer considered a border guard post.

Further west, there was another group of troops on guard.

There were many rumors about that group of troops. Some said they were the Dragon Might Army left by the late emperor, others said they were the rebel troops of the former Prince of Zhongshan who were punished and ordered to atone for their crimes through meritorious service. Though their identity was a subject of various rumors, what was undoubtedly certain was that these were the people who had attacked the Western Liang royal court and killed the Western Liang Crown Prince.

Based on this fact alone, they earned the respect and fear of the border troops.

These people were not incorporated into the military. Now that the war was over, they seemed to have settled down there, with women and children. Patrolling soldiers had seen that the village had already taken shape, and merchants would regularly go there to set up markets.

However, they were not truly villagers. The village had training grounds, and both men and women carried weapons, not attempting to conceal them as they came and went.

As this thought flashed through his mind, a group of riders appeared in the soldier’s line of sight.

There were both men and women, wearing dusty gray clothes. Some wore bamboo hats, some wore straw hats, and some simply placed branches on their heads. They spurred their horses forward, appearing disorderly but moving in a methodical formation. Especially when viewed from above, it was a standard wild goose formation.

They carried swords and sabers, which they used to wrap perfunctorily with cloth before, but this time they didn’t even bother with that pretense, allowing the weapons to gleam coldly in the sunlight.

The soldier did not treat them as hostile, nor did he sternly halt them from a distance. Before those people came near, he waved the flag signal for passage.

“Brothers are going into the city, eh?”

As the group drew near, he greeted them warmly and even gave them directions.

“You should go further in. There’s going to be a three-day temple fair at Luo City.”

The man at the front of the earthen wall nodded with a smile and said “good,” but instead of passing straight through as usual, he gestured to the soldier: “Brothers, come down for a moment. We have something to tell you.”

Something to tell? The guard on the fortress was stunned for a moment, but didn’t think much of it and responded with a “sure,” indeed coming down.

There were more than a dozen guards stationed here, and now all of them were called over.

“Brothers, what’s the matter?” asked the squad leader, looking at the man with the conical hat in front of him.

But the man didn’t speak. Instead, he stepped aside, and a woman behind him came forward.

The woman wore a straw hat. She took it off, revealing herself to be eighteen or nineteen years old with bright eyes and white teeth.

“We just want to let you know,” she said, “that we’re taking over this fortress.”

The squad leader and the guards behind him were stunned, seemingly unable to understand.

“Taking over? What does that mean?” he couldn’t help but ask.

The girl smiled slightly: “It means we’re seizing this place.”

Seizing? The squad leader was startled. A soldier’s instinct made him press his hand on his sword, but he was still a step too late. Cold gleams flashed all around, and swords were pointed at them.

“Put down your weapons.”

Accompanied by shouts and the sound of weapons being seized, the squad leader and the guards had cold blades pressed against their necks, finally waking them up to reality.

“What are you trying to do!” the squad leader shouted.

Meanwhile, the guard who had been on the fortress wall earlier, his eyes reddened with anger and grievance: “We treated you as our people! How could you do this to us!”

Chu Zhao looked at the young soldier, her gaze gentle: “It’s precisely because you’re our people that we’re treating you this way.”

Otherwise, when approaching, they would have simply fired arrows, wanting the fortress but not the people.

“Your Highness,” someone called out, “we’ve taken over here. Please continue on your way.”

Chu Zhao nodded, put her hat back on, and turned to mount her horse.

“Your Highness?” The squad leader had heard it and couldn’t help asking again, his expression shocked and suspicious. “You… who are you?”

Chu Zhao smiled at him from her horse: “I am Chu Zhao, and I am also the Empress of Great Xia.”

With that, she spurred her horse and galloped away.

Left behind were the guards, their weapons confiscated, expressions indignant as they burst out in confusion.

“Miss Chu!”

“Miss A-Zhao!”

“Empress!”

Not everyone had met Chu Zhao, but everyone in the border army knew this name. Besides being General Chu’s daughter and the Empress, she was also a female general who had fought alongside them.

Is it true or false? How could the Empress be here?

In the next moment, the squad leader came to his senses and remembered that he had previously heard a piece of news saying that the Empress had plotted rebellion and fled—

However, this news was immediately discarded by everyone. No one discussed it, much less spread it. What a joke—how could the Empress plot rebellion? It must have been a rumor spread by Western Liang spies or remnants of the Zhongshan Prince.

Now it seemed that the Empress had indeed fled here?

“Yes, the Empress is here,” said the men from before. More than half of the dozen or so men had left with Chu Zhao, and the rest had taken their places. While positioning themselves to guard the fortress, they explained to the guards, “She’s going to punish the real rebels.”

Punish the real rebels. The guards stopped struggling and ceased their indignation, obediently following the men’s directions to stand by the wall, their minds in turmoil.

Suddenly, the ground shook. The guards turned to look and saw more riders surging from the distance, like dark clouds covering the sky.

As the dark clouds approached, they could see banners flying fiercely in the formation—the large Chu banner, the Phoenix banner, and the large Zhong banner.

Zhong? The guards were stunned again.

This time, without introduction from the men guarding the fortress, they couldn’t help but excitedly shout:

“General Zhong—”

“It’s General Zhong—”

Right, besides the Empress, it seemed that General Zhong had also disappeared. However, the border army was forbidden to discuss this matter, to the extent that no one knew whether General Zhong had disappeared or if it was just a rumor.

Zhong Changrong, dressed in plain clothes, wielding a sword with his single arm, came to this side surrounded by riders and banners. Looking at the guards standing by the wall, he shouted sternly: “The Empress has been framed. I specifically went to follow her. Now I will accompany the Empress to suppress the treacherous Xie clan, protect His Majesty, and restore clarity to Great Xia. Are you willing to follow me and the Empress to punish the wicked and eliminate evil?”

The soldiers nodded excitedly, shouting: “We are willing!”

They hadn’t heard or carefully considered what Zhong Changrong had said. Anyway, they would follow the Empress and Commander Zhong. All along, they had been punishing the wicked and eliminating evil.

“Divide into three routes,” Zhong Changrong shouted, “Enter Yunzhong Prefecture.”

The troops behind him responded in unison.

…

…

When night fell, in a mansion in the prefectural city, Liang Ji was still busy in his study, with documents piled high on his desk.

“The General has worked hard,” someone said with a smile as they walked in.

Liang Ji looked up to see the visitor, his pen pausing, and said: “I dare not accept such praise. I’m just doing what I can.”

The visitor was his attendant, Li Fang.

Li Fang placed a bowl of soup on a side table: “General, please have some supper.”

Liang Ji got up and walked over to pick up the soup, while Li Fang sat down at the desk, looking at the documents Liang Ji hadn’t finished reading, and simultaneously picking up a pen to write and draw.

Liang Ji didn’t feel anything was wrong with this. It had always been this way, from initial tension, unease, and shame, to later numbness, and now it seemed entirely natural.

“Is it appropriate for me to take over the border army?” Liang Ji hesitated and asked.

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Li Fang smiled and said, “Your daughter has become the Empress, so of course you should control military power. This is a tradition left by the previous Empress. If people are dissatisfied and want to curse, let them curse Empress Chu first.”

Liang Ji smiled along, feeling that these words were not very reassuring, rather carrying ominous implications—would they also end up like Empress Chu in the future?

Naturally, he didn’t dare to ask this. Previously, he could claim not to know who was behind it all, having guessed it might be Deng Yi, the Prince of Zhongshan, or even the Western Liang people. Now those people, including Empress Chu, had all fallen, and in the entire Great Xia, only one person remained. Even a fool would know who it was.

“I certainly don’t mind these things,” he changed the subject and said, “But previously, General Wu was in charge of the border army. In terms of both seniority and achievements, he was the most suitable candidate. I fear he might be unhappy, and disputes might arise in the border army—”

Li Fang didn’t wait for him to finish and waved his hand: “He’s one of our own.”

One of our own, Liang Ji, said: “That’s good, that’s good.” At this point, he couldn’t help but ask, “How is the Third Young Master Xie’s health?”

Xie Yanfang and Empress Chu had fought at the hunting grounds. Now, Empress Chu had fled, and the Xie family had another son replace the Third Young Master in managing court affairs. The Xie family didn’t conceal Xie Yanfang’s injury, but no one knew how serious it was.

Li Fang smiled and said: “I don’t know about that. I’m just a servant, I only know how to do as I’m told, and don’t ask about other matters.”

These words were also directed at him. What did it matter if he was a General? What did it matter if his daughter was the Empress? He was still just a servant, not qualified to inquire about the Young Master’s affairs. Liang Ji’s face grew slightly warm, but he didn’t feel ashamed—what was there to be ashamed of? Everyone in the world was the emperor’s servant, and now the emperor was Xie Yanfang’s puppet, so being Xie Yanfang’s servant was only natural.

“I will do my utmost to serve, to repay the Young Master’s kindness in recognizing my talents,” he said solemnly.

Li Fang smiled, about to say something, when footsteps were heard from outside.

“General,” a guard requested permission from outside.

Liang Ji composed himself and said, “Come in.”

The guard saw Liang Ji eating supper and attendant Li Fang organizing the desk, not finding it strange, and said: “The four Generals have arrived by the commander’s order.”

Liang Ji was stunned and instinctively looked at Li Fang: “They’re coming to see me?”

He hadn’t given any orders.

Li Fang also frowned; he hadn’t either.

Who was it then? Who could issue the commander’s order?

“General Liang—” There was commotion outside, someone hurrying over, shouting, “Report—General Zhong has come.”

Liang Ji didn’t immediately react. Who? Besides Zhong Changrong, was there anyone else surnamed Zhong among the four Generals? As this thought flashed through his mind, the person from outside had already entered.

“Zhou Xiaoshan?” Liang Ji recognized this guard because he was from Zhong Changrong’s personal guard unit and had made an impression on him. “What are you doing here?”

Xiaoshan didn’t speak or look at him, stepping aside to make way. Behind him, someone else walked in.

Seeing this person, Liang Ji stood up in shock.

“You—” he said, “Chu—”

Before he could finish, Chu Zhao raised her hand, and with a twang of the bowstring, a cold light flashed across.

Accompanied by a muffled cry, Li Fang, who had been standing at the desk, clutched his throat and fell backward.

Chu Zhao nocked another arrow, aimed at Liang Ji, and said: “Liang Ji, seeing this palace, why are you not kneeling to welcome?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Liang Ji dropped to his knees with a thud, shouting: “This guilty subject pays respects to the Empress!”

Chu Zhao put away her bow and arrows, looking at the kneeling Liang Ji, truly finding it amusing. Why had she thought in her previous life that the Liang father and son were brave and comparable to her father and Uncle Zhong?