Three hours later, the gongs sounded for troop withdrawal.

Liu Shouping’s two hundred thousand elite troops, including Liu’s army and the Murong army formerly led by Huo Chang’an, had been stationed at the borders for years, experiencing all the winds and snows of battlefields, protecting home and country. Their valor was incomparable to the troops stationed in the capital. Combined with fifty thousand capital Murong soldiers whose morale had surged, they were truly formidable!

Moreover, Lian Yu and Liu Shouping had already formulated the final strategy for defeating the army in their earlier secret communications. Using the same method Quan Feitong had used against the border Murong army – fighting fire with fire – before Liu Shouping arrived at the dense forest, he had already sent two of his generals to lead tens of thousands of soldiers to secretly position themselves several li behind Chao’s army. With this coordination between front and rear, Chao’s army was left trapped in the middle, taking beatings from both sides.

Furthermore, Murong’s army had previously fought desperately to protect their lord, while Chao’s army had already gone through one round of fierce fighting and was exhausted. Now they were terrified and their morale completely shattered. Therefore, though Liu Shouping’s army had traveled day and night under stars and moon, they still swept through this battle with overwhelming momentum.

Chao’s army suffered heavy casualties – thirty thousand dead, twenty thousand captured. The remaining fifty thousand were driven by Liu Shouping into a corner of the mountain forest.

During this, Li Zhaoting showed his flexibility by leading a small squad to break through. What he said echoed Xiao’an’s earlier words – claiming he didn’t believe all border armies were dead and wanting to go seek reinforcements, asking Quan Feitong to consider temporary surrender until his return.

Quan Feitong looked at him with a half-smile. Li Zhaoting felt slightly alarmed but seeing no obstruction from him, said nothing more and immediately led his men to disappear into the flood-like dense mass of soldiers.

Xiao’an, Murong Ding, and the Lian brothers had been suppressed by Quan Feitong for too long and advocated pursuing victory to annihilate them completely. However, when Lian Yu briefly awakened and saw the forest entirely stained with blood, he said: “The Art of War states: In general warfare strategy, preserving an enemy state intact is superior to destroying it; preserving an enemy army intact is superior to annihilating it… To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. I maintain my position – they are ultimately Great Zhou’s sons, originally from the same root. Why this urgent mutual destruction?”

After this, he fell into unconsciousness again. General Liu nodded: “The way of using troops – making an enemy state surrender intact and undamaged is the best strategy; conquering a state by making it damaged and surrender is inferior. Making an enemy army surrender intact and undamaged is the best strategy; killing soldiers to make them surrender when severely wounded is inferior. Using other strategies rather than force to make enemies surrender is the highest skill among skills.”

“They are always your subjects. This humble general understands. Your Majesty, please be at ease.”

It was already dusk again, with the moon rising above the willow branches. He lifted his robes and kowtowed, then immediately went down to surround the Chao soldiers on all four sides with heavy troops, letting some warriors rest while waiting for the trapped beasts to surrender. Xiao’an sent people to the rear of Chao’s army to bring Grand Dowager Consort Ai and Lian Yue. Chao’s army had come out in full force this time, leaving their rear empty with only one or two thousand guards.

Lian Jie was immediately startled: “You…”

Xiao’an said indifferently: “Seventh Prince needn’t worry. Even if this palace mother wanted to act, His Majesty wouldn’t allow it. He would certainly spare them for your sake. This palace mother is just doing a favor, returning them to you for reunion. But I hope Seventh Master will strictly control them in the future.”

“In that case, Lian Jie thanks you.” Lian Jie also replied indifferently. The rift between them could never be eliminated.

Lian Jie’s medical skills were superb. When the soldiers lit cooking fires during their rest, Lian Yu finally slowly awakened.

Everyone had been driven out earlier by Lian Jie, but now they swarmed in.

“General Liu, you’ve worked hard.” Lian Yu’s voice was slightly hoarse as he struggled to sit up. Beside him, the gray-clothed man and Xuanwu quickly supported him.

“Your Majesty is the one who has truly worked hard.” Liu Shouping bowed, his eyes showing concern: “Please take care of yourself.”

Lian Yu’s lips were pale, but he only smiled faintly: “No matter. The general is thoughtful. How is the border situation now?”

“As mutual allies, Chao’s army had notified my subordinate generals that they would use front and rear pincer attacks against our army. According to the strategy Your Majesty and I devised, our army feigned chaos, even sacrificing thousands of men to lure the enemy deep. They thought my Liu army divisions were truly in revolt and would work together, but these soldiers suddenly turned against them, catching them completely off guard. Meanwhile, the ten thousand demobilized Liu soldiers they had recruited from outside secretly returned and burned their provisions. This quickly caused their morale to collapse. Combined with supply shortages, my two hundred ten thousand troops soon annihilated nearly ten thousand of Chao’s army, then destroyed another thirty thousand in one day. Following Your Majesty’s instructions, I killed several of Chao Huang’s trusted men and managed to induce surrender. The remaining one hundred thousand officers and soldiers, seeing the situation was hopeless, had no heart to continue fighting and were willing to surrender to our army.”

“They have no remaining provisions. I told them that Xiangbi has supplies, and if they’re still willing to continue defending cities for our Great Zhou, Your Majesty would not hold past grudges against them and they could enjoy these provisions.” Liu Shouping smiled slightly: “People regard food as heaven. No matter how fierce soldiers are, they can’t withstand having no rice in their bellies. Moreover, some soldiers and officers would rather defend cities and kill enemies than engage in civil war, so they all agreed. Where Quan Feitong had soldiers pretend to be sick, we this time made them truly sick. The provisions were doctored – eating them won’t be fatal, but they’ll be vomiting and having diarrhea for many days, unable to move or fight. I also placed ten thousand of my elite troops among them for secret surveillance. If there’s any unusual movement, they’ll report immediately.”

“Well done. General Liu truly deserves to be my right-hand man.” Lian Yu praised repeatedly.

Liu Shouping said: “Isn’t Your Majesty praising yourself? All of this was jointly planned by Your Majesty and me.”

The ruler and minister smiled at each other, and everyone in the tent couldn’t help but smile as well. It had been many days since they’d had such a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere. After brief contemplation, Lian Yu asked again: “Does General Liu know how the situation is with Wei Chenghui?”

“Before I left, I sent spies to monitor closely. According to their reports, the barbarians made much noise but little action. After initially gathering large military forces at the border for harassment, they only came a few times afterward. Wei Chenghui, caring about his reputation, also put on a show, fighting two small battles before staying put.”

“He’s remained inactive since then? Any other anomalies?”

“From current observations, no. Spies report that their army still trains diligently on the drilling grounds daily.”

Lian Yu nodded: “That fox Wei is not simple and must be guarded against. Once the Chao soldiers here surrender and matters are settled, General Liu must trouble yourself again to take some soldiers back to the border and keep him firmly watched. The surrendered troops at Xiangbi can’t be completely trusted yet. I cannot be at ease using them to guard against Wei.”

His bloodshot eyes faintly revealed a heavy murderous aura.

He was both a benevolent ruler and an iron-blooded sovereign. Only thus could he protect a country that appeared prosperous but was actually weathering storms. Liu Shouping immediately nodded: “I understand!”

He then continued: “Your Majesty, you’ve toiled so much that I’m truly worried… I understand Your Majesty’s thoughts. Quan the traitor is stubborn, but I must find ways to make the Chao army in the valley surrender. The remaining matters can be left to Chancellor Yan, the two princes, General Murong, and me.”

Though Lian Yu appeared upright and sat perfectly proper, his complexion grew increasingly pale. Liu Shouping dared not stay longer, kowtowed again, and left with everyone to let Lian Yu rest.

Outside the tent, he always felt Lian Yu’s brows were tightly furrowed with heavy concerns, and couldn’t help asking worriedly: “Does Your Majesty still have unresolved matters?”

Everyone came out except the mysterious gray-clothed man and Xuanwu. Hearing this, they fell silent, not knowing how to begin. Qinglong was bringing medicine when he froze, while two people walked up from behind – Yan Da, who had finished reporting to the ministers, and Lian Xin carrying preserved fruits.

Yan Da sighed: “Brother Liu, since you ‘served your sentence’ and left, you don’t know about many things. Where should we begin?”

“General Liu, I was young and reckless before, often offending you. Lian Xin apologizes here – you are a great hero. Thank you for saving Sixth Brother and all of us.” Beside him, Lian Xin lowered her head and spoke slowly.

Liu Shouping was truly surprised. Was this still the willful, ruthlessly scheming golden branch and jade leaves from before? What had caused such a dramatic change in her – this war? While he was still in shock, he heard her smile faintly: “Sixth Brother’s matter must be told starting from that day when your family was being executed, on the road to the execution ground. I wonder if you remember someone…”

The moonlight was bleak, the surroundings filled with cold, bloody odors, yet strangely also carried the savory aroma of roasting meat and the sweet fragrance of rice.

Seeing the surrounding soldiers who hadn’t eaten all day staring greedily at the forest a li away, their eyes glowing like hungry wolves, Chao Huang flew into rage and consecutively beheaded several soldiers. Quan Feitong watched coldly, showing neither Chao Huang’s fury nor resembling the disheveled, ashen-faced Qiu Jing nearby. He even smiled slightly.

Seeing this, Chao Huang felt sad instead of angry. His rage faded as he comforted him instead: “Big Brother, don’t worry. Zhaoting escaped to find reinforcements. Our border warriors are all brave – they certainly haven’t all died. Either they’ve been scattered by the main army or are temporarily pretending to surrender—”

“Chao Huang, Li Zhaoting isn’t you. He doesn’t have your loyalty. Watch – this departure of his definitely isn’t to find our people.” Quan Feitong interrupted him indifferently. Despite suffering crushing defeat, despite hunger, despite tattered armor, this Chancellor still maintained his elegant, leisurely, graceful bearing.

“I originally planned to dispose of him tonight after using him up and settling the great matter, to prevent future troubles. At minimum, even considering our brotherhood, if I spared his life, I’d still imprison him.” He spoke thus to his sworn brother.