“Long live Prince Rui! Welcome back to camp, Your Highness!”
“Long live Prince Rui! Welcome back to camp, Your Highness!”
More and more soldiers emerged from the camp gates, falling to their knees, cheering and bowing with excitement.
Lin Xu Gui and Lin Xie were stunned by this scene. After walking all night, they were already delirious. After just a few steps, they collapsed. Lin Xu Gui was wounded, drifting in and out of consciousness, having lost all spirit. At this moment, Yan Chi rode forward a few steps.
Looking at the pairs of excited eyes before the camp gate, Yan Chi’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He raised his hand, and Yu Qi immediately led two thousand troops into the camp. Soon, the military commanders who had spoken for Lin Xu Gui were dragged out!
Seeing Yan Chi appear, these bought-off commanders knew the tide had turned, but hadn’t managed to escape. Now captured, they immediately knelt and begged for mercy.
“Your Highness! Spare us, we… we never meant to betray the old Lord… Your Highness… we had no choice…”
Yu Qi stood beside them and struck the speaker with his horsewhip. “Zhang Qing, who rescued you from the Rong people five years ago?! It was His Highness! Without His Highness, you’d be dead! Yet when the old Lord was murdered and His Highness was trapped away from home, you joined Lin Xu Gui’s side! You ungrateful dog, turning coat at the first sign of trouble!”
Turning his gaze, Yu Qi looked at another person beside Zhang Qing. “Song Lian, you’re a veteran of the army. You followed the old Lord for many years. Who in the army didn’t respect you?! When you conspired with Lin Xu Gui to seize the main camp, did you forget who dug you out from among the dead?!”
The two men Yu Qi called out flushed red with shame, both kneeling and begging for mercy. Yu Qi gave a cold laugh. “You, and you, all of you—which of you wasn’t valued by the old Lord?! Which of you wasn’t treated as a pillar of the camp by His Highness?! But you! In just these few months, you’ve betrayed all the Shuo Xi soldiers!”
“Your Highness… spare our lives!”
“Your Highness… this humble servant knows his wrong. Before, when Your Highness hadn’t returned, this servant was lost. But now that Your Highness has returned, this servant knows his error. This servant’s heart has always been loyal to the Shuo Xi army! This servant remembers the old Lord and Your Highness’s kindness! Will never forget it, begging Your Highness to spare this servant this once…”
As one begged, the others followed, speaking of the past kindnesses shown by Yan Lin and Yan Chi, father and son. Each was grateful and remorseful. Yan Chi listened for a moment, then his brow grew stern. “I’ve kept everyone waiting long.”
When Yan Chi spoke, everyone fell silent. He lifted his chin slightly, his voice suddenly turning cold and heavy.
“My father died violently last year, and I was trapped in the capital. Upon investigation, my father was killed by Jiang He Ying of the Qian Province garrison on imperial orders. Moreover, the Emperor wanted to exterminate the entire Rui Prince Manor!” Yan Chi’s words were heavy, and where his gaze fell, the military commanders grew sorrowful. “Our Rui Prince Manor has guarded Shuo Xi for decades. My father especially spent countless efforts on Shuo Xi. Though we had achievements, we never overstepped. Now, the Emperor, due to suspicion, murders his brother and meritorious officials and wants to exterminate our entire clan. If the Rui Prince Manor is destroyed, the Shuo Xi army will cease to exist, and the Shuo Xi passes we shed blood and tears to defend must be handed over. Soldiers, do you agree to this?!”
Yan Chi’s voice wasn’t passionate, but every word made the present soldiers’ hearts tremble. The speaker was Yan Chi, the Yan Chi who had fought and bled with them. How many present had won victories under Yan Chi’s command? How many had been saved from death by Yan Chi’s valor? In the beacon fires and smoke of war, in life-and-death battles, on these snowy Shuo Xi plateaus, under the watchful eyes and threatening blades of the Rong people beyond White Wolf Pass, no one could forget how Yan Lin and Yan Chi had led them all in defending the western borders!
The military brotherhood forged in shared battles and bloodshed was far beyond ordinary master-servant relationships. Yan Chi’s heavy words swept through everyone’s hearts with the cold wind. Almost simultaneously, everyone shouted angrily, “We don’t agree! We don’t agree!”
“Avenge the old Lord—”
From the silent, solemn crowd, someone suddenly shouted, and immediately, everyone joined in.
“Avenge the old Lord!”
“We swear to follow Your Highness to death—”
The shouts came like waves crashing toward Yan Chi. He sat straight-backed on his horse, his silhouette like a sword about to be unsheathed, unbreakable by wind, snow, or thunder. He raised his hand slightly, and all voices fell silent.
Yan Chi’s solemn gaze swept over everyone. “As the song goes, ‘How can we say we have no clothes? We share the same armor.’ Though my father has passed, his spirit in heaven must still be watching over Shuo Xi. Now, I have returned. From this day forward, the Shuo Xi army no longer belongs to the Son of Heaven! From this day forward, no matter how many troops the court sends, I will lead all soldiers in yielding not an inch of land!”
“Not an inch! Not an inch!”
The soldiers’ shouts were like mountains roaring and seas surging. Qin Wan rode behind Yan Chi, entering the main gate of the Shuo Xi army camp amid everyone’s reverent gazes. If last night’s battle had been shocking, then today, seeing Yan Chi’s influence in the main camp truly moved Qin Wan’s heart deeply.
Qin Wan’s gaze swept over rows of solemn barracks covered in ice and snow, watching more and more people slowly moving with the entering procession. The expectation, trust, and reverence in their eyes always touched the softest part of Qin Wan’s heart. After a moment, her gaze finally fell on Yan Chi’s back. Though he was merely riding ahead, Qin Wan felt his presence growing more magnificent, carrying an unmatched aura of dust and blood. She suddenly thought of the term “Demon King”—before she had always felt these words were exaggerated, seeming to defame Yan Chi, but now, she increasingly felt these words described him perfectly.
He was a war god, holding his spear to block enemies at the border, but he was also a demon king. In these treacherous times, in this power struggle full of evil intentions, to be the strongest, he had to become a demon, impervious to all evil, and become a king, protecting the common people. Qin Wan’s thoughts turned a hundred ways, yet she found her gaze gradually becoming like those of the surrounding soldiers. All the love, trust, and reverence in her heart were being completely captured by the man on horseback before her!
Along the camp’s main road, Yan Chi’s gaze also looked longingly at the familiar fortress. This was the Shuo Xi main camp, existing for nearly forty years. Since Yan Lin took command, its scale has become unprecedented. There were no tents here, only rows of rough but solid barracks built with the red stone unique to the Shuo Xi plateau. Rather than a camp, it was more like a fortress. The central military tent was at the northernmost position, now occupied by Lin Xu Gui. Before the camp gate still stood two dragon-patterned banners!
Yan Chi narrowed his eyes and shot down the banners with two arrows. Yu Qi led troops ahead, first reaching the gate to hang the wolf-pattern battle flag before inviting Yan Chi to dismount!
Yan Chi rode to the gate but first turned to look at Qin Wan beside him. He turned his horse and, facing the Shuo Xi soldiers following like a tide behind them, suddenly leaned over to take Qin Wan’s hand. “Soldiers! Meet your Princess Consort!”
The soldiers had initially been captivated by Yan Chi, but slowly noticed Qin Wan. Today she wore armor, and apart from her beautiful face, no one knew her identity. When they reached the camp gate and Yan Chi spoke thus, everyone suddenly understood!
So the wave of military commanders knelt again!
“We pay our respects to the Princess Consort—”
When had Qin Wan ever been bowed to by so many people? Her heart immediately surged with hot blood!
“Everyone, please rise!”
Qin Wan’s voice was clear and strong. Though a woman, her presence was not overshadowed by Yan Chi. The people raised their eyes to look at their Princess Consort, amazement gradually rising in their eyes. Yan Chi ordered everyone to rise again and instructed Chu Fei Shen to organize the troops before dismounting. After dismounting, he lifted Qin Wan down and only then entered the tent.
Seeing this scene, everyone naturally understood Yan Chi’s affection for his new Princess Consort. Though it was only Yan Chi’s initial return today, despite Chu Fei Shen’s repeated orders to organize the troops, many still stood unwilling to leave the camp gate. Chu Fei Shen sighed, gazing long and thoughtfully in the direction where Yan Lin had once lived…