The Bai family guard who had tried to ram his neck into the blade came up empty, his spine colliding with the chest of the Xiliang soldier behind him as he tumbled to the ground… With the corpse of the Xiliang soldier cushioning his back, the Bai family guard who had embraced the resolve to die gazed up at Bai Qingyan through the vast snowfall, able to see only her silhouette drawing her bow and nocking an arrow beneath the lantern light, his eyes growing hot with emotion.

“Protect His Majesty!” the Xiliang soldiers roared, the giant elephant carrying Li Tianfu hastily retreating while the heavy shield troops rapidly advanced forward, assuming battle formations.

“Bai Qingyan! How dare you kill my Xiliang soldiers!” Li Tianfu gripped the armrests of her seat so tightly her knuckles went white, nearly rising to her feet as she shouted at Bai Qingyan.

Watching Li Tianfu point her finger at Bai Qingyan, Shen Kunyang wished he could stomp on that woman’s claws. He gripped the sword at his waist tightly, his deep voice rising: “Archers, prepare!”

The Great Zhou archers and crossbow troops crouched low against the city wall heard the command. They dipped their arrows into the fire oil barrels where flames of various colors flickered and danced, then drew their bows to full draw, aiming directly at the Xiliang army’s Tianfeng troops besieging the city below.

Wind and snow howled as the fire oil dripped from the arrows, the flames falling to the ground along with the heavy snow. The Xiliang heavy shield troops, seeing the continuous cascade of firelight from atop the city wall that continued burning even after hitting the ground, kept retreating backward.

The countless lights that suddenly blazed atop the city wall outlined the majestic fortification that had stood for a hundred years without falling through this raging blizzard, creating an overwhelmingly oppressive feeling in the hearts of the Tianfeng Nation’s generals seated on the elephant’s back.

As soldiers born with acute sensitivity to battlefield danger, he felt as though peril was approaching… like a venomous snake slithering through tall grass, silently drawing near, hissing and flicking its tongue, coiled and ready to strike, prepared to sink its fangs into his ankle at any moment…

He believed this was divine inspiration from the gods, stirring thoughts of retreat. Yet he couldn’t help being swayed by Li Tianfu’s earlier words, thinking that if he could capture the Great Zhou Emperor alive, it would surely be a great merit. He was the general chosen by the gods for Tianfeng Nation, and since Tianfeng Nation pledged undying loyalty to the gods, surely the gods would protect him!

The Tianfeng Nation general, his face marked with the warrior tattoos of his Kingdom, revealed a conflicted expression.

Li Zhijie had just stepped onto the city wall when he heard Li Tianfu’s shouts and Shen Kunyang’s deep, powerful voice.

Having barely exchanged a few words with Liu Rushi, Li Zhijie was brought to the city wall. When he saw the scene of Tianfeng Nation and Li Tianfu leading the elephant army to besiege the city, his palms clenched tightly…

On his way here, he had already heard that Tianfeng Nation and Li Tianfu had surrounded and hunted the Great Zhou’s Duke Gaoyi on his return journey. It was only through the desperate sacrifice of the Bai family guards that they carved out a bloody path for Duke Gaoyi to escape back to Pingyang City.

Now, seeing the scene below the city tower where Li Tianfu’s Xiliang soldiers had captured Bai family guards to threaten Bai Qingyan, this was a declaration of war! Had Tianfeng Nation gone mad? Following Li Tianfu in such reckless folly!

He admitted that he had indeed planned to use his entry into Pingyang City to incite hostility between the Great Zhou and Tianfeng, creating an opportunity for them to restore Li Tianjiao to the throne.

But this was, after all, the time of the Four Nations Alliance. He never imagined that Tianfeng Nation would, in the depths of winter when conditions were unfavorable for their elephant army, adopt such an aggressive stance of declaring war to demand his surrender from Great Zhou!

Li Zhijie’s gaze fell upon those Bai family guards… and the Xiliang soldier shot dead by Bai Qingyan’s arrow. In the cold wind, his palms broke out in a clammy sweat.

Their Xiliang’s Assistant General Yun Poxing had dealt extensively with the Bai family and had once said that the Bai family were the most protective of their own, never allowing their soldiers to die in vain when it could be avoided.

It seemed… Bai Qingyan would use him to exchange for those Bai family guards, wouldn’t she?

She definitely would. Otherwise, why would Bai Qingyan have ordered him brought to the city wall?

Li Zhijie had long experienced Bai Qingyan’s wisdom. Perhaps she had already guessed that he was the one who had led these people here. He had brought such great trouble to Great Zhou, and now with Bai family guards in Li Tianfu’s hands, given Bai Qingyan’s character, she would surely use him to exchange for her people.

Li Zhijie wasn’t afraid of death. As long as his death could pit Tianfeng Nation against Great Zhou, he would consider it a worthy sacrifice.

What he feared was… that Great Zhou would hand him over and then reconcile and form an alliance with Tianfeng Nation. Then Li Tianfu would surely focus all her efforts on hunting down and destroying Li Tianjiao, leaving Xiliang with no future in Li Tianfu’s hands!

This Li Tianfu was a madwoman who would stop at nothing to avenge Lu Tianzhuo. She would destroy Xiliang for the sake of that eunuch.

Though Liu Rushi was a scholar, with His Majesty now in Pingyang City under siege by a great army, how could he sit at ease? Having heard that Bai Qingyan had already climbed the city wall, he grabbed a cloak without a word and followed on horseback.

The young General Jiang, who had received orders from Bai Qingyan to lead troops to evacuate the civilians and move them to the North Gate to prevent attacks from Tianfeng Nation and Xiliang, brushed past Liu Rushi as he ran downward, shouting orders to muster troops and evacuate the people.

Liu Rushi was nearly blinded by the wind and snow, his heart leaping to his throat. The urgent pressure of impending battle made this scholar, who had never been on a battlefield, feel his heart racing. He wanted to borrow a sword, thinking that if fighting truly broke out, he would need to protect Bai Qingyan’s retreat above all else. After all, Bai Qingyan was now pregnant and couldn’t fight desperately as she had in the past. But… which of the soldiers had a spare blade to lend to this weak scholar with no strength to bind a chicken?

Seeing Li Zhijie, Li Tianfu’s rage that had shot to the top of her head cooled down again. She sneered coldly at Li Zhijie, then called out loudly: “Li Zhijie… did you think that by fleeing into Great Zhou territory, I would be helpless against you? The Great Zhou Emperor Bai Qingyan is still afraid of Tianfeng Nation’s elephant army and is preparing to hand you over!”

Li Tianfu deliberately provoked, trying to force the Great Zhou into action.

Li Tianfu’s words did indeed enrage the Great Zhou soldiers, but without orders from Bai Qingyan and Shen Kunyang, no matter how much they wanted to, they absolutely could not release their arrows.

For the safety of the Bai family guards, Bai Qingyan restrained the fury in her heart. She had to wait a little longer… to buy time for General Cheng and A’Yu.

She looked coldly at Li Tianfu and instructed Shen Kunyang: “Take people to escort Li Zhijie down and exchange him for our Bai family guards…”

“Yes!” Shen Kunyang acknowledged the order.

Bai Qingyan then turned to look at Li Zhijie, whose face had turned ashen, and said with a half-smile: “You led them here. My Bai family guards are in the hands of Xiliang and Tianfeng Nation. I can only use you to exchange for the safe return of my Bai family guards. As for whether you can survive, that depends entirely on your fate!”

Li Zhijie’s complexion grew even more unsightly. As expected… Bai Qingyan understood everything clearly. He bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan: “I apologize. I only… feared that Great Zhou wouldn’t dare to go to war with Tianfeng Nation, so I thought…” He had thought to force both nations into conflict.

Bai Qingyan didn’t want to hear Li Zhijie’s excuses any longer. She turned her head and said to Shen Kunyang, “Take him away!”