Ye Shouguan suddenly looked up: “How did the city-defending soldiers know?”

“When Miss Cousin got off the carriage, she immediately begged this subordinate to go rescue His Majesty… and her parents and younger brother,” Deputy General Zhao said.

Ye Shouguan clenched his fist: “Why didn’t you say this earlier?!”

Deputy General Zhao looked at Ye Shouguan in bewilderment: “Miss Cousin already told the general just now!”

Ye Shouguan’s facial features were taut. The entire army knew – this was not a good thing: “You go out first! Let me think of a solution!”

Deputy General Zhao still wanted to request permission to lead troops to Suining City, but seeing Ye Shouguan’s thoughtful expression, he responded and withdrew from Ye Shouguan’s study.

When Deputy General Zhao left, Ye Shouguan’s guard had already returned. He briefly inquired whether Sima Ruodan had been properly settled, then departed first.

The personal guard entered, saw Ye Shouguan still sitting before the brazier, and stepped forward to speak in a low voice: “General, you should rest for a while first. In case the Great Zhou’s main army attacks tomorrow, the general will need energy to resist the enemy!”

Ye Shouguan nodded: “If anything happens, remember to wake me!”

The personal guard nodded: “General, rest assured!”

After helping Ye Shouguan lie down, the personal guard glanced at the hidden compartment on the bookshelf, lowered the bed curtains for Ye Shouguan, and waited for quite a while. Hearing Ye Shouguan’s breathing become steady, only then did he tentatively lift the curtain slightly and call out: “General…”

Seeing no response from Ye Shouguan, the personal guard controlled his violent heartbeat, walked to Ye Shouguan’s bookshelf, opened the hidden compartment behind the bamboo scrolls, took out the token from inside, and gripped it tightly in his hand.

But having obtained the token, he was also very nervous. Miss Cousin said Great Zhou’s Emperor wanted her to steal the token and open the city gates when Great Zhou attacked the city, but she didn’t say when Great Zhou would attack. If too much time passed, the general might discover it.

The personal guard thought for a moment and decided to find Miss Cousin. He also needed to find a way to send news of obtaining the token to Great Zhou’s Emperor, and preferably… be able to use the token to exchange Ye Yingyan back.

Thinking of this, the personal guard hesitated no longer. He quietly slipped out of Ye Shouguan’s study, closed the study door, and then hurried toward the guest room where Sima Ruodan was housed.

Sima Ruodan sat by the flickering candlelight, not sleeping. She didn’t know whether the personal guard could steal the token before the chen hour. She calculated that she couldn’t place her hopes entirely on one personal guard – the key to success or failure must be held in her own hands.

She closed her eyes. If by the chen hour… There was still no news from the personal guard. She would cry and make a scene, demanding to see Ye Shouguan, telling Ye Shouguan that she was actually threatened by Great Zhou to come here, and also telling Ye Shouguan about asking the personal guard to steal the token. She would say that as a Western Liang person, she ultimately couldn’t overcome her conscience and was unwilling for the Great Zhou to capture Yecheng Pass. But now that the Western Liang Emperor was in Great Zhou’s hands, she would ask Ye Shouguan to rescue His Majesty while also, considering her full confession, definitely save her parents and younger brother!

Before leaving, His Majesty had instructed that the bigger the commotion, the better – they must let more Western Liang soldiers know that Li Tianfu was in Great Zhou’s hands. Only this way… if Great Zhou used “Li Tianfu” as a shield to advance, Western Liang soldiers wouldn’t dare shoot arrows!

If any Western Liang soldiers lost their composure, there would surely be those who would charge out of the city to fight the Great Zhou and rescue Li Tianfu.

Just as Sima Ruodan was thinking about how to make the act more convincing, she heard the personal guard’s voice outside.

“I’m ordered to ask Miss Cousin a few questions!”

The personal guard was Ye Shouguan’s trusted confidant, so the two soldiers guarding Sima Ruodan didn’t suspect anything and opened the door to let the personal guard in.

The personal guard closed the door, then took out the token from his chest and showed it to Sima Ruodan: “Miss Cousin, the token is in hand. I don’t know when the Great Zhou will attack the city. How can we send news to Suining City? I think we should use this token to first exchange His Majesty… the young miss, master, and young master back!”

Sima Ruodan hadn’t expected the token to be obtained so easily. She took the token and gripped it in her hand, her fingers stroking the token as if discerning its authenticity. After a long while, she looked up and asked the personal guard: “How did you obtain this token so quickly? Could there be deception? Since it concerns a mother’s life, it’s better to be cautious!”

“There won’t be. After I helped the general fall asleep, I took the token!” the personal guard said.

Seeing the personal guard speak with certainty, she finally relaxed: “Great Zhou Emperor’s people escorted me to Yecheng Pass. Their people couldn’t enter, so they’ll surely return to report to the Great Zhou Emperor. I think… they might come to attack the city very soon!”

She lowered her eyes to look at the token and said, “We’ll give this token to Deputy General Zhao. Deputy General Zhao once swore to the heavens under his grandfather’s coercion that he would protect my mother’s safety. I think since he dared swear to the heavens, he will surely protect my mother! We’ll go find him! Have Deputy General Zhao send people out of the city to speak with those Zhou people who escorted me here, then quietly hold the token. When the Great Zhou attacks Yecheng Pass, he can use the token to open the city gates. Then my mother, father, and younger brother will be saved, and His Majesty won’t have to suffer the humiliation of being hanged at the front of enemy lines. Can you take me out together?”

The personal guard thought for a moment and nodded: “I’ll take you to find Deputy General Zhao!”

The personal guard used Ye Shouguan’s orders as an excuse to take Sima Ruodan out of the residence, heading toward the city gate to find Deputy General Zhao.

Dawn had not yet broken, but Suining City was brightly lit as if it were daytime. Black-sailed flags with white python emblems fluttered and snapped in the wind.

Atop the city walls, braziers were raised high, their flames swaying back and forth, dancing wildly in the wind, casting the ancient city walls in alternating light and shadow.

The soldiers were ready for battle. Black-armored cavalry sat atop tall horses, holding torches, their chain-mail-clad steeds snorting white mist from their nostrils, eagerly pawing the ground.

All of Great Zhou’s soldiers knew that this battle to capture Yecheng Pass was of great significance to Great Zhou, and they understood the importance of Yecheng Pass even more clearly.

Their Great Zhou Emperor, Great Zhou’s God of War… was personally leading troops to battle alongside the various Bai family generals. They must break through in a single battle.

Bai Qingyan, Bai Qingqi, Bai Qingjue, Bai Jinzhao, Bai Jinhua, and Bai Jinse were all clad in silver armor. Even Bai Qingyun, sitting in her wheelchair, wore battle armor, wanting to campaign alongside her elder sister.

Bai Qingyan didn’t stop Bai Qingyun, just as the Bai family members hadn’t stopped Bai Qingyan. After capturing Yecheng Pass… going further north, Western Liang would be completely open territory. Only by destroying Western Liang could they truly avenge the Bai family soldiers and Bai family members who died in the Southern frontier battle years ago, and only then could they truly begin the path to unification on Western Liang’s land.

She was the first to mount her horse. The Bai family members all followed, leaping up one after another. Bai Qingyun was helped up by Xiao Ruohai, gripped the saddle, and also leaped up, tightly grasping the reins.

She pulled on Taiping’s reins, turned her horse around, and looked at her brothers and sisters, whose faces were illuminated by the flickering torches held high and low, and at Great Zhou’s soldiers.