What he regretted most was… knowing Sima Ping so well, understanding in his heart exactly what words would wound Sima Ping’s faith most deeply, yet deliberately using cruel words to hurt his very best friend.

“Quickly, quickly, quickly!” The gate-guarding soldiers carried the old physician on their backs as they ran rapidly over, setting down the thoroughly jostled old physician beside Lu Yuanpeng. “Quickly treat the general!”

The elderly physician, with his advanced years and bones nearly shaken apart from the jostling, knelt beside Lu Yuanpeng and grasped his arm to check his pulse. He then looked at the arrows on Lu Yuanpeng’s back, pulled hemostatic powder from his medicine box, and scattered it liberally into Lu Yuanpeng’s armor as if money were no object. Without proper tools at hand, it wasn’t advisable to rashly remove the armor and extract the arrows – he could only use this crude method for now.

The physician was covered in sweat. After roughly treating the wounds, he called out loudly, “Quickly bring a door plank, let this general lie prone on the door plank, and carry him to a clean barracks! Move slowly, don’t jostle him.”

Bai Jinzhi watched as the soldiers carried away Lu Yuanpeng, whose entire body was limp and who seemed to have lost all breath. Her fists at her sides were clenched tightly. Lu Yuanpeng had always had great fortune and great life – now with a physician attending to him, he would be fine!

The most important thing now was to rescue the eldest sister!

Going and returning, more than three hours had passed. Time was pressing, eldest sister was in mortal danger – she couldn’t delay here!

Bai Jinzhi turned to the Bai family soldiers and said, “I’ll write several mobilization orders. You few, depart separately… go to nearby cities with Great Zhou forces and request reinforcements!”

During the frantic gallop here, Bai Jinzhi had only thought about speed. Now that she had calmed down, she thought of sending people to other cities to report the news and mobilize more forces.

However, mobilizing troops required tokens of authority. Bai Jinzhi had someone prepare ink and brush, wrote the troop mobilization orders, and not only stamped them with her seal, but also had the local gate-defending general and county magistrate stamp them as well. Four letters… were sent out simultaneously at the same time.

Meanwhile, the gate-defending general had finished mustering the troops. Though there were fewer than two thousand soldiers, these were all sons of the Great Zhou. Not one of them was cowardly – their emperor was waiting for them to come to his rescue.

“Depart!” With Bai Jinzhi’s command, she led the army in a desperate gallop toward the mountain valley to provide reinforcement.

·

At this time, Bai Jinxiu, Bai Qingyu, and Bai Qingqi in the capital city had also received the message delivered by Bai Jintong.

Bai Jinxiu hadn’t even had time to change her clothes, wearing only the everyday robes she had worn at the Qin residence, when she brought the message back to Prince Zhenguo’s mansion, speaking rapidly: “If there wasn’t definite news and time wasn’t pressing, Jintong wouldn’t have sent back the blood letter to worry us. From when the letter was sent from Yan capital to its arrival at the capital city, so much time has already passed. If those scoundrels of Yan truly harbored thoughts of killing Great Zhou’s emperor, the eldest sister in Yan is probably already in danger!”

Upon seeing the blood letter, Bai Qingyu’s eyes became as dark and cold as an ice cellar, yet he remained silent for a long time.

After reading the blood letter, Bai Qingqi said, “Regardless of whether this matter is true or false, we cannot gamble with eldest sister’s safety. We must immediately mobilize heavy troops to head toward Yan’s borders to guard against the unexpected… This would also serve as a deterrent to Yan. I also have people in Yan’s army, though most were dispatched to Great Zhou to guard Yan cities within Great Zhou’s territory. If Yan’s armies make any movements, this person will also try every means to send out the news.”

However, that person wasn’t like third sister – eldest sister had arranged many useful contacts for her, so delays in news were normal.

In any case, they must first mobilize troops and rush to Yan’s borders.

“First, command someone to rush to Pingyang City at full speed, mobilize fifty thousand Pingyang troops to head toward Yan’s borders!” Bai Qingqi was already calculating in her mind. Mobilizing troops from the capital city to Pingyang City would take time!

But Pingyang City was very close to Yan. Commanding someone to ride at full gallop day and night to Pingyang City and mobilizing the Pingyang army to march first could at least make Yan tremble.

If Yan had truly moved against their Great Zhou emperor, then these fifty thousand troops would perfectly serve as Great Zhou’s first vanguard force to kill their way into Yan!

“Also, command someone to go to Nan Jiang, order Shen Kunyang to lead the Bai family army immediately toward Yan’s borders!” Bai Qingyu spoke up. “Send orders to the Anping army that just returned to Anping camp, and the Yuanping army at Yuanping camp… as well as the Zhao family army at Jianye in the old Great Liang territory. From the day they receive orders, they rush at full speed toward Yan’s borders. Command the Dengzhou army and Yang Wuce at Yecheng Pass to immediately take control of Yan cities within Great Zhou territory, absolutely not allowing Yan armies to cause chaos in our Great Zhou’s heartland!”

Bai Qingyu understood his eldest sister. Eldest sister was willing to cease warfare for the sake of the world’s people and soldiers’ lives, but if eldest sister knew that the gentlest methods couldn’t achieve unification of the realm, when eldest sister understood… that even if the gambling nation won, those feudal princes would all rather die than surrender to Great Zhou which had already reduced feudal power, eldest sister would unify the realm through military force.

If the eldest sister wanted to militarily unify Yan, he couldn’t leave the eldest sister without usable troops nearby…

Now that the Great Zhou was powerful with many troops and generals, if Yan dared to act… then they would thoroughly crush them to death!

Bai Qingqi lowered her eyes and thought about her fifth brother’s words before speaking: “Since Great Zhou wants to mobilize troops toward Yan’s borders, we indeed need to control the cities within Great Zhou temporarily under Yan’s governance. Then… the Yan crown prince, second prince, and Xie Xun, currently detained in the capital as hostages, must all be controlled. The Yan guards around them cannot be kept.”

“If anyone tries to rescue these three, especially… the skilled warriors Xie Xun and second prince Murong Ping, kill without question!” Bai Jinxiu said. “Regarding Murong Ping and Xie Xun, better to kill… than let them leave the capital.”

“If Yan truly dares to move against the eldest sister! Then our Great Zhou will…” Bai Qingyu rotated the thumb ring on his finger, looking up, “Take this opportunity… to destroy Yan!”

Half of Bai Qingyu’s face was already fierce from burn scars, and now his gaze was like being ignited by hatred, making him look even more like a wolf.

“This matter… probably cannot be hidden from Aunt.” Bai Qingqi looked toward Bai Qingyu.

“I’ll speak to mother! Mother is not someone who cannot remain steady! Moreover… mother knows eldest sister’s capabilities!” Bai Qingyu said slowly.

After the three had discussed this matter and while notifying Grand Tutor Lu and other important court ministers, they had already begun taking action.

Fu Ruoxi personally led the Imperial Guards, using the pretext that His Majesty’s edict had been transmitted back from Yan, to go to the Yan hostage residence. When the Yan crown prince, second prince, and Xie Xun came out to receive the edict, Fu Ruoxi immediately sent people to apprehend all three.

“General Fu!” The crown prince was greatly alarmed, looking at Fu Ruoxi in panic. Since the three Yan hostages had entered Great Zhou, whether it was Bai Qingyan or Great Zhou’s princes and generals, they had always been respectful toward them. Bai Qingyan had even called them heroes willing to serve as hostages for the gambling between the two nations.

Normally, they kept to their duties and never went out, maintaining good relations with several princes. Why were they suddenly being apprehended?