Seeing the figures of Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi riding out of the camp, Yue Shi smiled and stepped forward. Before he could call out to Bai Qingyan, the defending soldiers blocked his advance with their long spears. Yue Shi glanced at the Jin soldiers and could only retreat a few steps in disappointment. Only when Bai Qingyan rode out at full speed did Yue Shi happily call out: “Miss Bai! Fourth Miss Bai!”
Bai Qingyan reined in her horse and leaped down from horseback. Seeing Yue Shi’s elated expression, she knew everything was progressing smoothly on Xiao Rongyan’s side.
Yue Shi stepped forward and bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan, then turned to point at the snow-white steed behind him, saying: “Master specially sent Yue Shi to deliver a horse to Miss Bai! Master said… although this horse may not compare to Miss’s previous Jifeng, its temperament is excellent. Moreover, this horse is extremely intelligent and might be able to protect Miss on the battlefield!”
Bai Qingyan’s gaze fell on the snow-white steed behind Yue Shi. Bai Jinzhi couldn’t contain herself and stepped forward first to gently stroke the horse’s smooth coat. Under the blazing sun… the steed’s coat seemed plated with a layer of sacred light, and with each step and movement, its entire body gave off a sense of shimmering, flowing radiance.
Seeing his young master touching that snow-white steed, Ping’an snorted heavily through his nostrils and shook his mane.
“Oh right…” Yue Shi took out a letter hidden at his chest and respectfully handed it to Bai Qingyan, “This is a letter from my master to Miss!”
Bai Qingyan took the letter and asked with a smile: “How is your master?”
“My master is well. Master’s elder brother has also heeded Physician Hong’s advice and is now resting properly. It’s just that Master is working hard… with a pile of matters all weighing on Master’s shoulders. Master couldn’t get away and could only send Yue Shi to deliver the horse! He couldn’t come to see Miss in person!” Yue Shi bowed to Bai Qingyan again as he spoke.
Bai Qingyan opened the letter. Inside, Xiao Rongyan expressed his longing for Bai Qingyan quite explicitly, urged her to take care of herself while campaigning abroad, and insisted she accept this horse and not give it to anyone else.
Bai Qingyan’s ears grew slightly warm as she looked at the next page…
In the letter, Xiao Rongyan told Bai Qingyan about the situation in Wei. Since the Wei Emperor’s expedition, the Wei capital had also been unstable. The Wei Emperor’s brother was stirring restlessly, contacting old subordinates. Should anything happen to the Wei Emperor, he would surely seize power. The Wei Emperor’s eight-year-old youngest son had nearly been assassinated by poisoning.
Since then, the Wei Empress Dowager kept the Wei Emperor’s eight-year-old son by her side at all times, watching him like the apple of her eye, afraid the little prince might meet with any accident.
Now Wei faced internal troubles and external threats. Though the Wei Emperor couldn’t be called a sage ruler, he wasn’t incompetent either. But even so… the Wei Emperor was still outnumbered, and the Wei army was already showing signs of fatigue.
The fact that even the Wei monarch’s expedition couldn’t achieve victory further strengthened the Yan army’s fighting spirit, while the Wei army’s morale plummeted. Taking the Wei capital was just around the corner.
Bai Qingyan walked to the side of the steed and raised her hand to stroke the horse’s neck. The snow-white steed seemed to know who its master was and lowered its head… nuzzling against Bai Qingyan’s palm.
The white horse before her was somewhat like Jifeng, yet had a completely different temperament from Jifeng. It was quite gentle and pleasing to Bai Qingyan’s eyes: “Please thank your master for me!”
“Yes!” Yue Shi clasped his fists and bowed.
Bai Qingyan turned to look at Yue Shi and suddenly asked: “Yue Shi, do you plan to stay by your master’s side as a guard forever?”
Hearing the topic suddenly turn to himself, Yue Shi was startled: “This subordinate… doesn’t understand what Miss means.”
Bai Qingyan stroked the steed and said with a smile: “Your martial skills are excellent – you can take on ten men. Being just a guard would be such a waste!”
Before Yue Shi could ask further, she smiled and said to him: “Tell your master that I’m naming this horse… Taiping.”
Charging forward with steeds, conquering through warfare, all for peace.
Completely bewildered, Yue Shi quickly bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan: “Yes!”
“Would you like to rest inside Qingxi Mountain pass?” Bai Qingyan asked.
Yue Shi shook his head: “I need to hurry back!”
This was expected. Bai Qingyan nodded and took a bundle from the horse she had ridden, tossing it to Yue Shi: “For the road…”
Yue Shi looked down and saw it was dried meat that Bai Qingyan had someone prepare for him. He smiled until his eyes crinkled: “Thank you, Miss!”
“Take care on the road!” Bai Qingyan cupped her hands toward Yue Shi.
When they met again in the future, perhaps… Bai Qingyan, Xiao Rongyan, and Yue Shi would be standing on opposite sides.
“Miss… won’t you send a letter to my master?” Yue Shi asked carefully.
“Tell your master to take care.”
Yue Shi: “…”
Fine, he’d just relay those exact words to his master!
Yue Shi leaped onto his horse. With his mission complete, he was eager to rush back to Xiao Rongyan’s side. Xiao Rongyan had already given orders to Second Prince Murong Ping and General Xie Xun that once they captured Wei capital Chang City, they were to invite His Majesty to enter the Wei imperial city by carriage to legitimize Great Yan’s name and show the world… that Yan was no longer the Yan of old. They wanted to make Xi Liang fear… make Xi Liang tremble, make Xi Liang come forward to seek peace on their own.
Yue Shi didn’t want to miss the grand spectacle of His Majesty entering Wei capital Chang City and needed to ride hard to get back.
·
On the twenty-second day of the eleventh month in the seventeenth year of Xuanjia, Great Liang’s Liuzhou defending general Yang Wuce led twenty thousand soldiers from Liuzhou City and thirty thousand Liang troops who had come to reinforce Liuzhou to surrender to Jin. The Jin army took Liuzhou City without bloodshed.
After Great Liang had lost the thirty thousand Zhao Family Army led by Zhao Sheng and over thirty thousand Liang soldiers at Qingxi Mountain pass, they now lost over fifty thousand more troops. The decline of the nation was evident.
Bai Qingyan ordered that the people not be plundered, but wealthy merchants remaining in Liuzhou City, seeking to curry favor with the Jin army, offered treasures. Liu Hong knew that Bai Qingyan had led the Shouyang soldiers to Great Liang without using court military funds, so he had all these goods sent to Bai Qingyan. Bai Qingyan accepted them without ceremony and had them transported to Shouyang City… to be given to Steward Liu.
On the twenty-third day of the eleventh month in the seventeenth year of Xuanjia, the Nanrong Ghost-Faced General captured the Northern Rong King alive and beheaded him for public display. Before the first heavy snow arrived in the Rong lands, he ended the brief division of the entire Rong territory. Due to his outstanding achievements, the Ghost-Faced General was enfeoffed as a king of a different surname by the Rong King.
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month in the seventeenth year of Xuanjia, Jin army commander Liu Hong decided to divide forces into three routes… directly attacking Great Liang’s capital.
Liu Hong led eighty thousand troops in a straight line, attacking cities as he advanced.
Noble Lady Gaoyi Bai Jinzhi led forty thousand soldiers departing from Liuzhou City’s east gate, taking a longer route through flat and vast fertile plains while avoiding most cities on the way to Han City.
Princess Zhenguo Bai Qingyan took the three generals Zhao Ran, Zhao Sheng, and Yang Wuce, departing from Liuzhou City’s west gate. She chose the route with the most cities along the way toward Han City, to divide Great Liang’s resistance forces and reduce pressure on Commander Liu Hong and Noble Lady Gaoyi.
Excluding the Liang soldiers who had surrendered to Jin but died or were severely wounded in battle, plus the eight thousand Shouyang soldiers, Bai Qingyan commanded a total of one hundred twenty thousand troops.