It wasn’t only Situ Haonan waiting for Ziqing—Wanyan Lie was waiting too!

If Han Ziqing didn’t show up, he absolutely would not hand the command token over to Situ Haonan. In his eyes, Situ Haonan was nothing more than a man who’d gotten lucky!

If not for Jun Beiyue, how could Situ Haonan have ever managed to run off with Yelu Qianqian? He probably wouldn’t even have had the nerve to suggest eloping in the first place!

If not for Jun Beiyue, what could he possibly have used to convince the Xijing emperor to let him lead the army as commanding general?

Did he command a single soldier of his own?

He’d once had a group of martial-world fighters under him, but the moment his mother gave the order, they’d all abandoned him!

Situ Haonan, despite carrying the titles of young master of Situ Castle and young leader of the martial world, was nowhere close to having the authority to command the martial world. What did he have to serve as commanding general?

All of this, his good brother Jun Beiyue had given him!

So Wanyan Lie thought, growing ever more convinced that Situ Haonan didn’t deserve Yelu Qianqian. And thinking of how Yelu Qianqian had deceived him yet also stayed by his side, Wanyan Lie grew ever more resentful.

In any case, no matter how long the fighting went on, he would never surrender to this man who had stolen his crown princess!

He would only acknowledge Han Ziqing!

His impression of Han Ziqing remained fixed on that encounter at Akbachu—the woman who had single-handedly blown apart walls that had stood for centuries, standing atop the ramparts like a descending deity, claiming all the glory of the Longyuan continent for herself alone!

Dazzling, breathtaking, impossible to look away from!

Wanyan Lie would wait!

And wait he did, for another full day and night!

On Situ Haonan’s side, General Dugu was the one who couldn’t hold his composure any longer. There was no doubt—this was Xijing’s last chance!

Once they accepted Xiliang’s surrender, the leaders of all nations would gather at Akbachu for the peace conference—the greatest such conference in all of Longyuan’s history, with every bit of control resting in Jun Beiyue’s hands!

Xijing wouldn’t be spared from this either!

“Haonan, it’s been three full days and nights now. Are we still waiting?” General Dugu asked anxiously.

Situ Haonan gave a cold smile. “If Wanyan Lie can afford to wait, why can’t this young master?”

“But waiting like this—there’s no telling what might happen!”

“Why wouldn’t it be a solution?”

“What if Han Ziqing has already gone back to Akbachu? What if Jun Beiyue has already arrived there too?”

That woman, Han Ziqing—General Dugu had never seen anyone so arrogant, so unrestrained. There was no guarantee she’d even bother coming in person to accept Wanyan Lie’s surrender!

And if Han Ziqing reached Akbachu, and Jun Beiyue happened to arrive there as well, then acting against her wouldn’t be nearly so simple anymore!

“Wait. The campaign in the northern frontier won’t wrap up that quickly. Jun Beiyue wants the entire northern plateau—even if he sets off now, he won’t reach Akbachu so soon,” Situ Haonan said coldly, his tone giving nothing away about what he actually intended by way of revenge.

Still, General Dugu finally understood his attitude.

At the very least, they could afford to wait a few more days.

Both sides waited, and for the moment, all remained calm. But near the battlefield, someone else was searching anxiously for Ziqing.

If Baili Weisheng hadn’t been knocked unconscious by his own disciple, it might well have been him. Unfortunately, Baili Weisheng was currently dead to the world. The one searching for Ziqing was Sha Qiuzi!

The moment he’d received Jun Beiyue’s sealed letter, he’d rushed toward the battlefield day and night. He hadn’t dared open the letter to see what it said—the message had been delivered by hawk, with only a few lines written on the seal, instructing him to deliver it to Han Ziqing as quickly as possible, and emphasizing that it must not pass through Situ Haonan’s hands—it had to be opened by Ziqing herself!

Sha Qiuzi had arrived two days earlier and had by now searched the entirety of Longxi City, but he simply couldn’t find Han Ziqing!

He was so anxious he wanted nothing more than to tear open the letter and see what it was all about!

But hawk-delivered messages generally weren’t written directly—they often used special codes, understood only by those in the know, as a precaution in case the hawk was shot down and the letter fell into the wrong hands.

Even if Sha Qiuzi opened the letter, it would do him no good. Still, he knew that if the message was being kept from Situ Haonan, it surely had something to do with the man.

After much deliberation, Sha Qiuzi could only lie low near Situ Haonan’s camp, hoping desperately that girl Han Ziqing would show up soon!

So where exactly was Ziqing?

A few days earlier, before she’d cut off Wanyan Lie’s escape route, Ziqing had already left!

Given her track record throughout the campaign, everyone assumed she must command a considerable force, all elite surprise troops!

Wanyan Lie was no exception. When his supply lines had been cut, he’d assumed that Han Ziqing had hidden nearly ten thousand troops behind Longxi City, waiting for him to retreat right into her trap!

That was precisely why he’d decided to surrender!

What he didn’t know was that days before Ziqing cut off Longxi City’s supplies, she had already left!

She’d left only six mercenaries behind, hidden in a highly secret location behind Longxi City, while she and Yingzi had already rushed toward Akbachu!

The journey had been brutal—wind, frost, and sandstorms the whole way. She’d pushed on day and night without rest, swallowing more than a few mouthfuls of sand along the way. Yingzi, helpless to stop her, had simply followed and protected her the entire way.

This very morning, they had finally reached Akbachu, at what was surely record speed!

“Your Highness, we’re finally here. Can you tell me exactly what you came here to do?” Yingzi spat out a mouthful of sand, asking wearily.

“I told you to stay behind and wait for word from His Highness, and yet you insisted on following!” Ziqing said, exasperated.

Yingzi didn’t answer. Though his martial skill wasn’t a match for Her Highness’s, and his sword was no match for her gunpowder, he simply couldn’t rest easy without following along to protect her.

“Don’t tell me you’re not accepting the surrender, and you’re planning to just wait here for the peace conference?” Yingzi asked, suspicious.

Ziqing gave a mysterious smile, lightly tapping her toes to leap off toward Yelu Qianqian’s chambers. “I’m here for Situ Haonan’s spoils of war.”

At those words, Yingzi froze in place, while Ziqing wore a rare smile—sweet, and genuinely pure.

This was Situ Haonan’s first time on the battlefield, and he had given so, so much for this war.

Situ Haonan had never been a man who craved victory or relished fighting. He’d never been one to compete for anything.

What wasn’t his, he never fought for. What was his, he never fought for either.

And this time, how much resolve must it have taken for him to shoulder such a heavy burden, even to the point of turning against Situ Castle itself?

All of it, for a woman—and for a brother.

Such a loyal man, not needing to choose between a woman and a brother—he was fortunate indeed!

Today’s victory, though Ziqing had contributed greatly, would never have come without Situ Haonan holding the line on the battlefield for half a year and more.

This man was the greatest hero of them all. At a moment of victory, there had to be spoils of war—and the finest spoil of all was Yelu Qianqian herself!

Ziqing thought—if Situ Haonan could accept Wanyan Lie’s surrender with Yelu Qianqian on one arm and the command token in the other hand, how magnificent that would be!

It would be sure to crush Wanyan Lie on the spot, choke him with resentment until he coughed up blood, leaving him with no more arrogance to spare—and it would surely let Xijing’s soldiers witness their lord consort’s glory and commanding presence.

For both public duty and personal feeling, Ziqing wanted to bring Yelu Qianqian along—this was exactly why she had secretly rushed to Akbachu.

Of course, without her coming in person to fetch the princess, the Xijing emperor, who had been constantly worried about Yelu Qianqian’s safety, would never have let her go.