Zhao Ling thought to himself that these Shadow agents were indeed useful, and he should maintain good relations with them. With this in mind, he decided to try and get closer.

He hesitated for a moment, his gaze finally settling on An Jiu’s jade-like forehead and eyes. Noticing the wounds under her eyes, he said with pity, “Such a fine woman, why did you choose this path?”

An Jiu typically didn’t talk much with strangers, but she wanted to express her opinion on this question. After pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts, she summarized, “When facing powerful enemies, if you can’t get it up, who else will step up if not us?”

If one were to think about it perversely, this statement was outrageously crude!

But Zhao Ling held back. He had to take this opportunity to pull the Konghe Army closer and prevent relations from deteriorating further. He forced a faint smile and said, “Young lady, your words are refreshingly direct. You must be a person of character. However, you may have misunderstood. We never show weakness in the face of Liao’s invasion.”

“Heh,” An Jiu laughed without any humor. After thoroughly understanding the Song Dynasty’s situation, she felt this was an extremely serious matter. So, to help Zhao Ling fully understand her meaning, she used a metaphor: “It seems we have different understandings of weakness. When faced with a strong assault that can still be resisted, some people cry out ‘no’ while enjoying it, showing through their actions that their education is no match for their bestial nature. We don’t cry out; we save our strength to fight back.”

Zhao Ling clenched his back teeth, his beard trembling slightly.

Seeing his poor expression, An Jiu wondered if she had spoken too harshly. So, in what she thought was a more tactful manner, she said, “I can’t bring myself to just comply obediently, which is why I’m still in this line of work.”

Yes, that was an excellent explanation, very considerate of the other’s feelings. An Jiu felt she was becoming more and more normal and would soon leave the ranks of the mentally ill. She was somewhat excited, her bright black eyes staring intently at Zhao Ling.

“You…” Zhao Ling’s voice began to tremble, “You… get out.”

An Jiu’s gaze calmed. This reaction wasn’t quite what she had expected…

“Yes,” An Jiu leaped onto the roof beam, looking down to see Zhao Ling gasping for breath as he poured himself a cup of water.

An Jiu didn’t understand how to communicate with people, but she could clearly distinguish between happiness and anger. So, after some reflection, she kindly added, “If you don’t want to resist, we can protect you. No need for too much gratitude. Just don’t end up hating us for interfering with your enjoyment.”

Pffft!

Zhao Ling spat water all over the table, some even coming out of his nose, choking him to tears.

He fumbled for a handkerchief to wipe himself clean.

An Jiu paused, hearing Gao Dazhuang’s distant laughter. She frowned and left before Zhao Ling could finish cleaning up.

“What are you laughing at?” An Jiu landed on a nearby tree.

Gao Dazhuang was laughing so hard tears were flowing, sprawled on a horizontal branch, gasping for air as he said, “Mei… Mei Fourteen… you said it so well. The Song Dynasty is proud of you.”

“My intuition tells me you’re mocking me,” An Jiu wasn’t fooled.

“Really,” Gao Dazhuang wiped his tears and told her seriously, “I finally feel that you’re quite a likable little shorty.”

“I’m still growing,” An Jiu calmly informed him of this fact.

In her previous life, An Jiu was half European-American. By sixteen or seventeen, she was already about 1.7 meters tall. Now she was about 1.6 meters, and while shorter than in her previous life, it wasn’t a big problem for a girl still developing!

“We’ll talk about that after you’ve grown,” Gao Dazhuang had secretly decided. In the future, when dealing with people like Zhao Ling, they should send Mei Fourteen!

As they were talking, Lou Mingyue rushed back.

“It’s the Liao army attacking the main camp. They’re going for the food and equipment,” she reported the news she had just gathered. “This time, the Liao army has deployed many experts. Even I was almost tailed. Although General Ling has made preparations, in my opinion, the Liao army will still be able to withdraw unscathed.”

Sui Yunzhu analyzed, “They’re taking this risk probably to pave the way for the main Liao army that’s about to arrive. I checked a couple of days ago, and there’s not much surplus grain in the Hejian Prefecture granaries either.”

The Song Dynasty had a million troops. Such a large number of people consumed a lot even when not at war, let alone during intense battles.

Agriculture in the border regions was not as developed as in the south, and food production barely met local needs. With Liao’s constant invasions, burning, killing, and looting everywhere, many places had begun to become desolate. In recent years, even the granaries in various prefectures were half-empty. Ling Ziyue had borrowed a few times, getting grain from local officials, which wasn’t much easier than requesting supplies from the court, but it was closer.

Many people living in wealthy areas had no personal experience of this and only felt that Ling Ziyue’s constant requests for supplies were problematic. Civil officials were unwilling to let military officials have too much power and status, so they often made an issue of this.

“The two armies are still in the thick of battle. There’s no loss of food and supplies for now, but if this continues, who knows what will happen,” Lou Mingyue said.

Ling Ziyue had over 300,000 troops, but these forces couldn’t be stationed in one place. The main camp had at most 100,000 men. The Liao cavalry was not only good at fighting but also highly mobile. With the addition of many martial experts, they were likely to succeed.

Gao Dazhuang’s expression became grave.

After a long silence, Li Qingzhi said, “Sir, let’s go assist in the battle. At least leave some food for the border troops.”

“Mei Fourteen stays behind. The rest come with me!” Gao Dazhuang ordered.

Sun Dixian glanced at Qiu Yunyan, her eyes flashing with a hint of resentment.

Qiu Yunyan and Sun Dixian had fought side by side a few times and had a somewhat ambiguous relationship in private. Qiu Yunyan was skilled in poisons and considered a medical practitioner, but the Konghe Army’s attitude towards Mo Sigui was vastly different. Moreover, both Mei Fourteen and Lou Mingyue, whom he had his eye on, had unclear relationships with Mo Sigui. He felt deeply unbalanced! Coincidentally, Sun Dixian was very good at comforting people and flattering others. In this situation, the little false satisfaction she gave him seemed very precious.

Therefore, Qiu Yunyan treated Sun Dixian differently from others.

Receiving Sun Dixian’s glance, Qiu Yunyan paused slightly and said, “Sir, Mei Fourteen is skilled with bow and crossbow and could be of great use. Sun Dixian is average in both ranged and close combat. Why not switch them?”

Gao Dazhuang had heard of An Jiu’s archery skills but hadn’t seen them personally, so he turned to Lou Mingyue with a questioning look.

Lou Mingyue nodded.

He looked at Qiu Yunyan and Sun Dixian with amusement, saying with a half-smile, “Then let’s switch.”

Then he turned to An Jiu and said, “With Lord Chu not here, poor thing, no one to dote on you!”

An Jiu felt that her injuries had mostly healed. She had no objection to this arrangement, so she exchanged her broken weapons and set off for the battlefield with the others.