“Elder Sister.” Jiang Xingjian gently held Jiang Man, his eyes blood red. The person in his arms was in such wretched condition, her face so bruised and swollen that her features could barely be distinguished.

His elder sister had lived a life of proud aloofness. When had she ever appeared like this?

Jiang Xingjian only felt his stomach and abdomen burning with hatred, wishing he could immediately return to the capital and execute Emperor Wenhui atop the Nine Halls of Court, letting all under heaven see exactly what color his heart truly was.

The sound of a man’s grief-stricken yet restrained weeping arose. Seeing this, Dongning’s soldiers and generals couldn’t help but harbor resentment one after another.

From what that Nanqing princess said, these people had simply been pushed out by Emperor Wenhui to be sacrificed in vain.

Though they were military households, some came from merchant families or scholarly clans.

Only because they were men, fearing their passionate blood could not serve their country, had they joined the military, precisely so that one day they could fight Nanqing honorably and openly.

From the moment they departed the capital, they had prepared themselves to be buried in desolate places, their iron armor covered by red sand.

They could die, dared to die, but they couldn’t perish for such laughable reasons!

The soldiers and generals who had followed Shen Qianyu gripped their weapons tightly one after another, furious yet powerless.

Having mastered civil and martial arts, they sold their services to the imperial house.

They had nowhere to complain, nowhere to regret!

Shen Qianyu turned back, seeing the word “absurd” written all over the faces of those behind him.

He clenched his jaw. Though his heart held ten thousand words, he couldn’t speak a single one.

After a long while, he finally said heavily, “This Prince will share life and death with you all.”

“If we must fight, this Prince will certainly be on the front lines. If we must perish, this Prince will first use his imperial bloodline as sacrifice to Dongning’s soldiers and generals.”

Shen Qianyu straightened his back and walked back to the military camp.

In the central command tent, his face was dark as he lowered his eyes without speaking. Outside the tent were the rustling sounds of Dongning soldiers’ conversations.

He couldn’t hear clearly, but he could guess eight or nine out of ten parts.

Wan Xiao said, “Qin Rao left Consort Jiang alive for precisely this reason. I underestimated her in the past.”

Shen Qianyu roughly wiped his face and said in a low voice, “Tomorrow…”

Before he finished speaking, they heard a commotion outside the tent. The two walked out to see Jiang Xingjian wielding a long spear, having stabbed Cui Chengdong to death before the camp.

“One who aids tyranny doesn’t deserve to be a Dongning man.”

Warm fresh blood sprayed across Jiang Xingjian’s face. His eyes were crimson red like a vengeful ghost demanding lives, yet not a single soldier in the entire camp spoke up to stop him.

Cui Chengdong deserved to die!

Seeing Shen Qianyu emerge from camp, Jiang Xingjian dropped the long spear in his hand and knelt, lifting his robe. “This subject has disobeyed military orders and should rightfully…”

Shen Qianyu waved his hand. “This Prince said before that Cui Chengdong had his necessary reasons to die.”

Now that military morale was unstable, he and Jiang Xingjian could not create internal chaos.

Shen Qianyu said coldly, “Defending our homeland, protecting Dongning’s women and children, guarding the peace of this region—these are the responsibilities this Prince bears and the wishes in his heart. Secretly sending a court consort to the enemy nation to be humiliated damages the backbone of Dongning’s countless men and chills the hearts of all the people under heaven. Cui Chengdong’s death is not unjust.”

A military officer in camp said, “We would die without regret defending Dongning’s rivers and mountains and protecting Dongning’s people, but we cannot… come to die because of cowardice.”

“This Prince knows.”

Shen Qianyu’s mouth tasted bitter, yet he was powerless to promise anything more.

The various generals also knew his difficulties. No one spoke, but a despondent atmosphere permeated the Dongning army.

Indignation, unwillingness, resentment, and loathing lingered in everyone’s hearts.

Now, never mind that Nanqing’s troops were strong and their horses robust—with seven thousand elite soldiers against one thousand from the Shenshu Guard, even if Dongning currently had ten thousand men, they might not necessarily withstand a single strike from Nanqing.

Shen Qianyu returned to the tent, also calling in Wan Xiao and Jiang Xingjian.

“How is Consort Jiang?”

Jiang Xingjian pressed his lips together without speaking. Only the blood red in his eyes revealed a hint of near-despair.

Wan Xiao said, “The army has accompanying physicians… They are mostly proficient in treating external injuries.”

These words lacked confidence. Jiang Xingjian clenched his jaw, wanting to say something but ultimately falling into silence.

The three were just preparing to discuss tomorrow’s response to Nanqing when someone suddenly came to report that Dong Chang had sent correspondence here, and the messenger wanted to personally deliver it into the Crown Prince’s hands. Wan Xiao had the person enter the tent. Shen Qianyu received the secret letter and opened it.

He quickly scanned through it several times, then furrowed his brow tightly.

“Qin Zhan died half a month ago in Nanqing’s bedchamber.”

Wan Xiao raised an eyebrow. “What about Prince Ning and Lady Eman?”

“Prince Ning has already ascended the throne. Lady Eman’s whereabouts are unknown—her life or death uncertain.”

Shen Qianyu ground his teeth. “This Prince Ning is quite ambitious and has always eyed Dongning covetously. If he learns that all forces at the Su River garrison have been withdrawn, he will certainly seize this opportunity to capture Suncheng and Chiyang.”

“The battle at Su River must be swift and decisive. Not a single one of Qin Rao’s people can be allowed to return to Nanqing!”

Jiang Xingjian raised his head to look at Shen Qianyu, then quickly averted his gaze.

“This Prince must send word to the capital. This matter should be handled urgently, not delayed.”

Wan Xiao shook his head. “If His Majesty is determined to bury this matter, Your Highness will likely find it difficult to get the message out.”

No matter how cowardly and timid Emperor Wenhui was, he was still the supreme sovereign. If he wished, sealing off the capital so that no news could enter or leave would not be difficult.

“We must still try.”

“We may be able to resist the people under Qin Rao’s command if we stake our lives, but if Prince Ning learns of the Su River situation, in less than half a month he could directly attack into the interior, and taking the capital would only be a matter of a few days.”

“This Prince must inform the court’s important ministers of the Su River situation.”

At least if he truly couldn’t hold them off, there should be someone to continue resisting foreign enemies after him, rather than handing over all of Dongning to others!

“This humble subject has a way to transmit messages into the capital.”

Jiang Xingjian said, “In this subject’s estate…”

He paused slightly and lowered his eyes. “There is a concubine. She once taught this subject a type of secret language. In this world today, besides the two of us, there is no third person who knows it.”

Jiang Xingjian found brush and ink and quickly wrote down several clusters of unclear symbols.

“Your Highness can write down the information, and this subject will transmit it into the capital.”

Shen Qianyu didn’t hesitate or harbor any suspicion. He quickly set down a few brief sentences on paper and handed them to Jiang Xingjian.

Their current predicament was not suitable for mutual suspicion. Presumably Jiang Xingjian wouldn’t treat all of Dongning as child’s play either.

Taking the letter, Jiang Xingjian turned and returned to his own tent.

After a night passed, he finally transcribed the necessary words onto cloth and handed it to Shen Qianyu’s trusted aide to urgently send back to the capital.

Having handled all this, Jiang Xingjian finally walked to the bed to check on Jiang Man.

Who knew that Jiang Man had already awakened and was currently squinting her eyes, staring vacantly at the top of the bed canopy.

Her eyes were swollen—trying to open them was already difficult. Jiang Xingjian looked at the elder sister from his memories who had treated him best, finally unable to restrain himself from crying out in anguish. Had he known that seeing her again would be this scene today, that day in the palace he would have offered her proper comfort and spoken kindly to her, rather than venting his anger about Song Wan’s palace entry upon her.

Meeting this moment, he finally understood that aside from life and death, nothing else was a major matter.

His elder sister was most proud and aloof. Having suffered such calamity…

Jiang Xingjian dared not think further and knelt on the ground weeping with sorrow.

“What are you crying for?”

Jiang Man spoke indifferently, her tone carrying disdain.

“Come here. I have important matters to discuss with you, concerning Father.”