The warhorses galloped wildly through the city gate’s lengthy narrow passage. After charging into the barbican, Xiao Li and his brothers below yanked hard on the reins, forcing the horses to rear their front hooves high before halting their forward momentum.

Their horses’ manes were completely soaked through by the rain and snow, white vapor spurting from their nostrils. Water droplets dripped from everyone’s robe hems and weapons. Their eyes held a chilling deadliness, and their panting breaths likewise expelled forest-white mist.

Having ridden madly all this way, the cold wind stabbed like steel needles straight into their throats and lungs—truly an unpleasant experience.

The Wei army soldiers who came forward to tend their horses were frightened by the still-present killing aura surrounding them, momentarily not daring to move.

“Bring wine!”

Liao Jiang’s bell-like voice and bold laughter carried from the city tower. He and Yuan Fang along with a group of Wei army generals strode down from the city steps, heading straight toward Xiao Li’s party.

Xiao Li’s disheveled hair, dampened by rain and snow and blown back by the cold wind earlier, now hung somewhat messily at his temples. His face, needing no embellishment, carried the fierceness of someone fresh from the battlefield—imposingly heroic.

He swung his long legs and dismounted in one motion. Just as Liao Jiang and Yuan Fang’s group arrived before him and he began to say “General,” Liao Jiang’s large hand clapped heavily on his shoulder.

“The younger generation is truly formidable! Truly formidable!” Liao Jiang couldn’t stop smiling, turning to Yuan Fang. “I just told you this young man is a guardian deity. Look at this distinguished appearance—he should be the True Lord of Clear Source and Wondrous Way enshrined in Taoist temples!”

Xiao Li clasped his fists. The bloodstains on his arm guards had faded somewhat under the melting snow’s infiltration. “The General praises me too highly. This humble one dares not accept such honor.”

As he spoke, personal guards had already brought wine, presenting it to Liao Jiang. “General, the wine is here.”

Liao Jiang clapped Xiao Li’s shoulder twice more, saying “No need for modesty,” then took the wine jar and personally broke the seal. He sniffed the wine’s aroma at the jar’s edge and laughed. “This is the only jar of Du Kang wine I’ve been saving to celebrate victory!”

Personal guards holding trays gathered several dozen wine bowls together. After Liao Jiang personally filled all the bowls, he threw the empty wine jar to the ground and picked up a wine bowl from the tray. With overwhelming spirit, he addressed Xiao Li’s party: “Good wine should accompany heroes! Liao here salutes you all!”

Xiao Li and his men received the wine the personal guards brought forward, raised their bowls toward Liao Jiang, then drained them in one gulp.

The Wei army soldiers all cheered. After Liao Jiang finished the wine in his bowl, he handed the empty bowl to his personal guard and summoned Xiao Li forward to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with him back, laughing heartily. “How many years since I’ve seen a young hero like young friend Xiao? When I write the battle report to the Marquis, I will certainly give you a good introduction!”

Yuan Fang, walking half a step behind, hurriedly interjected, “No need for you to worry about that—I will report truthfully to the Marquis myself!”

“You still need to stay in Youzhou to recover from your injuries! How can you be as fast as my army’s meteor horses?”

“After traveling these days, my injuries have recovered quite well. Once this crisis in Youzhou is resolved, I must immediately set out for Weizhou to report the many matters of the southern border to the Marquis!”

…

That night at the army’s victory banquet, Xiao Li was pulled into drinking until late into the night without being able to escape.

The brothers from Tongzhou who were worth naming sat together in a circle. Zheng Hu let out a wine-scented burp, his speech already slurring: “We… we’ve really made it now. The Wei army people are all… all being polite to us now.”

After Zhang Huai finished exchanging courtesies with several volunteer army leaders while holding his wine bowl, when he returned to sit by the fire, his fair face had already been steamed red by the wine’s heat.

Seeing this, Zheng Hu said with a thick tongue, “Strategist, you… your tolerance for alcohol isn’t good, so… don’t drink toasts with everyone together anymore.”

After Zhang Huai recovered from the wine’s effects for a while, he rubbed his temples. “Those coming to toast are all volunteer army leaders from various places. The State Lord is held up by the Wei camp’s generals. Someone has to drink the wine these people are toasting.”

Hearing this, Zheng Hu started to rise: “I’ll… I’ll go!”

He swayed as he stood. Zhang Huai gestured for someone sitting beside him to push him back down, saying with amusement, “General Song has already taken over for me.”

Zheng Hu, whose eyes were already seeing double, looked around the circle and actually spotted Song Qin clinking bowls and drinking with several people in the crowd. He let out another wine-scented burp and continued stammering, “Then… then that’s fine.”

After speaking, his head tilted to one side and he passed out drunk against the brother beside him.

Seeing this, all the brothers couldn’t help but burst into laughter again.

By the time Song Qin returned, his unsteady steps suggesting he’d also been fed quite a bit of wine, most of the Tongzhou brothers around the fire had already passed out drunk. When he sat down beside Zhang Huai, he likewise hissed as he pressed his somewhat swollen and dizzy head.

Zhang Huai took down the small pot from the fire, poured out what was cooking inside, and handed Song Qin a bowl. “Drink a bowl of butter tea to settle it.”

Song Qin took it and drank two mouthfuls. Once his churning stomach felt less uncomfortable, he said with some emotion, “I hadn’t noticed those people being so warm before.”

Zhang Huai added some firewood to the fire. His clear, moist eyes reflected the dancing flames, holding a smile. “Through this battle at Youzhou, the State Lord is certain to gain Wei Qishan’s favor. The various volunteer armies that came to pledge allegiance—on the surface they want to help the Wei army resist external enemies, but in reality they’re all afraid of losing the troops under their command, so during battle, none dare give their full effort. After all, if Youzhou holds, they gain merit for coming to assist. If Youzhou falls, they can flee back to the southern territories and still gain a good name for having resisted the northern border barbarians, right?”

Song Qin held his tea bowl and shook his head, managing only one sentence: “Truly cunning.”

Zhang Huai’s smile didn’t diminish. “The Wei camp people aren’t fools either. Setting aside whether they originally looked favorably on those troops of wild origins, once they knew about the little calculations in those volunteer armies’ hearts, how could they have any good attitude? Now that our Tongzhou army has become the only volunteer force to cross the Wei camp’s threshold, how could those volunteer army leaders not have active minds?”

This northern relief campaign was initially about jointly resisting external enemies, but on the battlefield where human lives were like grass, any self-interest had long been magnified.

The volunteer army leaders feared their troops would be sent to the front lines as cannon fodder, and were unwilling to have their original forces split up, broken apart and reorganized into regular units—because that way they would lose their ability to command with one call and receive a hundred responses.

From the Wei camp troops’ perspective, these ragtag armies flying the banner of coming to assist them were unwilling to truly submit to them, yet wanted to use that high-sounding name to eat their military rations and use their military supplies. When it truly came time to enter battle, they were still timid and hesitant—how could hearts not burn with resentment?

The Tongzhou army under Xiao Li’s command had now become the only volunteer force recognized by the Wei camp from top to bottom, naturally also becoming a link connecting the Wei camp and other volunteer armies.

As long as Wei Qishan hadn’t become senile, even if the other volunteer armies didn’t truly contribute much effort in this city defense battle, he wouldn’t refuse these troops being delivered to his doorstep.

For those volunteer armies, they had traveled thousands of li north to provide assistance, during which the manpower and material resources consumed were already considerable. Now that the Youzhou city defense battle was won, they nominally had merit, so of course they wouldn’t choose to leave at this point.

Becoming friendly with Xiao Li was far more worthwhile than putting their warm faces against the Wei army’s cold backsides.

At least the Tongzhou army led by Xiao Li was also a volunteer force like them—from a certain perspective, they too would be excluded by the Wei camp.

Where there were common interests, there would be cooperation.

In Zhang Huai’s eyes reflecting the firelight, another flame danced. He slowly said, “After this battle, the State Lord’s foundation in the northern border is stable.”

From the time he followed Xiao Li to Tongzhou, Song Qin knew that Xiao Li would go far in the future, but exactly how far, he had no answer in his heart. At this moment he also didn’t pick up Zhang Huai’s words. After drinking the last mouthful of butter tea in his bowl, he turned to look at the tent where the generals were feasting, seeing many Wei generals being supported out by personal guards as if the banquet had ended. “Have they all left? Why don’t I see the State Lord?”

When they became sworn brothers, because he was older he had taken on the title of elder brother to Xiao Li. Until now Xiao Li still addressed him as elder brother, yet he had already changed how he addressed Xiao Li to “State Lord.”

—

The wind blew away the cloud layer in the sky. A crescent moon hung startlingly bright like a hook.

As it blew across the hillock, the wild grass across the entire wasteland under the moon rolled in waves. In the distant camp the firelight was bright, and the sounds of feasting and laughter continued.

Xiao Li lay in the wild field, pillowing his head on his arm guard, staring absently at that excessively cold crescent moon.

The wine scent on his collar and the frosty, snowy chill carried by the wind along with the grass’s green scent covered the bloody smell on his arm guard. Everything he breathed was the cool freshness of night wind and frost and snow, yet his body still burned with the spreading wine’s heat.

He knew he should empty his mind to plan the many matters before him. All the various volunteer armies had shown goodwill toward them. If they wanted to remain long-term in the northern border hereafter, these people would be his bargaining chip with Wei Qishan. But how to prevent Wei Qishan from becoming wary still required careful consideration.

Yet at this moment he couldn’t spare the slightest attention to think about these matters. What lingered in his ears and wouldn’t leave was only that sentence he’d inadvertently heard at the banquet: “I hear Princess Hanyang has already returned to Liang territory to take charge of the overall situation.”

Why did he care so much about news concerning her?

Was it hatred? Or unwillingness to accept things?

Or perhaps wanting to see what reaction the proud Hanyang would have after discovering she had done wrong?

Xiao Li closed his eyes.

He thought it was probably all three.

—

Xinzhou.

A military force dressed as a volunteer army trod an ancient road overgrown with weeds, traveling north under cover of night.

The volunteer army “leader” riding the horse had a handsome, extraordinarily beautiful face, yet his gaze was sharp and cold as lightning, constantly watching the ancient road’s surroundings alertly.

The carriage, protected on all sides by cavalry troops, looked unremarkable at first glance, but even when it rolled over broken stones and splintered wood on the road, it made no excessive noise.

The heavy hanging carriage curtain concealed everything inside the carriage tightly, isolating it from all prying eyes.

Wen Yu sat peacefully inside the carriage, leaning against a soft pillow with eyes closed, resting.

Bronze Sparrow and Zhao Bai sat opposite her. One person concentrated on noting movements outside the carriage, while the other closed her eyes to conserve energy, ready to change shifts in the latter half of the night.

—

“What is the name of that volunteer army leader who helped Youzhou repel the Rongque?”

Behind the long desk by the window, Pei Song suddenly opened his narrow eyes.

The henchman holding the battle report heard the unusual tone in his voice and recognized it as a precursor to his anger. Fearfully lowering his head even further, he replied, “His name is Xiao Li.”

Pei Song’s hand paused while fingering a game piece. A smile appeared on his face, but his neither warm nor cold tone slowly caused all the henchmen present to break out in cold sweat down their backs. “I wondered why, after chasing the Liang army all the way to Mount Tai’e, I never saw the Liang camp send him out. Turns out he’d already gone to the northern territories.”

Not one person present dared respond.

He held the game piece in his hand and tapped it carelessly on the board twice, then continued asking leisurely, “That ragtag Tongcheng army that previously engaged Dou Jianliang at Wayaobu—he led that too?”

The henchman kneeling below, sweat beading at his temples, nodded once.

The smile on Pei Song’s face deepened. “Good. Truly excellent. You searched everywhere for his tracks without success, yet let him build up a Tongzhou army right under your noses?”

All the henchmen in the room fell to their knees with a “thud”: “We beg our master for punishment.”

Pei Song’s hidden force suddenly released, crushing the white jade game piece in his hand to fragments. All his calm and breezy manner fell away. When he spoke again, his voice carried ruthlessness: “Go to the punishment hall to receive your penalty.”

After all the henchmen in the room withdrew, Pei Song sat alone with eyes closed for a moment before opening them and calling, “Fifteen.”

Pei Fifteen emerged from the shadows. “Master.”

Pei Song said, “It’s time to activate those spies we planted in the Wei camp. Go deliver a grand gift to Wei Qishan for me.”