The campfire crackled and burned in the night, and when a gust of wind blew, the flames tilted and fell low. In the distance, accumulated snow on the forest treetops rustled and fell in clumps.

Xiao Li sat beside the fire, his armor half-removed, exposing one arm. He gripped one end of gauze with his teeth and held the other end with his hand, wrapping it around the finger-long wound with darkened bloodstains on his arm.

Zhang Huai held a bowl of medicinal broth and walked over from the other side of the camp with Zheng Hu, their feet treading deep and shallow through the accumulated snow.

Xiao Li turned his head slightly and asked, “What is the casualty situation among the soldiers below?”

After sitting down, Zhang Huai shook his head and said, “The soldiers of the Third Battalion were injured quite severely this time. We’ve been chasing those barbarians through wind and snow these past days, and many soldiers have caught colds.”

After Xiao Li finished bandaging his wound and put on his armor, he said, “Tomorrow, have the soldiers of the Second Battalion follow me to continue pursuing the enemy. Tiger, take the soldiers of the Third Battalion back to the garrison to rest and recuperate.”

After hearing this, Zheng Hu said, “Tomorrow I’ll lead the Second Battalion to pursue them. Second Brother, you haven’t slept for two nights straight—go back and rest properly.”

Zhang Huai also advised, “The Provincial Lord has been running to various battlefields these past days like a spinning top. Those barbarians are clearly intentionally raiding one place then switching locations. Although we’re guarding the central line, we can’t withstand all the border defense camps sending us messages for reinforcements every time they encounter barbarians.”

His face didn’t look good in the firelight. “They’re clearly trying to run us to death.”

The troops guarding the Yanle Mountain defense line had always been the elite forces directly under Wei Qishan’s command. However, the Wolf Cavalry was ultimately precious, and their威势 威 威势 lay in dealing with the barbarians’ main cavalry forces—they couldn’t be dispersed and deployed to various border defense camps.

After narrowly winning the last defense battle, the barbarians continued using that tactic, dividing into countless detachments to harass the border defense camps along various points of the Yanle Mountain range.

No one could predict when the barbarians’ nighttime camp raids were real and when they were feints. The Wolf Cavalry was Northern Wei’s greatest trump card and couldn’t be used to exhaust themselves rushing around like this.

The tens of thousands of volunteer troops stationed on the central line became the best choice to verify whether the barbarians’ camp raids were real or fake.

Whenever a border defense camp reported an emergency, as soon as the message reached the volunteer army garrison, the volunteer army had to immediately dispatch troops.

Moreover, the troops dispatched could only be more, not fewer. Otherwise, if they truly encountered a strong barbarian attack, they simply couldn’t hold the gap until the Wolf Cavalry arrived to support them.

Xiao Li’s volunteer army currently had thirty thousand troops. He temporarily divided them into ten battalions. Whenever a border defense camp reported an emergency, he would dispatch one battalion—three thousand troops were enough to temporarily hold a breach.

But even so, there were still four or five troop units leaving camp simultaneously each day. Often, before they even reached the border defense camp garrison that had requested aid, another border defense garrison would report another emergency, saying the barbarians had changed course to attack them instead.

The volunteer troops going to provide support sometimes spent entire days and nights traveling, being toyed with by the barbarians as they rushed between various garrison locations. Not to mention the soldiers couldn’t endure it—even the horses couldn’t withstand such consumption. After several days, both men and horses in the army were utterly exhausted.

Xiao Li took the medicine Zhang Huai handed him and drank it in one gulp. Wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, he said, “Precisely because we can’t let the barbarians lead us around like this anymore, we must shift from defense to offense and take the initiative to attack. I’ve been watching this barbarian force for two days now. They’re extremely cunning—we can’t be careless.”

Zhang Huai sighed and said, “The Provincial Lord must also prioritize your own health. If you continue exhausting yourself like this, even an iron man couldn’t withstand it. Even Marquis Wei’s elite troops may not work as desperately as the Provincial Lord.”

But Xiao Li said, “Once we repel the barbarians again this time, I will request to resign from Marquis Wei.”

Both Zhang Huai and Zheng Hu were shocked at these words, but Zheng Hu quickly responded, “I’ll follow Second Brother in everything. Wherever Second Brother goes, I’ll go!”

Zhang Huai then said, “Is the Provincial Lord doing this because of Princess Hanyang’s matter?”

He had protected Wen Yu, which was in any case disloyal to Wei Qishan. Right now, Wei Qishan might already suspect him, but due to various considerations and lack of solid evidence, he hadn’t yet made a move against him.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Li said, “Not entirely.”

A spark from the exploding firewood flew onto his clothing. He pinched it out and said, “Initially, I truly did want to distinguish myself and no longer be subject to others’ control, which is why I raised a military force in Tongzhou. Later, more and more brothers joined up, but ultimately the reason was simply that everyone wanted to protect their own acre of land, safeguard their families, and carve out a future for themselves.”

“When the three-way alliance army in the southern territory attacking the Pei clan fell apart and the Liang army retreated in defeat, our Tongzhou army became the greatest force in the southern territory. To prevent Tongzhou from being besieged by the Pei clan’s great army, I used Yuan Fang’s incident as an excuse to have the brothers head north first to avoid disaster. After the battle at Youzhou, we established our foothold in the northern territory, and from then on, every time we resisted the northern barbarian tribes, the brothers followed me charging at the very front.”

In his pitch-black pupils reflected the firelight, making his eyes appear even more somber. “But it seems that as long as I don’t learn to be an obedient dog for even one day, the Marquis of Shuobian’s wariness won’t dissipate for even one day.”

At this point, Zheng Hu also felt quite indignant. “Exactly! Just after we came down from the Youzhou battlefield with merit, instead of letting us continue fighting barbarians, they changed our orders to disperse Pei forces within the territory. We had no objections, but then the Marquis of Shuobian arranged for that bastard Wei Pingjin and Wei Ang to come and win over the leaders of other volunteer forces. If that Wei Ang hadn’t known when to advance and retreat, I would have beaten their Wei camp’s shitty Young Lord countless times already.”

Though slow-witted, he wasn’t completely oblivious to the overall situation. Feeling aggrieved, he said, “Last time, after we successfully helped defend the Yanle Mountain defense line, now whenever the major border defense camps encounter enemy raids, they just keep sending messages to our volunteer army garrison. I’m really curious—before we volunteer troops existed, how exactly did Northern Wei defend their defense lines?”

Zhang Huai sighed and said, “The Marquis of Shuobian’s actions indeed have the meaning of a warning in them. It’s true that he values the Provincial Lord, but the Provincial Lord has distinguished himself twice, overshadowing many veteran generals in the Wei camp. Now the Marquis of Shuobian has withdrawn to the rear to recuperate from injuries, and he’s paved the way several times wanting to push his only son to the front lines to win over military hearts. It’s just a pity that at Youzhou, that Wei Pingjin already made a fool of himself once. In the Provincial Lord’s army, because of Officer Lin’s matter, he lost face again and also lost prestige among the volunteer troops.”

He looked at Xiao Li and said, “At any time, when merit surpasses the master, it’s a great taboo. Even for the sake of the Wei clan’s dignity, the Marquis of Shuobian needs to let the Provincial Lord take a fall this time.”

Zheng Hu couldn’t help but say angrily, “Then Military Advisor, why did you advise Second Brother to stay?”

Zhang Huai said, “Why not stay? Just as I said that day—the two battles concerning the northern territory’s survival were won by the Provincial Lord. The transformation from ragtag troops to volunteer forces not much inferior to Northern Wei’s regular army was also the Provincial Lord’s achievement. Moreover, how many Tongzhou brothers are buried in the northern territory? After we’ve contributed people and effort to help the Wei camp to this extent, how could we abandon our great plan due to momentary impatience?”

Zheng Hu said urgently, “Are we humbling ourselves and bowing low just to continue suffering their Wei camp’s humiliation in the future? Does their shitty Young Lord even see us as human?”

Zhang Huai raised his eyes slightly. “Does General Zheng think that once the Marquis of Shuobian is gone, how many people in the Wei camp will submit to their Young Lord?”

After understanding Zhang Huai’s scheme, Zheng Hu got goosebumps all over his back and quickly looked at Xiao Li.

But Xiao Li said, “I have no interest in the Wei clan’s foundation.”

Having said this, he prepared to get up and leave.

Zhang Huai called out to stop him, saying, “Provincial Lord, now is not the time to talk about righteousness. Moreover, if we truly talk about righteousness, it’s Northern Wei that owes us greatly!”

He enumerated in detail: “The great general Yuan Fang under Wei Qishan’s command was saved by you. Youzhou, which could no longer be defended, was brought back from the brink of death and held by you for them. The last time the barbarians made a feint to the east while attacking the west, drawing away the Wei army’s main forces and attempting to cross Yanle Mountain to attack Weizhou, it was also you who led the brothers to block the barbarians back. Why does Wei Qishan fear you? Do you truly not understand?”

The old alpha wolf of the northern territory was aging. A new alpha wolf had led his pack into the old wolf’s territory, yet also helped guard his domain.

The aging alpha wolf needed the young alpha wolf’s strength, but also feared being replaced by him.

That’s why when he first met Xiao Li, he was particularly eager to become “one family” with him.

Half of Xiao Li’s face was illuminated by firelight while the other half was hidden in the night. His voice was somewhat heavy: “I led the brothers out of Tongzhou to avoid disaster. But as long as battles continue, people will keep dying. Today it might be this family’s old mother losing her son; tomorrow it will be that family’s young wife losing her husband. My time in the military is still short—I don’t know how to be a good commander. All I can do is try my best to keep them alive in every battle and lead them to a good future. Those who die honorably on the battlefield are heroes, but to die at the hands of barbarians after being exhausted from all this rushing around—that means I’ve failed them.”

“Apart from Hanyang’s matter, I believe I’ve been clear in conscience toward the Marquis of Shuobian. After blocking and eliminating those barbarian forces this time, it will also serve as atonement for that matter. I’ll request to leave of my own accord. The brothers who wish to remain in the Wei army won’t be suspected along with me in the future.”

Zheng Hu said cheerfully, “Who in the army doesn’t know what kind of character their Young Lord has? Second Brother, if you’re not staying in the Wei camp, who would still stay here to suffer that humiliation?”

But Zhang Huai stood and bowed to Xiao Li, saying, “Huai hasn’t followed the wrong person. With the Provincial Lord’s character and heart, you will certainly not stop here.”

Xiao Li didn’t respond further and strode away.

The pine forest was cold and desolate. He gathered a bundle of fodder and personally fed it to his horse tied beneath a tree, then stroked the horse’s neck and said, “You’ve suffered these past days.”

The completely black horse snorted loudly and lowered its head to eat the fodder.

Snow shook loose from the treetops, and then a long sword flashing with cold light pressed against Xiao Li’s neck. “Release the Princess.”

Zhao Bai’s expression was cold and detached.

Xiao Li had no intention of fighting her. He plucked a few dried grass leaves stuck to his narrow sleeves and threw them to the horse before saying, “This Xiao doesn’t understand what Your Excellency is talking about.”

Zhao Bai said angrily with suppressed fury, “Stop pretending!”

With her other hand, she produced the white jade lock threaded with red cord, coldly demanding in a low voice, “If it wasn’t you who abducted the Princess that day, who else could it have been?”

After Wen Yu left his army and someone gave the child in her womb a white jade lock, besides Xiao Li, Zhao Bai truly couldn’t think of a second person.

Before Xiao Li could speak, she shouted again in a low voice, “If you still harbor resentment over that arrow from back then, you can come at me. It was I who failed to properly supervise the Azure Cloud Guards, allowing a traitor among them to shoot that poisoned arrow at you. The Princess was trying to protect you when she specifically ordered me to lead people to intercept you back to Pingzhou. Since you encountered Zhou Sui in Yongzhou, you should know the Princess has always had him secretly investigating news of your mother!”

When Xiao Li heard her mention Xiao Huiniang, a mocking cold smile appeared on his handsome, indifferent face. “When you initially wanted to capture this Xiao back to Pingzhou, wasn’t it to verify whether this Xiao was a spy? Having Zhou Sui investigate in Yongzhou—wasn’t that also to verify the truth or falsehood of what Pei Song said?”

He turned around. The long sword in Zhao Bai’s hand cut a shallow mark on the side of his neck, blood seeping out, yet he regarded it as nothing. His face showed no sign of anger, but his entire being seemed to roil with smoke before a volcanic eruption. His wolf-like fierce eyes were filled with chilling frost: “You people of the Liang camp, from the moment you suspected this Xiao of being a spy, you lost the right to speak before this Xiao.”

Zhao Bai knew it must have been him who abducted Wen Yu. She had led people to stake out for several days and discovered he’d been pursuing barbarians at Yanle Mountain the whole time, never going anywhere else. She truly didn’t know where he had hidden Wen Yu, which is why she sought this opportunity today to force him to reveal Wen Yu’s location.

When Xiao Li said this, she couldn’t help but angrily retort, “There were indeed many suspicious points about you—why couldn’t we suspect you? Even if the Princess trusted you, she still had to give the ministers below her an explanation. Do you think giving the Princess’s child a broken jade lock is deep affection and magnanimity?”

She coldly warned, “The Princess only promised Empress Dowager Jiang she would bear a child with Jiang Yu, and he was willing to die for the Princess. There are plenty of men under heaven willing to die for the Princess—what does this little affection of yours amount to? Don’t think you can use the Princess’s slight guilt and feelings toward you to force the Princess to do anything!”

In that moment, the expression in Xiao Li’s eyes truly became extremely cold.