Another light snow fell as night arrived.

During the day’s siege, all three forces encountered setbacks and decided to jointly discuss subsequent plans for attacking Pei.

When Fan Yuan and Chen Wei entered the tent, snow dust still clung to them. Attendants at the entrance took their cloaks. As the two were guided further inside, they saw many Xiao camp generals already seated in the tent. Xiao Li, sitting in the primary seat at the head of the long table, had stern features, his gaze fixed on the military maps. Though he spoke not a word, one could still feel the imposing authority emanating from his entire being.

Forged and tempered through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, certain things seemed to have fused into his very bones and blood, becoming a formidable strength that could not be ignored.

Both men froze for a moment.

Although Xiao Li had already shown prominence in Pingzhou, he had been young then and had not yet experienced so many events. Compared to now, those former days suddenly seemed much more immature.

Though the two had previously heard much of his reputation in the northern lands, after Xiao Li left Pingzhou, they had never seen him again.

Now seeing the person in the main seat, for a moment they actually dared not recognize him.

It was only when an attendant in the tent stepped forward to whisper a few words in Xiao Li’s ear that Xiao Li, who had placed all his attention on the military maps, raised his head to look at them. Only then did Fan Yuan hastily greet him: “It’s been a year and a half since I’ve seen the Marquis. Seeing you again today, I almost dare not recognize you.”

“General Fan jests. Someone, provide seats for General Fan and Minister Chen,” Xiao Li ordered.

When he had previously served under Fan Yuan’s command, Fan Yuan had shown him much care. At present, speaking with Fan Yuan, he wasn’t too distant.

After the two were seated, soon Xiao Li’s personal guards stepped forward to pour tea for them.

Now both Liang and Chen territories in Liang lands honored Wen Yu as their lord. After Jiang Yu died in Liang territory as a Qieji spy, Wen Yu reorganized Chen Kingdom’s court. With Xiling’s military invasion, she temporarily could not dispatch generals over. The Chen army remaining in Liang territory temporarily obeyed Chen Wei’s command.

Thus today’s ostensible three-party talks actually only had generals from the Liang and Xiao camps.

Fan Yuan saw that spread on Xiao Li’s desk were military maps of Luodu’s four city gates. He surmised that earlier he must have been discussing the next round of siege plans with his subordinate generals.

Recalling the day’s siege setback, he sighed: “During today’s siege, the Pei camp’s defensive tactics were very devious. My great army had nearly pressed the war chariots to the base of the city tower. When the archers shot arrows at the city tower, they actually used catapults to hurl down over a hundred clay jars. After the sharp arrows broke them open, inside was all quicklime. Of the five hundred archers in camp, all had their eyes burned by the quicklime. Right now they’re still lying in the wounded soldiers’ camp!”

Hearing this, Zheng Hu immediately said: “Exactly! Today when we attacked the north city tower, the tower also threw down clay jars, but inside they were all filled with fire oil. After our shield formation was smashed with gaps by rolling stones from the opposite side, that fire oil poured over. Once ignited by fire arrows, the battlefield instantly burned into a sea of flames! The wounded soldiers’ camp is also still lying full of soldiers burned and trampled in the chaos.”

When Zhang Huai heard Fan Yuan say their siege was also broken by the Pei camp’s strange tactics, his expression had already become thoughtful. He glanced at Xiao Li, who had been unusually silent since returning from the battlefield, but still chose not to speak out.

Chen Wei, who came together with Fan Yuan, said: “The Pei camp’s defensive tactics today were very different from the past. I ordered several strong assaults but the opposite side blocked them all. There are still tens of thousands of Pei soldiers inside Luodu city. Pei Song also personally led troops to attack into Luodu before – he knows where Luodu’s weak points are. Before the Marquis of Shuobian’s southern expedition last year, he had already reinforced Luodu’s city defenses. Over this past half year he also stockpiled sufficient grain and military supplies in the city, presumably to deal with this kind of siege today. At present, even using rotating assault tactics to wear them down, in the short term we probably can’t exhaust them to death.”

Thinking of the consequences after today’s battle, his complexion became increasingly ugly: “I don’t know who the expert helping Pei Song defend Luodu is. If it’s Gongsun Chou, when I was in Jinzhou, I also exchanged blows with this person.”

He quickly shook his head: “Today’s battle doesn’t resemble Gongsun Chou’s fighting style. After this battle, the Pei camp reversed their previous trend of consecutive defeats, their morale greatly boosted. If we attack the city again and cannot capture it in one strike, I fear the blow to our army’s morale will be even greater.”

Over this past half year, the Liang, Xiao, and Chen forces had been pressing down on Pei Song the entire time. It could be said that everyone felt that after forcing Pei Song into defending Luodu, very soon should come the end of these two years of chaos.

The soldiers below also had high morale from consecutive victories.

But today’s defeat interrupted that momentum.

As the saying goes: one effort brings vigor, again brings decline, thrice brings exhaustion.

If they fought another losing battle, the morale of both sides would shift to the enemy rising while theirs fell.

At that time it would be extremely unfavorable for them.

All the generals present understood this point. For a time their expressions were all somewhat ugly.

Xiao Li, who had been silent for a long time, spoke: “It’s Qin Yi.”

Once that name emerged, both sides of the long table briefly fell silent.

Fan Yuan and Chen Wei even saw shock in each other’s eyes.

Zheng Hu didn’t know about Pei Song’s past, nor did he know much about former Liang’s various affairs. At present, seeing not one person in the tent making a sound, he still felt confused: “Who is Qin Yi?”

Xiao Li answered: “Pei Song’s biological father.”

Zheng Hu cursed: “Then isn’t he just an old traitor?”

No one in the tent spoke.

Zheng Hu realized he might have said something wrong, but also didn’t feel cursing Pei Song’s father was inappropriate. He could only say confusedly: “But why haven’t I heard this father of Pei Song’s name before? Only now does he pop up to help his turtle son?”

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed: “Father and son don’t even share the same surname.”

After glancing at Xiao Li, Fan Yuan lightly coughed and explained: “The Princess has already verified that Pei Song’s original name was Qin Huan. He is the only son of Great General Qin Yi, who was imprisoned years ago for a treason charge with hidden circumstances. When Pei Song previously used his divisive stratagem, he claimed the Marquis learned from his father.”

Zheng Hu immediately exclaimed “Ah,” hastily turning to look at Xiao Li, stammering his question: “Se… Second Brother, when did this happen?”

Zhang Huai’s eyes revealed some understanding, finally comprehending the reason for Xiao Li’s unusual behavior since returning from the battlefield.

When Xiao Li heard the two characters “Qin Huan,” his gaze briefly condensed.

Then, as if unwilling to mention this past matter further, his brow showed complete cold indifference. Lowering his long lashes slightly, he said: “Entered prison in childhood, received his care.”

Zheng Hu knew about Xiao Li’s imprisonment, and also knew that he would still go to the prison every year to see that mad and deranged old man.

For a moment he was speechless. He raised his hand to rub the back of his head repeatedly, not knowing what else to say.

Zhang Huai spoke at the appropriate time: “The Pei camp has repeatedly used poisonous schemes intending to put the Marquis to death. Using that past connection, they could harm the Marquis quite severely.”

These words undoubtedly separated Xiao Li from it, indicating to everyone that even if Xiao Li once had teacher-student ties with Qin Yi, he had always been framed by the Pei camp and had no connection whatsoever with them.

Now that Qin Yi was helping Pei Song defend the city against them, that could only make him an enemy.

Fan Yuan and Chen Wei understood the meaning in Zhang Huai’s words. Fan Yuan immediately followed his words: “Exactly. If not for that divisive stratagem by the Pei camp back then, why would the Marquis have left the Liang camp?”

He made a sound of dismissal, waving his hand: “Let’s not mention these old moldy matters anymore. The Marquis now has his own domain – this can be considered finding another opportunity. It’s just that Qin Yi is now helping his son aid the tyrant in his tyranny, which is truly troublesome.”

Pei Song had troops, and Qin Yi was a veteran general who had experienced hundreds of battles.

Today’s siege battle was the clearest example.

Once Pei Song restored the army’s morale, for them it would absolutely be a brutal battle. Who knew how many more common soldiers’ lives would have to be sacrificed below.

Campaigning against Pei Song for two years, they had finally cut off all his escape routes and exhausted his fighting spirit, precisely to achieve victory in one strike.

As generals, naturally they all wanted fewer of their subordinates to die.

Zhang Huai said: “Regarding this person Qin Yi, Huai heard a few accounts of his deeds from unofficial histories in earlier years. I heard that originally General Weichi’s merits were so great he had the momentum to jointly rule the realm with Liang’s founding ancestor. It was to cultivate his own military power that Liang’s founding ancestor heavily used him. His methods of leading troops to war also resembled General Weichi’s somewhat.”

Hearing this, Fan Yuan couldn’t help but sigh with regret: “I only hate that fate was unkind. Duke Ling had already invited old General Weichi out of retirement, but unfortunately both died in the battle at Wajiao Fortress.”

The discussion had reached this point, but there was still no concrete plan for how to fight the upcoming battle to attack Luodu.

In this tent, the only one who understood Qin Yi somewhat more was Xiao Li.

The gazes of all the generals subconsciously swept toward Xiao Li. After two breaths of silence, he spoke: “When I entered prison in childhood, he was already mad. That he can now help Pei Song fight wars – I don’t know if Pei Song cured his madness, or used some other method. At present the Pei camp’s morale is surging. It’s not advisable to attack forcefully again. We can first besiege Luodu for a month. During this time, dispatch small units to attack the city as probes, analyzing the opposite side’s tactics.”

After hearing this, Fan Yuan couldn’t help but strike the table in praise: “This plan is excellent! A month’s time can both let the Pei camp’s morale fall back down again, and in repeated surprise attacks, make the Pei camp’s military morale become unsettled again.”

After all, as Luodu was Great Liang’s imperial city, inside were many markets and neighborhoods, but no farmland to be self-sufficient.

No matter how much grain Pei Song had stockpiled previously, with tens of thousands of troops eating for one day, they would have one day less of military provisions.

They could even directly guard Luodu’s four city gates, surrounding them until the day their grain supplies were exhausted.

With this anxiety and fear compounding, the longer the siege, the faster the military morale inside the city would only collapse.

However, this also carried some burden for them, as the expenses for various military resources were not a small sum.

Chen Wei also nodded: “This plan is feasible. During this period I’ll also have people compile records of Qin Yi’s past campaigns for all to analyze, to further understand this person’s methods of using troops.”

This meeting of discussion thus ended here.

After the generals departed, Xiao Li also left the great tent.

The wind and snow were heavy at night. He didn’t wear a cloak, just walked through the snow for some distance before stopping at a water vat prepared with water. Leaning against the stone vat, from the vat rim covered with thin snow and the water surface frozen with a layer of solid ice, he picked up a piece of floating ice, holding it in his palm, letting his palm’s warmth slowly melt it.

Moonlight shone on him. The shadow cast on the ground also appeared desolate.

Only when the solid ice in his palm was nearly melted did he raise his head to look at the cold crescent moon hanging high in the firmament.

In this life of his, the things he had obtained were extremely few.

What he had lost, however, was always enough to pain him to the bone and marrow.

Now what he wanted to grasp in his hands was only that moon.

He had also seen that moon be gentle.

That was where he belonged.

–

Chen Kingdom, Zhaohua Palace.

The battle reports from Liang territory arrived at Wen Yu’s desk half a month late. Little A Li could now recognize people. Once she woke and didn’t see Wen Yu, she would cry and fuss terribly – no one else’s coaxing worked.

But as long as Wen Yu was beside her, even if Wen Yu was busy handling government affairs and didn’t really pay attention to her, she would play energetically by herself in the cradle, stretching her hands and feet. When tired, she would blow bubbles and fall asleep again, not even needing anyone to coax her.

Wen Yu had no choice but to have people place the cradle beside her even when handling government affairs.

At present, she looked at the battle report with slightly furrowed brows. Yang Baolin, who was helping to amuse little A Li by the cradle, couldn’t help but ask upon seeing this: “Is the campaign against Pei Song not going smoothly?”

Wen Yu passed the battle report over.

After reading it, Yang Baolin also furrowed her brows: “Qin Yi has also formally rebelled?”

Wen Yu didn’t respond to this, only saying: “Only Luodu remains to be recaptured. During this year’s spring plowing, the prefectures south of Luodu should hurry. First let the common people settle down. With military supplies provided, we need not fear Pei Song staying closed in defense indefinitely.”

Luodu’s defeat had already become inevitable. Even if Pei Song could still hold out for several months relying on the stored grain stockpiled in Luodu, the day would eventually come when the stockpiled provisions would be exhausted.

Yang Baolin wasn’t worried about the battle at Luodu. Her gaze fixed on the several characters “Northern Border Marquis Xiao” in the battle report.

A Li was not the Chen King’s offspring, and her father was not Jiang Yu either. Regarding A Li’s biological father, Yang Baolin had at one time also been unable to figure out who it was. Since Wen Yu never said, she also never asked, only assuming that Wen Yu initially wanted this child to resolve South Chen’s situation.

Over this past half year, news of that Northern Border Marquis Xiao frequently appeared on Wen Yu’s desk. She had only assumed Wen Yu was concerned about the situation in Liang territory.

But after inadvertently discovering that Zhaobai seemed to have considerable prejudice toward this person, she finally detected something amiss.

Yang Baolin looked toward Wen Yu bending down to amuse her daughter, opening her mouth with slight hesitation: “A Yu, it’s almost March. Should we let the court know of A Li’s existence?”

Wen Yu had publicly claimed she became pregnant in May last year. Counting the months, she should give birth in March this year.

If she wanted to thoroughly consolidate political power, finding a male infant to claim as the royal heir would be most appropriate.

But from pregnancy until now, Wen Yu had already boldly reformed the court system, appointed so many female officials from Zhaoyun Pavilion, also established women’s civil service examinations in the court, using countless checks and balances to transform Chen Kingdom’s court into its current appearance.

Using a male infant again to stabilize her position seemed unnecessary.

Moreover, the palace was now entirely controlled by Wen Yu. If she truthfully announced publicly that she gave birth to a young princess, since the court ministers couldn’t see A Li, the matter of A Li’s incorrect months would be extremely easy to conceal.

Once she grew older, who could still discern the difference in months?

Wen Yu was slightly distracted by Yang Baolin’s words. Her knuckle was gripped by A Li’s soft and delicate five fingers, surprisingly strong.

She lowered her eyes to look at her daughter, whose upper palate had just grown a bit of rice-colored baby teeth, smiling at her. She said: “Then let them know.”

Yang Baolin froze.

These words meant – publicly announce the birth of a daughter?

She hesitated briefly, but still asked: “That Northern Border Marquis Xiao – after defeating Pei Song, what does the Princess plan to do?”