At dawn, piercing horn calls suddenly rang out one after another through the camp. Banners fluttered violently as thundering hoofbeats filled the air.

Yao Ying jolted awake. In the dim light of the tent, a figure stood motionless beside the long table, his clothes neat and proper, concentrating on the distant horn calls.

After a moment, he lowered his gaze to look at her.

“Today I must lead a central army unit to break camp. Bisuo and Mopiduo will stay behind to oversee provisions and supplies, escorting the heavy equipment. Princess, remain in camp. Yuanjue will come to find you – consult with him if anything comes up.”

His tone was serious.

Yao Ying agreed, but before she could get up, he picked up the long sword beside his blanket and strode out.

“General, you’re still injured – don’t forget to change your bandages, and please be careful.”

Yao Ying called softly, wrapped in her felt mat. Just woken from sleep, her voice was soft and husky.

Tanmoluojia’s steps paused. With his back to her, he made a gentle sound of acknowledgment before lifting the felt curtain and leaving.

Outside the tent came a mix of voices, footsteps, horse neighs, and the muffled sounds of armor and weapons clashing. Though busy, there was no chaos. The wind howled.

Yao Ying collected herself, quickly dressed, and got up. Yuanjue hurried over and led her to another camp location.

On the long road below the hillside stretched a dense mass of black. As the morning glow filled the sky, the soldiers marched north with dawn light on their shoulders. From such a distance, the leading commander’s figure was indistinct.

After eating some nang bread, Yao Ying was handling documents recording warhorse allocations when Bisuo’s guard came to find her.

“The Commander accidentally captured some scattered soldiers from a small tribe. They had tried to attack the Keke tribe but were surrounded for several days and nights. The Commander captured them alive. Among them are two or three hundred Han people. The General doesn’t know how to handle them. Could Young Master Bayan handle the transfer? The others don’t understand the Han language.”

Yao Ying immediately agreed.

The royal army moved with swift decisiveness. To prevent revealing the main force’s location, they kept captured prisoners under strict guard. With the current tense situation, prisoners, refugees, and tribal cavalry were all held together, making conflict likely to break out. They needed proper handling. She had already helped resolve several disputes these past few days.

Yao Ying brought the personal guards to the prisoner camp. The vice commander was busy and didn’t even look up when she arrived, just pointing out two soldiers for her.

“They’re just Han slave people. Why should General Ashina bother? In my opinion, killing them would be simpler.”

The personal guard beside Yao Ying’s expression changed, but she shook her head at him and remained silent, following the soldiers to the cattle pen.

“Remember, this is the royal court. How the royal court deploys troops and makes strategy is not for us to comment on. These captured Han people fought for the Northern Rong – in the eyes of the royal court commanders, they are enemies.”

Once outside the tent, Yao Ying quietly reminded the personal guards.

The guards sobered and respectfully agreed.

At the cattle pen, the stench of blood, filth, and rotting waste could be smelled from far away. The pen was built low, forcing the prisoners inside to look up at the guard soldiers.

The soldiers called out several times, ordering the guards to bring out some Han people for questioning. The guards randomly picked several people, but Yao Ying stepped forward to stop them, signaling to her guard with her eyes.

The personal guard looked down at the group and asked in a clear voice: “Why did you attack the Keke tribe? Why do you fight for the Northern Rong?”

He spoke in perfect, fluent Han language. The Han prisoners were stunned, completely silent for a moment.

Yao Ying stood to the side observing their reactions, noticing how after their initial shock, the Han prisoners instinctively looked toward the corner. She pointed to several men in the corner: “Bring them up.”

The soldiers picked out three prisoners, pressing down on their shoulders to force them to kneel.

Yao Ying waved her hand, telling the soldiers to release them. “Where are your ancestral homes? How did you come to fight for the Northern Rong?”

The three prisoners glanced around, seeing the tall, impressive personal guards standing behind her – both Han and Hu people among them, clearly of some status in the royal army. They exchanged a look.

With several sharp cracks, the impatient soldiers lashed out with whips, shouting harshly: “Answer!”

Yao Ying’s brows furrowed slightly, but she didn’t stop them, saying: “As long as you tell the truth and stop fighting for the Northern Rong, I can plead with the General to spare all your lives.”

The oldest man among the prisoners gave a cold laugh: “How can you guarantee that? We are Han people, the lowest of the low in Northern Rong territory. Coming to the royal court would be no different from the Northern Rong.”

Yao Ying replied calmly: “It is different. The royal court’s ruler is the Buddha’s Son. You are his prisoners of war, and he never kills prisoners needlessly. He will pardon and forgive you. No one dares to question his decisions. In the royal court, people of all tribes are the Buddha’s Son’s subjects, treated equally.”

Her gentle, steady gaze rested on each person’s face for a moment.

“If you refuse to submit, then you’ll be war prizes, given as slaves to nobles and meritorious commanders, never able to buy your freedom.”

The man exchanged glances with the other two, showing doubt: “If we submit, will the Buddha’s Son forgive us?”

Yao Ying said: “Haven’t you heard of the Wujili tribe? Their tribe once made a living raiding royal court merchant caravans. Later they submitted to the Buddha’s Son, and their tribe was preserved.”

“I am Han. When I make a guarantee, I am completely certain.”

She paused, her tone deepening slightly.

“Provided you are willing to submit.”

The man narrowed his eyes, pondering for a moment before saying: “We can submit, and we can tell you what the Northern Rong made us do – but we have one request! If you meet this request, we’re willing to lay down our lives for the royal court!”

Yao Ying said: “Please speak freely.”

The man stared intently at her: “We request that the Buddha’s Son grant us to Princess Wenzhao! The royal court nobles are just like Northern Rong nobles – only Princess Wenzhao would treat us well.”

Yao Ying: …

Beside her, Yuanjue had gradually learned to understand simple Han language. Hearing the words “Buddha’s Son” and “Princess Wenzhao,” his eyes immediately lit up as he gave her a questioning look.

Yao Ying explained quietly to him.

Yuanjue thought for a moment and said: “Princess can agree to this. The King is compassionate and strictly forbids killing prisoners. As long as the Princess pays the customary ransom for these people, the King will certainly grant them to the Princess. The court ministers and army commanders won’t object.”

Wherever Yao Ying’s merchant caravans went, they tried to rescue local Central Plains dynasty refugees who had fallen into slavery. As they rescued more and more people, to avoid arousing hostility from the local royal court people, she used extremely rare treasures to buy two oasis towns from two small city-state rulers. She moved all the rescued people out of the royal court territory, having them learn farming and business from Old Qi and the others who had been rescued earlier. She also had them gradually build up armed forces – male or female, anyone who could carry a blade had to train.

She did all this openly, without concealment. Her merchant caravans maintained close relations with Hu merchants, often winning over officials and nobles with novel curiosities. The ransoms she paid fed the nobles of various countries, and since the rescued people were gradually sent out of royal court territory, the royal court nobles were happy to see it happen and hoped she would rescue more refugees.

Yao Ying smiled slightly. “No wonder Bisuo had me come handle these Han prisoners – he already knew what they would request.”

“Yuanjue, go inform the vice commander.”

Yuanjue thought it unnecessary, but seeing Yao Ying’s insistence, he agreed and went to explain the situation to the vice commander, producing his seal. As Tanmoluojia’s guard, the vice commander dared not object and readily agreed.

Having obtained the vice commander’s promise, Yao Ying then told the Han man: “As long as you submit, Princess Wenzhao will do her best to arrange your ransom.”

The man brightened, his gaze becoming sharp: “Do you know Princess Wenzhao?”

Yao Ying nodded, speaking each word distinctly: “Indeed – my guarantee is Princess Wenzhao’s guarantee.”

The three men stared at her, their expressions moved, joy flashing across their faces.

“We believe in Princess Wenzhao!”

The lead man glanced back at his people in the cattle pen, made his decision, and clasped his hands in response to Yao Ying’s earlier question: “Our ancestors came from Hexi, born in Yizhou. Our fathers were all captured and taken to Yizhou. We intermarried with locals, slaved for the Northern Rong, and still had to pay heavy taxes – cattle, sheep, cloth, furs, women – whatever they wanted, we had to give. Recently there was internal strife in the Northern Rong, and our tribe was conscripted. All the young and strong men were forced onto the battlefield. We were originally transporting provisions for the Northern Rong. This month, the commander suddenly ordered us to split up and follow several cavalry units to attack all small tribes. Those who didn’t follow orders would be killed.”

Yao Ying frowned.

So the Northern Rong were indeed forcing their vassal tribes to attack tribes that had submitted to the royal court.

The Han man caught his breath and continued: “I can tell you another piece of news – the Haidu Aling prince has brought reinforcements for the Northern Rong!”

Yao Ying’s pupils contracted as countless possibilities flashed through her mind.

“What reinforcements?”

She asked calmly.

The Han man shook his head and said: “No one knows who the reinforcements are. We happened to transport provisions for the Haidu Aling prince. The prince took his guards on a detour to the north. His guards boasted while drunk that the prince would bring tens of thousands of reinforcements for the Northern Rong. They said when these heaven-sent troops arrived, even the Buddha’s Son with divine protection couldn’t win this war. But no one believed them.”

Yao Ying remained silent for a long while, slowly calming herself. She left one personal guard to handle the remaining matters, instructing the soldiers to treat the Han prisoners well, then turned to leave.

The royal court was already short of troops, which was why they needed to concentrate their forces to fight the Northern Rong. If the Northern Rong truly had powerful reinforcements coming, the royal court would face a combined army several times their size.

She worried the Han man might be a spy deliberately sent by the Northern Rong to disturb the royal court army’s morale. Though anxious inside, her face remained impassive. As she walked, she recalled the sand table she had seen, wondering where Haidu Aling might find reinforcements if the man’s words were true.

After just a few steps, the Han man remembered something and called out to stop her: “Young sir, if you can see Princess Wenzhao, please give her a message!”

Yao Ying stopped.

The Han man came forward, glanced around, and said quietly: “Please tell Princess Wenzhao that Han people from the Central Plains are asking about her.”

Yao Ying was still thinking about the reinforcements and seemed distracted, not reacting for a long time. When she finally registered what the man had said, her mind exploded and her body froze as her heart began to pound wildly.

Her lips moved, wanting to ask questions, but she couldn’t form a complete syllable. Her blood seemed to flow backward – she could even hear it rushing through her veins.

In these chaotic times of war, who would risk traveling thousands of miles to foreign lands to ask about her…

It could only be Li Zhongqian.

Brother had come.

Her intuition had been right – the Han people the Wakhan Khan’s troops were hunting might well be Li Zhongqian.

Why had he gone to the Northern Rong?

Was he out of danger now?

If he was caught by the Northern Rong while rushing recklessly to save her…

A cold wind carrying murky air hit her face. Yao Ying’s eyes grew hot and her nose stung as she finally heard her trembling voice: “Who is this Han person?”

The Han man shook his head and said: “I don’t know who… I just heard they were Han people from the Central Plains, asking about Princess Wenzhao in Northern Rong territory.”

Yao Ying closed her eyes briefly.

It must be Li Zhongqian.

On the way back to camp, Yao Ying remained silent, her heart churning with both joy and deep worry.

She recalled her dream from two nights ago, where Li Zhongqian, dressed as a herdsman, rode toward her on horseback only to be run through with a long sword.

Yao Ying shuddered.

…

Back at camp, Yao Ying organized the intelligence gathered from the Han man and sent it to Bisuo’s main tent.

After reading it, Bisuo frowned and asked: “Princess, can these Han people be trusted?”

Yao Ying shook her head and said: “I cannot be certain. This intelligence is only their word – perhaps Haidu Aling specifically arranged for them to confuse me and interfere with the Regent’s military operations.”

Bisuo pondered for a moment: “That’s possible, but if what they say is true, we need to quickly adjust our strategy. The Wakhan Khan is hiding his tracks – perhaps he’s waiting for reinforcements.”

Tanmoluojia hadn’t returned to camp yet. Bisuo wrote several letters and had his trusted messengers immediately ride out with them.

Yao Ying returned to her tent.

The personal guards gathered around, asking quietly: “Princess, has the young master come?”

Yao Ying said softly: “Perhaps…”

The guards exchanged glances, both shocked and delighted.

Except for the few Hu people Yao Ying had recruited later, most of the personal guards escorting her marriage were guards Li Zhongqian had personally selected for her. Hearing that Li Zhongqian had come looking for her, they were naturally excited.

Yao Ying’s hands were still trembling in her sleeves. She drank a bowl of cold mare’s milk, forcing herself to calm down, and sat down to write a letter.

Before she finished the letter, a guard brought her a leather scroll: “Princess, General Jin just delivered this.”

Yao Ying opened the scroll, let out a breath, and smiled as she hurried to Bisuo’s main tent.

“Whether Haidu Aling’s reinforcements are real or false, the reinforcements I requested for the royal court have arrived.”

Bisuo remembered this matter and raised his eyebrows: “They came?”

Before leaving the holy city, Yao Ying had asked Tanmoluojia’s permission. Though her forces were small, she was willing to help the royal court. If things went well with Yuchi Damo, they could also send troops to assist from the side. Naturally, Bisuo and the others wouldn’t refuse such help.

Yao Ying nodded: “It’s the Ale tribe. They’ve reached White Spring.”

Bisuo smiled with clasped hands, then frowned as he thought of something.

Yao Ying smiled. “General need not worry. The royal court army’s troop deployments are confidential. The Ale tribe are outsiders after all – they don’t know the main army’s location and will station at White Spring.”

Bisuo relaxed: “That would be best. Thank you for your consideration, Princess. I can send a unit to guide them.”

Yao Ying made a sound of agreement and said: “The Ale are suspicious by nature. Only if I appear personally will they lower their guard. When will the General’s unit depart?”

Bisuo examined the sand table. Between White Spring and the camp were royal court scout relay stations. The area contained vast flat plains and low hills, with no deep forests or valleys – the Northern Rong’s main army couldn’t hide there.

“We can depart in half an hour. I’ll have Mopiduo escort the Princess.”

Half an hour later, Mopiduo led a unit to escort Yao Ying to White Spring.

With several whooshes, fierce winds struck the banners as the personal guards raised flagpoles on both sides of the unit.

Mopiduo looked back at the flags flying under the clear sky.

This wasn’t the royal court’s military banner.

It belonged to Princess Wenzhao.

He looked at Li Yao Ying.

Yao Ying wore a narrow-sleeved robe, lying forward on horseback, her posture increasingly practiced.

Mopiduo smiled and turned back to focus on driving his horse.

…

The name White Spring came from a spring pool in the desert. After sending his message, Ale led his tribe to make camp beside the spring pool. Just as they finished planning the camp layout, dust clouds rose in the north as dozens of riders galloped toward them.

The camp scouts had already warned them. Ale rode up a hill, squinting as he watched for a while before recognizing the banner flying in the wind. He said: “It’s Princess Wenzhao.”

The cavalry still didn’t relax their guard, bows bent with arrows nocked, ready to lose thousands of arrows at any moment.

Yao Ying galloped up to the camp and stopped.

Soon, Ale rode out from the camp and clasped his hands to her: “Princess, I have come.”

Yao Ying smiled and returned the greeting, signaling to her guards behind her.

The guards dismounted and brought forward several large boxes, lifting the lids to reveal gleaming gold.

Ale’s eyes lit up. He had his men carry away the boxes and laughed heartily: “The Princess is indeed straightforward.”

After exchanging greetings, he pulled a letter from his chest.

“A letter for the Princess from Yang Qian. He feared messenger hawks would be intercepted by the Northern Rong, so he asked me to deliver it.”

Yao Ying thanked him, took the letter, rode to one side, and lowered her head to read.