That evening, Damo held a grand banquet at the palace to welcome Li Yao Ying’s party, while also receiving envoys from other prefectures and discussing investiture matters with the Great Wei envoys.

Yao Ying, still in her traveling clothes, said: “Currently the war situation is pressing, provisions are nearly exhausted, and military funds are insufficient. There’s no need for such formalities. The heavenly envoys are old acquaintances of mine, not ones to stick to minor details – no need for extravagance…”

As she spoke, she looked toward Zheng Jing and the others.

The group exchanged glances before hurriedly clasping their hands in greeting: “Precisely so. We come by the imperial command to join forces with the Western Army’s righteous warriors, together defeating the Northern Rong and recovering lost territories – such elaborate ceremonies can be dispensed with.”

Damo started slightly, approval flashing in his eyes as he bowed deeply to Yao Ying: “The Princess speaks wisely. I’ll have the banquet withdrawn right away. I often hear that Chang’an is renowned for its tea culture – I admire Chang’an’s elegance and like to follow refined customs. Please, let the heavenly envoys sample our local tea.”

Attendants came forward to lead Zheng Jing and the others to the side hall for tea.

Yao Ying deliberately fell back a few steps, and Damo took the opportunity to report several important matters: “The envoys sent to Yanqi, Beiting, Khotan, and Kucha have successively returned. All prefectures have suffered greatly from the war and eagerly hope for restoration, but the current situation remains unclear. They make excuses to delay sending troops and are unwilling to send their sons to Chang’an with tribute.”

Sending their direct heirs to Chang’an at this time would amount to complete submission to the Wei Dynasty. After long years of warfare between the Central Plains and Western Regions, the prefectures feared the Wei court lacked the power to protect them and worried about Northern Rong retaliation, so they remained cautious.

Yao Ying wasn’t at all surprised by the prefectures’ wavering. Their forces were weak, surviving in the gaps between greater powers – shifting allegiances was their way of survival.

“Once we recover Yizhou and connect with the Hexi Corridor, the prefectures will naturally submit.”

Damo nodded in agreement and took out the documents Zheng Jing and the others had brought.

Li De had officially appointed Yao Ying as Commander of the Western Army, with other Western Army leaders also receiving promotions. Gaochang would restore its old system, returning to the name of Western Prefecture, with Damo no longer as sovereign but as Protector-General of the Western Prefecture.

Yao Ying looked up, “The Elder Brother is noble-minded.”

Damo smiled with some emotion: “I can hardly be called noble-minded. For years I lived in confusion, couldn’t even protect my wife… was nothing but a puppet. But my late father’s dying wish I’ve always kept in my heart. When I meet them below ground, at least I won’t be ashamed to face them…”

Seeing his melancholy expression, Yao Ying changed the subject, asking about military preparations.

After they discussed for a while, Damo remembered something and called over several young commanders, smiling: “These are the young men who helped Fourth Brother raise the volunteer army – Third Young Master Zhang, Seventh Young Master Yuan, Eleventh Young Master Zhao, Second Young Master Song…”

The commanders wore embroidered brocade robes, appearing strong and handsome, bright and vigorous – noble sons raised in luxury. They came forward one by one to greet Yao Ying.

Yao Ying inwardly exclaimed in surprise – these commanders were the young men she’d met outside the city. At that time they had just emerged from a bloody battle and behaved rather stiffly. Now back in the city, they had changed clothes and carried themselves with much more composure, though still visibly nervous.

Damo said: “Fourth Brother is busy with military affairs and cannot attend the Princess. From now on, Zhang San and the others will follow the Princess, taking orders only from you.”

Yao Ying maintained her composure and smiled slightly.

Damo went ahead to the side hall to keep Zheng Jing and the others company over tea, letting Yao Ying chat with Zhang San and the group. Before leaving, he gave Zhang San and the others a meaningful look.

Zhang San and his companions coughed several times, appearing increasingly uncomfortable.

Yao Ying caught all their exchanged glances and asked Zhang San and the others to help her fetch something from Yang Qian.

The group eagerly rolled up their sleeves, responding in unison before turning to run off, each afraid of being beaten to the task.

Yao Ying frowned as laughter sounded behind her.

Li Zhongqian climbed the steps while brushing flower petals from his body and head: “Mingyue Nu, can’t you see Damo’s intention?”

Yao Ying sighed: “Are all these men…?”

Li Zhongqian shook his head: “Not just these – they’re the most outstanding ones Damo and Yang Qian selected from all eligible noble sons. If you don’t like any of them, they can immediately produce another batch.”

Yao Ying didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

No wonder these young men unconsciously straightened their backs upon seeing her and quietly competed with those beside them. The noble families wanted to form marriage alliances – these were potential prince consorts. Judging by their surnames, all the local noble families, without exception, had joined this competition.

“See any you like?” Li Zhongqian asked.

Yao Ying let out a long breath: “Brother, stop asking – not a single one.”

Li Zhongqian frowned.

“They’re accomplished in both civil and military arts, of upright character, noble birth, dignified appearance, and close to your age. You don’t need to decide right away.”

“No need. If we delay, conflict among the noble families would be unfortunate. I’m not choosing any of them.”

Li Zhongqian’s expression changed slightly as he gestured for the guards to withdraw.

“Why won’t you choose any? Mingyue Nu, do you already have someone in mind?”

He asked, his voice carrying a hint of sternness.

Yao Ying stopped at the steps, turning to gaze westward where mighty mountains rose and fell along the horizon, the distant royal court invisible.

She was lost in thought for a moment before looking up at Li Zhongqian, “Brother, I’ve wanted to ask you – why are you in such a hurry for me to marry?”

“If you marry soon, I’ll be more at ease.”

Yao Ying’s brows furrowed slightly.

He had mentioned this before, but now circumstances were different. She didn’t need marriage to establish herself – why was Li Zhongqian still pressuring her to marry?

Yao Ying’s eyes darted about as she deliberately put on a serious face, “Once I’m married, will I no longer be your sister? Will you stop caring about me? Are you in a hurry to find me a home because you don’t want to look after me anymore?”

Li Zhongqian glared: “What nonsense are you thinking? Married or not, you’re always Li Zhongqian’s sister. Your brother will never stop looking after you.”

Yao Ying met his gaze: “Then why are you rushing me to marry?”

Li Zhongqian’s expression softened somewhat as he reached out to ruffle her hair: “You’ll have to marry eventually – better to choose someone good now.”

Yao Ying’s eyes flickered as she grabbed his hand, “Brother, what are you planning? Are you hiding something from me?”

Li Zhongqian looked away.

“Brother, what are you keeping from me?”

“Nothing.”

Li Zhongqian said flatly, stepping away.

“Li Zhongqian!”

Anger flashed across Yao Ying’s face as she called his full name for the first time, catching up to grab his arm: “Don’t hide from me… Are you planning to die together with Li De?”

Li Zhongqian closed his eyes briefly.

“As long as he lives, we’ll never know peace. Once things are settled here, I’ll go back and kill him.”

He couldn’t bear to leave Yao Ying alone in the world. If she married early and had a husband and then children, she would have attachments. Then even if he died in Chang’an, she would still have other family members by her side.

Yao Ying’s eyes reddened slightly, “Brother, this matter can be carefully considered… More than revenge, I want you to live well.”

“You think if I marry, I’ll become an outsider with no connection to you? If you seek revenge, I can stay uninvolved? Brother, you’re wrong – I’ll always be your sister. If anything happens to you, no matter where I am, I’ll come find you.”

Her voice was gentle, hoarse, and firm.

Li Zhongqian gazed down at her motionlessly, his heart both warmed and pained. After a long while, he sighed deeply and hugged her.

What a foolish girl.

Yao Ying held his arm and spoke slowly: “Brother, stop worrying about my marriage from now on. Back in the Central Plains, I knew Li De’s intentions and considered marriage. Later when I was stranded at the royal court, I went through many things. Now I can finally reunite with you… Let me be honest with you, Brother – unless it’s someone I love, I won’t consider marriage.”

“Brother, you raised me – you know my nature. I don’t like constraints and don’t like being confined to the inner quarters all day. The books I read are unorthodox… Noble families have many rules – I’m impatient with such matters and won’t compromise just to get married.”

“Before, I couldn’t decide my marriage. Now that I can make my own decisions, why should I still compromise myself to marry for marriage’s sake?”

“What’s wrong with never marrying in my lifetime?”

Hearing this, Li Zhongqian knew she had made up her mind and stopped in his tracks: “You really won’t choose a prince consort?”

Yao Ying smiled, her expression brightening: “If there’s no one I like, then no.”

“What if there is someone you like?”

“Then I’ll love him well.”

Li Zhongqian was lost in thought for a moment, “Alright, your brother won’t force you to choose a prince consort.”

Yao Ying looked into his eyes: “Brother, promise me you won’t do anything foolish alone. Discuss things with me – we both need to live well.”

Li Zhongqian patted her head.

“Alright, I promise you.”

Yao Ying breathed a sigh of relief and entered the side hall, where tea fragrance wafted through the air as Zheng Jing and the others held cups of tea mixed with butter and salt, drinking while chatting and laughing with Damo.

As she entered, Zheng Jing immediately stood up, presented the imperial edict, and after reading it and exchanging courtesies, she inquired about troop deployments.

Zheng Jing said: “The court must guard against Southern Chu and cannot spare many troops for now. Currently, only His Highness the Crown Prince’s Liangzhou army is available for deployment. However, the Princess can rest assured that the court will do its utmost to gather provisions and supplies so the Western Army need not worry about its rear.”

Then he spoke of marriage alliances – Li De had selected several imperial clan women to be titled princesses, to be married to sons of noble families about to submit. Additionally, he had proposed a marriage between a minister’s son and Damo’s daughter.

Li Zhongqian smiled coldly – Li De planned to use marriage alliances to win over the noble families.

Yao Ying had anticipated Li De would do this and said nothing. While marriage alliances were useful, they weren’t all-powerful.

After finishing official business, Zheng Jing and the others took their leave.

Yao Ying discussed matters with Damo and Yang Qian, who had hurried over. Soon after, she summoned guards, had paper and ink prepared, wrote several letters, took out the imperial seal that the court had sent, stamped them, signed her name, and issued a series of edicts.

“Proclaim the court’s will throughout the regions in the Western Army’s name, comfort all citizens who have donated grain and money to the Western Army.”

“Have the Western Army distribute food and medicine to tribes that have just experienced warfare.”

“Create registers to record households. For those previously falsely imprisoned by the Northern Rong, investigate and release the innocent. For those who fled from other regions, grant amnesty for past offenses.”

“The Western Regions have many believers – find respected monks, elders, and priests to comfort their followers – do this for Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism alike.”

“Local officials, whether Hu or Han, whether they previously followed the Northern Rong or the Protector-General, as long as they have local prestige, work for the people’s benefit, and maintain a good reputation, may retain their positions as appropriate.”

“Send envoys among the people, let citizens from all regions submit petitions. For officials who abuse their power, enslave the people, and commit grave crimes, once verified, punish according to law.”

…

As command after command was issued, guards carrying the edicts plunged into the dusk.

Yao Ying was exhausted, sweating profusely.

While they must fight battles, they must also comfort the people. Only when people experienced tangible benefits and grace would they truly support the Western Army from their hearts?

In the following days, Yao Ying grew busier with each passing day.

As the edicts were implemented, her reputation and that of the Western Army grew steadily among the people.

Damo saw she didn’t like those officers and indeed quickly replaced them with a new batch of young lords.

Every day people found new ways to court Yao Ying, but she tactfully told Damo she had no interest in marriage now.

Damo tried a different approach: “Then might the Duke of Wei be interested in taking a wife?”

He proceeded to list over a dozen young ladies’ names.

Yao Ying raised her eyebrows and declined on Li Zhongqian’s behalf – marriage alliances were his trauma; he wouldn’t marry for such reasons.

During this period, battle reports kept arriving. Military operations in Shazhou, Ganzhou, and Suzhou areas proceeded smoothly. Once the Hexi Corridor was pacified, the Western Army could concentrate its forces on recovering Yizhou.

Meanwhile, Yao Ying and the others also closely monitored military intelligence from the royal court. Mobidup relentlessly pursued the Northern Rong remnants, successfully trapping the Wahan Khan’s elite forces near the Desert Road. After the two armies remained in deadlock for some time, depleting the Northern Rong army’s provisions, Mobidup was about to launch an attack.

That evening, Yao Ying worked by lamplight while Yuanjue stood beside her fanning.

Soon after, a guard requested an audience, saying he needed to deliver festival gifts and documents to the royal court, asking if Yao Ying had any letters to send along.

“No,” Yao Ying said flatly, keeping her head down as she wrote, “Communications between the royal court and Western Army are all official matters. I will have the secretary convey military intelligence and requests through official documents. I will not have any personal letters sent to the Holy City in the future – no need to ask me again.”

The guard acknowledged and withdrew.

Yuanjue’s mouth opened slightly, his heart turning cold.

After the Princess was no longer Matangi’s daughter, she had truly cut off contact with the Holy City!

During this time, following the Princess, she hadn’t mentioned the Holy City once and hadn’t spoken of the King. Though the Western Army sent letters to the royal court almost daily, they were all cold, formal documents.

Yuanjue’s hand trembled as he fanned.

The Princess truly did as she said, no longer entangling with the King, doing it so cleanly and decisively, not even mentioning him in private. He should be happy about this, but the Princess being so ruthless, turning away and forgetting the King completely… somehow, he felt uncomfortable.

He still remembered how the Princess had stepped into the fire altar without hesitation for the King – how could she forget him so quickly?

Could she have been bewitched by those handsome young lords circling her?

The more Yuanjue thought, the more he felt like a treasure had been stolen. He coughed and said: “Princess, I need to report matters to General Ashina. Does the Princess have any message you’d like me to convey?”

Yao Ying kept her head down, not even blinking, “No.”

Decisive, composed, cold, and ruthless.

Yuanjue’s shoulders slumped as he returned to his room to write a letter.

The letter was for Ashina Bi Suo. He was usually casual with Bi Suo, and couldn’t help adding some non-official content at the end of the letter.

…

Several days later, a messenger bird delivered this letter back to the Holy City. Pamir took down the scroll and delivered it directly to the stone cave.

The man sitting before the Buddha statue held prayer beads in one hand while unrolling the scroll with the other.

The letter first reported military intelligence from the Western Prefecture area, then some minor friction between the royal court and Western Army communications, followed by idle talk.

Several noble sons who admired Princess Wenzhao had traveled thousands of miles to Gaochang just to confirm she was alive. All sorts of romantic stories spread throughout the prefectures, with common people discussing enthusiastically, speculating who the Princess would choose as prince consort.

Local noble families weren’t to be outdone, finding various ways to please the Princess. Young lords would hunt a bear for the Princess one day, and pick a rare lotus for her the next, each showing their abilities.

Zheng Jing, who had nearly been betrothed to the Princess, still hadn’t taken a primary wife… seemingly still harboring intentions.

Such gossip filled the scroll densely.

Finally, it said: that Princess Wenzhao had forgotten the King completely, not mentioning him once in many days.

Tanmoloqie’s fingers trembled slightly. After finishing the letter, he read it again from the beginning, then raised his hand to hold the scroll before the candlelight, reducing it to ashes.

She was one of the mundane world, with beauty that could topple kingdoms – naturally, she would have admirers.

She had forgotten him.

Just as the scriptures say – like lightning or morning dew, all things are thus.

As an inexplicable surge of emotion rose in his chest, Tanmoloqie’s brows furrowed tightly as he turned his prayer beads, silently reciting scriptures to calm his mind.

Footsteps echoed from far to near along the corridor as Bi Suo’s voice carried over, filled with joy: “My King! Great victory at the Desert Road! The Wahan Khan fell from his horse and died! Mobidup has led the army back!”

Tanmoloqie opened his eyes.

The King’s Temple rang its bronze bells, and news of the great victory quickly spread to every corner of the Holy City. Citizens ran to spread the word, dancing with joy.

The royal guards couldn’t help but beam with excitement, eagerly discussing whether Mobidup would become the next Regent.

Court officials reacted swiftly, submitting memorials one after another, asking about Mobidup’s marriage.

Was the King preparing to bestow marriage between Princess Wenzhao and Mobidup?

It was said Mobidup would marry Princess Wenzhao after his triumphant return.

Tanmoloqie read through all the memorials, when suddenly his hand holding the brush trembled, leaving a meandering mark on the paper.

…

Two days later, news of the Desert Road victory reached Gaochang.

Everyone was overjoyed: with the old Khan dead, the Northern Rong would scatter like loose sand. Their resistance to recovering lost territory would suddenly weaken, and they could gradually recover other prefectures!

Yang Qian immediately sent urgent messages to Shazhou, telling them to prepare to gather forces to attack Yizhou.

Li Zhongqian began organizing troops. He had been to Yizhou and could coordinate with the Western Army in Shazhou to attack the Northern Rong remnants from east and west.

They had barely celebrated for two days when, early this morning, a fast rider galloped in from the west: “Princess, a plea for help from Yanqi! Their city lord responded to the Princess’s call and prepared to send envoys to Chang’an, but traitorous officials promoted by the Northern Rong led troops to besiege them. The military and civilians in the city have held out for several days but can barely hold on!”

After some discussion, they decided to have Yang Qian lead three thousand men to rescue Yanqi’s city lord.

Three thousand Western Prefecture troops set out in grand formation, raising clouds of dust.

As the city returned to calm, Yao Ying and Damo returned to the palace to continue discussing the attack on Yizhou. They worked until the afternoon when suddenly scouts reported: “A large army has passed through the rocky shoals a hundred li north!”

Damo asked puzzled: “Has Yang Qian returned?”

Yao Ying shook her head: “Yanqi is to the west, Yang Qian went west – it can’t be him.”

“Then who could it be?”

Damo frowned, ordering civilians outside the city to withdraw, the city gates to close, and the city to be put under martial law.

Everyone was bewildered, standing in the corridor waiting for news. Soon after, more scouts reported that the army was getting closer and closer to Gaochang, clearly heading for the city.

Yao Ying’s heart jumped: “A feint?”

Damo’s face darkened: “Was Yanqi just bait?”

Yao Ying’s palms went numb, but she calmed herself and said: “We’ll know soon enough.”

That day, as golden twilight fell, thundering hoofbeats sounded outside Gaochang City. On the horizon, waves of black currents rolled and surged like a tsunami, surrounding Gaochang City.

Damo stood on the city wall, his face like golden paper: “How can it be the Northern Rong?!”

He stared at the Northern Rong cavalry outside the city, black as ink and covering the earth like the tide, his whole body rigid.

“Should we request aid from the royal court?”

Where had this orderly Northern Rong army appeared from? According to their intelligence, so many Northern Rong cavalry couldn’t appear near Gaochang.

“Too late,” Yao Ying gazed at the Northern Rong cavalry formation, searching for Haidu Aling’s military banner, clenching her fists to steady herself. “First send out warnings, let nearby Western Prefecture troops return to assist.”

The mournful sound of horns blew, the atmosphere turning murderous.