After the incident with Ridamu Zi, Liangzhou Garrison became quite busy for a period. After burying the fallen recruits and erecting their memorial stones, they had to record their names in the military registry. When they returned to Shuo Capital later, they would need to distribute bereavement payments and pensions to the families of these recruits. The deceased recruits were all sentries, most of them very young. Their companions, who had spent day and night together with them, remained dejected for quite sometime after their deaths less than a year after arriving at Liangzhou Garrison.

However, despite the depression, life had to go on. Especially after this incident, Liangzhou Garrison was no longer as safe as before. Xiao Jue instructed Chief Instructor Shen to begin training new battle formations—when encountering enemies, the recruits could only achieve victory by mastering military formations.

The Southern Garrison troops had not all arrived in Liangzhou. When Xiao Jue rushed back from Qingnan, he brought ten thousand Southern Garrison troops, while the Nine Banner Camp remained in Qingnan without following. Now that Liangzhou City had become a target, it was indeed unsuitable to draw attention.

The daily training of the Southern Garrison troops differed from that of the Liangzhou Garrison. As Xiao Jue had said, their training duration and total volume were three times that of the Liangzhou Garrison. Whenever the recruits of Liangzhou Garrison saw the Southern Garrison troops’ training intensity, they couldn’t help but admire them.

At once, the previously empty training grounds became lively. Below Bai Yue Mountain and beside Wu Lu River, soldiers could be seen at any time.

He Yan’s injuries were also improving day by day. Lin Shuanghe’s medical skills were far more sophisticated than Shen Muxue’s. Initially, they thought such injuries would take at least a year and a half to heal, but at this rate, He Yan felt she could be jumping around the training grounds again in two months.

Song Taotao placed the soup in front of He Yan, watching her finish it before taking the bowl away. The young lady couldn’t cook herself, so she would use her status as the young miss to raid food from the cook and feed He Yan. Sometimes He Yan would feel as if she were being kept, and though initially embarrassed, she grew accustomed to it after many times.

After all, the soup was very good to drink, if only the young lady wouldn’t look at her with those eyes as if watching over a treasure.

From the other end of the room, voices faintly carried over, seemingly Liang Ping’s, and somewhat agitated.

He Yan considered for a moment while in bed, then got up supporting herself with a stick.

She took out the silver wire from her sleeve and inserted it into the lock. Having picked locks many times before, she was quite skilled at it. Fortunately, Xiao Jue turned a blind eye to this behavior and didn’t change the lock to a more complex “Shi” character type. Xiao Jue usually didn’t keep important official documents in this room anyway, which was why security was so lax.

He Yan pushed the middle door open a crack and saw someone kneeling before Xiao Jue—it was Du Mao, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time. Since the Ridamu Zi incident, Lei Hou’s identity as a spy has been exposed. As Lei Hou’s relative and the one who had recommended him, Du Mao had disappeared. Cheng Lisu had said Du Mao seemed to have been imprisoned, which He Yan could understand—with Lei Hou being a traitor, no one could guarantee Du Mao’s innocence.

Now that Du Mao had appeared here, presumably his innocence had been proven.

Besides the kneeling Du Mao, several instructors were standing in the room. He Yan saw Liang Ping step forward and plead, “Commander, Instructor Du hadn’t seen Lei Hou for many years and truly didn’t know about his being a spy. Please show mercy, Commander.”

“Yes, Commander,” Ma Damei couldn’t help speaking up as well, “Instructor Du has been at Liangzhou Garrison for ten years and has never made any mistakes. If it weren’t for Lei Hou’s deliberate concealment, things wouldn’t have come to this. Please consider Instructor Du’s years of hard work and be lenient in your punishment.”

The other instructors all joined in pleading for Du Mao.

Du Mao had come to Liangzhou Garrison in his twenties and stayed in this harsh land for ten years. There wasn’t much entertainment at the garrison; at most, the instructors would gather to drink during festivals. Their daily routine consisted only of training troops and guarding the territory.

The instructors shared deep friendships and naturally didn’t want to see Du Mao lose his life because of Lei Hou. Unable to bear it, they came to plead for him.

Shen Han moved his lips but ultimately said nothing. It wasn’t that he didn’t share deep feelings with Du Mao, but even with less than a year of interaction, Shen Han knew clearly that the Young Master Xiao before him was not someone who would change his mind because of others’ few words.

Indeed, Xiao Jue ignored others’ words and looked at Du Mao, asking only, “What do you plan to do?”

He Yan still remembers when she first came to Liangzhou Garrison, an instructor called Du Mao had a good relationship with Liang Ping, often arguing with him, and was among the younger instructors. Now, in just a few days, he seemed to have aged ten years, with scattered white hair at his temples and a much older appearance.

Du Mao spoke, his voice unable to hide his exhaustion: “I am willing to accept punishment.”

“Du Mao!” Liang Ping called out his name anxiously.

“I failed to investigate Lei Hou’s current status thoroughly before rashly recommending him to the garrison—this is a dereliction of duty,” Du Mao said. “It is right for the Commander to punish me.”

“You indeed neglected your duty,” Xiao Jue spoke calmly. “Because of you, many recruits at Liangzhou Garrison died.”

The instructors who wanted to continue pleading paused, not daring to speak.

“The dead cannot be brought back to life,” Xiao Jue said. “Do you understand?”

“Du Mao understands.”

The room fell silent, and Liang Ping’s expression as he looked at Du Mao was already one of despair.

“I will not take your life.”

At these words, everyone in the room was stunned, including He Yan.

Xiao Jue said, “You may leave.”

“Commander…”

“From today onwards, you are no longer an instructor at Liangzhou Garrison,” Xiao Jue stood up and walked outside. “There’s no need to return in the future.”

After his figure disappeared outside, the room remained silent for a moment before Ma Damei came to his senses and went to help Du Mao, who was still kneeling: “Alright, alright, the Commander has shown you mercy. Get up quickly.”

Du Mao stood dazedly in place, suddenly breaking into loud sobs.

The comforting voices of those in the room mixed with Du Mao’s crying gave He Yan a headache. She grabbed her clothes, casually draped them on, and supported herself with the stick as she also went out. As soon as she stepped out, the wind and snow outside made her shiver.

Where was Xiao Jue? He Yan looked around—he had just gone out the door, but now there was no trace of him. Could he fly?

“Looking for me?” A voice came from behind, startling He Yan so much she almost lost grip of her stick.

She turned around to see Xiao Jue standing behind her, raising his eyebrows as he looked at her and asked, “Something wrong?”

“No-nothing,” He Yan pretended to look at the sky. “The weather is nice, I just came out for a walk.”

Xiao Jue glanced at the snow falling like sand outside and mocked, “I thought you hadn’t heard enough while eavesdropping and wanted to ask me something personally.”

He knew she was eavesdropping? This was embarrassing. He Yan scratched her head, “Commander has really good hearing.”

Xiao Jue curved his lips, “Not as good as yours.”

“Tell me,” he asked, “what did you come to me for?”

What did she come to him for? He Yan didn’t know either; she had just instinctively followed him out. She was at a loss for words for a moment, then thought and said, “Commander, you were still merciful to Instructor Du.”

While the instructors’ close friendship with Du Mao was one thing, Du Mao’s own mistake was another. He Yan had thought that with Xiao Jue’s personality, Du Mao would not escape death. She hadn’t expected that in the end, he was only expelled from Liangzhou Garrison.

Xiao Jue laughed as if finding her words amusing. “Merciful?”

“Yes, if it were me…”

“If it were you, what?”

He Yan suddenly couldn’t continue.

What would she do? From her rise from soldier to deputy general to general, she hadn’t lacked experience with such situations. In truth, Flying Swan General’s administration wasn’t much more merciful than Xiao Jue’s. However, most of the time, others unconsciously overlooked this because she usually mixed freely with her subordinates and didn’t have the reputation for being as ruthless as Xiao Jue’s “great achievements.”

If it were her, would she order Du Mao’s execution?

“If it were me, I wouldn’t either,” He Yan said. “Taking Du Mao’s life might seem like strict military discipline, but it would truly hurt morale. Liangzhou Garrison has just gone through the Ridamu Zi incident. If people’s hearts scatter, Liangzhou Garrison would become like loose sand, difficult to rebuild.”

Xiao Jue looked at her with some surprise in his gaze: “Not bad.”

He Yan said proudly, “I’ve always said I’m Liangzhou Garrison’s number one. I’m very clever, so how about it, Commander, can I join the Nine Banner Camp?”

Xiao Jue’s lips curved slightly: “No.”

This person was truly stubborn. He Yan was about to argue further for herself when she saw him turn and continue walking. She followed him, supporting herself with her stick, and asked, “Where are you going, Commander?”

“Training grounds.”

“Going to watch the training?” He Yan said, “I’ll come too!”

Since her injury, she naturally couldn’t participate in daily training. Every day she either lay in bed or walked a few circles outside supporting herself with a stick—it was extremely boring. Even though Song Taotao and Cheng Lisu would find time to keep her company and chat, one only knew about trivial matters like which young lady in the capital was beautiful or which madam had given birth to a son, while the other knew nothing except eating, drinking, and having fun. Talking with them was extremely tiring. The only person she could have a proper conversation with, Lin Shuanghe, had been invited by Shen Muxue to help at the medical hall, brewing medicine for injured soldiers.

Therefore, when Xiao Jue mentioned going to the training grounds, He Yan became restless.

The snow had lessened somewhat, and it wasn’t as cold outside as before. He Yan couldn’t walk fast with her stick, and complained, “Commander, wait for me!”

This matter-of-fact tone made even Xiao Jue’s footsteps pause for a moment. He asked in return, “Am I your servant?”

“No,” He Yan came to her senses and explained, “I mean, we could walk slower and chat about other things. Well, did Lei Hou say anything about why Ridamu Zi came to make trouble at our garrison? The Western Qiang rebellion was already suppressed by Flying Swan General, so where did the Qiang tribe get so many soldiers?”

Tens of thousands of soldiers—did the current Qiang tribe have such numbers? Having crossed swords with Ridamu Ji before, He Yan was very familiar with the Qiang tribe’s situation and felt something wasn’t quite right.

“It wasn’t the Qiang tribe,” Xiao Jue rarely answered He Yan’s question, “it was the Wuto people.”

“The Wuto people?” This time, it truly caught He Yan by surprise.

Xiao Jue glanced at her, taking in her surprised expression, and said calmly, “What are your thoughts?”

Was he testing her? He Yan asked, “Is Ridamu Zi a Wuto person?”

Xiao Jue was silent for a moment before saying, “He isn’t a Wuto person, but except for Ridamu Zi and the few confidants you crossed swords with before, the rest of the soldiers were all Wuto people.”

“Commander, are you certain?”

Xiao Jue walked forward unhurriedly: “Certain.”

“If they are Wuto people,” He Yan’s voice now carried a hint of gravity, “then what the Wuto people are after isn’t just Liangzhou Garrison.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Wuto nation has been raising armies in recent years, their power is substantial, and they’ve been constantly harassing civilians at the border—they had intentions to test us. Now they’ve come to Liangzhou Garrison but use the Qiang tribe as an excuse, hiding themselves in the shadows, wanting to use the Qiang tribe’s name to wreak havoc in Great Wei first.”

“Commander, think about it—if you had gone to Zhang Tai that time and couldn’t provide support in time, after those Wuto people occupied Liangzhou Garrison and seized the fortress, with Liangzhou City occupied by the Wuto people, it would be like tearing a hole in Great Wei’s border defense. They could march westward, penetrate deeply, following the river to the capital.”

Xiao Jue raised his eyes slightly: “Is that all?”

“Great Wei likely has internal traitors colluding with the enemy,” He Yan said, “Someone who has private dealings with the Wuto people and is an old acquaintance of the Commander.”

Xiao Jue: “Continue.”

“To be able to place confidants in Liangzhou Garrison without anyone knowing, and to spread false information at Zhang Tai, this person must be of high position with extensive connections. Knowing that with you at Liangzhou Garrison it would be impregnable, they first drew the tiger away from the mountain to lure you away—this person must fear you greatly. Therefore,” He Yan looked at Xiao Jue, “perhaps there is such a person, who holds a high position at court and has crossed paths with you in the past but didn’t gain any advantage. If such a person exists, there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance it’s their doing.”

Xiao Jue’s gaze fixed on her, and he simply said, “Then why don’t you tell me who this person is?”

Now He Yan felt this was truly baffling. Though she and Xiao Jue were schoolmates, it was only for a year. After that, they hadn’t seen each other for many years, one in the South, one in the North. Xiao Jue had been deeply involved in court politics because of Xiao Zhongwu’s affairs, but she was a clean person who had risen through pure military merit, spending her days in border garrison camps, so she didn’t know much about the messy affairs of the court. How could she guess who that person was?

Even for a test, this was too difficult—not everyone could sleep their way to being first at Xian Chang Academy like him.

Thinking of Yuan Baozhen’s previous matter, He Yan casually said, “Xu Jingfu?”

Xiao Jue froze.

Seeing his expression, He Yan’s heart stirred: “Is it him?”

Xiao Jue didn’t answer.

“Xu Jingfu colluded with the enemy to betray the country?” He Yan was shocked, “Has he gone mad? He’s the current Prime Minister, what benefit could he get from doing this!”

“You can speak even louder,” Xiao Jue said flatly, “Without evidence, you can be charged with slandering a court official at any time.”

He Yan thought, who isn’t a court official? In her previous life as Flying Swan General, she also ate the emperor’s grain.

“But, but…” She wanted to say more, but Xiao Jue had already stopped walking and looked ahead, where the sounds of soldiers’ low shouts of information could be heard.

Without realizing it, the two of them had arrived at the training grounds.

The training grounds, which originally only had Liangzhou Garrison’s recruits training daily, were now divided into east and west sides. The east side was for Southern Garrison troops’ training, while the west side was for Liangzhou Garrison’s people. With both sides training simultaneously, the differences became apparent.

The Southern Garrison’s deputy general was drilling the infantry encirclement, and even without anyone directing them, their martial spirit appeared vigorous and invincible. Meanwhile, Liangzhou Garrison’s recruits were just beginning to learn formations, inevitably somewhat clumsy, with Shen Han standing on the high platform, shouting with all his might.

He Yan watched for a while and hesitantly said, “Are they practicing… the Fish Scale Formation?”

Xiao Jue glanced at her sideways and asked, “You know about it?”

Here it comes again, he’s testing people again. Although He Yan was somewhat confused by Xiao Jue’s occasional questioning, thinking perhaps he was preparing to test whether she could join the Nine Banner Camp, she answered earnestly: “Distributed in tiers, slightly protruding at the front, main forces concentrated in the center, then divided into several fish scale-like small square formations. When facing the enemy, forces can be concentrated to launch fierce attacks at the enemy’s center, though the weakness lies in the flanks. If enemy forces break through from the flanks, they can break this formation. It’s the Fish Scale Formation, but…” she said, “they’re too scattered.”

Too scattered! At the rate they’re slowly forming up, they’d have been killed five times over already.

Xiao Jue looked at her thoughtfully, suddenly curving his lips to say, “Not bad.”

He Yan was very proud. Hard work had finally paid off—who would have thought that the one who ranked last at Xian Chang Academy would now be so well-versed in military tactics that she could easily answer questions from the top student of Xian Chang Academy? These years of fighting hadn’t been wasted, and her studies hadn’t been in vain.

“Have you studied military tactics?” Xiao Jue raised an eyebrow.

“I know a little.”

“You understand battle formations?”

“I wouldn’t dare claim so.”

“Good,” Xiao Jue looked at the soldiers training below and said, “If on that day when Ridamu Zi came to Liangzhou Garrison, you hadn’t been locked in the dungeon, and Shen Han had given you command of the troops, how would you have fought this battle?”

Testing so quickly?

He Yan pondered for a moment, then slowly said, “Those West… Wuto soldiers were strong and fierce, brutal and violent. Liangzhou Garrison’s recruits had never been to battle, their morale was insufficient, and they couldn’t face them head-on, nor could it be resolved in a short time. If it were me… I would use the Rotating Wheel Formation.”

Xiao Jue quietly watched her: “Continue.”

“As commander, I would position myself in the center of the formation to anchor it, with troops arranged in layers around the perimeter. Dispersing forces on the outside, form a mobile formation. In battle, rotating in the same direction, taking turns attacking the enemy formation, like a rotating wheel. This way, constantly applying pressure to one part of the enemy force, the Wuto people would collapse from exhaustion, while our side would get replenishment and rest because of the rotating attacks, recovering fighting strength.”

“You as commander?” Xiao Jue mocked.

“I mean, I would temporarily serve as commander to hold the formation, but the real fighting would still be up to you, Commander. The reason for choosing the Rotating Wheel Formation was to buy time for you to return with reinforcements,” He Yan said very sincerely.

Xiao Jue turned around, slightly bending down to look at her with lowered eyes, and curved his lips saying, “Young Lady He has learned military tactics well, it would be a waste not to become a general.”

No matter what else could be said about him, Xiao Jue had good judgment. He Yan nodded, “I think so too. I feel I was born to be a general. Sometimes I even think I was a female general in my previous life.”

Xiao Jue: “…”

“Commander doesn’t believe me?” He Yan poked a hole in the snow with her stick, “Or does Commander think women cannot become generals?”

“I don’t think that.”

He Yan looked up at him. The world believed women should stay in their chambers, embroider and paint their eyebrows, waiting for their husband’s favor. Forget about being a female general—even just appearing in public as a female shopkeeper, female teacher, or female doctor would draw strange looks from many people.

Very few could take that step, and even those who did weren’t understood by others.

“You can do whatever you want to do,” the young man said with lazy eyes, pulling at the corner of his mouth, “as long as you can accomplish it.”

He Yan froze for a moment, staring at him without speaking.

His gaze fell back on the distant training grounds, on the training of recruits, not seeing He Yan’s gaze behind him.

“Thank you,” He Yan said quietly in her heart.

The snow gradually stopped falling. The new recruits led by Shen Han became more practiced after several attempts, no longer as panicked as at first. As the formation training began to show results, Xiao Jue and He Yan had been standing there for a long time.

A familiar voice came from behind: “Huai Jin! He… Brother!”

He Yan looked back to see it was Lin Shuanghe. Lin Shuanghe climbed up to the pavilion, patting the accumulated snow off his boots, and said, “No wonder I couldn’t find you two anywhere, so you came here. How about it?” He looked at Xiao Jue and smiled mischievously, “Brought our Sister He to watch the training?”

He Yan: “…Doctor Lin, please don’t call me sister in public.”

“Sorry,” Lin Shuanghe covered his mouth with his fan, apologizing, “I forgot for a moment. But there are no outsiders here.” He glanced at the stick He Yan was leaning on and asked, “Can you walk so far from bed today? How is it, does the wound still hurt?”

“Not too much,” He Yan said. “Doctor Lin’s medical skills are superb, I’m much better today.”

“That’s wonderful,” Lin Shuanghe waved his fan, “I would feel very guilty if I couldn’t heal you properly.”

As the two of them exchanged compliments, Xiao Jue coldly observed from the side, seeming unable to bear it anymore, and said impatiently: “If you have something to say, say it.”

Lin Shuanghe started, saying, “Ah! I almost forgot the important matter. Someone just came to Liangzhou Garrison. I wanted to find Instructor Shen, but he wasn’t there, so I searched for half a day before finding you here.”

“Who is it?”

“People from the palace, saying that for this great victory at Liangzhou Garrison, His Majesty has rewards for you. Oh, and that, that…” He couldn’t remember for a moment, hesitated briefly before recalling the name, and said, “The fourth son of the Shi Jinbo household, Chu Zilan! Yes, Chu Zilan has also come.”

“Chu Zhao?” Xiao Jue frowned, “What is he doing here?”

Lin Shuanghe shrugged, “How would I know? The people are waiting at the garrison gate now, aren’t you going to see them?”

Xiao Jue paused, then walked downstairs: “Let’s go.”

“Ah, Commander, what about me?” He Yan hurriedly supported herself with her stick, wanting to follow, but not knowing if she could join such an occasion. Looking at Xiao Jue’s expression, it didn’t seem like a friendly reunion.

Xiao Jue glanced at her and said, “You go back, no need to follow.”

“Oh.” He Yan obediently agreed. Lin Shuanghe waved at her, and the two quickly went down from the pavilion, their figures disappearing in the distance.

He Yan gazed at the vast snowy landscape, somewhat puzzled in her heart.

Who exactly was this Chu Zilan?