Ten li away, Yu Guangting charged ahead at the forefront of his dark mass of troops.

Behind him were three thousand guards accompanying his expedition, one thousand militiamen from Lin Prefecture, two thousand Lin Prefecture guards hastily assembled by mounted messengers, and two thousand private soldiers from various noble households of Lin Prefecture—totaling eight thousand men.

Yu Guangting had already scouted Pei Shu’s strength. She had brought only two thousand Horizontal Halberd troops plus another two thousand escort troops—originally ordinary militiamen from Di Ge with limited combat effectiveness. With eight thousand against just over two thousand, fighting on Yu Kingdom’s territory with the advantages of timing, terrain, and popular support, Yu Guangting was confident he could completely annihilate the Empress and her escort forces before news leaked out.

More importantly, Yu Guangting was, after all, the supreme ruler of Yu Kingdom. As they say, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake—on his own territory, he naturally had many methods to deal with enemies.

“Someone come! In the name of Lin Prefecture’s government office, arrange for village chiefs to issue orders to all villages. Say the government is about to construct a palace for the great king and needs to conscript civilian laborers. All able-bodied men aged sixteen and above must immediately report to Lin Prefecture office for registration and selection. Selection period begins today and continues for ten days, with results announced after ten days. Those selected will receive three hundred wen daily wages plus three meals and lodging, including one meat meal. Those who fail to appear on time will be charged with tax evasion and draft dodging.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Lin Prefecture government officials who had accompanied him rushed off to make arrangements. Yu Guangting’s lips curved in a cold smile as he gestured to someone beside him.

A man thin as a bamboo pole, wearing a long robe that gave him a sinister appearance, approached. Slightly lifting his chin, Yu Guangting smiled and said, “I trouble you, sir. That poison you mentioned last time—we can now test it in nearby water sources.”

The man nodded without saying much and departed from the troops like a ghost. Yu Guangting’s subordinates all instinctively avoided his path.

The Regent Prince respected virtuous scholars and recruited talents from across the realm. Under his command were petty thieves and rogues, mysterious hermits from the wilderness, and various practitioners of unorthodox arts who moved about in secret. That thin man just now specialized in poison—specifically large-scale poisoning. His greatest achievement was single-handedly poisoning an entire village to death. That village happened to be his birthplace.

Yu Guangting watched the man’s departing figure, a trace of cold smile appearing in his eyes.

Pei Shu’s army was camped nearby. Several thousand people needed food and drink, so they would inevitably purchase supplies from nearby villages. His first order was to have all able-bodied men from villages report to the city for selection, bringing ten days’ worth of provisions. With summer grain not yet harvested and farming households having limited stores, ten days of provisions would essentially empty ordinary farmers’ grain stores. Pei Shu’s army would naturally be unable to purchase more and would soon go hungry.

When people are in a foreign country, surrounded, and then go hungry, they easily develop panic.

People could go days without eating, but not without drinking. With the water sources poisoned, several thousand people would simply wait to be poisoned to death.

A palace official spoke somewhat uneasily: “Your Highness, you’re moving away all the able-bodied men from nearby villages, but there are still many elderly, weak, women, and children…”

Yu Guangting turned around with a beaming smile. “What use are the elderly, weak, women, and children?”

The official met his seemingly gentle but ice-cold gaze, shivered violently, and quickly lowered his head, concealing the compassion in his eyes.

Poisoning the water sources would first harm the village’s elderly, weak, women, and children—that was several hundred lives!

To kill the Empress, they would first sacrifice so many of their own subjects’ lives… such was the iron heart of those in power…

“Once these elderly and weak die, we’ll announce publicly that the Empress came incognito to Yu Kingdom. Near Lin Prefecture, because the local people showed her insufficient reverence, she immediately ordered the massacre of entire villages. Then…” Yu Guangting’s lips curved slightly, “I believe there will be no need for this king to issue proclamations summoning troops—the people of Yu Kingdom’s northern border will naturally rise up in righteous anger. At that time, what this king leads will be a royal army seeking vengeance for the people and upholding justice.”

“If Di Ge seeks to hold us accountable,” Yu Guangting said with casual indifference, “we’ll say the Empress had bad luck. She secretly infiltrated Yu Kingdom without informing this king, accidentally entered plague-stricken territory, and along with her accompanying soldiers, contracted the epidemic and died in foreign lands. Stated thus, Yu Kingdom bears no fault whatsoever. I believe those people who join me in raising banners to attack the Empress will, for Yu Kingdom’s peace, not reveal the truth of events either.” His lips curved upward. “A man of great wealth does not sit beneath a crumbling wall—the Empress mistakenly entered plague-stricken lands and lost her life, how tragic and lamentable. Yu Kingdom also lost several hundred people to the plague, making us victims as well. The entire Great Wilderness will surely sigh in sympathy for us.”

The official bowed his head in respectful submission. Though the chill in his heart hadn’t dissipated, he couldn’t help but admire his lord.

Those in power possessed hearts of iron and stone, minds of exquisite complexity, capable of overturning clouds and rain—all matters of life, death, and court politics.

“One final matter,” Yu Guangting said. “I hear those young nobles from Lin Prefecture have all been captured by the Empress. If this king hasn’t guessed wrong, the Empress will certainly use this as leverage, demanding we withdraw and negotiate. Send a group of people…”

Just as he was speaking, several richly-robed elders rode forward. Yu Guangting made an eye gesture, and his trusted official quickly withdrew, deliberately separating these men from the others.

The leader spoke anxiously: “Your Highness, have you discovered the background of those people? How dare they be so audacious as to detain our family’s young masters?”

Yu Guangting smiled openly: “Forward scouts have already reported back. They say it’s a band of highway robbers from near Xiang Kingdom who fled to Yu Kingdom and recently established themselves in this area. These people are numerous and act tyrannically. When the young masters from your families went out together for recreation, this gang spotted them and immediately kidnapped them, planning to extort you all. These people are newcomers who don’t know their place—they actually dare to twist the tiger’s whiskers by abducting our officials’ sons and insulting our royal dignity. Since this king is touring the northern border, I must naturally seek justice for you all and completely exterminate this lawless gang of brigands.”

Everyone showed grateful expressions, thanking him profusely and stating that all their private guards would obey the Regent Prince’s commands, begging the Regent Prince to rescue their sons and so forth.

Yu Guangting always valued the support and reputation among noble families and gentry. He patiently chatted and laughed with them while secretly signaling to deploy these noble private armies to the rear of the main force to prevent them from discovering the truth.

Yu Guangting’s trusted subordinate official quietly stepped away to arrange assassin-killers, following the prince’s instructions to silence the hostages—might as well go all the way and blame it on the Empress.

After walking only a few steps, he suddenly heard someone ask: “Where is Registrar Cao going?”

Registrar Cao looked up to see a white-robed man lifting the carriage curtain from within, his clear, cold eyes gazing at him.

Registrar Cao recognized this person—he was a new strategist whom the prince had recently trusted greatly, trusted enough to entrust the captured Empress to his care. However, this disabled strategist had not only failed to keep the Empress under guard but had been captured himself. Later, when the prince led troops in pursuit, they found nothing. Eventually, this man returned on his own, supposedly rescued by his martially skilled female bodyguard, though the Empress had escaped. This result greatly displeased the prince, and his trust had been discounted. Originally, the prince hadn’t wanted to bring him, but the prince’s illness still depended on his treatment, so he was allowed to follow in the carriage, though kept far from the prince’s central command where he could hear nothing.

Seeing him ask, Cao became somewhat wary and smiled: “Acting on the prince’s orders to inspect the deployment of noble private armies at the rear.”

“Sir is lying to me.” Gong Yin smiled and directly interrupted him.

Registrar Cao hadn’t expected such directness and was struck speechless.

Gong Yin raised his head to gaze into the distance.

“Sir manages the prince’s secret elite forces. You must be going to arrange for people to assassinate those hostages, correct?”

Registrar Cao’s open mouth closed. He pondered whether to find an excuse to immediately return and report to the prince, having this fellow silenced. He looked around but didn’t see the man’s martially skilled young female bodyguard, making him even more uneasy.

Gong Yin seemed to read his thoughts again and smiled.

“Registrar need not panic. I am utterly loyal to His Highness with absolutely no intention of betrayal. Yesterday was merely a momentary careless mistake that ruined His Highness’s great plan. Now I only wish to atone for my errors through meritorious service.”

“How can sir say such things?”

“Earlier, when the Empress captured me, I entered her main camp. Moreover, if I haven’t guessed wrong, I know which tent the Empress is using to imprison the hostages.” Gong Yin said calmly, “His Highness can think of killing to silence them, and naturally the Empress can also think that His Highness will kill to silence them. Such important hostages—everyone wants to control them personally. The Empress certainly has countermeasures. Around the Empress are many skilled fighters. Whether herself or Pei Shu, both are extremely difficult opponents. Does the Registrar truly believe that with just our elite assassins charging in blindly, they can definitely find the precise location and definitely silence everyone in time? Should there be any delay and news leaks out, not only will our assassins perish there, but even the Lin Prefecture nobles will learn the truth. At that time, His Highness’s entire plan will be ruined!”

Registrar Cao’s heart jumped. He wanted to refute but knew the other party made perfect sense. This person truly lived up to His Highness’s praise—his insight was indeed sharp and his thinking extremely clear.

Moreover, the conditions he proposed were genuinely tempting. These elite assassins were cultivated by the prince over many years. If someone could truly lead the way, the losses would surely be reduced…

“I am disabled and cannot cause any great disturbance. Why doesn’t the Registrar persuade His Highness to give me a chance to prove my loyalty and offer meritorious service to His Highness?”

Registrar Cao looked at the motionless Gong Yin in the carriage. After hesitating for a long moment, he said: “Please wait a moment, sir.”

Gong Yin watched him hurry away, his eyes showing no ripples. He casually straightened his clothing and raised his arm to smell his sleeve.

His arm could now move freely—this was extremely important to him. He no longer needed silk assistance to move, which also raised doubts in his mind. These doubts made him want to walk before her.

The sleeve carried a faint floral fragrance that seemed both familiar and strange, as if it had penetrated deep into his very essence—was it hers?

There, Registrar Cao reported Gong Yin’s words to Yu Guangting, who considered briefly before agreeing.

“Have his female bodyguard remain behind, and have the others keep a close eye on things.”

One sentence, spoken casually, carried a bone-chilling coldness—Spring Water would remain as a hostage. The so-called “keeping a close eye” meant if anything seemed amiss, kill without question.

Yu Guangting had spent his life indulging in conspiracies, rising to power through methods and ruthlessness. To him, trust was as thin as paper.

Subsequently, a group quietly departed from the main force, and Gong Yin vanished from the carriage.

A quarter-hour later, Gong Yin, being carried through the mountains by several black-clothed men, spotted the thin man who had gone to poison the water earlier. The thin man was wandering through the mountains, observing the water sources while facing several villages below, selecting the most suitable upstream area for poisoning.

Gong Yin observed his position and closed his eyes, silently making calculations.

When the Empress’s banner was raised over the Horizontal Halberd Army camp, Yu Guangting promptly responded by ordering his troops to rest in place, surrounding without attacking. He deployed the noble private armies to the rear of the formation, had people distract the Lin Prefecture nobles, then gave orders to the assassin team: they must not only kill the hostages but also burn all items that could represent the Empress’s identity.

The group moved like lightning through the mountain forests, circling to approach the Empress’s camp in the valley below.

The Lin Prefecture government office worked efficiently. Village chiefs, elders, and headmen quickly relayed the Regent Prince’s orders. Able-bodied men from the nearby two or three villages hurriedly prepared provisions and rushed to Lin Prefecture city. The villages quickly became deserted, with wisps of smoke drifting in the ashen gray sky.

Elderly, weak, women, and children all barricaded their doors tightly. The sky suddenly darkened, pressing down with an iron-blue face toward the low-housed small villages.

Near the villages in the camp, soldiers of the Empress’s army prepared to cook their evening meal.

From a small village came the furious squealing of a pig. One household had prepared to slaughter a pig, but with the men suddenly summoned to the city, the women and children couldn’t manage it. Her Majesty the Empress had suddenly developed an interest in pig slaughter and personally brought people to kill the pig, saying she wanted to make blood sausage.

No one had heard of blood sausage before, but it sounded fierce, matching the Empress’s temperament.

By now, dusk was approaching.

Following Gong Yin’s suggestion, a group of assassins was hiding in a courtyard in that village, originally planning to wait until dark before infiltrating the nearby military camp to strike. Who would have thought such a coincidence—Her Majesty the Empress had come here to slaughter a pig.

Moreover, the slaughter location wasn’t far away—just in the courtyard next to the next courtyard over. The assassins’ eyes blazed as they considered the possibility of simply eliminating the Empress right here.

The next courtyard over seemed quite lively with human shouts and pig squeals, overturned tables and chairs, mixed with soldiers’ cries of “Catch it! Catch it!” and the Empress’s lazy, rippling laughter.

This warm yet peaceful atmosphere somewhat surprised the assassins, making them think of the legendary beauty and charm of the Empress. Their eyes couldn’t help but gleam—the light of masculine yearning and admiration for legendary beautiful women.

Therefore, no one noticed that in the darkness, Gong Yin was listening intently to that laughter, his lips curving slightly.

That curve held unprecedented gentleness.

The commotion there grew increasingly intense when suddenly, with a “bang,” the courtyard gate was smashed open. A large pig charged out squealing madly, its four short legs carrying it at an unimaginable lightning speed directly toward the dirt road.

The assassins’ spines suddenly tensed as they gripped their weapons tightly, eyes blazing, afraid this pig might go berserk and crash through their door.

Suddenly a figure flashed like descending clouds or settling mist. On the previously empty dirt road, a slender figure appeared out of nowhere, facing the charging pig head-on.

The pig’s momentum was too fierce to stop. Its thousand-pound bulk thundered toward that delicate figure.

Behind came alarmed cries, faintly calling: “Your Majesty!”

The assassins in the house all trembled in unison.

The woman standing on the dirt road was composed, with gorgeous features and a wonderfully beautiful profile. Facing that charging pig, she seemed to smile.

Then bright light flashed.

“Swish.”

One knife to the heart—the stance was clean without a single excess movement. Fast beyond the ability of blinking eyes to follow.

Before the pig could issue its final roar, before the blood fountain erupted, the assassins clearly saw Her Majesty the Empress, who had personally slaughtered the pig, smile with satisfaction and malicious, cathartic pleasure as she patted the pig’s neck.

“Slaughtering you feels so good, Gong Yin.”

…

The assassins looked at each other in bewilderment—this pig had a name? This pig had a grudge against the Empress?

Suddenly there was a sound behind them. Everyone turned to see Gong Yin, who had been supporting himself on the window frame to peek, struggling to rise from the muddy ground.

Facing everyone’s even more peculiar gazes, he explained expressionlessly:

“Sorry, I suddenly felt chest pains.”