Queen Tange had one ability—no matter how clean she had just been tidied up, she would in the shortest time make herself as dirty as a pig. Now she had become a mud person again.

Dou Yanshan didn’t care about Tange’s existence, considering her just a buzzing fly that he could swat dead with one slap whenever he wanted. He was waiting for his great army. The Great Tang always had some guys who dreamed of getting rich who would be willing to come to Nanzhao. Gold was the best summons.

Thinking that he would soon possess several thousand warriors, Dou Yanshan was so excited he couldn’t sleep through the night. He very much wanted to let Yun Ye see his power, and when he was most astonished, kill him—that could also be considered a kind of respect for him. Dou Yanshan had even thought up the eulogy for mourning Yun Ye.

Finding the place with the most beautiful scenery to bury the world’s smartest person there would certainly be very refined and interesting. Whenever he had free time, he would come to Yun Ye’s grave to tell him about each of his great achievements.

All the remnants of the Dou family forces had arrived at Nanzhao. The team of over three hundred people filled the entire stockade. Nanzhao’s terrain had been drawn into maps by him, hung on the wall, as he pondered strategies for military advance day and night.

He had no mind to restrain his subordinates. After the Dou family suffered heavy losses, they could still follow him into the deep mountain forests—they were good people in themselves. As for killing people, raping those tribeswoman—in his view, these were all small matters.

Yun Ye would never dream that he would actually see Qu Zhuo. That slippery fellow had now transformed into a steward. When he saw Yun Ye, his eyeballs nearly popped out. However, this emotion quickly changed into a superior attitude. He shouted at those roaming warriors from the Great Tang to unload various equipment and grain from the mules and horses, as if he had never seen Yun Ye before.

There was no opportunity to speak. Although Yun Ye very much wanted to ask about the situation at home, he didn’t have the slightest chance. Qu Zhuo was now directing house construction, now yelling for those people to spread out the grain to dry in the sun to avoid getting damp.

Every time Tange saw a group of Tang people arrive at the stockade, her face gained another share of ferocity. Standing in Yun Ye’s position, he both held some sympathy for the tribespeople and had a bit more hope for those Tang people. In the end, he concluded that the life and death of these people had not one coin’s worth of relationship to himself.

That damned old steward now watched him extremely strictly, almost to the point of never leaving his side. As long as Yun Ye wanted to go outside and stroll around, he would certainly be waiting for Yun Ye halfway, bowing with great courtesy, except the mockery at the corners of his mouth couldn’t be covered up no matter what.

Passing by Qu Zhuo, he casually said, “Tomorrow morning, hold up the steward for half an hour,” then entered Dou Yanshan’s bamboo building. This small building had now become the commander’s tent. The desk was piled with various documents, and beside it were two clerks helping Dou Yanshan process documents.

“Marquis Yun, you’ve come. You’re an expert on military formations. Help me see if these plans have any flaws?”

“In jungle warfare, we Tang people neither have favorable timing nor advantageous terrain. What we hold is only harmony among people—this one thing. Here the mountains are high and forests dense, the terrain treacherous. Since you want to accomplish something, you must be prepared to achieve success in one battle. Otherwise, those tribespeople will flee into the mountain forests. Wanting to exterminate them one by one after that—that’s a dream. Their endless sneak attacks will exhaust you to death in the jungle. So you must prepare to strike the many with the few. If the officers and men want to strike ten with one, they must achieve strong troops and sharp weapons. Dou Yanshan, I know you’re eager to establish meritorious service. You must first prepare well, absolutely must prepare solidly. If you don’t strike, then don’t—but once you strike, you must use full force.”

“Marquis Yun’s words are indeed golden and precious. You and I are both sons of Huaxia. How exhilarating it is to establish a nation on this land! At that time, this land developed by my industrious Central Plains people will certainly be more desirable than the Peach Blossom Spring. Yun Ye, how about you and I join hands? Even if in the future you and I meet in armed conflict, that’s a matter for later. Now, let’s first clear out those monkeys in the forest—how about it?”

Yun Ye didn’t doubt Dou Yanshan’s sincerity at this moment in the slightest. All great figures had one common characteristic—they described prospects as incomparably beautiful and moving, treating every useful person sincerely at any time and place. It was just that this kind of sincerity had a time limit, like dewdrops on morning grass leaves—it couldn’t withstand sunlight.

“Old Dou, Nanzhao is yours. You’ve gone through bitter hardships to have your current achievements. Don’t let me, an unrelated person, divide away your glory. You have ideals—don’t I also have them? If possible, we will each struggle for our own ideals. I don’t want to hide under your radiance. For my ideals, I won’t even in death.”

After Yun Ye finished saying these words, he bowed with clasped hands and walked out. Only upon leaving did he discover his back was almost soaked through with sweat. From Dou Yanshan’s regretful gaze, he knew Dou Yanshan absolutely wouldn’t let him leave this forest alive.

He didn’t understand why he had to say those words. Could it be that spending time with Queen Tange had caused his IQ to decline? He couldn’t even dissemble anymore?

Returning to his own bamboo building, he couldn’t sleep through the night. At the slightest rustle of wind or grass, he would suddenly sit up, causing Wang Cai to also sleep poorly. Perhaps it sensed Yun Ye’s unease—it rested its head on the bedside, leaning against Yun Ye all night without even snorting once.

Just as day was about to break, Queen Tange somehow drilled in from somewhere and said to the already-dressed Yun Ye, “If you want to leave, now is the best time. That steward and most of the people watching you had business and were called away. He left two people behind—I’ve already killed them. If you want to gang up with them to bully us, just pretend I did nothing.”

Hearing these words, Yun Ye was greatly delighted. He patted Wang Cai and was about to go out. Tange pulled Yun Ye back, pulled out a knife from behind herself and said to Yun Ye, “Fortunately you chose to leave. Otherwise, I would kill you right now. This time we’ve gathered the strength of nine dong and eighteen stockades to kill all the Tang people completely. Your choice made me much more comfortable.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Hurry and run. How many fools lose the best escape time precisely because they talk too much.” Yun Ye pulled open the door and hurriedly walked outside.

Queen Tange flew along the small path swift as the wind. Yun Ye rode Wang Cai chasing closely behind. Just reaching the riverside, Yun Ye heard urgent horse hoofbeats behind them—the momentum was great.

Not caring about much else, he quickly jumped onto the bamboo raft that Queen Tange pulled out from the river reeds. Wang Cai used to often ride bamboo rafts on the Dongyang River. Seeing the raft, it cried out joyfully and also jumped on. Once on the raft, it immediately lay down on the raft as if waiting for Xiao Ya and the others to scratch its belly.

Queen Tange exerted herself to push the bamboo raft into the river, then jumped onto the riverbank herself. Holding a huge bamboo pole, she charged toward the direction they came from…

Yun Ye heard sounds of people shouting and horses neighing but dared not linger. Returning to shore, apart from dying together with Tange, there was not the slightest use. Gritting his teeth, he frantically poled the bamboo raft toward the other side of the river.

Dou Yanshan, wearing leather armor, appeared at the riverside, shouting loudly toward Yun Ye, “Marquis Yun, if you still cherish Tange’s life, pole the raft back over. Otherwise, I will immediately chop off her head.”

Hearing the voice, Yun Ye looked back. His chest felt somewhat stifled. Tange was being dragged by two strong men to stand at the riverside, her body bristling with arrows, her head hanging down—her life or death unknown.

Just as Yun Ye was struggling between heaven and man, Queen Tange suddenly raised her head and laughed loudly. Her silver-bell-like laughter echoed in the mountain valley: “I am a daughter of the great mountains. I don’t need you Tang dogs to rescue me!”

Yun Ye collapsed sitting on the bamboo raft, watching as Tange opened her mouth and bit into a strong man’s throat. A blood-stained knife tip emerged from her chest.

Tange embraced the strong man like sweet lovers embracing, falling to the ground together. The furiously enraged Dou Yanshan raised his horizontal blade and with one strike severed Tange’s head. That head rolled like a ball into the river water.

Yun Ye hugged Wang Cai and wailed, like a helpless child…

On the river surface, arrows fell like rain. Yun Ye seemed to forget to dodge, nor did he pick up the bamboo shield Tange had prepared for him, allowing the bamboo raft to carry him drifting with the current.

Behind Dou Yanshan, black smoke rose. Yun Ye knew those were the tribespeople from nine dong and eighteen stockades taking action.

Dou Yanshan hatefully shot out his last arrow. That arrow lost its power just reaching mid-river, floating down lightly with the wind. With a thud, it fell on the bamboo raft—it didn’t nail into the bamboo but bounced once and dropped beside Yun Ye’s hand.

He picked up the arrow, broke it in the middle, threw away the tail feathers, and tucked the half with the arrowhead into his chest. Perhaps someday in the future, this arrow would be inserted in Dou Yanshan’s chest.

Dou Yanshan left. If he had continued chasing along the riverbank, he might have intercepted Yun Ye at some narrow river channel. But the sounds of fighting behind him grew ever more intense. As commander, leaving his command position was itself a dereliction of duty. He didn’t delay for a moment—he turned his horse around and charged toward where the thick smoke rose.

In the river valley, there still seemed to be Tange’s voice. Yun Ye listened attentively with rapt attention. He wanted to firmly remember this sweet voice. He owed the Nanzhao people one life.

Actually, he himself had personally destroyed Tange’s kingdom. If he hadn’t released gold, this demon that devoured lives, perhaps Tange and her people wouldn’t have died. Although their days would be somewhat bitter, no matter what, they wouldn’t die. If Dou Yanshan wanted to establish himself in Nanzhao, he wouldn’t kill all his slaves.

Dou Yanshan was destined not to have a good outcome. Even bastards like Qu Zhuo had infiltrated his ranks and was even a steward—then there would certainly be many Bai Qi Si secret agents also surrounding Dou Yanshan.

If Li’er could decipher the secret message Yun Ye left behind, perhaps those later roaming warriors would all be professional military men of the Great Tang. This was Yun Ye’s conjecture, the most ideal conjecture. It was just—Dou Yanshan, you absolutely must not die at Li’er’s hands. You must escape from the hands of Li’er, this master of power and schemes. Otherwise, how would he face Tange’s departed spirit after a hundred years?