Generals were heroes who had survived countless battles, fighting on the edge of death. They had hearts burning with patriotism, their armor and warhorses radiating magnificence – how could some lowly courtesan from the pleasure quarters dare to profane such things?!

Madam Jin felt rather awkward. After all, speaking of low status, none of the women in her establishment ranked very high. It was merely meant to be a gimmick to attract customers. Who knew this young lord would take it so seriously, making everyone lose face?

The room fell silent, and the maid holding the armor didn’t know what to do.

Watching this, Feng Yue slowly sat up from the couch and blinked, asking: “My Lord won’t let me perform?”

“No.” One word, powerful and resolute, full of authority.

Feng Yue giggled: “This is troublesome then. Madam Jin planned this performance half a month ago and invited many noble guests. Several important officials specifically requested to watch. What should we do?”

Giving her a cool glance, Yin Gezhi calmly said: “They won’t come to watch.”

So certain?

Madam Jin felt defiant, fanning her handkerchief as she smiled: “My Lord, you shouldn’t speak so absolutely. Though I don’t know your status, even the current Emperor can’t prevent people from seeking entertainment. Besides, our guests here are all quite influential. Surely you can’t block the entrance and prevent them from entering?”

Without another word, Yin Gezhi stood up and left.

“Huh?” Madam Jin was a bit upset. Standing on her tiptoes, she watched him walk downstairs before speaking: “What kind of person is he? Does he think he’s so important? Looking so frail and scholarly, he’s hardly a general – what right does he have to meddle so much?”

After the door closed, Feng Yue let out a long breath. After a while, she laughed softly: “Indeed, he’s not a general.”

“That’s what I thought, looking so weak and delicate…”

“Have you heard of the Battle of Nanqi?” Feng Yue tilted her head and asked.

Madam Jin paused, waving away the nearby maids before sitting beside Feng Yue and asking in a low voice: “Why bring that up?”

Madam Jin knew Feng Yue was from Wei, and there seemed to be many stories behind her that Madam Jin had never asked about. Unexpectedly, today she brought up Wei’s affairs on her own.

The Battle of Nanqi was a famous victory where the smaller force prevailed. Five years ago, Wei, with just ten thousand troops, ambushed and killed thirty thousand of Qi’s elite soldiers at the Nanqi border region between Wei and Qi. This shocked the King of Qi and astonished all other nations. As someone from Qi, Madam Jin naturally knew of this battle. It was widely discussed among the common people – reportedly, Qi had learned of Wei’s supply routes and planned to raid their provisions, but unexpectedly encountered Wei’s reinforcements.

Meeting on a narrow path, the larger force should have prevailed, but Wei reacted incredibly fast. They used the terrain of Nanqi and Qi’s unpreparedness to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Fighting bravely, though losing seven thousand men, they left few survivors among Qi’s thirty thousand elite troops.

The blood-soaked air in Nanqi didn’t disperse for three months after that battle. From then on, Qi began sending envoys to negotiate peace with Wei. Relations between the two countries improved, and the border residents enjoyed over two years of peace.

“Without that battle, Qi would have joined forces with Wu to attack Wei later,” Feng Yue said. “Wei might not have just lost territory then – the country might not have survived at all.”

“I understand the logic, but why bring this up now?” Madam Jin looked confused.

Lowering her eyes, Feng Yue smiled: “Because the person who led Wei’s ten thousand reinforcement troops four years ago was that young lord who just left. He had just turned twenty at the time.”

Madam Jin’s heart jolted as her pupils contracted, looking at her in disbelief!

How was that possible?

“He indeed isn’t a general, but he’s been to many battlefields, always at the front lines killing enemies with his long blade.”

Many images flashed through Feng Yue’s mind as she narrowed her eyes.

Wei’s battle flags and uniforms were deep red, but he preferred wearing silver armor, standing out starkly on the battlefield, causing enemy commanders to shout: “Kill that one in silver armor first!”

How arrogant was Crown Prince Yin – the more opponents he faced, the more fearless he became. With his crescent blade, he took enemy heads, blood spraying wherever he went. When blood splashed on his face, his eyes only grew brighter.

“I favor this armor. If you admire it, come and take it if you can!” His cold voice echoed across the battlefield, ringing like metal.

Enemy commanders did want to kill him, but unfortunately, not only was Yin Gezhi’s martial arts unfathomably deep, his silver armor was incredibly hard. Even iron-tipped arrows only produced clear rings when they struck, unable to harm him at all.

More infuriating was when they exhausted themselves breaking through Wei’s defenses to kill Wei’s commanders, Yin Gezhi would simply draw his bow and, from thirty yards away, shoot an arrow straight through their commander’s head!

Blood sprayed like rain in the sunlight. Amid the shock, Wei’s Crown Prince, expressionless, slowly extended his hand and beckoned to their side:

Come on, try to kill me?

As the bloody wind swept past, the silver-armored war god under the deep red battle flag, with frost-like features, showed silent arrogance.

The Yin Gezhi of that time was the most commanding man Guan Fengyue had ever seen. All Wei citizens shared one belief – as long as the Crown Prince was there, they would never lose.

Indeed, for a long time, battles led by Yin Gezhi never ended in defeat. The people of Wei supported him, and the Emperor trusted him to command troops. In battles large and small, Yin Gezhi truly understood what it meant to taste blood on the battlefield. He hadn’t escaped injury – in fact, he was wounded in every battle – but he was fearless, even using himself as bait to attract enemies.

With such a person, how could Wei lose?

But sadly, Wei did lose – at Ghost Valley in Pingchang, lost to those letters revealing “General Guan’s” betrayal of the country.

Her throat tightened as Feng Yue came back to herself, looking pitifully at Madam Jin: “My hand hurts so much.”

Awakening from her shock, Madam Jin’s expression was still somewhat dazed, her heavy makeup looking stiff as she hurriedly said: “I’ll have Ling Shu bring you some pain medicine. Just bear with it a bit longer.”

With that, she stumbled to the door and left.

The room grew quiet as Feng Yue turned her head to look at the silver armor beside her.

She once had a suit of armor too, silver and red, splashed with countless enemies’ blood, and stained with much of her own.

But now, she truly wasn’t worthy to wear this anymore.

Laughing softly, Feng Yue shrugged, shaking her head to stop thinking about these things. She comforted herself and lay down to continue resting.

In the following days, Yin Gezhi didn’t come to Menghui Tower, probably knowing she couldn’t receive guests, so there was no need to visit.

Soon it was the day of Menghui Tower’s performance. Feng Yue’s hand hadn’t been unwrapped, though the bandage was lighter now, and her fingers could move enough to barely grip a prop sword.

“Is everything ready?” Seeing it was almost time, Madam Jin called out from behind the stage in the main hall: “We’re about to open the doors for guests, don’t mess this up!”

“Yes.” The group of enchantresses curtsied in response. Someone with sharp eyes spotted Feng Yue in the corner and exclaimed: “Why haven’t you changed clothes yet?”

Sitting in a chair wearing her usual clothes, Feng Yue looked toward the entrance and said softly: “Don’t you find it strange?”

“What?”

“Usually by this hour, there would be many sedan chairs outside,” Feng Yue said. “But today, except for some wanderers, there’s nothing out there.”

Only those arriving in sedan chairs had status, and Madam Jin had prepared this performance specifically for such people. Hearing this, everyone panicked and rushed out to look.

The evenings on Zhaoyao Street were usually very lively, and Menghui Tower never lacked for customers, but today there wasn’t a single trace of the usual luxurious sedan chairs.

“This…” Madam Jin was dumbfounded. After thinking for a moment, she looked at Feng Yue with terrified eyes.

She now knew how powerful that lord had been in Wei, but this was Wu territory! She had invited all prominent families – how could it be as he said, that not a single one would come?

Feng Yue was also puzzled. Yin Gezhi’s status in Wei was one thing, but in Wu, he was just a hostage. How could he command such influence?

Too curious to care about anything else, Feng Yue handed the prop sword to Ling Shu, then went upstairs to change clothes, climbed over the wall, and headed straight for the Envoy’s Manor.

As mentioned before, Yin Gezhi was taken as a hostage by General Yi, but for some reason, Wu didn’t imprison him. Instead, they treated him like a Wei envoy, housing him in the Envoy’s Manor, providing him with the finest food and drink, and not restricting his freedom.

Perhaps only Yin Gezhi could be such an impressive hostage.

Outside the Envoy’s Manor, there were many sedan chairs and not just those – there were also many carriages with copper tigers and cranes mounted on top. Hiding nearby, Feng Yue watched as people and their entire families streamed into the manor.

What was going on? Was there a gathering?

Too confused by what she saw, Feng Yue glanced at the people behind her and simply mixed in pretending to be a maid, keeping her head down as she walked in.

The Envoy’s Manor had no reception, and there were no servants or maids visible anywhere. The group of officials and nobles instinctively walked toward the main courtyard. Feng Yue glanced around – many faces were familiar regular customers of Menghui Tower, but there were also many she’d never seen before.

The main doors were wide open, with Yin Gezhi seated in the host’s position and banquet tables arranged all around. As people entered, regardless of their rank or age, they all cupped their hands and bowed: “Greetings, Your Highness.”

Feng Yue’s mouth twitched.

When the Crown Prince of Wu had addressed him as “Your Highness” earlier, she thought it was just showing courtesy. Who would have thought that Wu’s civil and military officials would address him the same way?

Had they lost their minds?

“I only sent out three invitations, yet all you lords have come,” Yin Gezhi nodded in return greeting. “You truly honor me.”

“We are the ones imposing,” a fat man at the front smiled apologetically. “We shouldn’t have been so brazen as to come uninvited, but we heard Your Highness intended to make disciples… My son wishes to join the military, and we hope to receive Your Highness’s guidance.”

“My worthless son has admired Your Highness for years. If he could become your student, I would be eternally grateful!”

“I am An Shichong, and I’ve long heard of Your Highness’s reputation. Please grant me your teachings!”

The whole room suddenly burst into pleas for mentorship, startling Feng Yue at the back of the crowd.

Had Yin Gezhi gone mad? Did he intend to make disciples?