Inside the largest tent at the center of the encampment.
Feng Jiu’er and Huo Baixue sat to one side taking their meal, while Qiao Mu stood at the table organizing documents.
Xiao Yingtao sat beside Feng Jiu’er, occasionally refilling her tea, and was quiet in a way that seemed a little unusual.
“Where is Xing Zizhou? How is it that I haven’t seen the two of you together?” Having eaten about half her fill, Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes to look at Xiao Yingtao sitting across from her.
“What do you mean, ‘together’? I don’t have the leisure for that.” Xiao Yingtao pressed her lips together. “He’s gone to stand guard.”
“And Tuoba Keyan and Snow Aunt — they’ve each taken a group of brothers out to stand guard as well.”
“That day, the Crown Prince’s forces suddenly increased by ten thousand men. We could not hold out, and the city gates fell.”
Thinking back over the events of these past days, Xiao Yingtao’s expression was not looking well.
“Every time the Crown Prince launched an offensive, we retreated a little further. Bit by bit, we fell back to where we are now. This battle — one truly does not know when it will end.”
Feng Jiu’er said nothing, and continued to eat.
Xiao Yingtao pressed her lips together, looked at her, and offered a faint smile.
“Fortunately, Jiu’er has come back, and brought so many people with her.”
“With Miss Huo and Mocheng’s army joining us, I believe we will not need to keep retreating.”
The tent fell quiet for a moment. Qiao Mu finished what she had in hand, then rose and walked over.
“Jiu’er, the Crown Prince’s forces now number roughly over sixty thousand. All of our people combined come to no more than forty thousand.”
“In this battle, we must think carefully about how to fight on.”
“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er swallowed what was in her mouth and nodded. “We should indeed think it through properly.”
Qiao Mu sat down beside Xiao Yingtao and placed what she was holding on the surface of the table.
“When you went to seek peace negotiations with the Crown Prince that day, what exactly happened?” She looked at Feng Jiu’er and asked.
Thinking back on what had happened that day, Feng Jiu’er picked up her cup and drained it in a single breath.
With a sharp clunk, she set the cup heavily back on the table.
“At the time the Crown Prince had already agreed to the negotiations, and was even willing to grant us a full month’s time — it was all because of Feng Qingyin.”
“Because of that one woman, how many of our people died and were wounded? The Crown Prince’s side also suffered no small number of casualties, and she has dragged the common people of my Yamu City through continued suffering. That woman!”
“Just as I suspected.” Qiao Mu clenched her fist tightly. “I guessed it was that woman stirring up trouble. Otherwise Jian Yi could not possibly have been so gravely injured.”
“Feng Qingyin — if I ever see you again, I, Qiao Mu, will show absolutely no mercy!”
Feng Jiu’er let out a light sigh and shook her head.
“Wanting to kill her now — that’s no longer so easy.”
“What does it matter if the Crown Prince is backing her?” Qiao Mu’s low voice rang out. “I will find a chance to avenge Jian Yi no matter what!”
“Feng Qingyin is with child — it should be the Crown Prince’s.” Feng Jiu’er shrugged.
“That day she seriously wounded Jian Yi, then put on a performance of suffering before the Crown Prince. He flew into a rage and ordered people to hunt Jian Yi and me down.”
“So now, the possibility of negotiations is slim.”
“Feng Qingyin is pregnant?” Qiao Mu met Feng Jiu’er’s gaze and frowned.
“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er raised a brow and nodded.
Qiao Mu clenched her fist once more. However unbelievable it was, she could only accept the reality.
“Pregnant or not — I, Qiao Mu, will remember what she did to Jian Yi.”
“Jiu’er, do you still want to pursue negotiations? Forget it. I will not agree to any negotiations — not if it only gives Feng Qingyin another chance to harm you and Jian Yi.”
“The brothers feel the same as I do. Even if it costs us the very last soldier, not one of them is willing to let you go risk your life again.”
Feng Jiu’er looked at Qiao Mu, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
“Thank you. Alright — now that we’ve eaten, let’s sit down and properly work through this.”
“Eat up — have some more.” Qiao Mu gestured dismissively. “All told, you’re the skinniest one!”
“Don’t talk as if you’re so robust yourself. There’s still plenty left — you eat some too.” Feng Jiu’er passed Qiao Mu a pair of chopsticks.
The few women talked and laughed their way through a comparatively light-hearted meal.
At a quarter past the hour of Hai, Xing Zizhou, Snow Aunt, and Tuoba Keyan all returned to the encampment.
Inside the tent, Feng Jiu’er had used a piece of white cloth to enlarge the map of the surrounding terrain and sketched it out on top.
The women hung the enlarged terrain map and secured it to the wall.
Beside it was placed one table and one chair.
Aside from Feng Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao, everyone else sat in chairs arranged around the perimeter, watching the two in the center.
Feng Jiu’er swept her gaze across everyone, then gave a light nod.
“Just now, Qiao Mu, Xiao Yingtao, and I analyzed our current situation. This is the rough map of the surrounding area that we sketched out.”
“This is only an approximate drawing — can everyone make sense of it?”
After looking around at everyone, Feng Jiu’er picked up the bamboo pointer she had prepared earlier and indicated the central position on the map.
“At present, our encampment is positioned here — inside a valley that is half-encircled.”
The pointer traced along a stretch of deep-colored markings on the map, moving toward the upper left corner, as Feng Jiu’er continued. “To our left is an unbroken expanse of high mountains.”
“To get past those mountains and attack us, the Crown Prince’s forces have two possible routes — Qiao Mu said so.”
As her words fell, Feng Jiu’er dipped a brush in a small amount of liquid made from crushed grass and carefully marked a few spots on the map.
“These are the two routes a person can pass through. Of the two, only the left one can be traversed on horseback — and even then, only one horse can pass at a time.”
“The path on the left can be passed on foot as well, but the route is somewhat winding. For a troop to pass through, it would take considerably more time.”
She stepped one pace to the right, and the bamboo pointer came to rest on the right side of the map.
“To the right of the encampment there are two more mountains. The road between them is not narrow — it is only about half the width of the road we entered through.”
“On the other side of the second mountain, Qiao Mu says, there is a stretch of woodland. For now, no passable route in or out has been found.”
She turned to look at everyone, then stepped to the side and yielded the center position.
“The above is information gathered by Qiao Mu and Xiao Yingtao — and of course, no small amount of it was collected together by all the brothers.”
“I am repeating it here simply to find out whether anyone has anything to add.”
“More importantly, now that we have familiarized ourselves with the terrain, we must work out a battle plan.”
“Zhao Yusheng’s men, along with a portion of Yamu City’s soldiers — over three thousand in total — should be able to reach us within roughly two days.”
“Coming last will be the thousand surrendered soldiers from the Crown Prince’s forces. They have taken my medicine, and for at least a month they will be unable to bear arms.”
“Qiao Mu has calculated that we now have roughly forty thousand soldiers. Adding the three thousand arriving later, that comes to forty-three thousand.”
“However, by conservative estimates, the Crown Prince’s forces number over sixty thousand. If we truly cannot hold out in battle, I want to try using the Crown Prince’s thousand surrendered soldiers as a bargaining chip to negotiate conditions with him.”
“Good.” Feng Jiu’er raised her hand in a gesture to proceed. “I’ve said everything I have to say. Now I would like to hear everyone’s views.”
The first person Feng Jiu’er looked to was Xing Zizhou. She looked at him and raised a brow. “Xing Zizhou, do you have anything to add?”