“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded.

Back when they had fled the capital, the route they’d taken had passed through this stretch between Yongshan City and Yue City.

“So that means the soldiers in the west and north aren’t easy to redeploy either.” She composed herself and continued.

“Right.” Duan Wucheng turned to the steward, who had just entered. “Bring me my military tally.”

“Yes, my lord.” The steward, having just walked in, turned and left again.

“City Lord Long, Yongshan City has roughly fifty thousand troops in total.”

“The remaining eight thousand are scattered across various corners of the city. I’m not sure if we can gather them in time even if we call them back now.”

“But we must bring them back regardless.”

“According to our scouts, Lei Shenbao of Li City has at least half again as many troops as we do.”

“City Lord Long, you’ve taken on this burden in a moment of crisis. You’ve worked hard.”

Duan Wucheng stood and bowed solemnly to Feng Jiu’er before sitting back down.

“In a moment, I’ll explain the full situation to you in detail.”

“It’s already nightfall, and dinner is ready. Let’s eat first!”

Duan Wucheng stood, glanced around at everyone present, and let his gaze settle on Feng Jiang before waving a hand.

“Everyone, please—simple fare, but please, eat!”

As far as Duan Wucheng was concerned, no matter what, he couldn’t let the Third Prince go hungry.

After dinner, the maids cleared everything away.

Duan Wucheng, Feng Jiu’er, and Feng Jiang stayed together to analyze the situation.

Di Wuya and Yu Jingfeng, meanwhile, went off to a side hall.

By the time everyone left the Duan estate, it was already late at night.

In the span of a single day, Xing Zizhou had already found a place for everyone to stay.

It turned out to be none other than the home of Duan Langyu’s maternal grandfather.

The Cheng family had been in decline for years and had long intended to sell the estate.

Xing Zizhou offered a good price, and the matter was settled within half a day.

As the Cheng family’s plaque came down from above the gate, the words “Dragon Shadow” went up in its place—Dragon Shadow now had a branch in Yongshan City as well.

Outside Yongshan City, it was two days before Lei Shenbao received word that a new faction calling itself Dragon Shadow, just like the one in Li City, had been established within Yongshan City.

Feng Jiu’er’s departure had already thrown Lei Shenbao off balance.

And now, in just a few short days, Dragon Shadow had appeared inside Yongshan City as well.

What exactly Lei Shenbao made of all this, only he himself knew.

“Two days and two nights, and we still haven’t broken through—useless!”

Sitting in his tent, Lei Shenbao swept everything off the table that he could reach onto the floor.

“My lord, the people of Yongshan City act as though they’ve taken some divine elixir—each of them full of vigor. It’s truly difficult to take the city.” Lei Ming knelt on the ground.

“I don’t care what they’ve eaten. With Jiu’er inside that city, we must break through.” Lei Shenbao’s cold eyes fixed on Lei Ming.

“Pull the thirty thousand defense troops back from the south. This time, I will take this little place!”

“My lord.” Lei Ming looked up. “Is it her you’re still thinking of—Dragon Shadow’s deputy leader?”

“The moment she entered the city, she set up her own branch there—that’s clearly no innocent intention!”

“What ulterior motive could Jiu’er possibly have?” Lei Shenbao’s thick brows knit together.

Even knowing full well she had her own intentions, he would never admit it.

This woman—he was determined to have her!

“My lord…” Lei Ming wanted to say more.

Lei Shenbao cut him off at once. “Enough nonsense! Move the southern troops over immediately. No matter what, we must take Yongshan City.”

“That man Duan—I’ll send him to join his son!”

“My lord, the southern troops can’t be moved carelessly. We can’t afford to ignore Yue City.” Lei Ming said in a low voice.

“Then move two— move two ten-thousand over for now.” Lei Shenbao took a deep breath, his temper easing somewhat.

“…If other cities find out Yongshan City has sulfur, they won’t let such a juicy prize go uneaten either.”

“Whatever the cost, we take Yongshan City first, and worry about the rest later.”

“Yes.” Lei Ming looked up, cupped his hands, stood, and turned to leave.

The battle raged on. At Yongshan City’s gates, smoke curled into the sky and horns blared without end.

Both sides were evenly matched, fighting in fits and starts. A full five days passed, and still the gates held.

No further word came from inside the city, and Lei Shenbao knew his scouts had likely met a grim fate.

His guess wasn’t wrong—Feng Jiu’er and the others had long since captured his scouts, precisely to keep Lei Shenbao from learning what was happening inside.

Over those five days, not only had Dragon Shadow’s brothers and the five thousand from Lianxi Town arrived, but Di Wuyou’s Longwu Army had also reached their designated position.

On the seventh day of fighting, one of Lei Shenbao’s captured scouts managed to escape and return to his own camp.

In Lei Shenbao’s tent, the scout knelt on the ground.

“My lord, something’s wrong! Very wrong!” the scout said, trembling.

“Speak!” Lei Shenbao stared down at the man.

“My lord, it’s Miss Long.” The scout looked up to meet Lei Shenbao’s eyes.

“It’s Miss Long, not Duan Wucheng.”

“Right now, Miss Long is the lord of Yongshan City. Several days ago, Duan Wucheng announced his abdication.”

“The new lord of Yongshan City has the surname Long, given name Jiu’er—the very Miss Long who was a guest at the Duan estate before.”

“So it really is true!” Sun Yishi clenched his fists tightly.

“I always sensed something was wrong. The Seventh Lady has a willful temperament, but she’s always known her priorities.”

“And what’s most telling is that it was the very day after Miss Long entered the estate that Langyu died.”

“I’ve always suspected this had something to do with Miss Long. She knows no less about poison than my lord does.”

“It’s just…” Sun Yishi looked at Lei Shenbao’s darkening expression and didn’t dare say more.

“It must be her!” Lei Ming clenched his fists. “It must be that woman!”

“When she heard Yongshan City had sulfur, her face was full of greed—it must be her!”

Sun Yishi gave a heavy cough, and only then did Lei Ming come to his senses.

The two exchanged a glance, both helpless.

Now, there was nothing left to say.

After a long, heavy breath, Lei Shenbao’s expression eased considerably.

In the end, the corner of his mouth even curved upward slightly. “My woman truly is extraordinary!”

“Have the reinforcements arrived yet? Halt the siege. We’ll wait until reinforcements arrive before deciding.”

Fighting against his own woman—he needed to think carefully about how to wage this battle properly.

“My lord, I’m afraid this…” Sun Yishi was truly uneasy.

He had expected Lei Shenbao to be furious and immediately escalate the assault, but instead…

“Go.” Lei Shenbao showed no anger at all, simply waving a hand.

“My…”

“Yes.”

Lei Ming wanted to object, but Sun Yishi cut him off.

The two had just turned to leave when another guard came rushing in.

“My lord.” The guard held a letter in his hand.

“What is it?” Lei Shenbao looked at the guard, who had arrived in a great hurry.

“My lord, bad news! The south is in crisis. Two days ago, Yue Jianfei’s army appeared outside the southern gate of our Li City.”

“It’s said they brought twenty thousand men.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the guard rushed forward to present the letter.

Lei Shenbao took it, opened it, and read for a while.

Finally, he gripped the letter tightly, staring straight ahead, his gaze growing darker by the moment.