“Deputy General, calm your anger! The general didn’t mean it,” the officer said, blocking Gao Lingzhi.

The key issue was that the Deputy General was simply no match for the General.

“Get out of the way!” Gao Lingzhi’s face burned hot.

“Deputy General, don’t!” the officer shook his head firmly.

If a fight broke out, the Deputy General would suffer greatly.

“A deputy general appointed only in name dares to raise his voice at me?” Chen Hong scoffed coldly.

“Gao Lingzhi, would you rather I charge you with defying a superior, or with disturbing military morale?”

“General, please calm yourself.” The lieutenant turned and knelt. “The Deputy General only spoke in a moment of anger. Please forgive him.”

“Our scouts report the enemy forces were still in the valley last night. Perhaps word leaked and let them escape.”

“Right now the most important thing is capturing the traitors. General, please keep the bigger picture in mind.”

The lieutenant kowtowed three times before rising and going over to grip Gao Lingzhi’s wrist.

Gao Lingzhi drew a deep breath and sheathed his sword.

“Even gathering information gets bungled—a bunch of useless fools!” Chen Hong leapt onto her horse. “Hurry and pursue them. We must catch the traitors.”

“Yes.” Several guards responded at once.

Though everyone felt resentful in their hearts, there was nothing to be done.

Chen Hong held the Gao Family’s military tally; seeing the tally was like seeing the master himself, and they had no choice but to obey.

“Young Master, let’s go.” An officer led Gao Lingzhi’s horse over. “No matter what, let’s win this battle first.”

Gao Lingzhi stared at Chen Hong’s retreating figure, his face like frost.

He was no match for her, but he was a member of the Gao family—every soldier behind that vile woman belonged to the Gao family!

“Young Master, please!” the officer urged again.

Gao Lingzhi grabbed the reins, leapt onto his horse, and rode after them.

…

In a village, Xiao Yingtao carried a plate of fruit into a small house.

“Jiu’er, are you sure we’re not leaving?”

They had traveled without rest for three days and finally managed to stop and rest.

Fortunately, some brothers had made preparations in advance—as soon as they arrived, there was not only housing but also enough food.

Feng Jiu’er tied a letter to the leg of a messenger bird by the windowsill and released it into the air.

“It’s not that I don’t want to leave. Everyone’s stamina has its limits.”

If they kept moving, before the enemy even caught up, their entire force would collapse from exhaustion.

Three days and three nights—that was already the limit.

“Didn’t I tell you to go rest? What are you doing here again?”

“I slept for over an hour, unlike you, who won’t stop for even a moment.” Xiao Yingtao handed Feng Jiu’er a bright red fruit.

“Eat this, then go rest. I’ll handle the rest.”

Feng Jiu’er took the fruit and sat down.

Xiao Yingtao was about to say something else, but seeing the exhaustion on Feng Jiu’er’s face, she withdrew her gaze and stood up instead.

“I’ll go prepare your bathwater. You must sleep well tonight.”

Jiu’er was right—since they couldn’t leave anyway, it was better to stop and rest properly.

Only by conserving their strength could they better face the battles ahead.

“Good.” Feng Jiu’er picked up the terrain map without looking at Xiao Yingtao again.

Xiao Yingtao left to prepare the bath.

Sure enough, early the next morning, enemy troops caught up with them.

But they did not launch an attack. Instead, they guarded the nearest route from the town to the capital’s west city gate that Feng Jiu’er’s army would need to take.

“Miss Jiu’er, the enemy guarding the checkpoint numbers at least thirty thousand,” a brother reporting back said quietly.

Feng Jiu’er composed herself and looked up. “Go find out whether the one leading the troops is Chen Hong.”

“Yes.” The brother clasped his fists and went to carry out the order.

“No need.” Xing Zizhou strode over. “Jiu’er, it really is Chen Hong. She wants to meet with you in person.”