For a split moment, Lin Feng’s nerve faltered. Behind him, the cavalry had already pushed out far, and his own formation was thrown into greater disorder. The native soldiers instinctively fought back. Lin Feng quickly gave the order: “Form ranks!”

For the siege he had brought mostly infantry, with only a few centurions on horseback. In that situation, he had no way to organize a cavalry charge against them. The best option was to suppress their advance with arrows, then have the infantry form a tight defensive formation — long spears to the fore — to first steady their footing before deciding anything else.

Lin Feng’s mind was racing as he kept eyes and ears open in all directions. He heard the cheering from atop the city walls, and felt a jolt of alarm. He quickly drew his forces together and stood firm in readiness. But the opposing side did not press the engagement — after clashing with his troops, they turned and went straight into the city. In his surprise, Lin Feng paused and took stock: this force was not especially large, no more than two or three hundred men, with very few in heavy armor and most of them light cavalry.

There was something strange about all of this. Lin Feng did not dare continue the assault. He personally covered the rear himself, dispatched a female centurion on swift horse to report back to the main camp, then rallied the tower-wagons and soldiers to slowly withdraw. Halfway back, he saw Su Zhe riding at the head of a large cavalry force coming out to meet him.

Lin Feng asked: “Why are you here? Is there a guard watching over the Old One in the camp?”

“There is. Jin Yu is in camp. The Old One has already put on her armor. If I run into trouble out here, she’ll take to the field personally.” As she spoke, the long blade in her hand gestured backward, and the cavalry reined in to open a path. Lin Feng hurried his troops through. Su Zhe gave a sharp whistle, the cavalry closed ranks again, and they moved forward in a measured advance.

Lin Feng returned to the main camp. The camp instantly became a busy hive of activity. Lightly wounded men sought out field doctors on their own; the seriously wounded were carried by their comrades to be tended to; the uninjured began preparing meals.

Inside the main tent, Zhù Ying was wearing a light suit of armor. At her side, Master Hu’s elder sister had also put on a light leather breastplate. Zhù Ying was pointing and tracing over a map. Across from her, Zhù Qingxue tapped two spots on the map and said: “At present only Lin Feng and Lu Danqing have been attacked. Elder Sister Qingjun has not reported being attacked…”

Lin Feng announced himself from outside the tent. Zhù Ying said: “Come in.”

Without waiting to be asked, Lin Feng went straight to the map and described what had happened. He also reported the number of tribal soldiers he had seen, noting they were not many: “I don’t know if they split their forces, with a larger group going to ambush Danqing.”

The situation was a peculiar one. Maintaining two or three hundred cavalry was an enormous expense — even back when Zhù Ying had only a single Zhù County and was merely hoping to live a quiet life, she had never considered keeping any. Yet in the context of a reasonably large-scale war, that many men amounted to nothing at all. Lin Feng could only guess: the enemy had divided their forces, with several detachments of comparable size moving in from different directions to break the siege.

The enemy’s total numbers were not encouraging. The Western Tribes were half-farming, half-pastoral — many small clans could muster several hundred men with a single shout, and larger ones could gather a thousand without difficulty. Of course, untrained men could not be considered proper cavalry. Still, they had a foundation to build on, which made assembling mounted troops easier.

Zhù Ying said: “Scout further.”

Qingxue went out to relay the order. Lin Feng said: “They’ve entered the city. We must guard against them charging back out. Cavalry are of limited use defending a city — they’ll most likely try to ambush us by night.” A cavalry ambush was nothing to laugh at.

While the two were still talking, Lu Danqing came back as well, somewhat disheveled. She had encountered the same situation as Lin Feng. Zhù Qingxue handed her a bowl of water. She drank half of it before saying: “I counted about five hundred of them.”

Zhù Ying marked this second detachment on the map as well. The number did not quite add up either. Nearly a thousand cavalry was absolutely not few, yet it felt oddly inconclusive — neither overwhelming nor negligible.

Zhù Ying gave the order to scout further.

Zhù Qingjun came back together with Su Sheng and the scouts: “Old One, my younger sister is covering the rear. No one came chasing out of the city.”

Zhù Ying asked: “Were you ambushed?”

“We were — I routed them, captured three alive, killed some, and the rest fled. With luck, by now they should already be back inside the city!”

A detachment had also struck at her, but her troops were the strongest in Wuzhou, and her numbers were the greatest. In this campaign she was also bearing the main assault role. The ambushers had run into a solid wall of iron, and Zhù Qingjun brought back several prisoners.

Lin Feng and Lu Danqing felt a flicker of shame, both sensing their own responses had fallen short.

Su Sheng added further: “They’re somewhat different from the Western Tribal troops I saw in the Western Frontier.”

Lu Danqing said quickly: “Different clans, perhaps?”

Lin Feng nodded: “Possible. Meaning — these aren’t Kun Da Chi’s own personal troops?”

They all gathered around the map. Zhù Ying marked down the site of Zhù Qingjun’s ambush as well. Adding it up, roughly a thousand men. She tapped the map. “All cavalry?”

Everyone confirmed it emphatically: “Yes.”

Zhù Ying said: “Can this really be all there are?”

“We saw no others.” They said.

A moment later, Su Zhe also returned. She hadn’t had a chance to stretch her legs for a while, and she was now in high spirits: “They’ve pulled back inside the city — horses too. I had people go up on the tower-wagons to look. There’s no sign of ambush forces or a relief army anywhere in the distance.”

Zhù Ying said: “Come. Let us go look.”

She went out in person to reconnoiter. Zhù Qingjun and the others grew extremely tense, everyone arranging shield-bearers and cavalry around her as a close escort, terrified of Zhù Ying running into danger again. Zhù Ying left the main camp and — as expected — encountered no ambush: “Don’t all follow! Qingjun, Danqing, Su Sheng — you stay and mind the camp. Everyone else, come with me.”

Zhù Xinle saw Zhù Qingjun’s worry and volunteered: “Old One, I know this area well. Let me lead the way!”

“Guide us from the front.”

“Aye!”

The group spent half a day combing through the surrounding area. The horses were so tired they stopped twice for water along the way, and they found no other relief forces. However, the city walls now had a few figures in vivid, colorful garb — Zhù Ying’s sharp eyes could just make out the silhouette of Western Tribal dress. She urged her horse to ride a little closer; arrows were shot down from the walls. Zhù Xinle anxiously moved to shield her from the front.

Zhù Ying smiled: “All right. Let’s head back.”

After riding through the area once, Zhù Ying had a clear picture. Thanks to the flat terrain of this stretch of plain and the burning of the crops after harvest, there was almost nothing that could provide concealment. The advance contingent of the Western Tribes’ relief troops — this was all of them for now.

Good. This made things manageable.

Zhù Ying returned to the main camp and first gave the order: “Su Sheng, Jin Yu — after dark, take your men out of camp. Before lunch tomorrow, make a great show of it and come back in, then set up a new camp on the left flank. Lu Danqing, Lin Feng — after dark tomorrow, take your men out. Before lunch the day after, make a great show of it and come back in, then set up a new camp on the right flank.”

At this point, in order to press for a decisive blow, she had concentrated nearly twenty thousand troops — and if they did not crack this last hard bone soon, their provisions would run dry. So the goal was to create a false impression of overwhelming strength, making twenty thousand seem like fifty thousand. Only with that would she be able to intimidate the opposing side.

Next, she ordered Zhù Xinle to keep close watch on the road coming in from the west, ever on guard against a large Western Tribal relief force. She also ordered the craftsmen to work day and night to build as many siege engines as possible: “No holding back, no concerns — live like there’s no tomorrow! Build as many as you can build!”

Zhù Qingjun stepped forward: “I will go test them myself tomorrow!” But behind her stepped out a stocky, dark-complexioned man: “For something like this, does the general really need to go herself? Let me go first!”

This man was of the Xi Ka clan by origin, a former slave. It was a curious thing — the Xi Ka clan was militarily weak, yet the slaves Zhù Ying had received from them, once given a change of clothes and fed three square meals, turned out to be fiercer than anyone.

Zhù Ying said: “No need to test them. Tomorrow we all go together!”

“But what about you?”

Zhù Ying said: “Do you doubt I can hold the main camp? Follow your orders!”

That evening, Su Sheng and Jin Yu took several thousand men out of camp, horses’ hooves muffled in cloth, men with bits clenched in their teeth, slipping away quietly into the night. At first light the next morning, Zhù Qingjun led her troops in an assault on the city!

From morning to midday, they attacked only the side gates. But they found the defenders on the walls had not increased much in number. Because only one side was being targeted, the people inside could keep rotating reinforcements in fairly promptly, and both sides remained deadlocked. Zhù Qingjun’s side wove rice straw into thick pads, coated them with a little grease, set them alight, and hurled them down from the tower-wagons into the city below, igniting several fires inside. The fires were quickly extinguished.

The Western Tribal archers inside the city were far more accurate than the Pusheng chieftain’s own native soldiers, and they inflicted considerable casualties on Wuzhou’s troops.

At midday, seeing that Zhù Qingjun still showed no sign of retreating, a Western Tribesman waved a Western Tribal banner and shouted: “Our chieftain wants to meet your governor!”

With that, he tied a letter to an arrow and shot it out.

Zhù Qingjun caught the letter. Seeing that it was written in the Western Tribal script, she could follow some spoken Western Tribal but found the written form — especially the formal document style — hard to read fluently. She had to bring it to Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying’s side had Jin Yu and the others busy setting up empty camps, working in a bustling frenzy. Zhù Ying read the letter and felt a surge of delight: “Excellent! These are not Kun Da Chi’s people!”

Although the letter bore the Western Tribal heading, Zhù Ying knew how Western Tribal documents were written, and this was absolutely not a document produced by the tribal court. In other words, the people who had come were not sent by Kun Da Chi — at the very least, he had not been able to mobilize the full resources of the Western Tribes. Moreover, the content of the letter stated that the writer wished to act as a mediator.

This put Zhù Ying’s mind at ease! Her greatest fear had been that while she was at the limit of her strength, someone might swoop in to profit as the fisherman in the parable. If those who came had been powerful enough, even if they were still mild-mannered on the surface, the first thing they should have done was lift the siege — and only then propose mediation.

Zhù Ying wrote back agreeing to meet with the Western Tribal representative, setting the meeting for the following day.

The next day, it was Lin Feng and the others’ turn to play the role of reinforcements arriving. When the tribal envoy came, he found yet another camp under bustling construction. This unsettled the envoy somewhat, but he nonetheless puffed out his chest and strode into Zhù Ying’s main tent with long strides.

Zhù Ying wore a purple robe, every inch the imperial court official — her dress similar to the look she’d worn when she had directed the war on the Western Frontier and been Chancellor in the capital a few years back. The envoy saw her dressed thus and immediately hesitated.

At this point Lin Feng barked at him to pay his respects to “the Governor.”

The man did not understand Lin Feng’s official Mandarin. Zhù Ying gently addressed him in the tribal language: “You don’t understand Mandarin — that is no fault of yours. I have read the letter. Say what you have come to say; I give you leave to speak first.”

The envoy said: “I am willing to mediate between the two sides…”

“Hush — you are only the envoy. It is your young master who commands the troops, not you. Tell me what your master intends. Once you’ve said your piece, you may go.”

The envoy was left speechless.

“Go ahead. I am listening.”

The envoy shook his sleeve and said: “If you speak like that, what is left for me to say?”

“Then escort him out of camp. Qingjun, continue the siege, keep attacking. Tell the people inside the city: anyone who kills the Pusheng chieftain will receive half his cattle and sheep. For every person of rank in the great hall that is killed, one ox. Kill a Western Tribal cavalryman, and his horse is yours, plus one ox…”

A look of fury mixed with alarm appeared on the envoy’s face. He said quickly: “Wait!”

The sound of horns blared outside. The envoy startled. Zhù Ying said: “Don’t worry. That is the signal for the first shift to eat lunch. When they finish, they rotate and take turns attacking the city. Rest assured, I will let you return to the city before the attack resumes.”

The envoy had no choice but to hurry out his full message: “This place was never your court’s territory to begin with, and the Pusheng chieftain acknowledges my king as his lord. Our young master is willing to mediate for both sides. You withdraw your troops, he promises not to retaliate. How does that sound?”

It sounded nothing at all appealing. Zhù Qingjun and the others were all inwardly furious. If the Western Tribes had not come at this point, the city would have fallen within a few days. Now, because of this, all the people who had died before had died for nothing, and everything had to start over from scratch!

Zhù Ying asked: “How is Kun Da Chi? Is he well?”

“The King is doing very well, of course!”

Zhù Ying asked with an air of gentle inquiry: “Has your master pledged his allegiance to him?”

“Of course!”

Zhù Ying’s smile deepened: “Then the one who should be giving orders is Kun Da Chi, not your young master. Your words have been delivered. Carry back a few words from me to your young master — there is no king who does not wish to command the same authority as our Emperor, and no king who is content to have the clans beneath him each act as their own masters. He is your king, but he is also your enemy. As long as the troops in your hands still answer only to you, he cannot count you as a truly trusted subordinate. I can choose to give one of you a hand.”

The envoy’s expression turned thoroughly wretched. The camp outside sounded the horns a second time. Zhù Qingjun said: “Old One, it is my camp’s turn to eat. I’ll go see to it.”

“Go ahead.”

The envoy carried Zhù Ying’s written reply back with him. The letter, written in the tribal language, stated: as long as the Western Tribal cavalry withdrew as they had come, she would not require the Western Tribes to help her kill the Pusheng chieftain — all she required was that the Western Tribal troops leave, and she could treat the matter as though it had never happened. After all, the court had made a peace agreement with the Western Tribes; she, Zhù Ying — a court official, former Chancellor, current Governor of Wuzhou — still acknowledged this obligation. She wanted land and merit. But by the same token, the Pusheng chieftain’s former trade with the Western Tribes could continue. The details could be negotiated. Wuzhou had salt, tea, and other goods that the Western Tribes needed — all of it she could provide. What the Western Tribes stood to gain from her exceeded anything they could get from the Pusheng chieftain.

Finally, Zhù Ying noted specifically that she could conduct trade exclusively with this particular clan, meaning she would grant them a monopoly on trade — all large-scale transactions between their two territories could be conducted without either party’s liege lord finding out.

The envoy carried the letter back into the city and handed it to his young master. This was a young man in his mid-twenties with a full set of side-whiskers, who looked ten years older than the pampered young men of the capital at the same age. He read the letter through, brows furrowed in thought, then — under the Pusheng chieftain’s watchful gaze — tucked the letter back into his breast pocket.

All the while, outside, the battering ram continued its relentless pounding against the city gates.

The Pusheng chieftain asked: “What did she say? Did she demand a great deal?”

“She didn’t agree. But it doesn’t matter — tomorrow morning, I will go myself and make the stakes plain to her.”

The Pusheng chieftain said: “I fear she will not agree.”

“Then I must try once more. I came this time without informing my king, with too few troops. Mediation is the better course.”

“Very well.”

The Pusheng chieftain still felt ill at ease in his heart. He thought it through carefully: his wife and sister were already sent away, the chieftains who had tried to sell him out were poisoned and dead. There was nothing left to worry about.

What he did not know was that the next day, his so-called rescuers were inside Zhù Ying’s main camp agreeing to her terms: “Agreed. But I want the gold, silk, and women of the city.”

Zhù Ying shook her head: “The valuables you take for yourself. I want the people. We must split things fairly.”

“And if my own king came in person?”

“He won’t. When there are tender lambs to eat, who would go gnaw at an old tough ox? The place where he and I last crossed swords was not here. If he cared about this place, he would not have let you act on your own — and you, for your part, do not want him to interfere here either.” Zhù Ying said softly.

If the worst should come to pass, she would have no choice but to lead her troops east first, secure the mines, rebuild strength, and plan for the future.

The two of them quickly settled on terms. A blue ox was slaughtered, and they swore a blood oath over it.

Inside the city, the Pusheng chieftain was still pacing and waiting for news — unknowingly sold out in every way. His ally came back with a show of feigned anger. Facing the chieftain’s look of concern, he said: “She wouldn’t agree. Tomorrow — I am going to give her a lesson personally!”

The Pusheng chieftain said: “The troops at hand — are they enough?”

“What is there to fear? My father’s forces are right behind!”

The Pusheng chieftain set his mind at rest, called for a banquet to see off his ally and build his fighting spirit. But the ally said: “I should first go see how the lads are doing with preparations.”

He went straight to where his own troops were gathered in the city, then suddenly struck without warning — looted the Pusheng chieftain’s riches completely, set a fire in the city for good measure, threw open the gates, and rode away without a backward glance!

Outside the city.

Zhù Qingjun kept a tense watch on the city gates. She led a mounted force with spearmen, shield-bearers, and axe soldiers ranked behind them. Though there had been an agreement between both sides, Zhù Ying had still not been at ease and had sent troops out as a precaution. The gates swung open, and the sound of shouting and killing came from within. The anxiety Zhù Qingjun had been holding let go — finally, here it was. This battle, it seemed, had been unavoidable all along!

But the Western Tribal cavalry didn’t even glance at the Wuzhou main camp. Without a moment’s hesitation they turned and headed west. Zhù Qingjun waited a little longer, and then saw behind the cavalry the pack animals and carts loaded to the full — and immediately understood the situation.

Zhù Xinle had figured it out too and asked for permission: “General, let me go intercept them…”

“Let them go! A thief doesn’t leave empty-handed. Don’t lose the big prize for the sake of a small one. When they have cleared out, we charge in! Follow the plan — no looting! Do not disturb the people! Head straight to… hm?”

“General?”

Zhù Qingjun narrowed her eyes. Scattered civilians were pouring out through the city gates! Only then did they see smoke billowing up from inside the city, flames licking upward!

Trouble. Zhù Qingjun thought fast: “Quickly — go gather the civilians! Prepare to fight the fire! You few, each take a squad and watch the city gates — in case the Pusheng chieftain tries to slip out in the chaos! The rest, follow me!”

But how could such a chaotic situation be stabilized with just a few words? The city gates were completely jammed by people fleeing for their lives from the inside! Zhù Qingjun ordered some troops sent to report up the line, then suppressed her murderous fury and split off more hands to take in the ragged, panic-stricken throng pouring out.

Only when Zhù Ying sent Lin Feng and Lu Danqing did the pressure on Zhù Qingjun ease slightly. Lin Feng said: “The Old One says hold the assault for now. Settle the people in place.”

The fire was still burning; people were still fleeing! Where was there room to settle so many? And there was also the danger of panicking refugees causing a stampede into camp. Zhù Ying reacted with speed, clearing out the previously-built dummy camps and giving them over as shelter — slaves and commoners on the left, the “persons of rank” and “merchants” on the right — and putting Su Zhe in charge of supervision. The refugees quickly grew quiet. The wailing ceased; only low weeping remained.

The great fire burned for a full day and night. The next day, the three of them reorganized their forces. Zhù Xinle also found two people he knew who could serve as guides. They entered the city cautiously.

They searched carefully, unable to spare a thought for their fury at the ruined city before them. The sweat on their brows grew heavier and heavier. The three gathered in front of what remained of the chieftain’s great hall — now nothing but stone rubble and broken walls — and asked each other:

“Did you see the Pusheng chieftain?”

“You didn’t catch him either?”

“Then where could he have gone?”

“I set guards on all the westward roads and every city gate. Nothing.”

“The settlement camp has been registering everyone. He hasn’t turned up.”

“Then where could he have gone?”

The three of them were sweating harder. The Pusheng chieftain was someone Zhù Ying had specifically instructed them to watch for. And yet, somehow, a living person had vanished right before their eyes.

Zhù Xinle came striding over with a dark expression: “General — all the valuables from the great hall are gone! Two of the granaries were burned. Only that one over there is still standing; I’ve arranged a watch on it.”

Zhù Qingjun said: “You know this place. Go search for the man you have a grudge against!”

“The chieftain escaped?” Zhù Xinle cried out in alarm. “Impossible — we’ve been blocking everything!”

“Stop wasting time. Go find him!”

“Yes!”

But even after Zhù Ying appeared at the city gates, the Pusheng chieftain was still nowhere to be found.

Zhù Ying did not panic: “Plan for the worst — he has escaped, fled to the Western Tribes. Start repairing the city walls at once! Clear out some lodgings. Su Zhe, you and Qingjun press west. Secure the passes! This land we have taken — we must keep it firmly in hand!”

From the great city westward, there was still a considerable stretch of territory, passing through several smaller settlements before reaching the passes where contact with the Western Tribes was direct. Only by holding those passes could they truly possess this stretch of land.

The two women acknowledged their orders and departed! Zhù Ying herself stayed behind to handle the aftermath.