Half the view before her was green, half barren waste.

The Female Chancellor crested a ridge and could see, below, a small village, and children herding sheep on the hillside. These were her people.

She did not go down to them. Leaning on her cane, she made her way instead into the shadow of the mountain.

The blazing sun had left her face parched and cracked, but the pain of her broken skin barely registered anymore. She tried to feel the two fingers of her left hand, still splinted, hoping they hadn’t been completely severed — the pain that answered her actually gave her a measure of relief.

Can’t go east…

Of course. The moment Zou Xu made his move, his primary target would certainly be the East City.

Had Zhan Wu and the others anticipated this?

Or did Zou Xu have even more schemes in store?

She turned the thought over in her mind — and found herself laughing.

She recalled how, just a few months ago, she had even tested the waters with Zhan Wu and Xue Guangcheng, suggesting they take their garrison troops to redevelop Xiaocang River in the northwest — all so that she could more easily win over Huaxia Army technical personnel on her own end.

The memory made her laugh, guiltily…

But there was nothing to be done about it now. She thought: Old Zhan, old Xue, I’ve already ended up like this — the sky could fall and the earth could split, and it wouldn’t concern me anymore.

She couldn’t go east, but she could go west. Beyond this mountain, ten-odd li — or perhaps twenty — there should be a garrison outpost. She thought it over, but decided against it.

The officer commanding that outpost was a subordinate of Niu Wenzhong’s. Was Niu Wenzhong truly loyal? It hardly mattered anymore. If she were Zou Xu, having already secured Ma Ling’s cooperation, she would do everything possible to plant eyes at every single outpost between Yuci and Weisheng — the moment the target was spotted, troops would converge for the kill.

And she would have to weigh the loyalty of every single location she considered.

The court at Weisheng was surely facing the same test right now.

How would things unfold there?

With something this enormous having happened, Yu Yulin was due to turn back — he could be back in Weisheng within a few days. Would anyone try to intercept and kill him along the way?

She stood on the ridge, gazing eastward.

Yes — whether or not there was an attempt on Yu Yulin’s life, Zou Xu would move quickly to push his forces toward Weisheng, and most crucially, to cut off all communication between Weisheng and the East City, using pressure from outside the walls to force the city into rapid capitulation. The Weisheng court might send troops north, but given more than half a year of the enemy’s careful planning — who would that army even be led by…

If only she could rejoin her own troops…

She trudged on, west and then south, mulling it over for a long while. The pull toward the east was as sweet as honey — if only she could reunite with her own forces, if her forces could even still be called her own… then she wouldn’t have to choose this desperate, uncertain path.

But in the end, she still turned west, toward the sparsely populated wilderness…

The defections had already begun. She couldn’t stake her life on any one person’s loyalty.

Because she was a woman, without an heir.

And merely the Female Chancellor serving under Tian Shan…

Tian Shan…

Thinking of Tian Shan inevitably brought her thoughts to Tian Shi.

Foolish child… and your foolish mother too… all of you…

Don’t do anything rash…

She crossed over the wild hills, avoiding the outposts, and before she knew it the sky had filled with countless stars. The weakness, the pain in her legs, and the numbness spreading all the way up into her hips had become the dominant sensation throughout her body. She tried to calculate the distance she’d covered that day — thirty li? Forty? Fifty?

She sat down, and by the light of the stars, pricked open the blisters on her feet. Her entire lower body burned with feverish exhaustion.

Am I getting old?

The thought crossed her mind, the same idle musing so many people share.

In the blink of an eye, she had already passed forty. Though she held power, both body and spirit had endured no small amount of suffering. If she were younger, a journey like this would have been nothing at all…

Curled up in pain, she began to laugh, thinking back over her past.

The young Lou Shuwan stood in the distance, standing amid the warmth and splendor of Hangzhou, gazing at her, lips parting as if to speak…

Hah… useless thing…

Poor me…

In her suffering, she briefly hugged her broken body tight, gritting her teeth hard, enduring this sudden fresh wave of agony…

…

Weisheng did not sleep that night. The rebel army’s encampment northwest of the city likewise stayed lit with torches through the small hours, scouts constantly coming and going, carrying news from beyond back to the main hall where Wang Juyun and An Xifu held their watch.

That very morning, the emergency force led by Bai Yuanzhou had already broken camp and marched swiftly north. By afternoon, the advance scouts had already clashed with the large scouting force Ma Ling had sent out. Meanwhile, all sides were searching for the Female Chancellor’s trail, and hundreds of martial-world fighters were locked in combat with Zou Xu’s “special forces,” the “Gong Chen Guard,” across an ever-widening stretch of territory.

On the eastern front, Zou Xu had already shown his hand — raising his own banner and leading a force rapidly southward. Bai Yuanzhou’s flank had failed to hold, and his defensive line had already been torn open. But according to scouts, aside from a small core group that might well be Gong Chen Guard operatives who had infiltrated in secret, the bulk of this force still belonged to Ma Ling and the other turncoats.

Word had already reached Weisheng that Zou Xu’s advancing force carried the corpse of the Female Chancellor at its front. But…

“If the Female Chancellor is truly dead, he wouldn’t need to send his special forces dozens of li out searching for her, then spread the news into the city. Don’t let him fool you.”

Wang Juyun had seen through the ruse immediately.

By evening, Bai Yuanzhou and Ma Ling’s main forces had drawn up their battle lines thirty li north of Weisheng and fortified a camp. At the same time, Bai Yuanzhou ordered one of Niu Wenzhong’s garrison units stationed to the east to strike Ma Ling’s flank — but the moment they marched out, they were handed a defeat by Zou Xu’s “special forces” and dared not advance further.

That night, as the hour approached midnight, unidentified scouts were spotted probing roughly ten li north of the rebel army’s encampment, and a small party led by two veterans of the martial world arrived at the rebel army’s gates, requesting an audience with Wang Juyun.

These two veterans were leaders of bandit gangs who had once been on good terms with Wang Juyun up north; in the past, when the rebel army had struggled simply to survive, they had, on certain occasions, called each other brothers. Later, once the Jurchens had been driven back in defeat in the Southwest and the flames of war in Jin territory gradually died down, the two men had accepted amnesty and settled into comfortable lives as wealthy men in nearby cities. This time, having heard of the upheaval in Weisheng, they had rushed over in haste.

Wang Juyun personally received them. After an exchange of pleasantries, they finally revealed the true purpose of their visit — for the sake of the rebel army’s future, they said: “Old brother, we’re none of us young anymore — why get tangled up in the squabbles over fame and fortune among these young upstarts?”

Not long after, they got to witness firsthand the legendary “Peacock King, Seven-Feathered Wings,” a name that struck fear across the martial world.

Wang Juyun’s sword cut both once-formidable veterans of the martial world to ribbons, while An Xifu led a team to drag out the rest of their retinue and hang every last one of them from the city wall outside.

“Send men out to disperse those gathered outside,” Wang Juyun ordered. “If the Female Chancellor makes her way back to us, we’re to receive her.”

Things weren’t going well in the East City either. Though Zhan Wu and Xue Guangcheng had made preparations, past midnight that night a considerable disturbance had still broken out within the technical settlement — possibly triggered by some contingency Zou Xu had planted there. For the moment, no one outside could get a clear picture of what was happening.

At dawn on the fifth day of the sixth month, Zou Xu’s banner crested the hills northeast of Weisheng, coming into view of the city’s defenders. This relatively small force leisurely set up camp and began constructing defensive lines, and the people atop the city walls could clearly see them burying something in the ground…

The stripped corpse of the “Female Chancellor” was hoisted high upon the banner pole.

An uproar swept through the city.

At the same time, news that Guanzhong had fallen began spreading on a massive scale…

Morning court convened, and the officials argued fiercely, hurling accusations at one another. None dared speak yet of surrender, but instead began accusing each other of being spies planted by Zou Xu — the generals commanding the city’s defense drew the heaviest suspicion of all. From behind the curtain, Madam Jin spoke up for the first time: “The matter of who commands the city’s defense is of the utmost importance. If there is any doubt, a change must indeed be made.” Right Chancellor Shao Qingshi objected, and the argument among the officials broke out into a chaotic uproar…

The unrest had long since spread from the court down into the general populace. With all four gates of Weisheng sealed, large-scale clashes and conflicts erupted suddenly throughout the city…

That same morning, a detachment under Niu Wenzhong’s command turned traitor and struck Bai Yuanzhou’s flank. Though the damage was not severe, the shadow cast by this large-scale defection now loomed over every army loyal to Jin territory.

Zou Xu had a chair brought out and sat before his battle lines, sipping tea.

Envoys urging surrender had already been sent out. He gazed at distant Weisheng, savoring the flavor of this city he was about to take.

It had taken every ounce of ingenuity, riding the Yellow River’s flood season to smuggle several hundred Gong Chen Guard operatives into the region — that alone had pushed things to their absolute limit. Ma Ling’s troops weren’t without some fighting capacity, and between the success of the surprise attack, the wave of defections, and news of Guanzhong’s fall, he had managed to successfully raise their morale. But as for actually taking the city by siege — that was laughable. A hundred years wouldn’t be enough for that.

The odds of successfully assassinating Yu Yulin were slim, but he’d sent men regardless — success or failure now rested with fate. Until Yu Yulin’s return, this was his window of opportunity to work his schemes against Weisheng.

With Lou Shuwan gone, how long could they hold out?

This was a test of human nature.

All it would take was one crack from within, one moment of weakness that let his people through the gates, and all of Weisheng — indeed, all of Jin territory — would change its banners, with no doubt left about the outcome.

Men marched forward through the endless current of history. He savored this thrill of walking the tightrope of grand strategy.

After a while, he summoned the scout at his side and asked quietly, “Lou Shuwan — still no news?”

“…Nothing has come back yet.”

“Heh, this woman… where could she have gone…”

…

“…Interesting,” he said.

…

Lou Shuwan recognized almost nothing of the land around her.

She moved only by her rough sense of direction, following the wide arc she had estimated in her mind.

The sun blazed even more fiercely that day.

She had barely endured another night, and upon rising in the morning, her legs felt as though they were burning with a raging fever, the pain between her thigh and hip like bones grinding out of place. Every part of her body screamed at her to stop — but thankfully, with the stick at her side, she managed to stand.

I should give you a good post…

She leaned on the stick, thinking as she walked.

Give it a post in the Ministry of Personnel — they control officials’ promotions, always the most profitable post of all.

But it won’t be long before you’re dragged down and beheaded.

Thinking it over, perhaps the Ministry of Rites would be better?

Jin territory was full of rough, uncultured folk who cared little for propriety — the Ministry of Rites was a quiet, idle office, with the occasional small perk, comfortable living without the risk of death. Perfect for a benefactor.

Yes, she decided as she walked, this stick would become the Minister of Rites of Jin territory.

The poor dignitaries of Jin territory, saddled with a Minister like you.

But then again — maybe an official who does nothing does a better job than one who does?

She thought slyly to herself.

As she walked, she nearly drained the mountain spring water she’d been carrying. Ahead, a deep ravine of yellow earth appeared. She thought she recognized this place — years ago, when she’d set fire to Weisheng and fled with the soldiers, she had passed through here; she remembered there had been no water in the ravine then.

Now it was the rainy season, and water rushed down from upstream, turning to muddy floodwater as it flowed.

She was unbearably thirsty.

The woman leaned on her cane, pausing for a moment at the edge of this cliff-like slope of yellow earth, then turned and followed the murky current upstream.

She had no idea how long she walked before finally spotting a gentler bend in the terrain. She had no idea how deep the water was; after testing the edge for a long while, she wrapped her shoes tight and, with great effort, leaning on her cane, stepped into the water.

The muddy water nearly reached her waist. Thirsty, yet unable to drink, Lou Shuwan gritted her teeth and waded slowly forward. She could feel sharp stones underfoot; at one point she nearly got swept away, but with tremendous effort managed to climb up onto the muddy bank on the other side.

She felt like a mud-loach.

She still had open wounds, and had no idea whether wading through such filthy water might kill her. But who could afford to worry about that now?

With one hand, she struggled to pull off her shoes and socks, wrapped her feet in the least dirty cloth she could find, and put her wet shoes back on. Utterly exhausted, trembling all over, she forced herself up from the ground and staggered forward, trembling, pulling the last of her dried rations from her breast pocket and forcing them into her mouth…

Past noon now, the sun overhead left her dizzy with heat. Lou Shuwan felt as though every last bit of strength had drained from her body, her whole frame burning as if boiling. She thought of her father, of her elder brother.

Back in Hangzhou, her father had been a man of formidable authority — in his youth, tenacious and resolute, he had accomplished no small number of remarkable things. She and her elder brothers, Lou Shuwang and Lou Shuweng, had grown up hearing tales of their father’s exploits — though they hadn’t managed to learn much good from them.

But looking back now, it seemed she had, after all, inherited some part of her father.

Tenacity — and extremity, in equal measure.

Her eldest brother, Lou Shuwang, had died precisely because of that extremity.

The moment the city fell, he’d believed the world had turned upside down, and had rushed headlong to embrace the brutal rules of that new chaos — never realizing he would meet men even less bound by rules than himself.

Her second brother, Lou Shuweng, had been extremely useless.

And extremely good at enjoying comfort…

And somehow still hadn’t died to this day…

And herself? Had she inherited her father’s tenacity?

Through all the stumbling and hardship of this journey, she’d somehow managed to endure it after all…

Or perhaps what she’d inherited wasn’t from her father’s side at all.

Ning Liheng had once said: “A man simply has to grit his teeth and hold on, that’s all there is to it.”

Yes — grit your teeth and hold on. Isn’t that what it takes for anyone to accomplish anything?

Ning Liheng — how did you grit your teeth and hold on, all along your own road?

Were there ever times when you suffered more than I have now?

As she walked, the wind was like fire, though strangely, it felt almost pleasant against her body after being soaked. Her clothes gradually dried, the mud caked on her legs cracking and flaking away bit by bit, and she felt as though she were slowly disintegrating, turning to dust. She found the thought amusing, and in her weakness stumbled twice more — one fall hard enough to split the nail on her right index finger half off as she instinctively caught herself on the ground, leaving her to crouch there, cradling her hand, enduring the pain for a long while.

There was no water nearby. A person could not even manage tears.

Her mind wandered through countless thoughts. It was afternoon already — where was that old devil Yu Yulin right now? Had she made a mistake, avoiding both the army and the villages? At one point, atop a hill, she turned her head and paused, faintly startled.

…Weisheng?

She followed the angle of the sun, turning slowly in place.

Why was it in that direction?

In the distance, to the northeast, the walls of Weisheng came into view. Following her memory, she had circled a massive arc and arrived at the southwest side of Weisheng.

Lou Shuwan leaned on her cane and pressed forward, gritting her teeth. Going downhill, her strength gave out entirely, and she slid the whole way down, tumbling to a stop at the edge of the main road. With great difficulty, she managed to stand once more.

The main road now had a fair number of people traveling along it — most coming from Weisheng, with only a rare few heading toward it. Lou Shuwan kept her head down, using a strip of cloth to cover her face.

She pressed forward, swaying, the walls of Weisheng wavering before her eyes the whole way.

Lou Shuwan felt as though she’d become a snail.

By the time she finally reached the city, the gates had already closed — unsurprising, given how clearly Zou Xu had staged his siege. A crowd had gathered outside the southwest gate as well, many of them people with family inside who wanted to get in.

Lou Shuwan stood beneath the city wall, tilting her head up to look at the people atop it. After a moment, trembling, she reached into her robe and slowly raised a token in her hand.

“Hu Changshu! Open the gate!”

Under the sunlight, her voice came out hoarse, unable to carry far — but someone nearby had already noticed her gesture. In the afternoon, a warm breeze blew past outside Weisheng’s walls, sweeping the cloth from her face, and someone else caught sight of the token in her hand.

People around her began to weep aloud…

Some fell to their knees…

Jin territory had endured war and hardship for so long.

Twenty years ago, perhaps, they had still had moments of naive hope.

But as the Jurchens ravaged the land and Weisheng suffered devastation again and again, the people who survived here had long since learned to recognize who could truly bring peace to this place.

And so, the moment word spread that the Female Chancellor was missing, the wandering warriors of Jin territory had already, on their own initiative, headed north, actively searching for her near the battlefield.

And now that this news had reached the city, countless people found themselves adrift in anguish, weeping, having lost their guiding anchor.

At this moment, within the palace, there had already been several rounds of heated debate, and the terms proposed by Zou Xu’s envoy had already been heard in full. The fracturing of Jin territory had already become plain to see.

To the northeast, the man seated before his battle lines waited for the fruit to fall.

At one point, a general named Hu Changshu heard shouting rising from below.

He turned his head. Beneath the city wall, hundreds of people were already kneeling in dense rows, and before them stood a single battered figure, raising a token high in her hand.

In truth, the token wasn’t even necessary.

Because everyone kneeling there was already calling out her name.

Hu Changshu’s eyes went wide.

In the crowd below, one figure suddenly rose, leapt a distance of several zhang, and thrust a long blade straight toward the Female Chancellor standing by the wall.

Whoosh…

Beyond the moat, a gentle warm breeze blew. Lou Shuwan felt the searing tightness in her lungs, miraculously, slowly beginning to ease.

The fifth day of the sixth month, in the afternoon, the hour of Shen.

The battered Female Chancellor had returned to her Weisheng.