With that, Ji Hua withdrew. Qing Yun sat down, sipping tea absentmindedly. After a while, Miao Jing, who had been standing nearby, couldn’t contain himself any longer. “Your Majesty! It seems Zhan intends to resolve this quickly.”
“Hmm!” Qing Yun sipped his tea again. “Any word from Fen Tian?”
Miao Jing replied, “No contact from our agents yet. The last report mentioned that Ruo Wen had arrived in Zhun City. It looks like he's waiting for us to make the first move.”
Qing Yun chuckled. “He’s gotten smart—realizes he can’t just march straight in and take everything. Tell Mang Liu’s men to block off the water routes east of Zhun City, and poison the main water source at Guangshui. It won’t be that easy for him to take advantage.”
Miao Jing nodded but asked, “What if they discover it?”
Qing Yun smirked. “It doesn’t matter. If they drink the water, they’ll die from poison. If they don’t, they’ll die of thirst. By then, they’ll have no choice but to either advance or retreat. Sitting on the sidelines won’t be an option.” After a brief pause, he added, “But remember, only poison the water at Guangshui. Leave the other routes untouched. Anyone who disobeys will see their entire clan executed.”
Miao Jing immediately knelt. “I’ll handle it right away!”
A general who knows how to lead his troops must sometimes be more ruthless than the average person. Though it may seem excessively cruel, such methods often minimize overall casualties in war. Why this works, no one can say for sure. In some ways, Qing Yun and Zhan were similar. Both had their own strategies for ruling their countries and leading their armies, and they both followed their principles with unwavering resolve. These principles guided them along a path they would never regret.
Ruo Wen, however, was different. Rising from nothing—a boy with no status among a group of bandits—he became a leader and then, eventually, the king of Fen Tian. From the start, he had no use for complex strategies. He took what he wanted, and if he couldn’t take it, he stole it. When he tired of something, he threw it away. And when something bored him, he crushed it. Whether it was material goods or people, it was all the same to him. He was the most free and the most ruthless. His cruelty had nothing to do with ruling a kingdom, and his desires knew no limits. If he were truly a god, he would be a god that existed solely for himself.
Mang Hu, in all his life, had never been more humiliated than he was now—leading an army of 50,000 yet failing to capture a single woman. The 50,000 troops Ruo Wen had allocated for this mission might not have been as fierce as the Mad Yellow Army of Heaven, but they were still part of the former Ma Sui royal army. The idea that 50,000 men couldn’t subdue 10,000 was simply unimaginable!
Huang Bei Shuang stood alone between the two armies. The distance was so short that Mang Hu would need only about twenty horse strides to capture the woman his leader so greatly desired. She raised her right hand high and made a sharp gesture in the air, and the 10,000 soldiers behind her simultaneously loosed a volley of arrows. Most struck their targets with deadly precision, hitting the Fen Tian soldiers from a hundred miles away. But in the silence that followed, no arrows flew back in response from Fen Tian’s forces.
Sitting on his horse, Mang Hu watched the second row of his men fall. His head pounded in frustration. This woman means business!
Six hours earlier, he had surrounded her camp with his 50,000 cavalry, nearly falling off his horse in excitement. He had ordered a search, only to find the camp empty. Looking just a few miles away, he saw that 10,000 soldiers had already formed ranks, bows drawn, and Huang Bei Shuang stood alone, defiantly stepping forward. Her resolve left Mang Hu dumbstruck. Every time he encountered her, there was always an unpredictable twist.
“Are you here to capture me?” she asked, laughing.
Mang Hu was taken aback and shouted, “You know the answer! You’re outnumbered—don’t waste your energy. Even if you grew wings, you wouldn’t escape!”
Huang Bei Shuang laughed even harder. “Who said I’m trying to escape? I’m here to kill you!”
Mang Hu burst into loud, mocking laughter. “Haha! How do you plan to kill me in this situation?”
Huang Bei Shuang retorted sarcastically, “Oh, yes! Ruo Wen sent you with all these men to capture me. What do you think will happen to you if you fail?”
Mang Hu froze for a moment. “Don’t tell me you plan to kill yourself!”
Huang Bei Shuang held up a silver dagger, the same one she had once exchanged with Qing Yun during a horse-trade. Like a form of retribution, she pressed it against her chest. She smiled and raised her other hand to the sky, declaring, “The moment I lower my hand, General Wu will order the archers to fire! For every man you brought, my archers will kill one!”
Mang Hu glanced behind her and sneered. “Fine, let’s see who dies first. Ready the bows!” At his command, the vanguard soldiers drew their bows, the force of their preparation overwhelming Wu Jihai’s forces. Naturally, being outnumbered five to one, they couldn’t compete.
But Huang Bei Shuang merely smiled and drove the dagger into her chest. Blood gushed forth as Mang Hu and Wu Jihai watched in horror, their eyes glued to her every move.
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