"What?"
Sun Li sheathed her blade. "They haven't come back?"
"Right!"
Sun Buqi nodded hard. "I asked that Hundred-Household Liu myself. He said they waited at the meeting point for half a stick of incense, and when no one came, they returned early."
"Sister Tong!"
Hearing that, Madam Tong's legs gave out beneath her. She nearly fainted on the spot.
Gu Xinlan rushed forward to support her. "Li jie'er… did… did something happen?"
"Don't panic just yet," Sun Li said, her voice steady but tight. "Maybe they got lost or something delayed them. If we wait a bit longer, they might still come back."
"Lost?"
Gu Xinlan seized on that word. "Shi ge'er went beyond the Great Wall, didn't he?"
She knew her husband better than anyone.
He spent half his life running around Tiger Head Mountain; there was no way he'd get lost.
If he really was lost, it could only be on some unfamiliar grassland.
"…Yes."
Sun Li nodded softly. "Let's wait a little longer."
The air in the courtyard seemed to freeze.
By dawn, there was still no news.
By the latter half of the night, even Xu Wencai and Wang Li had come to ask questions.
There were women inside, so they didn't dare enter. They just stood outside the gate.
"Could something have happened to Lord Chen?"
Wang Li's face was grim. He gripped the hilt of his saber. "Old Xu, say something! Deputy Thousand-Household Luo and Hundred-Household Liu are both back, but the Lord isn't."
Xu Wencai paced back and forth. "Don't panic! Don't panic! The Lord's blessed by fate—he'll be fine!"
He said that aloud… but no one really believed it.
The entire night passed in suffocating silence.
When dawn finally came, the military camp was still eerily quiet.
"I knew it! Tang Ruoshan's a useless bastard!"
Sun Buqi cursed loudly. "He got Third Brother killed before, and now he can't even protect Sanshi! The Xi River tribe only had one tempering organs cultivator!"
"Xi River…"
Gu Xinlan's heart went cold.
Everyone in Poyang knew that name.
Years ago, the tribe that had massacred villages outside Poyang belonged to the Xi River barbarians.
If they were sent deep into their main camp—
And now hadn't come back after so long—
Didn't that mean…
Sun Buqi's hands trembled. "Sis, what do we do? Should we borrow some men and go look for him?"
"Don't be stupid!"
Sun Li snapped. "Can you take on thousands of enemy riders? Keep waiting. If he still doesn't come back today…"
She paused, then said coldly, "…then it just means fate wasn't on our side with that little junior brother."
Her words were harsh, but they were the truth.
A soldier's life was fragile.
Who among them hadn't known death?
Even before the Eight Northern Garrisons were formed, countless young geniuses had died before they could rise.
"Damn it!"
Sun Buqi stomped his foot, but there was nothing else he could do.
"Waaah…"
Madam Tong broke down in sobs. "He just had to go to war! Always shouting about making merit, about glory! He never thought about whether he could handle it! The baby's not even born yet…"
Gu Xinlan's eyes turned red, but she didn't cry.
She simply went inside, took out her sewing kit, and sat on a stone bench, stitching quietly, one needle after another.
As the first light of dawn broke over the horizon, hope in everyone's hearts began to fade.
"Let's go."
At last, Sun Li couldn't bear it anymore. "Buqi, come with me. We'll go outside the walls and look for him."
"Alright!"
Sun Buqi was already halfway to the stables before she finished speaking.
Just as they reached the gate—
"Wuuuuuu——"
The blaring sound of war horns split the air.
Black smoke rose on the horizon, thick and rolling, blotting out the sun.
"Three signal fires raised, two beacons lit, three piles of kindling burned—more than two thousand enemies approaching!"
Sun Buqi's face went pale. He recognized the signal instantly.
…
The Great Wall.
Zhao Kang had stayed up all night, still waiting for the last missing Night-Scout unit.
"They're dead."
He shook his head and muttered to himself, "What's talent worth? He had a bright future, sure—but he died before even leaving Poyang County. Fat Wang's gone too. The higher-ups in the city will be laughing themselves silly."
He turned and slumped against the wall, planning to rest his eyes for a moment.
But before he could even close them, the lookout atop the tower shouted.
"Enemy attack!"
"An army's approaching! An army's coming!"
"…An army?"
Zhao Kang snapped awake, scrambling up the ladder to the lookout.
What he saw froze him in place.
Across the plains—miles and miles of black iron riders surged forward, stretching beyond the horizon.
At a glance, there were at least two thousand of them.
The Xi River tribe did have that many soldiers, but not all were cavalry.
Had they really reinforced their forces?
Zhao Kang was baffled.
What kind of reckless attack was this?
Sieges weren't won in a day.
Even if the Xi River tribe wanted to take Poyang, they should have set up camp first, built fortifications, and advanced slowly. Charging straight at the walls like this was suicide.
Wait—
They weren't attacking.
They were chasing someone!
Zhao Kang squinted, forcing his eyes to focus.
There—far ahead of the barbarian host—he saw eight riders.
The barbarian cavalry were chasing those eight. But oddly, they kept their distance, following but not daring to close in. It was as if they feared them.
"Hyah—!"
Within moments, the Thousand-Household gave the order for the garrison to mobilize.
The cavalry raced toward the walls.
Xiang Tingchun was the first to reach the battlements, followed closely by Luo Dongquan, then Sun Buqi and Sun Li, and finally Wang Li, Wu Da, and the others.
"What's going on?"
Xiang Tingchun climbed the watchtower, his face hard as steel.
This was too sudden.
He'd already heard from Luo Dongquan that the Xi River tribe had reinforced their numbers—
But this fast? Impossible.
There was no way they could have launched an attack so soon.
"My lord—it's… it's Hundred-Household Chen!"
Zhao Kang's voice cracked with disbelief as he pointed toward the plains.
"Little junior brother?"
Sun Li and the others crowded up the tower.
Sure enough, leading the eight riders was a white horse that stood out like snow.
And on its back—none other than Chen Sanshi.
In his arms, he held a barbarian youth dressed in royal finery.
"A hostage?"
Everyone realized it at once.
Of course.
Chen Sanshi and his men must have been surrounded, but captured an important hostage to bargain for their lives.
But for two thousand barbarian cavalry to hesitate like this—how precious did that hostage have to be?
And how could someone that important appear in the Xi River tribe to begin with?
"How… how is that possible…"
Luo Dongquan leaned over the parapet, his face pale, his neck craning forward as he strained to see.
…
"Fall back!"
After several sleepless days and nights, everyone was utterly exhausted. Even Chen Sanshi's eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse and rasping. "Fall back five li!"
The barbarian Thousand-Household followed on horseback at a distance. "Young man, you've reached the border. Isn't it time you returned His Highness to us?"
"Cut the crap. We'll talk after we're inside the city!"
Chen Sanshi shot the Ninth Prince a meaningful look.
The prince instantly understood. "Do as he says! Fall back five li! Give them enough distance to enter the city safely!"
Under the gaze of over a thousand eyes, the barbarian riders slowly retreated. None dared take a single step forward.
Chen Sanshi led his group toward the Great Wall, finally arriving safely beneath the city gates.
"Little junior brother!"
Sun Li leaned over the battlement and shouted down, "What happened? Why are there so many enemy riders chasing you?"
Chen Sanshi replied, "During reconnaissance, we were surrounded by Xi River cavalry. By sheer luck, we caught this man and managed to escape alive."
So they really had run into cavalry.
And yet somehow, they had made it back alive.
That alone was nearly unheard of.
Even more shocking—two horses behind them carried bodies. Their fallen comrades' remains had been brought back too.
Such discipline… such loyalty.
Even the most hardened soldiers on the wall couldn't help but feel a surge of respect.
Xiang Tingchun hurriedly asked, "Who is this man?"
"Seems like a prince," Chen Sanshi said calmly. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Fine… fine!" The youth straightened his neck, his voice trembling but proud. "You—listen well! I am the Ninth Prince of the Yu Wen royal line! If you dare kill me, my royal father will wash Poyang County in blood!"
A prince?!
"The Ninth Prince?"
Sun Buqi blinked. "I've heard of him. The Great Khan of the Yu Wen tribe has ten sons but only favors the Ninth, grooming him as his heir. What's he doing out in the Xi River territory—and how the hell did Sanshi manage to catch him alive?"
Captured… the Great Khan's heir… alive.
Xiang Tingchun's expression lit up with excitement.
Unbelievable.
They had sent out just a few Night-Scout squads—never expecting one of them to return with the future Great Khan in chains!
What greater feat could there be?!
When subordinates earned merit, their commander's name rose with them.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Xiang Tingchun clapped his hands and shouted three times in succession. "Open the gates! Quickly—bring Hundred-Household Chen and his men inside!"
Over a hundred cavalrymen rode out to escort them in.
The moment they crossed the threshold back into friendly territory, six men collapsed—five never rose again.
Only Chen Sanshi was still standing, though barely.
He swung the prince off his horse like tossing a sack of grain. Guards immediately moved in and restrained the prisoner.
"Luo Dongquan! I'll kill you, you bastard!"
"Clang—!"
Wang Zhi, gasping and bloodied, staggered to his feet. He snatched a long blade from a nearby soldier's waist and slashed wildly toward Luo Dongquan.
But he was only at the tempering bone stage—and badly injured besides. He wasn't even close to being a match.
Luo Dongquan parried easily, knocking him back with one swing. "Are you insane?!"
"Thousand-Household Xiang!"
Wang Zhi's voice was hoarse, filled with fury. "Out on the plains, we were surrounded by Xi River cavalry for no reason! I suspect someone deliberately alerted them to our presence—to get us killed! That someone… was Luo Dongquan!"
"Bullshit! You dare accuse me?"
Luo Dongquan shouted angrily. "You idiots exposed yourselves! What's it got to do with me? There were thirty witnesses—I wasn't even in your direction! If you're going to accuse someone, bring evidence!"
"Liu Jinkui!"
Xiang Tingchun barked, "Speak. The truth!"
Liu Jinkui stepped forward immediately. "What the Thousand-Household says is true. He was positioned to the far northwest—separated from us by my team. He was very far from Hundred-Household Chen's group."
"Hmm."
Xiang Tingchun nodded. "Wang Zhi, this must be a misunderstanding. To accuse a comrade falsely of treachery is a capital offense. Besides, you're all alive, aren't you? A narrow escape—but with great merit!"
"I…"
Wang Zhi fell silent, his face pale.
He had nothing but suspicion—no real proof.
Alive?
Chen Sanshi sneered inwardly.
Sure, he was alive—but what about Li Dazhi and Xia Erniu?
Evidence?
If none existed, then to hell with evidence.
The truth was clear to him, even if others pretended otherwise.
To reach the tempering organs stage wasn't far—and yet, he could see how deep the rot ran.
Xiang Tingchun clearly didn't want to escalate the matter. Luo Dongquan was his trusted confidant—too valuable to sacrifice for justice.
If proper procedure couldn't bring fairness, only results would.
Chen Sanshi's face remained calm. "Then, Thousand-Household, please see to the families of the fallen brothers."
"Of course!"
Xiang Tingchun's mood was soaring. "When this is reported to the court, it'll shake the entire empire! Every man who returned will be rewarded heavily!"
Outside the walls, a single messenger on horseback shouted up, his voice echoing through the air.
"All soldiers of Great Sheng—if you don't return His Highness to us, we will slaughter Poyang County!"
Xiang Tingchun's reply was cold and measured. "Go ahead and try. I'll be waiting right here."
"Fine! You'll regret this!"
The barbarian messenger turned and galloped off.
The enemy forces gradually withdrew, vanishing beyond the horizon.
A siege couldn't happen overnight—it would take time to prepare.
This was merely the declaration of war.
…
Seven days later, a battlefield report from a small frontier county arrived at the Ministry of War, then passed through the Cabinet, on to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, and finally into the Wanshou Palace.
There, the head eunuch of the Directorate personally read it aloud before the Emperor:
"On the second day of the eleventh month, Sixth-Rank Chengxin Captain Chen Sanshi of Poyang County led a ten-man Night-Scout unit deep into enemy territory. Surrounded by two thousand cavalry, he captured the Yu Wen Ninth Prince alive and returned safely."
A voice from behind the curtain spoke slowly, deep and calm as an ancient well.
"Interesting."
"Pity he was born in the wrong place."
"Still… I have three treasures. The first is compassion."
"Let's give this young captain… a chance."