"Indeed, the entire city is in chaos — This Wei Zixiao has such a cunning heart.

"

On one hand, Yang Si was cursing with all his might and holding onto the hemp rope for dear life simultaneously. He looked rather pathetic.

After he'd tossed around for a while, his once neat and scholarly clothes became unkempt.

Each time he took a deep breath, the chilly, cold wind filled his mouth.

Yang Si turned around to look at the distant city in Qiuyu County. The night sky above the city rendered orange in color, smoldering with a dangerous but alluring blaze.

"This is called tacit understanding.

"

Jiang Pengji stood on her horse, wearing a faint smile on her face.

Yang Si was disgusted. He remarked unkindly,

"It seemed to me he was creating trouble out of nothing. Who knows who that pile of bones belongs to? If we believe that Zixiao has been harmed, our opportunity to go to war will be delayed. It is so considerate of him! The least he could have done is to inform us...

"

Speaking of which, Yang Si felt very depressed about it.

He saw the pile of bones and thought that it must be Wei Ci. He was genuinely saddened for a while.

If not for his lord astutely identifying it, perhaps he would have remained in the dark.

When she heard what was said, her rather pale colored lips curved into a perfect arc.

"Perhaps this was calculated in his predictions. He knew I wouldn't be fooled by corpses and bones, let alone delay an opportunity to go to battle.

"

After she finished her speech, Jiang Pengji brandished the long spear in her hands. Her silver spear was stained with scarlet red blood. The warm blood quickly turned cold in the presence of the chilly wind and froze into blood clots. When touched, these clots felt sticky and disgusting.

She placed her long spear as if nothing was wrong, then cast her sights towards the far-off county.

"Jing Rong, assemble the soldiers and horses. Prepare to attack Qiuyu County!

"

"While you're unprepared, we will strike and claim your lives!

"

Yang Si replied,

"We will obey your orders.

"

Qiuyu County was already in a mess. The fire spread with the aid of the wind throughout the entire district. There were shadows of people moving and battle cries filling the air.

The guards who safeguarded the city were also implicated. Now, some dark shadows took advantage of the chaos to approach the city gates and open the bolted door.

With their combined efforts to open the door, there rang the groan of someone with an aching tooth. The tall city doors opened in response to the sound. This significantly minimized the trouble Jiang Pengji and her army had to face.

"Your servants welcome our lord.

"

The men who opened the door were the guards who had entered the city with Wei Ci.

They'd followed Zixiao's orders to sow discord among those in the Red Lotus group who had

"formed alliances.

" When signs of distress became evident, they were tasked with secretly opening the city gates for Jiang Pengji's army.

"Where is Zixiao?

"

One of them answered,

"The Master has been relocated to a safe place. He is awaiting the lord's arrival.

"

She raised the corner of her lips frivolously, her pupils mirroring a dancing orange flame. When the words entered her ears, a surge of heat filled her ear.

To quote the audience in the live streaming room — the streamer's smile was rather attractive.

"You did well. All my generals, follow me to vanquish our enemies!

"

They held their spears and rode into the vast lands.

After a night of engaging in a fierce battle until the break of dawn, a ray of light broke into the backdrop of night. The earth received a brand new day.

The guards who safeguarded the city were also implicated. Now, some dark shadows took advantage of the chaos to approach the city gates and open the bolted door.

With their combined efforts to open the door, there rang the groan of someone with an aching tooth. The tall city doors opened in response to the sound. This significantly minimized the trouble Jiang Pengji and her army had to face.

"Your servants welcome our lord.

"

The men who opened the door were the guards who had entered the city with Wei Ci.

They'd followed Zixiao's orders to sow discord among those in the Red Lotus group who had

"formed alliances.

" When signs of distress became evident, they were tasked with secretly opening the city gates for Jiang Pengji's army.

"Where is Zixiao?

"

One of them answered,

"The Master has been relocated to a safe place. He is awaiting the lord's arrival.

"

She raised the corner of her lips frivolously, her pupils mirroring a dancing orange flame. When the words entered her ears, a surge of heat filled her ear.

To quote the audience in the live streaming room — the streamer's smile was rather attractive.

"You did well. All my generals, follow me to vanquish our enemies!

"

They held their spears and rode into the vast lands.

After a night of engaging in a fierce battle until the break of dawn, a ray of light broke into the backdrop of night. The earth received a brand new day.

After brushing away the black smoke from Little White's body, she exclaimed,

"Our good Little White is getting so smoky that he's almost Little Black.

"

As she spoke, she passed the hemp ropes in her hands to a soldier nearby and tasked to wipe down Little White.

Yang Si hasn't slept that night. A pale-green coloration was evident beneath his eyes and his eye bags were heavy. His fair face was tainted by the black smoke and it made him appear rather dirty.

"Did Zixiao stay yesterday? This guy seriously knows how to enjoy...

"

He followed Jiang Pengji everywhere. The journey was too tumultuous for him. He had to ride the horse frequently which caused the skin at his inner thighs to sustain blisters from the friction.

This was nothing. His face had started to fatten up with much difficulty, but now that he was skinny again, his beard covered his entire lower chin. This made him look rather downtrodden.

What about Wei Ci?

This fellow was having a great time and enjoying himself!

In such a desolate and serene place, he'd been immune to the disturbances by the chaotic war last night.

When he recalled the tribulations of last night, knowing that Wei Ci had slept so well, Yang Si immediately felt mistreated in his heart.

As he was talking, the tightly shut door opened in response to a familiar voice. Out walked a tall scholar wearing blue garments. Wasn't that Wei Ci?

"My lord! Jing Rong!

"

Having missed a night of sleep, Wei Ci had been pacing near the main door since the break of dawn. With all that walking, the friction from contact between his feet and the ground could have formed a cavity.

As he went into a daze, he heard a familiar voice. His entire body quivered. He hastily opened the door. It was Jiang Pengji and Yang Si.

Wei Ci stepped forward. Yang Si held his hands together in his broad sleeves. He turned his head and refused to look at the others. It was Jiang Pengji who reacted first.

She raised her feet and stepped forward, her eyes moving in all directions as she surveyed Wei Ci from top to bottom.

She didn't say anything, making Wei Ci feel uneasy for no reason.

"My lord?

"

"Is there something wrong?

" she asked.

He felt indescribably guilty, so he calmed himself down. Then, with composed expression, he replied,

"Ci is fine. Thank you, my lord, for your concern.

"

"It's good that all is fine.

" She walked past him. Her lips opened and closed, and at a volume only they could hear, she added,

"I will settle it with you once we're back.

"

His body became stiff. His composed expression slowly gave way.

Yang Si didn't understand the reason behind it as he walked past Wei Ci, mocking him discreetly.

Of all things, why had he pretended to be dead and deceived the feelings of others.

Feeling helpless, Wei Ci could only smile bitterly.

He believed she could guess his intentions. Surely, she would seize this opportunity to exterminate the Red Lotus Group and gain control of Qiuyu County, thus gaining sovereignty over Wanzhou.

Although neither had discussed this matter before, he believed they had this tacit understanding.

Except... the situation seemed to have worsened.

Yang Si was still alright. It wasn't difficult to fool him. Wei Ci was confident that he could make him believe his lies.

This wouldn't work on his lord though. She was too astute... his experience from his previous life told him so.

The thought of meeting her face-to-face stirred up the urge in Wei Ci to take flight and escape.

Nonetheless, Wei Ci's defense had already fallen to a large extent, yet Jiang Pengji had not completely revealed that last bit of truth. He felt he could still salvage the situation as all was not lost. It hadn't reached the extent where she could determine the exact details... Still, he felt guilty in his heart for what had transpired the day before.

If he'd known in advance, he could have dispatched a messenger to inform her.

As if he was sitting on a bed of needles, Wei Ci was extremely nervous. Jiang Pengji sat on the chairman seat, solidifying her strong presence.

A simple meeting was held. The worrisome event on Wei Ci's heart didn't occur.

Witnessing this, Wei Ci secretly sighed in relief.

Yang Si and Wei Ci oversaw the miscellaneous post-war tasks. Quickly, the heavy workload consumed all their energy and thoughts. They didn't have time to consider other things.

As he accounted for the number of prisoners of war, Yang Si discovered something.

"That's weird... How about those high authorities governing the Red Lotus Group? Didn't you instigate the second-in-command to rebel?

"

Having captured more than 40,000 prisoners of war, it was considered a plentiful harvest. Yet they were all followers of the Red Lotus Group. Few possessed high statuses or noble positions.

Wei Ci's table front was stacked with many literary books. His right hand, which he held his brush, was stiff and painful. He might as well change to his left hand to continue writing.

As his eyes drooped, his thick and slender eyelids cast a brief shadow.

Wei Ci said callously,

"I reckon that they were either burned or hacked to death. Regardless, they all died.

"

Yang Si was startled.

"You sly fox, what have you done now?

"

Wei Ci raised his lips and said,

"That group of vermin... Keeping them alive will only waste our food supplies. How will they have the ability to share our lord's burdens? If we indeed offer them amnesty and enlist their help, we will be laying a trap for ourselves. They might betray us in the future. If so, why not get rid of them from the outset and end all our troubles before they begin.

"

He was so flabbergasted that he couldn't speak.

As Jiang Pengji's envoy, Wei Ci offered her enemies amnesty and enlisted their services. After he made use of them, another issue emerged in the form of the second-in-command being

"accidentally

" hacked to death...

"You have such an ugly heart.

"