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“Lady, you’re really reckless. How could you be clueless that you’re pregnant after almost three months? Besides, you are not in good physical shape, and your pulse is weak. If you can’t rest, your baby will be at risk.”

Three months? Chu Qiao wondered as she looked down on her still flat belly. How was it possible that she was pregnant? After all this time waiting for the marriage, fighting a war, soaking in the river, riding a horse and fighting in the battlefield, she was actually carrying a child in her stomach?

“I’m going to give you some supplements for re-nourishment. Consume them properly, then rest well. Don’t go traveling long distances and tire yourself out.” The old doctor comforted her before going out with He Xiao.

Chu Qiao sat on the bed, still in a daze. In the past few days, she had been flooded with all sorts of news, particularly bad, from all over the region due to the war. The massive waves of bad news reached her like many waves in a tsunami. The last thing she expected from such a situation was to be pregnant. She reached out her trembling hands and gently touched her abdomen. For a moment, she thought that she felt the faint heartbeat of the growing fetus inside her.

A stream of tears rolled down from her eyes, as she gently bit her lower lip and choked up, silent.

Zhuge Yue, I’m expecting your child. We are going to be parents.

As the night settled in, He Xiao lit a candle in the room, bringing in supplements, rice, vegetables, and soup. Next to Chu Qiao resting on the bed, he asked softly, “Master, do we still proceed towards Tang Jing? Isn’t it better to turn around and head back to Qinghai?” Chu Qiao lifted her head and looked straight at him without speaking.

“Master, you are not physically suitable to continue leading troops. Even if you disregard your own well-being, you have to think for Master Zhuge and the child that is growing inside you.”

Chu Qiao maintained her silence and looked at looked at her stomach. After what seemed like an eternity, she looked up and gently replied, “I’ve already let him down once, He Xiao.”

Not knowing who she was referring to, He Xiao stunned, asked, “What are you talking about, Master?”

“I’ve let him down once.” Chu Qiao’s gaze gently shifted towards the candle. “I promised him once that I would stand by him and protect him against bullies, but I failed him. He already lost his parents. If I care for my child, who will care for him?”

Upon realizing she was talking about the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xiuyi, He Xiao frowned. “Master, as things are, you can’t change everything alone. Even if you had stayed in Tang from the very beginning, you may not have been able to change how things eventually turned out. You’re not in good shape, and you are at risk of overthinking. You can’t blame everything on yourself.”

Chu Qiao lifted her head up, taking a deep breath. “He Xiao, there some responsibilities in this world that we can’t run away from,” Chu Qiao replied calmly. “It is, after all, time to repay what both Li Ce and the Tang Empire have given me. My descendants will not appreciate my legacy if they learn that I abandoned that child who was in need of help.” She stood up, wearing her shoes, and walked towards the dining table to consume her food before steadily taking her supplements. Her ragged and weakened figure in the candlelight looked nothing like a lady that was three months pregnant.

“Relax, everything will be alright.”

He Xiao looked at her, unsure of who she was referring to. Herself? Her unborn child? Or the current Tang Emperor?

The night breeze ruffled the tree branches outside the window. The landscape of Tang looked the same, yet the footsteps of war loomed ever closer. At the same time, in the large tents of Baizhi Pass, Yan Xun was wearing his black robe, sitting on the couch. Below him were a dozen girls that were sent in by the rich businessmen of the region. All the young ladies were wearing seductive dresses that made them look ever so delicate and elegant. On occasion, some of the more daring ladies would look up to sneak a peek of Yan Xun who towered over them, yet his attention was always elsewhere.

“Your Majesty, we have prepared our troops and are ready to trap the Xiuli Army in Hanshui Pass.”

“One of you, come here!” Yan Xuan suddenly ordered, with one of his guards coming over. “Drag him down here, and give him 20 lashes!” Immediately, the guard grabbed the strategist and headed out. The man, unaware of how he had offended Yan Xun, immediately pleaded guilty but did not dare to beg for mercy. It wasn’t long before screams of pain echoed across the courtyard, shocking the young girls that had obediently knelt on the floor all this while.

“To surround and trap them all,” Yan Xun muttered. His words were neutral, and one could not hear any emotions within. He lazily laid back on the porch couch, dozing off, with all the beautiful young ladies still kneeling before him. Despite being thousands of miles apart, both of them would utter the exact same sentence, “Hopefully, we won’t meet on the battlefield.”

It was as though Yan Xun was brought back in time. In his ragged house, a young girl, dressed in her light pink gown, sat under the candlelight and as she sewed her clothes and said, “On the battlefield, familial ties no longer matters. Even if you all were to fight with your family, you can’t retreat from the war. This is the actual history of the Tang Dynasty, not some theatrical play. Listen carefully.”

“History? Why haven’t I hear of it?”

“Doesn’t matter. What is important is that you’ve learned and studied it.”

“If you were Li Shiming, would you have killed your elder brother as well?”

“Of course I would have, else what? Wait for him to kill me instead? Didn’t I tell you that their relationship eventually fell apart? What about you? Would you have killed him?”

The young boy paused for a moment before replying, “If it was me, I would have killed him when fighting against Liu Wuzhou.”

Taken aback, all the girl could do was give a thumbs up. “You are really something.”

....

Silently but surely, the darkness of the night began to envelop the land as even the waves that carried emotions and memories moved silently into the distance...

The next day, a secret task force was dispatched from Baizhi Pass, riding on horseback towards Hanshui. There, Yan Bei had assembled over 100 thousand of her elite troops in Han Shui, where they could both backup Lady of Jingan and guard their own rear for any possible retreat.

That same day, Chu Qiao would lead her Xiu Li and Wolf armies out of Nanli county. Over 40,000 troops would gather on the plains, their swords raised in unison like a forest of steel.

“Anyone heading northwest of the Tang capital must bypass Hanshui. If we are to provide any assistance to the capital, we must take Hanshui.” Her pale finger pointed to the map, Chu Qiao circled the region around Hanshui Pass, explaining, “The battle that decides it all looms upon us.”

The dark clouds would open the heavens, unleashing what seemed to be an endless period of heavy rain. The grass fields around Hanshui were tall enough to conceal a person. The stormy weather would unleash a torrent of rapid currents in the river heading from west to east, toppling hundred-year-old trees inside Hanshui, injuring two patrolling Yan Bei guards. An entire family of seven was crushed and killed by their fallen roof in the eastern part of the city.

The first loss of life in the Battle of Hanshui Pass, occurring without a single fight between the two sides, was already enough to severely dampen the mood of the soldiers. The citizens would huddle all day in their homes. The only moving things that the raindrops would hammer were the dead leaves that were blown off the trees.

11 days of continuous rain had dramatically increased the water levels in the Hanshui river. The freak weather along with the howling of wolves at night and the migration of birds to the north seemed to foretell the impending doom that was to occur. The experience reminded everyone that it was also under this weather that Emperor Xiaozong’s seven-year reign on the throne ended. That year, General Xue Li lead a Tang army of 40,000 troops and passed Hanshui in similar conditions and headed north, breaching Baizhi Pass and fighting deep into Xia territory. Yet just as the leaders of the Tang Dynasty thought they were on the brink of reclaiming the Xia Empire, the Lion King of Yan Bei unleashed his forces, overwhelming the Tang army. He personally killed General Xue Li, once again shattering the ambitions of the Tang Empire.

Blood stained the Chishui River that year; the sight of bodies floating on the river surface stretching for dozens of miles into Hanshui, to the extent that wild dogs could be seen walking near the river surface eating the deceased. Though the Lion King had long been dead, and weed had covered up the grave of General Xue Li, the memories of that horrific battle were seared into the minds of the people that witnessed it. With the weakness of the Tang Empire and the endless unrest in Xia Empire, Yan Bei’s flag would rise above the Baizhi Pass, towering over the citizens of the city yet again.

On May 7th, under the request of Lady of Jingan, Yan Xun would personally lead his troops into holding Hanshui Pass to preserve their advantage and fend off the incoming Xiuli Army. As the days passed, Chu Qiao’s Xiuli Army began streaming into Weiliao county, a region on the western flank of Baizhi Pass. The small town immediately turned into the center of attention, capturing the attention of the entire Tang region and beyond. The white battle flag decorated with the red cloud was raised on top of the town’s small tower, while Chu Qiao personally inspected the parades of soldiers. The disbanded units of the Tang Army west of Weiliao county rallied towards her as reinforcements, while parties loyal to the Emperor sent in food and supplies as support. Within three days, the Xiuli army had grown its troop count to over 90,000, a number that increased day after day.

This was the first battle flag raised ever since the unexpected defection of the Lady of Jingan. Before the newly raised flag was the ally of Lady of Jingan, the military of Yan Bei. A massive battle loomed, with everyone holding their breath for the incoming and inevitable bloodshed.

By May 14th, the pouring rain had ceased, with the water level of the Hanshui River reaching an alarming level. The six continuous days of standoff had pushed both side’s patience to a critical tipping point, both sides aware of the necessity of such a confrontation. Having hundreds of thousands of troops in such close proximity without any movement was an extremely dangerous tactical maneuver. The atmosphere was filled with tension, everyone acutely waiting for any possible change or action.

Even though both Chu Qiao and Yan Xun’s preparation, the flood of information from their scouts meant ever-changing battle plans and tactics, to which they would keep changing. Yet they were both too aware that the outbreak of fighting would bring along an inevitable sense of anxiety.

On the afternoon of the 14th, Mo Xu, a guard from Wu Ling county, headed towards Chu Qiao’s Wei Liao Base, guarding a transport of 50 tons of grain and food supplies across the river plains, careful to not cross into any line of fire if fighting were to occur.

A Tang native, Mo Xu’s ancestors once fought alongside the Emperor’s ancestors, elevating their status in the region. Yet, as the generations passed, so did the power and glory of the Mo family. Yet with the kingdom in crisis, Mo Xu, who was over 70-years-old, would personally lead a transport of food and supplies, seeking to contribute and assist Chu Qiao’s war effort.

Yet as they approached the Tiexian river, they bumped into a small group of Yan Bei engineers. The dam that was built on Tiexian river had become unstable from the weather and vast amounts of water pouring into the river. Yan Bei had dispatched 3,000 troops to commence quick repairs on the dam, as a collapse would have led to a surge that was sure to destroy the Yan Bei base downstream. Conflict soon broke out, alerting the scouts and sentries nearby. In less than half an hour, the region spiraled into absolute chaos, both sides pouring their forces into battle.