In the eleventh month of Jingyu’s fourth year, heavy snow fell abruptly across many northern regions of Qi, more than half a month earlier than in previous years and continued for several days without cessation. The wedding procession escorting the Eldest Princess reached the area of Wangwu Mountain in Yuzhou. The mountain roads were blocked, cart shafts were broken, and the horses were exhausted. They were stranded for several days, unable to move forward, and had no choice but to miss the scheduled wedding date, which was to take place on the eve of the Northern Desert’s winter raid.
The princess sent envoys ahead with light equipment to negotiate, but they were seized instead, cutting off all communication. Soon after, an 800-li emergency military dispatch was indeed sent back to Jinling from Yongzhou, stating that the Northern Desert had secretly amassed troops on the east bank of the Black Water River, clearly having prepared to break their promise and annul the treaty long ago.
These two major internal and external crises simultaneously landed on the emperor’s desk. Every day in Shenlong Hall, officials argued without end, each insisting on their own views, while memorials poured into the Department of State Affairs like drifting snowflakes.
Xie Jing rushed to meet Wang Chu before the morning court. Wang Chu informed him of the matters that needed to be resolved in today’s court session and conveyed the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s stance and the desired outcome. As for how to perform during the meeting, that was for Xie Jing to figure out. Although he had no significant administrative achievements, he was, after all, from a family of censors. If he needed to be taught even this much, Wang Chu would not have sought him out to be his mouthpiece.
The Prime Minister’s Mansion was far from Taichu Palace. Because of this journey, Xie Jing entered the palace later than usual, right during the time when most officials were heading to court. The long route from the palace gate to Shenlong Hall was crowded with people. He didn’t know how many greetings he returned or how many polite exchanges he made.
Although it was generally understood both in court and in the countryside that the “real power” he held was merely on behalf of the Wang family, there were still people who seized the opportunity to fawn over him, hoping to attach themselves to the Prime Minister’s Mansion. The Xie Jing of today could not act like the one fifteen years ago by being haughty and looking down on people. He needed to diligently play the role of a sophisticated and obsequious hypocrite. Faced with flattery, he not only had to accept it all but also had to appear pleased by it.
He was just exchanging pleasantries with a mounted imperial attendant, subtly indicating that although he occasionally visited the Star-Plucking Tower, he really didn’t need the man to send his favorite concubine to the Xie’s Mansion when Xie Jing heard a slight disturbance behind him. He turned to see the crowd spontaneously parting, creating a passage for a carriage coming from the end of Yongxiang alley.
He recognized Lu Lingcong’s carriage at a glance; the lantern on the eaves still bore the characters “Prince Zhao’s Mansion”. Imperial relatives had the privilege of entering the forbidden palace by carriage, unlike external officials who had to walk.
Xie Jing immediately stopped talking, retreated with the crowd to the palace wall, and knelt down to wait for the carriage to pass.
Thirteen years ago, when he entered the palace for the Qionglin Banquet, it was also in this Yongxiang that he met Lu Lingcong for the second time. He swallowed his pride for a moment and apologized for the rudeness in Qinhuai Chun, yet he was instead ignored as if in deliberate retaliation, left completely wrong-footed, and the other party strode away without a backward glance.
At that time, kneeling awkwardly beneath the public gaze, with the curious, envious, and mocking looks of his peers stabbing at him like needles in the back, Xie Jing had indeed felt anger. But more than that, he felt speculation—his own reputation was lost, which didn’t matter; but he wondered what kind of character this Prince Zhao possessed and whether he would hold a grudge against the Xie family because of this incident, thereby humiliating his father and elder brother.
As it turned out, Lu Lingcong would not, but the Xie Jing of that time had indeed naively regarded it as a very serious matter, feeling secretly anxious for several days.
The mounted imperial attendant beside him quietly nudged his elbow, “Prince Zhao rarely attends court. Does Lord Xie know that it is said the Eldest Princess submitted a memorial requesting return? Therefore, His Majesty summoned even Prince Zhao to the palace today, intending to debate until a resolution is reached.”
Xie Jing had already heard about this from Wang Chu, but at the moment, he had to pretend he had just learned the news. He whispered, “That day, the Eldest Princess hastily petitioned His Majesty to arrange her marriage precisely to avoid a political union, but in the end, she still could not escape it. Now that the Northern Desert has broken its word, the marriage alliance has collapsed, so naturally she is eager to return to the capital.”
“Since His Majesty sent her out of the capital, would he allow her to return so easily? Even if His Majesty has some sisterly and brotherly affection, she surely won’t be able to get past Prime Minister Wang’s hurdle too, right?” He said, looking over inquiringly, clearly believing that Xie Jing was most privy to the Wang clan’s attitude and was seeking to gauge the political wind.
Xie Jing watched Lu Lingcong’s carriage disappear into the distance and stood up: “How could the Eldest Princess be easy to deal with? Having her in the capital ultimately gives Prince Zhao’s Mansion another powerful ally. In my opinion, it’s better if she leaves and never comes back.”
He could say this frankly to the mounted imperial attendant privately, but he could not say it in front of all the officials. Therefore, during the morning court, when Lu Lingzhang asked for his view on the matter of “whether to abandon the political marriage and welcome the Eldest Princess back to the capital,” Xie Jing adopted a suitably high-sounding and dignified phrasing:
“In this minister’s opinion, the most urgent task now is to stabilize the barbarian army that has already moved south to avoid a large-scale war, strive for a peace agreement, and then quickly escort the Eldest Princess to complete the marriage, implementing the subsequent trade and border markets. When negotiating terms, it is necessary to temporarily take a step back and deal with it again after this winter.”
Xie Jing did not know whether Lu Lingzhang had communicated with Wang Chu while the latter was “ill”—over the past six months, Wang Chu had lowered some of his guard toward him, but he mostly delegated the tedious, public administrative affairs for Xie Jing to handle. It was impossible for him to get involved in the internal matters of the Wang clan or the aristocratic families, nor had Wang Chu ever revealed anything about the subtle relationship between the Prime Minister’s Mansion and Lu Lingzhang.
Based on Xie Jing’s observations over these past days, Lu Lingzhang almost never expressed opinions in court, nor did he often make decisions personally. At this moment, he still acted lightly as a mouthpiece. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Minister Xie thinks so. But Imperial Brother is strongly advocating for the return of the Imperial Sister. He has also submitted a memorial to Zhen, saying he is willing to reorganize the Tiger Division and head north for urgent reinforcement.”
Xie Jing spoke only to Lu Lingzhang, not sparing a glance for Lu Lingcong, who was also standing below the steps at all. “However, the Tiger Division has now been divided and incorporated into the Four Great Camps. They are drawing imperial provisions and are responsible for guarding the capital. Even if the Tiger Tally are in His Highness’s hands, they cannot be mobilized easily. As for the remnants at Mufu Mountain, Your Majesty entrusted them to this minister’s temporary command. If Your Majesty wishes for this minister to hand the military authority back to His Highness Prince of Zhao, this minister darew not disobey. However, His Highness must also consider clearly whether a mere eight thousand men can truly achieve the effect of ‘urgent reinforcement’.”
Lu Lingcong sneered, “Minister Xie is accustomed to armchair strategy. Since you already find commanding eight thousand men troublesome, you need not trouble yourself commenting on their combat effectiveness.”
“Your Highness’s instruction, this minister accepts it. However, as all can see, large stretches of wheat fields in the Huai and Si regions have been destroyed by frost; let alone the northern borders of Yongzhou and Jizhou. The common people have no desire for war; they only seek safety and stability in their daily lives. Does Your Highness truly intend to stubbornly drag the soldiers and civilians of several border provinces into the mire of a brutal war? This minister may indeed be practicing armchair strategy.” Xie Jing turned his face, raising his eyebrow high to glare at Lu Lingcong. “But is Your Highness not disregarding human life?”
Lu Lingcong was certainly not as eloquent as Xie Jing, but he would not be intimidated either. He simply said, “The most commonly traded goods at the border markets are salt, tea, and artifacts from the Central Plains, but what the barbarians fundamentally desire is land. Otherwise, do you think the Northern Desert court are all fools, rejecting the mutually beneficial path of opening trade and instead insisting on the arduous task of raiding southward every year? If the Eldest Princess had brought border prefectures and cities as her dowry on this trip, I guarantee the Northern Desert would withdraw tomorrow. But if she only brings schemes of shrewd commerce, the barbarians will know it is merely treating symptoms rather than the root cause. How could they be persuaded?”
Xie Jing mocked, “Your Highness’s vision is always far-reaching! If you could genuinely push the border three thousand li northward, you would be immortalized in history and glorify later generations! But how pitiful are the common people of Yongzhou and Jizhou who will starve, freeze, die in battle, or perish as refugees? They are treated as worthless as weeds, losing their lives for nothing, yet they must be whitewashed by having contributed their efforts to Your Highness’s grand achievements!”
Immediately, a disciple of the Wang clan chimed in to support him, “The harvest this year is poor. The common people can barely fill their stomachs. The national treasury must allocate major expenditures to disaster relief. Where will we find surplus grain, fodder, silver, and funds to support a war? Or does Your Highness have your own means of circulating funds? Everyone knows how Your Highness previously funded the Tiger Division. If we expose that, neither side will look good!”
Lu Lingcong’s expression was utterly cold, and the chill radiating from him startled several military officials behind him, causing them to involuntarily retreat a few steps. They were replaying the scene a few months ago when Prince Zhao burst into Shenlong Hall with a sword and nearly choked Minister Xie to death in their minds.
Then they heard him laugh sinisterly, “All lords, why not speak plainly? What further charges do you intend to lay upon Prince Zhao’s Mansion? Say them aloud, are you suggesting Prince Zhao’s Mansion is more treasonous and deserving of death than the Xie family was back then?”
Xie Jing’s breath instantly caught. His eyes were bloodshot. He glared at Lu Lingcong and said coldly, “In the past, the Xie family and the Wu family had frequent commercial dealings. This minister is entirely clear in conscience and, with utmost sincerity, transferred who knows how many assets; including gold and silver, under the name of Prince Zhao’s Mansion, under the name of this minister’s unworthy children, and even under Your Highness’s own name. If Your Highness truly has a clear conscience and has handed everything over to the national treasure, then this minister has nothing further to say. But dare Your Highness claim that not a single strand was kept back or taken for yourself? And dare Your Highness account for where, in the past three years, the funds sustaining the thirty thousand troops of the Tiger Division primarily came from?”
The resentment in this challenge was not just overwhelming, but the rough words contained irrefutable logic. The source of the fund Prince Zhao used to support the Tiger Division was indeed unclear. Aside from the income from Prince Zhao’s own fiefdom and the Wu family’s subsidies, the most likely source was the Xie family’s assets that were not registered under Xie Jing’s name. In the past, the court needed the Tiger Division, so they turned a blind eye to these funds. Now that the Tiger Division has been absorbed, if the court were to settle the accounts, Prince Zhao’s Mansion would naturally be in the wrong.
Lu Lingcong showed no sign of faltering at all, “Does Minister Xie really want to dredge up this old debt? If Prince Zhao’s Mansion hadn’t acted as an intermediary, could the Xie family have leveraged the momentum of the Wu family’s business? Could their properties have reached that scale back then? You were there watching with your own eyes during the raid of Wuyi Lane! Not to mention your extravagance and waste over these years, how much funds of Prince Zhao’s Mansion has been spent on your food, clothing, housing, and travel? How many favors and resources have been drawn from Prince Zhao’s Mansion by the Xie family, from top officials down to in-laws, even to tenant farmers?”
The court officials watched as the argument uncontrollably spiraled towards personal grudges. Since they knew that what both people said was fundamentally true, they secretly clicked their tongues in astonishment.
“Imperial Brother, Minister Xie,” Lu Lingzhang sighed impassively and raised his hand lightly. “We shall discuss the matter of funds another time.”
In Yuzhou, at the northern foot of Wangwu Mountain, a scout galloped towards the carriages clustered in the center of the camp. He reined in his horse and loudly announced, “Princess, a letter from Jinling has arrived!”
The guards immediately lifted the carriage curtain to let him in. They heard a clear, cool female voice ask, “An Imperial Edict?”
“An Imperial Edict,” the scout presented the scroll to Lu Lingzhen, “and a letter.”
Lu Lingzhen quickly scanned the imperial edict. The content was consistent with her expectations: the peace-marriage entourage was to seize the opportunity to continue north, prioritizing reaching Yongzhou for negotiations and the wedding and reopening border markets. It seemed Lu Lingcong’s vehement advocacy for her return to the capital had successfully produced the “opposite” effect—she now had a legitimate reason to head toward Yongzhou.
Although her original plan was to act first and report later, she was determined to go to Yongzhou regardless of this edict, it was thoughtful of her brother and sister-in-law to plan a generous fallback position for her to prevent her from being punished upon her return to the capital next year.
Lu Lingzhen pulled out the letter, wondering, “I had previously arranged with Prince Zhao for direct military dispatch communication. Has something changed in the capital for him to send a personal letter now?”
The scout shook his head, “It was written by His Highness Shizi to you.”
Lu Lingzhen was surprised and quickly tore open the letter to read it carefully. Although she often watched Lu Shuqing read and do his homework, the handwriting still startled her for a moment, making her think it was a personal letter from Xie Jing.
There weren’t many words. Besides greetings, the main purpose was to relay a message from Xie Jing. Lu Shuqing wrote: “Mother told me to be sure to remind Aunt that although seeking peace through marriage is a temporary measure and not a long-term solution, and war is still necessary, the court is truly incapable of sustaining a long war. The situation this winter is extremely severe. Grandmother, Father, and Mother are very worried about Aunt. Please take the utmost care of yourself and do not overexert yourself. Ningning and I also miss Aunt very much and hope for your early triumphant return and a reunion next spring.”
After reading, Lu Lingzhen pondered for a moment, then handed the letter to her trusted Hewei Guard attendant to read. She sighed, “The court truly has no funds left. They’ve let the various aristocratic clans and powerful families take turns enriching themselves for twenty years, and now they’ve all hollowed it out.”
She had heard Lu Lingcong say that the national treasury had been neither abundant nor lacking these years, maintained at a level that was just sufficient but under a fragile facade of peace that would shatter with a poke. If they were fortunate enough to avoid major disasters or war, there would naturally be no cause for concern, but it could not withstand the strain of unforeseen circumstances. Border troubles were frequent at the end of Zhengyou era, and local unrest flared up at the beginning of Jingyu era. Although none were utterly devastating, every one of them required vast sums of funds to resolve.
Moreover, during the years the Wang family held power, they enriched their own clan but failed to enrich the entire realm. Although the common people usually envied the wealthy, their own lives were manageable, so they didn’t complain much. But once a natural disaster like the severe cold and blizzards this winter struck, landlords hoarded goods, and the common people’s basic survival was threatened. The problems exposed would be like a flood breaking a dam, spiraling out of control, and definitely not something that could be repaired in just a day or two.
The confidant frowned and worried, “Given this, we cannot plan for a protracted war—though the Tiger Division itself never fought prolonged campaigns either. However, while the individual combat ability of the Hewei Guard surpasses that of the Tiger Division, the numbers are ultimately too few, and they lack sufficient experience facing the enemy. Even if we manage to rendezvous with Lord He in Yongzhou, I fear we still will not be able to easily withstand the barbarians.”
Lu Lingzhen shook her head, “Precisely because our manpower is limited, our grain, weapons, and military provisions are limited, and time is even more constrained, we must capitalize on our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, we must seek a swift and decisive victory.”
The confidant hesitated, “Does the Princess mean…”
Lu Lingzhen gave only one word, “Fast.”
A few days later, on the banks of the Wuding River in Yongzhou territory, the snow plains stretched out for a thousand li, and the sky was a uniform white. A Northern Desert soldier stationed there had just finished his shift and was about to descend the watchtower when he suddenly saw a faint red shadow drifting from the foothills not far away.
The sentinel suspected his eyes were playing tricks. He rubbed them a few times, focused, and looked closely again, but the red shadow was already nearing the valley floor in front of the mountain. He finally realized something was wrong. Just as he shouted out to his comrades, the outline of the shadow became clear. The sentinel suddenly gasped for breath, and a chill ran up his spine—it was not a red shadow at all, but an army draped in red robes.
Fast, too fast! He had never seen such a rapidly advancing armed force. Not even the terrifying Tiger Division could achieve this speed. It was almost like a wisp of blood-red broken cloud sweeping in atop rolling, surging snow waves. It instantly cleared the sounds within ten li, and its origin was unknown. It seemed to descend from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, it was treading on the fires of hell right upon their faces.
The soldier was stunned for a long moment. He abruptly snapped back to his duty and turned to beat the drum, but just as his arm was raised, an arrow tore through the air, accompanied by a sharp shriek like a sharp silhouette that passed precisely through his throat. The sentinel’s eyes were still wide with terror, but the man was pinned dead to the very center of the drumhead.
The others who witnessed this scene were all horrified and paled. But before they could react further, that divine army, like a fierce gale, had already swept below the watchtower.
The commanding general leading the charge was none other than Lu Lingzhen. Her crimson outer robe was swept aside by the motion of drawing and nocking the arrow, revealing the cold, gleaming armor beneath. The light reflected off it, making the discarded wedding dress instantly turn into a dazzling speck of blood that vanished with the gale and snow into the ends of the world.
She squeezed her horse’s flank and drew her bow once more. Slightly squinting one eye, she aimed at the King of the Northern Desert’s banner in front of the camp gate. As she released the arrow, she shouted loudly with a smile:
“I am Lu Lingzhen, General Jianwei of Great Qi! Why don’t you surrender immediately!”
