When Li Fuxiang finally arrived at the Western Frontier, Xiang City had already endured three rounds of defense.
Xumo’er’s attack was rather fierce. The soldiers defending Xiang City had been sleeping with their weapons at the ready, nearly depleted of their strength. Seeing reinforcements finally arrive, they let out a sigh of relief. When they opened the city gates to welcome them, they were almost moved to tears.
The local governor addressed Li Fuxiang as “Commander.”
Li Fuxiang had taken command.
Commander Zheng had unfortunately fallen ill in the capital, and the one with the highest prestige in the military was none other than Li Fuxiang, who had crushed the Fox Hu King’s City in one fell swoop. The battles others fought for decades couldn’t compare to the half-year campaign he waged with only 3,000 battered troops in the Hucha Sea. How could he not be regarded as a prodigy?
Moreover, when it came to Xumo’er and those wolf-like sand bandits in the desert, Li Fuxiang had the most experience dealing with them.
So, when Li Fuxiang and his Xiaoqi Battalion rendezvoused at Tieshui Cliff, Ji Wei brought him the commander’s seal.
Due to the urgency of the deployment, Li Fuxiang hadn’t even had time to return to the capital, let alone undergo a formal appointment.
The border commander at Xiang City was also an acquaintance.
It was Zheng Xiao, the eldest son and grandson of the Zheng family. At the age of seventeen, he had accompanied his father on an inspection tour of the Western Frontier. Upon returning to the capital, he volunteered to serve at the border. His two younger brothers, Zheng Yan and Zheng Yi, who grew up amidst the prosperity of the capital, rarely saw this elder brother.
Zheng Yunji often said that with their respective roles, it was better not to meet.
Not meeting meant the border was peaceful, the Western Frontier needed no reinforcements, and the capital required no troop mobilization.
Meeting, however, meant a tough battle was imminent.
Thus, whenever the three brothers met, there was always more sorrow than joy, with duty outweighing familial bonds.
Li Fuxiang climbed up the city wall and asked, “What’s the situation now?”
Zheng Xiao concisely replied, “Xumo’er hasn’t used their full strength.”
Li Fuxiang asked, “How can you tell?”
Zheng Xiao said, “When I sent my first urgent report to the capital, I had already estimated their troop strength in my mind. Their offensive was too aggressive. Even if we defended Xiang City with all our might, we could hold out for no more than half a month. But the intensity of the battle was only in the first few days. Gradually, I felt as though Xumo’er was merely wearing us down.”
As they were talking, a scout rushed back to the city, reporting, “Commander, General, Xumo’er has retreated!”
Zheng Xiao frowned, “What’s going on?”
The scout said, “As soon as word of our commander’s arrival at Xiang City reached them, Xumo’er immediately withdrew their camp twenty li (about 6 miles) back.”
Zheng Xiao asked, “What, are they afraid?”
Li Fuxiang leaned against the parapet, gazing down at the devastation outside the city gates. After a moment of contemplation, he swung his cloak and descended the wall, saying, “There’s no use speculating at this point. Prepare to receive their envoy.”
He had said an envoy would come.
Sure enough, by evening, after Li Fuxiang had assumed command of all troops and operations, Xumo’er sent an envoy to knock at the city gates.
Li Fuxiang met him in the main tent.
The envoy from Xumo’er unexpectedly turned out to be a woman, wrapped in thick wolf fur, presenting a letter to the commander of the opposing army.
The personal guard next to Li Fuxiang unfolded the letter and read aloud: “Five thousand cattle and sheep each, five hundred bolts of silk, two hundred hu of pearls, and three million taels of gold…”
Zheng Yan and Zheng Yi, seated beside their elder brother Zheng Xiao, muttered quietly to each other: “This sounds like a tribute list. What’s this, Xumo’er is scared and wants to surrender before the fight has even begun?”
Zheng Xiao gritted his teeth and spat out two words: “Shut up.”
His two younger brothers immediately straightened up in alarm.
The Xumo’er envoy finished reciting the lengthy list and, crossing her hands over her chest, saluted Commander Li Fuxiang. Then, in a clear voice, she declared, “Our prince has said that he once fought side by side with the Prince of Xiang at Hucha Sea, repelling the Fox Hu forces together. In light of their past camaraderie, if your kingdom agrees to provide the above-mentioned tribute and cede ten cities, Xumo’er will cease hostilities, ensure the safety of the city’s inhabitants, and spare your army from further trouble.”
—“What the hell! What nonsense are you spouting, you damned woman! Ugh!~”
Zheng Yan, hot-tempered as ever, could barely stop himself from spitting water in the envoy’s face to see just how thick-skinned she really was. But his two brothers held him down firmly.
In the code of warfare, envoys are not to be harmed.
Their commanders had always adhered to this principle of gentlemanly conduct. No matter how infuriating the envoy’s words, drawing a sword against them—especially a woman—was out of the question.
The woman held her head high with a smug expression.
It made the soldiers feel as though their livers were about to burst from anger.
In stark contrast, Li Fuxiang remained exceedingly calm, with almost no emotional reaction. He even spoke courteously: “Go back and relay this to your commander. I will consider it.”
The subordinate generals all exchanged glances.
The personal guards escorted the woman safely out of the city. Zheng Yan could no longer hold back: “Consider it? What’s there to consider? Just level their camp already!”
Li Fuxiang, now with his back to them, stood before a map.
Everyone gazed at Li Fuxiang’s silhouette, hoping he would offer some explanation.
Li Fuxiang turned around, holding his Shenwu sword, and used the hilt to point at a spot on the map. “They’ve retreated twenty li and set up camp here.”
They crowded around to look.
Li Fuxiang explained, “This spot, if they take even one more step back, leads directly to Guifeng Pass. Once they retreat into Guifeng Pass, it’s like fish returning to the sea. We could still capture them, but it would be time-consuming and not worth the effort.”
Zheng Yan studied the map for a long while and said, “Retreating to Guifeng Pass? That just means they’re scared and planning to flee!”
Li Fuxiang corrected him: “They’ve likely already fled. Once it’s completely dark, gather a few people to follow me, and we’ll burn down their empty camp.”
With that, he said no more, lifted the curtain, and walked out on his own.
Zheng Xiao, fighting alongside him for the first time, twitched his lips and turned to Ji Wei, who stood nearby. “Your Highness certainly has… a unique personality.”
Ji Wei sighed. “Our prince, he doesn’t talk much. His plans are all in his own head. Don’t feel bad if you’re not used to it. Back in the day, when we ventured deep into Hucha Sea to attack the Fox Hu royal court, we were just as confused—completely led by the nose.”
Zheng Yan chimed in, “I have something to say about that. Big Brother, he even swindled money from our father during that mission. You don’t know this, but he actually made our father use his own money to buy his own horses.”
Zheng Xiao looked at these two tattletales with a helpless smile. He then turned back to Ji Wei with a serious expression and asked, “I heard that Xumo’er’s envoy just now mention a past camaraderie at Hucha Sea, fighting the Fox Hu together. What’s that about?”
This was something he had never heard of before.
Only the people in the Xiaoqi Battalion knew the truth.
Ji Wei mentioned the past events without any intention to conceal, saying, “Back then, we spent over half a year wandering in the Hucha Sea. In reality, we were never idle. The horse bandit tribes that lived off the Hucha Sea were almost entirely defeated by us. Because we lacked food and supplies to survive in the Death Desert, we could only sustain ourselves through warfare. At that time, Xumo’er was just a small tribe on the far western side. Our prince reached an agreement with a relatively powerful tribe. In exchange for water and dry provisions, they requested the head of the Xumo’er tribal prince. The Xumo’er prince was quite a talent—he managed to turn our prince against us.”
Zheng Xiao asked, “What did Xumo’er give you?”
Ji Wei replied, “He helped us quietly infiltrate the royal city of the Fox Hu tribe.”
Li Fuxiang settled in Xiang City and finally had the time to organize his belongings. That night, he led the Jinyiwei to forcibly evacuate the residents of Jiangluo Town, and his belongings were packed for him at the post station by Gao Yuexing.
Since the Jiangnan region was rainy, Gao Yuexing wrapped his luggage with waterproof oiled paper and fish-skin cloth, both inside and out.
When he reached the western frontier and unpacked his clothing, everything was still dry and crisp to the touch.
Li Fuxiang pulled out his clothes one by one, turning the neatly packed items into a chaotic mess before finally finding a thick envelope and a box at the bottom of the luggage.
Li Fuxiang held the envelope; inside was paper.
Such a thick stack—this wasn’t something written in a rush.
He opened the box first.
Inside were bottles and jars of medicines for external injuries and internal use, along with a few prescription slips tucked into the gaps at the edges of the box—items that would be useful during a military campaign.
Li Fuxiang knew this wasn’t prepared solely for him.
This year’s battles made it unlikely that support from the Medicine Valley would arrive. The six cities in Jiangnan were suffering from severe flooding, and after a major disaster, a major epidemic was bound to follow. In some time, diseases might spread uncontrollably.
Li Fuxiang then opened the thick envelope.
He had thought it was a family letter. But after a glance, his brows furrowed—it was Gao Yuexing’s analysis of the situation in the capital.
Starting from the failed rebellion and subsequent execution of Noble Consort Hui during the autumn hunt that year, Gao Yuexing had laid out a clear thread of events.
Her letter stated that the malicious elements in the capital had not been completely eradicated. Two royal palaces and parts of the imperial court remained tainted. There might be another upheaval beneath the imperial city, closely tied to the war at the western frontier. She urged him to be vigilant and think everything through carefully.
She had also calculated the disaster situation in the six Jiangnan cities. If disaster relief was timely and no unexpected events occurred, the situation would improve in at least two months, or perhaps even longer.
Gao Yuexing was the person standing behind him.
Li Fuxiang headed to the western frontier, pointing his blade outward.
Gao Yuexing stayed behind, trying to shield him from all internal troubles.
Li Fuxiang flipped through the dozens of pages of the personal letter, yet not a single private word was mentioned.
Night deepened. By right, after traveling so arduously, they should have had a bite of meat as a reward. But given the ongoing disasters in the country, the soldiers at the border voluntarily reduced their rations. They didn’t seek to eat their fill—just to stave off hunger.
Zheng Xiao wolfed down two mouthfuls of rice before leaving the camp. By then, Li Fuxiang had already chosen his men and horses, bringing an entire squad of his cavalry, along with □□ and fire oil.
Zheng Xiao immediately asked, “Are you planning to use flaming arrows?”
Li Fuxiang replied, “Yes, we can’t get too close. Let’s just hear the explosion from afar.”
With a kick to his horse, the soldiers guarding the city gates lowered the gate. A team of light cavalry sped out into the night.
Tonight, the moon seemed to carve a narrow slit in the night sky. Not only did no light spill through, but it also evoked an indescribable sense of eeriness.
The Xiaoqi Battalion never lit torches for their night marches.
Their commander was their brightest guiding beacon; following him, they could never go astray.
When Li Fuxiang spotted Xumo’er’s tents in the distance, they were already within range. He ordered a halt, and they wrapped oil-soaked cotton gauze around their specially crafted arrows.
The rain of arrows was aimed at Xumo’er’s camp.
Sparks filled the sky, all converging in the same direction.
The flames pierced through half of the night’s darkness as Li Fuxiang sat silently on horseback, gazing at the roaring sea of fire.
Boom——
A thunderous explosion shook the ground, emanating from Xumo’er’s camp. For a moment, the flames surged so high they seemed about to reach the heavens.
A soldier from the Xiaoqi Battalion shouted in panic, “Explosives! They buried explosives in the camp!”
Everyone broke out in cold sweat.
Had they charged in unprepared, at least half of them would have been killed or injured on the spot.
Li Fuxiang stared at the blinding fire for a long time, his eyes discomforted by the brightness, and he squinted slightly. “Listen to that commotion,” he said. “How lively it is—”