Indeed, he is one of the seven commanders of the Li family. With prosperity comes the fear of death. On the battlefield, anyone who has not received an order to retreat but does so will be beheaded! Mother didn’t take his life, only inflicted punishment. Do you think I was too severe?"
"Of course not. It’s just that Uncle Won Hu always dotes on me. I just thought I should stand up for him."
"Cares about you? Ha! Before your father went to the capital, he ordered the seven commanders not to let you mobilize a single soldier. Yet that Li Yuanhu went ahead and secretly allocated three thousand iron riders to you!"
"Mother, our family is being bullied to such an extent! How can you expect me to endure it?"
"Don’t think I don’t understand your intentions. The Li family has defended the Central Plains against the barbarians for a hundred years. This merit can never be erased from the historical annals. Daughter, I know you’re not one for sitting idle. I never expected you to be a docile girl, learning needlework and waiting to be married off to serve your husband and raise children. However, the Li family’s hundred-year reputation was painstakingly built by generations of our ancestors. It cannot be destroyed so easily."
"It’s the Yan Emperor who is too oppressive! It’s not just me who can’t stand it; the soldiers below are already seething with indignation."
"Insolent! Are you trying to anger your mother to death?"
"Mother, I was wrong. I was wrong."
"If you desire something, you should go get it yourself. If being a County Princess isn’t enough for you, do you aspire to be a Princess?"
"Then it must be that even being a Princess doesn’t satisfy you. My child, to have such ambition is commendable; Mother is very pleased. So, are you aiming to be an Empress?"
"Or perhaps... you wish to be an Empress Regnant?"
"Let me show you a clear path. If the wind and sand of these northern lands cannot fill your heart, then you can marry into the capital and become the Crown Princess! With a legitimate daughter of my Li family marrying into their Ji Family, shouldn’t the imperial court ease up on our Li family and my three hundred thousand Northern Guards a little? In another ten or twenty years, when His Majesty and your father are both gone, you will control the inner palace and have sway over the powerful vassals outside. Even if you wished for the hen to crow at dawn, who could stop you then?"
"Mother, I know I was wrong."
"Don’t. My girl, you’re just like me. Mother knows you’re stubborn deep down. Sigh."
As she said this, the old lady rose from the bed, and the County Princess extended a hand to support her.
"Mother knows you are intelligent, but never underestimate the people of this world. Do not assume everyone is a fool, especially not your father and the current Emperor. They were playmates when they were children."
At that moment, a middle-aged man in armor strode into the hall and knelt on one knee. "Madam, a message has arrived from the observation post. They say the wind is picking up."
The old lady narrowed her eyes and declared, "Relay my orders! Not a single rat that sneaks in tonight is to be allowed to escape! Any military officer of the rank of Major or higher found derelict in their duty will be beheaded!" Get full chapters from novel·fire.net
"As you command, Madam!"
The middle-aged general saluted and then withdrew with a bow.
The County Princess looked at her mother with curiosity and asked, "Mother, what arrangements have you made?"
"Isn’t the mutilated body of the Left Valley King still hanging outside?"
"The corpse of a Third Rank Martial Cultivator, one who slew a thousand soldiers before his own death, is thoroughly steeped in blood. Do you think those secretive practitioners in the Royal Court’s Temple would be willing to let such a prime specimen of a body simply rot out there? Those types have an innate, irresistible fascination with corpses."
"Mother, are you saying they will make a move tonight?"
"That Left Valley King came here as a commoner. It’s possible that from the very day he resigned his official post, the Royal Court’s Temple was already plotting how to retrieve his body after he died in battle. They might have even made arrangements long ago."
"And you say *I’m* the one with grand ambitions, Mother."
The old lady patted the County Princess’s hand and said, "Yesterday, their Royal Court lost the Left Valley King. Tonight, I will make them lose their Temple as well! This time, I will ensure their Royal Court cannot recover its strength for the next thirty years!"
"Mother, did Father instruct this before he left?"
The old lady paused for a moment, then said, "Before your father departed for the capital, he left behind a saying. He said, ’Before you sweep your own house, go and beat up your neighbor first. You can’t go wrong with that.’"
In the desert, yellow sands swirled. Siniang sat on a blanket, the young boy beside her seemingly tired, constantly nodding off. Liang Cheng stood nearby, eyes closed, as if sensing something.
"Hey, have you sensed it yet?" Siniang asked.
"I have," Liang Cheng replied.
"Heh, truly interesting. Tell me, isn’t this just like eavesdropping on someone’s radio transmission?"
A mysterious power was summoning a corpse, calling it to rise as one of the undead—in other words, inducing zombification. And Liang Cheng, as it happened, was a zombie himself, and a high-level one with consciousness at that. It was as if they were all tuned to the same frequency, so Liang Cheng had also perceived the summons, even though it was clearly meant for that other corpse.
"Hey, I’m getting really bored just sitting here, you know? What on earth are they saying over there?"
"It’s in the barbarian tongue."
"Do you understand it?"
"I’ve been out and about recently, learned a bit."
"Then translate it for me."
Liang Cheng nodded and began to translate, seemingly mimicking the intonation from the "audio feed" as he did so:
"Return....come...back...yo..."
Seeing Liang Cheng chanting as he translated, Siniang couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and chimed in, singing, "The wandering son across the horizon..."