The Beifeng Commandery Office was an imposing complex, standing like a miniature fortress at the heart of Beifeng City.
Though named a commandery office, it was in truth a military encampment.
Towering compound walls formed a city within a city. Outside the gates, the Feather Forest personal guards on duty stood tall and formidable, while squads of soldiers moved along the thoroughfare in tightly coordinated patrols.
Everything appeared solemn and grave, yet that solemnity was soon shattered by a shout.
"Out of the way! Move!"
A soldier clad in a dispatch rider's uniform galloped from the far end of the street on a snow-horned horse, hurtling like lightning. His frantic rush drew sidelong glances from the troops along the avenue and the guards stationed outside the compound gates.
To spur a mount so recklessly through the city in such heavy snow was already a breach of military discipline.
Yet the messenger gave not the slightest heed to military law.
Reaching the main gate of the commandery office, he vaulted off his horse and roared at the top of his lungs, "Open the gate! Hurry! Urgent military intelligence for Her Highness Wuyuan! Open the gate immediately!"
"..."
Watching his frantic desperation, the Feather Forest guard on duty remained utterly unmoved. "Token."
The commandery office housed vast stores of military supplies; panic meant nothing here. If a spy infiltrated and those supplies were compromised, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The dispatch rider gritted his teeth, fumbling frantically to pull a token from his tunic and tossing it to the guard. "Here! Hurry!"
"..."
The Feather Forest guard inspected the tossed token swiftly and thoroughly, then waved his hand to signal for the gate to be opened.
Before the guard could return the token, the messenger had already blurred past in a flash, dashing into the compound.
Beyond the gate lay a broad stone-paved avenue, its snow swept into piles along the sides. The messenger sprinted north, clearing courtyard wall after courtyard wall, until a vast, snow-covered drill ground came into view.
And cloaked behind the raging blizzard,
a massive council hall stood indistinctly at the far end of the drill ground.
What stunned the messenger was that, even from here, he could faintly hear heated interrogations ringing out from within the hall.
Interrogations directed at Her Highness Wuyuan.
"It will take at least another day for the barbarians to complete their encirclement of Beifeng City! Why has Your Highness sealed the northern gates?"
"The barbarian encirclement draws near! This is our last chance to transport supplies to our allies near Houting County! Why forbid us from leaving to deliver provisions?!"
"If we are completely encircled inside the city and our supply lines are severed, what is to become of the three hundred thousand troops in Houting County?!"
"The granaries in Houting County were destroyed in the earlier fighting, and the newly built storehouses can hold out for a month at most!"
"..."
In contrast to the howling blizzard outside, a clamor filled the grand hall.
On one side stood agitated officers clad in the armor of the frontier army; on the other stood the commanders of the Feather Forest Guards, eyes downcast, not uttering a word.
And amid this bedlam,
no one noticed that not a single soul from the third faction, the Black Scale Army, had shown up.
Naturally, they had no need to come.
For this was not a second military council summoned by Li Qingyan—it was simply an ambush to force her hand.
It was almost laughable.
Only an hour ago, during the first military council, these very men had pledged their loyalty, swearing to obey Wuyuan's every deployment.
Yet an hour later, they were causing an uproar right here in the council hall.
Because they had discovered that Li Qingyan had sealed every single city gate.
Sealed them by activating the grand formation.
Whether beast-drawn carriages or high-tier cultivators, everyone was trapped inside the city.
Unless they dared venture through the blasted southern gate, there was no way out.
That was what sent them into a panic.
So they had banded together and marched in to demand an explanation.
"Your Highness..."
On the frontier army's side, a middle-aged man who had remained silent all along suddenly sighed.
The man was clad in the armor of a frontier commander-in-chief, and the Source Qi swirling around his body attested to his cultivation at the Second-rank Origin Realm.
And with his sigh,
the previously clamorous hall fell silent with eerie swiftness.
Clearly, this man was the ringleader of this confrontation.
The man with the goatee looked at the woman upon the dais and spoke in an even voice: "If Your Highness cannot provide a concrete reason, then the northern gate can only be opened by our Beifeng frontier army ourselves."
"..."
Hearing this, several Yulin Guards commanders on the other side looked ready to bark reprimands, yet held their tongues, turning their eyes toward the formidable woman seated upon the dais in dragon scale armor of gold-trimmed crimson.
Gazes converged; silence hung for several breaths.
"Open it yourselves?"
A husky, low female voice finally murmured, echoing through the cavernous hall.
Setting down the dossier in her hand, Li Qingyan slowly lifted her eyes to the middle-aged man and asked dispassionately, "Commandant Qi, how do you intend to open it? By having your Zhenhua Army storm the gates from within?"
At those words, Commandant Qi's expression sank like stagnant water. Cupping his hands, he did not yield an inch: "How would this general dare commit such high treason? With a mighty foe at our doorstep, we must stand united. We merely seek a reason from Your Highness for sealing the city."
Li Qingyan nodded, no hint of anger or pleasure showing upon her peerlessly beautiful face. "Very well. Since Commandant Qi demands a reason, this palace shall grant you one."
With that,
Li Qingyan rose to her feet. Descending the steps at an unhurried pace, she spoke in a soft voice: "The barbarians have indeed not finished encircling the city, yet their wolf cavalry already roams outside. Do you truly intend to haul these supplies across three hundred li of snowy forest under the watchful eyes of those wolf riders?"
"..." Silence.
Seeing that no one answered, Li Qingyan gave a soft laugh and continued quietly: "It seems you are well aware of this. But if you knew, why insist on transporting provisions out of the city? Is it out of hospitality? Because they traveled ten thousand li along circuitous trails to assault our city, exhausting men and mounts, and you wish to reward those barbarians for their trouble?"
Dead silence gripped the hall.
After several frontier commanders exchanged glances, a man in a colonel's armor stepped forward. Cupping his hands with righteous gravity, he replied respectfully, "Your Highness speaks the absolute truth. Ground supply lines are indeed no longer safe. Yet why forbid high-tier cultivators and aerial demonic beasts from leaving? The probability of them being intercepted is exceedingly low."
Li Qingyan glanced at the speaker. "If I recall correctly, your name is Nie Yu?"
The stepped-forward officer offered a faint smile, his armor clinking softly as he moved. "That Your Highness remembers this humble general's name fills me with honor and trepidation."
Li Qingyan walked up to within two paces of him, casually tossing the dossier in her hand at his feet. "Pick it up and take a look, Colonel Nie. And then, explain to this palace why the aerial demonic beasts meant for military supplies carry your Nie family's wives, children, and kin? Why are there vast amounts of valuables loaded aboard those beasts? And why are there two Fourth-rank Body Integration guards accompanying them?!"
"..." Colonel Nie froze.
Seeing him struck dumb, Li Qingyan swept her freezing gaze over the gathering of commanders—nominally imperial frontier officers, yet in truth private forces belonging to the sects. "Colonel Zhou, Colonel Chang, Colonel Liu... Never mind. There are too many to name one by one. Choose a representative to explain this alongside him."
Colonel Nie listened without a blush or a flutter of his heart. Simply clasping his fists, he said, "Your Highness, as a frontier general of Great Yan, I can set an example by keeping my wife and children behind. However, those guards are retainers of our households, and the individuals being escorted out are distinguished guests from the Northern Border's sects—"
"Distinguished sect guests? Then it seems they are all cultivators."
Li Qingyan cut in cleanly. "Since they are cultivators, they can stay right here and defend the city for this palace."
Colonel Nie frowned, his tone hardening. "Your Highness, they are not imperial soldiers, but the sons and daughters of sect masters and grand elders. Their status is exalted. If any mishap should befall them, I fear Your Highness..."
BOOM!
A column of Source Qi plunged straight from above, piercing through the hall and squashing Colonel Nie into paste from crown to heel.
The reek of blood instantly washed across the hushed hall.
Li Qingyan surveyed the room, chill frost spilling from her phoenix eyes. "This palace is no soldier either, yet every citizen of Great Yan bears the duty to fight for our realm! Furthermore, do not think this palace unaware that the Sumeru rings loaded with supplies in your hands were already dispatched to Houting County via those high-tier messengers. Put away your petty schemes. Whoever dares raise this matter again will be dealt with under military law."
With that,
Li Qingyan turned her gaze onto their leader, Commandant Qi.
Commandant Qi lifted his gaze slightly. He could feel the grand formation in the sky above locked squarely onto him.
Even so, he did not speak right away, meeting the undisguised murderous intent in the princess's eyes with outward calm.
At present, the sect elites were deployed abroad, and the high-ranking commanders were nearly all near Houting County. He was the sole authority representing them in Beifeng City. If he fell, the sects' hundred thousand troops here would collapse into an uncoordinated heap of loose sand.
With everyone harboring their own schemes and no one to mediate, directing them would prove immensely difficult for the princess.
Moreover, the repercussions of slaying a commander at the Second-rank Origin Realm were entirely incomparable to executing a mere colonel.
Should he gamble?
Gamble that this madwoman would not dare kill him? Gamble that she would not dare incite internal strife at such a critical juncture?
Between the locked gazes of the two Origin Realm experts, the tension grew thick enough to wring water from the air.
Yet in the end, Commandant Qi lowered his head and spoke in a deep voice: "What Your Highness says... is entirely correct. All shall follow Your Highness's arrangements."
Under current circumstances, this madwoman Wuyuan was absolutely capable of killing him.
The lives of those high-ranking sect heirs mattered greatly; if they died in Beifeng City, he would almost certainly be held accountable.
Yet between facing later blame and dying right here on this hall floor, he still knew which weighed heavier.
No other sound rose. The entire hall echoed only with the retreating footsteps of the frontier commanders returning empty-handed.
As for the bloody paste that was once Colonel Nie, an old friend collected what remained.
Just as Li Qingyan was preparing to dismiss her trusted inner commanders to set up defenses, an agitated figure dashed into the hall, shoving past the departing frontier officers:
"Your Highness! Your Highness! The Black Scale Army... The Black Scale Army forced their way out through the southern gate to attack the barbarian camp!"
"..." Darkness swam before Li Qingyan's eyes.
Chapter 229