"Elder General, you sent for me?" Xue Zining asked respectfully as she entered Yuan Guan's military tent.
After many days of interaction, she greatly admired the Elder General's conduct.
Without looking up, Yuan Guan said to her, "Take a look at this."
Xue Zining stepped forward. There was a letter on the table. Though she didn't understand why the Elder General wanted her to look at it, she picked it up, opened it, and upon reading its contents, she was aghast.
Huangze was in chaos, and both the Censor-in-Chief and the Grand Court of Revision had been placed under house arrest by the Empress.
Feng Ying's assassination attempt on the Empress had failed, and she was dead.
The letter's content was simple, yet it chilled her to the bone, making her feel as if she had plunged into an abyss.
Li Chenxuan and Yu Ji were her people. Imprisoning them was tantamount to severing her influence.
Feng Ying...
She was someone Xue Zining had placed beside Li Chenxuan, a member of the Feng Yin Zhi, capable of fighting a hundred men.
Anyone who could kill Feng Ying must be someone she knew.
Her gaze gradually turned icy.
"What is your opinion?" the Elder General finally spoke.
Xue Zining turned her head, her expression as serene as frost. "Elder General, I need your men."
Alone, she could not change the current situation in Huangze. She could only rely on the Elder General.
"I know, but not now," the Elder General said calmly.
"I understand." With foreign enemies invading Xue Ling Pass, the Elder General could not possibly lend her men at this moment.
The Elder General looked at the girl's composed demeanor and felt a sense of admiration. Indeed, someone who had grown up in such a place would be level-headed.
If the Crown Prince were still alive, they would have made such a perfect couple.
"Elder General," someone spoke from outside the tent.
Xue Zining said, "I'll go out first."
The Elder General nodded and called out, "Come in."
As Xue Zining reached the entrance, a soldier hurried in and whispered into the Elder General's ear, "Miss Chu has been captured by the people of Han. Now, the Han envoy requests an audience with you."
The voice was low, but she still overheard it.
Turning back, she saw the Elder General's face darken.
"General Yuan," someone called out, lifting the tent flap and entering. He knelt on one knee before the Elder General.
Xue Zining recognized him as Chu Ling'er's father, Deputy General Chu.
"Chu Ge, rise!" the Elder General said coldly.
Chu Ge looked up, his gaze filled with unwavering resolve. "General, you need not concern yourself with my daughter's safety. Anyone who comes to Xue Ling Pass is not an exception. She will surely understand."
The Elder General remained silent, looking at Chu Ge. After a long while, he said, "You have my thanks."
Xue Zining saw that the hand beneath Chu Ge's sleeve was bulging with veins.
"Your subordinate takes his leave!" Chu Ge stood up and turned to leave.
Xue Zining turned to look at the Elder General. He looked up at her with a wry smile. "This is the cruelty of war."
"I understand." How could she not comprehend? The Elder General and Deputy General Chu could not endanger everyone in Xue Ling Pass for the sake of personal affection.
After speaking, she walked out.
She understood, she knew, but that did not mean she agreed.
Must such a cheerful and kind young girl become a sacrifice caught between two warring factions?
A young man in black robes walked towards her. Upon seeing her, he paused slightly, then turned his face away and headed towards the Elder General's tent.
Shortly after, the Elder General's furious voice was heard from within. Soon after, the young man emerged.
He knelt there.
The young man's back was straight, his eyes slightly red.
She walked up to him and asked with a cool demeanor, "Instead of wasting time kneeling here, why not think of a way to save Chu Ling'er?"
Yuan Zhao looked up. The young man's complexion was not good, somewhat pale. Seeing her, his gaze flickered away.
Xue Zining frowned and bent down to ask, "Could Chu Ling'er's capture have anything to do with you?"
The young man flinched. His expression had already revealed everything to her.
"For what reason?" she asked.
The young man turned his face away, seemingly unwilling to say more.
Xue Zining stood up and said calmly, "Even if you kneel until the end of time, the Elder General will not change his mind. What he protects is not just Xue Ling Pass, but all the people within it, and even the entire Xue Kingdom."
The young man shuddered, his voice trembling slightly, "In that case, can you disregard Ling'er's life and death?"
"General Yuan, this is a battlefield, not a place to indulge in personal affections," Xue Zining said coldly.
This was the cruelty of war.
The young man's gaze faltered, and his expression gradually cleared. "I understand. Thank you."
Xue Zining turned to leave.
The young man's voice sounded behind her, "Where are you going?"
"They can negotiate their negotiations; I will do what I need to do."
The young man paused, his gaze somewhat lost.
Chu Ling'er gritted her teeth. She deeply regretted letting the Han people capture her.
Now, she had become a bargaining chip in the hands of the Han. If she could, she would rather die.
Anything rather than become a burden that weighed down the soldiers of Xue Ling Pass.
However, the Han people seemed to fear she might commit suicide, leaving her no possibility of ending her own life.
She was currently in the tent of Prince Han Xixia. Han Xixia was discussing matters with someone, seemingly about how to maximize her usefulness.
Suddenly, Han Xixia glanced at her, his eyes as cold as frost. Chu Ling'er's heart leaped.
"Knock her unconscious," Han Xixia said. Someone stepped forward and approached Chu Ling'er.
Chu Ling'er did not understand what Han Xixia was saying. Fearing something was about to happen, she was utterly terrified.
Han Xixia looked at the wary Chu Ling'er and said in stiff language, "I have no interest in you."
Chu Ling'er trembled, and a surge of anger rose within her. Yuan Zhao had spoken this way, and even a mere Han prince was saying the same.
Han Xixia's lips curved upward slightly, and he continued in stiff language, "Feng Ning, I like people like her."
Chu Ling'er looked at Han Xixia with anger. She knew that Yuan Zhao seemed to have developed other feelings for Feng Ning, otherwise, he wouldn't have rejected her.
She also wouldn't have been captured by the Han people because of Yuan Zhao's rejection.
"Prince, the envoy has returned," someone reported from outside the tent.
Han Xixia said, "Let him in."
"What did the Elder General say?" Han Xixia asked.
The envoy replied, "The Elder General said he will not negotiate with you over an irrelevant person."
Han Xixia's face immediately darkened. "Isn't she the daughter of Deputy General Yuan Guan?"
"She is, but the Elder General's attitude is very firm," the envoy said.
"Since she is no longer useful, I shall reward her to you!" Han Xixia's eyes flashed with ferocity.
Although Chu Ling'er did not know what the envoy and Han Xixia were discussing, she could infer something from Han Xixia's gaze at her.
She knew that her father would definitely not make things difficult for the Elder General, so only she herself would have to be sacrificed.
"Prince, how about rewarding her to your subordinate?" the envoy suddenly said.