Seeing that the enemy outnumbered them, the junior Chen officer dared not confront them head-on and quickly shouted, “Retreat!”

The Chen soldiers who had plundered goods and women immediately mounted their horses and left.

However, the Chu army had descended directly from the sand dunes and quickly caught up with the Chen soldiers.

Realizing they couldn’t shake off the pursuers, the Chen soldiers resorted to shooting arrows at the approaching Chu army.

Lin Zhao led the charge, almost lying flat on her horse’s back to reduce wind resistance.

One hand tightly held the reins, while the other brandished a long whip, her eyes shining like a leopard’s.

With a crack of her whip, any Chen soldier hit by it—even if not thrown off his horse—would find his armor pierced.

As more and more Chu soldiers caught up, the Chen soldiers carrying Hu women on their horses were slowed down.

In order to save their lives, many Chen soldiers simply threw the Hu women off their horses.

The women fell heavily to the ground, and with countless hooves trampling behind them, there was no chance of survival.

Lin Zhao had no choice but to order her soldiers to stop pursuing.

Among the thousand elite riders, dozens were members of the skilled archer Women’s Army.

Lin Zhao instructed them to help the Hu women who had fallen from their horses.

The Hu women, initially frightened, lowered their guard when they saw that these soldiers were women too.

The physician who had accompanied the Hu merchants was killed by the Chen soldiers, leaving the injured Hu women and some still-breathing Hu merchants with no one to treat them.

It was these dozens of Women’s Army soldiers who helped bandage their wounds.

The Women’s Army was originally founded at Liangyan Mountain.

Previously, when Qin Zheng needed a large amount of hemostatic herbs, the physician in the mountain taught them to identify some common hemostatic herbs and simple wound treatment.

As the Women’s Army grew stronger, Lin Zhao had the elderly who were knowledgeable in herb identification and wound dressing teach newcomers.

This tradition had been maintained to this day, not only to allow the Women’s Army to learn more skills but also to ensure that in times of trouble, they could assist with logistics in Qingzhou and help the wounded more effectively without starting from scratch.

The rescued Hu merchants were grateful to Lin Zhao and offered gold and silver, but she politely refused.

With such a rare opportunity, Lin Zhao naturally wanted to explore a route into the Western Regions through this group of Hu merchants.

She didn’t forget to clear the name of the Chu army, pointing to the fluttering banner behind her and saying, “The attackers of the caravan were rebels of the Li clan, The Chen Army. Our army of Chu would never oppress the common people!”

The Hu merchants looked at the black characters on the golden flag flying in the sky and bowed devoutly.

A surge of pride welled up in Lin Zhao’s heart.

One day, the North would once again fly the banner of Chu, and the countries of the world would come to pay tribute as they did during the prosperous days of the Chu dynasty.

As Pei Wenyan was forcefully pulled out of the carriage by a Chen soldier, she sprained her foot.

A plump woman among the Women’s Army was helping her with a massage.

Sitting at the shaft of the carriage, Pei Wenyan watched Lin Zhao negotiating with the leader of the Hu merchants not far away and asked the plump woman, “Can women also join the army in the Chu army?”

The plump woman was Wang Damma, who had watched Lin Zhao grow up.

Lin Zhao had always wanted to make contributions, so when Wang Damma learned that she was going north, she followed along.

For some reason, when she first saw this Central Plains girl in a Hu dress, Wang Damma was reminded of Qin Zheng.

Although the two women’s appearances were not similar, after all, in this world, Qin Zheng was such a rare beauty that Wang Damma, who had lived for most of her life, had never seen a second one.

At this moment, hearing the girl’s question, Wang Damma finally understood why she always felt a trace of Qin Zheng’s shadow on her.

She looked like she came from a wealthy family, but for some reason, she had fallen to this point.

Although she seemed fragile, there was a stubbornness and tenacity deep down.

Wang Damma replied, “Why can’t women join the army? We have female generals in our army who command ten thousand soldiers!”

Pei Wenyan clenched her hand on the carriage shaft, her fingertips turning white with sudden force. “Grandma, I want to join the army. Can you take me in?”

Wang Damma glanced at the child huddled behind her, then looked at Pei Wenyan’s slender frame, her face stern. “Joining the army isn’t child’s play. You’re probably too weak to even lift a sword, and with a child in tow, joining the army would mean sending yourself to death.”

The child behind her, upon hearing that she might die, quickly hugged her, “Sister, don’t go!”

Rejected, Pei Wenyan’s face, though somewhat defeated, still thanked Wang Damma before comforting her younger brother.

Seeing the siblings lonely and without support, Wang Dannie couldn’t help but ask, “Are you two seeking refuge with relatives?”

Pei Wenyan shook her head bitterly.

“Are there no other family members left?”

“They’re all dead,” Pei Wenyan said only this.

Seeing her sorrowful expression, Wang Damma didn’t want to pry further and, after bandaging her wounds, went to help elsewhere.

Lin Zhao had also settled matters with the Hu merchants.

They were willing to recommend a route to the Western Regions, and Lin Zhao, being straightforward, feared they might encounter trouble on the road again, so she let them travel with the army into the city.

Pei Wenyan watched as Lin Zhao mounted her tall horse and hesitated for a long time before sitting back in the carriage with her younger brother in her arms.

The scene of the catastrophe at the Liangzhou Governor’s Mansion that day flashed through her mind, and she closed her eyes in pain.

Since a year ago, she had intermittently had a bizarre and vivid dream.

The dream began with her father and brothers dying on the battlefield, their three coffins placed in front of the mansion gates, her mother fainting in grief.

But then, the governor’s mansion was raided.

The deputy general accused her father of being reckless and falling into a trap set by the northern barbarians, leading to the loss of Liangzhou and the death of the former Marquis of Lianqin who had gone to reinforce it.

Her mother hanged herself with a white silk ribbon, her five-year-old brother was taken away for forced labor, and because he couldn’t carry the brick basket, he was crushed to death by the bricks.

She was listed as a slave and sold, bought back by the mansion of the Marquis of Lianqin.

The young marquis, resenting her deeply, and the other servants in the mansion treated her as a criminal, scolded by the master, and bullied by the servants.

She had thought of hanging herself more than once to reunite with her parents, brothers, and younger brother under the yellow springs.

But thinking of her father guarding Liangzhou for many years, yet being branded with such a stain, the three coffins in front of the mansion, her mother’s hanging skirt, and her younger brother being crushed to death under the bricks…

A fire named revenge burned in her heart.

She couldn’t die.

She had to clear her family’s name, find the culprit behind the loss of Liangzhou.

At first, she was frightened by the dream and cried to her mother about it.

Her mother said she was being haunted by evil spirits and went to the temple to get a peace charm, asking her to put it under her pillow at night.

Pei Wenyan didn’t know if it was because she was too worried that she had such a terrifying dream, but everything in the dream was too real.

She often reminded her father and brothers to be on guard against the vice general.

But her father and brothers didn’t take it seriously.

After all, the vice general had been their brother-in-arms for more than ten years, and her father said she was confused by nightmares, even inviting a high monk to the mansion to perform rituals.

Her family was still fine, and Pei Wenyan comforted herself that it might just be a strange dream.

Until the time of the Chu dynasty’s downfall in the dream matched the reality, she felt an unprecedented panic.

What if everything in the dream came true?

Her family refused to believe in her dream alone, suspecting the vice general who once saved her father from a knife.

She had no evidence to point fingers at the vice general.

When news arrived that the Northern Rong would attack Sui Prefecture, in those fragmented dreams, she appeared with the young lord, uncovering letters between the vice general and Li Zhong.

Pei Wenyan was ecstatic.

If she could also find letters exchanged between Li Zhong and the vice general, she could make her father and brothers believe her.

However, the letter she managed to obtain became a death warrant for her family.

At that time, Li Xin had just occupied Bianjing, and her father had not yet sent congratulations to the new dynasty.

Yet, the vice general had already made connections with Li Zhong, the marshal under Li Xin.

Li Zhong promised the vice general the position of Governor of Liangzhou, on the condition that he divulged all the military deployments in Liangzhou.

Once the defense plans of Liangzhou fell into the hands of the Northern Barbarian, Liangzhou would be as good as theirs.

Her father angrily executed the vice general and hastily gathered his subordinates to redeploy the defense forces of Liangzhou.

But the news reached the ears of the Li family.

Fearful that her father would expose their collusion with the Northern Barbarian and implicate them in the conspiracy against Liangzhou and Beiting,

The Li family directly instructed the Northern Barbarian to attack the city in advance.

That day, the troops sent by Chen Guo to aid Liangzhou did not fight the Northern Barbarian, but instead went to the Governor’s Mansion to silence them.

Her parents and brothers fought desperately at the city gate against the Northern Barbarian,

Unaware that the troops of Chen Army were advancing from the rear, under the pretext of support, and massacring the Governor’s Mansion.

To stall Chen’s troops, her mother urged her to flee with her younger brother while she stayed behind to confront Chen’s troops.

After leaving the city in a carriage, Pei Wenyan took her younger brother and hid in a nearby village.

The coachman, a loyal servant of the mansion, diverted the pursuing soldiers.

When they reached a relatively safe place, she learned that the Governor’s Mansion in Liangzhou had been slaughtered, and the bodies of her parents and brothers were hung at the city gate by the Northern Barbarian.

Pei Wenyan was filled with unbearable pain.

She thought she could change the outcome of her family’s fate in her dreams, but instead, she hastened their path to death.

To prevent her younger brother from dying in forced labor, she forced herself to stay strong and led her brother on a journey northwards, hiding and moving from place to place.

In Pei Wenyan’s dreams, she married the young lord of Beiting for a lifetime.

But that was just a dream; in reality, they didn’t even know each other, and the lord hadn’t died.

Without a guide, it was difficult for her to enter Beiting, let alone meet the young lord and ask for his help in exposing the Li family’s conspiracy.

The letters she had were only useful against Li Xin’s hostile forces.

After much hesitation, Pei Wenyan chose to go to Beiting instead of going to the Prince of Huainan in Wujun.

She heard that there was a way for merchants to enter the city.

She used the bracelet her mother left her as payment for the journey.

Only then did the merchant caravan agree to take them along.

It was also from these Hu merchants that Pei Wenyan learned that the former Prince of Chu hadn’t died,

Instead, he had risen in Jianghuai and was currently at war with Li Xin.

Everything was different from her dreams.

In her dreams, the prince had died early in the Eastern Palace.

Regardless of the reasons for the disparity between her dreams and reality, Pei Wenyan had only one thought in her mind:

The Li family must pay for their deeds.

If she hadn’t run out of guidance and money, Pei Wenyan would have turned back to Jianghuai.

Perhaps the heavens heard her prayers.

Chen’s army attacked the caravan, and she thought her life would end there.

Unexpectedly, halfway through, a Chu army appeared, led by a famous Young Female general!

In the Chu army, women could also serve as soldiers.

Thinking of the deep enmity of her family, Pei Wenyan wished she could personally kill the Li family’s scoundrels.

After a bold inquiry, she received a refusal, but Pei Wenyan was not discouraged.

She had indeed been too impulsive just now.

The female soldier was right; if she joined the army, how could her brother, Ayu, who was only five years old, survive?

Pei Wenyan pressed on her chest.

In the inner layer of her coat, she had evidence to accuse the Li family of colluding with foreign tribes and killing good officials.

Once she entered the city and met that female general, it would be difficult, but she had to find an opportunity to reveal her identity to her.

Qingzhou.

Qin Zheng sat at her desk reading the letters sent back by Lin Zhao.

Since Lin Zhao had gone north, with every city she passed, besides writing official reports on her journey, she would also send a letter to Qin Zheng, telling her about the scenery along the way and the local customs.

Qin Zheng couldn’t help but chuckle as she read, “Azhao says she’s running out of paper and needs to buy more when she enters the city.”

Chu Chengji saw Qin Zheng holding a thick stack of paper and raised his eyebrows slightly.

A letter written so thickly, wouldn’t it mean she hadn’t stopped writing even while on horseback during marches?

Luckily, the messenger delivering the letters was from the military.

If it were an ordinary messenger, it would be difficult to say whether the letters could even be sent out.

Just as Qin Zheng finished reading the letters and placed them on the table, he inadvertently glanced at the large, twisted words on the paper and smirked slightly.

With such a writing style, it’s no wonder a single letter could be written so thick.

Remembering the official documents Lin Zhao had submitted before, the handwriting was neat, probably written by someone else.

He said, “Let her find someone to write for her in the future.”

Changing paper after writing a few words was inconvenient.

Lin Zhao’s writing wasn’t easy to read.

Qin Zheng glared at Chu Chengji, who promptly changed the subject, “The Xie family said that the third daughter of the Pei family might still be alive. Have your people found any clues?”

Most of the Lady Army went north with Lin Zhao.

Those who were physically weaker stayed in Qingzhou to continue assisting Qin Zheng.

This silent and effective information network could find out many things.

Regarding official matters, Qin Zheng sighed, “There’s still no news for now. However, recently, a prominent merchant suddenly bought a large number of martial maids.

The ones from the Lady Army whom he bought have not sent any news back. It’s very suspicious. I plan to send someone to investigate that prominent merchant.”