In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

On this day, the sky was a bit gray, giving people an inexplicable sense of oppression.

The border was dry, the last rain was before the Nanliang’s grain and grass were burned.

Rain was a good thing, but when it coincided with Marquis Dongxiang leading troops to attack the city, Su Jin wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

Yesterday, the General Workshop finally finished the thirty crossbow cars that Marquis Dongxiang had requested.

This half month was enough for Marquis Dongxiang and the Prince to finalize their plans for attacking the city; they were just waiting for the crossbow cars.

They had started the siege early in the morning after breakfast; by now, it had already been two hours, and Su Jin didn’t know how the battle was progressing.

After all, the crossbow cars were her idea; if the siege failed, it would be a huge loss.

Su Jin was restless, pacing back and forth in the tent. Qin Hanhan looked at her and said, "Don’t worry, everything will be fine."

Su Jin also knew that everything should be fine, but this waiting for the result was nerve-wracking; she wanted to take a look at the battlefield.

But she knew that if she voiced this idea, she would be stopped.

No one would dare let her go to the battlefield, and she wasn’t that reckless with her life.

She sat down to drink tea.

Outside, footsteps approached rapidly. Xingxing hurried out to ask, "Has the Marquis won?"

The soldier shook his head, "The Marquis is still sieging the city. A message came from the Capital City, instructing Miss Xingxing to write a family letter to the Emperor..."

Xingxing was a bit dumbfounded.

Why did the Emperor want her to write a family letter? Shouldn’t the young lady write it?

It was only then that Xingxing remembered that her young lady hadn’t written a family letter to the Emperor.

But writing a family letter wasn’t difficult for her, though when she heard the letter must be thicker than the one for the Madam, she pouted; how could she have so much to say to the Emperor?

But orders couldn’t be disobeyed; not writing would be treason, and besides, if the Emperor was pleased, she’d surely be rewarded once they returned to the Capital City.

Even if it was for the sake of the reward, she had to write diligently.

After delivering the message, the soldier withdrew.

The Imperial Chef brought food, but Su Jin couldn’t eat it, although she had to eat more for the sake of the baby in her womb.

After lunch, she strolled around the military camp and then returned to the tent to nap for half an hour.

She got up to mix some golden sore medicine to pass the time until evening.

In the distance, there were howls.

Xingxing listened for a moment, then happily said, "Young lady, the Marquis and the others have taken another Nanliang city!"

Su Jin also breathed a sigh of relief.

Including this one, that made three cities.

Nanliang had suffered successive losses and had not been able to reclaim the cities, while Daqi’s morale was high; it seemed that it wouldn’t be long before they sought peace?

Su Jin left the tent; Xingxing supported her as she went to welcome Marquis Dongxiang and the Prince.

Marquis Dongxiang had returned, while the Prince set up camp in the newly captured city to guard against any counterattack from the Nanliang people.

From a distance, Marquis Dongxiang saw Su Jin.

He rode over and dismounted, laughing, "This time, taking down a Nanliang city, the thirty crossbow cars were indispensable."

Daqi and Nanliang had been at war for so long, with Nanliang often provoking and Daqi mostly defending. Rare offensive attempts either ended in disaster, like Xie Jingchen leading a night raid that ended in an avalanche, or Su Chong’s attempt to burn grain and grass that nearly led to a trap, or they resulted in capturing a city in one swoop.

Cities are easy to defend and hard to attack; capturing one could come at the cost of thousands of soldiers’ lives.

This time, Marquis Dongxiang and the Prince had planned the siege for a long time, although the odds of success weren’t high. While the power of the crossbow cars had spread in the military camp, they hadn’t been used on the battlefield yet, and even though Nanliang spies were in the camp, they didn’t know much, let alone how the crossbow cars would be used.

Arrows from the crossbow cars pierced the Nanliang city walls, and the soldiers climbed up the walls on them, killed the Nanliang archers, broke an opening, and with Daqi soldiers pouring onto the walls, the chances of winning were about seventy or eighty percent.

This battle left Marquis Dongxiang feeling utterly at ease.

Today, it was too late; the soldiers were exhausted from fighting and it was a good time to rest for the night, with a victory feast planned for tomorrow.

In this camp, it was a jubilant victory celebration.

On the other side, Duke Nanliang was furious, while General Shi remained expressionless.

He was a Nanliang General, and with Nanliang losing a city, as a Great General, he couldn’t be at ease.

But lately, Duke Nanliang had suppressed him so much that he could barely breathe. Now that Duke Nanliang had experienced the tactics of Daqi’s Marquis Dongxiang and Prince Zhenbei and lost a city, he wondered how long he could still make sardonic remarks.

General Shi sat in the military camp, saying nothing.

Yet, despite saying nothing, Duke Nanliang was still uncomfortable in his own skin; he never expected Daqi to be so troublesome.

Not only was he unable to reclaim the lost city, but it had also been breached.

When news of the defeat returned to the Capital City, who knew how angry the Emperor would be.

He had to reclaim the city he had lost from his hands and redeem himself!

Dong Chenglang and the others returned to the tent, the smell of blood heavy on them, though mostly Daqi’s blood.

He took clothes and went to the river to bathe, saying, "I didn’t expect Daqi to have such powerful crossbow cars."

Young Master Shi sighed, "The crossbow cars are mostly used for defending cities, and it’s not going to be easy for us in Nanliang to re-capture the cities."

"But after such a crushing defeat, Duke Nanliang might finally be quiet for a while."

They had been driven to the brink; now, with a moment to breathe, Young Master Shi felt much relieved.

He was pleased, but Dong Chenglang was not.

Just when it seemed like his cousin might defect, Daqi’s siege had deflated Duke Nanliang’s arrogance.

Young Master Shi swam to the distance, while Dong Chenglang splashed water on himself, feeling dejected.

Xie Jingchen looked at him and said, "If Duke Nanliang can’t reclaim the city, he will certainly need a scapegoat for this defeat."

Dong Chenglang looked at Xie Jingchen and said, "But this defeat has nothing to do with my uncle..."

"It doesn’t, but what if the Emperor thinks otherwise?" Xie Jingchen looked at him and said.

"..."

Dong Chenglang’s eyes widened.

Can it be handled like this?!

He understood what Xie Jingchen meant; it was to widen the gap between his uncle and Duke Nanliang as much as possible without harming his uncle.

Duke Nanliang was defeated; he wouldn’t be sending their military information to the Capital City anytime soon.

If they could reclaim the city within these two days, it wouldn’t count as losing a city.

But the soldiers had just suffered a defeat, their morale was low, and trying to siege while exhausted was not very promising.

However, if Duke Nanliang didn’t send the defeat message, they could.

Understanding this, Dong Chenglang felt at ease; Brother Li’s mind was flexible, turning a bad situation into a good one. He glanced into the distance, hoping his cousin hadn’t noticed; otherwise, he’d surely get beaten.

Upon returning to the tent, Young Master Shi went to see General Shi, while Dong Chenglang picked up a pen to write the battle report. He bit the pen and looked at Xie Jingchen saying, "How should I write it?"

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Feeling so tired.

Even in Nanliang, he couldn’t escape having to ghostwrite for others.

Xie Jingchen sat down, took the pen from Dong Chenglang’s hand, and began to write the battle report.

After finishing, Dong Chenglang glanced at it, saying, "Brother Li, your writing is too good, isn’t it?"

Aren’t Hidden Guards only supposed to know how to kill?

Since when did they need to be so eloquent too?

And the handwriting, he couldn’t even recognize it as Xie Jingchen’s own.

Footsteps were heard outside the tent; Dong Chenglang quickly folded the letter and tucked it into his chest.

Young Master Shi entered and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I’m planning to write a family letter to assure my mother of my safety; my cousin is also writing one, so we could send them back together," Dong Chenglang said.

"That’s a good idea; it’s about time we sent a family letter back."