Lu Qinghuai: “I have important matters to discuss with the princess.”

As he spoke, he took a step forward, intending to enter the courtyard. However, just as he took that step, he was stopped by Yan Ling.

This man, who was extraordinarily handsome and appeared elegant, spoke with little emotion on his face: “The princess has given orders not to meet with anyone for now.”

Di Zhu, who was behind him, blinked. When did this order get issued? He hadn’t heard of it.

Lu Qinghuai furrowed his brow.

He wanted to say something but suddenly realized that if Wen Yuesheng wasn’t seeing anyone, then why was Yan Ling here?

He thought about it and directly asked him out loud.

Yan Ling: “Of course, the princess invited me.”

Lu Qinghuai: …

So, what he meant was that Wen Yue Sheng only wanted to see him and didn’t want to see anyone else, right?

No, how could this person be even more annoying than the new emperor, Hao Zhou?

Lu Qinghuai said irritably, “Master Yan, are you sure the princess invited you? It’s the middle of the night and you…”

He wanted to say that Yan Ling must have some ulterior motive, but then he thought about Wen Yue Sheng’s skills.

Not even ten Yan Lings would be enough for her to kill if she wanted to.

So, he swallowed the words he wanted to say.

Before he could think of a better response, he saw the distant and cold Yan Ling gesture towards the guqin behind him.

He spoke softly, “The princess wishes to hear some Zen music.”

Before Lu Qinghuai could respond, Yan Ling added, “Or perhaps, General Lu, you also play the guqin?”

Lu Qinghuai: …

Indeed, he didn’t know how to play.

The only thing he could play in this life was probably a slingshot.

Seeing that Lu Qinghuai was speechless, Yan Ling gave a slight bow, saying, “It’s late, the war situation is tense, please, General Lu, go back and rest.”

After speaking, he turned, taking the guqin from Di Zhu’s arms, and entered Wen Yuesheng’s courtyard in front of Lu Qinghuai.

Lu Qinghuai: …

Fine, fine, tomorrow he would learn to play the guqin.

Since Wen Yuesheng loved it so much, he would play eight pieces for her in one night!

Let’s see if she still wants to hear it!

Frustrated, Lu Qinghuai left.

When Di Zhu came to deliver a message, Yan Ling was adjusting the strings of the guqin.

Hearing the message, he responded indifferently, then took the guqin and entered Wen Yuesheng’s room.

Di Zhu looked at him from behind and couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

Yan Ling played the guqin because of his connection to the imperial family.

The men of Da Hui were fond of elegance, and so was the emperor. When the emperor was young, he especially enjoyed playing the guqin. However, after ascending the throne, he rarely touched it. If he did, it was only to instruct his sons.

Yan Ling’s aunt, Consort Yan, had no children, only him as a nephew.

To make the emperor visit her more often, Yan Ling had learned to play the guqin at a young age, and he not only had to learn it, but also had to surpass the emperor’s sons in skill, so that the emperor would often remember him.

He had a difficult childhood in the palace, and Consort Yan had forced him to endure. As he grew older, he became a tool for her to compete for favor.

He learned the guqin, but also grew to despise it.

Thus, after entering the court, he rarely touched the guqin, except on certain occasions.

Since entering the court, Consort Yan had never heard him play the guqin again, but on every birthday, she would send him a guqin as a gift.

Most of those guqins were destroyed by Yan Ling. Only a few had been played once or twice before being destroyed.

After a while, Consort Yan stopped sending them.

Di Zhu understood why Yan Ling didn’t play the guqin in front of others.

But now, he was surprised to see that despite Wen Yue Sheng not even mentioning it, his master had already brought a guqin.

Yan Ling pushed open the door.

The room was not lit, and it was very quiet.

Wen Yue Sheng was sitting behind a desk, both windows wide open, with the pale moonlight shining on her.

In the moonlight, her porcelain-white fingers held a snow-white teacup filled with a half-cup of clear lotus seed tea.

The sandalwood incense in the room had already burned out, and its faint scent lingered in Yan Ling’s nose.

His eyes shifted, and he looked at her.

In front of her was a broken purple jade Buddhist bead.

Purple jade was unique to the borderlands, rare and precious. This string of beads had been consecrated by a high monk at a temple there.

When they returned to the city lord’s residence tonight, Ye Qiuyun had returned the beads to her.

As soon as the beads fell into Wen Yue Sheng’s hands, they shattered.

Along with them, there was an uncontrollable restlessness in her heart.

The war had not stopped, and Wen Yue Sheng couldn’t leave the battlefield to worship the Buddha. Even if she had gone to worship, she would still be killing people afterward.

And the only string of Buddhist beads she had left had shattered tonight.

Wen Yuesheng had brought many beads from the capital when she came, but most of them had been damaged in the many battles.

A few were stained with blood and could no longer be used.

This time, Yan Ling came with Ye Qiuyun, who had brought some Buddhist-related items.

But after so many days of battles, those items had lost their power.

In her past life, this situation had also occurred.

And every time the Buddhist items were damaged, no matter the circumstances, she would be removed from the main battlefield by the alliance.

Under the cold moonlight, Wen Yue Sheng lifted her eyes and looked at the guqin in his hands.

She spoke coldly, “Are you afraid I will lose control?”

The experiment subjects for the massacre were killing machines.

And in the final battle, after defeating all the zombies, she was even more so.

A machine would malfunction, and lose control at some point.

Not to mention, she was a heartless monster.

In her past life, they were always worried that she would lose control, become bloodthirsty, and kill innocent people.

People were protected by her, yet deeply fearful of her.

Yan Ling heard this and looked up at her. He said seriously, “Since I’ve known the princess, you’ve never killed anyone wrongly.”

“That was true in the past, and it will be true in the future.”

He glanced at the broken Buddhist beads on the desk and spoke softly, “The Buddhist items brought to you have only brought peace of mind, and you’ve never killed an innocent person because of your own choice.”

Yan Ling paused slightly, and his eyes, which usually looked so cold under the moonlight, now shone with warmth as they fell on her.

He was always calm and distant, and this kind of tenderness had almost never been shown, but when it did appear, it was only for her.

In the bright moonlight, Yan Ling spoke in a gentle tone, “Do you know, Princess, that in my life, I have never believed in any gods?”

Whether it was Buddha or gods, none had ever protected him.

When he was young, forced to study the guqin at the royal temple, he had once looked at the statues of gods in the temple.

At that time, he thought, if there really were gods in this world, they had never shown any favor to him.

They were high above, watching him roll in the mud, abandoned by everyone, even by the gods. What was he to them?

So, he didn’t believe in gods or Buddha, and even used their names to take action against those who had hurt him.

But…

“Even now, I still don’t understand the compassion taught by Buddhism,” he turned his head, and his usually indifferent eyes were now full of warmth as they settled on her. “But I believe, if there is a god or a Buddha in this world, then that god or Buddha would only be you.”

Wen Yue Sheng paused slightly, her lips curling into a rare, light smile: “Everyone says I am bloodthirsty and cruel, with vicious methods, but you are the only one who calls me a god or a Buddha.”

Under the moonlight, she tilted her head and looked at him. Her face was stunning, and her eyes were as black as the night: “Do you believe in the evil Buddha who holds life and death in his hands?”

Under her gaze, Yan Ling’s emotions surged intensely. His eyes involuntarily fell on her lips.

In the dim moonlight, he turned his head, and his ears were almost suffused with a faint blush.

After a long while, he hoarsely said, “Yan Ling will play the guqin for the princess.”

In the dim moonlight, the sound of Zen from Wen Yuesheng’s room continued until late into the night.

The next morning, Wen Yuesheng had a rare good sleep.

As she was washing up, Gu Yu stood beside her, looking at her with a side glance, and whispered, “Lord Yan left as soon as the sky brightened.”

Wen Yuesheng had not brought Gu Yu with her when she came to the borderlands. She had come with Ye Qiuyun and others.

Wen Yue Sheng lowered her eyes and washed her hands, responding lightly with a soft “Mm.”

Seeing this, Gu Yu couldn’t help but open her mouth.

Was that all? Was the princess not planning to give Lord Yan any title after spending the night together?

But Gu Yu dared not speak out of turn. She merely sighed for Lord Yan and quickly changed the topic, “Has your injury improved, Princess?”

She had received the message from Zhou Manniang and had originally planned to apply medicine to Wen Yue Sheng’s injury.

However, when she looked closer, she saw that the scar on Wen Yue Sheng’s hand had faded to a faint mark.

Gu Yu was taken aback. When she had heard of the injury yesterday, she hadn’t seen it.

Seeing it today, she realized it wasn’t severe.

This minor wound—she could get it from bumping into a cupboard—so why did Zhou Manniang cry so much?

Before she could reflect further, soldiers rushed in with a report: Lu Tingyu and Li Qingyuan had both returned.

In the past few days, the five great generals of Ha Zhou had suffered major setbacks. Nulie was almost incapacitated, Jilan was killed by Wen Yue Sheng, and when Wugo fought against Lu Qinghuai, he was defeated and captured alive by Wen Yue Sheng before escaping.

Now, only two were left.

But these two remaining were particularly difficult to deal with.

One was Tai Lan, a trusted aide of Yu Shun.

Tai Lan himself was fierce, and his soldiers were also formidable. When Lu Tingyu encountered him, he had gained no advantage.

Li Qingyuan, on the other hand, was defeated by another general, and after being crushed, the opposing general led 50,000 soldiers to join forces with Tai Lan.

Thus, Tai Lan’s army had grown to over 120,000 men.

Lu Tingyu could no longer resist them. Before they could attack, he had to retreat.

After Lu Tingyu withdrew, Tai Lan did not continue the attack recklessly. Instead, he reorganized his army and retreated into Ha Zhou’s territory.

While Tai Lan won this round, the battlefield outside of their two armies was a total defeat.

Ha Zhou’s 200,000 soldiers had been reduced to only 120,000.

This situation could almost be called a disastrous defeat.

Moreover, despite the reputation of the five great generals, they had lost three of them to the Great Hui army in just a few short months.

This was a massive blow to Ha Zhou.

With such a small remaining force, before reinforcements could arrive, Tai Lan had to retreat back to Ha Zhou’s capital.

Meanwhile, the Great Hui army, with 300,000 soldiers, split into three groups outside Hai City to intercept Jiang Yan.

As they withdrew into Ha Zhou’s territory, Jiang Yan retreated from Hai City’s side and encountered the commander of the Jin clan, one of the three major tribes, with 100,000 soldiers.

The Jin clan commander intended to kill him in the battlefield to establish his authority and boost morale.

However, Jiang Yan’s troops were ferocious, and with the strong leadership of Jiang Yan, they charged through the Great Hui army.

After killing most of the Jin clan’s generals, the Jin clan commander still refused to let them go, desperately trying to trap Jiang Yan and the Great Hui soldiers.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yan was someone who would risk his life without hesitation.

If the Jin clan commander tried to exhaust him, Jiang Yan would stop at nothing to kill him.

In the battle near Hai City, Jiang Yan was severely injured and fell unconscious. He was only able to retreat with the help of the Dao Ying generals, narrowly escaping death and making his way back to Great Hui.

Meanwhile, in Ha Zhou, the Jin clan commander was killed by Jiang Yan, and most of their 100,000 soldiers were annihilated.

Jiang Yan couldn’t be considered a complete victory, but Ha Zhou had suffered a total defeat.

This battle had caused irreparable damage to Ha Zhou, with many generals lost, and they had retreated after abandoning the main battlefield, failing to wipe out Jiang Yan.

This event sent shockwaves through Ha Zhou’s capital.

The soldiers’ morale was shattered, and they had lost over 100,000 men. The five great generals had suffered one death, one severe injury, and one capture, leaving Ha Zhou’s strength nearly crippled.

Not only had they lost three of the five great generals, but they also lost a large portion of their key forces, including the Bole and Jin clans.

When Tai Lan received the news and returned to Ha Zhou’s capital, a voice calling for peace talks with Great Hui had already emerged in the court.

For nearly 20 years, Ha Zhou had been victorious over Great Hui, but now, just within three short months, they were already asking for peace.

Such a situation was so unbelievable that no one would have believed it if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes.

However, it was true.

Since the appearance of the Great Hui princess, Ha Zhou had frequently fallen into a disadvantaged position in the borderlands, and now, with such heavy losses, the suggestion to seek peace was entirely normal.

However, this proposal was met with unanimous opposition in the court.

For years, Ha Zhou had never regarded Great Hui as a serious threat. Now, due to temporary setbacks, they wanted to negotiate peace? It was nearly impossible. Ha Zhou wasn’t yet in a state of total defeat.

Internal disagreements were fierce, but the final decision rested with Yu Shun, the new emperor of Ha Zhou.

Ha Zhou had long governed with military force, and the officials in the court had great faith in him. Therefore, when the news of Ha Zhou seeking peace with Great Hui spread, the entire borderland was in shock.

After the battle of Hai City, no further movements occurred in the borderlands for nearly ten days.

Lu Zhen Guo suspected Ha Zhou would take a brief pause to regroup before launching another attack. They had been temporarily pushed into a losing position because of the sudden mobilization of troops to the Jade King Town, which resulted in the heavy losses of over 100,000 men.

Thus, they had a brief opportunity to catch their breath. Ha Zhou also had time to recover.

During this time, Lu Zhen Guo didn’t let his guard down, and he trained his soldiers day after day.

However, to his surprise, instead of hearing that Ha Zhou would attack again, he received an imperial decree.

Yu Shun had sent a peace proposal to the capital, and the emperor, after receiving the message, intended to summon Wen Yue Sheng back to the capital to discuss the matter.

This was the first time in nearly 20 years that Ha Zhou had actively sought peace.

Upon hearing this news, Lu Zhen Guo rushed straight to the city lord’s mansion. As he entered, he ran into Gao Quan, the emperor’s trusted eunuch, who had been sent to deliver the imperial decree.

Gao Quan’s presence signified how important the matter was.

Lu Zhen Guo looked at Gao Quan’s carriage before entering the mansion.

Inside, nearly all the generals surrounding Wen Yue Sheng were present.

Lu Qinghuai even rolled his eyes, saying, “If you were any later, the princess would have already been taken away by Gao Quan.”

Lu Zhen Guo didn’t have time to scold him. He immediately asked, “What does the emperor mean? Is he really intending to negotiate peace with Ha Zhou?”

Having stationed in the borderlands for many years, they knew all too well Ha Zhou’s ambitions. Allowing them to catch their breath now would only give them a chance to retaliate later, making the situation even more dangerous.

The Marquis of Loyalty and Courage said, “We don’t know for sure. Gao Quan only said that the princess must return to the capital to discuss.”

Lu Zhen Guo’s voice grew serious, “How can this be allowed?!”

Everyone turned to him.

He looked directly at Wen Yue Sheng: “You are the commander of the military, and our victories on the battlefield have been because of you. Now, if you return to the capital and leave the post of commander empty, what if Ha Zhou takes this opportunity to strike back? What if we lose? What will the emperor do?”

“Princess, this cannot happen,” he said solemnly. “If you must go, let Lu Qinghuai return. You must stay at the border.”

For once, Lu Qinghuai didn’t protest.

However, the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s face darkened as he said, “But if the princess does not return, it will be seen as disobedience to the emperor’s command.”

No matter where it was, disobeying the emperor’s command was a serious crime.

He didn’t know whether the peace talks with Ha Zhou were genuine or not, but the emperor’s methods were certainly effective. With just one letter, they had placed Wen Yue Sheng in a difficult position.

If she returned today, she would be at fault if Ha Zhou attacked.

If she didn’t return, the emperor’s order would be like a heavy mountain on her shoulders, and she wouldn’t know what the consequences would be.

Yu Shun’s trip to Great Hui wasn’t in vain. At least now, he knew that in Great Hui’s territory, imperial authority was everything.

Wen Yue Sheng could be invincible in battle, but she still had to answer to imperial authority.

The matter of peace talks was significant. The conditions offered were generous, and the royal family, far from the border’s hardships, couldn’t understand the struggles of war.

“Princess, will you return to the capital?” The Marquis of Loyalty and Courage asked.

Wen Yue Sheng’s gaze was cold as she sat at the table. She responded in a low voice, “Of course, I must return.”

The room fell silent, but she then added, “Not only must I return, but I will return with great fanfare.”