My chat group is full of female losers

Chapter 346 Everyone’s reaction
The battle at Black Pine Forest ended in a resounding victory for Meng Xiao.

The nearly ten thousand female desert soldiers led by Tielan were as fragile as paper before the well-prepared elite cavalry. The entire battle was less a contest and more a complete massacre.

Ultimately, the vast majority of female soldiers became prisoners, including even their commander, Tielan.

This brilliant victory quickly spread far and wide.

The royal tent in the desert.

When the news of the defeat reached her, the Khatun's face turned deathly pale. She looked at the third princess seated on the throne, her lips trembling for a long time before she finally managed to utter, "Princess... Tielan, she..."

"Impossible!" The Third Princess stood up abruptly, her eyes filled with shock and anger. She said, word by word, "Tielan and her group numbered nearly ten thousand. How could they have been defeated so quickly and so miserably?!"

The Khatun sighed and handed over the battle report: "Meng Xiao seems to have anticipated our movements and set up an ambush in the Black Pine Forest."

"An ambush?" The Third Princess snatched the battle report, glanced at it hastily, and her face turned cold and sinister. "Another one of these opportunistic tricks. They really are useless cowards who don't even have the courage to fight head-on."

In her view, Tielan's failure had nothing to do with Tielan himself, but was entirely due to the enemy's treachery.

"Princess, what should we do now? Meng Xiao has captured thousands of our soldiers..." the Khatun asked worriedly.

"Even if he wins once using such methods, so what?" The Third Princess's face once again showed her usual cold arrogance. "Power is the foundation of everything. I will not let this go."

Meanwhile, in Chu Lu's territory, at the morning court session...

When the news of Meng Xiao's great victory reached the palace, the entire court instantly erupted in jubilation.

"We won! We won! A resounding victory!"

"Heaven bless our dynasty! General Meng is awe-inspiring!"

The courtiers were flushed with excitement, whispering amongst themselves, their joy overflowing. They looked at Chu Lu, who sat calmly on the throne, their eyes filled with unprecedented admiration.

—Your Majesty is truly Your Majesty! Those two brocade pouches were truly ingenious!

Prime Minister Shen Shi'an was the first to step forward, excitedly praising, "The secret plan! It is Your Majesty's brilliant strategy! This old minister had some doubts at the time, but I never imagined it would actually have such unfathomable power! General Meng Xiao's victory in this battle is entirely due to Your Majesty's strategic planning!"

Minister of Revenue Jia Ruhui also stepped forward to echo, "Indeed! We were worried about the Third Princess's wild words before, but now we realize how short-sighted and needless we were! We are far from being able to match His Majesty's foresight!"

For a time, praises and chants filled the hall.

Finally, without anyone noticing who led the charge, all the emotions converged into a torrent, and Shen Shi'an bowed once more, raising his arms and shouting, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" The entire court of civil and military officials shouted in unison, their voices echoing throughout the palace.

Chu Lu looked at the excited faces below and simply waved his hand dismissively: "Alright, don't get too excited. Things won't end so easily."

The ministers were taken aback by his words, then some of them dismissed them. In their view, with such a resounding victory and the enemy's main force wiped out, what trouble could the Third Princess possibly cause? His Majesty was being far too cautious.

Chu Lu naturally saw through their thoughts, but he couldn't be bothered to pay attention.

His mind was now focused on Tian Shu, because there had recently been crucial progress there. Some time ago, during the operation to capture the teahouse owner's contact—that scarred, burly man—there was a slight mishap, allowing the guy to escape for a time.

However, Huo Qi and his accomplices redeemed themselves by following the clues and successfully captured him yesterday, then quietly brought him into the palace.

Therefore, Chu Lu was preoccupied with how to extract useful information from that guy, and had no interest in celebrating with the courtiers.

"If there is nothing else, let's adjourn the court," Chu Lu said.

Upon hearing Chu Lu's calm words, the ecstatic joy on the faces of the ministers subsided slightly. They looked at each other, each seeing a hint of disappointment in the other's eyes.

However, they had long been used to Chu Lu's seemingly indifferent attitude, so they didn't care about that little bit of disappointment.

"I'm waiting to retire."

After bowing in respect, the ministers left the hall in twos and threes, still beaming with joy, eager to spread this momentous news far and wide.

########
At Meng Xiao's camp, they were currently holding a victory celebration banquet. In this battle, they had annihilated Tielan in just one day, while their own losses were almost negligible.

Such a great victory naturally deserves a proper celebration. At the victory banquet, the air was filled with the aroma of wine and the steam of meat.

The generals sat together, drinking heartily, and the atmosphere was extremely lively.

"That was exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!" A bearded general downed a large bowl of wine and laughed loudly. "This battle was the easiest I've ever fought in my life! If all future battles were fought like this, I could fight until I'm eighty!"

“That’s right!” someone chimed in. “Those women were so arrogant the other day! They thought they were something special, but they turned out to be nothing special.”

"That's right! You didn't see how terrified they were, eight out of ten of them wet their pants! Hahaha!"

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Meng Xiao sat in the main seat, smiling as he looked at his soldiers.

Just then, a general suddenly put down his wine bowl, his expression becoming somewhat subtle. He asked meaningfully, "General, what should we do with those female prisoners we captured?"

The noisy banquet instantly fell silent, and everyone's eyes turned to Meng Xiao.

Meng Xiao's smile slowly faded. He instantly understood the true meaning behind the other person's words and couldn't help but hesitate.

In fact, such things are common in the military. Even in modern times, when moral standards are higher, and even in those Western powers that consider themselves civilized and advanced, such things have never been prohibited. Let alone in this ancient border region where human life is as cheap as grass.

Although he personally disliked such behavior and would issue explicit orders to restrain it, it was impossible to completely eliminate it. In addition, he was stationed at the border and had a blood feud with the desert, so as long as it was not the bullying of his own countrymen, he generally turned a blind eye.

But this time is different; there are too many people. If an opening is made, the scene will be too ugly.

But just as he was about to stop it, he suddenly thought that this might not be fair.

Although the woman on the other side was also there, she too had come to the battlefield with the intention of fighting and killing the enemy. On the battlefield, a man's life was as insignificant as an ant, so what did a woman's chastity matter? Even if she lost it, she deserved it; the blame should be placed on the Third Princess's side for the problem.

Ultimately, if I hadn't heeded His Majesty's advice and suffered defeat, would the enemy have treated me kindly? More likely, they would have tormented me even more viciously.

It would be incredibly foolish to treat women with unconditional favors simply because they are women.

Even so, it's still too ugly; it's better to just kill him.

Meng Xiao's hesitant expression made the hearts of the generals below pound with anxiety.

Seeing that he remained silent, the generals sighed inwardly, guessing that the matter was probably hopeless.

Indeed, that was the case. After much deliberation, Meng Xiao still preferred to save face. He cleared his throat, about to refuse, "This is inappropriate..."

Before he could even utter the word "inappropriate," the head of the royal envoy, its eyes wide open in death, flashed before his eyes. He also saw his brothers, frozen solid on horseback, and the terror etched into their very bones on their faces.

In an instant, Meng Xiao's face turned ashen.

"General?" The lieutenant keenly noticed his unusual behavior.

Meng Xiao waved his hand, indicating that it was alright. He lowered his eyes and remained silent for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. When he spoke again, his voice was as cold and terrifying as the wind and snow in the desert at that moment: "I've changed my mind. You can do whatever you want with those people."

The room fell silent. The generals were stunned, momentarily wondering if they had misheard. Only when they realized Meng Xiao had truly agreed did they manage to smirk.

The previously somewhat oppressive atmosphere of the banquet suddenly became lively again.

The wine glasses were raised high and clinked together.

"The general is wise!"

"Thank you General!"

Rough shouts rose and fell. Then they downed their glasses in one gulp, the spicy liquor sliding down their throats, burning their faces.

The wine glasses slammed heavily on the table, and several impatient generals were already arm in arm, plotting their next move.

Just as the banquet was about to reach its climax, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the tent. A messenger rushed in and said, "Report! General, something has happened to the prisoners!"

(End of this chapter)