A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

"Five hundred thousand people..."

Chen Yuan struggled to turn over, looking at the sliver of starlight leaking in through the hole in the tent roof.

Even if it costs him his worthless life, it would be worth it.

He was well aware of his fate.

Once the battle begins tomorrow, as soon as Inuya Shigeru discovers that the Wei family army is not only not starving to death, but is actually full of energy, he will immediately realize that he has been tricked.

He was tricked by Wei Gou, whom he despised the most.

That hot-tempered one-eyed wolf would definitely send someone to drag him out immediately and chop off his head as a sacrifice.

Afraid?

Chen Yuan touched his thin, bony neck.

I'm a little scared.

It must have hurt a lot when the knife came down.

But what he feared even more was that the land of Great Wei would be trampled by these foreign tribes, and that the people of Great Wei would be slaughtered like sheep.

That old scoundrel Lu Song, in his quest for power and profit, even dared to sell the very gates of the nation.

All those high-ranking officials in the imperial court are nothing but a bunch of spineless cowards.

"You are afraid of death, but I am not."

Chen Yuan gritted his teeth, and tears suddenly streamed down his face without warning, mingling with the dirt on his face and falling onto the moldy straw mat.

He recalled the night before he left the capital, when Su Qingyun had a private talk with him.

"Going to the Northern Barbarians is a perilous journey with a slim chance of survival."

"You're a scholar; you shouldn't be getting involved in this mess."

What was his answer at the time?

"Not all scholars in the Great Wei are beasts like Lu Song."

"Someone has to tell these foreign tribes that the Wei people's backbone isn't completely soft yet."

Chen Yuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cold air mixed with the smell of horse manure, as if it were the sweetest wine in the world.

He won't live to see Shigeru Inuyasha's head being chopped off.

"Wei Family Army...don't let me down."

Chen Yuan silently recited a phrase in his mind, forcing himself to relax his body.

You need to get enough rest!

When I go to the execution ground tomorrow, I can't be unable to even stand properly; that would be too disgraceful for the scholars of the Great Wei.

The night grew deeper and deeper.

The wind gradually stopped.

As the eastern horizon peeks through the first hint of dawn.

"Waaah—"

A deep and mournful horn blast suddenly resounded in the center of the Northern Rong camp.

Then came the second tone, and then the third tone.

The continuous horn calls were like the final roar of a wild beast driven to the brink of despair.

The slumbering army of 500,000 was forcibly awakened by the deafening bugle call.

The final battle has begun.

……

Before the horn had even sounded its third note, Inuya Shigeru rushed out of the commander's tent.

He was only wearing half-body armor, without a helmet, and his single eye was bloodshot as he stared intently in the direction of Yanmen Pass.

The city gates opened.

It wasn't breached; it was activated from the inside.

Twenty thousand elite cavalry surged out of the city gate like a black tide, the muffled thuds of their hooves hitting the frozen ground sounding like thunder rolling down from the earth.

At the very front of the cavalry formation, a large white banner fluttered in the morning breeze.

"impossible!"

Shigeru's lips were trembling.

It's not cold, it's airy.

They've run out of food!

They must be so hungry they can't even lift a knife!

Three days!

For three whole days, not a wisp of smoke rose from the chimney!

The cavalrymen who rushed out of the city gate were all in high spirits, their warhorses were plump and strong, and they showed no signs of running out of food!

"Someone..."

Shigeru's voice squeezed out from his throat, hoarse like sandpaper scraping iron.

Someone lied to him.

Someone was lying to him from the very beginning.

The claim of food shortages is a hoax.

The claim that they were trapped and waiting to die is false.

He thought the Wei family army was fish on a chopping board, but in reality, he was the stupid fish that had been fished out for three days!

Who?

Only one thought flashed through my mind before the answer struck like lightning.

That Wei dog.

That Wei dog who had been kneeling before him wagging its tail since before the war even started!

Shigeru's single eye suddenly contracted, and the light in its pupil didn't seem human.

He turned around and roared at the guards behind him.

"Go and drag that bastard surnamed Chen over here!"

He didn't have time to reorganize the army.

The moment the bugle sounded, he knew he had lost.

Two hundred thousand cavalrymen had been starving for two and a half days, most of their warhorses had been killed, and the remaining charioteers could barely hold their swords.

How could they possibly fight the well-fed and well-rested elite cavalry of the Wei family army in this state?

To send someone to their death.

But before he died, there was at least one thing he wanted to do.

Chop the one who betrayed you into mincemeat.

The guards obeyed and rushed out, with Inuya Shigeru following closely behind, carrying his scimitar.

The riding boots pounded the frozen mud, each step carrying a force that seemed capable of cracking the ground.

The dilapidated shack at the edge of the camp was right next to the stable.

Shigeru Inuya kicked open the tent flap.

Inside the tent, Chen Yuan was standing in the middle.

It wasn't the image of someone huddled on a straw mat, trembling, nor was it the image of someone kneeling on the ground, wagging their tail and begging for mercy.

He stood ramrod straight.

He had carefully tidied up that dusty scholar's robe at some point, with the cuffs neatly folded and the mud stains on the lapel still visible, but the fabric was now smooth and flat.

Her hair was tied up again, secured with a wooden twig that she had broken off from somewhere.

He even wiped the mud off his face.

That face.

When Shigeru saw that face clearly, his teeth ached.

Not that hunchbacked, obsequious man from Wei who scurried around his feet like a mangy dog.

The person in front of me stood ramrod straight like a gun, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes clear and calm, even carrying a condescending pity.

It's like watching a stray dog.

Shigeru Inuyasha's hand, gripping the scimitar, was trembling.

"Wei the Dog!"

He strode into the tent, his scimitar pointed directly at Chen Yuan's throat, his single eye bloodshot and about to burst.

"You lied to me! You've been lying to me from the very beginning!"

Chen Yuan did not back down.

The knife tip was less than three inches from his neck, and he didn't even blink.

"Your Highness, please calm down."

His voice had changed; it was no longer the high-pitched, effeminate voice of before, but rather a balanced, even, and clear one.

This is the voice that a second-class Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) of the Great Wei Dynasty should have.

"Ninety percent of the information I gave to the young prince was true."

"It is true that the Wei family army is short of food, it is true that Lu Song is withholding military pay, and it is also true that the imperial court is too busy to look north."

Chen Yuan slowly raised his hand and brushed away non-existent dust from his sleeve, his movements as composed as if he were in the study of the Hanlin Academy.

"There is only one point that I did not mention."

"The Su family's grain transport team arrived three days ago."

Shigeru's chest heaved violently, and the murderous intent in his single eye almost solidified.

"you……"

His voice was forced out through clenched teeth, each word distinct: "You Wei dog...you cheated! You lied to me!"

"Shameless!"

The last two words were shouted out, and the tent was shaking.

Chen Yuan smiled.

It wasn't that obsequious, disgusting laugh from before; it was a genuine, heartfelt, and joyful laugh.

"Why bother reasoning with barbarians?"

His tone was nonchalant, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.