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

The letter has been sent out for four days, and not a single word has returned from the sea.

Liu Jingshuang didn't expect Ke Zhenchuan to put down the knife after reading the letter.

A man who has spent years at sea and still dreams of becoming king cannot be intimidated by a letter.

She didn't write that letter specifically for Ke Zhenchuan; it was aimed at the ten thousand or so men under his command.

She couldn't control when the seeds would sprout after they were sown.

She can only manage things on the shore.

For four days, all ports along the coast of the three states remained locked down.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had a sentry post every ten miles, using flag signals during the day and lanterns at night.

The location, number, and direction of the pirate fleet were compiled and sent to her every two hours.

Liu Jingshuang read through all the messages one by one and understood the situation.

Ke Zhenchuan is waiting.

He won't wait forever.

On the morning of the fifth day, the message delivered by the sentry changed.

"General, the pirate fleet has dispersed."

Liu Jingshuang was drinking porridge, her spoon resting in the bowl.

"It's over?"

"The hundred or so ships that were originally moored in the open sea split into three groups last night. One group went south, one went north, and the other slowly moved closer to the shore."

Liu Jingshuang put down the bowl, got up and walked to the table, spreading out the nautical chart.

Divide the forces.

She stared at the winding coastline on the map, her mind racing.

When the ships are anchored together, she can determine where Ke Zhenchuan's main force is and calculate where he is most likely to land.

But once the boats scattered, they were threatened from three directions at the same time, so she had to divide her forces to defend them.

Ke Zhenchuan was pulling her.

She stretched her 20,000 cavalry from one point into a line; the longer the line, the thinner the forces at each point.

Once it's thin enough, he'll make a hole and shove it in, and the bank will leak.

"That old bastard," Liu Jingshuang muttered under her breath.

She wasn't afraid of splitting up the troops; what she feared was not knowing where he was truly going to come from.

"Go and fetch that old sea merchant."

The lieutenant responded, and after a short while, a thin old man with gray hair was brought into the tent.

The old man's surname was Zhao. He had been sailing for thirty years and could navigate the waterway from Mingzhou to Ryukyu with his eyes closed.

After Liu Jingshuang sealed off the port, she invited him to be her advisor, providing him with food and lodging, and giving him an extra twenty coins for tea every day.

When Old Zhao came in, the first thing he saw was the nautical chart on the table, and his eyes immediately went to it.

Liu Jingshuang pointed to three marks on the map.

"The pirates have split into three groups. See which way they plan to land."

Old Zhao leaned closer, squinted at the coastline for a long time, and pointed his finger at various spots along the coastline, finally stopping at three places.

"General, this area is full of underwater reefs."

He pointed to a curved stretch of coastline at the southern tip of Minnesota:

"Large ships can't pass; the deep draft will scrape the bottom as soon as they try to go in. But their narrow, long, fast boats are different. They can ride close to the edge of the reefs, and as long as the helmsman is skilled, they can get through."

He then pointed to two places, one at the northern end of Yuezhou and the other on the west side of Quanzhou.

"The same goes for those two places. They're shallow with reefs, so our patrol boats don't dare get close at all."

Liu Jingshuang stared at those three dots and immediately understood.

Ke Zhenchuan didn't divide his troops haphazardly. He had calculated it carefully.

The three fleets faced three reefs and shoals; whichever fleet found an opening first would be the first to land.

The other two forces either need to be restrained or follow suit.

She had initially thought Ke Zhenchuan was just a daring pirate leader, but now it seemed he had indeed trained soldiers.

Dividing forces, choosing locations, and using feints to attack in different directions—this tactic was clean and efficient.

But she wasn't one to be trifled with either.

"These three shoals are too shallow for our large ships to pass; can people even get through?"

Old Zhao thought for a moment: "At low tide, the water is only knee-deep in some places. People can cross, and horses can cross too, but the path is narrow, and not many can cross at once."

That's enough.

Liu Jingshuang drew a circle on each of the three points with her finger.

"He wanted to go ashore, so I let him."

The lieutenant's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"General?"

Liu Jingshuang looked at him, her tone not harsh, yet it sent a chill down his spine.

"Deploy three hundred men at each shallow beach, hiding behind the rocks. As soon as the pirate ships dock, don't rush to attack. Wait for them to disembark, wait for them to step onto the beach, wait for them to walk ten paces away from the ships—"

She traced a line on the nautical chart with her finger.

"Cut off their way back to the ship. Surround them and don't let a single one of them return to sea."

The lieutenant swallowed hard: "Encircle but not annihilate?"

"right."

Liu Jingshuang said, "Killing them all is useless. Trapping them is what matters. He doesn't care if a few of Ke Zhenchuan's men die, but if a group of them get ashore and can't get back, he'll have to think twice. He'll have to consider whether he'll dare to send people up again next time."

As she said this, she pressed her lips together slightly.

The pirates trapped on the shore either surrendered or starved to death.

Ke Zhenchuan watched helplessly as his men were devoured at sea, unable to save them. The feeling was worse than losing a battle.

She is not at war.

She's disassembling bones.

Dismantle them one by one until Ke Zhenchuan can no longer hold on.

"Deploy troops."

Liu Jingshuang straightened up: "Send three hundred elite soldiers each to the southern end of Mingzhou, the northern end of Yuezhou, and the western side of Quanzhou, carrying seven days' worth of dry rations and short crossbows. Depart tonight and arrive before dawn. Everyone hide well, and do not move without my order."

The lieutenant clasped his hands in a fist salute. "Yes, sir!"

Old Zhao was still standing to the side, his mouth open as if he wanted to say something but didn't dare.

Liu Jingshuang glanced at him: "Speak your mind."

"General, those shallow areas are passable at low tide, but not at high tide. If the pirates come during high tide, our ambush troops will be trapped by the sea."

Liu Jingshuang looked at him: "That's why I asked you to come."

Old Zhao was taken aback.

"Calculate the tide times for each shallow area."

Liu Jingshuang said, "How many hours will it take for the tide to recede, how many hours for the tide to rise, when will the water be shallowest, and when will it be knee-deep? Once my men arrive, they will act according to your calculations."

Old Zhao nodded quickly, picked up the paper and pen, and began to write.

Liu Jingshuang turned around and sat back down at the table, pushing the bowl of porridge aside.

The porridge had gone cold. She didn't want to drink it anymore.

What bothers her most about this battle so far isn't how many men Ke Zhenchuan has, but rather the feeling of being slowly worn down and depleted.

Liu Jingshuang was born into a cavalry family, and her specialty was a swift and decisive slash.

Now, however, he is forced to play a slow game of chess with a pirate captain.

It can't be rushed.

Wei Zhao is right.

If you can't catch up at sea, don't chase after it.

Hold the shore and buy time for Xinwu.

As she was thinking, she heard footsteps outside the tent.

The guard lifted the curtain and entered, holding a letter in his hand.

"General, someone delivered this from the village entrance; it was unsigned."

Liu Jingshuang took it. There were no words on the envelope, but a seal was pressed against it with sealing wax—a plum blossom seal.

She recognized the seal.

Shang Wanqing's.

Liu Jingshuang opened the envelope; inside was only a note with a single line of text.

"The boat is ready. Give me ten days to get to the sea."

There was no signature, no explanation, and even the tone was as if it were about something insignificant.

As Liu Jingshuang looked at these words, the tension that had been building up in her heart for days eased a little.

Ten days.

She held the note up to the lamplight, watching the flame engulf it from the corner, the ashes curling into a ball and landing on the table.

Ten days later, those narrow, fast ships at sea would no longer be uncatching.

Liu Jingshuang stood up and walked to the tent entrance.

The night breeze blew in from the sea, carrying a salty, fishy smell.

She couldn't see anything on the dark sea in the distance, but she knew that Ke Zhenchuan was in that darkness, staring at the shore, waiting for an opening he could squeeze through.

Her lips twitched slightly.

Let's wait.

Ten days from now, your ship won't be the only one sailing on this sea.