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

The imperial decree from the capital, like a north wind carrying autumn frost, blew into the heavily guarded central command tent at the port the day after the great victory in Quanzhou.

Liu Jingshuang and Shang Wanqing stood side by side in front of the huge Southeast China map, looking at the two edicts presented by the messenger. One was an open commendation and strategy, and the other was a secret edict sealed with sealing wax, addressed only to Liu Jingshuang.

Liu Jingshuang opened the letter first.

Wei Zhao's handwriting was still elegant, but every character conveyed an unquestionable decisiveness.

Exactly.

We will proceed according to Liu Jingshuang's strategy.

With a combined land and sea encirclement, they could achieve their goal in one decisive battle.

However, Wei Zhao also put forward two conditions, which were more like two death orders than conditions.

First, Shang Wanqing's main fleet can head south, but enough ships and troops must be left in the ports of Quanzhou and Mingzhou to prevent Ke Zhenchuan from having any chance to launch a surprise attack on his stronghold.

Secondly, Liu Jingshuang's cavalry can advance to the north shore of Qiongzhou, but they must wait until Shang Wanqing's sea blockade is fully formed and it is confirmed that Ke Zhenchuan is completely blocked in his lair before they can coordinate a sea crossing and launch a general offensive.

"His Majesty is afraid that we'll get carried away and rush in, only to be surrounded and trapped by him."

After reading it, Shang Wanqing's face remained expressionless, but she knew very well that Wei Zhao's two orders, though seemingly conservative, were actually putting the most secure sheath on their sharp blades that were about to be drawn.

We do not seek a quick victory, but a complete victory.

Liu Jingshuang didn't speak. She simply put the official edict aside and opened the secret decree that belonged only to her.

The letter contained only a few words, yet it held her gaze for a long time.

"If Ke Zhenchuan surrenders, his life may be spared."

"He is no ordinary bandit; he is a naval commander from the previous dynasty. If we can subdue him, we will no longer need to build beacon towers along the southeastern sea route."

After reading the letter, Liu Jingshuang held it up to the candlelight, watching it turn into a small pile of ashes, before raising her head to look at Shang Wanqing.

"Three days."

Her voice was as cold and clear as ever: "Three days to prepare. We'll set off in three days."

The entire Quanzhou Port instantly transformed into a high-speed war machine.

Shang Wanqing practically lived in the dock. She reorganized her eighteen fast ships, selecting the twelve with the best efficiency and the most elite crews as the main force for the southward blockade.

She left the remaining six ships in Quanzhou Port and entrusted them to one of her most trusted old captains.

"Take good care of your home."

She only said three words to the old captain: "Don't let us come back without even a place to dock."

Meanwhile, in the cavalry camp behind the port, Liu Jingshuang made the same decision.

She selected 8,000 of her most elite light cavalry from her 20,000 cavalrymen to form a column for the land advance.

These 8,000 men, each with two horses, carried no extra baggage except for weapons and three days' rations, in order to ensure the highest possible marching speed.

The remaining 12,000 cavalrymen, under the command of her deputy, continued to garrison the coastal defenses of Quanzhou, Mingzhou, and Yuezhou, forming a long steel wall to ensure the safety of the rear.

The preparation time flew by. On the evening before departure, Shang Wanqing was in the dock, personally inspecting the ramming mechanism installed on the bow of a new ship, when Liu Jingshuang found her.

The two didn't say much, but walked slowly along the dock piled with timber and tung oil barrels.

The sea breeze carried a salty, fishy smell mixed with the scent of sawdust.

"This time is different from before."

Looking at the fishing boats returning to port in the distance, Liu Jingshuang suddenly spoke up: "Before, it was always him attacking and we defended. This time, we're the ones who went to attack him."

"I know."

Shang Wanqing stopped in her tracks, her gaze falling on the twelve black speedboats in the dock, ready to set sail, her eyes filled with an almost obsessive fervor.

"He also has granaries and shipyards on the island. If we let him continue operating them, he'll come back next spring. Then it will only cause more trouble."

Liu Jingshuang was silent for a moment, then turned her head to look at the woman who was a few years younger than her, and at her eyes, which were bloodshot from staying up all night, yet still looked surprisingly bright.

Are you scared?

Upon hearing this, Shang Wanqing glanced at her with some surprise, then asked in return, "And you?"

Liu Jingshuang did not answer.

Shang Wanqing didn't have it either.

The two women exchanged a glance. The sea breeze tousled their hair, but it couldn't dispel the determination in their eyes.

Then, they all smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it was like two drawn swords, their equally cold sharpness reflected in the twilight.

The next morning, before dawn, the lighthouse in Quanzhou Port was still spinning its beam of light.

Twelve jet-black fast boats, like a group of silent shadows, glided silently out of the harbor and into the vast South China Sea.

Almost simultaneously, on land, a black torrent of eight thousand cavalrymen also embarked on the official road heading south.

Hooves thundered, dust billowed, heading straight for Qiongzhou.

The largest and most dangerous joint land and sea operation since the founding of the new Wu Dynasty has begun.

Shang Wanqing's fleet sailed close to the coast, while Liu Jingshuang's cavalry sped along the official road along the coastline.

During the day, the fleet and cavalry communicated using specially made flags of various colors, reporting each other's positions and road conditions ahead.

At night, the cavalry would light huge torches on the high ground by the sea. The flickering flames were like a moving lighthouse, guiding the fleets at sea.

The fleet would respond to signals from the shore using lanterns of different colors.

Sea and land, ships and horses—two massive armies, like two parallel dragons, advanced at high speed toward the same goal with unprecedented tacit understanding.

On the third day of their march, as the last rays of the evening sun were about to disappear below the horizon, Shang Wanqing's fleet finally arrived at the northern entrance of the Qiongzhou Strait.

This is Ke Zhenchuan's old lair, and the island group known as "Black Shark Island" is already in sight.

Almost simultaneously, on the land north of the strait, Liu Jingshuang's eight thousand cavalry had also advanced to their designated positions and quietly set up camp in a dense forest ten miles from the coastline.

The two sides are separated by a narrow strait, gazing at each other from afar.

Shang Wanqing stood at the bow of the flagship, holding up a telescope, carefully observing the island opposite, which looked somewhat eerie in the twilight.

"It's quiet on the island, and there's no sign of large ships leaving the main channel," she said to her deputy, putting down her binoculars.

She knew very well that Ke Zhenchuan had suffered such a great loss in Quanzhou, losing nearly half of his main force, and was now definitely licking his wounds and regrouping his troops.

He never imagined that Xinwu's revenge would come so quickly and so ruthlessly.

"Pass down the order."

Shang Wanqing's voice was exceptionally clear in the sea breeze: "All ships, anchor at the northern entrance of the strait, divide into three groups, forming a pincer movement to completely block this waterway. Tell the brothers, from now on, not a single fly can be let out!"

Once the order was given, the twelve fast ships quickly dispersed, forming a massive iron lock that firmly blocked the narrowest point of the strait's exit.

Immediately afterwards, she had her men signal the agreed-upon flags toward the shore.

It was a red flag, like a burning flame against the gray-blue sky.

The meaning of flag signals is very simple.

The strait has been blocked.

We'll cross the sea and land on the island when it's light tomorrow!

As night deepened, the two sides of the strait faced each other silently, one side with the continuous torches of the Xinwu cavalry camp, and the other with the scattered lights on Black Shark Island.