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

Wei Zhao didn't look at him again, but instead glanced over the city gate and swept his gaze across the city.

Dilapidated, desolate, half-dead.

It was similar to the scene I saw when I first woke up at Yanmen Pass. But it was even worse here.

Yanmen Pass was, after all, the Wei family's stronghold, built up over decades; its foundation was there. But what about Yumen Pass?

It was ruined by Lu Song's people for countless years, and its very foundation is almost completely rotten.

"Pass down the order."

Wei Zhao's voice wasn't loud, but his robust physique ensured that every word was clearly heard by everyone inside and outside the city gate.

"From this moment forward, I shall take control of Yumen Pass. All soldiers shall obey my commands."

"Light a fire in the kitchen and let the brothers have a good meal first."

As soon as those last words were uttered, someone on the city wall shouted out, and then the entire garrison of Yumen Pass erupted in chaos.

"Have a full meal! General Wei said we should have a full meal!"

Someone cried.

A group of grown men squatted behind the crenellations of the city wall, clutching their knives, their faces covered in tears and snot.

They couldn't remember when they had their last full meal.

……

Inside the Western Qiang King's Palace.

In stark contrast to the bustling atmosphere of Yumen Pass, the royal tent was eerily silent.

Tuoba Yue knelt before her father's bed, her knees resting on a three-layered sheepskin blanket. But she had been kneeling for so long that her knees had long since lost all feeling.

The King of Western Qiang lay on his couch, so thin that he was nothing but skin and bones.

The prairie eagle that once could lift an entire lamb with one hand can no longer even turn over.

His cheeks were deeply sunken, his cheekbones were high and prominent, and his skin was covered with age spots, like an old parchment that had been crumpled and unfolded.

But those eyes are still alive.

A burning flame of resentment resided in his cloudy eyes.

"Moon." The voice of the King of Western Qiang seemed to be squeezed out from a crack in the rock, each word uttered with a gasp.

Tuoba Yue leaned forward and brought her ear close.

"Father, I am here."

"Your older brother...has he gone to the front lines?"

Tuoba Yue's fingers gripped the hem of her dress above her knees. She nodded.

"Yesterday's news. My elder brother has personally led 80,000 elite troops and has arrived at Eagle's Beak Gorge, west of Yumen Pass."

"Adding the 200,000 tribal allied troops that besieged the pass before, the total force is close to 300,000."

The King of Western Qiang closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently a few times.

Outside the tent, the sound of armor plates clattering could be heard intermittently. Those were the guards sent by the eldest prince to "protect" his father.

They call it protection, but everyone knows it's just watching.

Three elderly people with white hair were standing beside the couch.

They were old ministers of the Western Qiang King during his campaigns, serving him their entire lives. Now they are being "protected" along with him.

One of the elderly generals, with white hair and beard, was "Uncle Eji," whom Tuoba Yue remembered as a child who rode on his shoulders.

At this moment, the old man was hunched over, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his cloudy old eyes fixed on the figures of the young soldiers outside the tent.

"We can't stop them." The King of Western Qiang spoke again, this time his voice was a little louder, but each word was separated by a breath.

"That rebellious son of the eldest brother... I can't stop him anymore."

The faces of the three old ministers all darkened.

Tuoba Yue's lips were pressed tightly together, and she remained silent. She knew her father was telling the truth.

After three years of management, the eldest prince had won over all the young chieftains in the tribe.

Having tasted the sweetness of plundering the borders of the Great Wei, those people simply wouldn't listen to any talk of "a century of friendly relations."

The older generation has been sidelined. The monarchy exists in name only.

"But he can't win."

The King of Western Qiang suddenly opened his eyes. A glint of light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Someone has arrived from the Great Wei." He took a few breaths. "The tenth son of the Wei family."

Tuoba Yue's heart skipped a beat.