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

Tuoba Ye's forwards were faster than expected.

He completed the journey that would have taken two days in just one and a half days.

Sixty thousand elite cavalrymen marched through the night, and over a thousand of their horses died from exhaustion.

But the remaining one, like a crazed iron snake, charged straight down the mountain path.

Tuoba Yue stood on a low hill, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked eastward.

A column of gray dust rose from the mouth of the distant valley—dust kicked up by a large number of cavalrymen, stretching into a murky line in the wind.

"Your Majesty!"

The messenger sent by Eji ran up from the hillside, his voice hoarse.

"Scouts report that Tuoba Ye's vanguard has entered Yangjiao Valley, less than twenty li from here!"

Twenty li.

Tuoba Yue's fingers gripped the sword hilt tightly.

She originally thought there was still time, at least half a day's buffer, enough for her to pull 100,000 slave soldiers to a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and then form an array.

But Tuoba Ye was even crazier than she imagined.

They didn't care about the warhorses getting worn out or the soldiers getting tired; their only thought was to crush her before the Wei family army could react.

"Order—the entire army to halt its march and form ranks on the spot."

The messenger paused for a moment.

"Your Majesty, shall we form ranks on the spot?"

"This is an open valley, with no natural defenses—"

"I know."

Tuoba Yue interrupted him, her gaze sweeping over the dark mass of people below the hillside.

The 100,000 slave soldiers, though called soldiers, were actually just a group of miserable people wearing tattered animal skins and carrying sharpened wooden sticks.

There were white-haired old men, teenagers, people with limp legs, broken fingers, and people so thin that their ribs were clearly visible.

These people followed her not because of loyalty or faith, but simply because she uttered four words—"Free from slavery."

Four words saved 100,000 lives.

Are we going to use these 100,000 lives to stop Tuoba Ye's 60,000 elite cavalry?

Tuoba Yue knew very well that this was not a war, but a suicide mission.

But she had no other choice.

run?

Where are you going?

She led 100,000 slave soldiers who could barely walk; how could she outrun cavalry?

The only way out is to stall. Stall until Wei Zhao's troops arrive.

She didn't know if Wei Zhao could make it in time, but her mother-in-law's words were etched in her mind—

"The Wei family army will come, just hold on."

Tuoba Yue gritted his teeth and drew his sword.

"Form ranks!"

The other side of the valley.

Tuoba Ye reined in his warhorse, stood on a protruding rock, and squinted as he looked ahead.

The valley was filled with a dense mass of people scrambling to form a proper formation, pushing and shoving each other.

He laughed, he really laughed.

"Order—All troops, listen up!"

He drew his scimitar, the tip pointing towards the center of the valley, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"The rebel Tuoba Yue has forged an imperial edict to usurp the throne and murdered my father!"

"She married into the Wei family of the Great Wei, recognizing a traitor as her father, and now she's returned with the Wei people's schemes to seize my Western Qiang throne!"

His voice echoed through the valley, and debris fell softly from the rock face.

The cavalry behind him let out a low roar.

These people had followed Tuoba Ye for three years, plundering, fighting, and seizing territory, and had long been fed into a pack of wolves that recognized their master.

"Warriors of the Western Qiang—follow me and kill to avenge our fathers!"

He raised the scimitar into the sky.

Sixty thousand cavalrymen roared at the same time, their hooves thundering like a mountain collapsing, as they swept up a cloud of dust and charged down into the valley.

Tuoba Yue stood at the front of the formation, watching the iron-gray torrent surge towards them.

The ground trembled. The gravel beneath our feet bounced, and our teeth chattered—the vibrations of sixty thousand warhorses galloping simultaneously traveled from the earth to our very bones.

The slave soldiers behind him began to stir.

Some people were backing away, some were shouting, and some simply threw down their sticks and ran away.

"Don't run!"

Tuoba Yue roared, his throat sounding as if it had been slashed by a knife.

Useless.

Slave soldiers are slave soldiers.

People who have never been on the battlefield and whose hands tremble when they kill a chicken, how can you expect them to face the charge of 60,000 elite cavalry?

The first rank of slave soldiers shattered the moment the cavalry made contact.

They weren't scattered by killing, but knocked away by horses. When the Western Qiang warhorses charged at full speed, they were no different from a moving wall.

The slave soldiers wielding wooden sticks were rammed like scarecrows; some flew seven or eight steps, while others were trampled into the mud by the horses' hooves.

The second row was also broken.

The third rank dispersed on its own before the cavalry arrived.

The entire formation resembled a reflection of a stone thrown into water, shattering from the center and rapidly spreading outwards.

"Your Majesty, retreat immediately!"

An old general grabbed Tuoba Yue's arm and dragged her backward.

"We can't hold on any longer! The slave soldiers have all collapsed! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

Tuoba Yue shook off his hand.

"I'm not leaving."

"Your Majesty!"

"I said I'm not leaving!"

She glanced back at him. His eyes were dry, but burning with a reckless ferocity.

The old man was stunned and loosened his grip.

Tuoba Yue turned around and stared at the advancing cavalry tide.

She was calculating the odds, not whether she could win—she knew better than anyone that this battle was unwinnable.

She was calculating a different amount.

If she escapes, the 100,000 slave soldiers will be leaderless and completely collapse.

After cleaning up the mess, Tuoba Ye led his troops back to the palace and reclaimed the throne.

and then?

Uncle Eji, two old men with white hair, old servants who had followed the king all their lives in the palace—none of them will survive.

After killing the old ministers, he will turn his attention to the Great Wei. He may not attack immediately, but he will hide in the deep mountains and wear down the Great Wei.

It launches a sneak attack today and harasses people tomorrow, like a venomous snake coiled in the shadows, ready to bite at any moment.

No matter how powerful Wei Zhao was, it was impossible for him to lead an army of over 200,000 to turn the deep mountains and forests of Xiqiang upside down.

At that time, the people on both sides—the people of the Great Wei border.

The shepherds of the Western Qiang region—all of them will suffer endlessly as a result.

Why did the fourth brother die on the battlefield?

Isn't it all to prevent more deaths among the people on both sides?

"Come here, everyone!"

Tuoba Yue roared at the three thousand elite troops who remained beside him.

These three thousand men haven't collapsed yet; after all, they are a regular army, they've seen blood, and they can hold them off.

However, caught up in the rout of 100,000 slave soldiers, their formation was also largely disrupted.

"Stay here with me, no one is allowed to retreat!"

Three thousand elite soldiers gritted their teeth and regrouped, shields raised and spears thrust out.

Everyone knows that three thousand men trying to stop sixty thousand cavalry is no different from ants trying to stop a flood.

Tuoba Ye's cavalry had already broken through the outer perimeter of the slave soldiers. When their scimitars slashed down, wooden clubs broke, and men were cut down as well.

The blood churned into a dark red slurry in the dust.

"That little bitch is right ahead!"

Tuoba Ye's voice came from behind the cavalry formation, his tone distorted with excitement.

"Capture her, alive or dead!"

Tuoba Yue gripped her sword tightly and took a step forward.

She didn't retreat, nor did the elite troops behind her.

The shields creaked as they were struck, spears pierced the horses' bellies, and the warhorses collapsed with a pitiful neigh. The cavalry behind them continued to surge forward, trampling over the corpses of their comrades.

Tuoba Yue's sword struck a cavalryman in the leg, causing him to fall from his horse and be trampled into a bloody pulp by the hooves of the horse behind him.

Blood splattered on her face, hot and still, she didn't wipe it away, and raised her sword to face the next one.

The number of elite troops is decreasing.

Two thousand five, two thousand, one thousand five.

The formation tightened in circles, like a flame being extinguished.

Tuoba Yue's arms ached so much he could barely lift them. His sword was too light to cut through the cavalry's leather armor; he could only stab into the gaps. Each strike required all his strength.

Many images flashed through my mind.

The fourth brother, riding a horse on the grassland, smiled at her with a clump of grass in his mouth;

Her mother-in-law sat under the lamp, holding her hand;

Next to the fourth coffin in the mourning hall, her fingernails dug into the cracks in the floor tiles.

Her eyes welled up with tears, but she forcefully pushed them back.

You mustn't cry; the Wei family doesn't cry in front of others.

"Your Majesty...can't hold on any longer..."

Beside him, an elite soldier with a blood-stained face knelt on one knee, an arrow stuck in his shoulder.

Tuoba Yue didn't answer, not because she didn't want to, but because she didn't know what to say.

Tuoba Ye's second wave of cavalry had closed in, encircling the remaining elite troops into an ever-shrinking circle.

The circle is shrinking, the person is dying, and the knife is becoming dull.

Is it finished?

Just then—

woo-

A horn sounded from the mouth of the valley to the east.

The deep, drawn-out shouts and screams pierced through the entire valley.

Tuoba Yue's hand froze.

She recognized that voice. She had heard it in the Wei family army's camp, and on the drill ground before each of the fourth prince's expeditions.

The bugle call of the Wei family army.