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

"Wei Zhao, get in the car."

His tone was so casual, as if he were inviting someone to dinner.

Wei Zhao was stunned for a moment. There were still 100,000 cavalrymen waiting behind them. How could he, the commander-in-chief, run off to ride in a carriage?

But Hua Jieyu's eyes told him—this wasn't idle chatter, it was serious business.

Wei Zhao handed the white wax spear to the guard beside him, dismounted, and walked quickly to the carriage.

Hua Jieyu had already climbed into the carriage.

Wei Zhao lifted the curtain and went inside. The space inside the carriage was larger than it appeared from the outside. It was covered with soft cushions, and a food box and a pot of tea were placed in the corner.

Hua Jieyu sat cross-legged opposite, slowly pouring water into her teacup.

The red dress spread out in the cramped carriage, like a pool of thick blood.

"Hua Jieyu, what are you doing here?"

Wei Zhao got straight to the point: he knew about Hua Jieyu's intelligence network, which spanned the north and south of Wei and was well-informed.

But for someone to set up a stage and put on a show on a remote official road, far from any village or shop, is not something that can be explained by intelligence work.

Hua Jieyu pushed the teacup to his side, looked up, and her eyes, which once held a hint of charm, were now completely serious.

"Jiangnan is just ahead."

Her voice lowered, still hoarse from singing a whole opera, and sounded a little strained.

"The southern barbarians attacked the city yesterday."

Wei Zhao stopped holding the teacup.

"The defenders in Jiangnan suffered heavy casualties, and the city walls were breached in three places by the elephant cavalry."

Hua Jieyu drew a circle on her knee with her finger, as if describing a location on a map.

"Fortunately, the people of the city spontaneously went up to the city wall, young and old, men and women, carrying stones, throwing logs, and even wielding kitchen knives to attack the wall—"

She paused for a moment, her lips twitching slightly, it was hard to tell whether she wanted to laugh or curse.

"I just endured it all day."

Wei Zhao clenched his molars.

The common people climbed onto the city wall.

These four words hit him like a hammer blow, heavier than any battle report.

The defending troops were wiped out, and the civilians took kitchen knives to block the elephant cavalry—what the hell is this situation?

"Where is the commander?"

"He's dead."

Hua Jieyu's answer was straightforward.

"He died during the first wave of the attack yesterday. He was flung away by the elephant's trunk and crashed at the base of the city wall. He died on the spot."

Wei Zhao didn't speak, his fingers gripping the teacup so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He quickly did some mental calculations: he had 100,000 cavalrymen, and they could reach Jiangnan in half a day if they were fast, but what would happen after they arrived?

Cavalry against elephants?

Horses are afraid of elephants; this is common knowledge. Warhorses go crazy when they smell an elephant and become completely uncontrollable.

Cavalry's mobility advantage is zero against elephants—you can't get going, the horse will kick you off first.

One hundred thousand cavalrymen faced off against hundreds of thousands of Nanman troops plus elephant cavalry in a head-on confrontation...

Wei Zhao's brows furrowed even more tightly.

Hua Jieyu seemed to read his mind, put down the teapot, and leaned forward slightly.

"The southern barbarian elephant cavalry led the way, followed by an army of hundreds of thousands."

Her voice was lowered even further.

"Wei Zhao, with just these 100,000 cavalrymen you brought, you can't turn the tide."

Wei Zhao did not refute.

He knew that Hua Jieyu wasn't there to dampen his spirits; since she had put things this way, there must be more to come.

really.

Hua Jieyu's lips curled up in a smile that Wei Zhao had seen before—not one of charm, but one of confidence.

"I stopped you here for two reasons. First, that dance you did just now was to boost the morale of the brothers."

She held up one finger, then extended a second one.

"Secondly—I'll take you on a roundabout route."

"A detour?"

"Eighty li west of Jiangnan Prefecture, there is a place called Mojiabao."

Hua Jieyu bent her second finger down, her tone suddenly becoming more serious.

"Shang Wanqing is waiting for you at Mojiabao."

Wei Zhao leaned forward.

Shang Wanqing.

A woman from a family of weapon makers, she made crossbows at the age of ten and improved the repeating mechanism at the age of fifteen. After marrying into the Wei family, she turned the armory of her fifth brother, Wei Qi, upside down.

After her fifth brother died in battle, she locked herself in the workshop, banging away incessantly, refusing to come out no matter who called her.

Is she waiting for him at Mojiabao?

"Shang Wanqing has been preparing for a long time."

Hua Jieyu's voice softened, but she still pronounced each word clearly.

"She has a way to defeat the enemy."

"What method?"

"this--"

Hua Jieyu shrugged, and half of her water sleeve slipped out from the cuff.

"I don't understand. She didn't explain it to me in detail. I was only responsible for delivering messages and running errands. I know nothing about weapons."

She tilted her head, her face, painted with rouge, displaying an expression that said, "Don't ask me, I really don't know."

Wei Zhao leaned back on the cushion, his mind racing.

Hua Jieyu didn't just wander in randomly; her intelligence network, the timing she chose, and the location where she stopped people here—everything was meticulously planned.

Shang Wanqing was unlikely to make such a statement without a clear purpose.

That woman was obsessively obsessed with weapons to a pathological degree; if she said she had a way, then she really did.

Then a thought struck Wei Zhao like lightning.

Old lady.

All of this was arranged by the old matriarch.

Before setting off from the capital to Yanmen Pass, the old lady had already laid out the chess pieces.

The Northern Rong must be attacked, the Western Qiang must be pacified, and the Southern Barbarians will make their move sooner or later—the old matriarch had foreseen it all.

Hua Jieyu guarded the intelligence network, keeping an eye on the movements on the southern front, while Shang Wanqing stayed in Mo Family Fortress, burying herself in creating her killing weapon.

Hua Jieyu and Shang Wanqing work in the open and covert, one in charge of information and the other in charge of firepower.

By the time Wei Zhao finished his campaign in the north and turned to head south, preparations here were already complete.

Wei Zhao recalled the image of the old matriarch standing before the mourning hall, leaning on her cane; only now did he begin to understand a little of what was hidden in her cloudy old eyes—

That wasn't sadness, it was a setup.

She cried after losing nine sons, but after she finished crying, she started calculating.

How to keep Lao Shi alive, how to keep the Wei family army from disbanding, and how to remove the threat from the five clans one by one.

This old lady...

Wei Zhao felt a lump in his throat, but he forced it back down.

"How far is Mojiabao from here?"

Hua Jieyu reached out and lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, glancing out at the position of the sun.

"One day."

She lowered the carriage curtain, her voice soft and gentle.

"If we ride at full speed, we can arrive before dawn tomorrow."

Wei Zhao hardly hesitated.

The fact that the garrison in Jiangnan Prefecture held out for a day with the help of the local people shows that the city has not yet fallen.

The Southern Barbarian elephant cavalry advanced slowly, and their siege equipment was cumbersome. They would not launch a second wave of fierce attacks in the short term—they also needed to rest.

This is the window of opportunity.

He has one day.

One day, I went to Mojiabao to pick up the things Shang Wanqing had prepared. After getting them, I could return to Jiangnan in time.

A hundred thousand cavalrymen fighting elephants head-on would be suicide, but if Shang Wanqing truly had a way to counter elephants—then the situation would be completely different.

To gamble or not to gamble?

Wei Zhao glanced at Hua Jieyu.

Hua Jieyu held her teacup, quietly waiting for his decision, a "I knew you'd agree" expression already playing on her lips.

"Pass on the order—"

Wei Zhao lifted the curtain and leaned halfway out, shouting at the guards outside.

"The entire army changes course, heading straight for Mojiabao!"