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

"430,000."

Inside the city lord's mansion in Jiangnan, the city lord Zhao Yue slammed a military report on the table, his fingers still trembling.

Liu Jingshuang stood in front of the table, glanced down at the military report, and kept her hand on the hilt of her sword without moving.

Huo Qingluan leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, her gaze sweeping over the military newspaper.

Su Qingyun moved a small stool and sat in the corner, with the abacus on her lap and her fingers resting on the beads without moving them.

Zhao Yuezhi was a civil official in his early fifties. He had a thin face, high cheekbones, and bloodshot eyes, and it looked like he hadn't had a full night's sleep for several days.

His hands were braced on the table, his fingertips turning white.

"The Barbarian King is going all out this time."

Zhao Yuezhi's voice was hoarse, as if his throat had been rubbed with sandpaper.

"Not only did they have an army of 430,000, but also a hundred giant elephants."

He stretched out his hand and gestured, his hand still trembling.

"Each giant elephant is paired with a hundred soldiers, forming an elephant corps of ten thousand men."

"A wooden platform was built on the elephant's back, on which archers and spearmen stood, and the foot soldiers below followed the elephant."

Zhao Yuezhi spoke faster and faster, as if he were pouring out his grievances.

"When that thing charged, even the city walls couldn't withstand it; the western wall was breached in three large places."

"The biggest one—if you stand on the top of the city wall and look down, you can see the trees outside."

Liu Jingshuang frowned slightly.

"There's something even more troublesome."

Zhao Yuezhi's face turned even uglier, his lips drooping down, as if what was about to be said was even more disgusting to him than the elephant soldiers.

"Poison Soldier"

Huo Qingluan straightened up from the pillar.

Zhao Yuezhi walked to the door, glanced outside, and then closed the door.

"The southern barbarians have lived in a land of poisonous miasma for generations, where all sorts of disgusting things can be found in the forests."

"Snake, scorpion, centipede, spider, toad—the five poisonous creatures."

His voice was very low, as if he was afraid of being overheard by people outside.

"Poison soldiers are people who specialize in controlling these things. Some coat arrows with poison, while others put poisonous insects in pottery jars and throw them onto the city walls. If they get on the arrows, they will fester, and if you inhale them, you will feel dizzy."

Liu Jingshuang narrowed her phoenix eyes.

Zhao Yuezhi hadn't finished speaking.

"The most disgusting thing is that people who get poisoned don't die immediately."

His throat felt constricted, as if someone had pinched it.

"The wound will fester little by little, and it will take three to five days for someone to die. Some people will be poisoned to the bone and will not die, but their hands and feet will be crippled and they will be paralyzed with only one breath left."

Su Qingyun stopped using the abacus.

Zhao Yuezhi pointed in a certain direction outside the city lord's mansion.

"The wounded soldiers' camp is on the east side; I've already had it sealed off."

His hands clenched into fists.

"But inside... it's making noise all day long."

The tent was quiet for two breaths.

That silence wasn't because no one was speaking; it was because everyone was processing what was said.

The wounded soldiers' camp is sealed off, and they're shouting all day long.

Liu Jingshuang knew all too well what this meant.

The screams of the wounded soldiers could be heard throughout the entire camp, audible during the day and even clearer at night.

Every day, the charioteers guarding the city stand on the city wall, and when the wind blows, they can hear those familiar voices drifting from the direction of the wounded soldiers' camp.

Today it's your comrades calling you; tomorrow it might be you.

There are plenty of soldiers who are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of pain, of decay, of living being worse than dying—this kind of fear is more agonizing than having a knife to their throat.

"The city defense army's taxi is in a bad mood—"

Liu Jingshuang asked only half a question.

Zhao Yue gave a bitter smile, a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"To be honest, Madam Wei, some people have already fled out of the city."

His shoulders slumped down by half an inch.

"Not many, but there are some every day. They dare not run away during the day, but they climb over the wall at night. We caught a few, gave them a beating, and the next day some of them still tried to escape."

Liu Jingshuang loosened her grip on the hilt of the knife.

She didn't reply; her mind was racing.

An army of 430,000, a hundred giant elephants, and poison soldiers—these three things combined are truly disgusting.

Can you rely solely on overwhelming numbers?

With the addition of the 200,000 infantrymen brought by Liu Jingshuang and the remnants of the city defense army, the Wei family army was not at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength.

But in a direct confrontation, the cavalry would be halved, and infantry couldn't gain an advantage against infantry, with elephant cavalry and poison troops mixed in as well.

Even if we win, how many Wei family soldiers will be left after the battle?

Donghu and Xianyuan are still watching the play on the east side.

Those two families are opportunists. When the Southern Barbarians win, they come up and dismember the bodies; when the Southern Barbarians lose, they retreat and act like cowards.

But if the Wei family army is wiped out here, even if they win against the Southern Barbarians, the Donghu and Xianyuan might turn against them once they see that the Great Wei has been weakened.

We can't rely on sheer consumption.

We must win at the lowest possible cost.

This thought swirled in Liu Jingshuang's mind three times, becoming clearer with each turn.

Huo Qingluan suddenly spoke.

"We understand the situation."

The voice wasn't loud, but each word was pronounced very clearly.

"Leave the city defense to us from now on."

Zhao Yuezhi was taken aback.

He glanced at Huo Qingluan, then at Liu Jingshuang, opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed it back.

Liu Jingshuang understood the look in his eyes—hesitation.

That's normal. Zhao Yuezhi was a civil official who had guarded Jiangnan City for more than ten years, and he had always held the military and political power in the city.

Now three women walk in and say they're handing over the city's defenses to us?

Anyone would have to think twice before doing this.

Su Qingyun stood up.

She walked up to Zhao Yuezhi and smiled slightly.

The smile was gentle, but for some reason, Zhao Yuezhi felt a chill run down his spine.

"Lord Zhao, the main force of the Wei family army, numbering 200,000, has already entered the city."

Su Qingyun's voice was gentle, and her speaking speed was neither too fast nor too slow.

"There are also 100,000 cavalrymen providing support outside the city, ready to be deployed to the battlefield at any time."

Three hundred thousand.

The number made his eyelids twitch.

Zhao Yuezhi's mouth moved slightly.

Su Qingyun continued, her voice still gentle, but each word carried increasing weight.

"Lord Zhao should still remember the Su family, shouldn't he?"

Zhao Yuezhi's body stiffened.

The Su family.

The leading salt merchants in Jiangnan, a century-old family, have roots in this area deeper than the city walls.

The Su family's salt shops spanned six prefectures in Jiangnan, and they were involved in everything from grain transport and cloth to grain trading—there was no business that could make money that the Su family didn't touch.

Zhao Yuezhi certainly remembered the Su family. During his many years as an official in Jiangnan, how many New Year's gifts had the Su family "sent" to him?

To put it bluntly, the Su family paid 30% of the cost of repairing the city walls of Jiangnan City.

The woman in front of me is the daughter of the Su family.

The one who married into the Wei family.

Su Qingyun's smile remained unchanged, but her fingers gently tapped inside her sleeve.

"I have already instructed the Su family to open all their grain stores in the city, so you don't need to worry about the military rations."

Zhao Yuezhi's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

The most critical element in defending a city is food.

The city's grain reserves wouldn't last much longer, and the only reason he was able to stabilize the situation was because of the little bit he managed to scrape out of the granary every day.

With a single, casual remark, Su Qingyun resolved his biggest worry.

"Lord Zhao."

Su Qingyun's voice softened.

"The city is still your city, and the people are still under your control. We will only focus on fighting."

Zhao Yuezhi closed his eyes.

He'd spent half his life in officialdom; what kind of situation hadn't he seen?

The three women before you are quite different: one has a long sword at her waist and exudes a murderous aura; another has her arms crossed and is as cold as ice; and the third is smiling as she speaks to you, but her eyes are full of malice.

He's not stupid.

With the main force of the Wei family army already here, even if he doesn't relinquish power, the city's defenses are no longer under his control.

Su Qingyun offered him a way out—you manage civil affairs, we manage military affairs, so we can save face and save face.

Zhao Yuezhi slowly gritted his teeth, and his clenched fist gradually loosened.

"The city's defenses... I'll leave them to the three ladies."

His voice was terribly hoarse, as if each word was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

Please.

The last three words trembled.

Liu Jingshuang nodded without any formalities.