Upon command, over 20 soldiers from the Second Army jumped off their horses and equipped their crossbows in neat motions. Before Commander Cui had time to blink, the arrows flew out swiftly towards the civilians’ legs. In an instant, the stricken civilians let out panicked cries of agony.

　　“Get them!” The young man’s voice sounded like a panther letting out a low howl.

　　The warriors startled the civilians who were far out. They discarded their crossbows, taking their knives and charging in front. They were ruthless. Despite only using their sheaths, they were bloodthirsty. With each stroke, they smashed the civilians’ heads with their sheaths. In a short while, over ten civilians lay dead on the floor.

　　“Get out of the way!”

　　The warriors and refugees clustered together. The troops of Yan Bei witnessed what was going on inside the city, letting out an emergency signal. Big groups of troops rushed over from the inner part of the city, but were stopped by the chaotic crowd at the gates, unable to get out of the city.

　　At this instant, the sounds of horses’ hooves echoed out from the distance in the snowy plains. A large crowd approached the scene rapidly. A small warrior, dressed in black, presumably the leader of the crowd, jumped from the horse’s back. The voice sounded feminine, but carried an intimidating aura. “Who’s creating trouble?”

　　Over 100 soldiers jumped off their horses subsequently. The warrior dashed in front, scanned the crowd, and took out a sword, saying, “Go! Pummel the soldiers!”

　　The warrior’s army was highly skilled. With a few neat, agile motions, they dashed into the crowd and surrounded the soldiers from the Second Army. Outnumbering them, they subdued them promptly. The civilians, seeing that someone stood up for them, cheered in joy. The pandemonium was stabilized.

　　About 30 to 40 civilians lay on the ground, injured. A few of them had stopped moving. It was hard to tell if they were dead or alive. The small warrior frowned, covered by his body armor. He turned around and said, “Call the doctors to treat the injured people.”

　　“Who are you? How dare you…” Xue Zhiyuan raged, dashing in front. The warrior did not wait for him to finish his words, before slapping him crisply on the face. Before he had time to react, the warrior slapped him again on the other side of the face!

　　“You are a warrior of Yan Bei! Your swords should be pointing at the Xia soldiers instead of the civilians of Yan Bei!” the crisp voice of the warrior echoed out.

　　Xue Zhiyuan was enraged, his eyes almost spitting out fire. He let out a loud roar, clenched his fists and dashed towards the warrior. However, the warrior was agile, leaping up into the air and smashing his sword sheath into Xue Zhiyuan’s shoulder. With another kick, he sent Xue Zhiyuan sprawling to the ground.

　　“Tie him up! Turn him in to Your Highness for punishment!” the warrior said. The civilians cheered again in joy.

　　The warrior turned around and shouted towards the civilians, “People, Beishuo is about to go to war. It’s too dangerous here. Your Highness is in the western region near Luori Mountain. He has built some shelters for all of you to avoid the snowstorm. There are food and clothes there. Please follow my subordinates there immediately.”

　　The crowd started to move. The warrior’s subordinates blended into the crowd to organize them. In a short while, a few doctors ran out from inside the city. The warrior walked to the front to take a look. Upon closer inspection, 13 civilians had died in the chaos earlier on. He frowned, his expression troubled.

　　An hour later, the remaining civilians headed west under the leadership of the soldiers. The warrior walked into the city, while the city gates closed behind him. The noises outside were drowned out, making the snowstorm seem less severe.

　　The warrior exchanged a few words with the panic-stricken Commander Cui, before walking towards the carriage which imprisoned Xue Zhiyuan and his men.

　　“General Xue, I’m sorry I offended you just now,” the warrior removed his hat, revealing a thin face, defined eyebrows and bright eyes. The warrior was actually a pretty, young girl.

　　“Who are you?” Xue Zhiyuan’s face was still swollen, his wound hurting from where she had kicked him. He did not want to speak to her, but upon seeing her face, he was shocked.

　　“This is General Chu,” Commander Cui introduced. “General, this is the leader of the Second Army, Xue Zhiyuan. He has come here to aid the troops of Beishuo.”

　　Chu Qiao’s face had turned red from the cold. Her lips had started to crack. She nodded and said in a friendly tone, “General Xue, it’s been hard on you. You traveled in such bad weather conditions for thousands of miles.”

　　Xue Zhiyuan frowned, not knowing where this General Chu came from. He stared at Chu Qiao ruthlessly and sneered in a low voice, “I will not let today’s incident slide.”

　　“Of course. Over ten people died in front of the city gates, with over 40 injured. It is natural not to let the incident slide,” Chu Qiao smiled, but her look was stern. She continued calmly, “However, General Xue wanted to protect the city. With the war imminent, I will not report this matter to the military command center.”

　　“You…”

　　“General Xue, you came here in such a hurry. Don’t you have something important to do? Although you’re free, I need to leave.”

　　Xue Zhiyuan took a deep breath, looked at Chu Qiao ferociously in the eye, sneered, and stormed off with his subordinates.

　　Commander Cui wiped the cold sweat off his face and said to Chu Qiao, “General, are you alright?”

　　Chu Qiao frowned and sighed helplessly, saying, “If only I knew he was from the Second Army. I wouldn’t have slapped him. Now, there’s going to be trouble.”

　　“Ah?” Commander Cui was stunned.

　　“Ah? For what?” Chu Qiao turned around and raged, “If not for the Second Army, the city gates would have been breached just now! Do you know the consequences of letting spies into the city at this time? The entire army of Yan Bei would be exterminated! Beishuo is an important city of Yan Bei, but you were so careless. Although Xue Zhiyuan was wrong to kill the civilians just now, you were taking the entire fate of Yan Bei into your own hands!”

　　Commander Cui was scared out of his wits. His legs went soft and his eyes sparked. He looked left and right, like a thief who had been apprehended. He knelt on the ground with a loud thud and pleaded loudly, “General, I deserve to die. Please spare my life.”

　　Chu Qiao frowned slowly, wondering how this incompetent fool had been appointed as the leader to defend the city. She did not know who to blame. At this point of time, she felt powerless.

　　“Go and report yourself to the military command center!” Chu Qiao ordered and turned around to leave. The storm was heavy, showing no signs of subsiding.

　　Chu Qiao opened the room door, greeted by a gush of warm air. She removed her cloak, looked left and right, but did not see Yan Xun. She turned around and walked to the study, bumping into AhJing along the way, who was in a rush. AhJing panted and said, “Miss, Your Highness tells you to find him.”

　　Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows. “Where is he? What happened?”

　　“The representative from the Second Army is here. Your Highness is waiting for you to start the meeting.”

　　Before she entered the house, she heard a voice exclaiming loudly, “We have over a million troops. Why should we be scared of Xia? We can fight them head-on at the grasslands!”

　　Chu Qiao frowned upon hearing these words. During this period of time, this was probably her most expressed emotion.

　　“Yes! Yan Bei is upright! We are not scared of the dogs from Xia!”

　　“Report!” the soldier outside the room shouted. “General Chu is here.”

　　“Come in.”

　　Chu Qiao walked into the room and greeted everyone who was present. The attendance was more than that of the previous meeting. Besides the ones who were present back then, the representatives of the First and Second Armies were present, along with the vice-commander of the Third Army, the elders of Da Tong Guild, the border troops, the provincial troops, the voluntary troops, and the tribal leaders of the highlands of Yan Bei. The meeting hall was packed to the brim.

　　Chu Qiao knew that almost all of Yan Bei’s military might was present. She walked into the room with an upright posture, taking her seat beside Yan Xun. Smiling, she addressed the crowd. “Sorry, I’m late.”

　　“How is it?” Yan Xun’s expression was frustrated. Evidently, he had been angered by the crowd. He looked at Chu Qiao and asked in a low voice.

　　“All is well. The shelters have been built. It is enough to tide them over for now.”

　　“Objection!” a sharp voice suddenly echoed out. Beishuo’s Vice Chief of Military, Liu Ou, stood up and said, his expression troubled. “Why should we use our resources to build houses for the refugees? These resources can be used to reinforce our city walls by adding ten feet to its height. It is useful in repelling the Xia troops. Also, why are we giving our rations to the refugees? Does General Chu not know the situation we are in now? The Xia troops are nearing. The war is about to begin. We are not even sure if we have enough rations for ourselves, yet you want to give them to the refugees!”

　　“Vice Chief Liu Ou, if I remember correctly, when I repaired the city gates ten days ago, you did not give me an ounce of support. No one from the Beishuo Army contributed. Instead, it was the civilians who helped out enthusiastically. If not, your city walls would not be 20 feet taller. Also, I need to remind you that the height of the city walls need to follow certain standards. Our city walls are sufficiently high already. If it is any taller, the archers’ accuracy will be affected. Our ability to defend will be restricted. Hence, I implore the people who don’t know military warfare to speak with caution.”

　　The look on Chu Qiao’s face was cold, unlike her warm demeanor a few days ago. She looked at this vice chief coldly, saying, “Also, I want to say something. We are fighting for the civilians of Yan Bei, for their freedom. If all of them die, this war will be meaningless.”

　　Liu Ou’s face turned green. In his defense, he said, “It has always been like this. The snowstorm is heavy every year. The Xia Empire does not support the civilians with rations, but none of them have died over thousands of years.”

　　“You’re right. That’s why Xia has been expelled from Yan Bei.” The young lady folded her arms and shrugged, continuing, “The troops that are coming here to invade us are from the capital. They receive their pay from their capital. Vice Chief Liu Ou, did you ever pay your soldiers? Why do your subordinates follow you unconditionally? Don’t tell me that you want your subordinates to risk their lives for you, then let their families starve and freeze to death?”

　　The meeting room was thrown into an awkward silence. No one spoke. Only the sounds of the strong winds outside could be heard.

　　Yan Xun’s voice was cold. Slowly, he said, “Back to the topic. Who spoke up just now?”

　　“It was me,” the leader of the Third Army, Lu Jie, replied in a low voice. He was not old, about 30-years-old. He was heavily bearded, appearing like a man from the highlands. His face was red. With a heavy tone, he said, “I don’t understand. Why are we hiding? Why are we hiding in Beishuo City? We have an army of 500,000, while Xia only has a frontline army of 100,000. We outnumber them five to one. Would we lose?”