Chapter 147: She is the Commander-in-Chief?

On a silent night, both of them suffered from insomnia.

The next morning, when the two met with dark circles under their eyes, an inevitable awkwardness hung in the air, and each averted their gaze, not daring to look directly at the other.

Xuan cleared his throat and asked, "General, is everything ready?"

Kaiming replied in a muffled voice, "Yes, everything is ready."

"Have the troops been mustered?"

"I have them waiting at the camp. Once we verify the headcount, we can set out."

"Very well, let us go!"

Kaiming acknowledged the order without any rebuttal. At this moment, she looked far more like a general than he did.

The soldiers stationed at the camp had long since polished their weapons and were eager for battle. The thirty-sixth squad of female soldiers took the lead, standing in the front ranks with high spirits and proud postures.

When Chunhua saw them enter, she rolled her eyes dramatically and scoffed, "Kaiming, you are so slow! You kept us waiting forever."

Kaiming smiled faintly, not taking offense at her impudence. However, a commander waiting nearby glared and rebuked sternly, "A mere soldier must not show disrespect to the General!"

Chunhua pouted and muttered, "You said you would promote me once we returned to the Central Palace, but I haven't seen a trace of it yet!"

Kaiming smiled at her and said, "Rest assured, this time I will definitely promote you." She raised her eyes to survey the dense sea of troops and called out in a loud voice, "Have all the troops arrived?"

The commander stepped forward and reported, "Reporting to the General, the forces here are the Imperial Guards from the Inner Capital. Another tens of thousands of troops are currently marching toward the capital from their respective locations. We will rendezvous with them outside the city shortly."

"Good." She nodded, flicked the reins, and commanded, "Those who are here, follow me!"

Amidst shouts and the thunderous sound of hooves hitting the ground, Kaiming led several massive columns of troops out of the city.

While waiting outside the city for the full assembly of the army, a messenger suddenly appeared at the distant rear of the procession, running toward her in a panic. He dismounted before her horse, dropped to his knees, and reported, "General! His Majesty has issued an edict recalling two units back to the Imperial Capital to assist in the search for a high-profile criminal!"

"Searching for a high-profile criminal?" Kaiming was slightly startled, staring intently at the kneeling messenger. "These troops of mine are heading to the Southern Palace. Does His Majesty not know this?"

The messenger hurriedly replied, "His Majesty's oral decree states that the matter is of the utmost urgency and must be obeyed without question!"

Kaiming had no choice but to pull out two units, ordering them to turn back toward the Imperial Capital to assist the Palace Emperor in capturing whatever criminal had escaped. Watching the troops march away, she shook her head and clicked her tongue in disbelief. "I truly cannot fathom what game Dai Yuheng is playing—deploying troops one moment and recalling them the next?"

Turning her gaze toward Xuan, she saw him deep in whispered conversation with the messenger. He only released the man's hand after the inquiry concluded, signaling that he was free to go.

"Did you find anything out?" she asked, watching him walk toward her with an inscrutable expression on his face.

Xuan nodded and gestured for her to come closer. Bending down from her saddle, she leaned in as he lowered his voice to whisper directly into her ear, "Something has happened in the Imperial Prison..."

"The Imperial Prison?" She froze for a fraction of a second, immediately connecting it to a certain individual. "Could it be..."

"It is Ji," Xuan answered definitively, lowering his voice even further. "While Dai Yuheng diverted a massive force for this campaign to the Southern Palace, Ji's covert factions sprang into action. I heard that in the dead of night, a band of men in black slaughtered the prison guards, abducted Ji, and now his whereabouts are unknown."

"No wonder Dai Yuheng was in such a frantic rush to recall his troops," she nodded, straightening up in the saddle and casting a mocking glance toward the direction of the Imperial Capital. "Talk about a fire in one's own backyard. He is going to have a lot of trouble on his hands now."

"There is more..." Xuan raised his voice slightly this time; after all, this matter was hardly a secret, and it wouldn't hurt if others overheard. "The Palace Emperor's cousin has already set out ahead of us. I hear she is close to reaching the Eastern Palace."

Kaiming nodded expressionlessly and replied indifferently, "That is the path she chose for herself. How she walks it is her own affair."

Xuan looked at her, appearing as though he had more to say but hesitating.

Indifferently scanning the magnificent army arrayed before her, she sneered, "I just wonder whether the Eastern Palace will ultimately join forces with the Southern Palace this time, or if they will simply accept the Central Palace's marriage alliance?"

Xuan responded, "Based on my estimation, the old and decrepit Palace Emperor of the Eastern Palace will not ally with the Southern Palace for now; he will merely stand by and watch from the sidelines. As for the marriage alliance proposed by the Central Palace, his attitude will likely be neither to refuse nor to fully commit."

Kaiming smiled faintly at him, and Xuan gave her a satisfying reply. "It seems it will indeed be so."

As they spoke, the various detachments had fully assembled. Several commanders stepped forward to report, and she ordered the flagbearer to wave the massive banner bearing the character "Commander" high in the air. Amidst the howling autumn wind, she issued a resounding command to the officers and soldiers in all directions: "Gear up and set out!"

Early autumn had passed, and late autumn deepened. The biting autumn wind swept across their faces like blades. Within the Southern Palace's encampment, spears and halberds stood in neat rows, their tips flashing with cold light. Soldiers clad in steel helmets and heavy armor stared with unblinking eyes at the muddy ground outside the camp, their expressions tense as if facing a formidable enemy.

A cold gust swept past, stirring up a few withered leaves on the muddy ground, revealing an expanse completely devoid of human presence.

Southern Palace commanders paced busily among the soldiers, shouting from time to time, "Keep your eyes sharp!"

Inside the commander's tent, a broad-faced, short-bearded middle-aged man sat upright behind a desk, stroking his beard as he listened to the reports of his officers, his brow furrowed slightly.

"General Quan, we've learned that the Central Palace's commander-in-chief this time is actually a female general," someone lowered their voice to report.

General Quan's eyebrows twitched as he shot a sideways glance at the speaker. "A female general? Are you out of your mind? Aside from Dayin, are there any other female generals in the Central Palace? Besides, didn't Dayin die in the Western Palace campaign?"

"General, there is no mistake," the reporting officer said hurriedly. "It is absolute truth. Following Dayin, the Emperor of Tianque did indeed appoint another female general. I hear she made a name for herself in one battle during the Western Palace campaign, and the news has already spread throughout the Five Palaces."

"Oh? Such a thing happened?" General Quan felt quite vexed. How could someone so renowned escape his knowledge?

"She is a young commander who once served as a chieftain participating in the Northern Palace campaign, and was later dispatched to the Western Palace theater. It would seem the Central Palace holds her in high regard."

General Quan's eyebrows arched even higher. Could the Central Palace have produced a second Dayin?

"That female general's name is Kaiming."

General Quan's puzzlement deepened. He shook his head slightly, thinking to himself, *Kaiming? Where have I heard that name before?*

Before he could puzzle it out, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the tent entrance. "What did you say? What is the name of the Central Palace's female general?"

Caught off guard by the shout, the men jumped in startlement. They turned to see the tent flap being flung open as a figure swept through, bringing a rush of icy air into the tent. Upon hearing their words, the newcomer stopped dead in his tracks, freezing right at the entrance.

The officers shuddered, not merely because of the cold wind outside, but because the person who had entered was none other than General Quan's beloved son, Sikong.

Sikong held his helmet in his hand, his long hair gathered into a small topknot secured on the crown, with a few stray strands blowing loose across his forehead. He stared at the group with wide, handsome eyes of utter disbelief. "What was just said—is it true? Her name is Kaiming? Is it Kaiming?"

The reporting officer, unaware of the reason behind his profound shock, cowered and nodded. "Ah, yes. The information has been thoroughly verified; the commander-in-chief of the Central Palace is General Kaiming."

"Kaiming... a general?" Sikong suddenly turned his head away and burst into loud laughter, the sound dripping with sarcasm.

The officers looked at him in bewilderment, while General Quan, displeased by his sudden bout of madness, watched him with a stern, unsmiling face.

After letting out a few laughs, Sikong reined it in, lowering his gaze to General Quan with a lingering sneer still plastered across his face. "Does Father know that this General Kaiming happens to be an old acquaintance of ours?"

"An old acquaintance?" General Quan frowned. "I do not recall knowing such a heroic woman."

"A heroic woman?" Sikong gave a dry laugh. "I am afraid that once Father learns of the things she did back then, you might not describe her that way. Does Father not remember the female soldier from the Central Palace whom we once captured?"

"A female soldier from the Central Palace?" General Quan furrowed his brow in deep thought, vaguely recalling that there indeed seemed to have been such a person.

The corners of Sikong's mouth curled upward into a cold smile. "Do you remember the Central Palace female soldier who sowed discord between Qingyun and me, driving us to tear each other apart? The Central Palace female soldier for whom Qingyun willingly abandoned his post as the Southern Palace strategist to flee alongside her—how could Father forget someone so important?"

General Quan's complexion grew increasingly unsightly. Qingyun's desertion was no minor matter; it had once caused a tremendous uproar within the Southern Palace, and had it not been for Quan's silver-tongued rhetoric, Qingyun would likely not have been left with a whole corpse. Yet the root of this entire affair stemmed from a mere female soldier of the Central Palace. While others in the Southern Palace might not know, how could General Quan possibly be unaware?

Stunned by this earth-shattering revelation, the officers suddenly unlocked the mystery behind Qingyun's past desertion and began whispering anxiously among themselves.

Dropping his expression, General Quan said in a deep voice, "Enough. This is merely Sikong's unfounded speculation. You are not to discuss it further, and under no circumstances are such rumors to be spread through the camp. If I hear word of it, you will be dealt with according to military law! All of you, out! Sikong and I have important matters to discuss."

Realizing the commander was brandishing his military authority, the officers dared not say another word. They quickly rose and offered their excuses, retreating out of the tent.

Only then did General Quan fix his gaze on Sikong, demanding in a grave tone, "Is everything you just said true? The commander-in-chief dispatched by the Central Palace this time is that same captured female soldier from before?"

Sikong placed his helmet on the desk, casually seating himself beside his father, and scoffed, "Of course it's true. I remember that damned, thousand-times-deserving woman vividly!"

Pacing in deep thought, General Quan said, "If that is indeed the case, then for this campaign, have Qingyun recuse himself!"

Sikong raised his chin, offering no reply.

General Quan shifted his gaze back to him and lowered his voice. "You must keep a tight rein on Qingyun. Do not let him act on impulse and stir up any trouble."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sikong answered lazily, "Rest assured, I've had his tent barricaded like an iron fortress. I guarantee he won't be able to step a single foot outside the tent flap."

Though displeased by his son's high-handed methods, General Quan could only nod and say, "This concerns the very survival of our nation; we must exercise the utmost caution in all things."

Sikong's expression, however, remained entirely dismissive.

Inside another felt tent, a pair of hands reached out—the fingernails well-rounded, the fingers slender and fair—and gently turned a page, producing a soft, rustling sound. Beneath long eyelashes, a pair of dark pupils blinked slightly, the gaze fixing upon the words on the page, drifting upward, and then sliding down.

Suddenly, the tent flap was forcefully thrown open as a figure strode inside, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Qingyun!"