The days passed. The evacuation was still happening, but more than seventy percent of the Shang Kingdom’s population had been successfully moved to other cities further north. The remaining thirty percent were those who had decided to help with the defense and those who stubbornly refused to leave. Hou Jingshu had thought about forcing them out, but in the end, she didn’t have the heart.

Since some people refused to leave, she had decided to put them to work. Most of the people were normal humans with no cultivation base. Since they couldn’t help with the actual defense, she had them help with logistics. Their job was to stockpile supplies in key defensive locations throughout the city.

Shang Imperial City had originally been built as a fortress. It consisted of two walls, an outer and an inner wall. The inner wall was much larger than the outer one. It was the original wall, which had been built when the city was just founded. This was before the Shang Kingdom had fully formed. The land was rife with war. Her ancestor had built this city in the nation’s center before it became a nation, as if declaring this land would be unified under him, and he succeeded. He actually did it. He unified the land and turned it into a kingdom. After that, Shang Imperial City expanded, eventually becoming what it was today.

There were several key defensive points located throughout the city. One of them was the main road. While the road was quite wide and would allow roughly fifteen people to walk soulder-to-shoulder, there were numerous ambush points along the path where the SHang Kingdom army could fire off techniques without worrying about retaliation. They could also collapse the road into the sewers, halting any invading armies in their tracks.

This didn’t take Human Limit Realm cultivators into account, nevermind Deva Realm cultivators. They could just fly over the city. However, the Zhou Kingdom and Ming Province armies only had roughly twenty people on their side who had reached that level of strength. The rest could not fly.

Hou Jingshu was sitting in the meeting hall at present, discussing the war’s progress with Yu Chenguang and the clans under the Shang Kingdom’s leadership. The Ming Province had finally begun moving and would reach them in less than a week. Her men were continuing to harass their supply line, but their enemies had set up a strong defensive guard over their supplies. It was all they could do. While she was discussing how to potentially slow down their march, someone entered the room.

“You called for me, Your Highness?” asked Wu Yong. He was dressed in the Shang Kingdom military garb, a black guzhuang with a red dragon coiled around the left breast. He had been promoted to captain recently due to his actions during their most recent engagement with the Ming Province. He had managed to hold the front lines of battle for far longer than anyone else. As such, his uniform was now adorned with a chestplate, greaves, and forearm guards that were profound spirit armor. They would protect him against attacks from anyone below the Human Limit Realm.

“I did,” Hou Jingshu turned to him. “Wu Yong, due to your noble actions in our last bout, I am going to task you with defending the main street. Use whatever method you can to halt the advancing army for as long as possible.”

Wu Yong’s eyes went wide. He took a step back and opened his mouth. She could almost hear what he wanted to say, but she didn’t stop him, instead waiting. A second passed. Then Wu Yong calmed down. He clenched and unclenched his hand several times as he took a series of deep breaths. When he looked at her again, his eyes were steady.

“It will be done, Your Highness,” he said, presenting a martial bow to her.

“I’m counting on you.”

Because Yu Chenguang was needed to engage the enemy leaders with her, she could not have him lead the battle. She had to relegate the task of fighting against the main force to those below him. The woman had decided to head out and help face the threat, but she promised to come back with reinforcements. Hou Jingshu hoped she arrived sooner rather than later. Her help would be needed in the fight against the Ming Province’s elders, ancestors, and the Zhou Kingdom’s emperor and his Heavenly Generals.

The meeting was soon adjourned, and Hou Jingshu quickly left for the hospital wing. What time wasn’t spent in meetings with the nobles and members of her military was spent either visiting her father or complaining to her brother. Hou Chao was still unconscious. She sometimes thought she saw him react, like when she called him an idiot, but he never spoke up and just continued to lie listlessly in the hospital bed.

She visited her brother this time. She had a lot to complain about. Hou Jingshu had never wanted to be the ruler of the Shang Kingdom. All she cared about was practicing her martial arts, cultivating, and at some point, marrying Wu Jian and starting a family with him and Wu Meiying. Being forced to rule this nation was a burden she could do without. She made sure to let Hou Chao know how it was all his and Hou Gun’s fault that she was forced into this position. She thought he blinked when she said that, but she honestly couldn’t be sure.

Yōuměi remained by her side, a silent guardien. Hou Jingshu was impressed this normally talkative cat could remain so quiet. She expected her to have no end of things to say, but then again, Yōuměi did seem weirdly sensitive to tension. Was it something she naturally had as a magical beast, or was this sensitivity something she had picked up by traveling with Wu Jian? Hou Jingshu would have liked to know.

The hospital door slid open and someone stepped in. Dressed in the traditional outfit of an imperial royal family maid, the young-looking woman bowed to her.

“Your Highness.”

“Cui Lei, what is it?”

“Zhe Fēnglì has just returned to the palace and is requesting an audience,” she said.

“I see.”

Hou Jingshu closed her eyes and took a slow, shuddering breath. She didn’t want Cui Lei or anyone else to see her weakness right now. When she stood up and opened them again, all signs of weakness were gone.

“Very well. Let us see what news he has for us.”

***

Hou Jingshu found Zhe Fēnglì in the reception hall. He wasn’t alone. Bèipàn Zhě, Hou Gun, Húndàn Wang, and even Húndàn Qie were present. She wondered what the Saintly Sword Sect’s sect master was doing here, but now was not the time.

She walked across the deep red carpet, passed the group kneeling before the throne, and sat herself down. Her shoulders felt heavy. Such was the weight of one who controlled the lives of millions. What she wouldn’t give to push this responsibility onto someone else, but there was no one present who could bear this burden.

“I’m happy to see you have returned,” she said, revealing none of her inner thoughts.

“I wish my return brought you good tidings, but sadly, the news I have is anything but pleasant,” said Zhe Fēnglì.

“From your words, can I infer that the Zhou Kingdom’s forces are marching on Shang Imperial City?” she asked.

He nodded. “That is correct. I did my best to stall them for as long as possible, but…”

“What happened?”

After a long pause, Zhe Fēnglì began his story. “We were doing our best to halt their advance into the north and south provinces of the Shang Kingdom, and we were doing fairly well for a while, but Emperor Cì Shā eventually decided to bring out his trump cards. He attacked our forces with his Three Heavenly Generals at the same time after leading us into a trap. To make matters worse, it seems he has a pill that can greatly increase the strength of his cultivators. I managed to kill Sing Xuiying and Jiang Yijun but was forced to retreat soon after. If it wasn’t for Húndàn Qie and his Saintly Sword Sect arriving in the nick of time, we might not have made it.”

According to him, they had been engaging the Zhou Kingdom’s forces in gorilla warfare, ambushing them in confined places that made it difficult for a large force to bring their full might to bear, then retreating before their enemies could get their barings. This tactic had worked brilliantly for a while, but Emperor Cì Shā eventually decided to get rid of them. He lured them to a small city by leaking information that he would be there. Zhe Fēnglì had taken the bait, and since the emperor really was present, had assumed it was real. He only realized it was a trap after he engaged the emperor and found himself surrounded by the Three Heavenly Generals.

Zhe Fēnglì had survived only because he was a peak Deva Realm Cultivator. Anyone else would have died instantly. He was, in all honesty, quite lucky to have survived. That he also killed two of the Three Heavenly Generals was both a testament to his strength and a godsend to their forces. Now they only had to deal with four Deva Realm cultivators.

“You did a good job keeping them occupied for so long, and now the only cultivators who can truly threaten us are Emperor Cì Shā, Xuan Xu, Fēng Yi, and Lì Liàng.”

They were the only remaining Deva Realm cultivators left. Yi Fu had been killed by Hua Xue before the war even began. They were still in great danger. After all, the only Deva Realm cultivator helping her right now was Zhe Fēnglì and Hua Xue, but one of them wasn’t even present right now. That meant only Zhe Fēnglì was available to fight.

Zhe Fēnglì cannot fight all four of them on his own. I need to figure out how we can keep at least two of them from teaming up on him. Yōuměi and I can at least keep Lì Liàng occupied, but we don’t have the strength to defeat him. Without Hua Xue, I’m afraid we won’t be able to fight against them…

“Your Highness, you seem to be having trouble figuring out how to deal with the current threat. If I may make a suggestion…” Húndàn Qie suddenly interrupted her musings. She looked up and gestured for him to speak. “Myself, Teng Qigang, and Yu Chenguang should be able to keep Fēng Yi occupied.”

“Do you think you can beat him?” she asked.

He scoffed. “Your Highness, I do not delude myself into thinking I can beat someone at the Deva Realm. Even if the three of us combine our strength, the most we’ll be able to do is stall him. Zhe Fēnglì will have to defeat the remaining two Deva Realm cultivators and come help us.”

Hou Jingshu looked at Zhe Fēnglì. “What is the strength of Emperor Cì Shā and Xuan Su?”

“Emperor Cì Shā is a peak Deva Realm cultivator like myself. Like me, he’s half a step into the Seeker Realm,” he answered immediately.

“Can you beat him?”

Once more, Zhe Fēnglì did not answer right away. His hesitation proved his lack of confidence more than words could.

“If we were to fight one-on-one, I am confident that I would come out on top, but I will have to fight both him and Xuan Su at the same time. Xuan Su is only at the second subrealm, but fighting against two Deva Realm cultivators will be difficult.”

“In other words, you might not be able to win.”

“Correct.”

Hou Jingshu considered this, then nodded. “What if those three confront Xuan Su for you?” She pointed at Bèipàn Zhě, Hou Gun, and Húndàn Wang. “Do you three think you can hold Xuan Su off long enough for him to defeat Emperor Cì Shā?”

“It would depend on how long he needs us to hold him off for,” Hou Gun confessed. “If it’s just for a little while, we might be able to keep him occupied.”

Hou Gun was only a peak Asura Realm cultivator, but Bèipàn Zhě and Húndàn Wang were both at the Human Limit Realm. Bèipàn Zhě was even a peak Human Limit Realm cultivator. Of course, the difference between the Human Limit Realm and Deva Realm was like light and dark, night and day, heaven and earth. You could not compare one to the other. However, there were people who could fight evenly and even defeat people above their cultivation level. Wu Jian had proven that much, and she hoped they would be able to pull off a similar feat if they worked together.

“We will do what we can,” Húndàn Wang said for the three of them.

“That’s all I ask,” Hou Jingshu replied.