The marching troops couldn’t help but stop and look towards the carriage. A pair of hands delicate as jade swiftly lifted the brocade curtains. Zhou Min, with a solemn gaze, looked towards the slowly advancing procession and, despite sounding weary, spoke with determination, “Who here is in charge? Summon them to see me at once!”

Qingqiu saw Zhou Min’s expression and nodded without hesitation, immediately making it so.

A moment later, a young man with a resolute face and dressed in a striking blue military uniform rode up on his horse. He dismounted before Zhou Min’s carriage and approached her, saying, “I am the Right General under the Marshal, my surname is Yuan. May I know what orders the princess has?”

General Yuan, who had been stationed at the border year-round and focused solely on military life, had heard rumours about Zhou Min but didn’t take them to heart. In their minds, they held absolute worship for Zhou Zijun, who led them to victory, and thus, they would not neglect Zhou Min, as per Zhou Zijun’s strict instructions to take good care of her.

“This is too slow. Please, Lieutenant General, select a team of elite and accompany me on a shortcut,” Zhou Min instructed Qingqiu to dismiss the attendants and then spoke decisively.

“Princess, you shouldn’t. Your wounds are severe. The doctor at the inn said you should not overexert yourself, or even if you recover, you will suffer from chronic exhaustion and won’t live to see a ripe old age. And moreover…” General Yuan began with concern but stopped short as he saw the sharp brightness in Zhou Min’s dark pupils, showing no sign of fatigue.

“Just follow my orders. I will bear all consequences,” Zhou Min cut in.

General Yuan was reluctant to carry out Zhou Min’s command, but her last whispered phrase by his ear made him stiffen, his expression turning grave, “Princess, are you aware that spreading rumours warrants martial law?”

“I am a princess of the Zhou nation. I understand our laws better than you do!” Zhou Min retorted.

Seeing this, Lieutenant General Yuan wasted no more time and immediately went to make arrangements.

Zhou Min signalled Qingqiu to get into the carriage, and Qingqiu changed into Zhou Min’s clothes to sit inside. Zhou Min stepped out of the carriage, catching Lieutenant General Yuan’s eye with her slender figure emanating an aura of elegance and intelligence, her noble attire enhancing her innate grace and beauty.

Such a captivating presence caused many soldiers to look back in awe, silently marvelling at the presence of such a beautiful youth among them. General Yuan watched her intensely, having always known of the Zhou princess’s unmatched beauty, now up close, he understood the meaning of a nation-toppling beauty.

“Can the princess ride?” he asked.

Zhou Min gave a slight smile and gracefully mounted the horse, although only she knew that her wound felt like it was about to reopen.

Enduring the discomfort from her injury, Zhou Min looked back at Qingqiu, who had lifted the carriage curtain, “Follow behind without being noticed.”

“Be careful, Princess!” Qingqiu called out.

Zhou Min nodded in appreciation. Despite her fear, she relied on Qingqiu, who executed her orders without question, perhaps worthy of cultivation.

General Yuan glanced at Zhou Min and the person in the carriage, then turned to address the soldiers with authority, “All soldiers, heed my command. I shall scout ahead with the elite troops. The remaining soldiers led by Deputy Marshal Ma must protect the princess at all costs. The vanguard will advance at full speed, and upon the princess’s safe arrival, rewards will be given. Any deserters will face military law.”

With a firm and uncompromising speech, the troops felt a chill but were also invigorated. At General Yuan’s command, the army moved out swiftly.

As the vanguard moved away, Zhou Min and General Yuan rode ahead on the shortcut, followed closely by a team of elite soldiers.

“If what the princess says is true, do you have a plan?” General Yuan, riding alongside Zhou Min, was puzzled by her strategy and asked.

Zhou Min’s expression darkened with worry, “The battle ahead is critical. Although the fate of my second brother is unknown, it appears Zhou has indeed lost two princes, and we cannot afford any mishap with my third brother. The latest intelligence I received when I was captured by the Emperor of Qi was accidentally overhearing his plans, so we must intercept my third brother before he leads his troops out!”

Zhou Min had never heard such a secret of Qi, as it would have been impossible in such a short time, but General Yuan did not know this. He only knew that he had been rescued from the Emperor of Qi by his third brother, so he did not doubt the secret’s existence, considering its broad implications.

As for the so-called intelligence, it was from her previous life when the fall of Zhou began with the third prince being ambushed on the 23rd day of the Zhou calendar, leading to the entire army’s defeat and his death under enemy trickery.

The loss of Yancheng created a breach in Zhou, allowing Qi to invade from the south like a hot knife through butter, capturing city after city without resistance, as if Qi had the blueprints to all of Zhou’s military defences, catching them completely off guard until they were at the gates of the capital. In less than a month, the grand Zhou nation fell to the doorstep of Qi.

Reflecting back on her previous life, after returning to the palace, all that awaited Zhou Min were the bodies of her relatives. The deaths of her brothers, her mother, and the consecutive shocks left Zhou Min no time to wonder how, just days after receiving news of her third brother’s death in battle, Qi’s army could advance southward so swiftly.

Zhou was a nation with a million soldiers; it was inconceivable to Zhou Min that they could not mount even a slight resistance and let their country fall so tragically to another.

Now, contemplating it all, Zhou Min felt a massive conspiracy lurking overhead, an inescapable shadow.

The face of her father, the last person Zhou Min wanted to suspect, flashed through her mind. Yet, the events of this life, the people she met, the things she knew, all pointed to one person.

“There’s no need for the princess to trouble herself. I can go alone; riding is too strenuous, and you are injured,” General Yuan said instinctively, an urgency in his voice.