Chapter 155

Ayi sat inside the carriage, the curtain already lifted by Sewu. With her captivating sapphire-like eyes narrowed, she gazed at the ice-bound city ahead, which gleamed with a dazzling and defiant brilliance beneath the sunlight.

Today was the final deadline set for the peace negotiations with the Great Zhou. She had woken up early to wash and dress, her mind alternating between imagining the look of astonishment on Yang Yaozong’s face when he saw her again, and what his expression would be once he learned she was a princess of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

Watching Ayi’s radiant and triumphant demeanor as she prepared herself, Sewu remained calm and asked, "Aren't you worried that Yang Yaozong won't come to the negotiations? Or perhaps that he will arrive late?"

Ayi narrowed her mesmerizing, alluring eyes and chuckled softly, "If he comes, he won't be late—unless the Great Zhou has no desire to negotiate at all. And if they don't want to negotiate, then I will shatter this Yanmen Pass! By then, even if the Great Zhou wants to sue for peace, it will depend entirely on whether I am in the mood!"

Sewu smiled. "So, you just want to see him?"

"See him? Why wouldn't I! Even if I see him, it won't be for the sake of negotiations!" Ayi gave a light, dismissive huff.

"If not for negotiations, then what are you talking about?" Sewu teased further.

Detecting the teasing tone in Sewu’s voice, Ayi was just about to turn around and playfully scuffle with her when Jie Zhilüe's loud voice requested an audience from outside the tent.

It was from Jie Zhilüe that Ayi learned how the Great Zhou soldiers had used a clever ruse the previous night to trick them out of hundreds of thousands of arrows, and how they had already sealed the dilapidated city walls with thick ice. Shocked and amazed, she immediately ordered the carriage prepared, which was why she now appeared at the very front of the formation.

A mere hundred meters away, Ayi spotted Nangong Qingyi standing atop the dazzling city tower. She unconsciously stood up, stepped to the outside of the carriage, and straightened her posture as she looked toward Nangong Qingyi, noticing that the other woman was looking directly back at her.

"As expected of the Great Zhou's female chancellor and military strategist!" Taking in the masterpiece of the ice-bound city and recalling the incident with the arrows from the previous night, Ayi clenched her fists into tight balls while voicing her genuine admiration for Nangong Qingyi.

"It seems they have no intention of negotiating with the Princess," Jie Zhilüe said, standing beside the carriage.

***********

"Why did you run up to the city tower?" Yang Yaozong asked.

Yang Yaozong, along with generals Nangong Zhan, Mu Guodong, and others, had just ascended the city tower, where they found Nangong Qingyi and Mu Qinghan gazing out into the distance beyond the city walls.

Walking over to Nangong Qingyi, Yang Yaozong reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair blown loose by the wind behind her ear. He then cupped her freezing, reddened ear in his warm palm for a moment before pulling the hood of her cloak over her head, saying, "Your injuries haven't fully healed yet—why did you come all the way out here? The wind is much too strong. You should go back to the tent to rest with Miss Mu."

Faced with Yang Yaozong's meticulous attentiveness and the knowing, teasing glances cast their way by the other generals, Nangong Qingyi felt a sudden wave of self-consciousness. Her face flushed a deep, burning crimson, and her mind went entirely blank.

"Qing'er, listen to Yaozong! You and Miss Mu should head back to the tent to rest," Nangong Zhan said kindly.

Before his voice had even faded, a woman's clear cry rang out from beyond the city wall.

"Yang Yaozong! Yang Yaozong!"

Having spotted Yang Yaozong on the ramparts and witnessed every tender gesture he made toward Nangong Qingyi, Ayi suddenly shouted his name, driven by an impulse she couldn't quite explain.

The soldiers of the Great Zhou turned at the sound, looking first toward Ayi and then back at Yang Yaozong.

"Yaozong knows this Turkic woman?" Nangong Zhan asked, frowning slightly.

Upon hearing the Turkic woman call out Yang Yaozong's name, Nangong Qingyi immediately recalled the letter addressed to her and the separate missive sent to her father demanding peace talks. She furrowed her delicate brows, looked at Yang Yaozong, and then turned her gaze back to the Turkic woman standing on the carriage and waving at him. Though she could not make out the woman's facial features clearly, she instinctively sensed that the Turkic woman must be exceptionally beautiful.

Mu Qinghan was similarly reminded of the letter delivered to Nangong Qingyi and the one received by Nangong Zhan. She, too, looked out toward the Turkic woman who was calling out to Yang Yaozong.

Yang Yaozong looked at the Turkic woman waving at him, then turned to Nangong Zhan with a faint smile and said, "Yes, her name is Ayi. She is a Western Turkic woman I met on the road to Shangjing." He frowned slightly as he looked back at Ayi. "I saw her attending the banquet hosted by the Prince of Qin in Shangjing as well. At the time, I simply sensed that her background was extraordinary, but I never expected her to show up here. Does the Marshal happen to know her identity?"

Nangong Zhan shook his head. "Judging solely by the fact that this woman can stand at the very front of the barbarian formation, her status is certainly extraordinary. If my guess is correct, she must be the one who insisted on designating you personally for these negotiations."

Realizing that Ayi must have specifically requested him, Yang Yaozong mused aloud, "Could she perhaps be a princess of the Western Turkic Khaganate?"

Nangong Zhan nodded. "That is entirely possible. Since she already knows you are here, would you like to go and negotiate with her? As for her true identity, no doubt she will reveal it to you once you meet face-to-face."

Noticing that Yang Yaozong had clearly seen her yet chose to ignore her, Ayi assumed it was because Nangong Qingyi was standing right beside him. Chagrined and annoyed, she muttered under her breath, "Coward!" She then gave a few brief instructions to Jie Zhilüe, who immediately spurred his horse and galloped toward the rear of the formation.

"What is that?" A soldier suddenly pointed as two horse-drawn carriages emerged from behind the barbarian ranks, hauling bulky objects of some sort.

Yang Yaozong pulled out his spyglass, peered at the two carriages through the lens, and cried out in alarm, "Artillery!"

He quickly handed the spyglass to Nangong Zhan. After examining the scene intently for a moment, Nangong Zhan handed the instrument back to Yang Yaozong, frowning deeply. "Indeed, it is artillery! No wonder the wording in that demand for negotiations was so arrogant."

Noticing that Nangong Qingyi and Mu Qinghan, standing near the generals, were both looking curiously at the spyglass in his hand, Yang Yaozong briefly explained how the device worked. He then handed the spyglass to Nangong Qingyi and said, "I brought this as a gift for you. Try using it."

Nangong Qingyi had already been astonished upon hearing a description of the spyglass's capabilities, and hearing that it was a gift meant specifically for her filled her with delight. Taking the instrument, she peered through the lens at the two carriages in the distance, then deliberately shifted her view toward the Turkic woman. Upon finally seeing the woman's face clearly, she could not help but sigh inwardly: *What a bewitching Turkic woman!*

Lowering the spyglass and pushing aside her stray thoughts, Nangong Qingyi said, "For the longest time, the reason the barbarians could never breach Yanmen Pass or set foot in the Central Plains was largely because they lacked siege weapons of such devastating power as artillery. Now that they possess cannons, it seems an outside-the-pass battle with them is unavoidable. However, I am most curious about where they managed to obtain such artillery. The Turks themselves shouldn't possess the technology to manufacture them."

Yang Yaozong fell silent for a moment before saying gravely, "It must be the Prince of Qin! When I was in Shangjing, I heard rumors that the Prince of Qin had reached an agreement with the Turks. This artillery is likely part of the pact they struck."

Watching as the artillery pieces were being set into position, Nangong Qingyi gave a cold huff. "She is forcing you to negotiate with her."

Yang Yaozong smiled wryly. "Then let us negotiate. I, too, would like to see what she wants to talk about."
*(To be continued.)*