Chapter 351: Chapter 351: To Be a General
Ye Yunfeng was bewildered. "There’s another way? Where is it?"
He had spent the last half a month poring over that sand table every day. He already knew the terrain around Tongtian Pass like the back of his hand—every stream and every grove of trees.
After racking his brain, he had only been able to come up with the single solution he’d just mentioned. But now, his sister was saying there was another way?
Ye Yunfeng quickly replayed the scenario in his mind before speaking hesitantly. "Sister, forgive my ignorance, but I truly can’t imagine a second path at Tongtian Pass that would have allowed them to break through."
But Ye Chutang just shook her head softly and tapped her own heart.
"This path isn’t on the sand table. It’s in here—the heart."
"The heart?" Ye Yunfeng was even more confused. "Sister, what do you mean?"
Ye Chutang watched him, her gaze serene. Her eyes were like the deepest obsidian, tranquil yet glittering.
She said,
"General Huo led an army of eighty thousand, giving him the advantage in numbers. Even if he wasn’t as familiar with the terrain as the enemy and they seized the initiative, his entire army shouldn’t have been wiped out so quickly. Even if they had dug in for a desperate last stand, they could have held out for some time. But in reality, once they realized they were trapped, their ranks quickly fell into disarray. That’s why they collapsed and were so easily annihilated."
Ye Yunfeng pressed his lips together tightly, saying nothing.
Though he hadn’t been there to witness the battle himself, he knew his sister was right.
When news of the defeat arrived, the entire nation was in an uproar. No one could have imagined that Huo Yucheng, a man of countless victories, would meet such a disastrous end at Tongtian Pass.
That was why Your Majesty later became enraged and had his entire clan executed.
Ye Chutang said, "General Huo’s career was the stuff of legend; he was truly a great general of his time. But he had one fatal flaw—arrogance."
Something stirred in Ye Yunfeng’s heart, and he couldn’t help but look up at her.
Night had fallen, and only two candles were lit in the room.
The dim, yellow light fell on her delicate, porcelain-white face. In the depths of her dark, tranquil eyes, a fire seemed to dance.
"He certainly had the right to be proud, but for a general, pride is also the greatest taboo. You understand the principle that what is too unyielding is easily broken. The first half of his life went too smoothly. As a result, in the battle of Tongtian Pass, he possessed none of the key advantages—favorable timing, advantageous terrain, or unified morale—and was swiftly defeated."
Ye Chutang’s tone remained calm, but Ye Yunfeng could faintly hear the surging undercurrent beneath it!
"If he had stabilized his ranks, shored up his army’s morale, and commanded his men as if they were his own limbs, he might have been able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."
The air in the room seemed to freeze. Only the candle flame danced, and with a POP, a spark flared from the wick.
Ye Yunfeng’s heart leaped along with it.
Ye Chutang suddenly asked, "A Feng, do you know what the most formidable army in the world is like?"
Ye Yunfeng was stunned for a moment, then frowned in deep thought.
"...General Huo’s? Duke Dingbei’s? Or perhaps... King Yan Nan’s men?"
Ye Chutang shook her head.
"An army led as if it were a single man, where all are of one heart and one mind—that is an army that is truly invincible!"
Ye Yunfeng finally understood. A look of shock crossed his face, and he spoke in disbelief. "Sister, are you saying... that during that battle, there were internal problems on General Huo’s side!?"
"I never said that."
Ye Chutang looked at him, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"I am simply telling you the first principle from the Military Book that I intend to teach you."
"Disorder is born from order, cowardice from courage, and weakness from strength. Whether there is order or disorder depends on formation and numbers; whether there is courage or cowardice depends on momentum and circumstance; whether there is strength or weakness depends on disposition and form."
"If you become a general one day, with the lives of countless soldiers in your hands, you must be both courageous and resolute."
Ye Yunfeng’s spirit was stirred, and something seemed to surge wildly in his chest.
In the flickering candlelight, her elegant face was peerless.
She said with a smile,
"And I will be proud of you."
...
The men from Shuntian Prefecture left, taking with them Mrs. Gao’s body and the maid who had been attending to her.
The entire courtyard fell quiet once more, but this silence carried a strange, deathly chill.
Someone had suddenly died—by hanging, no less—and in such a gruesome manner. No one could possibly sleep soundly tonight.
Mrs. Gao’s room was sealed, and no one dared take a single step near it.
Shaoyao had fetched a basin of hot water and was heading to Ye Shixian’s room when she heard two servants complaining in low voices around a corner.
"...We’ve got the worst luck! How’d we get mixed up in this mess? It was bad enough getting kicked out, but we just get settled in this place, and now this happens! I mean, the mistress was fine. Why would she suddenly go and kill herself?"
"Right? With her temper, you’d think she’d be the one hanging other people. How could she bring herself to do it to herself?"
"I think she just went mad! First their home was confiscated, and then she lost her son. Who could endure that?"
"Hey, did you see it? Her tongue was sticking all the way out! It was horrifying! I heard people who die like that become vengeful ghosts. You don’t think she’ll come back to reap our souls, do you...?"
"What nonsense are you talking!" The other servant was clearly a little scared too. "We haven’t done anything wrong, so we have nothing to fear from ghosts at our door! If she’s coming back for revenge, she’ll go after the people she had a grudge against... Ah! Sister Shaoyao, what are you doing here?"
The servant jumped in fright, startled by Shaoyao, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
A figure appearing so silently in the middle of the night—especially after someone had just died here earlier—was absolutely terrifying!
Shaoyao’s expression was grim. "I told you to get to work, and here you are, slacking off!"
The two of them hurriedly apologized. "We were wrong! Please, Sister Shaoyao, don’t tell the Eldest Miss!"
They had nowhere else to go. Here, with Murong Ye, they could at least eat. If they were kicked out, then—
Shaoyao was still holding the basin and couldn’t delay, so she just scolded them. "If this happens again, I won’t be so lenient!"
With that, she turned and left.
The two servants breathed a long sigh of relief. Not daring to gossip any further, they quickly went back to their duties.
Shaoyao walked toward the lit room, but her mind was elsewhere, constantly replaying the two servants’ words.
A cold gust of wind blew past, and the hair on her arms stood on end. She spun around immediately!
"Who’s there!?"
There was no one behind her.
But the fear in Shaoyao’s heart only grew. She quickened her pace unconsciously, breaking into a near run by the end.
"My Lady!"
She burst into the room in a panic, startling Ye Shixian.
Her surprise quickly turned to anger.
"What are you doing, rushing in here in such a panic!"
A little water splashed from the basin in Shaoyao’s hands, instantly scalding her hands red.
But she didn’t dare say a word, only biting her lip and admitting her fault. "Forgive me, My Lady. I... I was reckless."
Ye Shixian had been crying all day. Her face was still stained with tears and her eyes were red and swollen, yet her gaze was fierce, giving her a strangely harsh look.
"Useless thing!"
She walked up to Shaoyao and ordered her to put the basin down and wet a handkerchief.
The white handkerchief softened and unfurled in the water.
A sharp pain shot through Ye Shixian’s mind. She slowly turned her head to look at Shaoyao.
"Shaoyao, how long have you been with me?"
