Chapter 98: New Schemes Rise Again in the Enemy Camp, and the Heroine Faces Them with Bold Resolve

A new plot emerged in the enemy camp, and Lin Shiya met it with fearless resolve.

Within the enemy commanders’ tent, the thick stench of medicinal herbs was laced with a trace of blood, nauseating in its heaviness. A dim oil lamp flickered and threw its light across the chanyu’s hideous face, making him all the more terrifying.

The black-clad figure still knelt in the shadows, his form swallowed by darkness, only those crimson eyes glinting with an unnerving light in the gloom.

A secret weapon?

Hidden outside the tent, Lin Shiya held her breath and took in every word of their conversation.

Her heart sank at once, a chill racing from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.

The enemy nation’s new scheme was even more terrifying than she had imagined.

She had to uncover at once what this so-called secret weapon truly was.

A few days later, Lin Shiya disguised herself and slipped into the enemy army’s hidden training ground.

What she saw there stunned her: a group of soldiers, their faces contorted with ferocity, their eyes burning with madness, wielding a kind of weapon she had never seen before as they underwent brutal training.

The weapon was oddly shaped, entirely black, and gave off the cold sheen of metal.

Lin Shiya witnessed its power with her own eyes. A massive boulder was reduced to dust in an instant under its strike.

Her expression grew grave, and the atmosphere along the frontier turned heavy in turn, the air thick with tension and unease.

The soldiers sensed the looming threat, and each man feared for his own safety.

When the news reached General Yang, he flew into a rage and slammed his fist down on the table so hard that the teacups jumped.

“How outrageous! Those savages dare to be so insolent!” he roared, face flushed red, veins standing out on his temples.

He strode forward in great steps and stopped before Lin Shiya. “My lord, I beg permission to take the field. We must wipe out this enemy force completely!”

Deputy General Li stepped forward to object. “General, absolutely not! The enemy’s strength is unclear. To rush into battle now would only play into their hands!” His tone was calm, yet his eyes held a hint of provocation.

General Yang glared at him. “Deputy General Li, you are only inflating the enemy’s arrogance and crushing our own spirit! How could the warriors of Great Zhou be frightened by such savages?”

“General, I am not afraid. It is only that...”

“Enough!” Lin Shiya cut off their quarrel. Her gaze was deep, as though it could see through all things. “This matter—” She paused.

She raised a hand, signaling for silence. At once, the tent fell still, and every gaze turned to her.

“I understand General Yang’s desire to seek battle. But with the enemy’s intentions still unclear, to charge forward rashly would be unwise.” Her voice was steady, her eyes firm.

“I have decided to send elite scouts to infiltrate the enemy camp first, learn the true situation, and then make our judgment.”

Though General Yang was unwilling to yield, he still trusted Lin Shiya’s judgment deeply.

He cupped his fists and accepted the order. “This general obeys!”

The others in the tent also nodded silently, agreeing with Lin Shiya’s caution, though they could not help wondering what plan she was truly hatching.

Meanwhile, far away in the capital, the atmosphere in the imperial court was taut as a drawn bow.

Minister He, dressed in a crimson official robe, stood at the center of the hall and eloquently laid out the case for peace.

“Your Majesty, after years of war the treasury is depleted, and the common people are living in misery. Now that the enemy nation advances menacingly, our forces should not meet them head-on. Peace is the treasure by which the realm may be preserved in safety.”

His words drew the sympathy of a portion of the court, and many officials echoed his sentiments.

The hawks, however, burned with righteous anger and condemned Minister He for cowardice, for exalting the enemy and disparaging their own.

The two factions would not yield. The court was in uproar, the clamor deafening as though a cauldron had been overturned.

The emperor sat upon the dragon throne, his face dark, saying nothing.

On the frontier, night fell, and the cold wind howled.

Lin Shiya stood atop the city wall, gazing into the pitch-black sky in the distance, her thoughts in turmoil.

Far off, the scattered lights of the enemy camp glittered like stars in the night sky, yet they also seemed like beasts lurking in the dark, ready to bare their fangs at any moment.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed by and dropped before Lin Shiya, kneeling on one knee.

“My lord, scout reports say the enemy’s secret weapon has already been deployed and may launch an attack at any time!” The scout’s voice was hurried and trembling.

Lin Shiya drew a deep breath. “Issue the order at once: the entire army is to remain on alert and prepare for battle!” Her voice was cold and resolute, cutting clearly through the biting wind.

The trumpet call split the night sky, and the fire of war on the frontier was ready to erupt at any moment.

Lin Shiya looked into the distance and said in a low voice, “The real performance has only just begun.”

Banners snapped in the wind, and victory songs rang out.

Clad in battle armor, Lin Shiya returned to the capital to the beat of triumphal drums.

In the imperial hall, she presented the emperor with the first victory at the frontier, along with a detailed analysis of the war. Her clear, ringing voice echoed through the chamber. “Your Majesty, I believe this battle, though won, is not a long-term solution. The enemy nation is full of cunning, and the appearance of this secret weapon is proof enough. If we do not press our advantage and utterly break their forces, endless trouble will follow!”

She unfolded a map and pointed toward the enemy border. “This probing attack was meant to test our strength. If our army shows weakness, they will only grow more reckless, and by then the border people will be plunged into misery and suffering!” Her gaze was like a torch as it swept over the ministers. “Minister He, you speak again and again of peace. Have you considered that endless retreat will only embolden the enemy, until at last it drives Great Zhou into a desperate corner?”

Minister He turned deathly pale. His lips trembled, yet he could not refute her.

Each of Lin Shiya’s words struck him like a sharpened blade, piercing straight into his pain.

He stammered, cold sweat beading on his forehead, and at last could only sink down in defeat, no longer daring to speak.

The emperor was overjoyed and nodded in praise. “What Minister Lin says is entirely right! Is Great Zhou to be butchered at another’s mercy? Convey my decree: reinforce the frontier at once, and be sure to crush the enemy completely!”

The hawkish ministers were roused to great spirit and cried out one after another, “Your Majesty is wise!”

Their voices rose in a tide, drowning the peace faction entirely.

Yet the situation at the frontier was far from optimistic.

Seeing that the enemy had become wary, the chanyu grew furious and humiliated. He dispatched that special unit armed with the secret weapon to launch a ferocious assault on the frontier.

In the black night, flames soared into the sky.

The enemy’s new weapon was astonishingly powerful, slashing through the darkness like black lightning and releasing a thunderous roar that shook the heavens.

The city wall trembled beneath the violent assault. Bricks shattered, and dust flew in all directions.

Though our soldiers fought bravely, they could hardly withstand the attack of this unprecedented weapon.

Cries of agony, explosions, and the clash of arms intertwined into a tragic symphony of war.

Blood stained the earth red, and the air reeked heavily of gore.

One defender after another fell, and the breaches in the city wall grew wider and wider.

The enemy surged forward like a tidal wave, and it seemed the gates would soon be broken.

Lin Shiya stood on the wall, frowning tightly at the slaughter before her.

She could clearly feel the wall trembling beneath her feet, hear the soldiers’ anguished cries, and smell the blood thick in the air.

“My lord, the enemy’s assault is too fierce. We can barely hold on!” A soldier drenched in blood staggered to Lin Shiya’s side and cried out in panic.

Lin Shiya drew a steady breath. Looking toward the enemy formation in the distance, where a strange glow flickered around a massive weapon, she murmured, “It is time...”

Her gaze sharpened, and she gave the order at once. “Pass the command: shield troops forward, form a defensive array! Archers, prepare fire arrows and aim for the energy core of the enemy’s secret weapon!”

Heavy shields rose like an iron wall before the city ramparts, while fire arrows rained down upon the enemy weapon.

Explosions rang out one after another, and the blaze reddened half the sky.

Under the fierce assault, the enemy’s secret weapon finally ceased functioning with a tremendous roar and collapsed uselessly to the ground.

The enemy ranks fell into chaos, and their attack weakened at once.

Seizing the moment, Lin Shiya commanded the soldiers to counterattack.

Drums thundered, and war cries shook the heavens.

The warriors of Great Zhou descended like tigers from the mountain, unstoppable in their fury, cutting the enemy down until armor and weapons were abandoned in the mud and their formations shattered completely.

The enemy chanyu stood on a distant rise, watching his defeated army with a livid face.

He had never imagined that the secret weapon he had prepared with such care would be broken so easily.

He struck the tree beside him with vicious force and spat out through clenched teeth, “Lin Shiya, I will remember you!”

On the city wall, Lin Shiya watched the retreating enemy and a faint, cold smile touched her lips.

She knew this war had only just begun.

On the road back in triumph, the soldiers looked upon Lin Shiya with eyes full of admiration.

They had witnessed her command and courage with their own eyes, and their hearts were filled with awe and gratitude.

“Minister Lin is truly miraculous, knowing everything before it happens!” a young soldier said excitedly.

“Yes. If not for Minister Lin, we might have already...” another soldier said with lingering fear.

Lin Shiya listened to the soldiers’ chatter, yet felt no ease within her heart.

Something was still wrong. The victory had come too easily, and the chanyu’s reaction had been far too calm.

After returning to her tent, Lin Shiya carefully pondered all that had recently happened.

Suddenly, she remembered a covert letter intercepted earlier, one that mentioned a mysterious organization and a far greater conspiracy.

She sprang to her feet and walked to the map. Her eyes settled on an inconspicuous small kingdom, and her expression turned grave.

“Someone come!” she called sharply.

A guard entered at once. “What are your orders, my lord?”

Pointing to that small kingdom on the map, Lin Shiya said in a low voice, “Send people immediately to investigate what is happening there, especially...”

She paused. “Any unusual troop movements of late.”

The guard accepted the order and withdrew, and the tent returned to silence.

Standing before the map and gazing into the distance, Lin Shiya felt it clearly: a much greater storm was about to arrive...

In the capital, within the imperial hall, the emperor was hearing the ministers’ reports.

The atmosphere in court was extraordinarily heavy, each face etched with worry.

“Your Majesty, word has come from the frontier that the enemy nation seems to be colluding with other powers and preparing to wage a much larger war against us,” one minister said in a trembling voice.

The emperor’s face was dark. He said nothing.

The entire hall seemed shrouded in invisible pressure, so suffocating that one could hardly breathe.

Lin Shiya stood outside the hall, listening to the news from within, her brow tightly furrowed.

She looked up at the leaden sky and murmured, “The weather is about to change...”