“Don’t worry, everyone.” Yinan patted the Fat Pig Noble on the shoulder. “It won’t take more than a few days to take them down!”
“Then we’ll be waiting for Baron Yinan’s victory news…” Neve replied with an indifferent tone, then turned and left.
Once Neve was gone, the place turned into a nobles’ banquet. Fine wine and delicacies were brought to the tables, and the nobles feasted heartily with their maids in their arms.
Some nobles even began performing in the center of the camp.
Yinan ignored it all, drinking glass after glass, completely unmoved by the spectacle before him.
Well, perhaps not completely unaffected…
When he returned to his own quarters… Outside the tent, the Violet Female Soldiers overheard a shocking conversation…
Heavens! That foreign noble lady, isn’t she several years older than the Lord himself!? And he can still say such things?
[Ailin Xue Loyalty 58% – Hatred Directed]
At four in the morning, the noises finally quieted down. Yinan dressed himself and stepped outside, immediately sounding the horn!
The sharp blast echoed through the silent night sky, startling the birds resting in the nearby trees.
The nobles were also awakened… An ambush!? That bastard didn’t discuss a single thing with us last night!?
But they could only hurry to gather their own soldiers and follow Yinan’s army toward Zijin City.
As the troops, taking advantage of the darkness, crept towards the city gates of Zijin City, they were suddenly showered by volleys of arrows!
Yinan was slightly taken aback by this.
“Milord, it’s an ambush!” a soldier cried out in panic.
Yinan quickly steadied himself and shouted, “Shield bearers, advance and cover! Archers, return fire!”
In an instant, cries of battle and screams of agony filled the air.
“Soldiers!” Ron shouted from atop his warhorse, “Charge with me!”
The gates of Zijin City swung open abruptly, and the cavalry, already prepared, poured out like a flood, charging straight at Yinan’s forces.
The thunder of hooves shattered the night’s silence.
“Hold your ground, spearmen prepare, resist the cavalry!” Yinan ordered calmly, his tone unhurried, as if he even had time to flirt with Ailin Xue—he looked every bit the decadent noble.
Ron, though prepared, still failed to gain any advantage and was forced to retreat in frustration…
From the first moment he saw Yinan, he had a bad feeling. If he didn’t eliminate this man, he would bring him ruin.
Otherwise, why would he launch so many attacks…
He didn’t know if this feeling was accurate, but recently his right eyelid kept twitching.
Yinan headed to Neve’s quarters, and a few minutes later, he came out and returned to his own tent to find his newly acknowledged ‘goddaughter’.
It was evening before Yinan finally emerged from his quarters, his neck still marked with red stains, looking every bit the playboy.
When he entered the tent, he immediately noticed that the nobles’ faces were rather unpleasant!
Especially the Fat Pig Noble, who was extremely dissatisfied—though they had gained some ground in the battle, most of the dead were his own family’s soldiers!
“Lord Yinan, please tell me, why,” the Fat Pig Noble mustered his courage and questioned Yinan angrily, “why were our family’s soldiers killed and wounded so heavily, while your troops didn’t move at all and never entered the fight?”
“Is there something you’re dissatisfied with?” Yinan stroked the sword at his waist, reminding everyone of the events at the previous night’s banquet…
The Fat Pig Noble’s face turned instantly pale, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
“Lord Yinan, at this rate… the losses are devastating, shouldn’t you send in your Personal Guard Unit as well, to boost morale?”
Yinan’s eyes grew cold as he stared at the Fat Pig Noble, a half-smile on his face. “Devastating losses? Since when is there a war without deaths? Are you questioning the Commander-in-Chief’s command?”
The Fat Pig Noble could only look to Neve, hoping the real authority would speak up for him. After all, in this war, Neve was the true power—Yinan was just her pawn.
Neve frowned, about to speak, but Yinan cut her off.
“The Violet Watch is my trump card. How can it be used so lightly? Or do you think I can’t bear to sacrifice my own men and deliberately send you all to your deaths?”
Yinan withdrew his hand from his sword and instead took out a dagger, playing with it, his gaze cold and sharp as he stared at the gang of thieves…
A baron acting so arrogantly in front of so many viscounts—though all present were displeased, they feared Yinan’s ruthlessness and dared not speak out.
Neve’s anger burned hotter and hotter. She knew she had to rein in Yinan’s arrogance. “Baron Yinan, you have your plans, and I trust you in that. But you flirted with a woman on the battlefield—do you think this is your own balcony or kitchen!?”
“Indeed… As the Commander-in-Chief, your every move concerns the fate of this war, yet you were intimate with a woman on the battlefield. What will the soldiers think?”
“How can you expect the troops to risk their lives for us wholeheartedly?!”
Several other nobles also stepped forward to accuse Yinan, and a few more prepared to kick him while he was down.
Bang!
Yinan suddenly slammed the dagger into the table, the clash of metal and wood resounding through the tent!
Everyone present shuddered involuntarily…
“You have no right to tell me how to do things!” Yinan kicked over the table. “A bunch of useless drunks and gluttons, and you dare talk to me about war!?”
Neve’s face darkened. This bastard had even insulted her!
“Yinan, you’re out of line! You’re only the Commander-in-Chief because I put you there. Do you really think you hold all the power now? If it weren’t for your abilities, with what you just said, I could dismiss you right now!”
Yinan stood up, drawing his sword, the cold blade gleaming in the tent. “Dismiss me? Hmph, you think without me, you lot could take Zijin City? Fine, let’s each fight our own battles!”
The atmosphere in the tent instantly froze. Yinan had drawn his sword; Neve trembled with fury, while the other nobles turned pale with fear, not daring to breathe.
Yinan left after throwing out those words, leaving the nobles staring helplessly at one another…
At the same time, Ron leapt out of bed and began hurriedly putting on his armor.
“Brother…” Isabella, awakened by the sound of clashing metal, rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Where are you going…?”
Ron turned around, looking at Isabella, his eyes full of tenderness and resolve.