On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Murong Yan slowly turned around and looked at the veteran with a calm gaze, her eyes without a trace of emotion. "The common people? They should have expected this day when they chose to stay in King Qi's city."

She flicked her wide, bell-shaped sleeves. "Either open the city and surrender, or die with it. There is no third way."

The old general was silent and dared not say anything more.

"As for the reinforcements..." Murong Yan turned her gaze to the Black Water Valley on the sand table. "Let them in. When they're almost at the city and see hope..." She paused, tapping her black jade ring on the sand table's valley exit. "'Thunder God Camp,' seal the valley entrance for me. I want them to see the city, but not enter."

Surround the place to call for help!

And they wanted to annihilate the defenders right in front of them! How cruel and calculating!

The generals obeyed the order solemnly, their eyes filled with awe and fear.

In the next few days, Tiebi City turned into a real hell on earth.

After the Yinma River was poisoned, serious problems immediately arose with the drinking water supply for the military and civilians in the city. Despite efforts to purify the water, people continued to vomit, suffer from diarrhea, and even die, and panic spread rapidly.

Outside the city, the Qian army was not in a hurry to attack. Instead, they used powerful catapults to shoot rotten animal carcasses, clothes of plague patients, and documents of persuasion (or more precisely, intimidation) into the city day and night, waging a cruel psychological warfare.

But when the 20,000 cavalry reinforcements that the King of Qi had high hopes for finally appeared on the horizon, the defenders in the city cheered, thinking that there was a chance of survival, but the nightmare really began.

The "Thor Cannon" that the Qian army had been lying in ambush on the side let out an earth-shaking roar!

The shells did not directly attack the cavalry formation, but accurately bombarded the mountains on both sides of the Black Water Valley!

Huge rocks collapsed, and mud and sand came down, instantly blocking the valley entrance!

The vanguard of the reinforcements tried to charge, but encountered the Qian army's strong bows and crossbows and the mysterious "Iron Caltrop Formation" that had been prepared for battle. They suffered heavy casualties and could not get close to the city at all!

The defenders on the city walls watched helplessly as their reinforcements were slaughtered and buried alive just a stone's throw away. Hope instantly turned to deeper despair! Morale completely collapsed!

King Gao Zhan of Qi was in the Linzi Palace when he received a series of urgent reports that the water supply to Tiebi City had been cut off, reinforcements were blocked, plague was rampant in the city, and the morale of the army was low. His initial disdain and forced arrogance had long since disappeared, replaced by an increasingly deep sense of shock, fear, and powerlessness!

He smashed countless treasures and angrily killed several eunuchs who reported the bad news, but he could not change the fact that the front line was defeated.

Murong Yan's methods are cruel, precise, and completely disregard any morality and cost. She is not a normal opponent at all, but a vengeful demon crawling out of hell!

On this day, on Fengxiang Terrace, the autumn wind was even colder. Murong Yan still stood at the edge of the terrace, listening to the latest battle reports: cannibalism had occurred within Tiebi City. The defenders had repeatedly sent out death squads to break out and seek help, but they were all shot and killed, their heads thrown back into the city by catapults.

"The King of Qi shouldn't be drinking right now..." Murong Yan muttered to herself, her voice tinged with a hint of pleasant coldness. "Is he throwing things around? Or is he killing those useless bastards around him?"

She slowly turned around and faced the sand table.

Wuzhang's tail slithered behind her. She walked to the sand table and looked at the model representing the Iron Wall City, which was surrounded by scarlet flags.

"It's time to give them the final blow." She stretched out her hand wearing the black jade ring and gently pulled out the small flag representing the dragon flag of Qi State on the model.

"Orders," she said in a clear and cold voice, "gather the heads of all the captured Qi reinforcements and generals, as well as those who died seeking help. Build a 'viewing platform' at the foot of the city."

"Choose another hundred soldiers with loud voices and have them shout at the city walls day and night." The cruel curve at the corner of her mouth deepened. "As for the content, tell us how the King of Qi is enjoying peace and prosperity in Linzi and how he is ready to abandon them..."

"I will let them rot slowly in despair."

The order was given as if it were a death sentence.

That night, under the iron-walled city, an extremely terrifying "Jingguan" made of hundreds of bloody human heads stood up under the light of torches!

The soldiers of the Qian army shouted in Qi dialect at the top of their lungs about the "ruthlessness" of the King of Qi and Murong Yan's "ultimatum" - if the city was not opened by noon the next day, they would be massacred for three days!

On the city walls, the defenders' willpower completely collapsed. That night, a riot broke out in the city, and the defending general was killed in the chaos.

At dawn the next day, the city gates slowly opened, and the remaining defenders and civilians prostrated themselves on the ground to welcome their conquerors.

Murong Yan did not enter the city in person.

She just stood on Fengxiang Terrace, looking at the lifeless city from afar, with no joy or sadness on her face.

The autumn wind blew up to the platform, carrying a strong smell of blood and burnt food.

She frowned slightly and looked down at the dust on the edge of her "Divine Phoenix Dress".

"It's dirty." She said softly, with real disgust in her tone, as if the lives of tens of thousands of people under her feet were far less important than a stain on her skirt.

She turned around, ready to leave this place filled with the breath of death. The moment she turned around——

The action was filled with the determination and a hint of impatience of a winner!

The light and elegant five-meter-long Su Jin train was suddenly lifted up by the sudden turn, and the huge dark golden skirt spread out like the wings of a triumphant phoenix, sweeping across the rammed earth with a swish, rolling up some dead grass and dust!

As the hem of the skirt suddenly floated up, it suddenly revealed the gorgeous lining inside. It was made of the same dark black Su brocade as the base, but with more brilliant and dazzling red gold thread, with the ultimate craftsmanship of "weaving gold all over the ground", and was embroidered with hundreds of phoenixes facing the sun, lotus patterns and patterns of longevity and blessings!

The golden phoenix and floral patterns on the lining suddenly flashed in the dim autumn sky. The golden light was dazzling and gorgeous to the extreme, as if it was the cold and cruel dawn of victory that suddenly rose above the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was noble, dazzling, and carried the ruthless meaning of crushing all mercy!

The skirt falls down, and the brilliance is restrained.

Murong Yan walked towards the phoenix chariot parked nearby.

Lin Zhen followed silently.

Before she boarded the Phoenix Chariot, she paused slightly, without looking back, and gave a calm instruction to the general standing respectfully beside her: "Clean it up. I don't like the smell."

Returning to the temporary bedroom which was as warm as spring, Murong Yan dismissed all the palace servants.

The candlelight in the hall was soft and the incense was curling, trying to dispel the bloody and murderous aura she brought from outside.

She walked to the huge glass mirror and looked quietly at her own "divine phoenix dress" in the mirror. It was still gorgeous, but seemed to be lingering with invisible blood.

Lin Zhen followed in silently and stood not far behind her.

Murong Yan looked at his silent figure in the mirror for a long time. Suddenly, she turned around and walked towards him step by step.

She raised her head and looked straight into his eyes. There was fatigue and depth in them, but there was no fear of her.

"Hold me." She ordered softly, with a barely perceptible hint of emptiness and weariness after victory in her voice.

Lin Zhen was slightly startled, then without hesitation, he stretched out his arms and hugged her tightly. His movements were a little stiff, but extremely firm.

The dark light armor fits tightly against her dark gold Su Jin nightgown, and the cold metal and soft cotton create a strange touch.

Murong Yan seemed to finally relax.

She buried her face deep in the crook of his neck, wrapped her arms around his strong back, and let her wide flared sleeves fall over his cloak.

Part of her five-meter-long tail naturally wrapped around his legs. She seemed to be embedding herself into his body.

Lin Zhen could clearly feel the slight chill and trembling of her body, and could smell the faint smell of blood beneath the cold plum fragrance in her hair.

He didn't say anything, but just tightened his arms, warming her with the temperature of his body, and patted her back gently with one hand, as if comforting a frightened child.

The hall was silent, with only the crackling of candlelight.

After a long while, Murong Yan finally spoke in a muffled voice with a hint of nasal tone: "I won..."

"Yeah." Lin Zhen responded softly.

"But I'm not happy." She raised her head, her eyes seemed slightly red, but her eyes were unusually cold. "Not happy at all."

She reached out her hand and poked his chest hard with the tip of her black jade ring: "It's all because of those ignorant idiots who wasted so much of my time..."

Her tone was willful and cruel, and she lightly blamed a war that killed tens of thousands of people on the other side "wasting her time."

Lin Zhen remained silent and let her vent.

Murong Yan looked at him for a moment, then suddenly hugged him tightly again, burying her face in his, her voice so low it was almost inaudible: "...Luckily, you're still here."

This whisper is more of a paranoid declaration of possession than a love word.

Lin Zhen's body trembled slightly and he hugged her tighter.

The two of them stood hugging each other in the empty bedroom. Outside the window was the bleak autumn wind of the northern border and the war that had just subsided. Inside the window was the tyrant's rare vulnerability and the loyal minister's silent protection, forming a strange and desolate picture.