Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

With Li Siqian's order, the entire city of Anding began to bustle with activity.

After being subjected to the relentless and exploitative oppression of the Qiang people, the original inhabitants of Anding City either died from torture, fled to other places, or became tenant farmers or long-term laborers under the powerful families of Guanzhong.

Today, Anding City has been completely transformed into a military town, and those who have settled here are either Western Xia soldiers or their families.

The existing "residents" in the city are 100,000 people who were escorted here from Luoyang. Most of them are young women, and their purpose is to expand the huge military brothel camp of the Western Xia army so that the Western Xia soldiers can have fun and vent their frustrations.

Now, these Luoyang residents, now enslaved and threatened by the Western Xia soldiers, began frantically mixing mud and sand, applying it to their armor, shields, and houses.

Li Siqian looked around, saw several pieces of armor that had already dried, patted them, and felt that they were indeed much sturdier, which immediately made him feel confident.

"The entire project must be completed before dawn tomorrow. The Chu army could attack at any time, so we must be on high alert. Everyone must be on high alert. Anyone who dares to carry this out will have their nose gouged out and their eyes gouged out!"

After giving his orders, he returned to the general's mansion with satisfaction, waiting for the Chu army to arrive so that he could kill and annihilate them all.

In the crowd, a woman with a hood and shapely figure was carrying a bucket of water, helping the crowd to smooth out the mud.

Suddenly, a Western Xia soldier bumped into her back as he passed by.

"Ah."

The woman let out a soft moan and collapsed to the side.

"Aren't you blind? I..."

The Western Xia soldiers were about to start cursing, but they were stunned when they saw the woman's delicate face.

"My God, there are actually women this beautiful in the world?"

Her graceful figure, exquisite posture, and beautiful face stirred a frenzied excitement within the Western Xia soldier.

"uh-huh……"

The woman noticed the strange behavior of the Western Xia soldiers, immediately let out a soft moan, then lifted one leg of her skirt to reveal a pair of fair, snow-white legs, and casually cast a mournful glance at them.

This one glance completely shattered the patience of the Western Xia soldiers. They immediately dropped their whips, grinning maliciously as they tried to take the woman on the spot.

"Sir, don't rush. There are too many people here, and they're feeling embarrassed. How about we go somewhere else?"

"You're quite sensible, very good. Come with me, sir. As long as you keep me comfortable..."

"Perhaps the lord will be in a good mood and take you as a concubine, sparing you the suffering of being a military prostitute."

"Then thank you very much, sir."

The woman slowly got up and followed the Western Xia soldiers to an empty house.

"My beauty, I will definitely make you..."

boom--

Just as the Western Xia soldier began to eagerly take off his clothes, the woman, who was originally charming yet weak, kicked him in the throat without saying a word.

The fast-moving Western Xia soldiers could hardly catch a glimpse of them.

"Uh……"

Looking at the woman's cold, disgusted face, the Xixia soldier clutched his neck and slowly knelt down in suffocating pain. Finally, his body slumped and he breathed his last.

"How dare you, a barbarian lackey, blaspheme against me? Dying like this is too easy for you. I, Mu Qingqiu, am a disciple of a prestigious family, a descendant of Mu Qiuyao, the Empress of the Northern Region of the Immortal Martial Ancient Dynasty."

"How dare someone like you lay a finger on me? It's disgusting to even think about. Thank goodness for the current situation, otherwise I would definitely make you taste how exhilarating it is to wish you were dead!"

Mu Qingqiu kicked the corpses of the Western Xia soldiers into the haystack to cover them up. After calming herself down, she put her hood back on and returned to her busy work as if nothing had happened.

As the second disciple of the Zixia Sect and Jiang Mengxuan's senior sister, she has the most fiery temper and will lend a helping hand whenever there is injustice.

Three years ago, she was wandering around the Northwest, with the aim of getting rid of those scum from the sects who had defected to the Western Xia.

However, her act of killing a lone disciple of a Western Xia sect in the Liangzhou region quickly aroused the wrath of the local sects, and she became a wanted person in the blink of an eye.

Left with no other choice, Mu Qingqiu decided to return to the Zixia Sect to avoid trouble. However, while passing through Luoyang, she happened to encounter a large-scale invasion by the Western Xia army.

Mu Qingqiu could have simply left, but her nature made her unable to abandon the suffering people.

So she disguised herself as a female slave, mingled among the slaves, and secretly rescued those unfortunate people who had been enslaved.

Back in Hexi Village, she acted as if nothing had happened and continued to help the bricklayers carry water.

Just then, she overheard two coolies talking while they were plastering the roof.

"Have you heard? The Great Chu army has already recaptured Luoyang, and is now preparing to advance westward to retake the old capital, Chang'an!"

"Really? No wonder they suddenly asked us to do all this masonry work. It seems the Hu people in Luoyang must have suffered a lot this time."

"Absolutely. I also heard that a few days ago, Hangu Pass was breached. Those Hu people who retreated to Anding were all like they had seen a ghost, so frightened that they were incoherent."

"It can't be that bad, can it? When did the royal army become so powerful?"

"If you don't believe me, look at those Western Xia soldiers standing there. They retreated from Hangu Pass. I've been watching them for days. They look like they've had their souls ripped out."

"So, is there any hope for us?"

"Probably. If I'm not mistaken, the royal army should have already arrived at Hangu Pass and be ready to launch an offensive against Anding at any moment."

"Then we'd better be careful not to get involved."

After listening to the two laborers, Mu Qingqiu thought to herself: Junior Sister is really capable. She has started to march into Guanzhong less than three years after ascending the throne. I must go and meet with that Chu general and tell them about the situation here, and try not to harm the innocent people in Anding City.

Thinking of this, Mu Qingqiu quietly retreated to a secluded corner.

The next moment, a beautiful and alluring figure flashed through the air and sped towards the outside of the city.

……

At this moment, on a hill eight miles away from Anding City, the positions of two heavy artillery battalions of the Imperial Guard were ready, waiting only for Shen Lang's order to flatten the distant Anding City.

Shen Lang held up the viewing mirror and kept a close eye on the movements in Anding City. He then quickly instructed Meng Gong to make a simple sand table on the spot.

After a long silence, he put down the viewing mirror, looked at the sand table on the ground, and said to Meng Gong, "At this distance, only 105mm heavy artillery can pose the greatest threat in the army."

The remaining 75mm mountain guns would need to advance another three miles to inflict sufficient damage on the city walls, after the heavy artillery unleashed its full force.

"Immediately send the rapid-fire artillery battalion forward, aiming to break through the enemy's defenses with a single salvo and force them out to fight us!"

Meng Gong gave a military salute: "Please rest assured, instructor, I guarantee that the mission will be completed as expected."

"Alright, I won't say any more. You must win this battle decisively. Once we recapture the old capital of Chang'an, you will surely be remembered in history!"

"Yes!"

Meng Gong answered firmly and immediately went to carry out the order.

As soon as he left, Mu Qingqiu walked towards him carrying a guard.

Upon seeing this, Shen Lang instinctively drew his dagger and focused intently on assuming a fighting stance.

"Who is Shen Lang, the commander-in-chief of the Chu army? I am the second senior sister of the current empress. Come out and talk to me."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang immediately hid the dagger behind his back and said in a deep voice, "I am Shen Lang. It is a pleasure to meet Miss Mu today."

"You're Shen Lang?"

"It is indeed I, Miss Mu. What brings you here?"

Mu Qingqiu carefully examined Shen Lang, never expecting that the commander of the Chu army was so young, which greatly surprised her.

"So young and dashing? You can tell at a glance he's Junior Sister's lover."

My junior sister is so aloof, I wonder if she'd actually be attracted to this little wolf. Hehehe.