Disclaimer: This is edited MTL. Do forgive any grammar mistakes as they are my own and not the author’s. I may add some of my own words for clarity sake, but I will try not to change the meaning of the whole sentence. When the author uses 成语 / Cheng Yu, which is something like idiom-like phrases, I may just translate them in simple English if they are not very meaningful. Otherwise, I will add a translation note. An example would be ‘不三不四’, I would most likely translate it as ‘dubious’ depending on the context.

Regarding translation permission, it seems like it’s still under discussion. So I’ll just continue posting till I reach Chapter 38, which is the last non-VIP chapter. 

Also, the author seems to have gotten a new cover page for the novel. I’ve updated the image on the story page.

To help with the visualisation, here’s a picture of a city gate tower.

Not all city gates are the same size though, and the stairs may or may not be there. 

Hehe warning, this chapter ends on a cliffhanger and even though this chapter’s scroll bar is longer than usual, it’s 30% translation notes though.

Thank you Clear for editing~

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Meng You’s hand that held the chopsticks paused, and he said, “Send him to the palace.”

The steward nodded.

As expected of his family’s Lord Crown Prince!

The said city defence map was the lifeline of the entire Yue country. If the crown princess really did copy a fake map, then this serious issue would turn into nothing.

However, if the copy was real, then considering the number of people that lived within the capital, if the Chu Kingdom’s military and horses broke through the city defence and entered the gates, then…the crown princess would have sinned against the entire Yue Kingdom.

Meng You swallowed a few more bites, put on his armor, took up his sword, and set off.

Tang Qi had already received the orders from Meng You through his soldiers, and was waiting for him at the north gate. At this moment, he was instructing his people to hang more lamps on the tower since it was night time. 

“Big brother!”

Meng You paused in his steps and saw Meng Han behind him, wearing the same armor as him. He subtly furrowed his eyebrows.

Meng Han is indeed a good son of their Meng family, no matter how gangster-like or wild he can usually be without the armor, once he puts it on, he will be ready to go on battle with their enemies without any hint of being scared at all.

It’s just that, Meng You’s appreciation of Meng Han was not spoken out, but was suppressed within his heart. Meng Han cannot be praised, he was just a sack of cheap bones and Meng You knew his value very well.

[T/N: Cannot be praised as he will turn too arrogant.]

Meng You: “What are you doing?”

Meng Han adjusted the sword at his waist: “My only wish is to follow the great Commander and protect the country!”

[T/N: Meng You is the commander of the army.]

Meng You laughed lowly: “With your three-legged cat fighting skills, you can probably only win against Yan Ke. Get lost and don’t cause trouble here.”

Unwilling to be ridiculed any further, Meng Han stepped forward, smacked his chest and guaranteed Meng You: “This Young Lord is capable, killing one enemy can cover the capital cost, killing two is a benefit to us, and if I can kill three, then I can die without regrets.”

[T/N: Not sure if it translates well but Meng Han is saying if he can kill one and then die, a life for a life, so it covers the cost of bringing him into the army. If he can kill two before dying, it is a beneficial trade. If he can kill three, it will be a worthy death for him.]

Meng You: “To this Lord, it would be a loss no matter what.”

Using his younger brother to trade for three Chu Countrymen, it would be a thoughtless loss.

Meng Han: “Huh?”

Meng You: “Send the 7th Prince to the palace.”

After Meng You mercilessly gave the orders, he hit Meng Han’s neck and caught his figure as it weakly fell in his arms. 

[T/N: 毫不留情/Hao Bu Liu Qing usually describes being merciless but in this context, it means something like without any consideration for Meng Han’s desire to protect their country.]

The noise below reached Tang Qi’s ears, and when he walked down and saw Meng Han being sent away, a helpless smile appeared on his lips.

This was also one of the reasons why Meng You was established as the Crown prince from a young age. Even though he was the Crown Prince, he would still personally travel to the frontier and suffer the sandy environment, just so that his younger brothers could live a carefree life at home without worrying about an attack on the imperial city. 

Even the emperor was aware that handing over the throne to Meng You was the most effective way to minimize the fight between the brothers for the sake of imperial power. 

Meng You put on his helmet, looked at the army behind him, cleared his throat, and roared, “Raise an army for a thousand days, just for a critical moment. You may not have fought on the same battlefield as this Lord before, but you shall have this opportunity  now.”

“Behind you all are your parents, brothers and sisters. If we are unable to defend the city, then the Chu army will not only trample over our bodies, they will also break into our capital.”

“What would happen after that, this Lord doesn’t need to explain any further, correct?”

The entire army was filled with vigour, everyone’s eyes were overflowing with strong emotions and resentment to drive away all invaders, this was probably why no one noticed that behind them stood a person wearing a fox fur coat.

Yan Ke looked at the large gathering of people in the distance, then looked at the lights that had yet to be extinguished in the various households, it would be a lie to say that his heart was not moved.

[T/N: The lights are still on, meaning that the people inside are staying up probably because they are worried over the soldiers/their family.]

Especially when the words Meng You said faintly travelled over, those words were so stirring that Yan Ke himself also wanted to take up an iron rod and charge to the battlefield.

He sighed: “If you had sent over the real map, do you know how many people would die tonight? The entire Yue country’s men and women, from the elderly to children, they would all die at the swords of your Chu country’s soldiers.”

Yan Ke spoke softly, those words were directed to the person residing in his body who hadn’t come out to make trouble for several days.

Even though he was sick, he still stood at the corner of the street facing the city gates, watching the city gate open. After everyone left, someone closed the gates again.

“Hurry hurry, the Lord Crown Prince and the others have already left.”

A sneaky voice resounded in the air, Yan Ke recovered his spirit and watched several middle-aged men rushing over from all directions with weapons, and finally gathered together at the city gate.

Yan Ke understood.

The civilians voluntarily organised themselves to be the second barrier of the city.

It was just like they said, whenever it was needed, men, women, from the elderly to children, each one of the people of Yue Kingdom would take up weapons and go onto the battlefield.

After an hour had passed, the sounds of fighting could be heard from outside, Yan Ke’s hands and feet slightly trembled, the battle had begun.

The steward followed behind and put another layer of coat on him.

Yan Ke: “Steward, what do you want to say to me?”

The steward smiled, he looked at the motionless civilians standing guard at the city gate and said: “Doesn’t the Crown Princess know what this old servant wants to talk about?”

Yan Ke returned the smile, he already knew it.

The fighting outside didn’t stop for a long time, both Yan Ke and the steward remained in their position, neither of them disturbed the other.

The fighting noises didn’t stop until late at night, and Yan Ke’s heart fell even more. Then, he heard the sounds of cheers, coming from the soldiers at the top of the city gate tower.

Yan Ke’s whole heart instantly relaxed.

They had won.

The steward’s tense face also relaxed a little.

A signal flare illuminated the night, and after a while, the city gate opened, and Meng You walked in with light flaring behind him.

Yan Ke subconsciously went to hide in an alley.

In the end, the steward, seeing that Meng You still hadn’t seen them, called out to him.

Steward: “My Lord.”

Hearing his voice, Meng You turned back and was surprised when he saw Yan Ke: “Why is he here?”

Steward: “The Crown Princess was worried about you, and started waiting for you here since the moment you went out.”

Yan Ke: “………?”

“I didn’t!”

Meng You frowned and said, “Nonsense”. He then took off his armor, and placed his outer robe over Yan Ke.

[T/N: It’s fall so it’s normal for them to wear at least 2 layers of clothes, not including their inner white robe.]

“It’s late and the weather is humid, go back early, this Lord still needs to go to the palace to redress your crime.”

[T/N: Not sure if there’s a better word for it but it means something like seek to reassess whether Yan Ke is guilty and refute the crimes of Yan Ke.]

“Yan Ke: “……Okay.”

“I’m not worried about you, you know that I want to divo……”

Meng You twitched his eyebrows and glared at Yan Ke: “Shut up.”

Yan Ke: “……”

The legend ‘suffering losses, yet still having to remain mute’ must be just like this!

Meng You walked at the very front, following behind were the captured Chu soldiers. When Yan Ke saw Su Yu within that group, he whistled and successfully gained his attention.

Yan Ke applauded vigorously: “My warm congratulations to General Su on being captured!”

Even after being glared at by Su Yu’s eyes that were about to fall out from staring so long, not only did Yan Ke not panic, but he even wanted to dance to a YangGe to celebrate.

[T/N: 秧歌/Yang Ge is a traditional folk dance that expresses happiness that still exists in China today.]

“Shameless traitor, selling out our country for glory!” Su Yu’s lieutenant general spat out at Yan Ke.

Yan Ke wasn’t bothered by the false bravado of a man who was defeated in his hands. This time, he could finally go back to have a peaceful sleep.

When he woke up the next day, Yan Ke immediately heard bad news.

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Author has something to say:

Muah muah~ Love you all!

Thank you little angels for giving me an overlord ticket~

Thank you little angels for nurturing me with nutrient solutions~

Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard! ^_^

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Wow what a quick battle! 

“Suffering losses, yet still having to remain mute” means something like, imagine a situation where a person who you need help from, scolded you. But you can’t scold that person back, if not that person may not help you. So you have to suffer this loss and keep silent. 

秧歌/Yang Ge means folk dance, it’s a traditional folk dance that expresses happiness and still exists today. There are many variations of it but people who perform it will usually wear bright coloured clothes and it is dance that clearly expresses happiness.

…