"I want them all dead."

Ah Lin lifted his eyes and shuddered at the blankness in Ye An's. They were both standing at the center of the commander's post with soldiers forming a loose crescent behind Ye An.

With the soldiers on her back and with her eyes still unfocused, Ye An continued coldly, her voice empty. "I want their heads on stakes."

Ah Lin shivered at the chill in her voice. Except for the soldiers who were part of the scout party earlier, the rest of them who had gathered were bewildered by the sudden command.

Ah Lin cleared his throat in an attempt to brace himself. "Your Imperial Majesty, forgive my brazenness. While I understand where you're coming from, and while I want them dead too, we're not in a position where we could act rashly. Not with our current numbers."

Ye An finally shifted her gaze and settle it onto Ah Lin, her eyes thinned dangerously. "So do you suggest that we sit and do nothing, Captain Zhang? After everything? After Xi Chen?"

Ye An's voice was threateningly low but cracked when she uttered Xi Chen's name. Ah Lin was immediately silenced, his breath stuck somewhere in the middle of his airway like the air had solidified as it traveled down.

"Get ready. We're going to battle." There was a menacing quietness in Ye An's imposing voice that didn't leave any space for objections.

The muscles on Ah Lin's jaw twitched as he gave Ye An a deep bow. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. As you wish."

Ye An started at Ah Lin's choice of words. She stared at Ah Lin for a moment before turning away from all of them.

The soldiers were ready in a matter of seconds. On the wall, longbow archers were stationed at irregular intervals. Besides being equipped with usual longbows and arrows, there were also catapults parked in between each archer with a bonfire, some rags, and buckets of oil readied by their sides to send balls of fires raining down the enemy lines.

The rest of the Northern troop were at the bottom of the wall, holding swords, short bows, and various close-range weapons. Some of them were on horseback while others only had their own two feet.

Ye An was on horseback at the front of the formation with Ah Lin by her side. This time, they were going on the offensive instead waiting for the Northerners to attack them. To hell with keeping peace. Look what it got her. Nothing. Nothing but continuous loss.

Ye An felt the deep rumbles of the heavy gates in her chest as they groaned open. She closed her eyes for a split second in hopes of centering herself before the battle but immediately snapped them open. She could only see Xi Chen's last moments when her world was all black. Ye An shivered despite the thick layers of clothing weighing her down.

She took a shallow breath, her breath forming white, smoky wisps before her as she kicked her ride and rode forward, eyes razor-sharp. "CHARGE!"

When Ye An saw the Northerners, she nearly took a double take. They had chosen exactly the same time to attack.

To Ye An's surprise, Sze Chang was the one leading the Northern warriors. Gone was his scholarly outfit, he was now in full combat regalia. His armor was similar to Ye An's but she could see elements of the North in the fur poking out from the sleeves and the bottom hem. Even the fur lining his boots overflowed from the inside.

"Ye An! We don't need to fight! Let's solve this verbally." Sze Chang hollered from the tip of the North's unit.

Red misted Ye An's vision. How dare he? First of all, the audacity of him calling her by her birth name. And second of all, how dare he ask to solve things verbally when he was one of the reasons why Xi Chen was dead because she had wanted to solve things verbally. How dare he suggest a verbal solution now when that was all she had asked for from the beginning.

"How dare you?" Ye An seethed as she charged towards Sze Chang with tendrils of hair escaping her top knot and her sword aiming at his throat. "I sent him to the North for you and this is how you repay me. How you repay Xi Chen! How dare you talk about solving this verbally!"

Sze Chang dodged Ye An's attack by pulling one side of his shoulder back allowing the sword to pass him by.

Around them, the battle waited for no one as chaos erupted. Swords clanged with maces. The steel tips of arrows sparked the metal of the Northerner's shield. The ground boomed with the blows of clubs and heavy weapons from the North. Horses neighed and the ground thundered as they galloped and weaved through the havoc of blood and steel.

Ah Lin tried his best to support Ye An but with the growing number of Northern warriors pushing against the Middle Kingdom soldiers, he soon had to take his focus away.

Even though the soldiers had the upper hand in terms of refined skills and techniques, they still weren't a match to the Northern warriors' brute force and strength, not to mention their sheer number. For every soldier, there were at least four Northern warriors aiming their attacks at his neck. That was also what was happening to Ye An. Other than Sze Chang, Leader Wakhia and a couple of senior Northern warriors joined hands to put on blows upon blows of attacks on Ye An.

"Where's Adlai?" Ye An panted as she blocked an onslaught by Leader Wakhia. By now, there were cuts and scratches all over her arms where they weren't protected by her armor. Even her face had a tiny scratch down her temples where Sze Chang's sword nicked her.

"He's where he should be right now." Leader Wakhia answered coolly.

"WHERE?" Ye An gritted her teeth and took her aim to stab at Leader Wakhia's vital points with Sze Chang and the other Northern warriors jabbing at her.

Ye An pulled at the reins so that her horse twisted its body as she blocked all of those attacks with just an arc of her sword but when she returned her focus to Leader Wakhia, she gasped. He was already right in front of her, his hand on the hilt of a dagger that was now embedded in the side of her torso.

Leader Wakhia sneered into Ye An's ears, the greying stubbles on his face scrubbed on Ye An's delicate cheeks. "I didn't know that you have such a deep affection for my dear nephew. Both of my nephews, I heard. Maybe you would consider me too." His accent was so thick that his words were nearly indiscernible. It was as if he only took up the language recently. Leader Wakhia pulled his dagger out from Ye An's torso and blood immediately spread across her clothes where the wound was.

Ye An spat at him. "Keep your disgusting thoughts to yourself!"

The other two Northern warriors who were also engaged in battle with Ye An immediately came forward at the sight of Ye An disrespecting their leader. Sze Chang stepped in. "If you don't want to solve this verbally, why don't we just spar this out?"

Ye An glared at him. "And what would that achieve?" Sparring between the leaders to determine the winning party was a long-standing tradition that dated back to before the founding of either country. It was one of the backward ways of solving a dispute. But Sze Chang was not the North's leader. As far as Ye An knew, it was Leader Wakhia who had the authority.

Sze Chang traversed towards Ye An on his horse, each step deliberate. "Well, we could end this once and for all. Because I have been appointed to lead the Northerners to the capital. Where I would finally take my throne."

Ye An faltered. Her eyes bouncing off Sze Chang and Leader Wakhia and back to Sze Chang.

"Well, there is an understanding that I would return the honor to Leader Wakhia after I settled into my throne. However, for now, I am in charge." Sze Chang said flippantly.

Even though Ye An hated to admit it, it might be the best chance for a last-ditch effort. There was even a legend that said a man who lost his entire troop won an entire country through sparring.

With his sword in one hand, Sze Chang waved his arms, gesturing to the scene unfolding around them. "Look around. We're winning. At least if we solve this through our spar, fewer lives would be lost."

Fewer lives would be lost. This again. Ye An wondered why this statement had always been the theme since her rule. This was why she sent Sze Chang to the North in the first place. To think that all of the advice that he gave her might have come from his own selfish reasons made her sick. However, she couldn't help herself from looking around. What was she doing? Insisting on going to battle with their reduced number? When she had vowed not to be the kind of emperor who thought nothing of sacrificing her people. Who has she become? What has she become?

If the battle were to continue, Ye An knew that they would all perish and she would be remembered as a tyrant. Just like.. Just like her father. Her biological father. She looked up to the sky, the light winter breeze wafting the tendrils of her hair as she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, feeling her lungs expand fully before opening her eyes again, eyes that were now wide with purpose.

"HALT!" Ye An stared at Sze Chang and bellowed with all the air in her lungs.

The soldiers instantly stopped fighting and looked to Ye An. The Northern warriors were confused at the sudden cease of attack that they look at Leader Wakhia. The Northern leader merely swept his gaze over Ye An who still had her eyes on Sze Chang, stopping at the latter who gave him a nod.

"Stop your fighting! Put down your weapons!" Leader Wakhia ordered.

Ye An guided her horse toward Sze Chang. "Let's end this here."

Sze Chang with his calculative eyes, nodded. "As you wish, cousin."

Ye An gritted her teeth at that title as both of them circled out and away from each other until they were five meters away. The rest of the crowd gave them a wide berth.

"Adlai is going to be my second." Sze Chang declared as the men parted to show Prince Adlai. With every duel, especially ones that might end up in death, each participant would need to name their second, the person who would continue the battle even after they had died.

The feeling of betrayal turned its ugly head on Ye An once again, inching to pierce through Ye An's heart before it stopped short when she saw Prince Adlai. His eyes told her everything. He didn't want to be here. Not in a million years.

Prince Adlai's entire body was hunched over as if trying to fold into itself rather than face the situation that was right in front of him. He met Ye An's eyes and quickly averted his gaze.

"So, who's going to be your second?" Sze Chang asked, his posture poised and confident. His voice was level like they were having a regular conversation back in the Imperial Palace, but Ye An could see the menace lurking in his eyes. She shuddered internally realizing that one never fully knows another.

"I will be His Majesty's second." Ah Lin's loud, clear voice rang through the frigid air.

Sze Chang stilled. But only for a second. "Very well." Sze Chang dropped all of his weapons until he was only left with his sword.

Ye An followed suit and dropped her bows and arrows. She also pulled out all of her hidden daggers. She didn't need all of those unnecessary weights.

The men crowded in to watch the duel, shoulder to shoulder, horse to horse, leaving a small circle of a clearing where Ye An and Sze Chang stood on opposite sides with their horses. Ah Lin positioned himself right behind Ye An, ready to jump in whenever he was due. On Sze Chang's side, Prince Adlai, his second, was also right at his tail.

For a moment, everything stood still. The atmosphere pressing into them like the heavy pressure before a loud clap of thunder. And then, the deafening gallops thundered.

+* Thanks for reading! Please vote, comment, and follow if you like the story!*+

*Writer's note: On another note, imagine how hot Sze Chang is lolll
Do yourself a favor, go back to The Night Emperor Chapter 2, and imagine a male version of that. Also, we love a man who could be witty but dangerous, don't we? huehue