Covering her nose with her sleeve, Li Ming’s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing a decaying corpse, the midday sun reflecting on it bringing out the greenish-black colour along with the swollen features caused by the water.

Having been just in a session of the court of, Li Ming seemed slightly fatigued, but still retained her typical smile.

Beside her stands Hong Wang, appearing rather pale, perhaps due to recovering from the trip, or perhaps due to seeing the body, regardless, he turned toward Li Ming.

“Is that the gentleman that had brought me out of Longjing,” Hong Wang asked, his hands slightly shivering.

“According to reports, the body was found by a fishing village not far away from the port, furthermore, the clothes similarly match that of the man,” Li Ming answered, before turning her head the other way to take a breath of air.

Reaching for her pouch, she grabbed a tin container, after a slight struggle to open it, pieces of hard mint were revealed.

Placing one within her mouth, Li Ming feels visibly restored, and once again turned back toward the body.

“Sir, the empire produces its own breath freshments, why use the exotic ones from the Far East?” Xu Xiaomeng asked.

“Habit,” Li Ming replied offhandedly before instructing a servant to cover the corpse with a piece of cloth, and leaving the room, leaving Hong Wang behind.

Walking back into the palace, Li Ming walked passed quite a number guards stationed at various gates and entrances, at first, the number of guards installed was quite massive, but as Li Ming walked further, toward the study, only two could be seen standing outside, at the entrance of the study.

Stepping inside the study, Li Ming sat down at the mahogany table and began grinding the inkstone in a circular motion.

At one point, Xiao Xi had insisted on grinding the Inkstone, yet Li Ming had refused.

Dipping the paintbrush in the puddle of ink, Li Ming promptly began to engage deeply into the tasks in front of her.

Occasionally, a minister would enter the study, discuss a few matters regarding the state, then retreat.

Overall, it was rather dull, and soon, the midday passed into the afternoon, an official came and removed the stack of work Li Ming had completely and gave her another one.

Maintaining her smile, Li Ming simply dropped her brush into the ink and continued working.

Soon, the Sun had set over the Wu oceans, and the moon had appeared over the horizon of Tianshan mountains. Still, Li Ming continued to work with her smile, only slightly changing upon receiving two illustrations of the peculiar weapons they had captured in Guying village.

“This is a modern artillery piece,” Li Ming said rather grimly, placing down her brush to focus more intently on one of the illustrations.

Xu Xiaomeng, who had been thoroughly educated on warfare and governance by Li Ming, gasped.

“Sir, it appears that much of the fortifications are now redundant,” Xu Xiaomeng said, before continuing,” However, where did the Great Sui Dynasty acquire such weapons?” Xu Xiaomeng asked, her voice containing a sliver of concern.

“Concubine Hu’s connection to the Northern Empire is no secret, undoubtedly it had originated from there,” Li Ming answered, her face turning away from the illustration and toward the North.

“Fortunately, I specialise in countering bombardments tactics, my years fighting a civil war has gifted me numerous methods, furthermore, it had undoubtedly been just introduced into this world, it’s designed is simple, similar to those of the Armstrong gun, alongside that it had just been introduced into the Sui army we possess the advantage of foresight,” Li Ming affirmed to herself.

“However, it appears that bolt action rifles had also been introduced into the Sui Dynasty,” Li Ming said rather grimly as she stared at the other illustration.

“Fortunately for us, the imperial army is inexperienced and still fought in their previous methods, allowing us to defeat them in the various villages, allowing us to capture a number of their stockpiles of these weapons,” Li Ming said, before placing the illustration within a cabin and once more picking up her brush.

Writing down an edict for all captured weapons to be sent to Dongan to be reverse engineered, Li Ming called one of the two guards to personally deliver the message to Liu One.

“Sir, then if weapons even more advanced than bolt action rifles and artillery had been used in the civil war in your past life, how did you manage to unite the nation?” Xu Xiaomeng asked.

“During the civil war, in the early stages the army I had been leading was primarily using Type 56 rifles, compared to the air and ground support, along with the mechanised infantry,” Li Ming said in reminiscence,” Afterwards, the majority of the weapons we had were from a captured weapons factory originally operated by the Li corporation,” slouching slightly from her usually straight posture, Li Ming felt rather comfortable.

“Back then, the army had to dig bunkers fifteen meters underground to avoid the rigorous bombing campaign, while attacking solely at night in the mountains,” Li Ming narrated, perhaps slightly bored, she began to toy with her hair, coiling it around her fingers.

“The terrain there was incredibly mountains, therefore most of the enemy forces had stuck to roads, due to this, it was rather simple to flank them during the night through the unconventional path,” Li Ming continued.

“Furthermore, since my soldiers were so close to them, bombardments could not be used as there was a high chance that their own soldiers would be hit, resulting in their firepower support being rendered rather ineffective,” Li Ming slightly chucked.

“Occasionally, the soldiers did engage in conventional warfare to divert the soldiers away from populated areas into dense mountains or vegetation, so that the guerilla forces would be facing fewer enemies,” Li Ming said, noticing the inkstone had dried, she once more began grinding.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“When attacking, it is crucial to carefully consider the situation of the enemy camps, changing command were typically the best time to attack, while reconnaissance regarding the composition of the enemy, their numbers, weaknesses and sympathizers are also vital,” Li Ming stated.

“The soldiers themselves should not only be well supplied, but also rehearsed for the battle, and the tactics carefully arranged based on the development of the rehearsals and self-criticism, including generals.

“When the actual battle had started, a series of extensive buildup and planning should be made slowly, while the attack itself must be quick. A quick attack to fully exploit the factor of surprise, quick clearance of the area to maintain order, and a quick withdrawal to maintain cohesion,” Li Ming said, continuing to grind the inkstone.

“The use of bait, such as seemingly weak fortifications can be used to lead the enemy into a trap, wherein reality much larger force had been prepared to ambush them” Li Ming described, applying slightly more pressure on the inkstone.

“Regardless, later on, these guerilla tactics were largely rendered unnecessary as more conventional armies could be fielded,” Li Ming finished, looking down, she realised that she had gotten ink onto her hands

Li Ming gave off a sigh as she used a towel to wipe her hands, before once more picking up her brush to continue her official works.

Eventually, it transitioned into midnight.

While most had gone to sleep at this time, Li Ming remained at her study, with her posture as straight as a pencil, she appeared slightly cold under the moonlight, despite the warm smile displayed on her face.

Eventually, a rather dull sound could be heard at the entrance of the study, causing Li Ming to raise her brows.

Soon, twenty men, wearing yellow uniforms could be seen entering Li Ming’s study.

“Considering the traces of dirt on your clothes, it seemed that you arrived here through a tunnel, rather unsightly for the Imperial Palace Guard,” Li Ming commented without looking up, finishing her paperwork.

Placing down her pen, Li Ming gradually looked up, upon noticing one, she chuckled.

“Blonde hair and blue eyes, it appeared that Concubine Hu is not with the Northern Empire, but instead with the Far East,” Li Ming said.

The man appeared shocked but did not speak, wiping the blood on his blade against a piece of cloth, he stared rather intensely at the silver-haired girl.

“Truthfully speaking, it is a waste of human life to kill my guard,” Li Ming commented, still retaining her straight posture.

“I am rather curious however, what is the point of assassinating me if I cannot die,” Li Ming asked.

“Lady Hu had instructed us to kill you, if that is not possible, to bring you into Longjing,” One of the other guards said.

“Along with that, there had been reports of her old maid residing in Dongan, she had instructed us bring her back as well,” the man continued.

Standing up from her desk, Li Ming furrowed her brows, before clutching a naked blade from the corner of her desk.

The blade was not decorated and seemed rather dull.

Holding it by her side, Li Ming stood as straight as a pencil.

The foreigner first attacked, hitting Li Ming at a vital area, however, Li Ming did not attempt to dodge, and simply slashed him while the weapon was still stuck in her.

The attack was rather crude, evidently one of an amateur, still, it had managed to kill the foreigners.

Pulling out the sabre stuck in her using her free hand, the wound had disappeared the moment the sabre was drawn out.

Noticing the silver-haired girl had killed one of their comrades, the remaining nineteen quickly charged.

Similar to before, Li Ming stood without any intention to dodge. Letting all nineteen blades to penetrate them, Li Ming proceeded to hack one of the arms of the Imperial Palace Guards.

Yet surprisingly, the man showed no sign of pain and retrieved his sword from Li Ming’s body.

Another man moved up his weapon, slicing Li Ming into two. Yet her body quickly reattached themselves.

Noticing Li Ming is undoubtedly unkillable, the men had begun to use poison.

However it appears Li Ming seemed unaffected by it and during this time, had struck at another one of the Imperial Palace Guards, nevertheless, she uncomplicated slash were easily blocked.

Giving off a sigh, Li Ming threw away the blade, and reached into her sleeves, revealing a handgun.

Aiming the weapon at one of the men, she pulled the trigger, resulting in another Imperial Palace Guard collapsing. Throwing the firearm aside before taking another one from her sleeves.

The others nod to themselves, and retrieved a rope from seemingly nowhere, preparing to bound Li Ming to be taken back to the capital.

However, Li Ming responded decisively, reaching inside one of the cabinets, she retrieved a hand grenade.

Lighting the fuse on the candle flame, she casually tossed it toward the Imperial Palace Guards.

However, outside of her expectation, the man did not flee, but had instead remained rather stubborn, and charged toward her.

As her body is rather weak, she was tied up rather easily, yet she did not struggle when bound.

As the grenade was about to detonate, one of the men had covered the grenade with their body, causing Li Ming effort with the grenade to appear futile.

Yet before long, Xiao Xi had arrived at the study, noticing the scene, she picked up the blade used by the foreigners and began slash toward the Imperial Palace Guards.

Her attacks appear refine, far better than Li Ming, soon, the man had all fallen to the ground, yet no blood was spilled onto the floor.

Afterwards, Li Ming was promptly untied by Xiao Xi.

During this time, Li Ming had maintained her benevolent smile, and her silver hair remained white, unlike her robe which had been turned red with blood.

“Lady Xu, what would you do if I were not to be here,” Xiao Xi asked as she stared toward Li Ming.

“That was what the grenade was for,” Li Ming answered with her typical smile.

“Impressive Lady Xu, it appears that younger master Xu Wuling had underestimated you,” Xiao Xi said, staring at Li Ming’s ruined clothes, she stood up, preparing to go toward the closet.

“There had been rumours that Concubine Hu had a maidservant capable of extreme martial prowess, yet she had been suddenly killed,” Li Ming said, gathering the scraps of her clothes, she proceeded toward the bath.

Xiao Xi, noticing her actions, quickly retreated, and reappeared carrying three buckets of hot water, dumping it into the tub, she then informed Li Ming that the bath was prepared.

“Considering your capabilities with a blade now, it seems that it was you who were sent to monitor Concubine Hu by Xu Wuling,” Li Ming said.

“Please address him as second brother,” Xiao Xi, slightly irritated replied.

“However, why had you came here instead of staying with Concubine Hu” Li Ming asked, expressing slightly confusion.

“That is because young master Xu had confirmed his suspicions, and no longer had any needs to monitor Concubine Hu, furthermore, it was evident that my identity was known by her since the beginning,” Xiao Xi said.

“Then why did you not simply kill Concubine Hu,” Li Ming asked as she soaked deeper into the

“That is because it would drive the empire into chaos, the emperor is already mad, if his favourite concubine was murdered, the Xu family would be undoubtedly targeted,” Xiao Xi answered.

“And why did Xu Wuling sent you to me,” Li Ming asked, remaining motionless in the tub.

“Despite that young master had little interaction with you, you are still his sister, along with that, the men of Jianghu are detached from political intrigue, seeking out their own desires, allowing him to freely protect you,” Xiao Xi responded.

“Therefore, please do not refer to young master by his name, but instead as second brother,” Xiao Xi pressed.

Li Ming gave off a slight chuckle but was interrupted suddenly by a violet fit of coughs lasting for a brief period of time, before she passed out in the bath.

Xiao Xi took Li Ming out, changed her clothes, then travelled toward Li Ming’s residence.

It was the first time Li Ming had slept in this world.

When it was midday, the silver-haired girl saw a rather unfamiliar room, becoming slightly shock, yet soon recovered upon noticing it was her barely used residence.

Her body had completely recovered, and no signs of the assassination could be seen, yet Li Ming’s typical smile could not be seen, instead, an expression as cold as ice had taken its place.

Yet the cold expression was soon replaced by one of loss and confusion.

“Sir,” the silver bell-like voice asked.

No response was given.