"You are my generals, not my slaves. You are soldiers, not servants. I don't care how ancient your oath is or how many thousands of years you have spent waiting for a sovereign."
He glanced across the army. "Everyone standing here is a person. That doesn't change because I happen to carry the title of Human Sovereign."
For a moment, Wu Shan simply stared at him. Then his ancient face crumpled. Luo He's expression froze. The old general began crying.
Not dignified tears. Not a single tear rolling down the cheek of an ancient warrior. He cried like a child who had finally found something he had been waiting thousands of years to hear.
His shoulders shook. His nose reddened. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, only to make himself look even worse.
Luo He stared at him helplessly. "General Wu..." Wu Shan sobbed. "For thousands of years." His voice broke. Shiya lowered her head and quietly wiped the corner of her own eye.
Even Xiong Hong's expression softened.
For these people, the words were not simple courtesy. They had spent nearly thousands of years bound by an oath.
They had waited for someone worthy of carrying it. And now that person had told them that they were not beneath him.
Luo He sighed. "All right. Stop crying."
Wu Shan cried harder. Luo He looked toward Shiya. "Why is he crying even more?" Shiya smiled faintly.
"Perhaps because you are the first sovereign to tell him that." Luo He rubbed his forehead. "Ancient people are quite troublesome." He said. Wu Shan immediately protested.
"We are not troublesome!"
"You were crying two breaths ago."
"I am an old man!"
"That doesn't make it better."
A faint smile finally appeared among the commanders. Then Luo He turned toward Princess Ning Luo.
She stood several steps away, still wearing the bloodstained golden armor from the previous day's battle.
The armor had been cleaned as much as possible, but the crimson stains somewhat remained. Her face was exhausted.
Her eyes, however, remained sharp.
Luo He pointed toward the newly formed army.
"These are yours." He said.
Ning Luo frowned. "Mine?"
"Your city. Your soldiers. Your walls." He gestured toward the capital.
"I'm only helping."
Ning Luo stared at him. "You just summoned thirty-five thousand soldiers from an ancient banner."
"And?" He asked.
"You call that helping?"
Luo He shrugged.
"I'm a worthless living son-in-law."
The courtyard became strangely quiet.
Several ancient soldiers exchanged glances. A future Human Sovereign.
The ruler chosen by an ancient army.
A man who could command thirty-five thousand soldiers that had been dead for thousands of years. And he was some how apparently a live in son-in-law.
Luo He ignored their confusion. "Enough staring. Arm them." Ning Luo nodded.
She immediately began issuing orders.
Weapons were brought out.
Armor was distributed. Bows were inspected. Arrows were counted. The thirty-five thousand soldiers moved with terrifying efficiency.
They required no explanation. No basic instruction. No demonstration. They simply did what soldiers did. Within a short time, the courtyard had become a military camp.
The soldiers then turned toward Ning Luo. One after another, they bowed. The three commanders followed. Wu Shan lowered himself onto one knee.
Xiong Hong followed. Shiya did the same. Thirty-five thousand soldiers knelt behind them. Ning Luo froze. Her face slowly turned red.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Wu Shan answered solemnly. " We pay our respects to Our Majesty's Empress."
Ning Luo nearly choked. "No!"
She looked toward Luo He.
He was already smiling.
"We are not..." She pointed at herself.
"...like that."
Shiya tilted her head. "Not like what?"
"That!" Ning Luo said. Ning Luo's face became even redder.
"He is my brother-in-law!" She said.
Shiya's lips curled upward. "You two bicker like an old married couple."
Xiong Hong immediately looked away.
Wu Shan suddenly found the sky extremely interesting. Neither man seemed willing to participate in this conversation.
Ning Luo glared at Shiya. "We are not husband and wife."
Luo He stepped forward. His shameless grin returned.
"Well, I wouldn't object." He said.
Ning Luo's expression became murderous.
Luo He casually placed an arm around her waist. "Don't ever underestimate her merely because she's my sister-in-law." He said.
Ning Luo's eyes widened.
"I am completely willing to marry this woman." Luo He said shamelessly.
"Jin He!" She shouted.
He laughed and released her before she could retaliate.
"See? That's exactly the attitude I like."
Ning Luo's hand tightened around her sword.
Shiya covered her mouth, barely concealing her laughter.
Luo He turned toward the assembled army. "Listen carefully." The courtyard immediately became silent.
"I will not remain here." The soldiers watched him. "I have other forces moving toward this region, and I need to bring them here."
"Until I return, Princess Ning Luo is your commander." His expression lost its usual playfulness.
"Her commands are my commands." The thirty-five thousand soldiers straightened.
"You will obey her without hesitation."
A single voice answered from the ranks.
"Yes, Sovereign!" The sound rolled through the courtyard like thunder.
Ning Luo looked at Luo He. For the first time since he had arrived, there was no teasing in her eyes. Only seriousness.
Luo He met her gaze.
"Hold the walls. I'll bring reinforcements."
"Trust me."
Ning Luo was silent for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"I will do my utmost all."
Luo He smiled. "Good."
He leaned closer. "And if you survive this, you can always reconsider my marriage proposal."
Her expression immediately turned cold again. "Leave."
"You're cruel."
"Leave."
He laughed. Then, without shame, he pulled her into a brief embrace. Ning Luo stiffened.
The soldiers immediately looked away with remarkable discipline. Shiya, however, openly laughed.
Luo He released Ning Luo and stepped backward.
"Lead them well."
Ning Luo adjusted her armor.
The thirty-five thousand soldiers began moving. Their ranks flowed toward the walls like a vast river of steel. Ning Luo walked at their head.
The three ancient commanders followed.
Before leaving, Wu Shan turned once more toward Luo He. He bowed. Not kneeling. Just as Luo He had requested.
Luo He returned the gesture. Then he turned away. His Black Cloud Shuttle was waiting on the rooftop where he had hidden it. He stepped onto it and looked once toward the capital.
The siege had changed. Yesterday, Ning Luo had possessed ten thousand tired soldiers.
Now she had thirty-five thousand very elite soldiers not afraid of death. But Luo He knew that numbers alone would not end the war.
The Wu Kingdom still possessed three hundred thousand troops. And some where beyond the horizon, another battlefield was waiting.
The Prosperous Silk Isle. Jin Mulan.
His cavalry. And whatever forces the Jin family could still gather.
He had no intention of allowing either battlefield to fall. The Black Cloud Shuttle rose into the sky.
For a moment, Luo He looked down at the capital. Then the shuttle accelerated.
The city rapidly disappeared beneath him under the immense speed.
The fifth day passed almost entirely beneath the shadow of the siege.
The ancient souls continued searching for suitable vessels throughout the morning of the sixth day as well.
Every successful transformation added another soldier to Ning Luo's defense.
Every rejection meant another ordinary citizen returned to his former life.
Now thirty-five thousand ancient soldiers now stood beneath Ning Luo's excellent command. The capital had survived another day.
But Luo He had spent almost the entire time moving between the courtyard, the walls, and the arrangements for the army.
When night of the fifth day finally arrived.
He returned to a mansion near the city wall. He allowed himself to rest. Ning Luo remained on the walls.
Luo He had shamelessly asked whether she wanted to accompany him. She had rejected him without hesitation. He had sighed dramatically.
"Leaving your ally starving during a siege is rather cruel." Ning Luo had simply walked away.
So Luo He had been forced to rest alone for two nights in a row. He lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. He wasn't truly asleep. He rarely needed much sleep.
But after spending several nights surrounded by his beloved wives, the sudden emptiness felt strangely uncomfortable. He turned over. Then back again.
"This is troublesome." No one answered.
He sighed. "Truly troublesome."
Eventually, he closed his eyes. Finally
morning arrived. The sixth day had begun.
Luo He kept thinking about his misery as he flew toward the Prosperous Silk Isle. He had truly suffered.
For two nights, he had not slept, sadly spending the nights alone with nothing more than shallow rest.
To Luo He, there was a wide world of difference between the two. A bed could give his body rest, but true sleep required warmth beside him.
An arm around a familiar waist, and the quiet comfort of holding someone close beneath the blankets.
Now, at last, he was going to see his precious Mulan. Just imagining her beside him made him feel lighter.
He could already picture himself burying his head against her, wrapping his arms around her, and finally sinking into the deep, peaceful sleep.
He had been deprived of sleep for far too long. For a man of his station it was a great burden.
Then the Jin Mansion appeared in the distance. Thousands of soldiers surrounded it. Elder Zhoung had arrived.
And, just as he had expected, his wife had survived. A genuine smile appeared on Luo He's face. That's my wife. She can truly survive without me.