RWNEFE -Chapter 233 Could It Be That She’s a Man in Disguise?

Baru’s face darkened. “Then don’t blame us!”

“Kill!”

Shen Lanxi pulled a command flag from her sleeve. She swung it downward, her voice as cold and sharp as iron.

“Kill!”

The guards of the marriage mission, who had been scattered earlier, suddenly transformed. They raised their weapons and surged forward, following Shen Lanxi’s flag to their designated positions.

Shen Lanxi shouted, “Annihilate them all! Leave no one alive!”

“Yes!”

The sudden change made Baru and the others raise their eyebrows. They quickly realized—it was only that the woman’s voice was louder and the formation more disciplined. They could do that too.

“Kill the men, spare the women. Whoever kills the most today will have this beautiful woman!” Baru gave the command, and the Wala soldiers erupted with cheering.

“General, take your weapon!” Qiushuang handed Shen Lanxi her long staff.

Shen Lanxi casually grabbed it, traced a circle in the air, and shouted, “Kill!”

The Wala soldiers and the guards immediately clashed in chaotic combat.

Nie Shuanghai, remembering Zheng Qiao’s words, didn’t fight; he wanted to protect Shen Lanxi.

But what happened next would stay with him forever.

Shen Lanxi casually threw her staff, smashing a Wala man so hard that he spat blood and fell from his horse.

Then, even more unbelievable happened. With a single strike, she brought the man’s mount crashing to the ground.

The horse fell without struggling—its breaths shallow, nearly gone.

The Wala soldiers forgot to fight. Shock froze them as they stared at Shen Lanxi.

She was… a woman!

Could it be that she was a man in disguise?

Even if she were a man, could anyone kill a horse with a single staff strike?

Baru’s pupils constricted sharply.

The Wala soldiers finally understood why the marriage mission had only one general—and that general was a woman.

She was stronger than even their greatest warriors!

“Stop fighting… stop fighting…” Baru shouted, seeing the situation clearly.

The guards were poised to impale the Wala soldiers with spears and decapitate them. Now they were surrendering?

Shen Lanxi said, “You outsiders kill indiscriminately—even the old, weak, and children. Today, I will avenge the innocent lives that perished for our Great Zhou!”

Baru’s eyes widened in alarm. He shouted, “That wasn’t us!”

Xiao Fang: “Don’t try to lie. Who else could it be but you?”

As a clan leader, Baru already knew from the first clash who was stronger. Now was not the time for heroics.

There’s a saying in Great Zhou: the wise recognize the times. The Wala population was small, and there were elders and children in the tribe depending on them. If too many were killed, the leader himself could be exiled to the deep mountains to feed wolves.

“They’re Turks! The ones fighting Great Zhou! Not us!” Baru quickly explained.

Shen Lanxi remained unconvinced.

“Whether or not, you attempted to assassinate a marriage mission. That alone is a heinous crime. Executing you is fair and just!”

Baru gritted his teeth. “We attempted the assassination, but there was a reason.”

Xiao Fang: “What reason?”

A Wala tribesman beside Baru spoke angrily: “Before, we Wala signed a treaty with Great Zhou to jointly resist the Turks. The condition was that you couldn’t negotiate with the Turks, Tatar, or Persians—but you Great Zhou people broke the agreement!”

Shen Lanxi: “…”

The tribesman continued, his tone growing more accusatory:

“Our Wala and other tribes are few in number but have always been loyal to the Great Zhou court. We never intended to attack Great Zhou. But because our tribes are weak, we were constantly harassed by the Turks, Tatars, and Persians.”

“When the Wei family army was stationed here, they helped us resist the three Turkic tribes. We provided horses and fodder for them. After the Wei family army left, the Great Zhou border army no longer protected our Wala tribes. The Turks and Tatars continued oppressing us. You Great Zhou people are untrustworthy!”

Shen Lanxi thought silently for two seconds, then raised her hand in a flag signal. The guards withdrew to their original positions.

“I didn’t know about any of this.”

“Do you have evidence?”

The tribesman who had been shouting confidently froze.

Baru asked: “What evidence?”

Shen Lanxi: “The treaties you signed with the court.”

Baru muttered to the tribesman beside him. Suddenly, the man shouted and began rattling off a list.

Baru: “We Wala have always paid tribute to the court. Only in the last two years of conflict in the northwest did we stop.”

“When the Wei family army bought horses and fodder from us, they gave us things! Those items are still in our tribe. We didn’t bring them this time.”

Shen Lanxi’s eyes gleamed. “You tried to assassinate the marriage mission to sabotage the court’s peace treaties with the three Turkic tribes?”

Baru and his men were struck silent, then admitted: “The Turks always want to annex our Wala tribes. If this marriage mission succeeds, they would have a reason to attack. Our Wala tribes would become slaves. Our livestock slaughtered, our women and children sold like cattle.”

Shen Lanxi: “Didn’t the Northern Expedition Army come before? Did they achieve nothing?”

Baru’s face darkened with anger and disdain at the mention of the army.

“We sought out your so-called Northern Expedition Army. They looked down on us, didn’t believe us, treated us as spies, and wanted to execute us!” Baru’s face blackened at the memory.

Shen Lanxi’s expression was unreadable.

“General, today we offended you. We’ll leave immediately!” Baru said, recognizing the situation.

Shen Lanxi scanned them. “Since you came, don’t rush to leave!”

Xiao Fang gripped his weapon tighter.

Baru’s face darkened. Thinking Shen Lanxi truly wanted to exterminate them, he no longer tried to reason.

“You Great Zhou people! All of you are untrustworthy! If you wanted to kill us, our Wala men would die without even frowning!”

Shen Lanxi took a deep breath. “You’ve been harassed by the Turks for so long. Life must have been difficult,” she said, scanning the weaker Wala behind the frontlines.

Baru’s eyes flicked around, wondering what she meant.

Shen Lanxi continued: “I’m short on guards. If you escort us safely to Huangtu City, I’ll let you go.”

She blew a whistle. In an instant, Xiaoxue flew over from afar.

The massive eagle, in the eyes of the Wala, was a godlike being.

Shen Lanxi dismounted, stepped forward, and effortlessly hoisted the eagle—bigger than a man—over her shoulder with one hand.

The Wala gasped. Some timid ones even jumped from their horses, kneeling and shouting, “Heavenly God!”