Chapter 148

When they left the dry grass hall, the sky began to drizzle snow.

Her cavalry followed silently, and Meiyi could only express gratitude.

While they were resting, several cavalrymen under Viscount Meisi kept complaining about how terrible it was to spend the night in the wild; one could tell they had reservations about Viscount Meisi's decision to follow Meiyi, but Viscount Meisi's son Fansi was excited all over.

The viscount had been widowed for a long time, similar to Sir Luodelike; he had only one child, but this child of the viscount was an energetic boy. He remained enthusiastic about participating in battle, similar to the youths Ruika and Count Taoha she had seen, though his personality seemed more like Ha'erluo.

Meiyi liked these energetic youths; their impulsiveness and recklessness couldn't be considered flaws, and the passion of the young men and women was the good medicine that ignited this gloomy world.

The cavalry could relax during the brief rest, but Meiyi needed to refocus her energy on the hawks and sparrows in the sky.

Scattered along her direction of advance were about one or two hundred cavalrymen, flying no flags. It was hard to say who they were.

Moreover, in the direction north of Long Creek City, there were roughly three times as many cavalrymen galloping across the plain, flying the horse-head flag of House Lesweil; she dared not say what color the flags appeared in the hawks' and sparrows' eyes, but there were clearly several.

Besides the horse-head flag, there were also the grass-fork flag, red pine flag, and coyote flag of the Blackland family; she had seen these flags many times below Long Creek City.

These were all enemies.

She was looking forward to fighting House Lesweil in the wild. Although her cavalry had not slept all night, they remained fully confident, which was something she could make use of.

Meiyi stroked the wolf head of the maomao dog, observing the surrounding terrain.

To the north, needless to say, it was all vast plains and shallow streams; to the east lay a wide river channel, perhaps passable on horseback, but she did not want to risk it, while to the south she would run straight into the scattered cavalry.

"West." she ordered.

To the west were several low hills, beneath which lay extensive apple orchards.

Passing through the apple orchard, after crossing a shallow stream lay a grass hut settlement; the settlement's warehouses were built along the great pond, each warehouse nearly enclosing half the pond, and upon closer inspection one could see that each warehouse stood separately on land within the pond, connected on shore by wooden bridges, and the warehouses were linked to each other by timber, allowing people to walk but not to ride horses.

The residents' dwellings were placed on a larger tract of land within the pond, with only one edge connecting to the pond's shore; the warehouses for storing dry grass were distributed adjacent to the dwellers' land, and from above it looked like a great bird spreading its wings.

Upstream of the pond there was a swimming lane connected to a stream, and downstream likewise connected to a stream channel; because it was blocked by shallow hills, Meiyi did not know whether the swimming lane linked to the same stream. Currently, the pond's water level was significantly higher than the outside stream's, and to prevent water loss from the pond, the swimming lane's sluice gate had been shut tight.

This was a grass hut settlement that had surely been cleared long ago, with complete facilities and even simple defensive measures; the residents occupied a tract of land in the pond that was huge compared to a normal pond islet, and looking at this tract, Meiyi felt it more appropriate to define the pond as a lake. But no matter how large this tract was, she knew the grass hut settlement could not provide them with many warhorses, because the area resembling a stables was simply too small.

Worth mentioning, the center of the land was occupied by a fish-beam tree taking up one-third of the area, with the residents' estates built along the edge of the land facing the pond, encircling the fish-beam tree and leaving only the middle open, still allowing the fish-beam tree to freely extend its limbs.

This was not a perfect battlefield encampment, but it was indeed the only place currently available for choice.

The terrain was sufficient for Meiyi; she almost immediately thought of a suitable tactic, the only problem being how to lure House Lesweil's cavalry here.

The sky, because of the snow, had become a dull gray; the light snow only managed to whiten the ground a bit before showing signs of stopping, and they then rode their horses across the small stream.

At this moment, Luofu spurred his horse to approach Meiyi, and Qiaozhi automatically made way for him.

"Your Highness, has the situation changed?" Luofu, one of the few who knew of her shape-shifting ability, asked after seeing her choose the west instead of continuing south.

"Not bad. House Lesweil has already led six or seven hundred cavalry in pursuit. What lies ahead is the battlefield I have chosen."

Afterwards, Meiyi halted the cavalry under the pretense of a military council, gathered the army's senior officers together, then informed them one by one of her observations and ideas, and asked them to deliberate and consider, to resolve any parts that might not be adequate.

It took only a moment to complete the whole plan.

The point of slight contention was how to attract House Lesweil's cavalry to the designated battlefield.

Kongqi Kongdun felt the simplest method was to burn a warehouse in the lake; Meiyi agreed with this, but she truly did not want to damage the grass hut settlement.

Luofu felt their actions along the way were already very obvious; the light snow had already made their tracks clear as day, so there was no need to continue making movements—just wait quietly.

Luofu's argument was also sound, but the snow was still falling, and the pursuers were separated from them by several streams; the snow would easily erase all their traces.

"Prepare torches, first occupy the grass hut settlement," this was Meiyi's decision; "if they are blind, light fires so they can see." As for the distressed herdsmen, she could only set them aside, for she was waging war, not playing house between lords.

Even if the grass hut settlement had some defensive capability, once the settlement's herdsmen saw the number of cavalry and the cavalry hoisting the ice plain wolf flag, the herdsmen abandoned resistance and lowered the drawbridge for them.

From the sky, a tract of land in the pond looked like just a big dot, but upon actual arrival, the tract seen was truly an island in the lake.

The cavalry did not enter the herdsmen's dwellings; each one, full of amazement, walked into this island.

Meiyi also felt this grass hut settlement was sufficiently beautiful.

The pond was deep green, its depths unfathomable; along the water's edge of the land grew sentinel trees and soldier pines, plus other tree species she did not know, and along the shore no soil could be seen, only roots large and small tangled together. To facilitate water collection, people had built small piers of bluestone in some places.

A small pier stood every few dozen steps. The herdsmen used bluestone slabs to build the foundations of their houses, slightly higher than the shore; the walls were made of thick yellow mud, and the exterior was uniformly whitewashed.

Besides, a newly built room had only half its plaster applied; since Meiyi's cavalry landed on the island, the herdsmen had already closed the doors, dropped the plastering wooden buckets, and hidden inside the room.

Meiyi did not care about these common folk; just as, if Meiyi did not come to disturb them, they would not care about Meiyi.

The rooms along the main road into the island were divided into left and right sections, allowing Meiyi to ride straight to the island's center. The herdsmen's houses also extended inward in layers from the island's center, numbering several dozen households. If each room housed one person, the island would hold at least several hundred people, and obviously a room would not be occupied by just one.

At the island's exact center stood the fish-beam tree, its reddish branches and leaves like a vast canopy spreading densely in all directions; its trunk was stout, its roots astonishingly thick, making one feel at once that the whole island was nothing more than part of its body.

Meiyi felt that the fish-beam tree of Lin Dong City was somewhat inferior to this one.

The cavalry dismounted before the fish-beam tree, drew near, and marveled at its grandeur and wonder as a representation of the northern old gods.

Meiyi felt that no one would ever again want to set fire to any warehouse of this grass hut settlement.

"Damn, if I could be knighted beneath this tree I'd surely remember it for life," Bolong exclaimed, exaggeratingly embracing the fish-beam tree.

The fish-beam tree's face, like that of all other fish-beam trees, pointed in the same direction; this one was no exception, the only difference being that this tree's face looked like a smile rather than anger.

The curve of its mouth bore a strong resemblance to the passion in her hand.

Meiyi gripped the sword in her hand, and the ruby on its hilt began to flash again in rhythm with her breath.

Meiyi reached out her hand to the fish-beam tree's face, and instantly received the image transmitted by the fish-beam tree.

She saw Halisi Molan hanging naked from a tree by his upper body, his strong muscles covered in stripes of wounds; the corners of his mouth were bloody, yet facing the person before him, he showed a mocking smile.

Meiyi wanted to follow Halisi Molan's gaze, but was instantly forced back; when she reached out her hand again to the fish-beam tree, it was a fragment of Qiongen.

A eagle perched on his shoulder and then leapt away; Qiongen was gritting his teeth in pain, yet his smile spread across his whole face.

He was much more mature than when they had parted; the subsequent image showed him leading cavalry to vanish into the sea of people, after which she could receive no further information.

She did not know what the fish-beam tree ultimately wanted her to see.

When she reached out her hand again to the fish-beam tree, she saw herself, she was conferring knighthood upon Ruika in the Hundred Furnace Hall of Helunbao.

After that, she could see nothing at all.

"Your Highness, there are only a few warhorses," Kongqi Kongdun said to her.

Meiyi nodded, riding past the cavalry.

"Quiet!" Mei Yi shouted at the soldiers surrounding her, "You all followed me from Winterfell all the way here, endured hardships; what I promised—waking up in the earl's bed, enjoying the earl's fine wine and food—has not yet come true, I deeply regret it, but this opportunity will surely come soon, I have no doubt."

Mei Yi drew out passion, a faint light wrapped around the ashen-gray sword blade, and Mei Yi felt the sword's yearning.

"I have always remembered that you all, knowing the danger, followed me out of Winterfell; you all, knowing the task was impossible, still willingly accompanied me south to Hay Hamlet; and it was in your presence that we discovered the evil secret of Streamland and Barren Mound Village."

Winterfell Guard Captain Harris Morlan escorted Eddard Stark's—my father's—remains back to Winterfell when Lady Dustin seized them; at that time, both Streamland and Barren Mound Village were still vassals of House Stark, but Lady Dustin insanely insulted her liege's corpse, using evil sorcery to curse his children.

Your former lord Bran and his brother Rickon repeatedly met with accidents; his sisters suffered continual misfortune, wandering far and wide, their fate twisted; now, since we have received the Old Gods' guidance, uncovering her secrets, thwarting her plans—this is exactly the Old Gods' guidance for us.

I am grateful for this guidance to the Old Gods, and grateful for your companionship. I also want to express my gratitude to you. For this gratitude, I promise you that I will prioritize allocating all the lands of Streamland and Barren Mound Village to you. You have seen today's hamlet, seen its beauty—I promise you that what you can obtain will be far greater than this hamlet. Each of you will at least be a viscount of Streamland and Barren Mound Village; I swear this before the Old Gods.

"Long live!" the knights shouted.

Mei Yi blushed, waiting for the knights to quiet down.

"I have always wondered why we in the North cannot have knights. I see your bravery, your fearlessness, your kindness and sense of justice, which are in no way inferior to the bravest knights of the South. Therefore, today I announce to you all, in the name of the Old Gods, I establish the honorable position of knight. Every one of you present, I will make you a knight, a knight of the Old Gods."

The soldiers stood dumbfounded one by one, when Bolon was the first to kneel on one knee before Mei Yi.

"Your Highness, I have long awaited this day; I am willing to accept the Old Gods' honor, the Old Gods' blessing, and under the Old Gods' radiance become the knight you confer."

Mei Yi nodded, and then everyone together knelt on one knee.

"With the Old Gods as witness, I confer knighthood upon all of you. You may address each other as Sir. May you, under the Old Gods' witness, at all times behold conscience, at all times uphold justice, at all times seek new knowledge. Please rise, gentlemen."