Chapter 187

The poor folk within Mi Lin City cheered and jumped for joy, celebrating that their Dragon Queen had won victory.

They ran through the streets and alleys, spreading the word everywhere. Some Ghis people wearing Toka robes poked their heads out of their dwellings, looking bewilderedly at what was happening before them.

"Mi Sha..." someone shouted loudly on the street; Kun Ting knew that was his mother's meaning.

She was so popular here, but Kun Ting knew that now the sun was high, and her enemies in the city would only hide in dark crevices of stone, lying low, waiting for a chance to strike.

To be safe, she should have her nest arranged in Wei Si Te Luo.

"These slave masters' armies are really too weak." Gai Li Si Ding Wa Te said, looking at the neatly marching Unsullied legion.

"After all, they're just mercenary bands and slave traders; how much combat strength could they have? Wei Si Te Luo is the real battlefield; at least, there aren't so many unreliable mercenaries there."

"Was it the Second Sons who defected in battle?"

"It's the Windblown Regiment." Kun Ting stood beside the queen, saw the flag raised by the riotous troops, and would not mistake it.

"The Ragged Prince sent a few dozen people from Wei Si Te Luo to the queen here, just to reveal this secret when they lost, showing he actually supported the queen; now it seems this plot had no effect at all."

"Compared to that, I'd rather they hold out to the end; frankly, I'd rather they died in battle," Kun Ting wasn't sure whether among the hanging heads there was one belonging to the Ragged Prince, "that way my promise wouldn't have to be fulfilled."

"Your Highness, even if he lives you don't have to fulfill it," A Ji Ba De said with a laugh, "after all, people say a promise made under compulsion is invalid; not fulfilling it won't affect honor."

"Perhaps, but he is Pantuosī's 'Ragged Prince,' and I don't want Dorne's reputation to suffer in Pantuosī." This topic made him feel meaningless; he is a Prince of Dorne, he ought to have higher honor, and there's no reason to be coerced. "Although the queen won a battle, the main force of Yuankai is almost unscathed, and the threat of Milin in the east has not been eliminated."

"The queen brought back many heads to the city, and some feet bound on stilts; many newly freed civilians in the city believe they are now completely safe."

"The heads belong to the Lahezans or their slave-soldier captains; how many belong to the Wise Masters, the queen does not care." As for who dares to walk on stilts on the battlefield, he is not sure.

Ser Barristan led the army to break their vanguard and left-wing forces; the Unsullied regiment flanked from the right. The pikemen collapsed first, then the Kuoersi camel corps, followed by the Ailiya reinforcements and the Tuoluosi slingers. The Second Sons fled fastest; the Jisi regiment suddenly withdrew, leaving Bloodbeard surrounded on all sides—even if his Cat Company managed to withdraw, it would suffer heavy losses, and he also saw dragons appear in their camp.

Because of the dragons' appearance, pursuit became difficult, so Jisi's main force withdrew almost entirely safely.

"It sounds like the most useful spoils still belong to the camels; hump meat is more tender. Now Milin lacks no gold or silver, but food can be scarce—I've heard we need to feed even more people this time?"

"The queen will say that after the war, her army is growing; the Windblown's defection is equivalent to adding two or three Ravens' companies, not to mention a large number of slave soldiers."

Victory in war still doesn't solve the need to feed the population. The queen abandoned the port and naval warfare; the ships seized in Kuoersi were burned to nothing, and without defeating the enemy navy, Milin's commerce can never recover.

Unless the queen can ride a dragon.

The queen cannot ride a dragon, but it looks like her three-headed dragons are already large enough to carry riders.

The dragon has three heads; the queen can at most count as one of them. Of the remaining two, could he occupy one? He has not yet told the queen the purpose of this mission.

Play to strengths, avoid weaknesses. Perhaps only when he truly tells the queen the purpose of this mission will she properly look at his face and take this flaw into account; until then, he is a useless ally.

The queen is indeed mocking him for just waiting, isn't she?

"All the queen needs is victory." That was spoken by Tuoko; Ser Selmy, a newly retained retainer locally, must be said, he truly bears the bearing of a Weisiteluo knight: "Prince of Dorne, Your Highness, you are summoned."

When he entered the hall with the attendant, the hall was already filled with loud laughter and chatter—natural, as these officers had won a great victory in this battle, suffering almost no losses, and the spoils were abundantly rich: piles of unconsumed materiel, armor, weapons, and shields scattered everywhere, countless beasts of burden including camels and war elephants, crate after crate of gold and silver piled on the battlefield to boost morale…

He was seated almost at the front below the stage; for this arrangement he could only thank Dorne's weight in the queen's heart. Directly opposite him was Ser Selmy, who held authority over the entire army this time; upon seeing Quentin, he gave a slight nod.

In the queen's court, he is almost Quentin's sole ally; he does not know how much of this is due to Prince Lewen.

In the rear of the hall he saw the Ragged Prince, nearly as old as Ser Selmy, whose hair had been dyed blue; however, compared to their last meeting, the newly grown hair revealed its original white.

He had already taken off his armor, and the multicolored cloak stitched from different fabrics had vanished without a trace.

The queen sat on the dais, a little girl standing beside her, the Unsullied guarding her on both sides, hidden in the shadows of the pillars.

The queen raised her cup to thank those present; the attendants presented portions of the divided roasted elephant meat to the people below the seats.

"As facts have proven, compared to you brave ones, the Yuankai alliance is no match; I believe the ultimate victory of this war will surely belong to us." The queen then turned to the Ragged Prince at the end seat: "If it weren't for the Windblown's defection in the face of battle, I wouldn't know how long this fight would take to truly decide a winner; for this I am sincerely grateful."

Quentin did not know how much of that was sarcasm. Even before the Windblown's defection, the Yuankai alliance had already shown signs of defeat.

The Ragged Prince rose with a smiling countenance to return the salute.

"I have a gift to give you." She lifted her gaze to indicate the Unsullied beside her. The Unsullied carried a tray straight to the Ragged Prince, who, in everyone's sight, lifted the cloth covering the tray.

A bloody head was placed on the tray; the head's hair was grayish-white, the skin looked brown, darker than when he was alive, and Quentin was uncertain whether the color had changed or it had been specially treated.

"This man took my gold, yet turned to the Yuankai people; I once swore to make traitors pay. I was fortunate to capture him on the battlefield, so this head is my gift to the 'Prince,' hoping you can become my loyal assistant like Dario. And I promise you, you and your Windblown will always have a place before my throne."

The queen's cavalry pursued the fleeing Second Sons tail-to-tail, capturing the dismounted Benpleng on the chaotic battlefield, and after the battle sent him before the queen; she did not hear his defense, ordering her Dothraki guards to behead him.

"Thank you for the queen's favor," he laughed as he took the tray, ignoring the queen's threat: "This man looks somewhat unintelligent; I will certainly take him as a warning."

"He is precisely too clever." The queen smiled faintly, reseated herself, and gestured for Ser Selmy to speak.

Ser Selmy detailed the battle achievements one by one, eliciting waves of cheers from the officers throughout the hall.

After finishing the report on the spoils, he set down his cup and began another address.

"Since everyone here is the queen's loyal guard, you may listen to this news and arrangement: according to reports from the front and reliable intelligence, at dawn tomorrow the right-wing slave soldiers of the Tiger Cloak Army will rise in revolt, lighting bonfires in their camp as a signal to attack the camp of the Walsitan coalition's commander Malazio Gumeiya. I can tell you all that, at this very moment, the Unsullied's left-wing regiment has already exited the east gate, following the Stone Armor Ancient Road, seized the Red Sand Beach, completely cutting off the Walsitan coalition's western retreat; the Beast-Face Army's vanguard regiment has also crossed the Scakatdan River, now stationed on the north bank, facing off against the Sunrise and Frost regiments, while also drawing the attention of the Tiger Cloak Army and their minions."

The officers inside the hall began to whisper among themselves, and low murmurs arose as expected.

"And we will launch an attack from all sides against the Walsitan coalition as soon as we receive the signal."

Quentin had a belly full of doubts, but there was no friend here with whom he could converse.

Yuan Kai's army suffered a setback; in the short term they cannot launch an attack on the east side of the city. This is our opportunity; we have time to shift our military focus to the west and defeat Walan Tisi's great land army.

What if the intelligence is wrong? What if the Tiger Cloak Army does not launch an uprising?

"The attack will not change." the queen answered.

The Picnic Group will replace the original rebel slave soldiers and launch the attack first; this is the content the queen did not speak. If his feeling is correct, that northerner will also be his "rival" for the purpose of this trip.

"This is our opportunity." Sir Selimi then said, "The Walan Tisi army knows we are still dealing with Yuan Kai's alliance; they know we have won a great victory; they will suspect we will also pursue the defeated alliance, so they will never think we will shift our main force direction to launch an attack on them; moreover, our great victory on the eastern battlefield will also strengthen the confidence of the Tiger Cloak Army's slave soldiers that they can successfully launch an uprising; at this moment, the wise lord and the heads of various enemy commanders have already been sent to the Tiger Cloak Army, believing they will not think victory is merely a rumor; Milin West is hilly and barren land, very favorable for cavalry raids and infantry encirclement. With these factors, I believe victory will surely belong to us."

"Victory!" the officers shouted.

The queen wanted to destroy the Yuan Kai alliance in one fell swoop, but her forces were insufficient, unable to strike the well-organized new Gis legion while they were down, and the dragon also broke the continuity of the attack.

A dragon without a rider is almost worthless.

"This attack direction has multiple components; we cannot unify command, therefore I hope you all will adjust at any time according to signals and battlefield conditions, and must utterly destroy the Walan Tisi alliance here in one fell swoop!"

"Destroy!" the officers shouted.

"I suppose, you leaders of the Innocent, the Beast-Faced Army, the Radiant Camp, and the Violent Raven Corps already have clear battle objectives," the Ragged Prince carefully stepped around that skull and stood up, "We have just joined this great undertaking; we cannot lack the participation of the Windblown Group. You say isn't that so, Dorne's Frog Prince?"

"Me?" Quentin wondered, he should ask the queen.

"Of course." Ser Barristan took it, "We demand the Windblown set out immediately, heading north along the Rhoyne River, then pushing west to cut off Volantis' escape route north toward the Dothraki."

"So the Prince is no longer a member of the Windblown?"

"Prince Quentin is my honored guest; he has other duties." the queen said softly, "I know the story—he has no connection to the Windblown."

"Other duties?" the Prince of the Ragged Coat smiled amiably, as if he had seen through everything.