I was to be executed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Empress Ma smashed Zhu Yuanzhang's jade seal.

Xu Miaoyun's voice echoed in front of the empty East Palace Gate.

Every word was like a knife chilled to the bone, cutting into Chang's heart.

Chang stared blankly at her, at the almost sacred resolve on her face, unable to utter a single word.

What else could she say?

What else can she advise?

When a woman willingly and completely binds her life to a man...

Any language seems pale and powerless.

Xu Miaoyun's thoughts, however, had already drifted uncontrollably back to that unforgettable, cold night in the northern desert.

It was an extremely fierce encounter.

Zhu Muying led his 3,000 personal guards as the vanguard of the army, but they inadvertently fell into a trap carefully set by the Northern Yuan Grand Tutor "Yesudie'er".

One hundred thousand Northern Yuan cavalry surged in from all directions like a black tide, trapping them in a perilous place called "Wolf Howl Valley".

It was a place where even the wind carried the scent of death.

The sky was gray.

The ground is white.

It was nothing but snow.

For three whole days and three nights.

They were trapped in that narrow valley, completely cut off from the outside world.

The food supplies were all consumed on the first day.

They started killing the horses.

The mournful neighing of warhorses sounded particularly jarring in the silent snow valley.

The soldiers' eyes were all red.

These companions who followed them through countless battles, who were like brothers to them, are now destined to become their food.

But no one cried.

Because they know that crying is the most useless thing in the world.

Zhu Muying did not cry either.

He simply led his prized horse, named "Treading Snow," to Xu Miaoyun.

It was a pure white steed from the Western Regions, without any stray hairs, which Zhu Yuanzhang bestowed upon him before he went on his expedition.

Zhu Muying loved it more than her own life.

"Eat it."

He spoke to Xu Miaoyun in a hoarse voice, like a stone that had been polished by wind and snow a thousand times.

Xu Miaoyun looked at the horse, its clear, big eyes rubbing against Zhu Muying's BMW with affection, and shook her head desperately.

No, I won't eat it.

"obedient,"

Zhu Muying's tone left no room for argument: "You are the commander-in-chief's family member, a key person to be protected. If you fall, the morale of the army will be thrown into chaos."

He gave a grand and respectable reason, but his hand was gently stroking the mane of "Treading Snow".

Xu Miaoyun saw that his usually firm and resolute hands were trembling slightly.

Something pierced her heart.

She knew that this man was protecting her in his own way.

Even if it comes at the cost of his beloved horse.

It was his heart.

That night, everyone received a piece of horse meat.

It was roasted until it was half-cooked and had a strong smell of blood.

But everyone ate voraciously.

Because they knew this might be the last meal they would ever eat in their lives.

Only Zhu Muying did not eat.

He sat alone at the highest point of the valley, holding his saddle, gazing south towards Yingtian Prefecture, for the entire night.

No one knows what he's thinking.

Xu Miaoyun did not disturb him.

She just watched from afar, watching his back, covered by wind and snow, looking incredibly lonely, and her heart ached.

Day four, dawn.

When the first pale rays of sunlight shone into the valley.

Zhu Muying stood up.

He gathered all the remaining soldiers, fewer than two thousand.

The weariness and dejection of the previous days were gone from his face; in their place was a burning, almost frenzied fighting spirit.

"Brothers!"

His voice echoed in the silent valley.

"We are surrounded."

"We have no reinforcements."

"We have no way out."

"There's only one way to survive!"

He suddenly drew his sword from his waist and pointed it straight at the dark, seemingly endless enemy camp outside the valley.

"Fight your way out!"

"Charge into their central command tent and cut off Yesuder's head!"

Everyone has gone mad.

Everyone thought that their prince must be starving.

Using a remnant force of less than two thousand men to charge the central army of one hundred thousand?

What else could this be but courting death?

Even Xu Miaoyun thought he had gone mad.

She rushed to him, grabbed his arm, and said urgently, "Zhu Muying! Calm down! Aren't you just going to your death?!"

Zhu Muying looked at her, at her little face flushed with anxiety, and suddenly smiled.

His smile was radiant and gentle.

He reached out and gently brushed the snowflakes that had fallen into her hair.

"Silly girl."

He said in a low voice.

"Do you think we can wait for reinforcements by staying here?"

"Yesudier is the number one general of the Northern Yuan. Since he has set this trap, he will not leave us any way out."

"To defend is to die. To surrender is also to die."

"Since we're going to die anyway, why not take someone down with us?"

His eyes gleamed with a light that could be described as "madness".

"The art of war says, 'Place yourself in a desperate situation, and you will survive.' They all thought we would choose the weakest link to break through. But I will not."

"I want to stab a knife into their hearts!"

"I want Yesüder, and all the Mongols, to know that even if only one soldier of my Great Ming is left, he dares to charge against their Khan!"

After saying that, he took out the golden dagger from his pocket and put it into Xu Miaoyun's hand.

"Miaoyun, take it."

His voice, at this moment, was incredibly gentle.

"If... I mean if, I can't come back, and the city falls, then I'll use it to give myself a quick death."

"My woman, Zhu Muying's woman, would rather die standing than fall into the hands of those Tartars and be humiliated."

Holding the cold dagger, Xu Miaoyun felt it was colder than the wind and snow in the valley.

She could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face.

"No... I don't want to..."

"obedient."

Zhu Muying reached out her finger and gently wiped away the tears on her face.

"wait for me."

He looked at her deeply, his eyes filled with reluctance, longing, apology, and a kind of resolute determination that she couldn't understand.

Then, he turned around abruptly and mounted his horse.

"May the Great Ming Dynasty triumph!"

He raised his spear high and let out a thunderous roar.

"Victory! Victory! Victory!"

Behind him, the remaining soldiers, numbering less than two thousand, were also infected by his madness, and one by one they let out beastly roars.

They knew that this journey would mean certain death.

But so what?

It's better to die on the front lines with a commander like that than to starve to death in this valley in a cowardly way!

Zhu Muying, taking the lead, charged headlong like an arrow drawn from its sheath, relentlessly towards the black sea of ​​death composed of 100,000 iron cavalry.

Xu Miaoyun stood at the mouth of the valley, watching his resolute back recede further and further away, until finally, it was swallowed up by the swirling snow and the black enemy formation.

At that moment, her world also turned into a pale white expanse.

She gripped the dagger tightly in her hand, her nails digging deep into her flesh.

Zhu Muying.

Wait for me.

If you don't come back, I will come looking for you.

Whether in the sky or on the ground.

We agreed on this.