Chapter 31: The Mistake That Caused Great Harm

The battle did not break her spirit; on the contrary, after seeing that the ones climbing the walls were merely ordinary humans with two hands and two legs, Zhuang Mian felt her life had become much simpler.

There were no endless extraordinary beasts outside the city, no crazed people from the outer city—only those who needed ladders and earthen platforms to ascend the walls. What she needed to do was straightforward—

Raise her spear and then, thrust!

After confirming that she had endured numerous defensive battles with almost no serious injuries, the county magistrate of Nanke County boasted greatly about Zhuang Mian in his official report, portraying her as a good omen sent from the heavens.

With the military disaster over, the refugees within the city returned to their ravaged homes, while Zhuang Mian remained inside the city, waiting for her unknown future.

In the fight between life and death, Zhuang Mian had firmly decided to survive continuously in this world. The experiences between life and death seemed to have awakened something deep within her heart…

Zhuang Mian’s fate was completely transformed by this official report.

Nanke County was the only one among the dozens of counties that had been attacked by the Tan Luo white soldiers in the twelfth year of Yongding that did not fall. Such an achievement was something the court wanted to boast about greatly.

This time, the white soldiers advanced north, sweeping through hundreds of miles, seizing massive quantities of food and gold and even capturing many Huai An people to be enslaved as farmers.

Thus, the so-called victorious underwhelming victory at the edge of the battlefield became particularly significant.

Consequently, the originally three thousand white soldiers morphed into thirty thousand through endless tales, while the defending force changed from an initial regular army of eight hundred to three hundred hastily recruited warriors.

In short, the officials of Huai An took advantage of the common people’s poor math skills to create a narrative, using Nanke County as an example to claim that one Huai An warrior could match a hundred Tan Luo soldiers under favorable conditions.

If Lin Qingliu could personally experience the divine enlightenment script he wrote, he would surely slap his thigh and praise “Huai An Captain.”

As the event continued to evolve and spread, the county magistrate quickly rose in rank, becoming a major official overseeing an entire region due to this achievement.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Mian was honored as a mascot general, with her everyday task being to patrol several large counties in southern Huai An to inspire the soldiers with her stories, while simultaneously annoying the Tan Luo people to the south.

Indeed, when Lin Qingliu wrote this script, he had thought of the movie about Captain America…

During this process, Zhuang Mian gradually discovered that the training knowledge she had learned in Hope City was… particularly useful.

Thus, Zhuang Mian achieved her primary life goal, but along with it came a feeling of time accelerating.

Zhuang Mian’s consciousness seemed to split into two parts; one continued to fulfill the responsibilities of her identity, while the other completely entered observer mode.

In this divided state, Zhuang Mian felt as though she had lost her shackles, and a plan she had never dared to imagine began to take root in her heart.

The pink butterfly accompanying her started watching everything as she entered this observer mode.

In the fifteenth year of Yongding, the Tan Luo white soldiers once again advanced north. Zhuang Mian led her Huai An army at the front of the county city, blocking the enemy’s offensive and thwarting the main force of the white soldiers, thereby disrupting Tan Luo’s northern advance plan.

After the battle, Zhuang Mian was promoted to the rank of General of the Broken Troops, and she began to be stationed permanently at the front lines.

The small village that had once taken her in also expanded greatly, and was now called “Broken Troops Town.”

In the seventeenth year of Yongding, Zhuang Mian took the initiative to attack south, capturing three large counties in Tan Luo and successfully holding them, achieving the greatest military feat of the Huai An dynasty.

After securing the newly reclaimed three large counties, Zhuang Mian received a decree.

Her victory report reached Huai An, leading to nationwide celebrations. The Emperor of Huai An awarded her the title of General of the Southern Campaign, establishing the three large counties and the surrounding reclaimed areas as a new district while granting her military authority over three surrounding districts.

From then on, Zhuang Mian established a strong defense in the southernmost three districts of Huai An, leaving countless Tan Luo white soldiers itching to see the military banners on the city walls.

In the vast expanse of another world, Zhuang Mian began to unleash all her talents, continuing to travel back and forth between the capital of Huai An and the three southern districts over the following years, stepping into the Huai An court as a military general.

In the twentieth year of Yongding, Zhuang Mian took the initiative to strike, splitting her forces into three routes to advance against Tan Luo. The army swept through like a hot knife through butter, aiming directly at the capital of Tan Luo.

But as fate would have it, just as the army marched south, bad news arrived from the capital—after twenty years on the throne, the Emperor of Huai An had suddenly passed away, leading to political instability with the new Emperor taking the throne. Zhuang Mian had no choice but to pull back the troops.

Despite the hasty retreat, the southern campaign led by Zhuang Mian still achieved remarkable results. The new Emperor sought to win over the renowned general by citing these military accomplishments, leading to Zhuang Mian’s promotion to the rank of Former General.

In the second year of Cheng An, Former General Zhuang Mian distinguished herself in suppressing rebellions and was promoted to Grand General.

In the fifth year of Cheng An, Grand General Zhuang Mian launched another southern campaign, engaging the main forces of Tan Luo in battle south of the three districts, inflicting a crushing defeat on the white soldiers advancing towards the capital of Tan Luo. The Emperor of Cheng An, hearing the good news, conferred upon Zhuang Mian the title of Grand Minister of War.

Two months later, at the beginning of the sixth year of Cheng An, the capital of Tan Luo fell, and the entire Tan Luo territory was pacified with a single edict. Tan Luo was annihilated.

Zhuang Mian remained stationed in the south to prevent any resurgence of Tan Luo remnants, while royal decrees from the young Emperor flowed in one after another, rewarding her.

In the seventh year of Cheng An, having settled everything in the south, the Grand General of Huai An, Grand Minister of War, and Duke of Ning Huai, Zhuang Mian, led half her army northward.

In the eighth year of Cheng An, the Emperor conferred Zhuang Mian an audience in court without formalities, praising her without naming her, as she stepped into the palace with sword and boots, wielding the golden axe.

In the ninth year of Cheng An, the Emperor granted Zhuang Mian the authority over a hundred officials, conferred ten counties as her fief, and bestowed a residence with ten thousand households, promoting her to Prince Ning and adding nine honors, with a twelve-feather crown.

In the tenth year of Cheng An, the Emperor ordered Zhuang Mian to build ancestral temples and establish the state, posthumously honoring her ancestors.

In that same autumn, the Emperor of Huai An complied with the will of heaven and followed the hearts of the people, raising a high platform in the outskirts to abdicate to Prince Ning…

—

The scene froze at the high platform of abdication, as the half-ethereal observer Zhuang Mian felt her jaw nearly drop to the ground…

"This, this, this, is me?"

"Yes, why wouldn’t it be?"

A gentle voice responded to the observer-form Zhuang Mian as she turned around, searching for something beside her, ultimately only finding the pink butterfly.

Zhuang Mian still could not recover from the overwhelming shock; she was completely confused about the current time and place.

Ever since she accepted the first conferment from the Emperor of Huai An, her personality seemed to have been split into two.

The personality remaining in this world grew ever bolder, showcasing her exceptional talents as if she were a fierce horse galloping across the prairie.

Meanwhile, the observer version of herself became increasingly calm, simply wanting to witness everything happening alongside the little butterfly.

The two personalities felt like two diverging paths; the farther they went, the faster the scene unfolded before the observer, ultimately making her feel that her self in that world had become utterly unfamiliar.

"I must say, this story surprisingly suits you."