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Chapter 127: Ministers Rose to Protest

After this incident, Ning Shu gained a strong reputation in the military. Naturally, it was a reputation that caused fear. However, Ning Shu expressed that she didn't care.

Something that surprised her was the fact that Cai Sang actually started learning martial arts as well. Every day, she would serve Ning Shu - attending to her, doing her laundry, and making her meals. But in between all of that, she would find time to practice martial arts. She said that she wanted to go on the battlefield to kill the enemies, so Ning Shu allowed her to do as she wished.

Perhaps it was because Ning Shu's reputation was so brutal people couldn't help but have a strong impression, but a lot of women who either had no one to rely or or had been defiled by Tartars ran over to ask Ning Shu for help.

In just a while, over a hundred people had gathered and they practically became a female army. It added a bit of color to the dull barracks.

These women were all at the end of their ropes and had come to Ning Shu as their last hope. All of them stated their desires to head to the battlefield and get revenge with determined, vengeful expressions.

Ning Shu thought about it and felt that it was very important to establish a troop of trustworthy subordinates that would only follow her direct commands, so she took in these women and had people teach them basic martial arts.

Perhaps due to the fact that they had found a new goal in life, these women were no less spirited and fierce than the male soldiers. Perhaps women couldn't compare to men in strength, but men had no way of competing with the tenacity of women.

However, the army couldn't continue to feed these women for free. Even Shen Feng tactfully hinted that these women couldn't stay in the barracks.

Ning Shu didn't say a lot and simply pointed out the fact that these women helped out in the barracks a lot. All the meals, clothing repairment, and things like that were handled by these women.

In the end Shen Feng could only yield. With a precedent like Ning Shu, they couldn't very well say that the barracks were off limits to women.

What Ning Shu didn't know was that in the capital, a wave of opposition against her was rising. Naturally, their argument was that her methods were too b.l.o.o.d.y and cruel. The truth was, those rotten old Confucian scholars were worried about the fact that she had allowed so many women to enter the military. If women were allowed to head to the battlefield, how would they be able to continue using the Confucian moral injunctions for women as a basis to restrict their freedoms?

>The Confucian injunctions for women were: obey in turn three men - father, husband, and son - plus the four virtues of morality, physical charm, propriety in speech, and efficiency in needlework.

It wouldn't be easy for them to place limitations on women anymore.

A group of ministers rose to protest.

Li Wen sat on the dragon throne. There was no expression on his face, but there was a trace of a smile in his eyes. He read through the memorial that had been delivered to him several times. A trace of satisfaction flashed through his eyes when he finished reading about what Ning Shu had done.

Then he looked towards the ministers below and said indifferently, "En, her methods were ruthless. How about this? You guys elect one among you to be sent to the border. If that person can make it back alive, we will remove Princess Jiahui from her post."

The ministers: …

His Majesty wanted them to die ah, didn't he? Li Wen's att.i.tude has always been that it didn't matter whether these ministers were here or not. If one died, another would immediately take that person's spot. Hence Li Wen rather hoped that these rotten old ministers all died.

All the ministers shrank back and tried to decrease the strength of their presence.

Not long later, Ning Shu received the letter Li Wen sent to her. There were only two words: very good.

Ning Shu immediately understood what Li Wen meant. From the looks of it, Li Wen approved of the way she had handled things. She felt even more confident now that she had obtained Li Wen's support.

As of now, Ning Shu's tent had become forbidden grounds for men. It was the women's base of operations. Ning Shu watched as the women dressed in armor brandished their spears. Their movements were surprisingly uniform and spirited. A slight smile appeared on Ning Shu's face.

Leaving the original host with these people counted as leaving her with some influence. She hoped that the original host's life would be a little easier after she left this world.

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Chapter 128: Calm Before the Battle

Ning Shu walked along the top of the majestic city wall and looked down at the corpses hung below. Then, she s.h.i.+fted her gaze towards the distance. Beyond the vast prairie were snowy mountains. This was the magnificence that could be witnessed at the border.

Cai Sang, who was in armor, followed behind Ning Shu and asked, "Princess, the people of North Mongolia has such vast lands, so why do they still insist on stealing our things?"

"Stealing can become addictive, and it is so easy to reap without sowing. Tartars aren't people that can bring themselves to endure the hards.h.i.+ps of sowing and nurturing," said Ning Shu mildly.

Perhaps it was because He Lianying had gotten injured, for no Tartars came to disturb the border lately. Every day, other than practice martial arts, Ning Shu would only practice martial arts while thinking about ways to defeat the Tartars' cavalry.

The strongest force the Tartars had was their cavalry. Their horses and their people both had very strong physiques, so she had to come up with a way to deal with them. There was no way they could really use a hundred people's lives to exchange for the life of one North Mongolian Tartar. If they did that, Ning Shu's heart would crumble. It'd practically be throwing lives down the drain.

There was definitely some other way.

As Ning Shu walked along the city wall leisurely, she b.u.mped into Duan Xinghui. Duan Xinghui came up and cupped his fist in salute. "This general greets Princess."

Ning Shu gave a cold 'en' in reply and walked past him. Duan Xinghui saw that Princess Jiahui didn't even bother to glance at him and stop himself from asking, "Princess Jiahui, will you leave with the Second Prince of North Mongolia?"

Ning Shu stopped walked and turned around to look towards Duan Xinghui with a frown. "Bodyguard Duan, this matter doesn't seem to have anything to do with you? Also, it's not your place to question the matters between this princess and the second prince of North Mongolia. If you dare to spread this sort of rumor in the military, this princess won't let you off!"

Duan Xinghui bowed slightly and said, "This general understands."

Ning Shu gave a cold humph and returned to the barracks with Cai Sang.

The Tartars specialized in looting, so their infantry couldn't compare with their cavalry at all.

Large snowflakes drifted down from the sky like light feathers. In less than a day, everything was blanketed with snow.

Shen Feng's expression became very serious. It was typical for sheeps and cows to freeze to death in this type of weather, and that was the time Tartars usually came to plunder. He sent a lot of elite soldiers out to scout the areas.

Ning Shu still hadn't come up with a way to deal with the cavalry, but the most effective way was to just use bows and arrows to shoot the Tartars to death.

Shen Feng wasn't young anymore and didn't have much confidence in being able to obtain a victory. Hence, his mindset was not to achieve victory, but to avoid mistakes and protect the border.

Meanwhile, Ning Shu wanted to inflict serious damage on the Tartars, so she gave Shen Feng the suggestion of putting a lot of bows and arrows on the city wall.

Shen Feng nodded in response to her suggestions and arranged for it to happen. Duan Xinghui had been following Shen Feng's side this entire time and helping with all sorts of things. Now that a huge battle was on the brink of starting, Duan Xinghui felt that he should try to comfort Ning Shu. "Princess, in reality, we only have to protect the city walls for it to count as our victory."

Ning Shu was made pretty speechless. What did Duan Xinghui mean by telling her this?

Ning Shu was also making preparations for the incoming battle.

"Princess, please let us come along this time." Cai San entreated Ning Shu. "All of them want to go as well."

The moment Ning Shu stepped out of her tent, she saw the female army standing in neat rows in front of her. These women were not very beautiful and did not have alluring figures, but no man could compare with the imposing aura they possessed.

Their expressions were serious. When they saw Ning Shu come out, all of them knelt down on one knee. "Greetings, Left Vanguard."

In response, Ning Shu shouted, "Rise! In a while, there will be a large battle. Are you scared?"

"We're not scared!" The voices of the women were not as low as those of men, so when they mixed it made a very melodious sound.

"From now on, start practicing with the bow and arrow. When shooting a bow, you should pay particular attention to arm strength. A crossbow is the best way to defeat Tartars, so start practicing now."

Ning Shu pointed at the target. "Shoot towards the target."

Ning Shu demonstrated, drawing the bow back and releasing the arrow towards the center of the target. The arrow shot off with so much force that it pierced straight through the heart of the target.

#comment: "Princess Jiahui, will you leave with the Second Prince of North Mongolia?" =_= Ning Shu's not an idiot like you, why would she ruin her life by running away with the enemy who she doesn't even like?

There's been so many comments about how stupid Duan Xinghui is, but he seriously is stupid, this translator agrees. Haha, it just makes me love Ning Shu even more! Go take over the world! Go destroy the world! This translator supports! *waves fan flag* ,,>_