Happy Holidays! 

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"Are we ready?"

Jin qing stared out at the snowy wasteland of the central planes. Avoiding fighting wars and waging battles in the middle of the winter season was one of the first rule that any good general should learn, but Jin Qing knew this was the best time to catch him off guard.

She could see the city from where she was standing, and she was sure that they could see her. From behind their walls, they'll be able to see everything that was happening in her camp. Merry song and drinking, roaring bonfires, feast after feat... everything that they didn't have while they starved away in their city, cut off from all their supply lines thanks to Kai Feng's efforts. Goodness knew what they were doing inside that city to even stay alive, but Jin qing tried not think too much about it. She could only hope that the only person the spirits of all those who had died inside those walls will be cursing will be her and not the partying men behind her.

After all, this was all apart of the plan.

Ten minutes.

Jin Qing let her men party for three more days before in high spirits and in high morale for the final advance against the city. Surely, the garrison keeping watch on her army from the city would have been exhausted and green with jealousy by now. Surely her investment on the high-ground of army morale would pay off and give her another advantage.

Five minutes.

She took a shaking breath. Her two maids were right behind her, brandishing their swords and armor as her proud right-hand women. Both of them had been briefed about the plan, and each of them were to split off from her according to strategy to storm and re-capture the city.

Now.

Confused shouts erupted behind her as men took notice of the burning bridges that they've just crossed in order to get past the partially frozen river. Everyone looked to their commanders-- and most importantly, her -- for answers.

The answer Jin qing had told her commanders to give their men was simple. With those bridges burned, the only way out of this battle was either through victory or death-- whether that be from the sharp end of an enemy spear, to the frozen, raging waters of the river.

She braced herself. A part of her expected her army to turn against her now that she's purposely trapped them inside. It wasn't like this was the only time that she could burn the bridge. In fact, she could have burned the bridge in the middle of battle for perhaps an even bigger effect.
But Jin Qing didn't. And she held her breath, waiting for an angry shout against her.

Not a single sound other than the thumping of boots against frozen soil, and the breaths of a thousand men.

The city.
It was waiting for her. It was waiting for her to make the first move against its walls. Surely, he would have seen her and her army by now-- and surely he would know that he was outmatched. Any good general would have put his men on high alert once their presence was made known across the river, which would have meant that his men would be mentally fatigued from the simple act of waiting. Waiting for an invasion that they were sure would come sooner than now.

Jin qing held her breath and raised the banner of the Wei kingdom. Her army roared in approval behind her, and charged behind their captains in a formation previously discussed in a hushed meeting room. Another roar answered them-- this one from within the city-- as the first volley of arrows and defense weaponry was fired. Jin qing was a safe distance away from the attack, but the group of men that charged ahead was not blessed with the same fate.
Another roar. Another wave of men was sent in before another tide of arrows were fired-- but Jin qing could see the inconsistency. She could see how the wave of arrows were beginning to thin even if it was only the second volley.

It was time, and Jin qing had a feeling that her infamous white cloak wouldn't be the only thing that would be stained red today.

A roar erupted to her left, where a section of her army had managed to push ahead in between volleys. Heavy snow and thick ice was no weather to carry heavy siege weapons, but Jin Qing had no intention of slowly scaling the great walls of the sieged city.
No, they were going to charge right in through the front door.

Now that the city's defenses was focused on the side that had made a lucky break, Jin qing ordered an advance. Thousands of footsteps shook the ground, thumping against her heart with every synchronized step her army took.

Lots of people will die today. Lots of people will never get to return home— or perhaps even have a home to return to.
But Jin Qing was here to win a war, and that wasn't possible without some sacrifices. Even if "some" means an entire city.

A group of her soldiers managed to scramble over the walls. Some of her best fighters were in the group, fighting to give her and the rest of her army the advantage it needed—

The city gates creaked open, but they weren't greeted by fellow Wei soldiers who had fought their way towards the door.
Song soldiers were waiting for them to advance.

And advance they did.

The chorus of swinging blades and screaming men drowned out most of the thoughts in Jin Qing's mind. All that was on her mind was to survive. This was going to be her last battle for the Wei— whether that be through life or death— so she wanted to make it count.
Besides, there was someone waiting for her in the midst of battle. Someone who wanted her head just as much as she wanted his— and the only way to claim it would be to survive long enough to meet him battle.

A shiver went down her spine as she swung around just in time to intercept an oncoming strike that would have easily taken her head off her neck if she hadn't been anticipating it. Shen Feng leapt away before she could counter, creating a distance between them that the other soldiers somehow knew not to interfere with.

Shen Feng didn't have that confident swagger to his posture or build since the last time Jin qing saw him in the Song, but the fire in his eyes was unmistakeable. It burned with a heat that could only be fueled by hatred and jealously— a look that Jin qing knew very well.

"You think you're being clever?" He spat. "You think you can get us just by overwhelming us with numbers?"

"You're not winning this."

A thin, deranged smile twisted his features. "We'll see about that."

At that, a piercing scream rang through the cold winter air. The cacophony of panicked voices and beating footsteps brought everyone's attention— including Jin Qing's— to a halt. 
From the city gates stood thousands of civilians, all of them running straight into a battlefield to flee from a threat that continued to drive them forward. Elderly folk, women and children alive flooded amongst the ranks— each of them looking more malnourished than the next. Most of them didn't look to be more than skin on some bones, and the weakest ones quickly disappeared under the crowd.

Bodies crashed into one another as the crowd of civilians rushed into her ranks, aiding the enemy army in pushing them back against their heels. The song army swung freely without the fear of hitting their fellow countrymen... but her army hesitated. 

Shen Feng smiled. "Will you raise a hand against civilians? Civilians that you swore to protect?"

Jin Qing gripped her sword.
Her army was looking at her for directions. For her to set an example.

It's alright.
You expected this.

"That oath ends with today's victory." She answered, her gaze hardening. "Blades never had any feelings anyway." 

Her army moved along with her sword. When her blade swung mercilessly against Shen Feng, her army struck swiftly against the enemy's. The wave of civilians was only a temporary setback, she said to herself over and over like a mantra. Victory is still in sight. 

We just need to stick to the plan.

It was a one-sided fight.  

Jin qing had poured everything into this last battle. All the men she could muster was put into this battle. All of the Wei's equipment, all of its supplies, all its faith. Killing the Song's best general, crushing the army that he's heading, destroying the foothold that the Song has within the Wei... it was enough to ensure a victory for the Wei even after she's gone. 

But first, the battle. The massacre. 
Her army was better equipped, better trained, and better rested compared to the Song army. The only thing the Song army had was desperation. Sure, Jin qing had cut off her own, direct escape route to motivate her own army, but the soldiers of the Song had nothing left to lose and nowhere to run. They either die on the battlefield a hero or live to be a prisoner in wartime. 
For a solider with any sense of honor, being a prisoner is worse than death. 

But what if Jin qing presented to them with an option to flee? 

She could hear the shouts being passed along the mess of battle. Something about how the back end of the Song's army had managed to secure themselves a bridge on the opposite side of the battlefield by beating the soldiers she had stationed there. She could feel the priorities of the soldiers shift from fighting a one last stand to perhaps seeing another morning in the wilderness. 

But they hesitated. They needed one more push. 

Jin qing knew exactly how to motivate them. 

There was a time when she was afraid of Shen Feng. There was a time that he was stronger, faster, better than she was. There was a time that he and his army was a threat to her. This was not one of those times.  It was his own hubris that drove him so far into Wei's lands without thinking about the long term. A few months being cut off from supplies had starved him both of food and energy, and the only thing keeping him standing was his own pride. 

It was pathetic to see someone she had once so feared in such a state. 
But she was the one in power now. She was the one that will be deciding how long he's got left to live. 

Shen Feng seemed to notice this. "You're waiting to kill me, aren't you?" He growled, still trying to put up that dominant front despite his clear exhaustion. "What are you waiting for? Waiting for me to do it myself?"

"No."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Jin qing swung when he stood still, waiting for an answer. She knocked him down with the flat side of her sword, bringing him down to his knees. When he tried getting back up, she slammed her foot against his back and pulled his head up with her foot so the edge of her blade was hovering above his neck.
She met his eyes. What was the expression on her face right now? It must have been quite scary.   "Waiting for to tell you that you are nothing but a bastard born from a lowly concubine that never deserved to touch the Liang throne." She said quietly. He could hear her. "And that I've been dreaming about this day my entire life." 

Decapitation was easier than she thought it would be.

She didn't have time to marvel at how smoothly her sword cut through skin, muscle, and then bone. She was too busy staring at the look of horror, pain, and lifelessness in Shen Feng's eyes. 

It wasn't done. The Song army still needed that final push. 

Jin qing stuck her sword through his head, raising it high above her to display it to the rest of the Song army. "Your general is dead!" She shouted over the noise. "Surrender!" 

Some of the Song soldiers did. Those closest to her and her army dropped their swords in a chorus of metal hitting the floor. Each of them looked just as tired as their general was as their defeat finally registered in their eyes. Some of them continued fighting, possibly still clinging onto the last sliver of pride they still had. 
But most of them ran. Most of them ran for that bridge and that thin mountain passageway that would allow them to get away from her army. 

She could see a part of her army follow behind them, but Jin qing did not follow. 

Jin qing had a smile on her face as she watched them enter that narrow valley, as they crossed over that bridge. 


First, the cracking and breaking of old wood. 
After all-- a bridge of that age in the middle of winter will be brittle, and the weight of hundreds of soldiers will cause the foundation to collapse. Those who made it across only made it through by a hair's length of distance, and those who didn't... well, they sure made it across to the other side of life with the help from the frozen river. 

Next, the slaughter and surrender of the solider still trapped on this side of the river.
Most of the soldiers had enough common sense to stop and give themselves up, but some still persisted. Those who didn't give up were swiftly put down. 

Finally, the volley of arrows that ambushed the retreating soldiers. 
Yu Qi was waiting for them on that side of the river. Waiting with an entire infantry of archers stationed on either side of the valley. Arrows rained down on those who couldn't hide themselves under cover, and those who did were met still with a quick end from a blade from the army on the other side of the pass. 

All this happened while Jin qing waited on the battlefield, her sword still raised with Shen Feng's head. She didn't lower her arm until a she saw Yu Qi's soldiers from the other side, cheering about their victory. 

The battlefield was littered with corpses, and her cloak was dyed completely red. 

But it was victory, no matter how hard won. 

"Im free." She whispered. Her head was spinning with the rest of the world. Was it from exhaustion and stress from the last few weeks of planning for today's victory? Or was it from the injures she probably sustained trying to keep up the dangerous dance of death with Shen Feng? 

Someone caught her as she fell. Maybe she wasn't caught at all. 


For the first time in Jin qing's life, she slept in peace.