The battle at Beichen Pass finally ended in a victory.
On the battlefield, the Northern Frontier Army, who had thought they would have to fight to the death to defend Beichen Pass, shouted with excitement.
The troops brought by Elara also shouted with joy. They raised their weapons high, cheering for the unshaken momentum of Beichen Pass and the enemy's panicked retreat.
Even though their army had never lost a battle since its formation, every victory still made their blood boil.
The Northern Frontier generals began counting the casualties and rescuing the seriously wounded soldiers.
Damon and Egbert also sent people to clean up the battlefield. While helping the Northern Frontier Army rescue the wounded, they also had the soldiers collect every piece of iron armor and shield from the battlefield, including those from the five thousand elite soldiers of Salvia Kingdom who had been wiped out, as well as the iron arrows shot by the archers.
Seeing the battlefield being cleaned and the wounded being treated in an orderly manner, Elara finally stepped down from the top of Beichen Pass and landed on the city wall. She looked toward the main tower of Beichen Pass.
There, several gazes had long been watching her from afar.
Elara turned her eyes and met the calm and distant gaze in the center. She saw a thin young man in white, sitting in an intricate wooden wheelchair.
The young man had a tall and slender frame. His long black hair flowed loosely down his back. His eyebrows were like dark feathers, and his lips like red cinnabar. His skin was so pale it seemed almost transparent. The whole person gave off a strong sense of sickness and weakness.
This was completely different from what Elara had imagined. It was nothing like the image of a powerful and stern solitary ruler dominating the Northern Frontier and sweeping across the battlefield.
But when she clearly saw the young man's face, which looked like it was carved from jade, the blurry face in her body's memory suddenly became clear and almost perfectly overlapped with this young man's.
Her pupils slightly contracted.
It wasn't because of his overly beautiful face.
It was because she felt an extremely familiar and strong aura inside this pale and weak young man who seemed barely able to sit upright.
That was the aura of a blood slave controlled by the Holy Spirit blood essence.
And the blood slave aura in this young man's body was dozens or even hundreds of times stronger than what the Wei Clan carried.
No, it shouldn't even be called a blood slave. He was a puppet.
He was the exclusive substitute puppet of her current body.
Elara forced down her shock. She looked at the young man in the wheelchair from afar, whose expression remained calm and indifferent, and clearly felt the waves of piercing pain and weakness coming from his body.
She had experienced this kind of pain before. It was back when she had just arrived in this world, with one foot already at death's door, relying on the System's suppression of pain to barely hang on.
Now, she was actually feeling a pain worse than that from another man.
And this man was said to be her current body's uncle by name.
He was also the strongest blood slave under the control of the Holy Spirit blood essence inside her body.
Seeing the man sitting weakly in a wheelchair in the distance, Elara felt that with just one command, she could control everything about him at will.
She could even let him live or die with a single word.
Elara suddenly remembered the guesses she had made in the past to deal with Lord Gregory.
Back when Lord Gregory held great power in court, yet never dared make a move against her or Benedict, she had guessed it was because of Commander Shu.
Later, it was confirmed that this was indeed the reason. Even though she had only sent Commander Shu a fake invitation letter, Lord Gregory still didn't dare stop her from leaving Plumera City.
But Elara had always found it strange. Commander Shu clearly ignored both her and Benedict and showed no interest in the court of Plumera Kingdom at all. Why was Lord Gregory so afraid of him? And how could he be so sure that Commander Shu would never let anyone touch her or Benedict?
Elara had even guessed back then that there might be some hidden connection between her and Commander Shu, something that meant if she or Benedict were harmed, Commander Shu would suffer the consequences too.
Only then would it make sense why someone so indifferent to everything would still make Lord Gregory so fearful that he wouldn't dare act against them directly.
And now, looking at the pale and sickly young man watching her calmly from afar, feeling the pain and weakness flowing from the sacred blood inside her, Elara suddenly understood.
She had guessed right all along.
Her life was truly tied to Commander Shu.
No, it shouldn't be called a connection. It should be said that Commander Shu was her personal substitute puppet.
If Commander Shu died, she wouldn't.
But if she died, he would immediately follow her to the grave.
Even on normal days when Elara's life wasn't in danger, as long as something went wrong with her body, if she got sick, poisoned, or injured, Commander Shu would instantly suffer double the pain and damage.
No wonder he had stayed so detached from the world all these years.
With his body in such a half-dead state, always one step from the gates of death, how could he possibly have had the energy to care about anything outside?
Even though Elara's body had recovered now, her lifespan was still only a little over a year, exchanged with the national fortune points.
That meant she was still someone with less than two years left to live, and Commander Shu, as her substitute blood servant, would bear double the pain and harm her body suffered.
Since Elara only had a little over a year left, Commander Shu could only maintain this half-dead, dying condition for a few more months.
Thinking of this, Elara fell silent. Back when she first arrived more than half a year ago, she only had a bit more than a month to live. At that time, even she was in so much pain she felt like dying and coming back again. Commander Shu must have been even worse off, maybe unable to even open his eyes, lying unconscious in bed all day, unable to wake up.
Holy Spirit Blood Soul... so this was its true effect?
It could make the contracted blood servant become a puppet and substitute for the blood master.
With such powerful effects, no wonder the Puppet Soldiers were willing to do anything to seize it back then.
Elara looked at Commander Shu. Her expression became a bit complicated as she gradually understood the truth.
She tried to recall the past memories of this body, wanting to figure out when exactly Commander Shu became her blood servant.
But unfortunately, the old memories of this body were still extremely chaotic.
There was no way to find any information related to Commander Shu becoming her blood servant.
After recalling everything, Elara's feelings subtly changed again.
She had originally thought he was just a difficult "local tyrant," but now... it turned out they were in this kind of situation.
In the distance, as if sensing her thoughts, the young man in the wheelchair who had been quietly watching her lifted his pale and weak hand and made a gesture inviting her into the building.
Behind him stood two young men in armor.
Both of them were tall and strong, with handsome features. Their appearances were sharp and striking, and their presence was bold and heroic.
After Commander Shu lowered his hand, the young man on the left quickly stepped forward to Elara. He knelt down neatly on one knee, saluted, then raised his head to look into her eyes, which were bright and full of spirit.
"Your Majesty, the prince invites you inside for a talk."
Elara lowered her gaze and met the youth's shining eyes. She clearly saw sincere gratitude and deep admiration in them.
Her gaze paused slightly. Was it because of her earlier rescue that he felt such admiration?
Elara's brows shifted slightly. A thought in her mind changed once more.
It seemed Commander Shu really hadn't planned to seize power or take control through his army all these years. Or maybe, he never filled the minds of his northern troops with negative thoughts about the empire or the royal family.
Otherwise, this young general couldn't possibly look at her with such openness and admiration.
"What's your name?"
Hearing her question, the young man's eyes grew even brighter. "My surname is Duanmu, and my given name is Huai. I'm the prince's front-left general. I'm twenty-four years old and come from Guling Village outside Elara's capital. Fourteen years ago, bandits attacked our village. The prince saved me, and I've been by his side ever since."
She had only asked for his name, yet he poured out all his background and history like spilling beans.
It seemed the impression she left on the northern troops today by leading the army herself was better than she had expected.
Elara nodded, then followed Duanmu Huai's respectful guidance toward the building where Commander Shu waited.
The young man standing on Commander Shu's right also looked at her with the same admiration and respect. As she approached, he too knelt and saluted.