Chu Qingmeng took a sip of her warm tea and continued, "Feiying, your Second Aunt, Leng Ji, and I—we had to throw who knows how many explosives just to force the enemy to sound the retreat and call off the attack. My body simply didn't have that kind of physical stamina; I completely ran out of strength after killing just four or five men with a dagger. To be honest, when those Yueshi soldiers came at me with their blades, the only thing going through my mind was that I would never get to see my two children again.
Fortunately, your Second Aunt threw me the life-saving item she always kept with her, which allowed me to kill that Yueshi soldier. After that, your father and Second Uncle defended the city day and night. But even the quickest reinforcements from the imperial court would take half a month to reach the border city, and by then the garrison was down to just ten thousand men.
The new injuries on your father piled on top of the old ones; the moment his wounds finally stopped bleeding, he had to head right back to the battlefield. I wasn't in a position of authority, and I had no soldiers at my disposal. After turning it over in my mind, your Second Aunt and I came up with a plan that actually did drive the Yueshi soldiers back.
Chapter 88