By morning, the horizon had grown teeth.
What had been a faint orange smear in the night became rows of spearheads catching the pale light. Xia's army unfolded slowly, with the unhurried confidence of men who believed distance and numbers were on their side. Standards snapped in the wind—wolf's heads, river glyphs, the long stroke that meant "east" and "claim."
On the wall, the people of Qi watched.
They were not all soldiers. Some were boys who had not finished growing into their hands. Some were women with aprons tied over padded coats, buckets of sand and water at their feet. Old men with white brows stood beside militia captains, leaning on staves that had never seen battle. They watched the advancing tide and tightened their fingers on whatever they held.
Ziyan stood where the stone met sky, her hair tied back, the blue silk at her wrist the only color that did not belong to smoke or frost.
Feiyan stood at her shoulder, eyes narrowed. "Three columns," she said. "Leftmost heavy with cavalry. Middle with spears. Right with siege gear." A pause. "They learned from Zhang's mistakes."
"Good," Ziyan said. "Let them. It will make this lesson useful."
Wei snorted under his breath. "And what lesson is that?"
"That not every gate opens to a raised banner," she said. "Some open only to a hand offered palm-up."
Han climbed the last step, breath visible, armor strapped with careful, economical movements. "The lords are restless," he said. "Zhao thinks we should accept a treaty and live to argue another day. The others won't say it, but they're thinking the same."
"They're thinking with their bellies," Wei muttered.
"As they should," Ziyan said. "Hungry men make honest cowards."
She turned from the wall. "We'll speak to them before their fear grows polite."
In the council chamber, the air was already thick with worry.
Zhao stood by the cracked map, fingertips drumming on the jagged line of the river. "We are not ready," he said. "Our lines are thin. Our stores, thinner. If Xia offers vassalage, we can bargain—keep our houses, our names. Let them guard the borders while we recover."
Lord Meng's eldest, face drawn with grief and duty, shook his head. "There will be no Meng house if we kneel. We'll be land stewards in our own cities."
"Land stewards are alive," Zhao snapped. "Dead lords hold nothing, not even honor."
Feiyan lounged against a pillar, carefully unbothered. Han sat with both fists on his knees. Shuye hovered near the door, as if expecting it to listen.
Ziyan entered without announcement.
Conversation stopped, like water caught by sudden frost.
She looked from one face to another, seeing pride, fear, calculation etched in lines of age and ash. "Say it plainly," she said to Zhao. "You want me to take Xia's crown and bow for you."
He gave a nervous laugh. "Bow? No. Accept. Share power."
"Whose?" she asked. "Theirs, or mine?"
The hall shifted. Zhao swallowed. "Power is never one man's—or one woman's—alone. We… we can survive this. You have given us a chance. Do not throw it away for pride."
Feiyan flicked a knife into the air, caught it by the flat. "You confuse pride with spine."
Ziyan raised a hand; Feiyan fell quiet.
"You are not wrong to fear," Ziyan said to Zhao. "Fear kept us alive when Zhang thought us toys. But if we hand this city to Xia now, everything we've bled for becomes a convincing little story they'll tell about how generous they were, taking us in."
"They will take others if not us," Zhao said, cheeks flushing. "This is how empires survive. They eat or are eaten."
"Then perhaps," Ziyan said softly, "it is time something made them choke."
Zhao's gaze darkened. "Easy words for those with swords. My people—"
"Your people," she cut in, "were the ones who pulled stones from the river to build barricades before you ever gave the order. They are already fighting. The only question is whether their lords will walk in front of them or behind their backs."
Silence again. A muscle in Zhao's jaw worked. "And if we refuse to march?"
Feiyan's eyes sharpened. "You won't."
Ziyan did not move. "If you refuse, I will not have you dragged out and beheaded the way Zhang did. I will not burn your house or strip your heirs. I will do something worse." Her voice stayed calm. "I will tell the city that when the wolves came, you chose to hide. And then I will leave you to live with them."
Zhao flinched as if struck.
"Look east," she went on. "Xia stands on the horizon. Look west." She gestured vaguely, taking in ruined provinces, hungry towns, the ghosts of Ye Cheng. "Zhang's way brought us here. If we answer Xia as he would, what have we changed?"
Meng's son exhaled. "What do you propose, then? We cannot match them in field battle."
"No," Ziyan agreed. "So we won't."
Shuye straightened, understanding flickering in his eyes.
"We make the city a throat too narrow to swallow," Ziyan said. "We let them enter in ordered lines—and when streets twist, we take their order away. Han, you hold the south quarter. Zhao, the east. Meng's men the inner ring. You don't stand and trade spear for spear; you harry, vanish, cut, fall back. Let them bleed one street at a time."
"And you?" Han asked.
"I stand where they can see me," she said. "At the north wall first. Then wherever the line trembles most."
Feiyan's gaze did not leave her. "You'll paint a target on yourself."
"It's already there," Ziyan said. "Better they aim at me than at children with buckets of sand."
One of the captains—broad-shouldered, with a scar climbing his neck like a crooked vine—cleared his throat. "And if someone opens a gate from the inside?" he asked. "Xia will pay well for a single disloyal hand."
Feiyan's smile did not reach her eyes. "Then that hand won't be attached for long."
The captain hesitated. "They have already tried," he said slowly. "A messenger came in the night. For Zhao's steward. Offered gold, land under Xia's new rule. All he had to do was leave the postern lock 'misaligned' at dawn."
Every eye in the room found Zhao.
He went pale. "I— I refused," he stammered. "I sent the man away. I swear it."
Ziyan studied him. His fear was real. So was his shame.
"Bring the steward," she said.