Zhu Yuanzhang POV — The Broken Pursuit
The horses stopped.
No—
it was not the horses that stopped, but the army.
Zhu Yuanzhang tightened his grip on the reins and looked down at the battlefield.
Moments ago, the pursuit had been surging forward.
Now, at a single point, the line had split.
The rupture was not wide.
But it was deep enough to sever the breath of the entire force.
"Why did they stop."
His voice was low.
There was no need to load it with anger.
The situation was already decided.
A general dismounted and bowed his head.
"Your Majesty… Xu Yancheng has fallen."
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes narrowed.
"How."
"During the frontal push… by one man."
Silence followed.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked again at the field—
scattered cavalry, turning horses, banners stripped of direction.
"One man?"
"Yes."
The words lingered in the air.
One man weighed heavily, far heavier than the scale of the battlefield should have allowed.
"He broke the pursuit."
"The momentum collapsed at that point."
Zhu Yuanzhang drew a slow breath.
The anger sank downward, cooling as it settled.
This was not something rage could resolve.
"Name."
"…A Goryeo officer. Jungnangjang Park Seong-jin."
At that moment, Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze fixed completely.
Goryeo.
Jungnangjang.
The man who stopped an army.
"Xu Yancheng was leading the frontal pressure."
"Yes."
"When such a man falls, the entire pursuit must waver."
He nodded, as if agreeing with his own conclusion.
"Well done."
The generals lifted their heads.
It took them a moment to understand that the words were praise.
"He did not fight," Zhu Yuanzhang said.
"He cut the board."
He did not turn his horse.
Without taking his eyes off the battlefield, he continued.
"Chen Youliang ends today."
"But—"
His gaze shifted, toward the direction where the Goryeo forces had struck.
"That man is only beginning."
Someone asked carefully,
"Your Majesty, shall we resume the pursuit—"
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.
"No."
"This is enough for today."
For the first time, he chose to withdraw—not because of defeat, but because the calculation was complete.
"When an enemy collapses," he said,
"the next enemy comes into view."
In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the next battlefield was already forming.
At its center stood the shadow of the man who had just brought an army to a halt.