The next day, at dawn.

Qin Ze bid farewell to Bai Qi and Huo Qubing, and then, with the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun, Zhang Liao, Dian Wei, and a total of twenty-one people, they set off from Beiliang via the shortcut they had taken earlier, just as the sun was rising.

Of course, Qin Ze ordered that no one in the entire army should leak the news of his return to Beiliang.

Qin Ze planned to go directly to the first city outside Beiliang, which was also the first city to go south, Tongwei City!

After joining forces with Yue Fei in Tongwei City, and after the city falls, they can then advance unimpeded and take advantage of the momentum to march south and attack the capital!

——

Five days later.

The capital city, Changle Palace.

Chang Le Palace is the residence of the current Empress Jin Fengluan. Unlike the previous emperors, Jin Fengluan is a woman, so naturally she has no concubines or male lovers.

There were some, but they were just palace maids and eunuchs, so it was usually quite deserted.

Today, however, several eunuchs carried a sedan chair leisurely through the side gate of Chang Le Palace. When the palace maids and eunuchs along the way saw the sedan chair, they quickly lowered their heads and waited silently until it passed before going about their business.

The eunuchs carried the sedan chair, and after turning several corners, they soon arrived at the imperial bedchamber.

The palace maids outside the palace stepped forward, lifted the curtain, and a face that, though past fifty, was increasingly elegant and noble peeked out from the sedan chair.

It is none other than the current King of Ganqing, Jin Weizun.

As soon as Prince Qing stepped out of the sedan chair, Jin Fengluan, dressed in casual clothes, walked out of the palace accompanied by two personal maids.

"Your humble servant pays respects to Your Majesty!" Prince Qing bowed respectfully.

"Brother Wang, there's no need for such formalities," Jin Fengluan said to the eunuchs and palace maids beside her.

"Go down, you don't need to serve me anymore."

"I'd like to take a walk with my brother."

The eunuchs and palace maids immediately bowed and withdrew.

After dismissing everyone around, Jin Fengluan and Prince Qing walked one after the other into the back garden.

On the way, Jin Fengluan frowned slightly and said in a deep voice:

"The person sent to Xijing to deliver the imperial edict has not returned. It is likely that he was killed by Qin Ze. Now, we don't know how far the war in Xijing has progressed, and we can't get any news out."

"Hmph, it seems Qin Ze went to Xijing because he planned to stay there until the winter."

Prince Qing nodded slightly. "Hehe, with the Tu Yuan army in Xijing, the battle might be at a stalemate, and Qin Ze might be in a state of confusion. If he's smart, he'll probably be defending the city."

"It's not a bad thing for us. By tying down his troops, it will be easier to take back Beiliang."

At this point, Jin Fengluan frowned.

"Take it back? Hmph, we sent Jin Li to reclaim Beiliang, but it failed again. He was utterly defeated before even entering the pass!"

"Where did Qin Ze get so many troops? There are some in Xijing, and more in Beiliang!"

"Even 100,000 troops couldn't conquer Beiliang in one fell swoop, how many more troops would be needed?"

At this point, Jin Fengluan pinched the bridge of her nose, a hint of anger appearing on her fair face.

Prince Qing nodded, his face darkening.

Previously, he ordered Jin Li, who was stationed in Tongwei City, to mobilize troops from the surrounding areas, totaling 100,000 soldiers, intending to take advantage of Qin Ze's presence in Xijing to launch a surprise attack on Beiliang and destroy his stronghold.

But to everyone's surprise, the hastily summoned troops were routed at the Beiliang Pass.

Not only did they fail to enter Beiliang, but tens of thousands of them were also killed by the Beiliang army at the pass.

Jin Li dispatched a messenger overnight with an urgent message, requesting the court to send more reinforcements, otherwise the Northern Liang would be difficult to conquer.

Meanwhile, the military forces of several cities surrounding Tongwei City have been largely concentrated there.

Just then, Jin Fengluan spoke up again: "If that doesn't work, let Jianren send 300,000 troops to Tongwei City and take back Beiliang in one fell swoop."

After he finished speaking, Prince Qing shook his head and said calmly, "I don't think it's necessary. There are other ways to break through Beiliang, and we don't even need to use the troops we have."

Jin Fengluan raised an eyebrow, a look of doubt on her face.

What do you mean?

Prince Qing stroked his chin and said with a faint smile, "Let the Southern Barbarians go."

Upon hearing this, Jin Fengluan was taken aback.

The Southern Barbarians are a different race from the Daqian people. These barbarians are brave and fierce, and were mortal enemies of the Daqian people a few years ago.

After Qin Haotian led the Chiyan Army to a great victory over the Southern Barbarians, not only killing many of them but also capturing a large number of Southern Barbarian soldiers, they finally calmed down and dared not harbor any further ambitions.

After that final battle, most of the southern barbarians retreated to their land, bowed down to the Daqian, and paid tribute year after year, willingly becoming vassals.

As relations improved, the group of captured Nanman soldiers were released.

Nowadays, the Southern Barbarians and the Great Khanate also have some trade relations, and they are at peace with each other.

However, attacking Beiliang now would cause great internal strife. It would be good enough if the Southern Barbarians didn't take advantage of the situation to cause trouble, so why would they send troops?

Jin Fengluan was puzzled and immediately asked, "Brother, although the Southern Barbarians have submitted, how can they be willing to go and attack Northern Liang if I ask them to do so?"

"Those barbarians may be brave and fierce by nature, but if I summon them, they will surely feign compliance and refuse to put in their true effort."

After he finished speaking, Prince Qing nodded slightly.

"That's right."

"These barbarians may be mostly stupid, but they wouldn't be this stupid."

At this point, he changed the subject and smiled slightly, saying, "However, I have a way to make them genuinely willing to send troops to Beiliang."

"Moreover, we will definitely do everything in our power to attack Beiliang and kill Qin Ze!"

Jin Fengluan tilted her head slightly, raised her eyebrows, and said calmly:

"You don't mean to say that we should conquer Beiliang and send them to garrison there, and then appoint a king of a different surname?"

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