Chapter 258 The King of Anguo, having reached his limit of tolerance, decides to attack Xuanguo.

Upon hearing this, the officials present also showed excited expressions.

Several high-ranking officials who had witnessed Lin Sui making his promise in person were quite shocked.

After all, no matter how they analyzed it at the time, they felt that the king of You Kingdom could not possibly be unaware of the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold," so why would he help Xuan Kingdom attack An Kingdom, which was located between Xuan Kingdom and You Kingdom?

Unexpectedly, Lin Sui actually managed to persuade the king of You Kingdom.

The destruction of the Wasteland Kingdom is a foregone conclusion. Seeing that the Xuan Kingdom's army has pushed all the way to the Wasteland Kingdom's capital, the An Kingdom will definitely be unable to restrain itself from attacking the Xuan Kingdom.

In this way, You Kingdom will definitely stab An Kingdom in the back.

After reading the handwritten letter of promise from the King of You, Xiao Qidi couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Good! Lin Sui! You did a great job! You've done a great service!"

Lin Sui bowed his head and clasped his hands, "Without Your Majesty's trust and assistance, I would not have been able to persuade the King of You. I merely mustered up my courage to run an errand for Your Majesty."

"Hahahaha!" Xiao Qidi patted his shoulder. "You have lived up to my high expectations, and I have also lived up to my promise to you. From today onwards, you are the head of the cabinet."

Then Xiao Qidi looked at the cabinet ministers and said, “Since the establishment of the cabinet, you have performed very well during the time I was away from the capital. You are now capable of operating the cabinet. Do any of you have any objections?”

"We have no objections!" The senior officials said in unison, all of them completely convinced of Lin Sui's authority.

Xiao Qidi was very satisfied with this.

This puts a weight off my mind.

Next, we just have to wait for Anguo to send troops to Daxuan.

——

at the same time.

Inside the main hall of the King's Palace in Angolan.

Many ministers were urging King Anguo to order an attack on Da Xuan.

They spoke with great enthusiasm, stating that according to intelligence, the main force of the Xuan Kingdom's army was mostly within the territory of the Huang Kingdom, which was precisely when the defenses of the Great Xuan Kingdom were weak.

Some ministers lamented that if they had sent troops earlier, they might not only have been able to seize a lot of territory from the Wilderness Kingdom from the Xuan Kingdom, but also attack the Xuan Kingdom, preventing it from serving on both sides and forcing it to cede land.

Why wait until now? Xuan Kingdom has almost completely taken control of the entire Huang Kingdom.

The more King Anguo listened, the more regretful he felt. Without much thought, he decided to issue an order.

"Your Majesty! You mustn't!" A dissenting voice rang out from a corner of the hall. "The fact that Xuan Kingdom was able to enter Huang Kingdom's territory so quickly and decisively proves just how terrifying Xuan Kingdom's military capabilities are. Even if its main force is still concentrated in Huang Kingdom, the rest of Xuan Kingdom's troops should not be underestimated! If our Great An attacks Xuan Kingdom at this time, we may be counterattacked, and it will be a great loss for Your Majesty!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of mocking laughter filled the hall.

Some say he's too timid, others say he boosts the morale of others while diminishing his own.

King Anguo was somewhat impatient, but he still beckoned to his ministers to be quiet. He then summoned the minister who had objected and, with a cold face, questioned him:

"Of the dozen or so ministers present, you are the only one who opposes this. Tell me, if we don't launch an attack on Xuan Kingdom now, are we going to let me miss this opportunity? Are we going to wait until Xuan Kingdom has completely pacified Huang Kingdom and can withdraw its main force before I fight Xuan Kingdom? Don't forget, Huang Kingdom seized a lot of Da'an territory because of the 200,000 sets of iron equipment that Xuan Kingdom captured during its conquest of Yu. Now, those territories have become Xuan Kingdom's! How can I swallow this insult!"

Facing the king's angry voice.

The only minister who disagreed argued forcefully, saying:

"Your Majesty, the fact that Xuan Kingdom openly gave away the iron equipment seized from Mieyu Kingdom to Huang Kingdom proves that Xuan Kingdom has better equipment. Moreover, Xuan Kingdom's move is precisely to use Huang Kingdom to weaken our Great An! Now that Huang Kingdom has been annexed by Xuan Kingdom, has Your Majesty not yet realized the sinister intentions of Xuan Kingdom?!"

"I believe that the claim that most of the Xuan Kingdom's main force is busy pacifying the Huang Kingdom and attacking its capital is false information spread by the Xuan Kingdom. The Xuan Kingdom must still be hiding a large number of troops!"

"Previously, the Wilderness Kingdom, relying on its acquisition of iron equipment, turned around and broke its alliance agreement with Da'an, seizing border cities and lands from Da'an and weakening Da'an. I believe that Your Majesty must not be hasty, but should suppress the impulse to send troops to the Xuan Kingdom and calm down to conserve your strength!"

"Before we fully understand the Xuan Kingdom's strengths and weaknesses, we must not rashly attack it. Instead, we should further demonstrate goodwill towards the Xuan Kingdom, outwardly establishing a permanent alliance while secretly strengthening the military and national power of our Great An Kingdom, and then—"

"Enough!" King Anguo suddenly roared, interrupting him. "I've already been very patient with you! And now you want to further ally with Xuanguo? I was already deeply humiliated by losing cities to Huangguo, and I was forced to send people to Xuanguo to curry favor and lower their guard. This only made me feel more ashamed and indignant! Now, seeing Huangguo fall entirely into Xiao Qidi's hands, and there are even cities of Da'an in there! I can no longer tolerate this! No matter what, we must send troops!"

"Your Majesty!" The minister who opposed sending troops cried out anxiously, "Please let me finish speaking, Your Majesty! I am considering the long-term peace and security of the nation! I beg Your Majesty to be patient. If Your Majesty insists on going your own way, I... will risk my life to remonstrate with you!"

The other ministers in the hall all looked annoyed and angry, their gazes piercing him like knives.

King Anguo was furious. "Guards! Drag him away and behead him! You want to die? Fine, I'll grant your wish! Go to the underworld and tell me all you want, but don't bother me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the royal guards dragged the minister away.

No matter how much he shouted and wailed, King Anguo did not give him another glance, and the other ministers also showed gloating expressions.

Once the hall was quiet again, King Anguo waved his hand and ordered, "Send out the order to launch an attack on Xuanguo!"

Just a few days later.

The movement of Anguo's army gathering towards the border of Xuanguo was discovered by Xuanguo's spies, and soon Youguo also found out.

Just as hundreds of thousands of Anguo's main forces were rushing toward the border of Xuanguo, Youguo fulfilled its promise and also dispatched troops to attack Anguo. Moreover, because it was well prepared, it was able to strike first despite being behind.

Just as the Anguo army was about to charge into the border area bordering the Xuanguo, they received intelligence that their rear had been attacked by the Youguo.

This put the commander of Anguo's main force in a dilemma.

Ahead lies the Xuan Kingdom's border, which is right before our eyes. Behind us, the border city of An Kingdom, which borders You Kingdom on its northeast side, has been under fierce attack and its first line of defense has been breached.

Let's continue attacking Xuan Kingdom; we won't have time to deal with You Kingdom anymore.

If we turn back to the northeast of Anguo to fight against Youguo, we will have to give up the great opportunity to attack Xuanguo.

There was no other way but to suspend the operation and wait for the capital to make a decision.

Meanwhile, in the capital city of An, the king and his ministers were also overwhelmed by the situation.

They never expected that the You Kingdom, which had been at peace for decades, would attack at this critical juncture, ruining their plans to attack the Xuan Kingdom and causing losses to the northeastern border of the An Kingdom.

"What is the situation in the northeast city gate now?" King Anguo asked anxiously as he paced back and forth.

"Your Majesty..." a minister said, sweating profusely, "The latest intelligence reports that three fortified passes on our northeastern flank have already fallen..."

"What?! Three border cities have been lost so quickly?!"

King Anguo's vision blurred. "Are all the defenders incompetent?! How did they even defend the city?!"

The minister, sweating profusely, forced himself to say, "The main problem is... no one expected that Youguo, which has always been huddled in the far northeast corner of the Central Plains, would suddenly launch an attack, mobilizing a full 180,000 troops at an extremely fast pace, while our Da'an's northeastern border cities and passes, all combined, only have... 50,000 border troops."

"Report! Latest situation at the border!"

A soldier rushed into the main hall, prostrated himself, and knelt down. "Your Majesty! The entire northeastern border of Da'an has fallen! More than ten cities, large and small... have been breached..."

The courtiers in the main hall erupted in uproar!

At this rate, the You Kingdom's army will be able to reach the vicinity of the capital of Da'an in less than two months!

King Anguo felt as if struck by lightning, a sharp pain surging in his chest.

He forcefully suppressed the blood rushing to his head, gritting his teeth as he said, "Quickly... quickly send down the order, commanding the army that has set out to conquer the Xuan Kingdom to return immediately..."

After saying this, he groaned and collapsed beside the throne.

...

Two days later.

The main force of the An Kingdom, which had been waiting for orders from the capital, finally received news that the king had ordered them to hurry and deal with the invasion of the You Kingdom. The commanders set off without hesitation.

Little did they know that Qi Zhan had already led 10,000 Xuanjia cavalrymen to the border between Da Xuan and An Guo earlier.

We've arrived just in time.

An Guo knew almost nothing about the situation in Xuan Guo, and simply assumed that its main force was besieging the capital of the Desolate Kingdom and had no time to attend to other matters in the short term.

Little did they know how terrifying the Xuanjia Army's combat power was, and how fast their information exchange and actions were.

The capital of the Wasteland Kingdom contains the last elite troops of the Wasteland Kingdom, as well as many civilians who have been taken hostage by the king. It will indeed take a lot of time and manpower to take them down, but General Mu Cheng can lead hundreds of thousands of main troops to carry out a siege strategy.

Qi Zhan could then take a portion of the Xuanjia Army and pursue the enemy while the Anguo army turned back.

That evening.

As the Anguo army hurried forward, tens of thousands of Xuanjia soldiers suddenly sprang out from behind them.

By the time the commander-in-chief of Anguo learned of the situation, the very tail of the Anguo army's marching column had already been bitten off by Qi Zhan.

The commander-in-chief of Anguo could only leave about 30,000 troops to cover the rear, while he led hundreds of thousands of troops to speed up the journey.

However, he also seriously underestimated the fighting power of the Xuanjia Army.

No matter how many troops he left behind to cover the retreat, they were all wiped out by the Xuanjia Army the day after he led his main force away.

However, he could only grit his teeth and continue to leave men behind to cover the rear while rushing to support the northeastern border of Anguo.

The Xuanjia Army maintained its pace steadily, relentlessly pursuing the rear of the Anguo army.

Several more days passed.

Only after the Anguo army had crossed half of Anguo and recruited many civilians to help cover the rear did Qi Zhan lead the Xuanjia Army to decisively retreat along the original route.

They could hold on tightly, give in at any time, and withdraw whenever they wanted, making it impossible for the newly arrived troops who came to help cover the rear of the Anguo army to even see them.

At this stage, the main force of Anguo, which originally numbered 490,000, was reduced to less than 400,000 by Qi Zhan's relentless attacks.

Upon learning of this situation, King Anguo was both furious and anxious. He fell ill and lay in bed, still cursing: "The main force of 490,000 Anguo troops! They went and came back empty-handed, losing almost 200,000 soldiers in vain! Are all the men around me a bunch of good-for-nothings?!"

A group of ministers knelt by the bed, not daring to utter a sound.

Knowing full well that this was a foolish move concocted by the emperor and his ministers that led to serious consequences, they dared not utter a single word in their defense.

They didn't even dare to utter the devastating news that the You Kingdom had captured several more cities of their own Da'an Kingdom.

I fear that by the time the main force finally arrives at the front line and is able to fight against the You Kingdom's army, it will be too late to reclaim the lost territories and cities.

Moreover, with so many of their main forces lost and exhausted from constant travel, it's uncertain whether they can stop the increasingly powerful You Kingdom army from advancing.

An extremely uneasy feeling, like a thick, persistent dark cloud, loomed over the heads of Anguo's ministers.

——

late at night.

The study of the Great Xuan King's palace.

Xiao Qidi was looking at the memorials, and his desk was piled high with thick stacks of paper documents.

"Your Majesty, it's late, you should rest." A high-pitched but gentle voice sounded from the side.

Xiao Qidi subconsciously said, "I'm not sleepy yet. You should go and rest first. It's cold, so take care to keep warm."

The voice said again, "But Your Majesty, how can I sleep if you don't? Why don't you warm me up?"

Xiao Qidi frowned and looked up, "What nonsense are you spouting, you old geezer—"

Before he could even finish the word, he paused, then his face lit up with delight. "Jinli? When did you get here! I thought it was... Seriously, you really do sound like him!"

He didn't know when the person standing next to him was Ning Jinli.

"Did you think it was your father-in-law flirting with you?" Ning Jinli's voice returned to normal as she blinked and smiled slyly.

Xiao Qidi pulled her into his arms. "I haven't seen you for many days. I really, really miss you."

Ning Jinli sat on his lap, her head pressed against his chest, and said with a grin, "You're so busy, how can you still think about me?"

Xiao Qidi said softly, "Thinking of you doesn't require me to have time. My mind is always on you, it never stops. If you weren't so busy, I would have come to find you."

Ning Jinli looked up and kissed him. "Okay, I'm here now."

Xiao Qidi beamed, "How's things going on your end? Do you have time to stay here a little longer?"

Ning Jinli wrapped her arms around his neck and pondered:

"Several moth-wing grass collection points have been set up in Blackwater Bay, and Blackwater Village has been renamed Blackwater Village. Many people in Tingxian County are also helping the former members of Blackwater Village build houses. I have distributed supplies and tools to everyone. They are building Blackwater Village while collecting moth-wing grass. With more people, things are easier. The yield of moth-wing grass has increased several times compared to the beginning, and it is estimated that it will soon be able to meet the needs of pharmaceutical production. In short, everything is progressing steadily and rapidly. What about you? You looked very serious just now. Did you run into some trouble?"