Li Jinyuan curled his lip in dissatisfaction: "That kid threatened me as soon as he arrived. Now he's defying the imperial decree, which means he's preparing to go to war with Dong Chu. What can I do?"

Upon hearing about the war, Yun Songquan fell silent.

Although the Su family army has 300,000 soldiers, each a highly skilled and capable general, and they are not afraid of the Eastern Chu soldiers even if a real battle breaks out, it is not yet time to truly break ties with Eastern Chu. This battle certainly cannot be started casually.

Yun Songquan glanced at Li Jinyuan, who seemed to have given in, and frowned, asking, "What did the imperial edict say?"

Li Jinyuan recounted the contents of the imperial edict that Xuanyuan Yu had just brought to the two of them.

"The Holy King?" Yun Songquan frowned even more upon hearing this. "Isn't the Holy King the General's son-in-law? If the Third Prince orders us to resist the Holy King, wouldn't we be making enemies of the General's son-in-law?"

Speaking of this, Yun Songquan became dissatisfied again: "If we were to help, we should be helping the Holy King, not helping them to deal with him!"

Wu Liping glanced at Yun Songquan: "Have you forgotten our stance again? Our stance is to not help anyone!"

These words instantly ignited Yun Songquan's anger: "I wish I didn't help anyone, but aren't we being forced into this situation? They've even brought the imperial edict. Even if we didn't want to get involved in the internal strife of Eastern Chu, we have no choice but to! Since we have to get involved, why can't we help the Holy King?"

The Holy King is the General's son-in-law, so he's practically a relative of the General!

If they insist on getting involved in the internal strife of Eastern Chu, they might as well help the Holy King!

Yun Songquan's words left the two speechless for a moment. After a brief silence, Wu Liping finally spoke up: "Don't panic. No matter what, we must not forget our master's orders. We cannot participate in the internal strife of Dong Chu. Our Su family army does not recognize the Emperor of Dong Chu, nor any imperial edict. We only recognize the General and his military seal!"

Yun Songquan glanced at Li Jinyuan with a hint of reproach, but said nothing.

It's all thanks to Li Jinyuan's good deeds. If it were him receiving that Third Prince, no matter what imperial decree he presented, he wouldn't compromise. He'd rather fight!

Compared to Yun Songquan, Wu Liping was clearly more rational and intelligent. He looked at Li Jinyuan and asked, "How did you agree to that Third Prince's request?"

This matter also frustrated Li Jinyuan, who sighed and said, "I agree to send troops, but only to defend the capital city for them."

Why would he want to get involved in the internal strife of Eastern Chu? He had no choice.

Wu Liping raised an eyebrow: "It's not that it's unacceptable."

"Liping!" Yun Songquan was surprised that Wu Liping had agreed so readily, and immediately shouted in dissatisfaction.

Wu Liping gave Yun Songquan a look, signaling him to calm down: "Now that the imperial decree has been issued, it's impossible for us to remain indifferent, and we can't really go to war with Eastern Chu yet; it's not the right time. So Jin Yuan's reply is already the best possible response!"

Yun Songquan frowned, clearly still dissatisfied.

Wu Liping persuaded again, "This isn't the first time we've done something like protecting Dongchu. When the General was still alive, he led us to guard the borders of Dongchu. Now, let's pretend the General is still here and just guard the capital of Dongchu one more time!"

Yun Songquan snorted unhappily: "If the General were still alive, would he be willing to be an enemy of his own son-in-law!"

Have they overlooked something? The Holy King is the General's son-in-law. If they defend the capital for Eastern Chu, they will be going against the Holy King. Wouldn't that mean they are going against the General's daughter? What kind of situation is that?

When the identity of the Holy King was mentioned, Wu Liping and Li Jinyuan both fell silent.

After a moment, Li Jinyuan spoke up: "I heard that the Emperor originally intended for the Holy Prince to succeed to the throne. It seems that he even gave him the Xuanwu Sword and sent him to the north to provide disaster relief and suppress bandits. However, not long after the Holy Prince left the capital, the Emperor fell seriously ill. The Emperor asked the Second Prince and the Third Prince to jointly manage the affairs of the Eastern Chu government. But as it stands, the Third Prince has overpowered the Second Prince, and most of the Eastern Chu government is controlled by the Third Prince. Later, I don't know how the Holy Prince started his rebellion."

“I know about this.” Yun Songquan was good-natured and often mingled with the soldiers, so he always heard the most news: “It seems that the Holy King recruited some bandits in the north and then reported it to the Emperor. However, the Third Prince said that he did not receive the Holy King’s report and accused him of recruiting bandits on his own and intending to amass troops and rebel.”

Upon hearing this, Li Jinyuan's face instantly turned ugly: "Then isn't the Holy King being wronged too much!"

Yun Songquan raised his eyes and glared at him: "So the Holy King was driven to desperation and actually raised an army in rebellion! Look at you, you don't help the good people, but you insist on helping that Third Prince!"

Although the Third Prince was also the General's nephew, he just didn't like that Third Prince. The Holy King was much better!

Li Jinyuan hadn't expected these things to happen. Regardless of whether they were from the Su family army or ordinary generals, they wouldn't want to help the Third Prince in this situation.

But now that he has already promised the Third Prince that he would defend the city for them, wouldn't that mean he would really be making an enemy of the Holy King?

If the Holy King had no connection with the Grand General, it would be fine; one could simply grit one's teeth, close one's eyes, and let it go. But the Holy King is the Grand General's son-in-law, and he was forced into rebellion by them. What can be done now?

Li Jinyuan had no choice but to look at Wu Liping and said, "Liping, is it too late for us to back out now?"

Wu Liping frowned and said, "You've already agreed, how can you go back on your word?"

“But…” Yun Songquan wanted to say something, but Wu Liping glanced at him and said, “Don’t say anything more. Since Jin Yuan has agreed, we must send troops.”

As he spoke, Wu Liping looked at the two dejected men and comforted them, saying, "Although we did agree to send troops to defend the city, they didn't ask how well we would defend it, did they? If it really comes to that, we can adapt to the situation!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jinyuan and Yun Songquan's eyes lit up.

"You're right. How this battle turns out is up to us, isn't it? They're just asking us to defend the city. Whether we can hold it or not, who knows!"

“That’s right, our Su family army hasn’t been out of the mountains for a long time, and our combat strength may not be the same as before. We might not even be a match for the Holy King!” Yun Songquan said, slapping his thigh. “We really have to defend this city. It’s much more flexible for us to defend it than for others!”

Whether they can hold the city is up to them, and they might even be able to help the Holy King!

Wu Liping was amused by the two of them: "Alright, why don't you tell the soldiers to get ready and head to Kyoto!"

Alright!

The two agreed and immediately went to arrange the soldiers.