"Your Highness, shall I assist you with your washing up?"

Pei Zhi sighed and stood up. "Where is Yuan Chengyu?"

"The general went out early this morning, saying he had official business to attend to."

Pei Zhi glanced at Chunhua. Chunhua had been by her side for so long and had certainly trained herself.

Even though she knew perfectly well that Yuan Chengyu had spent the whole night with her in the room, she was still able to remain expressionless.

Pei Zhi didn't ask any more questions. With Chunhua's help, she got out of bed and then took stock of the current situation in Solo Kingdom.

Solo was indeed very wealthy.

The mountains, the water, and the land here are all beautiful.

Of course, the mountain is now completely burned bare, which is hardly a good thing.

However, Solo has been at war for years, leaving its treasury empty.

However, this is not a big problem.

Let the soldiers farm the land themselves and feed themselves.

As for the children of the previous kings of Solo, Pei Zhi did not keep any of them.

Keeping these people around would only cause trouble for him later, and Pei Zhi wasn't that stupid.

Pei Zhi searched for a long time before finally finding Yuan Chengyu.

Yuan Chengyu was sitting around the stove, seemingly making soup.

"General, are you going to wash your hands and cook?"

Faced with Pei Zhi's teasing, Yuan Chengyu stiffened for a moment, "I saw that the princess drank quite a lot of wine yesterday, and I was worried that the princess would be harmed today, so I wanted to give the princess some nourishment."

Pei Zhi said nonchalantly, "That little bit of wine is nothing. I have something important to discuss with you."

"Does the princess mean that she wasn't drunk yesterday?" Yuan Chengyu immediately grasped the key point, his eyes sparkling.

Yuan Chengyu was initially worried that he might have taken advantage of someone's vulnerability yesterday.

Although the princess nodded, she had been drinking, and seemed somewhat out of her mind.

Yuan Chengyu didn't sleep well all night and got up early in the morning.

He was too afraid to face the princess, so he ran away.

Pei Zhi realized what Yuan Chengyu meant.

However, Pei Zhi can be considered to be courageous and responsible.

"Yes, so can we discuss important matters now?"

“Yes, we can discuss it now.” Yuan Chengyu said cheerfully, “I’ve been wanting to discuss this with the princess for a long time.”

Pei Zhi didn't bother with Yuan Chengyu's idle chatter. "I'm planning to leave some people to garrison the Kingdom of Solo. How many do you think would be a good number?"

Troops need to be stationed here, and Pei Zhi will need to make arrangements after returning to the capital.

The officials sent from the capital to govern this area must be her people.

"The people stationed here are not important; what is important is how Your Highness will appoint your own people to govern this place?"

Pei Zhi also spoke frankly, "Do you still remember Yin Lu, Prefect Yin? I'd like him to come over."

Yuan Chengyu had no objection to Pei Zhi's decision.

"If Your Highness trusts him, then I have no objections."

"But my father is suspicious. If I ask, he will definitely refuse."

Pei Zhi knew Yin Lu, and Pei Zhi suggested that Yin Lu come over, but Emperor Pei probably wouldn't agree.

"How about I find someone to recommend me?"

Pei Zhi shook her head. "I've been with you at the border for so many days, Father Emperor might not believe you anymore."

Pei Zhi cannot take risks. Yin Lu is a pawn; Pei Zhi can only succeed, not fail.

Yuan Chengyu suddenly thought of someone: "How is Xie Qi?"

"The Xie family is a century-old family, impartial and unbiased. Moreover, Xie Qi and Yin Lu have no personal relationship. If he makes the request, and we work a little harder, His Majesty should agree."

Yin Lu had previously entered the city with Pei Zhi and saved the people of several cities, which was already a great achievement.

Now that Yin Lu has been transferred here to be stationed, it's natural that he'll be promoted.

Pei Zhi had no objection to Xie Qi bringing it up.

"However, my relationship with Young Master Xie is not peaceful."

Pei Zhi knew that Xie Qi had always suspected her about the previous loss of military pay.

Moreover, Pei Zhi's previous meetings with Xie Qi had all ended rather poorly.

"Your Highness need not worry about these things. Xie Qi and I have known each other since childhood. When the princess makes the suggestion, I will give him some encouragement, and he should be willing to do so."

Yin Lu's resume is flawless, and he has made such great contributions.

They just wanted to recommend someone, and Xie Qi shouldn't refuse.

Pei Zhi was surprised that Xie Qi, a man with a great reputation in the capital, actually had a very good personal relationship with Yuan Chengyu.

Now that the problem has been solved, all I need to do is think about how to play dumb when I get back to Beijing.

Anyway, they've already conquered the Kingdom of Solo.

Even if Emperor Pei wanted to punish them for disobeying his orders.

As long as they don't acknowledge it, receiving a letter about withdrawing troops and negotiating is sufficient.

Emperor Pei couldn't possibly punish them just because they won such a great victory, could he?

Having already conquered the Kingdom of Solo, Pei Zhi had no intention of wasting any more time here.

Pei Zhi left behind the soldiers led by Alan, and the other junior generals were also Alan's men.

Pei Zhi left an order: anyone who came to take office but was not Yin Lu should be killed on the spot.

Before returning to the capital, Alan came to discuss with Pei Zhi what to do with the batch of military equipment and military pay they had intercepted.

The weapons were all made of fine iron, and after Allen and his men seized them, they immediately drowned them in the pond.

High-quality refined iron can be soaked in water for a month without any major problems.

Military pay was naturally a given.

After the investigators from the capital left, Alan and the others retrieved the weapons from the water and buried them underground.

The problem is how to transport it now, even though it's been well hidden.

Needless to say, there were various checkpoints along the way.

"This is a map. The marked places are where supplies are buried."

Pei Zhi accepted the map, understanding the situation.

The best way, of course, is to transport these things to Solo.

This place has become Pei Zhi's territory in effect, making it the safest place.

But with so many cities to cross along the way, it would be incredibly difficult to remain undetected.

Xie Qi, who was in the capital, had also been keeping a close eye on this batch of weapons.

The item was never found, even though Pei Yuance used Yan Xinyue's dowry to make up for it.

This matter has never been forgotten by Xie Qi; it remains a problem.

If we could win Xie Qi over to work under her, that would be much better.

After all, the Xie family has deep roots, which is like adding wings to a tiger for her.

Back in the capital, just as Pei Zhi had predicted.

Pei Zhi was first severely reprimanded by Emperor Pei, who said that it was unbecoming for a princess to hang out with a group of men every day.

Pei Zhi knelt before Emperor Pei, weeping bitterly, saying that her brother was dead and that she would rather die on the border than not avenge him.

Pei Zhi cried so bitterly that Emperor Pei couldn't bring himself to punish her further.

In addition, Emperor Pei also knew that the letter he sent had been intercepted by bandits on its way.

Emperor Pei didn't say much, but he couldn't help feeling uneasy.

Despite the resounding victory, Yuan Chengyu and Pei Zhi, the leaders, received no reward.

Pei Zhi is a princess, so even if Emperor Pei grants her an official position, it's still out of the question.

It was rather excessive that Yuan Chengyu was stripped of his tiger tally and not given an official position.