She could imagine the depth of the Yanbei Palace, but after hearing Dongsheng's detailed account, it was still a little shocking.

"The current principal wife of King Yanbei, Xiao Yan, is the niece of his biological mother, Madam Yun. She is the eldest daughter of Yun Sheng, the current head of the Yun family. This princess gave birth to two sons and a daughter: Crown Prince Xiao Jingkang, who is currently in Beijing. She also has a second son, Xiao Jingxi, and a princess, Xiao Jinglin. King Yanbei's younger brother, Xiao Heng, married Su and had the third son, Xiao Jingyue, and his second sister, Xiao Jingyuan. They also have several illegitimate sons and daughters. Princess Changde's only daughter, Xiao Wei, married the current Ningxia General, Wu Xiaohe, and has a daughter."

Ren Yaoqi's mind moved: "What is the relationship between Yanbei King Xiao Yan and his brother Xiao Heng?"

Dongsheng thought for a moment and said truthfully, "To outsiders, they appear to be friendly and respectful brothers, but... if you look at the relationship between their respective maternal families, the Yun and Su, you'll understand that things are not as simple as they appear. Ever since Xiao Qishan became King of Yanbei, the Yun and Su families have publicly made peace and become as close as family, but behind the scenes, the two families are still constantly arguing. The Su family controls several large horse farms in the northwest, and all the horses for the Yanbei cavalry are supplied by the Su family's northwest horse farms. The Yun family is an old and established family with a foundation that the Su family cannot compare to, but their management skills are not comparable. In the past two years, the two families have been fighting over several large salt fields near Qingzhou, causing the King of Yanbei a lot of headaches."

The Northwest Horse Farm... The Ningxia General... The Dangxiang Clan fighting with the Great Zhou for the horse farm... The Yun and Xiao families, the conflict between the old princess and the King of Yanbei...

Ren Yaoqi felt as if there was a faint thread connecting what she knew in her previous life with what Dongsheng had just said, and a ray of hope lit up before her eyes...

In the previous life, as soon as the imperial court ordered the dismantling of the Yanbei Army, a dispute over the Dangxiang horse farm broke out in the northwest. Then the Yanbei Army was divided, and part of it joined the command of Ningxia General Wu Xiaohe to help him fight against the Dangxiang.

She originally thought that this was a win-win strategy for King Yanbei to preserve his strength.

But now it seems that Wu Xiaohe is the son-in-law of the old princess, Princess Changde. Can he really be on the same page with the King of Yanbei? Is the King of Yanbei really willing to divide his army with his brother-in-law? I'm afraid not. It seems more like a case of choosing the lesser of two evils.

Although later on, thanks to the intervention of Xiao Jingxi, the second son of King Yanbei, most of the Yanbei army was incorporated back and their vitality was not damaged, there were still losses in the end.

Zeng Yu's ability to quickly secure his position as Ningxia's General was also due to his successful rebellion against a group of mid- and lower-level Yanbei Army officers who had been on the sidelines before Xiao Jingxi incorporated them into the Yanbei Army. Those few ultimately became the capital for his promotion.

Therefore, if a way could be found to prevent the Yanbei Palace's army from entering Ningxia, Zeng Yu's shortcut to promotion would be cut off.

It is undeniable that Ren Yaoqi hated the Zeng family, Zeng Yu and Zeng Kui.

Even though those things haven't happened in this life, she still feels an uncontrollable hatred when she thinks of the Zeng family. It's a hatred that's deep in her bones and integrated into her flesh and blood.

At this time, a few more people came in from outside the courtyard. They were Xia Sheng and Xiang Qin. Sang Zhen and the others came in with Ren Yaohua's maid.

Wujing and the others were in a very miserable state. Two of the maids had tears on their faces and were sobbing when they entered the yard. It was obvious that they had suffered a lot before.

When they saw Ren Yaohua standing under the eaves, they all swarmed over, each one complaining about their grievances. The courtyard immediately became noisy.