Aping was taken aback, then shook his head. "The general did not inform me of the route for this trip, but I can try to contact the general."

"You know how to contact him?" Jiang Qinyu raised an eyebrow, a surge of anger rising within her.

Aping seemed to sense her emotions and hesitated for a moment before saying, "The general once told us secret guards how to contact him in an emergency."

Jiang Qinyu smiled and said, "Alright, contact him now and see where he is."

"Yes." Aping immediately went down, but he had a bad feeling.

Is Madam angry?

Jiang Qinyu was indeed angry. Lu Yanzheng hadn't even told her how to contact him in an emergency when he left!

This era is quite different from later generations. Without cell phones and the internet, it's really difficult for two people who have lost contact, especially when one of them is not in control of their own destiny, to reconnect with each other.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qinyu subconsciously glanced at her system points. She had 70,000 points left... She wondered if she could afford to buy something that could enable instant messaging.

...

In the border town, Lu Yanzheng continued to devote himself to the military camp, preparing for both internal and external battles.

"General, are you sure you want to send 40,000 men to Yongshan County?" Eagle asked him, looking at him with some disapproval.

Lu Yanzheng nodded. "If Prince Yong wants to use Yukang Prefecture as a point of entry to confront Xiao Rui, then he will definitely attack Chengguan Town, seize Yongshan County, and cut off the connection between the border city and Yukang Prefecture."

On the other hand, with the Lunar New Year approaching, the Western Qiang and Dayuan tribes are very likely to continue raiding for supplies this year.

If the Western Qiang and Dayuan continue their alliance this year, the border city must have no fewer than 50,000 troops. This is only because they now have more powerful gunpowder weapons, which is why they dare to keep only so many people.

Similarly, by detaching 40,000 troops, we can not only defend Yongshan County, but also prevent Xiao Rui from turning against us.

In short, the border troops must allocate some of their forces.

“Even so, if the border town is captured by foreign tribes, the consequences will be unimaginable. General, you should think it over carefully!” Eagle advised.

Lu Yanzheng shook his head. "Biancheng and Yongshan County have long been inseparable. We cannot stand alone; we must protect Yongshan County."

Now, the Yunshan area has also been included in the border army's scope. In the future, they will have more training channels and types of soldiers, provided that the rear area is stable.

"Since the general has made up his mind, I will go and make the arrangements." Seeing that he could not persuade him, the eagle had no choice but to leave with worries.

Lu Yanzheng shook his head; this was the reason why he had never dared to let Eagle replace Qin Shen.

Although eagles are steady and methodical in their actions, they can hesitate and be unable to make a do-or-die decision when faced with a grander picture.

Lu Yanzheng returned to his desk and sat down. At this moment, a pure and refined internal energy rose from his dantian. He needed to quickly let this energy circulate throughout his body to temper his body into a stronger form.

After taking the pill given to him by Jiang Qinyu, Lu Yanzheng quickly discovered the biggest difference the pill made for him.

Not only did it cure the poison in his body, it also improved his skills to a higher level. Before, he could probably only use his lightness skill to fly up a five-zhang-high city wall, but now, seven or eight zhang is no problem for him.

Moreover, this momentum was so strong that it hadn't stopped even after several days. He felt that he was in better shape than ever before.

On the very night that Lu Yanzheng was worried that the Western Qiang and Dayuan would join forces to attack the border city, a figure riding a fast horse shouted as he entered the border army camp.

"Reporting to the general, a major incident has occurred in the Western Qiang!"

Lu Yanzheng did not return to the General's Mansion today. Upon hearing the commotion, he immediately got up.

"How is the Western Qiang?"

As the person entered the tent, Lu Yanzheng immediately asked.

The scout, beaming with joy, knelt on one knee. "Reporting to the general, the Western Qiang people have begun their westward migration!"

"What? A westward migration?" Eagle was running to the outside of Lu Yanzheng's tent when he heard this and rushed in, looking at the messenger in shock.

The man nodded happily, “That’s right! Our people found out the truth! The King of Western Qiang has decided to lead the entire Western Qiang to migrate further west, and it is said that they will set off in the spring.”

"Why would they do that?" Eagle asked, frowning.

He strongly suspected that this might be a smokescreen put out by the Western Qiang people. What if they used this tactic of feigned retreat to lull the border troops into a false sense of security, and then caught them off guard...

The messenger shook his head and said, "We don't know the specific reason either, but it's definitely related to the death of the Fifth Prince of Western Qiang."

"The Fifth Prince of Western Qiang is dead?" Eagle was even more shocked upon hearing this, and looked at Lu Yanzheng, asking, "How come we didn't know about this?"

The messenger looked at him with suspicion, "Wasn't this news already sent back a while ago?"

"Really?" The eagle paused, somewhat uncertain.

Lu Yanzheng nodded. "I know about this. The Fifth Prince of Xiqiang died suddenly a few days ago."

"It's not just a sudden death. Our spies have found out that the death of the Fifth Prince of Western Qiang is very suspicious. The Western Qiang royal family is whispering that he angered the gods, and the gods are about to punish the entire Western Qiang..." The messenger spoke eloquently.

Lu Yanzheng lowered his eyes, but a cold smile appeared on his lips.

Jiang Chengyou knew too much about Jiang Qinyu's peculiarities, so of course he wouldn't let him live. Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well die a worthy death.

After hearing the news from the messenger, the eagle clicked its tongue several times. "I really didn't expect that the Fifth Prince, who had been so persistent in opposing us, would actually die like this."

"Alright, whether he lives or dies has no impact on us. The most important thing now is to find out whether the Western Qiang are really going to migrate west." Lu Yanzheng quickly brought the topic back.

If the Western Qiang really do migrate westward, then Dayuan will be no threat, and the border city will be able to free up its resources to support Xiao Rui, whether he has greater ambitions or not.

"The Western Qiang people are very superstitious, and I believe there is a high probability that this is true," the messenger said, bowing.

Eagle pulled him up. "Don't kneel. Go down and rest. If this news is true, your scout battalion will have made a great contribution this time."

The man chuckled and looked at Lu Yanzheng.

"Go and rest. I need to talk to Eagle about something else." Lu Yanzheng nodded. He was so shocked that he forgot to wake everyone up.

The man quickly thanked him and left.

Eagle turned his head excitedly and asked, "General, do you think that if the Western Qiang really migrate westward, our border troops can retire and return to their fields?"

"You want to retire from the military and return to your hometown?" Lu Yanzheng glanced at him.

Eagle grinned and said, "Which of us old soldiers doesn't want that? Who doesn't want a wife, kids, and a warm bed? It's much better than training every day, isn't it?"

"Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," Lu Yanzheng said calmly.

The eagle's smile froze. "Ah? General, you mean..."