At this moment, Li Hui felt conflicted, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred, but there was nothing he could do. Just then, the emperor spoke up.

"This morning at court, I have a great joy to share with all my beloved ministers. Our army has annihilated more than 200,000 troops from the three northern kingdoms and captured their commander-in-chief, Kuli Tuo, alive. This has completely resolved the border crisis. This is a great blessing for our Northern Dynasty."

Although the ministers had guessed it was a great victory at the border, the news still excited them greatly when it came from the emperor's mouth.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!" the ministers said in unison.

Next, the emperor ordered the battle reports from the border to be read aloud.

The battle report was written in great detail, and Marshal Han specifically mentioned the enormous role played by Li Guang in several battles.

Without Li Guang bringing 50,000 troops from Shuixian Village to reinforce the border, the situation at the border would have been completely different.

During his time on the frontier, Li Guang took great risks and led only twenty soldiers to the north to destroy the enemy's Iron General cannons.

This prevented Hanyu Pass from being razed to the ground by the barbarian soldiers' cannons, and the 200,000 soldiers escaped a calamity, leaving the border safe and sound.

The ministers listened attentively to the battle report, their emotions shifting between joy and tension. It was precisely because Li Guang had been appointed to the critical mission and had devised a brilliant strategy that they had won this war.

The complete pacification of the border was indeed exciting, and after the battle report was read, the ministers discussed it animatedly.

Seeing that everyone had finished discussing, the Emperor spoke again.

"We'll discuss the border battle reports later. There's one more thing that needs to be done immediately."

Everyone pricked up their ears, wondering what else the Emperor had to announce.

"The Empress and her entourage are still at Hanyu Pass. Now that the border has been pacified, it is time to bring them back to the capital. I wonder which of my beloved ministers is willing to go to the border and bring the Empress and the others back."

With the external enemy defeated and the border stabilized, there should be no danger in going to Hanyu Pass to bring the Empress and others back.

However, the Empress is of noble status, and her safety is of utmost importance. The journey from the border to the capital is long, and no one can guarantee that she will be absolutely safe on the way. This matter is of great importance and must be treated with utmost care.

The group exchanged bewildered glances. Heading to the border to bring the Empress and the others back to the capital would be a golden opportunity to earn merit, yet no one dared to speak up easily.

At this moment, the eldest prince, Li Hui, who was standing to the side, finally spoke.

"Father, I am willing to go to the border and bring Mother back."

If any other minister had spoken at this moment, the emperor might have agreed, but the eldest prince requested to go to Hanyu Pass to fetch the empress, which made the emperor hesitate.

It seems the emperor doesn't trust the eldest prince, Li Hui, at all, which puts Li Hui in a very awkward position, leaving him at a loss for what to do.

At this moment, the emperor was also in a dilemma. He was worried about sending the eldest prince to Hanyu Pass, but he was also reluctant to do so. If he directly refused the eldest prince, the prince would lose face.

Thinking of this, the emperor spoke again.

"There are many matters concerning the court at the moment, and you all have your own things to do, so we won't trouble you with the matter of going to Hanyu Pass to fetch the Empress."

I am preparing to issue an imperial edict ordering Marshal Han to send troops to escort the Empress and her entourage back to the capital.

Everyone nodded in agreement; it was indeed a good idea, as it would prevent the eldest prince from being too embarrassed.

At this time, in Yanjing, the capital of the Fan Kingdom, civil and military officials gathered in the court, and Emperor Yelü Wu sat on the throne, at a loss for what to do.

In this invasion of the Northern Dynasty, the foreign kingdom mobilized all its resources, sending 400,000 troops to form an allied force with the armies of the Jin and Luo kingdoms, bringing the total strength to 600,000. The army was divided into four routes and invaded the Central Plains.

Unexpectedly, in just a few months, all four armies were wiped out, his own King of Nanyuan, Saliwen, was captured, General Shang Wei was captured, and even the old general Kuli Tuo, who had fought against the Great Northern Dynasty for decades at the border, was captured alive.

Over the past few months, Yelü Wu has been restless, with one bad news after another coming in quick succession. He has begun to regret launching this war.

This war exhausted his country's strength, and the more than 400,000 troops of the Fan Kingdom were almost completely wiped out. If the Great Northern Dynasty's army were to retaliate at this time, the Fan Kingdom might be destroyed.

Yelü Wu summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

Currently, the Great Northern Dynasty has 200,000 troops stationed at the border. If this army marches over, it won't be long before they be at the city gates.

Yelü Wu wanted to reach a reconciliation with the Northern Dynasty beforehand to ensure that the Northern Dynasty's army would not march north.

Soon Yelü Wu and his ministers reached a consensus and sent envoys to the Northern Court to seek peace, hoping for a lasting alliance between the two countries.

The envoy sent to the Great Northern Dynasty was He Lin, a high-ranking official of the foreign state. He was eloquent and extremely cunning.

To express his sincerity, Yelü Wu asked He Lin to bring twenty cartloads of rare treasures to present to the emperor of the Northern Dynasty.

In the capital of the Great Northern Dynasty, the emperor was discussing matters with several important ministers in the Hall of Supreme Harmony when a young eunuch came to deliver a message.

"Your Majesty, the envoy from the foreign country, He Lin, has brought a large number of valuable gifts and wishes to have an audience with you."

The emperor was taken aback. At this moment, the envoy from the foreign country brought lavish gifts, which must be for the purpose of negotiating peace. This was a good thing for the Great Northern Dynasty.

The emperor immediately asked several of his senior ministers how to deal with the envoys from the foreign country.

"Your Majesty, this time the foreign kingdoms have joined forces with the Jin and Luo kingdoms to invade our dynasty, bringing a heavy disaster to our Great Northern Dynasty."

They sent envoys to negotiate peace this time because the foreign country had been defeated, and completely defeated at that.

Imagine if it weren't the vassal states that were defeated this time, but the Great Northern Dynasty; would the vassal states have come to us to negotiate peace?

"Your Majesty, the three northern kingdoms are utterly untrustworthy. We cannot give them a chance to regroup. We should send troops to wipe them out and eliminate them forever."

"The three northern kingdoms were barren and lacked resources; they were all desolate lands, unlike the fertile and abundant Central Plains."

Although the three kingdoms were defeated this time, they still have considerable strength, and it will not be easy to destroy them.

Moreover, the three northern kingdoms were all nomadic peoples, who were not afraid of being defeated and at most would simply continue to migrate north.

They will return when the opportunity arises; this has happened many times throughout history.

The emperor remained silent, listening with great interest to the ministers' discussions, all of which made sense.

When the emperor was on the run, he was chased by the barbarian soldiers and had nowhere to run. He did indeed swear that he would destroy the barbarian country one day. But how easy is it to destroy a country?

However, he would not easily let the foreign kingdom off this time. With that thought in mind, the emperor asked:

"Who is this envoy, He Lin?"

"Your Majesty, this man was formerly a historian. Due to the emperor's appreciation, he was appointed as the Left Grand Master. He is very learned, but he is treacherous and cunning. One must be very careful when dealing with him."

The foreign country sent He Lin this time to negotiate with us, hoping to gain the greatest benefit.

Upon hearing this, the emperor nodded and said:

"Since that's the case, let's leave him alone for a few days and talk about it again in ten days or half a month. The Empress will be returning to the capital in two days, and I will personally go out of the city to welcome her."