Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, who had just returned from his western expedition, was now leading several thousand elite cavalry across the vast Gobi Desert outside Yumen Pass.

These thousands of elite cavalrymen were the elite of the Ironclad Cavalry of Dragon City, each with four horses, taking turns riding them.

Tens of thousands of warhorses galloped freely across the Gobi Desert outside Yumen Pass, their momentum so great it shook the heavens and earth, a truly magnificent sight.

After receiving news from Chang Yuchun, the deputy marshal of the Longcheng army, that the Longcheng army had suffered a defeat in its southern expedition and was defeated in Mozhou City.

After making arrangements for the four garrisons of Anxi and the relevant matters along the Silk Road in the Western Regions, Chen Huai'an immediately led his troops back to his fiefdom of Longcheng.

It is worth mentioning that Lan Yu, the general who led the western expedition of Longcheng, did not return to Longcheng with Chen Huai'an.

Instead, he was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Anxi General's Office, leading the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry and 200,000 troops to be stationed in Kucha City to ensure the safety and smooth operation of the Silk Road.

Although the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, led by the Uyghur Khanate, had already submitted their surrender documents to the Prince of Jin, expressing their willingness to submit to Chen Huai'an.

However, Chen Huai'an, being a time traveler, prefers to believe that "truth exists only within the range of cannon fire."

With Lan Yu stationed in the four towns of Anxi, commanding 200,000 elite troops to intimidate all sides, Chen Huai'an was naturally more at ease than with a letter of surrender submitted by the Western Regions countries.

In addition, Princess Yue Qiluo of the Uyghur Khanate, who was seriously injured, did not return to Longcheng, the fiefdom of Prince Jin, with Chen Huai'an, but continued to recuperate in the Uyghur palace.

Before leaving, Chen Huai'an personally visited Princess Pijia's palace to see Yue Qiluo and promised her that after Yue Qiluo recovered from her injuries, he would send someone to escort her to Longcheng, the fiefdom of Prince Jin.

Yue Qiluo neither immediately agreed to Chen Huai'an's suggestion nor refused it.

Finally, Chen Huai'an left Gu Yina, a female assassin from the Western Regions who was incorporated into the Eighteen Riders of Longcheng, and a part of his Imperial Guard, the Golden Guard, with Princess Yue Qiluo to protect her safety.

This move can be seen as a demonstration of Chen Huai'an's attitude towards Yue Qiluo.

Thump thump thump!

Thump thump thump!

Accompanied by the thunderous sound of hooves, more than a thousand elite cavalry led by Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin swept across the Gobi Desert and entered Yumen Pass.

That night, the army camped inside Yumen Pass.

"Report—"

"Your Highness Prince Jin, a secret report from Jinling City!"

A secret report from the capital city of Nanjing instantly dispelled Chen Huai'an's weariness, who was already exhausted from the long journey, and he took the report from the messenger with renewed vigor.

This secret report came from the Dragon City Inner Guard, which Chen Huai'an had secretly planted in Jinling City.

The Longcheng Inner Guard was a collective term for an intelligence force secretly recruited and trained in Longcheng, the fiefdom of the Prince of Jin, before Chen Huai'an raised his army in Longcheng.

After the uprising in Longcheng, these Longcheng guards, under the instruction of Chen Huai'an, secretly followed Sun Heling, the Vice Minister of Rites, back to the capital.

He went into hiding and secretly collected intelligence on various parties in the court for Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin.

The news that the second tyrant of the Daxin Dynasty, Zhao Gan, was personally leading an expedition was first reported to the Prince of Jin's residence by the Longcheng Inner Guard after they had investigated the matter.

Later, as Prince Wu Ning, Liu Xinwu, took the initiative to befriend Prince Jin, Chen Huai'an, the Longcheng Inner Guard further utilized Prince Wu Ning's connections in the Daxin court.

They infiltrated the Six Ministries and the Imperial Palace of the Great Xin Dynasty to continue gathering intelligence for Chen Huai'an.

The secret report detailed the major events that had occurred in the Daxin court recently, and presented them one by one to Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin.

After reading just a few lines, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but laugh.

Ha ha!

He said to himself, "That's interesting. Of the twelve million taels of silver allocated for military expenses, only one million taels reached the officers and soldiers at the front."

"This great new dynasty finally produced a capable general like Wu Sanjia, only to be thoroughly outmaneuvered by that scoundrel Qin Ruhui and his parasite subordinates;"

"This Wu Sanjia truly died before the Northern Expedition was won!"

Chen Huai'an continued to smile and said, "That's very good. It seems that even if Zhuge Liang were alive or Han Xin were reborn, they wouldn't be able to save this rotten-to-the-bone Xin Dynasty!"

"Someone come here!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Relay my order..."

......

Guangling County, the residence of the Prince of Zhongshan.

That night.

The study in the Prince's mansion was brightly lit.

Bang!

Suddenly, a sharp bang rang out from inside the Prince's study.

Along with the sound of a teacup shattering, came the angry roar of the young Prince of Zhongshan, Su Muchen: "We're broke! Not a single tael of silver left!"

"How about you take a look at this body of mine, see how much it's worth, chop it up and sell it, and give all the money to Empress Dowager Su!"

"I've already said that I, Su Muchen, have done my utmost for the Great Xin Dynasty and for the Zhao family's dynasty!"

Inside the study, Prince Zhongshan, Su Muchen, was furious and glared at the other man.

Standing before him was the steady, unflappable eunuch Cai He.

Indeed, Cai He, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial of the Great Xin Dynasty, visited the Prince of Zhongshan's residence at night with an imperial edict from the Empress Dowager Su Wan'er, to borrow money from the Prince of Zhongshan, Su Muchen, the Emperor's brother-in-law.

Despite Su Muchen's roaring and cursing, Cai He still smiled and said, "Your Highness, please calm down!"

"The military funds borrowed by the Empress Dowager this time are not much, only a mere five million taels!"

Cai He smiled, his eyes narrowed, and whispered in Su Muchen's ear, "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has said that as long as Your Highness lends the five million taels of military funds..."

"The Empress Dowager immediately issued an edict, bestowing upon the Prince a certificate of immortality, a golden token of immunity from death, and the Nine Bestowments!"

Pah!

Upon hearing this, Su Muchen, the Prince of Zhongshan, who was still furious, couldn't help but spit and said impatiently, "Cai He, don't say anything more. Even if she adds ten xi, it won't make a difference."

"I have only one statement: I have no money, and I won't give you my life either!"

After a pause, Su Muchen continued to roar, "Ten days! In just ten days, this is the second time that Empress Dowager Su, on behalf of the court, has asked me for military funds!"

"That twelve million taels of silver from last time was spent in just ten days?"

"That's a full twelve million taels of silver! Even if I used it to skip stones on the Suzhou River and hear the sound, I still couldn't finish twelve million taels of silver in just ten days!"

"He's here again, asking for five million taels of silver right off the bat. Does he think my money grows on trees?"

"I have no money!"

It turned out that Wu Sanjia, who had only received one million taels of silver from the imperial court that day, wrote a letter that very night and sent it to the prime minister's residence by express courier.

In his letter, he expressed his true feelings and spoke sincerely, even at the cost of his official hat as a Martial Third-Rank General and Commander-in-Chief, in order to earnestly request Prime Minister Qin and the court to allocate another five million taels of silver for military pay.

Furthermore, it was promised that the day the funds were allocated to the Tiger Warriors would be the day the Tiger Warriors conquered Zhuozhou, marched north, and recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

Upon receiving Wu Sanjia's handwritten letter, Qin Ruhui forwarded it verbatim to Empress Dowager Su Wan'er at the court assembly the following day.

This led to the incident where Cai He, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs of the Imperial Palace, visited the Prince of Zhongshan's residence at night to borrow military funds.

However, this time, it seems that the eunuch Cai He is going to be turned away!