Half a year later, the two main forces of Mu Jingrui and Zheng Binghong joined together. They cooperated well and advanced towards the capital city with unstoppable force. They were almost invincible in every battle.
After receiving the news from Mu Jingrui, Xiao Yujue took his trusted ministers and 50,000 elite troops to the capital to meet up with Mu Jingrui and others.
Shangguan Yue also kept his promise to Mu Jingrui and took Shangguan Wanning with him.
When the army was approaching the city, Xiao Zhenting was completely panicked.
He couldn't understand why he lost even though he knew everything, including Mu Jingrui's attack strategy.
Still forced into the current situation.
"Your Highness, Lord Wang Mian, a student at Longyuan Pavilion, requests to see you."
Wang Mian was Xiao Yujue's mentor. Xiao Yujue knew why he came, but he still couldn't turn him away. He even came out to greet him in person with his entourage.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Wang Mian also knew that he came here to ask for a favor, not to mention that he was on someone else's territory, so he bowed respectfully.
"Master, please don't be so polite." Xiao Yujue stepped forward to support Wang Mian and took him into the military tent to sit down.
Wang Mian glanced around calmly. Zheng Binghong and Mu Jingrui stood on Xiao Yujue's left and right respectively. Below him sat Shangguan Yue and several counselors, all of whom were rare geniuses in the world.
He couldn't help but sigh secretly. With both literary and martial skills, it was no wonder that he was able to turn the tide in just two years.
"Master, are you here today to reminisce about the past?"
Xiao Yujue signaled to the soldiers to serve Wang Mian a pot of good tea.
Wang Mian lowered his head, smiled bitterly, and shook his head slightly.
"Your Highness, I am following the Emperor's orders and want to reconcile with you."
Everyone was calm.
Everyone had expected Wang Mian's purpose.
"Reconcile? I don't know, how does he want to reconcile?"
"Your Highness, civil unrest is raging right now, and the Emperor has recalled some of the troops stationed at the border, leaving the border defenses empty. If someone takes advantage of the situation and breaks in, the people will suffer."
Wang Mian did not state the conditions directly. After going around in circles, he slowly said, "The emperor is willing to cede half of his territory, with the Yellow River as the boundary, and govern together with you. What do you think?"
This condition was beyond Xiao Yujue's expectations.
He didn't expect that Xiao Zhenting would give up half of his country in order to keep his throne.
"Master, I'm sorry, I can't agree to this."
Xiao Yujue stood up, holding a folding fan and gently waving it. His voice was calm and composed, but every word he spoke was sonorous and powerful.
"There has only been one dynasty since Emperor Taizu founded it, and it must never be divided. Please tell Xiao Zhenting that I want to take back what belongs to me."
Although Wang Mian anticipated that the mission would fail, he still couldn't avoid feeling sad.
"Master, if Xiao Zhenting really doesn't want the people to suffer, he should withdraw from the capital. Go back and tell him that he has surrendered now. I will not kill him because we are both descendants of the Xiao family."
"I understand."
Wang Mian retreated and told Xiao Zhenting what Xiao Yujue said, which made Xiao Zhenting so angry that his face turned blue.
But soon, after his rage, he calmed down again.
Since peace talks are not feasible, the war must continue.
Xiao Zhenting assembled all his main forces to attack Xiao Yujue, but was repelled by Mu Jingrui every time.
The army was demoralized and morale was low, and Xiao Zhenting was exhausted.
After a night of intense ideological struggle, he finally picked up a pen and wrote a letter of surrender to Xiao Yujue.
The letter stated that he was willing to write an edict to return the throne and hand over the imperial seal.
However, he had two conditions.
The first condition is to offer Mu Jingrui's head;
The second condition is to send Shangguan Wanning to his side.
As long as the two conditions are met, he will immediately hand over the imperial seal and step down from the throne. For the rest of his life, he only asks Shangguan Wanning to accompany him and live out the rest of his life.
Looking at the letter of surrender sent by Xiao Zhenting, everyone was silent, and you could hear a pin drop.
"Your Highness, according to my subordinates... why don't we bargain with Xiao Zhenting?"
Xiao Yujue's personal bodyguard broke the silence.
"General Mu has made great contributions to you and has a high prestige in the army. You cannot push him to death no matter what. But Miss Shangguan...she is Xiao Zhenting's queen. If sending her back can immediately end the war and save more people and soldiers...it's fine."
The field was still silent, but from everyone's eyes, Mu Jingrui had already seen their tacit attitude.
He suddenly felt sad, and a flame of anger burned in his chest.
"General Mu, what do you think?"
Everyone turned their eyes to Mu Jingrui.
A sharp light flashed across Mu Jingrui's eyes, and he shattered the table in front of him into four pieces with one palm.
Everyone was startled by the sudden loud noise.
"This is my attitude." Mu Jingrui stood up and looked around. "Whoever touches Shangguan Wanning's hair will be punished by this table."
After saying that, he turned around and left without caring about Xiao Yujue's reaction.
“This, this, this…” The guard was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses, shaking with anger, “Your Highness, Mu Jingrui is too arrogant… He relies on his military exploits and doesn’t even take you seriously…”
Before the guard could finish his words, he felt Xiao Yujue's murderous gaze directed at him.
He immediately lowered his head and took a few steps back.
Xiao Yujue picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it all in one gulp with a complicated expression.
It was late at night and Shangguan Wanning sat in the military tent, looking at the flickering flame on the oil lamp, with a lot of thoughts in her mind.
Although everyone tried to conceal the truth, she still heard the whole story from the servants' whispers.
She didn't expect that Xiao Zhenting would still drag her and Mu Jingrui into it.
She knew that Mu Jingrui had a way to protect himself, and Xiao Yujue would definitely not be willing to let one of his generals sacrifice his life so easily, but she...
Perhaps, the grudge between her and Xiao Zhenting has never been resolved.
Shangguan Wanning changed her clothes, went to the kitchen to cook a few of her signature dishes, warmed up a pot of good wine, and went to her father's military tent.
She lifted the curtain and saw her father sitting under the lamp reading a book, with a few more white hairs on his temples.
"father."
"Ning'er, why are you still awake so late?" Shangguan Yue put down the book in his hand, stepped forward to take the food from his daughter's hand, and said with a smile, "Mm, it smells good. Why are you so good today and even thinking of making a midnight snack for daddy?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to talk to my father." Shangguan Wanning put the dishes in place and poured a glass of wine for her father. "These days, you've been running around for the Crown Prince and you've been so busy that you don't even have time to spend with me..."
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