The Qi court is now in a state of chaos due to the incompetent King Qi, and is already on its last legs, barely holding on only because of the Qi state's inherent strength.
If the relationship with Consort Liu succeeds, then the reign of the lustful and incompetent Prince Qi will be over.
Yan Xiao never considered King Qi a threat. To her, the only people capable of causing trouble for Shen Muzhi were Qi Chengfeng, the Barbarian King, the Miao King, and the Barbarian King's second son, Qiu Shanjun.
Now that Qi Chengfeng has met his end, and the Barbarian King is almost there too, all that's left is the Miao King, who hides among the Miao people, and the resourceful but cunning Qiu Shan Jun.
Thinking of Qiu Shanjun, Yan Xiao had some other thoughts.
Qiu Shan Jun was the second son of the barbarian king, but he was born to a concubine.
The former queen and the barbarian king were childhood sweethearts, but unfortunately, she died during childbirth due to severe bleeding, leaving behind only her eldest son, who became the barbarian king's ideal woman.
The eldest son left behind by the white moonlight naturally became the darling of the barbarian king because of his mother's status.
The barbarian king married his second wife only to weigh his interests, and naturally had little affection for her. As for Qiu Shanjun, the second son of the legitimate wife, he was an eyesore in the barbarian king's eyes.
Fearing that Qiu Shanjun would use his maternal clan's power to seize the throne from his eldest son, the barbarian king even considered killing Qiu Shanjun.
Later, Qiu Shanjun saw through the barbarian king's thoughts and deliberately concealed his abilities, acting like a spoiled brat who had no interest in politics. He would cause some harmless trouble for no reason, which made the barbarian king outwardly angry but inwardly abandon his murderous intent and indulge him in his reckless behavior.
It looks like a pet, but it's actually meant to be spoiled.
In the original storyline, after the barbarian king was defeated, Lord Qiushan quickly used his secretly cultivated forces to kill the eldest son and seize the throne.
Later, after causing Shen Muzhi a lot of trouble, Shen Muzhi finally surrendered and became a vassal state.
It could be said that although he lost, from another perspective, he had the last laugh.
Yan Xiao is now thinking about whether there is a way to make Qiu Shan Jun surrender directly, which would save a lot of trouble.
Right now, there is indeed such an opportunity. If Shen Muzhi captures the Barbarian King alive and uses the Barbarian King's life to negotiate with Qiu Shanjun, indicating that he can help Qiu Shanjun rightfully secure the position of Barbarian King, then it is very likely that a deal will be reached.
The opportunity to capture the barbarian king alive has been presented to Shen Muzhi; now it all depends on whether Shen Muzhi can come up with it himself.
Yanxiao's biggest worry right now is that the Barbarian King has already sent a message to the Miao King. She learned from the guardian deity that the Miao King can no longer sit still and is preparing to personally come out of the mountains.
Both publicly and privately, Miao Wang is Yan Xiao's mortal enemy, and Yan Xiao naturally wants to kill her. However, Miao Wang is the biggest and most difficult villain to deal with in this book.
Even though she is now a level three ability user and has the physique of a saintess, she still dares not let her guard down when facing the Miao King, for fear that she might accidentally capsize in a ditch.
Yan Xiao glanced at the sky outside, hesitated for a moment, then summoned someone and gave them instructions:
"Send some skilled men to fetch Young Master Lou back."
She whispered a few more words to the man, and only stopped after he left.
Lou Guyu had just reached an agreement with the Grand Elder, agreeing to the Grand Elder's overtures, and said:
"The Grand Elder is a man of long-term vision. Now that you have chosen to abandon darkness and embrace the light, I will certainly not treat you unfairly after the matter is accomplished."
However, Jiangbei City is currently in dire straits, so I implore the Grand Elder to let me see the sincerity of your words.
“What the Holy Son says makes sense. I will order them to take action immediately.”
Just as the elder finished speaking with great confidence, some noise came from outside the door.
The Grand Elder frowned slightly, about to ask what was going on outside, when someone came in to report:
"Elder, the two people we sent to the barbarian army have arrived."
"What?"
The elder was taken aback, then immediately stood up, his face full of confusion.
Although Lou Guyu remained seated, his expression was almost identical to that of the Grand Elder. After glancing at the Grand Elder and confirming that the other man was also unaware of what was going on, he turned his gaze back to the doorway.
Meanwhile, the two men had already been led into the room.
The moment the two appeared, the Grand Elder asked urgently:
What's going on between you two?
The two men wore pained expressions and their eyes were still somewhat dazed. When they heard the elder's question, they did not answer immediately, but instead looked at Lou Guyu, who was sitting to the side and also looking at them.
Seeing this, the Grand Elder knew things had changed. He wanted Lou Guyu to leave, but worried that Lou Guyu might suspect him of having ulterior motives, affecting future cooperation. So, he steeled himself and said:
"I'm asking you a question, are you all mute? If you don't want to speak, then don't bother."
"Elder, please calm down!"
Startled, the two quickly replied:
"Reporting to the Grand Elder, the barbarian army has been defeated and is now retreating after suffering heavy losses."
"What did you say?"
"What?"
Upon hearing this news, not only the Grand Elder, but even Lou Guyu, who had remained silent until now, was startled.
The Grand Elder concealed the surprise in his eyes, calmed himself down, and casually turned his gaze to Lou Guyu, trying to glean something from his face, but in the end, he found nothing.
After thinking for a moment, he asked:
"Did you two attack directly?" This was the only possibility the Grand Elder could think of at this moment. He believed that the Jiangbei Army was able to win because the two of them attacked without his permission.
Even so, the fact that they won in such a short time shows how powerful and terrifying the Jiangbei army is.
But his idea was obviously wrong, as the two of them shook their heads:
"No, we two did not receive any instructions from the Grand Elder, how dare we act on our own? The barbarian army was defeated by Lord Jiangbei and was powerless to fight back."
"What? This, this is impossible..."
The elder was dumbfounded, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, he simply couldn't believe it.
Could it be that Shen Muzhi returned to Jiangbei ahead of schedule? But even so, the Barbarian King is no pushover. How could he have been defeated so easily without any chance to fight back?
Not only the Grand Elder, but even Lou Guyu had the same idea. However, after listening to what the two of them had said about what happened next, and learning that Yan Xiao was in charge of this battle, their expressions changed.
The Grand Elder was horrified and shocked, while Lou Guyu remained much calmer, with an expression that said, "So that's how it is, that makes sense."
Just then, another report came from outside the door, this time it was for Lou Guyu:
"Young Master Lou, the General's wife sent us to escort you back to the city and invited you, our honored guest, to come and visit us as hosts."
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