After Jiang Lu finished speaking with Song Shi, she sent a message to Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai re-entered the safe house, led the two out through another exit, and started heading back towards Pingshan from the direction of Jiangjia Village.
Song stopped at the village entrance.
"Mother, what are you doing with that stick?"
Upon reaching the village entrance, Song broke off a stick from a tree by the roadside and stared intently in the direction of Jiangjia Village.
"Mother has some things to do, you all go back first."
"My mother knows the way home."
Song smiled at Jiang Lu, then looked at Jiang Bai with a pleading look in her eyes and said, "Bai girl, would you please take Er Ya back first?"
After learning Jiang Bai's true identity, Song Shi started calling Jiang Bai "Bai Yatou" instead of "Da Yatou," just like the other villagers.
In her heart, Daya and Jiang Bai were two different people.
Jiang Bai glanced at her slightly trembling hands and said coldly, "No matter who you want to hit, you can't muster the strength in your current condition."
Song's hand was badly injured, and the bones hadn't even healed properly, so how much strength could she possibly exert?
Song's face stiffened, the stick in her hand naturally fell to the ground, and a bitter smile appeared on her face.
"You're right, I'm a useless person now."
She struggled to even grip the branch with her five fingers; even if she went, she wouldn't be a match for them.
Jiang Lu looked left and right, her red eyes filled with doubt, and asked, "Mother, who do you want to hit?"
"There's no one here, let's go back!"
Song smiled at her and walked ahead first.
The stick left a long trail on the ground, and even though her hands were trembling, she didn't put it down.
"They say a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. If you really want to hit someone, you can do it after your hand has healed."
Unable to bear seeing her so dejected, Jiang Bai couldn't help but offer a word of advice.
Song's dim eyes suddenly lit up, and she turned to look at Jiang Bai, her eyes filled with excitement.
My hand?
“It can be cured.” Jiang Bai nodded affirmatively.
"But it will hurt a lot."
Upon hearing this, a hint of hesitation appeared in Song's eyes. She was most afraid of pain, otherwise she wouldn't be afraid of revealing the whereabouts of the token, feeding herself with Gu worms, and causing her to lose her mind.
"But it's okay, we'll find a way in October."
Song was puzzled, what eleven?
After the mother and daughters returned home, Jiang Lu accompanied Song Shi to walk around Pingshan every day until Jia Shiyi successfully returned from the capital, at which point Song Shi's treatment truly began.
With Jiang Lu by Song's side, Jiang Bai could worry less.
At that moment, she was listening to Jia Yi report on the matter.
"The secret guards under Prince Xin's command dealt with the assassins sent by the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, but the Lady's information was also leaked."
“In recent days, ten members of the Black-Clad Guards have been seriously injured. If others had not arrived in time, these men would likely have perished at the hands of the assassins.”
“Master, a thousand or so Xuanyi Guards are not enough to protect the entire Jiang Family Village.”
"The chief means that you should take your wife, the second young lady, and the young master and retreat to Mangshan."
“Mangshan is our own territory. It has formations and miasma for cover, so it won’t be easy for assassins to get in.”
Jiang Bai tapped his fingers lightly on the table, as if deep in thought.
After thinking about it, he still shook his head.
“Pingshan has a vast area, and sweater factories and breeding farms have been built here.”
"Moreover, Mangshan is not safe."
As soon as Jia lowered his head, he knew that Mangshan was not the most suitable place.
However, the people from the Prince Xin's Mansion, the Eastern Palace, and the Second Prince's Mansion were not incompetent either. The Black-Clad Guards were strong and could take on ten men at once, but they could not take on a hundred men at once.
With so many assassins, even the formidable Black-Clad Guards are no match for them.
"Should we reduce our defensive deployment?"
Pingshan is too big; there can only be a few dozen people in one area at most.
Dozens of black-clad guards facing hundreds of assassins would be exhausted to death.
"How is Chongyu Pass?"
Jiang Bai didn't answer but asked a question instead.
Jia Yi's expression shifted, and he said, "According to the information we have received, Chongyu Pass is about to collapse, and the barbarian troops will break through Chongyu Pass soon."
Jiang Bai raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Nan’an County is adjacent to Chongyu Pass. If Chongyu Pass is breached, the barbarians will surely enter Nan’an through Chongyu Pass. Once the defenses are withdrawn, we will lose our eyes.”
"But this matter should be handled by the imperial court."
"With those three forces in the capital still around, do you think Nan'an County will receive reinforcements after the barbarians breach Chongyu Pass?"
A's expression changed instantly.
"You mean they might use Nan'an County as bait, employing barbarian troops to wear down our strength?"
Jiang Bai chuckled softly.
"Have these Prince Shin's sons made any moves?"
A shook his head.
"It's good that there's no movement. Although I only interacted with him for a short while, I can tell that he's not stupid."
"Even if he were an idiot, his staff wouldn't let him do anything stupid."
"If he's like this, then where are the fools in the Crown Prince's and Second Prince's factions?"
"I'm afraid that besides fighting each other, they are also waiting for the barbarians to enter the pass so as to wear down my strength."
Jiang Bai sneered.
Is she strong?
Of course it's strong, very strong.
Even so, she dared not say that she would be a match for hundreds of thousands of troops.
No matter how strong she is, she is still a mortal and has not yet reached the point of being able to fly or escape into the earth.
Furthermore, with the restriction against killing, if the barbarian army were to actually invade, she alone would not be able to hold them off.
In this situation, those forces only need to wait for her to tire herself out, and when she is exhausted, they can capture her and the Song family members. With the help of other means, it will be much easier to force them to hand over the princess's body to be buried with her.
If their plan succeeds, there will be no way for them to survive.
That's why she had to hold back her trip to Mangshan.
"Their methods are so insidious. If that's really the case, I'm afraid Chongyu Pass is in danger."
That's for sure, because the garrison commander of Chongyu Pass was a member of the Prince Xin's mansion.
"Send a message to Prince An, telling him to make preparations as soon as possible."
“If we defeat the barbarians when they enter the pass, we can’t blame them. But if we win, it will be a great achievement.”
While Jiang Bai was analyzing the current situation, the Prince Xin's Mansion, the Eastern Palace, and the Second Prince's Mansion in the capital were also busy.
Just as Jiang Bai had guessed.
Pingshan may seem calm on the surface, but in reality, it was all paid for with the lives of the Black-Clad Guards.
Wave after wave of assassins surged toward Pingshan, but the Black-Clad Guards wiped them all out. No matter how many men they had, they couldn't withstand such losses.
Not to mention other forces eyeing the scene with predatory intent.
As a result, the various forces stopped at the same time and prepared to take advantage of the barbarians.
Upon receiving the message, Prince An began preparations early on. Since he had the space, he personally made several trips to ensure the transportation of provisions was in place, and then waited for news from Chongyu Pass.
On the third day, Chongyu Pass fell, and the barbarian elite troops launched a large-scale attack on the Qianyuan Kingdom.
They split into three groups, one of which headed towards Nan'an County, with its sights set on Yingzhou.
One route headed towards Luzhou, while another detoured towards Xinzhou.
This wave of attacks by the barbarians was aimed directly at the entire Xuchuan. Everyone in Xuchuan was in danger, and the people closest to Chongyu Pass had already begun to flee towards the capital.
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