When the Third Prince arrived, Pei Jie was leading several people, examining the traces around the sacrificial site in the Tatar capital.
Although the scene had been cleaned up, traces of the fire could still be faintly seen. In addition to the smell of blood, there was also a hint of smoke in the air, somewhat like the smell of firecrackers.
Pei Jie frowned and thought for a long time, but he still couldn't understand why no one had escaped since the fire had started, especially since it was an open-air place, not an enclosed one.
Could it be that everyone was poisoned and knocked unconscious? Impossible! That would require an enormous amount of poison; it's unrealistic.
Or does that fat cat possess some kind of evil magic? That allows him to make these people obediently submit to their deaths?
I find this answer even more absurd. If such a powerful evil magic existed, he could have bewitched everyone and ruled the world—how wonderful that would be! So it's simply impossible.
Completely baffled, Pei Jie could only send his personal guards to visit the people in the city and ask them what had happened.
They tried to glean some clues from their words.
When they went out and asked around, some people said it was struck by lightning, and the thunder almost cracked the ground.
Some say a giant fireball flew down from the sky and killed people. But a huge fireball, crashing down with a bang, is really scary.
Others say that they made a mistake and angered the gods, who then breathed fire on the earth and burned them to death.
Pei Jie frowned so deeply after hearing these claims that it looked like flies were trapped between his brows. He didn't believe a single one of them.
As soon as the Third Prince arrived, he saw Pei Jie looking bitter and resentful, and his dissatisfaction with Pei Jie for leaving him behind lessened somewhat. He then spoke...
"You're quite capable, taking over the Tatar capital so quickly?"
I see your men outside collecting weapons from the Tatars!
I heard that the Tatars have completely surrendered?
"You've only been here a short time; this prince suspects you didn't even fight this battle!"
Pei Jie clapped his hands and sat down on the half-collapsed stone steps beside him.
"Your suspicion is correct. When I arrived here, the Tatar king and the 40,000 guards of the capital were gone."
It is said that it was divine punishment; a huge fireball fell from the sky and crashed to the ground, killing Yelü Ying and his 40,000 guards.
The Third Prince rolled his eyes in a rare, unrefined manner, and said...
"Pei Jie, do you take me for a fool?"
Pei Jie shrugged
"There's nothing I can do. I don't believe it either, but I had people investigate for a long time, and that's what they all said."
The Third Prince was dumbfounded.
"This is absolutely impossible. Confucius said, 'You do not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits.' You believe them just because they say so?"
"Of course I don't believe it, but I can't figure it out either. Anyway, when I came here, the royal city was already like this. Outside, Badalagan and his capable henchmen had all died tragically outside the tribe. The others were all obediently waiting for me to come and take them over!"
You could say that I stumbled upon this Tatar capital.
Pei Jie confessed.
The Third Prince was shocked.
"You picked it up?"
Even if Yelü Ying and his guards are all gone, Badalagan still has 100,000 troops, just waiting for you to come and take them.
Furthermore, who could kill Badalagan and his trusted lieutenants in front of an army of 100,000? Those men were no pushovers!
"God!"
"Nonsense!"
Pei Jie thought to himself, "I don't know if it's nonsense or not? But that's exactly what they're saying to me. What can I do if I don't talk back?"
At this point, the Third Prince suddenly said
"Could it be Xie Yushu and the Divine Eagle Guard who did it?"
I ran into them on my way here!
She said she came to walk the horses, what a load of rubbish!
But are the Divine Eagle Guards really that powerful? In front of an army of 100,000, they took the lives of half of their generals?
"And you expect these 100,000 troops to surrender obediently?"
Pei Jie raised his eyelids slightly and said
“It was indeed her who did the deed, and she admitted it!”
In fact, she was the one who did the things in the royal city, but she wouldn't say how she did it.
Only four words were left: "The best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
Damn it, I've never found these four characters so hard to understand!
What kind of scheme could possibly involve forty thousand people?
Upon hearing this, the Third Prince went from being petrified to slowly transforming into someone with the same bitter and resentful expression as Pei Jie.
The two of them, one propping his head up to look at the sky and the other looking down at the ground, couldn't understand why fireballs were falling from the sky and why fire was erupting from the ground.
After staring blankly for a while, Pei Jie slowly said...
"The ability to take the lives of five or six brave and skilled generals with a single move, while simultaneously intimidating an army of 100,000, is not just due to skill or weaponry, but more importantly, to strategy."
This strategy involves not only a specific event, but also people's hearts. I've thought about it for a long time, but I haven't come up with a way to intimidate an army of 100,000. I can't do this.
Let me remind you, this Princess Jingde is far more unfathomable than you imagine. Perhaps what we see is just what she wants to show us.
Don't treat her as just an ordinary smart person; it's best to treat her as a strategist.
Furthermore, if you want to win that chair, you must befriend Xie Yushu, never make her your enemy.
Upon hearing Pei Jie's words, the Third Prince was secretly alarmed. Indeed, even his advisors did not have the ability to intimidate an army of 100,000 without losing a single soldier.
The thought was chilling, and the Third Prince nodded unconsciously.
"Such a person with almost supernatural intelligence, this prince will naturally not be his enemy!"
We're too busy trying to win them over.
Pei Jie understood the Third Prince's meaning and said directly.
"With her personality, if you get along with her, you don't need to try to win her over; if you don't, she won't pay any attention to you even if you try!"
The Third Prince neither confirmed nor denied this point. As far as he knew, his Fifth Brother had tried many times to win him over, but each time he ended up losing both his wife and his troops.
But then again, given his fifth brother's despicable methods, he wouldn't even consider it an option! They're utterly beneath him!
After weighing the options in his mind, the Third Prince finally decided that no matter whether he could win Xie Yushu over, he should not antagonize her. Although Xie Yushu was a woman, she acted with the demeanor of a gentleman.
Such a person, even if she has suffered losses herself, would not harm the interests of the country. In fact, she is full of passion, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. Keeping such a woman around would be of no benefit to the Great Qi. He must be a fool to go against her.
It must be said that the greatest skill for a ruler is to be magnanimous, tolerant, and good at recognizing and utilizing talent. The difference in ability between the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince is immediately apparent.
The two of them studied it for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so they simply stopped worrying about it. Since they didn't want to be enemies with Xie Yushu, why bother to understand it? As long as she was serving the Great Qi, that was enough.
Having come to terms with it, the two began to devote themselves to the work of taking over the Tatars. One selected officials to temporarily manage the various Tatar tribes, while the other went to write a report of victory to the Emperor of Great Qi.
Thanks to Xie Yushu's intervention, the Qi army suffered minimal losses but achieved remarkable results, directly turning the Tatars into a vassal state of the Qi. It is estimated that the news will be enough to keep Emperor Qingyuan entertained for a year.
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