Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 359 Horse Ranch

If Sachi's intention was to provoke Jiu Que and hear some complaints from her, then it seems he failed. Jiu Que didn't react at all, as if Sachi's words had no effect on her whatsoever.

Jiu Que slowly shook his head only when Sachi herself was exhausted.

"I had hoped to hear something useful from the mouth of a powerful ruler, but it was all the same old stuff. To be honest, I already knew the cause of my mother's death. It was nothing more than a collusion between a traitor within the family and an enemy, who killed her on the battlefield. And the reason wasn't hard to guess: she was too outstanding and blocked other people's path, so some people disliked her. I've seen this kind of drama in hundreds, if not thousands, of plays. If the Khan thinks he can anger me with such a reason, he is underestimating me."

Sachi leaned weakly against the cage, utterly exhausted. He had no strength left and could only speak helplessly.

"Then what do you want to know? I've already been captured by you. Almost the entire grassland army that went on this expedition has been taken prisoner by you, and most of the grassland royal family has been captured. What bargaining chips do I have left that would make Lord Ying want to come and see me?"

Jiuque slowly smoothed the floral pattern on her sleeve. To be honest, she could have easily not come tonight, but there was still some value in Sachi that hadn't been fully exploited.

Although she had captured the entire royal family of the grasslands, she had not yet seized the grasslands' greatest resources. This was also Jiu Que's primary goal in reclaiming the grasslands.

"I want to know where the horse pastures on the grasslands are."

Sachi's pupils contracted sharply, and then he scanned Jiu Que from head to toe as if he were seeing him for the first time, finally revealing a strange expression.

"How amazing! So that's what you were thinking. I thought you'd be more like a woman, but now you seem more like a compassionate ruler. What do you need the horse ranch for? Do you want to bolster the Northern Frontier Army's strength? Look at my memory, I've completely forgotten. Although Ying Chongming is dead, she still has confidants in the Northern Frontier Army. Is it Lin Chongshan? You want to strengthen her power?"

"In this battle, you achieved the highest merit. You could easily return to the warmer, more comfortable, and safer capital of the Great Jing Kingdom to serve as an official. Putting aside everything else, it is said that the Emperor of Great Jing trusts you greatly. As a subject, it is truly rare to gain the trust of one's monarch. Instead of using your future career to fight for power and climb the ranks step by step, you want to continue to embellish and strengthen the army's strength. Don't you know that this army is a thorn in the Emperor's side? Tell me, what emperor in this world would want to have an army stronger than himself?"

"Your victory now is only temporary. If you want to exist for a long time to come, you'd better keep a low profile and be careful. Instead of being cautious, you're trying to increase the fighting strength of the Northern Frontier Army?"

After listening to the other party's rambling and irrelevant ramblings, Jiu Que's patience had reached its limit.

"I never expected the mighty Khan Sachi to be such a chatterbox. Just give me a straight answer, are you going to tell me or not? Actually, even if you don't tell me, once we conquer the grasslands and scour every corner of them, we'll find your horse pastures. It'll just take a little time. Time is the last thing I'm lacking right now. But Khan, you're probably running out of time, aren't you?"

"..."

Sachi fell silent. Though he didn't want to admit it, what the other man said was indeed the truth. Oh well, tonight's trip was nothing but self-inflicted humiliation. He was practically half-buried in the ground, yet he was still scheming and plotting; no wonder the younger generation laughed at him.

It's just that Ying Chongming truly had a wonderful daughter. For the past ten years or so, he hadn't heard of her at all. What a pity! If he had known earlier, he should have sent her to the Western Paradise sooner. But alas, it's too late now.

"I can tell you where the horse ranch is, but you have to promise me one thing."

"Let me make this clear first, I'm just someone who works for His Majesty. I don't have the authority to pardon you. If you're asking me to save your lives, forget it. I don't have that kind of power." "Hahahaha..."

Sachi seemed to find it amusing too, and couldn't help but laugh for a while. Then, while coughing, he spoke in a low voice.

"Don't worry, I never intended to ask you for help. Our fates were sealed the moment we were captured. It's just a matter of whether we die sooner or later."

"So you want less torture?"

"I want you to act swiftly when it's time to act, so that we can have a quick and painless end!"

Oh……

So that's the request. Jiu Que thought for a moment and nodded. He figured His Majesty wouldn't refuse, but just to be on the safe side, Jiu Que wanted to mention it beforehand.

"I can only guarantee that your princes and nobles will die a quick death. As for you, His Majesty will definitely deal with you personally, and I cannot guarantee that."

"A descendant of the esteemed General Ying, yet he can't even handle such a trivial matter? Could it be that your emperor has been playing you all along?"

At this moment, the grassland royals, who had been keeping quiet all along, finally couldn't help but speak up in hushed tones, whether to provoke or simply to vent their frustrations, it was unclear.

However, such words were far too childish for Jiu Que; she didn't even glance at the other party. She merely raised an eyebrow and gave Sachi Khan a half-smile, causing Sachi's face to turn extremely ugly. He coldly shouted, telling them to shut up.

"Shut up, everyone!"

These idiots! What time is it now? Their only trading partner right now is Ying Jiuque, who wields immense power not only at the border but also in the court. To try and sow discord between her and Emperor Jingtai at this crucial moment is utterly courting death.

The surrounding nomadic tribesmen were clearly resentful, but they didn't dare to defy Sachi Khan. So they could only mutter amongst themselves, their words unclear.

However, none of this affected Jiu Que. After thinking it over carefully, she felt that the deal wasn't too bad, so she simply nodded and received several addresses.

Of course, Jiu Que knew that Sachi wouldn't provide very precise locations, and that more than half of them might even be fake place names. But what did it matter? As long as they had a direction, they could simply push forward and eventually find the right spot. After all, the horses raised on the grasslands over the years were far superior to those raised by the people of the Central Plains. Once they conquered the grasslands, this vast area would become a horse-breeding ground. With good breeding stock, why worry about not raising even better horses?

As for the horse breeders, these grassland royalty certainly wouldn't reveal their horse-breeding techniques, but Jiu Que wasn't worried. After all, only a minority on the entire grassland were willing to sacrifice their lives for the grassland royalty. With so many people, surely a few would be able to be found who wanted to live?