Battle for Northern Frontier: The game begins with the grassland woman buying him.

Su Zhan lay on the bed. The wound beneath the bandage throbbed with pain.

Bai Zhanqiu's words about doing business struck him hard, leaving him full of doubts.

He stared at the cracks in the cobwebs on the roof beams, his voice hoarse, "Doing business?"

Every word was unbelievable to him.

"The grasslands have just drunk their fill of blood, and the royal court's knife is still hanging over our heads. You're talking to me about doing business?"

Bai Zhanqiu was not stumped by Su Zhan's question. A glint of light flashed in his eyes, and he slammed his cane hard on the ground.

"It's precisely because the blood hasn't cooled down that we're even more eager to do business!" He leaned forward, lowered his voice, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Do you really think we can withstand the covetous eyes of those steppe people with these crumbling city walls and the few hundred wounded soldiers we have left? Or perhaps some jealous tribe will try to take another bite?"

Lin Yuer, who was holding the medicine bowl, froze in mid-air, looking worriedly at her husband's tense jawline.

Su Zhan didn't speak, but his right pupil shrank to the size of a pinhead.

"Su Zhan." Bai Zhanqiu's voice deepened. "In this battle, we won the land but lost the backbone. Why did the royal court's envoy only give us warnings without actually attacking? It's not that they're afraid of us, but rather that I find us too tough a bone to chew on, too difficult to gnaw on, and too likely to break our teeth. They're still waiting, waiting for us to bleed, waiting for us to fall into internal strife."

He took a breath and continued, "If we just stay in the city and lick our wounds, where will we get food? Where will we get medicine? Where will we get the wood and iron to rebuild the entire city? If we just sit around and do nothing, we'll starve, freeze, and fall apart before the enemy even comes."

The wind howled outside the door, sounding just like the cries of the wronged souls that Su Zhan had heard on the battlefield.

The images of those soldiers flashed before Su Zhan's eyes. He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and seemed to taste the rusty, bloody flesh again.

"so what?"

"So we need to take action and live by their rules."

Bai Zhanqiu's knuckles were clenched on the edge of the bed.

"I wiped out the Bloodhoof Tribe, the Black Bear Tribe, and the White Deer Tribe. The pastures, livestock, and even the scattered people they left behind became the trade routes for our county. Fur, cattle, horses, and warhorses are all hard currency on the grasslands. Before, they held us by the throat and wouldn't give them to us. Now we can take them, exchange them, and even rob them ourselves."

Bai Zhanqiu's eyes burned with wildfire. "Doesn't the royal court want peace? Fine, we'll give them peace. We'll be fair merchants, trading with them using grain, salt, cloth, and ironware. We'll only exchange, not sell, and we'll trade fairly with those terrified little tribes around us."

What did they lack? They lacked security and food to survive the winter. We traded food for their furs and surplus livestock, and iron tools for their travel permits. We helped them settle down, and they gave us a way to survive. These tribes became our natural shield, our eyes and ears, preventing the royal court from finding an excuse to intervene.

Su Zhan suddenly looked up, opened his eyes, and a cold glint flashed in them.

"Dancing with wolves? Aren't you afraid of raising tigers to threaten your own cause? Those tribes have just lost loved ones; do you really think they'll trade with us?"

"Why wouldn't I be afraid?" Bai Zhanqiu sneered.

"But do we have a better way out? Head-on confrontation is a dead end, and doing business is a risky path, but a risky path may not be a dead end."

He lowered his voice, "The trade is the overt operation, but the covert operation is that our people have infiltrated their ranks. Every rustle on the grassland, every tent each tribe slept in last night—all of this is information on our desks. If any tribe dares to harbor any rebellious thoughts..."

He didn't finish speaking, but the cold light in his eyes was even colder than Su Zhan's.

The room fell into dead silence. Su Zhan could hear his own heartbeat, each beat sending shivers of pain through his wounds.

He remembered the trap set by the Golden Eagle tribe, the mountains of corpses piled up at the city gate, and Lin Yuer's red, tear-filled eyes as she held him. The fire of revenge burned in his bones.

But Bai Zhanqiu's words were like cold water poured over him, making his flames hiss but unable to be extinguished.

He saw the cold reality beneath the flames. He slowly turned his head, his gaze passing through the holes in the window paper as he looked out at the gray sky.

After a long silence, he said in a hoarse voice, "Okay."

This roar had exhausted all of Su Zhan's strength. His body went limp, but his fists remained clenched tightly.

Bai Zhanqiu let out a long sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping slightly beneath the bandages.

He got up, leaning on his cane. "You just need to take care of yourself."

He walked to the door, his back to Su Zhan, and said, "I'll handle things outside. I'll play this game with them to the very end."

The door was closed, shutting out the cold wind from outside.

Lin Yuer silently walked to the bedside and wiped Su Zhan's forehead with a warm, damp cloth.

Su Zhan closed his eyes, and what he saw before him was no longer a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, but an endless grassland.

The grassland is like a giant net, or a monster, slowly swallowing him up.

Although Bai Zhanqiu's matter didn't require major conflict with others, the power struggle involved was extremely dangerous.

They are from the Central Plains, while the other side is from the grasslands. Isn't that like dancing with wolves or trying to get something out of a tiger?

I just don't know if this path will actually work.

But Su Zhan knew that the best strategy right now was the one Bai Zhanqiu had suggested.

They had no choice but to compromise, hoping that one day they wouldn't have to live such a wretched life on the grasslands.

……

Su Zhan has been recuperating from his injuries, while Stone City has returned to its former prosperity.

Although these battles damaged the foundation of Stone City, the Han people have always been known for their resilience, and rebuilding their homes is an instinct ingrained in their bones.

Stone City is their home now, and they are the ones who have to do everything.

Once Su Zhan and the others felt a bit better, they went out for a stroll with Lin Yuer.

Now Lin Yuer's school no longer needs her management; the recruited teachers are able to arrange everything in the school in an orderly manner.

Moreover, the city is not as chaotic as it used to be.

The Raptors' gang members seem to have completely cleaned up their act now, and they're doing business in various places.

Some were formed spontaneously by Han Chinese, while others were spearheaded by the Fierce Dragon Gang.

The city was exceptionally bustling, making Su Zhan feel as if he had returned to a Han Chinese city.

Su Zhan's broken heart found some solace at this moment, but he still felt a dull ache in his heart.

If those fallen brothers could see the prosperity we enjoy today, I wonder what they would think.

We don't know if everything they sacrificed was worth it, but there's no way to find out now.

Those who have died have given their most precious things, while those who are alive must look forward.

Su Zhan always felt that Bai Zhanqiu hadn't told him the truth. He had no idea what other arrangements were involved, but he knew that everything seemed different from before.

The Han people on the street stood up straighter than before, and no longer bowed and scraped when they saw the grassland people.

The nomads from the grasslands were very well-behaved in their business in the stone city, unlike their previous arrogance. They knew that this was Han territory, a land truly conquered by the Han people, and that every brick here was stained with Han blood. They were not to be trifled with.