The Prodigal Son

Huyao, the Crown Prince's residence.

Yan Li returned to the Crown Prince's residence, utterly exhausted.

A morning meeting lasted from early morning until noon, but none of the problems that needed to be addressed were resolved.

Although Yan Li was furious, there was nothing she could do.

On the one hand, the morale of the court officials has collapsed.

He knew perfectly well that many officials were just going through the motions.

Those officials must have been thinking to themselves that no matter whether Da Ning or Bei Qi attacked, they would still remain officials!

What difference does it make who you serve?

Nowadays, there are very few officials in the court whom he can rely on.

On the other hand, their problems are simply unsolvable!

All the proposals put forward by the ministers eventually come back to one question.

Money and provisions!

Without money and supplies, no problem can be solved!

He's hardly acting as regent!

It was pure torture!

As soon as Yan Li stepped into the Crown Prince's residence, Si Long quickly came to greet him.

Seeing Si Long only made Yan Li, who was already irritable, even more irritable.

Although he knew that the fall of Wulin could not be entirely blamed on Si Rong, he still inexplicably took his anger out on Si Long.

He receives all sorts of bad news every day, and he has forgotten how long it has been since he last laughed.

Si Long knew that her elder brother had lost an important place and that Yan Li was still angry, so she didn't dare to say anything. She bowed and presented two letters: "These are letters sent back by Prince Su. Please take a look, Your Highness."

After handing the letter to Yan Li, Si Long silently withdrew and went to the side to wipe away her tears.

She was wronged too!

She didn't cause the defeat. In order to raise funds for Yan Li's army, she secretly sold her dowry and borrowed from everyone she could from her family. She also had to be careful to keep an eye on Yan Li's mood every day.

She has done her best to share Yan Li's burdens.

However, Yan Li still neglected and disliked her because her brother had suffered a defeat.

Who can she tell about these grievances?

Yan Li sat down with the two letters Si Long had given her and opened them expressionlessly.

It's definitely going to be bad news again!

Before even seeing the contents of the letter, Yan Li had already mentally prepared herself.

A message from my old friend Qin Yu to His Highness the Crown Prince of Yan.

Unfortunately, the first letter Yan Li opened was one written to him by Qin Yu.

Qin Yu's letter?

Yan Li frowned, a bitter feeling rising in her heart.

Is Qin Yu here to show off his power to me?

However, he certainly had the right to flaunt his power!

He sold himself out and then expects you to count the money for him? He's not even qualified, so who is?

Yan Li should have hated Qin Yu to death, but staring at the name "Qin Yu," he didn't feel much hatred in his heart.

If I have any regrets, it's my own shortsightedness in not seeing through Qin Yu's wicked scheme!

After mentally preparing herself to be humiliated by Qin Yu, Yan Li continued reading.

However, Qin Yu did not humiliate him; instead, he spoke to him like an old friend.

Qin Yu rationally analyzed the current situation of Yan State with him, as well as the difficulties that Yan State would face in the future, including some situations in the Yan State court.

He also told him his plan to deal with Yan Wujiu.

Following that were some persuasive words asking him to consider the people of Yan and to surrender.

Qin Yu also promised that as long as they surrendered, he would do everything in his power to provide relief to the people of Yan. At the same time, he petitioned Empress Da Ning to select a good place in Feng and Deng, the two most prosperous prefectures in Da Ning, as the fiefdom for the members of the Yan royal family.

If they were willing to serve as officials, Qin Yu would do his utmost to recommend them to Zhao Luan.

Finally, Qin Yu also put himself in his shoes and considered his difficulties and resentment.

Qin Yu said that if he was really unwilling, they could arrange a fair duel between Wu Lin and Yu Chan.

If Qin Yu loses, he should immediately leave all the grain behind and lead his troops to withdraw from Wulin.

If he loses, he will surrender to Da Ning.

Qin Yu neither mocked nor humiliated him.

On the contrary, Qin Yu understood his current situation and thoughts.

Yan Li did not show the slightest anger.

He had already expressed his anger towards Qin Yu long ago.

When he first understood those wicked schemes, he wished he could tear Qin Yu to pieces every day.

But now, he doesn't have as much anger towards Qin Yu anymore.

All that remains is endless sorrow.

One wrong step, one wrong step!

They had already lost half the battle before it even started.

After trying to calm herself down, Yan Li opened another letter.

This was written to him by Yan Wujiu.

Yan Wujiu told Qin Yu about his treacherous plot and at the same time requested 100,000 troops from the imperial court.

Yan Wujiu bluntly stated that if this dragged on, the Yan state would soon be worn down and killed.

Rather than being passive in every situation, it's better to take a gamble!

Yan Wujiu planned to leave 50,000 troops to garrison Yuchan and block Ning's reinforcements, and then lead 110,000 troops straight to Wulin.

Compared to Qin Yu's letter, Yan Wujiu's letter was much shorter.

However, he could discern Yan Wujiu's state of mind from this brief letter.

Yan Wujiu wrote this letter with the mindset of "either succeed or die trying".

The State of Yan was forced to the brink of collapse by the State of Ning, and Yan Wujiu was also forced to the edge of the brink by the Ning army.

One hundred thousand troops!

Yan Li's face was filled with bitterness; she really didn't know what to say.

The vanguard of the Northern Qi reinforcements did arrive in Yunzhou, but Northern Qi had its own battle plan. Not only would Northern Qi's troops not obey its orders, but they would also require the Yan army to cooperate with Northern Qi!

If all of Suhe Baoyin's troops are transferred there, and some more are drawn from his forces, they can assemble an army of 100,000 for Yan Wujiu.

However, if this army of 100,000 were given to Yan Wujiu, the Yan state would be at the mercy of the Northern Qi.

They want Bei Qi and Ning Guo to wear down each other's military strength!

We don't want Ningguo to drain Yanguo's military strength!

If they're really going to drag this out, they might as well give up all the land west of Qiyun Mountain sooner and let Ningguo and Beiqi fight it out slowly, so they won't suffer so many casualties.

"call……"

Yan Li exhaled a breath of stale air, shook his head vigorously, and slowly stood up.

He couldn't possibly give Yan Wujiu 100,000 troops.

But he also had to think about how to reply to Yan Wujiu.

Moreover, I also have to write a letter back to Qin Yu!

Just as Yan Li was frowning in worry, Si Long personally brought over a bowl of soup. "Your Highness, please have some soup first!"

Yan Li was in a state of agitation and was about to lose her temper.

However, when he saw Si Long's reddened eyes, he finally suppressed his anger.

"Okay, have some soup!"

Yan Li tried hard to force a smile, but seemed to have forgotten how to smile, so she could only take the hot soup and gulp it down her stomach.

"Cough cough..."

Yanli was preoccupied with her thoughts and drank too quickly, choking and coughing repeatedly after only a few sips.

Si Long quickly grabbed a handkerchief and stepped forward to wipe the stains from Yan Li's mouth.

Feeling Si Long's gentleness, Yan Li's heart softened, and she gently took her hand, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."

"I am unfortunate and miserable. I only regret that I cannot share Your Highness's burdens."

Si Long's eyes were filled with tears, but she forced a smile. "Whatever decision Your Highness makes, I will support you! Please take care of yourself, Your Highness. If anything happens to you, I will not live on alone!"

"Don't say such discouraging things, we haven't reached the point of no return yet."

Yan Li comforted Si Long, saying, "Walk with me for a while! It's been a long time since we had a proper heart-to-heart talk."

I don't want to think about it anymore!

Even the most important matters shouldn't be rushed.

Let's clear our heads first!

It's not too late to make a decision once you're feeling a bit less heavy-hearted.

It won't be a short while, the sky won't fall down!

"Um!"

Si Long nodded gently...