Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

"Your Highness? Your Highness?"

Shao Yuzhen called out to Li Qingyan a few times. This was the first time he had seen Li Qingyan distracted. In the past, when Li Qingyan was learning to play chess, she was completely focused.

It took Li Qingyan a while to come to her senses after hearing the call. She stood up and bowed to Shao Yuzhen, saying, "Sir, I was rude."

Shao Yuzhen didn't mind. Li Qingyan was only three years old and was already outstanding among her peers. It would be wrong of him to be demanding of her.

"Is Your Highness troubled by the argument in court today regarding the war in the west?"

Li Qingyan didn't doze off at the morning court session this morning, because war had broken out in the west. The west borders the Western Rong Kingdom, where they had just experienced a struggle for the throne, and now the Western Rong Empress Dowager was leading her young son to ascend the throne.

Behind them, mother and son, were the pro-war faction, forcing them to fight.

"Sir, with war raging everywhere, the people are suffering, and I'm afraid the northern lands will also be eyeing us covetously."

Li Qingyan was reluctant to discuss these matters with Shao Yuzhen; she was wary of him. If Shao Yuzhen knew too much about her, he would become a formidable rival if he sided with the First Prince in the future.

The host can kill him after completing the training.

Fei Cha suddenly spoke, almost causing Li Qingyan to lose her composure. After spending so much time with her, Fei Cha had also become corrupted.

She raised an eyebrow. "Good idea."

She looked at Shao Yuzhen, "Yes, sir, what is your view on this war?"

"Of course we'll fight."

When Shao Yuzhen, a gentle civil official, uttered those four words, Li Qingyan almost spat out the water in his mouth.

However, this coincided with her opinion.

"It is impossible to appease public anger without fighting. Back then, the Western Rong Kingdom attacked two border cities and carried out a massacre. If His Majesty, who was still a prince at the time, had not led the White Tiger Army to fight in the nearby area, I'm afraid... even more people would have died."

Hearing Shao Yuzhen's gritted teeth, Li Qingyan tilted her head. This was the first time she had ever seen him so emotional. He was usually so calm.

Once, in order to test the traps of the Chengyan Sect, Li Qingyan specially designed one for Chengyan. It was not a class day, so in order to avoid accidentally hurting others, she set up the trap in the Misty Courtyard.

Little did anyone expect that Shao Yuzhen would leave something behind; when he entered the Misty Courtyard, he was hit directly by a basin of incense ash.

Li Qingyan was stunned.

That's her Mr. Wen. If Li Yan punishes her this time, she'll have to grit her teeth and bear it.

The palace maids and eunuchs following behind were also dumbfounded.

This……

Just as everyone was at a loss, Shao Yuzhen dusted himself off.

"This is a good way to save your life. Even without flour, Your Highness still knows how hard it is to make a living."

You were praised?

Li Qingyan's eyes widened. This is praise?

In the end, Shao Yuzhen simply changed his clothes and left. Before leaving, he patted her head and said, "Your Highness is indeed clever. This trap could be improved even further."

This was the first time she was shocked by Shao Yuzhen, and today was the second time.

"If we fear war, then our Great Yu will only be swallowed up by others."

Shao Yuzhen placed a piece, looked at the situation on the chessboard, and said, "Your Highness has improved a lot."

Li Qingyan lost again, but this time it was only by one and a half points, so it wasn't too bad.

"Students are being educated."

After the literature class, it was time for the martial arts class. Cuiping removed all the hair ornaments from Li Qingyan's head, leaving only two small buns with a red ribbon hanging from each, and two small bells dangling at the bottom.

"Li Yan, isn't this my little white horse?"

The bell on Li Qingyan's head jingled with her steps, and she rubbed against the little white horse's neck.

Seeing her like this, Li Yan smiled and said, "This little one is only three months old. She needs to be cared for for a while before she can ride on it."

Unexpectedly, this little white horse was sent to the palace.

The little white horse rubbed against Li Qingyan's cheek, the two of them quite affectionate.

"From now on, it will be your partner. Have you decided what to name it?"

Li Yan patted Xiao Ma's head.

When the horse saw him, it hid behind him like a mouse seeing a cat, but dared not hide.

Li Qingyan's eyes darted around, "White Hair."

"Ah!!! Don't bite my hairband!"

The little white horse, nicknamed "White Hair," bit Li Qingyan's hair ribbon and shook it slightly, controlling its strength perfectly so as not to hurt Li Qingyan but to make her feel pain.

Li Yan glanced at the horse's eyes. It was a very good choice; the horse was very intelligent. It could understand human speech at such a young age; it would only become more intelligent as it grew up.

"You little brat, you deserve it."

He glared at the little white horse.

The little white horse immediately relented, but still snorted a few times in dissatisfaction, clearly disliking the name.

Li Yan patted its head. "How about we call it Wuhen (meaning 'no trace')?"

Li Qingyan ran to Li Yan's side in a few strides. The name wasn't particularly good or bad, but she still liked it. "Do you agree?"

This time she asked the pony.

The pony lifted its leg and neighed a few times, the sound echoing throughout the training ground, even causing several horses in the distance to neigh uncontrollably in response.

Li Yan patted Wuhen's head, "Take good care of him. If anything happens to this horse, you'll be in big trouble."

"It is Your Majesty."

The palace servants tending the horses quickly led Wuhen away. After Li Yan's words, Wuhen became the most precious horse in the palace.

The most important thing when you first learn martial arts is to master the basics. Li Qingyan was also bored while practicing horse stance, so she told Li Yan about the strange things Shao Yuzhen had done that day.

Li Yan pressed down on her shoulders, making her body press down.

"Apart from Grand Tutor Shao and Shao Yuzhen, all the other men in the Shao family were military officers."

Upon hearing Li Yan's words, Li Qingyan's eyes widened.

"Are there other men in the Shao family?"

She remembered that only Shao Taifu and Shao Yuzhen, the grandfather and grandson, remained in the Shao family. Shao Yuzhen did have a few older and younger sisters, but they had all married.

I've never heard of anyone else like that.

Li Yan nodded. "Of course."

Grand Tutor Shao had three sons, six grandsons, and five granddaughters. Shao Yuzhen was the youngest of the grandsons.

When Shao Taifu's three sons came of age, it was during a time of chaos. In order to protect the family, they had to abandon their literary pursuits and take up military careers. His other five older grandsons were also taken to the frontier.

Only Shao Yuzhen was left to stay by Grand Tutor Shao's side because of his young age. In fact, this was arranged by the family at the time, just to leave Grand Tutor Shao with a memento.

The others all died on the battlefield.

The two most brutal battles of that time were the Battle of Baize City and the Battle of Shangyan City, which no one wants to mention.

The area of ​​Shangyancheng is an important salt-producing region, and it is also close to the borders of Xirong Kingdom and Beidi, so it has been targeted by both sides.

At that time, the Shao family was stationed in Shangyancheng.

The Shao family led 10,000 men to defend this city.

People can withstand external attacks, but they cannot withstand the scheming of traitors.

The Shao family was betrayed by a spy who opened the city gates from within.

The unsuspecting defenders suffered a massacre at the hands of Xirong and Beidi. Many died in their sleep.

The entire city was massacred.

Only one person survived to get out of Shangyancheng to deliver the message, but the person who delivered the message died from excessive blood loss.

Li Yan's hands trembled as he spoke. He was closest to Shangyan City and led his soldiers to support and defeat the people of Xirong Kingdom and Beidi, but he couldn't find a single living person from Shangyan City.

Whenever Grand Tutor Shao mentioned this matter, he would fall seriously ill...

"Also out of concern for Grand Tutor Shao's health, no one in the court specifically mentioned this war."

Just hearing Li Qingyan's voice made me feel like I could smell blood.

No wonder Mr. Shao, such a gentle person, advocated for war.

"If Li Yan stirs up trouble again, won't the people suffer greatly?"

Looking into her eyes, Li Yan nodded. "This is inevitable, but it is necessary for the sake of future peace."

A ruler should not focus on short-term gains, but rather on long-term prospects.

Not fighting would only embolden the Western Rong.

"To stop war with war."

Li Yan was taken aback when Li Qingyan uttered those four words.

He said disdainfully, "You little brat, you talk too much. Get back to your horse stance."

But there was clearly satisfaction in his eyes.