Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 138 Strange Movements in Major Dynasties

When Situ Ce arrived at the Prince's residence, he exchanged a few words with Lu Chen and then left without lingering at the Prince's residence.

Lu Chen suspected that Situ Ce's visit to Beijun was not just to deliver a message to him. He had previously read Situ Ce's information, which stated that Situ Ce's other purpose for this trip was to test him.

How can you find out his background by asking just a few questions?

Situ Ce had probably already arrived in Beijun, but he didn't know it, so he immediately had someone summon Bai Qingqing to the courtyard.

Bai Qingqing is the deputy commander of the Shadow Guards. After she returns to Yancheng, she will definitely receive intelligence from the other Shadow Guards. Asking her will probably tell you how long Situ Ce has been in Beijun.

A short while later, Bai Qingqing arrived at the courtyard. After entering, she bowed and said, "This servant greets Your Highness."

Lu Chen grabbed Bai Qingqing's hand and helped her up, saying, "Little Bai, do you know how long the Imperial Advisor has been in Beijun?"

Bai Qingqing replied expressionlessly, "About half a month."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen realized that, just as he had thought, Situ Ce had already arrived in Beijun.

However, this cannot be blamed on Situ Ce, since he had spent the last half month negotiating with the Sirius King tribe in the northern grasslands.

Lu Chen then asked, "He came to Yancheng, so he must have brought you a new mission, right?"

At this point, Lu Chen put his arm around Bai Qingqing's slender waist, stood behind her, and let his hands wander over Bai Qingqing's body.

When Lu Chen hugged her like that, Bai Qingqing's body trembled involuntarily, and a blush appeared on her usually cool face.

"The Imperial Advisor instructed me to investigate evidence of the Eighth Prince's collusion with the aristocratic families and the barbarians, and then send the collected evidence back to the capital."

Hearing this, Lu Chen smiled slightly. Just as he had thought, after the threat from the northern barbarians ended, his father was preparing to take action against the aristocratic families.

Once the evidence of collusion between those aristocratic families and barbarians is obtained, his father may very well use it as a pretext to directly eliminate the influence of the aristocratic families in the court.

Situ Ce had just hinted at this to me. Situ Ce's intention was clear: he hoped that I would not rebel when the Xia Emperor was purging the aristocratic families. He believed that the position would most likely be mine in the future, so Situ Ce was reminding me that purging the aristocratic families would also benefit me.

In fact, Situ Ce didn't need to remind him of this at all, and Lu Chen had no intention of rebelling while the Xia Emperor was dealing with the aristocratic families.

Heroes are made by the times. Although there are undercurrents in the Great Xia, it has not yet completely fallen into chaos. If I were to rebel at this time, I would be courting death.

Moreover, Lu Chen wasn't stupid. He was actually hoping that the Xia Emperor would clean up the aristocratic families as soon as possible. If the aristocratic families weren't cleaned up, it would definitely be another mess when he took control of the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

In fact, every dynasty gives rise to some powerful families, but many of the great families in the Great Xia Dynasty are not ordinary families. These families control the court, control a large amount of resources in the Great Xia Dynasty, and it can even be said that they control the lifeline of the Great Xia Dynasty.

These established families are far beyond the reach of newly emerging powerful clans.

The powerful families that Emperor Xia wanted to eliminate were those that controlled the court. It had nothing to do with some emerging powerful families. On the contrary, Emperor Xia would not only not suppress those emerging powerful families, but would also support them and make them a force against the old powerful families in the court.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Chen decided to put aside the matter of the capital for the time being and focus on building up Beijun first.

Now that we have 100,000 barbarian prisoners and the method for making cement, construction of the straight road in Northshire can begin.

Just then, a maid came into the courtyard and said, "Your Highness, the two ladies have finished washing up."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen came to his senses. The two ladies the maid was referring to were naturally Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao, who had just entered the Northern Prince's Mansion.

Lu Chen then released Bai Qingqing and patted her bottom again. "Xiao Bai, go and take care of your business."

Bai Qingqing suddenly felt ashamed. She couldn't understand why Lu Chen always liked to touch her buttocks.

"Yes, Your Highness."

As soon as Bai Qingqing finished speaking, she quickly left.

At this moment, Lu Chen said to the maid who had come to report, "Which courtyard are the two ladies in? Take me there."

The maidservant immediately replied, "Yes, Your Highness, please follow me."

Immediately afterwards, the maid led Lu Chen to Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao's courtyard.

Their rooms were both in the same courtyard, which was small and contained only two rooms. The courtyard next door was where Wang Qingci lived.

At this moment, Wang Qingci was sitting on the courtyard wall, brazenly sizing up the two barbarian beauties that Lu Chen had brought back.

At this moment, a man appeared in Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao's courtyard, and the two quickly got up from the stone bench in the pavilion.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

Seeing Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao's latest outfits, Lu Chen was slightly lost in thought.

They have now changed into the clothes of the Great Xia Dynasty and have been carefully dressed by their maids, making them look quite different from before.

Yelü Nanyan wore a light gauze dress adorned with lotus flowers, with a belt tied around her waist, perfectly showcasing her full and voluptuous figure. The gauze clung to her skin, revealing glimpses of it, and because the gauze clung tightly to her body, her rounded hips were even more prominent. The entire beautiful woman exuded charm and elegance.

Lu Chen glanced at Xiao Wenyao again. Xiao Wenyao was wearing a white dress underneath a dark green coat. Her jet-black hair was draped over her waist and tied with a hairpin. She looked just like a young lady from a secluded family in the Great Xia Dynasty.

When Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao stood together, they looked like a mother with her daughter.

After regaining his senses, Lu Chen smiled slightly and said, "I didn't expect that you two would become even more beautiful and charming after dressing up. It seems that I am quite fortunate to have such lovely ladies."

Upon hearing this, both Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao blushed slightly.

This was the first time they had dressed exactly like the people of Daxia, and they never expected that they would look even more beautiful after changing into Daxia's clothes.

When they were looking in the bronze mirror, they were immediately amazed by their own beauty.

In the past, they would wear fur coats, covering themselves up completely, and occasionally wear fur hats on their heads, which made it impossible for them to show off their figures and beauty.

At this moment, Wang Qingci, sitting on the courtyard wall, said with a smile, "Congratulations, Your Highness, on gaining two more beauties!"

Hearing this, Lu Chen turned to look at Wang Qingci sitting on the courtyard wall and said, "Why is Master Wang here to watch the excitement instead of managing the affairs of Tingyu Tower?"

Wang Qingci acted as if she were completely unfazed, saying, "Your Highness is so fierce, I'm so scared."

"I heard that Your Highness has taken in two female slaves, so I wanted to see what my sisters look like."

Hearing Wang Qingci and Lu Chen's conversation, Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao were somewhat surprised.

Is this unrestrained woman in red sitting on the courtyard wall actually the Northern King's female slave?

Are all the female slaves in the Northern Prince's mansion so bold that they dare to speak to the Northern Prince, their master, like that?

Xiao Wenyao thought of the slaves she used to be in the royal court. If any slave dared to speak to her like that, she probably wouldn't even have to lift a finger before the other slaves beat that slave half to death.

At this moment, Wang Qingci glanced at Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao, and continued with a smile, "It seems that Your Highness still remembers what I said back then: that there are beauties in the barbarian royal court."

When Lu Chen first came to Beijun, he asked if there were any beautiful women in Beijun. At that time, Wang Qingci told Lu Chen that there were beautiful women in the barbarian royal court.

Wang Qingci was the owner of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and the Holy Maiden of the Misty Rain Pavilion at the time. A large amount of information passed through her hands every day, so she had some understanding of the situation of the Barbarian Royal Court and knew that the Queen Consort of the Heavenly Wolf King was exceptionally beautiful.

Upon seeing Yelü Nanyan today, Wang Qingci was also amazed by her appearance. She felt that she was completely incomparable to Yelü Nanyan.

Yelü Nanyan possessed a mature woman's charm that she lacked, and she was well aware that Lu Chen was precisely attracted to beautiful women like Yelü Nanyan and Chu Yuqin.

Every time Chu Yuqin is mentioned in front of Lu Chen, Lu Chen becomes incredibly fierce, as if he's been injected with adrenaline.

Wang Qingci jumped down from the courtyard wall, her light body landing gently. She then came to Lu Chen and whispered in his ear, "Your Highness, I wonder if the Embroidered Uniform Guard has any news about the Dayue Dynasty? There have been some unusual movements in the Dayue Dynasty recently."

Wang Qingci came here not to chat with Lu Chen. She is now the owner of Tingyu Tower and is responsible for collecting intelligence on various dynasties and countries for Lu Chen. She has no time to come here and talk about women with Lu Chen.

Lu Chen was stunned when he heard Wang Qingci's words.

Currently, most of the Embroidered Uniform Guards are located within the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty, and there are not many in other dynasties. He really had not heard of any unusual activities in the Great Yue Dynasty.

The Dayue Dynasty is right next to Beijun, in the southwest corner. Although the Dayue Dynasty is a newly established dynasty, and is relatively poor and not very powerful, it is still a neighbor of Beijun, so Lu Chen must keep track of their movements.

Lu Chen has been dealing with matters in Beijun recently and has paid almost no attention to the Dayue Dynasty. He didn't expect that Tingyu Tower, which was established not long ago, has already infiltrated the Dayue Dynasty. Wang Qingci's efficiency is quite high.

Lu Chen then asked, "I haven't sent any Imperial Guards to the Dayue Dynasty yet. If there are any unusual developments, just let me know."

Wang Qingci said, "The Dayue Dynasty has been mobilizing troops for half a month, and now it has 200,000 troops stationed in the border area between Daxia and Beijun."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen chuckled, then said, "Does the Great Yue Dynasty think I intend to attack them?"

Lu Chen did not believe that the Dayue Dynasty should invade Daxia at this time. The barbarian army of 300,000 had just been wiped out by Beijun. As a newly established dynasty, the Dayue Dynasty did not have the courage to suddenly send troops to Daxia.

The Dayue Dynasty's actions were most likely a precaution against Beijun.

It's impossible for them not to be worried when a huge creature suddenly appears to their north.

Not to mention the Dayue Dynasty has amassed 200,000 troops, even the vassal kings within the Great Xia Dynasty have stationed troops in the northern prefectures and the areas bordering them.

For example, Prince Qi, just over a month ago, Lu Chen sent 5,000 heavy cavalry to pick up Mu Zixuan and the others, and they had just left Anping City. After receiving this news, Prince Qi immediately transferred all 50,000 troops from his fiefdom to the north.

The 50,000-strong army did not take any action; they simply stayed opposite Anping City, monitoring Beijun.

Clearly, the appearance of 50,000 heavy cavalry shocked all the dynasties, especially the forces around Beijun. They were all afraid that Lu Chen would suddenly send troops to attack them, so they quickly mobilized their troops to the north to guard against Beijun.

Seeing that Lu Chen seemed unconvinced, Wang Qingci said, "Your Highness, I believe that Dayue's troop deployment to the north is not simply to guard against Beijun."

Hearing Wang Qingci's words, Lu Chen was stunned for a moment. In his opinion, once the 50,000 heavy cavalry of Beijun came out, no force in the surrounding area would dare to cause trouble for him.

If the Dayue Dynasty's troop deployment northward wasn't to defend against Beijun, then what was their purpose?

Could it be that they really intend to come and attack North County?

Lu Chen then said, "Tell me your thoughts."

Wang Qingci then said, "As far as I know, not only is Dayue mobilizing troops, but several other dynasties are also secretly mobilizing troops, and they are all stationed in places bordering Daxia."

"Therefore, I believe that the Dayue Dynasty's troop deployment is unlikely to be solely for the purpose of defending Beijun. It is more likely that the major dynasties have reached some kind of tacit agreement to prepare for war against Daxia."

Lu Chen fell into deep thought. He had been paying close attention to what was happening within the Great Xia territory, but he knew almost nothing about the news of the major dynasties mobilizing their troops.

It's also possible that he spent the last two weeks in the north, and all the intelligence was piled up in his study.

However, this also served as a good test of Tingyulou's intelligence-gathering capabilities.

At this moment, Wang Qingci continued, "After the 50,000 heavy cavalrymen from Beijun came out, the major dynasties may very well think that these heavy cavalrymen all belong to His Majesty. Adding to the heavy cavalrymen that the court already had, the Great Xia now has nearly 80,000 heavy cavalrymen. This may lead other dynasties to mistakenly believe that His Majesty has ambitions for external expansion."

Lu Chen thought about it and agreed with Wang Qingci. Although these 50,000 heavy cavalrymen were remnants of the Great Yu Dynasty that he had summoned through the system, others did not know these things.

Other dynasties saw that the entire Xia Dynasty possessed nearly 80,000 heavy cavalry.

The Great Xia suddenly added 50,000 heavy cavalry. What was their purpose? It seemed self-evident.

Originally, the major dynasties were evenly matched. Suddenly one day, one of the dynasties began to expand its army on a large scale, and this was done without the other dynasties knowing. Others would only think that you were preparing to start a war.

As a result, all the major dynasties would tacitly agree to eliminate the strongest one first.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen smiled and then said to Wang Qingci, "Lord Wang, you have done a good job in intelligence work. Keep up the good work and pay more attention to the movements of the major dynasties."

Wang Qingci immediately replied, "Yes, Your Highness."

With that, Wang Qingci lightly leaped onto the courtyard wall. "Your Highness, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

Lu Chen said, "Okay."

Wang Qingci's figure quickly disappeared.

At this moment, Lu Chen came to his senses and looked at Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao.

Yelü Nanyan then said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Your Highness, I would like to see our barbarian soldiers. Is that permissible?"

Lu Chen said, "No problem, come with me."

Lu Chen had originally planned to take Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao to meet the barbarian soldiers so that they could calm down completely and prevent them from having any inappropriate thoughts.

(End of this chapter)