From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

The Zhenbeiguan Pass was defended for eight days.

Liu Shijie mobilized all available reinforcements at the military headquarters, and more than two thousand people were sent up in succession.

But the barbarians' attacks became increasingly fierce.

Guli also spat out in the prisoner-of-war camp. The Khan of the Blood Wolf tribe had transferred all the warriors from the other tribes to Zhenbei Pass, determined to take this pass.

On the third night, a series of noisy horn sounds suddenly came from the direction of the barbarian camp.

The horns of several tribes sounded at the same time, and for a moment, it seemed as if the whole world was boiling.

Lin Yan stood on the gate wall and looked down.

The torches in the barbarian camp were moving, the Blood Wolf tribe's banner remained in place, but the banners of the other two major tribes were moving backward.

Sun Dayong limped over and asked with difficulty, "Commander, what's wrong with the barbarian?"

Lin Yan: "I don't know. But it seems there's some internal turmoil within their organization."

Early the next morning, a group of envoys arrived from the barbarian camp, carrying white flags and requesting an audience with Lin Yan.

Lin Yan had the messenger brought to the foot of the gate.

The envoy was a middle-aged barbarian who spoke the Yan language. He got straight to the point:

"Commander Lin, our Tuoba tribe's leader sent me with a message. The Blood Wolf tribe has yet to deliver on the spoils they promised us. Many of our warriors have died, but the Blood Wolf tribe has taken all the grain and iron we seized. If you can hand over Guli to us, the Tuoba tribe is willing to withdraw its troops."

Lin Yan squinted at the envoy, and after a long while, slowly said, "I'll think about it."

After the messenger left, Ye Qingxue asked him, "What do you think?"

"There's a rift within the barbarian tribe. The Blood Wolf tribe is the main force, but the other tribes were forcibly brought in. If we can exploit this rift, we might be able to break the siege."

Lin Yan paused for a moment before continuing, "Guli is the commander of ten thousand men in the Blood Wolf tribe and a confidant of the Great Khan. The Tuoba tribe specifically requested Guli because they wanted to use him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Blood Wolf tribe."

"Do you think the Tuoba tribe truly wants to withdraw their troops?"

"Whether they're sincere or not doesn't matter. What matters is that they don't want to fight anymore." Lin Yan turned and walked towards the gate, saying as he went, "I'm going to talk to Gu Li."

Guli's treatment in the dungeon was better than before.

The military government moved him to a larger cell, and his meals were changed from coarse grains to regular military rations. When Lin Yan went in, Gu Li was drawing something on the wall with a chicken bone.

"Your Tuoba tribe leader wants me to hand you over."

Lin Yan sat opposite him and looked at Gu Li.

Gu Li paused for a moment, then looked up at Lin Yan and asked curiously, "Tuoba Hong? What did he say?"

"He said that if you give him to him, the Tuoba tribe will withdraw their troops."

Gu Li was silent for a moment. "Are you planning to agree?"

"It depends. If you can tell me something more valuable than your life, I won't agree."

Gu Li leaned against the wall, looking into Lin Yan's eyes.

This young Yan general fought him at Iron Coffin Cliff for half a month, captured him alive, and now he's sitting in front of him negotiating terms.

He suddenly found it a little funny and said:

"You Yan people love doing this kind of thing. Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Who were the intermediaries in the business dealings between the Blood Wolf Tribe and your Yan Dynasty's Eastern Palace? What is your tribe's internal attitude towards the southward expansion? Also, when Zhenbei Pass was breached twenty years ago, did you remember a single embroiderer in the defense map you obtained from the Eastern Palace?"

"An embroiderer?"

Gu Li frowned and asked, "What embroiderer?"

"A woman locked in the woodshed of the Imperial Household Department."

Gu Li stared at Lin Yan for a long time, then slowly said, "The woodshed... um, is the woman you're talking about surnamed Liu?"

Lin Yan's heart skipped a beat.

If he remembered correctly, Ye Qingxue's mother's surname was Liu.

Was Ye Qingxue's mother an embroiderer?

When Lin Yan learned of this news, some doubts actually crossed his mind.

But since Ye Qingxue didn't say anything, it wasn't convenient for him to ask.

.......

Gu Li didn't give many instructions, but they were useful enough.

There are indeed disagreements within the Blood Wolf Clan.

The Khan was determined to march south, but several old nobles in the tribe opposed it, believing that Zhenbei City was too difficult to conquer and that it would be better to retreat to the grasslands and accumulate strength than to stubbornly attack Zhenbei City.

The Tuoba tribe and other tribes were forcibly brought here by the Great Khan using spoils of war and stolen ironware. They have fought for so long that too many people have died but they have not received any benefits, and there are already signs of rebellion.

There's also the trading channel between the Eastern Palace and the Blood Wolf Tribe. Besides Steward Lu from the Imperial Household Department, there's another fixed contact person on the grassland side: an old shaman from the Blood Wolf Tribe named Wu En.

This Uen holds a high position in the tribe, and sometimes the Khan will specifically seek his advice.

Every time Steward Lu sent intelligence to the grasslands, he would pass it on to the Khan through Wu En.

Guli vaguely remembered that twenty years ago, Wu En had received a list from the Crown Prince.

The list contained information about the people the Crown Prince had placed in the northern border, and one page specifically highlighted several individuals suspected by the Crown Prince.

Among these people were embroiderers, low-ranking military officers, and several family members of border soldiers.

The label on the list was very simple, consisting of only one word: Exclude.

"How did that embroiderer escape?" Lin Yan asked.

"Uen said that when the assassins they sent out to deal with this group arrived at the woodshed, they found that the people had already been rescued. The rescuers were a group of soldiers wearing short gray cloth jackets, and the leader had a plaque with the character 'mountain' engraved on his body."

Looking at the expression on Lin Yan's face, Gu Li immediately understood, "You know this person."

Lin Yan stood up and walked out of the cell.

Ye Qingxue was in the back hall of the military headquarters.

Lin Yan relayed Gu Li's original words to her. Ye Qingxue remained silent for a long time after listening, and then asked:

"Is Uen still alive?"

"Alive. He is the high shaman of the Blood Wolf tribe, a rank even higher than that of a commander of ten thousand."

Lin Yan said, "Guli said that Uen knows many details of what happened back then. If we want to find out all of the Crown Prince's informants in the Northern Territory, we must find Uen."

"Then we'll have to wait until the war is over, or find a way to capture Uen."

"Perhaps we can find what your mother left behind first."

Lin Yan said, "Your mother lived in Zhenbei City for more than ten years. Before she died, she gave you that letter, but what about the other things? Since she dared to hide that letter, she might have hidden other things as well."

Ye Qingxue was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up. "My mother told me before she died that some things should be placed where she could see them, and that place is... the North City Mortuary!"

Chengbei Yizhuang is located in the northwest corner of Zhenbeicheng, right next to the city wall.

After Ye Qingxue's mother passed away, she was buried in the cemetery behind the mortuary. There was no tombstone, only a wooden plaque with her name engraved on it.

Ye Qingxue has rarely come these past few years. It's not that she doesn't want to come, but every time she comes, she is reminded of her mother's face before she died.

She didn't want to think about these things, and over time, Ye Qingxue stopped wanting to come here.

The two parted the weeds on the grave mound; the words on the wooden plaque had become blurred.