A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

When Hua Jieyu placed the secret report on the imperial desk, her fingertips were still covered in mud.

"Your Majesty, we've found a lead on Liu Suan."

Wei Zhao raised his eyes.

The imperial study was still discussing preventing cheating in the imperial examinations. Fang Fuyao's memorial stopped in mid-air, and Su Qingyun's hand, which was moving the abacus, also paused for a moment.

This statement is even more annoying than the rebellion of the former officials of Jingzhou.

At least there's a physical presence in Jingzhou.

Liu Ruhui, Du Ping, Yan He, and Zhou Shen were all people who could be called out by name.

If they can name names, they can kill.

Liu is different.

This person is like a thin needle stuck in your flesh; you can feel the pain, but you can't see the head.

You thought he was in Jingzhou, but he deliberately headed north.

You might think he's going to disrupt the imperial examinations, but he might actually be going to borrow a knife from the grasslands.

trouble.

This is fucking a pain.

Wei Zhao reached out and took the secret report.

Hua Jieyu whispered, "The Jinyige spies tracked Liu Suan to a farm outside Jingzhou City. Liu Suan stayed there for three days. The farm owner and his family are gone, the stove ashes are fresh, and there are remnants of northern hay in the manger."

Wei Zhao turned to the second page, his gaze lingering there.

"Then they changed horses and headed north."

Hua Jieyu nodded.

"The direction is towards the former territory of the Northern Rong."

Nie Yinniang stood in the shadows, her brows furrowed only slightly.

She rarely shows any expression. For her to frown means that this line is something she's uncomfortable with.

"The Northern Rong have been destroyed."

She looked at the secret report, her voice indifferent.

"What is he doing there?"

No one answered immediately.

Wei Zhao didn't rush to speak either.

The Northern Rong royal court has already knelt down.

The new Khan came to court and became a vassal, trade was opened, and marriage alliances were being promoted.

Logically speaking, the grasslands should be in the least chaotic state right now.

But "Logically speaking" is the least valuable word in chaotic times.

Wei Zhao knew all too well.

He could make the new Khan of the Northern Rong kneel in the Xinwu court, but he couldn't make every grassland tribe truly submit.

Especially those former subordinates whom he had humiliated, broken their backbone, and made too afraid to show their faces.

Their absence doesn't mean they don't exist.

They are just waiting.

Waiting for someone who can call them out of the snowdrift.

Fang Fuyao's expression changed.

It wasn't a major change; it was just that my fingertip pressed against the edge of the memorial book, and the corner of the paper wrinkled.

Wei Zhao saw it.

"You know?"

Fang Fuyao looked up.

"When Liu Suan traveled the world, he spent two years in the Northern Rong."

Hua Jieyu's eyes turned cold.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't find anything about this."

Fang Fu shook his head.

"Few written records exist about the past of Fangmen. He didn't go there as a disciple of Fangmen during those two years, but disguised himself as a traveling fortune teller, predicting pastures, snow disasters, and water shortages for the grassland tribes."

Wei Zhao's finger stopped on the secret report.

Nie Yinniang asked, "Will the new Khan of the Northern Rong rebel?"

Wei Zhao looked up at Fang Fuyao.

Fang Fuyao did not answer immediately.

She paused for a moment, then lowered her voice.

"The new Khan may not dare to rebel."

"They may not dare to rebel, but it's not that they don't want to."

Fang Fuyao glanced at him.

"The one who has submitted is the new Northern Rong King, but the Northern Rong King is not the only one who calls the shots on the grasslands."

She walked to the map and pointed to a large blank area further north of the North.

"This place is beyond the reach of the imperial court's records. The Northern Rong royal court also had little influence over it before. There are remnants of the old royal family, wolf tribes who are unwilling to trade, old nobles who have been suppressed by the new Khan, and a group of cavalry who fled into the snowy plains after being scattered by His Majesty."

Su Qingyun frowned.

"With the border trade open, grain, cloth, salt, and tea can all be exchanged, so why are they still rebelling?"

Wei Zhao glanced at her and knew that she was calculating from the accounts.

It's definitely not a good deal in terms of accounts.

Robbery is risky, but trade is profitable. Anyone with a sound mind should choose trade.

But not everyone in the world lives by the book.

Some people live their whole lives by robbing; if you ask them to sit down and pay taxes, they'll only feel like you're cutting off their flesh.

Some of them were formerly nobles who owned slaves, cattle, sheep, and knives.

Now that he's registered in the new military register, his household registration, military power, and border trade will all be under the control of the imperial court. How can he stand that?

Wei Zhao sneered inwardly.

The hardest part of teaching a robber to do business is not teaching him to calculate money, but getting him to admit that he can no longer kill people indiscriminately.

This is harder than killing him.

Fang Fuyao continued, "Those people have been hiding in the snowy plains further north. The imperial court can't control them, and the new Khan is unwilling to break ties with the new Wu for them. So it's been dragging on."

Hua Jieyu said coldly, "If Liu Suan gathers them together, what will the new Khan do?"

"Watch the wind direction."

Wei Zhao answered for Fang Fuyao.

Hua Jieyu looked at him.

Wei Zhao tossed the secret report back onto the table.

"If the old troops in the Snow Plains are only engaging in minor skirmishes, the new Khan will help me suppress them. This is because the trade is beneficial to him, and he doesn't want to lose the Xinwu grain route."

He paused, his fingertip pointing towards the North.

"But if Liu Suan can really gather a large enough army of steppe soldiers, the new Khan will hesitate."

Su Qingyun's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

"A fence-sitter."

Wei Zhao smiled.

"The kings who survive on the grasslands are always opportunists. Those who can't read the wind have long since died."

That's not a nice thing to say.

But it's true.

Xiao Guanyin's ability to bring five different ethnic groups to the court is truly remarkable.

But entering the court doesn't mean becoming one's family.

Xinwu granted them trade, marriage opportunities, and household registration, gradually binding them into the system.

The rope has just been put on and hasn't been tightened yet. If Liu Suan were to cut the rope now, blood would flow again in the North.

Fang Fuyao looked at the map, her voice even lower.

"I originally wanted Xiao Guanyin to go again. She understands Xianyuan and can speak with the new Khan of Beirong. But she just returned from the border not long ago, and she still needs to oversee the five intermarriage decrees and trade regulations."

Wei Zhao did not respond.

He had already mentally reviewed all the candidates.

Liu Jingshuang was busy organizing her troops and was pregnant, so it was impossible for her to go north.

Huo Qingluan needs to keep an eye on the troop movements near Jingzhou.

Tuoba Yue could go to the Western Qiang, but it was not appropriate for him to go to the former territory of the Northern Rong.

She is a princess of the Western Qiang, and the old tribes of the grasslands may not necessarily accept her.

Xiao Guanyin is the most suitable, but she cannot be used.

People shouldn't be pushed to their limits.

She had just brought the five alien races back to the capital, and her old wounds had not yet healed.

Sending her back to the snowy plains would make even Wei Zhao feel inhuman.

Who can go?

Wei Zhao's gaze fell on the old northern border line next to the map, and his fingertips paused.

There was a person.

old.

hard.

Having a good reputation.

Moreover, most of the tribal chiefs on the grasslands had owed him a knife and feared his gun.

Wei Zhao spoke.

"Let the Prince of Kao Shan go."

The imperial study fell silent for a moment.

Fang Fuyao was stunned.

Even the flowers, which seemed to understand words, raised their heads.

"Xiao Heng?"

Wei Zhao nodded.

"He guarded the northern border for twenty years. Among the older generation of leaders of the Beirong, Xianyuan, and Donghu tribes, there were few who had not heard of his name."

Hua Jieyu hesitated for a moment.

"But he was the powerful prince of the previous dynasty."

Wei Zhao smiled.

That's why we let him go.

Upon hearing this, none of the others immediately responded.

Wei Zhao leaned back in his chair, feeling increasingly calm.

Xiao Heng was a prince of the previous dynasty.

His decision to surrender Xinwu and then guard the Golden City already made his stance clear.

Yet, there is still a barrier between people.

When a member of the former dynasty's imperial family surrenders to the new dynasty, people will always wonder whether his surrender was genuine or feigned.

Sending him to the North is just right.

If Xiao Heng brings the man back, the old guard in the Northern Border will be even more afraid when they learn that Xin Wu can even use the former dynasty's powerful minister.

If the grassland tribes give him face, Liu's plan will be ruined on the snowy plains.

If someone doesn't give me face...

Wei Zhao's eyes turned slightly cold.

Then let Xiao Heng bring the list back for Xinwu, and I will kill them.

Fang Fuyao looked at him for a long time before slowly nodding.

"This idea is better than all the methods I could think of."

She spoke very slowly.

It's not flattery.

I genuinely think it's a good fit.