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

As Liu Suan dismounted, Xiao Heng's hand was still on the hilt of his sword.

The old prince did not move.

Liu Suan did not immediately move forward.

The two men stood facing each other across the snow, a dozen steps apart, neither making a definitive statement.

The wind whipped up snowflakes that stung his face, and Liu Suan's fur coat quickly turned white, but he seemed oblivious to the cold, staring intently at Xiao Heng on the beacon tower.

"Does Your Highness think I did these things for my own benefit?"

Xiao Heng looked at him without even lifting his eyelids.

"You are not."

Liu Suan's fingers paused slightly.

That was too quick an answer.

It happened so fast that the few words he had prepared were all stuck in his throat.

He thought Xiao Heng would scold him for his ambition, for his fickleness, and for not repenting even after Black Wind Ridge had killed a million-strong allied army.

That would make it easier for him to respond.

People can put themselves on the opposite side as soon as they are criticized.

But Xiao Heng did not.

That old man is such a nuisance.

These words popped into Liu Suan's mind, but his face remained calm.

Xiao Heng walked down the beacon tower step by step, his boots making a muffled sound as they stepped on the snow.

"I know you did it for your own good."

Liu narrowed his eyes.

Xiao Heng walked up to him and stopped.

"You think the new military is too fast and the foundation is too shallow. The distribution of military merit fields is too hasty, the imperial examination is too hasty, and the inclusion of foreign tribes is too hasty. You are afraid that Wei Zhao will use his sword to flatten the world, and then no one will dare to speak up, no one will dare to correct his mistakes, and in the end, another Lu Song will be born."

Liu Suan's expression finally changed.

These words should not have come out of Xiao Heng's mouth.

A former king who relied on the throne, a surrendered general, and a man who had spent half his life abiding by the rules of the royal family—they were able to see this layer of truth.

Liu Suan suppressed his slight disdain.

He wasn't afraid of Xiao Heng.

He's annoying.

Because this old man is not just someone who can draw a knife.

People who can draw their swords are easy to deal with; give them a battlefield, and they'll charge in.

But different people are good at analyzing situations.

The moment you place your piece, he's already checking the edges of the board for cracks.

"Since Your Highness understands, you should know why I cannot return to the capital."

Liu Suan spoke, his voice carried somewhat by the wind.

"Wei Zhao has everything now. Soldiers, food, land, popular support, surrendered troops, and leaders of foreign tribes. He won too quickly. So quickly that everyone only dared to kneel down and dared not raise their heads to ask whether this path was right or wrong."

Xiao Heng looked at him.

Liu Suan continued, "Once the imperial examination system is implemented, the aristocratic families will naturally be uprooted. Once the military merit system is established, the old officials will naturally be squeezed out by the new nobles. Once the trade market is opened, the old nomadic tribes of the grasslands will naturally be gradually worn down by the new military leaders. Your Highness, I am not speaking out for Liu Ruhui, nor am I working for the old nobles of the Northern Rong."

He paused, his fingers tightening on the reins.

"I just want Wei Zhao to know that he is not the only one who can decide the fate of the world."

After saying that, Liu Suan felt a little relieved.

That's what he really wanted to say.

It wasn't for Han Dashan.

It wasn't for Zhou Laodao.

It was not for Liu Ruhui's group of old officials who still wanted to lie on their ancestral graves and devour people.

He just couldn't stand everyone saying that Wei Zhao was right.

Is anyone always right?

The most terrifying thing about an emperor is not that he makes mistakes, but that no one dares to let him hear them after he makes a mistake.

Xiao Heng was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Does Zhang Yan still remember?"

Liu Suan's face froze instantly.

These two words are faster than a knife.

Zhang Yan.

The man who once raised an army under the banner of "speaking out for the people".

The person who initially truly distributed porridge to refugees, executed corrupt officials, and opened granaries.

He was also the one who later displaced four million people and burned a state of good land to the ground.

Liu Suan's eye twitched, and his throat felt a little dry.

Xiao Heng stared at him, his voice not rising, but each word growing harsher than the last.

"He also felt that he was doing it for the people."

"He also felt that the imperial court was rotten to the core, that the powerful families should die, that the government offices should be burned down, and that the granaries should be opened to the public."

"And the result?"

Liu did not answer.

Because I can't answer that.

Zhang Yan wasn't bad from the start.

That's precisely what's most terrifying.

If a person is evil from beginning to end, killing him will cleanse the world.

But Zhang Yan is the kind of person who first gathers people together with sincerity, and then uses righteousness to lead them down a path of destruction.

Who died in the end?

Not from a prominent family.

He is not a high-ranking official.

They were the refugees who followed him with their children.

Xiao Heng took a step forward.

"How much better do you think you are than him?"

The veins on the back of Liu Suan's hand bulged.

Xiao Heng didn't stop.

"Who ultimately harmed those methods you used to overthrow the dynasty? Was it that old fox like Liu Ruhui, or the herders on the grasslands who risked their lives for food?"

Liu Suan's lips moved slightly.

Xiao Heng's voice turned cold.

"Liu Ruhui lost the bet; at worst, his entire family would be executed. He lived to this age, ate countless fields, and had countless students; he died without regret."

"What about the tribes on the grasslands?"

"Do they really understand your game?"

"They only know that you give them ironware, salt, and maps, and tell them that if they go south they can plunder grain, take revenge, and drive out the Xinwu trade market."

Xiao Heng raised his hand and pointed to the snowfield to the north.

"You ordered them to burn down the granaries, cut off the post roads, and kill the escort officers. And then what?"

Liu Suan's eyelids drooped.

Then?

Then the new border army will retaliate.

Wei Zhao will kill.

Xiao Heng will kill.

If Liu Jingshuang goes north, she will kill them all more thoroughly than anyone else.

Liu Suan certainly knew.

But he used to call this the price.

How can the greater good come without a price?

But after Xiao Heng put out the name Zhang Yan, the word suddenly became very jarring.

cost.

That's easy for you to say.

What is written on paper is two words, but what is taken away from a person is a life.

He could gamble with Liu Ruhui's life.

You can gamble with the lives of your former officials.

They might even gamble with their own lives.

But behind those seven tribal leaders were not just seven people.

It consists of hundreds and thousands of herders, the elderly, women, children, and young riders who are just beginning to be willing to trade sheep for salt and horses for cloth.

They may not be clean.

But they shouldn't have been used as pawns by someone like Liu Ruhui.

Liu Suan closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.

The wind and snow lashed his face, the cold seeping into his bones, but it actually made him more alert.

He opened his eyes and looked at Xiao Heng.

"Your Highness, I'll go back with you."

Xiao Heng showed no surprise, only looking at him.

Liu Suan twitched the corners of his mouth, his smile somewhat cold.

"But I lost."

Xiao Heng raised an eyebrow.

Liu Suan took out the secret letter from his bosom.

That was the final transfer order written to the leaders of the seven departments.

On the day the imperial examination began, all seven tribes marched south simultaneously. Snow Wolf captured Huaiyuan Fort, Black Horn captured Zheliu Pass, Red Fox captured Black Stone Pass, and the remaining four tribes intercepted post roads, burned caravans, and disrupted trade markets.

Once this letter is sent out, chaos will surely ensue in the North.

Liu Suan looked down at the letter, his fingers tightening little by little.

This piece of paper is very light.

So light that it can be blown away by a gust of wind.

But if it falls into the snowfield, it will crush many people to death.

He suddenly smiled.

"I can't afford to gamble with the lives of those seven tribal chiefs."

Xiao Heng remained silent.

Liu tore it apart with both hands.

stab.

The secret letter was torn in two.

Tear it again.

Four pieces.

Eight pieces.

He scattered the shredded paper from his palm, and with a gust of wind, the white pieces of paper swirled and flew south, quickly disappearing from sight.

Liu Suan looked at the shredded paper, feeling no satisfaction.

It's empty.

He originally thought he could secretly create a breach in Xinwu, forcing Wei Zhao to turn back and forcing the world to see the danger.

In the end, the one who was truly forced to stop was himself.

That's fucking ironic.

Xiao Heng walked to his side and patted his shoulder.

The force was not strong.

Liu Suan felt that after the snow on his shoulders was brushed off, his body felt even heavier.

"Let's go."

Xiao Heng untied the reins from the stone pillar.

"On the way, I'll tell you about the wars we fought in the North back then."

Liu Suan glanced at him.

Xiao Heng mounted his horse and turned back to say, "You're a smart man, but you tend to overthink things."

Liu Suan remained silent for a moment before mounting his horse.

If someone else had said that, he would have immediately retorted with a barrage of insults.

But Xiao Heng said he couldn't bring himself to curse.

Because this old prince wasn't lecturing him from a high place.

Xiao Heng himself had spent half his life in the mud.

Even if Wei was wrong, he still had to protect him.

Even if the emperor is wrong, he can only stand in front of him.

Saying someone like that is being stubborn or inflexible is harsh, but it carries weight.

The two riders left the beacon tower one after the other.