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

"What if the Wei family loses?"

Lu Song pressed on with a sinister tone.

"The Wei family has been defeated."

The old lady's voice wasn't loud, but it silenced everyone in the hall.

"Then let the Prime Minister execute my entire Wei family."

Lu Song's smile froze.

Several civil officials inside the hall twitched their eyelids.

That's too blunt.

It was as if, in front of the entire court, Lu Song's mild-mannered exterior had been peeled back, revealing his true thoughts.

The old lady took a step forward, tapping her staff on the gold brick with a crisp sound.

"Haven't you wanted to do this for a while now?"

Lu Song's expression finally changed.

"Old Madam, please be careful with your words."

"I am very cautious."

The old lady stared at him and said, word by word:

"But I'm afraid even the Prime Minister won't have that opportunity."

She raised her head, her gaze sweeping over the faces of all the officials.

"Except for myself, the entire Wei family is currently on the front lines of the battlefield."

"The tenth brother, Wei Zhao, led his troops to confront the southern barbarians."

She paused for a moment.

The hall was so quiet that you could hear the rustling of clothes.

"If we are defeated, the Wei family will surely die on the battlefield."

"Not one of them clung to life out of ignominy."

Upon hearing these words, several veteran generals' eyes immediately reddened.

They are not afraid of defeat.

What war is ever won?

What I fear is that after the defeat, those sitting in the imperial court, surrounded by luxury, will treat those who died on the front lines as criminals, those who fled as mere numbers, and those who bled to death as bargaining chips in factional struggles.

The old lady's words tore away the last shred of skin from the Wei family.

They want to kill the Wei family?

Sure, wait until the Wei family is all dead on the battlefield, then you, Lu Song, can go and chop up their corpses.

Emperor Yuanxi sat on the dragon throne, his fingers remaining still for a long time.

He looked at the old lady.

For a moment, he was speechless.

I wasn't moved; I was blocked.

What else could he say after the Wei family had put it this way?

Are you saying the Wei family isn't allowed to go south?

If Jiangnan falls, history will condemn it first.

Is it said that the Wei family should be punished immediately?

Wei Zhao still has 300,000 troops in the southern border. If he is really pushed too far, things will get out of control.

Are you talking about bestowing rewards?

He refused.

Emperor Yuanxi suddenly felt annoyed.

Why can't the Wei family be a little weaker?

Why is it that whenever something happens at the border, we can only rely on the Wei family?

Why is Wei Zhao so good at fighting?

He pinched the bridge of his nose, and then waved goodbye.

"Let's call it a day."

The eunuch was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly shouted in a shrill voice:

"Court adjourned—"

Emperor Yuanxi's voice fell again.

"We'll discuss the Wei family's affairs after the battle at Jianmen Pass is over."

The old lady did not speak again.

She turned around, leaning on her cane, and walked out of the hall.

The officials automatically made way.

Lu Song stood still, the tablet he held making a faint sound as he squeezed it.

He watched the old lady's retreating figure, his eyes growing colder with each passing moment.

Then let's wait for news from the South.

As long as Wei Zhao loses once.

Once is enough.

……

Outside Mo Family Fortress, Wei Zhao kicked a wheel.

The wheels wobbled, but didn't fall apart.

"I can walk."

He looked up at Shang Wanqing.

"How many sets of rattan armor are on this cart?"

Shang Wanqing was squatting beside the car, inspecting the rope knots, without even looking up.

"Fifty sets."

"That's too little."

"Adding more axles will cause them to break."

She tugged at the rope to make sure it was tied tightly before standing up.

"I know the car better than you do."

Wei Zhao was momentarily speechless.

Okay, leave professional matters to professionals.

He only has one thing on his mind right now—to get back to Jiangnan.

Liu Jingshuang, Huo Qingluan, and Su Qingyun led an army of 200,000 without taking a detour; they headed straight for Jiangnan City as originally planned.

According to the scouts' reports, they have arrived in Jiangnan, taken over the city's defenses, and are now facing off against the main force of the Southern Barbarians across the city.

The city of Jiangnan has not yet fallen. As long as the city remains intact, this game can continue.

Wei Zhao originally had 100,000 cavalry, but because Hua Jieyu intercepted them halfway, they had to detour to Mo Family Fortress, and now they can only take away a limited amount of what they need.

It's impossible to equip all 50,000 sets of rattan armor at once.

Even a thousand cartloads of supplies wouldn't run fast.

So he made a choice.

Ten thousand cavalrymen were first fitted with rattan armor, and ten ballistae followed the vanguard.

The remaining rattan armor and ballistae were escorted by the rear guard and sent to Jiangnan City as soon as possible.

These ten thousand men were the tip of his knife that tore apart the Southern Barbarian army.

Wei Zhao mentally reviewed the situation.

The main force of the Southern Barbarians was outside Jiangnan City, and their attention was entirely focused on Liu Jingshuang. By returning from Mo Family Fortress, he essentially circled around to the rear of the Southern Barbarians.

Ahead lies Jiangnan City.

He had 100,000 cavalrymen behind him.

As long as the ballistae can suppress the elephant troops and the rattan armor troops can withstand the poison troops, the most disgusting fighting tactics of the Southern Barbarians will be half useless.

All that's left is to kill.

Wei Zhao touched the white wax spear, and the fire in his heart slowly subsided.

Don't rush, or you'll make mistakes.

The Southern Barbarians were neither the Northern Rong nor the Western Qiang. Their elephant troops and poison troops were too troublesome; seven thousand of them could bring him more than a thousand casualties.

If they were to force their cavalry into an army of hundreds of thousands, even if they won, they would still deplete the Wei family army's resources.

This deal isn't worth it.

Let them make a mess of things themselves.

"Are all the ballistae calibrated?"

"Ten units are fine."

Shang Wanqing patted the crossbow cart covered with a black cloth next to her.

"Three hundred crossbow bolts, enough for the first round."

"First round?"

Wei Zhao looked at her.

Shang Wanqing looked up, her tone very serious.

"Elephants are not human. If one falls, the elephants next to it will be startled. If the first round of shots is accurate, the southern barbarian elephant formation will trample itself."

Wei Zhao's eyes lit up.

He had been focused on using ballistae to kill the elephants, but he almost overlooked the destructive power of startled war elephants.

With dozens of giant elephants crammed together, if the front row fell, the rear row would rush in disarray, and the Southern Barbarians' own infantry would be the first to suffer.

This is really good stuff.

Wei Zhao's gaze towards Shang Wanqing changed.

This Fifth Sister-in-law usually keeps a low profile, staying in the workshop hammering iron, but when she finally makes a move, it's aimed at severing the Southern Barbarian's manhood.

The women in the Wei family are all outrageous, one after another.

As he was thinking, Hua Jieyu walked over from the other end of the convoy.

The red dress was replaced with a neat, narrow-sleeved dress, and a gray cloak was draped over it. The rouge on her face was much lighter.

She's lost some of her alluring charm, but gained more of the competence of a hidden schemer.

Wei Zhao glanced at her.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

Hua Jieyu smiled.

"I still have things arranged by the old lady."

"What is it?"

"I can't say."

Wei Zhao's lips twitched.

"Even I can't tell?"

"You're the head coach now. Knowing too many trivial matters will only confuse you."

Hua Jieyu took two steps closer, raised her hand to straighten his collar, and did so as naturally as if she had done it many times before.

Wei Zhao's body stiffened for a moment.

The sense of distance that Hua Jieyu creates has always been a problem.

To be precise, she had absolutely no sense of distance.

Hua Jieyu's eyes curved into a smile as she watched his reaction.

"What are you afraid of? I don't eat people."

Just as Wei Zhao was about to speak, Hua Jieyu suddenly tiptoed closer and kissed him on the cheek.

Leave immediately after kissing.

Wei Zhao froze completely.

The guards around him kept their eyes down, pretending to be wooden stakes.

Hua Jieyu looked at him with a smile.

"A reward for you in advance."

Wei Zhao opened his mouth, but after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"How can this be done ahead of schedule?"

"certainly."

Hua Jieyu pulled up the hood of her cloak, turned around, and left.

"Therefore you must defeat the Southern Barbarians."