I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

He watched as Murong Qingcang angrily flung his sleeves and left.

The soldiers on the city wall were all quite happy and couldn't help but clench their fists in celebration.

For some reason, they felt that the roles of offense and defense had reversed.

In the past, their Great Zhou had always suffered losses against the Northern Mang.

The soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty have always been weaker than the soldiers of the Northern Mang Dynasty.

They felt that the other side was invincible and didn't even have the courage to look them in the eye.

But now, the Northern Barbarians were rendered speechless and forced to suffer in silence in front of them.

This was something that had never happened before, so how could they not be happy and excited?

"Did you glean anything from the conversation between that father and son just now?"

Pei Qingluan wrapped the cloak around her shoulders even tighter, but she still couldn't help shivering all over, and asked weakly.

The conversation between Murong and his son just now seemed ordinary.

But everyone knew that there must be coded messages inside that they couldn't understand.

Everyone shook their heads. Wei Hongying said, "We need to find someone to decipher it, but it will take some time."

"It's alright!"

Pei Qingluan said, "There's still some time before the hostage exchange. We must decipher the code during this time."

After saying that, Pei Qingluan turned to leave the city wall, but the wind on the wall was still too strong.

If her condition worsens, it would be a huge loss. She is not someone who likes to be strong; on the contrary, she is flexible and adaptable.

Seeing this, Wei Hongying also went down the city wall and took over from the maid to personally support Pei Qingluan.

Pei Qingluan nodded slightly and said, "Thank you."

She was truly one of a kind in the world to have Wei Hongying support her.

After descending the city wall, Pei Qingluan did not immediately return to her residence.

Instead, he took Wei Hongying for a aimless stroll through the city.

She didn't believe that Wei Hongying had sent the maid away and personally helped her up without having something to say to her; there must be something she wanted to tell her in private.

There were too many strangers in the residence, making it unsuitable for the two of them to have a private conversation.

Sure enough, once the two stepped onto the street, Wei Hongying spoke up:

"Actually, the Crown Princess didn't need to come to Xuanque Pass in person. I can handle this matter."

Currently, a rumor circulating outside is that Qin Li values ​​the Empress and the Princess, which is why he sent Pei Qingluan to bring them home.

But in fact, that's not the case. Pei Qingluan came to Xuanque Pass on her own initiative; Qin Li only sent Snake Elder.

In the letter, Qin Li also explained the situation to Wei Hongying. Although there was no affection between Qin Li and Pei Qingluan, Qin Li still asked Wei Hongying to take good care of Pei Qingluan, who was new to the border and not used to anything.

"He's tied up in the capital with some business. As the Crown Princess, how could I not come?" Pei Qingluan said.

She and Qin Li must have one of them come, otherwise it will be extremely detrimental to the future development of the Crown Prince's residence.

Everyone knows that the Empress is Qin Li's woman and the Princess is Qin Li's child. The mother and daughter encountered such a great calamity in Northern Mang, and Qin Li, as her husband and father, did not come. If she does not come, people will say something about the Crown Prince's residence. They will definitely think that the Crown Prince's residence is heartless, which is not conducive to the Crown Prince's residence recruiting talents from all over the world.

"With the Crown Princess doing this, it's hard not to suspect that the Crown Princess has fallen in love with the Crown Prince."

Because only a woman who loves a man would do this for him.

"What's wrong, are you jealous?"

Instead of directly answering Wei Hongying's question, Pei Qingluan asked a question in return.

If this question had been asked in the past, Wei Hongying would have either been embarrassed and annoyed, or too awkward to know how to answer.

But having spent quite some time at the border, Wei Hongying had become more composed and mature, and the mentality of a young girl was almost completely gone from her.

She calmly replied, "Jealous? Why should I be jealous?"

Pei Qingluan explained, "I've heard about your story with him. You should be the Crown Princess; I took your place."

Upon hearing this, Wei Hongying shook her head: "I did think about becoming the Crown Princess before, but I gave up that idea a long time ago. I, Wei Hongying, still feel that I am more suited to be a general on the frontier. I hope that in the future, when people mention me, Wei Hongying, their first thought will not be that I am someone's woman, but that I am a general on the frontier."

Pei Qingluan glanced at Wei Hongying, "We women should be like you, but unfortunately, most women in the world become appendages of men, and I, Pei Qingluan, am no exception. Women like you, Wei Hongying, are extremely rare!"

As she spoke, Pei Qingluan's eyes were filled with envy for Wei Hongying.

Once upon a time, she, like Wei Hongying, even went so far as to disguise herself as a man for many years and learned some impressive martial arts skills.

But ever since what happened in Jiangnan, she somehow fell into the trap of conventionality.

When outsiders mention her, they no longer refer to her as Pei Twelve, but as the Crown Princess.

Wei Hongying comforted her, saying, "The Crown Princess is burdened by her family. If I were the Crown Princess, I would make the same choice."

The Pei family and the Wei family are ultimately different. Although the Wei family is rooted in the capital, it is far less well-established than the Pei family in Jiangnan.

Moreover, all the men of the Wei family had died in battle, leaving only a widow. Therefore, Wei Hongying was even more reckless in making her choices, without any worries about the future.

Pei Qingluan was different. She said she wanted to break away from the Pei family and that the Pei family's affairs had nothing to do with her, but in fact, she valued the Pei family more than anyone else.

That's the home that raised her since she was a child, and there are so many people in the family. How can we let her ruin everything because of one wrong choice?

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore."

Wei Hongying changed the subject, "Let's get back to business."

"good!"

Pei Qingluan responded.

She didn't want to keep talking about these things; it was just a nuisance.

"What coded message do you think the Murong father and son were trying to convey just now, Your Highness?"

Although separated by a high city wall, and speaking ordinary words, everyone knew that they were definitely using coded language to convey their true meaning, but outsiders like them couldn't understand it.

Deciphering the code takes time, and it's very likely that the code won't be deciphered even after the hostage exchange.

Therefore, they had to rely on guessing to figure out what the father and son meant, and then make corresponding countermeasures so that they wouldn't be led by the nose.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Qingluan said, "Murong Qingcang led his delegation to the capital of Da Zhou. Before he set off, he certainly never dreamed that Qin Li would detain the entire delegation and hold them hostage. Therefore, he hates Qin Li to the extreme. As for the Empress, he had only managed to bring her down with great difficulty, so she certainly wouldn't let them leave easily. From this point of view, it's not hard to guess that Murong Qingcang doesn't want to peacefully exchange hostages."

Wei Hongying nodded in agreement, "But I really can't think of any tricks he could pull now that he's in our hands."

"The city is heavily guarded, so it's impossible for Murong Qingcang to escape. It can only be on the day of the hostage exchange. Could it be that on that day, when the hostages are being exchanged outside the city, Murong Qingcang suddenly launches an attack?" Pei Qingluan speculated.

After all, no one can guarantee what will happen that day.

Given the nature of the Northern Barbarians, they are capable of anything.

Wei Hongying gently shook her head, "We won't give them that chance. We have already devised a foolproof hostage exchange plan. The Empress and Murong Qingcang will not have any direct contact."

"What could that be?"

Pei Qingluan muttered to herself, unable to think of anything.

Wei Hongying had no idea either; this was a problem that troubled everyone and needed to be solved.