Isolated town in northern border region

When Xiao Lie was making his plans on the grassland...

In the capital, the eldest prince, Xiao Yu, was already a caged beast.

His reputation is ruined.

None of the officials in the court wanted to be associated with him.

Officials who used to fawn over him now keep their distance.

Even his trusted advisors have started secretly looking for new employers.

Xiao Yu sat in the empty hall, a pot of wine in front of him, which he had already drunk more than half of.

"It's over...it's all over..."

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

A young man dressed as a scholar walked in.

Xiao Yu suddenly stood up and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Who are you?"

Zhou Xun bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

"Your Highness, I am Zhou Xun, a commoner, here on the orders of Prince Ning to present you with a great gift."

Xiao Yu loosened his grip on the sword hilt and sat back down in his chair with a wry smile.

"Xiao Lie? He's here to laugh at me?"

Zhou Xun shook his head.

"Your Highness has misunderstood."

"His Highness said that since Your Highness and His Highness are bound by blood, past grievances should be disregarded, and His Highness is willing to help Your Highness make a comeback."

Xiao Yu's eyes brightened for a moment, then dimmed again.

"A comeback? It was Xiao Lie who ruined my reputation!"

Zhou Xun smiled, took out a letter from his pocket, and handed it to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu unfolded the letter, and after just one glance, his hands began to tremble.

He looked at it again in disbelief, then looked up and stared intently at Zhou Xun.

"Is what Xiao Lie said true?"

"The prince never lies."

Xiao Yu placed the letter on the candle flame and watched it burn to ashes.

Then he stood up.

"Alright! I'll take this gamble."

A few days later, Xiao Yu went to the palace to request an audience with the Chu Emperor.

"Father, I am guilty."

Xiao Yu knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"Your subject deserted in the face of battle, disgracing the court and Your Majesty."

"Your subject deserves to die ten thousand times over for his sins."

The Chu Emperor looked at him coldly.

"You came here just to say this?"

Xiao Yu raised her head, a resolute glint in her eyes.

"Father, I wish to atone for my sins with meritorious deeds!"

"Your subject has a plan to get rid of Xiao Lie."

The Chu Emperor narrowed his eyes.

Tell me about it.

"The reason why Xiao Lie was able to gain a foothold in the northern frontier was fundamentally due to the trade with the grasslands."

"If the grasslands become stronger, they will definitely turn against us."

"Moreover, with the border wars starting, Xiao Lie can't possibly support so many soldiers in the harsh, cold lands of the northern frontier alone!"

The Chu Emperor sneered.

"Why should the grasslands turn against him?"

Xiao Yu took out a secret report from his sleeve and handed it over.

"Father, my men have bribed a quartermaster in the Northern Frontier Army."

"I can sell the old armor and swords that Xiao Lie has discarded to the grassland tribes so that they will have the strength to fight against Xiao Lie."

"At the same time, I can also spread rumors on the grasslands, saying that Xiao Lie wants to unify the grasslands and force the tribes to rise up in rebellion."

The Chu Emperor looked at the old equipment and remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"I heard Xiao Lie set up a steel plant. With that kind of equipment, how can they take him down?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yu continued to explain.

"Father, the grassland people are skilled warriors and extremely brave, but their military equipment is insufficient."

Xiao Yu's voice carried a hint of fervor.

"As long as the strength of the grassland people increases, Xiao Lie's life will become difficult."

"Moreover, this is only the first step. As long as I continue to infiltrate and bribe the lower-ranking officers in the northern frontier, even better things are possible!"

The Chu Emperor tapped his fingers on the armrest.

"Aren't you afraid that if the grassland people get this equipment, they'll turn around and attack the imperial court?"

Xiao Yu shook her head.

"Father, rest assured, I will handle things properly."

"Armor and waist swords are fine, but siege weapons and other national treasures will never be sold to the grasslands."

The Chu Emperor stared at Xiao Yu for a long time.

"Very well. I grant your permission."

"But remember this: if this fails, you won't be coming back."

Xiao Yu kowtowed.

"Your subject understands."

…………

When Zhou Xun returned to the northern frontier, Xiao Lie finally confirmed that the plan had succeeded.

"Good! Very good!"

"Keeping this menace around was indeed useful!"

Zhou Xun hesitated for a moment.

"Your Highness, are you so sure Xiao Yu will cooperate?"

Xiao Lie raised his chin.

"Xiao Yu has been arrogant since childhood."

"To go from being a dignified prince to a criminal is unbearable."

"Furthermore, with no hope of seizing the throne, he'll definitely suffer once his brothers take power!"

"The only way to turn the tide is through me!"

Zhou Xun shook his head with a wry smile.

"As expected, there's no kinship in the royal family!"

"But are we really going to sell that equipment to the Northern Barbarians?"

Xiao Lie waved his hand.

"Don't worry, those old equipment are fine for killing small tribes, but against the Trapped Camp and the Wolf Riders, they'll just be easy prey."

"Moreover, without these things, the ambitions on the grasslands cannot be ignited."

"Does Your Highness intend to support other grassland tribes?"

Xiao Lie's gaze deepened.

"The grasslands are not short of ambitious people, and besides, it is not I, the king, who is supporting them, but the eldest prince, Xiao Yu!"

"Tuge is young and can't control those old guys."

"If someone had good equipment and enough troops, wouldn't he consider overthrowing Tughla and becoming Khan himself?"

Zhou Xun's pupils contracted.

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid that this equipment will fall into Tug's hands?"

"Haha! That's my sworn brother!"

"Tuge has witnessed the strength of my Northern Frontier firsthand. Unless he's a fool, he would never dare to harbor any wicked thoughts."

Xiao Lie stood up and walked to the map.

"The Cui family is a branch of the First Prince. I have already granted them their share of the trade. They will use the trade as a pretext to transport old equipment into the grasslands."

"Tugo won't buy their stuff, so the Cui family will have to choose someone else."

Zhou Xun gasped.

"So what do we do next?"

Xiao Lie smiled.

"Not really."

"Let the Cui family sell well, and wait until they grow bigger."

"Once I've collected enough taxes, I'll sentence him to treason!"

"The Cui family? They dared to obstruct the canal transport and make things difficult for me before, they're doomed!"

Xiao Lie turned around and looked at Zhou Xun.

"From today onwards, you will be in charge of inspecting the Cui family's caravans."

"Every inspection uncovers some problem, and then they have to pay to settle it."

Zhou Xun was taken aback.

"Your Highness, isn't this extortion?"

"It's extortion!"

"But it wasn't me who extorted you, Zhou Xun, who did."

Xiao Lie pointed at him.

"You need to make the Cui family believe that you took money from them to let them pass."

"In this way, they will become bolder and more unscrupulous."

"Just when they thought they had everything under control..."

Xiao Lie stretched out his hand and clenched it into a fist.

"I will capture them all in one fell swoop."

Zhou Xun's eyes darted around, then he revealed a sly smile exactly like Xiao Lie's.

"Understood."

half a month later.

When the Cui family's caravan first arrived at the northern border, it was stopped by Zhou Xun.

"Open it and check it."

The steward of the Cui family was a seasoned veteran, and he handed over a small cloth bag with a smile.

"Lord Zhou, this is a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

Zhou Xun weighed the cloth bag in his hand; it was quite heavy.

"Release them."

The manager breathed a sigh of relief and quickly directed the caravan through the checkpoint.

Unbeknownst to him, the cloth bag in Zhou Xun's hand appeared on Xiao Lie's desk that very night.

"Your Highness, this is the first transaction."

Xiao Lie opened the cloth bag, inside were fifty taels of gleaming gold ingots.

"Fifty taels! And in gold! The Cui family is quite generous."

Zhou Xun smiled.

"Your Highness, this is just the beginning. As the Cui family's business grows, we will take even more."

Xiao Lie threw the gold ingot back into the cloth bag and pushed it onto the table.

"Take it to the money manager and have him exchange it for grain."

"The money the Cui family made me lose before, I will make them cough it all up, bit by bit!"

Following the Cui family, several other top-tier families also "purchased goods" from northern Xinjiang through trade channels.

Ostensibly, they were buying furs from the grasslands, but in reality, they were transporting Xiao Lie's obsolete old equipment to the grasslands.

Xiao Lie turned a blind eye, letting them pass as long as they paid the "toll" on time.

In return, those top families not only lowered grain prices but also loosened control over the Grand Canal.

And on the grassland.

Agula, the chief of the Snow Eagle tribe, became the biggest buyer.

He was one of the most powerful tribal leaders on the grasslands, and was a generation older than Tug.

He was an ambitious man to begin with.

Now that he has good equipment, his ambition has burned like wildfire.

"Tug doesn't deserve to sit in the sweater's seat."

"For a Khan to swear brotherhood with a prince of Chu is simply treason!"

Agula stroked the steel knife he had bought from the Cui family, a cold glint in his eyes.

"The Eternal Heaven will punish the traitors of the grasslands!"

"This Khan is the sword of the Eternal Heaven."

When the news reached Tuge's ears, he was so angry that he couldn't sleep all night. He wrote a letter of accusation to Xiao Lie demanding an explanation.

Upon receiving the letter, Xiao Lie beamed with joy and immediately summoned Tuge's envoy to the inner hall for a face-to-face meeting.

"Tell your Khan that I can stop him, but I don't want to."

The messenger's pupils suddenly contracted.

Why?

"Because if Agula isn't eliminated, the grasslands will never be a unified whole!"

"Agula disobeyed, so he had to die."

"But as Khan, can he arbitrarily attack a large tribe?"

"The grasslands will become increasingly chaotic, and there will never be peace!"

Xiao Lie stood up and walked to Tuge.

"Therefore, I will make Agura jump out on his own!"

"Let him buy the best equipment, let him gather the most troops, let him think he can win."

"Then... let your Khan defeat him personally and incorporate his tribe!"

"At that time, who on the grasslands will dare to disobey the Khan?"

The messenger's breathing quickened.

"Your Highness...did you plan this all along?"

"But Agula has so much armor and precious swords, if it were the Khan..."

Xiao Lie smiled and casually dispelled the envoy's worries.

"Although Xiao Xiong's Canglang tribe has submitted to the Great Chu, in the end, it is still a part of the grasslands."

"I am a sworn brother of your Khan. It is only natural for me to send Xiao Xiong with the Azure Wolf Cavalry to lend a hand, isn't it?"

Xiao Lie's plan was perfectly timed, step by step.

The Cui family's caravan was still transporting equipment to the grasslands, and the Snow Eagle tribe's strength was growing stronger every day.

Seeing this, other tribes also began to secretly gravitate towards the Snow Eagle tribe.

Tug's situation became increasingly difficult, but he gritted his teeth and did not ask Xiao Lie for help.

He knew that Xiao Lie was waiting for him to speak.

But the fact that he spoke meant that Tuge would forever be inferior to Xiao Lie!

Tuge looked worried, but in the capital, Emperor Xiao Mu of Chu was all smiles.

Emperor Xiao Mu of Chu sat in his study, looking at the secret report sent by his eldest son, Xiao Yu.

The situation on the grasslands was just as he had hoped.

Agula is gaining power, Tug is under pressure, and the grasslands are about to welcome a new Khan.

Xiao Lie's days in the northern frontier are not going to be easy.

The Second Prince, Xiao Zhang, stood atop the Literature Museum, overlooking the capital city.

He had already completed most of his historical work, and in the section on "The Annals of the Late Emperor," he had cleverly altered several key details.

Reading this, Xiao Mu's succession seems logical, while Xiao Lie is merely a member of the imperial family who was "enfeoffed in the northern frontier and has made considerable military achievements."

"Soon."

Xiao Zhang muttered to himself.

"Once the history books are completed, Xiao Lie will never be able to recover."

"With such great merit, the position of Crown Prince is within your grasp!"

What he didn't know was that, thousands of miles away in the northern frontier, a game of chess was coming to an end.

Meanwhile, the person playing the chess piece was standing on the city wall of Youzhou, drinking the hot soup that Bisu had brought him.