Isolated town in northern border region

"Xiao Lie, what exactly do you want?"

Xiao Yu's voice was hoarse.

Xiao Lie lay on the ground, looking at the roof beams.

"I don't want to do anything. I just want to beat you up."

"this one?"

"That's it."

Xiao Yu was silent for a moment, then smiled.

There was no scheming, no hatred in that smile, only an indescribable sense of relief.

"You've really changed. You didn't have this much strength back then!"

"You're still the same old you."

Xiao Lie turned his head and looked at Xiao Yu.

"When it comes to fighting, it's still just those two or three moves."

Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile.

"When did we become like this?"

The two remained silent for a moment.

Xiao Lie sat up first and patted the dirt off his clothes.

"Get up. I'll take you to eat."

Xiao Yu also sat up and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Aren't you afraid I'm just acting?"

Xiao Lie stood up and extended his hand.

"It doesn't matter, I had my fun anyway."

Xiao Yu looked at the hand, hesitated for a moment, and then grasped it.

Xiao Lie treated Xiao Yu to a meal, changed him into clean clothes, and then took him for a walk around Youzhou City.

It wasn't a shopping trip; it was an inspection.

"This is a steel mill."

Xiao Lie pointed to the several blast furnaces billowing thick smoke.

"The knives, spears, armor, and arrows of the northern frontier all come from here."

Xiao Yu's expression changed as he looked at the glowing furnace and the rows of neatly arranged steel ingots.

"Why...why is this iron so shiny?"

"It's not iron, it's steel."

Xiao Lie picked up a steel knife from the shelf next to him and handed it to Xiao Yu.

"Give it a try."

Xiao Yu took the knife, weighed it in his hand, and found it to be quite heavy, more than twice the weight of an ordinary knife.

He looked at the blade again; it was as thin as a cicada's wing, with a fine line on the edge that flowed like ripples in water.

"cut."

Xiao Lie pointed to an iron rod about the thickness of a little finger next to him.

Xiao Yu gritted his teeth and slashed down with his sword!

The iron rod broke in two, but the blade remained intact.

His hands began to tremble.

"What...what kind of knife is this?"

"Steel knife."

Xiao Lie took the knife back and casually tossed it to the craftsman next to him.

"I call it 'Peace,' the peace that brings peace to the world."

Xiao Yu's Adam's apple bobbed, and her shocked gaze slowly turned into confusion and doubt.

"You...you just brought me here like this?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll go back and tell... Father Emperor?"

Xiao Lie smiled.

"Hmph! How are you going to explain yourself if I don't show you the real thing?"

"Besides, it was supposed to be you who told him in the first place."

Xiao Yu was stunned.

"I'm sharing my technology not to hide it."

"If Your Majesty could learn this, the army of Great Chu could be equipped with steel swords and armor. What would we have to fear from enemy invasions?"

"Do these powerful families still dare to be so arrogant?"

"Should the common people still suffer from the ravages of war?"

Xiao Yu stared at Xiao Lie as if he were a stranger.

"What...what are you after?"

Xiao Lie took the knife from Xiao Yu's hand and gently flicked the blade.

"My only wish is for peace throughout the world!"

"A peaceful and prosperous world where everyone can have enough to eat, doesn't have to worry about war, and can look forward to what tomorrow will bring!"

"If His Majesty is willing to learn, I will teach him."

"If he can learn it, it will be a blessing for the Great Chu."

Xiao Yu remained silent for a long time.

"And what about you? If your father were to build an army no less powerful than your elite Trapped Cavalry and the Wolf Riders, your throne would truly be gone!"

Xiao Lie rolled his eyes and stared at Xiao Yu as if he were an idiot.

Are you stupid?

"I just said, what I desire is peace throughout the world!"

"It's not that the Great Chu is at peace!"

"It's just a throne. Let whoever wants to sit on it sit. It's not really useful anyway."

"Besides, does Your Majesty really think you can catch up with my Northern Frontier? Hah!"

Xiao Yu's mind went blank, and it took a lot of effort to understand Xiao Lie's "world" again.

He originally thought that Xiao Lie's "world" was nothing more than taking back the throne, but he never expected that this madman actually wanted to unify the world!

"You're insane! You're really insane!"

Xiao Yu blurted out, muttering "crazy" repeatedly. After a while, she asked in a low voice.

"You're that confident?"

Xiao Lie smiled.

"My mind is full of treasures!"

"Don't even mention sending one to His Majesty; even if I sent them to all five kingdoms in the land, they still wouldn't surpass me!"

Xiao Yu swallowed.

"So, this is the source of your confidence in promising me the throne?"

Xiao Lie shrugged indifferently.

"In my eyes, it doesn't matter who sits on the throne."

"Because it doesn't matter to me who sits there."

Looking into Xiao Lie's eyes, Xiao Yu suddenly felt as if she had never truly known this person.

After leaving the factory, Xiao Lie took Xiao Yu to the military camp.

"You've come at the right time; the Trapped Camp is currently recruiting."

Xiao Yu looked at the soldiers on the training ground, each one as strong as an iron tower, and his face twitched.

"You're going to recruit me into the Trapped Camp?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to come and atone for your sins as a pawn? I'll grant your wish."

Xiao Lie patted him on the shoulder and called out into the distance.

"Luo Da Niu!"

"arrive!"

Luo Daniu ran over from the training ground, his muscles bulging, like a humanoid beast.

"This is a new recruit, Xiao Yu."

"It's up to you now. He'll train exactly the same way I did."

Luo Daniu looked Xiao Yu up and down and grinned.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I am the best at training new recruits."

Xiao Yu's lips twitched violently.

That afternoon, Xiao Yu changed into his recruit uniform and began training with Luo Daniu.

Push-ups, sit-ups, frog jumps, shuttle runs, horizontal bar, parallel bar, 400-meter obstacle course—he did it all.

Xiao Yu had been pampered since childhood; he had never experienced such hardship.

After the first day of running, his legs were almost numb, and the only sensation he felt was cramps.

Luo Daniu squatted down next to him and said with a smile.

"Brother, this is only the first day, don't rush, the fun is yet to come."

Xiao Yu lay on the ground, too exhausted to even curse.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind—how did that damn Xiao Lie manage to train like that?

The words are divided into two parts.

While Xiao Lie was busy building up the northern frontier, in the capital, the Second Prince Xiao Zhang was riding high.

After the Cui family and a group of minor aristocratic families became his disciples, his power expanded like a snowball.

In the imperial court, the heads of three of the six ministries addressed him as a brother.

Locally, the governors of more than a dozen prefectures sent him gifts.

Even several of the eunuchs around the Chu Emperor had been bribed by him.

Emperor Xiao Mu of Chu sat in his study, looking at the secret report in his hand, his face growing increasingly grim.

"Xiao Zhang... what a Xiao Zhang."

He stood up and walked to the window.

This is the dragon throne he has sat on for seven years, and he hasn't had enough of it yet.

Anyone who wants to take it should think twice.

"His Majesty."

The eunuch cautiously reported this from outside the door.

"The Second Prince requests an audience."

The Chu Emperor took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

"Let him in."

Xiao Zhang strode in, too lazy to even bow, and sat down directly in a chair.

"Father, I have important matters to report."

The Chu Emperor looked at him coldly.

"explain."

"The Jing Kingdom sent an envoy to propose a marriage alliance."

The Chu Emperor tapped his fingers on the armrest.

Jing State was a powerful state in the southeast of Chu, and its national strength surpassed that of Chu.

The reason they took the initiative to propose marriage is because they saw that the Great Chu had recovered its northern border and its strength had greatly increased, and they wanted to win it over.

The Chu Emperor had already learned of this from his spies.

But in this matter of diplomatic relations between the two countries, it was actually Xiao Zhang, the second prince, who received the news first. Was the Court of State Ceremonial really just sitting around doing nothing?

The Chu Emperor smiled kindly and gently beckoned for the Second Prince, Xiao Zhang, to come closer.

"Oh, such a momentous event! Where did you get this news, my son?"

Xiao Zhang straightened his chest, looking smug.

"Father, on the way the Jing Kingdom envoy entered the capital, there were one or two officials who became close friends with me, so..."

The Chu Emperor's expression changed instantly, and he raised his right hand and smashed the teacup hard at the Second Prince's feet.

"so!"

"Such important diplomatic matters, how could you, Second Prince, know about them before I do?"