Isolated town in northern border region

Xiao Lie stood in the center of everyone, holding a blood-dripping longsword in his hand. With a single glance from his tiger-like eyes, everyone instinctively flinched.

Seeing this, Wang Shoucheng had no choice but to cover his wound and stand up for the aristocratic families.

There's no way around it; these young masters are just a bunch of show-offs. Compared to a brute like Xiao Lie, who fought his way up from the battlefield, they naturally lacked presence.

Wang Shoucheng gasped and slowly began to speak.

"Your Highness has quite the arrogance!"

"You're nothing more than a vassal king in the northern frontier, do you really think you're the emperor of the Great Chu?"

"Don't even mention that all these land deeds were signed and sealed by various government offices in Yongzhou!"

"So what if we seize it by force?"

"Throughout a thousand years of chaos and frequent wars between states, if it weren't for our noble families preserving the classics of our ancestors and educating the people, those lowly people would be nothing more than uncivilized savages!"

"Our aristocratic families are meant to be at the pinnacle of this world!"

"That's due to the profound blessings of our ancestors!"

Xiao Lie slowly turned his head and glanced at Wang Shoucheng, his eyes looking at him as if he were a dead man.

"I am a prince of the Great Chu. How can I remain indifferent to the hardships faced by the people of Great Chu?"

"Don't even mention using the emperor's name to pressure us; even if Xiao Mu himself came, what then?"

"He has been in power for nearly eight years, yet he has forced the people under his rule to sell their children in order to survive like dogs."

"Xiao Mu should go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and commit suicide!"

Xiao Lie's words shocked everyone present!

Jiang Min, in particular, was so frightened that she stood up abruptly.

Because the moment Xiao Lie uttered those words, it was tantamount to declaring war on the Emperor of Chu!

If Xiao Lie fails in this confrontation with the aristocratic families, then this statement will become irrefutable evidence that Xiao Lie has slandered the emperor!

At that time, not only will the aristocratic families hate Xiao Lie to the bone, but the Chu Emperor will also have a reason to take action!

Jiang Min quickly came to Xiao Lie's side, about to speak to remind him, but Xiao Lie grabbed her slender waist.

"Which brilliant scholar just recited poetry to you?"

Jiang Min was completely baffled by this sudden question, while Wang Shijie, who was sitting in the guest seat, trembled and moved back.

Unexpectedly, this guy had poor mental fortitude. While moving the table, he accidentally knocked it over, which attracted Xiao Lie's attention.

"Oh, it's you!"

Xiao Lie turned around and pressed the tip of his sword against Wang Shijie's throat.

"Come, tell me, is your poem better, or is my writing more elegant?"

Wang Shijie felt the coolness on his neck, and a surge of heat involuntarily gushed out from his groin!

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

"Your Highness writes even better!"

Xiao Lie flicked his wrist, reversed his grip on the sword and hid it behind his back, raising an eyebrow at Jiang Min with a smug look on his face.

"How about it? Even the eldest son of the Wang family is ashamed of his own shortcomings. My literary talent is not bad, is it?"

Feeling the warm breath so close to her, Jiang Min's body went limp, and she leaned against Xiao Lie's shoulder.

"You...you're...this is the behavior of bandits!"

Xiao Lie laughed heartily, without any shame, and put his arm around Jiang Min as they walked towards the door.

He paused at the door and said something without turning his head.

"Oh, right."

"Old man, you say that aristocratic families are born superior because of the good deeds of their ancestors?"

"I admit that those predecessors did a great deal of work to pass on the classics and educate the people, but it's because there are too many old dogs like you that they've squandered the blessings of our ancestors!"

"Things haven't been peaceful in Yongzhou lately. Someone as despicable as you'd better watch out!"

Xiao Lie left.

Wang Shoucheng stood there, his face turning pale and then flushed, before gritting his teeth and saying...

"Block the roads! Close all trade routes leading to northern Xinjiang!"

"Isn't Xiao Lie supposed to stand up for those peasants?"

"I'd like to see how he'll feed the troops in the Northern Frontier without the grain from Yongzhou!"

Other prominent families echoed this sentiment.

"Yes! Block the roads! Let's see how long he can hold out!"

"Without the troops in the northern frontier, what is Xiao Lie anyway!"

Xiao Lie has truly offended the aristocratic families this time. He not only broke off all pretense of civility, but also used a poem, "Satirizing the Aristocratic Families of Yongzhou," to condemn them to the pillory of shame!

Xiao Lie, the King of the Northern Frontier of the Great Chu, is a ruthless man who recovered the five states of the Northern Frontier in just over half a year!

And the first poem written by such a young general was destined to be sung by the people of the Great Chu.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the poem!

If Xiao Lie really does overthrow the Chu Emperor, then even the historians will record this poem!

The reputation accumulated by our ancestors over many years will be ruined in an instant!

If the aristocratic families do not ruin Xiao Lie's reputation this time, this poem will be recorded in history, making the aristocratic families of Yongzhou infamous for ten thousand years!

That very night, the major clans cut off the trade routes leading to the northern frontier.

When the news reached the post station, Xiao Lie was drinking tea.

Bisu stood to the side, stamping her feet as she listened.

"Your Highness! They've blocked the roads! Our grain in the northern frontier isn't ripe yet!"

Xiao Lie put down his teacup.

"What's the rush?"

"He has Zhang Liang's plan, and I have my own way of overcoming obstacles."

Last night, Xiao Lie not only sent a message to Qian Wanli, but also sent a message to his sworn brother Tuge through the Caifeng Division.

Five days later, the Northern Barbarian Khan Tug led 20,000 cavalrymen to the northern border.

It was not a siege, nor was it looting; it was simply a garrison.

A massive cavalry formation stretched along the border, banners fluttering in the wind, the sound of hooves shaking the earth.

When the news reached Yongzhou, before the powerful families could even rejoice, Qian Wanli's caravan arrived.

Qian Wanli, dressed in the official robes of the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce, stood ramrod straight at the entrance of Yongzhou's largest grain merchant, his voice booming.

"By order of the King of the Northern Frontier! Due to the invasion of the northern barbarians, the Northern Frontier is urgently procuring military provisions."

"On behalf of the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce, I am willing to purchase grain from Yongzhou at a price 10% higher than the market price!"

"If any household has stored grain, please bring it out; payment will be made in cash!"

Of course, the powerful families wouldn't sell.

They were eager to see Xiao Lie make a fool of himself, eager to see him get a severe beating from the Northern Barbarians because of food shortages.

Wherever Qian Wanli's caravan went, the shops would close down and put up signs saying "No grain available for sale."

Qian Wanli wasn't in a hurry. He returned to the inn with a smile and shrugged at Xiao Lie.

"Your Highness, they're not selling."

Xiao Lie nodded.

"Then let them not sell."

The following night, the eastern part of Yongzhou City burned down again.

It wasn't just one, it was three grain depots that caught fire simultaneously, the flames illuminating half the sky.

On the third day, several cloth shops in the west of the city were smashed, and the cloth was scattered all over the ground, which was picked up clean by passers-by.

On the fourth day, one of the Wang family's estates was looted by "mobs" for three consecutive days, driving the people in the estate almost insane!

Even though the servants and laborers in the village were on high alert, and even when Luo You himself led troops to garrison the area, they were still exhausted by the "mob" who came and went without a trace.

Little did they know that these "Yongzhou rioters" were elite soldiers personally trained by Xiao Lie!

After a while, the powerful families finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Wang Shouchang stood in his own hall, listening to the reports of losses from various places, his hands trembling.

"They've rebelled! They've all rebelled!"

He had just found Luo You and asked him to order troops to suppress the rebellion when a military report was handed to him!

The Northern Frontier Cavalry has already moved south, and the Azure Wolf Cavalry and the Trapped Camp, totaling 12,000 men, are rapidly advancing towards Yongzhou.

The troops were led by Xiao Xiong and Luo Daniu. They did not plunder or disturb the people along the way; they simply passed through, like a slowly falling butcher's knife, gradually approaching Yongzhou.

Wang Shoucheng slumped into a chair.

"What...what gives him the right...?"

Xiao Lie's memorial to the court was flawless.

"When the northern barbarians invade the border, Yongzhou is a vital supply route. If it is not heavily guarded, the northern frontier will be in danger if the northern barbarians move south and cut off our supplies."

"As the King of the Northern Frontier, he dared not be negligent and specially dispatched a part of the Vanguard Camp and the Azure Wolf Cavalry to garrison Yongzhou to ensure the smooth flow of grain supplies."

"Withdraw immediately after the Northern Barbarians retreat."