In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Just a few days ago, Yuwen Qin was the military governor of a prefecture.

But now this is the situation.

He was naturally unwilling to accept this, and he wanted to take back the state capital that belonged to him.

During their escape from Julu Mountain, he had already formed a strategic alliance with Li Huaiyi and analyzed the biggest reason for their defeat.

It wasn't entirely because Shen An was too strong, but rather because of their internal strife and lack of unity.

Even when they cooperated, they were all scheming against each other, which allowed Shen An to take advantage of the situation.

If they can cooperate sincerely in the future, there is no reason why they cannot defeat Shen An.

Listening to Li Huaiyi's words, Yuwen Qin said earnestly, "Brother Huaiyi, we both know very well why we are in this situation. Therefore, we must be determined to cooperate, and neither of us can afford to play any more tricks behind our backs!"

Before he could finish speaking...

The men Li Huaiyi sent out in advance have returned.

"Your Excellency, the prefectural government has sent people to meet you."

"That's excellent!"

"There are three more things."

"speak!"

"Qingping County has been captured by Shen An. Shen An then privately established Qingyang County as Qingyang Prefecture, placing Qingping County under its jurisdiction. Lord Yuwen's prefecture has been renamed Julu Prefecture by Shen An, and he is now the ruler of two prefectures!"

"What?!!"

Qingping County was a major source of tax revenue for Li Huaiyi. Now that Shen An has taken it over, his tax revenue will decrease by at least 30% in the future.

Originally, Li Huaiyi's cooperation with Yuwen Qin was somewhat driven by ulterior motives. After all, he still had his territory, and even though he had lost 50,000 to 60,000 troops this time, he still had a considerable number of soldiers. He just wanted to use them and then secretly make some moves once the cooperation was officially established.

Now the situation has changed drastically. He lost Qingyang County and Qingping County overnight, and his situation is not much better than Yuwen Qin's.

This instantly dispelled his ulterior motives, and his mind was filled with the idea of ​​uniting everyone he could to defeat Shen An before he could gain a firm foothold!

He then gripped Yuwen Qin's hand tightly, pulled him aside, and said in private, "Brother Huaiyi, you should know that I am truly impotent. My wife and children are the most important people in my life, and I swear on them now..."

After making a solemn vow, Yuwen Qin felt much more at ease. He knew Li Huaiyi well and knew that he truly valued his wife, children, and elderly parents.

This person is also extremely superstitious and takes oaths very seriously.

"Brother Huaiyi, I understand your intentions! I will now go find Yuwen Bingyu. I will send someone to inform you as soon as I have any news. You must also quickly reorganize your forces and attack Shen An together!"

"Alright! Let's split up into two groups!"

Neither of them dared to delay and immediately parted ways.

Two days later, Yuwen Qin traveled day and night without stopping for a moment, and finally arrived at Nanling Prefecture at dusk, requesting to see Yuwen Bingyu.

The actual result is quite different from what Yuwen Qin imagined.

Previously, Yuwen Bingyu had taken the initiative to curry favor with him.

Now, the situation is completely different.

All the troops from his six counties have defected to her, and now she wields immense military power.

They got arrogant and started putting on airs.

She made Yuwen Qin wait for a whole day and night before she finally met him.

Yuwen Qin, who had been waiting for so long, was extremely anxious, fearing that he would waste time and miss the best opportunity to fight.

Upon meeting Yuwen Bingyu, he informed her of the current situation.

I thought she would quickly organize her troops and immediately notify Li Huaiyi to attack Shen An together.

But Yuwen Bingyu shook his head and said, "Brother, now is not the best time. Your people have come to join me, and I need to give them special training."

If the special training is not good, the effect of the attack will not be good either, and it will only increase casualties.

Besides, how come you and Li Huaiyi have no sincerity at all?

"If you wish to cooperate with me, the two of you should come to Nanling Prefecture together!"

Yuwen Qin knew his sister too well; she certainly wasn't giving special training to the army that had joined him.

She just wanted to enjoy the feeling of herself and Li Huaiyi submitting to her!

They were enjoying the taste of so-called victory.

Yuwen Qin wanted to expose Yuwen Bingyu, but considering her temperament, he knew that if he was exposed, she might kill him in a fit of rage.

Yuwen Qin held back: "Sister, you're right. I'll inform Li Huaiyi right away."

"Hmph, sister? You're nothing but a stray dog ​​now. I am the dignified military governor of Nanling Prefecture. How dare you call me sister?" Yuwen Bingyu roared in fury.

Yuwen Qin immediately changed his tune: "Your Excellency is right. I have been presumptuous. I will send Li Huaiyi here as soon as possible."

"Then get out of here! What are you standing there for?!"

"yes!"

Yuwen Qin lowered his head and retreated.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

Yuwen Bingyu burst into laughter; she had finally completely suppressed her elder brother.

She had always wanted to be better than him since she was a child, and now she had finally succeeded!

And that Li Huaiyi, you bastard, you dared to scheme against her before. Just you wait, I'll make sure you all die like Shen An, all die, all die!

"You did a great job, sir! This is how we women can show our charm and not be led by the nose by those stinky men!!" Wei Min'er swayed her pert buttocks as she came forward.

Shen An has already instructed Mr. Mingyue to give her orders to stall Yuwen Bingyu as much as possible and prevent her from sending troops.

Yuwen Bingyu's high spirits just now were partly due to Wei Min'er's instigation.

Now that Wei Min'er has appeared, her words resonate deeply with Yuwen Bingyu: "Well said, that's the true spirit of women! However, do you think Yuwen Qin's suggestion about the battle opportunity is reasonable? I still think it's better to engage Shen An in a decisive battle as soon as possible!"

"Look, you're overestimating those men again! Shen An only has a little over 20,000 men, but now he controls ten times more territory than before. His military strength and so-called divine weapons must be scattered. Once they're scattered, what will he use to fight us? Besides, we've already seen his tricks, and we're not stupid enough to fall for them again."

Most importantly, why did Yuwen Qin and Li Huaiyi fail? Wasn't it because of their internal strife? It allowed Shen An to exploit the situation.

If we don't completely control those two...

"Hmph! If they sabotage you behind your back, all your advantages will be for naught!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

These words resonated deeply with Yuwen Bingyu. She longed to control Yuwen Bingyu and Li Huaiyi, but feared missing the opportunity to wage war. However, she now had sufficient reason to control the two of them before starting the war!

"However, just in case, we should also take advantage of this time to train our troops more and prepare more supplies!" Wei Min'er said deliberately.

"That's true, we must prepare in advance. You've thought of everything so thoroughly. It's my good fortune to have you here!" Yuwen Bingyu said from the bottom of her heart.

Wei Min'er was speechless. How could this woman be so stupid?

On the surface, she pretended to be humble and said many modest words, which made Yuwen Bingyu like her even more.

Two more days passed.

Yuwen Qin's men arrived at Li Huaiyi's post.

Previously, they could send messages by carrier pigeon, but carrier pigeons are long gone now, and messages can only be delivered by manpower.

Li Huaiyi learned what Yuwen Bingyu meant.

He flew into a rage: "That stupid woman, utterly stupid! Such a good opportunity, and she still wants to drag it out! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Your Excellency, this woman is indeed foolish, but now that she has a strong army, we still need her to turn the tide! Why don't you go to Nanling Prefecture and meet with her?" Cui Tianhe suggested.

"What's the point of seeing her? What if she uses this opportunity to control me?"

"But if we don't go, she'll keep thinking you're not sincere and keep delaying sending troops. What should we do then? If this drags on any longer, Shen An will become increasingly difficult to deal with!"

"Damn it!"

Li Huaiyi calmed down and finally decided to meet with Yuwen Bingyu. After all, he still had tens of thousands of troops, and Yuwen Bingyu would have to consider the consequences of controlling him.

They must start a war with Shen An as soon as possible; they absolutely cannot give him time to continue growing stronger!

Li Huaiyi immediately ordered people to prepare specialties of Yangnan Prefecture and selected dozens of handsome men from the army to accompany him to Nanling Prefecture.

At the same time.

News from the southeastern prefectures also reached the capital.

In the Imperial Study.

The imposter Dugu Meng was very sensitive to the Southeast Prefecture, where the real Dugu Meng disappeared.

Now, suddenly a man named Shen An appears, conquering cities and seizing strongholds, he's incredibly powerful!

She always felt that this person was connected to Dugu Meng.

"Your Majesty, Princess Gaoping requests an audience."

"Let her in."

Soon, Princess Gaoping arrived. Although she was over forty years old, time seemed to have left no trace on her face. Her skin was still like that of a young girl, and she exuded a noble air unique to royalty, as well as the charm of her age. Coupled with her exquisite features, she could be called a stunning beauty.

After she arrived and bowed, she spoke of the purpose of her visit, which surprisingly involved matters concerning the southeastern prefectures!

The imposter Dugu Meng showed no outward sign of surprise, instead asking, "Aunt, what's your opinion on this matter?"