It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Everything seemed to be exactly the same as usual.

Only when they were parting did Lid suddenly say something for no reason:

"Master He does have a great voice."

He Yue paused for a moment, without turning back. She just rubbed her slightly red cheeks with the back of her hand to cover up the smile on her lips, and replied:

"I used to think that the Lord must be weak since he was lying at home every day, but now it seems that he really has the strength of the ninth level of perfection."

The two of them stopped flattering each other about business, and He Yue turned around and smiled at Li De.

Later, when He Yue was talking to Feilin, Lid yawned and brought over a bowl of longan and red date soup.

……

Lid has a clear idea about Yunyang's future path.

He and He Yue had the same view: although it was possible to continue to move north and use Zhaochen as a springboard to fight for more land, Yunyang would not adopt such a strategy at present. There were indeed a few territories in the north that were easy to bully, but there was a behemoth that was eyeing them covetously further north - Wanze Territory.

Those small territories can be said to be the meat cooked in the pot by Lord Wanze. If Yunyang decides to seize them by force, he can definitely seize some of them, but there is no need. There are no decisive resources in those territories, and from a strategic location, they are far less important than Tiancheng. It is better to give them up as a favor.

As for leasing the twenty cities in the southern part of Tiancheng to Yunhai, it was also to cope with the current complex and changing situation.

First of all, for Yunhai, without these twenty cities, their subsequent external expansion would be greatly restricted, which is equivalent to being locked in the south by Yunyang, and they can only develop eastward. According to Lide's understanding of Bai Feng, although this person is a little hesitant in doing things, if he understands the pros and cons, Bai Feng can make up his mind to fight Yunyang.

Let’s go back to Yunyang.

Taking down Tiancheng was certainly a good thing, but the successive conquests of Zhaochen and Tiancheng expanded Yunyang's territory too much. Industrial technology was not promoted in time, the Anbu organization could not cover it, recruiting soldiers seemed a bit hasty, and even the gunpowder and incendiary bombs that were originally kept in the bottom of the box were almost used up. Although the battle of Anning City made it impossible for any territory to dare to provoke Yunyang in the short term, this could not change the fact that Yunyang was a little timid in the short term.

Today, industrial bases are rushing to increase production, but full recovery will take at least until after the new year.

During this period, Yunyang still used aggressive military force, but that was for show. Behind closed doors, family members had to stay clear about their own affairs. Lide didn't mind giving the 20 cities south of Tiancheng to Yunhai first, because once there was a way out, Yunhai would not concentrate all its strength to fight to the death.

The royal family kept silent about his usurpation of Zhaochen's throne because they actually wanted to use him to contain Yunhai.

To Lid, you can ask me to contain Yunhai, but you can't expect me to fight Yunhai to the death. No one with a brain would do that. Yunyang had just taken over Zhaochen and Tiancheng, and the most urgent task was to consolidate its rule over these two territories and prepare for a new war in the near future.

These ideas were also conveyed by He Yue to others attending the courtyard meeting.

At the end of the courtyard meeting, Griffa, then Minister of Finance, stood up and said:

"Speaking of which, there was an interesting thing that happened recently that I wanted to share with you."

Everyone else's eyes were focused on him. Griffa held a pile of financial statements in one hand and rubbed his dark-rimmed eyes with the other, trying to make himself as clear-headed as possible, then said with a smile:

"Recently, many of our companies have suddenly received considerable investment, and someone has purchased a large number of our 'dry shares'. I felt that something was fishy, ​​so I asked Sister Shuang from the Anbu to help investigate. I found that the source of the funds was the Zhaoxin Territory. Now more than 30% of the Zhaoxin nobles hold our dry shares, and this number is still expanding."

Everyone present was extremely smart, and after a little thought, they understood the reason.

Before Yunyang took over Tiancheng, 20,000 people from Zhaoxin Territory were trapped in the quagmire of Tiancheng and did not survive. After Yunyang took over Tiancheng, Zhaoxin Territory sent another 50,000 people to form a coalition with Huaiwang Territory and Shenghe Territory, and almost all of them were wiped out in the battle of Anning City. Now Zhaoxin Territory is seriously injured and can hardly protect itself, and has become Yunyang's next target.

The nobles of Zhaoxin Territory were obviously well aware of their situation.

Once Yunyang attacks, their property will be in danger, and no matter how much land they own, it will all be confiscated.

However, they can liquidate their assets and buy the stocks that Yunyang has been operating and circulating. If Yunyang wins the battle, then the assets of those who hold the stocks will increase instead of decrease. This can also be regarded as an early risk hedging. Regardless of whether Yunyang can take down Zhaoxin, they do not have to bear high risks.

Griffa said this matter was "interesting" because anyone could see it. Purchasing Yunyang's stocks at this critical moment was equivalent to giving money to Yunyang's industry in disguise, helping Yunyang to quickly recover its strength. The nobles in Zhaoxin Territory must be very clear about these things, but they don't care.

Or perhaps, the nobles in Zhaoxin just wanted to show their goodwill in this way.

"It's a disguised form of ceding land..."

He Yue smiled and turned around and asked Lid:

"What's your attitude?"

Lid also smiled and replied while stretching:

"My attitude? Of course it's four words - step up efforts."

31. This place is called Luofeng Mountain

Compared with the situation of multiple parties fighting in the west, the northeastern part of Yongtian Kingdom is now dominated by one party.

The Lingwu Territory, which had been developing in the bitter cold for hundreds of years, had always been the object of extreme vigilance of all the territories. But when the woman whose appearance, aura, ability and martial arts were impeccable really went all the way south in the snow, the territories found it really difficult to think of any means of resistance.

The Lingwu Cavalry is the best in the world, and it’s not just talk.

The northeast of Yongtian Kingdom is basically a plain, with rolling hills in the south. The Lingwu cavalry is like a fish in water here, just like a tiger coming down the mountain and finding no rivals. The Lingwu lord still continued his fighting style when he was heading north, riding his horse to the front of the army, wearing a red robe without a speck of dust, raising his hand to cut off all things in the world.

After receiving the inheritance of Garberd, the Lingwu Lord was already able to kill a tenth-level giant instantly with a single move. Coupled with the powerful strength accumulated by Lingwu over hundreds of years, the individual and overall combat effectiveness of this army has reached a very high level. The Lingwu Lord did not delegate this army to others, but personally led this army southward without any mistakes throughout the journey.

The generals who played against her were not useless, but facing such a behemoth, they could do nothing but sigh that the tide of the times would beat countless people to death on the beach. In terms of military combat effectiveness, the Lingwu Iron Cavalry was second to none; in terms of general combat effectiveness, the Lingwu lord looked down upon all directions; in terms of the abundance of food and grass, the degree of unity of the territory, etc., the Lingwu territory also had an absolute advantage.

Their only hope was that the long-term battle of the Lingwu army would cause problems in the transportation of food and grass, but what they didn't know was that the Lingwu lord, who was almost annihilated by the Huai King hundreds of years ago, had already made an extremely detailed plan for food and grass supply. After all, she had lived for such a long time, and every day she devoted herself to preparing for revenge. In her eyes, those geniuses who had only lived for a few decades were just stumbling children.

However, when the iron cavalry trampled all over the old mountains and rivers, the Lingwu Lord would also feel some emotion.

At the bottom of the sea, she once fell into a dream created by a little ghost. In that dream, she also went south with such momentum, cut off the head of the dog king with one sword, lifted her skirt and sat on the throne. It was a beautiful dream. In the dream, she sat on the throne and commanded the four directions. The Lingwu Iron Cavalry conquered everything. The Western Qin and Southern Chu, the Yunyang Yunhai, and the Rebel Church all bowed down at her feet.

In her dream, she rested her chin on her hand, crossed her legs, looked at the people coming from all directions, and listened to countless hymns.

But the dream will eventually wake up, and seeing these familiar scenes again, the joy of conquering in the heart of Lingwu Lord has dissipated a lot, but it reminds herself to be more careful all the time. She wants to attack the capital personally, although this journey is hundreds of years late for her.

Similarly, in Luofeng Mountain, the royal general Fan Qing was arranging ambushes in an orderly manner.

The white-haired but still vigorous old man strolled among the crowd, fanning himself, and happily chatted with his adjutant:

"This Luofeng Mountain is a mountain that the first king of Yongtian Kingdom used to divide the north and south. At that time, the giants were fierce, and the dragons in the northeast also put a lot of pressure on us humans. This mountain is steep and endless, making it a good place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The first king told his people that if anything happened, the people in the north should retreat to the south and abandon all the land north of Luofeng Mountain. Since the founding of the country, although the various territories have been scattered, the territories close to the border have fought hard and prevented the expected disaster from happening."

Fan Qing, wearing a pair of worn straw sandals, walked in the thick snow and found a huge mechanism in the forest. He reached out and brushed off the snow. The mechanism looked like a heavy crossbow, but it was much larger than the largest heavy crossbow in existing records. Each arrow was as thick as a normal person's thigh, and it took two people to lift an arrow. It was hard to imagine how horrible the destructive power would be once such a mechanism was activated.

Fan Qing stretched out his wrinkled hands and patted them, saying kindly:

"Originally, these were secret weapons prepared for the dragons and giants, but after so many years, these things have never been activated. Humans are very resilient. It is difficult for us to be crushed by external pressure. So we have to solve the problem from within. If we cause chaos within, they will be happy... Two years ago, the two kings fought for the throne, the national defense formation was dismantled, and the dragons launched a surprise attack. These mechanisms were not used in time because the enemies had already attacked the capital. Mechanisms are dead, and dangers are changing. Dead mechanisms cannot protect against living creatures."

Fan Qing's tone sounded a little lonely.

He stretched out his hand and plucked a few overlapping wheels, and the mechanism suddenly made a clicking sound. The crossbow string, which was so hard that a normal person could not pluck it at all, was slowly tightened. Two soldiers raised an arrow and Fan Qing raised his hand and pressed it. There was a sound like a tiger roaring and a dragon roaring, and the arrow shot out, opening up a wide path in the snow-covered forest.

The hundreds-year-old tree became as brittle as a piece of straw paper under this force, and the hem of Fan Qing's clothes fluttered in the wind.

Fan Qing fanned twice with a palm-leaf fan and continued:

"But now, they will be put to use. The mountain roads are difficult to navigate, and the cavalry can hardly move. The Lingwu Lord will definitely ask the soldiers to dismount and lead the way from the side. We will take this opportunity to bombard the front battlefield with the machinery, and then use falling rocks and rolling logs to make them have no place to stand. This will turn the tide of the war. Instruct the people below to strictly guard the machinery. Those who disobey the order will be executed."

Several generals surrounding Fan Qing clasped their fists and said:

"Yes!"

Fan Qing regained his cheerful look and said with a smile:

"No matter how great the hatred is, it is worth their Lingwu swearing to never give up from generation to generation. The hatred and resentment in the world are always repaid with retaliation, and there is no end. When I was young, I also liked to conquer all over the world. I thought fighting and killing was a man's romance. When I get old, I want to find a curvaceous girl to hug and get drunk in the land of tenderness. Okay, let's stop talking nonsense and set up the formation. I will use the formations I have learned throughout my life. Whether we can win depends on you. Although the house of Yongtian Kingdom is dilapidated, it has sheltered so many people from wind and rain. We who live in the house can't think of lifting the roof, right?"

There was no sign of nervousness from Fan Qing.

The old man with snow on his brow was always smiling, and his calm attitude also infected many people. Although many soldiers had experienced many battles, it was their first time to face the so-called invincible Lingwu, and they were inevitably a little nervous. But after seeing Fan Qing, this uneasy feeling naturally dissipated in the wind.

Fan Qing was like this. He was not a harsh general, but a kind elder. When he was around, the soldiers felt as if they had an extra layer of protection above their heads. They didn't have to worry too much, just do what he said. And Fan Qing lived up to his reputation as a veteran of two dynasties. The entire Luofeng Mountain soon became as solid as a piece of iron, with no blind spots.

32. Urgent Desire

The king has been feeling a little anxious lately.

Of course, it was not because of the midlife crisis, but because the Imperial Astronomical Observatory had issued a report not long ago. It said that Ziwei was weak and that the emperor was suspected of a great disaster, which must be prevented. His Majesty the King was so scared that he had lost his appetite for several days. Now that the war between Lingwu and the royal family was about to begin, looking at the astronomical phenomenon, could it be that the woman was really going to chop his head off with a sword from the northeastern ice field to the fertile land of the royal capital?

The king was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

He even thought about whether he should replace Fan Qing, who was in the front line. This person was found by Wumi. Although he was famous, the king had always been lukewarm towards him. The previous king of Yongtian Kingdom regarded him as a close minister, which led to Fan Qing's great power. Later, when the previous king passed away, Fan Qing took the initiative to resign and retired to the mountains, no longer serving the royal family, and concentrated on compiling military books.

The mind of the emperor is very subtle. If Fan Qing did not leave after he came to power, the king would definitely find a reason to get rid of him. However, if Fan Qing left on his own initiative, the king would not think that he was quitting at the peak of his career, but would instead have new dissatisfaction - OK, you worked like a slave for my father when he was in power, but as soon as I came to power, you just patted your butt and ran away. Do you think I am not worthy? Okay, get out of here, and never come back.

To some extent, emperors, like girlfriends, have unpredictable tempers.

This is why the king never asked Fan Qing to come out of retirement even though the royal family gradually declined. The king now feels very insecure. His son is Chao Wang, whom he doesn't like, his prime minister is Wu Mi, whom he doesn't like, his general is Fan Qing, whom he doesn't like, and there are several lords outside whom he doesn't like, such as Li De. Seeing Yunyang develop well is more painful than seeing himself develop poorly. The king sometimes feels that the world is too malicious towards him, and there are always unruly people who go against him.

"…Your Majesty, are you in a bad mood?"

Just as the king was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed in thought, a bowl of snow pear paste appeared in front of him.

The king looked up along the pair of lotus-like white and tender arms, and a woman with a serene face came into his sight.

The Queen of Everlasting Heaven, Lana's biological mother, Heather.

Heather's family background was not noble, and although she looked elegant, she did not look like a phoenix. She was from a typical wealthy family. If nothing unexpected had happened, she would never have become the queen. However, the king still had too deep a memory of the previous queen. In addition, the king did not want the woman in charge of the harem to compete with him, so he chose this woman with little prestige after weighing the pros and cons.

Heather couldn't control the harem. Because of this, she could only rely on the king's favor to survive, and naturally obeyed the king in every way, which was also in the king's plan.

The king took the bowl of pear paste made by the queen himself, and ate it while sighing:

"Internal and external troubles, people's hearts are no longer the same... Back then, my Ji family personally ended the tyranny of Yong Yuan and rescued those untouchables from dire straits. Instead of being grateful to my Ji family, they even helped outsiders to split up my Yongtian territory. Sooner or later, I will lead my troops to recover my old territory and execute all those who have disobeyed me."

Heather said softly:

"People's hearts are like water, inherently complex and changeable. Your Majesty, why should you care about their thoughts? Once we defeat Lingwu, we will naturally have the energy to divide and fight against other territories. The royal family is now united, all because of your Majesty's hard work and efforts to govern the country. There are also many rumors that your Majesty is the master of the revival..."

The king snorted coldly and said:

"Everyone is of one mind? Who knows what they are thinking? All of them have lost their consciences. There are so many people outside and at home who want to eat me alive... Forget it, these are not what you should know."

Hazel smiled awkwardly, watched the king finish the pear paste, and took the empty bowl from his hand.

The king then asked:

"Where's Lana?"

Heather replied:

"I learned some ancient Chinese from the Prime Minister this morning, and now I am practicing calligraphy in my room."

The king snorted again, not expressing any opinion, but it was obvious that he was in a bad mood.

Heather's heart also lifted, but she was not a smart person and didn't know how to make the king happy, so she bowed and walked out with the bowl in her hand. The king also yawned, propped his head up, and thought about the dimming of the Purple Star. The anger in his heart that had just been suppressed by the snow pear cream became anxious again.

After Heather left the hall, she saw King Chao standing there quietly on her way back.

Seeing Heather, he smiled at the king and asked:

"Has he finished eating?"

Heather folded her hands over her chest and nodded slightly.

He exhaled towards the king and said slowly:

"It's worth all my efforts... There are only two more days before the drug takes effect. Don't worry, I will fulfill my promise and ensure that you and your daughter live in prosperity. If I'm not mistaken, Lana has gradually alienated our father because she is too close to Wumi, right?"

As the king walked towards Heather, he said in a calm tone as they passed by:

"During this time, you have been in the harem, so you can naturally feel how many people dislike you and your daughter. If your father continues to live, one day he will transfer his favor to Lana to someone else, and you as the queen will definitely be deposed. By then, I don't know how many people will be waiting to take advantage of the situation. It's normal for a few people to die in the harem."

Hazel bit her lip and her body trembled slightly.

King Chao said nothing more and strode away.

Heather didn't know how long she stood there until Lana patted her, and the young-looking queen regained consciousness. Lana was still smiling happily, telling her what she had learned from the teacher today, her eyes full of curiosity about the unknown and the outside world.

Heather looked at her daughter, her shaking body slowly returning to normal.

In fact, she didn't care about the wealth and glory that the king talked about. She could also choose to ignore those people in the harem who gathered together every day to make fun of her. But she was very afraid that if she was gone one day, Lana would be bullied by other children, just like she had experienced when she was a child.

"I want to go to Yunyang again one day. It should be very different from the last time I went there. It's a pity that Lana didn't witness its changes..."

Lana would not hide anything from her mother and would speak her mind openly while holding a book.

Heather smiled softly, patted Lana's head, and said to her:

"It's okay. You'll have plenty of time to stay there and do what you like in the future."

Lana nodded vigorously.

33. But you never praised him

It's spring again.

For the soldiers in the various territories of the Eternal Heaven Kingdom, this year is obviously not as peaceful as before. In the past, most territories would try their best to avoid fighting at the end of the year, because soldiers would inevitably feel homesick, and the people would also need some leisure time to restore their trust in the territory. But this year is different. With Wumi's decree that caused disputes throughout the world, the Eternal Heaven Kingdom was officially involved in countless wars.

In the tense atmosphere, most soldiers need to stick to their posts, and the people are also living in anxiety. Confusion about the future fills everyone's heart, and a depressing atmosphere shrouds the sky above Yongtian Kingdom. Of course, there are some territories that happily celebrate the Spring Festival, such as Zhaochen. The victory in the war against Tiancheng Territory allowed them to enjoy a long-lost holiday, and Feilin and Selaginella also needed these soldiers to "return home in glory" to make a positive propaganda for next year's conscription.

However, more people still stayed on the battlefield to fight even in the New Year.

The white-robed minister Wu Mi planned the situation of the world's territories attacking each other, but the rebels also seized the opportunity at this juncture. Not every territory treats the people as well as Yunyang. More than half of the territories plundered and exploited the people after conquering the city, and imposed the losses caused by the war on the conquered. However, the people's strength is limited, and they will naturally rise up when they are desperate. In addition, Huang Yan has left his inner supporters all over the world after traveling all over the world for so many years, and the flags of the rebels appeared frequently like mushrooms after rain.