Ten days.
Chu Tianyin had already retreated to the last city. Ning Cheng would need ten days at most to take it. If Chu Tianyin failed to defend the city, Emperor Kang Cheng would definitely call for a halt and surrender.
After all, they wouldn't be far from the capital's stronghold.
Looking at the map on the table, the usually calm and composed Ning Cheng couldn't help but feel a little restless. After a moment of thought, he coldly ordered, "Pass on the order to attack the city!"
The deputy general was shocked. He'd thought the Ning King had summoned him to discuss how to win the last battle beautifully. Who would've thought the king would suddenly give the order to attack the city?
"Your Highness, are we … attacking the city tonight?" the deputy general asked tentatively.
"Yes!" Ning Cheng replied without hesitation.
The deputy general had never disobeyed the king's orders before, let alone a military one. But this time, he was ready to throw caution to the wind. "Your Highness, please forgive this general for speaking out of turn, but tonight isn't the best time to attack."
After all, the last battle had lasted more than ten days and had just ended the day before yesterday. Their brothers hadn't even had time to catch their breaths yet, and the casualties were still being counted. A portion of the army's supplies had yet to be replenished.
Although they'd won several battles in a row and needed to take advantage of their good morale, they still needed to rest for two or three days!
"Your Highness, although such a rash move might catch the enemy off guard, our army might not necessarily gain the upper hand," the deputy general advised.
Ning Cheng didn't need too much analysis or reminders. He knew better than the deputy general when the best time to attack was.
At this moment, his eyes were lowered. His gaze seemed to be on the map, but it also seemed to be wandering. No one knew what he was thinking.
The deputy general didn't dare persuade him any further when he saw that he hadn't spoken for a long time. After a long while, Ning Cheng silently waved his hand and dismissed him.
Ning Cheng appeared to be silent, but his heart was in turmoil.
Even he was shocked by his own decision. He had been on the battlefield for a long time and was always good at strategizing. Just now, he had lost his mind and made such a decision. If it wasn't for the deputy general's bold persuasion, the consequences would have been unimaginable once this order was passed down!
Was he in such a hurry to end the war on the Western Front and attack the Southern Front? Why?
He walked around the huge map and tapped his knuckles on the table. Finally, he sat back down.
He thought that he must have been too anxious to compete with Long Fei Ye and was too anxious to find out the whereabouts of the Shadow Clan.
After drinking a few glasses of wine in silence, he asked in a deep voice, "How's it going?"
Only his personal attendant knew what he meant. The attendant replied, "We're still looking, but …"
"But what?" His impatient tone betrayed his calm appearance.
"It's just that … that thing is really hard to find." The attendant looked troubled. The group of people he sent out to look for a golden needle had searched everywhere Han Yunxi had gone to and the people she had treated, but they couldn't find any clues.
In the vast sea of people, it wasn't easy to find a single person, let alone a needle.
"If it's easy to find, why would this prince need you?" Ning Cheng asked unhappily.
The attendant was helpless and retorted, "Master, if you want Han Yunxi's golden needle, why don't you just ask her for it after you capture Han Yunxi? You might not find it even if you spend so much effort. "
When he said this, Ning Cheng slowly turned his head to look at him. When the attendant saw his gaze, a chill ran down his spine and he felt goosebumps all over his body.
He didn't dare to look any longer. He tactfully lowered his head and silently retreated.
In the large tent, only Ning Cheng was left. He held a wine cup, his thin lips gently caressing the rim of the cup, deep in thought.
Ning Cheng was anxious to lead the troops south, while Chu Tianyin was tense. He had already received Gu Beiyue's orders. No matter what, he had to contain Ning Cheng until the end of the month.
While Chuchu Tianyin was shocked by Han Yunxi's identity, he couldn't figure out what Long Fei Ye and Gu Beiyue wanted to do. He was under Long Fei Ye's control and could only listen to his orders. However, if Long Fei Ye and Gu Beiyue ruthlessly took revenge on Ning Cheng for him, he would be very happy.
In contrast to Ning Cheng and Chuchu Tianyin's excitement and worry, Long Tianmo was much more relaxed after surrendering. It wasn't that he was useless, but that his troops were pretty much exhausted. The Mu family troops were worthy of his pride to have been able to hold out for an entire month against Ning Cheng's red barbarian cannons.
He had lost four major cities to Ning Cheng, so he could be considered to have truly occupied a corner of the east.
"General Mu, when do you think the Duke of Qin will descend Celestial Mountain?" Long Tianmo asked. Right now, many people were discussing Long Fei Ye's attitude.
After the matter of the Poison Sect was exposed, Long Fei Ye's actions on Celestial Mountain were all rumors. He still hadn't publicly expressed his stance on Han Yunxi's identity as a Poison Sect survivor. Moreover, no one knew why he was still on Celestial Mountain.
"There's no reason for him to stay on Celestial Mountain, right?" General Mu stroked his chin, uncertain.
Anyone who hadn't seen General Mu for a long time would definitely notice that General Mu had changed. He'd lost the resoluteness and bravery of a soldier, but gained the shrewdness and astuteness of a civil official.
However, Long Tianmo didn't think so. He had always understood General Mu's neutral stance in Tianning's court, especially after the General Mu married Mu Liuyue to him. He was even more certain that General Mu wasn't just a talented general. In comparison, Mu Qingwu seemed much purer.
Of course, Long Tianmo kept these thoughts hidden deep in his heart. He'd never revealed them to anyone.
"But I still haven't heard of him descending the mountain, nor have I seen any major movements from the south central regions' commander-in-chief's estate," Long Tianmo asked next.
General Mu laughed. "Your Majesty, Han Yunxi is a descendant of the Poison Sect. Have you never thought that the Duke of Qin would abandon her as a chess piece?"
Before Long Tianmo could reply, Mu Qingwu hastily interjected, "He won't! His Highness Duke of Qin wouldn't do that! In his eyes, Qin Wangfei isn't just a chess piece! "
General Mu glared at him unhappily. "What are you so agitated about?"
"I'm speaking the truth," Mu Qingwu muttered.
"Heheh, Zhen also believes that the Duke of Qin wouldn't be so heartless. Moreover, he's not the type to show weakness to Medical City," Long Tianmo laughed.
"Your Majesty, whether it's Medical City or the south central regions' commander-in-chief's estate, we can't afford to offend them with our current strength. You mustn't support Medical City in this matter, nor can you defend Han Yunxi, "General Mu reminded him seriously, sticking to his neutral stance to the very end.
It was obvious that Long Tianmo and Mu Qingwu didn't like this stance. Rather than calling it neutral, it was more accurate to say that they swayed with the wind.
Long Tianmo was about to retort, but General Mu didn't give him the chance and changed the topic. "Your Majesty, there's been a lot of discussion in court recently about the issue of heirs. You're not young anymore. When Emperor Xian was your age, he already had three princes."
Long Tianmo had made Mu Liuyue empress, and in the past two years, the empress dowager had helped him choose a few more concubines. Unfortunately, he was Cold and indifferent to all of them, so there hadn't been any good news from the palace ever since. There were many rumors in and out of the palace that Long Tianmo had some sort of homosexual fetish.
"Mm, Zhen understands."
Every time General Mu urged him on, Long Tianmo would say the same thing.
He knew that General Mu wasn't just urging him to produce more offspring for the imperial family, but hinting that he shouldn't bully Mu Liuyue too much.
General Mu's reminders, or perhaps warnings, always stopped before going too far.
"It's good that Your Majesty understands."
So speaking, he bid farewell, but didn't leave the palace to see Mu Liuyue. Instead, he went to see the empress dowager. Long Tianmo had followed him a few times out of curiosity, but found that General Mu's visit with the empress dowager wasn't anything serious. He was just looking for her to play chess.
The three countries of Cloud Realm Continent all had their own agendas, but far away in the north, the Northern Dynasties Emperors had no time to worry about such things. That was because Northern Li's crown prince was dead!
Northern Li's crown prince had been heavily injured in the conflict with the Wintercrow Clan. Under the escort of Jun Yi Xie, he had rushed back to the country, but died before he could reach the capital.
The entire Northern Li imperial capital was shrouded in thick, impenetrable black clouds. A violent storm, lightning, and thunder could descend at any moment.
In the imperial study, the Northern Dynasties Emperors smashed his favorite white porcelain incense burner to pieces, landing squarely on Jun Yi Xie's head before shattering to pieces on the ground.
Jun Yi Xie had already knelt in front of him for three days and three nights. His body was covered in wounds, but the most obvious one was the one on his head. He'd lost quite a bit of blood, but now the blood had congealed around the wound, obscured by his hair. Because of this wound, his naturally cold and evil face gained a hint of wildness.
The Northern Dynasties Emperors had done everything he could to scold and vent.
Only the two of them were left in the large imperial study, one sovereign and one subject, one sitting and one kneeling.
After a day of silence, the Northern Dynasties Emperors seemed to grow tired. In a hoarse voice, he asked, "Where's your master?"
"Erchen doesn't know. Master's whereabouts have always been a mystery. Imperial Father knows as well," Jun Yi Xie replied honestly.
He really didn't know where his master had gone. He assumed that his master would be waiting for him in the palace, but all that awaited him was the Northern Dynasties Emperors' curses and beatings for three days and three nights.
He'd be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. If his master was here, at least the Northern Dynasties Emperors wouldn't have lost all reason. He and his master had concocted this plan together. He always assumed that his master would arrange everything for him, but he never expected to face it alone.
However, he'd be lying if he said he was too disappointed. Jun Yi Xie knew that his master must have something he had to do. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left him alone to deal with the Northern Dynasties Emperors.
The Crown Prince had obviously died in his hands. No matter how stupid the Northern Dynasties Emperors were, they would still suspect something! It wouldn't be easy for him to survive this disaster.
"Even you don't know? Haha!" The Northern Dynasties Emperors sneered.
Jun Yi Xie didn't answer. He was thinking about how to convince the Northern Dynasties Emperors to trust him in the absence of his master.
According to his plan, the Second Prince would soon die under the blades of the Wintercrow Tribe. If the Northern Dynasties Emperors didn't trust him, he wouldn't be able to go to the Wintercrow Tribe to collect the corpse. Then, it would be difficult to buy a horse.
The Northern Dynasties Emperors finally walked out of the imperial study. Unfortunately, he didn't tell Jun Yi Xie to rise, so Jun Yi Xie could only continue to kneel …
Cloud Realm Continent was filled with all sorts of factions. Long Fei Ye stood high on Celestial Mountain, overlooking all the commotion.
Today, he'd just finished playing a game of chess with Old Kenzō when a servant came to report that Baili Mingxiang had arrived …
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