The recent events… though it appeared that the eight great families had suffered heavy losses, in reality… the eight great families were merely retreating to advance, allying with the merchant Cui Fengnian to throw Xiliang into chaos.

Once Xiliang fell into great disorder, the eight great families could naturally place all blame on the Xiliang Empress, claiming this was the disaster brought to Xiliang by the Empress’s implementation of new policies. Thus… they could justifiably pull the Empress down from the throne.

But who would the eight great families support to ascend that throne?

Prince Yan Li Zhijie?

Originally, it was Prince Yan Li Zhijie who had supported the Xiliang Empress’s ascension. Since Li Zhijie hadn’t seized the throne during the initial chaos, he wouldn’t do so now.

Bai Jintong suddenly thought of someone: “Third Brother, the late Emperor of Xiliang… didn’t have only the Xiliang Empress as his sole daughter.”

It was said that ever since Li Tianfu had been brought back from Jin by Li Zhijie, she had remained well-behaved in Xiliang, staying within the palace without venturing out, spending her days attending to the Empress Dowager and the Xiliang Empress…

Someone who could make a figure like the Xiliang Empress lower her guard would probably only be this sister from the same mother. Li Tianfu could freely enter and exit the Xiliang Empress’s study, could listen in when the Empress discussed new policy measures with important court ministers, and then relay information to the eight great families.

Though Xiliang faced external threats, for the eight great families… the Xiliang Empress’s new policies still greatly harmed the interests of these aristocratic clans. The eight great families opposed the Xiliang Empress’s new policies, which is why they used this method to plunge Xiliang into chaos and seize the opportunity to overthrow the Xiliang Empress and usurp power.

The eight great families were probably wary of the Rongdi’s impending attack on Xiliang and Great Zhou’s covetous intentions, so they likely wanted to act after Li Zhijie signed an alliance with Great Zhou, but before Li Zhijie returned to Yunjing.

Bai Qingqi and Bai Jintong exchanged glances and understood the key points. Bai Jintong said calmly, “Third Brother, we must send word back to Elder Sister!”

But what Bai Qingqi was thinking now was whether they could still successfully drag the Yan nation into this situation.

If they couldn’t seize this opportunity to eliminate Yan—the greatest obstacle on Great Zhou’s path to unification—then when Great Zhou later conquered Xiliang and turned back to deal with Yan, that battle would be much harder to fight.

Bai Qingqi sat down, resting his elbow on the armrest in contemplation: “We must find a way to let the Xiliang Empress know this information!”

This news could promote the formation of internal chaos in Xiliang.

Bai Jintong knew she couldn’t be the one to relay this information. If she spoke up, the Xiliang Empress might consider her to have ulterior motives. If the Xiliang Empress directly revealed that she was the source, she would offend the eight great families as well.

“If Li Zhijie were here, just subtly revealing a hint would make Li Zhijie go tell the Xiliang Empress. The Xiliang Empress would still value Li Zhijie’s words, but mine… that’s uncertain.” Bai Jintong frowned tightly.

Bai Qingqi had secretly entered Xiliang while holding Great Zhou’s diplomatic credentials and documents. Bai Qingqi could enter the Xiliang imperial palace to remind the Xiliang Empress, but that alone wouldn’t be enough…

Bai Qingqi looked at Bai Jintong: “Do you know where the eight great families have stored their grain reserves?”

“I sent Chen Qingsheng to investigate. So far, we’ve only found the granaries of five families…” Bai Jintong replied.

Bai Qingqi tapped his fingers on the small table: “Have Chen Qingsheng work with Xiao Ruohai to investigate. We must find the other granaries, and quickly!”

When Xiao Ruohai had served in the Bai Family Army, investigating granaries and drawing maps had been his specialty. Even within the Bai Family Army, those who could match Xiao Ruohai in this area were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Chen Qingsheng was someone who could converse with people from all walks of life and servants of the eight great families.

With these two working together, finding the remaining granaries wouldn’t be a major problem.

Once Xiao Ruohai and Chen Qingsheng had investigated the granaries clearly, Bai Qingqi would enter the palace as Great Zhou’s envoy to give the Xiliang Empress some hints. After the Xiliang Empress made her move, they would have someone burn the eight great families’ granaries. Once Xiliang was completely without grain, when the Rongdi and Great Zhou waged war against Xiliang, Great Yan would never sit idle and watch Xiliang be strangled by food shortages.

When the Rongdi received news that Xiliang had no grain, they would certainly attack Xiliang as quickly as possible. Thus, as long as the Rongdi and Xiliang began fighting, the pace of the entire war situation would accelerate.

“There’s another matter!” Bai Jintong looked at Bai Qingqi. “The Xiliang Empress is forming an army similar to our Bai Family Army’s Huying Battalion. I once sent people to secretly follow the supply convoy to investigate. It was quite coincidental… among the Bai Family guards I sent, one was a veteran who had retired after being wounded in the Huying Battalion. He discovered that this Xiliang force called the Huoyun Army trains according to our Huying Battalion’s training methods!”

Bai Qingyan had mentioned this matter to Bai Qingqi before he left…

Bai Jintong frowned tightly: “I hadn’t been able to investigate this before. That day, when I was released from prison, knowing that Elder Sister’s milk brother Xiao Ruohai had arrived, I entrusted Xiao Ruohai to investigate first, thinking to tell Third Brother once we had some leads. But now, clearly, having Xiao Ruohai investigate the granaries is more urgent. However, we can’t neglect the Huying Battalion matter either. I do have a new approach—I’m not sure if it’s appropriate. Please hear me out, Third Brother.”

Bai Qingqi looked at Bai Jintong, his palms inevitably tightening. The Huying Battalion was founded by his father. The Huying Battalion members could be said to have been selected one by one by them. The men of the Huying Battalion would die standing rather than live kneeling. He couldn’t believe there would be traitors in the Huying Battalion who would teach these enemies, who had once slaughtered their people, to survive.

He nodded at Bai Jintong: “Speak…”

“While having Xiao Ruohai investigate the granaries, have Third Brother’s people investigate the Huoyun Army matter. Don’t fear exposing ourselves. Third Brother now has the status of Great Zhou’s envoy, and currently, Xiliang doesn’t dare cause trouble for Great Zhou. If Third Brother’s people can discover what this Huoyun Army is about before Xiao Ruohai finds the granaries, that would be best!”

“If we can’t find out… when Third Brother enters the palace as Great Zhou’s envoy to meet the Xiliang Empress, ask this Xiliang Empress whether the person training the Huoyun Army was formerly of the Bai Family Army. Third Brother can bluff this Xiliang Empress—since she wants an alliance with Great Zhou, she won’t dare refuse to release the person!” Bai Jintong’s eyes were serious. “Because the current Xiliang lacks the capital to confront the Great Zhou. The Xiliang Empress cannot afford such confrontation…”

Bai Qingqi’s heart stirred. This could also disguise the fact that although Bai Qingqi was a Great Zhou envoy, he had secretly entered Yunjing, making the Great Zhou Empress think… that Bai Qingqi had just returned to Great Zhou and immediately came to Yunjing specifically for the Huoyun Army matter.

Bai Qingqi turned to look at his youngest sister’s clear eyes and couldn’t help but feel moved. His youngest sister had grown up…