“Is Elder Sister trying to intimidate Tianfeng Nation, or do you truly intend to go to war?” Bai Qingyu’s fingers rubbed together behind his back. “Once Yan surrenders, Great Zhou will have its hands free. If Elder Sister truly wants to eliminate the hidden threat of Tianfeng Nation, you could have Shen Kunyang lead the Bai Family Army back to Nan Jiang first to prepare!”

“Does Tianfeng Nation currently have the capability to contend with Great Zhou?” When Bai Qingyan mentioned Tianfeng Nation, her expression carried disgust. “When we Great Zhou delivers this declaration of war, does Tianfeng Nation dare accept it? Moreover… Tianfeng Nation’s land grows increasingly barren, being swallowed by desert, and they are separated from us Great Zhou, by an impassable snowy mountain range. Great Zhou does not need a distant campaign against Tianfeng Nation!”

Furthermore, Sa’er Khan, as Tianfeng Nation’s ruler, did not focus on enriching the country and strengthening the people, but was single-mindedly obsessed with relying on time regression to gain advantage, using war to sustain war. Such a nation… would not last long. Simply trapping Tianfeng Nation to death within that desert would be sufficient.

Yan’s Minister of Revenue sent swift riders to deliver a message to Murong Li, demanding that the letter reach His Majesty and the Regent within five days. The messengers relay-raced along the route, traveling day and night without rest, running several horses to death, finally meeting the Minister’s requirements by delivering it to Murong Li and Xiao Rongyan’s hands on the fifth day.

After reading the letter, Xiao Rongyan immediately understood what Bai Qingyan intended to do.

“Bai Family Sister… Ninth Aunt’s meaning is that she wants us to send news to the feudal princes?” Murong Li also caught on, looking up toward his ninth uncle.

Xiao Rongyan nodded: “The Prince of Xiping, who wounded Great Zhou’s Emperor, is already dead, but the other feudal princes are still Yan’s feudal princes. If the Great Zhou accepts Yan’s surrender at this time, it means accepting the feudal princes’ surrender as well. If they don’t move… Great Zhou cannot move against them, and abolishing feudal princes later won’t be as smooth as abolishing them now.”

Murong Li thought for a moment and nodded: “Right now, Great Zhou’s main forces are all concentrated in Yan. If we truly abolish feudal princes and fighting breaks out, the feudal princes probably couldn’t withstand it. But if we accept Yan’s surrender now, when the main forces return to Great Zhou later and we abolish feudal princes then, if the feudal princes don’t comply, we’d still have to deploy troops to suppress them—time-consuming and laborious! Ninth Aunt feels that since troops are already deployed, we should eliminate future troubles.”

“Then let’s send people to deliver the news to the feudal princes!” Xiao Rongyan spoke.

The news reached Prince Ji’an first. Murong Li sent people to take over Prince Ji’an’s military authority, having Prince Ji’an bring his family to Yan’s capital to await surrendering to the Great Zhou together…

When Prince Ji’an saw the Emperor’s edict, his face turned livid. He said nothing at the time, only arranging for the people the Emperor had sent to be properly accommodated.

Once Murong Li’s people left, Prince Ji’an kicked over the table in front of him: “I’ve seen useless emperors, but never one this useless! He trusts completely in a Regent who has become another nation’s imperial consort. Surrendering to the Great Zhou would be one thing! But when surrendering and submitting, he doesn’t know how to fight for benefits for his people. Instead, when they casually suggest he abolish feudal princes, he comes to abolish feudal princes, as if afraid Great Zhou’s Emperor won’t accept his surrender!”

“Your Highness, please calm your anger!” The strategist beside Prince Ji’an bent down to pick up the bamboo slips scattered from the table. After servants righted the table, he replaced the bamboo slips while saying, “The young Emperor has a Regent beside him, and since the Emperor is still young, naturally whatever the Regent says goes!”

“Prince Jiujiang is also useless—couldn’t even kill one Murong Yan! If Murong Yan had been on our Ji’an territory back then, Murong Yan would have died countless times already!” Prince Ji’an sat down huffily. “Useless! All useless!”

The strategist who had finished organizing the bamboo slips knelt across from Prince Ji’an and spoke slowly: “When Great Zhou’s Emperor first ascended the throne, he used thunderous methods to abolish feudal princes, which is why Great Zhou has no feudal princes. Even now… The Great Zhou’s Emperor hasn’t granted fiefs to his brothers and sisters, suggesting that the Great Zhou will have no feudal princes in the future! So, the Great Zhou’s Emperor is deliberately creating difficulties for the young Emperor. If the young Emperor dares not abolish feudal princes due to pressure from the feudal princes, then the Great Zhou can justifiably send troops! If the young Emperor dares to abolish feudal princes, then perfect… the young Emperor does the work while Great Zhou reaps the benefits from behind. Later, they can credit the young Emperor with the achievement of abolishing feudal princes and treat him somewhat better when Yan surrenders.”

Hearing his strategist’s analysis, Prince Ji’an finally looked seriously at the strategist kneeling across from him, waiting for him to continue.

“On the young Emperor’s side, first he fears war, second… there’s the Regent beside him providing influence, and third… after this affair of imperial relatives and feudal princes joining forces, he’s become wary, so he doesn’t want to use the national treasury and expend soldiers fighting Great Zhou. That’s why he sent the order to abolish feudal princes and surrender here to Your Highness!” The strategist’s voice was measured, and Prince Ji’an listened to quite a bit. “The young Emperor is showing the Great Zhou’s Emperor that he’s willing to abolish feudal princes and surrender to the Great Zhou. If we comply… there’s no loss for the young Emperor. If we don’t comply, we’ll certainly raise troops to resist the Great Zhou, and then… Your Highness will have to expend our Ji’an army’s forces fighting the Great Zhou, while the young Emperor can shrink back and preserve his forces. If we’re lucky enough to defeat the Great Zhou, Yan can still survive as a nation.”

Hearing his strategist’s analysis, Prince Ji’an’s expression became increasingly serious: “This young Emperor is still formidable!”

“If he weren’t formidable, how could he have steeled himself to facilitate the wager with Great Zhou when Yan was in such perilous circumstances!” The strategist bowed to Prince Ji’an. “Your Highness must never underestimate this young Emperor, no matter when.”

“Then what should we do now?” Prince Ji’an didn’t want his soldiers to charge into battle for the young Emperor’s benefit, nor did he want to surrender to the Great Zhou and have his feudal status abolished.

Which feudal prince wanted to have their feudal status abolished?

Though a feudal prince was only a feudal prince, within his territory, he was no different from an emperor.

They had seen the fate of Great Zhou’s feudal princes. If they surrendered to the Great Zhou now, they would certainly be stripped of their status.

“Your Highness might… first send someone to return to Yan’s capital with the people the young Emperor sent, saying you’re willing to follow the Emperor’s instructions. You plan to bring your entire household to Yan’s capital, but transferring military affairs to the new general still requires time! You can have the Princess Consort depart first for Yan’s capital to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, first getting the young Emperor’s people away from Ji’an territory, then mobilize forces to ambush and inflict losses on Great Zhou’s forces when they least expect it!” The strategist tapped the table with his finger. “As long as we begin hostilities with Great Zhou here, Prince Huangshan will certainly respond in coordination with us, and the young Emperor will choose to wait and see. Once he discovers we can contend with the Great Zhou, the young Emperor will send troops to assist. After all… whether to keep feudal princes and preserve the nation or abolish feudal princes and destroy the nation isn’t a difficult choice for the young Emperor.”

Prince Ji’an felt his strategist’s words made perfect sense, and spoke with lowered eyes: “Fortunately, we prepared early, and the stored grain in each city is sufficient! First, we’ll secretly ambush Great Zhou’s army once, then we’ll defend our cities to the death!”