Later, Dong Shi heard from Bai Qingyan that Chun Tao and Chen Qingsheng were mutually fond of each other, and Bai Qingyan planned to arrange their marriage as soon as Chen Qingsheng returned. Only then did Dong Shi abandon her thoughts of arranging a match for Chun Tao, though she worried daily about why Chen Qingsheng hadn’t returned yet.

Now that Chen Qingsheng had returned, even if Bai Qingyan wasn’t concerned about arranging Chun Tao’s marriage, Bai Qingyan’s mother, Dong Shi, would certainly press for Chen Qingsheng and Chun Tao to wed.

Before long, the four—Bai Jinzhi, Xiao Ruohai, Shen Qingzhu, and Chen Qingsheng—entered from outside the hall.

Not seeing Xiao Ruojiang, Bai Qingyan asked Bai Jinzhi: “Where is Xiao Ruojiang?”

“Still there looking for the elephants’ weaknesses!” Bai Jinzhi bowed to Bai Qingyan. “Now that several elephants have been fitted with chain mail, he’s still searching for breakthrough methods.”

After the others paid their respects to Bai Qingyan, Bai Jinzhi lifted her skirt hem and hurried to Bai Qingyan’s desk, picking up the teacup in front of Bai Qingyan to gulp it down.

“Eunuch Wei, take the others down. There’s no need to serve here…” After speaking to Wei Zhong, Bai Qingyan waved to indicate to Xiao Ruohai and the others: “Sit! Chun Tao, serve tea!”

“Yes!” Chun Tao responded, first serving tea to Bai Jinzhi, Xiao Ruohai, and Shen Qingzhu, and finally walking to Chen Qingsheng, placing the teacup before him with lowered eyes.

Chen Qingsheng had grown a beard, making him appear more rugged and steady. Looking at his cousin, his heart was extremely excited, but he also knew this wasn’t the time for romantic feelings. He nodded in thanks, watching Chun Tao’s completely reddened cheeks, subconsciously fingering the hairpin hidden in his sleeve—a gift he had chosen for Chun Tao.

“Elder Sister, Xiao Ruohai and Chen Qingsheng gained some insights from their trip to Tianfeng Kingdom. They briefly told me on the way back!” Bai Jinzhi turned to look at Xiao Ruohai and Chen Qingsheng.

Chen Qingsheng quickly faced Bai Qingyan’s direction and spoke: “During this trip to Tianfeng Kingdom, Lord Xiao and I investigated the changes in Tianfeng Kingdom over these years…”

Xiao Ruohai also took out a detailed map from his chest and handed it to Chun Tao, asking her to pass it to Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan took the map, and Bai Jinzhi also moved closer, squeezing beside Bai Qingyan to look at the unfolded map that almost covered the entire desk.

“In the early years, this Tianfeng Kingdom was isolated behind snow mountains, thinking the mountains were the end of the world, never imagining that west of the snow mountains would be Rongdi, Xiliang, Great Liang, Great Zhou, and Great Yan!” Chen Qingsheng spoke at a measured pace. “On Lord Xiao’s map, we’ve marked what we learned about… the kingdoms that once surrounded Tianfeng Kingdom. The most famous were the Hanying Kingdom and the Mengshe Kingdom. Tianfeng Kingdom was once bullied by these two countries.”

Bai Qingyan looked down at the map Xiao Ruohai had drawn, showing the eastern side of the snow mountains. As Bai Jintong had said, entering from the sea along the great river, both sides of the river were grasslands. At some distance from Tianfeng Kingdom, the great river divided into two branches.

The kingdoms that had once neighbored Tianfeng Kingdom were Hanying Kingdom and Mengshe Kingdom, but both had now completely disappeared…

“Previously, when I followed Third Miss to Tianfeng Kingdom, because I was busy with business matters, I heard about this but didn’t pay excessive attention. After all, conducting business and spreading our intelligence network was most important!”

Bai Qingyan nodded. The purposes of the two trips were different, so naturally the focus was different too.

During this trip to Tianfeng Kingdom with Lord Xiao, I told Lord Xiao about this matter. Lord Xiao felt that since the Hanying Kingdom and Mengshe Kingdom were so powerful, why did they both disappear, leaving only the Tianfeng Kingdom? This was too strange! So he had me investigate!” Chen Qingsheng’s voice was serious. “Later, I learned from the nobles who had business dealings with Third Miss that the Hanying Kingdom disappeared because their great shaman created something called black powder, which could make weapons invincible! Tianfeng Kingdom then deployed their elephant army… went through countless hardships to obtain the black powder formula from Hanying Kingdom. After mastering the black powder manufacturing method, they used Hanying Kingdom’s massacre of their Tianfeng people as an excuse to destroy Hanying Kingdom.”

Bai Jinzhi was immediately furious. This was robbing others of their black powder, then after obtaining it, actually destroying the entire Kingdom—too despicable!

“Mengshe Kingdom feared Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army and united with surrounding weak countries to resist Tianfeng Kingdom, but still couldn’t resist their elephant army. Later, the Mengshe Kingdom’s king surrendered, and all the people of the Mengshe Kingdom and those small countries became slaves of the Tianfeng Kingdom. The Tianfeng people considered themselves superior, shackling people from other countries, making them labor daily, having other people’s citizens mine, herd, serve elephants… do all the hard work for Tianfeng Kingdom! They called people from other countries ‘slave breeds! Only Tianfeng Kingdom’s surnames were noble…”

Chen Qingsheng looked up at Bai Qingyan: “I heard that during Tianfeng Kingdom’s most glorious period, even the most ordinary Tianfeng citizens had one or two slaves at home. Those brought back from other countries who were too young or old and weak to become slaves were killed on the spot! Slaves serving elephants… if they made the elephants sick, they would also be killed! Those who went herding, if cattle and sheep were taken by wolves or died of illness, the herding slaves would also die! In short, because there were so many slaves, they treated slaves extremely harshly, completely not viewing people from other countries as human…”

“Later, about seventy years ago, because they raised too many cattle and sheep, the grasslands turned into a desert. The Tianfeng people thought this was punishment from the gods, so they killed all the herding slaves to appease divine anger. When this proved ineffective, they continued killing slaves…”

Chun Tao trembled as she listened. How could there be such a brutal kingdom?

Chen Qingsheng continued: “Tianfeng Kingdom wanted to use those slaves’ blood to dye the entire desert red. The slaves didn’t want to die, so they rose in rebellion. A great war broke out in Tianfeng Kingdom, taking six years to completely suppress this uprising. Later, Tianfeng Kingdom’s population decreased, and they felt these foreign-surname slaves were a disaster, conducting ten years of… massacring the remaining people from other countries, until Tianfeng Kingdom’s new ruler ascended the throne. It was during those ten years… they nearly killed all the other ethnic groups except for the Tianfeng Kingdom people, completely clean.”

Bai Jinzhi was already furious beyond measure: “Elder Sister! Are these Tianfeng Kingdom people even human?”

Bai Qingyan’s expression was grave, her fingers lightly tapping the armrest in thought. A Tianfeng Kingdom with such a history had now entered Xiliang with its elephant army. With such bloodline inheritance in their bones, if war truly broke out, the people would certainly suffer.

And now, Great Zhou and Great Yan, with their vast fertile lands and rich mineral resources, had perhaps already become fat meat in Tianfeng Kingdom’s eyes.

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s appearance, Xiao Ruohai straightened his back and bowed to her: “Currently, Tianfeng Kingdom controls weapons very strictly throughout their territory, all being transported to Xiliang. This doesn’t look like they’re merely helping Xiliang!”