Seeing that Bai Qingyan was about to speak, Shen Kunyang’s face looked troubled as he raised his hand to stop her: “Forgive this subordinate’s boldness, but if Little Commander Bai were not pregnant, I, Shen Kunyang, would have no objections to such arrangements. However… now that Little Commander Bai is with child, your movements are already greatly inconvenient! If the Huoyun Army comes to attack the city… the consequences would be unthinkable!”

Shen Kunyang maintained a respectful demeanor as he said, “Shen Kunyang watched Little Commander Bai join the army, and Little Commander Bai was once under my command. You call me Uncle Shen, so today, Shen Kunyang presumes to be bold and refuses to accept this order. Out of fifteen thousand men, this subordinate will only take two thousand and leave. Otherwise, even if I must endure military punishment, I absolutely will not comply!”

Hearing Shen Kunyang’s words, a bittersweet warmth surged through Bai Qingyan’s heart. She said softly, “Uncle Shen, Li Zhijie is an extremely cunning and intelligent person. The Western Liang Empress and Yun Poxing are also no ordinary individuals. We must let them see that Pingyang City’s military strength is truly depleted before we can test whether they genuinely want to cooperate or have other ulterior motives!”

Upon hearing this, Shen Kunyang became even more anxious: “Even so, we cannot use Little Commander Bai as bait! We cannot risk your safety and that of your child!”

“Uncle Shen, please don’t worry…” Bai Qingyan softly consoled the agitated Shen Kunyang. “Shen Liangyu has already taken the Huying Army and is waiting less than three li outside Pingyang City. Xiao Ruohai… has already gone to deliver orders at this moment.”

The current Huying Camp was no longer the Huying Camp, but the Huying Army, having grown considerably…

Since they intended to deal with those impostor so-called Huoyun Army, naturally they had to let the genuine Huying Army take action.

Shen Kunyang was startled and looked toward Bai Qingyu.

Bai Qingyu smiled lightly and nodded. Not only Shen Liangyu… the Bai family’s second daughter, Assistant Ruler Bai Jinxiu, who was far away in Han City, had already set out for Pingyang City as well.

Even before Bai Qingyan had departed from the capital to come to Pingyang City, she had sent people to deliver secret letters to the Bai family’s third son, Bai Qingqi, who was far away at Qiushan Pass in Nan Jiang, and to her uncle, Dong Qingyue, in Dengzhou. She sent them information about elephants’ fear of cold and other intelligence, warning them not to be lulled by Tianfeng Kingdom’s friendly overtures, saying that a battle might break out on the Pingyang City front, and urging them to prepare in advance!

When Bai Qingyan arrived at Pingyang City and made up her mind to go to war with Tianfeng Kingdom, she again sent people to Nan Jiang and Dengzhou with letters, telling Bai Qingqi and Uncle Dong Qingyue that they would go to war with Tianfeng Kingdom on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month, asking them to prepare to catch Tianfeng Kingdom’s eastern elephant army off guard.

After severely damaging Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army and driving Tianfeng Kingdom away, the next step would be a full-scale attack on Western Liang.

The Bai family and the Bai family army would have their revenge. Not one of the Bai family’s sons or the Bai family army could be missing!

Far away at a camp three li outside Pingyang City, Shen Liangyu had a withered rice stalk in his mouth as he led several men on horseback atop a hillside. His hawk-like eyes gazed distantly toward Pingyang City, waiting only for Little Commander Bai’s order to slaughter that group of impostor Huying Army… Huoyun Army, to let them witness what the Bai family army’s Huying Army truly was—something Western Liang could never replicate.

Bai Qingyan looked at the detailed map drawn by Xiao Ruohai, her seemingly calm eyes churning with murderous intent: “This is the last chance I’m giving Western Liang! If they don’t want to cooperate properly… if they dare to make the first move, then we’ll settle new and old grievances together. Since they don’t want to wait until the three-year agreement expires, Great Zhou naturally cannot disappoint them and will certainly oblige!”

Only now did Shen Kunyang suddenly understand what Bai Qingyan’s troop deployment was for…

Bai Qingyan was making preparations for two scenarios!

The Huying Army was the backup that Bai Qingyan had arranged.

Bai Qingyan could set aside her hatred first and join with Western Liang to resist Tianfeng Kingdom, provided that Western Liang could truly submit to the Great Zhou rather than play dirty tricks behind the scenes.

If Western Liang played dirty tricks behind the scenes, then in this battle, while joining forces with Great Yan to attack Tianfeng Kingdom and giving Great Zhou the capability to divide its forces, Bai Qingyan would use the Huying Army to annihilate Western Liang’s Huoyun Army.

If Western Liang cooperated and was willing to submit obediently, then in this battle, she would not only ensure that Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army and elite forces were destroyed at Han Wenshan, but also ensure that the division led by Shen Kunyang… would guarantee that Western Liang’s Huoyun Army suffered losses to the point where they could no longer threaten Great Zhou.

Dealing with the Huoyun Army was to ensure Western Liang could not resist and would submit obediently.

Slaughtering Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army was to ensure Tianfeng could not continue fighting and could only retreat to Tianfeng Kingdom.

After all, training a war elephant was no overnight matter! Moreover, the financial and material resources expended were incalculable. Without its elephant army, Tianfeng Kingdom would be like a tiger with its fangs pulled—nothing to fear.

Bai Qingyu’s gaze was steady: “If Western Liang still cannot see clearly its strength at this point and foolishly tries to make trouble behind the scenes while Great Zhou is at war with Tianfeng Kingdom, we Great Zhou will first annihilate Tianfeng Kingdom’s war elephants, drive Tianfeng Kingdom back, then destroy Western Liang, and afterwards… mobilize all our forces against Tianfeng Kingdom.”

“I still have one concern!” Shen Kunyang frowned deeply. “What if Tianfeng Kingdom doesn’t act as Little Commander Bai predicted, still hoping to maintain good relations with Great Zhou, but instead decides to fight to the death and turns to exit through Pingdu City’s south gate toward Pingyang City?”

Shen Kunyang recalled last night when that giant elephant had only rammed once and the city gate was already tottering, his heart filled with apprehension: “Only thirty elephants came with the elephant army, yet even with our Great Zhou soldiers and Yan Kingdom joining forces, we still suffered heavy losses! That giant elephant only rammed the city gate once, and it became like that! With all our troops withdrawn, even if Pingyang City has the Huying Camp, I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold it!”

“Uncle Shen, first… we’ve proven that burning chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, and such can deal with giant elephants! Furthermore… I’ve already instructed Xiao Si to make sure to pack down and smooth the snow along the entire route. The pungent smell and slippery snowy ground are currently the most effective methods we’ve discovered for countering elephant armies!”

Seeing that Shen Kunyang was about to say more, Bai Qingyan had no choice but to reveal something she hadn’t wanted to mention: “Most importantly… the reason I dare bet that Tianfeng Kingdom won’t dare fight us to the death is because of a secret letter I received from Tianfeng Kingdom before departing from the capital to Pingyang City!”

Bai Jintong’s people had established trading companies in Tianfeng Kingdom under merchants’ identities, and Bai Jintong had left those experienced old stewards of the Bai family in Tianfeng Kingdom to gather intelligence. This time, they had indeed discovered extremely useful information. They had risked great danger to deliver the letter to Chen Qingsheng, who then passed it on to Bai Qingyan…

The letter stated that Tianfeng Kingdom’s Grand Shaman had received a divine oracle saying that the gods had already chosen a master for this land. If Tianfeng Kingdom initiated warfare on this land while this land’s master was still present, they would be punished by the gods. Afterwards, the Grand Shaman had vomited blood and fallen unconscious.

Later, the Grand Shaman’s eldest disciple rushed to Tianfeng Kingdom’s ruler, Sa’er Khan’s side, wanting to help Sa’er Khan find the master chosen by the gods for this land, kill this land’s master, and then begin plundering the territory.