The Tianfeng general glanced behind Bai Jinzhi and Shen Qingzhu before continuing, “Great Zhou has surrounded the city with heavy troops. They surely won’t withdraw until they achieve a satisfactory negotiation. There’s no need to worry about us playing any tricks! Our envoys are also beneath Pingdu City, backed by our Tianfeng elephant army, which gives them more confidence and makes things fairer for both sides. Don’t you think so, High Justice?”

Bai Jinzhi put on a thoughtful expression, then, after a long while, said, “You… just wait here and don’t move! I’ll also stay put right here! I’ll send someone back to ask my eldest sister and Lord Liu. This back and forth will take some time! If you move, I’ll consider it as you backing out!”

“Very well, but… this foreign minister must send someone to inform my king!” the Tianfeng general said.

“Fine! Go ahead!” Bai Jinzhi waved magnanimously.

Soon, Tianfeng soldiers climbed onto Pingdu City’s walls and reported to Sa’er Khan the results negotiated between their general and Great Zhou’s High Justice.

Sa’er Khan, who had been leaning against the city wall with both hands, chuckled softly, straightened up, and rubbed the jade cicada in his hand.

“If they’re willing to negotiate… it means Great Zhou’s original intention was to talk. However, deploying such a massive force suggests the price they want won’t be low!” said the great shaman’s disciple.

“Whatever Great Zhou wants, we’ll give it! Except for our elephant army… we must maintain good relations with the Great Zhou above all! Besides, the land we’re giving away isn’t Tianfeng’s anyway!” After Sa’er Khan finished speaking, he turned and walked down from the city wall, no longer taking Great Zhou’s siege seriously.

The great shaman’s disciple followed Sa’er Khan. “But if Great Yan hears the news and dares to come surround the city demanding benefits, should we give them or not…”

“If they want Xiliang’s land and cities, tell them… as long as they can take it themselves, Tianfeng won’t interfere. Tianfeng only wants to lease fertile farmland suitable for cultivation from the Great Zhou and Great Yan!” After Sa’er Khan finished, he added, “However, just to be safe, let’s first withdraw some forces from the north gate to Quanya City on the north side of the Danshui River! In case the Great Zhou starts a war and the Great Yan also comes to stir up trouble, it would be disadvantageous for us! Order the soldiers to prepare – first take a batch of elephant army to withdraw!”

“Yes!” The great shaman’s disciple responded, then added, “I feel uneasy. Perhaps… Your Majesty should leave first!”

Sa’er Khan shook his head, gripping the jade cicada and rubbing it back and forth: “I’m not in a hurry. I must stay in Pingdu City to show the Great Zhou our Tianfeng’s sincerity. Let the elephant army carrying supplies go first!”

Sa’er Khan thought for a moment, narrowing his eyes: “Let… one-third go first to cross the river to Quanya City to prepare. Keep the movement small – don’t let the Great Zhou know. Consider it a precaution! By the way… have the scouts monitoring Yan’s movements returned to report any unusual Yan army activity?”

The great shaman’s disciple shook his head.

“Although the Yan army shows no movement currently, this subordinate believes Your Majesty should still leave first!” The great shaman’s disciple was still worried. “I can stay behind!”

Sa’er Khan waved his hand: “Since the Yan army has made no moves, I’m betting Great Zhou won’t dare start a war – they just want benefits! If they want land… just have Li Tianfu stamp and give it to them! Besides… Xiliang doesn’t have much fertile land anyway. For our Tianfeng, giving it away poses no problem. What’s most important is obtaining the fertile lands of Great Zhou and Yan.”

When Li Tianfu received news of the Great Zhou’s siege, he was initially extremely excited. Later, Tianfeng generals assembled a portion of the elephant army to withdraw from Pingdu City’s north gate.

Li Tianfu anxiously went to find Sa’er Khan, but Sa’er Khan refused to see Li Tianfu. Instead, worried that this madman Li Tianfu would cause trouble, he simply placed him under house arrest.

Bai Qingyu and Xie Yuchang had just led their men to ambush positions at the southern entrance of Hanwen Mountain. Before they could properly prepare, sentries spotted torches approaching from afar and immediately reported back. Bai Qingyu ordered Great Zhou soldiers to put down their preparations and immediately take cover.

Soon, Tianfeng scouts carrying torches entered Hanwen Mountain canyon through the southern entrance. Bai Qingyu and Xie Yuchang ordered their soldiers to hold their positions…

Those few Tianfeng scouts passed through Hanwen Mountain canyon and galloped back.

With his rich combat experience, Bai Qingyu knew these were scouts coming to survey the route… meaning Tianfeng’s elephant army was about to arrive!

But this timing was clearly before Bai Jinzhi’s scheduled attack on the city. Could Tianfeng be withdrawing early?

If Tianfeng truly retreated in a while, whether to attack or not became a major question.

Bai Qingyu ordered to temporarily hold positions and first see how many elephant troops came before deciding. He also sent Xiao Ruohai to coordinate with Shen Kunyang…

If Tianfeng’s main force retreated, once Tianfeng’s elephant army entered the canyon, they would immediately seal both exits, absolutely not allowing Tianfeng’s elephant army to escape the canyon completely intact.

If it was a small-scale withdrawal, or even a probing retreat… to avoid affecting the overall situation, they could only let them pass first.

At the same time, Bai Qingyu sent people to deliver messages to Pingyang City and to Bai Jinzhi, and also sent people to Great Yan, informing them of Tianfeng sending scouts to survey routes, urging Yan to deploy troops and not wait until tomorrow morning to act.

However, before Bai Qingyu’s soldiers sent to Mengcheng to inform Yan reached Yan territory, they had already encountered Murong Yan and Xie Xun leading the Yan army.

Before leading the Yan army out, Murong Yan had already sent people to ambush on the fastest route from Mengcheng to Pingdu City, killing all of Tianfeng’s scouts preparing to deliver messages.

Now hearing Bai Qingyu’s subordinate’s report that Tianfeng was making moves, Murong Yan immediately sent messages to Bai Jinzhi and Bai Qingyu, promising to block Pingdu City’s north and west gates within half an hour.

Xie Xun and Murong Yan split their forces. Murong Yan led thirty thousand soldiers through the snow to surround Pingdu City’s north gate, while Xie Xun led fifty thousand soldiers straight to the west gate.

The Yan army’s arrival was so fast that Tianfeng was caught completely off guard. Just as Tianfeng soldiers and one-third of the elephant army were fully equipped and preparing to retreat but hadn’t yet departed, Sa’er Khan received news that the Yan army was almost at the west gate.

The Tianfeng sentries monitoring Yan’s movements hadn’t reported in advance, suggesting they were already dead.

The great shaman’s disciple felt his unease growing stronger: “Our sentries were likely eliminated beforehand. Yan came prepared!”

The great shaman’s disciple turned to look at Sa’er Khan, who sat before the brazier with a cold expression: “Perhaps Great Yan and Great Zhou, knowing the power of our elephant army, have joined forces to deal with our elephant army! Your Majesty… while Great Zhou hasn’t attacked the city yet, let’s break out through the south gate, cross Danshui River, and rendezvous with General Akxie!”

“Would Great Zhou and Yan dare?” Sa’er Khan gritted his teeth, his eyes showing disdain. “Akxie leads our Tianfeng’s main elephant force. For them to mobilize the full strength of two nations just to deal with this small portion of our elephant army – aren’t they afraid of Akxie’s retaliation? Aren’t they afraid of our Tianfeng fighting them to mutual destruction?”