When still in the capital city, Murong Yan had already told Bai Qingyan that Murong Li was very much in favor of the merger of the two countries, and had even said he would perform a play with Murong Yan to convince his mother.

Was it because Murong Yan’s sister-in-law had learned of this matter beforehand? Bai Qingyan felt this possibility was rather unlikely. Both Murong Yan and Murong Li were naturally cautious people who would never let word leak out before they began taking action.

She recalled what Murong Yan had said today about staying to accompany her through New Year’s Eve, and her keen gaze dropped to rest on her abdomen…

Although Murong Yan and Murong Li would not let word leak out, if Murong Yan’s sister-in-law knew that he had once held the identity of Murong Yan, a wealthy Great Wei merchant, and had even used this identity to marry her, the Great Zhou Emperor, and have a child with her, she would probably feel uneasy in her heart, fearing that Murong Yan might find ways to bring the entire Yan Kingdom under his control for the sake of his flesh and blood.

Bai Qingyan turned back to look at Murong Yan, who was standing beside the map with his head tilted, saying something to Xie Xun. She wondered if she might be harboring petty suspicions. Murong Yan’s elder brother, Murong Yu, and his nephew were both people who could think of the common people. Especially since Murong Li had been raised so well, this must surely have an inseparable relationship with the Empress Dowager of Yan.

She folded Bai Jintong’s letter and handed it to Shen Qingzhu again: “Hold onto this for now…”

“Yes!” Shen Qingzhu responded.

Bai Qingyan picked up the teacup from the small table and took two sips. When she set the teacup down, the slight sound of porcelain touching the table caused Bai Qingyu to turn around. He looked at Bai Qingyan and asked: “How should we fight this next battle? Do you already have a plan in mind, elder sister?”

Bai Qingyan nodded and walked through the hanging curtains toward the map.

Sa’er Khan, who had fled to Quanya City with more than ten giant elephants, was now left without support and would surely head to rendezvous with the main elephant army led by Akxie.

“Let’s not worry about whether Li Tianjiao can be caught or not. If Sa’er Khan sends word to Akxie, telling him to bring the elephant army to rendezvous with him,” she stood before this enormous map, smiling as she spoke, “for us… this battle would become easier to fight!”

Murong Yan stood shoulder to shoulder with Bai Qingyan, looking at the map and saying: “You mean to use the terrain to fight another battle before they can rendezvous?”

“The elephant army led by Akxie is massive in number. If Sa’er Khan’s next step is to rendezvous with the elephant army, then his speed must be somewhat faster than that of the elephant army led by Akxie!” Bai Qingyan turned to look at Murong Yan and Bai Qingyu. “And if Akxie receives word that Sa’er Khan’s elephant army was ambushed in a mountain valley, what will he do?”

“Avoid the mountain valleys and choose the fastest route to rendezvous with Sa’er Khan.” Bai Qingyu raised his eyes to look at the map, the corners of his lips curving upward. “Send someone to ride swiftly to deliver a message to the third brother, have the third brother set up an ambush in the mountain valley once, to ensure that Akxie is forced not to dare take the mountain valleys again for speed.”

This coincided with what Bai Qingyan had been thinking. She nodded with a smile.

“Your Majesty… General Shen Liangyu and General Cheng Yuanzhi have returned!” Wei Zhong said in a low voice outside the door.

“Please have General Shen and General Cheng come in.”

Bai Qingyan stepped forward two paces to greet them. She saw Shen Liangyu and Cheng Yuanzhi enter, both covered in the cold air of wind and snow. After the two men paid their respects to Bai Qingyan, Shen Liangyu said: “Your Majesty, this subject has failed Your Majesty’s trust. Although we eliminated the remaining Huoyun Army in Lai’an Mountain, we failed to capture Li Tianjiao and let her escape. Later, when we captured Li Tianjiao’s palace maid, we learned that after Yun Poxing set out, Li Tianjiao had already left Lai’an Mountain with the feverish Li Zhijie to seek medical treatment. The maid didn’t know which city they had gone to for treatment. General Cheng and I followed the traces left behind and pursued them for a whole night, but still couldn’t bring them back!”

“It doesn’t matter.” Bai Qingyan instructed Wei Zhong to prepare hot soup and food for Cheng Yuanzhi and Shen Kunyang, and also had someone fetch a military physician to bandage Cheng Yuanzhi’s wounds. “You should rest first. Today is New Year’s Eve… let’s have a good New Year first!”

After watching the two men acknowledge the order and withdraw, she calculated Li Tianjiao’s current options. Now that Sa’er Khan’s elephant army had suffered losses, and Li Tianjiao had already torn her face with Great Zhou, she might seek cooperation with Yan Kingdom, or she might directly return to Yunjing to rally the eight great families, taking advantage of Great Zhou and Yan Kingdom fighting with Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army to pursue her schemes.

She turned to look at Murong Yan: “Great Zhou and Yan Kingdom agreed that each would fight their own battles while sharing battle reports, so… after New Year’s Eve, our Great Zhou will divide our forces into two routes. I will lead one route to depart for the area south of the Great Zhou-Xiliang border to rendezvous with the Bai Family Army and engage in battle with the elephant army in Akxie’s hands. General Shen Kunyang will lead the other route across the Danshui River to attack Quanya City and then advance on Yunjing.”

She paced to stand before Murong Yan, saying: “Yesterday, Xiliang sent the Huoyun Army to attack Pingyang City, already tearing their face with the Great Zhou. The next step might be to go to the Yan Kingdom to seek peace or request aid. What does your Yan Kingdom plan to do?”

“Since Yan Kingdom has already allied with Great Zhou, naturally, we will not be fickle in our loyalties.” Murong Yan’s gaze swept across the map as he looked at Bai Qingyan. “Yan Kingdom’s reinforcements are already on the road and can reach Quanzhou tomorrow. Now Great Yan has one hundred thousand troops at hand. After leaving behind garrison forces and crossing the Danshui River, we will advance eastward along the Danshui River, joining with Great Zhou to face Tianfeng Kingdom’s elephant army head-on.”

Xie Xun nodded in agreement. After Great Zhou and Yan Kingdom formed their alliance, they had shown such righteousness, and moreover, the Bai family had been a military family for generations with their reputation well established. Compared to cooperating with the vacillating Xiliang, a general like Xie Xun would certainly prefer to join forces and ally with the Great Zhou.

Murong Yan walked to the map, pointed to Quanzhou’s location, then indicated toward Yunjing: “This prince will immediately send Xie Xun to lead troops back to Mengcheng, and dispatch someone to Quanzhou to deliver a message, having the Yan army depart from Quanzhou and advance on Yunjing!”

After Xie Xun nodded, he had a realization and asked: “Your Highness, I’m to lead troops back to Mengcheng? What about you?”

Murong Yan turned to look at Xie Xun: “After the two kingdoms formed their alliance, this prince still has some matters to discuss with the Zhou Emperor. You lead the troops back first…”

“Ninth Prince, today is New Year’s Eve. Let’s set all our affairs aside. After all, the Yan Emperor is still in Mengcheng. The Ninth Prince should return to accompany the Yan Emperor, so the whole family can properly celebrate New Year’s Eve together. With the former Yan Emperor no longer present, there’s no reason for you, as his uncle, to let the Yan Emperor spend New Year’s Eve alone.” Bai Qingyan said with a smile.

Murong Yan turned back to look at Bai Qingyan in surprise. Seeing Bai Qingyan nod at him, he knew that Bai Qingyan deliberately wanted him to return to Mengcheng, and she had emphasized the words “whole family.”

He had already told Bai Qingyan about his sister-in-law’s having arrived in Mengcheng. With her always keen mind, she had probably sensed his low spirits and was worried that he and his sister-in-law had some conflict, which was why she was urging him to return for New Year’s Eve.

Murong Yan understood his sister-in-law’s heartache—she worried that in the future, he would pull Murong Li from the throne for the sake of the child in Bai Qingyan’s womb. If he stayed today to accompany A’Bao, it would probably make his sister-in-law’s heartache even worse. A’Bao was worried about him.