“The reason we fight wars is not for the momentary pleasure of killing. These are words that grandfather taught us day after day… we must never forget!” Bai Qingjue placed his large hand on Bai Jinzhi’s head. “When we no longer have any wars to fight, that will be when the world is at peace. That’s what we should look forward to most.”

The sea breeze tousled Bai Jinzhi’s hair. She looked up at her brother, and after a long moment, looked toward her elder sister who stood at the bow with her hands behind her back, then nodded: “Seventh Brother, I understand. Don’t worry.”

If there were no wars, Prince Hancheng wouldn’t have died, and elder sister wouldn’t feel guilty in her heart because… Prince Hancheng had given her absolute loyalty, but the trust she gave in return had elements of calculated strategy mixed in.

This time, bringing Prince Hancheng’s remains home, it was the elder sister who personally led people to dress Prince Hancheng in battle armor, place him in the coffin, and have Prince Hancheng’s coffin placed on the warship that the elder sister was traveling on.

The naval officers and soldiers weren’t afraid at all, because that was their Prince Hancheng. The fact that His Majesty was willing to personally escort Prince Hancheng’s remains home moved them deeply. They felt that Prince Hancheng’s loyalty hadn’t been misplaced. Regardless of what Prince Hancheng had sacrificed for, dead people… were generally considered unlucky by outsiders. The fact that their Majesty was willing to travel on the same ship as Prince Hancheng and escort him home was sufficient proof of His Majesty’s deep sense of loyalty and righteousness.

“Elder sister… after we return this time, I’m afraid we still need to prepare for the possibility that Yan might not honor the wager agreement after three years!” Bai Qingjue spoke slowly. “This time, Yan agreed to his elder sister’s national wager because they were seeking survival in desperate circumstances, but three years is enough time for them to catch their breath. I’m afraid that when the time comes…”

“No matter how much underhanded scheming the two countries engage in, the Murong clan as the imperial family… when Great Zhou holds all the advantages, they used the lives of the people and soldiers as justification to announce to the world their national wager with our Great Zhou. If they lose but still want to fight desperately with soldiers’ lives, their imperial dignity won’t allow it.” Bai Qingyan’s brows carried a smile.

Liu Rushi, standing nearby, also smiled and said: “Moreover, Your Majesty instructed us back then not to completely swallow up all the Xiliang territories. Since Yan used the lives of the people and soldiers to force our Great Zhou into this national wager, our Great Zhou… naturally said when making the treaty with Yan that they wouldn’t be allowed to abandon the lives of the former Xiliang people who had become Yan citizens. This would force Yan to divide their troops to Xiliang when their military strength is insufficient, so if fighting breaks out, as long as Wei Bugong can provide full support, there won’t be any major problems.”

Previously, Liu Rushi hadn’t understood why Bai Qingyan wouldn’t let them take the territories that Yan had delivered to their doorstep. Later… seeing how Yan struggled with troop deployment when attacking Dongyi this time, Liu Rushi understood.

After Bai Qingyan smiled and nodded to Liu Rushi, she said to Bai Qingjue: “Shen Tianzhi… is also skilled at leading troops, someone who can work miracles from decay. Now that he has a large army in his hands… if Yan tries to renege, they won’t get any advantage from Shen Tianzhi!”

Not to mention, Yan still had Jintong there.

Bai Qingjue didn’t know much about Shen Tianzhi. Seeing his elder sister’s lips part slightly, he knew this Shen Tianzhi was the escape route that Uncle Bai Qishan had left for the Bai family in Shouyang, which was why Shen Tianzhi had always remained in Shouyang. But skilled at leading troops?

However, since my elder sister said so, it must be true. Bai Qingjue never doubted his elder sister.

“Elder sister successfully launched the Great Zhou’s national bonds, and this battle brought back so much compensation from Dongyi. Shouldn’t we give some to those who previously bought Great Zhou’s national bonds?” Bai Jinzhi asked. “Especially those in Yan territories who bought Great Zhou’s national bonds – we should let them know the benefits of Great Zhou!”

“Excess is as bad as deficiency.” Bai Qingyan spoke slowly, turning to look at Bai Jinzhi. “Whatever interest we promised for Great Zhou’s national bonds, that’s what we’ll give. This time, we won a victory in Dongyi and received compensation, so we distributed it to the people. But what about next time? Or after we win the national wager, when Great Zhou continues to issue national bonds, will those who bought them hope for the country to go to war again so they can profit from it?”

Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, Bai Jinzhi’s face immediately showed complete understanding.

“Since we’re just beginning to implement Great Zhou’s national bonds, whatever the standard is should remain the standard, and this will be the standard for the future, so… we must not get carried away, Fourth Sister!” Bai Jinse looked up at her fourth sister with a serious expression of instruction.

Although Bai Jinzhi had been lectured by her little seventh sister, she wasn’t angry at all. She reached out to pat Bai Jinse’s head: “I understand! From now on, I’ll think more about everything and not be lazy about using my brain just because my elder sister and brother are here!”

Jiang Huaisheng noticed a fast ship flying the Great Zhou’s banner rapidly approaching their Great Zhou naval fleet from a distance. He immediately came to report to Bai Qingyan: “Your Majesty, there’s a fast ship with Great Zhou’s banner approaching.”

“Mm, send someone to ask if there’s any urgent report.” Bai Qingyan was somewhat worried.

What kind of matter would require the Great Zhou to dispatch a fast ship to Dongyi to deliver a message?

In the Great Zhou’s court, there were A’Yu, A’Qi, Jinxiu, Grand Commandant Lu, and others. Generally speaking, unless something extremely significant had happened that they found difficult to decide on, they would handle it themselves without needing to send anyone.

“Yes!” Jiang Huaisheng immediately sent people to inquire about the fast ship from Great Zhou.

Before long, the fast ship that had gone out from the naval fleet returned together with the fast ship from Great Zhou’s direction, and with them was Grand Commandant Lu’s grandson, Lu Yuanqing.

Lu Yuanpeng was leisurely leaning against the doorframe, looking smugly at Sima Ping while gnawing on an apple he had snatched from Sima Ping’s hands, when he saw his cold-faced brother appear out of nowhere on their warship with the naval soldiers, those chilly eyes looking precisely in his direction.

Lu Yuanpeng almost instinctively straightened up, stuffed the apple in his hand entirely into his mouth, and originally wanted to show his brother an obedient smile, but with his mouth bulging full of apple, his smile looked worse than crying.

Even Sima Ping properly straightened up, put his hands behind his back, and showed Lu Yuanqing a respectful expression.

Lu Yuanqing frowned deeply, pointed at Lu Yuanpeng with his finger, then withdrew his gaze and walked in Bai Qingyan’s direction.

“This situation isn’t right. Your brother… this serious expression means something big must have happened in the court!” Sima Ping couldn’t help but comment as he watched Lu Yuanqing’s retreating figure.

Hearing Sima Ping say this, Lu Yuanpeng suddenly felt a surge of nervousness rushing to the top of his head. Sima Ping was always clever, and what he said was usually close to the mark.

Counting the days, for his brother to rush from the capital and nearly reach Dongyi’s borders, the incident should have occurred at least half a month or even a month after they had just departed from the capital!