Prepare for war at the northern border?

The moment Jun Beiyue said it, Yingzi was utterly stunned, completely unable to fathom what his lord had in mind.

He’d assumed Jun Beiyue had no intention of striking Dongqin—if he’d meant to act, he would have struck immediately after the naval battle, while the iron was still hot, and given the order right then and there.

Why wait until now? Dongqin was the weakest of all the powers—his lord didn’t even need to go personally; any one of the Three Tiger Generals could handle it single-handedly.

So why choose this exact moment, right as they were heading to Nanzhao, to finally give the order to march?

Yet Ziqing, curled up in his arms, saw it all with perfect clarity, silently marveling at just how ruthlessly calculating this man truly was!

The reason he hadn’t moved against Dongqin earlier was that he’d been wary of Xijing!

Da Zhou had learned that lesson the hard way before—back when chaos had struck the northern border, Xijing had seized the opportunity to mass troops along Da Zhou’s western frontier, and it had taken Jun Beiyue moving without rest, throwing nearly the entirety of Da Zhou’s forces into the fight at the time, to force Xijing’s army to retreat.

This time, Jun Beiyue wanted absolute, guaranteed victory.

Xichu still hadn’t recovered from its earlier devastating defeat. Xijing now faced the threat of Xiliang. On Da Zhou’s western front, there was virtually nothing left to fear—and to the south lay exactly where Jun Beiyue was personally headed, a place that could tolerate no mistakes.

As for the northeast—with the enemy already at the gate, was Jun Beiyue really going to just sit on his hands?

Now was, in fact, the perfect moment!

Jun Beiyue never fought a battle he wasn’t certain of winning, never fought anything but the battle with the least cost.

Dongqin, this time, had no hope of escape.

Ziqing lounged lazily in Jun Beiyue’s arms, unable to help glancing up at him, taking in the strong, handsome line of his clean-shaven jaw. She knew—the moment she’d been waiting for had finally come.

This man had given up so many opportunities for her sake, had slowed his pace, had even paused his own life’s ambitions entirely for a time.

He had always put her matters first, setting his own affairs second.

And yet, she had always known—he was no ordinary man. He harbored grand ambitions; one day, all of Longyuan would lie beneath his feet, every corner of the realm his to claim.

At last, he had begun.

This single command marked, in effect, the beginning of chaos across the realm.

In the west, he would wait for Xiliang and Xijing to exhaust each other, then reap the rewards as the third party. In the north, Xichu had barely enough strength left to defend its own northern border. Dongqin, before long, would be driven back to the frozen wastes of the far north to fend off the Xiongnu. To the east, across the vast ocean, Liuxian Island already stood under his banner. To the south, he himself was riding hard toward it now.

“My lord…” Yingzi hesitated, unable to understand why now, why Dongqin first.

“Go,” Jun Beiyue waved his hand, casual and unhurried, and yet that single light wave of his sleeve was enough to set off a storm that would sweep across the entire realm.

He lowered his head, gazing tenderly at Ziqing, gently caressing the half of the silvery-white mask covering her cheek, a warm smile curving his lips, his eyes brimming with a doting affection too deep to conceal.

They rode without stopping, and after some ten days, finally reached the border.

Perhaps, in this whole world, this was the one place where Jun Beiyue of Da Zhou couldn’t simply come and go as he pleased.

Crossing Da Zhou’s own borders was easy enough, but Nanzhao’s borders were not something one simply crossed at will, coming and going freely.

Yet Jun Beiyue’s arrival came without any prior notice at all, and under such circumstances, the border guard commander was thoroughly alarmed, uncertain whether to let him through.

By rights, even without a formal invitation, so long as he stated his purpose and had it reported to the Prince of Nanzhao, Da Zhou’s Prince Yao should have been allowed to pass.

Only now, because of the East Sea naval battle, the Empress of Dongqin had made the matter known across the whole of Longyuan, issuing a public condemnation of Da Zhou and demanding answers from Nanzhao, thoroughly provoking the Nanzhao royal family’s anger.

The Nanzhao royal house had never involved itself in the conflicts between the various states of Da Zhou’s sphere—now dragged into the mess against their will, their reputation for neutrality called into question, how could they not be eager to demand an explanation from Jun Beiyue?

Unfortunately, Jun Beiyue hadn’t so much as shown his face, let alone offered any response at all.

Well, now, at last, he had appeared.

“Prince Yao, perhaps… please rest tonight at the temporary palace, and allow this humble official to report to His Majesty first…” The commander didn’t dare finish the sentence.

Jun Beiyue paid him no mind, saying coldly, “The Prince of Nanzhao has sent letter after letter, urging this prince for an explanation. This prince has come today precisely to give one. What, not in such a hurry anymore? Or is it you who isn’t in a hurry?”

At those words, the commander nearly wet himself in fright. His Majesty had been so anxious he hadn’t slept properly for several nights running—it seemed that holding back Prince Yao now would bring consequences far too severe to bear!

“In a hurry! Please, Prince Yao, right this way—His Majesty is most anxious!” The guard had no choice but to let Jun Beiyue and his party through, hurriedly sending someone ahead to report.

But not long after Jun Beiyue crossed the border, word arrived from Mu Fusang, over by the lone island.

“Jiao Cha has been recalled to Nanzhao. A separate contingent of black merfolk troops has been sent to guard Qinse Sea Valley,” Ziqing murmured softly, her brow furrowing slightly.

“Do we know why he was recalled?” Jun Beiyue asked seriously.

“It’s said he left in a great hurry. By the time Mu Fusang arrived, he’d already been taken away. Nothing was said about the naval battle either,” the guard reported honestly.

As for the naval battle, though various rumors all pointed to the merfolk having lent their aid, the Empress of Dongqin’s public condemnation only fanned the flames further, directly affirming that it had been Nanzhao’s merfolk who had helped.

The Nanzhao merfolk clan chief had personally gone to investigate, but exactly what conclusion he’d reached remained unclear—rumors abounded, yet no definitive answer had ever surfaced.

This trip to Nanzhao was, in truth, an extremely delicate matter.

Beside them, both Yingzi and Physician Gu couldn’t help breaking into a cold sweat on their lord and lady’s behalf.

Setting everything else aside, if the Empress of Dongqin and Yelu Chenyi’s factions alone were to reveal the truth to the Prince of Nanzhao, the consequences would be nearly impossible to contain. Yet here their lord and lady were, riding hard straight toward Nanzhao without pause—wasn’t this practically throwing themselves into the net?

“My lord, once we’re past the checkpoint, this is Nanzhao territory!” Physician Gu couldn’t help but remind him. This wasn’t Akbaru—this was Nanzhao, and if the Prince of Nanzhao chose to make trouble, no one would be leaving easily.

The merfolk, the beast clan, and the medicine clan here, with their three schools of extraordinary arts, meant even the most formidable martial artists had to tread carefully.

Yet Jun Beiyue seemed entirely unconcerned. If he’d dared to come, he must already have made his preparations.

Ziqing was puzzled too. This man had said he was still searching for the lone island—surely that meant he hadn’t come to confront the Prince of Nanzhao outright. And he’d also said he had a gift for her. What exactly was this man scheming?

This time, even Ziqing couldn’t quite figure it out.

And yet, she wasn’t worried at all.

It was a particular kind of fearless security—with him here, even without understanding what was happening, she could feel completely at ease.

Ziqing glanced at Physician Gu, then lowered her head, absorbed once more in her sheet music. Throughout this journey, she’d occupied herself with only two things: studying musical scores, and combing through various geography texts in search of materials for making gunpowder.

The moment they’d returned to Da Zhou, they had restocked their supply of gunpowder—a weapon considered the most rudimentary in the modern world she remembered, yet the most extraordinary weapon on the continent of Longyuan. Naturally, it was something they always kept on hand.

Only, the quantity remained limited.

Ziqing thought to herself that someday, when Da Zhou had to face the Xiongnu head-on in the north, this weapon might well prove useful.