Wandering the Heavens

After leaving Yingzhou, the army headed northward, capturing several important towns along the way, including Mengyang, Jinkou, Yueguan, Liuying, and Yu Shui. In the mobile warfare, they annihilated most of the garrison troops and set up camp fifteen miles south of Yechang City in early February.

Upon seeing this, Helian Xiong issued an edict to assist the king and drew 30,000 imperial troops from the six counties of Wuchuan to support Yechang. At the same time, all garrison troops changed their routes to Yechang, determined to annihilate this cavalry that had penetrated deep into the border outside the city of Yechang.

However, Mu Nihuang and Yu Xian unexpectedly took the initiative to attack, and a fierce battle broke out between Wuchuan and Yechang, and the 30,000 imperial troops were annihilated. Then the cavalry turned eastward, annihilated the imperial troops they encountered one by one, and continued to attack eastward away from Yechang, passing Daye, Yangning, Yuezhou, and finally reaching Yishan, an important town east of Yu State, and entering Donghai State.

When the cavalry was wreaking havoc in the territory of Yu State, the commander of Qiuling Pass took the initiative to attack and annihilated the garrison led by Commander Nalan Xun at the entrance of Qiu Shui Gorge. Seeing this, Helian Yi used the excuse of serving the king to evacuate Xuchuan with his troops away from the border of Liang State.

If they didn't have this incident, the memory of that night when Yu Xian scolded them so badly would become a lifelong shame and shadow for them.

Soon after the Imperial Army withdrew from the defense line, Ye Qin assembled a large army and attacked Yu State in the east. Three of the six counties of Wuchuan, the birthplace of Yu State, fell into the hands of Ye Qin, and Yu State's national strength was greatly reduced. Later, in order to maintain the loyalty of the Imperial Army, they had to pay a huge price to redeem the 30,000 Imperial Army soldiers captured by Liang State.

In Boyang, the capital of the East Sea Kingdom, Mu Nihuang and Yu Xian joined forces with the navy led by Xiao Jingrui and Yuwen Xuan.

Xiao Jingrui and Yuwen Xuan had already destroyed the Donghai Kingdom at this moment, and were waiting for Jinling to send people to take charge and deal with post-war matters. However, they did not expect that Mu Nihuang and Yu Xian would actually bring tens of thousands of cavalry all the way here. The two were shocked by Yu Xian's madness.

After settling the cavalry, they came to the welcoming banquet specially prepared for them.

"Sister Nihuang, Mr. Yu! I thought it was crazy enough for my brothers and I to lead the navy and rely on dozens of sea merchants to sail into the sea to the north to attack the East China Sea Kingdom. Who could have thought that you would actually lead tens of thousands of cavalry deep into the enemy's territory as if there was no one there? I, Xiao Jingrui, am convinced!" Xiao Jingrui raised his glass to toast the two of them.

“Princess Nihuang, this is what’s happening. My cousin Yuwen Nian and the young Prince Mu are in love with each other, but it’s not easy for her as a girl to speak up…” Yuwen Xuan ignored this matter.

Xiao Jingrui became unhappy when he heard this. He and Mu Qing were good brothers, but now this guy wanted to be his brother-in-law!

"Nihuang also heard about this before the expedition. When we return to Jinling, we will definitely send an envoy to the State of Chu to propose marriage. I hope Your Majesty will say a good word for me!"

Mu Nihuang thought that her younger brother should get married. Xia Dong said that Yuwen Nian was a good girl and that she had met her several times in Jinling. She didn't know how many generations of blessings her younger brother had accumulated to win the favor of this girl.

"Sister Nihuang, Mu Qing and I are brothers! He actually wants to be my brother-in-law." Xiao Jingrui looked quite aggrieved.

"Come to think of it, you and Yu Jin haven't started a family yet. Your Majesty, do you know if there is any suitable girl in Chu?" Mu Nihuang put down her wine glass.

"Don't worry, Princess. When we return to Chu, Yuwen Xuan will definitely ask about it in detail." Yuwen Xuan was also concerned about the situation of his cousin.

My uncle Yuwenlin is very good to me, but his health is getting worse and worse. If I don’t arrange the marriages of my cousins now, how can I repay his care for me?

After the welcoming banquet, Yu Xian became busy. He locked himself in the room and kept writing, which made Mu Nihuang and others very nervous.

When Yu Xian appeared in front of Mu Nihuang again, Mu Nihuang was almost frightened. He looked much more haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, and the room was filled with all kinds of crumpled up drafts.

"Princess, please bring in a brazier." Yu Xian's voice sounded a little weak.

"Sir, you should take a few days' rest first!" Mu Nihuang looked at Yu Xian sorting the bound books and felt a little overwhelmed.

"There is no time left. I am leaving soon. These are the strategies I have compiled. If we can achieve half of them, we will have a chance to unify the world within 30 years! Please, my lady, give these to the young prince."

Yu Xian put the books into a special box, locked it and handed the key to Mu Nihuang. It looked like he was arranging his funeral affairs.

"Sir, can't you wait until I ascend the throne?" Mu Nihuang couldn't help but panic.

"I want to, but I can't help myself!" Yu Xian said with a wry smile.

He still had a lot of things to do here, but time did not allow it. Mu Nihuang did not expect that someone as powerful as Yu Xian would say something like "he had no choice".

"Mr. Yu, the world peace you want to see has not yet begun!" Mu Nihuang shed tears.

"People! There will always be some regrets."

Yu Xian collected the discarded manuscripts on the floor and placed them in the brazier brought by his personal guards, then set it on fire. The blazing fire illuminated the entire room. Yu Xian had always wanted to personally lead his troops to eliminate the separatist regimes on this land, but he had to leave. This was his first mission failure.

Mu Nihuang's eyes were covered with tears again. She saw Yu Xian burn all the waste manuscripts, then sit at the desk and raise his hand to take a sip of tea, but his body suddenly became transparent and finally disappeared. The teacup fell to the floor, and the tea seeped into the cloth pad underneath.

If it weren't for the cloth mat soaked in tea, Mu Nihuang would have thought that this person had never appeared.

He came suddenly and left unexpectedly.

Yu Xian felt that he had failed, but in fact he had succeeded because of the defenders of Qiuling Pass and the Qingli Army that had been waiting for atonement.

This world does not exist for a certain person. NPCs should also have their own value. When their self-awareness awakens, it will be time for Yu Xian to leave.

In Jinling, Qin Banruo felt as if something was missing in her life. Ever since that man led his army deep into the enemy's territory, she had not slept well for a single day. When the Military Intelligence Department reported back that he had led his army safely to Donghai County, she was extremely excited in her heart.

But now my heart was empty and tears were falling uncontrollably.

A month and a half later, she did not find him among the army returning to the capital, only a letter handed over by Mu Nihuang.

"What you care about most is world peace, so Prajna will definitely protect it for you!" Qin Prajna lit the letter, and her affectionate gaze gradually became colder along with the flame.

For more than 30 years thereafter, the Military Intelligence Department became the nightmare of all countries. Qin Prajna was the most ferocious falcon. She would stop at nothing to unify the world, and any factors that hindered the unification were wiped out by her bloody means.

Mu Qing, with the military merits of attacking Yu State and destroying Donghai State, took over the government from Ji Wang, who had been the regent, and named himself the regent. After that, he carried out a drastic reorganization of the Liang State's military system. During this period, Qin Prajna's Military Intelligence Department took strong measures to clear all obstacles for the military system reform.

Three years later, the military reform was completed, and all military and political power of Liang State was returned to the Regent Mu Qing. In the same year, he issued a call for talents to the world, and countless scholars from poor families flocked to Jinling to take the imperial examinations.

A year later, the case of treason broke out. A scholar from the State of Yu who passed the imperial examination sent the secrets of the State of Liang to the State of Yu through merchants, but was intercepted by the Military Intelligence Department.

The State of Liang declared war on the State of Yu. The regent led an army of 200,000 and destroyed the once powerful State of Yu in half a year.

In the same year, Regent Mu Qing accepted the abdication and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the Wei Kingdom. He named Yuwen Nian as the empress and Mu Nihuang as the eldest princess guarding the country.

At the coronation ceremony, Mu Qing swore that the Mu royal family would always treat the Xiao family with favor, and that future generations would not intentionally harm any member of the Xiao family unless they had violated the law.

In the 20th year of Emperor Gaozu of Wei, the State of Yan was destroyed by the army led by Yan Yujin, who then joined forces with Xiao Jingrui and headed west to destroy Ye Qin.

In the 30th year of Emperor Gaozu of Wei, after ten years of negotiations, the royal family of Chu presented its jade seal, maps and lists, and was incorporated into Wei. The Emperor of Wei was crowned with the emperor of Chu. After that, the Emperor of Wei who ascended the throne had to also wear the crown of Chu to be considered legitimate.

On this day, Princess Zhenguo fell ill in the princess's mansion. She passed away in the celebration of her brother's unification of the world, a world that had finally come to peace.

The person who saw her for the last time at this moment was Qin Banruo, who had been in charge of the Military Intelligence Department for thirty years. She seemed to have the secret to maintaining her youthful appearance. Except for her hair turning gray over the years, her face seemed to be the same as it was thirty years ago.

"Prajna, do you think he has a heart? He just left without even glancing at us."

"He has a big heart, and we can't do anything except slow him down."

"He is so cruel, so cruel..." As Mu Nihuang spoke, the light in her eyes gradually dissipated, and her eyes closed the moment the light disappeared.

"If you see him, tell me in your dream, and I will die and go find him to see if he is really so heartless!"

Looking at Mu Nihuang who passed away peacefully, Qin Banruo shed tears.