The prince stepped on me to get to the top, I angrily flirted with the enemy's hostage

The days alternate between the scorching sunlight of Chiya City and the cool moonlight at night.

The side hall where Su Rou was located seemed to have become a forgotten corner in the royal court. It was silent, with only the sound of turning pages and the occasional suppressed cough.

The wounds on her body gradually healed, and the broken ribs no longer caused excruciating pain when she moved, but the inner weakness and the deathly tightness in her throat still followed her like a shadow.

The books that were sent to him filled the desk and the corners.

Su Rou buried her head in it, like a thirsty traveler in the desert, madly absorbing the sweet spring water.

Not only did she read, she also took notes with great difficulty using the paper and pen that Andre had sent.

She had never worked so hard in two consecutive lifetimes!

Even when I was in private school.

The rough pages were gradually filled with symbolic maps and relationship networks that only she could fully understand.

The geographical dangers of the east, the old feuds between tribes, the distribution of water sources and pastures, even the personalities and quirks of the leaders of several major tribes, and the names of their favorite concubines...

Those seemingly disorganized travelogues and boring archival records became pieces of a puzzle in her eyes.

She tried to find the thread that could affect the entire situation.

The cold-faced female guard named "Aman" is still Su Rou's most direct guard and contact person.

He silently brought the food and medicine and took away the paper covered with Su Rou's handwriting.

Those insignificant reading notes or wish lists will also bring sporadic information from the outside world into this silence.

Through the occasional words revealed by Aman and the changes in the items sent, Su Rou could feel that the atmosphere in the royal court was gradually changing.

The number of patrols by the guards increased, the footsteps of the palace servants became more hurried, and the sounds of drills coming from the distant training ground became more frequent and louder.

All signs indicate that Andre's return is near.

When the summer heat was at its peak, a sudden commotion was heard outside the palace, mixed with the familiar and arrogant voice of the Nineteenth Princess.

"Get out of the way! This princess wants to see what she's up to in there all day!"

The curtain was roughly opened, and Princess Nineteen rushed in with heat and impatience.

She seemed to have just come back from outside. Her cheeks were slightly red from the sun, there was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and her gorgeous riding clothes were stained with a little sand and dust.

Su Rou was working at her desk, sketching a crude map of the eastern water system. Upon hearing the voice, she raised her head and looked at the person who came calmly.

Princess Nineteen glanced at the books that filled the room and the papers spread out on the desk. Seeing the densely packed unfamiliar words and patterns on them, her eyes flashed with undisguised contempt and doubt.

She walked a few steps to the desk and picked up a picture that Su Rou had just drawn.

"What the hell are these?" she muttered, clearly unable to understand the abstract markings for water sources and the divisions of tribal spheres of influence. "Hey, what's the point of looking at all this all day? Are you planning to lead the troops to fight Wumuhan? Alie won't give you any more troops, and now that Alie is gone, don't even think about leaving here without me."

Su Yu put down his pen and was not angry at her behavior.

Just quietly looking at Princess Nineteen? Then he extended his index finger and gently tapped a certain point on the water system map.

Princess Nineteen looked in the direction of her fingertips and saw an oasis point marked with a special symbol.

He frowned, feeling that it looked familiar.

Su Rou pushed over another piece of paper, on which was written the name of a tribe in simple desert language.

"Tahrhun".

Ashletana's expression changed slightly.

The Tarhun tribe, a medium-sized tribe in the east, is famous for its abundant fine horses and brave warriors. It is also one of the tribes with the most ambiguous attitude and constant friction with Wumuhan.

More importantly, she vaguely remembered that an old female official who served her mother and seemed to be from the Tarhun tribe had once mentioned the core oasis on which the tribe depended for survival, which was shaped like a crescent moon...

And next to the oasis symbol that Su Rou pointed her finger at was a crescent moon marked with very fine strokes!

"How...how do you know about the Holy Spring Oasis of the Tarhun tribe?" Princess Nineteen suddenly looked up, her eyes full of shock and disbelief.

This information wasn't exactly top secret within the tribe, but it wasn't something outsiders could easily learn either. How could this southern woman, who never left her house and spent her days reading idle books, possibly know this?!

And it's drawn so precisely?!

Su Rou did not respond to her shock, but slowly pushed the third piece of paper over.

There are several pieces of information listed above:

[The elder of the Tarhun tribe, a favorite concubine, was born in a merchant family and has a deep love for Suzhou embroidery and porcelain.]

[His eldest son was engaged to the youngest daughter of the leader of the neighboring Hezhe tribe, but due to a dispute over the division of pastures, the wedding had been delayed for two years.]

Last winter, Wumuhan's men forcibly requisitioned a hundred war horses from Tarhun, offering only furs as compensation. The Tarhun elders were furious and refused to meet with Wumuhan's envoys.

These trivial pieces of information may not be important when viewed individually, but when Su Rou clearly lists them together, they vaguely point to a possibility -

The Tarhun tribe and the Umuhan tribe are not united, and there are even some rifts between them!

"Where did you see this?"

Su Rou picked up a pen and slowly wrote on the blank space of the paper: [The answer is in the book, it just depends on whether you can find it. Princess, do you think this information can be of any use to your A Lie?]

Her eyes were calm, as if she was just discussing an academic issue.

Ashletana opened her mouth, but couldn't speak for a moment.

Although she is politically simple-minded, she is not completely stupid.

The insight and analytical ability behind what Su Rou displayed so casually made her instinctively frightened.

This woman's face has been ruined, and her family background is also very good. Ali brought her back, and she actually still has a brain!

At this moment, outside the hall suddenly came the heavy and orderly sound of horse hooves and the loud sound of trumpets coming from far away!

Woo——woo——woo——

That is the highest standard welcome horn in the royal court!

It will only be blown on important occasions or when... the king returns!

Princess Nineteen suddenly came back to her senses, with surprise instantly appearing on her face, "Alie is back!"

Without bothering to explore Su Rou's secret any further, she hurried out with her skirt lifted up, like a startled butterfly.

Su Rou's hand holding the pen trembled slightly, and the ink dot spread out a small shadow on the paper.

She slowly put down her pen, stood up, walked to the window, and looked out through the exquisitely carved window lattice.

I saw a slight cloud of dust rising from the direction of the palace gate, and the wolf-head banner symbolizing royal power was fluttering in the wind.

A team of elite cavalrymen with shining helmets and armor, looking fierce and fierce, were guarding a tall figure and slowly entering the palace square.

Even from a distance, Su Rou could still feel the overwhelming pressure and... the smell of blood.

Andre is back.