The princess has super powers and space, so what's wrong with being a little arrogant?

Mu Xiyue and the people on Xiao Yibai's side didn't sleep a wink all night. When the sky turned pale, Xiao Yibai had already returned to the top of the big crack.

He held a telescope in one hand, observing the situation at the bottom of the valley, while shouting to the people below. His voice, mixed with his internal energy and the echo of the valley, was clearly transmitted to every corner of the valley.

"Listen up, everyone down there! The entire valley has been surrounded. Your leader has been captured, and everyone in the Zhenyuan General's Mansion has been imprisoned. The imperial court will not tolerate the existence of private soldiers. If you are willing to lay down your weapons and submit to the imperial court, there is still a glimmer of hope. Those who resist will have their entire clans executed."

The people in the valley were frightened by the ghost stories and hadn't slept well all night. When they heard about this incident again in the morning, they all went to look for their direct leaders, and the small leaders went to the big leaders, asking for advice from each level up. The valley instantly became a mess.

A voice from the sky called out again, "All exits and waterways for transporting food have been sealed. I only give you one stick of incense. If you don't surrender after that, you will all remain here forever. All rocketeers, prepare to fire after one stick of incense."

It is not appropriate to use rockets in the mountains. It is summer now and the mountains are mostly dry. If a forest fire is caused, it may take a month or two to put out. This is just to scare the private soldiers in the valley.

It is not difficult to seal the entrance to the waterway and prevent people from leaving, but if people rush out of the exit on the mining area, the guards at the outside entrance will not be able to capture or kill them all. However, there are still 40,000 soldiers transferred from Xizhou, and 30,000 of them are guarding outside this valley, so no one will escape.

However, the food in the valley may be able to support the private army camp for ten days or half a month, but each officer and soldier who went into the mountains to encircle and suppress the enemy only brought about five days of dry food, so they had to fight quickly.

The Divine Shadow Guard continued to shout on behalf of Xiao Yibai, "Those who wish to surrender, lay down your weapons, raise your hands above your head and stand in the center."

The constant shouting above the valley made the private soldiers below feel uneasy. In fact, these people did not know that they were private soldiers in the hands of others. Even the small leaders were unaware of it. Only the middle and upper-level generals knew that they were not serving the court.

While the leaders were still discussing countermeasures, the soldiers below them were already panicking, and one after another began to lay down their weapons and stand in the middle of the valley. One person led to two, and two led to three. In the blink of an incense stick, the place was already crowded.

The smart people below organized people to kidnap some leaders. When someone took the lead, others followed suit. Finally, a large group of people broke into the conference camp and kidnapped several generals who were discussing countermeasures.

This was considered a victory without fighting. The chief general that Qifeng transferred from Xizhou was named Lu. He personally led his men into the valley and brought everyone out.

After all the private soldiers were taken away, Mu Xiyue followed Xiao Yibai to look around the valley.

The mine was already large and deep. One of the Divine Shadow Guards, skilled in prospecting, had read that the iron ore was high in content and abundant in quantity, making it the largest iron ore discovered within the Tianqi Nation. This was good news; iron was vital to a nation, providing the foundation for its military weapons.

There is a large cave on each side of the cliff on the big crack, where weapons are made.

Crossing the large rift, one enters the valley where the private soldiers are stationed. Surrounding it are wooden houses and tents built into the mountainside, along with several caves used to store food. Passing through one of these caves leads to the river at the back of the valley. It's clear that this cave, serving as a passage, has been artificially widened and renovated.

Xiao Yibai left behind Qi Feng's two Divine Shadow Guards and another five hundred soldiers to guard the mine.

Mu Xiyue didn't expect things to go so smoothly, so smoothly that she felt it was just a joke.

Xiao Yibai smiled and said, "Twenty thousand private soldiers can't all be orphans. Anyone with a family will care for them. Besides, these people don't know they're someone else's private soldiers. They still think they were recruited by the court. Now that there's no war, being a soldier is safe, and the income is higher than farming, so naturally some people are willing to serve. Private soldiers like them, who can't leave the valley, receive higher wages than normal soldiers."

So it's all for money, and making money is also for the family. Now that I know that I have become a private soldier, I may die, and even my family will be implicated, so naturally saving my life is the most important thing.

Everyone left the mountain through the same route that Mu Xiyue and the others had taken. If so many people were to leave the valley by water, how many boats would be needed?

They got out of the mountain smoothly, but these people had to be taken to Shangjing.

Mu Xiyue didn't know how the emperor would deal with these 20,000 private soldiers. It was impossible to kill them all, and it was even more impossible to imprison or exile them all. So Mu Xiyue guessed that they would either be sent home after being investigated for any problems, or be incorporated into various barracks.

The private soldiers were escorted by Lieutenant General Lu, while Qi Heng escorted more than a hundred mid-level and above generals from the private soldier camp. With fewer people, the speed would naturally be faster. Xiao Yibai and Mu Xiyue took their secret guards and followers and went back to report first.

It has been a long time since I felt so tired. Mu Xiyue didn't have a good rest for the thirteen days of the round trip, and Xiaotao was so tired that she lost a lot of weight. As soon as they returned to Shangjing, they went back home to eat and sleep.

It was already the next morning when Mu Xiyue woke up. She had no plans to go out. There must be a lot of follow-up matters regarding the private soldiers, and Xiao Yibai would probably be busy for quite a while.

Mu Xiyue rested well in the mansion for three days. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and she was too lazy to move. The palace would deliver ice every day. Mu Xiyue's room was much cooler than outside with ice in it, so she became even lazier to go out.

After lunch, Mu Xiyue squinted her eyes and felt a little drowsy, but she never expected that the eunuch from the palace would come to deliver the imperial edict.

"Miss Mu, the Emperor has ordered Miss Mu to enter the palace."

Mu Xiyue nodded, "Okay, thank you for your help, eunuch."

The butler stuffed a purse into the eunuch's pocket and went downstairs to prepare a carriage for Mu Xiyue. It was midday, and the heat was unbearable. Mu Xiyue sighed and told Xiao Tao to stay at the mansion. Fortunately, the butler was very considerate and put a basin of ice in the carriage, which somewhat lowered the temperature.

Carriages were not allowed to enter the palace, so people had to walk in once they arrived at the palace gate. Mu Xiyue could even use her ice ability to cool herself down, while the eunuch leading the way was sweating profusely.

She felt a cool breeze as she entered the imperial study. Xiao Yibai was standing beside her and smiled at her when he saw her come in.

Mu Xiyue knelt down and saluted, "I pay my respects to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor."

The emperor said calmly, "Stand up!"

Mu Xiyue thanked the emperor and stood up quickly. What a wicked imperial society, what a wicked kneeling ceremony.

The Emperor's question was direct. "I heard that Miss Mu, the leader of the private army, was captured at Prison Beast Mountain and performed a great deed. I wonder what martial arts you practiced that allowed you to capture someone from a distance?"

Mu Xiyue didn't expect the emperor to ask this, so she had to make up a story. "Your Majesty, I learned the art of controlling the wind. I used my true energy to push the wind to trap the person. It was thanks to everyone's cooperation that we were able to capture the person. I dare not take credit for it."

The emperor nodded, "I heard that you can also freeze ice with your bare hands?"

Mu Xiyue's mind raced. She had used ice needles as hidden weapons in fights many times without avoiding anyone. The emperor must have checked her carefully, so it was not surprising that she was found out.

"Your Majesty, I can indeed freeze ice with my bare hands intermittently."

The emperor didn't understand what she meant, "What do you mean by intermittent meetings?"

Mu Xiyue explained seriously, "Intermittent means sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't."

The emperor found this amusing. "Then when will it happen? When will it happen? Is it happening now?"

"Maybe it would happen if I were in danger, but definitely not now. I can't bring weapons into the palace. This ability will be automatically sealed once I enter the palace, so it definitely won't happen now."

The emperor was amused by this, "Hahahaha, what a great way to be automatically sealed. I forgive you, and you can condense some ice for me to see."