Marry my elder sister? Fine! I'll give you the letter of annulment and marry someone else.

When they arrived at the border, Song Zhi saw that there were indeed about a hundred Tianqi soldiers standing outside the checkpoint.

When I got closer, I found that Qi Feng was not inside.

She stood a hundred steps away and said loudly, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

When the more than one hundred people saw Song Zhi, their eyes were filled with indescribable complexity.

On one side is the emperor who doesn't care about the lives of the people and soldiers; on the other side is the empress who is willing to take any risk to meet these little people in order to save her own soldiers.

No matter how you look at it, the empress is more worthy of following.

They said sincerely, "Your Highness, we are starving to death. Our families, friends, and many strangers are all starving to death. General Qi is willing to pledge allegiance to that heartless and ungrateful emperor, but we are not!"

Their eyes were red as they said, "We heard General Qi's conversation and know that you need a large amount of Zhishu to detoxify. We can secretly deliver the Zhishu you want. We only ask that you be so kind as to save our lives."

Song Zhi asked, "How do you want me to save you?"

There are many ways to save.

The soldier said, "Your Majesty, we are not willing to fight you and make unnecessary sacrifices. If you only promise us a way out, we will go back and persuade all our brothers to submit to you. Once you capture the city, you will reward us with a bite to eat to keep us alive."

Song Zhi looked carefully at everyone's expressions, and seeing that their eyes were sincere and there was no intention of lying, he suddenly became curious.

"You came here carrying Qi Feng, right?"

Those people looked embarrassed, but still nodded and said, "Yes."

"So, you're planning to let me be a traitor?"

Although it sounds harsh, it is indeed the truth.

They continued to nod in shame, "Yes."

Song Zhi slowly approached them and asked, "Why should I trust you?"

The hundred people looked at each other, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

After all, they were very hungry, so they took this opportunity to come to Song Zhi to discuss cooperation. They didn't think so much at all. Everything was just based on the instinct of survival and resentment towards Mu Yuanzhi.

Seeing that each of them was more confused than the other, Song Zhi took the initiative to say, "I want a token of surrender. Not only do you need to give me Zhishu, but I also want Qi Feng's head."

The person who dared to hurt her with such despicable means even threatened her with it.

In her eyes, Qi Feng had no chance of survival.

"You asked us to kill General Qi!"

Everyone was stunned. Although they were willing to surrender, they did not want to hurt Qi Feng.

Although General Qi was stubborn, he had always been nice to them, so they found it difficult to kill him.

Song Zhi was not in a hurry either, he just stood there with full aura.

Finally, those people said, "Can you...can you let us consider it?"

"of course can."

Song Zhi smiled faintly. "Actually, you don't have to worry about it. You just need to change your perspective. Qi Feng, whom you think is a good person, has starved to death because he blindly obeyed your Tianqi emperor. Didn't you sacrifice your lives so that the people could live and work in peace and contentment? So what are you doing now? Forcing the people to death?"

"At first, our cabbage, radish, and buckwheat were selling well, and the people had hope of survival. But what happened?"

"So, if he dies, it means you saved yourselves and saved more people."

Having said this, Song Zhi left without saying anything more.

She wasn't worried about these people disagreeing because she was telling the truth.

As long as she points this out, Qi Feng will become the target of public criticism without her having to do anything.

The soldiers and people of Tianqi are not fools. Who would always unwaveringly believe in a general who does not take their own lives seriously at a time of life and death?

After walking a few steps, Song Zhi turned his back to them and said, "I want an answer by this time tomorrow."

After saying that, he continued walking forward.

Song Zhi's back quickly disappeared from everyone's sight. Their faces were heavy, and everyone was thinking seriously.

They returned to Xuancheng with heavy hearts. Before they even entered the city, they could see tragic scenes everywhere outside.

There were many skinny people lying on the roadside. Their bodies were like dry branches, and their skin was tightly attached to their bony skeletons, as if their lives could be taken away at any time.

Not far away, a mother curled up, holding her dead child tightly in her arms, with blood marks on her wrists.

Not long after she gave birth to her child, the child cried with hunger because there was nothing to eat and no milk. She wanted to cook her own flesh for the child to eat.

In the end, there was no other choice but to cut the child's wrist and let him drink his blood.

But how can a newborn baby be kept alive by just blood?

The baby was born just a few days ago and stopped breathing with a hoarse cry before he had a chance to take a good look at the world.

The mother couldn't accept it and was paranoid that the child was still alive. She still held the child every day and wanted to feed her blood.

Once you enter the city, it becomes even more tragic.

They did not dare to throw the bodies of the people who died of starvation around for fear of causing plague, so they put them all in a pit and prepared to bury them together.

The pile of refugees was as high as the city wall.

The whole city was empty, and the shadow of death hung over everything.

And this is not an isolated case. Such tragedies are happening all over Tianqi.

There were all kinds of heart-wrenching scenes everywhere. The soldiers could not bear to watch any longer and their eyes were instantly filled with tears.

It is said that men don't shed tears easily, but no one would remain indifferent when seeing such a scene.

They found Qi Feng and prepared to persuade him one last time.

"General, it's impossible to get 300 dan of grain. Let's just surrender directly, just for the sake of those innocent people, okay?"

Qi Feng's face showed sadness, "No, how can we betray the emperor just to survive?"

"Why shouldn't we betray him? He's never considered us. If he cared about his people and soldiers, we wouldn't be in this situation today. General, we can't be blindly loyal. The Queen of Phoenix Country loves her people like her own children, is kind and virtuous, and it's the right path for us to follow her. Only she can give the people of Tianqi a country with enough food and clothing."

"Do not."

Qi Feng moved his lips. "How can a woman like her shoulder such a heavy responsibility? The world still respects men as the right path. Stop talking. I will not agree to surrender."

"General!"

Everyone was so disappointed, "Did the dog emperor put a curse on you? Why on earth did you do that? You... you've already killed so many people, do you have to keep making the same mistake over and over again?!"

Killed so many people...

Qi Feng froze. Yes, it was he who killed so many people!

If he had not followed the emperor's arrangements, if the people could still buy food from the Phoenix Kingdom, how could so many people die?

What on earth was he insisting on, what on earth had he done!