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

In just a few days, the Phoenix Kingdom expanded to twenty cities.

The weather is getting colder and we have already entered deep winter.

The sky has been filled with gray leaden clouds every day for the past two days, as if it is going to snow.

The cotton-padded clothes that Song Zhi had ordered made earlier were put to good use, and the soldiers all put on thick cotton-padded clothes.

The rapid advance continued. Song Zhi's cabbage, radish and buckwheat had all been consumed, leaving only the food stored in Yuebai.

Fortunately, there is a lot of food, so it won't be a problem to survive the winter if we just give out porridge.

In addition, the people of the original twelve cities of the Phoenix Kingdom were not cold-blooded people. After they left enough food, everyone donated the excess food to the front line to supply the newly occupied cities.

The entire Phoenix Kingdom is united as never before.

Soon, two more cities successfully surrendered.

So far, Huangguo already has twenty-two cities, and Tianqi has fifty cities.

Although Tianqi still has far more cities than Huangguo, everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before the remaining cities are taken into their possession.

At night, Song Zhi practiced martial arts in the yard as usual. This had become her compulsory homework before going to bed.

Xin Wanyun was instructing from the side, nodding with satisfaction from time to time. If Song Zhi had not already been the empress, she really wanted Song Zhi to inherit her mantle.

However, Song Zhi was not able to do so. Xin Wanyun suddenly discovered Aluan's potential, so he kept Aluan by his side and taught her personally during this period.

After Song Zhi finished practicing, Xin Wanyun said, "We've almost finished this city. We can move on to the next one, but..."

"But what?"

Song Zhi asked while wiping the sweat off his face.

Xin Wanyun said, "However, the next city has not signed a letter of surrender, so entering the city may not be as easy as the previous cities."

She handed Song Zhi the information she had investigated.

The next city is called Moyuan City. It is said that it was the capital of the previous dynasty a thousand years ago, so it has a very long history.

The whole city is not big, and its area is not even as big as Xuancheng.

However, the city walls were built very high and thick, and it would be difficult to break in by force.

No one has ever come out, so no one knows the specific situation inside.

The guards on the city walls were not soldiers, but a self-defense force spontaneously formed by the people.

Xin Wanyun tried to negotiate with them, but they treated them like mice seeing a cat. Before she could even open her mouth, they were frightened and disappeared.

Perhaps in order to prevent them from climbing over the walls and launching a surprise attack, the people in the city poured water on all the walls early in the morning. Now the entire wall has been frozen into a slippery ice wall, which is difficult to climb even with the help of tools.

Xin Wanyun looked at Song Zhi and said, "What should we do next? The people inside may have experienced a few robberies and are a little paranoid. They are unwilling to show up at all. Even if we want to have a good conversation, it won't work."

Song Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Let's get everyone ready and set off for the next city tomorrow. I'll go and see what the situation is."

Now that she has reached the stage of harvest, she will not stop.

Xin Wanyun nodded, "Okay, that's it."

Song Zhi's personality really suits her taste. He would give way when necessary, and move forward firmly without hesitation when necessary.

Before dawn the next day, except for those who needed to stay in the city to maintain order, the rest of the soldiers got ready and set out again.

Xie Ting teased Song Chenfeng from his horse, "Why don't you just not go? Your young lady must be waiting anxiously in Liucheng. There won't be any war to fight right now anyway, so it's more important to go back and be with your beautiful lady."

Song Chenfeng shook his head. "Everyone is doing their part. How can I just be lazy and do nothing?"

Xie Ting said: "It's me who is narrow-minded."

The few of them talked and laughed as they moved forward. When they arrived at Moyuan City, they found that it was exactly the same as Xin Wanyun had described after exploring the place.

From a distance, the surrounding ice walls were particularly eye-catching. There were not many self-defense forces guarding the walls. When they approached, those people all hid away.

Xin Wanyun said, "Zhi'er, I'll take the people to set up camp first."

"it is good."

Song Zhi asked Meng Qi to go with her, while she took Xie Ting around the area.

"What do you think of the current situation?"

Suddenly, Song Zhi spoke.

The two men rode around the city on horseback and found nothing unusual.

Xie Ting said: "What else can we do? Maybe there are only a few people left in this city. They are like frightened birds."

A dark light flashed in Song Zhi's eyes, and he said nothing more.

When the two met up with Xin Wanyun, the camp had already been set up not far outside the city.

The sky darkened and Mo Yuan City fell into darkness.

A bonfire was lit in the camp, and the fiery light made the faces of the people around them look red.

Song Zhi stood alone in the dark, observing the top of the city wall, and found a faint figure swaying on the wall.

She wanted to get closer to take a look, but found that those people quickly disappeared on the city wall again.

There really isn't any leakage at all.

Song Zhi was very confused. What happened to make them so timid?

It seems that everything can only be concluded after entering the city. If the people inside still don't show up tomorrow, then they can only force open the city gate.

The next morning, white frost was everywhere and the soldiers were having breakfast after training.

Song Zhi had just walked out of the tent when he heard Xin Wanyun hurried over and said, "Zhi'er, there are two things. The first is that the people in Moyuan City have sent a message saying they are willing to talk to us, but they are afraid that we will suppress them directly with force, so they can only allow some female soldiers to enter the city to negotiate with them."

Song Zhi frowned, "How much is a part?"

Xin Wanyun said: "No more than a hundred people."

Song Zhi pursed his lips and answered calmly, "What's the other one?"

Xin Wanyun said, "There's another piece of news that Zhang Chuan has passed back, saying that Mu Yuanzhi is preparing to lead the army in person and has almost set out from the capital."

Song Zhi shook his head and sighed, "Since he is so anxious to come and die, then let him come."

Mu Yuanzhi wouldn't think that he could turn defeat into victory by simply leading the army in person, right?

Instead of using this time to help the people, it would be better to use the grain to help them, which would also help to alleviate the sins you have committed.

Xin Wanyun wasn't worried about this either. "Zhang Liu's affairs have been settled, and Yun Shui Youyou's people have all been sent back to Phoenix Country. He's just about to leave to join us, so there shouldn't be any problems. But what are you going to do about Mo Yuancheng? Zhi'er, what are you going to do?"

Song Zhi and Xin Wanyun walked forward side by side. After thinking for a moment, Song Zhi said, "Let's go in and take a look."

"Aunt Xin, please help me arrange for the 100 women with the best fighting skills. I will lead them in personally."

"No."

Xin Wanyun immediately refused, but before she could finish her words, Song Zhi grabbed her arm and said, "You're not idle either. I have something else for you."