I will lead the whole village to occupy the land and become the king.

Xiao Rui hung his head in silence. An Shiqi continued to speak for him and stepped forward to bow to Lu Yanzheng and said, "Your Highness, I got it."

Lu Yanzheng's eyes didn't leave Xiao Rui, and he continued to ask, "You brothers played an indispensable role in finding the Su family's treasure. Don't you really want any reward?"

"Your Highness, it is a blessing for us brothers to be able to fight alongside the Northwest Army. Gold, silver and treasures are not important to us." An Shiqi said neither humbly nor arrogantly, but now he had lowered his head so that no one could see the regret in his eyes.

If his master was willing to fight for that position, this batch of treasures could provide considerable help, but unfortunately... Alas!

Lu Yanzheng stopped asking questions and said to Zhao Qi, "The An brothers are truly loyal and have made outstanding contributions to our Northwest Army. Effective immediately, I will promote Anda to General of the Cavalry and Aner to Chief of Staff of the Northwest Navy Vanguard."

"Yes, I will arrange it right away." Zhao Qi was stunned for a moment and said quickly.

Compared to others, he is the one who knows the most about the promotion of the An brothers.

After all, the prince is not the kind of person who never shows any emotion. If you think about the prince's performance in recent days and the situation of him secretly investigating the An brothers, you can see that unless these two brothers intend to stab the Northwest Army in the back, they will definitely be valued.

But he didn't expect that he would rise to such a high position all of a sudden.

Obviously, Zhao Qi was not the only one who was surprised. Xiao Hu, Gui Qi, Lin Wu and others also looked at Xiao Rui and An Shiqi in surprise.

The most shocked were of course Xiao Rui and An Shiqi.

After the two came to their senses, An Shiqi didn't bother to hide and hurried to see Xiao Rui.

Xiao Rui looked up at Lu Yanzheng, bowed and said solemnly, "Thank you for your appreciation, Your Highness. However, my brother and I are of limited ability and are only suitable for helping in the navy's logistics. We are not qualified for the position Your Highness has given us. Please revoke your order."

Looking at those familiar eyes, Lu Yanzheng smiled gently, "Second Master An, there's no need to underestimate yourself. I already know about your journey to find the Su family's treasure. You are definitely qualified to serve as an advisor."

It was clearly written in Xiao Hu's letter that Anda followed An'er's words all the way. If you didn't know, you would think Anda was his younger brother.

"Anda is bold and careful, and has extraordinary skills. He is more than qualified to be a cavalry general. I believe you can do it!" Lu Yanzheng said, patting the two on the shoulders.

An Shiqi was anxious and kept winking at Xiao Rui.

Xiao Rui was still confused. After hearing what Lu Yanzheng said, he really didn't know what to say for a moment.

He and An Shiqi's original plan had always been to observe quietly in the dark, and when the time came, they would break away and leave to live the life they had originally planned.

However, the incident of Prince Yong slaughtering the village made Xiao Rui see clearly the vicious faces of the people in the court, and he decided to solve the biggest hidden danger for Lu Yanzheng, so he had no choice but to come to him and mention the treasure.

But now Lu Yanzheng actually promoted him and An Shiqi! If they want to get out of this situation in the future, it won't be that easy.

When Lu Yanzheng saw their expressions, he became more certain of his guess, but he did not say anything. Instead, he quickly changed the subject and asked Xiao Hu to take him to see the treasure.

Xiao Rui and An Shiqi were left alone looking at each other, neither of them knowing how to deal with the current situation.

……

The peace negotiation team sent by the imperial court had already reached the border of Qiongzhou.

Lord Yu, the Minister of War, and Lord Huang, the Vice Minister of Rites, were the chief officials in charge of this peace negotiation. Both of them were in their fifties. Lord Yu had been a military commander when he was young, and he was still in good health at this time, so he could still withstand the high-intensity journey.

But Mr. Huang, the Minister of Rites, was not in such good health and complained all the way.

"Master Yu, can we rest in this small town for a day before leaving?" Master Huang's face was a little pale, and his beard trembled as he spoke, while he was holding his old waist.

Yes, he didn't have to walk, but the official roads of the imperial court hadn't been repaired for many years, and he was still shaken to death while sitting in the carriage!

Lord Yu frowned, looking at him with obvious disapproval. "Lord Huang, we've inquired all the way but haven't been able to find out where the King of the Northwest has gone. Now we have no choice but to go to Dingshui Village, Yongshan County, Yukang Prefecture, to negotiate peace. If we don't hurry, I'm afraid the Northwest Army's gunpowder weapons will open the gates of the capital. Lord Huang, do you want to see people suffer?"

Master Huang said with a bitter face, "It's not that I don't want to, but Master Yu, you can see that my body can't bear it!"

Before he came out, he had heard that many families in Beijing had arranged for their children and important people to leave the city secretly in order to prevent the Northwest Army from suddenly attacking the city. They had to leave someone behind for themselves.

He also knew that the Minister of War in front of him had taken care of his wife and children before coming out.

He himself was a lonely man with only a few servants at home. The rest of his family members either died of illness or died young, so he had nothing to fear.

So he thought, since everyone has no worries, why rush?

Lord Yu frowned even more tightly. "Lord Huang, our safety is nothing. Now we don't even have a way to negotiate peace. You really think so..."

He was almost saying that the Minister of Rites was a sinner.

Lord Huang really couldn't stand it any longer. Hearing this, he simply threw up his hands and said, "Anyway, I really can't walk anymore. If Lord Yu is really that anxious, then we can split up. I will continue to inquire about the whereabouts of the Northwest King and head back to the capital. Lord Yu, you go to Yukang Mansion to find the Northwest Princess. Is that okay?"

If he doesn't even agree to this method, then he doesn't know what to say.

The Minister of War was delighted, but he pretended to be thoughtful and asked, "Will this... be a bad idea?"

"What's wrong with that?" The Minister of Rites looked at him speechlessly. "You know the situation in the court, we just need to act according to the emperor's will. As for whether it can succeed or not, that's not up to us to decide!"

Upon hearing this, the Minister of War nodded with a look of hesitation, "Alright then, I'll lead my men on their journey now. Sir Huang, please do your best as well!"

"Of course. After all, I don't really want to change the dynasty!" The Minister of Rites waved his hand.

Whether he tried his best or not is another matter, but he really didn't want to change the dynasty.

Think about it, the emperor nowadays is incompetent and furious, but rarely really takes charge of things. As long as he is smart enough, he can stay in the court until his death. How can such a good thing happen if someone else becomes the emperor?

The Minister of War quickly led his men away. When they left the small town where they rested, he felt much more relaxed. He looked at the people around him and asked, "Where are the madam and the others?"

"Your Excellency, we estimate that we will soon reach Yunzhou." This man is the general manager of Lord Yu's residence, responsible for arranging all miscellaneous matters.

Lord Yu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "That's good. Let's go to Yongshan County and settle down first. Then we'll have Madam and the others come over as soon as possible."

Ever since he discovered that Su Ziyu's family had escaped, he immediately arranged for his family to go to Yunzhou. He had specifically requested to be an envoy for peace talks this time, just to leave the capital openly.

It was just that there was a Minister of Rites traveling with him on the road, which made it very inconvenient for him to do his work. Fortunately, he used a little trick to get rid of this trouble, and he finally didn't have to hide on the road anymore.

Emperor Jingqing was still dreaming that Lu Yanzheng would agree to peace talks and submit to him, but he didn't expect that the peace envoys he sent had split into two groups, and none of them was really going to negotiate peace.

In Dingshui Village, Jiang Qinyu was finally able to take a two-day break after being busy for more than half a month.

Yunzhu handed Jiang Qinyu a bowl of freshly cooked red date and white fungus soup, "Princess, this is what the old lady made. She said it will replenish your qi and blood."

Jiang Qinyu took it, and as she passed it to her mouth, she said with a smile: "Mom really can't sit still... Ugh!"