The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

Hongming spoke for a long time, but Chen Nan remained silent.

Hongze, on the contrary, became interested and waved his fist: "What are you afraid of? If they dare to come, we'll take them down. A vassal state that's only equivalent to the Northern Wei Dynasty, do you think you're so tough?"

Hongming shook his head: "Brother, things are not as simple as you think. The fact that Xishu dared to cut off supplies just because one person broke through to the seventh-grade martial arts realm shows how difficult it is to become a seventh-grade martial arts master."

"Moreover, we are currently at war with the Great Qian Dynasty. With the addition of Western Shu, the outcome is too unpredictable."

After Hongming said that, Hongze calmed down.

His love for war doesn't mean he's stupid or incapable of understanding the situation.

The next second, neither of them spoke, and they both looked at Chen Nan.

At this moment, all they wanted to know was what even those in the imperial court were unaware of.

How did Chen Nan know this, and so clearly?

For a moment, a sense of lingering fear arose in the hearts of the two. If Chen Nan wanted to become emperor in the future, just how easy would it be?

Chen Nan met their gazes and smiled calmly: "Don't worry, now that we know their plans in advance, coming up with a countermeasure is quite simple."

Chen Nan smiled and continued, "If Jiang Zhe doesn't send anyone to negotiate tomorrow, we'll just send a large army to force them to negotiate."

"Le City only needs to leave 10,000 troops to guard it."

"At that time, I will personally oversee Lecheng, and you two will each lead a large army to put pressure on Jiang Zhe."

"Under pressure, after negotiating the terms, we will demand the money from Fang He."

Chen Nan emphasized Fang He, and the two asked in confusion, "Why Fang He specifically?"

Chen Nan sneered: "Since Western Shu has stopped paying tribute, we should naturally send someone out to find out why."

Chen Nan's explanation was rather vague, and the two of them still didn't understand.

Left with no other option, Chen Nan had to explain in plain language: "Fang He's purpose in going to Western Shu was not to investigate the reason for the supply cutoff; his purpose in going to Western Shu was to die."

"You want to send Fang He to his death?" Upon hearing this, Hongze's eyes widened. He still didn't understand why Fang He wanted to go to Western Shu to die.

In his view, Fang He was a traitor to the Northern Wei Dynasty, even though he may have been loyal to the Northern Wei in the past.

However, to the Northern Wei Dynasty, he was now nothing more than a traitor.

Hongze didn't understand, but Hongming, who was standing to the side, saw through the logic and asked with his mouth wide open, "You want Fang He to die in Western Shu so that we have a reason to invade Western Shu?"

"You're very smart!" Chen Nan praised without reservation. "That's why I spared your life back then."

Hongming belatedly realized that his survival wasn't solely due to his good looks.

After Hongming's explanation, Hongze understood why Fang He had to be sent to his death.

Putting aside the fact that, under normal circumstances, no one would be willing to go and die.

However, for a traitor, his death could bring peace to his entire family.

Nothing could be more worthwhile than this.

After finalizing the arrangements, the three of them returned to their rooms and had a good night's sleep.

Until dawn, no Western Shu army was seen below Lecheng.

Jiang Zhe did not send anyone to discuss the matter.

Chen Nan sat in the main hall of the county government office, while two people paced back and forth in front of him.

Chen Nan tapped his fingers repeatedly on the armrest of the seat.

He stood up instantly: "It's about time. Since Jiang Zhe can't make up his mind, let's give him a hand!"

Hongze's eyes lit up, and he urged Hongming to gather the army and prepare to set off.

The main army and the rear guard joined forces, and everyone had to obey Hongming's military orders.

However, because of Chen Nan's abilities, Hongming held the title of commander-in-chief, but in reality, he was only in charge of the duties of deputy commander-in-chief.

Last night, the three not only finalized the plan, but also called back Wu Xu, who had been lying in ambush on the path.

The concern was that Chen Nan might be left alone in Lecheng, unable to cope on his own.

It was Hongming who personally ordered Wu Xu to be brought back.

Under the command of the Hongming siblings, the army of over 100,000 was quickly organized.

Before setting off, Hongming's ears turned red, and he pulled Chen Nan aside: "You...you have to be careful in Lecheng by yourself. If things get really bad, you can abandon the city and run away. This is a military order I, as the commander-in-chief, have given you."

Chen Nan smiled and agreed, completely disregarding Hongming's words.

In fact, Hongming was only a seventh-rank martial artist.

Above the seventh rank, there are also eighth-rank martial artists.

This was common knowledge, but nobody knew it.

Above the eighth-rank martial artist, there are a series of realms such as half-step grandmaster and grandmaster.

Chen Nan, on the other hand, is currently at the half-step Grandmaster level.

If even personally leading the army cannot defend Lecheng, it is no exaggeration to say that no one in the entire Northern Wei Dynasty will be able to defend Lecheng.

Chen Nan watched the army leave Lecheng.

After seeing the army off, Wu Xu asked in confusion, "Commander Chen, why do we insist on letting the Great Qian army return to Great Qian alive?"

This problem troubled Wu Xu for many days.

Since Chen Nan and the others arrived, Wu Xu could tell that his own army had no intention of attacking Jiang Zhe and his group.

Otherwise, the fire at Leshan'ao would have been enough to kill more than half of their people.

"You noticed it too?" Chen Nan smiled slightly.

Wu Xu nodded: "Commander Chen, isn't this an obvious fact?"

Chen Nan never expected that his carefully laid plan would be seen through by a border battalion commander.

For a moment, he felt a pang of pity for Wu Xu and said, "The fact that you could see that only shows that you have some military acumen."

"Also, this matter is not widely known."

"do you understand?"

Chen Nan didn't offer a specific explanation; instead, he uttered a few rather bureaucratic remarks.

However, Wu Xu did not press the matter, but instead replied, "Commander Chen, this subordinate understands!"

He knew that the actual situation was beyond his knowledge.

Moreover, since Hongming, as the commander-in-chief of the army, had not spoken, he was merely a border town garrison commander. What right did he have to question a deputy commander-in-chief?

Moreover, this deputy commander even allowed him to take revenge himself.

Seeing that Wu Xu did not press the matter further, Chen Nan nodded approvingly.

He felt that this Wu Xu was quite interesting, at least qualified to be trained, so he asked again, "Wu Xu, after the great battle is over, would you be willing to return to the capital of Wei with me?"

"Wei Du? Me?"

Wu Xu opened his eyes wide in fear, pointing at himself with extreme insecurity.

He couldn't believe that he had simply thought he hadn't asked a single question.

Is it really worth the vice commander personally trying to win him over?

Seeing Chen Nan nod emphatically, he immediately knelt down and said, "Your subordinate is willing to follow Commander Chen back to the capital. In the future, I am willing to go through fire and water for Commander Chen without hesitation!"

However, Wu Xu did not expect that his words would actually come true after a long time.

Meanwhile, Hongming and his sister, along with their army, had arrived outside the Great Qian camp.