Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Seeing that Xiao Ce had spoken, Yan Jia dared not say anything.

He ordered everyone to move forward at full speed.

Zhang Yunqing had walked this route before, so naturally he was the first to go.

Xiao Ce was certainly not gambling with his life; he valued his life very much.

After all, he hasn't even had a proper few days to enjoy himself since he transmigrated here.

He was even thinking of defeating the Turks and then enjoying the ancient life in the northern desert.

Before his trek, he was also an outdoor enthusiast.

He also knows many outdoor gurus and has learned a lot about outdoor knowledge from them.

Based on his outdoor knowledge, he knew the water level hadn't been down for very long, and he had also measured the flow; the water was still receding.

This shows that God is really helping him!

No one spoke along the way. This path was actually a huge underground river cave formed after the water level receded.

They didn't even dare to eat along the way.

They ran like mad, not daring to stop even at night.

What should have been a day and a night's journey took them eighteen hours to finally traverse this long road.

Fortunately, Xiao Ce won his gamble.

They crossed the canyon and found that it was no longer a desert.

Instead, it's an endless grassland!

Ignoring his exhaustion, Xiao Ce burst into laughter!

"I told you, Heaven would help me! Gentlemen, this time we will surely achieve a great victory!"

After they finished speaking, they found a secluded spot and lit a campfire.

Yan Jia was also worried that it might attract the attention of the Turks.

Zhang Yunqing waved his hand and said, "The Turks have many horse breeders. It's very common for them to let their horses out and light bonfires on the grasslands!"

Xiao Ce said, "If the Turks dare to come, it will save us the trouble of going looking for them!"

As they spoke, they took out their leather water bottles, drank some strong liquor to warm themselves up, and then ate some beef jerky to fill their stomachs.

After a full day of rest, both people and horses got a great rest the next day.

Upon waking, Xiao Ce subconsciously went back to look at the underground passage, which was now submerged by rushing water.

Listening to the roaring river like a dragon's cry, Xiao Ce couldn't help but break out in a fine sweat.

Thankfully, the water level rose while they were crossing the river, they would probably be dead by now.

Xiao Ce muttered to himself, "A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall! I can't gamble with my life anymore!"

Zhang Yunqing then followed and said, "Your Highness, it's all thanks to you, a man of great fortune, who led us through this. If it were just the rest of us, we probably wouldn't have made it."

Xiao Ce smiled wryly and waved his hand: "Don't flatter me... I was just lucky..."

Zhang Yunqing shook his head and said, "Your Highness, no! If we had been delayed by even an hour yesterday, we probably wouldn't have made it in time. It's fortunate that you made a decisive decision. The water rose less than an hour after we came out yesterday. And this time it rose exceptionally fast."

"How did you know?" Xiao Ce asked curiously.

Zhang Yunqing said awkwardly, "Your Highness, I couldn't sleep last night, so I went to keep an eye on it."

Xiao Ce nodded with lingering fear: "We can't take such risks again next time. Alright, tell me, where are we now? Including, where are we going to attack?"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce led Zhang Yunqing to the side, to their resting camp.

Zhang Yunqing pulled a simple leather map from his chest.

"Your Highness, we are here now. The closest tribe is the Helu tribe, the second-ranked tribe in the Turkic Kingdom. Compared to the Ashina tribe, they are even more brutal and bloodthirsty!"

"In terms of combat strength alone, the Helu tribe is the most powerful tribe in the entire Turkic Kingdom. However, they are not good at management, so they have always been suppressed by the Ashina tribe."

"Moreover, the Helu tribe holds the most people from the northern deserts. The Helu tribe alone has more than 100,000 people from the northern deserts as their slaves!"

Xiao Ce had heard before that there were nearly 300,000 slaves in the four prefectures of Mobei!

However, to everyone's surprise, someone from the Helu tribe said, "More than 100,000 slaves? Don't they know how to resist? How many people are there in the Helu tribe in total?"

Zhang Yunqing cupped his hands and replied, "Your Highness, the Helu tribe has only a little over 50,000 people in total. Your Highness, those slaves were oppressed by powerful noble families in the northern deserts for many years! They dared not resist at all! Now that they have been captured by the Turks, they are even more afraid of the Turks! In the Turkic lands, a ten-year-old Turkic child can supervise thousands of slaves!"

Xiao Ce found it hard to understand, but then a piece of history that didn't belong to this side appeared in his mind, and it seemed not so incomprehensible after all!

After all, he had seen what Xiao Jiu looked like before, and he wasn't completely enslaved to the core.

Xiao Ce saw the Helu tribe on the leather map and pointed it in this direction!

"Let's go this way and rest a bit more! We'll set off again when night falls! Leave the horses we brought here! Xiao Jiu, you stay here and watch the horses! Let's travel light!"

Xiao Jiu said with a bitter face, "Your Highness, I also want to go into battle and kill the Turks!"

Xiao Ce said to Xiao Jiu, "These horses are our backup plan! If you want to kill the Turks, I will give you the chance! Your job is very important!"

Xiao Jiu nodded, her expression somewhat unnatural.

Xiao Ce said to Da Lei, "Da Lei, go change into some Turkic clothing and go check out the Helu tribe! See what's going on!"

Da Lei cupped his hands in greeting and nodded, then reached for the reins of his tall horse.

Zhang Yunqing quickly stopped him, saying, "Mr. Da Lei, you ride mine. Your tall horse doesn't look like you're from the Turkic people at all!"

Da Lei nodded and, without further ado, rode Zhang Yunqing's horse into the vast grassland.

Xiao Ce addressed the crowd, saying, "Everyone, sharpen your swords! Don't let them become dull when it comes time to behead the Turks!"

The group nodded solemnly, their voices trembling with excitement: "Yes, Your Highness!"

...

At this time, it was located on the border of Mo and Tu, thirty miles outside the city of Yanbei.

The Turkic cavalry army has been assembled.

They are not attacking now; they are simply waiting for the supplies and provisions to arrive!

Inside a central command tent.

The group of Turkic leaders were eating meat and drinking wine heartily, showing no concern whatsoever about the attack.

For them, their cavalry entering the northern desert was as simple as poking tofu with chopsticks.

Just then, a messenger rushed over and bowed to Ashina, saying:

"Khan, there is a man from the Xiao Kingdom outside requesting an audience!"

Ashina, who had been drinking, suddenly stopped, looked at the messenger, and asked in confusion, "A person from Xiao? Who is that!"

The messenger said, "Khan, he didn't say. However, he only said that he is your old friend!"

The leaders of the various Turkic tribes standing nearby said, "Haha, Ashina, it looks like those spineless Xiao people are going to come begging for mercy again."

"Yeah, they're definitely going to back down again!"

"Ashina, you said you wouldn't negotiate this time! If you agree, we won't agree!"

"That's right! Ashina, you've gone to such lengths to bring us here, and now you want to negotiate? We're not going to talk!"

Ashina frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "My old friends? My old friends in the northern desert, weren't they all killed by that good-for-nothing Xiao Ce?"