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

Within the city of Yanbei.

Han Da led 30,000 troops and traveled day and night, arriving here three days ago.

Upon their arrival, they discovered a large number of refugees gathered there.

Originally, Yanbei City was Bao An's "enclave," where several thousand troops were stationed.

However, after news of the deaths of Bao An and his son reached them, the garrison there immediately mutinied.

After all, most of those who stayed here were Bao An's confidants.

After they fled, Yanbei City, the gateway to the northern desert, became an empty city.

However, even though it became a ghost town, many refugees who had been wandering in the wilderness returned.

Because there was no pressure from officials or powerful families, these were the happiest days they had ever had.

Originally, when Han Da's army arrived, these refugees were so frightened that they wanted to run away.

Although they had heard of some children's songs.

"The sky of the northern desert, the land of the northern desert, a new emperor has arrived in the northern desert."

"The new emperor loves his people, he doesn't collect taxes, and he even distributes land!"

"The sky of the northern desert, the land of the northern desert, the people of the northern desert are truly happy."

"The new emperor punishes the powerful and wealthy. After bestowing houses upon them, he also sends rice."

"The sky and land of the northern desert, the new emperor's army is truly magnificent."

"The new army is disciplined. They don't rob civilians; they even help you."

...

Despite Tong Yao's singing, they still didn't believe her.

After all, they've seen plenty of scoundrels who, under the guise of protecting the people, end up harming them!

However, before they could escape, Handa's army had already sealed off the entire city!

Han Da told them that things had changed! The King of Mobei was now in charge of Mobei.

They then brought up Xiao Ce's new policies and told them that those who were willing to stay could be registered and allocated land.

At first, the refugees couldn't believe it, but they saw Han Da genuinely using their military rations to help some people who were about to starve to death.

And the generals in this Northern Desert Army seemed to be unlike any they had ever seen before.

They all greeted them with smiles, never bullied them, and only helped them.

The military action in northern Mobei proved that the rumors were true.

The refugees settled down and registered.

...

Han Da stood on the city wall, watching in the night as his soldiers dug numerous horse traps around the wall.

There are also soldiers reinforcing the city's defenses.

Sun Qiang was among the first group of people to surrender to Xiao Ce while serving under Bao An.

At this moment, he came and said to Han Da, "General Han, the number of refugees here has been counted, and there are 60,000 of them! Moreover, almost none of them have any food. If we continue to supply them with military rations... what was originally enough for a hundred days of military rations will probably not last a month!"

Han Da said to Sun Qiang, "I have already consulted with the Princess, and she has already requisitioned grain from the nearby prefectural officials! They are also transporting grain for us! The Prince has always said that only people are the primary productive force! Every citizen is our future wealth!"

Sun Qiang nodded: "General Han, I know. It's good that you've already made arrangements! Our scouts have already gone to investigate several times. The Turkic troops are restless and should be launching an attack on us in a few days!"

Han Da's face was resolute, with a hint of excitement: "Good! Tell everyone! Be on your guard! We must defend Yanbei City! As long as the city stands, we will live; even if we die, the city cannot fall!"

"The longer we delay here, the safer the prince will be!" Han Da said, gazing into the distance with a complicated expression.

...

Night falls later on the grassland.

As night fell, Xiao Ce led a thousand cavalrymen, guided by Zhang Yunqing, and quickly moved towards one of the sub-tribes of Helu.

The Turkic tribes were formed from numerous sub-tribes that eventually became a large tribe!

Instead of choosing the closest Helu tribe, they chose a more distant one.

The reason that tribe was chosen was because when Da Lei scouted the area during the day, he discovered that the He Lu Zi tribe had kept thousands of Xiao Kingdom slaves together like pigs and dogs!

Da Lei observed along the way and realized that slaves were usually scattered and doing menial work, and there were never such large gatherings. His intuition told him that something was wrong.

After returning, he told Xiao Ce what had happened.

After listening, Zhang Yunqing explained that they were observing the 'Tengri Festival' during this period.

After listening, Xiao Ce asked in confusion, "What is the Tengri Sacrifice?"

Zhang Yunqing explained,

Tengri was the celestial deity worshipped by the Turks.

This sacrificial ceremony begins at the onset of winter and continues until the ground thaws! The ceremony is held to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests in the coming year!

Each tribe has its own way of worshipping the gods.

The sacrificial practices of the Helu tribe were particularly brutal and bloody.

(The sacrificial method was too bloody and was censored, so I won't go into details.)

After hearing about Zhang Yunqing's method of sacrifice, Xiao Ce immediately decided to go there.

The reason is simple: to save those poor slaves of the Xiao Kingdom! They are innocent and should not be treated like this!

...

At this time, in one of the tribes of the Heluzi tribe.

These Turkic people from Helu sat together, drinking and eating meat. Beside them, several naked slaves knelt and served them.

These slaves were required to kneel no matter what they did and were not allowed to stand up, otherwise they would be whipped.

The scars on these slaves, connecting to the scarred skin, are the best proof!

Not far from the Turks, there was an altar.

The altar was surrounded by piles of white bones and skulls.

Beneath the altar, a vast, dark mass of slaves knelt...

The slaves knelt on the ground, trembling!

These people all had chains made of thorns bound to their feet.

This left their feet covered in blood and flesh, some of which were even rotting.

These slaves were captured from the four prefectures of the northern desert!

They knelt on the ground, trembling. Their eyes were filled with fear and despair.

In the center of the altar stood a huge bronze cauldron.

Beside the bronze cauldron were two naked slaves, who were constantly placing firewood under the cauldron to burn.

The hot water in the bronze cauldron was bubbling and churning!

Beside the bronze cauldron stood a Turkic man dressed in animal furs, his face contorted with rage. He glanced at the trembling slaves below the altar and a mocking smile appeared on his face: "Alright, the time is almost up! Our Helu Tengri Festival is about to begin! It is an honor for you lowly people to be able to use your contemptible bodies to worship the Tengri God!"

"Quickly thank Tengri the Heavenly God for choosing you! The ceremony begins!"

At the command of the Turks, a group of five people, bound with thorns, were pushed onto the altar.

The five men trembled, their eyes filled with despair. They had endured all sorts of torture and should have been used to it by now. But they all knew what was about to happen—something a thousand times worse than death! A chill that ran deep from the very depths of their souls!