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

This Luca Tessa is truly a lone wolf here.

They also had slaves on their side.

However, their slaves all had tents to live in, and their three meals a day were guaranteed.

Their slaves were all plump and fair-skinned. When they saw Xiao Ce attacking, they were among the first slaves to defend the Turks.

Seeing this, Zhang Yunqing said, "Your Highness, could I ask them to come and help me? But don't worry... I..."

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said to Zhang Yunqing, "Of course, Zhang Yunqing, I've already told you about the management methods here. I just need you to provide me with cattle, sheep, warhorses, and a certain amount of tax revenue. As for the rest, I won't care who you use! You can even bring over Ashina, Ashide, and the other leaders, as long as you have the ability, I won't stop you."

Zhang Yunqing nodded excitedly: "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Alright, I'll have someone take you to them later."

Zhang Yunqing cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, if I hadn't come to you to plead for mercy, would you have thought anything of me?"

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "That won't happen. The fact that you came to me shows that you value relationships and remember kindness. I like people like that! Even if you hadn't come to me, I think you know your limits, which is also very good."

Xiao Ce's words were perfectly watertight.

As he spoke, he summoned a soldier and led Zhang Yunqing to meet Lu Qi Tesa and his family.

Xiao Jiu asked, "Your Highness, aren't you afraid that Lu Qi Tesa might brainwash Zhang Yunqing and then betray you?"

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Zhang Yunqing is a smart man, and also a grateful one. Moreover, he should know my strength! And if you want someone to absolutely submit to you, there's no better way than to be powerful enough. Just like you, you've followed me all this way, have you ever thought of betraying me!"

Xiao Jiu shook her head firmly: "Your Highness, of course not! You are my second parents. Even if you weren't so powerful, I would never abandon you! Even if you were to end up on the streets one day, I..."

Halfway through her sentence, Xiao Jiu realized her slip of the tongue and slapped herself, saying, "Your Highness, please forgive me... Bah, bah, bah! You are so wise and powerful, how could you possibly end up on the streets..."

Xiao Ce wasn't angry; if someone else had said that, he might have remained skeptical.

But Xiao Jiu said he had no doubt whatsoever.

"Life is unpredictable; who can say for sure..."

Xiao Jiu looked embarrassed and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Xiao Ce didn't continue the topic, listening to the music and dancing coming from inside the tent.

Xiao Ce continued to look.

Instead, he went back to his sleeping quarters and went about his own business.

The next day, he got up for his morning exercise as usual.

After finishing my morning exercise, I saw that Da Lei was already waiting for me.

"Da Lei, how were you yesterday?" Xiao Ce said to Da Lei.

Da Lei remained resolute as he said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, after thinking about it carefully last night, I think you're right! That's my weakness, and I need to overcome it. Later, could you have those Turkic girls perform the 'wooden stick dance' for me again?"

Seeing this, Xiao Ce thought to himself, "This Da Lei has finally realized how good women are."

I couldn't wait any longer, starting early this morning.

"Okay! I'll arrange it later. It's been a long time since we practiced together! Let's practice some more."

Da Lei clasped his hands in agreement.

He gestured for them to begin, and the two started sparring.

After a cup of tea, Xiao Ce was still defeated.

Da Lei exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness, you've really made remarkable progress..."

This isn't just empty praise from Da Lei; Xiao Ce usually couldn't last more than ten moves against him.

Now I can have a long, back-and-forth conversation with Da Lei, like the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Even in the entire military, very few people could do that.

Xiao Ce wiped the sweat from his forehead, quite satisfied: "The main reason is that you're a good teacher."

After boasting for a while, Xiao Ce went to take a shower.

He even got a shower, because as a modern person, he still prefers showering.

Things like taking a bath must be done at a specific time, in a specific setting, and with specific people.

After finishing breakfast, I saw that Da Lei was eager to challenge his weakness.

Xiao Ce then instructed Xiao Jiu to summon the Turkic girls.

However, what happened next was beyond Xiao Ce's expectations.

The group of Turkic girls were dancing enthusiastically, and Da Lei looked at them with obvious ease, his expressionless, cold face now etched on his lips.

This expression wasn't feigned; it seemed he harbored absolutely no impure thoughts towards these sexy Turkic girls.

After an incense stick had burned, Da Lei smiled and said, "Your Highness, what do you think? How well have I overcome this weakness? Is there anything even more impressive...? I feel I can completely overcome it too..."

Xiao Ce: "..."

"No need, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that it's better to guide than to suppress... My real intention was..."

Xiao Ce wanted to explain, but looking at Da Lei's expression, he thought to himself that Da Lei's thought process was different from his own.

"Alright, whatever makes you happy."

Over the next few days, the initial construction was in full swing.

Because there were quite a few people, the pace was not slow.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuji assembled a cavalry force of 30,000 men, who were training intensively.

These people all know how to ride horses, and with the addition of stirrups, their main training focuses on horseback riding techniques.

Two days later, Xiao Ce also received the news.

It is said that a scout team went to various places to observe from a distance and then left.

Xiao Ce knew then that the fish had taken the bait.

He needs to prepare too!

...

Within the city of Yanbei.

The people in the city were in a state of panic, as they knew they would run out of food in just a few days.

Han Da was originally as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but fortunately he had just received Xiao Ce's letter.

When he first saw the letter, he doubted whether he was seeing things.

Because Xiao Ce ordered them to withdraw their troops.

Although it details the methods of retreating troops.

If it weren't for the use of Xiao Ce's secret code, he would have suspected that the letter was fake.

Although Xiao Ce did not explain why he did it.

However, Han Da knew that Xiao Ce must have had his reasons for saying that...

He immediately ordered his men to gather all the people together.

In the center of Yanbei City stands a martial arts arena.

Han Da waited early on the martial arts arena as more and more people gathered.

Sun Qiang and Jiang Xing, leading a group of deputy generals, said to Han Da from the side, "General Han, why did you call so many people here? Did you receive instructions from the Prince?"

These people were there because of Da Lei's arrival and because they had made contact with Xiao Ce.

Han Da glanced at Sun Qiang and the others, and smiled slightly: "You'll find out soon enough."

The group of lieutenants watched with anticipation.

After a short while, I glanced at the time and realized it was almost time; the large crowd of people had mostly arrived.

Han Da addressed the people of the city, saying, "Gentlemen, I didn't want to gather you all here. However, seeing all sorts of rumors circulating and causing widespread panic, I feel it's necessary to explain things to you."

"First of all, as everyone knows, our relief supplies, including military supplies, have been cut off for nearly ten days. Now, our city is also facing a food shortage. As everyone knows, we originally had enough food for the garrison for more than a hundred days, but the King of Mobei was benevolent and allowed us to provide relief to the people. We thought that there would be no problem with the supply of food."

"However, man proposes, God disposes. A large-scale plague has broken out in the four prefectures of the Northern Desert! Therefore, on the advice of the King of the Northern Desert, all the people of the city are advised to bring enough food and then go to the Nine Cities of Lingxiao! There is enough food there... They will take care of you!"

Han Da's words caused an uproar, and the people's eyes were filled with excitement.

In fact, they had already considered leaving, but they stayed because they saw the officers and soldiers fighting bravely for them.

It would be really unfair of them to leave.

However, since General Han Da had spoken, and it was the King of Mobei's intention, they were naturally willing to go to a safer area.

Some of the people at the front asked, "General Han... what will happen to you if we leave?"

"Yes, you should come with us too. Besides, we don't have much food left here. If we all leave with our rations, what will you eat?"

...

Han Da continued, “Not only are you leaving, but we will too. The reason we are not leaving is that if we leave, and the Turks capture Yanbei City, we will have no more protection. We will let you go first for five days! We will follow behind, so please travel as quickly as possible along the way.”

The people asked, "General Han, after we lose our protective barrier, and the Turks capture our Yanbei City, will we be able to return?"

Han Da said, "Of course, you're only going there to take refuge temporarily. We'll come back sooner or later. The plague hasn't subsided in the four prefectures yet; if we stay any longer, we'll just be dying for nothing!"

"The King of the Northern Desert loves his people like his own children! He said he would rather lose the land than lose you all. Because lost land can be regained, but you are the future of the four prefectures of the Northern Desert; once you die, you cannot be brought back to life. Nothing is more important than life!"

Han Da's words deeply moved the people.

The people knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of Lingxiao City.

"Long live the King of the Northern Desert! Long live the King! Long live the King!"

It's been far too long since we've respected them!

"General Han, you have already given us a lot of food. You need to stay here for a few more days, so we cannot take the rations you give us. We are used to being refugees; we can eat clay cakes, tree bark, and grass roots... Therefore, we do not want rations!"

Once one person spoke, the others chimed in.

"That's about right, we don't need rations."

Han Da said, "This is the order of the King of the Northern Desert; you must take it..."

“General Han, we know very well that you don’t have much food left… If you give us any more, you will starve to death! If you insist on giving us food, we would rather stay here and live or die with you. We will always find a way to survive. It’s not far from here to Lingxiao City, we won’t starve to death.”

"That's right, we won't starve. You risked your lives to defend us against the Turks, we can't let you fight them on an empty stomach..."

The people raised their arms to express their sentiments.

Seeing this, Han Da did not insist, as continuing would seem insincere.

He just said he would hold out for ten days, and that all their food rations would be given to the people.

They only have enough rations for three or four days at most. And these rations are only enough for one meal a day.

These refugees have years of experience in surviving, and this journey will certainly not cause anyone to starve.

Seeing this, Han Da bowed to the people and said, "Gentlemen, you have suffered. We will definitely stop the Turks, and we will not let a single Turk catch up with you before you reach Lingxiao City!"

The people kowtowed to the soldiers as they spoke.

"Then let's not delay any longer and get ready. When you pass through the four prefectures along the way, be sure not to go in, as they are all plagued by disease," Han Da instructed.

The people said they all went back to pack up.

Sun Qiang and his entourage of lieutenants asked incredulously, "General Han, are you really leaving? Are we leaving too?"

Han Da nodded: "That's right, staying any longer would just be a death sentence! The Prince doesn't want us to starve to death!"

Sun Qiang said aggressively, "General Han, at worst we can send troops to raid the four prefectures. Don't we all know that there's no such thing as a plague? There's no plague at all... As long as we seize enough grain, we won't have to run away. It's such a waste to give Yanbei City, this natural barrier, to the Turks."

Several lieutenants chimed in, "That's right! So many of our men have died. If we leave and lose Yanbei City, wouldn't their deaths have been in vain? Moreover, those prefectural governors of the four counties are clearly in cahoots with the Turks! In the end, we might not even be able to hold onto the last nine cities!"

Han Da said, "This is the King of Mobei's will! We just need to do as he says! If you use your brains a little, you should be able to figure out what the King is planning."

"Lingxiao City has also been undergoing renovations recently. Under the Princess's guidance, it has been transformed into a fortress no weaker than Yanbei City. It will be very difficult for the Turks to breach it."

Jiang Xing chimed in, "If they can't conquer it after a long siege, the Turks will inevitably wreak havoc on those four prefectures. At that point, they'll definitely turn on each other like dogs!"

Han Da listened intently, then excitedly chimed in, "Moreover, our Prince has already conquered the Turkic rear and has also deployed another 30,000 cavalrymen there. He instructed us to leave some hidden passages before we left, so they can use them to enter and occupy Yanbei City! With the Prince's personally led army guarding Yanbei City, and us guarding Lingxiao City, the Turks will be sitting ducks!"