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

Xiao Ce glanced at Yan Jia: "What do you mean?"

Yan Jia smiled and said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, you always win battles so easily. We don't even need to put in any effort to win!"

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "It's all thanks to God!"

Yan Jia shook his head, not quite agreeing.

"Your Highness, you are truly a man of brilliant wisdom."

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "This is nothing! Come on, let's go find the main force!"

Then Xiao Ce said to Da Lei, "Da Lei, go and sneak into the city. There are some Turks who have been persuaded to surrender. Give them these medicines. Tomorrow night, put these medicines into the usual water source."

Da Lei cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Your Highness!"

Seeing this, Yan Jia said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, are you unwilling to let any of our men die?"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Why would you seek death when you can live? I've already said, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death! What era are we living in? I hate fighting and killing the most!"

Yan Jia neither agreed nor disagreed with Xiao Ce's words.

If you were meeting Xiao Ce for the first time, you might actually believe that Xiao Ce doesn't like fighting and killing.

However, having witnessed Xiao Ce's methods in the Turkic Khaganate, he knew that Xiao Ce was decisive and ruthless. He just didn't like fighting; he preferred killing.

One-sided killing.

Yan Jia was quite concerned: "Won't the poison affect our water source?"

Xiao Ce shook his head and said, "It's nothing! It's just some laxatives!"

Yan Jia said with a hint of doubt, "Your Highness, according to the secret passage Han Da left for us, we can enter without anyone noticing and kill them all."

Xiao Ce said, "Hey, I'm not a bloodthirsty person... Let's spare some survivors and take them back to Zhang Yunqing to do hard labor! You know, Zhang Yunqing's Urgen tribe is in dire need of rebuilding and is short of people! Let's capture them and let them rebuild their homes!"

Yan Jia's face twitched as he listened, and he nodded repeatedly.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Turks entered Yanbei City with great enthusiasm.

They made all the preparations very carefully.

But after entering the city, they didn't see a single person.

This continued until they occupied Yanbei City.

They didn't see a single enemy. Instead, they were tense as they searched the dense alleyways.

The Turks injured each other.

"Report! The inspection of Lingluo Lane is complete; everything is safe and sound!"

"Report! Caoxiang, everything is safe and sound..."

He Lu waited at the city gate, listening to the reports coming from the generals.

He Lu's expression grew increasingly grim.

Ashina, standing to the side, said, "Helu, I told you, there wouldn't be any problems with the intelligence this time... It's obvious they ran away before!"

He Lu, his face dark, pointed at Ashina: "What are you talking about now? Do you really know there's no one here...? Go ahead and attack... weren't you just cowering and didn't dare?"

It looked like the two were about to start fighting again.

Ashide tried to smooth things over: "In any case, this is good news for us. If they had held their ground, we would have suffered heavy losses of Turkic warriors here!"

Ashina said, “If you listen to me, we can not only quickly enter Yanbei City, but also pursue their fleeing troops. The four prefectures along the way are all under my control; they won't accept them. Follow my instructions, and we can slaughter them all… We can annihilate them before they retreat. But if they cower in their shells now…”

"Alright, alright, shut the hell up! You think you're so great! What kind of hindsight is this?!"

He Lu said viciously, "Since you're all so powerful, let's start tomorrow the same way as before. We'll each rely on our own abilities. Whoever can conquer a few cities, those cities belong to them... I don't even want to help you..."

Ashina frowned slightly: "The four prefectures and thirty cities of the northern desert have already submitted to us... there is no need to attack. If you agree, we will draw lots to divide these cities equally!"

Ashide quickly agreed, "That's right, I agree with Ashina's idea. We don't need to waste our military strength on those cities that have already submitted."

Since both Tesa and Musa were to their advantage, they naturally agreed...

After all, if it really came down to each person relying on their own abilities, none of them would be a match for the Helu tribe.

"Alright then. Let's divide it up later. Ashina, you can't cheat us this time, can you?" He Lu said, not daring to provoke the crowd.

Ashina said, "There won't be any problems! I can guarantee it this time! If there are any issues, just kill them..."

Although Ashina was unhappy with these people from the four major clans, he could indeed tell from the situation here.

They didn't lie to him.

The incorrect information given to him earlier was all due to being misled by Xiao Ce.

“Then how do we count this empty city? Is it included as one of them? Whoever wants it can have it... I don’t want this one…” He Lu said preemptively.

After all, their goal in conquering cities and seizing territory is to take the population and resources within them.

An empty city not only yields no profit, but also requires some people to be sacrificed to defend it.

After He Lu finished speaking, everyone said no.

After all, there was no profit to be made, and even Ashina didn't want it.

At this moment, Tesa spoke up: "Since no one else wants it, then I'll reluctantly accept it."

The group naturally had no objections and echoed Tesa's statement that if he needed, he would need to send troops to garrison the area.

Tessa readily agreed.

After saying this, these people went to another place and divided up all thirty cities, except for the nine cities occupied by Xiao Ce, as if they were their own.

After everyone dispersed, Ashide and Tesa got along well.

Ashide then asked Tesa, "Ashide, why did you choose this empty city? After all, it's useless!"

Tesa laughed and replied, "Your thinking hasn't changed. You still think like steppe people, that whoever has the strongest army is all that matters... That steppe approach doesn't work here anymore. High walls and strong fortifications are what's important. Besides, this empty city is strategically located. After we conquer the Xiao Kingdom, this city will definitely be the busiest! Not only is it easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it's also a vital strategic point. One city here is worth ten cities!"

"Moreover, this place borders the Turks and is located on the northernmost frontier of the Gobi Desert. If war breaks out, this city will definitely be the last to be affected! It may seem like an unwanted place. However, if you look at it from a developmental perspective, this is a golden city!"

After hearing this, Ashide suddenly realized: "No wonder you can make money, Tesa. You are the richest among our Turkic tribes!"

Tesa laughed and said, "Ashid, I'm a businessman... I'm not good at fighting, so I can only use my own methods... to maximize profits!"

Ashide nodded, then said to Tesa, "Tesa, in the future, we should provide more support to those like us who are not good at fighting."

Tesa said to Ashide, "Ashide, do you really think that our army can invade the heart of the Xiao Kingdom's Central Plains?"

Ashide asked with a hint of doubt, "You don't think it's a good idea?"

Tesa nodded: "At least for now, I'm not optimistic! We seem united, as you've seen. Our two strongest tribes, the Helu and Ashina, are at odds with each other! That's a recipe for defeat! We each have our own agendas. Conquering the four northern prefectures is already quite an achievement!"

Ashide said, "So, you mean... after conquering the four prefectures of Mobei, you don't plan to head south?"

Tesa smiled and nodded: "Indeed, Ashide, we are old friends. Let me give you a piece of advice: what we truly possess is what we have... The Xiao Kingdom may be declining, but it is still a behemoth. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse!"

Ashid nodded: "Tesa, I understand!"

After waiting there for a day, the various tribes set off.

They each went to their assigned locations, and Tesa did not leave any heavy troops behind.

After all, in Tesa's eyes, Yanbei City was at least not dangerous for the time being.

After the main force had all left.

More than 3,000 people remained in Yanbei City.

After the Turkic army left, Da Lei easily infiltrated the city using the secret passage he had previously used.

The Turkic people of the Tesa tribe here felt that this was their safe rear area and had no sense of vigilance whatsoever.

Da Lei went to the agreed-upon location and found the surrendered Turks who were hiding underground.

After giving them the medicine powder and explaining the situation, Da Lei prepared to leave.

The surrendered Turks asked Da Lei, "Sir, is the King of Mobei coming? Tell him to be careful, as the area from Yanbei City to the four prefectures of Mobei is now swarming with Turkic soldiers..."

Da Lei nodded: "We will enter the city at midnight tonight! All you need to do is put these powders into their water source."

In an attempt to appease the surrendered Turks, one of them said, "Shall we go and help you open the south gate?"

Da Lei laughed and said, "No need! The King of Mobei has his own way. Besides, our army will enter through the north gate."

The surrendered Turks were increasingly puzzled: "Sir, are you mistaken? The area outside the north gate is our Turkic rear... How could the army of the Northern Desert King come from our rear?"

Da Lei laughed and said, "Just do as I say, and wait for the King of the Northern Desert and the divine soldiers to descend from the sky!"