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

"If you want to back out, then you can back out."

After they finished speaking, the two men turned to leave aggressively.

Ashide spoke up, "Gentlemen, please don't act rashly. We have a common enemy: Xiao Ce! Xiao Ce attacked our rear, and we've already suffered heavy losses! We can't afford to split up further..."

"Xiao Ce must have gone to great lengths to capture these close relatives of ours. Now, he's releasing them so easily. Shouldn't you all think about why he did this?"

Everyone was silent.

Ashide said, "I think their goal might be to make us retreat."

Upon hearing this, Ashina frowned: "So, you mean to go to war too?"

Ashide shook his head: "However, I think you have a point! We have already lost our territory in the rear of the Turks. If we expend too much effort here and it weakens us, then we will lose our control over the four prefectures and thirty cities in the northern desert."

On one side, Gesa said anxiously, "Ashid, can you just say what you want to say? Why are you beating around the bush? Are we going to fight or not?"

Ashide's face was grim: "Fight! Of course we'll fight! But we won't be the ones to fight! Let the guards of the four northern prefectures fight. They have hundreds of thousands of guards! Once they've worn down Xiao Ce's forces, we'll launch our final assault!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Ashina said, "Do you think those cowardly clan heads can be obedient?"

Ashide's face hardened: "While they are unaware that our rear has been attacked, we have no choice but to let them have their way now!"

Batu Helu said with a gloomy expression, "That's right... If we can't kill those Xiao people hiding in Lingxiao City, can't we at least deal with these people? Go and call them here..."

Gesar nodded: "That's right, they're disobedient, so we'll eliminate them...and then support a new one..."

Everyone quickly reached a consensus.

Seeing that Ashina remained silent, the others said, "Ashina, what does it mean by not speaking? Do you support us or not? You were the one who gathered us together to fight us, and now that we've been defeated like this, you're the one who should back down!"

Mos Ashina, seeing this, said, "What are you yelling about? Were you brainless back then? When you heard about taking over territory, weren't you all yelling and screaming? What's wrong? Now that you've run into problems, you want to shift the blame to us?"

It looked like there was going to be a fight again.

Ashide said, “Alright, now is not the time for accountability. We are not blaming you, but every step we take is important. Ashina, if you have a different opinion, you can speak up.”

Ashina shook his head: "Ashide, your idea is good. If we don't completely eliminate Xiao Ce, he will always be a hidden danger. If we want to recuperate, we must remove this cancer before making a decision."

Ashide said, "Alright, if none of you have any objections, then let's decide on this for now. Let's call them over first thing tomorrow morning. Otherwise, calling them over in the middle of the night might scare them away, and they might not dare to come."

The group nodded and went their separate ways.

After the Turks returned home, they asked again and again, and after listening to the details told by their loved ones, they had no choice but to accept the fact!

To this day, they still can't understand how Xiao Ce managed to do it.

For the Turks, tonight is destined to be a sleepless night...

...

The next day, the heads of the four powerful families, weary from their journey, had just returned when they received a summons from the Turks.

The group looked exhausted; they had only managed to get one or two hours of sleep in the past two days.

Kan Shanyue asked, "What do you think these Turks want us to do?"

Cai Yong frowned slightly: "Is that even a question? Haven't you heard? They've been eating every day for the past few days, without launching any attacks. It's obvious they were terrified of Xiao Ce last time! Calling us over now is most likely to send us as cannon fodder!"

Lin Nan nodded: "Okay, shall we go now?"

Kan Shanyue said, "Go...of course we'll go! Besides, don't you think this is a good opportunity?"

Lin Nan asked with a hint of doubt, "A good opportunity?"

Kan Shanyue nodded: "Aren't we going to fight the Turks anyway? If we move a large army, they'll definitely be on guard. But if they want us to be cannon fodder, then when we move our troops, they won't be on guard..."

Upon hearing Kan Shanyue's words, Cai Yong's eyes lit up slightly: "You mean, while they're sleeping, we'll take them by surprise and launch a sneak attack?"

Kan Shanyue nodded and said, "That's right! We definitely can't beat them if we fight openly... They would never imagine that we would dare to ambush them!"

The group nodded excitedly.

Lin Nan said, "By the way, Urgen Khan gave us a raven that can contact Xiao Ce. Do you think we should contact Xiao Ce?"

The group shook their heads and said, "No need... We can keep this credit for ourselves. Why should it be shared with Xiao Ce? We also want to let Urgen Khan know our capabilities!"

Lin Nan nodded repeatedly as she listened.

"Then shall we go now?"

The group nodded: "Tell your men to make sure they have all the necessary instructions... and prepare extra laxatives. Mix them into their horses' fodder before we move out. If they lose their horses, they'll lose half their fighting strength!"

Everyone nodded.

They then looked at each other, both of them looking travel-worn, and said they were going to wash up.

Otherwise, even if it remains like this, it will arouse suspicion from the Turks.

After they finished washing up, they got a carriage and took a nap in it.

When they arrived outside the Turkic camp, the men were still half asleep.

They only woke up after someone kept calling them.

...

Xiao Ce, who was in Lingxiao City, received several raven messages.

His face was beaming from ear to ear.

Xiao Jiu, standing to the side, asked curiously, "Your Highness, what's going on? What's making you so happy?"

After burning the raven letter in the brazier beside him, Xiao Ce did not speak directly to Xiao Jiu.

He released those Turks earlier partly to provoke them, and partly because he didn't want them to die without knowing their homeland had been robbed.

Unexpectedly, the Turks remained calm after learning about this, and even knew to send the people of the four great clans to be cannon fodder.

This completes the loop with what he asked Lin Nan to do.

I was worried they'd fight like dogs, but the fights weren't very fierce...

Now that things have escalated like this, they're definitely going to fight each other to the death.

The current situation is exactly the most ideal outcome.

They can solve his two biggest problems with minimal losses, which can be considered killing two birds with one stone.