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

Xiao Ce had previously felt that 'Tie Dan' was intelligent and perceptive.

Now it is becoming increasingly certain.

Seeing this, Xiao Ce grabbed the reins and leaped onto the platform.

After mounting his horse, Xiao Ce said to Han Da and the others, "I'll just give my buddies a ride. See you at Yanmen Pass!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce gave 'Iron Egg' a light pat on the back.

With a neighing sound, 'Iron Egg' galloped off at high speed.

"Your Highness, please slow down... We must protect you..."

After Xiao Ce finished speaking, Han Da didn't even have time to react before he quickly mounted his horse and started arranging for Xiao Ce to come to the troop.

On the other hand, they also had to send people to catch up with Xiao Ce and protect him.

The result was obvious: they failed to catch up.

Xiao Ce's 'Iron Egg' is incredibly powerful and runs extremely fast.

What Xiao Ce didn't know was that, although he was unaware, 'Tie Dan' was living a life of luxury...

Not to mention the delicious food and drinks, no one has ridden it since Xiao Ce left.

When Xiao Ce arrived at the foot of Yanmen Pass, the scene before him still surprised him somewhat.

Actually, from a distance, this city doesn't look like much.

But only upon closer inspection can one truly appreciate the oppressive atmosphere of these cities.

The city walls here are nearly twenty meters high and stretch for dozens of miles, with no end in sight.

It only took a year and a half. He couldn't imagine how this project was completed; it was simply unbelievable.

Meanwhile, a garrison near the city was composed of elite troops arranged by Han Da.

Upon seeing Xiao Ce, the garrison immediately recognized him and knelt down to pay their respects.

"Greetings, Your Highness, King of the Northern Desert."

Xiao Ce looked at these people, all of whom were unfamiliar faces, nodded, and told them to get up.

Xiao Ce looked back and, seeing that Han Da and the others hadn't caught up yet, said to them, "How did you manage to build this? You've completed such a massive project in just over a year? How many people did you have to mobilize?"

The garrison leader bowed to Xiao Ce and said, "Your Highness, the King of Mobei, we only used a little over a thousand craftsmen to build this city defense! We didn't use too many civilians."

Xiao Ce was somewhat surprised after hearing this.

"You only used a thousand craftsmen? Not many ordinary people? How did you manage to complete such a large project?"

The leader of the garrison then began to speak.

"Those prisoners captured from the Turks were used by various people."

Because the situation in the Central Plains of Xiao Kingdom was not good at that time, the princess was afraid of conflict, so she decided to establish a defensive line first!

They then spent money to transfer the Turkic prisoners from the common people. They then made them do hard labor.

Immediately, all the nearby troops were mobilized, and we all threw ourselves into these tasks. The more than one thousand craftsmen didn't even get started! They were all sent to teach us!

So, almost all of our soldiers, along with the Turkic prisoners, did the work. This task exhausted many Turkic prisoners to death! It was a perfectly legitimate way of wearing them down.”

After listening, Xiao Ce nodded. These troops would use sheer numbers to fight.

At first, when Xiao Ce returned, he was still able to receive letters from Yin Pan'er.

After several twists and turns, and with internal turmoil in the Xiao Kingdom, Yin Pan'er stopped sending letters to Xiao Ce as a precaution.

All the letters were sent unilaterally by Xiao Ce to Yin Pan'er...

So, it seems that a lot has happened in the year or so he's been away.

Seeing Xiao Ce's thoughtful expression, the leader of the guard quickly spoke up: "Your Highness, since you left, the five prefectures of Mobei have undergone earth-shattering changes! You could never have imagined..."

"This city wall defense line is arguably the least worth mentioning!"

They looked so confident and proud when they said that.

Xiao Ce became interested when he heard them say that.

In less than two years, how far will Yin Pan'er develop Mobei?

Before Xiao Ce could ask, Han Da and the others had already arrived.

"Your Highness, you can't do this! You are the faith in the hearts of us people of the Northern Desert. If anything happens to you, what will become of our land?"

Looking at Han Da's terrified expression, Xiao Ce said with some confusion, "Look how scared you are. How come I was able to escape unscathed from the Central Plains of Xiao Kingdom, and from those powerful enemies in the Western Regions?"

"How could there still be danger after we've reached my base?"

Han Da nodded awkwardly: "Your Highness is right, times have changed! If it were before, you would definitely not have had any problems coming to the northern desert! However, you should know about what happened to the Turks."

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "I know, it wasn't because we were invaded by the Slavs from Tsarist Russia... What, did those Slavs invade our northern desert?"

Han Da shook his head: "No, not that one!"

Before Han Da could finish speaking, Xiao Ce interrupted, "Since there isn't any, why are you so worried?"

Han Da continued, "Although there was no military invasion, they did send in a large number of assassins. After invading our northern desert, these assassins murdered many of our important ministers, as well as some highly respected people among the common people... causing widespread panic... even..."

Han Da suddenly stopped halfway through his speech…

He then stopped talking.

Xiao Ce realized something was wrong: "Even what?"

Han Da gave an awkward laugh and said, "N-nothing... I mean, even some important prefects were attacked..."

Xiao Ce was very knowledgeable about psychology.

Moreover, Han Da was a military general and not very good at deceiving people.

With his cunning and shrewdness, he could probably fool others without a problem.

However, this was full of loopholes in front of Xiao Ce.

Xiao Ce frowned slightly, then said, "Han Da, do you know? You can't lie... not even what?"

Han Da's face was extremely embarrassed, and he said, "N-nothing?"

As he spoke, Han Da put on a fake smile.

He then spoke, "Your Highness... I am that..."

The more Han Da tried to justify himself, the more flaws he made...

Xiao Ce's face darkened: "Han Da? What's wrong? Have I been away from Mobei for too long? Don't you even know who your master is?"

Xiao Ce's voice was icy cold, and Han Da was terrified.

He knelt on the ground and then said, "Reporting... to Your Highness, no... no... it's just that Prime Minister Yin instructed us... we shouldn't tell you yet..."

Before Han Da could finish speaking, Xiao Ce's eyelids twitched, and he immediately guessed what was going on.

His eyes widened, his face contorted with rage, and he asked in a low voice as if he wanted to devour someone, "Has something happened to Yin Pan'er?"

Xiao Ce didn't even need Han Da to speak; he already knew the answer just by looking at his expression.

Xiao Ce's eyes were bloodshot as he asked in a low voice, "Get to the point! What happened to Yin Pan'er? Who did it?!"