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

Sun Qiang nodded and pulled out a map.

Then it unfolded, and Xiao Ce began to speak.

Xiao Ce saw the map and curiously approached it.

Sun Qiang pointed at the map.

Xiao Ce had a more direct understanding of the four prefectures and thirty-nine cities in the northern desert.

Of the thirty-nine cities in the northern desert, Bao An currently controls nine, which are the cities that connect Yanmen City to Lingxiao City.

The nine cities have always been under the control of the imperial governors.

After Nie Yao was killed, a governor was appointed, but this governor was just a puppet chosen by the four powerful clans.

Bao An took over nine cities, but the garrison in these nine cities numbered only a few hundred.

His main force was stationed in Yanbei City, which bordered the Turkic Kingdom.

Ten thousand troops were stationed there.

The section from Lingxiao City to Yanbei City was divided up by four powerful clans, each with at least 50,000 private soldiers, totaling at least 200,000!

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ce exclaimed, "What! You have so many? And yet you were bullied like this by the Turks?"

Sun Qiang cupped his hands and said, "It's because everyone is minding their own business. So, Your Highness, at most we can only persuade the people of the Nine Cities and the garrison of Yanbei City. As for the territories of those powerful clans, their private soldiers have been raised by them for generations, and their loyalty is ingrained in their bones!"

Xiao Ce looked at the map and said, "Alright, these nine cities are enough. With them here, if the Turks want to attack me, they will definitely have to attack them. In this way, those powerful clans will have to fight even if they don't want to! Go ahead, everyone go and collect some money from over there."

"You will depart tonight, and tomorrow I will send men from Yanmen City to take over these nine cities!"

"I was a little worried at first! But now it seems that my worries were unnecessary! Lingxiao City is located at the throat of these nine cities. As long as we defend Lingxiao City, the nine cities behind us will be safe!"

After saying that, Xiao Ce said to Yan Jia, "Have the Shen brothers, Shen Hu and Shen Bao, bring the entire army over. Also, have Yin Pan'er and Nie Bing come over."

Yan Jia cupped his hands and said.

Hearing Xiao Ce's words, Sun Qiang, who was standing to the side, said excitedly, "Your Highness, is the Miss Nie Bing you mentioned the daughter of Governor Nie Yao?"

Xiao Ce nodded and looked at Sun Qiang, saying, "What? You know him?"

Sun Qiang nodded excitedly and said, "Of course! Governor Nie Yao was our benefactor, but unfortunately he was framed by treacherous people, which led to the massacre of his entire family... We had long heard that Governor Nie Yao's only daughter had survived! However, we had not heard anything about her until now."

"Your Highness, if you wish to recruit talent in the Northern Desert, you can have Miss Nie Bing do it. Governor Nie Yao is highly respected in the four prefectures of the Northern Desert."

Xiao Ce listened and nodded with a smile.

He definitely needs a group of talented people to help him manage this area.

Judging by the timeline, all the disaster victims will arrive in less than half a month.

He had nine cities, which was enough to settle these disaster victims.

...

After giving instructions to the six people, he looked around at his men who were all busy at work.

He ended up being the most idle person.

Looking around, he saw a bright little boy standing not far away, the one who had greeted him at the Qian family business.

The little boy craned his neck to watch the accountants keeping the books.

Xiao Ce thought to himself that he was indeed lacking a servant.

Although Da Lei followed Xiao Ce closely, he was a specially trained assassin who had no emotions whatsoever, making him quite boring.

Moreover, there are some things that are not convenient for him to do.

Xiao Ce had been searching for a suitable candidate all along, but he hadn't found one yet.

He took a liking to this clever little boy the first time he saw him.

As he spoke, Xiao Ce waved to the child.

"Hey kid, come here!"

After seeing Xiao Ce greet him, the child walked up respectfully.

He walked up to Xiao Ce and knelt down with a thud. "Your Highness, what are your orders?"

Xiao Ce waved his hand, signaling the child to get up.

"What's your name, kid?"

The child bowed respectfully and replied, "Your Highness, my name is Xiao Jiu."

"Xiao Jiu? What kind of name is that?" Xiao Ce asked, puzzled.

Xiao Jiu bowed: "I am the ninth child in my family. We are slaves and do not have names! Unless the master bestows a name upon us. This Xiao Jiu is the name given to me by the former manager of the trading company."

Xiao Ce nodded. "Nine times nine equals one" is indeed a good name.

"Little Nine, I need a servant to accompany me. Would you be willing to follow me?"

Xiao Jiu looked at Xiao Ce excitedly, "Your Highness, is it alright? I...I'm afraid I won't do a good job..."

Xiao Ce stepped forward and patted Xiao Jiu's head: "If I say you can, you definitely can! Go find me a place to stay first."

Xiao Jiu was very clever and nodded repeatedly.

Xiao Ce was indeed tired and needed to get some sleep.

...

Meanwhile, Kan Zongye walked out of the hall and looked around the entire palace, where soldiers were coming and going.

He waited for a while, but Xiao Ce did not come over.

He coldly asked the general beside him, "Your Highness, why haven't you arrived yet? Go and urge them again!"

Kan Zongye was a prominent figure in the entire four prefectures of Mobei.

When have I ever been treated with such neglect?

The leading general looked up at the sky; according to Xiao Ce, the time was about right.

"The prince said he wouldn't see you. He gave you a chance just now, but you acted arrogantly and didn't like him! He doesn't want to give you a chance now!"

Kan Zongye listened to the general's words, his expression shifting between light and dark.

"If you're not going to see me, why did you make me wait here for half an hour in vain!"

The general glanced at Kan Zongye and said, "What, is that not allowed?"

Kan Zongye, his face ashen, pointed at the general and said, "Insolence! Are you playing me?"

Seeing this, the general didn't waste any words, drew his sword, and said to Kan Zongye, "That's right, so what if I played you? The prince said that if you dare to make any move, you will be killed without mercy!"

Kan Zongye was intimidated by the general's bandit-like demeanor.

This man was a veteran among the original three thousand death row inmates, and has now been appointed a centurion.

"Stop with your act and know your place. They say a fallen phoenix is ​​worse than a chicken, and you're not even a phoenix yet! Either get in here now! If you don't obey, I'll chop you up! Get in!"

Kan Zongye's expression shifted between anger and unease as he was reprimanded by the centurion, but he eventually slunk inside.

Kan Zongye chose to go in.

The centurion even sent men to escort Kan Zongye inside, and after they did so, he said respectfully, "Mr. Kan, you've had a long journey!"

Those who had been waiting inside the hall all stood up.

Upon seeing Kan Zongye return, Bao An quickly asked, "How did it go?"

Kan Zongye shook his head and said, "I didn't even see Xiao Ce's men! They're playing me. They made me wait outside for half an hour for nothing."

Before Bao An could speak, the head of the Cai family looked at Kan Zongye suspiciously and said, "Head of the Kan family, did you not see it? Or did you see it but it's inconvenient for you to say?"

Kan Zongye frowned and said, "Cai Tianming, what do you mean?"

The Cai family and the Kan family have never gotten along.

Cai Tianming, the head of the Cai family, said, "What do you mean? Who are you, Kan Zongye? Are you that stupid? If you hadn't seen that good-for-nothing Xiao Ce, would you have waited outside for half an hour like an idiot? You probably saw that good-for-nothing Xiao Ce and then reached some kind of agreement with him."

Kan Zongye, glaring angrily, recounted what had just happened. "I was also tricked by that good-for-nothing?"

Cai Tianming snorted coldly and said, "You said those guards outside wanted to kill you!"

Kan Zongye frowned slightly and said, "That's right!"

Cai Tianming continued, "Then who was it that so respectfully escorted you in just now?"

Kan Zongye was initially confused, but now, listening to Cai Tianming's words, he suddenly understood.

"Are you brainless? Can't you see how obvious and low-level this sowing discord is? If I really had connections with Xiao Ce, would he openly send me this? Don't you have a brain?"

Cai Tianming wanted to say something more, but was stopped by several other powerful families standing nearby.

"Patriarch Kan is right. We should unite now."

Cai Tianming said, "What's the use of uniting now? We're trapped here... unable to get out, unable to get in... we can only wait to die. What do you guys think we should do?"

Kan Zongye nodded and said, "That's right, and Xiao Ce's attitude is very firm. We need to prepare for the worst!"

Lin Shou, the head of the Lin family, frowned slightly and said, "Does he still dare to kill us?"

Kan Zongye nodded and said, "It's not impossible!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Tianming flew into a rage and shouted, "He dares!"

"Instead of wasting time on this, we should all think of a solution."

Kan Zongye ignored them and sat down in his seat, closing his eyes to think.

...

Xiao Ce strolled around Bao An's palace, found one he liked, and settled in.

After lying down for a while, I thought about how long the night was.

I really couldn't sleep, and I kept thinking about the maids who had been taken away.

Xiao Ce thought to himself, "I'm just idling around anyway."

Why not go find some fun?

Then he told Xiao Jiu to call all the maids from earlier over.

These maids were taken outside, and Xiao Ce, just to be on the safe side, made them all take off their outer garments.

Then more than ninety white-haired maids walked in.

These maids had no tattoos on their faces and were all of very average height.

They were all beauties.

Clearly, these maids were all carefully selected.

Looking at them standing there shyly, some of them had such proud figures that they couldn't be hidden!

Xiao Ce chuckled and murmured to himself, "Is this the kind of life that makes time travel interesting?"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce said to Xiao Jiu, "Xiao Jiu, go and get me a chair!"

Xiao Jiu nodded, and soon brought over a grand chair.

After Xiao Ce sat down, he addressed the naked maids, saying, "Everyone, introduce yourselves! Tell us your strengths, weaknesses, what you did before, and who you served!"