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

After Nie Bing finished speaking, she wiped her sword on Bao An's body and put it back in its sheath.

He then scanned the room and said to Xiao Ce, "I've finished my business. Is there anything else you need?"

Xiao Ce knew that Nie Bing was hiding something.

Judging from her expression, it was clear that she knew the real person who had killed the Nie family was someone else.

However, the reason she was in such a hurry to kill Bao An was so that he wouldn't reveal this secret.

Xiao Ce shook his head and said, "I've come to avenge you and comfort Governor Nie's spirit in heaven. You can leave once the matter is done."

At this point, some of the bolder heads of prestigious families stepped forward.

"Your Highness, when may we leave?"

Xiao Ce sized up the family head, then coldly snorted and said, "I gave you a chance, and I won't hold you responsible. But you weren't confident. Now you think you can leave so easily!"

As she spoke, she glanced around the hall, and finally met Kan Zongye's gaze, giving him a slight nod.

Kan Zongye was bewildered by Xiao Ce, but he dared not say anything on the spot, because he was not sure whether Xiao Ce was genuinely extending goodwill or simply trying to sow discord.

If he were to explain on the spot and displease Xiao Ce, no one knows what he might do.

After all, from the beginning until now, every step Xiao Ce has taken has exceeded their expectations.

He never expected that Xiao Ce would be so crazy, ordering Nie Bing to kill Bao An in front of everyone.

He dared to kill Bao An in full view of everyone.

Either they don't want them to live, since only the dead can shut up forever.

Either they are confident enough to prevent them from revealing the matter.

Either possibility sent chills down his spine.

They waited until Xiao Ce was far away.

Kan Zongye looked at the people in the hall, all of whom were watching him warily.

He then addressed the people inside the hall, saying, "Don't look at me like that. Can't you see how obviously you're trying to sow discord? If I really had some kind of tacit understanding with Xiao Ce, do you think it would be so obvious to you?"

Cai Tianming chimed in from the side, "Hmph... truth and falsehood, reality and illusion, who can say for sure?"

Kan Zongye frowned: "Cai Tianming, stop being sarcastic. We've all seen Xiao Ce's attitude. If we don't unite, we'll be next to die! He even dared to kill Bao An, let alone us!"

Lin Shou spoke up, "Patriarch Kan is right. We should unite now. Now that Bao An is dead, we don't need to pretend anymore... We can discuss what to do next. Xiao Ce is just trying to stay on this side. Actually, for us, it makes no difference whether it's Bao An or Xiao Ce!"

Liu Xuan scoffed from the side, "Do you really think Xiao Ce and Bao An are the same kind of people?"

"No matter what, getting out of this hellhole is the most important thing!"

Mos Ashina, who had been huddled in the corner with a grim expression, then stepped forward.

"Gentlemen, when you go out, be sure to take me with you! You will definitely need the help of us Turks to deal with this man!"

The crowd looked at Mos Ashina and nodded, saying, "Khan, of course, we will do our best!"

...

At this time, the Ashina tribe.

Ashina and a group of princes are having a meal.

After receiving the letter, the messenger hurriedly went to a yurt.

After performing the gesture of bowing with hands on the chest.

"Khan, a messenger crow from the northern desert!"

Seeing this, Ashina said, "So what if we trust the crows? What's the rush?"

The raven messenger held up a finger and said, "This is a finger that came with the raven. The ring on it seems to belong to Prince Morse."

Ashina jumped up and walked forward, immediately spotting the finger and the ring on it.

He took the letter, opened it, and glanced at it.

His face was extremely gloomy.

"Damn the people of Da Xiao! Ah! They dared to kidnap my prince and even hurt him! Ah!!"

Ashina angrily kicked over the brazier beside him.

"Father Khan, what's wrong?"

"Father, what's wrong with my elder brother? What tricks are the Xiao people up to now?"

The princes inside the yurt asked questions one after another.

Ashina handed the letter to them to read.

The princes were all filled with righteous indignation: "Father, these people from Xiao have eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, daring to threaten us! Your son is willing to lead 10,000 troops to sweep across the northern desert and teach these people from Xiao a lesson!"

"Father, your son is willing too! If they dare to extort us, your son promises to rescue my elder brother and make them pay us another million taels of gold!"

Ashina nodded in satisfaction as he looked at his sons who were all volunteering for the mission.

"Good, as expected of my sons, you are all warriors. However, we need to know what happened in the northern desert of Xiao Kingdom. This letter was not sent by Bao An! But by someone claiming to be 'this king'? Are there any princes in the northern desert?"

One of the princes cupped his hands and said, "Father, when that dog Bao An came over before, didn't he tell us that their Xiao Kingdom's deposed crown prince had been exiled to the four northern prefectures to be a prince? Is that the good-for-nothing?"

Ashina frowned slightly and said, "Isn't that a good-for-nothing? He's just leading three thousand death row inmates, how could he possibly be a match for Bao An! It shouldn't be him!"

The prince spoke up, "Then what will Father Khan decide now?"

Ashina pondered for a moment and said, "Regardless of the situation, what's certain now is that the people of Xiao Kingdom used Bao An's wedding day to capture Moss. That ring belongs to Moss, and the carrier raven belongs to Bao An! Let's keep them calm and prevent them from harming Moss further. Pretend to agree to their demands!"

"Furthermore, I will send people to contact our spies in the four prefectures of the northern desert to find out what happened! You all go back and muster your troops, contact the various tribes, and get them to join forces with us! No matter what, we need to go to the Xiao Kingdom and massacre them, so they know the consequences of threatening us!"

After hearing this, all the princes bowed and agreed, then went to attend to their duties.

...

After Xiao Ce took Nie Bing away from the Hall of Ceremonies, he let her go find Fei Du on her own.

Xiao Ce originally wanted to find Yin Pan'er and have a deeper conversation with her.

However, thinking that Yin Pan'er had finally changed her opinion of him, he decided to give her a hard time.

After all, the previous time was forced upon me, so I didn't really have a good experience.

If we were to do it again, she would need to cooperate; that would make it more fun.

And what he wants now.

The girl representing the twenty-four solar terms was always there, although her appearance couldn't compare to Yin Pan'er's.

The key is simply to be obedient.

Between him and Yin Pan'er, they were not inferior at the same time.

Early the next morning.

Qian Lai arrived early with a group of craftsmen.

Xiao Ce took the palace where the treasure had been hidden.

It was renamed Shenji Hall.

They were then divided into several groups, some responsible for parts manufacturing and others for final assembly.

Each group of people only received a portion of the blueprints; the remaining simple parts were to be outsourced for processing.

This ensures the maximum confidentiality of the drawings.

"Gentlemen, I entrust this to you. If you have any needs in your daily life, you can bring money. We will do our best to meet your needs! In the coming days, I urge you to speed up the work, as I urgently need these divine weapons to attack the Turks!"

Upon seeing this, the group exclaimed excitedly, "Your Highness, are we going to attack the Turks so soon? Your Highness, rest assured, even if we die, we will not delay your mission!"

The craftsmen nearby listened and nodded in agreement.

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "That won't necessarily lead to our demise. We need a thousand sets of composite bows and repeating crossbows first! We have enough time!"

After Xiao Ce gave a few instructions...

It was already noon. Xiao Ce followed Qian Lai and gave him instructions as he walked out.

As I went outside, I saw Fei Du pacing anxiously back and forth outside the door.

Upon seeing Xiao Ce, he rushed forward in three steps.

Looking at his hurried manner.

"Did the Turks send a letter?"

Fei Du cupped his hands and handed over a bamboo tube. Xiao Ce opened it and sneered, "They agreed so readily!"

Fei Du asked in surprise, "Your Highness, have the Turks agreed to your request?"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Who would believe that? Only a fool would! They definitely don't know our situation right now; they're just trying to appease us temporarily so we won't harm their precious prince..."

"Right now, their Turkic spies are probably gathering information everywhere. Their army is also being mobilized!"

Fei Du listened to Xiao Ce's analysis and showed a hint of admiration, but did not respond.

He simply asked, "Your Highness, is a reply required?"

Xiao Ce pondered for a moment and said, "No rush! You and the leaders of various Turkic tribes all have carrier ravens, right?"

Fei Du nodded.

Xiao Ce said, "Then you go ahead and get busy. I'll come find you later! Make sure those carrier crows are well-fed these days; they'll be very busy in the future!"

Fei Du bowed in agreement and withdrew.

Xiao Ce then turned around and handed the letter from the Turks to Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu looked at Xiao Ce with a hint of doubt.

Xiao Ce deliberately tested Xiao Jiu: "What do you think I need you to do next?"

Xiao Jiu looked at Xiao Ce and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, I dare not presume to guess your thoughts."

Xiao Ce laughed out loud: "You brat, you don't need to use this trick on me. I know you guessed it. I order you to speak!"

Xiao Jiu cupped his hands in greeting: "Then I shall dare to say that Your Highness intends for me to take this to the Hall of Rites so that the people there will know that even the Turks have submitted to Your Highness and agreed to our conditions!"

Xiao Ce nodded in satisfaction: "Not bad, you guessed some of it correctly. However, you missed the most important point!"

Xiao Jiu bowed respectfully and said, "Please enlighten me, Your Highness."

"Go and bring Mos Ashina out. Tell him I want to take him to trade with the Turks!" Xiao Ce said with a slight smile.

Xiao Jiu looked at him with an awkward smile, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

Xiao Ce asked, "What's wrong? Why are you smiling so fake?"