Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Ouch!"

A piercing tiger's roar, accompanied by the crisp sound of a gunshot, shattered the birds in the surrounding snow-covered forest.

Crimson blood gushed from the neck of a tiger, splattering onto the scattered snow and trees marked with signs of struggle, a truly jarring sight.

"Your Highness, it's dead! The tiger is dead!"

Several guards cautiously stepped forward with their shields, walked up to the tiger, poked it, and after checking it, cheers and flattery immediately resounded throughout the forest.

Gao Yang raised his eyebrows triumphantly at Wei Shuyu, who was standing to the side.

The latter, with a bitter expression, bowed and said, "Your subject will keep his promise and compose a poem for Your Highness..."

"It's not just about writing poetry!" Gao Yang feigned dissatisfaction.

Wei Shuyu took a deep breath.

"Your Majesty, I will recite poems of praise before my father."

"Hmmmm~"

Gao Yang raised her small face with satisfaction. Her skin, which was radiant even more than the surrounding cedar trees despite not wearing any makeup, drew envious glances from Dou Mingzhong and other young talents from Chang'an who were accompanying her.

Wei Shuyu, this gentle and weak fellow, unexpectedly won the favor of Princess Gaoyang.

As the guards carried the tiger, which Princess Gaoyang had personally shot and killed, to a nearby location for processing, Princess Gaoyang returned to her carriage. Dou Mingzhong and several of Wei Shuyu's classmates gathered around her.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Brother Wei, ever since we set off from Chang'an, Princess Gaoyang has kept you by her side at all times. I'm afraid that apart from the female guards that His Highness the Crown Prince selected for Princess Gaoyang, you are the closest to Her Highness the Princess."

"Lord Wei is the chief official of Baikal County. If Brother Wei is fortunate enough to enter the Princess's residence in the future, don't forget your brothers!"

The group spoke in a seemingly serious but actually joking manner.

Upon hearing this, Wei Shuyu's lips twitched slightly.

Entering the Princess's Residence?

Please spare me!

Thinking back on these past few days, in the eyes of these people, he was favored by the princess and had romantic feelings for her, but in reality, she was using his "Jade Gentleman and Lady" painting as a threat to coerce him into doing many things for her behind his father's back after arriving in Baikal County.

Wei Shuyu's mind was in turmoil.

the other side.

The long convoy was surrounded by cavalry and armored soldiers who provided escort. After a short rest, the convoy resumed its journey towards Baikal County.

Gao Yang sat in the carriage, his face showing no trace of the spoiled and arrogant air he had displayed outside.

She carefully examined the intelligence about Baikal County that her elder brother, the Crown Prince, had prepared for her, which was collected by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Apart from some matters involving Wei Zheng's political affairs, the intelligence was also very detailed.

The distribution of surrounding ethnic groups and their power structure are the main contents.

"Hongyu, come in here for a moment."

Gao Yang called out to the window, and soon a figure bowed and entered the carriage.

"Your Highness, what are your orders?"

This woman, named Hongyu, was nearly thirty years old. In her youth, she was a brigade commander in the Women's Army. During a major battle, she was injured and unfortunately lost her fertility. Therefore, even after retiring, she was unable to get married.

These were talents that Li Chengqian recruited from a security escort agency in Jinyang after he mobilized the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He served as the commander of Gao Yang's personal guard.

"At our current speed, how long will it take to reach Baikal County?"

Hongyu immediately replied.

"We have just left Liaodong and entered the Liaoxi Corridor. According to the route, we will pass through the Daling River Valley, cross the northern foothills of the Yanshan Mountains, and then arrive at the Huangshui River (later known as the Xilamulun River), which is nearly 600 li. We will replenish our supplies at the Huangshui River and continue westward through the Balin Grassland, entering the Xilin Gol Grassland controlled by the Shiwei and Wuluohu tribes. This is another 1,000 li..."

Hongyu considered for a moment: "From Julunbo West (later Hulun Lake) onwards, we travel nine hundred li westward along the river valley, then northwest along the Kerulen River, crossing a hilly area, and we will reach the North Sea, which is another six hundred li."

"Your Highness, even if the journey goes smoothly, at our current pace, it will still take at least two or three months."

Princess Gaoyang: "..."

Only at this moment did Gao Yang truly realize the reason why his mother and elder brother were so worried when he left Chang'an.

Traveling with men and supplies is different from the urgent dispatches that travel 800 li each way.

This round trip took several months and was quite expensive.

Gao Yang didn't know how he felt. He didn't feel anything when he left Chang'an, and he didn't feel anything when he transferred to a train and traveled all the way to Taiyuan Prefecture, then to Zhengding Prefecture, and then to Yanzhou Prefecture.

Even after entering Liaodong Circuit, she remained immersed in the freedom and excitement of leaving the palace and forging her own path.

"your Highness?"

Hongyu called out softly with some concern.

Coming to his senses, Gao Yang sniffed and coughed lightly, trying to appear strong.

"Oh, I see. It's alright now, Hongyu, you can go out..."

Hongyu nodded, bowed respectfully, and exited the carriage.

At this moment, Gao Yang's eyes finally welled up with tears. She took out the golden revolver that her elder brother had given her from her bosom. The tiger had just died by this gun.

The feeling of complete control allowed Gao Yang to fire several precise shots at the tiger's neck almost the instant it pounced out of the jungle.

Gao Yang's low mood was short-lived; full of inner strength, he quickly regained his composure.

He took a deep breath and began to look at the documents in front of him.

She didn't come to Baikal County to fool around and wander around.

Despite the pride that the officials in the imperial court held in this far northern region of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Yang, who frequently visited his elder brother's study and even watched him review documents, was well aware of the situation.

Baikal County is currently in a precarious state of equilibrium.

It was all thanks to Wei Zheng and the 50,000-strong Production and Construction Corps that things were kept afloat.

Local tribes such as the Shiwei and Wuluohu, and even the nearby Tiele tribes like the Xueyantuo, were quite dissatisfied with the intervention of the Tang Dynasty's power, but dared not speak out against it.

Gao Yang came to Baikal County with only three things to do.

unified!

unified!

It's still damn unification!

......

News of Princess Gaoyang's caravan has naturally been closely followed by many parties.

Located further north in the northern route of the Tang Dynasty, the Xueyantuo tribe of the Tiele tribe had nominally submitted to the Tang Dynasty, but the Xueyantuo had never received the treatment they expected from the Central Plains after submitting.

The leader of the Xueyantuo, Yinan, did not miss a single thing, whether it was sending envoys to Chang'an to congratulate the Crown Prince on his wedding or to congratulate Princess Jinyang on her birth.

However, it seemed as if the Tang Dynasty had forgotten about them.

The Turkic people of Zhenbeidao were living a prosperous life, with large areas of ranches and farms being built up in Zhenbeidao. However, they were located in areas with virtually no barriers to Zhenbeidao.

However, it has never been under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty.

But what if we say that the Tang Dynasty forgot?

The Tang Dynasty, however, went beyond them and established Baikal County further north!

Xueyantuo's tent.

Yinan looked at his subordinates' report on Princess Gaoyang's movements with a pained expression.

"They didn't even come to our unit to say hello?!"