I am the snake demon!

"After I return, I will sort out the commercial tax matters. I will make sure that the Prince's Palace is satisfied with the first commercial tax after the reform."

Xu Yan said with absolute certainty.

"Thank you for your trouble, Uncle," Bai Xuan said with a smile, personally rising to see him off.

Xu Yan smiled and said there was no need. He asked Bai Xuan to see him to the entrance of the main hall and then left on his own. Compared to the anxiety he felt when he arrived, Xu Yan now seemed quite spirited.

"From now on, the Xu family's help to Yan Heng will greatly decrease, and they may even favor you," Xu Yuhua said.

"Those who know when to yield are the heroes, and the North is full of heroes," Bai Xuan said.

"So, in a few years, you're going to take Xu Yan's youngest daughter as your concubine?" Xu Yuhua turned her head and asked.

"Of course not. I was just joking. Apart from the promises I made to Mother and you, which are true, I don't really believe anything else I say," Bai Xuan said with a smile.

When a boss makes empty promises to his employees, just take them with a grain of salt.

That child is only eight years old. Even if she gets married early in this day and age, it will still be at least five years from now.

Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so too does life bring unexpected fortune and misfortune.

Bai Xuan couldn't even guarantee what would happen tomorrow.

Moreover, this is five years from now; who knows what changes might occur in those five years?

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuhua's icy eyes showed a hint of surprise. Only the promises he made to me and my aunt were true. Did I hold the same place in his heart as my aunt?

But why am I the same as my aunt?

Is it...

Xu Yuhua's cheeks flushed slightly, but she feigned nonchalance and said, "Really? You've never lied to me?"

"Of course, all the promises I made to you are true," Bai Xuan replied without hesitation.

The promise I'm talking about isn't about whether I lied to you or not; those are completely different things. Why are you bringing up whether I lied or not?

And how can you call it deception between us?

That could be considered a white lie at best.

Xu Yuhua's lips curled up slightly, seemingly pleased with Bai Xuan's answer, and she said, "Then do you think what Xu Yan said is true or false? Could it be that he's deliberately trying to sow discord between us and the Duan family?"

"Probably not. Xu Yan is no fool; he built the Xu family into such a powerful family single-handedly. There's no point in telling such an easily exposed lie. After all, angering me would be far more terrifying for him," Bai Xuan said.

"So you really suspect the Duan family?" Xu Yuhua asked.

"It's suspicious in itself," Bai Xuan said.

"That must have been a scheme secretly devised by some people within the Duan family, not Uncle's idea," Xu Yuhua said.

The Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion has already given the Duan family enough; no one else could have given them more.

On the contrary, because of his past betrayal, the Duan family will be disliked by his new master.

Therefore, it couldn't be Duan Qingyue's idea.

However, the Duan family is too large, and there are always some people whose interests clash with Duan Qingyue's. Some of them are even Duan Qingyue's subordinates, but they also have their own ulterior motives.

"That should be the case. After all, helping me is helping my uncle himself. Killing me would not benefit him at all. But if we look at it from this perspective, is it possible that the Wuwei Duan family was the one who betrayed the Northern Territory and caused the great defeat in Crescent Moon Valley?" Bai Xuan asked rhetorically.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuhua shook her head and said, "It couldn't be my uncle, because even if my uncle rebelled, it wouldn't have led to the great defeat of Crescent Moon Gorge."

"What do you mean? Eldest sister, what exactly happened during the Battle of Crescent Moon Gorge?" Bai Xuan asked.

For him, Yuzhen Temple was the beginning, but for the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, Yuzhen Temple was actually the end; the real beginning was Canyue Gorge.

But he didn't know what exactly happened at Crescent Moon Gorge at that time.

He didn't really care about the life or death of the Prince of Zhenbei, and besides, Xu Yuhua knew that he was an imposter.

Therefore, Bai Xuan did not get involved in the death of the Prince of Zhenbei at the beginning, so as not to increase Xu Yuhua's resistance to him, and to make Xu Yuhua feel that he wanted to usurp her place, which would not be conducive to his gratitude.

Moreover, at that time, his top priority was to inherit the title of Prince of Zhenbei.

Therefore, if Xu Yuhua doesn't bring it up, Bai Xuan won't ask.

But now that everyone has developed feelings for each other, he has a firm grip on his position as the Prince of Zhenbei. Even if there are any disturbances during the March Spring Hunt, it won't affect the overall situation. So there are some things he needs to ask.

How exactly did the Prince of Zhenbei die?

To get to the bottom of this, the real question is: who wanted the Prince of Zhenbei dead?

Bai Xuan's initial suspicions were directed at the royal family.

However, the emperor is far away in the capital and may be the mastermind behind the scenes, but he could not possibly be personally involved in arranging these things. In other words, there must be an inside agent within the Northern Territory.

Moreover, their status will not be low.

Last autumn, the White Wolf King marched south, invading our territory, plundering Cang County, and slaughtering nearly ten thousand. My father was furious and ordered Uncle Leng to lead 30,000 Flying Bear Army north, while he personally led the Iron Cavalry behind. They won battle after battle, and the demon kingdom was terrified. The White Wolf King, the Green Lion King, and the Azure Eagle King marched south with a total of 100,000 troops. My father and Uncle Leng joined forces with 50,000 troops to defeat the enemy. Uncle Leng killed the Lion King in battle and beheaded tens of thousands of people. The demon army was routed.

"My father led his army north and besieged them at Crescent Moon Gorge. He then summoned reinforcements from all directions, intending to completely annihilate the 100,000 demon troops and protect the northern border from the demon kingdom's invasion for ten years. However, at this moment, the head of the Hegu family, one of the eight great families of the Northern Wilderness, led 100,000 Left Guard Wilderness troops to bypass the border and attack Crescent Moon Gorge from the demon kingdom's border, thus besieging my father from within and without."

"At that time, a total of eighteen warriors at the Tongtian Realm from the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness forcibly charged into the formation, attacking its weak points. My father suffered repeated defeats and almost died on the spot. Therefore, the person who betrayed the Northern Kingdom must have known about the Greedy Wolf Formation. Only in this way could they have sold the weakness of the Greedy Wolf Formation to the Demon Kingdom or the Northern Wilderness. My uncle did not understand the Greedy Wolf Formation, so it couldn't be him," Xu Yuhua said.

"There shouldn't be many people in the Northern Territory who know about the Greedy Wolf Formation, so it's impossible to lock onto the target, right?" Bai Xuan asked.

"We can lock onto the area, but it's difficult to pinpoint the target. The Greedy Wolf Formation is one of the core formations of the Northern Territory, and it's only passed down to the direct descendants of the Northern Territory. Besides Father King and Zhenlan, only Third Uncle, Eldest Brother, and Yan Heng know about it. However, the Heavenly Pivot Demon-Slaying Formation is a unified formation. Uncle Leng is in charge of the Seven Killings Formation and also knows the variations of the Greedy Wolf Formation. Furthermore, Mr. Li is proficient in all three formations, including the Heavenly Pivot Demon-Slaying Formation. None of the five people—Third Uncle, Eldest Brother, Yan Heng, Uncle Leng, and Mr. Li—can be touched lightly," Xu Yuhua said.

"Five people?" Bai Xuan pondered. If that's the case, killing all five of them would be equivalent to killing the murderer.

But he was too familiar with Zhongfu, and he couldn't bring himself to kill him. Besides, the undercover agent among the five of them probably wasn't the real mastermind. If he killed them all, the trail would be cut off.

"Besides this, are there any other clues? The fact that the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness have joined forces is also worth pondering. Why would they join forces?" Bai Xuan asked.

Although both the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness are enemies of the Northern Territory, they are not allies. On the contrary, they are at odds with each other, and their relationship is no better than that with the Northern Territory, and is even worse.

After all, both the Northern Wilderness and the Demon Kingdom are relatively poor in resources, and the poorer the resources, the more they need to fight.

The most fertile lands were all occupied by the Great Zhou.

The Northern Territory faces both the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness, fighting on two fronts. However, the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness are also struggling, or even worse off.

To the south of the Demon Kingdom lies the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, and to the east lies the Northern Wilderness, already fighting on two fronts. To the west are the Western Regions, which revere Buddhism and occasionally venture north to subdue demons, resulting in a constant three-front war. Bai Xuan has no idea whether there are any hostile forces in the northern part of the Demon Kingdom, so the Demon Kingdom may even be fighting on four fronts.

So why did the Demon Kingdom join forces with the Northern Wilderness?

Aren't they afraid that the Northern Wilderness will rush into the Demon Kingdom and attack the Demon Kingdom's territory first?

"No, since Father's accident, we have sent many spies to the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness, spending a lot of gold and silver. In the end, we only found out that a few months before Crescent Moon Gorge, Grand Tutor Mu Qiuling of the Northern Wilderness had secretly gone to the Demon Kingdom, seemingly with the authorization of the Northern Wilderness royal family. We know nothing else." Xu Yuhua said with a slight frown.

"The Northern Wilderness is even further away, but besides that, Father, did you find nothing else?" Bai Xuan asked.

"Yes, before Father went on the expedition, he and Mr. Li discovered that people in the northern border were smuggling tea, iron, salt and other goods with the demon kingdom and the northern wilderness. The transaction location was Cang County. However, since the entire town of Cang County was massacred, the smuggling could not be investigated," Xu Yuhua said.

"smuggling?"

Bai Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly. This industry has always been a highly profitable one, prohibited by law, but because it is highly profitable, it has been repeatedly banned throughout history.

The eight most famous imperial merchants traded with the Later Jin dynasty, supplying strategic materials such as grain, ironware, and intelligence.

So it was because someone was smuggling and was discovered. Taking a risk, they contacted the Demon Kingdom, which then massacred Cang County and destroyed all the evidence. The King of Zhenbei went north to pursue the Demon Kingdom, which was injured and then threatened the smuggler. In the end, the King of Zhenbei was tricked in Canyue Gorge.

Or perhaps it was a conspiracy between the Demon Kingdom and the Northern Wilderness from the very beginning. They used enormous wealth to lure the high-ranking officials of the Northern Territory, making them greedy and gradually fall into the trap, until in the end they had no choice but to cooperate with them.

Otherwise, if these things were exposed, they would also be a death sentence.