庆州 (Qingzhou) City.

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The flames of war and chaos continued, and the flags of the Western Xia had been raised on the towering city walls.

On the southeastern side of the city, smoke still billowed into the sky. On the third day after the city fell, no quarter was given on the southeastern side, and the victorious Western Xia soldiers were engaged in a final frenzy. For the sake of future rule, Li Qian Shun, the King of Western Xia, did not allow the army's frenzy to continue indefinitely, but of course, even with orders in place, the other directions of the city were not exactly peaceful.

For cities that had resisted, the army's accumulated rage was immense. The victorious army indulged in slaughter, plunder, abuse, and rape on the designated southeastern side, while other units that had not received their share of spoils often engaged in widespread looting and rape of local residents in other areas. The people of the northwest were known for their fierce and unyielding nature, and those who dared to resist were summarily killed. In such a war, being left alive was considered a great favor by the killers.

A detached villa that once belonged to Yang Ju, a wealthy man of Qingzhou City, had now become the temporary palace of the King of Western Xia. Lin Houxuan, whose Han name was Lin Houxuan and Western Xia name was Qu Nuzhe, a civil official, was waiting in a room in the courtyard for an audience with Li Qian Shun. He occasionally looked at the group of people opposite the room, wondering about their origins.

There were six people in the group, and the leader was peculiar. She was a woman dressed in the attire of a lady. The woman was beautiful, her dress was blue and white, bright but not dazzling. When Lin Houxuan entered, she had politely risen and smiled slightly at him, but since then, she had been sitting in her chair, contemplating something, her gaze calm, not speaking to the surrounding attendants.

The woman's temperament was very much like that of a Han Chinese noble lady who had read many books, but on the other hand, the way she lowered her head and pondered resembled a person in power who had handled many affairs – as evidenced by the fact that the five men beside her occasionally spoke in low voices, but did not dare to neglect her attitude.

This was a room for waiting to be received by the Emperor, and a team led by a Han Chinese woman seemed intriguing.

His career was positioned on eloquence and diplomacy. He was accustomed to judging people's temperament and reading their expressions. As he thought about the origins of the woman and her party, an official entered from outside and waved him to the side. The official was his father, Qu Ligai, who was also a Dangxiang aristocratic leader and served as a remonstrance official in the Central Secretariat of the Western Xia court. The old man was not happy about his son's return, as he had failed to persuade the Wu Dynasty army at Little Cang River to surrender. Although there was no fault in this, on the other hand, there was no merit either.

"His Majesty will see you soon."

"Yes."

"Since your mission failed, do not conceal or shirk responsibility when you see His Majesty. Tell him what happened in the mountains as it is, and His Majesty will decide what to do."

"Yes."

After a few brief instructions, the old official nodded and left. After a while, someone came to announce that he could formally enter and meet Li Qian Shun, the Emperor of the Western Xia Dangxiang clan.

Compared to the Wu Dynasty, which had taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent years, the Western Xia Emperor Li Qian Shun was forty-four years old at this time, in the prime of his life and strength.

Western Xia was truly a country founded on military strength. Among the countries west of the Wu Dynasty, Dali was located in the south, with rugged terrain and numerous mountains, but the country was a pacifist through and through. Because of its geographical advantages, it was weak externally, but the neighboring Wu Dynasty and Tubo (Tibet), did not bully it too much. Tubo was currently divided into numerous principalities with complex forces, and the people there were not benevolent, but they did not have much capacity for expansion. In earlier years, they relied on the support of the Wu Dynasty to help resist Western Xia, but in recent years, as the Wu Dynasty weakened, Tubo no longer helped the Wu Dynasty.

Only Western Xia had been fighting with the Wu Dynasty, Tubo, and the Liao Dynasty for so many years since its founding, with large and small battles constantly occurring. If it had not been for the appearance of the exceptionally talented Zhong Shidao decades earlier, and the support of the powerful economic strength of the Wu Dynasty behind him, it would not have been driven out of the Hengshan area.

With the disappearance of the southern barrier, and the imminent threat of destruction, the upper and middle classes of Western Xia had a sense of urgency to varying degrees. Under such an atmosphere, Li Qian Shun, as the ruler of a country, seized the opportunity of the Jurchen invasion of the south to form an alliance with them, and then pushed his army across the Hengshan Mountains, capturing several large cities in half a year. Even the ancestral graves of the Zhong family of the Western Army were dug up in Qingjian City, and the remnants of the Zhong family's army were scattered at the beginning of the year. This was a great achievement for a ruler of a country to expand territory and establish prestige, which was at an unprecedented peak.

When Lin Houxuan was summoned in, the main hall was in session. Several major leaders of the Dangxiang clan, such as Yeli Chong, Linu, and Jiuyanmu, as well as several major generals in the army, such as Meile and Naduhan, were all present. As it was still wartime, General Naduhan, known for his ferocity and skill in battle, was covered in blood, and it was unknown whom he had killed before coming. Li Qian Shun, who was sitting in the front seat with a short beard and a majestic gaze, asked Lin Houxuan to explain the matter of Little Cang River in detail, and then asked, "Where is that place?"

"East of Yanzhou, a small valley." Li Qian Shun pointed to the map behind him.

The leader Yeli Chong said, "There is a Wu Dynasty rebel army entrenched there, about ten thousand strong, which can be considered a force to be reckoned with. I sent Qu Nuzhe to persuade them to surrender, but he was rejected. Therefore, His Majesty wants to hear the details."

Naduhan nodded slightly. Lin Houxuan bowed to everyone before speaking about his experience in Little Cang River. He could see that, in the eyes of these people with grand strategies, Little Cang River was nothing more than an insignificant wart. He did not dare to exaggerate, but told the whole story of his trip to Little Cang River. Everyone listened, but when they learned that the other party had refused to see him for several days, they lost interest. General Meile snorted coldly. Lin Houxuan continued to speak, but by the time he reached the part about the meeting and the conversation, no one was surprised.

After he finished speaking, Li Qian Shun frowned and waved his hand. He was not angry, but his voice became a little lower, "In that case, let that little place be." His hundreds of thousands of troops were sweeping across the northwest, and he was giving them face by being willing to accept their surrender. Since they refused, then he would just wipe them out along the way.

Yeli Chong said, "What Qu Nuzhe said is correct. I want to write to Marshal Zong Han and General Ci Bushi of the Jin Dynasty, ordering them to block the northern line of the Lüliang Mountains. In addition, order Ji Lasaile to block the direction of the Lüliang Mountains, and kill all those who come and go from the mountains. There is no food in the mountains, and our top priority is to stabilize the situation in the southwest. We can trap them to death in the mountains and ignore them."

At this time, there was whispering in the hall, and some people told those around them about the origins of the Little Cang River army. Everyone knew about the assassination of the Wu Dynasty Emperor last year, but Naduhan and others had not known that the one who assassinated the Emperor was the army in front of them. At this time, they looked carefully at the map, then shook their heads and laughed.

"Rebelling and killing the Wu Dynasty Emperor... a bunch of lunatics. Looking at these people, they may have had some combat power at first, but they didn't dare to occupy even a state or a county. They only dared to burrow into those mountains and defend to the death, which is really foolish. Since they don't surrender to us, let them starve to death and be trapped to death in the mountains. When the situation in the south is settled, I can send them on their way."

"You don't need to worry too much, but you can't be negligent." Li Qian Shun waved his hand and looked at Yeli Chong, "Let Chief Yeli decide the matter, and you must also tell Ji Lasaile that he is guarding the northeast line, and he must be cautious about the Zhe family army and this group of mountain bandits. However, this group of mountain bandits killed the Wu Dynasty Emperor, and there is no possibility of them forming an alliance with the Zhe family. When we pacify the southwest and go northeast, we can easily wipe them out."

Meile said, "Those who were scattered from the Zhong family's army in the past are now roaming around, and we must guard against them forming an alliance with the mountain bandits."

"Clearing out the remnants of the Zhong family in this area is the most important task at hand, but if they flee into the mountains, I don't think we need to worry. There is no food in the mountains, and the more outsiders they accept, the harder it will be for them to feed themselves."

"Zhong Lie is now fleeing to Huan and Yuan states. Now that we have captured Qingzhou, we can consider attacking Yuanzhou directly. If he retreats to Huanzhou at that time, our army can cut off his retreat..."

For the Western Xia army at this time, the real threat was still the Western Army. If they were to go northeast, the Zhe family army had been lying low during this period of time. Now that they were sitting in Fuzhou on the northeast side, the head of the Zhe family, Zhe Keqiu, had not sent troops to rescue the Zhong family, but for the Western Xia army, it was still a threat. The main task of General Ji Lasaile, who was leading 30,000 troops to guard near Yanzhou, was to guard against the Zhe family suddenly going south.

On the west side, since his defeat last time, Zhong Lie had been leading thousands of direct descendants of the Zhong family's army to maneuver around in various places, trying to recruit troops and rise again, or preserve the lineage. For the Western Xia people, capturing cities and territories was no longer in doubt, but to say that they would pacify the northwest of the Wu Dynasty, it would have to be on the premise of completely destroying the Western Army.

As for that Little Cang River - the northwest was known for its fierce people, and there were mountain bandits rising up everywhere in this northwest land. This was just a group with a slightly larger number, like a snake trapped in a jar. If you reach in and grab it, you might get bitten before you can pull it out and kill it, but if you seal the jar, it will naturally die after a while.

Who would really take a group of bandits too seriously when governing a country?

As they spoke, the topic had already drifted to a larger strategic level. Yeli Chong waved his hand at Lin Houxuan, and Li Qian Shun above said, "Minister Qu Nuzhe, you have made a contribution to this mission. Go down and rest. There will be places where you will be needed in the future." Only then did Lin Houxuan thank him and leave.

Qingzhou City was still in great chaos. For Little Cang River, the people in the hall had only said a few words, but Lin Houxuan understood that the fate of that valley had been decided. Once the situation here was slightly settled, even if they were not trapped to death, they would be swept away by their army along the way. He had originally been wondering about the attitude of the Ning leader in the river valley, but now he had really put it out of his mind.

He had more things to do and did not need to waste his energy on the dead.

However, on the way out of the courtyard corridor, he saw the group of six people who had been in the same room with him, led by the woman, being summoned into the hall where the Emperor was discussing matters.

...

As Lou Shuwan walked through the courtyard of this temporary Western Xia palace, she transformed the cold expression on her face into a gentle and confident smile. Then, she walked into the hall where the Western Xia Emperor was discussing matters.

She carried Tian Hu's seal of office and a list of many merchants who had joined forces to submit.

Before long, she inadvertently saw something on the map in front of the hall. It was the location of the Inner Demon Ning Yi and others, marked with a cross.

...

Western Xia Emperor Li Qian Shun and several leaders and ministers were hearing about the Wu Dynasty rebels and Little Cang River for the second time today.

He looked sternly at the beautiful woman leading the group below the hall and frowned, "Do you have any connection with the people here?"

From the perspective of the Wu Dynasty, the Tiger King was also a rebellious bandit who had raised troops to start an uprising. Li Qian Shun did not reject the idea of cooperating with him from thousands of miles away. He did not value these bandits in Little Cang River either, but he had just sentenced this place to death in his heart, and as an Emperor, he was very wary of anyone making him change his mind.

The woman below lowered her head, "The Inner Demon Ning Yi is the most unconventional person. He personally killed Shuwan's father and elder brother. The Lou family has an irreconcilable hatred with him!"

"Oh." Li Qian Shun waved his hand and then smiled, "A father-killing hatred... Don't worry too much. That is a dead place."

As Lou Shuwan walked out of this courtyard, the document to the Jin Dynasty had already been sent. The summer sun was shining brightly, and she suddenly felt a sense of dizziness.

When she came over from the Tiger King's side, she had already analyzed the intentions of Little Cang River and understood their efforts to open up trade routes. She took advantage of the situation to run around and lobby, bringing together a group of merchants to first submit to Western Xia to seek peace, in order to disrupt the layout of Little Cang River as much as possible.

She didn't know if her efforts would succeed. She hoped that, because of her efforts, the other party would fall into a huge quagmire and face difficulties. She also looked forward to Little Cang River dying in difficulty, and the man named Ning Yi dying painfully. However, today, when Li Qian Shun casually said "That is a dead place," she suddenly felt a little unreal.

This matter was too simple. But Li Qian Shun would not lie, he had no need to. 100,000 Western Xia troops were sweeping across the northwest, and there were more troops in Western Xia coming to consolidate this place. The 10,000-plus people hiding in that poor mountain region were now antagonized by Western Xia and blocked by the Jin Dynasty, plus the heinous crimes they had committed against the Wu Dynasty. They were truly at odds with the world, and they could not possibly have any chance. But it was still too simple, so light that everything seemed fake.

Sometimes this is how the overall situation works. Many things will happen without any real feeling. In her imagination, there had naturally been a time for Ning Yi's death. At that time, he should be begging for mercy in front of her - no, he might not beg for mercy, but at least, he would die painfully in front of her.

But now it seemed that she would only suddenly receive a message one day, telling her: Ning Yi is dead, and there will never be such a person in the world again. Thinking about it now, it was suffocatingly fake.

"What will you do..." she said softly, walking through this chaotic city.

*****************

"Wah, wah—"

"Bang, bang, bang, bang... Sister, don't cry, look here, look here..."

"Did I wake her up? Sister, sister..."

Mixed with the cries of children, the noon in the small courtyard was a chaotic and noisy scene.

This was after lunch, and Luo Ye, who had been left to eat, had also left. In Yunzhu's room, the newborn baby, only a month old, cried for no reason after drinking her milk. Five-year-old Ning Xi was next to her, trying to coax her with a rattle. Ning Ji stood there biting his fingers, thinking that he had woken up his sister, with a look of panic on his face. Then he went to coax her as well. Yunzhu, in a white single garment, sat on the edge of the bed, holding the baby and gently rocking her.

"What's wrong, what's wrong?"

Ning Yi came in from outside, followed by Jin'er. Ning Xi shook his head, "My brother and I were reading picture books next to her, and we didn't wake up our sister." He was turning a rattle in one hand and holding a picture book that Ning Yi and Yunzhu had drawn together in the other hand. Ning Yi smiled and patted his head, then went over to look at the crying baby in Yunzhu's arms, "Let me see." He took her over and held her in his arms.

When she was in Ning Yi's arms, the baby's crying became quieter.

As Ning Yi's third child, this little girl had been having a difficult time since she was born. She was weak and had difficulty breathing. She had caught a cold twice in the month since she was born. And Yunzhu, as the mother, had almost died in childbirth and had been lying in bed for more than half a month before she could finally stabilize. Previously, Ning Yi had found a wet nurse in the valley to feed the baby, and had the wet nurse drink medicine, which was dissolved in the milk to treat the baby's illness. When Yunzhu was a little better, she insisted on feeding the baby herself, taking the medicine herself, so that she had only barely made it through her confinement. If Ning Yi had not insisted on controlling her behavior in many ways and comforted her, Yunzhu's body would have recovered even slower because she was distressed about her child.

During these days, the situation inside and outside the valley was not optimistic either. Ning Yi personally inquired about almost every daily matter in the valley, but without fail, he would come to this side every night to take care of his child and wife. The weak and sick baby would cry miserably every night, and Yunzhu was weak and could not coax the child, which made her even more anxious. Ning Yi would come over to hold the baby and coax her to sleep. At this point, he was even better at coaxing this little girl than Yunzhu.

"Let me see... She didn't wet her pants, and she just finished drinking milk. Ning Xi, don't play the rattle, it will disturb your sister. And Ning Ji, don't worry, you didn't wake her up... It's probably a little stuffy in the room, let's go outside and sit for a while, um, there's really no wind today."

He carried the baby outside, and Yunzhu took out her embroidered shoes and took a veil to cover the baby's face slightly. In the afternoon, there was a faint sound of cicadas in the courtyard. The sunlight shone down, scattering warm light between the trees. There was only a slight breeze, and the swing under the tree swayed gently.

Sure enough, when they came to this number, the child in his arms stopped crying. Jin'er sat on the swing and swung back and forth, and Ning Yi and Yunzhu sat next to her. Ning Xi and Ning Ji ran to the side to read after seeing that their sister had calmed down. This time they ran far away. Yunzhu took the baby over and looked at the sleeping face of the child under the veil, "I didn't do a good job as a mother."

"You gave birth to her, and you lost half your life. I'll beat anyone who says you're not good." Ning Yi smiled softly.

Yunzhu lowered her head and smiled. She was calm by nature, and her appearance had not changed much from before. Her beautiful and plain face was just a little thinner. Ning Yi reached out and touched her cheek, recalling the thrilling experience of giving birth a month ago, and his mood was still uneasy.

He had experienced many major events in these years. Tan'er and Xiaochan had also given birth to two children without difficulty. But this time, Yunzhu had a difficult labor, and the fluctuation in his mood was even more intense than killing Zhou Zhe in the Golden Luan Hall. That night, after hearing Yunzhu in pain for half the night, he, who had been quiet all along, even got up and rushed into the delivery room, forcing the doctor to kill the child to protect the mother if it didn't work.

Perhaps that was why he felt somewhat guilty towards this child who had survived the disaster, and because she was a girl, he paid more attention to her in his heart. Of course, he was unwilling to admit this on the surface.

Yunzhu knew what he was thinking, and smiled at this time, "Sister is also thinner. If you have something to do, you don't have to sit here with us. You and sister have heavy burdens on your shoulders."

She was older than Tan'er, but when she spoke of Tan'er, she mostly called her sister, and sometimes Tan'er mei zi. Ning Yi nodded, sat next to her and basked in the sun for a while, then turned and left.

He still had many things to deal with. Leaving this courtyard, he went to the council hall accompanied by Chen Fan. This afternoon, he met many people, made boring summaries of affairs, and even missed dinner. Jin'er and Chen Fan's wife, Ji Qian'er, brought food boxes. After finishing his work, they watched the setting sun on the hillside and had dinner. After that, they had some free time, and a group of people strolled slowly on the hillside.

The sky was already dark, and Jin'er whispered about some interesting things that had happened today, and occasionally expressed some trivial thoughts. When she stopped on the grassy slope, she folded her legs and let Ning Yi rest his head on top of her, reaching out to massage him. In a soft voice, Jin'er, who couldn't hide her words, would occasionally ask about things in the valley. When she was eating today, she saw that Tan'er was also a little thin. Things were busy, but the situation might not be good. The grain in the valley was a little tight to eat until June or July. It was gradually starting to run out, but the people who went out didn't seem to be bringing back good news.

"...I heard Duan Shanhua say that the Qingmu Fortress is also a little anxious. I told her that nothing would happen... Well, I don't actually understand these things, but I know that you are so calm, Liheng, so nothing will happen... But I'm a little worried sometimes, Liheng, is there really that much grain outside that can be transported in? We have more than 10,000 people, plus Qingmu Fortress, that's almost 40,000 people. Then we have to eat... Uh, how much do we eat every day..."

While massaging Ning Yi's head, she muttered softly. When she reacted, she saw Ning Yi opened his eyes and was looking at her from below with a smile.

"What's wrong, does it not feel good to massage?"

"You're talking so much that I'm almost falling asleep." Ning Yi smiled.

"That's a good thing, then you can rest for a while."

In Jin'er's voice, Ning Yi had already sat up cross-legged. Night had fallen, and the mountain breeze was still warm. Jin'er leaned over and massaged his shoulders.

"...You handle so many things every day, big and small, it's very tiring... Didn't you say to leave it to the people below? I see that those former shopkeepers, and Zhuo Xiaofeng and those kids, are all very reliable... You work so late every day, and my sister and I are very worried. We tell you to sleep, but you don't sleep..."

Such murmuring continued, until at one point, she heard Ning Yi speaking softly.

"It's difficult, but it's not without a chance..."

"Huh?"

The hand in front of her grabbed the hand on her shoulder, and Jin'er was pulled over. She knelt behind Ning Yi and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. She saw Ning Yi looking down at the valley, and after a moment, he said slowly and softly, "Look, what does Little Cang River look like now?"

"Ah?"

Jin'er widened her eyes, then blinked. She was actually a clever woman, and she knew that what Ning Yi said at this time was probably the answer. Although she didn't need to consider these things, of course she would be interested.

Looking down from here, the lights in the riverbanks and residential areas of Little Cang River gathered together. From a high vantage point, you could still see people gathering or dispersing in twos and threes. This small valley was surrounded by the darkness of the distant mountains, making it look lively and lonely.

What did it look like?

However, that night, Jin'er was never able to guess the answer...

Also on this night, a figure cautiously avoided the outer sentry posts of Little Cang River and quietly escaped toward the mountains to the east. Due to the acceptance of some refugees during the winter, although there were not many spies from other forces mixed in with the refugees, they could not be completely eliminated. At the same time, the Western Xia document requesting the Jin Dynasty to block the smuggling roads north of the Lüliang Mountains was speeding on the road.

In the turmoil of the world, the ominous situation of ambush on all sides around Little Cang River and Qingmu Fortress had gradually unfolded.

Malice was about to crush down...

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