CHAPTER 1078: CHAPTER 594: MY SWORD HAS NEVER FAILED!

Just as Zhao Douan was confronting the Princely Heir of Prince Hejian outside the Duke Mansion.

Thousands of miles west of the Capital, within Xiping Road, Duke Tang Daren sat in his study, opening the first of a large stack of military reports on his desk.

A year had passed, and this somewhat hunched duke’s sideburns had more white hairs. The cold wind blowing through the window gaps carried the chill of winter, making Duke Tang instinctively tighten the "scarf" around his neck, and he started coughing.

Clearly, defending against the Western Regions while dealing with Prince Hejian for most of the year had drained him physically and mentally. Fortunately, with the onset of winter, the intensity of wars usually greatly decreases, especially with the peace talks between Prince Hejian and the court, which had brought the front line into a "ceasefire period."

"Father, please open..."

At the very top was the military letter sent by his daughter Tang Zhao.

To curb Prince Hejian, Duke Tang personally led a part of the border army to suppress Prince Hejian’s forces, while Tang Zhao remained at the border, continuing to guard the important route to the Western Regions.

In this military letter, Tang Zhao mentioned that recently, the various countries in the Western Regions had become increasingly restless, and news from beyond the border suggested changes occurred at the Buddhist Ancestor Court some time ago, causing unrest throughout the Western Regions, but the details were tightly sealed and remained unknown.

Additionally, the Golden Tent led by Princess Wen Zhu attempted to restore stability in the Western Regions, but failed. There were rumors that Princess Wen Zhu might have been sidelined.

"Hmph. I knew these people from beyond the border wouldn’t be peaceful..." Duke Tang was not surprised. With the chaos in Yu Country, the countries in the Western Regions would certainly try to gain benefits, which was why he kept most of the military forces at the border without deployment.

Otherwise, if the border army were to abandon defense and press forward, Prince Hejian would have been defeated long ago.

However, now that peace talks had begun, there might be a turning point; perhaps it wouldn’t be long before he could lead the army back for defense, and completely quash the restless thoughts of the Western Regions people.

Thinking of this, Duke Tang set the military letter aside, preparing to copy and send it to the Capital.

Immediately, he went to handle other military letters, mostly concerning winter military arrangements.

Time passed unnoticed until suddenly, footsteps rushed from outside, accompanied by knocking: "Duke, there is urgent news from the front!"

Duke Tang put down his pen, looked up, and said "Enter." Then he stared at the general who came in, listening to the latter, who looked solemn and said: "Report to the Duke, the soldiers under Prince Hejian’s command are making unusual movements, seemingly pressing toward us."

Duke Tang froze for a moment.

...

North of the Capital, on the Jubei City.

Luo kedie walked out of the barracks today as usual, beginning his daily routine of inspecting the city walls.

He had maintained this behavior since the Eight Princes’ Rebellion, never once interrupting it.

Having been a long-term undercover beside Cao Mao, then surfaced to replace Duke Cao and take charge of Jubei City as the new general, he used this method to ensure the steadfast confidence of the officers and soldiers in the city.

This method was undoubtedly successful.

With relatively fewer troops, Luo kedie managed to firmly restrict the Yanshan King outside Jubei City, not once allowing them to cross the pass in over half a year, a clear indication.

Even though the news of peace talks had spread days ago, and Xu Xueling was personally sent out of the city by him, Luo kedie did not relax.

"General!"

On the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city saw Luo kedie, whose eyebrows were straight and black as knives, and all straightened their backs.

Luo kedie responded with a "Yes," and asked: "Any abnormalities?"

"None!"

Following Luo kedie was a deputy general who said: "General, now that the Yanshan King and the court are negotiating, there will be no movements, you might as well rest for a few days."

Luo kedie shook his head, this overly young Commander placed his hands on the cold city wall, gazing at the white snow outside the city, and suddenly said: "Last year, during my duty report back to the Capital, I met Commander Zhao, having had a brief encounter. He said something that stuck with me, roughly implying that the outcome of a war is never on the negotiating table, but outside of it."

The deputy general was startled: "You mean..."

Luo kedie was about to speak when suddenly a low horn sounded from far north, signalling from the outpost’s guards.

Everyone was shocked, then widening their eyes, saw at the horizon’s end, numerous dark military formations approaching on the white snowy ground.

...

...

News? Zhao Douan’s eyes moved slightly under his mask, curiously asked: "What did the Princely Heir say?"

After Xu Wenyan uttered this, he suddenly realized his lapse, quickly reverting to a silly, angry expression, as if the brief moment of calm clarity was just an illusion.

The Fat Prince gritted his teeth angrily and accused: "If the court talks like this, you might as well arrest this prince as a thief and throw me in jail! Otherwise, if you dare to seize Mr. Feng, this prince will immediately go to the Imperial Palace to question Your Majesty, seeking justice!"

Being an enemy, yet seeking justice from the Empress. These words might be foolish, but they matched his current persona.

Zhao Douan pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled, waving his hand and said: "Your Highness exaggerates, this official was only worried about the Princely Heir being deceived by traitors. There is protocol in peace negotiations by the court, since the Princely Heir said so, then this arrest of the suspect...let it go."

Hou Renmeng, Shen Juan, and other subordinates uniformly retreated and withdrew, obeying commands without question.

The soldiers of Prince Hejian Mansion also sighed in relief.

Mr. Feng, still shaken, stepped forward and whispered a few words to the Princely Heir, probably suggesting: with these hounds around, it’s better to retreat for now.

Xu Wenyan nodded repeatedly, glared at Zhao Douan fiercely, turned around and left in anger.

The morning visit ended prematurely—the Imperial Court’s presence here meant the Duke Mansion would never open its doors to let them enter.