Xiao Huating was indeed gambling. However, she wasn’t betting on Li Chunyu’s victory.

It didn’t matter to her who would win. All she needed was to convince the Second Prince to start the counter-attack, so the massive army of the Ye Family could go on an expedition to the grassland with legitimate reasons.

The crows cawed when the moon went down and the fog misted up.

Li Chunyu was holding a secret letter that he had waited for a very long time. It seemed that by telling him the approaching cavalry from the grassland, Xiao Huating was thinking for his future, wishing for him to make great contributions to the nation—on the condition that all her words were true. After all, the cheating and deceiving that were taking place within the imperial court were way more outrageous than anyone could’ve thought. As a prince and a promising candidate to the crown, he must think thoroughly before making any decision, because any mistake could bring him immense regret and suffering.

Reading the secret letter, Li Chunyu was in deep thought. Xiao Huating was telling the truth. There was indeed a cavalry of one hundred and fifty thousand coming out from the grassland.

For the imperial court, it would be a crisis, a tough battle. Lots of people would die. For him, Li Chunyu, however, it would be an opportunity that he couldn’t afford to miss. The rising Tang Empire had been known for its prosperity and strength, barely any bandits would dare to cause any trouble within the nation, let alone the surrounding small nations. The only nation that would dare to invade was from the grassland, for they would rather die in battle than suffer an ignominious death by starvation. However, how often exactly would these barbarians from the north invade the south?

Three years?

Or five?

And how many years would a prince have to spend?

That was also why the Crown Prince had never had any military honor until today. These years had been too peaceful to have any battles. Even if wars happened, they were pretty much ended by Ye Zhengru ten years ago. The army of the Ye Family had fought across the whole country and made countless contributions to the nation. As a matter of fact, they were the ones who ensured the stability and peace of the imperial court.

Li Chunyu believed that the grassland saw the death of Ye Zhengru as an opportunity for them to attack. They believed that his death would have caused instability within the Military.

Plus, the winter was about to arrive. Instead of being starved or frozen to death, they’d rather fight with all their might down south.

Maybe they thought they wouldn’t lose all the time.

“Two hundred thousand soldiers of the Ye Family? Against the grassland cavalry of size one hundred and fifty thousand?” Li Chunyu squinted and tapped gently onto the back of the chair. He was weighing the pros and cons of this potential confrontation.

The flame in the lamp flickered, and it started to snow outside.

The first snow of this winter had arrived so early!

Embracing the snow, Li Chunyu dressed up and made his trip to the palace without anyone noticing.

The emperor didn’t seem to be surprised by Li Chunyu’s late visit. It seemed that the news of cavalry invasion had already been spread within the palace.

Li Chunyu walked to his father’s bedroom. It was already midnight, yet this man over his fifties was still going through memorials to the throne. The soup next to him had been already heated for three times, and the lamps around him also had their oil added for plenty of times.

Walking to the emperor slowly, Li Chunyu stood there without making a sound, and waited patiently for his father to finish going through all the memorials.

“Chunyu, why do you visit me so late at night?” asked the emperor as he put aside the memorials he had checked. He raised his head and rubbed the middle of his eyebrows, then looked at Li Chunyu. His hair might be all white, yet he could still look deeply in one’s eyes as if he could read his mind.

“Father, a cavalry force of one hundred and fifty thousand riders will reach the You Prefecture tomorrow. They will follow their path to Liang Prefecture and Qing Prefecture. I would like to ask for your permission to lead an army for a counter-attack. We will make sure not one enemy will survive.” said Li Chunyu in a powerful tone. Each of his words was filled with confidence.

Looking at Li Chunyu, the old emperor waved to the outside. An old eunuch soon came in. “Please heat the soup up.” He said.

“Oh and, get some food for the Second Prince as well.”

After saying that, he asked Li Chunyu, “What do you want to eat?”

Looking at his father, Li Chunyu shook his head and said, “I’m not hungry, father.”

“A bowl of porridge then, with some wild ginseng. It’s snowing outside, the porridge will keep you warm.”

No longer trying to turn down the offer, Li Chunyu looked at his father and said, “Thank you, father.”

Soon enough, a hot bowl of soup and a nourishing bowl of porridge were served to the father and son who began gobbling their food slowly, with puffs of hot air escaping their mouths each time they breathed.

“Your brother was here earlier, too.” The emperor said in a seemingly casual manner.

“My brother?” Li Chunyu stopped the urge to say something as the corner of his mouth twitched.

“He also came to ask for my permission to lead an army for this expedition. He even presented a proposal from the Military, and was very well prepared.” continued the emperor.

“He had barely ridden a horse, let alone leading an army. Poetry and painting are what he’s good at. Those grassland cavalries are definitely no joke, failure could mean a disaster for the nation. Every household from You to Liang Prefecture will be looted, you know those barbarians never show any mercy.” said Li Chunyu as he frowned.

“The Military will send a general who’s able to lead an army with him. He doesn’t need to lead the army to fight, he just needs to be in charge.” The emperor said calmly.

“Then what’s the purpose of sending him there? Any of us can go,” questioned Li Chunyu. He was finally getting a little agitated.

“Your brother is the Crown Prince. He said he needs to make this contribution in order to win the throne.” The emperor didn’t hide this from Li Chunyu and he continued, “Do you need it as well? ”

For a country that was established with a strong military background, the military honor outweighs everything else.

If that was something that Xiao Huating and Li Chunyu could figure out, others obviously could as well, let alone the Crown Prince.

As the Crown Prince, he was definitely no idiot.

Even if the whole world was filled with idiots, Li Jianqi’s father wouldn’t be one of them. Just as Li Chunyu was still contemplating whether he should make the request or not, the Crown Prince had already made his move. Within half a day, he had gotten the Military support and even had selected the leading general. He had told his father everything about his plan and didn’t even hide his genuine thoughts and purpose.

What an overt scheme.

As the Crown Prince, he did everything publicly. It didn’t matter how ugly the process might be, once he obtained the success, there would be applause for him everywhere.

Li Chunyu remained silent for a long while. He kept his head down, quietly finishing his bowl of porridge cleanly without wasting a single grain.

“Father, I believe I would be more suited to lead this expedition.”

The emperor did not respond or even raised his head. He slowly put a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

“Although Ye Zhengru is gone, the two hundred thousand soldiers of the Ye Family are left. I am willing to lead them to confront our enemies,” said Li Chunyu as he looked at his father.

Noticing that the emperor stopped moving the spoon, he continued, “In my humble opinion, I believe the two hundred thousand soldiers of the Ye Family are on par with the one hundred and fifty thousand grassland cavalry. I know the army of Ye is known to be invincible, yet I am not a legend like General Ye, it would be good enough for me to defeat the grassland cavalry.”

Who would have thought that Li Chunyu would volunteer to lead the 200,000-strong armies of the Ye Clan in order to persuade his father to allow him the opportunity to lead this expedition?

No emperor would be able to tolerate the existence of a family army like the Ye family’s. They believed that people should obey their emperor, not the grand general.

“You can command the army of Ye?” asked the old emperor as he looked up at Li Chunyu, “This army is different from every other army. They are known as the army of Ye because they only obey those from their own family.”

“Either you or your brother will lead the expedition, I have no objection. However, there’s one requirement—those barbarians cannot pass You Prefecture. We have to win this battle.”

Li Chunyu continued looking at his father, then nodded with assurance, “I can do that.”

“I can command the army of Ye.”

“Among those one hundred and fifty thousand cavalries, not even one shall escape alive.”

“Among those two hundred thousand soldiers of the Ye Family, not more than ten thousand of them shall survive.”

A chilly wind penetrated the room. The old emperor put aside the soup, pointed at the bed and said, “Let’s talk up there.”

Ever since he entered this room, Li Chunyu had been standing upright. When he asked for permission to lead the expedition, he was given a bowl of porridge. Now that he offered a strategy to kill two birds with one stone, he was allowed to go onto the bed.

When Li Chunyu took off his boots and moved onto the bed, there were already an incense burner and a piece of white paper next to the emperor. On the paper were a few sentences in tiny font. Judging from the ink, it was written a moment ago.

The font was tiny, yet full of strength like a cypress on a hill.

“Leave no survivor.”

The old emperor only wrote a few words on the paper. After reading it, Li Chunyu folded it gently and put it into the burner.

There was no incense in the burner, only a layer of red charcoal. Upon meeting the charcoal, the paper started to become curly and yellow, and eventually started burning. The flame was one inch high, and last for two breaths, then it turned into a pile of ashes.

The lives of three hundred and fifty thousand people just vanished as they talked, like the flame vanishing into dust.

“The time the army of Ye requests to go on the expedition shall be the time for you to lead.”

After saying that, the emperor paused in silence and added, “I remember that Ye Zhengru has a son, do bring him along with you. The Military can make him a Lieutenant General if necessary. It’s an expedition of the armies of the Ye Clan after all. You’ll need somebody from the Ye Family to instil loyalty and confidence.”

“By the way, does Ye Zhengru have any other sons?”

After thinking about it, Li Chunyu said, “I heard he has an illegitimate son.”

“Illegitimate? Where is he? What is he doing now?”

“He was in Luoyang. When the River Soldiers were excavated, I heard that he entered that Imperial Mausoleum. He seemed to be a cultivator, but I don’t know which realm he’s in.”

“Let the Judicature keep an eye on him. If he made it out alive from that Mausoleum, make sure he dies just like his old man.”

It seemed that the emperor wished to bury the General’s Manor for good.

It continued to snow. Soon enough, the entire Luoyang City was covered in a white veil. Everything was dressed in silver, as if a world in a fairytale. The Second Prince Li Chunyu walked out of the palace slowly. Instead of taking the carriage back, he paced slowly in the snow, contemplating over every word in the conversation between him and his father, trying to find anything missing or problematic, if at all.

The reputation of a general is always built upon thousands of corpses in a war!

Looking back at the palace, Li Chunyu said to himself, “Everyone craves to sit on that throne, but that’s no easy feat.”