The chief steward walked faster and faster, and finally almost trotted back to his tent. The afterglow of the burning purple gold had passed, but the northern border was still cold. The chief steward broke out in a forehead full of sweat, and had to wipe it as he walked, wetting one of his sleeves.

With a heavy heart, he waved away the female slave who was about to come forward to serve him, signaled her not to disturb him, and walked into the tent with three heavy doors.

The chief steward carefully checked around and made sure that there were no outsiders nearby. Then he closed the doors one by one, breathed a sigh of relief, and walked into the room.

At this moment, a sudden voice came from the room: "How is it?"

The chief steward was caught off guard and trembled with fear in his own home. His limbs twitched noticeably and he stood at the door with his eyes wide open. For about three or four breaths, he felt like his heart was about to stop beating.

It was not until a familiar old noble woman showed half of her face in the dimly lit room that he took a deep breath, regained his composure, waved his hand suspiciously, and walked into the room with the old woman.

The days in the north are short and the nights are long, so the lighting in the houses is very limited, but the people in this room insisted on covering all the windows and sitting around a shabby gas lamp in the dark. Several prominent families in the Eighteen Tribes Alliance sent representatives, and a few seats away from these people were two people from Daliang, a man and a woman.

Even the way those two people dressed followed the Eighteen Tribes, their identities as Daliang people could be seen from their facial features. People born in a wild and cold land, even if they were nobles, could be seen from their appearance that they had a hard and rough life.

These two people were Cao Chunhua and Chen Qingxu. After they had worked together, they did not make much effort to conceal their identities. After crossing the border, they used the connections Cao Chunhua had left behind to contact some nobles from the eighteen tribes, claiming that they were truce envoys sent by the garrison in the northern border of Daliang. While they were making arrangements, they asked them to introduce them to the Wolf King Calais.

The two were very generous and gave lavish gifts one after another, but the more generous they were, the more Cao Chunhua knew that no one would introduce them - in the eyes of this group of barbarian nobles, the two of them had probably become cash cows, and once discovered by that madman Galai Yinghuo, the cash cows would most likely be uprooted.

While the two of them "urgently" expressed their desire to see Calais Yinghuo and seek death, they were also maneuvering among the eighteen tribes whose minds were wavering. Relying on Cao Chunhua's eloquent tongue, which could tell different things to different people, in less than a month, these nobles dared to sit together and secretly discuss the Wolf King.

At the same time, after several night visits, Chen Qingxu had a general understanding of the guarding situation of the Wolf King's tent, and it was time to close the net.

Someone poured a bowl of mare's milk for the chief steward who came in from outside. The chief steward took it with both hands, his hands trembling constantly, and drank it in one breath. Only then did he feel that he was alive again.

He sat slumped on the side, his arms and legs spread out, and lowered his voice and said, "Don't mention it. Even the prince was beaten. The Wolf King is determined to take action."

Cao Chunhua said innocently, "The court has already sent an envoy to the south. The fighting has ceased there. There is no benefit for us to fight again. Why didn't the general manager convey this matter?"

The chief steward was really distressed but could not speak. He seemed to be leaking. He raised his hand and sweat broke out on his forehead: "Little brother, if I say this today, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait for me."

The nobles of the eighteen tribes were all silent. Cao Chunhua shook her head and said slowly, "Then there is nothing we can do. I'll tell you the truth. The reason why we are all gathered together today is because we received a letter from our General Gu recently. He accused the two of us of not doing our job well and said that if we don't see any results, he will send troops to attack. It's okay for the two of us. At most, we will be scolded and fined two months' salary. But I know that you all don't want to go to war."

The chief steward's face turned into a big bitter gourd.

At this time, Chen Qingxu said, "Let's go, we've tried our best."

Chen Qingxu had an unquestionable temperament. If she didn't speak, it would be fine. But once she spoke, she would always make the final decision. Hearing this, before Cao Chunhua could react, the northern barbarian nobles were already furious. The old woman sitting in the first seat grabbed her sleeve in panic: "Wait!"

Chen Qingxu gave her a cold look.

The wrinkles on the old woman's face twisted a few times, revealing a kind face like a witch. She smiled and said, "Girl, give us a few more days to think of a solution. My king is a little stubborn, but I am his elder after all. I will try to talk to him. You don't have to leave in a hurry."

"Madam, it's not that we are unreasonable," Cao Chunhua sighed, "We are just following orders and don't dare to act on our own."

Chen Qingxu pulled out her sleeves and said calmly, "If the Wolf King is determined to fight this battle to the end for his own personal vendetta, it will probably be useless for Madam to talk to him. It will only bring trouble upon herself. I think it's not necessary."

This sentence touched the heart of everyone present.

A while ago, when several tribal leaders joined forces to rebel, they made a fuss about the fact that Calais had an overly close relationship with the goddess in his early years. The goddess has been dead for more than 20 years, and it is still impossible to prove whether there is any ulterior motive between her and Calais. However, once the seeds of doubt are planted, how can they be easily removed?

Galai Yinghuo has been inciting his people to work for him with "blood feud" and "great humiliation", but "forgetting the pain once the wound has healed" is a bad habit of mortals. He may be able to incite people's passion for a while, but when supplies are unsustainable and having enough to eat becomes a problem, can the "great humiliation" of more than 20 years ago be more painful than his own children who starved to death?

If a person has been dead for so many years and still lingers around the tribe like a ghost, bringing nothing but war and bloodshed, then is she a pure goddess of Eternal Heaven, or a demon who deceives the world and steals her reputation?

After Chen Qingxu finished speaking, he ignored the different expressions of the Northern Barbarians, nodded lightly, and walked out one after the other with Cao Chunhua.

Seeing that they were determined not to compromise, the old lady suddenly made up her mind and slammed her walking stick on the ground. "From now on, two days is the limit. I beg you to give us two days. I have lived for more than seventy years. I will use my age as a guarantee that I will give you an explanation in two days!"

The old woman had a high seniority in the clan, and the Wolf King had to call her aunt. When she opened her mouth, no one objected in public. Only the chief steward, who felt bitter, moved his lips, but was glared back at by the old woman.

Cao Chunhua and Chen Qingxu looked at each other, frowned for a long time as if in a dilemma, and finally said reluctantly: "Well... okay, since it is Madam Hongxia's promise, we have to give it a try reluctantly. We will wait for your good news. Goodbye."

When the two outsiders left through the secret passage at the back door, the Northern Barbarian nobles in the room were in an uproar.

The chief steward said to Madam Hongxia with tears in his eyes: "Third grandma, didn't you hear what I said just now? The king is determined to fight this battle, and even beat the prince. Look at me... just this... The king's original words were that if there is no purple gold, go and dig it. If there is not enough supplies, let the corpse and you pay for it!"

Before Madam Hongxia could say anything, a middle-aged man was furious: "Why is he still dreaming about his Spring and Autumn period? Does he want to break through the defense line of the Black Iron Camp and attack the Central Plains, or does he want to wait for the Western monkeys to send him food and drink? We have been preparing for twenty years, gathering a hundred thousand warriors, countless lighters and steel armor, top-notch dry food and dried meat, and even uniting the four directions of the east, west, south, and north to act simultaneously, but we have not been able to truly set foot in the Central Plains! He is still dreaming about this now, why? Are there starving people all over the streets? I don't think even if we suck out all our bones, he can't satisfy his appetite!"

His voice sounded like a mountain song howling when he was herding sheep, and it sounded like bells and gongs without any disguise. Several people around him immediately showed fear on their faces and advised this middle-aged man to be careful with his words and actions.

The angry middle-aged man sat down and sneered, "Third Granny, I don't think you can keep your promise this time. Not to mention that you are so shameless and take advantage of your age, even if you throw a tantrum and hang yourself, that crazy guy in Galai won't even raise an eyelid."

Madam Hongxia lifted her shrunken eyelids and slammed her cane to the side: "Shut up, useless thing, what's the point of yelling in the house!"

The middle-aged man snorted indignantly.

Madam Hongxia remained calm, but on the back of her skinny hands, which looked like chicken claws, a few veins like old tree roots were exposed. Then she slowly said, "The Wolf King had a trick up his sleeve last time and dealt with a few tribal leaders. Do you think he has a second trick up his sleeve?"

The room was completely silent, as everyone was shocked by the old woman's shocking audacity. After a long while, the chief steward trembled and said, "Third, Third Grandma, the blood under the wolf flag... is not dry yet."

"Death in resistance is death, and death in slow drag is also death. What difference does the result make?" The old lady's hoarse voice rang out in the silence. "Your ancestors had wolf blood in their bodies, but now they have all been tamed like dogs? Or would you rather watch your wives and children starve to death or die in battle than live a few more months in humiliation?"

She slowly raised her head, her cloudy eyes swept over the barbarian nobles who had their own ulterior motives. Seeing that some of them looked stern, some were thoughtful, some were hesitant, and some were trembling with fear, she sneered and said, "I know that you are not of one mind. Some of you may have been planning to sell me out to Calais as soon as you leave this room. Let me put it this way, cowards, if we succeed this time, it will be considered as saving your lives and will not do you any harm. If we fail, it will not implicate you who are staying out of it - but the rats who are thinking about going out to inform on you now, do you think Calais' ominous Mars will remember your kindness, or will he think that you are too close to us old guys who don't care about your lives and your behavior is suspicious?"

The middle-aged man who was filled with righteous indignation just now jumped up and said, "That's right, Third Granny, I'll follow you!"

In recent years, the nobles of the eighteen tribes have been oppressed too much by Galaxie. The nobles hate him and are afraid of his high-pressure policies. When the leader comes out, many indignant people will follow suit.

Madam Hongxia turned to the chief steward and said, "It's useless for us to think about this matter. We still have to rely on the chief steward."

The chief steward sat there for a moment in front of everyone, as if he was about to evaporate, making the entire sunless room misty with steam. Finally, he gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh, "Third Granny's order!"

When a country is in danger, there will inevitably be bloody conflicts in the power structure - no matter whether it is Daliang, the Eighteen Tribes of Tianlang... or even the foreigners trapped in Jiangnan, none of them can escape this situation of poverty and change, which is very dangerous and has a hundred percent chance of success. A step forward means prosperity for the country and family, and a step behind may lead to the extinction of the race.

At this time, a turbulent undercurrent spread among the eighteen tribes of the Northern Barbarians, not to mention the nobles of the major families who organized their own forces.

On the second night, a swallow-like black shadow swooped onto the watchtower of the Eighteen Tribes - this tower was built with funds from foreigners, and at first it was also responsible for its maintenance. Now that the Westerners are unable to take care of themselves, most of the lighters on the watchtower have become inoperable, and it basically only serves as a decoration.

The guard on the tower had been knocked down silently, and the man who jumped onto the watchtower showed his face in the moonlight. He turned out to be a taciturn little servant under the chief steward. He swiftly climbed to the top of the tower, where someone was already waiting.

The "house slave" stood still and wiped his face, revealing a Cao Chunhua that changed in thousands of ways.

Cao Chunhua said, "I understand. The chief steward put something calming in Gala Yinghuo's medicine."

Chen Qingxu: "Didn't you want to poison him to death?"

"It's not that easy," Cao Chunhua said. "Galai is a master of voodoo. If we don't do it right, we'll alert the enemy. He occasionally prepares some tranquilizers, so he won't be suspicious even if he finds out. Among the guards in the king's tent are family members of various noble families. These people have already been instructed to act at night without anyone noticing, and try not to alert Jialai Yinghuo as much as possible, so that he will die in his bed, quietly, and push the prince to the throne tomorrow morning. Once it is confirmed that Jialai's medicine has been taken, the chief steward will use the name of the night owl as a signal, and we're just waiting - has the commander-in-chief been notified?"

The silver ball between Chen Qingxu's fingers flashed, and it was the flare that Shen Yi gave her. This little thing had been hidden in her sleeve, and she suddenly felt reluctant to take it out and use it.

Cao Chunhua was unaware of all these thoughts, and only sighed, "A great hero, but his subordinates want to rebel against him, and they don't even want to hear his last words. What kind of words are these?"

"I'm too afraid of him," Chen Qingxu stood on the watchtower, using the clairvoyance on his nose to look towards the king's tent, "I haven't asked you yet, how did you get Madam Hongxia to take the lead?"

"Madam Hongxia's son died on the battlefield," Cao Chunhua tucked her hair behind her ears and said casually, "She only left a grandson, who is almost sixteen years old. The Galais are extremely cruel and have stipulated that all boys over the age of sixteen in noble families must join the army. I met her son several times when I sneaked into the barbarians before. A few nights ago, I pinched a picture of the ghost's face and visited his old mother for him... It may not look like him, but it was dark and her old eyes were dim, so she got away with it. I hugged her and cried bitterly, saying that I couldn't bear to see my young son Jiao'er follow his father's old path... Look, my eye sockets are still swollen, and I have been covering them with something these two days. Miss Chen, do you have any special medicine to reduce the swelling?"

Chen Qingxu: “…”

Cao Chunhua shook her head and said to the moon with self-pity: "How many tears have I shed for others? Alas, this is really..."

Chen Qingxu: "Shhh—did you hear that?"

In the cold night, a few sharp cries of night owls suddenly sounded, and the general manager took action!

Chen Qingxu pushed open the window of the watchtower, and an almost invisible silk thread shot out from her fingertips and hung down from the tower, just enough for her to use her toes to gain leverage to move forward.

Cao Chunhua took out a small pot of purple gold from her bosom, poured it down from a high place onto the watchtower, creating the illusion that the tower was leaking oil, and then lit it neatly. The fierce flames meandered down like a real dragon, and in an instant, the watchtower was illuminated as if it were daytime. Chen Qingxu took advantage of the fire in the watchtower to bounce the flare in his hand high up, and the flare split into two straight up and down, splitting a lightning-like white light - the white light was very special, not dazzling when viewed from close up, and was easily blocked by the purple gold fire. Only from a distance could the extremely penetrating beam of light be distinguished.

Shen Yi, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, saw it from his clairvoyance and jumped up: "Marshal, take action!"

Gu Yun whistled loudly, and the Black Eagle flew past quickly like a bat in the dark night. Only the sound of the wind could be heard, but no one could be seen.

Shen Yi rushed out impatiently, but then he remembered something and turned back to Gu Yun, "Zi Xi, you just came back from Jiangnan yesterday and you didn't even have a break. Can you handle this?"

Gu Yun was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Oh my god, how did you grow up to have so many endless worries? Don't worry about me, just look after Miss Chen - don't worry, being able to watch that bastard Jialai Yinghuo reach the end of his rope is more effective than any panacea."

There was also the secret voodoo technique hidden by that old madman. Gu Yun didn't dare to mention it, nor did he dare to expect too much, but he still wanted to come and see it in person.

What if?

"If there is really a solution to the Wuer bone problem," Gu Yun thought to himself with determination, "I will go to the Huguo Temple to burn incense for the bald donkeys."

Chen Qingxu's lightness skills were unparalleled, and she disappeared immediately after landing. The rebels of the Eighteen Tribes wanted Jialai Yinghuo to die silently, but she didn't want him to have no last words - otherwise who would she ask for the voodoo secrets?

Cao Chunhua was already having a hard time keeping up, and when she was halfway there, she suddenly heard the sharp whistling sound of Bai Hong's bowstring.

Cao Chunhua looked up and saw the flames rising to the sky in the south. She knew that the Black Iron Camp had arrived and would probably break into the Northern Barbarians' defense line in no time. But she was distracted for only a moment, and when she looked again, Chen Qingxu had disappeared.

The guards of the Wolf King's tent seemed ordinary to Chen Qingxu. More than half of them were busy plotting something that night. She sneaked in without much effort and landed behind the Wolf King's flag. She first let go of a small group of rebels who were running towards the main tent with swords and guns, and then landed lightly and followed behind them without anyone noticing.

The rebels marched towards the main tent without any preparation, but Chen Qingxu sensed something was wrong on the way - she knew that there would be a group of fewer guards in the Wolf King's tent that night, but it didn't make sense for there to be so many fewer.

Chen Qingxu's heart suddenly tightened and the knife slipped into his palm.

At this time, the rebels had arrived at the main tent of the king in Calais.

Suddenly, there was a slight sound in the air, and the four doors of the well-ventilated main tent suddenly opened wide. Countless bows and cannons appeared from the windows and doors. At the same time, the ambushed guards and hundreds of barbarian soldiers surrounded them from behind, blocking the defenseless rebels in the middle.