349: Chapter 349 Overconfidence

Xiao Qingxuan frowned. She was brilliant, and she quickly realized that Marshal Suhe was overthinking things.

Her marriage to Lin Xiao was purely a result of her falling into misfortune; it was fate, a natural progression of events.

Surviving in the Stone Fortress felt like a blessing from the heavens.

If not for Lin Xiao's rapid rise to power, she had intended to simply raise their children and live a quiet, ordinary life.

Naturally, she had no intention of using her husband to restore her fallen kingdom.

Especially after hearing Lin Xiao's earth-shattering argument that armies should be loyal to the people, she felt even less that restoring a dynasty ruled by royalty was something to be proud of.

However, even if she denied it, it was useless.

Because in the eyes of Marshal Suhe, for her, as the legitimate Empress of Western Shu, to voluntarily give up her empire was inconceivable.

Of course, the fact that Marshal Suhe did not understand how great her husband was, was also a major reason.

"Marshal Suhe, what you seek is nothing more than for the people of the Northern Plains to be fed, clothed, and to live with dignity."

"As a ruler of a fallen nation, I can fully understand your determination to fight until the very last moment."

Xiao Qingxuan first expressed her empathy, then changed the subject:

"But if you force yourself to be an enemy of my husband, not only will many people die, but the hatred between the people of the Northern Plains and the Zhenbei Army will become impossible to resolve."

Marshal Suhe's brows locked in a frown; he believed what Xiao Qingxuan said.

In fact, he was feeling quite regretful at this moment.

"Had I known you were the Empress of Western Shu, I would not have made such decisions while playing such a grand game of chess... Now that things have come to this, it would be difficult to even feign surrender to the Zhenbei Army."

Xiao Qingxuan almost laughed out loud. This old fox had spent his whole life playing political games, only to trap himself!

Feign surrender? Did he really think her husband, an Earth Immortal, cared about his meager military forces?

If not for the need to save time and rush to participate in the Tianwu Grand Tournament, the first thing they would have done was eliminate his main army!

Yet, there was naturally no sarcasm on Xiao Qingxuan's face; instead, she nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, as the two armies have already clashed many times, it would certainly be inappropriate for you to bring the Barbarian Army to defect, and no one would believe it..."

Xiao Qingxuan said with a subtle tone, "However, Marshal, you had a plan just now that I think is quite good."

Marshal Suhe narrowed his eyes, suddenly realizing: "You mean... going to the Khitan?!"

"Exactly. If you, Marshal, can gain the trust of Khitan King Yelü Dachuan, that would be for the best; it would be easier to destroy the Khitan monarchy from within."

"If Khitan King Yelü Dachuan is suspicious and unwilling to rely on you, then..."

Before Xiao Qingxuan could finish, Marshal Suhe interrupted—

"Then you can raise the banner of reclaiming lost territory and expel the Khitan. When the time comes, I will lead the main army to ambush them from the flank, and together we will destroy Khitan King Yelü Dachuan!"

Xiao Qingxuan smiled. As long as it didn't involve her husband, Marshal Suhe's brain still functioned well enough.

Marshal Suhe laughed heartily: "What a brilliant strategy of driving the wolf to devour the tiger! Khitan King Yelü Dachuan has already lost a large number of his elite forces and General Yelu Chuku, and is currently at his weakest; I fear he will not be able to withstand this lethal blow from Her Majesty, the Empress."

"But the problem is, if we help fight the Khitan, what will we gain?"

"When the time comes, after the rabbit is dead, the hound is cooked—won't you just kill us all as well?"

Xiao Qingxuan said with a half-smile, "Marshal Suhe, you don't think... I'm negotiating with you, do you?"

As soon as these words were spoken, an aura of imperial authority, something only an emperor would possess, enveloped Marshal Suhe's heart!

Marshal Suhe woke up with a start. That's right; if he didn't agree, he would be killed!

Xiao Qingxuan wasn't giving him a choice at all; she was only offering him this one way to survive!

"You are a smart man, Marshal. Go to the Khitan; you will have a sliver of hope, and you will also be able to witness with your own eyes how the Zhenbei Army governs the Northern Plains."

"If you remain obstinate, I will kill you and your adopted son, and then slaughter your three thousand elites."

"Even if your remaining cavalry escaped and could wreak havoc on the northern border for a while... would it be meaningful? Could it change anything?"

"Believe me, if you do that, the number of people from the Northern Plains who die will be many times greater than the people of the Central Plains!"

A series of questions, coupled with threats, left Marshal Suhe's face ashen and speechless.

He let out a long sigh and conceded: "Your Majesty is absolutely right... I agree. I will take my troops to the Khitan immediately."

The look in Xiao Qingxuan's eyes melted like frost, as if a spring breeze had suddenly swept through.

"Rest assured, Marshal Suhe. Once the Northern Plains belong to the Zhenbei Army, we will do our best to take good care of the people of the Northern Plains."

Marshal Suhe said with a look of longing and regret: "If not for the rise of the Li clan of the Gan Dynasty in the north three hundred years ago, the Great Zheng Dynasty might have long ago incorporated our Northern Plains into its imperial territory."

"In these few hundred years, we might have long since been citizens of one nation, with no distinction between enemy and friend."

"Today, the Gan Dynasty's fate is coming to an end. I hope Your Majesty can reclaim the empire soon and bring blessings to all living things!"

Hearing this, Xiao Qingxuan couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

"Marshal Suhe, I promise you, no matter who the world belongs to in the future, I will not favor the people of any one side; I will treat everyone equally."

Marshal Suhe nodded, then pointed somewhat awkwardly at the "ice sculpture Tulishen" not far away.

Xiao Qingxuan raised her hand and gave a gentle squeeze...

"Crack!"

The ice shattered all over the ground. Tulishen fell to the ground, shivering violently, his lips purple, frozen quite badly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing my life!"

Marshal Suhe looked at Xiao Qingxuan with complex eyes, then solemnly cupped his hands: "Rest assured, Your Majesty. I will keep today's conversation buried in my stomach; I will never ruin your great undertaking of restoring the nation!"

Xiao Qingxuan was speechless. Did Marshal Suhe really think her husband didn't know about all this?

If Lin Xiao hadn't intended to reveal her identity, would she have spoken up?

This old man was truly confident to the point of arrogance.

"Marshal, the most urgent matter now is to quickly order the other armies to cease fire," Xiao Qingxuan reminded him.

For every moment they delayed, hundreds of people would die.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I will immediately order the other armies to withdraw, regroup, and head to the Khitan!"

As if he had found a powerful ally, Marshal Suhe once again had hope.

"Thank you for your trouble, Marshal!"

One hour later.

All the Northern Barbarian cavalry heard the horn of retreat.

Although they were confused about why the plan had suddenly changed, they all obeyed the order and headed northeast to rendezvous with Marshal Suhe.

When the soldiers of the Zhenbei Army saw the Barbarian Army retreating, they assumed they were afraid and erupted into cheers of victory.

Xiao Qingxuan stood on the cliff, watching the more than twenty thousand Northern Barbarian cavalry riding away, but there was no joy on her face.

"What's wrong, Qingxuan? You're not happy even though we won?"

Leng Bingyan had also returned to her side. The woman had quite a bit of blood on her, but it was all someone else's.

"So many soldiers died; I can't call this a victory. If my husband were here, it would never have been this tragic."

"If I had been able to see Marshal Suhe earlier and let him lead his troops to the Khitan, this war could have been avoided."

"In the end, I had to have Marshal Suhe remind me that there was such a path to take..."

Xiao Qingxuan blamed herself: "It is my incompetence."

Leng Bingyan sighed. In truth, normally speaking, for a force consisting mostly of Militia to be able to fight the Northern Barbarian elites to a draw was already quite remarkable.

But she couldn't help that her man was too good at fighting; every war was one-sided, so now, if the Zhenbei Army wasn't crushing the enemy, it felt like they had lost.

"Although your martial arts are strong, you are not my husband after all. How could you charge into the middle of the enemy army from the very beginning?"

"Besides, you are not a god; how can you handle everything perfectly? Being able to stop the crisis so quickly is already very good."

Leng Bingyan comforted her.

Xiao Qingxuan still couldn't let it go, her expression dejected.

Seeing this, Leng Bingyan changed the subject: "Do you really intend to join forces with Marshal Suhe in the future to destroy Khitan King Yelü Dachuan?"