The attribute of tragedy is enhanced.

Hearing that the four northern powers had actually fought to a mutual defeat, the Jiang Huaizhen in the tavern slapped his thigh until it turned blue.

"Sigh, if The Emperor were willing to send troops on a northern expedition, even without saying more, recovering two provinces would be absolutely no problem."

General Ma Zhiyuan also downed a cup of wine.

"Sigh, who is to say otherwise? The Lu Army was heavily damaged; even if they returned, they likely wouldn't have the capability to counterattack. It is a pity that such a once-in-a-millennium opportunity was completely wasted."

"Bang!"

The Jiang Huaizhen slammed his fist onto the table hard.

"Those corrupt scholars are all afraid of death, with eyes only for their own petty interests, completely disregarding the fate of the nation."

General Ma Zhiyuan came from the Fufeng Ma family; he knew all too well the character of these Powerful Families families, so he patted his brother on the shoulder.

"People of the Powerful Families families have always been like this. Brother Jiang Huaizhen, why get so angry?"

The two generals were still drinking gloomily, while inside the palace, The Emperor was holding a celebratory banquet.

The Emperor raised his wine cup to the gathered Jiang Huaizhens and ministers.

"The four rebel armies have slaughtered each other and suffered heavy losses. This is Heaven protecting our Great Qian. Come, come, gentlemen, drink up!"

The ministers also raised their wine cups one by one.

"We congratulate Your Majesty, cheers!"

That day, Linan Palace was filled with joy. After the banquet, everyone dispersed, and The Emperor, in a very good mood, favored two palace maids who had just been sent into the palace.

In Guchang County, after reading the intelligence sent by the shadow guards, Gao Yuan was speechless.

"Why does my brother-in-law feel like he's getting stupider and stupider? Did he lose his brain while fleeing for his life? With such a good opportunity, he doesn't head north, yet he actually has the heart to hold a celebratory banquet."

In Gao Yuan's view, the best timing was certainly when the Yan and Lu sides were in a standoff at Weizhou.

If he didn't head north then, heading north after both sides finished fighting and their strength was weak would also have been fine. Even if he couldn't achieve total victory, he could at least recover one or two provinces.

Even if it were just one or two county towns, or one or two ferry crossings, that would establish a stronghold on the north bank of the Huai River, which could not only serve as a barrier for the Huai River defense line but also as a foundation for a future northern expedition.

Great Qian does not lack elite troops and strong generals; it has famous generals like the Jiang Huaizhen, General Ma Zhiyuan, and Mao Biao, and even Song Ren can be considered a capable general.

As for elite troops, there are the Southern Palace Imperial Guard Sixteen Guards, plus other armies that retreated south, and the troops of The two Jiangnan Circuits; there are at least three or four hundred thousand elite troops.

Gao Yuan felt that if he had so many elite troops and capable generals, he would have started the northern expedition long ago; why would he be holed up in this Southwest borderland?

After sighing, Gao Yuan threw the intelligence into the brazier and watched it burn to ashes.

"It's better not to tell Zhao Xiyaos informal address about this, so as to spare her from sadness."

"Yes! This subordinate will withdraw!"

Wan Sanqian bowed to Gao Yuan and then went out. Since the establishment of the shadow guards, Gao Yuan felt that Gao Zhong and Wan Sanqian had become increasingly cold and sinister; getting close to them would make one's skin crawl.

Seeing others give up on themselves, Gao Yuan suddenly had more motivation to improve himself.

The Indochina Peninsula had been basically pacified, and it would be difficult to launch large-scale campaigns in the short term, so Gao Yuan had to seize this time to accumulate strength.

He glanced at the system space and saw there were still four cards he could use: an s-rank lottery card, an attribute upgrade card, an equipment upgrade card, and a C-rank summon card given after annexing the Lan Xang Kingdom.

This was the most annoying thing; Gao Yuan really couldn't figure out what a C-rank card could summon, so he hadn't used it.

Thinking it over, improving himself was the most important thing, so Gao Yuan moved his mind.

"Host uses the random attribute upgrade card. Randomizing now."

A turntable appeared on the transparent screen; this time there were only seven sections, each representing one of his attributes.

A ring of light began to jump rapidly. After about ten seconds, the speed slowed down, slower and slower. Seeing it was about to stop on Strength, Gao Yuan had already prepared his celebratory pose.

Unexpectedly, the ring of light struggled a bit more at the end, and then the system announced this bad news.

"Host randomly drew a Charm Upgrade Card. Congratulations to the Host for increasing Charm from S- to S."

"Host: Gao Yuan. Character Attributes: Gentle face but strong heart, ruthless and vicious. Comprehensive Evaluation: A; Strength A, Agility A, Stamina A, Intelligence B+, Command A-, Internal Affairs C, Charm S; Martial Arts: saber technique B+, Spearmanship A-, Horsemanship B+; Skills: Leaders Aura (C), Pursue and Attack; First Life Mentor: First Life Mentor; Equipment: Gao Su's Liangdang Armor (C), Zhao Yun's bright silver spear (B); Items: Random Equipment Upgrade Card, s-rank lottery card, C-rank random talent summon card."

Gao Yuan wanted to cry. Although he had improved his most top-tier attribute, what use was this attribute to him? Was he supposed to stun the enemy with his handsomeness on the battlefield? Or seduce the entire enemy army?

It couldn't be that he was supposed to go and woo all the wives and daughters of the enemy generals, and then take them down through pillow talk?

With a heart full of grief and indignation, Gao Yuan found a bronze mirror and looked at himself carefully from left to right, up and down.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this young man is truly too handsome. How can there be such a handsome person?"

After being intoxicated for a while, Gao Yuan suddenly discovered a problem.

"System, come out! Didn't my charm increase? Why do I feel like it hasn't changed at all? Give me back my card."

However, the system remained silent.

At night, Gao Yuan finished his waist and abdomen training, put down the pair of snow-white and smooth responsibilities he was carrying on his shoulders, and hugged Mu Qing, asking unwillingly.

"Qingqing, do you feel any change in your husband?"

"No, you're still as good-looking as ever."

"Look carefully again!"

Mu Qing actually struggled to get up, examined her husband's face carefully, and then decisively shook her head.

"No, there's no change. Husband, you are the best-looking man in the whole world."

Although he received flattery from his woman, Gao Yuan still felt very sad. A precious upgrade card had been wasted like this; his heart ached until he couldn't breathe.

Gao Yuan turned grief and indignation into strength, once again shouldering this pair of responsibilities unique to himself, and conducted an extra training session for his waist and abdomen strength.

Ever since the attribute upgrade card was wasted, Gao Yuan didn't dare to draw anymore. That was an s-rank lottery card; if he drew something strange again, he would really want to jump off a building.

As for that C-rank summon card, it was used up. He drew a C+ rank civil Jiang Huaizhen whose name he hadn't even heard of, and Gao Yuan threw him to Pugan Circuit to be a county magistrate.

Time passed quickly, and Guchang County, located on the plateau, became colder and colder. Although it wasn't necessary to wear fur, Gao Yuan still changed into thick clothes.

It would soon be the third year of the new era name, and it had been almost thirteen years since Gao Yuan and the others arrived in the Southwest in the tenth year of Taichu.

He had also grown from a fifteen or sixteen-year-old greenhorn into a feudal lord, and his two daughters were already able to run all over the ground.

Lying in the courtyard of the Yang Family, Gao Yuan looked at the sky and couldn't help but sigh.

"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, I've been in this world for twenty-eight years. I've almost forgotten what the original timeline was like."

Yang Xin placed a teapot and candied fruit on the tea table beside Gao Yuan.

"Yes, I've also been in this world for several years."

"Yang Xin, do you miss home?"

"I miss home even in my dreams. I don't know how Mom and Dad are doing. If possible, I really wish they could have another child; otherwise, how desolate it would be."

Gao Yuan turned his head to look at Yang Xin.

"I really envy you for having a home to miss, unlike me, who doesn't even know where my family is."

Yang Xin moved her stool closer and helped Gao Yuan untie his hair bun to tidy it up again.

"Actually, I would rather be an orphan, so that I wouldn't make others worry or feel sad for me."