The Liang Manor continued its widespread benevolence, celebrating the stable birth of Liang Xiao's six children.
The entire city rejoiced!
After all, Liang Xiao had repeatedly defended Yanzhou, and moreover, had captured the Three Mountains for Da Gan, driven back the barbarians, and achieved a victory at Feng Lang Ju Xu. He was an unprecedented source of pride for the people of Yanzhou!
The citizens of Yanzhou celebrated day and night upon learning that the barbarians could no longer muster the strength for a southern invasion of Da Gan.
Had the Liang Manor not sent people to guard the entrance in advance and politely refuse gifts, the doorstep would surely have been overflowing with food and presents from the grateful populace.
Three days prior, on the day the children were born, the Liang Manor had already begun hosting banquets, inviting friends and relatives. Ye Qingyi and Yirou also received invitations, and as for Lu Xiaojun, she was already a relative of Liang Xiao, following alongside Lu Xue.
Since pledging allegiance to Da Gan, Ye Qingyi and Yirou no longer maintained their pretense, openly using their respective terms of address for each other.
“Adoptive Father, Qingyi older sister and I wish to live out our days like this, adopting children in the future to be our descendants, and not marry…” Yirou and Ye Qingyi knelt before Zuo Wushang, their faces full of shame.
Zuo Wushang gazed at the two women, letting out a wry smile and a sigh.
He would not casually arrange for Liang Xiao to be with other women. However, for their sake, he had intended to brace himself and recommend them, even if Liang Xiao were to take them as concubines. A rejection would have been fine too, at least it would have severed their lingering hopes.
Yet, they themselves had proactively reminded Zuo Wushang: under no circumstances should the Marquis of An be disturbed, nor the feelings between the Marquis of An and his wives be jeopardized.
They dared not harbor any inappropriate thoughts, content with merely gazing at him from afar.
“In this world, how many devoted women there must be, like yourselves,” Zuo Wushang couldn't help but shake his head.
“This is also quite good,” Ye Qingyi and Yirou simply smiled shyly, and said no more.
At another table, Yue Qingtian, Nan Jiyun, and the others, enjoying a rare respite, clinked their cups and exchanged toasts with great gusto.
“It’s a joyous occasion, don’t get too drunk, you can’t make a fool of yourself,” Nie Yuan quickly reminded them.
“My drinking etiquette is the finest in the world; when I’m drunk, I just fall asleep!” Yue Qingtian declared nonchalantly.
“I suddenly feel a bit envious of General Yue,” Zhuo Ying sighed.
Yue Qingtian was unfazed: “Everyone has their own aspirations. I just like being the Marquis’s household guard, his personal bodyguard. You all will be generals who rise to prominence in future campaigns!”
The others had no choice but to express their admiration: “General Yue truly has become more eloquent!”
Indeed, they yearned more for leading troops in battle and expanding territory, and did not wish to let down Liang Xiao's expectations of them becoming independent commanders in the future.
Among the generals present, Nan Jiyun and Lü Changhe currently held the greatest renown.
After the duel at Helan Mountain and the capture of the Xiongnu Chanyu, the barbarians' epithet for Nan Jiyun, “Flying General,” had also spread.
Skilled in archery and horsemanship, unparalleled in bravery, the Flying General Nan Jiyun!
The Victorious General Nie Yuan, the White Robed General Lü Changhe!
Zhuo Ying and Yue Qingtian, in contrast, appeared much more low-key.
Ye Qingyi followed behind Zuo Wushang, walking through the corridor where Liang Xiao had been waiting for a long time.
“Qingyi pays her respects to the Marquis of An…” Ye Qingyi said, bowing with a blush.
Liang Xiao whispered, “I heard from your adoptive father that your master, the leader of the Spring Revival Cult, also has blue eyes?”
Ye Qingyi nodded solemnly: “There is no doubt!”
“Understood, then I will trouble you to secretly observe her for a while,” Liang Xiao requested.
Ye Qingyi followed Zuo Wushang to outside Sophia's room. Peering through the window paper, which Liang Xiao had already instructed someone to prick, she observed the situation inside the room.
At this moment, Sophia was sitting on the bed, sobbing softly and muttering to herself, “Don’t burn me…”
After repeated observation by Ye Qingyi and Zuo Wushang, they retreated to a distance.
“Her figure is very similar, but her voice is different, and I can’t see her eyes. Moreover, my master only ever shows her eyes; I can’t even see the bridge of her nose…” Ye Qingyi sighed.
Zuo Wushang also said, “I have seen your master, but due to the voice issue, I’m not certain. Especially since those several blond, blue-eyed captives confessed that many women from the Tianri tribe have blond hair and blue eyes, so…”
“Her figure is too similar! Shall I go in and take a look?” Ye Qingyi suggested.
Zuo Wushang shook his head: “She’s been quite unstable lately because Princess Klisti is giving birth and hasn’t had time to accompany her. Don’t approach her for now.”
Ye Qingyi had no choice but to abandon the idea and report back to Liang Xiao.
“Her figure is very similar? The intelligence provided by the Yuntian Guard, according to confessions from those Spring Revival Cult captives, is that their cult leader died suddenly, and Zen Master Longyue succeeded her,” Liang Xiao grew even more vigilant.
Even Ye Qingyi thought she was very similar, so he could not afford to lower his guard.
“Deploy more men to keep an eye on her!”
At this moment, Sophia was merely sitting on the bed, her back to the door, muttering to herself and trembling.
Her complex emotions at this very moment were something even she herself could not articulate.
Regret? Unwillingness? Or…
Liang Xiao was preparing a memorial to report back to the capital at the appointed time, and also to inform Xiao Qing about the ancient Xiongnu king's treasure.
Da Gan's carrier pigeons were dispatched everywhere, quickly spreading throughout the country.
“Heavens! Why am I stuck guarding Jiangnan!” Duke Dingguo, Gongsun Ye, exclaimed enviously.
If he and Lü Yi, the northern and southern marshals, had swapped positions, perhaps he would have been the one to retake the Three Mountains with Liang Xiao?
“There’s still a chance. Aren’t there the Sun Moon Army and the Peacock Dynasty in the southwest, and the Jiaozhou warlords?” Zhuo Zifang was already beside himself with joy, almost jumping up and roaring.
The barbarians had been beheaded by Da Gan a total of 510,000 times. Liang Xiao had led 100,000 soldiers to sweep across the desert and achieve a victory at Feng Lang Ju Xu!
News of this also rapidly spread to the Great Liang Kingdom, the Guishuang Dynasty, the Peacock Dynasty, Jiaozhou, and other regions.
The entire Great Liang Kingdom was shocked and dismayed!
Duke Zhenguo, Qin Feng, after a brief period of shock, nervously instructed the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works to jointly replicate Da Gan’s longbows.
As for the Divine Arm Crossbow, they had no immediate opportunity to investigate its secrets.
The longbow appeared simple and was easier to replicate.
The noble families and powerful clans of the Great Liang Kingdom, in a rare display of unity with Mu Cheng and Qin Feng, even voluntarily donated funds to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, hoping to expedite the production of "giant bows" to enhance their national defense capabilities, lest the Great Liang Kingdom be annexed by Da Gan, bringing their good days to an end.
The Gongyang clan, the Dugu family, the He family, the Ouyang family… all the noble families and clans who had opposed Liang Xiao fared worse than one another!
For these noble families and clans of the Great Liang Kingdom to learn from Da Gan’s Gu family, defect to the Emperor of Da Gan, abandon their status as powerful clans, and simply be a family – they would rather die than agree!
On this day, the northern desert wind was piercingly cold.
The various tribes in the northern desert still had over four million barbarians in total, but most were the old, weak, women, and children.
Adding the forty thousand beheaded by Liang Xiao’s invasion of the northern desert, and deducting the sixty thousand from Xianbei, Tianri tribe, and Guishuang Dynasty, they had been beheaded by Da Gan over 450,000 times, leading to their complete collapse!
Upon learning of the front line's defeat, many barbarians scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing to various places, fearing that the Da Gan cavalry would charge into the northern desert and behead them all as well.
“Prince Attila has returned!”
Bleyda, who had been frowning deeply, immediately went out of his tent to welcome him upon receiving the news.
At this moment, Attila's face was weathered and his gaze remained sharp.
Noticing that the entourage behind Attila was less than a third of its former size, Bleyda asked, “How many losses did we suffer?”
Attila said solemnly, “Fewer than fifty thousand survived the hardships of that place; the rest perished in that barren land!”
Bleyda sighed in resignation.
The barbarians, upon learning that Attila had led his people to fight for survival, were all filled with admiration. Attila had once again become the new Khan of the barbarians.
Attila stood on the high ground, looking down at the tens of thousands below, and declared loudly, “Do you wish to take revenge on Da Gan!”
The barbarian subjects below showed expressions of fear and prostrated themselves, begging.
“Khan! With the Marquis of An in Da Gan, if we march south again, we will surely perish as a nation and our race will be annihilated! Can we not choose another target, or perhaps submit to Da Gan and become their vassals…”