knife

Chapter 478 The Self-Awareness of the Chess Pieces

As Zhou Yi stepped into the hall, he was somewhat taken aback when he saw Princess Chang Le holding a child.

The child must be Tiele's daughter, Xiaoyu'er. She seemed to have just cried a lot and was now asleep in Princess Changle's arms, though her little body was still twitching.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" Zhou Yi bowed respectfully.

“You’ve gained quite a bit of weight in the past month or so!” Princess Chang Le said, looking at Zhou Yi.

"For the past ten years or so, I've been so busy that I haven't had any freedom. It's rare to have a proper rest like this, so of course I've gained weight," Zhou Yi said, rubbing his belly with some embarrassment.

Aren't you worried about this war?

“What is there to worry about!” Zhou Yi said, “I have thought this through carefully over this period of time. His Majesty’s plan is not about how to deal with my Beiting Protectorate, but about Yandu. So our biggest loss may be facing a newly unified Yuan Dynasty. But Princess, this Yuan Dynasty is not the same as the old one. Even if His Majesty succeeds, the Yuan Dynasty is weak and vulnerable. We will naturally have other countermeasures! It may be a little more troublesome and more time-consuming.”

"You're quite confident!" Princess Chang Le said.

"The entire Beiting Protectorate is confident in this much!" Zhou Yi laughed. "In fact, Your Highness should also know the general situation on our side and should have a judgment in mind."

After a moment of silence, Princess Chang Le said, "Congratulations! The Northern Protectorate has won a great victory in this battle. Jebe has died in battle, Akdun has surrendered, and the Tiele are probably not coming back now!"

"What?" Zhou Yi, who had been locked up for more than a month, could hardly believe his ears. "You're not lying to me?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Princess Chang Le said with a bitter smile.

Zhou Yi swallowed hard, blinked, and was still completely baffled.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Princess Chang Le said, "You are also part of it, but you are a piece that has been thrown out, an important pawn used to deceive the Tiele."

"I need to get some rest; to be honest, this news really shocked me!"

"News has come from Yandu!" Princess Chang Le said, "An Xuan is one of your people. You are the deputy head of Zhi Qiu Academy, are you aware of this?"

"I wouldn't dare lie to the princess, I really didn't know about this!" Zhou Yi said honestly.

"Did you know that you also turned Charlevin?"

“I know about this!” Zhou Yi nodded.

"Tiele and Jebe began plotting this two years ago, and as the head of Beiting's largest intelligence agency active in this land, you were naturally one of the targets of their deception. From the very beginning, Tiele's intention was to attack Yandu, not your Beiting Protectorate!" Princess Chang Le said with a bitter smile, "However, although Tiele successfully deceived you, he never imagined that An Xuan was one of your people. What secrets could there be then? Don't you think so?"

"Yes!"

“So before Tiele launched their attack, Li Dachui and Xiao Changche must have already known Tiele’s true purpose!” Princess Changle said. “But they didn’t inform you; instead, they made you part of their deception. And your performance convinced Tiele and Jebe that their plan would succeed.” “That should be it!” Zhou Yi said.

Princess Chang Le looked at Zhou Yi with some confusion: "Aren't you angry? In this matter, you are a pawn, and you are very likely to be killed by the Tiele."

“There’s no anger or anger!” Zhou Yi chuckled. “Your Highness, those of us in this line of work risk our lives. We could die without even knowing why. From the very first day I started, I was prepared for that. To put it bluntly, we live in a world of intrigue and traps. We scheme against the enemy, we scheme against our own people, and even we scheme against ourselves, but we have only one goal: final victory. To achieve that goal, we don’t care about sacrificing anything, as long as the result is good!”

"I never expected you to see this in this way!" Princess Chang Le was somewhat surprised: "I thought you would at least show anger."

Zhou Yi shook his head: "Your Highness, I've schemed against others in the same way before! And if I were to pay the price with my life in this matter, it would be my due. Think of how many elite soldiers we lost in the capital to push for the division of the Yuan Kingdom into three kingdoms. And how many more have died over the years for the strength of the Northern Court? Every one of us who died contributed to the building of a powerful Northern Court. What do you think I have to complain about? Everyone has their own goal, and to achieve that goal, even paying the price with one's life is nothing to regret. We are all pawns on the grand chessboard of the world. When to strike, when to lie low, when to sacrifice ourselves—it's all decided by the players. So, whatever the outcome, I can face it with equanimity."

"Do all of Li Dachui's men think like this?"

“Our colleagues used to think that way, but now that things have gotten bigger, it's not necessarily the same anymore!” Zhou Yi laughed. “Your Highness, now that our Northern Army has achieved a great victory, what are your plans next?”

"We just received a report that one of your cavalry units is only a few dozen miles away from Zhengding. General Chiwen is preparing to mobilize all the able-bodied men in the city to defend Zhengding!" Princess Changle said.

“Your Highness, do you think it’s still necessary?” Zhou Yi said, “This time, His Majesty must have gone all out to achieve his goal, with the mindset of either succeeding or dying for his country, right? If the people of Zhengding continue to put up a stubborn resistance, what will they get besides more bloodshed and death? The final outcome will not change.”

Zhou Yi glanced at Princess Chang Le and said softly, "Please forgive my bluntness, Your Highness, but even if the Northern Protectorate completely occupies the Great Yuan, you will still receive the highest respect, as will Princess Xiao Yu'er. If His Majesty is willing to surrender, he will certainly receive the highest honors as well. Although he will lose power, he will never lose his dignity! Others may not know our young master's identity, but don't you know it?"

"I know Tiele's temperament. I'm afraid he's no longer here!" Princess Chang Le lowered her eyelids and hugged Xiao Yu'er in her arms even tighter.

"Your Highness..." Zhou Yi didn't know what to say for a moment.

Suddenly, another person appeared in the hall.

"Miaomiao!" Princess Chang Le looked at Duanmu Miaomiao, who had returned alone, and finally couldn't hold back her tears.

“Princess, the Tiele couple are gone!” Duanmu Miaomiao choked out, “I have failed you and cannot bring him back.”

"It's not your fault, that's just his personality, it was his fate." Holding the child in one hand and wiping away her tears with the other, she said, "The dead are gone, Miaomiao, we still have so much to do!"

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences!" Looking at the people in front of him, Zhou Yi did not feel any joy of victory for a moment. Instead, he felt a heavy weight in his heart.

"Zhou Yi, go out of the city and tell your people that Zhen Ding has decided to surrender!" Princess Chang said, "In order to avoid causing unrest in the city, how about we ask them to station troops ten miles away from the city?"

Zhou Yi bowed respectfully, "Your Highness is truly righteous!"

(End of this chapter)