Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

"Won't."

Those ministers might consider taking sides for the sake of their family's prosperity.

But I would never do anything to betray my country for personal gain.

They absolutely cannot tolerate the Fifth Prince colluding with foreign enemies.

Perhaps, without Xiao Lie sending anyone to urge them to take action, they will seize the opportunity to act on their own.

A few days later, when news came from the capital again, it was that the emperor had raised the slogan of "purging the court of corrupt officials" and dispatched an army of 100,000 to attack them on the frontier.

The emperor is truly cunning.

He knew they were fighting the enemy and couldn't afford to be distracted.

That's why they only sent 100,000 troops.

They even sent additional personnel to the capital.

They were worried that Xiao Lie would secretly lead people back to the capital and assassinate him.

"Any news from the Beijing Garrison?" Judging by the time, those ministers should have already made their move within the Beijing Garrison.

Just as Seventeen was about to say "no," a carrier pigeon flew in.

After retrieving the secret letter, Xiao Lie excitedly slammed his hand on the table, "That's great!"

Seventeen hurriedly asked, "Has some good news arrived?"

The fifth prince has made a huge mess of things.

The emperor saw through his schemes in the capital.

The emperor had already grown increasingly suspicious of the fifth prince and had stripped him of much of his real power.

However, the Fifth Prince still made quite a few moves, both openly and secretly.

This time, the emperor was thoroughly enraged.

The emperor ordered his men to keep the fifth prince under guard, almost to the point of imprisoning him in the Imperial Clan Court as well.

Of the emperor's sons, only the third prince was truly capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities, and the fifth prince was also a promising candidate.

The second and fourth princes, whom he has recently been promoting, are two incompetent rulers.

The emperor was so anxious about this day and night that his health collapsed once again.

No matter how many pills you take, it will be useless.

"Consort Yuan is poisoning the Emperor's food every day; the Emperor won't last much longer."

Xiao Lie frowned; they didn't have much time left.

We must eliminate the enemy forces as soon as possible and then march north.

"Young Master, should we invite Miss Shen and the Princess over to discuss countermeasures together?" In the past, Xiao Lie would always call Shen Qinglan to discuss matters together in the capital.

Sixteen couldn't bear to see Xiao Lie so distressed and troubled all by himself.

Xiao Lie glanced at Sixteen and said, "She's busy with ensuring a stable supply of materials, so don't bother her with matters in the capital."

"The princess has always been pampered. She hasn't complained since arriving at the frontier, but I can tell she's not used to it at all."

Sixteen was somewhat surprised; it seemed the Crown Prince hadn't paid attention to those two sides.

Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince knew everything.

"Stop looking at me with that admiration." Xiao Lie found humor in his predicament, managing to tease Sixteen with a smile even at this moment.

Sixteen, caught red-handed, awkwardly scratched his head.

He humbly asked for advice, "When I get married in the future, Your Highness, please teach me how to read between the lines and win my wife's favor."

Xiao Lie: ...

Does he seem like someone who's very good at this?

"The Fifth Prince finally managed to seize control of the capital garrison, and he has long harbored thoughts of patricide and fratricide."

"The emperor's health is deteriorating day by day, and he must be extremely anxious."

Even when he was under guard, he would order his men to act in secret.

Xiao Lie's smile vanished, and he suddenly became serious. He needed to think of a way to disrupt the capital's garrison.

This prevented the emperor from sending troops.

Since the emperor and the fifth prince have already reached this point, why not add fuel to the fire?

A few days later, inside the Beijing garrison.

The emperor's general was about to muster the troops, but he was hampered at every turn.

Those who were obstructing them were the Fifth Prince's men.

Even with the imperial edict in hand, they were unable to mobilize troops from the Beijing garrison.

"Are you planning a rebellion?"

The Grand Marshal was so angry that he pointed his sword at the people blocking his way.

Those people remain silent; as long as they don't respond, it's not considered a rebellion.

"Grand Marshal, we don't have enough manpower in the Beijing Garrison. These people are only enough to guard the Imperial City."

"Where can we find 100,000 people?"

The Grand Marshal was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at them. Weren't these people just lying through their teeth?

There must be at least 100,000 people training on this ground.

"I'm here on imperial orders to muster troops. Are you going to give them to me or not?"

"If you still refuse to release them, I will request permission from the emperor, and then none of you will be able to keep your heads."

The Grand Marshal of the Army and Cavalry was not bluffing.

These people were just trying to stop them.

The Fifth Prince had other plans; in short, it was absolutely impossible for him to leave through the Beijing garrison.

Day two.

The Grand Marshal of the Army and Cavalry arrived with an imperial edict. The Emperor decreed that anyone who disobeyed would be executed on the spot.

These people indeed stopped obstructing them and instead cooperated by dispatching 100,000 elite troops.

But when it was time to set off, the Grand Marshal of the Army discovered that he had been outmaneuvered.

The soldiers were there, but the military pay was not.

He first went to the Ministry of War, and then to the Ministry of Revenue.

No matter how hard he ran, he couldn't get his pay.

The emperor and the fifth prince both believed that this was the fifth prince's doing.

While the emperor was in a rage and killed many palace servants, the fifth prince's triumph didn't last long.

"What did you say?"

The Fifth Prince flew into a rage, demanding, "What do you mean the military pay is really lost?"

He secretly ordered people to divert the military funds, intending to save them for when he ascended the throne and then used them to attack the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Why did such a big mistake happen when it was all part of my plan?

A large group of people were kneeling in front of him, and no one knew what was going on.

"I have raised you strategists so that you could devise plans for me."

"This is the terrible idea you came up with? In the end, you even lost the military pay?"

Someone knelt forward tremblingly, "Your Highness, could this batch of grain have been secretly moved by Prince Xiao's men?"

The Fifth Prince was suddenly taken aback; it really was possible that Xiao Lie was behind it.

He's raising a bunch of useless people who can't even beat Xiao Lie, the hostage who's been trapped in the capital for years!

"You need to find a way to get the military pay back."

These strategists couldn't come up with any other ideas, and they all kept their heads down.

Meanwhile, in the frontier military camps.

Xiao Lie drank wine under the moon, and a genuine smile, which had not appeared on his face for a long time, finally appeared.

He won a brilliant victory, completely outmaneuvering the emperor and the fifth prince.

The emperor was temporarily unable to send anyone to deal with them, which gave them some breathing room.

"Grandpa, recently the Southern Barbarians and Northern Di haven't even bothered us with minor disturbances," Xiao Lie said to his grandfather, Xiao Tianze. "Their reinforcements are still late; has something gone wrong on the way?"

Xiao Tianze smiled mysteriously, "I sent several squads of a thousand men to ambush them."

Because each time a different squad of a thousand men was sent to ambush the reinforcements, and the routes were different, the reinforcements, though not suffering heavy losses, dared not advance rashly.

If you linger on the road for too long, you'll be delayed.

"Grandpa, the old soldiers are the best! You're the one!" Xiao Lie's eyes gleamed. "Should we take advantage of this tonight and launch a surprise attack on the enemy?"