If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

Zhou Ming nodded to the cooks and told them to make the same dish again.

He then sat down on a chair next to him, grabbed a freshly made pancake from the table, rolled it up with half a plate of stir-fried shredded pork with pickled vegetables, and started showing off his meal.

The pancakes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Although the stir-fried shredded pork with pickled vegetables couldn't compare to the finesse of the Hou Mansion's kitchen, it was rich in meat and oil, and every bite was full of fragrance.

Zhou Ming was eating with his cheeks bulging when the kitchen door was suddenly pushed open, and Dongmei stormed in.

"Zhou Ming! What did I call you to the kitchen for? And here you are, eating first."

Zhou Ming chewed a couple of times, swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, and wore a completely matter-of-fact expression:

"Sister Dongmei, let me try the food prepared by this chef first."

"If I don't taste it, how will I know if this dish suits Miss's taste? Is there too much or too little salt? Is it overcooked or undercooked? You can't tell just by looking, can you?"

"You...you..."

Dongmei talked for a long time but couldn't come up with a conclusion. Finally, she snorted heavily through her nose and turned her face away.

But in the instant she turned her head, Zhou Mingqing clearly saw her gaze sweep quickly back and forth over the piece of bread in his hand, and she swallowed very discreetly.

That little face of hers, clearly craving the food but trying to maintain a haughty air, refusing to even glance at him, yet unable to resist stealing peeks at the pancakes.

It looks just like a tabby cat squatting on the stove, clearly wanting to eat fish but refusing to meow.

Zhou Ming was inwardly laughing so hard he was practically cramping, but he kept a straight face, put down the pancake, and adopted a serious tone:

"Sister Dongmei, you should try some too. Whether this food suits your taste or not, I, a grown man, can't really tell."

"You are Miss's personal maid, you know her tastes better than anyone. Please do me a favor and try it for me."

Dongmei turned around and looked at Zhou Ming suspiciously, probably trying to figure out if there was a trap in his words.

After watching for a while, I realized he wasn't joking.

He glanced at the plate of stir-fried shredded pork and the stack of freshly baked pancakes on the table, snorted, walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

He pulled a new pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder, picked up a piece of stir-fried shredded meat, and put it in his mouth.

She chewed twice, her brows furrowing slightly, as if she were giving a serious critique.

Then he chewed a few more times, his brows gradually relaxed, but his chopsticks didn't stop, and he picked up another bite.

After taking two or three bites, he probably felt that eating only shredded meat wasn't enough, so he picked up a pancake, rolled up a few pieces of meat and vegetables, and started eating it heartily.

Zhou Ming pretended not to see it and turned to talk to the cook about the temperature of the stove fire.

After the two finished eating, the chef had already remade the dishes according to Zhou Ming's instructions.

Dongmei personally packed the freshly prepared food into a food box and carried it towards the main hall of the Marshal's Mansion.

After dinner, Zhou Ming began to wander around the Marshal's Mansion.

The front office of the commander's mansion was still bustling with activity, with messengers frequently riding into the mansion to deliver military reports from various parties to the council hall.

Su Mingyue was clearly still convening a meeting with the generals. The hall was brightly lit, and there were several more markings on the map than yesterday.

The main courtyard of the Marshal's Mansion is not large, with blue bricks paving the ground. An old locust tree is planted in each of the four corners, its canopy blocking out the sun and filtering the midday sun into fine spots of light all over the ground.

Zhou Ming, who was wandering around, was stopped by Dongmei, who said that the young lady had summoned him.

When Zhou Ming followed Dongmei into the courtyard, Su Mingyue was standing under the locust tree, facing south, gazing motionlessly at the horizon.

He stepped forward, bowed, and then quietly stepped aside, standing with his hands at his sides.

Dongmei wisely kept quiet and retreated to the courtyard gate. For a moment, only the rustling of locust leaves in the wind filled the courtyard.

After a long while, Su Mingyue finally spoke.

Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself, or as if she were speaking to Zhou Ming:

"Anzhou fell, the capital was captured, and the Zhengde Emperor died."

Hearing Su Mingyue's words, Zhou Ming did not show any surprise.

On the one hand, he already knew the ferocity of the Anzhou battle from the scale of the causal network's breakage. Hundreds of thousands of causal chains broke overnight, and the fall of Kyoto was something he had expected.

On the other hand, this was not unexpected for an army of hundreds of thousands of people from the Sentient Beings Sect who had practiced the "Scripture of Salvation".

He didn't respond, but simply waited quietly for Su Mingyue to continue.

"The remnants of the royal family have already joined forces with various troops who came to the aid of the emperor in Qingzhou."

"Young Miss, which members of the royal family escaped?" Zhou Ming asked directly.

"The fifth prince Liu Bing, the sixth prince Liu Quan, and the ninth prince Liu Ji. Only these three princes escaped."

Zhou Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.

He browsed through many books about the Great Xia royal family and the noble families of various states in the library, and had gained a general understanding of the royal family's situation.

Emperor Zhengde had eleven sons, but only three are still alive today.

Of the three, the Ninth Prince Liu Ji has the most special identity. His birth mother is the elder sister of Marquis Yongning, Su Yongning, and also the eldest daughter of the old Duke.

According to seniority, Su Mingyue should call the Ninth Prince her cousin.

The fact that this prince was able to escape from Kyoto, which was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of believers, was probably due in no small part to the old Duke's secret machinations in Kyoto.

"So, Lord Marquis has already reunited with the Ninth Prince?"

"Yes," Su Mingyue nodded.

"Although no explicit message was received, judging from the marching schedule, Father must have encountered the routed Kyoto army on the way and followed the clues to find the princes' troops."

Zhou Ming lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "Young Miss, why not take this opportunity to seize control of the entire Youzhou?"

Upon hearing this, Su Mingyue turned around.

She didn't speak, but just looked at Zhou Ming quietly. There was no surprise or approval in her phoenix eyes; they were as calm as a deep pool of frozen water.

She looked at Zhou Ming, slightly raised her chin, and gestured for him to continue.

"The loyalist army has joined forces with the three princes in Qingzhou and will surely support the new emperor to ascend the throne."

"And this new emperor will inevitably be chosen from among these three princes."

"I don't know much about the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince, but His Highness the Ninth Prince is a natural ally of the Marquis's Mansion. The Marquis will definitely give his full support to the Ninth Prince in inheriting the throne."

"Young Miss, if we were to take complete control of the entire Youzhou at this time, using the financial and material resources of the entire province as a backing, and then use the pretext of the lack of troops in the northern border to expand our forces, we could succeed."

"Firstly, it can provide the Marquis with the strongest support for the Ninth Prince to ascend the throne."

"Secondly, no matter how the political situation changes in the future, the Marquis's mansion can cope with it calmly."

"The third time..."

Zhou Ming paused, glanced at Su Mingyue's expression, and said, "After expanding our forces, in the future..."

He didn't say anything more.

Su Mingyue knew what he wanted to say.

From the first time he told her the story of the Empress's ascension to the throne, to the time he personally instructed her in the military tent to arm the entire Youzhou with the "Scripture of Crossing the World," and now to this moment.

She knew perfectly well what words were hidden behind Zhou Ming's "future".

When their eyes met, Su Mingyue's face remained expressionless. She simply nodded slightly, then turned away and looked back at the hazy southern sky.

Seeing her slight nod, Zhou Ming knew that his words were on the same page as hers.