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

He followed Dongmei and jogged back to the Marquis's residence.

Su Mingyue stood in the main hall of the outer courtyard, with her back to the door and facing the map of the northern border on the wall.

She was still wearing her black armor, and her cloak hung motionless behind her.

Chunlan and Xiahe stood by her side, while the other maids were all dismissed and sent outside the courtyard.

Su Mingyue was holding a piece of paper in her hand.

She didn't turn around, but after Zhou Ming's footsteps stopped, she raised her hand and handed the paper behind her back.

Zhou Ming stepped forward, took it with both hands, and looked down at it.

The content on the paper was brief, and the handwriting was so messy that it was almost illegible. The gist of it was:

After the various armies that came to the aid of the emperor converged in Qingzhou, the various factions that held significant military power all wanted to promote the prince they supported to the throne.

Neither side would yield, and in the stalemate, someone made a suggestion first.

The parties agreed that whoever first destroyed the Cult of All Beings and obtained the head of its leader would support the prince who would inherit the throne.

Marquis Yongning Su Yongning led his 200,000-strong army southwards, bypassing the defenses set up by the Zhong Sheng Sect and heading straight for the outskirts of Anzhou.

They planned to sneak into the heart of Anzhou before the main force of the Zhong Sheng Sect could gather.

However, while he was leading his army in a fierce battle against the main force of the Zhong Sheng Sect, the allied forces of Zhao Chongyuan of Yunzhou and Yuwen Shuo of Chongzhou suddenly withdrew from the flank defense line.

Even more critically, the supply lines and retreat routes behind him were also blocked by troops sent by these two men.

Two hundred thousand border troops in the north were attacked from both sides and besieged by hundreds of thousands of followers of the Zhong Sheng Sect on a desolate mountain called Yelangpo outside Anzhou City, where they all died in battle.

Meanwhile, Zhao Chongyuan of Yunzhou and Yuwen Shuo of Chongzhou took advantage of the fact that the Zhong Sheng Sect and the northern border army were both weakened.

He led his troops in a pincer attack from the east and west, crushing the already exhausted main force of the Zang Sheng Sect and beheading its leader.

The two are now leading their army south to reclaim the prefectures and cities previously occupied by the Sect of All Beings.

At the end of the military report was another line of text, written in even more illegible handwriting than before, clearly added at the last minute:

According to a secret report from the Imperial City Guard, Duke Su Mubai and Ninth Prince Liu Ji have escaped Qingzhou under the escort of trusted bodyguards. They are currently heading towards Youzhou, and it is unknown whether there are any pursuers behind them.

Zhou Ming read it word by word, folded the paper again, and handed it back with both hands.

Su Mingyue didn't take it. Her fingers gripped the wooden frame of the map, and the blue veins on the back of her hand bulged out.

Chunlan stepped forward, took the paper, and stepped aside.

Su Mingyue turned around.

When she turned around, her black armor made no sound.

It was a face devoid of any expression; the lines of its eyebrows, lips, and jaw were all taut and flat, and even its eye sockets were not red.

But Zhou Ming sensed an aura emanating from her, not magic power, not killing intent, but something deeper and colder.

She seemed to have suppressed all her grief, anger, and hatred deep within her body, turning it into a bottomless, cold well.

The wellhead was sealed tightly, not even a wisp of water could get through; only a chill, a bone-chilling chill, seeped out from every pore of her body.

"Pass on the order." Her voice was no different from usual, her tone as flat as instructing the kitchen to make a bowl of noodle soup for dinner.

"The entire northern border army has entered a state of war, sealing off all passes and key roads leading to Youzhou, and prohibiting any outsiders from entering or leaving."

"The 100,000 new recruits in Yuyang County will finish their training ahead of schedule and be reorganized within three days. They will then be transferred to the east of Youzhou to attack Chongzhou. I will make that old bastard Yuwen Shuo pay for his crimes in blood."

When Zhou Ming heard the young lady's military order, which was devoid of any emotional fluctuation, his heart tightened.

By blockading Youzhou, gathering all its troops, and summoning all its generals, is it preparing to strike directly at Yuwen Shuo's stronghold in Chongzhou?

He knew all too well what state Su Mingyue was in right now.

There wasn't a single tear on her face, and her voice didn't tremble at all, but it was precisely this way of suppressing her overwhelming hatred under the ice that was most terrifying.

It's not that she doesn't hate; she's twisted all her hatred into a rope, ready to strangle her enemy at any moment.

Zhou Ming dared not let her issue the order.

While attacking Chongzhou now would certainly result in victory, it would mean losing a crucial strategic advantage.

"Young Miss, now is not the time to fight these old scoundrels."

Zhou Ming stepped forward, bowed, and clasped his hands in a fist salute. He spoke rapidly but clearly, as if afraid that if he was even a fraction of a second late, Su Mingyue's military order would be relayed.

Su Mingyue's gaze suddenly turned to him. Her phoenix eyes were expressionless as she coldly stared at him, as if waiting for him to give a reason not to stop her.

Zhou Ming did not back down, and continued speaking while meeting her gaze:

"Didn't Zhao Chongyuan and Yuwen Shuo want to support the new emperor's ascension to the throne?"

"They have the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince, and we have the Ninth Prince."

"The most important task at hand is to welcome back the Ninth Prince and help him ascend the throne before anyone else, so as to uphold the greater good of the nation."

"As long as we put the Ninth Prince on the throne, Youzhou will no longer be a border prefecture with its own army, but the new capital of the Great Xia Dynasty that supports a new emperor."

No matter how much Zhao Chongyuan and Yuwen Shuo try to provoke others, they have already lost the sense of righteousness, and if they raise an army again, they will become traitors.

First secure the moral high ground, then proceed with the rest gradually.

As Su Mingyue listened to his words, the almost out-of-control cold light in her eyes gradually subsided.

She didn't answer immediately. Her fingers, which were gripping the wooden frame of the map, slowly loosened, and the bluish-white on her knuckles gradually faded, revealing her original skin color.

The main hall remained quiet for a long time.

Then she spoke, her voice slightly hoarse than before, but regaining its usual steady tone:

"Order the northern border to dispatch an additional 5,000 elite cavalry to search along the southern official road of Youzhou and ensure the safe return of His Highness the Ninth Prince to Yuyang."

Chunlan accepted the order and went out.

Su Mingyue then turned to Xia He: "Send a message to all prefectures, sealing off all passes and key roads in southern Youzhou. Only entry is permitted, no exit is allowed. Anyone who leaves the pass without authorization will be punished as a traitor."

Su Mingyue placed the longsword on the sword rack below the map, then turned and sat back down in the main seat.

She picked up the already cold teacup on the table next to her, and without replacing it with a hot one, tilted her head back and poured half of it down.

A thin trail of tea slid down her pale chin, which she casually wiped away with her cloak.

Then she put down her teacup, looked up at Zhou Ming, and the cold light in her phoenix eyes had been suppressed to the deepest part of her pupils, replaced by an almost cold scrutiny.

"Upon Your Highness's arrival, arrange for your ascension to the throne immediately."

She paused after speaking, then added two more words, "Go."

Zhou Ming clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then turned and strode quickly toward the prefectural governor's residence.

He had more to arrange than anyone else. The ceremonial rules for the new emperor's ascension to the throne needed to be drafted. Although everything should be simplified in the chaotic times, other forces could not be allowed to find fault with the etiquette.