After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Zhou Ping paused as he was rummaging through the gray rabbit's internal organs, and involuntarily sat down on the ground.

The three people warming themselves by the fire all turned their heads and looked at the fourth-rank commander of the Imperial Guard of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Their gazes were somewhat numb.

Xu Cheng glanced at Lord Qin, whose right eye was bandaged and who only had his left eye remaining, hesitated for a moment, and then said:

"My lord, the Tartars and the red-haired devils should still be guarding the foot of the mountain..."

Before Xu Cheng could finish speaking, Qin Yuanyao, who had been exploring the north for four months, shook her head and sighed.

"It's too late... We must head south as soon as possible..."

Lin Shuo, sharpening his knife, looked confused: "Is it almost Chinese New Year?"

Dong Xiao, turning his head back, continued scooping the roe deer meat from the iron can with a wooden spoon, and said with a smirk:

"It's all over...it's been seven or eight days..."

"More than that." Zhou Ping dug out the rabbit's internal organs and placed them in a broken porcelain bowl, the smell of blood filling the air. "It's been at least ten days."

After calculating this, everyone immediately understood why Lord Qin was suddenly in such a hurry to break through the encirclement.

Breaking out might mean death.

But if they didn't head south to bring the message back in time, they would also die. For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Sitting cross-legged by the fire, Xu Cheng felt his stiff legs finally starting to feel better.

He picked up a piece of firewood, broke it in half, and threw it into the fire. Everyone remained silent, which meant they had tacitly agreed to Lord Qin's plan and were preparing to... break out.

Dong Xiao's eyelids twitched, and he began to analyze which way it would be better to break through and descend the mountain. Lin Shuo raised his thick eyebrows and refuted each point one by one.

The sound of knives cutting flesh grew more rapid, and Zhou Ping moved even faster, intending to roast the roe deer that Dong Xiao had hunted and the rabbit that Xu Cheng had hunted today, and then break through the encirclement with the cooked meat.

Xu Cheng's eyes dimmed, and he sighed inwardly several times, having given up all hope of breaking through...

In September, they headed north.

Over the course of four months, they traveled to Ningguta, Bukui, Heihe, and Aihui... Aihui, as the Northern Dynasty's supply depot along the Heilongjiang River, was indeed captured by the Rakshasa people.

Whether it was the Embroidered Uniform Guard's spies in the Northeast, or the spies from the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, including Qin Yuanyao who came from the North himself, all confirmed the incident. This news had also been relayed back to China long ago.

But Lord Qin did not give up.

Instead, they continued to disguise themselves as a caravan and head north.

As they investigated, they heard all sorts of conflicting and confusing reports: some said "the Rakshasa demons wiped out the Plain Yellow Banner," others said "ten thousand Rakshasa demons died in the Black River," and still others said "nobody knows what happened? They clearly said they were allied, but they started fighting to the death again."

According to intelligence, the Russians captured Aihui by defeating the Eight Banners army on the northern front of Aihui.

The remnants of the Eight Banners army retreated to Mergen and also conscripted many civilian laborers.

They searched northwards and indeed found the battlefield, as well as several buried bodies.

But after Lord Qin had them investigate, she still felt uneasy because the battlefield traces were not as severe as she had expected.

They then hired several Rakshasa as guides, posing as merchants selling porcelain and spices, and went into Rakshasa territory.

We followed some clues to investigate.

After arriving at Yaksa, they spent several days exploring the Rakshasa camp.

Finally, one day, in the Rakshasa camp... they spotted a troop of Eight Banners soldiers...

After making inquiries from various sources, a terrifying suspicion formed in their minds, leaving them all horrified.

Lord Qin immediately arranged for people to find the Jinyiwei spies in Yaksa City, hoping to send the message to the south first.

However, the spies of the Embroidered Uniform Guard have already been eliminated by the Northern Dynasty and the Rakshasa people.

Their contact also revealed their true intentions, and they immediately fled south.

Lord Qin lost an eye, and his men died one by one.

By traversing mountains and taking advantage of heavy snowfall, five people managed to escape but were trapped in Changbai Mountain.

At Changbai Mountain, Lord Qin analyzed the intelligence he had gathered earlier, including the direction of the Northern Dynasty's retreat, the movement of the Rakshasa people's supplies, and various other suspicious pieces of information. He came to a conclusion that shocked them all, yet they understood it to be close to the truth.

I'm leaving tomorrow.

While analyzing which way to descend the mountain would be better, Dong Xiao stopped being stingy with firewood, picking up dry branches and throwing them into the fire, which then blazed up.

The roe deer meat in the tin can will be ready to eat soon.

"The Tartars and the British will definitely be heavily guarding the south and west. The east is by the sea, but it will probably be heavily defended as well. The north should be the easiest to defend."

Dong Xiao picked up a piece of charred wood and drew a simple map on the floor of the abandoned hunter's cabin in the mountains.

"In my opinion, we should start from Tiger Ravine..."

At this time.

The paper window of the wooden house had a hole in it.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out abruptly!

Qin Yuanyao's last remaining eye glared, and with a burst of strength in her limbs, she suddenly collapsed to the ground, shouting:

"Get down! Musketeer!"

A bloody hole appeared between Dong Xiao's eyebrows.

Her body went limp and she collapsed, her eyes still open.

Xu Cheng reflexively collapsed.

Lin Shuo, however, reacted a beat too slowly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

After several gunshots, Lin Shuo collapsed to the ground, his head split open, blood splattering into Xu Cheng's eyes. Xu Cheng's eyes were blank.

"Clang!"

The female commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard gritted her teeth and drew her broadsword.

"You must break through!"

She shouted something, and then leaped out of the window like a mother leopard.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

The muskets rang out like thunder.

"Xu Xiaoqi! Run!"

Zhou Ping, with his red nose, rolled over in the corner and fished a piece of meat out of the overturned iron pot, stuffing it into Xu Cheng's mouth.

He stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth.

Without another word, he jumped straight out of the back window of the cabin.

Xu Cheng had a piece of meat in his mouth as the swirling snow poured into the wooden house, which had windows that ran through the front and back. A chill ran through Xu Cheng.

"Chase! Chase!" A cacophony of various languages, including Mandarin, rang out.

"Clang!"

It was the sound of a knife striking metal...

"Kill this woman!"

……

The meat in my mouth has been eaten.

His eyes were like frozen ice, gray and hazy.

The wind brushed against my face, but I didn't feel any pain.

He stumbled and ran northward like a little bear trying to escape from a hunter.

Sometimes he tripped over a branch, sometimes he foolishly bumped into a tree, and a snowflake fell from the branch onto his roe deer skin hat.

"Back to the south..."

Xu Cheng stuffed a handful of snow into his mouth...

"Back to the south..." He stared blankly, muttering a few words.

"The Northern Dynasty...the Northern Dynasty has allied with the Rakshasa...the main force of the Eight Banners...the main force is still here...the supply train...supply train mobilization..."

"The Northern Dynasties traveled by land... Rakshasa... Rakshasa... Rakshasa most likely traveled by water..."

Xu Cheng's legs felt like they were made of lead, his lips were frozen purple, and he trembled incessantly in the wind and snow...

"Very likely...very likely...a simultaneous attack...a simultaneous attack...on Jiangnan..."

He remembered Lord Qin's instructions perfectly, and "thump!" he fell headfirst into the snow...

……

……

Beijing.

The Imperial Palace.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The emperor, who was already fifty years old, raised his eyebrows.

Looking at the Grand Councilor and Minister of War, Ertai, kneeling respectfully behind the imperial desk, he leaned back, his eyes filled with helplessness, and smiled:

"Ertai, I have said it before, you are my beloved minister, my confidant, and my trusted advisor. Don't keep referring to yourself as a servant, I don't like to hear it."