Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After a short while, Qiguang Rang calmly said, “If it’s absolutely necessary for the lord’s plan, then I have nothing else to say.”

To be kind to your enemy was to be cruel to your own men. Showing mercy to the Beijiang barbarians could potentially cost the lives of families living in the Central Plain.

Putting aside other incidents, just the history of the elder generation of the three Beijiang clans kidnapping and using women from the Central Plain to expand their population from 200,000 to three million within 20 or 30 years was a big enough crime to make Beijiang their top enemy.

Feng Jin went silent for a few moments, making sure he thoroughly understood Jiang Pengji and Wei Ci’s plan.

“Would Beijiang notice this plan?”

Feng Jin’s heart was cruel. He would never let his guard down until his enemy fell for good.

“I cannot be certain of that. I will say that the land in Beijiang is vast and these little rabbits won’t cause a dramatic change right now.” Qiguan Rang thought about it and said with uncertainty, “It may take about fifty to sixty years if they really want to destroy the entire grassland of Beijiang. The three clans aren’t stupid, so as long as they haven’t taken the Central Plain down, they will be stuck within this limited space and won’t simply wait for their enemies to invade…”

Feng Jin let out a sigh of relief. With a smile on his face, he said, “Fifty to sixty years? Does Wen Zheng really think our lord will let Beijiang off for that long? From my perspective, she will let them go for three to five years at most before she sharpens her knife to makes a move on them. A big war is inevitable, and cattle will not be the final victim! Why don’t we think about it in a different way? Our lord must not be planning on using this strategy as the sole way of bringing down Beijiang. If that’s the case, then why did she spend so much time setting up such a big trap?”

Qiguan Rang had been so anxious earlier that he’d walked into a logical trap, throwing his reasoning into the territory of fallacy.

“That’s right… the lord isn’t planning on using cattle to destroy Beijiang, so she must have other plans… Is she planning on using it as a tool to tie them down?”

Feng Jin nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly what I mean. It might be to tie down Beijiang’s spirits and make it difficult for them to focus on expanding their army.”

“Beijiang just fell victim to an equestrian pandemic and lost virtually all their combat horses. Their military might has greatly decreased and they won’t be able to recover within a short period. However, what would happen if they wait patiently and continue raising horses once Spring rolls around? Within a decade, Beijiang will return to its former glory. At that point, it would be hard to say if the five nations in the Central Plain will still exist. We can’t guarantee that Beijiang won’t take that opportunity to invade our land!”

The history of the warring 16 kingdoms resurfaced in Qiguan Rang’s head as he listened to Feng Jin’s words.

If the five nations of the Central Plain entered into a great war like that, wouldn’t the situation be the same as it had been for the 16 kingdoms? Would there be hundreds of years of unrest?

And if the barbarian tribes of the borders entered the battlefield at that time, what would happen to the situation?

The Central Plain was on the weaker end and the barbarians had an advantage in war. It wouldn’t be impossible for the Central Plain to fall.

A cold sweat covered Qiguan Rang. His face remained unchanged, but countless thoughts ran through his head.

He then concluded, “Then according to this plan, the lord must be plotting to use this strategy to delay the rise of Beijiang after this disaster?”

Feng Jin nodded. “This just may be the case.”

In the afternoon of the next day, Feng Jin secretly hinted this theory to Wei Ci, only to see the latter discreetly give him a forced smile.

“So, you still managed to guess what was going on. It’s pretty much what you said.”

Feng Jin pretended to be mad and said, “This plan may be vicious, but Beijiang won’t sit around and give no reaction if they find out…”

Wei Ci said, “They won’t find out. We’ve already purchased numerous pieces of leather and other kinds of merchandise from Beijiang. They won’t suspect anything for a good while. I’ve only let the caravans collect their goods from average farmers and not from wealthy families, so the royal court has less reason to suspect anything. By the time they notice, the herd of sheep and rabbits in the grassland will also form an initial grouping. If we send in a spy to the Beijiang throne to leave a message, tell me, do you think they will continue letting these cattle run freely? Or will they send people out to destroy them?”

Feng Jin stood rooted to the spot, further educating himself on the brutal hearts of his lord and Wei Ci.

Wei Ci then added with a cold sneer, “The evil deeds of the three clans in Beijiang are not an exaggeration. They like to act on emotion. However, they still have wise men who are more level-headed, and the current wise man is a rare talented man by the name of Wu Liba. Wu Liba’s personality is quite conservative. He has no intention of expanding Beijiang’s territory into the Central Plain, so he won’t let go of their current lands that easily in order to keep an escape route open for themselves. That’s why, in my opinion, this person will most definitely support the royal court in wiping out the rabbits and sheep on a large scale. If that’s the case, Beijiang’s military power will be completely contained.”

Jiang Pengji had a lot of reverence for nature, more so than anyone else. Of course, she knew how awful of a plan it was to destroy an entire ecosystem.

Even if nothing happened right away, in a few hundred years, their successors would be cursing their ancestors for such an act.

She’d only dared to bring up such a plan because she had also planned several routes for escape.

While rabbits and sheep would damage the ecosystem of Beijiang, as long as they didn’t overstep the boundaries of ecological self-regulation, it wouldn’t be too much of an issue. Once she took down Beijiang, she would continue sending people to clean up the cattle there and encourage civilians to grow more plants and trees.

It would only three to five years, meaning she still had the situation under control.

She needed time, not a completely beaten up and hopeless piece of barren soil.

Feng Jin let out a sigh of relief after receiving a response from Wei Ci, then hinted back at Qiguan Rang to calm his worries.

On the other hand, Beijiang was completely clueless.

Ever since the equestrian pandemic, the market in Beijiang had taken a destructive hit, forcing them to open foreign trade markets.

It only meant that a few more caravans and merchants were purchasing more leather, but not enough to the point where the situation would be reported to the crown in Beijiang.

Wei Ci was very thorough and careful with his work. His arrangement for the caravan was even more attentive. Feng Jin and Qiguan Rang both watched him for a while and found themselves trembling in fear. Even though they knew that this plan would not destroy Beijiang, it was still venomous enough to rip a piece of flesh off their bodies.

The two thought at the same time, “We can’t get on this kid’s bad side from now on.”

Getting killed by someone was one thing, but the scariest part would be not knowing how you died.

Under everyone’s organization, Wanzhou slowly became more orderly. The slow economy also began to pick up in pace despite not seeing any immediate changes. Still, it was obvious that it was getting better.

However, it did make things difficult for some government officials.

Feng Jin had always been envious of Wei Ci’s ability to write with both hands and multitask. He could only remain envious.

Thinking about how Wei Ci was always doing double the work of a normal person, he was only left with pity for Wei Ci.

“Sigh… How did Chang Sheng become heavier than Qian’er…”

Feng Jin made a quick guess at his daughter’s weight with a mix of complicated feelings. He went back home to see that his daughter had gained another layer of fat. She seemed a little unfamiliar to him when he saw her.

Wei Jingxian looked at his eyebags with worry. She soon realized that they would be impossible to cover up.

“Have you not gone home for the past few days?” Wei Jingxian glanced at him. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had a good memory, she’d have forgotten about this father who rarely showed. She said, “I went to visit Madam Wei yesterday. She also said that she hasn’t seen Mister Qiguan for a while… She doesn’t have anyone to talk to, so she’s getting bored…”

The Madam Wei she spoke of was Qiguan Rang’s current wife, Wei Yuan’s eldest daughter.

Of all Jiang Pengji’s subordinates who’d had a wife, a child and a happy marriage, these two couples were the only ones left.

“Is it because I’m busy?” Feng Jin responded a little guiltily. “Lan Ting threw this big mess called Wanzhou at us and won’t even deal with it…”

Remembering how his lord was still out traveling and having fun at this moment, Feng Jin felt his teeth begin to ache even more.

Truthfully, Jiang Pengji was being wrongly accused. She wasn’t out playing at all.

Ever since she’d obtained the title of Wanzhou Governor, the allied troops had been gradually retreating.

Jiang Pengji and her men were also ready to retreat. Within two days, however, she received a message…

Prince Changshou’s army had set up a trap to attack the first group that retreated from the alliance. Of the group that had retreated first, only a few dozen battered up troops were left!