Bang… The Duke of Yonghe’s heir slammed the table and stood up. “Since you all like to argue and fight, why don’t we just give you a place to do it?”

The guerrilla general from the first team and General Ao both replied in unison, “We wouldn’t dare, my lord.”

“Wouldn’t dare?” The Duke’s heir sneered. “I see you all dare quite a bit. If you don’t like sitting here and don’t want this position, feel free to submit your resignations; I won’t force you to stay.”

“We wouldn’t dare.” The guerrilla general from the first team and General Ao lowered their heads, their faces turning pale with fear.

Although the heir usually appeared gentle and easygoing, he was someone who had been on the battlefield since the age of twelve; his character would not be soft.

The Duke’s heir ignored them and turned to Qin Fang, saying, “Continue. How do we break them down into smaller units?”

“Yes.” Qin Fang felt a bit guilty toward General Ao, knowing that General Ao had stood up to the first team’s guerrilla general for his sake.

He glanced at General Ao, who winked at him, so he decided not to plead for him and continued with what he was saying. “What I mean is, regardless of whether their surrender is sincere or feigned, we can allow them to become citizens of Qi State.

Then, after they have become citizens, we can break them down into smaller units. For example, if they have a thousand people, we can split them up into groups of a hundred, settling them in different villages under various counties.

We would then assign specialists to live among them. This way, we achieve a dual effect: we have specialists monitoring them, and additionally, we have the county offices keeping an eye on them.”

“Moreover, if they are truly sincere in their surrender, they won’t mind how we arrange their settlement. If they are feigning surrender, then even if they do mind, there’s nothing they can do. More importantly, this disperses them, making it difficult for them to pull off any tricks.”

The Duke’s heir clapped his hands and said, “What a clever idea to break them down into smaller units! This method is excellent. A hundred people against a county’s worth of people—no matter how skilled they are, they won’t be able to pull off any tricks. Qin Fang, you’ve done well.”

Qin Fang humbly replied, “You flatter me, my lord.”

The Duke’s heir didn’t say much more: “You can sit down. What about the rest? Do you have any other opinions?”

Everyone began to discuss Qin Fang’s proposal of breaking them down into smaller units.

For two whole days, they discussed the matter of the barbarians’ surrender.

The Duke’s heir recorded everyone’s viewpoints and, after consulting with the Duke of Yonghe, submitted a memorial to the court.

As for the outcome, it would depend on the court’s arrangements.

---

In the Capital

The memorial from the Duke of Yonghe had already arrived at the emperor’s desk.

In fact, even before this memorial reached the desk, the emperor was already aware that some tribes among the barbarians intended to surrender.

Did he really think that the emperor had sent the scions of noble families just for military training or to assign positions? Not at all; he had secretly arranged for people to keep watch.

This year, the emperor was twenty-seven years old.

Among all the emperors who successfully seized the throne throughout history, he was considered quite young.

Had it not been for the incident with the first Wangfei, he wouldn’t have thought about seizing the throne either.

However, his beloved woman and legitimate son were in the palace, prompting him to initiate a plan for succession.

It must be said that without the marriage between the Wei and Yang families, which allowed the Wei family to learn of the Yang family’s plans, his ascension would not have succeeded so quickly.

Furthermore, the late emperor’s guilt towards him was also one of the factors that contributed to his successful rise to power.

The emperor opened the memorial from the Duke of Yonghe; it was quite thick, and he spent a long time reading it, especially the recorded opinions of the military generals regarding the matter of surrender.

After finishing, he squinted his eyes and pondered for a while before saying, “Come in.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Quickly summon Wei Hong, Hu Youding, and Du Ke to the palace.” These three were his trusted aides.

“Understood.”

Soon, Wei Hong, Hu Youding, and Du Ke entered the palace.

After they paid their respects, the emperor showed them the memorial from the Duke of Yonghe, saying, “What are your thoughts?”

The three of them examined the memorial together.

After reading, Hu Youding remarked, “The method proposed in this memorial about breaking them down into smaller units is indeed quite good.”

Du Ke followed up, “Indeed, not bad. In this case…” He paused, “In this case, since the plan was proposed by someone from the Yonghe Marquis’s side, the people responsible for surveillance should also be selected from those around the Marquis. The selected individuals cannot be ordinary; in my opinion, they should start with centurions. Without rank, soldiers would not be capable of shouldering such a responsibility.”

Wei Hong said, “According to Brother Du’s suggestion, once those centurions are sent to monitor the barbarians, their positions will become vacant, and by then, it might be possible…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he meant.

In fact, the emperor had the same intention.

He had already arranged for the sons of noble families to be sent there, precisely for this reason.

Now that the Yonghe Marquis had given him such a good opportunity, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

The emperor quickly made his decision: “Since this is the case, I will leave this matter to Minister Du to handle. Head to Yongzhou at once.”

Du Ke: “Yes, Your Majesty.”

---

Yongzhou, Yonghe Marquis’s Estate.

The Yonghe Marquis summoned his son to the study.

The Marquis son had just returned from the military camp when he was urgently called in.

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled, “Father, why did you summon me so urgently? Has something happened?”

The Yonghe Marquis said, “Here is an official document from the court. Take a look.”

The Marquis’s son glanced at the document, “Du Ke? The emperor has sent Vice Minister of War Du Ke to handle this? Even though Du Ke holds the title of Vice Minister, everyone knows that the current Minister of War is no longer handling matters, and Du Ke essentially runs the Ministry. They’re just waiting for the Minister’s term to end.”

The Marquis asked, “What’s your opinion on the emperor sending Du Ke to deal with this matter?”

After thinking for a moment, the Marquis’s son replied, “Under normal circumstances, the issue of certain barbarian tribes surrendering wouldn’t require the Vice Minister of War to intervene. Father has already submitted a memorial to the emperor, and if the emperor agreed, we could simply bring the tribal leaders to the capital. But the emperor specifically sent Du Ke to Yongzhou, so this matter is clearly more than a simple issue of agreeing or disagreeing.”

The Marquis nodded, “I think the same. You must remember, this Vice Minister of War is known for his sharp mind and extraordinary tactics. Furthermore, he’s one of the emperor’s trusted confidants. Du Ke played no small role in the emperor’s success in securing the throne. Let’s hope he comes with good intentions.”

The Marquis’s son reassured him, “Father, there’s no need to worry too much. Regardless of Du Ke’s intentions, we have nothing to fear as long as we remain upright. Even if he tries to find fault, he won’t be able to.”

The Marquis said nothing further.

Though he had already decided to relinquish military power and have his grandson pursue a civil career, it was still difficult for him to face this outcome.

His family had guarded Yongzhou for generations, and it had become second nature to him.

To the Marquis, Yongzhou was not just part of the kingdom, but also the place where he grew up.

He viewed Yongzhou as an inseparable part of his life.

Now, that part of his life was about to be severed.

---

When Qin Fang returned home, he immediately took off his thick cloak.

The inside of the cloak was lined with fur, which provided excellent protection from the wind.

When Yang Haiyan made it, she sewed fur into the lining for extra warmth.

It was now winter, and the wind outside was strong, with the weather both dry and cold.

On his way back from his day duty, or especially during night duty, the cloak kept him much warmer.

Qin Fang rubbed his hands together and then warmed them over the stove.

Yang Haiyan asked, “Are you cold? Drink some soup to warm up.”

Qin Fang took the soup, which was made with ginger and brown sugar, and drank the whole bowl in one go. “The camp has been busy these past few days. There’s a lot of internal conflict among the barbarians, and certain tribes are looking to surrender to our kingdom. So, the heir had us discuss this matter regarding their surrender.”

Yang Haiyan was startled.

This situation had been part of the original storyline, but it had occurred several years later.

In the original plot, Han Zhen had completely resolved the barbarian problem before their surrender.

But why was it happening so early now?

Since she was curious, Yang Haiyan asked, “We just fought a war at the start of the year, so why would the barbarians suddenly want to surrender?”

Qin Fang explained, “The barbarians aren’t in a good situation right now. They suffered heavy losses during the battle earlier this year, and we’ve been keeping a close watch on them all year. Their lives have become very difficult. If they can’t solve their food shortage this year, they’ll struggle to survive next year.”

In fact, there was another reason—the intense scrutiny Qin Fang had been placing on them.

Although Qin Fang hadn’t mentioned the fortune teller’s prophecy again, it still lingered in his mind like a thorn.

Upon hearing this, Yang Haiyan didn’t think too much further.

Everyone’s paths had already changed; it no longer made sense to think according to the novel’s original plot. “In any case, the court will take care of this matter, so we don’t need to worry about it.”

Qin Fang responded with a hum of agreement.

“Madam, the food is ready,” Aunt Fan’s timely voice called from the kitchen.

In the cold winter evenings, going for a walk to help with digestion wasn’t an option due to the weather.

So after meals, Yang Haiyan would stand against the wall to digest her food.

Seeing her standing so straight, Qin Fang would often stand by her side.

The two of them stood for about half an hour before going for a bath.

Taking a bath in the winter was a comfort for Yang Haiyan, who could soak for an hour.

When the water temperature dropped, Aunt Yu would bring freshly boiled water and mix it with the cooling bathwater.

After bathing, their skin would be flushed red, and then they would crawl into bed, which felt wonderfully cozy.

Qin Fang was quick with his bath.

Since he was on day duty this month, he would bathe every day when he came home.

As his body wasn’t too dirty, the bath didn’t take long.

He rinsed himself with cold water, dried off, and returned to the bedroom.

However, he didn’t get into bed right away, afraid that the dampness from his body would transfer to Yang Haiyan.

Only after his body warmed up did he crawl into bed.

As soon as he got in, he pulled her into his arms and murmured, “Wife, it’s December now.”

His voice was low and teasing.

Ever since he had read the booklet in August, he had been waiting for December.

He had held out for over four months.

Although he had convinced his wife to try all the positions from the booklet, he still felt unsatisfied, having not reached the final base.

Yang Haiyan pressed her lips together, not responding.

She knew he had been counting the days.

The two had been sharing a bed for over a year now, and with his strong physique, it was natural for her, as a twenty-nine-year-old woman, to desire him as well.

However, her body was still too delicate, and she had to hold herself back.