I am the villain in the book

The next day, early morning.

Towards the end of the Mao hour (5-7 am), the three thousand Sky Dog Army, having completed their second round of "bombing," safely returned to the Mountain God Temple.

Last night's raid used up eight thousand barrels of gunpowder, which was all of Liangzhou's current black powder reserves.

The Sky Dog Army suffered over a hundred casualties, mostly from being shot down.

The Jueji Allied Army, on the other hand, suffered at least one hundred thousand casualties.

Before the formal battle had even begun, the army had lost one-eighth of its strength overnight.

Such a loss was significant, and it caused the originally aggressive Allied Army to become fearful.

They didn't know if the Sky Dog Army would repeat their trick, but the terrifying power of the black powder forced them to take the most cautious measures.

Starting from the Chen hour (7-9 am), the remaining seven hundred thousand troops stopped marching and set up camp on the spot, while also quickly occupying all the peaks within a radius of dozens of miles to prevent a repeat of the ambush.

On the other hand, various giant arrow carts and crossbows originally prepared for siege warfare were also deployed around the camp, becoming powerful weapons against the Sky Dog Army.

Without a doubt, the two rounds of bombing last night threw the Jueji Allied Army into disarray, and their current goal had become "seek no merit, but seek no fault."

Conquering Liangzhou was a matter for later; the immediate priority was to ensure that not too many people died under the immense power of this gunpowder.

Given the unclear enemy situation, this response was not wrong.

But unexpectedly, the Sky Dog Army did not press their advantage.

Instead, the four hundred thousand Da Ning troops in Liangzhou City suddenly mobilized in full force, arriving near the Mountain God Temple two days later and beginning to construct fortifications along the Wangnan Peak line.

Thus, only three days after the "Immortal Pool Surprise Attack," the situation in the Liangzhou war had undergone a tremendous change.

Although the two armies' front lines were separated by several snow-capped mountains and out of sight of each other.

The linear distance between them was less than a hundred miles.

This meant that whichever side decided to launch a full-scale war, their army could reach the other side within a day.

At the same time, it also represented that the Liangzhou War had entered the final stage, which could be ignited at any time, earlier than expected.

Would they fight or not?

In the eyes of most people, this question was not worth discussing.

After all, Wei Changsheng had not only captured Yan Huanwen alive, but also almost wiped out the entire vanguard of the Jueji Allied Army with a surprise attack.

The latter alone had escalated the conflict between the two sides to an irreconcilable level, not to mention that Da Jue had been preparing for this great war for a long time.

So, the question now was perhaps only "when to fight."

However...

On February 13th, the sixth day after the "Immortal Pool Surprise Attack" and the third day of the two armies facing each other in the Tianshan Mountains.

At midnight that night, an old eunuch left the Da Jue Imperial Palace and quietly found the envoy of the Da Ning Zhan Shifu (Household Affairs Bureau) stationed in Da Jue.

The latter's surname was Jia, and he was just about to go to bed at the time.

But before he could take off his clothes, he saw several men in black standing behind him at some unknown time.

"You, who are you?!"

"When two countries are at war, envoys are not to be killed! Don't act rashly!"

"."

"Lord Jia, I am here under secret orders, please forgive me for my recklessness."

The black-clad eunuch glanced at the pale-faced envoy and bowed his head.

"His Royal Highness, the Prince of our dynasty, would like to have a chat with you."

"Please."

"Xianping, how did you and Miss Song meet?"

Outside Liangzhou City, in the Shu army's camp.

"Tell me, it's not a secret!"

"What kind of person is she?"

"."

Without a doubt, the "Miss Song" in Li Zimu's mouth was Chu Xianping's wife, Song Li.

Chu Xianping met Song Li in a brothel in Fengyuan, so the latter naturally didn't want to talk about it in detail.

And when Li Zimu saw that he didn't say a word, she immediately vaguely guessed something.

"Xianping, does Miss Song have a bad background like me?"

"Yes."

Chu Xianping hesitated for a moment and whispered.

"I redeemed her."

"."

The meaning of this sentence was too obvious, Li Zimu couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then whispered in admiration:

"Then she must be very beautiful."

"Yes."

Chu Xianping was still concise:

"Very beautiful."

"Compared to me?"

"This..."

"Hehe, it seems she's better looking than me."

Li Zimu's eyes curved into crescents, and her tone was somewhat teasing:

"No wonder you married her!"

"I didn't marry her because of her appearance."

Chu Xianping shook his head, his eyes complicated.

"Her father owed gambling debts and couldn't repay them, so he sold her to a brothel."

"I saw that she was pitiful, so I redeemed her."

"I thought that our fate would end there, but who knew that she would find me later."

"And then?"

"And then Miss Song wanted to devote herself to me."

Li Zimu suddenly interrupted with a smile:

"You weren't repulsed by her, so you agreed, right?"

"."

Looking up at the smiling Li Zimu, Chu Xianping nodded.

"Yes, that's about it."

"I knew it."

Li Zimu shook her head triumphantly, and then said meaningfully in a low voice:

"Miss Song really found a satisfactory husband."

"."

His eyes narrowed slightly, Chu Xianping naturally heard the meaning in Li Zimu's words.

In the latter's view, the reason why Song Li married him was not because of any "feelings," but because of the wealth and power he showed at that time.

"Miss Li, it's getting late!"

Chu Xianping's face suddenly turned cold:

"If you have nothing else, please go back, goodbye!"

"Hmph, I knew you wouldn't like to hear it..."

Seeing that Chu Xianping suddenly wanted to send her away, Li Zimu was not annoyed.

She pushed the inkstone she had prepared to Chu Xianping's side, then stood up on her own, muttering in a low voice:

"Anyway, you should know best whether what I said is true or false."

"."

Taking a deep breath, Chu Xianping didn't speak any more, just lowered his head and pretended to look at a few secret letters.

In fact, he had already felt that something was wrong with Song Li.

Since the two got married, the latter had proposed to learn business from Xu Qingwan after a few days, saying that she wanted to find something to do.

Chu Xianping naturally agreed to her, and also secretly ordered the Gongji Association to help more.

Later, Song Li's business became more and more prosperous, and she also earned a lot of money.

But at this time, she was no longer satisfied with being just a wealthy merchant, and even wanted to get involved in the Gongji Association.

Chu Xianping had discussed this matter with Wei Changsheng before, but the latter was too lazy to care.

And Chu Xianping ultimately did not really allow Song Li to enter the Gongji Association.

However, even so, Song Li still often did some "bullying" things by virtue of her identity as "Madam Helmsman."

It wasn't too serious, but it also caused a lot of complaints from all walks of life in Shuzhou City...

The candlelight flickered, reflecting a slender figure.

At this time, Li Zimu had already walked to the side of the tent curtain, preparing to lift the curtain and go out.

Looking at the former's back, Chu Xianping's heart was very complicated.

He knew that what Li Zimu said was right, and he felt a little guilty about his attitude just now, and opened his mouth to apologize.

However, before he could say the word "sorry," an eager voice came from outside the tent.

"Young Master Chu!"

"Young Master Wei invites you and Miss Li to go to the state government to discuss matters immediately!"