"My Crown Prince, what do you mean by this?" Tang Ziqian asked patiently.

The Crown Prince can speak nonsense in public, but Tang Ziqian can’t refute him in public, so he had to dismiss the generals and ask privately.

However, the Crown Prince was uncooperative, coldly replying, "I have my own reasons."

Tang Ziqian had to ponder his intentions: "Beauty trap?"

The beauty trap shouldn’t be so simple and crude!

Li Mu frowned: "Let her dress as a man!"

Tang Ziqian was even more confused: "Besides her beauty, what other outstanding qualities does Miss Qin possess?"

Li Mu did not answer: "You’ll find out at that time."

Tang Ziqian was momentarily speechless.

After Yuwen Bo’s defeat, the news quickly reached the Capital City.

If Prince Qing doesn’t want to be replaced by Prince Jin, he must capture Longmen Village quickly, and to do so, he needs Tang Ziqian’s army.

But if all of Tang Ziqian’s troops are used, then the people of the Yuwen Family would have made the trip in vain, so it’s best to use them all.

Currently, the only person who can openly use soldiers from both sides is "Qin Xiao."

Yet at this crucial moment, he "fainted"?

Tang Ziqian, half-questioning, half-reminding, said: "Are you interested in Miss Qin?"

The Crown Prince’s face sank instantly: "I already have a candidate for Crown Princess Consort, stop talking nonsense!"

Tang Ziqian was startled: "The Crown Prince has chosen a Crown Princess Consort? Who is it?"

Li Mu did not answer, took the pen from his hand with a stern face, and pointed at the map: "This pass is closest to the middle road, with a very narrow path, only allowing one person to pass. The bandits won’t leave too many people here, and I will go through here—"

The pen drew an arc on the map until the rear of the middle road.

"Bang!" The pen suddenly pierced the map.

This unexpected act nearly took Tang Ziqian’s breath away: "This—" Why ruin the map!

Li Mu tossed the pen aside and turned to look at him coldly: "I can!"

...

Returning to his room, standing under the lamp, Li Mu retrieved an envelope from inside his front lapel.

The envelope had been opened. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He took out the letter and unfolded it again.

The girl’s handwriting was very neat, each stroke carried weight.

"...Sun Tzu said, the highest excellence is to win without fighting... Gathering a crowd to occupy a mountain as bandits, descending the mountain can also be soldiers, since recruiting soldiers, the whole army should be prioritized... Miss Qin attracts attention, so she can feign an attack on the middle road..."

Li Mu carefully read the letter from beginning to end.

This was Miss Tang’s second letter sent to him from the Capital City.

She had crafted strategies for him to attack Longmen Village in the letter, written in great detail, and mentioned the origins of Longmen Village and the personal weaknesses of the main leaders. Remarkably, she also enclosed a map of Longmen Mountain.

So—

Who drew this map?!

Who told her these details about Longmen Village?!

...

When the first snow of this winter fell in the Capital City, Tang Xiaobai stepped into the Wenren Bookstore again.

Due to the cold weather, there were few people in the bookstore.

In the corner by the counter, a small red clay stove was boiling a pot of tea.

When the tea was about half boiled, its fragrance gently filled the room, mingling with the scent of books.

Warm, leisurely.

Wenren Jia wore a deep blue cloak, sitting in front of the tea stove, gently shaking a small fan, resembling a hermit.

Tang Xiaobai suddenly recalled a saying: "The greatest hermit hides in the city."

"Has Second Miss come to find a book?" Wenren Jia smiled upon seeing her.

Perhaps because they had drawn maps together previously, Wenren Jia was less formal with her, still seated and boiling tea without getting up.

Tang Xiaobai walked up with her hands behind her back, smiling, and shook her head: "No, I specifically came to invite Mr. Wenren for a meal!"

Wenren Jia was surprised: "What have I done to deserve this—" He paused, smiled, "Have you received good news?"

Tang Xiaobai nodded three times quickly, smiling: "I must thank you, sir!"

Most people in the Capital City hadn’t received the news yet, but she had already received a letter from her little ancestor.

All eight hundred bandits of Longmen Village were captured, without any casualties.

Wenren Jia had previously mentioned to her that half of the bandits in Longmen Village were said to have withdrawn from the garrison troops at Yanmen Pass and Loufan Pass in Hedong, making them particularly difficult to deal with.

She speculated since Hedong was once under Emperor Hui Zhao’s territory, these garrison troops turning into bandits might have some reasons, and thus suggested to her little ancestor that it would be best to recruit them in the name of the Crown Prince.

It seems the recruitment succeeded now!

Doesn’t such a major victory deserve to treat Wenren Jia to a wonderful banquet?

However, whether Wenren Brother was too polite or truly not fond of luxury banquets, he chose to dine at a quieter and more elegant restaurant after unable to decline.

Tang Xiaobai was still excited as she walked in, just as someone was coming out from inside.

They looked up and both were surprised.

"Senior Brother Pei!" Tang Xiaobai formally bowed and greeted, "Senior Brother Pei, are you dining here as well?"

Pei Xuan replied with a nod, his gaze sliding from Wenren Jia back to her, speaking with some severity: "I heard you’ve been frequently missing classes lately?"

Tang Xiaobai frowned, sensing something was amiss.

Heard?

Who did he hear it from?

It must be Wei Sui!

She didn’t expect Senior Brother Pei would still have informants around her after graduating!

Fortunately, she had a valid reason: "My brother is in Hedong, which has been on my mind, so I’ve been reading books related to Hedong... and studying arithmetic with Mr. Lin."

Pei Xuan nodded again and said, seemingly comforting: "Hedong won’t trap your brother."

Then he left.

Although Pei Xuan left, he reminded Tang Xiaobai of an old event.

After sitting in the private room, she casually mentioned to Wenren Jia: "Do you recall that your bookstore once had a ’Xunzi Explanations’ by the Yu Family? Later bought by Wei the Thirteenth Brother of Duke Zheng’s Mansion."

Although a bookstore owner may not remember every book in their shop, Wenren Jia happened to remember this one. He nodded, "This book was a relatively new handwritten copy, just in my possession for three days before Wei the Thirteenth Brother bought it."

Tang Xiaobai was astonished: "Only in your possession for three days?" Was this a targeted transaction?

Wenren Jia nodded: "It was a newly acquired book, I didn’t pay attention to who sold it. As there weren’t many readers of Xunzi at the time, I originally intended to keep it for a while, but didn’t expect Wei the Thirteenth Brother to somehow get wind of it and request purchase."

"When he requested, you could have said you didn’t have it! Gentle Brother versus the Wei Family’s little tyrant, the picture is too vivid, Tang Xiaobai was already angry.

Wenren Jia smiled: "I had already read it, so I gave it to him."

"What if you forget after reading?" Tang Xiaobai was somewhat annoyed by his acceptance.

Wenren Jia’s smile deepened: "I should have memorized it. Second Miss, if you’re interested in this book, I can transcribe a copy and gift it to you."

Tang Xiaobai froze, lowered her head and rubbed her forehead.

How bothersome, he impressed her again!

Why are there so many people with photographic memory in this world?

Wenren Jia shook his head with a smile and suddenly asked: "Second Miss, inviting me to a meal, is it just to express thanks?"

Tang Xiaobai raised her head, covered her mouth and coughed lightly twice, said: "There is indeed another matter—"