Back in the Snow Palace, Long Xueling was physically and mentally exhausted. The various changes of the banquet were completely out of her control, making her feelings fluctuate and her mind was not at peace for a moment. It wasn't until the end of the day that she seemed to wake up from a dream, and suddenly her whole body relaxed, and she felt weak.

The confrontation between the three kingdoms came as scheduled at the banquet, but she did not encounter the expected pressure, nor did she encounter an embarrassing situation. The process was unexpected, but the ending was quite satisfactory, and Tianlong not only saved face, but also faintly gained the upper hand. At least, the arrogant Prince of the Rising Sun didn't get any chance to be majestic, and he almost made himself disgraced.

"Is what I'm doing wrong?" Long Xueling sat in front of the dresser, holding her cheeks and looking at herself in the mirror, her heart suddenly remembered her father's advice to let her and Zhu Xiaoqi be friends, and her thoughts were a little messy.

For the sake of the smooth progress of the banquet, she did everything possible to exclude Zhu Xiaoqi, but he finally mixed in, picked up the pressure that should have belonged to her, and strongly suppressed the power of the rising sun after solving Long Rui's troubles. What surprised her even more was that the favor and support from Meng Geli made him completely turn things around, making the momentum of Tianlong's side like a rainbow and uplifting, sweeping away the gloomy and bleak decline before the banquet began.

After all, she really thanked him, but why was she so reluctant to trust this man?

Thinking carefully about the scenes that happened at the dinner party, Long Xueling was surprised to find that whether it was the fluttering voice on the field that suddenly appeared when she was embarrassed, or Luo Zhenyue, who erupted when she was in trouble halfway, they all seemed to have some kind of connection with Zhu Xiaoqi. Could it be that he arranged everything single-handedly? This thought made her startled. What does this mean? This shows that Zhu Xiaoqi didn't sneak into the banquet to show off or cause trouble, he just wanted to help her.

Isn't that the final fact?

Long Xueling sat in a daze for a while, as if she remembered something, walked to the bookshelf, took out a booklet, and flipped through it casually. This booklet was given to her by Zhu Xiaoqi in the cemetery when he was paying tribute to the old servant of the Li family. Because there have been a lot of things recently, she put it away after returning to the palace, and she didn't have time to open it to see.

A folded piece of paper fell from the booklet.

"Huh?" With a hint of surprise, Long Xueling leaned over and picked up the piece of paper.

On the white letterhead, a long sentence was written. Long Xueling walked under the lamp and looked at it intently.

"Twenty years ago, a group of veterans who returned from Wyvern City, burdened with shame and hatred, came to the distant border city of the empire to settle down. Over the past 20 years, they have defended the notoriety of bandits, shot the arrows of revenge again and again at the enemy whose hands were stained with the blood of their comrades-in-arms, lit the flames of war on the enemy's land again and again to pay tribute to the martyrs, and comforted the soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army who were sleeping outside Feilong City with their perseverance and sacrifice -- they were not forgotten by this country, this nation, and this army.

Peace has been a long time, and the empire has long since put Nanshan swords and soldiers into storage, but the battles belonging to the veterans have never stopped. They cultivated batch after batch of recruits in the endless battles, inheriting the military soul belonging to the Western Expeditionary Army! Until Meng Yi waved his sword to the north and pointed at the heavenly dragon, they ushered in the final battle of revenge. At the time of the national crisis, the veterans of the Western Expeditionary Army stepped forward and fought until the last moment to shed the last drop of blood, shattering the myth of Meng Yi's invincibility and defending the dignity of the empire with their lives. Although they were not wearing military uniforms, they were the bravest soldiers of the Tenryu. As the commander of the war in the north, I have personally experienced this war, seen their valuable perseverance and painful efforts over the past 20 years, and buried their bodies in the mountains and rivers of the motherland with my own hands. Sadly, I am unable to give honor to these heroes and martyrs and let them rest in peace under the cover of the national flag. All I can do for them is to write down their names and give them a decent funeral one day in the future, so that these names will go down in the annals of the empire with the glory of soldiers!

In order to achieve this goal, I will travel far away after the trilateral exercise. I am handing over this list to Your Highness in the hope that you will take care of their families and give them the treatment they deserve as the families of martyrs. I learned that because of their status as bandits, their relatives were in a difficult situation. As bandits, they did not have the consciousness of bandits, and all the looting proceeds of the past 20 years were invested in the cause of avenging the soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army. I can't imagine how a family can survive after losing its pillars, how a child can grow up after losing its father, how a wife can grieve after losing her husband, and how desolate it should be for a white-haired person to send a black-haired person! As the commander of the war in the Northland, I am full of guilt in my heart, and I can't face this situation calmly, so I can only ask you, for me, for this country, and for them to do your part, so that those broken families and hearts can feel a warmth.

I am a soldier, and I deeply understand that this profession requires countless sacrifices. However, I hope that the relatives behind the soldiers will not shed tears when they are bleeding on the front line! I hope that the motherland will not forget those who are loyal to her! Please, Your Highness!"

Tears burst out of her eyes, and Long Xueling's heart was deeply stabbed. She never imagined that a heartless person, a guy with a scoundrel's trademark smile on his face all day long, would cherish such tenderness in the depths of his heart! Those wars that had taken place in the far north were pulled to her side in an instant, and she seemed to see a group of hot-blooded men walking forward in loneliness, doing what should have been done by their country.

"I will. I will owe them this country for you, and I will make it all to them!"

Long Xueling's gaze swept over the names on the booklet one by one, and she murmured in her heart.

After the midnight scene dispersed, Zhao April returned home with Zhao Tiedan. Since her brother joined the army, she had rarely had the opportunity to see him, so while he was in Haiyue City, she wanted him to be by his side more. Moreover, she still has some very important things to ask him tonight, which are not only related to his future, but also to the future of the Zhao family.

"Sister, I'm going to sleep!" As soon as he entered the mansion, Zhao Tietang yawned. The rush of alcohol made him feel extremely sleepy.

"After such a thrilling dinner, you can actually sleep?" Zhao April glared at him, "I can't sleep!

Zhao Tie barely cheered up and looked at her with a smile: "Sister, you don't want to inquire about Brother Leng, do you?"

"Yo, bold?" Zhao April blushed and struck him on the head. Zhao Tie Dan exhaled in pain as he ran towards the back room.

"Sit down, sister has something important to tell you. In the study, Zhao April looked at Zhao Tieqian with a solemn expression.

"Sister, don't scare me, I'm nervous. Zhao Tie smiled bitterly and nested himself into the sofa. In this family, he is not afraid of heaven and earth, even if he dares to yell a few times in front of his father, but he is only afraid of this sister who looks weak.

"Are you afraid?" Zhao April glanced at him, walked up to him with a glass of water and handed it to him, and chirped, "Messing with your seventh brother, you dare to kill people, dare to compete with Meng Yi, are you still afraid?"

"The coercion of the elder sister in my heart, the seventh brother can't resist it!" Zhao Tie smiled he, a glass of water quickly entered his stomach, and he was much more energetic.

"You actually learned to pat on the back...... Zhao April looked at her younger brother dotingly, "Okay, now tell my sister about your experience with Xiao Qi in detail." Of course, you are a soldier, and you can skip the secrecy. ”

"Hey, old sister, I thought you would ask about Brother Leng, why did you suddenly remember to ask this?" Zhao Tie was unclear.

"Because my sister found that the Zhao family was very close to a treasure that might contain amazing wealth, and it couldn't be preempted by others. Zhao April said with a smile.

"Treasure, what treasure?" Zhao Tie asked with a frown.

"Don't ask so much, just say it!" Zhao April urged.

Zhao Tie Dan told Zhao April in detail about his experience. After Zhao April listened, the whole person was stunned. She didn't expect that Zhao Tiedan had experienced so many things in just one year after joining the army, and even withstood the baptism of cruel war, and had changed from a gentleman who only knew how to cause trouble all day long into a powerful warrior with an iron will. Zhu Xiaoqi undoubtedly played a very important role in this process, and it can even be said that his personal charm changed the trajectory of his younger brother's life. This can be felt from Zhao Tiedan's words, he respects and trusts Zhu Xiaoqi from the bottom of his heart, as long as it is his words and his decision, he will not hesitate to implement it.

Zhao Tiedan's change is gratifying, but it is also somewhat worrying. In the treacherous battlefield environment, anything can happen, and her younger brother is accompanying Zhu Xiaoqi on a very dangerous road. With Zhao Tie's courageous character, unless he gives up one day, it will be impossible for the nine cows to pull him from this road.

"You just said that he plans to develop business in Blackwater City?" Zhao April asked. Su Moyu's strange attitude towards Zhu Xiaoqi made her smell a huge business opportunity, so she left Zhao Tiedan to ask carefully to see if there was any possibility of cooperating with Zhu Xiaoqi. But after listening to Zhao Tiedan's words, she was surprised to find that Zhu Xiaoqi not only has lofty ambitions and long-term vision, but also has considerable strength, and it is only a matter of time before she rises. This strengthened her idea of cooperating with Zhu Xiaoqi. This idea actually contains a little selfishness of hers: the stronger Zhu Xiaoqi is, the safer her brother will be, and the brighter the future will be.

"Yes, Brother Qi once said that he wanted to build Blackwater City into the commercial center of the Western Continent, but there has been no big movement. Zhao Tie Dan nodded.

After pondering for a moment, Zhao April nodded and said, "This idea is very good, Blackwater City does have this geographical advantage. Its proximity to the west coast has always been a haven for smuggled goods, and if a trade network covering the sand and wolves is built, it will soon attract business travelers from all over the world, forming a strong business atmosphere. ”

"Brother Qi seems to have said the same. However, he often lamented that the top-level design that left the economic foundation was nothing more than a castle in the air!"

"Don't use foul language!" Zhao April glared.

"Brother Qi said, this is not called foul language, this is called down-to-earth...... Alas, I was wrong, old lady!" was only halfway through the words, and seeing that the old lady was about to fight, Zhao Tie hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Tell me more about the situation in Blackwater. Zhao April said again.

"Hmm. There are three towns in Heishui, Yanxia, Fengling, and Heishui. The main city is in Heishui Town, and the city lord Tie Zheng is the iron buddy of the seventh brother......" Zhao Tie Dan said with a glance.

Time passed bit by bit, Zhao Tie dared to say everything he could say, and Zhao April's heart gradually made a decision.

"Alright, you go to sleep. Tomorrow, you take me to see Zhu Xiaoqi. She concluded.

"See Seventh Brother, what are you doing?" Zhao Tietang was still confused.

"Negotiations. Zhao April smiled and said, "If the negotiation goes well, the Zhao family will make the largest investment in the family's history." ”

Zhao Tiedan's eyes straightened when he heard this, and it took him a long time to wake up.

"Sister, you won't press all of our family's wealth to Blackwater City in order to see Brother Leng every day, right? What if I lose money, what will I do to marry my daughter-in-law in the future? That Qin Yuewei, her family background is good, how can a poor bastard be worthy of her?"

"What nonsense, look at your little bit of talent!" Zhao April stretched out her hand and poked at the door of his head, and said with a wry smile, "My sister's vision has always been correct, and she will not be as a loser as you! When you are discharged from the army, my sister guarantees that you will be one of the richest people in Tianlong!"

"Really?" Zhao Tie smiled like a child.

"Really!" Zhao April's eyes shone with confidence.

The Zhao family's big ship is about to set sail. This voyage may be extremely glorious!