Qin Yan opened the military report and saw that Yun Xi reported that the Xiongnu tribe was in civil strife again, Princess Qinglan was suspected to be pregnant, and the Xiongnu king Zonggu fled with his tribe.

They launched a surprise attack on the Xiongnu tribe at night, cut off the head of the leader of the Xiongnu tribe, and hung it up for three days.

Yun Xi claimed that after Zong Gu quelled the civil strife, he used the fact that Princess Qinglan was pregnant as an excuse, and said that when the Emperor of Tianqi learned about it, he sent many gifts. He sent people to invite several leaders of the Xiongnu tribes who had disloyalty to congratulate together and receive some of the gifts.

When the banquet was almost halfway through, several maids who were carrying roasted lamb legs took out the sharp knives under the trays and slit the throats of the Xiongnu tribal leaders when they were not paying attention.

Zong Gu beheaded all of them and hung their heads for three days on the grounds that they intended to harm Princess Qinglan.

The last sentence: Zonggu is ruthless and has great ambitions. Now the internal strife of the Xiongnu has not been completely quelled. Zonggu should be gathering his strength and waiting for the right time to attack the northern border again.

Qin Yan saw this and darkened his eyes. He said to Jiang Chi, "Remember the military order you wrote to me. Although the national treasury is full and the food and grass provided by Lin are sufficient, if the war in the southern border is prolonged too long, I am afraid that the Xiongnu will take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack on the northern border."

Jiang Chi said with a smile, "I knew Zong Gu was not a man of love and righteousness. How could he have human emotions when he was living among wolves? Don't worry, brother-in-law. I will return victorious within a year. If there is any sudden movement in the North, don't you have 80,000 soldiers ready to be deployed at any time? Just send my father to the North."

After hearing this, Qin Yan nodded slightly, said goodbye to Lin Luoling and Jiang Chi, Princess July, and watched Jiang Chi lead 30,000 elite soldiers away.

Three months later, Lin Luoling was pregnant again. Qin Yan was very happy and hugged Lin Luoling and said, "Ling'er, can you give birth to a princess for me?"

Just as he was talking about this, the commander of the Imperial Guard came to report that there was a military report from the southern border. He knelt on the ground, holding the military report written by Jiang Chi himself and raised it above his head.

Qin Yan took it and looked at it, then laughed heartily, "As expected of the Duke of Zhennan, the monarch of Nanyan is willing to submit to Tianqi and become a vassal state of Tianqi. The monarch of Nanyan wants his eldest son to bring tribute to the capital, and intends to let his eldest son marry Princess Yongle as his principal wife."

This was already the third country that Jiang Chi had conquered among the eight southern countries. Among the eight southern countries, Southern Yan was the largest and richest.

"I believe that in another half a year, Duke Zhennan will be able to return triumphantly!" Qin Yan said with emotion.

Lin Luoling lowered her eyes and looked at her belly thoughtfully.

Seeing this, Qin Yan immediately hugged Lin Luoling in his arms and swore, "Ling'er, if Duke Zhennan conquers the eight kingdoms in the south and defeats the Xiongnu, there will be no more wars in Tianqi. I promise you, if you can give birth to a princess for me, I will never let her marry far away. I will hold her in my hands and love her like a treasure."

Lin Luoling snorted, "You've spoiled the prince enough. Today, the prince just vomited a few mouthfuls of milk, and you looked at your expression. You scared the nurse so much that she dared not even breathe."

Qin Yan said: "What if she choked? In the end, isn't it because they were not careful enough?"

Lin Luoling advised: "How can the prince be so delicate? Since you have appointed him as the prince, you can't spoil him. The Royal Grandmother has already spoiled him a lot. If you continue to spoil him, how can he inherit the throne in the future?"

Qin Yan explained, "Okay, okay, I'll listen to Ling'er. I lacked my mother's company when I was young, and you often sent the prince to Jingshou Palace. I'm a little afraid that he will be like me, lacking the love of his parents."

Lin Luoling glared at Qin Yan and said, "You are wrong. When our father was alive, he gave you all his love. When our mother was alive, she also carefully took care of you while you were growing up. Don't be so heartless."

Qin Yan smiled and said, "Yes! I have no conscience. I will be a strict father from now on. Is that okay?"

Lin Luoling pursed her lips and smiled, and discussed with Qin Yan: "Now that I am pregnant, the Royal Grandmother has given me the power to manage the harem. I am afraid I have no time to take care of the prince. The Royal Grandmother regards the prince as more important than her life. How about sending the prince to Jingshou Palace and letting the Royal Grandmother take care of him?"

"Have you thought it through?" Qin Yan asked.

Lin Luoling said: "Jingshou Palace and Fulu Palace are only separated by a wall. If you miss the prince, you can ask Biyou and Bizhi to bring him over at any time. Since the death of my father, my grandmother has been in a daze in the palace except for smiling when she sees the prince. This is not a good thing. Princess July followed my brother to the southern border, and my grandmother is not in charge of the affairs of the harem. When she is free, it is inevitable that she will think of the past.

If the prince is sent to Jingshou Palace, the Empress Dowager will surely be worried and busy taking care of the prince. How can she have time to think about other things?"

Qin Yan nodded and said, "I was afraid you would be reluctant to give it up. Since you want to do so, I will do as you wish."

Therefore, after lunch, the two of them took the prince to Jingshou Palace and handed him over to the Empress Dowager for care and growth.

The Empress Dowager held the Crown Prince Qin Tianyou and smiled happily, and said to Lin Luoling: "The Queen, take good care of your pregnancy. If the weather is good, I will carry the Crown Prince to Fulu Palace to show you. You are pregnant now, you must not be tired. Starting tomorrow, let Shi Mi help you take care of the harem affairs."

Lin Luoling smiled and said, "It is my blessing that the Empress Dowager loves me."

The Grand Empress Dowager looked at Shi Mi and said, "You must ask the Queen's opinion on everything before you deal with it. Don't make decisions casually. You must let the people in the harem know that the Queen is the master of the harem."

Shi Mi smiled and replied, "Yes!"

Ever since Lin Luoling handed Crown Prince Qin Tianyou over to the Empress Dowager for raising, the Empress Dowager would carry the Crown Prince to Fulu Palace almost every morning. Her previous lifeless look disappeared, and instead, her face was filled with rosy glow, and she held the Crown Prince in her arms every day, refusing to let go.

Qin Yan discussed with the Empress Dowager and wanted to marry Princess Yongle to the eldest son of the monarch of Southern Yan.

The Empress Dowager had no time to listen to him. She just said, "Why are you asking me about these things? You can make the decision. I am only concerned about the Crown Prince now. Other matters have nothing to do with me."

The next day, Qin Yan asked the Minister of the Central Secretariat to write a letter, agreeing that the eldest son of the monarch of Southern Yan would come to the capital and marry Princess Yongle as his consort.

What Qin Yan didn't expect was that three months later, when the eldest son of the monarch of Southern Yan arrived in the capital with hundreds of boxes of gold, silver and jewelry, Jiang Chi had defeated the eight kingdoms in the southern border and only three of them were left: Southern Yan, Jinhai and Nanji. Among them, Southern Yan had become a vassal state of Tianqi.

The son of the monarch of Southern Yan State was handsome, looked like a scholar, had a good temper, and was seventeen years old.

When Princess Yongle saw it, she liked it very much.

More than a month later, the eldest son of the monarch of Southern Yan and Princess Yongle got married and then set off back to Southern Yan.

After returning to the State of Southern Yan, he changed the name of Southern Yan to Southern Yan Prefecture, and Qin Yan named the monarch of Southern Yan the Duke of Southern Yan, who could inherit the title of Duke for generations.

Two months later, the eight countries in the south all surrendered to the Tianqi Kingdom. Five monarchs among the eight countries died in battle, and Qin Yan appointed new governors to take up the posts. The monarchs of the remaining three countries, like the Southern Yan Kingdom, became a state of the Tianqi Kingdom, and the monarchs were conferred the title of duke, which could be inherited from generation to generation.

Jiang Chi stayed in the southern border for more than two months, and only after resolving the chaos in the southern border that had surrendered to the Tianqi Kingdom did he lead his troops back to the capital.

What Jiang Chi didn't expect was that when he returned triumphantly, Qin Yan did not come out of the city to pick him up, but his father, Ningyuan Hou, led all the officials to welcome him.

Ning Yuanhou's wife came up from behind Ning Yuanhou with tears streaming down her face, held Jiang Chi's hand and said, "My son, you are finally back! You are darker and thinner..."

Just as he said this, Du Zhong came galloping over on his horse, shouting, "It's born, it's born... The queen gave birth to a princess."

Upon hearing this, Ning Yuanhou's wife, who was holding Jiang Chi's hand the moment before, wiped away her tears and exclaimed, "It's born? It's the eldest princess!"

Before he could finish his words, Jiang Chi, Princess July and Dou Tong saw Ningyuan Marquis leading all the officials running towards the city gate.

They were left alone in the wind.

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