Chapter 558: Overlord of the Grassland

Zheng Fu was truly a bit bewildered.

Because the white-haired old man appearing before her was none other than the number one Strategist under Crown Prince Xie Fang, the teacher of Crown Prince Xie Fang, Liang Zheng.

Once upon a time, she and the Crown Prince's faction were absolutely locked in a struggle to the death.

Yet now...

"Empress, I trust you have been well..."

Liang Zheng chuckled.

Zheng Fu's heart was a mixture of complex emotions at this moment. In the past, she had absolutely maintained a posture of crushing these people. Yet, tonight, appearing before him in such a disheveled state...

However, Zheng Fu's posture was very low at this moment.

Her son was already gone. What else did she have to rely on?

She also knew that the Scholar-official Group had recently begun to support Dong Guifei, and the Crown Prince's side actually felt the pressure as well...

She gave a miserable smile: "I have let Mr. Liang see a joke."

After saying this, she even personally poured a cup of tea for Liang Zheng, keeping her posture very low.

Her desire to survive was very strong.

Liang Zheng stroked his beard and chuckled: "Empress, your current situation is indeed somewhat difficult, but compared to that upstart Dong Family, it is not without the strength to fight back..."

"Sir, teach me!"

Zheng Fu's eyes lit up.

At this time, she no longer had any illusions about the struggle for the throne. She only wanted to take back the humiliation she had suffered today, doubled!

Liang Zheng said indifferently: "In the current situation, the Empress has lost her son, and all the nobles have been lost... then... there is only one Method."

Zheng Fu listened earnestly.

A sharp glint flashed in Liang Zheng's eyes: "Has the Empress ever thought about casting aside past grievances with the Liangzhou Prefect..."

"What?"

Zheng Fu's delicate body trembled.

Liang Zheng took a sip of tea and chuckled: "The Empress should know that the recently renowned Longyang Princess is actually a rootless duckweed... If the Empress were to publicly adopt Longyang Princess as a stepdaughter at this time, what do you think would happen, Your Majesty?"

As soon as these words were spoken.

Zheng Fu shuddered, and a sharp glint exploded in her eyes.

Stepdaughter?

That's right!

Longyang Princess's mother was Zhai Qing'er, but Zhai Qing'er was already dead! If Longyang Princess wanted to return to Longyan, she had to seek a reliable place to settle. The Liangzhou Prefect? Although he had money and power, he was still lacking in terms of legitimacy.

The Empress!

Adopting Longyang Princess as a stepdaughter was simply the best strategy Zheng Fu could choose at present!

Longyang Princess needed legitimacy.

She...

Needed a legacy!

Even if it wasn't a legacy, it could ensure she wouldn't be buried with Xie Tianyao...

This small room instantly became quiet.

The oil lamp flickered, now bright, now dim.

A hint of hesitation flashed across Zheng Fu's well-maintained face.

Because she knew...

At this time, if she were to adopt Longyang Princess as a stepdaughter, it would mean bowing her head to the Liangzhou Prefect, bowing her head to Liangzhou...

However...

In the face of life and death, did she still have a choice?

"Good!"

A moment later, Zheng Fu gritted her teeth fiercely and nodded.

A cold sneer appeared on the corner of Liang Zheng's mouth.

Boundless.

The emerald Grassland.

Countless horses and cattle were running wantonly.

The sky is vast, the wilds are boundless.

The wind blows through the grass, revealing the cattle and sheep.

"Giddyap, giddyap!"

"Kill, kill!"

At this moment, on this Grassland, a powerful Cavalry was harvesting the men and women of a tribe.

Blood splattered.

Wails of ghosts and howls of wolves.

The men and women could not run in time and were either killed or enslaved.

This was a most primitive slaughter.

This was also the most primitive war.

On a hill.

A dark-skinned man in his early thirties watched all of this happening with burning eyes.

This was already the last organized tribe on the Grassland.

"Hahahaha, Tie Mucheng! The harvest this time is not small; a full five hundred women, enough for the brothers to divide!"

At this moment, a man wearing Qiang attire came running over, laughing loudly.

Tie Mucheng sneered coldly: "A mere land of the Western Barbarians, what is worth mentioning? Just a bunch of barbarians..."

He gazed into the distance toward the south, yearningly: "The land of Zhongyuan is where my aspirations lie..."

The man beside him, Zhebie, laughed loudly: "The weak Han people, what is there to fear? With our Grassland unification this time, the brothers' morale is high; my three hundred thousand Grassland Cavalry can sweep across the region once we head south on an auspicious day!"

Tie Mucheng shook his head: "If it were before, it would naturally be easy to capture... but now, Longyan has produced a Governor Liu, it is difficult..."

Zhebie scoffed: "Don't worry, Anda, give me, Zhebie, fifty thousand Grassland Elite Cavalry, and I can trample Liangzhou flat!"

Tie Mucheng laughed loudly: "Good! Calculating the time, the Longyan Emperor's birthday is coming, we should set off too!"

Zhebie laughed: "Anda, I heard that in the Longyan Dynasty, there is a peerless beauty, Longyang Princess; this time, we shall snatch her, hahahaha, and let those Han people know that we Qiang can also embrace royalty!"

As the two spoke, they looked at each other and laughed loudly.

Tie Mucheng.

A hero of the Grassland who had suddenly emerged in recent years.

He reached his peak the moment he debuted; fresh and inexperienced, he began to subdue all the tribes on this Grassland with overwhelming force.

In just over a year, his iron hooves had already unified the entire Grassland.

Since ancient times, the way the land of Zhongyuan governed these barbarians was through one Method: divide and conquer.

When divided, these guys with super-strong military power liked to kill each other, having no time to head south.

However...

What the Longyan Dynasty feared most was the appearance of a unified situation on this Grassland.

Once such a situation appeared, the land of Zhongyuan would surely suffer.

"Let's go, take the cattle and sheep, to Longyan!"

Tie Mucheng laughed loudly and waved his hand.

"To Longyan!"

"Snatch the Princess!"

"To Longyan!"

"Conquer Zhongyuan!"

The Grassland Elite Cavalry galloped with the wind.

Liu Zheng was still quite satisfied with the recent hype.

Along this journey, Xie Chan's reputation for kindness began to spread throughout the entire Longyan.

Everyone knew that there was a princess like a fairy who began to care about the hardships of the people and began to worry about the people's food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

Of course.

The premise of this was...

Throwing money.

Liu Dahao came running over this day, sweating profusely again: "Zheng, these days, we have already thrown out ten million taels... this..."

Liu Zheng laughed loudly: "It's only ten million; if we can buy a reputation, doesn't Father think it's worth it? This is your daughter-in-law after all..."

Upon hearing the three words "daughter-in-law," Liu Dahao immediately looked righteous: "What is this talk, Zheng! Throw it, throw it hard for me! Don't feel bad about the money!"

Everyone rolled their eyes upon hearing this.

Who would have thought that just as this group was about to step into the Capital.

A proclamation arrived.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

This proclamation came from Kunning Palace.

Empress Zheng Fu, feeling pity for Longyang Princess, who lost her mother at an early age, and remembering that she and Zhai Qing'er were like sisters in the past, intended to adopt Longyang Princess Xie Chan as her stepdaughter, to take the place of Zhai Qing'er and fulfill a mother's duties.

This proclamation came out.

Including Liu Zheng, Prince Yong, and others, all were dumbfounded.