Grand General's Residence, inside the secret chamber.
Ever since Ian Song killed Quinn Ba and returned to Lingshui Prefecture, he began his closed-door cultivation.
After a month of intense training and consuming a large number of pills, he finally advanced his middle dantian to the Innate Eighth Layer.
Both of his dantians had now reached the Innate Eighth Layer.
And thanks to having two dantians, his combat power had at least doubled.
Boom!
The mechanism stone door opened—after a month of seclusion, Ian Song finally saw daylight again.
"General."
Lily and Autumn, who had been standing guard outside the chamber, immediately rushed up the moment they saw him.
With both girls in his arms, Ian Song felt especially moved. Ever since he began his retreat, these two had stayed outside the chamber without leaving even once. Faced with such deep affection, he almost felt unworthy—after all, once he finished his missions, he would have to leave this world.
When that time came, would Lily and Autumn be able to accept his departure?
Soon, Lila Quinn and Princess Jade Fox also hurried over after hearing that Ian Song had come out of seclusion.
"Husband."
Lila Quinn called softly, her eyes full of affection no less than Lily and Autumn's.
So Ian let go of Lily and Autumn, hugged Lila Quinn, and then walked over to Princess Jade Fox, whose belly was now visibly rounded. "Jade Fox, I haven’t been by your side these days—do you blame me?"
"Jade Fox doesn’t blame the General." Jade Fox pressed her little face to Ian Song’s chest, one hand resting on her belly, her delicate features glowing with maternal radiance.
Even though she was already married to Ian Song, she still hadn’t changed how she addressed him, calling him 'General' instead of 'husband.'
After sharing a moment of tenderness with his women, Ian Song finally went to his study.
A month in seclusion had left plenty of government paperwork piled up.
But with his quick wit and vast knowledge, he finished it all in less than an hour.
The next morning at court.
Two matters caught Ian Song’s attention.
First, the Qin Kingdom once again sent an envoy to Qi to sue for peace. After Victor Zhao retook Yan’s territory, he didn’t stop there—instead, following Ian Song’s orders, he began attacking Qin itself.
Ian Song wasn’t the type to swallow a loss. In the campaign to ‘rescue’ Yan and Zhao, not only did General Gu Min die, but Qi lost tens of thousands of soldiers. There was no way he’d let Qin off easily—someone had to pay for the losses.
Of course, compared to Qi, Qin’s losses were even worse. First, their future top general, Quinn Ba, died at Ian Song’s hands. Second, of their 130,000-strong army, 80,000 were wiped out.
But Ian Song didn’t care about that. All he saw was Qi’s own losses.
With the Wolf Cavalry’s help, plus gunpowder and explosives, Victor Zhao captured a whole Qin prefecture in just two days.
It was only a single prefecture, but it was enough to throw Qin into chaos.
So they hurriedly sent envoys to Qi to beg for peace. Coincidentally, the envoy was Qin’s Deputy Chancellor, Wu Yan.
When Ian Song saw Wu Yan, he only said one sentence—enough to make Wu Yan’s face burn with shame.
Then, without giving him a chance, Ian Song had him thrown out immediately.
This guy had once chattered away in Ian Song’s residence for a whole hour, and even threatened him before leaving. So of course Ian Song wasn’t about to treat him kindly.
As for the second matter, both Yan and Zhao sent national letters together.
They expressed their willingness to submit to Qi and become its vassal states.
Previously, Yan and Zhao had already been crushed by Ian Song, and he’d extorted over a billion in gold from them. Later, when Qin attacked, they had no choice but to ask Qi for help and promised to pay several hundred million more if Qi won.
So in total, that made more than two billion. By now, both their treasuries were so empty that even rats would starve.
The kings of Yan and Zhao were so broke, they couldn’t even pay the officials, generals, or soldiers. Most importantly, although Qi had returned the territory it took from Qin,
after both the Qin and Qi armies had looted everything, those cities were so poor you could hear the echo. What Yan and Zhao got back wasn’t lost territory—it was a pile of burdens.
Officials, generals, soldiers, and even the common folk all needed to eat.
With no other options, the two kingdoms held a council and decided that becoming Qi’s vassals was the only way out.
The news that Yan and Zhao wanted to become Qi’s vassals set off a huge argument among the court officials.
Why?
Opponents argued that making Yan and Zhao vassal states would only drag Qi down. After all, both kingdoms were flat broke after the war—so if Qi accepted them, it wouldn’t gain anything and would have to pay out of pocket to support them.
A classic case of losing money on the deal.
Supporters, on the other hand, insisted that since Qi was now the strongest power on the Shenzhou Continent, it should act like a true hegemon. If Yan and Zhao wanted to join, it meant they respected Qi as their leader—so Qi shouldn’t leave its little brothers out in the cold.
So the officials split into two camps, each with their own arguments. They debated for an hour, but no one could convince the other side.
In the end, Ian Song silenced the whole crowd with a single shout and had the Yan and Zhao envoys brought before the court.
Seeing the two nervous envoys, Ian Song told them: "Go back and tell your kings, Qi will only accept one condition—full annexation. I guarantee that once your kingdoms join Qi, your kings will enjoy wealth and honor for life, and all your officials and generals will keep their posts. At the same time, once you’re part of Qi, we’ll open the granaries and provide relief immediately."
"Of course, if your kings refuse, let your countries fend for themselves!"
After hearing Ian Song’s terms, the envoys looked at each other, quickly agreed, and raced home to report.
Soon, the envoys returned to their respective countries and delivered Ian Song’s conditions.
Both the King of Yan and the King of Zhao were furious.
But the officials and generals were all tempted—after all, Ian Song promised their positions would be safe if the kingdoms joined Qi.
The rule that ‘your seat decides your mind’ works in every world.
So, despite the kings’ objections, the officials and generals all urged their rulers to surrender to Qi.
Faced with a court full of people bought off by Qi, the kings of Yan and Zhao were left utterly hopeless. Still, they could take comfort in one thing: Ian Song promised them a lifetime of wealth and honor. Though their hearts were bitter, they could only accept.
Ten days later, the kings of Yan and Zhao arrived together at Lingshui Prefecture, presenting the national letters and imperial seals to King Daniel Jiang of Qi. This marked the official annexation of Yan and Zhao into Qi, bringing Qi’s territory to thirty-five prefectures.
Naturally, Ian Song kept his promises. He made the King of Zhao the Marquis of Ease and the King of Yan the Marquis of Leisure, each with a monthly stipend of thirty thousand coins.
As long as they didn’t squander it, thirty thousand coins a month was plenty to live in comfort. For reference, a regular soldier’s monthly pay was only fifty coins.