Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains
Chapter 936 - 936: 406, release the eagle at the sight of the rabbit, extremely cautious

In the Jianye Prefecture, there are five counties in total, with Xiapi County located at the northernmost point. To the south is Fuyang County, and further east is Yeyun County. The Jianye Prefecture City is situated between Fuyang and Yeyun Counties.

This mountainous and stormy army of the Great Jin, it may take quite some time to completely disembark. To have all troops reach Jianye Prefecture, it would take at least two days. Hou Yuxiao wasn't bothered, as he slowly guided the army while giving Tuoba Zun a detailed introduction to the situation in Hexi.

From Hexi's population to its governance, down to the details on each prefecture, county, and even each district within Hexi Dao, Hou Yuxiao revealed everything, completely adopting a posture of absolute allegiance to the Great Jin. This made Tuoba Zun somewhat cautious, beginning to believe that Hou Yuxiao truly intended to lead Hexi under the Great Jin banner.

If even Tuoba Zun thought so, then there's no need to mention the other Great Jin commanders.

Upon passing through Xiapi County City, seeing the 500,000 Red Flame Army brought by Hou Yuxiao on this trip, Tuoba Zun and the Great Jin commanders did not display any sign of tension; they even examined them with interest.

As the Hedong Alliance speculated, if Hou Yuxiao genuinely intended to rebel against Jin, there's no way he would only bring 500,000 Red Flame Army here. In fact, even if the entire 2 million Red Flame Army of the Hou Clan came over, at most, they would only cause significant damage to the Great Jin, without posing any real threat.

"To not hide the truth from you, my lord, these 500,000 troops are used by me to stabilize the Hedong Alliance. I didn't attend the Yangzhou Alliance meeting earlier, and I feared the alliance would harbor misgivings, so I deployed these 500,000 troops to put on a façade, hoping to delay their landing time. Unexpectedly, the alliance saw through it, yet they landed ahead of schedule. I failed to aid the Great Jin, and I seek your forgiveness, my lord!"

Upon hearing Hou Yuxiao's explanation, the Youye Emperor furrowed his brows slightly.

Hou Yuxiao's words seemed somewhat off, but upon careful consideration, they indeed held up to scrutiny.

If he truly wanted to rebel against Jin, he wouldn't have come with just these 500,000 troops, so he does not rebel against Jin; but to deploy 500,000 Red Flame Army to confuse the Hedong Alliance, sounds rather superficial and obvious. It wouldn't take Hedong's recognition; anyone with sense would see through it.

He looked at Hou Yuxiao, who maintained a humble posture throughout, and felt genuinely puzzled. He couldn't understand why Hou Yuxiao would say such half-true, half-false things for no reason.

As the Lord of Hexi and a Sub-Saint of the Martial Dao, the actual standings of the two were nearly on par. There was no real need for Hou Yuxiao to be so subservient before him. Such a performance from Hou Yuxiao could only indicate one thing, that was Hou Yuxiao's genuine intention to lead Hexi under Great Jin; only this could explain it.

Not entirely so; if sincerely wishing to side with Jin, there's no reason to leave the troops in Xingnan Prefecture, and during their first meeting, intentionally guiding him to bring the army to Xingnan Prefecture, this obviously raised issues as well.

What exactly was Hou Yuxiao thinking?

"Master of the Hou Family is too courteous, the Hedong Alliance has many intelligent individuals, being seen through is normal. There are numerous opportunities to earn merit for the Great Jin, no lack of such instances."

Tuoba Zun courteously remarked, watching Hou Yuxiao command the Red Flame Army to take the lead, saying nothing more, merely indicating for the generals behind him to continue following with the army.

On the sixteenth of November, New Yu Era 1322, that is, two days later, the vanguard of the Great Jin's southward army finally arrived at Jianye Prefecture City. Tuoba Zun did not show courtesy. Leading the advance troops straight into the prefecture city, he ordered Wanyan Kai and Helian Chang to continue overseeing the rear troops entering the city, not regarding Hou Yuxiao, the true master of Jianye Prefecture City, at all.

Standing outside Jianye Prefecture City gate, watching his forces continuously enter the city, Tuoba Zun suddenly seemed to recall something. He tapped his head, turned to look at Hou Yuxiao beside him, and softly said, "The army entering the city hasn't acquired Hexi's consent, Master of the Hou Family won't blame this emperor, right?"

Having entered already, saying this now was indeed extremely hypocritical!

Of course, Hou Yuxiao wouldn't speak his heart out, as Tuoba Zun, bringing such a large force into the city without any notification. To say he had no opinions would be false, but the issue was, he also knew, that just like the 7 million troops of the Hedong Alliance entering Zhaoyang Prefecture City, Hexi had no choice.

"Lord Tuoba, you're overthinking it. The army stationed in Jianye Prefecture is Hexi's honor, how could I be so ungrateful?"

Tuoba Zun's face instantly showed a smile, nodding, "That puts my mind at ease."

Hou Yuxiao wore a trace of hesitation, as if weighing something. Seeing Tuoba Zun's gaze was drawn to him, seemingly making a decision, he gritted his teeth, directly bowed towards Tuoba Zun, his tone carrying a hint of plea:

"My lord, please save our Hexi!"

......

Tuoba Zun looked somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting Hou Yuxiao to make such a plea.

He furrowed his brows slightly and stepped forward to help Hou Yuxiao up, speaking softly, "Master of Hou Family, there's no need for this. Please speak openly about what's troubling you. If there's anything I can assist with, I certainly will!"

These words were truly impeccable.

Hou Yuxiao lowered his head, secretly smirking, then raised it with a look of helplessness, saying, "To be honest, my lord, though our Hexi favors Great Jin, the Hedong Alliance puts relentless pressure on our Hou Clan, not letting up at all! Lord Tuoba, do you know why I stationed our 4.5 million troops in Xingnan Prefecture?"

Tuoba Zun hesitated for a moment, then speculated, "Afraid of the Alliance forces?"

"My lord is indeed insightful. Against the 7-million-strong elite troops from the Holy Land, the 5 million troops of the Hou Clan stand no chance. Though I wish to aid Great Jin, our strength is lacking, forcing us to relocate the army to Xingnan Prefecture to avoid them.

Now that your lordship's forces have arrived, it would make sense for them to join with Hexi in Xingnan Prefecture. This way, we could immediately wage war against the Hedong Alliance. However, your lordship doesn't trust me, and is unwilling to join forces. Meanwhile, the Alliance's 7-million-strong army is stationed in Zhaoyang Province. The leader is Lord Fengtian, Jing Tianyu, who has already entered the city on Hexi Road, pressuring our Hou Clan to shift allegiance to the Alliance. I have long received letters from the clan, urging me to meet Jing Tianyu. Honestly, I don't know what to do, so I can only beg you to save our Hexi!"

As he spoke the last few sentences, Hou Yuxiao's face showed a pleading expression, his body already bent at a ninety-degree angle, almost kneeling before Tuoba Zun.

......

Tuoba Zun's furrowed brows never relaxed, even as he saw Hou Yuxiao humble himself to the extreme. His expression remained mostly skeptical.

Hou Yuxiao kept his head down, a slight smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

His words made his intentions very clear to Tuoba Zun, indicating that Hexi originally planned to ally with him. However, he was unwilling to bring his forces into Xingnan Prefecture to join armies.

Now, with the 7-million-strong Hedong Alliance army in Zhaoyang Prefecture, led by Jing Tianyu who has already moved towards Tao City to pressure him into joining the Alliance, Hexi is in a similar weak position in front of the Alliance as they are in front of Great Jin. Facing such intimidation, without the confidence and strength to refuse, if Great Jin and Tuoba Zun do not assist, he doesn't know what course of action to take.

He could roughly guess Tuoba Zun's current thoughts.

Like Jing Tianyu, Tuoba Zun is a cautious figure, not easily letting go of benefits, especially in matters concerning the Great Jin and the Anti-Jin Alliance. Both are extremely cautious. Without seeing Hexi clearly break ties or confront any side, they wouldn't fully trust Hou Yuxiao. Thus, Tuoba Zun wouldn't bring his forces into Xingnan Prefecture to merge with Hexi's army.

However, when faced with Hou Yuxiao's plea, he couldn't ignore it. Jing Tianyu has indeed moved towards Tao City, and by refusing to join forces or to help, it's almost like pushing Hexi towards the Alliance. If Hou Yuxiao joins the Alliance now, he can't say much, since they have expressed their allegiance to Great Jin but are being coerced by the Hedong Alliance, and are not receiving support. If they join the Alliance, there's no ground to blame them.

"Master of Hou Family, rest assured, in five days, Princess Taiping's ship will arrive from the south. At that time, I'll personally accompany the bride to Hexi's Tao City. I believe those opportunists in the Alliance will not dare to act too excessively towards the Hou Clan!"

Hou Yuxiao immediately looked up, a look of joy on his face, "Many thanks to you, my lord!"

After expressing his sincere gratitude, Hou Yuxiao did not linger any longer. Bowing, he said, "With your lordship's word, I'm relieved. Jing Tianyu has made many threats against my second brother and third sister. I'm worried about troubles within the clan, so I'll return to Tao City first. I'll be there to welcome the princess!"

Tuoba Zun nodded without attempting to stop him. Watching as Hou Yuxiao departed with the 500,000-strong Red Flame Army to the outskirts of the city, his face remained tense throughout, with deep furrows in his brow.