"Seize Qingshan Commandery?" One of Niu Youdao's eyebrows lifted. Though he did not know or had never seen how battles for cities and territory were fought here, Shang Chaozong's methods were truly becoming more and more aggressive. He had arrived and forcibly occupied Canglu County; now he was declaring that he would swallow Qingshan Commandery whole. Having such an appetite was a good thing, but one had to have the capacity for it, or else one would burst to death. The corner of his mouth curled as he smiled faintly. "Even Feng Lingbo would not dare make such a claim so lightly. Prince, you have only borrowed several thousand men from Feng Lingbo. Aren't you aiming a little too high?"
Lan Ruoting revealed a mysterious smile, stepped back a few paces, and pointed toward the neighboring Zhao Kingdom. "Zhao Kingdom! The Empress Dowager, Shang Youlan, is Prince Ning's paternal aunt."
"Oh! So there's that as well?" Niu Youdao clicked his tongue. "Imperial relatives truly remain imperial relatives wherever they go. A princess of Yan Kingdom became the Empress Dowager of Zhao Kingdom—could it be that she too was married off in a political alliance in her early years?"
Shang Chaozong sighed beside him. "It was merely a humiliation. Back then, my great-grandfather had only just ascended the throne, and the situation was somewhat unstable, so he married off his daughter to secure peace. At the time, I fear no one expected that great-aunt would eventually become the Empress of Zhao Kingdom, and now its Empress Dowager. In truth, before the collapse of the Wu Dynasty long ago, the Shang clan married many princesses to the feudal lords to pacify them. Speaking of which, the imperial families of every nation today carry more or less some Shang blood. Shang Youlan is