Competition

Little Yanzhi looked serious, but Shangguan Ru couldn't help laughing. "Sorry," she said. "I've just heard you talk about how devoted women are, so I really can't accept the suggestion you made afterward."

Little Yanzhi neither got angry nor looked embarrassed, and she didn't change her mind. She held up one finger. "Listen. Do you know what that sound is outside?"

"A group of people drinking." Shangguan Ru was a little curious to see what Little Yanzhi would come up with next.

"They're drinking, and they're showing their loyalty to Dudun." Little Yanzhi looked excited and satisfied, as though she shared in Dudun's success. "Xiaowan City, Tongtian Pass, Dragon Court—all the armies are Northern Court cavalry. Some of them pledged their loyalty to Dudun long ago. Even those who've never met him will throw in their lot with the Khan's descendants without hesitation. That was decided a hundred years ago. But what about the Dragon King? He's had the trust of the Northern Court people for less than two months. And I have to say, everyone will see through his tricks sooner or later. Their trust won't last."

"So the claim that the seventy thousand cavalry at Tongtian Pass were handed over to the Dragon King was a lie? They could betray him at any moment and return to the Northern Court."

"Not necessarily. It depends on whether the Dragon King can steady the troops. I believe that as long as Dudun doesn't take part in the contest, the Dragon King is capable of doing it. But the ten thousand here and the more than one hundred thousand at Dragon Court—Dudun will keep a firm grip on them. Take A Zheba, for example. He admires the Dragon King, but if he had to choose between the Dragon King and Dudun,