Jiang Sheng had just been feeling sorry for Jimò Qiu, whom Qi Shan had talked into a stupor, when his lord called on him. He stepped forward calmly. "According to the messages sent back by our agents, the Northern Desert royal court is assembling its troops. As for whether to wage war, there are sharply divided opinions within their ranks."
Shen Tang had been prepared for the first part.
The incident in Jinli Commandery had erupted faster than the Northern Desert expected.
As soon as Shen Tang realized the Northern Desert was involved, she ordered the Zhechong Mansions in Kunzhou to prioritize reinforcing the border. They were to stand guard and defend alongside the border troops, preventing a Northern Desert surprise attack. The Northern Desert, by contrast, had lost its long-established agents, effectively blinding them to events inside Kang Country. On top of that, Kang Country had tightened its inspections and stepped up its scrutiny of suspicious persons. Whether operating in secret or passing along intelligence, everything had become more than twice as difficult. Naturally, the Northern Desert received the news later, and its response was correspondingly slower.
As for the second part, that was something she hadn't expected.
Ning Yan turned to look, her curiosity piqued. "There are actually differing opinions within the Northern Desert royal court? Weren't they all united in their desire to march south and take control of the Northwest Continent? 'The world is vast, and all manner of strange things exist.' I never thought Northern Desert soil could nurture a hundred different kinds of people."
She had assumed everyone in the Northern Desert was a die-hard warmonger.
That was how the Northern Desert had always presented itself to the outside world.
Jiang Sheng smiled. "That's because our infiltration has been effective."
At the beginning of