Combining the intelligence pages Abaddon had brought with his observations of the rabbit demon Zhang Xi's aura, Bai Xiaowen was fairly certain Zhang Xi had told the truth. He hadn't dared to lie.
Of course, not lying didn't mean he hadn't kept things back. Zhang Xi had certainly concealed something, but Bai Xiaowen had no way to uncover every detail.
What Zhang Xi had told him was enough. Together with the intelligence pages, it finally gave Bai Xiaowen a rough grasp of the situation across the realm.
The Mongols had not yet renamed their state the Yuan Dynasty. It was still called the Great Mongol State, and its founding ruler, Temüjin—Genghis Khan—was still alive!
In history, Temüjin had died of illness five years earlier. After his death, his third son Ögedei had inherited the khanate and secretly killed his fourth son Tolui, causing a degree of internal strife among the Mongols.
In this world, Temüjin was still alive, and the Jin Kingdom was in even worse straits than it had been in history. It had first abandoned Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and other territories and moved its capital south. Then its new capital had fallen too. Its emperor, Wanyan Shouxu, had fled to Caizhou, where he had been besieged for months.
Notably, the forces besieging Caizhou included not only the Mongol army but also the Song generals Meng Gong and Jiang Hai.
"The Jin Kingdom is finished."
Two years earlier than in actual history.
Bai Xiaowen said, "Why would the Great Song court join forces with the Mongols to destroy Jin? Don't they understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold? Once Jin falls, the Great Song will be the Mongols' next target."
Bai Xiaowen could not know every aspect of history. Remembering when various regimes had fallen,