Kill Two Birds with One Stone

Song Qingshu naturally had no feelings for Empress Peiman. At most, their relationship was that kind of friendship. But Empress Peiman's safety concerned whether he could successfully rescue those people from the Huan Yi Yuan in the future, so nothing could happen to her for now.

There was even less need to mention Zhao Hu'er and Zhao Yuanyuan. They were the greatest reward for Song Qingshu's risk this time. The reward was not their bodies, but the fact that they were the only two Song Dynasty princesses who had retained their maiden purity—though, thinking of the two girls' moist, soft lips that night, they were not quite so pure anymore, strictly speaking.

With this connection to them, Song Qingshu could use the opportunity to establish ties with the Song Dynasty imperial family in the future. Although the Golden Snake Camp was flourishing, it was surrounded by powerful empires. If it wanted room to survive, relying on warfare alone would certainly not be enough. It also needed to skillfully manage its relations with the various countries.

The Golden Snake Camp had now reached a truce with the Qing Dynasty, Song Qingshu had good personal relations with the upper ranks of the Liao Country, and his arrangements within the Jin Dynasty were gradually bearing fruit. Of the surrounding great powers, only the Song Dynasty remained.

Earlier, Song Qingshu had crushed the Qing expeditionary army and seized all of Shandong in the process, splitting the Qing Dynasty's territory in two and turning its lands around Huainan and Jiangsu into an exclave.

Although Li Kexiu still had a hundred thousand Green Standard troops stationed there, anyone with eyes could see that this juicy prize was destined to be swallowed by its powerful neighbors. Song Qingshu had already secretly sent Jiao Wan'er south to make