Cloudzheng did not linger at the western wall; although the pass was rugged, it had become a thing of the past. He crossed through the city gate directly to the eastern wall and looked ahead. Although his view was blocked by mountains, he knew that once he passed them, Bianjing would be before him. A hundred miles away was only a day’s ride for a warhorse.

Large numbers of Liao troops were retreating toward Bianjing, or perhaps more appropriately, Xizhifu. The name Xizhifu, so strange, had already disappeared from the land and history books.

Cloudzheng had seen Wang Anshi's new map; on it, Xizhifu was called—Yanzhou!

The current emperor of Liao was in Yanzhou, waiting for Song to deliver the promised treasures. Cloudzheng wondered where the emperor found his confidence that the Song would honor their agreement.

Nothing of value could be delivered by Pei Ji or Han Qi; it would only be possible if those items hastened the fall of the Liao empire.

What he most needed now were various military supplies, food and fodder, weapons, armor, and horses. What use was a fortune in treasure?

Did he think that just having the treasures could buy what he needed?

"How does it feel to take a strong city without bloodshed?" Wen Yanbo appeared happily behind Cloudzheng. His mood had improved since releasing his anger.

"I thought you would have beheaded Ye Li Hengjing."

Wen Yanbo stretched out a slender finger and tapped his hat, smiling: "Killing is not the best way to vent your rage; Ye Li Hengjing was just an old dog living on borrowed time. I wouldn’t find any joy in killing him but keeping him alive will allow me to humiliate him more."

Cloudzheng laughed and pointed at Yanzhou. "So, you still intend to deal with them?"

Wen Yanbo chuckled: "Countries are like this; when we are strong today, tomorrow it might be the other way around. Whoever is stronger dictates the terms.

When Song's three armies invaded Western Xia and failed, if Liao had taken advantage of this opportunity to tear up the Treaty of Chanyuan and attack with Western Xia’s E Yuanhao, Song might have faced annihilation.

To prevent a Liao invasion, we spared no effort to provoke Emperor Hui of Liao into blaming Western Xia's E Yuanhao. The death of Princess Xingping gave us an excuse. Thus, the previous emperor led his troops against Western Xia but was defeated and fled from Helu.

Only then did our hearts find peace; there could be no alliance between them now. However, it is regrettable that Song, Western Xia, and Liao had formed a tripartite balance, making us feel sorrowful!