Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

Situ Ce arrived in North City half a month ago, but he didn’t go directly to Prince’s Mansion to find Lu Chen. He stayed in Yan County for half a month, looked around, and inquired about the local people’s opinion of Lu Chen.

As he expected, North Prince’s reputation had completely reversed; now, the common people of North City greatly supported the North Prince.

This was within Situ Ce’s expectations and he didn’t find it too surprising.

During this time, Situ Ce heard an interesting opinion from the mouths of the locals in North City. Many of them said that the North Prince was the “Son of Destiny,” a man blessed by immortals.

After some investigation, coupled with intelligence collected by the Shadow Guard, Situ Ce quickly understood why the people thought the North Prince was the “Son of Destiny.”

Rumors said that on the day the Barbarian Tribe attacked North City, countless Heavenly Thunders fell from the sky, striking the Barbarian Army into a chaotic retreat.

Although the common folk hadn’t been on the battlefield, they had heard numerous accounts of what happened there.

Of course, Situ Ce did not believe the rumors were true just because they were circulated among the people, but their persistence indicated that something related to Heavenly Thunder indeed occurred that day.

At that moment, Situ Ce turned away from the notice board at the city gate and headed directly to the campsite where the Imperial Army was stationed.

The Imperial Army was about to return to the Capital city, and Situ Ce planned to speak to Lin Xiuming before he led the Imperial Army back, in order to understand what they had seen after arriving in North City.

At this time, Lin Xiuming was in his tent preparing the report about North City that he needed to present after returning to the Capital. Then, a soldier entered the tent and reported, “General, there’s an old man with white hair outside holding a jade pendant, claiming he has an urgent matter for you.”

If it were an ordinary old man, the soldiers would generally not take notice and would likely send him away.

However, since the man had produced a jade pendant granted by the Emperor, the soldier did not know whether it was real or fake and decided to show it to Lin Xiuming.

The sound of the soldier’s voice faded as he placed the jade pendant on the desk.

Lin Xiuming, who was initially curious about who would come looking for him with a jade pendant, froze immediately upon seeing it.

Ordinary people did not have the privilege to meet the State Preceptor, nor had many seen him, including some high-ranking ministers who had never met Situ Ce.

But Lin Xiuming was different. As the son of the Left Minister, he had met the State Preceptor, Situ Ce, several times.

And he also happened to know the jade pendant worn by Situ Ce. With one look at the pendant, Lin Xiuming knew it was Situ Ce coming to see him.

However, he was extremely puzzled, as the State Preceptor was a pillar of Great Sum and usually would not leave the Capital city. How could he have come to North City in person?

Coming back to his senses, Lin Xiuming immediately said, “Please invite that old man in!”

Lin Xiuming refrained from revealing Situ Ce’s identity to the soldier. Since Situ Ce had come to North City, he must be on an important mission, and Lin Xiuming did not intend to expose his identity.

Seeing Lin Xiuming’s change in expression upon seeing the jade pendant, the soldier knew the old man’s identity must be extraordinary. He immediately said, “I’ll invite the old man in at once!”

As the soldier’s voice fell, he turned and left the tent. Soon after, Situ Ce appeared in Lin Xiuming’s tent.

Lin Xiuming instantly instructed the soldier, “Leave us for now, and have the soldiers outside move twenty steps away from the tent!”

“Yes, General.”

Once the soldier had left the tent, Lin Xiuming promptly bowed and said, “Greetings, State Preceptor!”

After the formalities, Lin Xiuming walked forward, holding out the jade pendant with both hands to give it back to Situ Ce, then asked, “State Preceptor, what brings you to North City?”

Stroking his beard, Situ Ce replied with a smile, “I have come to North City on important matters, General Lin need not inquire further.”

Hearing this, Lin Xiuming instantly realized that the State Preceptor had likely come for the North Prince. It was probable that the Sum Emperor had given the State Preceptor a task, which indeed was beyond a general’s scope to inquire.

Lin Xiuming quickly shifted the topic and asked, “I overstepped. May I know the reason for your visit?”

Situ Ce said, “I would like to know what you all have seen after your arrival in North City.”

Upon hearing this question, the vision of the gruesome scene outside Yan County flashed in Lin Xiuming’s mind. Lin Xiuming had led the Imperial Army to stay in North City for almost two months and had strictly forbidden his soldiers from investigating, fearful of provoking the North Prince’s wrath.

Lin Xiuming was no fool; he could immediately tell that those huge craters and the horrific state of the barbarian corpses were caused by some sort of weapon.

Obviously, it was not something he could get involved in. They were still in North City, under the scrutiny of the North Prince. If they made any misstep that was discovered by the North Prince, it might be uncertain whether he could even return to the Capital city.

Thus, Lin Xiuming had instructed the soldiers in the camp to avoid discussing the scene they had witnessed since their arrival in North City.

At this moment, Lin Xiuming looked a bit pale, but he replied solemnly, “Upon our arrival at Yan County, we saw that the area outside the city was full of enormous craters, and the ground was littered with the limbs and body parts of the Barbarian Tribe. Those craters had a width of at least six or seven steps.”

Hearing this, Situ Ce continued to ask, “According to your judgment, General Lin, what caused those craters?”