"Miss Duan, Senior Wu, I already disposed of the incompetent spy."
Pi Xiong returned, trembling with fear while Duan Lengyan and Wu Qiujun were talking.
Wu Qiujun relented a little bit, as he already got the hold of a viable approach to cope with Wandong.
"Everything you report will affect the decision-making process of our empire! It's extremely significant! You have to bear that in mind! I can't allow that to happen again!"
"Yes, sir!"
Duan Lengyan waved her hand at Pi Xiong, shifting the topic forthwith.
"Pi Xiong, according to our undercover in the West Turk Kingdom (An enemy of the Qingyun Empire), Ba Luxiong, the Khan (the head of ancient kingdoms bordering China ) of the kingdom's daughter Ba Ling suddenly disappeared. Based on the related intelligence, she might have been the Qingyun Empire. Now I'm gonna task you with an assignment — deploy spies to track her down wherever she is, as long as she is here in the Qingyun Empire."
"Yes, madam!" Pi Xiong responded in haste.
"Leng Yan, so, you wanna take the advantage of Ba Ling to make use of the tension between the West Turk Kingdom and the Qingyun Empire?"
"Why not? You know, the West Turk Kingdom has been suffering great losses to Qiu Yunchong at war. Their hatred of the Qingyun Empire went far beyond our imagination — they already retreated to the belly of the desert because of the shrinking territory."
"But, the Turks are already on their last legs. They are no longer equal of the Qingyun Empire. As far as I'm concerned, Ba Luxiong harbors an intention to sue for peace to the Qingyun Empire. We can no longer bank on them."
"Yes, they are indeed no longer an equal of the Qingyun Empire, but we are," Duan Lengyan responded with a smile, "I learned that about Ba Luxiong as well, but there are loads of Turks voicing their disagreement."
"Really?"
Duan Lengyan's information brightened up Wu Qiujun's eyes.
She nodded and moved on.
"The hierarchy of power of the West Turk Kingdom is different from both the Qingyun Empire and our empire. It's way complicated. It consists of eight tribes, which belonged to four clans titled Eagle, Lion, Tiger, and Leopard.
The Eagle Clan, helmed by Ba Luxiong, boasted three tribes under its control. With its unrivaled power, Ba Luxiong had what it took to have been elected as the Great Khan of the whole kingdom.
The Tiger and Lion Clans, having two tribes under their banners respectively, are next in line to the Eagle Clan. As for the Leopard Clan, albeit made up of only one tribe is well-known for its brave and battle-wise folks. That almost balances out the gap between it and the other three.
The Tiger Clan and the Eagle Clan enjoy a strong bond; the Lion and Leopard Clans, united by marriage, are hand in glove. In that case, the West Turk Kingdom is actually split into two parts."
On hearing her analysis, Wu Qiujun responded with admiration, utterly blown away by her brilliant ideas.
"Bravo! I didn't expect you have such an in-depth insight into the West Turk Kingdom!"
Duan Lengyan smiled off his praise, "Our ambition knows no bounds. With the whole world on our to-do list, a war with the West Turk Kingdom sooner or later will take place. We have, as an old saying goes, to know the enemy as well as we do ourselves."
"You don't know how much I admire your dedication to the prospect of our Empire. Your two elder brothers, conversely, are just good for nothing, if I can put it that way."
Wu Qiujun responded.
Shaking her head, Duan refused to go further with the topic and went on instead.
"As far as I know, Adoger, the head of the Tiger Clan, is an ambitious person as well. He has been holding a grudge against Ba Luxiong for long. We can help him rise to become the Great Khan of the West Turk Kingdom through cooperation with him. Compounded with our military support for them, the Qingyun Empire would suffer an ever-lasting turbulent border situation from then on. In that case, the Qingyun guys won't be able to hinder us from annexing the Tiandu Kingdom with the Turks plaguing them."
"Fantastic! That's a brilliant idea!"
Duan Lengyan moved on with her blueprint.
"As long as we get the hold of Ba Ling, we'll have a bargaining chip to realize our cooperation with Adoger. We can use her to force Ba Luge to abdicate. I'm sure Adoger won't let go of this golden opportunity."