Ge Family
Even though Si Ning had not studied the map of Xiu but the little details he saw when they were planning for the route to take to the capital from the camp, Si Ning could vaguely guess how large Xiu Nation was. He might have no idea of how many provinces were under Xiu but he knew it had to be a large number and mostly when a war breaks out, it was mostly between a Nation and a small country which had a few states that the Nation would be able to conquer them without losing much in the battle and by following this pace, they would be able to expand their territory and soon be large enough to go to war with a larger Nation they had no alliance with, not on friendly terms or they had been eyeing for a long time.
Xiu and Xilie were a large Nation which made none of them be able to prevail over the years making the fight between them go on and on without coming to an end.
No matter from the angle Si Ning looked at it, Xilie could never win since they even lost three hundred thousand troops in the last war and the only way for them to win was to have an alliance with other Nations but Si Ning could guess Xilie and Xiu would have already made that approach and Xiu Zhicheng even married the daughter of the fifth Prince of Luoyang.
"How do you plan to achieve this?" Si Ning had to ask after considering different approaches and seeing both Xilie and Xiu failing.
Qiu Bai smirked like he was expecting the question. "By General Si Ning's help." He pointed out making it clear he was serious by wearing a serious and determined look.
"My. My help?" Si Ning almost stuttered. "Please elaborate." The reason why Qiu Bai came to see him finally clicked. He needed him to betray Xiu since he had a lot of military power in Xiu which means he had a lot of power in the Imperial court and for Qiu Bai's plan to be realist he needed him but what made Qiu Bai confident to come to him and told him with a look of being sure Si Ning would betray his Nation, that look was something Si Ning doesn't understand.
"Your mother is a citizen of Xilie, the Ge family had a lot of troops since the foundation of Xilie and she is the only daughter of the former Prime Minister of Xilie Ge Sumeng and when Ge Sumeng died, he left his two hundred thousand armies in the hands of his only daughter Ge Mengshu but one day Ge Mengshu left home to spy on Xiu Nation but she never came back." Qiu Bai told him. His eyes not leaving Si Ning once as he stared at him.
My mother, a spy?
"My mother a Spy?" Si Ning said his thoughts out loud.
Si Ning didn't for once thought about why he met his mother with Qiu Bai when he came to him. He disregarded it. After all, he thought it was just a normal occurrence since she had to come because he had delayed Qiu Bai for quite some time.
"Because of that, Ge Sumeng's half-brother Ge Liang took over the family but the army failed to mobilize unless the right successor commands them." Qiu Bai explained.
"Which is my mother." Si Ning stated, he never thought his mother would be someone that knows martial arts or be a citizen of Xilie.
"Ge Liang is ready to make your mother the successor and your mother will turn over the Ge family army to you and with all that you will find your place in the Ge family and thus you are one of us." Qiu Bai told him.
"And you want me to fight for Xilie." It was obvious what Qiu Bai wanted from him. Still, it doesn't explain why Si Ning would help him win the war with Xiu.
"I want you to join Xilie, take your place in the Ge family, and convince the Seigniors of Xiu to side with me."
"Why do you think I will help you?" Si Ning could see Qiu Bai as nothing but a mad man for wanting another war to break out.
"Because you want to be free from the shackles of the Emperor of Xiu." Qiu Bai said placing the teacup on the table. "In return, I will make you Governor of Dong and also give you my sister, the only Princess of Xilie or if you want you can be my first Consort when I ascend the throne, no matter how you look at it General Si Ning, you will gain a lot."
Si Ning knew it, he had always been destined for greatness. This was finally time for him to be filthy rich without working hard, it was time to finally grasp his dreams but looking at it wasn't he already rich? The purpose for wanting to be rich was to live a good life and make things right with his family but now things were right, he was rich, had servants, his family was doing well, and to top it all, he had a large number of troops.
Si Ning narrowed his eyes. He doesn't want to fight anymore and Qiu Bai spouting nonsense about him being in shackles of the Emperor was something he doesn't understand. Xiu Zhicheng wanted to make him his Consort and wasn't that the second benefit Qiu Bai gave him. Why do they see marrying an Emperor as an achievement?
Now with this deal, Si Ning knew if he agrees then he would be betraying his country and become the number one scum among the Xiu people. After weighing his options, Si Ning knew he was supposed to say he would think about it but that doesn't apply to this world and deep down he doesn't want to betray Xiu, the only choice he had left was to say the famous cliche movie lines.
Si Ning stood up. "I will not betray my Nation." He finally said those lines to Qiu Bai's face. He knew one day he would say the lines but he never thought the day would be near.
"I will not pressure you for a positive reply but I will send my messenger in three days and I hope by then I will get a positive reply." Qiu Bai stood up slowly and flipped his sleeves. "This is the dawn of a new era. I will have to take my leave first General Si Ning." He grabbed his hand fan on the table.
Si Ning stood there like a tree making no move to salute or see Qiu Bai out and without saying a word he watched Qiu Bai towering figure leaves, leaving him with a lot of things to think about.