Ning Chen canoodled with the woman emperor for a while, then left!

The woman emperor was pregnant, only a little over two months along, and the baby wasn't settled yet, so naturally there could be no attending the bedchamber... No—Ning Chen didn't dare attend it.

He went back to the Ning'an Army's camp.

Ning Chen caught a little sleep without undressing.

At first light, he set out with his army.

The grasslands were withered and yellow!

It was winter now, but there had been no snow yet, so the army moved fast!

Half a month went by in a flash.

Ning Chen and his army were closing in on the Tuoluo Kingdom's Imperial Court!

Ning Chen had burned the old Imperial Court to the ground.

Now they had built a new one on the same site.

Which was to say, a great sprawl of ragged felt tents.

In truth the grasslands had rich water and pasture. If the Tuoluo people had just herded their flocks honestly and traded livestock to the Great Xuan or the Wu Kingdom for grain, they could have lived very well.

But these bastards were lazy gluttons, wild and untamable. All they liked was raiding everywhere and getting something for nothing.

Born savages, like a born bad seed: what's in the bone is hard to change!

The Tuoluo Kingdom had been living pretty well lately.

The King of the Right Court had looted the granaries at Beilin Pass, so this year the Tuoluo Kingdom would have a fat winter.

The Great Khan was so pleased he slept with the wives of two of his ministers... The two ministers were pleased too, because in compensation the Great Khan gave each of them one of his consorts.

The Tuoluo people were all uncivilized savages. Passing women back and forth was perfectly normal.

A woman usually passed down through three generations.

When the father died, his women belonged to the son. When the son died, they belonged to the grandson. When the grandson died... er, the women didn't live that long.

In the Tuoluo Kingdom, women were as lowly…