The Prodigal Son

Beiqi, Dongdu, Dapancheng.

"Clang clang..."

Empress Murong, deep within the palace, is engaged in a fierce battle with an eighth-realm expert.

Amidst flashes of sharp blades, two figures clashed repeatedly, occasionally accompanied by the sounds of fists and feet colliding.

Although Empress Murong was often busy with political affairs, her martial arts skills never declined.

She displayed exceptional martial arts talent from a young age.

Empress Murong, who was only twenty-six years old, was already an expert at the eighth level.

Even within the entire Northern Qi, she was considered an exceptionally talented individual.

If she had devoted herself to studying martial arts, she would probably be a master of the ninth level by now.

Bang!

After kicking her sparring partner, an eighth-realm expert, back several meters, Empress Murong's expression suddenly turned cold, and she roared, "Show me your true strength! I don't need your mercy!"

How could she not see that the eighth-level expert who was sparring with her was deliberately letting her win?

Her original intention was to improve her strength through combat, and if her opponent went easy on her, the battle would lose its meaning.

"Your Majesty, I truly did my utmost."

The sparring partner rubbed his aching chest, feeling secretly frustrated.

What if he were to hurt Empress Murong if he really went all out?

Although Empress Murong had said she wouldn't pursue the matter even if she was injured, swords have no eyes after all!

He didn't deliberately hold back, but he was afraid of hurting Empress Murong, so he couldn't help but be hesitant.

Empress Murong, on the other hand, can go all out.

Under these circumstances, it is understandable that he was no match for Empress Murong.

"Again!"

Empress Murong gripped her weapon tightly and assumed a fighting stance once more.

Just then, a female official trotted forward, "Your Majesty, Lord Fu Jiu has urgent business and requests an audience!"

Hearing the female official's words, Empress Murong felt a chill and immediately turned to walk out of the martial arts arena.

Upon seeing this, the eighth-level expert who was sparring with him breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, Empress Murong met Fu Jiu.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Fu Jiu quickly presented the top-secret intelligence he had just received.

Upon reading the contents of the intelligence report, a cold glint flashed in Empress Murong's eyes.

Qin Yu!

This plan for a war of attrition was proposed by that scoundrel Qin Yu!

She knew that this scoundrel would become a major threat to Bei Qi sooner or later!

The mere thought of Qin Yu filled Empress Murong with rage.

When she received the news that Qin Yu had been ordered to rectify the salt administration, she wanted to take the opportunity to launch a strike against Daning.

However, Xiao Yangguang and Han Cizhang advised her not to act rashly and to wait until Da Ning was in chaos due to Qin Yu's reorganization of the salt administration before making any further plans.

As a result, Da Ning was indeed thrown into chaos, but that chaos was not enough to affect the battle situation at the front.

Now it's Qin Yu again who's instigating Zhao Luan to wage a war of attrition against Bei Qi!

This truly struck at Bei Qi's weak point!

Da Ning can afford to wait, but Bei Qi can't!

If a war of attrition were to rage for several years, the land of Beiqi would inevitably be littered with corpses of the starving.

Fortunately, Daning currently only plans to wage a war of attrition for the first six months.

snort!

A war of attrition?

Even if Da Ning is willing to wage a war of attrition, they still have to ask Bei Qi if they are willing to go through the same thing!

They want to stall, but I'm not going to stall with them!

Once the opportunity arises, I can not only wipe out their forces, but also have a chance to reclaim Zhenzhou!

You want to fight, huh?

I will fight to the bitter end!

Empress Murong clenched her fist and ordered in a deep voice, "Summon the two prime ministers, the civil and military ministers, and several high-ranking officials to come for a meeting!"

"yes!"

The eunuch quickly obeyed and left.

After putting away the secret report, Empress Murong looked up at Fu Jiu and asked, "So, your people have successfully infiltrated Qin Yu's inner circle?"

Fu Jiu nodded slightly: "It's almost done, but it still needs a little more work."

Jiang Ci's mission of infiltration will only be considered successful once Qin Yu formally takes her into his household.

Empress Murong lowered her brows and pondered for a moment before asking, "In this battle against Da Ning, Qin Yu will most likely lead the troops into battle. Is it possible to have Jiang Ci accompany the army?"

"That might be a bit difficult!"

Fu Jiu frowned and said, "According to the intelligence we've received, Qin Yu only takes that witch named Nan Que'er with him whenever he leads troops or goes out on official business! Since he already has a woman by his side, he shouldn't bring a second one..."

Moreover, according to the intelligence they obtained, Qin Yu brought Nan Que'er with him not so that she could warm his bed, but because Nan Que'er was a skilled doctor.

Nan Que'er stayed by Qin Yu's side in order to save his life at a crucial moment!

It was necessary for him to bring Nan Que'er along.

However, Jiang Ci's martial arts skills were mediocre, and she had no medical skills.

What is Qin Yu doing with her?

Empress Murong thought about it and realized that it made sense.

Pity!

She also hoped that Jiang Ci would stay by Qin Yu's side and provide them with intelligence when the battle entered a critical stage, so that they could defeat Da Ning in one fell swoop.

After weighing the options, a cold glint flashed across Empress Murong's face. "If a suitable opportunity arises, have her poison Qin Yu!"

Fu Jiu raised her eyes slightly: "Once she poisons Qin Yu, this pawn will be exposed."

"So what if I'm exposed?"

Empress Murong remained unconcerned. "The initial purpose of placing her by Qin Yu's side was to find an opportunity to eliminate that scoundrel Qin Yu! Since she can't provide any intelligence value on the battlefield, killing Qin Yu would be extremely beneficial to us!"

Although she hated Qin Yu to the core, she had to admit that Qin Yu was indeed quite capable!

Qin Yu is a talented commander. Once he matures, he will surely become a formidable enemy of Bei Qi!

Being able to nip it in the bud can be considered as eliminating a formidable enemy for Bei Qi!

Moreover, Qin Yu is Qin Fumeng's only grandson!

If Beiqi and Daning go to war again, and Qin Yu dies first, Qin Fumeng, who is guarding the north, will surely go mad.

A commander who is enraged and insane will inevitably make wrong decisions on the battlefield!

This is also a rare opportunity for Bei Qi!

If we can achieve another breakthrough victory on the Shuozhou battlefield, it is not impossible for Beiqi to recover all its lost territories!

Qin Yu's death brings so many benefits to Bei Qi, so why not get rid of him?

After listening to Empress Murong's analysis, Fu Jiu nodded secretly, "Your Majesty is absolutely right! However, it won't be so easy for Jiang Ci to poison Qin Yu. I'm afraid that if she fails to poison Qin Yu, she might also expose herself, thus rendering all our previous efforts futile!"

Killing Qin Yu would certainly be a good thing!

Given Jiang Ci's current relationship with Qin Yu, it would indeed be quite difficult for her to poison him.

Moreover, Qin Yu also had Nan Que'er by his side.

He had received intelligence that Nan Que'er's medical skills were extremely impressive.

Previously, someone attempted to assassinate Qin Yu but failed and took a deadly poison that would kill instantly, but Nan Que'er saved one of them.

They went to great lengths to barely manage to place someone next to Qin Yu, and it would be such a waste if they were easily exposed.

"I didn't say I wanted to act immediately!"

A cold glint flashed in Empress Murong's eyes. "If there's an opportunity, poison them; if not, continue to lie in wait!"

Of course she knew that poisoning Qin Yu wouldn't be that easy.

However, whether it's easy or not is one thing, and whether you need to plan ahead is another.

"yes!"

Since things had come to this point, Fu Jiu said no more...