The imperial court is ceding territory from our northern border? Then we'll rebel!

The soldiers erupted in thunderous cheers.

"Lord Marquis, you are mighty!"

"Invincible in the North!"

They watched Xiao Jingchen's retreating figure, their eyes filled with fervent adoration.

That night was so exciting!

From the initial surprise of opening the city gates, to the surprise attack of burning the granaries, and finally the desperate counterattack.

They followed their lord and, with a mere tens of thousands of soldiers, defeated the vanguard of an army that was said to number 300,000.

This exhilarating victory was something they never dared to dream of before.

Lei Lie excitedly ran up to Xiao Jingchen, carrying a bloody head of a barbarian general.

"My lord! A great victory! We've really stirred up a hornet's nest this time!" He was so excited his face was flushed, and he was almost incoherent. "That bastard Ashina Sun, he's probably scared the crap out of his pants! Let's see if they dare to bare their teeth under the walls of Shuobei City again!"

However, Xiao Jingchen's face did not show much joy.

He gazed intently at the Allied camp in the distance, where black smoke was still billowing.

"It's too early to be happy," he said calmly. "This battle has only just begun."

Lei Lie's smile froze: "My lord, what do you mean? We've already won!"

"We won?" Xiao Jingchen shook his head. "We only won a part of the battle, not the whole war. We burned their supplies and killed their vanguard, but the foundation of the three-race alliance remains."

"Ashina Sun has fled, but he still has over 200,000 troops under his command. Once they recover and regroup, their next attack will only be more ferocious."

Xiao Jingchen's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's excited minds.

Yes.

They won, but it was a lucky and thrilling victory.

The enemy's numerical advantage remains a huge burden on their minds.

"Moreover..." Xiao Jingchen turned his gaze southward, towards the capital, "our real enemies are not just those outside the city."

Lei Lie followed his gaze and his heart skipped a beat.

He remembered the imperial edict to "reduce the power of the feudal lords" that was still on its way.

He recalled the military supervisor Wang Delu, whose neck was snapped by the Marquis himself.

They won the battle, but in the Empress's eyes, this was probably not a merit, but a greater sin.

A general who is disobedient but still wins battles keeps the emperor up at night more than a useless general.

"My lord, what should we do now?" Lei Lie's excitement vanished completely, replaced by a solemn expression.

"Back to the city." Xiao Jingchen turned his horse around. "A battle must be fought step by step. A meal must be eaten bite by bite. Let's get the present matter done first."

"Send word to bring all the prisoners we've captured to the council chamber. I want to interrogate them myself."

……

When the first rays of morning sunlight illuminate the mottled city walls of Shuobei City.

The soldiers who went to war returned in triumph, covered in blood and glory.

The people of the city spontaneously poured into the streets. They looked at the familiar, young faces and at the countless spoils and prisoners they had brought back, and erupted in thunderous cheers.

They had no idea what a thrilling battle had taken place the previous night.

All they knew was that the Marquis of Zhenbei had won again.

Shuobei City is safe.

Xiao Jingchen rode his horse through the cheering crowd, his face still expressionless.

He could feel the support of the people.

But this did not allow him to relax in the slightest.

He knew that from the moment he killed Wang Delu and defied the imperial order to send troops, he had no way out.

He is now holding up the entire northern Xinjiang region, walking a tightrope on a cliff.

One wrong step and you're doomed.

The council hall of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence.

The bloodstains from last night have been cleaned up, but there seems to be a faint, lingering sweet smell in the air.

A dozen or so barbarian prisoners, bound hand and foot, were roughly shoved in and forced to kneel on the ground.

Among these people were ordinary soldiers, as well as a few officers who appeared to be minor leaders.

They were all bruised and battered, their eyes filled with fear and unease, but a few others stood tall, their necks stiff with defiance.

Xiao Jingchen sat on the tiger-skin chair in the main seat, holding a clean cloth in his hand, slowly wiping his horizontal sword that had just drunk its fill of blood.

He didn't speak, and the council chamber was eerily quiet.

The only sound was the "shh" of a blade cutting through cloth.

This oppressive silence is more chilling than any form of torture.

A barbarian officer who looked like a centurion, seemingly unable to endure the torture, shouted with his neck stiff:

"Kill me if you want, torture me if you want! Don't even think about getting a single word out of me!"

Xiao Jingchen stopped wiping his knife.

He raised his eyelids and glanced at the officer.

"What's your name?"

The officer paused for a moment, seemingly not expecting him to ask that question.

"My name is Batu!" he said, head held high, a look of pride on his face.

"Okay, Batu." Xiao Jingchen nodded. "I'll remember you."

He slowly sheathed the cleaned knife, making a crisp "click" sound.

Then he said to his personal guards, "Drag him out and behead him."

"yes!"

Two bodyguards immediately stepped forward, grabbed the officer named Batu, and dragged him outside.

Batu was stunned.

He thought the other party would use threats and inducements, and would use all sorts of means to pry him open his mouth.

He had even thought of his lines for how he would bravely face death.

But the other party didn't ask him anything, and just wanted to kill him directly?

"Hey! What are you doing! I..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was dragged out of the council chamber.

Soon, a short, painful scream came from outside.

Then everything returned to calm.

The dozen or so prisoners remaining in the council chamber were terrified, their faces pale and their bodies trembling like leaves.

They then realized that the man in front of them did not play by the rules at all.

He doesn't want to interrogate.

He was playing a game that would determine their lives.

Xiao Jingchen's gaze fell on the second prisoner.

The soldier looked very young, but he was so scared he was about to wet himself.

"You, come here." Xiao Jingchen beckoned.

The young soldier scrambled over.

"Lord...Lord, spare me! Spare me!" He kept kowtowing until his forehead was bleeding.

"I'll ask, you answer." Xiao Jingchen's voice remained calm. "If you answer to my satisfaction, you'll live. If you answer poorly, or if you lie, you'll suffer the same fate as that person just now."

"Yes, yes, yes! I will certainly tell you everything I know!"

"First question," Xiao Jingchen leaned forward slightly, staring into his eyes, "How was Wei Yong's army ambushed in Broken Soul Valley?"

"Even a million-strong army, if it were a million pigs, couldn't have been defeated so quickly and so miserably."

"Did you know their marching route in advance?"