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

The night was as dark as ink.

Outside Shuobei City, in the camp of the three-tribe allied forces, chaos reigned.

Countless barbarian soldiers were awakened from their sleep and, amidst the shouts and curses of their respective leaders, rallied in disarray.

They didn't know what had happened, only that the king had suddenly issued a death order to launch a general attack on Shuobei City after dawn.

Many people wore expressions of confusion and fear.

The shadow of the crushing defeat and the burning of supplies from the previous days had not yet faded, and the screams that came from the direction of the East Gate last night terrified them even more.

Everyone had a vague feeling that something big had happened.

Inside the Left Wise King's tent, the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Ashina Sun paced back and forth in the tent like a trapped beast. His once handsome face now looked ferocious due to extreme anger.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!"

The scholar from the Central Plains knelt on the ground, earnestly advising him.

"We've already fallen into Xiao Jingchen's trap. Morale is low, and supplies are running low. To launch a forced attack now would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock!"

"Calm down?" Ashina Sun whirled around and kicked him to the ground. "How can you expect me to calm down! My thousand wolf riders! My most elite wolf riders! They've died in the city just like that, without any explanation!"

"I must avenge this! I will personally twist Xiao Jingchen's head off!"

The scholar, kicked until he coughed up blood, struggled to his feet and continued, "Your Majesty, a gentleman's revenge is never too late! Xiao Jingchen is a cunning and scheming man. We underestimated him from the very beginning. From burning our provisions to sending someone impersonating the princess's envoy to lure us into killing Wei Yong, to tonight's trap... every step of the way, he has meticulously planned our moves!"

"He has undoubtedly laid a trap in the city, just waiting for us to walk into it and die! What we should do now is withdraw immediately, preserve our strength, return to the grasslands, and plan for the future!"

"Withdraw the troops?" Ashina Sun's eyes turned red when he heard these two words.

He grabbed the scholar by the collar, lifted him up, and roared, "I led an army of 100,000 south, lost nearly 30,000 brothers, and didn't even touch the walls of Shuobei City. Are we just going to slink back like this?"

"How will I, Ashina Sun, ever stand on the grasslands again? What will the other tribal kings think of me? They'll say I'm a coward who was terrified by the southerners! A disgrace to the grasslands!"

"I cannot retreat! I would rather die than retreat!"

He threw the scholar to the ground, his eyes filled with the madness of a gambler.

"I still have 70,000 troops! Xiao Jingchen's city has at most 30,000 to 50,000 men! I refuse to believe that I can't flatten his little Shuobei City with my own lives!"

Seeing Ashina Sun, who had completely lost his mind, the scholar's heart sank to the bottom.

He knew it was over.

The Left Wise King had been blinded by hatred and had completely turned into a gambler who only wanted to win back his losses.

A gambler who has lost everything will ultimately only end up losing everything.

……

Meanwhile, on the city tower of the east gate of Shuobei City.

The smell of blood was still strong, but the ground had been cleaned up.

Xiao Jingchen stood on the city wall, gazing at the barbarian camp outside the city, which was beginning to light up and bustle with activity.

"My lord, it seems Ashina Sun has gone mad and is ready to fight us to the death."

Black Crow stood behind him, his voice carrying a hint of coldness.

"It's normal for a cornered beast to fight back," Xiao Jingchen said calmly. "If he retreats now, it will be a disgrace and his prestige will be ruined. Fighting to the death might offer a glimmer of hope. If I were in his shoes, I would make the same choice."

"Then we..."

"Pass down the order," Xiao Jingchen interrupted him, "Let the soldiers guarding the city take turns resting and eating and drinking their fill. Prepare a full supply of all the city's defensive equipment, rolling stones, logs, and molten gold."

"Tell the brothers that there will be a tough battle after dawn."

"Tell them to prepare themselves to keep these reckless wolf cubs forever beneath the walls of Shuobei City!"

"Yes!" Black Crow accepted the order and left.

Xiao Jingchen stood on the city wall for a while longer before turning around and walking down the wall.

He did not return to the Marquis's residence, but went straight to the city's prison.

Deep inside the prison, in a relatively clean cell.

The captain in charge of opening the city gates was imprisoned together with Wang Ergou and the others who had been arrested earlier.

The atmosphere was deathly silent.

The captain slumped in the corner, his eyes vacant, muttering repeatedly, "My family... is finished..."

Wang Ergou and the others looked at him with complicated expressions.

They had previously believed that they were a disgrace to the Northern Frontier Army, traitors.

But last night, when they were brought out of prison and witnessed firsthand how the Marquis used this new "traitor" to lure a thousand elite barbarian troops into the city, and then trapped them and beat them, they were all stunned.

So... it can be done like this?

It turns out that their "betrayal" was also part of the Marquis's plan?

This feeling made them both ashamed and indescribably shocked.

Just then, the cell door was opened.

Xiao Jingchen entered, escorted by a group of guards.

Everyone in the cell, including the distraught captain, suddenly stood up and stared at him nervously.

"Lord...Lord..." Wang Ergou stammered.

Xiao Jingchen's gaze fell directly on the captain.

"What's your name?"

"Your humble servant... Your humble servant is Sun Xiang..." The captain's voice trembled.

"Are your family members being controlled by the Imperial City Guard?" Xiao Jingchen asked again.

Sun Xiang trembled, tears streaming down his face. He knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, "My lord, spare me! My lord, spare me! I was forced into this! If I don't obey, my whole family will... sob sob sob..."

"Get up." Xiao Jingchen's voice was devoid of emotion.

Sun Xiang dared not disobey and stood up tremblingly.

"Do you think that by opening the city gates, letting the barbarians in, and killing me, your family will live?" Xiao Jingchen looked at him and asked coldly.

Sun Xiang was stunned.

"You're too naive," Xiao Jingchen continued. "To the princess and the empress, you and your family are just pawns. Once it's all done, the first thing they'll do to cover up the scandal of colluding with foreign enemies is to kill your entire family to silence them. Because only the dead can keep secrets forever."

"You are nothing more than a knife they used to get rid of me. Once the knife is used up, it will naturally be destroyed."

Sun Xiangru was struck by lightning; his face instantly turned paler than a dead man's.

He had only thought that obeying orders would save his family, but he never considered what would happen afterward.

Now that Xiao Jingchen had seen through him, he realized with horror that he had no way out from beginning to end!

Regardless of victory or defeat, he and his family are destined to be victims!

"No...no way...Princess, she..." He was still deceiving himself.

"Your Highness?" Xiao Jingchen sneered. "She can't even protect herself now."

He ignored the completely devastated Sun Xiang and turned to look at Wang Ergou and the others.

"You are the same."

"Do you really think that by passing on intelligence to the Imperial City Guard, you can protect your families' safety?"

"Let me tell you, as long as your families are still in the capital, you will always be their puppets. They will make you do the first thing, and then they will make you do the second thing, until they have squeezed out all your usefulness, and then they will dispose of you and your families like garbage."