I'm letting you win over the female lead, not conquering cities and territories!

The army set up camp in the dense forest. Qin Hao ordered the entire army to remain hidden and seize the time to make fires, cook meals, and rest.

After the camp was completely settled, Qin Hao did not idle around.

He took off his conspicuous centurion's armor and put on a coarse linen outfit that his scouts had found.

After a brief disguise, he and two clever scouts dressed similarly quietly slipped out of the forest and headed straight for Qingmu Pass, thirty miles away.

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

Now that he had decided to take over the city, he had to personally investigate its defenses.

……

The sun is high in the sky, outside Qingmu Pass.

Qin Hao and two scouts squatted in front of a tea stall by the official road outside the city, drinking coarse tea while discreetly observing the fortified city not far away.

Qingmu Pass is indeed not large; the city wall is only a little over ten feet high and has a weathered grayish-brown color.

There weren't many ordinary people living in the city; most of them were family members of the garrison troops.

However, because it was located at the border of Daqian and Dayan, it naturally became a small commercial transit station.

"Sir, the defenses at Qingmu Pass seem much tighter than we imagined," a scout said in a low voice, his brow furrowed.

Qin Hao noticed it too.

Two rows of city guards stood at the city gate, each holding a long spear, and the inspection was extremely strict.

The goods of the passing caravans were thoroughly examined, and even the customs documents were repeatedly checked.

Even more critically, after observing for half an hour, Qin Hao discovered that the guards seemed to only allow passage to caravans and crew members that they "recognized".

Any unfamiliar face, regardless of how complete their credentials, was rudely barred from entering the city.

Even the caravan's servants were not allowed to step into the city gates; they could only trade in the market outside the city.

This crude method of "recognizing only familiar faces and not people" is surprisingly effective in preventing espionage and infiltration.

"The defense is indeed very tight."

Qin Hao took a sip of coarse tea, but a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"But under the management of a brain-dead general, even the most solid defense will become a leaky sieve."

During the half hour he spent staking out the tea stall, Qin Hao, by chatting with the porters and farmers resting nearby, had thoroughly investigated the background of the garrison commander, Zhao De.

This General Zhao is simply the most typical "domineering and doting husband" male supporting character in female-oriented romance novels!

As the commander of a city, instead of protecting the territory and its people, he arbitrarily misappropriated and exploited the soldiers' salaries to buy lychees at exorbitant prices simply because his newlywed wife said she wanted to eat fresh lychees from Lingnan.

Even more outrageous, in order to ensure the freshness of the lychees, he actually abused his power for personal gain, turning the "800-li express" relay station, which was used by the state to transmit urgent military information, into his wife's private fruit delivery line!

In any normal world, an idiot who dares to use a military post station as a courier would have his head chopped off and hung on the city gate tower long ago.

But in this world, General Zhao is not only alive and well, but he is even smug about his "deeply affectionate persona".

"Sir, if even unfamiliar faces can't get in, how are our brothers going to sneak in and seize the city gate?" the scout asked, somewhat worried.

"Who says unfamiliar faces can't get in?"

Qin Hao looked with amusement at an official road to the south.

"Zhao De's brain-dead behavior has given us an opportunity to exploit."

It turns out that the military post system of the Great Qian Dynasty was a relay system.

From Lingnan to Qingmuguan in the northern frontier, it is a distance of thousands of miles. Along the way, one has to pass through countless post stations and change countless fast horses and postmen.

This is why the couriers who eventually delivered the lychees to Qingmu Pass were often soldiers from the nearest out-of-town post stations.

To the garrison at Qingmu Pass, these couriers were all unfamiliar faces.

As long as they were dressed as couriers, carrying food boxes filled with ice and lychees, and not carrying any large weapons.

The guards at Qingmu Pass not only wouldn't check these unfamiliar faces, but would even fawn over them and let them pass immediately, for fear of spoiling the general's wife's appetite!

The only requirement was that these out-of-town couriers, after delivering the goods and receiving their reward, had to leave the city within a day.

"This is the key to our breach of the city."

Qin Hao stood up, tossed down a few copper coins, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes:

"According to the porters, the lychees are delivered every five days. Judging by the days, the next batch of lychees will arrive in the next two days at the latest."

The official road from the south to Qingmu Pass has a section that runs right next to the forest where we're hiding!

The scout instantly realized what was happening, his eyes lighting up:

"Does the master mean...we should just wait and see?!"

"That's right. We intercepted the lychee, peeled off its skin, took its identity, and swaggered in!"

As for what to do after Qin Hao sneaks into the city alone? Need I say more?

In the past, Qin Hao might have been wary of the hundreds of soldiers guarding the city.

But ever since he single-handedly tore apart the heavy barricades weighing several hundred kilograms last night, he has gained a completely new understanding of the [Pure Yang Sacred Body] bestowed upon him by the system.

Without exaggeration, even without internal energy, he is still a veritable reincarnation of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu!

If given a chance to enter the city walls, he could snatch a weapon from any unlucky soul and instantly transform into a human meat grinder!

It would be incredibly easy to break through the city gate from the inside out and open the gate!

At that time, the city gates will be wide open, and three hundred elite cavalrymen of the Crimson Flame Army, hidden outside the city, will pour in. These mere five hundred demoralized city defense troops are not even enough to fill a gap between their teeth!

The plan has been finalized.

Qin Hao immediately returned to the forest camp with two scouts and began to deploy his troops.

He divided his three hundred soldiers into three groups and had them lie in ambush less than five miles outside Qingmu Pass, waiting for the city gates to open so that he could launch a thunderous attack.

Qin Hao himself led several skilled men to lie in ambush along the main road, quietly becoming seasoned hunters.

……

The wait wasn't too long.

It was only the afternoon of the second day.

"Clatter, clatter! Clatter, clatter!"

A rapid sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, breaking the tranquility of the official road.

"Urgent dispatch! Imperial post road, clear of all other travelers—!"

Accompanied by extremely arrogant roars, a soldier dressed in the uniform of a Daqian post stationman, riding a fine military horse with two exquisite ice mirrors wrapped in thick cotton quilts hanging on either side of the saddle, was galloping wildly towards Qingmu Pass, covered in sweat.

"They're here."

Qin Hao, lurking in the treetops, curled his lips into a smile, like a cheetah eyeing its prey.

Just as the fast horse was about to pass under the tree—

Qin Hao leaped into the air and landed on the horse's back with the precision of a meteorite!

He didn't even use a weapon; he simply extended his hand and swiftly struck the courier on the back of the neck.

"Well……"

The courier didn't even have time to scream before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Qin Hao grabbed the reins, his powerful strength forcing the galloping horse to a stop by the roadside.

The men who darted out of the bushes immediately rushed forward, stripped the unconscious courier naked, tied him up, and stuffed him into the woods.

Half an incense stick later.

Qin Hao had already changed into the sweaty uniform of a post station soldier and concealed his sword under the horse's belly.

He reached out and patted the two ice chests containing lychees on the saddle, letting out a cold laugh.

"General Zhao, your death warrant has arrived."

Qin Hao flicked the reins, spurred his horse, and rode alone towards the seemingly imposing city gate of Qingmu Pass, galloping swaggeringly!