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

"Now that Miss Lin has proven her worth, there is naturally a place for you in Black Wind Mountain."

Outside the screen, the incomparably handsome young man smiled slightly, like a gentle spring breeze. He beckoned, and immediately a trusted subordinate stepped forward.

"Take Miss Lin and her entourage down to rest, and set aside a quiet, secluded courtyard for her in the back of the mountain."

Starting tomorrow, Miss Lin will be in charge of managing 30% of the accounts on the western side of the stronghold.

The young man made arrangements swiftly and decisively, giving Lin Wan'er room to showcase her talents without handing over all the core secrets at once, striking a perfect balance between testing and giving her important responsibilities.

"Thank you for taking me in, young master."

Lin Wan'er nodded slightly and performed a flawless, well-mannered greeting.

He then led Qin Hao and the others, disguised as guards, out of the council hall with the subordinate.

After several twists and turns, the group was led to a secluded and elegant courtyard in the back of the mountain.

After explaining the daily rules, the subordinate turned and left.

"Creak—"

The courtyard gate was tightly closed.

The moment the courtyard gate closed, Lin Wan'er, who had been putting on airs of a wealthy young lady just a second ago, instantly dropped her pretense.

She strode up to Qin Hao, and without saying a word, bowed deeply with utmost respect, her tone filled with apology and fear:

"Commander, just now, in order to make the act more convincing, I had to trouble you to pretend to be my attendant. It was an expedient measure by Wan'er, and I apologize for any offense caused!"

Seeing Lin Wan'er's nervous appearance, Qin Hao waved his hand dismissively, walked to the stone table, sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and chuckled:

"Alright, enough with the formalities."

Warfare is based on deception. In order to find out the enemy's secrets, I've done anything, from pretending to be a follower to even pretending to be a beggar.

"If you hadn't acted like a master just now, how could we have infiltrated the inner circle of this bandit's den so smoothly?"

Qin Hao took a sip of tea, and his eyes instantly sharpened. He put down his teacup and looked at the scouts around him who were also disguised as servants.

"Brothers, we've got a job."

Qin Hao lowered his voice, but his tone still carried an undeniable air of command authority:

"Now that we have entered the village with the legitimate identity of 'accountant's servants,' our movements here will not arouse much suspicion."

"You lot, get out there right now! Go to the kitchen, the stables, and all the places where the low-level thugs gather. Get as much information as you can out of them!"

"I don't care what methods you use, I need to know how many soldiers and how much food this village has before nightfall, and... who that pretty boy's owner really is!"

"Yes, sir!"

Several of the most astute scouts in the Crimson Flame Army received the order, immediately put on honest and curious faces, and slipped out of the courtyard in different directions.

……

As it turns out, Qin Hao's decision was extremely accurate.

Although the bandit stronghold of 10,000 men was heavily fortified on the outside, the lower classes inside were relatively lax.

In particular, Qin Hao and his group were their own people, personally approved and allowed in by a high-ranking "nobleman," which made the lower-ranking soldiers in the village almost completely unguarded against them.

The scouts thrived in the village by offering tobacco, helping with chores, and even pretending to be clueless and chatting casually.

Several hours later.

As dusk fell, the scouts who had gone out to gather intelligence gradually returned to the courtyard.

Qin Hao sat inside the room, lit an oil lamp, and held a brush in his hand. He recorded the fragmented information brought back by the scouts on paper one by one, and began to quickly piece it together and analyze it.

"My lord, I have found out!"

The troops in Black Wind Mountain do indeed number over ten thousand, and they are divided into four battalions: front, rear, left, and right, forming a complete military formation!

Their armory was filled with the finest iron-forged weapons of the Great Yan Kingdom!

"My lord, I managed to get some information out of the stables."

Every month, they would send a secret caravan, ostensibly to sell furs, to the border of the Great Yan, but in reality, they would bring back military supplies!

As Qin Hao listened to these reports, he nodded and quickly took notes on the paper.

This intelligence confirmed his earlier suspicions that it was indeed a private army with ulterior motives.

Just then, the captain of the scout squad walked in, his expression extremely strange, even carrying a sense of unbelievable absurdity.

"Sir... I was trying to get close to a drunken veteran in the kitchen and overheard a very confidential rumor!"

"Oh? What rumor?" Qin Hao didn't even look up, continuing to write.

The scout captain swallowed hard, lowering his voice as if afraid of being overheard:

"That old soldier let slip when he was drunk... He said that the real master of Black Wind Mountain has the blood of the Great Qian royal family flowing through his veins!"

Moreover, he wasn't just any ordinary member of the royal family; he was the former crown prince who was assassinated during a palace coup years ago!

"Clatter."

Qin Hao's brush suddenly stopped in mid-air, and a drop of thick ink fell onto the rice paper, spreading out.

"You mean... this bandit leader who turned to outlaws and engaged in smuggling is actually the legitimate former crown prince of the Great Qian Kingdom?!"

Qin Hao raised his head, a look of extreme astonishment flashing in his eyes, but then that astonishment turned into an absurd, bitter smile of "I see."

"How should I put it..."

Qin Hao put down his brush, rubbed his forehead with one hand, and mentally ranted:

"This is fucking...it really fits the formula of female-oriented novels!"

The Crown Prince of the mighty Great Qian Empire, the first in line to the throne!

After surviving a dramatic palace coup, he escaped to the frontier under an assumed name.

Instead of contacting his old subordinates or loyal ministers, he went into the deep mountains and forests to become a bandit leader and even had to do smuggling with enemy countries to support his men.

"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! This is outrageous beyond belief!"

Qin Hao couldn't help but laugh and curse inwardly.

How could a grandson of the emperor, who had received a proper imperial education, end up becoming a bandit king?

Only in female-oriented fiction, which completely disregards basic principles and focuses solely on creating a sense of "identity contrast" and "deeply tragic love," would such absurd and ridiculous settings appear.

however.

Despite his complaints, once Qin Hao understood the political logic behind it, his eyes instantly became incredibly sharp, like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.

"A former crown prince who wants to restore the throne and commands tens of thousands of elite private troops?"

Qin Hao stood up, looking out the window at the night view of the layered peaks of Black Wind Mountain, a chillingly fanatical smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"This is simply a wonderful gift from God!"

His banner was "Upholding Heaven's Will and Pacifying the Rebellion," and he was worried that he didn't have a political bargaining chip heavy enough to punish that brain-dead empress.

Now, a living, breathing "legitimate successor" is right in front of us!

"Since it's a female-oriented world, this Crown Prince is probably a love-obsessed person who would die for love."

Qin Hao clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

"As long as I have this kid under my control, I can use him as a puppet ruler to command the other lords and rightfully annex his stronghold!"