His entire family perished in battle; he rose from the ashes to conquer the world.

Enter the Gao family mansion.

Inside, there were guards every three steps and sentries every five steps, and you could often see patrol teams of several people passing by.

The entire mansion resembled a military fortress, heavily guarded.

"Chief Gao, your mansion is truly like an impregnable fortress; it is indeed a rare sight."

If Mu Yuan hadn't been there in person, he wouldn't have known that the Gao family mansion contained such a hidden world.

Even the Gao family alone has such a large scale.

What about the other local forces?

Thinking of this, Mu Yuan couldn't help but sigh, realizing that the methods used by the Mu family's ancestors were too lenient back then.

Even today.

These local forces have grown wildly.

They have already threatened the Mu family, and even dare to use underhanded tactics against them.

Walk through the corridor and courtyard.

Mu Yuan and his group arrived at the mansion's main hall.

By this time, it was completely dark.

The room was brightly lit, and a dozen young girls dressed as maids were guarding a huge round dining table, which was laden with all kinds of delicious food.

"General, General Qin, please take your seats."

Gao Song warmly invited the two to sit down, and said with a smile, "I have prepared a simple meal and wine, and I hope you two will not find it offensive."

"Chief Gao is too modest." Mu Yuan pointed to the dishes on the table: "This steamed bear paw is so big, it must have taken a lot of manpower to make it. And this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, the abalone inside was transported all the way from the coast..."

Sensing the reproach in Mu Yuan's words for wasting manpower and resources just for a bite to eat, Gao Song quickly interrupted with a smile:

"General, since you and General Qin have graced us with your presence, I must offer you some fine gifts to show my hospitality."

Gao Song was a shrewd man; he could cover up any bad deeds with just a few words.

Mu Yuan was too lazy to argue with him about this kind of thing.

"Clan Chief Gao, where is your eldest son?"

Upon hearing Mu Yuan mention his son, Gao Song's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and said:

"My good-for-nothing son is never home; I wonder where he's fooling around right now. General, has he offended you by coming here today?"

At this point, Gao Song became extremely angry:

"That unfilial son of his is always causing trouble outside. I'll skin him alive!"

Gao Song adopted the demeanor of a strict father, but his behavior and attitude did not affect Mu Yuan.

On the contrary, Mu Yuan felt that Gao Song exuded a hypocritical air.

Seeing that Mu Yuan remained silent, Gao Song realized something was amiss, his brow twitched slightly, and his expression immediately changed. He roared menacingly at the maid beside him:

"Go to the east wing and see if the young master is there. If he is, tell him to get over here right now!"

Faced with Gao Song's anger, the maid dared not delay and rushed to the east wing to invite the eldest young master of the Gao family.

"My lord, if my rebellious son has truly offended you, rest assured, I will not protect him."

Gao Song adopted a businesslike demeanor and took the opportunity to bring up the past relationship between the two families: "If it weren't for the mercy shown by the Mu family's ancestor, my Gao family probably wouldn't have the status we have today."

These words struck Mu Yuan as grating.

While seemingly discussing the past relationship between the two families, a closer look reveals a hint of sarcasm.

It should be noted that the ancestors of the Mu family were ordered by the Great Qian Emperor to not only guard the southwest but also to quell the local separatist forces in the southwest and completely stabilize the situation in the southwest.

Before the Mu family ancestors arrived in the southwest, the local separatist forces were all local tyrants.

Because of the arrival of the Mu family ancestor.

These local separatist forces that stubbornly resisted were all wiped out, while the rest surrendered and were incorporated into the Western Army, becoming part of it.

Over several generations, the local forces that had previously submitted to the Western Army seemed to have tacitly broken away one after another.

Now Gao Song is mentioning things from the past.

They were subtly expressing their dissatisfaction with the Mu family.

"Father, you were looking for me."

Just then, a cynical voice came from outside.

next moment.

A young man walked in, his arm around a maid.

The young man acted frivolously, his face full of wicked smiles, and the maid in his arms was the same maid who had just left.

"presumptuous!!!!"

Gao Song slammed his hand on the table and roared, "You unfilial son, you have no manners whatsoever!"

The eldest son of the Gao family was startled by Gao Song's sudden reprimand and then realized that there were other people present besides Gao Song.

"Father, who are these two?"

While questioning Gao Song, the eldest son of the Gao family glanced at Mu Yuan and Qin Hongxiu, and when he saw Qin Hongxiu, the greed in his eyes was undisguised.

Gao Song said sternly:

"Are you blind? You can't recognize a great man! This is Mu Yuan, the current commander-in-chief of the Western Army, and next to him is Qin Hongxiu, General Qin, who is also Mu's sister-in-law!"

While seemingly scolding her son for being blind to good taste, she was actually reminding him to be mindful of his behavior.

as predicted.

The eldest son of the Gao family instantly abandoned his carefree attitude and even pushed the maid in his arms away.

"Gao Yan greets the Commander-in-Chief and General Qin."

Seeing Gao Yan's attitude change so quickly, Mu Yuan couldn't help but feel suspicious.

He learned from Miao Furen that Gao Yan was the one who was secretly causing trouble, and now that Gao Yan had met him, he did not recognize him.

It's really puzzling.

At this moment, Gao Yan secretly glanced at his father, Gao Song.

He recently learned from his father that the Mu family had suffered a major change.

All the male members of the Mu family.

Only one heir remained.

His father, Gao Song, also told him that the imperial court had sent Prince Ning to the Mu family with the intention of seizing military power in the Western Prefecture from them.

Thinking back over the years, even though the Gao family had broken away from the Western Army, they were still constantly suppressed by the Mu family.

Gao Yan then gave his father an idea.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Mu family was being suppressed by the imperial court and had no time to attend to other matters, he approached some of his old acquaintances in the Western Army and had them stir up internal conflicts within the Western Army to further undermine its morale.

This led the Mu family to believe that it was the work of the imperial court.

This led to a conflict between the two sides.

Then the Gao family remained calm and watched the two sides fight it out, ultimately benefiting the Gao family.

"Why is he here? Has the plan been exposed?"

Gao Yan, who had never met Mu Yuan before, was filled with apprehension upon seeing Mu Yuan's arrival and kept giving his father, Gao Song, meaningful glances.

Gao Song, however, remained calm.

"General, my unfilial son has been unruly and has a wild personality since childhood. Please forgive him for what happened just now."

With just a few words, Gao Song transformed his son Gao Yan's frivolous and rude behavior into a character flaw.

Mu Yuan had no interest in arguing with Gao Song. He looked at Gao Yan and casually asked, "Gao Yan, have you left Diancheng these past few days?"

Faced with Mu Yuan's questioning, Gao Yan's face stiffened, his eyes darted away, and he immediately became guilty.

"The commander-in-chief is asking you a question, so just tell the truth." Gao Song's expression was playful, and he added, "This is your own home, what's there to be reserved about?"