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

Mu Yuan took a deep breath and said:

"Sister-in-law, you must be thinking that my public agreement to stop allocating military funds to the Western Army was a foolish move that hurt the enemy eight hundred while damaging ourselves a thousand?"

Qin Hongxiu did not refute, and chose to acquiesce.

Mu Yuan smiled faintly and continued, "If Ma Chengwu has a brilliant plan, do you think I don't have a way to get around it?"

Qin Hongxiu sensed the hidden meaning in his words, and upon seeing the smile on Mu Yuan's face, her delicate body trembled, and a bold guess immediately formed in her mind.

"What do you mean? Could it be...?"

"Regarding the military pay of the Western Army, our Mu family has always contributed 70%, while the imperial court has contributed 30%."

"Over the years, the military pay allocated by the imperial court to the Western Army has either been delayed for many days or insufficient in amount. Rather than dragging this out, we should go with the flow and use the cancellation of the imperial court's military pay as leverage to weaken the local forces!"

By simply canceling military pay, Mu Yuan weakened the power of local forces such as the Gao family and Soren.

These are all internal destabilizing factors.

Mu Yuan's move largely resolved the internal hidden dangers.

"Besides, after I took over the Western Army, I discussed it with my third sister-in-law in advance, and we used business to make up for the 30% of the military pay!" Mu Yuan smiled mysteriously.

Upon hearing this, Qin Hongxiu was stunned.

She never expected that Mu Yuan had taken precautions in advance.

Even Old Madam Mu, after learning that Mu Yuan had made preparations in advance, cast an appreciative look at her grandson.

"After all, 30% of military pay is no small amount. Can they make up for it?"

While Qin Hongxiu was pleasantly surprised, she was still somewhat worried.

Mu Yuan seemed to have anticipated Qin Hongxiu's question and patiently answered, "Sister-in-law, have you forgotten Third Sister-in-law's family background?"

Third sister-in-law Fang Yuyan comes from a wealthy merchant family and has a strong business acumen.

Moreover, Mu Yuan gave her the method to make refined salt.

Salt was a commodity controlled by the imperial court.

Things that are controlled often have huge profit margins.

The refined salt produced can double the profit.

If managed properly, with Fang Yuyan's business acumen, the 30% shortfall in military pay for the Western Army can be made up quickly.

At that time, the entire pay for the Western Army will come from the Mu family.

The imperial court wanted to cause trouble.

That would take a lot of effort.

"I believe in Third Sister-in-law's abilities, however, the business you're in is..."

Qin Hongxiu also believed in Fang Yuyan's business acumen, but what kind of business could make up for the huge sum of 30% of the military pay?

"Sister-in-law, since Yuan'er and Third Sister-in-law have already made preparations in advance, let's not ask any more questions."

Old Madam Mu clearly guessed something and immediately stopped Qin Hongxiu from asking any further questions.

He then said to Mu Yuan:

"Yuan'er, with you in charge of the Western Army, I can finally rest assured. However, you still need to be careful. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark."

"Grandma, I understand," Mu Yuan nodded in reply.

"Sister-in-law, Yuan'er is weak, so you should take good care of him in the future. This will also be a good opportunity for you to develop your relationship." Old Madam Mu looked at Qin Hongxiu. Now that Mu Yuan was the only male member left in the Mu family, she naturally wanted to bring the two of them together.

Upon hearing this, Qin Hongxiu did not react as strongly as she had the first time; instead, she blushed with embarrassment.

As someone with experience, Old Madam Mu noticed Qin Hongxiu's change and quickly pulled Mu Yuan aside, whispering her advice:

"Yuan'er, I can see that your sister-in-law is clearly interested in you. We should keep the good stuff in the family, so you have to work harder and get to know the other sisters-in-law better. The task of ensuring the future prosperity of the Mu family and restoring its prestige will all fall on your shoulders."

Faced with Old Madam Mu's entrustment, Mu Yuan was at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated.

Initially, he also planned to build a large harem and take all seven of his sisters-in-law into his arms.

But there are too many things to do right now.

He gradually lost sight of his initial idea.

"Grandson understands." In order not to disappoint Old Madam Mu, Mu Yuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.

Old Madam Mu was incredibly astute; she saw through Mu Yuan's evasiveness at a glance and said, "The hundred-day celebration isn't far off, you can't fool your grandmother!"

Left with no other choice, Mu Yuan could only personally assure her, "Grandma, don't worry, your grandson will certainly live up to your expectations."

Grandma Mu nodded in satisfaction, boarded the carriage parked to the side, and drove away.

One night passed.

Upon returning to the Western Army, Mu Yuan once again threw himself into training and busy himself with military affairs.

The next few days.

The military was calm, and there was no bad news coming from the outside world.

Just when Mu Yuan thought things were stabilizing, a lot of rumors started circulating in the army about 'troop reduction' and 'unpaid wages'.

In an instant.

The entire Western Army was in a state of panic.

Some people are afraid of being demobilized and losing their military household registration.

Others, however, were concerned about whether they would receive their pay on the day of payday.

Soon, these false rumors reached Mu Yuan's ears.

He immediately summoned his officers to his command post.

"What's going on? It's only been a few days, why are there so many rumors circulating in the army?" Mu Yuan asked with a serious expression.

Only those who attended the banquet at Ma Chengwu's residence that day knew about matters such as troop reduction and military pay. Why did these unfounded rumors appear in the army in just a few days?

Instead of being stopped, these rumors have intensified.

Faced with Mu Yuan's questioning, the officers all lowered their heads and remained silent. Clearly, they too had been swayed by the rumors and believed them to be true.

After all, troop reduction is not just about cutting soldiers; officers are not exempt either.

Since their future was at stake, they naturally dared not make any rash statements.

"It seems you all firmly believe the rumors of the past few days, don't you?" Mu Yuan's gaze grew increasingly cold.

Indeed, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark.

False rumors, once spread, often spread like a plague.

It is extremely lethal.

Although Mu Yuan was certain that this matter was inextricably linked to people like Ma Chengwu, what worried him most was that the incident had caused such a stir in the army in just a few days.

This proves that there must be a traitor within the military.

And quite a few.

Previously, the incident involving Miao Hengping was discovered to have been orchestrated by the Gao family father and son. As a result, Mu Yuan went to the Gao family and used various methods to intimidate the Gao family father and son.

It hasn't been long.

Rumors were rampant in the military.

"It seems that besides the Gao family's spies, there are other people's spies within the Western Army!"

Mu Yuan thought to himself.

If it's really as we suspect...

Next, it is imperative to eliminate all the spies within the military.

Otherwise, these spies lurking within the Western Army would pose a significant threat to his control of the army.

"Yang Da-yan!"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Mu Yuan looked at Yang Daye.

"Your subordinate is here." Yang Daye hurriedly stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and waited anxiously for Mu Yuan's instructions.