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

"When I asked you questions, you didn't go to the restroom; when I asked you to write a statement explaining your situation, you didn't go to the restroom; why did you suddenly go to the restroom when I was comparing the information?"

Mu Yuan questioned, his smile growing increasingly playful, like a cat toying with a mouse.

"General, every man has to relieve himself; it's beyond my control," Zhou Quan said, forcing himself to defend himself.

Mu Yuan seemed to have anticipated his moves, displaying the documents and letters to Zhou Quan: "The handwriting in the letters is exactly the same as the handwriting you just wrote. How do you explain that?"

Zhou Quan, who had originally wanted to continue arguing, was now completely dumbfounded.

"It's a pity that you overlooked something despite your careful planning. If you had been more cautious, you might have actually gotten away with it," Mu Yuan said sarcastically.

Seeing that he had been exposed, Zhou Quan's eyes darted around, and he immediately changed his tune:

"That's right, the letter is forged. It's not that I'm deliberately deceiving you, my lord, but rather that I have my own reasons."

"Still dare to be stubborn!"

Yang Daye noticed that Zhou Quan's words kept changing, and he was so angry that he wanted to draw the short knife at his waist and kill Zhou Quan on the spot.

"Don't rush to make a move."

Mu Yuan first persuaded Yang Daye to stop, and then looked at Zhou Quan with great interest:

"Tell me, what is your predicament?"

Faced with Mu Yuan's meaningful smile and Yang Daye's murderous intent, Zhou Quan turned pale with fright.

He tried to hide his inner panic by constantly swallowing saliva.

Seeing Zhou Quan dawdling, Yang Daye slapped him across the face in anger, shouting, "Stop dawdling! If you don't confess honestly, I have plenty of strength and methods to deal with you!"

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, I'll confess everything."

Yang Daye slapped him so hard he saw stars and almost fainted, so he quickly begged for mercy and showed weakness.

"You scoundrel," Yang Daye spat, cursing under his breath.

"My lord, I love to gamble. I can't stand it if I don't gamble a few rounds a day. I disguised myself and climbed over the wall just to go to the gambling den and satisfy my gambling addiction," Zhou Quan said with a sob in his voice.

However, Mu Yuan remained skeptical: "How much do you bet each time?"

"Each time...ten or twenty taels."

As soon as Zhou Quan finished speaking, Mu Yuan's face once again revealed a meaningful smile: "You're just a lowly soldier, yet you have such a huge gambling addiction, betting ten or twenty taels every time. Where do you get so much money?"

Zhou Quan was caught off guard by the question and visibly panicked, with large beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"You dare lie! You're asking for it!!!"

Yang Daye swung his fist and punched Zhou Quan hard in the abdomen.

Zhou Quan felt unbearable abdominal pain, his stomach churning violently, and when he opened his mouth, he vomited filth all over the ground.

"Was it necessary to use such extreme measures?"

Mu Yuan rolled his eyes at Yang Da-yan, who chuckled and scratched his head.

It wasn't that Mu Yuan felt sorry for Zhou Quan, but rather that there were too many suspicious points about Zhou Quan, and from the beginning until now, he hadn't told a single truth.

This made Mu Yuan feel that Zhou Quan seemed to be closely related to the rumors that had been circulating in the past few days.

Otherwise, how could a lowly soldier like him, who only received a few dozen coins a month, have gambled away more than ten or twenty taels of silver at a time?

Where did the money come from?

Furthermore, it was known that the entire Western Army was prohibited from entering or leaving for these three days.

He even dared to risk being court-martialed by the military by deliberately disguising himself and scaling the wall to get out?

Was it really just to satisfy a gambling addiction at the casino?

Combining various factors.

Mu Yuan must find out the truth.

"If you still refuse to tell the truth, I will hand you over to him."

Mu Yuan pointed at Yang Daye and continued, "He doesn't have as much patience as I do. You should know what will happen to you if you fall into his hands!"

Zhou Quan subconsciously glanced at Yang Daye, only to see the other man grinning maliciously.

Zhou Quan is truly scared now.

General Yang Dayan, the Tiger and Leopard, was a renowned figure in the entire Western Army.

It's really going to fall into his hands.

Absolutely certain death.

"General, please don't hand the child over to him! I really can't tell!" Zhou Quan pleaded with Mu Yuan, his voice trembling with tears.

Even now, Zhou Quan still refused to confess. Mu Yuan lost his patience and said to Yang Daye:

"Take this man away; I don't want to see him again."

His statement that he didn't want to see it again clearly indicated that he wanted Yang Daye to be executed.

As for what method to use, whether it's torture or other methods of torment, that's naturally up to Yang Daye to decide.

Yang Daye's smile was particularly sinister: "Kid, I just told you, I have plenty of strength and means to make you wish you were dead, and then slowly torture you to death."

The voice just fell.

Zhou Quan was trembling all over, and a puddle of water inexplicably appeared at his feet.

"Damn it, I actually peed my pants from fear."

Yang Daye cursed his bad luck, his anger rising.

"General, spare me! Spare me!" Zhou Quan was not only terrified, but also completely scared out of his wits. He cried pitifully, "I'll tell you the truth, I'll confess everything. As long as you spare my life, I'll tell you everything."

To survive, Zhou Quan disregarded everything.

"That depends on your performance then." Seeing his expression, Mu Yuan asked, "Are the rumors of the past few days related to you?"

Zhou Quan nodded vigorously almost without hesitation, then shook his head abruptly.

"What do you mean by this?" A hint of confusion flashed in Mu Yuan's eyes.

Zhou Quan explained in detail: "It was indeed I who did this, but it wasn't done by me alone. Rather... rather, besides me, there were hundreds of other people involved."

Hundreds of people participated?

Mu Yuan was shocked. No wonder Qin Hongxiu and Yang Daye hadn't found anything after investigating for two days.

It turns out that too many people were involved in this matter, and they had secretly conspired to deal with it.

"With so many people involved, it seems the person who instructed you must be someone of considerable influence." Mu Yuan already had someone he suspected, but he wanted to get confirmation from Zhou Quan.

"It's...it's Governor Ma." Zhou Quan's body trembled uncontrollably. "And...Gao Yan, the eldest son of the Gao family."

Under Zhou Quan's confession.

Mu Yuan learned the whole story.

The Western Army would take a break every five days, which led to many soldiers leaving the camp to go into the city for sightseeing.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ma Chengwu and Gao Yan secretly courted them, offering them various benefits.

As a result, many people were bribed.

Among them were many high-ranking officers from the Western Army.

It really is them!

Mu Yuan was not surprised by Zhou Quan's answer; it was entirely within his expectations.

The only thing that surprised him was that so many people within the Western Army had been bribed. Furthermore, Gao Yan not only did not restrain himself, but was also involved and even colluded with Ma Chengwu.

"They really never learn!"

A murderous intent surged in Mu Yuan's heart as he looked at Qin Hongxiu: "Sister-in-law, draft a few invitations for me and send them to the governor and the Gao family. It's time for me to host a banquet for them!"

Mu Yuan emphasized the words "host a banquet" very much.