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

"You want to hold a banquet in the military camp to entertain outsiders? This is against the rules of the imperial court!"

Qin Hongxiu felt this was inappropriate. The conditions for holding a banquet in the army were extremely strict. Only those who had made military achievements and won battles could hold a large banquet in the army to celebrate with their soldiers.

Mu Yuan hosted a banquet, but invited people outside the Western Army.

This clearly exceeded the rules of the imperial court.

If the imperial court finds out and makes a big fuss about it, it will easily draw criticism.

Some things, if you don't weigh them, they're nothing; but once you do, they're incredibly heavy.

However, Mu Yuan had already prepared his reasons and countermeasures:

"Capturing over a hundred traitors—isn't that a great achievement?"

"Ma Chengwu was the governor of the southwest, in charge of all affairs in the southwest, including military affairs."

"The Gao family was once incorporated into the Western Army, so in a way, our Western Army can be considered their maternal family. There's absolutely nothing wrong with me hosting a banquet to entertain them!"

Qin Hongxiu was stunned. She hadn't expected Mu Yuan to circumvent the court's rules so easily from such a tricky angle.

"While there's nothing wrong with the rules, what reason do you have for inviting them that would make them willingly come to the banquet?"

Qin Hongxiu knew that Mu Yuan wanted to use the banquet as a pretext to launch a counterattack against Ma Chengwu and the Gao family.

After all, Ma Chengwu had previously hosted a banquet, uniting many local forces to besiege Mu Yuan and attempting to weaken the strength of the Western Army. Moreover, the Gao family father and son had repeatedly failed to learn their lesson and colluded with Ma Chengwu.

However, after what happened at the Ma residence last time, and with all sorts of underhanded tricks going on behind the scenes, these people...

This inevitably raises their level of vigilance.

If you want them to come to the banquet willingly, ordinary reasons probably won't work.

Therefore, you need to put some thought into the reasons for the invitation.

"Just say we've captured a group of foreign intelligence agents who came to gather information, and invite them to come and watch the execution!" Since Mu Yuan proposed hosting a banquet, he naturally had already thought of a reason beforehand.

"Understood." Qin Hongxiu nodded slightly, then her brows suddenly furrowed: "What should we do with the soldiers in the army who were bribed by Ma Chengwu and the Gao family?"

"General, if you give the order, I will send men to arrest them all right now."

Yang Daye hates traitors the most, especially after learning that over a hundred soldiers in the army have been bribed. At this moment, he wished he could immediately send men to arrest those people, torture them severely, and give them a good beating.

"What's the rush?" Mu Yuan wasn't in a hurry to arrest them. Instead, he advised, "You mustn't reveal a single thing about tonight's events. And for now, don't touch those who were bribed!"

Upon hearing this, both Qin Hongxiu and Yang Daye were stunned.

The two men couldn't understand why, when they already knew there were hundreds of people in the army who had been bribed, and they could catch them all by getting more information from Zhou Quan, they were holding back.

Noticing the confusion on their faces, Mu Yuan explained:

"If we arrest them now, the news will leak out, and why would Ma Chengwu and the Gao family father and son come to the banquet?"

"Moreover, can you guarantee that once the arrests are carried out, you can catch them all in one fell swoop? If any escapees are caught, there is also the risk of the news leaking out."

Upon hearing this, the two suddenly realized what was going on.

"General... as you said, if we hold back for now, when is the best time to make the arrest?" Yang Daye didn't understand the intricacies of the situation; he just wanted to know when the time would be to make the arrest.

Mu Yuan smiled calmly and said:

"The best time to make the arrest is naturally in front of Ma Chengwu and the Gao family father and son!"

"You're planning to... trap them like turtles in a jar, and then wipe them all out in one fell swoop?" Qin Hongxiu seemed to have guessed Mu Yuan's thoughts, her pretty face full of astonishment.

Mu Yuan simply smiled at her, which was taken as tacit agreement with Qin Hongxiu's guess.

"Next, I need to make some arrangements, and you must be prepared in advance." Mu Yuan's smile faded, and he gestured for the two to come closer, then whispered a few words in their ears.

After hearing Mu Yuan's plan, Qin Hongxiu and Yang Daye's eyes lit up immediately:

"We'll go prepare right away!"

The next day.

The two invitations were sent to Ma Chengwu's residence and the Gao family's residence, respectively.

Upon receiving the invitation sent by Mu Yuan, Ma Chengwu, after reading the contents of the invitation, did not lower his guard but instead began to ponder.

"Mu Yuan, what exactly are you planning?" Ma Chengwu stared at the invitation in his hand, his face so dark it could drip water.

Meanwhile, Gao Song and his son Gao Yan were also completely bewildered after receiving the invitation.

"What exactly is Mu Yuan up to?"

Gao Song looked serious, clutching the invitation tightly in his hand, pacing back and forth in the hall.

"Father, what are you so afraid of?" Gao Yan said arrogantly, "With Governor Ma backing us up, why would we be afraid of Mu Yuan?"

Gao Yan's incessant chatter reached Gao Song's ears, and in anger, he raised his hand and slapped Gao Yan across the face, shouting:

"All you do is act arrogantly all day long, never using your brain to think things through. Mu Yuan sent an invitation out of the blue; there must be something fishy going on. Can't you even see that?"

"Dad, I was just saying a few words casually, why are you so angry?"

Gao Yan covered his burning cheeks, his eyes filled with grievance and a hint of resentment.

"If you continue like this, the Gao family will not have a good end sooner or later."

Gao Song was both angry and helpless towards his foolish son.

"Father, Mu Yuan suddenly invited us to a banquet. Could it be that he discovered that we, together with the governor, were secretly bribing the soldiers of the Xifu Army and spreading rumors?" Gao Yan asked cautiously.

Gao Song fell into a long silence.

After a long silence, he finally spoke: "There's absolutely no way that's possible. We've bribed so many people; even if they're spreading rumors, Mu Yuan won't be able to find out the truth in a short time!"

By bribing someone to spread rumors, one can unravel the mystery and find its source.

However, they bribed a group of people to spread rumors.

,

I want to find them one by one, and also uncover the truth.

It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

Gao Song was still convinced that Mu Yuan was unaware of the truth, but little did he know that Mu Yuan had stumbled upon the truth from Zhou Quan.

"Should we go to the banquet?" Gao Yan asked.

"Of course we'll go," Gao Song nodded. "If we don't go, wouldn't it make us look guilty? Besides, Mu Yuan stated in the invitation that he had captured a foreign mouthpiece. If this is true, it could be a great opportunity for our Gao family to rise to prominence."

Gao Yan wanted to ask what the connection was between foreign mouthpieces and the rise of the Gao family, but he was afraid that if he said it, Gao Song would give him a severe scolding.

Another day has quietly passed.

The next day.

The garrison of the Western Army.

Mu Yuan stood at the entrance of the military camp, while Qin Hongxiu beside him stared ahead, not seeing anyone appear for a long time. Filled with worry, she said:

Will they come?