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

Mu Yuan went to great lengths to trap Ma Chengwu and the Gao family father and son in his scheme.

Now Zhou Quan has revealed everything in one go.

Mu Yuan felt it wasn't enough; he needed all the soldiers of the Western Army present to witness firsthand the true ugly faces of Governor Ma Chengwu and the Gao family father and son.

To prevent these people from engaging in underhanded tactics that could sow discord within the Western Army and negatively impact morale.

"Zhou Quan, since you're not a mouthpiece for foreign countries, then let me ask you, what is your true identity?" Mu Yuan asked deliberately.

Although he had already interrogated Zhou Quan and knew his identity clearly, he was asking him again now not only for Ma Chengwu and the Gao family father and son to hear, but also to let the soldiers of the Western Army present understand the whole story.

"I am a lowly soldier under the command of Wei Xu, belonging to the Four Symbols Army under the jurisdiction of the Western Army." Zhou Quan cooperated, after all, only by following Mu Yuan's steps could he have a chance to survive.

As soon as he finished speaking, a burly man in armor hurriedly stepped forward and knelt before Mu Yuan.

"This humble general, Wei Xu, failed to restrain his men, allowing them to commit a grave error. I beg the commander-in-chief to punish me."

Looking at Wei Xu, the burly commander of the Four Symbols Army who stepped forward to apologize, Mu Yuan simply waved his hand and said, "There's nothing for you to do right now. Step aside."

"Yes."

Wei Xu rose cautiously and retreated.

Mu Yuan turned his gaze back to Zhou Quan, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes, and continued to ask, "You just said that you and many soldiers of the Western Prefecture Army were bribed. Is that true or false?"

"This is absolutely true!" Zhou Quan nodded.

"How can you prove it?"

"I have a low rank in the army, but most of the people who were bribed this time are like me. They like to gamble at gambling dens. I know them and can identify them on the spot."

Zhou Quan turned around, his gaze sweeping over the Western Army soldiers present, and finally he raised his head, pointing to a few people in the middle.

The soldiers who were pointed at were so frightened that they turned pale and stood up in a panic. Before Zhou Quan could even say their names, they all knelt down in front of Mu Yuan.

"General, spare us! We were blinded by greed and committed such a despicable act."

"We dare not do it again. We beg the commander to show leniency and forgive us."

Seeing them kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy with snot and tears streaming down their faces, Mu Yuan remained indifferent. Although he hated these traitors, he had important business to attend to, so he ordered his men to take them away and lock them up.

"Are there any other participants?" Mu Yuan asked Zhou Quan.

"Yes, there are some," Zhou Quan paused, then said, "but I only know a few of them. As for the rest of the participants, I've only heard of them, I've never seen them."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers present reacted in various ways. Some remained unmoved and composed, while others looked around nervously and fell silent.

Mu Yuan saw everything but didn't rush to investigate. Instead, he turned to look at Ma Chengwu and the Gao family father and son.

"Lord Ma, Clan Chief Gao, Young Master Gao, what do you have to say?"

Because they were wary of Mu Yuan's territory, Ma Chengwu and Gao Song dared not speak, even with all the evidence laid out before them, lest something unexpected happen.

Gao Yan, on the other hand, was exactly the opposite.

Feeling guilty and increasingly flustered, he desperately denied it on the spot.

"This is a frame-up! It's clearly a frame-up!"

As soon as Gao Yan spoke, Ma Chengwu and Gao Song both cast unfriendly glances at him, as if to say that Gao Yan was impatient and foolish.

"Framed?" Mu Yuan saw that Gao Yan was desperate and a playful smile appeared on his face.

If it were Ma Chengwu or Gao Song, it might take him some effort to get information out of them, but for Gao Yan, it would be too easy.

Experienced people tend to observe first when faced with unfavorable situations.

But a hothead is different.

They often become extremely anxious and desperate, like a cornered dog that will do anything to get what it wants.

The result of doing this is that the more you do, the more mistakes you make.

Clearly, Gao Yan was a hothead.

"My Gao family is a prestigious clan, how could we do such a despicable thing? Besides, how could Lord Ma, a high-ranking official in charge of a region, collude with my Gao family?"

Gao Yan made a strong defense, and after he finished, he felt that his reasoning was perfect, not only clearing himself and his father of suspicion, but also helping Ma Chengwu out of trouble.

However, upon hearing Gao Yan's explanation, Ma Chengwu and Gao Song's expressions did not soften; instead, they became even more unpleasant.

The smile on Mu Yuan's face became increasingly meaningful.

"Given the status of the Gao family and Lord Ma, they certainly don't seem like the kind of people who would do bad things behind the scenes or collude with others," Mu Yuan said thoughtfully.

Gao Yan mistakenly believed that his explanation had worked, and nodded repeatedly in agreement:

"Of course! There must be some misunderstanding! It must be someone with ulterior motives deliberately framing us!"

As soon as Gao Yan finished speaking, Mu Yuan changed his tone and asked in return, "Then tell me, who exactly is this person with ulterior motives?"

Gao Yan was instantly stumped by the question.

He was so focused on making excuses that he never expected Mu Yuan to use a tactic of retreat to advance.

When asked who the person with ulterior motives is, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Young Master Gao, why have you suddenly stopped talking? Are you thinking about who has ulterior motives, or haven't come up with a reason to defend yourself?" Mu Yuan asked.

Caught off guard, Gao Yan was in a daze and subconsciously replied:

"Of course he's trying to make excuses..."

Halfway through his sentence, Gao Yan suddenly realized something was wrong and tried to change his words to cover it up, but Mu Yuan beat him to it and interrupted:

"Arguing? What are you trying to argue about, Young Master Gao?"

Gao Yan was speechless once again.

"Fool!!!" Gao Song saw his son being repeatedly manipulated by Mu Yuan and wished he could rush forward immediately and teach Gao Yan a lesson.

Upon witnessing Gao Yan's performance, Ma Chengwu was now questioning his own existence, wondering how he could have joined forces with such a foolish person.

Mu Yuan sensed the time was ripe, immediately abandoned his plan to toy with Gao Yan, and said sternly:

"If Young Master Gao doesn't give me an explanation soon, don't blame me for turning ruthless and using other means to demand an answer!"

This shout startled Gao Yan so much that his heart skipped a beat, and he almost couldn't catch his breath.

Just as Gao Yan was about to collapse from intimidation by Mu Yuan's imposing manner, Gao Song gritted his teeth and stepped forward: "General, are you trying to force a confession by pressing me so relentlessly?"

"Forced confession?" Mu Yuan raised an eyebrow and said, "Clan Chief Gao, I don't quite understand what you mean!"

Gao Song said expressionlessly:

"You know what you're thinking, Commander, but please be careful and don't push too hard."

Gao Song's words carried a threatening undertone. After a pause, he added: