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

In the past, Mu Yuan would patiently explain.

But now, instead of offering an explanation, he appears completely indifferent.

Has he really changed?

Or perhaps the soldiers in the army guessed correctly.

Mu Yuan became spineless, actively currying favor with Feng Zhong in order to bow to the court and gain a chance to survive.

Countless thoughts flashed through Qin Hongxiu's mind, and she fell into deep self-doubt.

on the one hand.

After spending so many days together, she believed that Mu Yuan was not a coward.

on the other hand.

She witnessed Mu Yuan promoting Feng Zhong.

Furthermore, many soldiers in the army were discussing this matter privately.

At this moment, Qin Hongxiu was in turmoil, torn between believing in Mu Yuan and doubting him.

Noticing Qin Hongxiu's low spirits, Mu Yuan showed no outward sign of distress, but silently sighed inwardly.

The reason he helped Feng Zhong build momentum and enhance his prestige was to do so.

It was neither to curry favor with Feng Zhong nor to submit to the imperial court.

Instead, they were praising Feng Zhong to his detriment.

When Heaven wishes to destroy someone, it first desires their madness.

If he were to use flattery to kill someone, Feng Zhong would surely see through it, so Mu Yuan would not reveal his plan to anyone.

As a result, when the people around him began to question his actions...

The first step of the plan was a success.

After all, Feng Zhong wasn't blind. If the praise was full of loopholes, he would never fall for it. On the contrary, when Feng Zhong saw that everyone was questioning Mu Yuan, his doubts and vigilance would naturally decrease significantly.

As long as we can lower Feng Zhong's guard.

Only then can Mu Yuan's next plan proceed smoothly.

Now, rumors are rife in the military, and even Qin Hongxiu has begun to waver in her feelings for Mu Yuan.

This was exactly the result Mu Yuan wanted.

"I'm going back to rest." Qin Hongxiu noticed that Mu Yuan showed no sign of explaining, and after lowering his head, he never looked up at her again. She was so angry that she turned around and left.

She didn't last long.

A beautiful figure walked in.

The person who came was none other than Fang Yuyan, the third sister-in-law of the Mu family.

In recent days, she has made a fortune by selling smuggled salt, and with the fine salt recipe given to her by Mu Yuan.

"This is the money I've made from smuggling salt in the last half month. Count it."

Fang Yuyan placed a bundle in front of Mu Yuan.

Unpack the bag.

Inside were stacks of thick banknotes.

"You earned so much in just half a month?" Mu Yuan looked surprised.

Salt was a commodity controlled by the imperial court, and smuggling salt was a capital offense. However, high risk meant high reward.

Although Mu Yuan had anticipated that smuggling salt would be very profitable.

But I never expected it to be so profitable.

The pile of silver notes in front of me, ranging from a dozen taels to a thousand taels, was stacked together, creating a very strong visual impact.

"How much money is here?"

Mu Yuan pointed to the mountain of silver notes in front of him, but didn't start counting them. There was such a large pile of silver notes, and if he really tried to count them, he didn't know when he would finish. It would be more practical to just ask Fang Yuyan in front of him.

"As per our previous agreement, you take the lion's share and I take the smaller share. This is the money after the split, which is 80,000 taels!" Fang Yuyan said.

After learning the exact amount, Mu Yuan nodded and directly pushed the bundle to Fang Yuyan.

"What does this mean?" Fang Yuyan asked, initially puzzled. Then, her dark eyes darted around, and she said playfully, "Could it be... you don't want this money? Then I'd be impolite to refuse it?"

As he spoke, he reached for the bundle full of silver notes.

Mu Yuan reacted quickly, grabbing the bundle before it was ready and saying, "Who said this is for you? This is money for you to buy provisions!"

Eighty thousand taels of silver was indeed a small sum compared to the nearly two hundred thousand soldiers of the Western Army.

However, this money could be used to buy provisions that would feed the Western Army for ten to fifteen days.

When there is no war, the entire Western Army's personnel salaries and food supplies cost more than 400,000 taels of silver per month.

The consumption of grain and fodder alone amounts to over 100,000 taels per month.

Fang Yuyan earned 80,000 taels of silver in just half a month by selling smuggled salt, which she used to buy grain and fodder.

This greatly relieved the pressure on the Mu family's Western Army.

After all, last time at Ma Chengwu's residence, in order to break Ma Chengwu's encirclement and suppression by local forces, Mu Yuan agreed to cancel the 30% of the military pay allocated by the imperial court to the Western Army.

Now, the money earned from selling smuggled salt can just make up for the missing 30% of the military pay.

Fang Yuyan picked up the bundle full of silver notes, chatted briefly with Mu Yuan, and then turned and left.

The next day.

Mu Yuan then took the initiative to approach Feng Zhong again.

The other side is still recruiting large numbers of young, strong men into the army to expand its forces.

Just like yesterday, Mu Yuan showered Feng Zhong with praise and flattery in front of these newly enlisted young men.

Compared to yesterday, Feng Zhong remained wary when faced with Mu Yuan's flattery today, but a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of enjoyment crossed his face.

This subtle change was keenly observed by Mu Yuan.

The first step of the plan can be considered a success.

Mu Yuan thought to himself.

"General, I am truly ashamed of your sincerity," Feng Zhong said, clasping his hands in greeting.

What appeared to be gratitude was actually Feng Zhong's test. After all, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that his arrival was intended to weaken Mu Yuan's power in the Western Army.

Feng Zhong didn't believe Mu Yuan couldn't see through it.

Mu Yuan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You are the deputy commander of my Western Army, and you come from the Duke of Liang's command. If we join forces, who would dare to underestimate the Western Army?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Zhong greeted Mu Yuan with a smile on his face, but in his heart he was carefully pondering the deeper meaning behind Mu Yuan's words.

Is he trying to curry favor with me in order to gain access to the Duke of Liang's influence?

Or do you have other plans?

After careful consideration, Feng Zhong was still unsure about Mu Yuan's intentions.

I don't know.

Mu Yuan had no intention of currying favor with anyone.

His goal, from beginning to end, was to deal with Feng Zhong.

only.

Mu Yuan is hiding his true intentions deeply.

This made Feng Zhong's guesses clearly go in the wrong direction.

Several more days passed.

Mu Yuan would appear at the recruitment site every day, praising Feng Zhong to the new recruits and elevating his status.

Feng Zhong, having been repeatedly flattered and elevated by Mu Yuan, not only lost all vigilance but also became completely infatuated with him.

Completely unaware.

Mu Yuan had already begun preparing to close the net.

That night.

Mu Yuan summoned the army's grain officer.

"How much food and rations do the troops still have?" Mu Yuan asked.

The grain official was clearly flustered and nervous upon being summoned by Mu Yuan, and stammered as he spoke:

"The army's current food supplies are enough to feed the entire army for three to five days."

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan seemed thoughtful. After a while, he finally spoke: "Recently, Deputy Commander Feng Zhong has recruited a lot of new soldiers. These people train hard every day. When it's mealtime, give them extra food."

Upon hearing this, the grain official assumed that Mu Yuan was being considerate of his subordinates and immediately agreed.