I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

"So it's Your Highness the Crown Prince. This way, please. Watch your step."

"I was truly blind to your greatness just now, please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"What are you all standing there for? Quickly go and get a seat for the First Prince!"

Once on the city wall, everyone stared in astonishment. Just moments before, Murong Lie had looked as if he were about to kill Qin Li with a single blow, but now he was behaving like a pimp in a brothel, fawning over Qin Li and even reminding him to watch his step before leading him to the Empress.

"Your Majesty, what's going on?"

The general beside the empress bent down and approached her, frowning in confusion.

"It must be some kind of martial art that's confusing or controlling. Didn't you see? Qin Li and Murong Lie's eyes have both turned red!"

The generals went to look and, sure enough, found that both men's eyes had turned red.

However, the red in Qin Li's eyes was more intense, indicating that the one in control was more likely to be the one in control.

The lighter shade of red in Murong Lie's eyes indicated that he was the one being controlled.

Gritting her teeth, the Empress said, "He told me to cultivate more diligently, but he refused. He only knows how to indulge in wine and women. Now look what's happened, he's been controlled by someone else. He has truly disgraced the Northern Mang."

Although the Empress did not want Murong Lie to make things too difficult for Qin Li.

But no one expected that Murong Lie would be so easily controlled by Qin Li.

The dignified Left General of the Northern Mang army is actually fawning over Qin Li like this.

If word gets out, people will laugh at us to death!

These women knew what was going on, but the soldiers below did not.

What must they have thought when they saw this?!

All of this is due to Murong Lie's excessive indulgence.

Despite possessing top-tier cultivation resources, his cultivation level was shockingly low, making him an easy target.

"Your Highness, please be seated."

Murong Lie brought over a chair, even diligently dusting it off, and gestured for Qin Li to sit down, his face beaming with smiles.

"Not bad, not bad."

Qin Li reached out and patted him on the shoulder as a sign of praise.

What a good dog!

Then, the Blood Eye Technique was slowly withdrawn.

The redness in Murong Lie's eyes slowly disappeared. He rubbed his eyes, shook his head, and gradually came to his senses.

When he realized what he was doing, he was completely bewildered.

Wasn't he just launching an attack on Qin Li?

He was determined that as long as he was there, Qin Li would never be able to set foot on the walls of Qingling Pass.

What now?

He was hunched over in front of Qin Li, as if he were serving him.

What exactly happened?

"General Zuo, you've fallen for his trick!"

Someone, frustrated and disappointed, roared.

Even if Murong Lie was stupid, he would realize at this moment that he had fallen into Qin Li's trap.

He immediately flew into a rage and was about to draw his sword.

"Stop! Get out of the way!"

The Empress shouted sharply, her eyes icy cold, "You've utterly disgraced Northern Mang! How dare you draw your sword?"

With the sword half-drawn, Murong Lie, his face grim, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, wanting to explain, "Your Majesty..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Empress coldly ordered again, "Step back!"

Murong Lie knew that the Empress was truly enraged.

Going against the Empress at this time would definitely not end well.

Left with no other choice, he gripped his sword at his waist and slowly retreated into the group of generals.

But his eyes were filled with malice; in his eyes, Qin Li was already a dead man.

After Murong Lie withdrew, the Empress turned to Qin Li, who was sitting beside her, and said with an unfriendly gaze, "Your Highness, the First Prince, dares to come again?"

Qin Li looked towards the outside of the city, where the Great Zhou army had appeared and was forming ranks!

Qin Li laughed and said, "What wouldn't this prince dare to do? If you do nothing wrong during the day, you have nothing to fear at night. This prince is upright and has nothing to fear."

"hehe."

The Empress forced a few cold laughs, "Hasn't Your Highness seen the carnage in this city?"

"See? People are dead. But in war, people always die. Even if there's no war, people will still die."

Qin Li pretended to be completely indifferent.

Whoosh!

With a sudden flick of her dragon robe sleeve, the Empress roared, "Do you know how many people have died in this city?"

"How would I know? I'm not a god, I can't predict the future."

The Empress spoke slowly and deliberately, "Preliminary statistics show a total of 158,263 people, of whom 90,000 are citizens of your Great Zhou!"

"What?!"

As they entered the city with Qin Li, Zhou Biao and the others, who were standing not far behind him, couldn't help but gasp in unison upon hearing the number, their eyes widening in astonishment.

The Empress glanced at them, then looked at Qin Li again, and couldn't help but sneer:

"The Crown Prince has truly made excellent arrangements!"

"Anyone who didn't know better would think you were genuinely unaware!"

Zhou Biao couldn't help but take a step forward, but was warned by the Northern Mang soldiers who drew their swords.

But Zhou Biao still said, "Your Majesty, we really didn't know anything about it!"

Judging from Zhou Biao's appearance, he didn't seem to be lying, and the Empress slowly frowned.

How could that be?

How could they not know?

Of those who were captured, some have already confessed that they were spies sent by the Great Zhou.

How could poisoning the city's water supply not be Qin Li's doing?

Qin Li didn't speak, he just pursed his lips.

Actually, they knew about this.

Because Chun Tao had returned a long time ago and told them about it.

But to their surprise, so many people died this time.

It's strange that the Empress could remain patient and inactive after so many deaths in the city.

"Really unaware?"

The Empress scrutinized Qin Li, hoping to get an answer from him.

Qin Li deliberately avoided making his point clear, saying, "This prince admits that there were indeed spies hidden in the city, but I absolutely did not give orders to them to poison the city!"

"Even if we assume that my Great Zhou wins this battle today, the war will be over. I, the prince, am not so foolish as to tear down the bridge I just built!"

"I'll trust you for now!" the Empress said.

These words immediately drew the ire of the Northern Mang generals, led by Murong Lie.

Although fewer of their Northern Mang soldiers died than the people of the Great Zhou within the city.

But those were still tens of thousands of precious lives.

How could they accept dying like this?!

Qin Li must pay the price.

"The two princes are still in their hands!"

The Empress used this excuse to shut them up.

Even if the Great Zhou spies poisoned the princes, the two princes were still in the Great Zhou army camp, so they dared not act rashly.

Upon hearing this, everyone felt that the Empress was good in every way, except that she was troubled by family ties.

For the sake of two foolish princes and thousands of soldiers, they would give anything.

Qin Li said, "If Your Majesty trusts me, after the war, I will hand over all those who poisoned the enemy and let Your Majesty deal with them as you see fit. You may not be able to catch them, but they will eventually return to their camp!"

The Empress sneered, "You'd be so kind? They've made such great contributions, and you'd kill them?"

Qin Li shook his head slightly. "Your Majesty still doesn't believe me. As I just said, I never asked them to poison me. They acted on their own and ruined my important plans. They deserve to die."

Splash!

The Empress flicked her dragon robe sleeves again, her face expressionless, "I'll trust you this time."