I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

Two more days passed.

On this day, Qin Feng came to find Qin Li.

"Brother, when should we send troops to attack the Buddhist Kingdom?"

Twenty miles south of Nanjiang City lies the territory of the Buddhist Kingdom, a journey that takes only half a day.

The army had already arrived at Nanjiang City, and the soldiers were already sharpening their swords, but Qin Li had not yet issued the order to attack. The soldiers below had begun to discuss among themselves.

If this continues, it will be detrimental to morale.

"What's the rush?"

Qin Li was drinking tea when he asked, "Have the scouts I sent to the Buddhist Kingdom returned?"

"I'm back."

Qin Feng said, "Just as Qin Han said, the Buddhist Kingdom is completely unprepared for and shows no intention of resisting our army's attack. It seems that the Buddhist Kingdom does not want to go to war with our Great Zhou."

"What will happen if we attack now?" Qin Li asked.

"Naturally, it was a resounding victory."

The Buddhist kingdom was unprepared and had no will to fight.

This time, the army he brought was composed of battle-hardened veterans.

It's only a matter of time before we conquer the Buddhist kingdom.

"Think about it again."

Qin Feng was taken aback, then quickly said, "Brother, do you mean this might be a smokescreen deliberately released by the Buddhist Kingdom, just waiting for our army to invade?"

Qin Li nodded. "That possibility cannot be ruled out. Therefore, we should continue to investigate and ascertain the situation before making a move!"

Qin Li did not believe that the Buddhist Kingdom was completely unprepared; no one would stand idly by and watch their homeland be trampled by the enemy.

Even if those monks disliked killing, they would not allow invaders to trample on their land at will.

Therefore, there must be an ambush!

……

Thousands of miles away.

Xuanque Pass.

Several people stood on the city wall.

After seeing Wu Da leave in a panic.

Some of them had furrowed brows, while others remained expressionless.

"Will this tactic work?"

The person who asked this question was Wang Hu, the highest-ranking general guarding Xuanque Pass and the General of Zhenwu.

When this plan was placed on his desk, he actually disagreed with it.

It wasn't because the Empress proposed the plan that he disagreed with it.

Rather, he simply didn't trust Wu Da, that opportunist.

The Empress's plan was to send Wu Da back as an undercover agent to gather intelligence on the military.

But Wang Hu felt that once Wu Da returned, he would be out of control and might betray the Empress.

They let a grandmaster escape for nothing, giving the Northern Barbarians an extra boost.

Scouts discovered that the Northern Barbarians had assembled a large army and were surging towards Xuanque Pass.

The battle between the Great Zhou and the Northern Mang is unavoidable!

"It will work."

Wei Hongying answered Wang Hu's question.

Her tone was firm, and her gaze was unwavering.

She believed in the plan, and even more so in the Empress.

The Empress did not speak, but simply pressed her left hand on the hilt of her sword, her eyes fixed on Wu Da, who was running further and further away.

After running for five days and five nights, Wu Da was thirsty and exhausted, and his eyelids were drooping.

Just as he was about to fall heavily to the ground, figures finally appeared in front of him—a group of Northern Barbarian scouts.

The scouts were whistling loudly, their whistles harsh and unpleasant.

When Wu Da opened his eyes again, he was already in the camp of the Northern Mang army.

"Boss, he's awake!"

Someone ran out of the tent, shouting as they ran.

Wu Da propped himself up and sat up in bed.

Looking around, the tent was very simple, with the wind howling inside.

Before long, several fierce-looking Northern Mang soldiers walked in and dragged him out without saying a word.

Soon, Wu Da was taken to the central command tent.

Sitting at the head of the table in the very center was none other than Murong Qingcang.

His two sons, Murong Bo and Murong Jin, stood to his left and right.

Below stood several generals from the Northern Barbarians, each with a broad back and muscular build.

"Wu Da, I never expected to see you alive again."

A burly general with a sword at his side grinned as he spoke.

There was no joy in their reunion, only wariness towards Wuda.

Wu Da gave a wry smile. If he were a general, he would also be on guard.

Because this grandmaster had been missing for three years in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Upon his sudden return, Bei Mang's first reaction was not that he had returned, but how he had returned, and whether the enemy had deliberately let him return.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Uda took the initiative to pay homage and perform the ritual.

Murong Qingcang ascended the throne as emperor three years ago.

Murong Bo was made crown prince, and Murong Jin was also granted the title of prince.

Murong Qingcang frowned as he spoke, but he was simply drinking mare's milk wine.

Murong Jin stepped forward and kicked Wu Da over.

He drew his curved sword from his waist and held it to his neck.

"Wu Da, Father Emperor sent you to assassinate Qin Li, but you betrayed his trust. How dare you come back?"

If this had happened in the past, Wu Da would have already grabbed Murong Jin by the neck and made him beg for mercy.

But now, with his full power sealed by the snake collar, he is no different from an ordinary person.

If it really came down to a fight, he wouldn't be a match for Murong Jin.

But he did not give in; instead, he endured the excruciating pain and stood up.

With his eyes fixed on Murong Jin, Wu Da gritted his teeth and said:

"Second Young Master, you're quite domineering! Wu Er and I risked our lives in a foreign land, and this is how you treat your meritorious service?"

Murong Jin was forced back a step by Wu Da's imposing aura, but he quickly put on a brave face and remained calm:

"Heroes? What a load of rubbish!"

"Weren't you and your brother already dead?"

"Wu Er is dead, but I'm not!"

Wu Da stepped forward and asked in a ferocious voice, "Second Young Master, do you know how I survived?"

How am I supposed to know how you survived?

Stab it!

Wu Da reached out and ripped off the tattered scarf around his neck, revealing a silver snake collar.

The collar has a small hole; if you look closely, you can see a brightly colored venomous snake swimming inside, occasionally hissing.

"What is this?"

"A guillotine hanging over my head!" Wu Da vividly described it.

Wu Da knew that saying anything more to Murong Jin would be useless. He saw Murong Qingcang drinking mare's milk wine and said, "Your Majesty, please avenge my brother!"

Murong Qingcang then put down the silver wine bowl in his hand, glanced at Wu Da, and said:

"Your brother is dead, how did you survive?"

Wu Da clasped his hands together, placed them on his head, and bowed his head, saying:

"Your Majesty, when the four Grandmasters gathered in the capital of Great Zhou to assassinate Qin Li, they were ambushed by Li Fuyao and two of them died on the spot, including my younger brother Wu Er."

"At that time, the Great Zhou had already gained a clear advantage, while the Buddhist monk Wenzhi, seeing his junior brother and beloved disciple die tragically on the spot, lost his will to fight. I knew that even if I fought to the death, I could not kill Qin Li, so I pretended to be captured to seek an opportunity."

"For three years, Master Wenzhi and I were imprisoned in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty. When the Great Zhou went to war with the Buddhist Kingdom, they calculated that His Majesty would lead his army to the capital, so they brought me to Xuanque Pass as a hostage."

"A few days ago, I escaped when the guards weren't looking!"

Upon hearing this, Murong Qingcang sneered and said, "Do you think I would believe that?"

"Xuanque Pass is the most formidable pass in the northern border region. It has been fortified considerably in the past three years. How could you possibly escape from Xuanque Pass alone?"

"That's right, it must have been deliberately released by the Great Zhou." Murong Jin once again placed the knife against Wu Da's neck.

"How can Your Majesty trust me?"

"It's not about what I need to do to gain your trust, but rather that you must provide evidence to convince me. Otherwise, you cannot be allowed to live!"

This time, Murong Qingcang was not confident that he could capture Xuanque Pass. If he left Wu Da, this ticking time bomb, in the military camp, failure was only a matter of time.

"This is the evidence!"

Wu Dayi gripped the collar around his neck.

"What is this?"

Murong Qingcang frowned and asked.

Wu Da did not answer immediately, but said, "Why don't you come closer and take a closer look, Second Young Master?"

"Look if you want, what's there to be afraid of?"

Murong Jin sheathed his sword, stepped forward, and examined it closely.

When he saw the venomous snake through the small hole on the surface of the collar, he was startled and quickly backed away.

"Father, it's a snake!"

"snake?"

Murong Qingcang frowned again.

Murong Bo stepped forward to examine it, showing no panic like Murong Jin. After a careful look, he clasped his hands and said, "Father, this is likely a method used by the Great Zhou people to control Wu Da. Once the collar is broken, Wu Da will surely die!"