I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

"Who really won?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

"We should have won, right? Both of Ba Ye's arrows hit their targets, while that kid's arrows just grazed his ear. That shouldn't count as a hit, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it doesn't count as a winner, we won."

After Huayang threw two arrows, the prisoners of war couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

They were all from peasant backgrounds and didn't quite understand the rules of pitch-pot, an elegant game popular among nobles. In their minds, Ba Ye had won.

But to Ba Ye, these words only sounded ironic.

The prisoners of war didn't know the rules of the game, but he knew them perfectly well.

Hua Yang's shot just now has a famous name: "A perfect shot that hits the bullseye every time".

This doesn't mean you didn't win; it means you did, and the number of chips doubled!

Because hitting the ear of the pot is much more difficult than hitting the spout.

In other words, Princess Huayang won the game of pitch-pot, and he lost.

What he found ironic was not that he had lost, but that he had fallen into Princess Huayang's trap from the very beginning.

Pitch-pot isn't limited to the "hitting the ear" method of adding points; there are other methods, such as "leaning on the pole."

This refers to a situation where the thrown arrow does not fall directly into the mouth of the pot, but instead rests at an angle against the inner wall of the pot's mouth.

In other words, the more difficult the throwing method, the more chips can be added.

Princess Huayang guided him from the beginning to only put the water into the spout of the pot.

He couldn't remember, nor did he try any other ways to increase the number of chips.

He was fooled.

Thus, Princess Huayang won as a matter of course.

Princess Huayang let him throw the last two arrows first not because she felt it was unfair, but to make sure he wouldn't use any other difficult throwing methods. In this way, she could win against him by hitting the bullseye with her final shot.

Such scheming is truly terrifying.

If Princess Huayang were a boy, the future of the Great Zhou Dynasty would be limitless, and it would not be impossible for her to surpass her father's achievements.

"You can't even beat a child at a simple game of pitch-pot, and you still have the nerve to call yourself a skilled archer?"

"Guards, drag him away and behead him!"

The Empress's words declared the outcome of the contest.

With a whoosh, a group of fully armed soldiers rushed in from outside the tent, intending not only to capture Ba Ye, but also to take down the other prisoners of war.

The prisoners of war panicked instantly, and Ba Ye didn't know what to do either. Was he going to perish here?

He hadn't finished the task assigned to him by His Majesty Murong, and he couldn't die here.

In the end, he could only place his hopes on Jin Ge, who, for the time being, still hoped that they would live and serve the Empress.

Jin Ge wanted to step forward and speak up for them, but the Empress glared at him fiercely, causing him to immediately retreat and remain silent.

"Injustice! Injustice! General!"

"We're innocent!"

"Baye, what happened to you? How could you lose?"

"You can't even beat a little kid, and you're dragging us down with you..."

The other prisoners of war expressed their regret that they should not have let Ba Ye represent them in the competition.

But the empress behind the desk remained unmoved.

Just as they were about to be dragged out, a person walked in.

"Mr. Railway, help me!"

The person who came was none other than Temuhun.

If Ba Ye was a newly emerging general in the Northern Mang army in recent years, a confidant of Murong Qingcang, and the Empress didn't know him or have any dealings with him, so she didn't hate him that much, then the Empress hated Temuhun to the extreme.

Temuhun played a part in her being forced to abdicate.

"You dare to come again?"

The Empress narrowed her phoenix eyes, revealing her murderous intent.

Temuhun, with a fawning smile, cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, General. I have come to deliver a decree to His Majesty."

As he was speaking, he pulled a gold medal out of his pocket.

Seeing this gold medal is like seeing the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

All the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty inside the room knelt down.

The Empress slowly stood up, placing her hands on the table in front of her, and said in disbelief, "Why would he give you this card?"

It should be noted that Temuhun was merely a prisoner of war.

Such a gold medal, which even these generals had never possessed, was given by Qin Li to a prisoner of war?

Temuhun still wore a smile on his face: "I'm afraid I can't answer this question, General. Please ask His Majesty yourself. His Majesty has decreed that you must spare the lives of Baye and the others and bring them under your command."

In other words, he came to save the lives of Ban Ye and the others.

One second it was hell, the next it was heaven, and these prisoners of war were overjoyed.

Kneel down immediately and shout "Long live the Emperor!"

With a clang, the Empress drew the sword from her waist.

She didn't believe Temuhun's words at all, and she didn't believe that Qin Li would send such an imperial edict.

But Temuhun simply gripped the gold medal tightly in his hand and held it above his head.

In the end, the empress's sword did not come down. She held the sword in her hand and walked out of the tent with a fierce aura.

"Very well, I will go and find out the details."

"Ask him why he issued such an edict. If you are falsely conveying the imperial decree, even a god couldn't save you."

After saying that, the Empress rushed out of the tent with her sword in hand.

Huayang followed closely behind, "Mom, wait for me! You promised to take me to play on the city wall."

The mother and daughter left the tent one after the other, and Ba Ye and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lord Tie, what brings you here?" someone asked.

Temuhun wiped the gold medal clean and stuffed it back into his robes. "If I hadn't come, could I have saved you?"

The prisoners of war quickly put on a smile and said, "Lord Tie, you've really worked hard. Once we get through this ordeal, we'll definitely take good care of you when we get back."

Temuhun waved his hand: "Alright, stop with this useless nonsense. Since you don't want to go back to Northern Mang and want to stay, then do a good job."

"Understood, understood," the prisoners of war replied in unison.

During this time, Baye did not say a word, but his eyes were full of gratitude as he looked at Temuhun.

He knew that if Temuhun hadn't come, none of them would have survived.

As time went by, the Empress did not come, no matter how long they waited.

The people were unsure whether to be happy or feel something else.

More than an hour passed before the Empress sent someone to tell the soldiers to release them and take them to their lodgings.

Everyone grinned, knowing that they wouldn't die and would be serving under the Empress from now on.

On their way to their lodgings, they still expressed their gratitude to Temuhun.

"Lord Tie, are you currently serving His Majesty of the Great Zhou? Could you please take us with you?"

One of the prisoners of war said.

Given the Empress's attitude towards them today, they won't even know how they die in the future. They might as well find a better master.

Temuhun stood with his hands behind his back. "If I could take you there, I would have done it long ago. Why would I have waited until now?"

"Don't forget who you are. It's good enough that you're alive. Serving someone else doesn't matter."

"The railway official is right."

Soon, the soldiers of the Great Zhou took them to temporary accommodations and gave each of them a Great Zhou military uniform. As for weapons, that would depend on their performance.

While the prisoners of war were changing clothes, Ba Ye couldn't help but ask Temuhun, "We tried everything but couldn't gain a foothold in the Great Zhou army camp, and almost lost our heads. How did you, Lord Temuhun, obtain the Great Zhou Emperor's gold medal?"

Needless to say, Temuhun is now a favorite of the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Baye is very curious about how Temuhun managed to do so.

"General, are you doubting your humble servant?" Temuhun retorted, his expression somewhat unpleasant.

"Not at all, not at all, Lord Tie, you flatter me."

Ba Ye cupped his hands and quickly whispered, "Ba Ye dares not question Lord Tie's loyalty to the grasslands. It's just that a few days ago at the prisoner-of-war camp, when the Great Zhou Emperor asked us to make a choice, we chose to stay, but Lord Tie did not make a choice."

"Logically, we should have been trusted and kept on as servants, but the result was quite the opposite."

In other words, Temuhun did nothing, yet he gained the trust of the Great Zhou Emperor, which is illogical.

Temuhun chuckled. "Want to know why?"

Ba Ye nodded, saying it would be a lie to say he didn't want to know.

"Because my connection with the Emperor of the Great Zhou dates back several years. At that time, I was the deputy envoy of the mission, and that's when I met the Emperor of the Great Zhou. It was because of this connection that I was given an important position by the Emperor of the Great Zhou."

Changing the subject, Temuhun continued, "Actually, it can't be called giving me an important position. I told you before, everything went too smoothly, which is somewhat illogical. The reason why the Emperor of Great Zhou gave me such an important position is probably because he has some ulterior motive."

"In short, my current trust and favor with the Emperor of Great Zhou is all an illusion. With just one word from the Emperor of Great Zhou, I will still be a prisoner."

"But General Baye is different. The Great Zhou doesn't know you and won't guard against you the way they guard against me. Whether we can rescue the two princes and work with His Majesty to break through Xuanque Pass depends on you, General Baye."

Upon hearing this, Ba Ye felt immense pressure.

Temuhun's meaning was simple: the two of them needed to cooperate to rescue the two princes.

Temuhun was in the open, while he was in the shadows; he was the final, deadly move!