I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

"Report!"

A loud shout broke the silence on the city wall.

After the messenger climbed the city wall, he had a clear objective and went directly behind Qin Li.

He knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Your Majesty, the grain transport convoy had barely traveled ten miles outside the city when it was attacked by the Northern Barbarians!"

"With thousands of troops and two generals fighting bravely, they repelled the attack and achieved a great victory!"

Qin Li nodded and waved the messenger away.

Standing beside Qin Li were Wei Hongying and the Empress.

However, their standing postures looked rather strange no matter how you looked at it.

I reckon they lost two-on-one last night.

Watching the messenger leave, Wei Hongying said, "Is this also part of His Majesty's plan?"

Qin Li nodded.

Upon hearing this, Wei Hongying looked at the Empress with some reproach: "Isn't the ever-victorious general known for never having lost a battle? Why didn't you use your full strength last night? Did you deliberately want to lose?"

The Empress was displeased and said, "You and I both know who didn't use their full strength last night. General Wei caused my defeat, and yet he has the nerve to pin the blame on me!"

It wasn't that she didn't use her full strength last night; it was that Wei Hongying didn't.

Qin Li smiled and said, "I'm showing you mercy, so I'll give you another chance tonight. If you defeat me, I'll tell you the plan. What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, the two women were not pleased; instead, they trembled.

The thought of the fierce battle last night made their legs go weak.

The Grandmaster is still too powerful; neither of them can defeat him.

Thinking of this, the two of them each made an excuse and fled in panic.

Seeing the two of them running away, Qin Li couldn't help but burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while, Qin Li also came down from the city wall. He was going to continue making preparations for the success of this plan.

……

……

Ten days later.

Inside the central command tent at Xuanque Pass, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

This morning, the final battle between the Great Zhou and the Northern Mang began.

Surprisingly, in the first battle of the decisive war, the Great Zhou Dynasty ended up with a Pyrrhic victory.

This is absolutely not what the Emperor of Great Zhou wanted, nor what the generals of Great Zhou wanted.

The guards brought by the generals stood at the entrance of the central command tent, heads bowed, without uttering a word.

Inside the tent, the Great Zhou Emperor roared incessantly, clearly furious.

A short while later, loud noises of chairs being smashed and tables being slammed could be heard from inside.

"What's going on? Why has the Northern Barbarians suddenly become so powerful?"

"Who knew that the decisive battle of this first battle would be fought by the General himself, and it ended in a Pyrrhic victory."

"Could it be that the fate of the Northern Barbarians is not destined to end?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. How dare you say something like that?"

"Shut up, all of you! Are you out of your minds?!"

A sharp shout abruptly silenced the murmurs at the doorway.

After a while, the generals came out of the central command tent one after another.

One by one, their faces were as black as ink, and they returned to their residences with their respective guards.

On the way back, the sight of thousands of troops was not a problem.

They were easygoing; after all, they hadn't fought the first battle, so they didn't feel that much guilt.

Just now in the central command tent, they volunteered to fight. If they fight the next battle, they will surely win a great victory.

However, Tian San, the leader of the personal guards, still reminded everyone not to speak carelessly and to be careful with their heads.

Back at their lodgings, the entire army ate and drank as usual, completely unaffected.

Those below couldn't help but huddle together and whisper among themselves.

Although Tian San warned everyone not to talk nonsense, he couldn't help but join in when everyone was discussing it together.

"Boss, how could we possibly lose?"

"Could it be that there's a master strategist in the Northern Mang army? Otherwise, how could we have lost?"

"We didn't lose."

"A Pyrrhic victory is a defeat."

Everyone agreed on this and had no objections.

The battle between the Great Zhou and the Northern Mang attracted worldwide attention.

Before the war, everyone believed that the Great Zhou would win a great victory.

But in the end, the Great Zhou only managed a Pyrrhic victory.

The happiest of all was the Northern Barbarians.

They might already be having a victory celebration banquet.

As the crowd was discussing this, a group of fully armed soldiers suddenly approached from a distance, their steps perfectly synchronized.

"It's the Imperial Guard!"

Someone recognized the style of their armor.

The armor worn by different military branches in the Great Zhou Dynasty was not the same.

The Imperial Guards are particularly easy to recognize. As the emperor's personal guard, their armor is not very practical, but it looks good and glitters from a distance.

Upon seeing the arrival of the Imperial Guards, Tian San and his men quickly stepped forward, cupped their hands in greeting, and said:

"Commander Zhou, what brings you here today?"

The leader was none other than Zhou Biao. After Qin Li became emperor, Zhou Biao, as the head of the guards, naturally became the commander of the Imperial Guard, succeeding Han Zhen.

Instead of his usual joking demeanor, Zhou Biao's face turned ashen.

With a wave of his hand, he nearly knocked Tian San, who had stepped forward to speak, to the ground.

Zhou Biao had a clear objective and pointed at Ba Ye: "Take this person back."

Tian Sanyi scrambled to his feet, still wearing a forced smile:

"Commander Zhou, let's talk this out. Why are you suddenly arresting people?"

Zhou Biao still didn't give Tian San a friendly look, and shouted sternly:

"Your men are traitors. Tell me, why should I arrest them?"

"Colluding with the enemy?"

Tian San was startled and quickly explained:

"Commander Zhou, how could my men be traitors? Someone must have made a mistake. You must investigate thoroughly!"

With a clang, Zhou Biao drew his knife: "Dare to cause any more trouble, or don't blame this commander's knife for being merciless!"

"take away!"

At a command, the Imperial Guards immediately subdued Ba Ye and prepared to escort him back.

Having no other choice, Tian San hurriedly ran back to his tent to report the matter to the two generals.

Now, only a thousand troops and ten thousand horses can save Ba Ye.

When Tian San arrived at the central command tent with thousands of troops, he found that all the generals were present.

Seeing this, the vast army had no choice but to observe the situation first.

Qin Li sat in the main seat, slamming his hand on the table: "Ba Ye, do you plead guilty?"

With his hands bound behind his back, Ba Ye knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please see the truth. I do not know what crime I should confess to!"

He was certain that Qin Li had no evidence and was just trying to scare him.

"Temuhun, do you plead guilty?"

It wasn't just Baye kneeling on the ground; Temuhun was also kneeling there.

Temuhun shook his head, giving the same explanation as Baye.

Qin Li, enraged, slammed his fist on the table again: "Today, our Great Zhou's first battle against Northern Mang ended in a Pyrrhic victory. If someone hadn't explained our military tactics to Northern Mang in detail, how could Northern Mang have made such thorough preparations?"

Upon hearing this, the generals in the camp nodded in agreement.

Today, the Northern Mang army is well prepared, and no matter what they do, the Northern Mang can accurately predict it.

This is the reason for their Pyrrhic victory today; there must be a traitor in the army who informed the Northern Barbarians.

Changing the subject, Qin Li added, "I remember that not long ago on the training grounds, you all witnessed firsthand the battle tactics of the various armies of my Great Zhou. If you weren't colluding with the enemy, then who else could it be?!"