In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

To Wei Min'er, Yuwen Bingyu's boastful words were simply laughable.

A piece of trash who was manipulated at will by their Shenlong Society.

She actually dreams of ruling the world, claiming that wherever the sun and moon shine and wherever rivers flow, that is her territory?

You must be dreaming!

Despite her inner turmoil, Wei Min'er outwardly feigned great shock and said, "Lord Yuwen, your magnanimity is truly unparalleled in my life, and your ambition is also unmatched. I believe you will definitely do this!"

With Wei Min'er's affirmation, Yuwen Bingyu's confidence grew even stronger.

Then, she said somewhat apologetically, "Mr. Mingyue had advised me before to join forces with others to deal with Shen An and not miss the opportunity to obtain the wealth of the Prince of Zhennan. At the time, I hesitated and disappointed Mr. Mingyue by leaving without saying goodbye. It was all my fault. Do you know how I can see Mr. Mingyue again and invite him back?"

"Although Mr. Mingyue has left, his heart has always been with you. He must be observing your movements in secret. I believe that when your iron cavalry breaks through Qingyang County, he will come out to meet you again!"

When he witnesses your courage and magnanimity, he will surely serve you as his Lord and be devoted to you for the rest of his life!

"With your words, I am relieved! Let's go back as soon as possible. We need to rendezvous with Li Huaiyi's army before the eighth of next month. At the same time, we also need to figure out how to counter Shen An's so-called divine weapon!"

"yes!"

The news of Li Huaiyi's meeting with the other two quickly reached Shen An's ears.

He immediately ordered Mr. Mingyue to have his men sow discord among the three families, making them cooperate on the surface while secretly plotting against each other.

Especially Yuwen Qin, we must draw out his ambition and resentment!

It would be best to lure him in, and when Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Bingyu attacked Qingyang City, he would send men to raid their stronghold.

Mr. Mingyue immediately flattered him: "Lord Shen, you are truly brilliant! Your plan is perfectly suited for our Divine Dragon Society. If you don't join the Divine Dragon Society, it will definitely be a loss for us!"

"Shut up! Go and make the arrangements!"

Shen An didn't believe Mr. Mingyue's words at all. He thought that since the Divine Dragon Society could infiltrate so deeply into various countries, anyone with a little status must be a cunning old fox. He was far inferior to them.

"yes!"

For the next period of time, Shen An continued to blockade the entire Qingyang County, ordering soldiers and civilians to set up various traps according to his instructions.

Nowadays, every household in Qingyang County has someone serving in the army, completely tied to Shen An.

They work exceptionally hard.

Soon, it was the tenth day of the next month.

There were only two days left before Li Huaiyi attacked the city.

Shen An sat in the county magistrate's chair, listening to Liu Wenyuan's report.

"My lord, Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Bingyu have already met up in Qingping County. They have set up more than 10,000 traps, which will be activated as soon as they are touched! The people outside the city have been relocated to Heishan Village and the canyon where Heilongzhai is located."

"Ten thousand?"

Even though Shen An orchestrated all of this, he was still shocked when he heard the number.

I used to think that setting a thousand traps would be pretty good, but now I've set ten thousand!

At this moment, Shen An truly understood what it meant for the military and the people to be of one mind.

If they weren't bound together, the people would never have worked so hard.

Although they might fall into the trap a few times and then try to avoid it, there are still ten thousand of them.

No matter how hard they try to hide, they will eventually fall for it.

Shen An couldn't predict how many people would die or be injured, but at least his army would be exhausted.

"Hei Lao Liu, what news have our informants from all three sides sent?" Shen An asked.

Hei Lao Liu became beaming: "The informants from all three sides have been in touch in a timely manner. I have learned about their marching routes, the location of their supplies, and even their attack plans. I have recorded them all."

After saying that, Hei Laoliu voluntarily handed over the book of records.

Shen An opened it and looked at it carefully. He immediately threw his head back and laughed. Whether it was the message from Black Six or Mr. Mingyue, they both mentioned Yuwen Bingyu's ambition. Her words, "To conquer the world, wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the rivers flow, is her territory," were true.

"This woman pretended to be a benevolent ruler, but it turns out she's just a greedy wretch. She hasn't even conquered the world yet, and her true nature has already been revealed." Black Six made a gagging gesture. "Being manipulated and played like a puppet, yet still thinking she has lofty ambitions and a limitless future—it's truly disgusting!"

Shen An felt the same way; this woman really took herself too seriously!

This stop is where we have to make her face reality! Let her know how foolish her so-called ambitions are!

As Shen An continued reading, his brows suddenly furrowed.

The information from Hei Lao Liu's informant was not entirely the same as what Mr. Mingyue's people had reported.

Li Huaiyi is the same as Yuwen Bingyu.

But Yuwen Qin's situation was completely different.

Hei Lao Liu said that Yuwen Qin's army was also heading towards Qingyang City, but the information given by Mr. Mingyue was that Yuwen Qin planned to launch a sneak attack on Yuwen Bingyu's lair.

The two are completely different.

This suggests that at least one of them either betrayed him, or that Yuwen Qin discovered the other's actions and deliberately allowed him to pass on false information.

"My lord, my information differs from that of Mr. Mingyue?"

"See for yourself." Shen An handed the message that Mr. Mingyue had passed on to Hei Laoliu.

After reading it, Blackie Liu stroked his bald head and said, "The two are completely different. I'm more inclined to believe that my side's information is wrong. After all, I only paid money to bribe them, while Mr. Mingyue's side is his Shenlong Society's subordinate. The probability that my side is dishonest is higher."

"That's not necessarily true." Shen An shook his head and said, "However, with the war approaching, we have done all we can. Even if both pieces of news are false, we can only passively accept them."

Where is Liao Bing?!

"Your subordinate is here!"

"You will dispatch two groups of a hundred men, disguised as refugees, to the grain-producing region they claim to be. The moment we initiate hostilities, they will burn all their supplies!"

"My lord, it's such a waste to burn those grain supplies! We should find a way to transport them over!"

"The grain and fodder areas are bound to be heavily guarded. We should be grateful if we can burn them down. As for transporting them over? That's impossible."

"Give up that idea, or none of them might come back alive," Shen An said in a deep voice.

Liao Bing shuddered and immediately put his mind to it.

"Liu Wenyuan, call that Wang Meng over here," Shen An ordered again.

Liu Wenyuan asked with some confusion, "My lord, who is this Wang Meng?"

"He was the one who came to our city gates alone to persuade us to surrender before Yang Ke led his army to attack Qingyang City."

"I remember now. This guy was really lucky. He was pierced through the body by a bone arrow, but not only did he not die at the time, he also recovered and was able to get out of bed and walk a few days ago."

"Then call him over."

"yes!"

Fifteen minutes later, Wang Meng arrived.

Compared to his arrogance when he was being recruited, he was now trembling with fear, and obediently knelt down when he saw Shen An.

"You were seriously injured back then, how is your voice recovering?" Shen An asked condescendingly.

"My lord, my throat is fine," Wang Meng replied, his voice still clear and bright.

A slight smile appeared on Shen An's lips. This man was adept at recruiting and humiliating people, and at undermining their morale.

This is also why Shen An was determined to give him a chance when he saw that he was still alive.

With a major battle imminent, his usefulness has become apparent.

"Wang Meng, you are a talented person. I need you to work for me from now on. Are you willing?" Shen An asked.

Wang Meng was startled; he had been waiting for these words for months.

Over the past few months, he had truly felt the difference between Shen An and other warlords.

This also made him see Shen An's potential.

Following Shen An is definitely a better option than following Li Huaiyi.

"Lord Shen, I am willing to serve you. Just say the word, and I will do anything!"

"Very well, the day after tomorrow, Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Bingyu's armies will invade. I need you to persuade them to surrender, humiliate them, and disrupt their morale! Can you do it?"

"able!"

Wang Meng was very confident in himself. He said with a sinister look, "When Li Huaiyi sees that I have betrayed him and joined you, he will be furious. If we humiliate him, it will surely throw him into chaos!"

"I hope you'll keep your word. Go and get ready."

After Shen An dismissed him, he told everyone not to be nervous and to eat and drink as usual for the next two days.

They even hired beautiful women to dance and held a grand party to relieve the stress on the soldiers and civilians.

On the evening of the 11th.

The party was still going on, and people from both inside and outside the city gathered in front of the city gate to watch the beauties dance gracefully.

Shen An and Dugu Meng sat side by side on the city wall, holding wine in their hands, watching the lively scene below.

Dugu Meng hesitated several times before finally being caught by Shen An.

"Say whatever you want to say."

Dugu Meng's heart suddenly raced; she was afraid that what she wanted to say would startle Shen An.

Even after Shen An made it clear, she still acted coy and hesitant.

"If you don't tell me, I'm leaving!" Shen An said, getting up.

"Don't go, I'll talk!" Dugu Meng grabbed Shen An's arm and pulled him back to sit down.

"Speak, I'm listening."

Shen An approached Dugu Meng.

"Um, um... I wanted to tell you..."