Qiao Jin looked at the headless corpse that had been brought back, and his expression gradually turned ugly.

There were also words engraved on the corpse: Invaders will be struck down without mercy. The King of Western Shu is welcome to confront us.

“Our army…..had no great losses. Only a hundred people.”

“The other side?”

“On the other side…..no one was harmed.” The person below reported tremblingly, as if trying to make excuses for himself, “They were despicable, and used the dense forest to directly bypass the rear and intercept and kill the general. It was as if they knew that the general was hiding in the rear. I think…..someone must have informed them.”

“Informed them?” Qiao Jin wore a dark smile. “Troop deployment methods have not changed for hundreds of years. Those greedy for life and fearful of death hide behind the slaves. Even though there are no longer slaves, it is still all the same. Does this need to be reported?”

Qiao Jin just hadn’t expected that the dignified general who guards the country would be so bold yet cautious, daring to take the risk to attack and face ten thousand enemies with one hundred people. Sure enough…..this was a person of the Huo family! Their habit of doing what was least expected made it impossible for people to use common sense to deal with them.

What’s more, Qiao Jin hadn’t expected this bastard to be so useless. He did expect that Tan Fong would be defeated, but he was captured just half a day after attacking. Not to mention testing the depths of the situation in Nanfeng City, even his “misdirection” was probably ineffective.

This humiliation hit the young King of Western Shu hard in the face, nearly ashaming him into a rage. After scolding them, he sent the other military commanders to take over the remaining troops and told them to not invade rashly.

“What are you so angry about? The Huo family has been made up of famous generals for generations. Isn’t it normal that you can’t beat them?” Liu Qiao walked out of the darkness.

Although Qiao Jin was angry, he was not in a mindless rage. “Yes, ah, I can’t beat him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have other ways to stir them up.”

“What are you going to do?” Liu Qiao knew Qiao Jin very well, and the second he saw the smile on Qiao Jin’s face, he knew that this kid must be keeping in reserve a lethal trick.

“We’ll do something you’ve always wanted to do,” Qiao Jin sneered.

At this time, Nanfeng City at night was even more lively than its busiest times in the past. The battle of one hundred against ten thousand had left the enemy leaderless, and that army of ten thousand was forced back dozens of li without a fight. It seemed like such a statement could only be heard in legends, but now the people of Nanfeng City had seen it with their own eyes.

When they watched Huo Fenglie riding his black horse with the enemy general’s head in hand, everyone’s spirits were lifted by this easily-won battle. It was as if as long as this powerful man was here, any number of dangers would be eliminated before they began. Everyone spontaneously went to the streets to greet their hero and cheer. It seemed that the previous haze of anxiety had been swept away.

As Liu Zhenqing stood in front of the City Lord’s manor and watched the troops slowly returning from a distance, there was suddenly a strange feeling in his heart.

Huo Fenglie had started going to war at the age of fifteen. After returning victorious, Huo Feihan greeted him at the border, and Li Xingruo also welcomed him back at the capital. He recalled that due to being busy with government affairs, he had never welcomed the young general back home.

Now he stood here watching as Huo Fenglie gradually appeared in his field of vision, and his heart helplessly surged.

Their eyes seemed to meet, and driven by his master, Chen Jiangyue accelerated at once and took Huo Fenglie away from the contingent, straight toward Liu Zhenqing. Huo Fenglie’s long hair and cloak danced wildly in the night wind. When he was almost there, Huo Fenglie flew up and landed in front of Liu Zhenqing with more urgency than ever before.

The two gazed at each other for a moment, neither of them speaking.

Because Huo Fenglie was also in thought. He had gone to countless battlefields, and every time he returned, he would see people waiting for his subordinates, watch them embrace each other in joy for the victory, watch them cry with joy at being reunited. But Huo Fenglie had never seen the person he most wanted to see in the crowd.

Regardless of whether Qing-ge was alive at the time, he never saw him.

And today, he did.

“I’m back,” Huo Fenglie said abruptly. He looked at Liu Zhenqing intently, an unconscious childish expectation in his eyes. But this expectation quickly vanished, as if the general who guards the country no longer needed the fantasies of his youth at this moment. As long as Qing-ge welcomed him back, that was enough. 

Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie, who seemed to be in a trance, and said with a smile: “Welcome back.”

Just as Huo Fenglie nodded, the person in front of him suddenly threw himself into his arms and hugged him tightly in front of all those soldiers and common people.

In a flash, it was as if his heart was struck. Huo Fenglie couldn’t react, and even thought for a moment that he was fantasizing again.

After all, a battle like this did not require such a warm welcome.

But Liu Zhenqing seemed to feel that this wasn’t enough, and deliberately acted out a coquettish scene. “I was so worried that you would be injured, but you’ve come back safely, ah. You’re amazing! You won such a huge victory!”

It sounded like he was talking without rhyme or reason, but he seemed to be trying to make up for what he had failed to do in the past.

Huo Fenglie let his fantasy become reality bit by bit, and in the end, he could only hold this person tightly in his arms. The two people behaving as if there was no one else around caused an uproar. It was rumored that the general who guards the country had no one by his side, so what was this?

Setting aside everyone’s shock, Qiao An, who was about to step forward to congratulate him, didn’t look very good. He hadn’t expected Huo Fenglie to be so capable, capable enough that he didn’t even care how rude Huo Fenglie was to him before. If he could use this person, there would be no need for him to be controlled by others anymore. Besides, where did this man who called himself a military adviser look more beautiful and gentle than him? Since Huo Fenglie liked men, he should find that he, a genuine prince, was certainly better than the military advisor.

On the other side, Tang-furen, who had come out with Tang Mu, had already heard about the battle. For those who had experienced the near-destruction of the city, the security given by Huo Fenglie was indescribable. Seeing the two embracing, Tang-furen was so unwilling that her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys twisted up. Her own child was incomparable. She wouldn’t give up easily, and must continue her efforts to get Huo Fenglie to marry her child.

When they returned to the City Lord’s manor, the four of them sat down and began to discuss the war. 

Huo Fenglie briefly explained what he had done, and Dai Tingyu’s jaw dropped in shock. “You haven’t fought them many times, ah, but you wrapped it up so quickly?”

Huo Fenglie said: “Judgements can also be made by observing the smoke rising from the cooking fires. The upper class of Western Shu, whether they are generals or not, live relatively extravagant lives, and it is impossible for them to change very much in a short period of time. The place where the smoke is thickest is naturally where the most people are being served, and a judgment can be made using this.”

Dai Tingyu’s eyes widened in disbelief. He likely hadn’t expected to be able to flexibly determine information from this angle.

Tang Mu said: “This great victory also dealt a heavy blow to the Western Shu Kingdom. They shouldn’t provoke us in the short term, but they may not respond to our request for a parlay. If they don’t retreat, do we really want to lead our troops in?”

“It’s not cost-effective to waste our troops on their small country!” Dai Tingyu couldn’t help but express his dissatisfaction. “They might talk nicely and agree to be a vassal state, but I think that Qiao An is a master at treachery.”

Huo Fenglie didn’t care about this. Due to Liu Qiao’s existence, he didn’t really want a direct confrontation with the King of Western Shu. He was worried that Liu Zhenqing would be upset, so he said: “Respond to ever-changing situations with constancy.”

They briefly discussed the follow-up arrangements and then departed. Because the troops of the Western Shu Kingdom had been taken under leadership again, relevant news came one after another. Huo Fenglie simply rested for a while, then returned to the military camp with Dai Tingyu to make further arrangements.

Huo Fenglie returned late at night. On the courtyard path that was supposed to be still in the dead of night, he met an unexpected person head-on.

“General Huo has returned, ah. Thank you for your hard work. You’ve worked very hard.”

Huo Fenglie was uncertain how a woman like her could intercept him on the path, and said: “Tang-furen, what can I do for you?”

“I’m just happy that the general won a great victory. It’s the time for celebration. Mu’er originally wanted to treat you to a drink, but who knew you would be busy again?” Tang-furen said with an apologetic smile.

Huo Fenglie didn’t waste time, saying directly: “Tang-furen, go back and rest early. I’ll take my leave.”

Tang-furen didn’t stop him, and only smiled strangely. After Huo Fenglie left, she immediately told several servants to stand guard outside Huo Fenglie’s courtyard.

And when Huo Fenglie went to the courtyard, he sensed that something was wrong as soon as he stepped into the room. There were extra people here. Huo Fenglie quickly strode to the inner room, where the bed curtain was down. Qing-ge usually slept here. Since Huo Fenglie’s recovery, they had been sleeping in the same bed. His eyes filled with murderous intent. It didn’t matter if he was ambushed, but if they’d hurt Qing-ge because of this…..as he stepped forward, someone suddenly pounced from behind.

The sweet, greasy fragrance that followed caused his expression to change. This smell was obviously a drug. 

Huo Fenglie ducked out of the way. The person who pounced missed, and before he could come to a stop, he felt a cold touch on his neck. It was the scabbard of a sword. Because the visitor had no killing intent, Huo Fenglie hadn’t drawn his weapon.

But when he got a good look at this person, his face darkened.

Under the moonlight, he saw Qiao An’s snow-white body wrapped in only a single layer of gauze. His hair was disheveled, and he was dressed in an unusually seductive manner.

“General…..” As if enticing him, Qiao An stretched out his slender fingers and gently touched the scabbard with charming eyes that seduced the soul.

But in the next second, a flick of the scabbard caused Qiao An to fall down in disarray.

“Scram,” Huo Fenglie said coldly, not showing any mercy.

Qiao An was shocked. He was already like this, and ordinarily, good-looking men would want to pounce on him when they saw him. His demureness should make him soft-hearted, so why was this Huo Fenglie’s heart still so cold, ah?

“General Huo…..I really am sincere. I admire you. I don’t ask for anything else, just a spring night. Don’t worry, no third party will know about this.” 

As Qiao An spoke, he crawled toward Huo Fenglie on his knees, doing his utmost to pose as endearingly as possible.

He had taken the initiative to throw himself into the other’s arms like this, and didn’t believe that Huo Fenglie wouldn’t eat the meat that was brought to his mouth.

But as Qiao An waited for an answer, there was the sound of a sword being drawn.

Qiao An was reaching for his belt, and instantly froze. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he said: “What….what are you doing?”

But before Qiao An could say another word, the sword was completely unsheathed. Qiao An was so terrified that he crawled and rolled away on the floor. 

Once he drove Qiao An away, Huo Fenglie’s anger still did not subside.

There was still another person!

Huo Fenglie approached the bed warily, sword in hand. As soon as the bed curtain opened, he stared blankly for a moment.

There were two people on the bed. One was an embarrassed-looking Liu Zhenqing, and the other was Tang Mu, who was lying down asleep with a reddened face. He was only wearing his underclothes.

“Qing…..Qing-ge? You…..you…..”

Before Huo Fenglie could speak, Liu Zhenqing reached out and covered Tang Mu with the quilt.

Huo Fenglie’s expression changed several times as he stared fixedly at Liu Zhenqing. He could no longer understand the current situation. Why were Qing-ge and Tang Mu in bed, all disheveled, and why had Qiao An been outside to intercept him?

In fact, Liu Zhenqing was also quite upset with the current situation.

Outsiders were aware that Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie stayed in the same courtyard, but that due to medical treatment, Liu Zhenqing stayed in a different room. Later, when Huo Fenglie was cured, he had shamelessly come to steal half the bed. Perhaps the fact that they carried out daily activities in the original room caused a misunderstanding, making people think that they were still sleeping in separate rooms.

As a result, Liu Zhenqing had bathed in his own room tonight, and when he came to Huo Fenglie’s room to wait for him to go to bed, he opened the bed curtains and found a drugged Tang Mu.

At that time, Tang Mu was already curled up unconscious on the bed. As soon as he touched Tang Mu, the man tried to pounce on him. He could only feed Tang Mu detoxification pills and wait for the drugs to wear off. 

But while they were waiting for detoxification, an additional person snuck in. When he saw the person clearly, Liu Zhenqing was speechless for a while. Never mind targeting Er-gou, but this was twice in one night. In this situation, Liu Zhenqing naturally couldn’t allow the other to discover Tang Mu’s presence, so he could only wait for an opportunity.

And at this moment, Er-gou returned.

Liu Zhenqing spoke succinctly, wanting to complain to Huo Fenglie about the fight that shocked that person with wicked intentions. Perhaps their public embrace still hadn’t discouraged him, and Qiao An feared he would be robbed if he tried too late? 

But Huo Fenglie said with a grave expression: “You have long spoken about Tang-chengzhu’s traditional medicine. When you were close to him, did you ever…..”

Liu Zhenqing said hurriedly: “What are you thinking about!”

Huo Fenglie regarded him suspiciously, as if he could see Liu Zhenqing’s guilty conscience. 

Liu Zhenqing’s back was sweating. In fact, when Tang Mu embraced him, he’d pushed him away in shock. 

And it was indeed a shock, because he’d discovered an incredible secret.

Liu Zhenqing scratched his head and ears, not knowing what to say for some time.

And at this moment, Tang Mu murmured softly on the bed. His voice was sweet and moving, with a tearful tone.

This was not the point. The point was that it was clearly a woman’s voice.

Although Tang Mu’s voice was usually soft and delicate, it was still low. But now it was clear and bright.

Dumbfounded, Huo Fenglie looked toward Liu Zhenqing. Seeing that the other was so uncomfortable, he came to a realization.

“Xiting-ge…..Xiting…..”

The two of them looked over to see Tang Mu holding the willow leaf jade tightly in her hand.

Without waiting for Liu Zhenqing to say anything, Huo Fenglie’s first reaction was to reach over, grab Liu Zhenqing’s arm, and pull hard.

Liu Zhenqing was pulled into the air by Huo Fenglie before he could react, flying out of the bed into Huo Fenglie’s solid embrace. 

He looked at Huo Fenglie in astonishment.

Huo Fenglie’s expression was extremely ugly. It was as if he couldn’t tolerate Liu Zhenqing staying in bed with Tang Mu for one more second. 

“What is going on?” Huo Fenglie’s deep voice sounded dangerously. “Did you know before?”

“That’s an unjust accusation. I found out just now too.”

“How did you know?”

“Eh……”

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Chapter One Hundred Ten << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twelve