After Dong Chenglang drank a cup of tea, Xie Jingchen instructed him to inform General Shi about the Prince of Nanliang sending people to follow him, so that General Shi could be mentally prepared.

Upon hearing this, General Shi was uncertain whether to give Dong Chenglang a beating or not.

The Crown Prince came to the military camp, yet he didn’t stay put, instead he ran to the town. Doesn’t this plainly show disrespect to the Crown Prince?

However, if he hadn’t gone to the town, he wouldn’t have helped Zhao Xu eliminate the assassins, nor would he have realized that the Crown Prince was already so wary of them.

General Shi shared the same view as Xie Jingchen.

Once the Prince of Nanliang doubts, it’s not so easy to regain his trust.

Now that Duke Huguo has been killed and the Crown Prince is at the border, it is the perfect time to relocate the Shi Family members.

Before the Shi Family and those from the Changning Marquis Mansion are moved to a safe place, they must not alert the enemy by being careless.

Only then did Xie Jingchen believe that General Shi was truly siding with Zhao Xu.

The Prince of Nanliang was determined to annex Daqi, and the next day, he gathered the military officers to discuss military affairs, aiming to retake the city and capture Marquis Dongxiang alive to avenge Duke Huguo.

Such a high goal placed tremendous pressure on the soldiers of Nanliang.

General Shi voiced his opinions and led the troops whenever asked, putting the Prince of Nanliang first in all things.

If you say he was dutiful, he was indeed dutiful.

If you say he was perfunctory, he was indeed perfunctory enough.

The soldiers around the Prince of Nanliang had mixed opinions about General Shi’s attitude.

And while the Prince of Nanliang found some merit in General Shi’s suggestions, they were far from impressive.

The Prince of Nanliang had been at the border for half a month and had engaged in small skirmishes, with more losses than victories.

He gathered Duke Huguo’s old subordinates and, with the Border Defense Map that Aunt Xue had stolen, devised a battle plan.

General Shi harbored doubts about the Border Defense Map.

How could something so important be obtained so easily?

Might there be deception involved?

General Shi, concerned for the soldiers under his command, unwilling to see them sacrifice in vain, voiced such words, embarrassing the Prince of Nanliang.

As expected, General Shi’s use of the word "easily" angered the Prince of Nanliang.

For this Border Defense Map, Xue Mei Niang had infiltrated Daqi, and negotiated with the Third Master of Prince Zhenbei Mansion for a long time before obtaining it.

General Shi only saw the result but didn’t consider the hardships involved in obtaining the Border Defense Map!

Could it be that there is not a single reliable person around the esteemed Prince of Nanliang?!

The Prince of Nanliang stubbornly insisted, what could General Shi say? He couldn’t even resist Duke Huguo, let alone the Prince of Nanliang. Apart from obeying orders, he had no choice.

Two days later, after the soldiers of Nanliang were well-fed and rested, they attacked Daqi.

How could they possibly win with a battle plan devised from a map deliberately allowed to be stolen?

As expected—

Nanliang suffered a crushing defeat.

With the first clash, it was obvious that the Border Defense Map was fake, and the Prince of Nanliang leaned against the table, his face contorted with rage.

Just when the Prince of Nanliang was furious enough to kill, news of Young Master Zhao raising an army reached the camp.

Young Master Zhao had raised an army in the name of Donglin Prince Mansion’s orphan Yuan Xu.

When the news reached the camp, everyone was stunned.

Although Dong Chenglang and General Shi had known earlier, they had to pretend they didn’t.

Others who were unaware were even more shocked.

Back then, the Donglin Prince Mansion was wiped out to the last member.

No one was left alive.

There were previous rumors that Princess Hengyang of Donglin Prince Mansion was alive and was now the Princess Zhenbei of Daqi, but no one knew whether the rumors were true or false.

Now an orphan from Donglin Prince Mansion had suddenly appeared.

There were many seasoned soldiers in the army, some who had even fought alongside Prince Donglin.

They all knew that before Donglin Prince Mansion was annihilated, Prince Donglin’s Princely Heir was betrothed to the Prime Minister Zhao’s sister, and was about to marry her as his wife. This sister was the current Princess Consort Ling, so wasn’t Young Master Zhao related to Donglin Prince Mansion?

Everyone found this matter to be extremely unbelievable, but if Young Master Zhao wasn’t of Donglin Prince Mansion’s bloodline, he wouldn’t possibly rally the old troops of Donglin Prince Mansion to pledge allegiance to him and follow him in raising an army to overthrow the court.

The Prince of Nanliang was ambitious, intending to annex Daqi and Beimo. He underestimated Daqi, not expecting that merely Daqi was enough to throw Nanliang into turmoil, and now Zhao Xu had raised an army to overthrow the court, and Duke Huguo had been killed. For Nanliang, this was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.

Daqi had the internal chaos of Duke Chong and Prince Qi, intercepting the grain and grass the court sent to the border, and now Zhao Xu was using the same tricks, intercepting the court-sent grain and pay silver at the border.

With an unstable supply of grain and grass, coupled with Daqi’s strong soldiers, Nanliang suffered successive defeats, and morale plummeted.