Unlike Great Zhou, as a nation with vast and fertile grasslands, royal nobles like Wuye all possessed private horse ranches of considerable scale. The seven hundred warhorses came from his own ranch, so there was no need to wait long. Both sides smoothly completed the handover.

After that came the exchange of prisoners.

The location for the prisoner exchange was set at ten li outside the city. On that day, heavy snow fell and cold winds howled. Both sides, as agreed, each sent out just over a hundred men. Everyone wore soft armor and rode warhorses. The atmosphere was extremely tense.

On the Qi army’s side were four Zhou generals bound hand and foot. Because they had been captured before Woli, each person looked rather unwell, having clearly suffered considerable hardship at the hands of the Qi people.

The young man controlled on the left and right by the Zhou army looked much better. This was none other than General Wuye’s nephew Woli.

Wuye did not appear today. On Great Zhou’s side, Prince Jing and General Xu were also not present. The ones responsible for this matter on both sides were vice generals.

The Northern Qi vice general, seeing that Woli was in good condition, secretly breathed a sigh of relief and shouted: “Zhou bandits, quickly release our General Woli!”

The Great Zhou vice general was not to be outdone and cursed back: “Qi dogs, release my brothers!”

What followed was a verbal battle utterly lacking in technique—in short, a shouting match. After growing tired of cursing, they finally began the prisoner exchange.

Woli was pushed to walk to the midpoint between the two armies. The Great Zhou vice general shouted: “Let two of our people come over first!”

“Why should we? If we’re releasing them, release them together!”

The Great Zhou vice general sneered: “We have four people in your hands. If we release them together, what if you arbitrarily detain one?”

The Northern Qi vice general jumped up and down: “Do you think we’re like you Zhou people who love to use underhanded tricks?”

The Great Zhou vice general also grew angry: “Bah, who exactly uses underhanded tricks? You’re the ones who repeatedly invade the borders, burning, killing, and plundering. You’re the bandits! If you’re unwilling, fine—we simply won’t exchange. After all, we’ve already gotten our hands on seven hundred warhorses.”

“You—” The Northern Qi vice general’s face darkened with rage, but he was helpless against the other’s shameless manner.

That’s right—seven hundred warhorses had already fallen into the Zhou bandits’ hands. If they didn’t manage to exchange General Woli back, wouldn’t that be a terrible loss!

He had heard that initially it was only five hundred horses…

The Northern Qi vice general gritted his teeth and waved his hand.

Two Zhou generals were given a shove and immediately broke into a mad sprint toward their own side. Because their hands were bound, affecting their balance, one of them even fell. This sight made those on Great Zhou’s side watch with hearts in their throats, breaking out in cold sweat.

Once they ran back, they were immediately freed from their bonds by their comrades and pulled to the rear.

At the midpoint of that stretch of road, only Woli and two Zhou generals remained.

After another round of pulling and tugging, both sides unanimously decided to count to three and release everyone together.

“One, two, three—”

Both sides stared at each other with wide eyes. No one moved. The scene became extremely awkward for a moment.

“Just as I said—you Zhou bandits are treacherous!”

“You Qi dogs are shameless!”

In the end, it was only after Woli shouted that both sides finally released their control over the hostages, watching them without blinking.

Woli—that is, Qi Shuo in disguise—brushed past the two Zhou generals. He walked very cautiously step by step, then later let loose and sprinted toward the Qi army.

Just as someone steadied him, his legs went weak and he nearly collapsed. His face pale, he forced out two words: “Return… to camp…”

The Northern Qi vice general had originally wanted to pull some tricks during the hostage exchange, but seeing Qi Shuo in this state, he had no choice but to abandon his plans and quickly return to camp.

After all, the most important thing was to smoothly bring General Woli back. They couldn’t lose the big picture for small gains.

Great Zhou was the side that had profited immensely. Wholeheartedly guarding against the Qi people causing trouble, they had no intention of initiating any shenanigans themselves. Seeing the Qi army about to withdraw, they were only too happy to return to the city with the four Zhou generals they had exchanged back.

In the hall, General Xu paced back and forth, his mind completely preoccupied with the prisoner exchange matter.

“General Xu, can you sit down? Your pacing is making my eyes dizzy.”

Looking at the dark-faced Prince Jing, General Xu smiled bitterly: “Your Highness still has such composure. I’m always afraid the other side will play tricks during the hostage exchange.”

According to the agreement, the number of people both sides sent was about the same. But it had to be admitted that in terms of individual combat capability, the Qi people were considerably stronger than the Zhou people. If a fight really broke out, their side would definitely suffer losses.

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen.” Prince Jing said irritably.

Woli was being impersonated by Shuo’er. With such an advantageous identity, if Great Zhou still suffered losses, that would be absurd.

General Xu gave a dry laugh, thinking to himself that Prince Jing was also strange. These past days he had constantly worn a long face, as if he had some vexing matter on his mind.

Hiss—could it be he still thought seven hundred warhorses were too few?

This… was being greedy!

Only when the four Zhou generals were brought into the hall did General Xu completely relax, saying repeatedly: “It’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re back.”

Prince Jing couldn’t help but ask: “That Woli… returned to the Qi army’s side?”

The vice general who had brought the four men back to report looked disdainful as he laughed: “He returned. That dog couldn’t even stand steady from fear—a complete weakling.”

The others laughed when they heard this.

Prince Jing’s face darkened: “How can you say such things!”

Who are you calling a dog!

Meeting everyone’s surprised gazes, Prince Jing coughed lightly: “That’s the lucky star who brought us seven hundred warhorses. Everyone be more respectful.”

“Se-seven hundred horses?” The four Zhou generals who had been brought back trembled all over, forgetting even the torment they had endured in recent days.

The others laughed heartily: “Your Highness is right. We should indeed be more respectful.”

“You four have suffered. Go rest quickly.” Prince Jing sighed inwardly, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked outside.

General Xu gazed at Prince Jing’s departing back, lost in thought.

Why did Prince Jing seem somewhat forlorn?

Compared to General Xu’s anxiety while waiting, Wuye was even more anxious. Hearing that those who had gone to exchange prisoners had returned, he walked directly out of his tent.

“Woli!” Upon seeing his nephew, Wuye strode over and embraced him forcefully.

Qi Shuo’s entire body tensed for a moment, but his expression showed no abnormality as he called out “Uncle.”

Wuye spoke in the language of Northern Qi nobility, and Qi Shuo did the same. Those lower-ranking soldiers whose language was mutually intelligible with Great Zhou couldn’t understand at all. It could be said that proficiency in this language was precisely the mark of Northern Qi nobility.

“Your hand—” Wuye grabbed one of Qi Shuo’s hands. Seeing all five fingers intact, he grabbed the other hand. After a brief moment of surprise, his face flushed red with anger. “Damned Zhou people, they actually played tricks!”

In fact, this kind of threatening tactic wasn’t particularly clever. Wuye was inwardly clear about this too, but concern clouds judgment.

After his anger passed, he noticed the abnormality in his nephew’s voice: “Did they torture you?”

Qi Shuo’s voice was hoarse, sounding very uncomfortable: “Haven’t slept much these past days, so it ended up like this…”

Wuye patted his shoulder: “You’ve suffered. Tomorrow your uncle will settle accounts with them and help you vent your anger properly!”

Qi Shuo’s heart jumped.

Would battle begin tomorrow?

Qi Shuo was soon urged by Wuye to go rest. Even at night, he didn’t dare go out and move around, lest people become suspicious. After all, someone who had fallen into enemy hands for a period of time shouldn’t have the energy to wander about upon just returning.

He simply had a good sleep. Early the next morning, he dressed properly and went to Wuye’s tent.