It was mainly General Xu speaking: “Your Highness, those soldiers were all elite troops. Isn’t it a pity to send them to their deaths in vain!”

Prince Jing lifted his eyelids: “What deaths? This is called achieving victory through surprise tactics.”

What bullshit surprise tactics!

General Xu’s mouth twitched, nearly cursing aloud: “You had them infiltrate the enemy camp to kill Guan Liang, but the Qi army camp is heavily guarded—how could infiltrating be so simple? Even if they were lucky enough to sneak in, how would they know where that dog traitor Guan Liang was? Even if they found him, how could just the six of them take Guan Liang’s life?”

Every day Guan Liang remained at ease on the Northern Qi side was another day shaking the morale of Great Zhou’s troops. Especially if Great Zhou’s situation grew increasingly dire, it would surely inspire more people to follow his example.

It could be said that the dog traitor Guan Liang’s life held extraordinary value. If there truly had been no opportunity, how could they have let that traitor live until today?

Prince Jing remained unperturbed: “General Xu, rest assured. This prince has his own calculations.”

General Xu was nearly crying with anxiety: “Then tell me, what exactly are your calculations!”

Suddenly telling him to arrange for people to go assassinate Guan Liang, having the city gate commander prepare to cooperate, then refusing to explain the specifics when asked—wasn’t this driving people to desperation?

He couldn’t even refuse. Setting aside that Prince Jing had greater authority than him, those six men sent out belonged to Prince Jing’s command.

To use Prince Jing’s words: even if there are losses, they’re my people being lost—what are you panicking about?

“This…” Prince Jing truly couldn’t withstand General Xu’s persistence and revealed a bit: “On the Qi army side, we have our people.”

General Xu’s face twitched, his eyes widening round with shock: “Our, our people?”

Prince Jing nodded.

“Inside the Qi army?” He pointed toward the Qi army encampment direction, his face full of disbelief.

Prince Jing nodded.

“Our people are actually that capable?” General Xu reached out both hands to firmly grasp Prince Jing’s hands, his voice trembling.

Prince Jing raised an eyebrow: “Of course.”

“This person is—”

“Not convenient to reveal for now.” Seeing General Xu’s disappointed expression, Prince Jing withdrew his hands and patted his shoulder. “General Xu, don’t be anxious. Before long you’ll know.”

The fewer people who knew about top secret plans, the better. He couldn’t risk his son’s safety. If tonight’s operation succeeded, perhaps tomorrow he could end this plan that had kept him on tenterhooks as a father.

“Your Highness, we truly have our people there?”

Prince Jing finally grew annoyed, his face darkening: “Ask again and we won’t.”

General Xu: “…” Listen to that—could a reliable person say such things? It was perfectly normal for him to be somewhat skeptical.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside. The guard at the door reported: “Your Highness, General, the person who went out has returned!”

Prince Jing and General Xu stood up simultaneously, saying in unison: “Quickly, let them in!”

Soon that soldier walked in, kneeling on one knee before the two: “Your Highness, General, the dog traitor’s head has been brought back!”

“Truly brought back?” General Xu’s voice pitched unstably with excitement. He directly snatched the cloth bundle from the soldier’s hands.

The black cloth at first glance showed no abnormalities. Upon touching it, it was sticky and slippery, but General Xu paid this no mind at all, impatiently unwrapping the cloth.

A head with a ferocious expression appeared starkly before their eyes. Those wide-open eyes were full of terror and bewilderment—the head’s owner clearly hadn’t anticipated suddenly losing his life.

General Xu hated Guan Liang to the bone and remembered this person’s appearance crystal clear. After examining the head carefully for a moment, he burst into loud laughter: “Ha ha ha ha! It really is him! Heaven has eyes!”

Prince Jing was equally excited, but hearing this remark, he rolled his eyes.

What did Heaven have to do with it? This was clearly achieved through human effort—not to mention his son who had gone deep into the tiger’s den, even these soldiers had risked their lives to achieve this result.

Catching sight of Prince Jing’s eye roll, General Xu’s laughter hitched. He quickly lowered his head to look at the head, then let out a long breath.

He’d been terrified, thinking the head wasn’t Guan Liang’s!

Prince Jing paid no mind to General Xu’s anxiety and stepped forward to help the kneeling soldier up: “Beautifully done! This prince credits you with a merit! The others—”

The soldier’s eyes darkened, and he lowered his head slightly.

Prince Jing patted his shoulder: “Their blood will not be shed in vain.”

“This subordinate understands.”

“You’ve worked hard. Go rest.”

After the soldier who brought the head withdrew, General Xu let out a whoop and embraced Prince Jing: “Your Highness, you are truly brilliant and mighty!”

Prince Jing pushed him away with a disgusted expression, though the corners of his mouth curved high: “General Xu, let’s discuss the next plan instead.”

“Your Highness, please speak.” General Xu respectfully invited Prince Jing to sit, unable to resist sneaking another glance at Guan Liang’s head.

This truly felt like a dream!

Originally he’d had just a tiny bit of resistance toward Prince Jing—those who led troops in battle, who didn’t want to have the final say? Now he didn’t think that way. He truly was inferior to Prince Jing. No wonder His Majesty had sent Prince Jing here.

Put that way, it was still His Majesty who was brilliant and mighty—

General Xu collected his thoughts, waiting for Prince Jing to continue.

Prince Jing pointed at the head: “Tomorrow morning, hang Guan Liang’s head on the city gate.”

“Naturally! Let those people see what fate awaits beasts who become traitors to their country!” General Xu imagined tomorrow’s scene—in this freezing weather, it would be as satisfying as eating a steaming hot pot.

“Tonight our people successfully infiltrated the Qi camp and killed Guan Liang. Tomorrow we might as well actively challenge them to battle, routing the Qi army in one vigorous effort.”

General Xu leaned closer, his face full of reverence: “What arrangements does Your Highness have?”

“Arrangements? Fight bravely to kill the enemy, that’s all.”

General Xu’s smile froze at the corners of his mouth.

A direct fight?

Prince Jing looked at General Xu with surprise: “Tonight that old dog Wuye probably can’t even sleep, while on our side, having killed the traitor, morale is soaring. With this ebb and flow, do we still lack confidence to fight a victorious battle?”

In his secret letter, Shuo had agreed that if the plan to assassinate Guan Liang succeeded, they need not delay further—taking advantage of the Qi army’s poor rest, they would engage in battle the next day, and he would take Wuye’s life on the battlefield.

But this plan couldn’t be shared with General Xu.

One must guard against others—how could General Xu be impossible to be a spy? Don’t forget, even the triple-degree scholar Yang Zhe turned out to be the former Crown Prince.

Prince Jing endured great hardship because of this secret plan, but he had to keep his mouth shut, both for his son’s safety and for victory in this war.

Thinking about it, he wasn’t the one suffering most. The one suffering most was the personal guard impersonating Shuo—that poor young man couldn’t even leave his quarters to relieve himself.

General Xu laughed dryly twice, not objecting: “Your Highness speaks correctly. Then let’s fight a satisfying battle!”

So be it. Even Prince Jing was this courageous—if he continued to be timid and hesitant, wouldn’t people look down on him?

However, if it came to a direct clash, the outcome might not be optimistic.

Glancing at the wide-eyed head, General Xu asked with a thread of hope: “Your Highness, in tomorrow’s battle, what are our chances of victory?”

Could there be some astonishing arrangement he didn’t know about?

Prince Jing’s expression was matter-of-fact: “That’s definitely assured victory.”

General Xu: “…”