The next morning, the cold wind was piercing. Inside the small city the Zhou army was defending, suddenly thunderous sounds of firecrackers and gongs and drums erupted.

This commotion alarmed Northern Qi scouts who had come to reconnoiter early in the morning.

Two scouts crouched low and quietly approached the city gate, discovering the head hanging from a pole on the city wall.

The distance was somewhat far, so they couldn’t actually see clearly what the head looked like, but beside that head also hung a blue banner with several large characters written on it: Traitors to the Nation Deserve Death.

The two scouts immediately rushed back at full speed to report the intelligence they’d gathered.

Wuye had only just fallen asleep not long ago. Hearing the report, he struggled to get up, his head aching as if a stick were stirring inside his brain.

“Guan Liang’s head has been hung on the city wall?” After hearing the full report, Wuye’s already poor complexion looked even worse.

What made his mood even more dismal was that the Zhou army had taken the initiative to launch an attack.

Damned Zhou people—how dare they? It should have been him leading the great army to thoroughly thrash the Zhou people, venting last night’s rage.

The sounds of slaughter shook the heavens on the battlefield. Wuye sat on horseback gripping his great hammer, positioned at the rear of the great army.

“Tuoli, don’t charge to the very front, lest those cunning Zhou people scheme against you.”

Qi Shuo nodded. Before Wuye, his words were still few: “I’ll follow Uncle.”

Wuye’s lips moved. He wanted to say he could temporarily remain at the rear to observe the situation, but seeing his nephew’s frustrated face, he said nothing.

He hadn’t noticed before, but looking carefully today, this child had grown thin—clearly still unhappy in his heart about the ordeal of being captured.

So be it. Those who go to battle cannot forever cower at the rear.

Just at this moment, a fierce shout came: “Old thief Wuye, hiding in the back pretending to be a turtle? If you have guts, come fight this prince!”

Hearing this, Wuye’s nose nearly crooked with anger.

That old dog Prince Jing, who clearly dodged whenever he encountered his hammer, actually had the audacity to twist black and white!

“Old dog, your life is forfeit!” Wuye raised his great hammer and spurred his horse into a mad gallop. Along the way, with just a few hammer blows, he felled a swath of Zhou soldiers.

Prince Jing watched the killing god drawing ever nearer, his lips pressed tightly together.

Years ago when he was still in the northern lands, Wuye’s reputation alone could make people lose their courage. This person was a born warrior general, possessing tremendous strength. This had also formed Wuye’s combat habits—compared to those types of commanders who sat in the rear, Wuye was more accustomed to charging at the front, exceptionally brave and fierce.

Such a person had long become a kind of pillar for Northern Qi’s military. As long as he was present, he could give the Qi army confidence in certain victory.

One could imagine that if Shuo’s plan succeeded, what a heavy blow it would be to Northern Qi’s military morale.

In the blink of an eye the two clashed. The great hammer smashed through empty air. Wuye glared at the dodging Prince Jing mockingly: “Who’s the turtle with its head pulled in? You old dog are truly not as good as in former years—you don’t even dare receive one blow from my hammer! Ha ha ha…”

Someone who had once barely counted as an opponent now only knew how to dodge—how could this not make one feel triumphant?

Hearing these words, Prince Jing curled his lip, thinking to himself: Use a long blade to meet your heavy hammer? I’d have to be stupid to do that.

“Take this prince’s blade!” Within a few breaths, Prince Jing pulled the reins and spurred his horse back around, his great blade slashing toward Wuye’s shoulder.

Because the time was too short and this angle somewhat tricky, Wuye could only forcefully pull his steed to turn direction. From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed his nephew Tuoli coming forward.

“Tuoli, stand down! No need to interfere!” Wuye shouted loudly. After avoiding Prince Jing’s blade, he swung his great hammer.

In that very instant, he suddenly felt a chill at his neck, then immediately his vision rose higher, and he saw the cavity left on his steed, and the column of blood spraying forth.

What was happening?

In his confusion, he saw the blood-stained long blade in his nephew’s hand. But the emotions of fury and incomprehension had no time to take root before his thoughts completely returned to annihilation.

When Qi Shuo approached, Prince Jing had already prepared himself. The moment that head flew up, he immediately spurred his horse forward, firmly catching Wuye’s head in his hand.

No time for sentiment—Prince Jing raised Wuye’s head high and shouted loudly: “Your Great General Wuye is dead!”

The Qi soldiers nearby who heard the shout immediately fell into mental disarray, while Zhou soldiers seized the opportunity to claim enemy lives in great numbers.

And that wasn’t all. Subsequently, a team of trusted subordinates arranged by Prince Jing simultaneously began calling out: “Your Great General Wuye is dead!”

“Your Great General Wuye is dead!”

The voices surged like tremendous waves, spreading in wave after wave, layer upon layer, in all directions.

A minority of Qi soldiers saw Wuye’s head. More Qi soldiers did not see it, but amid these shouts that the great general was dead, that will to resist collapsed instantly. As their formation fell into chaos, comprehensive defeat followed.

This battle ended with the Qi army’s rout. The battlefield was densely covered with countless corpses, the vast majority left behind by the Qi army.

This was an inspiring great victory. Even with Wuye’s head placed right before him, General Xu still felt he dared not believe it.

“Wuye is truly dead?”

Watching General Xu circle around the head like a fool, Prince Jing wanted to roll his eyes: “General Xu, Wuye’s head is right here. Do you not recognize it?”

“I recognize it, I recognize it!” General Xu’s heart was full of excitement, not caring at all about Prince Jing’s tone. He even felt that Prince Jing’s old face looked pleasing no matter how he looked at it.

He glanced at Wuye’s head, his eyes growing hot and nearly tearing up: “I truly never imagined that a figure like Wuye would die just like this. What Your Highness said last night was not false by even half a word.”

His perspective had been too narrow!

After the excitement passed, General Xu turned his attention to Tuoli.

“Wuye was actually beheaded by his most beloved nephew—simply incredible!”

Prince Jing’s expression was somewhat strange: “Both yes and no.”

General Xu was startled: “Your Highness, what do you mean? Hiss—you mentioned last night that we have our people in the Qi army. Don’t tell me you turned Tuoli to our side?”

Tuoli was Wuye’s own nephew. His prestige in Northern Qi was no less than any prince’s. After we captured and released him, even exchanging him back for seven hundred warhorses, he could actually be turned?

This… was this truly reasonable?

“General Xu, don’t be anxious.” Prince Jing nodded to his personal guard.

Soon the guard led a young man inside. General Xu saw he had no restraints on his body, and his hand unconsciously moved to his sword hilt.

“General Xu.” Qi Shuo cupped his hands, resuming his original voice.

General Xu found it familiar. Before he could think much about it, he saw Qi Shuo turn away.

He looked at Prince Jing uncomprehendingly, seeing Prince Jing’s old face creased with smiles.

What was this situation?

At this moment Qi Shuo turned back around and clasped his fists toward General Xu.

General Xu’s eyeballs nearly popped out. Unable to control himself, he stepped forward two paces and rubbed his eyes: “Heir? You, this, what exactly is going on here?”

Prince Jing laughed heartily: “Didn’t I tell General Xu that we had our own people over there…”

After Prince Jing finished explaining the ins and outs, General Xu sighed deeply: “Your Highness has kept me so much in the dark!”

“This was also for victory. I hope General Xu won’t blame me.”

“Of course not. The Heir has achieved such great merit—I’ll transmit the battle report back to the capital immediately!”

He glanced at the young man who had not yet changed out of his blood-stained armor and felt nothing but admiration for Prince Jing and his son.