When Chi Qing personally came to investigate the spy, Jiang Yanyi and Chef Li were unaware of the situation.

The soldiers on duty at the camp every night were arranged by Head Zhao.

When Chi Qing asked, Head Zhao quickly summoned the few soldiers who had been on duty last night to stand before him.

Chi Qing questioned them one by one but couldn’t get any useful information.

He then asked if anyone else had stayed at the camp last night, and the soldiers thought for a moment before stating that only Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui were present.

Chi Qing couldn’t help but tap his palm with his fan.

He had already confirmed that the cook was not the spy; the only one left to be suspicious of was the camp prostitute named Qiu Kui.

He said, “Bring that camp prostitute named Qiu Kui over.”

Someone immediately went to find Qiu Kui.

Outside, a camp prostitute saw the soldiers calling for Qiu Kui and suddenly looked a bit flustered.

Thinking of Qiu Kui’s usually foolish demeanor, she hurried to pull her aside before the soldiers arrived and said, “Qiu Kui, you didn’t see me at the camp last night, understand?”

Qiu Kui looked at her and pulled her hand back, saying, “But I clearly saw you!”

She had gone to the latrine after eating too much the night before and, upon returning, had found this camp prostitute sneaking around outside the barracks.

The camp prostitute was furious but maintained a smile on her face: “Just say you didn’t see me. If you do as I say, I’ll sneak you some meat later.”

Qiu Kui replied, “I won’t lie. Huahua will give me meat!”

A flash of murderous intent crossed the camp prostitute’s eyes as a dagger peeked out from her sleeve.

At that moment, soldiers came walking this way, loudly calling out, “Who is Qiu Kui?”

Qiu Kui raised her hand, saying, “I am.”

Immediately, many people turned to look in that corner, forcing the camp prostitute to retract her dagger with an annoyed expression.

Seeing Qiu Kui being taken away, the camp prostitute’s anxiety grew.

No one would believe that Qiu Kui, with her foolishness, was a spy; if she confessed, it would be trouble for her.

Determined, the camp prostitute dashed into the kitchen.

The entire camp was surrounded, and with so many soldiers around Chi Qing, she couldn’t approach.

The only chance she had was to capture Chef Li, the head of the camp, which might give her a slim chance of survival.

As she entered, Chef Li was just finishing plating a dish of “Steamed Lotus Flower.”

He disliked being interrupted while cooking, especially since he was teaching culinary skills today.

Seeing someone come in, he frowned and shouted, “Get out! Who allowed you to come in here?”

The camp prostitute quickly approached and said, “Master Li, the strategist is looking for you.”

Jiang Yanyi was slicing ham when she heard this and glanced over, only to spot the camp prostitute with the tip of a dagger peeking out from her sleeve.

She was so frightened that her voice broke, “Master Li, be careful!”

In a moment of panic, she threw the kitchen knife at the camp prostitute.

The camp prostitute dodged the critical hit but was still injured on the hand.

In pain, she covered her wrist, causing the dagger to fall to the ground.

Seeing the dagger, Chef Li quickly reacted.

He grabbed a large ladle from the stove and brought it crashing down on the camp prostitute’s head.

Unexpectedly struck, the camp prostitute let out a cry of pain, but being a martial artist, she endured the dizziness and managed to grab the ladle from Chef Li, clawing at him with her free hand.

Chef Li swung a nearby iron spatula to counter her, striking her hand and causing a large blue bruise, which made her grimace in pain.

At that moment, Jiang Yanyi quickly stepped forward.

Feeling the situation turning dire, as soon as the camp prostitute turned around, a thick rolling pin came crashing down toward her forehead.

With a dull thud, she didn’t even make a sound before her vision went black, and she collapsed.

Chef Li, shaken, staggered back a few steps, steadying himself against the stove.

Jiang Yanyi was also greatly startled. Cautiously, she poked the unconscious camp prostitute with the rolling pin.

Finding that the camp prostitute didn’t move, she finally sighed in relief and stepped forward to help Chef Li, saying, “Master Li, are you alright?”

Chef Li wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook his head, not bothering to correct Jiang Yanyi’s momentary lapse in address.

The commotion inside the barracks soon attracted the attention of the soldiers outside, who rushed in.

Seeing a camp prostitute lying on the ground with a dagger nearby, everyone was taken aback.

Qiu Kui entered with a few soldiers and pointed at the camp prostitute, saying, “That’s her! She was outside the tent last night and just tried to pull me aside, telling me to say I hadn’t seen her.”

Several soldiers immediately tied up the camp prostitute and dragged her out.

Before long, someone came in to relay a message, saying that Jiang Yanyi and Chef Li had done well and that they would personally deliver dishes to the general’s tent that evening, where the general would reward them.

Upon learning that the camp prostitute was a spy, Jiang Yanyi secretly sighed, relieved it hadn’t turned out worse.

Her last day of work was certainly not peaceful.

At that moment, she still didn’t know that compared to the upcoming “unrest,” what had just happened was nothing.

---

Inside the large tent.

Lu Linyuan looked at the Prince of Liaonan sitting above him and could only think of two phrases: “golden appearance, jade quality; walking like a tiger and dragon.”

The name of the Prince of Liaonan resonated in the court like thunder.

However, since he had entered the military at a young age and Lu Linyuan himself had entered the government later, he had not met Feng Shuo until now.

Recalling his previous life, Lu Lingyuan couldn’t help but lament the fate of this fierce hero.

At the time of the fall of the Great Xuan Dynasty, he single-handedly fought off various warlords, preventing them from entering the palace, only to die in the end, pierced by countless arrows.

If this person could have lived a little longer, how could the world have descended into chaos for so many years?

As the saying goes, “The Son of Heaven guards the national gates; the king dies for his country.”

When the Great Xuan Dynasty fell, the emperor fled the capital, yet this prince died at the palace gates.

What he defended was not the national gate but rather the person within the palace.

Lu Lingyuan had heard of the secrets of the Grand Empress Dowager’s madness in his previous life.

As the country was on the brink of collapse, the Grand Empress Dowager considered herself the former emperor’s queen and vowed to sink with the country, sealing herself in Cian Palace.

Prince Feng Shuo was at the palace gates, where the streets were littered with corpses, and blood flowed like rivers.

While he lived, no one could touch a hair on the Grand Empress Dowager.

Once he died, the gates of Cian Palace were finally breached…

Lu Lingyuan was lost in his memories.

He hadn’t spoken for a long time when Feng Shuo, sitting above him, slightly frowned and spoke in a deep voice, “Young Master Lu?”

Though Feng Shuo was only a few years older than Lu Lingyuan, their ranks allowed him to be called “Uncle” by Lu Lingyuan.

Snapping back to reality, Lu Lingyuan quickly clasped his hands and said, “Your Highness.”

In his previous life, he had passed away peacefully, but unexpectedly, when he closed his eyes, he did not journey to the underworld.

Instead, he returned to his youth, traveling to Xizhou after being demoted.

His emotions had burdened him for a lifetime, but in this second life, he had become much more open-minded, and his heart was more concerned with the nation and its people.

At the very least—

The Prince of Liaonan should not have died at the palace gates; Xizhou should not have become a target for the Turks, and the Great Xuan world should not have been drenched in blood…

In this lifetime, he had helped the Grand Empress Dowager leave the palace by leveraging the Lu family’s power, bribing the palace attendants around the Grand Empress Dowager, urging them to persuade her to compel the emperor to send the Grand Empress Dowager out of the palace.

Now that he had arrived in the Xizhou area, he worried that Dingjia Village would be slaughtered as it had been in his previous life.

In his previous life, all disasters had begun from this place…

To prevent a tragedy from happening again, he had deliberately instructed the assassins secretly protecting him to keep an eye on the movements near Dingjia Village.

This allowed him to rescue the entire village just before the Turks attacked.

As Lu Lingyuan reminisced about this, he heard Feng Shuo ask:

“How did you know that the Turks would attack Dingjia Village?”

Lu Lingyuan hurriedly replied, “I am ashamed; it was my bodyguards who noticed something unusual. I feared for the villagers’ safety and took the liberty to bring them away.”

Feng Shuo looked at him thoughtfully. “Young Master Lu, saving the three hundred people of Dingjia Village is indeed a great achievement.”

Lu Lingyuan quickly stated that he didn’t deserve such praise.

Just then, Chi Qing entered the tent.

With outsiders present, he politely bowed to Feng Shuo, saying, “Your Highness.”

He then nodded to Lu Lingyuan, who hurriedly returned the gesture.

This Chi strategist was no ordinary person; he was exceptionally skilled in military strategy.

In his previous life, after Prince Feng Shuo’s death, he had switched allegiances to seek revenge for Prince Feng Shuo, a man of principle.

Chi Qing felt uneasy under Lu Lingyuan’s gaze, which was filled with pity, respect, and a hint of admiration.

He thought to himself, could this young master of the Lu family be captivated by his appearance?

Just thinking about this possibility made him politely nod again at Lu Lingyuan, who seemed somewhat excited and quickly returned the gesture.

Chi Qing: “…”

He walked over to Feng Shuo’s side and quietly asked, “What’s up with this Lu kid?”

Why did he look like a fool?

Feng Shuo ignored him and asked, “Have the spies been caught?”

Only then did Chi Qing remember the task at hand.

He reported the situation from the fire camp and asked, “Capturing the spies is also a contribution. Will there be a reward?”

Feng Shuo shot him a glance: “Reward.”

Chi Qing seemed to have anticipated this response and said with a smirk, “I had those two chefs personally deliver the dishes. Your Highness can personally reward them later.”

The phrase “personally reward” was said with deep meaning.

Feng Shuo instinctively furrowed his brows, but before he could react, someone outside announced that the fire camp’s people had brought the dishes.