The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 341 Extra Chapter: Poisoning to Start the War

When Ling Chengen saw Yu Heng burst into the room, he sat up in bed, lifted the bed curtains with one hand, and asked, "What happened?"

"Are you still asleep? Get up right now, the war has broken out in the south."

Yuheng had excellent eyesight and keen senses, so he knew there was someone on her bed. He didn't go any further in, but turned around and walked out of the room, standing under the corridor. The midday sun shone on his earlobes, giving them a hazy red hue.

Upon hearing that the war had begun, Ling Chengen immediately got out of bed.

Shi Ruoan tried to sit up, but Ling Chengen, who was about to leave, bent down and helped him up, saying, "You should rest a little longer. I have things to take care of. If you're hungry, go out and buy some food. If you don't want to go by yourself, just ask the crow warrior guarding you to run an errand."

As Shi Ruo'an's belly grew larger, Ling Cheng'en dared not let him move around alone all day. So he arranged for two Crow Clan guards to stay by his side. They didn't need to follow him all the time; they usually stayed in the trees near the small courtyard so they could detect any noise immediately.

Shi Ruoan leaned against the headboard, her long hair a little messy, her eyes still sleepy. She nodded and said, "Don't worry about me. You go ahead and do your work. There are always people at home. If I need anything, I'll ask them for help."

After confirming that he was not feeling unwell, Ling Chengen grabbed a set of clothes from the closet, changed into them, and then opened the door and went out.

Hearing the noise at the door, Yuheng turned around and glanced at her. Seeing that she had closed the door again, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Were you with Shi Ruoan all night?"

Ling Chengen nodded, his expression remaining calm, and said, "Let's get down to business first. What's the matter with the war in the south?"

Ling Chengen did not plan to attack the southern tribes this year. They were too united, and she had already assigned her capable generals to the east and north, so she didn't have many manpower available at the moment. Therefore, she initially arranged for the army to stay and guard the Xuemu River line and warned them not to provoke the tribes on the other side.

Yu Heng stepped down the stairs, turned his head and said, "It's not something that can be explained in a few words. Come with me to the government affairs office first. I've already sent someone to inform Chang Tianchen, and he should be here by now."

Ling Chengen followed behind him, walking quickly towards the outside of the courtyard. The two had just reached the entrance of the government affairs hall when they bumped into Chang Tianchen.

Chang Tianchen, with a cold and stern expression, strode across the stone steps beside the bamboo forest. Upon seeing the two, he said, "I just received accurate intelligence. The troops stationed on the north bank of the Xue Mu River were ambushed last night and suffered heavy losses."

Ling Chengen pushed open the door of the government office and asked as he walked, "How many casualties? Who was the messenger? Where is he now?"

Who is the commander of the army that remained to guard the north bank of the Xuemu River?

Chang Tianchen looked back at the sky and whistled. Suddenly, a huge golden eagle glided down from a branch a hundred meters high and landed in the front yard of the government office. Using the green plants in the front yard, it transformed into human form and quickly walked out from behind the tree trunk.

"The one responsible for delivering the message was Jin Yang, a warrior of the Azure Golden Eagle Clan."

"The main force responsible for guarding the north bank is the Yunjin King Serpent Clan. The two teams that cooperate with them are warriors from the Qingmang Golden Eagle Clan and warriors from the Luo Crocodile Clan."

"The Yunjin King Serpent Clan has about 8,000 warriors, the Qingmang Golden Eagle Clan has only 500 warriors, and the Luo E'er Clan has less than 2,500 beastmen."

"So, the number of soldiers guarding the north bank defense line is less than 11,000?" Ling Chengen asked.

Chang Tianchen nodded slightly and said, "There are only 11,000 troops on the Linjiang defense line."

"However, there are two more lines of defense towards the City of Ten Thousand Beasts. The second line of defense has 15,000 troops stationed there, and the third line of defense has 7,000 troops."

"After the first line of defense on the north bank was attacked last night, the second line of defense, upon receiving the news, immediately dispatched personnel to provide support."

Ling Chengen asked in confusion, "Why is it taking so long to send back intelligence about the attack last night?"

Although Xuemujiang is a bit far from the City of Ten Thousand Beasts, that's for orcs who run on four legs. But even if the distance is far, it can be covered in a few hours. Besides, the City of Ten Thousand Beasts has no shortage of orcs of the avian race who are faster, so news shouldn't be taking this long to spread.

Jin Yang explained, "The enemy launched a sudden attack in the early hours of this morning, just before dawn. Since we found no trace of them crossing the river, nor any indication that they were invading from the air, we continued our usual night watch..."

Ling Chengen had already sat down in the chair. Looking at the envelope on the table, sealed with sealing wax and clearly unopened, he glanced up at Jin Yang and said, "Even so, the news shouldn't have only arrived at noon. What happened?"

Jin Yang glanced at Chang Tianchen, who looked puzzled and said, "Why are you looking at me? Just tell the truth."

Jin Yang's expression was solemn as he said, "When we were attacked, we immediately sent people into the city to send messages and also arranged for someone to notify the leader of the second line of defense. However, we did not receive any reinforcements for a long time. So we sent out three more batches of messengers, but in the end, only one person delivered the intelligence to the second line of defense."

"All the other messengers responsible for delivering messages have disappeared."

"So, it's not that we didn't send messages back, but that all the messengers responsible for sending intelligence towards Beast City have disappeared."

Ling Chengen paused in his act of opening the letter, then suddenly chuckled at the statement: "They've all disappeared?"

"Although Chongzhen was previously in charge of the intelligence station's management, when he left, he made a detailed division of responsibilities between military intelligence work and general political and business intelligence work, establishing two separate agencies. Military intelligence work was assigned to the Military Intelligence Department, which was fully entrusted to your management, and the head of the Military Intelligence Department was also directly appointed by you."

"So, what exactly happened? You need to give me an explanation."

Ling Chengen looked at Chang Tianchen with a calm expression and no change in tone, but Chang Tianchen had a feeling that she was in a bad mood.

Chang Tianchen realized the danger and immediately stood up straight, saying, "I will find out the truth. Give me half a day."

"Have your men investigate the issue of the interruption in military intelligence communications. Find a result as soon as possible, then make timely adjustments and resolve the problem to prevent similar issues from recurring. Your focus now is not on investigating internal problems, but on cleaning up the mess from before."

"Why did you assign the Yunjin King Snake Clan as the main force to the front line?" Ling Chengen asked疑惑地. Chang Tianchen lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before answering truthfully, "It was their suggestion. However, I had already made arrangements for the front-line garrison and rotation. It was supposed to be a rotating arrangement. Although the Yunjin King Snake Clan are not warriors of our Snake Mountain, the Yunjin tribe is a medium to large tribe with quite strong warriors. So, with them as the main force on the front line, there shouldn't have been such a big mistake."

"The problem is that the matter is already settled, and now is not the time to assign blame. Have you thought about who should take over?"

Chang Tianchen took out an envelope from his sleeve and said, "The letter I received said that the enemy who launched this night attack was an orc of the Black Mamba Serpent Clan."

Ling Chengen raised his eyes and said, "I remember they don't seem to be a native race of our Northern Wilderness."

"The natives of the Aomori Valley and Kazekage area in the southern plains are skilled in poison and their attack power is not weak."

"But the warriors of the Brocade King Serpent Clan are resistant to the venom of the Black Mamba Serpent Clan; that venom cannot kill them. Moreover, the Brocade King Serpent Clan is stronger and larger..."

Ling Chengen glanced at the letter in his hand, read it, and then handed it to Chang Tianchen: "The number of warriors killed in the attack on the Yunjin King Serpent Clan is in the single digits, but most of the orcs are exhausted in a short period of time and have symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and vomiting."

Yu Heng stood next to Chang Tianchen. He was very tall, so he simply turned his head to look at the letter in Chang Tianchen's hand. After scanning it quickly, he met Ling Chengen's eyes.

"What are you thinking?" Ling Chengen asked, looking at Yu Heng.

Yu Heng said with a deep look in his eyes, "The symptoms are very obvious, but it's uncertain whether it's drug poisoning or food poisoning."

"We'll have to have a witch doctor examine it to find out."

Yu Heng pondered for a moment, then took out a purplish-red leaf from his sleeve and quickly contacted Xuan Yan.

He sent Xuan Yan to the front lines to find out the root cause of the mass poisoning of the Yun Jin King Snake Clan warriors. Then he turned to Chang Tianchen and asked, "The Yun Jin King Snake Clan warriors have lost their fighting ability. Which team do you plan to send to take their place against the Black Mamba Snake Clan warriors?"

"The Thorn Honey Badger Clan".

Chang Tianchen grabbed the paper and pen on the table and quickly wrote a letter. He also took out a metal token and handed it to Jin Yang: "Go to the North Camp and deliver the letter and token to Lu Shan, the young chieftain of the Thorn Honey Badger Clan. Then, have him immediately dispatch 15,000 troops to support the northern front of Xue Mujiang."

“Tell him that the Black Mamba snake clan must be dealt with first.”

Without any hesitation, Jin Yang took the item and immediately transformed into a giant golden eagle, leaping outside the door and spreading his wings to fly into the sky.

Ling Chengen tapped the tabletop lightly with the tip of his nose, recalling what Chang Tianchen had said about the Thorn Honey Badger tribe. He had never heard of a tribe called the Honey Badger tribe before, and he wondered where they had been recruited from.

Seeing her frowning and troubled look, Yu Heng nudged Chang Tianchen with her elbow. Chang Tianchen immediately understood and explained, "The Thorn Honey Badger Clan is a tribe in the southwest region. They live in the upper reaches of the Xue Mu River, on a grassland south of the river. Last year, during the cold season, they were short of food and sent people to ask a slightly larger tribe in the central region for help to borrow food. In the end, the warriors who asked for help ran all the way to the City of Ten Thousand Beasts and finally met Chong Zhen."

"Considering that we have no territory south of the Xuemu River, and the Thorn Honey Badger tribe is actually quite powerful, subduing them would be a great help. Even if they are unwilling to submit, we still owe them a debt of gratitude for lending us food and saving our lives, so they won't easily turn against us after we cross the Xuemu River..."

"Therefore, after confirming that there was enough food, Chongzhen lent a batch of grain to the Thorn Tribe and told them how to process the food to make the most of it. The chieftain of the Thorn Tribe was very grateful to them. After the spring, he specially brought a group of people into the city to express his gratitude and said that he would send a batch of game during the middle and later stages of the autumn hunt. He was also willing to collect other herbs and other items as a return gift for the Beast City's willingness to lend grain."

"However, during the rainy season, they encountered floods and suffered heavy losses. In the end, they decided to go directly to the City of Ten Thousand Beasts. After being accepted by Chongzhen, the warriors of the Thorn Tribe set up a separate team, mainly to deal with the poisonous orcs of the Southern Plains."

Ling Chengen tapped the table with one hand: "Are the warriors of the Thorn Honey Badger Clan really not afraid of being poisoned to death by the venom of the Black Mamba Snake Clan?"

“The venom of the Black Mamba Snake Clan is not fatal to them,” Chang Tianchen said with great certainty. “Every race of orcs has its own natural enemies and nemesis. Unless they are high-level or super-high-level warriors, most are still afraid of encountering orcs that are their natural enemy.”

"Like the Brocade King Snake Clan, the Thorn Honey Badger Clan has a strong resistance to various snake venoms, and they are also very strong and have a fierce and warlike nature, so it is just right to send them there."

In fact, the warriors of the Cloud Brocade King Snake Clan are on par with the warriors of the Thorn Honey Badger Clan.

The warriors of this tribe are also fierce and ruthless. This time, they suffered such a loss in silence. Their first battle after joining the City of Ten Thousand Beasts was a direct slap in the face. I guess once they recover, they will probably want to skin the person who poisoned them alive...

Because the front lines were in complete chaos, Chang Tianchen didn't plan to stay in the city. After a brief exchange with Ling Chengen, he received accurate instructions and then led a group of men away from the city.

Yu Heng leaned back in her chair, slowly twirling the purplish-red leaves between her fingertips. She glanced at Ling Chengen, who seemed to be thinking or daydreaming, and deliberately had Jiao Jiao poke her arm with the thin vine strands.

Ling Chengen's vacant gaze snapped back to focus in an instant. He turned his head and looked at Yu Heng blankly, raising his eyebrows slightly: "What's wrong?"

"What are you thinking about?"

Ling Chengen put the pen back in the pen holder, folded the letter on the table, and put it in the drawer on his left before slowly saying, "Something feels off."

"Are you worried about a mole within the organization?"

Ling Chengen rested his chin on his hand and said, "There's definitely a mole inside, no doubt about it."

"After all, Beast City has expanded too fast in the past two years, and the quality of the orcs it has recruited is uneven. Some joined simply because of Beast City's powerful military force, some came for Beast City's abundant food and rare resources, and some wanted to wait and see. In fact, their will to join Beast City is not firm, and they are still in a wait-and-see state. If Beast City shows any signs of weakness, they will probably break away from Beast City immediately and re-establish their own independent territory."

“What I find strange is that the warriors on the front lines who showed symptoms of poisoning were mainly from the Cloud Brocade King Serpent Clan and the Azure Golden Eagle Clan. Why didn’t the Luo Crocodile Clan warriors have any problems? Are they physically stronger, or is someone trying to make us focus on them as prime suspects, or is there something wrong with them themselves…”

Yu Heng said, "The warriors of the Luo Crocodile Clan are mainly responsible for patrolling the waters, the Qingmang Golden Eagle Clan is responsible for patrolling the airspace, and the warriors of the Yunjin King Snake Clan are stationed evenly on the north bank of the river, with one post every ten steps, as required."

"The attackers were Black Baman snake orcs. They can't fly, so their methods for crossing the river without attracting the attention of the patrolling warriors must be limited... Once we figure out how they got here, we'll know who's at fault."