No title, no marriage? Do you think I'm some kind of lapdog?

Ye Qingyue trembled at Su Chuang's words, "Strip him naked and tie him up at the city gate."

The cold arrogance on her face shattered completely, her eyes welled up with tears, her lips trembled, and her voice suddenly softened, even trembling:

"Brother Chuang..."

That cry was so sticky and sweet, like poison mixed with honey.

Xu Mengran frowned as she listened, Zhao Yun silently turned his gaze away, and Jia Xu lowered his eyelids, but the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Only Su Chuang grinned, looking like he was watching a good show.

"Oh, General Ye, what's wrong?"

Su Chuang leaned forward, resting his hand on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), "Weren't you quite tough just now?"

Ye Qingyue's tears fell without warning, streaming down her cheeks and mingling with the dirt on her face, leaving two white streaks.

She tried her best to look pitiful, but her silver armor was torn, her hair was messy, and her crying face looked utterly pathetic.

"Brother Chuang, I know I was wrong..."

Her voice was low and trembling with tears.

"I was foolish back then, I was deceived by that scoundrel Yue Xinyang, and that's why I did things that I'm sorry to you..."

"But you've always been in my heart..."

As she spoke, she moved forward, trying to reach out and grab Su Chuang's sleeve.

Su Chuang dodged backward and avoided it.

"General Ye, do you even believe what you're saying?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Back then, when you forced me to relinquish my title, did you still have feelings for me?"

"When you publicly humiliated me on our wedding day, were you even thinking of me?"

"When you colluded with Yue Xinyang to try and kill me, did you even care about me?"

With each question, Ye Qingyue's face paled a little more.

"I...I was forced..."

She shook her head, crying, "The Yue family is powerful, and my father needs their support in court. I... I had no choice..."

"no way?"

Su Chuang laughed, his shoulders shaking so much that he pulled at his thigh wound and grimaced.

"Ye Qingyue, do you think I'm a three-year-old?"

He suddenly leaned down, grabbed Ye Qingyue's chin, and forced her to look up.

The two were face to face, no more than three inches apart.

"I'll tell you."

Su Chuang lowered his voice, so that only the two of them could hear him, "Your tricks won't work on me."

"That fool Su Chuang from back then is long dead."

"The man standing before you now is Su Chuang, the Duke of Xin."

He released his grip, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and slowly wiped his fingers as if he had touched something dirty.

"A confession, should we write it or not?"

Ye Qingyue gritted her teeth, tears still falling, but a hint of ruthlessness flashed in her eyes.

She knew that if she didn't pass this test today, she would really be stripped naked and hung at the city gate.

At that point, he won't even be able to save his life, let alone his position as general.

"……I wrote."

Her voice was hoarse.

Jia Xu immediately handed him paper and pen.

Ye Qingyue wrote each word with trembling hands.

It writes that she "colluded with the Xiongnu," that she "intended to murder the princess," and that she "voluntarily paid compensation"...

My heart bleeds with every word I write.

One hundred thousand taels of gold and five thousand bushels of grain.

This is almost half of her entire fortune!

After writing, I pressed my fingerprint.

Su Chuang picked up the confession, blew on the ink, and grinned.

"General Ye is indeed pragmatic."

He folded the confession and put it in his pocket.

"Then General Ye will have to stay here for the next few days."

Ye Qingyue suddenly looked up: "Didn't you say you'd let me go if I wrote a confession?"

Did I say that?

Su Chuang blinked. "I only said I'd let you write a confession, not that I'd release you after you did."

"You—!" Ye Qingyue trembled with anger.

"Don't rush."

Su Chuang patted her on the shoulder, "Once the compensation is in place, I will personally escort you back to Yumen Pass."

"Of course, if General Ye tries to escape during this time..."

He paused, his smile deepening.

"My brothers are all roughnecks, they don't know their own strength."

"What if we accidentally hurt General Ye somewhere? That would look terrible."

Ye Qingyue fell silent.

She knew she was completely at their mercy.

The Wangbeitai area was exceptionally lively for the next three days.

On the first day, Wanyan Honglie sent a group of people with 5,000 shi of fine rice, 1,000 sheep, 1,000 cattle, 500 warhorses, and 10 cartloads of medicinal herbs.

The centurion, his face ashen, handed over the supplies and left without saying a word.

Su Chuang squatted on the earthen mound of the beacon tower, counting on his fingers:

"A sheep can sell for five taels; a cow for ten taels; a good horse for at least fifty taels..."

"We're rich! We're rich!"

Xu Mengran, listening from the side, rolled her eyes: "Can't you have some self-respect?"

"Promising?" Su Chuang turned to look at her. "Can success put food on the table?"

He jumped down from the mound and called to Yue Fei, "Pengju, take inventory and put it into storage!"

"We'll keep the best horses for ourselves and sell the less desirable ones for money!"

"Here you are."

The next day, Ye Qingyue's people also arrived.

The man who arrived was a distant cousin of hers, who brought more than a dozen large carts, all loaded with gold, silver and valuables.

When the cousin saw Ye Qingyue locked in the earthen house, he was so angry that he was about to draw his sword, but Li Cunxiao glared at him and he withdrew his sword.

"Cousin, this, this..." The cousin was sweating profusely with anxiety.

Ye Qingyue's face was pale, but she forced herself to remain calm: "Did you bring everything?"

"I brought it, but..."

"Give it to him." Ye Qingyue gritted her teeth. "Do as he says."

After the transaction was completed, the cousin tried to say something, but Li Cunxiao grabbed him by the back of the collar and threw him out of Wangbeitai.

Su Chuang squatted down next to the grain sack, grabbed a handful of white rice, and squinted at it.

"The Ye family has been embezzling quite a bit over the years."

He grinned, "Ten thousand taels of gold can be taken so easily, they must be quite wealthy."

Jia Xu appeared silently: "My lord, the Ye family owns three manors and five trading companies in the northern frontier, with an annual income of no less than 200,000 taels of silver."

"Oh?" Su Chuang raised an eyebrow. "Write this down. It'll all be ours from now on."

"Here you are."

Ye Qingyue was also busy for the past three days.

She was locked in an earthen house, but apart from not being able to go out, she wasn't mistreated.

Three meals a day are delivered on time, and there is even hot water for washing.

But she was seething with anger and scheming.

"That good-for-nothing Su Chuang, when did he start keeping so many private soldiers?"

She looked out through the cracks in the earthen window and could see the figures of the Mo Dao Guards training and the patrol formations of the Flying Tiger Army.

You can still see that giant Li Shisan, carrying a knife as wide as a door, chopping wood in the open space.

He can chop it up into a whole pile in one go, like it's nothing.

What alarmed her even more was that Wangbeitai, this dilapidated place, had changed in just a few days.

The walls were raised, the moats were dug deeper, and even two watchtowers were built.

"Where did he get so much money? Where did he get so many people?"

Ye Qingyue felt increasingly uneasy.

On the morning of the fourth day, the person who delivered the food was a newly recruited bandit nicknamed "Skinny Monkey".

Ye Qingyue took the opportunity to elicit information.

"Brother, what does your Duke usually do?"

Skinny Monkey scratched his head: "I'm just busy doing whatever I want, repairing walls and digging ditches. Sometimes I even cook myself, and the food tastes amazing."

Ye Qingyue's eye twitched.

"So... how many brothers do we have here?"

"I have no idea."

The skinny monkey grinned, "I'm new here, my job is to deliver food."

Ye Qingyue slipped a piece of silver to him, saying, "Brother, please do me a favor. I was just asking."

The skinny monkey squeezed the silver, looked around, and lowered his voice:

"I heard there are about a thousand people, but for the exact number, you'll have to ask General Yue."

"General Yue?"

"That's General Yue Fei. He's in charge of all the troop training here."

Ye Qingyue made a mental note of it.

Two days later, she was allowed to move around within the beacon tower area, under the pretext of needing some fresh air.

Of course, two Mo Dao guards followed behind him.

She pretended to stroll around casually, but her eyes darted around.

Where are the granaries, the armories, and the stables...?

She remembered them all.

He even "accidentally" stumbled upon Su Chuang and Jia Xu talking behind the earthen house.

The two men spoke in hushed tones, but she could vaguely make out the words "Xiongnu," "royal court," and "third prince."

Ye Qingyue's heart skipped a beat.

Su Chuang is going to collude with the third prince of the Xiongnu?

She quickly lowered her head and walked away, not noticing that Su Chuang and Jia Xu exchanged a glance behind her, their lips simultaneously curving into a smile.

On the seventh day, all supplies were delivered.

Su Chuang personally escorted Ye Qingyue three miles outside Wangbeitai.

"General Ye, take care." He grinned, behaving like a nouveau riche seeing off a guest.

Ye Qingyue changed into clean clothes and combed her hair neatly, but the ash on her face couldn't be covered up.

She stared at Su Chuang, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was hatred, anger, and a trace of emotion that she herself couldn't quite explain.

"Su Chuang, I'll remember this debt."

"Just write it down, whatever."

Su Chuang waved his hand, "Anyway, you owe me a lot, this one won't make a difference."

Ye Qingyue gritted her teeth, turned around, and mounted her horse.

Yue Xinyang led three hundred Shenwei soldiers to meet her outside. When they saw her come out, they quickly went to greet her.

"Qingyue, are you alright?"

Ye Qingyue ignored him and tugged at the reins: "Back to Yumen Pass!"

The sound of hooves rose, and five hundred men and horses galloped away in a cloud of dust.

Su Chuang stood on the mound, watching them disappear into the distance, the smile on his face slowly fading.

"Wenhe."

"Your subordinate is here."

"What has Ye Qingyue been reading these past few days?"

Jia Xu bowed and said, "I've inspected three granaries, and they're all empty."

"I checked two armories, and they were both full of scrap metal."

"The stable inspector confirmed that the horses were real, but they were all old, weak, sick, or disabled."

He paused for a moment: "She also 'overheard' that our lord wanted to form an alliance with the third prince of the Xiongnu."

Su Chuang chuckled: "She believed it?"

Judging from his expression, he believed it to be about 70-80%.

"That's good." Su Chuang rubbed his hands together. "Let her guess slowly."

Xu Mengran walked over: "Chuang, aren't you afraid she'll retaliate when she gets back?"

"I'm scared," Su Chuang grinned. "That's why I have to hurry."

He turned and walked towards the beacon tower, calling out as he went, "Pengju! Zilong! Meeting!"

Inside the earthen house, candlelight shone brightly.

Su Chuang, Yue Fei, Zhao Yun, Jia Xu, Xu Mengran, and Li Cunxiao sat around a table.

Lin Ruxue was also there, sitting next to Su Chuang. Her face was still a little pale, but she was in much better spirits.

"The first thing Ye Qingyue will do when she returns is to send a message to the capital."

Su Chuang tapped on the table.

"They accused me of kidnapping the princess, disrupting the marriage alliance, and colluding with the Xiongnu."

"They'll just throw any crime at me."

Jia Xu nodded: "She will also contact Yue Zhanpeng to impeach our lord in court."

"Then let them play."

Su Chuang waved his hand, "I'm in the northern frontier, far from the emperor's reach. What can they do to me?"

"The key is the Xiongnu."

Xu Mengran frowned.

"Wanyan Honglie has lost so much face, he won't let this go."

"right."

Su Chuang looked at Jia Xu.

"Wenhe, what do you think?"

Jia Xu pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"My lord, the Xiongnu will retaliate, but they will not launch a large-scale attack."

Why?

"Because of Yumen Pass."

Jia Xu dipped his finger in tea and drew a simple diagram on the table.

"Yumen Pass is the gateway to the northern frontier. Although Ye Qingyue has a grudge against the lord, she dares not let the Xiongnu enter the pass."

"That's a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family."

"Therefore, the Xiongnu could only send small groups of cavalry to harass at most, and the number would not exceed five thousand."

"and……"

He paused for a moment, then said, "Wanyan Honglie has just seized power, and the internal situation is unstable. He dares not send too many troops south."

Su Chuang's eyes lit up: "So, we're only dealing with a maximum of five thousand cavalry?"

"Yes." Jia Xu nodded. "And they won't come all at once; they'll harass us in batches, wearing us down."

"That's going to be interesting."

Su Chuang grinned and looked at Yue Fei: "Pengju, how's the training of the Mo Dao Guards going?"

"The three hundred Mo Dao Guards have become an elite force," Yue Fei said in a deep voice. "When they form a battle formation, they can hold off three thousand cavalry."

"What about the Flying Tigers?"

"Three hundred Flying Tiger soldiers, skilled in archery and horsemanship, can fight against a thousand cavalry with their guerrilla tactics and raids."

"good!"

Su Chuang slammed his hand on the table. "Then let's play along with them."

He quickly made arrangements:

"Pengju, you lead the Mo Dao Guards to guard the North Terrace, build defensive fortifications, and dig deep trenches and build high walls."

"Zilong, you will lead the Flying Tiger Army to conduct guerrilla warfare, targeting small groups of Xiongnu soldiers, and then retreating."

"Li Shisan..." Su Chuang looked at Li Cunxiao, "Come with me, let's go for a stroll in Wild Wolf Valley."

Li Cunxiao grinned: "My lord, do we have to fight?"

"It's not about fighting," Su Chuang chuckled. "It's about 'borrowing' something."

The group discussed for another half hour, finalizing all the details.

It was late at night when the meeting ended.

Xu Mengran and Lin Ruxue did not leave.

Su Chuang stretched, his thigh wound still hurting. He stood up, wincing, and limped toward the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"I'm exhausted, time for bed."