"What does Lord Qi mean by that? I don't quite understand."

General Cui feigned confusion, then, as if remembering something, quickly pretended to be angry and said indignantly:

"Lord Qi, you wouldn't be trying to shift the blame for the mess your Yanyun City is currently facing onto our Jiangbei City, would you?"

"Stop pretending! Everyone knows that Jiangbei City has mastered the art of Gu poison, while Yanyun City has been keeping an eye on the Miao people's movements and has not seen anything unusual."

"Why did this happen in my Yanyun City of all times? Who else but people from Jiangbei City could it be?"

Qi Chengfeng was also quite angry. He would never believe that this matter had nothing to do with Shen Muzhi. How could there be such a coincidence in this world?

General Cui completely ignored him, displaying an unyielding attitude.

Seeing his expression, Qi Chengfeng was so angry he almost ground his teeth to powder. Finally, he took a deep breath to suppress his overwhelming killing intent and spoke again, barely containing his temper:

"Just tell me, what would it take for Shen Muzhi to help me remove the curse from Yanyun City?"

Upon hearing this, General Cui's expression immediately softened. He sighed softly, his face showing deep sorrow, and calmly said:

"To be honest, our cities all belong to the State of Qi. Even if we're broken, our bones are still connected. Logically speaking, we should be united in our hatred against these barbarian bandits."

It's a pity that Lord Qi, despite your illustrious reputation, couldn't resist the charms of a beautiful woman. You were instigated by that woman, Jiang Xinrui, to plot against my Jiangbei City. This is truly disheartening for us!

Even if I wanted to plead for you, I wouldn't dare. What if I helped Yanyun City through this crisis, and then you turned around and continued to target Jiangbei? Wouldn't Jiangbei be raising a tiger to threaten us?

After General Cui finished speaking, he didn't even glance at Qi Chengfeng's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot. Instead, he looked at the other members of the delegation who were eating melons on the side and asked with a smile:

Do you all think what I said makes sense?

The other members of the delegation, who had just been considering the possibility of cooperating with Qi Chengfeng, had now completely given up on that idea.

They all began to plan ahead, sending messages to their respective factions as soon as possible to prepare for the worst and avoid following in the footsteps of Yanyun City, where their lives were directly taken by Jiangbei.

As they were all pondering their own thoughts, they heard General Cui's words.

They had no idea how to respond, and their faces showed embarrassment. No one took the initiative to speak, and they looked at the sky and the ground, but not at General Cui.

General Cui didn't expect them to say anything, and he didn't mind that they didn't respond. Instead, he smiled and acted like he had a very good temper.

He remained calm, but Qi Chengfeng was not so composed, since the problem originated in his military camp.

He felt he had never been so frustrated in his life and wanted to kill General Cui with one blow, but he had to endure it for the sake of the bigger picture.

He took a deep breath, losing interest in continuing to argue with General Cui, and said bluntly:

"Shen Muzhi is probably hiding somewhere, right? Tell him I want to see him."

General Cui was about to speak when Qi Chengfeng coldly interrupted him:

“I’m not negotiating with you. Tell that guy surnamed Shen that we can talk if there are conditions. I don’t have much patience. If he doesn’t see me, regardless of whether he’s the one who poisoned me, I will attack your Jiangbei at all costs.”

Qi Chengfeng spoke very seriously, not at all like he was joking, and judging from his past behavior, he was absolutely capable of doing such a thing.

It's a classic case of "If I'm not having a good time, neither should you."

General Cui was not flustered upon hearing this, but deliberately showed a hint of panic and anger on his face.

The reason for this is that the current development of events is almost exactly as Shen Muzhi predicted.

Under Qi Chengfeng's gaze, General Cui "struggled" for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying:

"I can deliver the message to my general, but you must first let us out of the city."

How could Qi Chengfeng possibly agree? He refused outright.

"Impossible. You can take a few people with you, but I will return the rest when Shen Muzhi sees me."

The implication was that if Shen Muzhi refused to see him, the lives of these hundred or so people would have to be spared.

General Cui didn't linger and was about to order his men to leave when Qi Chengfeng continued:

"My patience is limited. If the loss of my soldiers and warhorses exceeds my bottom line, I will do everything in my power to drag all of you from Jiangbei down with me to hell."

"I will pass on the message."

General Cui glanced coldly at Qi Chengfeng, then casually pointed to a few people. Just as he was about to leave, several guards from Yanyun City, at Qi Chengfeng's signal, stopped them.

General Cui withdrew his foot, his brow furrowed.

"What does Lord Qi mean by this?"

Qi Chengfeng did not reply, but carefully examined the men that General Cui had selected, and even gestured for someone to go forward and check if they were disguised.

After confirming that there were no problems, he waved his hand to indicate that General Cui could leave.

General Cui roughly knew what he was looking for, so he snorted coldly and left without further ado.

As General Cui left, the hidden guards in Yanyun City silently followed him.

Yan Xiao had just wanted to remind Shen Muzhi not to go with General Cui, but General Cui didn't even glance at them, so she knew she had been overthinking it.

What she could think of, how could Shen Muzhi not think of?

After General Cui leaves, the gift-giving ceremony will not be able to continue, and the wedding will likely be canceled as well.

The members of the delegation were once again invited back to the villa, but the people from Jiangbei City were placed under separate surveillance.