Upon seeing this, the thousands of soldiers present were all moved and quickly knelt down on one knee, cupping their fists to Lü Tu and saying, "Greetings, General Lü!"

With a cold and arrogant expression, Lü Tu spoke loudly: "Listen up, everyone! Now, as the Commandant of Wuchuan, I order you all to hold Wuchuan City and not allow anyone to enter or leave!"

"Yes, sir!" The thousands of people shouted in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.

The border soldiers present shouted even more enthusiastically than the 800 men who had come with them, after all, they had previously committed the crimes of rebellion and treason.

Since Lu Tu can now use the tiger tally to command them, it's tantamount to forgiving them and letting the matter drop.

How could the border soldiers who escaped punishment not be grateful to Lü Tu?

Lu Tu waved his hand and distributed the thousands of people present to Nie Yun, Tuoba Yue, Sun Kuang, Sun Meng, and others.

"My lord, what should we do next? As far as I know, there are still tens of thousands of soldiers in Wuchuan, currently scattered in various places."

Lu Tu looked at Xiang Ze beside him and said, "You take men and search every house in Wuchuan. You must find out the spies who have infiltrated the area, no matter what means you use!"

"Yes, sir!"

Lu Tu then assigned orders to the others, instructing them to lead the border troops forward, while the 800 elite cavalry remained with Lu Tu.

He now has legitimacy, but as Zhao Qingyao said, there are still many border troops that have not been brought under control.

However, things became much easier after that. Lü Tu dismounted, took Zhao Qingyao's reins, and led her down from the horse: "My lady, come with me to the Commandant's mansion."

Zhao Qingyao witnessed Lü Tu's domineering presence and methods throughout the entire process, and she was genuinely happy for Lü Tu, as well as satisfied that she had found such a suitable husband.

Lu Tu then looked at Prince Duan with a smile: "Your Highness, please."

Prince Duan chuckled and said, "General Lü, let's not stand on ceremony. You go first."

Lu Tu wouldn't fall for such a trick at all. With so many people watching, it's as if the Prince of Duan has become quite clever lately, letting a mere captain like Lu Tu walk ahead of him.

But this is quite normal. As long as a man is in power, his sensitivity to territory is ingrained in his very genes.

Now that Lü Tu has taken over Wuchuan, although it was Duan Wang's idea, he can't control Lü Tu the same way he controlled Yun Tian before. This will naturally cause Duan Wang to make some changes in his thinking, subconsciously placing Lü Tu in the perspective of a threatening competitor, which is normal.

Upon entering the Commandant's residence, Lü Tu discovered that the maids who had been dismissed earlier had also been summoned back by Qi Hong. They stood there with their heads down, picking at their nails. When they saw Lü Tu, they gracefully bowed and said, "This servant greets Commandant, Princess, and Your Highness!"

Seeing that Lü Tu remained silent, how could Zhao Qingyao, as a princess, not understand Lü Tu's thoughts? She immediately waved her hand and said, "Clean the mansion inside and out. My husband will be moving in soon. After you finish doing all this, those who want to leave can come to me to collect their silver. I will let you go."

Upon hearing this, the maids were so frightened that they knelt down with a thud, pleading repeatedly, "Your Highness, please spare our lives!"

Zhao Qingyao explained, "You all look unfamiliar. I've never seen you before, which means you were kidnapped by Qi Hong. He told you to do some work and go home, but you're still unwilling?"

One of the maids mustered her courage and spoke tremblingly: "Your Highness, before we were captured by Qi Hong, he had already killed all our family members. We are now homeless."

Upon hearing this, Lü Tu and Zhao Qingyao's expressions instantly turned cold. Lü Tu waved his hand and said, "Since you are unwilling to leave, then you will stay here and work from now on."

"Thank you, Commandant Xie."

Then Lü Tu turned around and shouted, "Guards!"

Liu Hu stepped forward: "Your subordinate is here."

"Bring Qi Hong here!"

"Yes, sir!"

Lu Tu led Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan into the study, spread out some paper, and said, "Wife, Prince Duan, write."

Prince Duan was taken aback: "What are you writing?"

Zhao Qingyao said solemnly, "Naturally, the appointment announcement will be written according to your orders. If you want the entire border army of Wuchuan to recognize you, having the tiger tally alone is not enough. You also need to go through the process so that others know the legitimacy of his position as captain."

Upon hearing this, Prince Duan felt utterly overwhelmed and sighed again as he looked at Zhao Qingyao: "Second Sister, you've only just gotten married, and you're already thinking so much about him?"

Zhao Qingyao nodded without any hesitation: "A woman follows her husband wherever he goes. The day I married my husband, I was his woman. Helping Lu Tu is good for you too."

Prince Duan nodded and quickly wrote out more than a dozen identical proclamations. After the ink dried, Lü Tu pressed the tiger tally and the captain's seal on it. At this time, Liu Hu also arrived with Qi Hong.

Lu Tu handed the proclamation to Liu Hu and said, "Take 500 elite cavalrymen and take these proclamations to the various military camps. Tell them to put down everything they are doing and gather all the border troops together!"

He then added, "Anyone who disobeys may be executed!"

Liu Hu said solemnly, "This subordinate obeys!"

This was the first time Liu Hu had ever taken on such a public mission. In the past, he was mainly responsible for running errands and relaying messages for Lü Tu. Hearing that this mission was so exciting, Liu Hu could hardly contain his smile.

Lu Tu patted him on the shoulder: "Cheer up, don't embarrass yourself!"

"Don't worry, brother, I will never disgrace your prestige!" With that, Liu Hu went out the door.

Qi Hong was still kneeling in the room. After watching Liu Hu leave, he rolled his eyes and looked at Zhao Qingyao and the others.

Lu Tu took the freshly brewed tea handed to him by the maid and took a sip. Only then did he glance at Qi Hong with contempt: "I know what you're thinking. You can try to break free of the ropes and see if you can run out of this room. If you can, I'll let your whole family leave."

After thoroughly examining Lü Tu's entire body, Qi Hong finally sighed resignedly, "Fine, Lü Tu. I know you are incredibly brave, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to achieve so many great feats on the Wuhuan battlefield. I am no match for you. Ask whatever you want."

Lu Tu cut to the chase: "Tell me where Yun Tian is?"

"He's dead. I killed him."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan both frowned, quickly put down their teacups, and said indignantly, "Who instructed you behind this?"

Qi Hong sneered, "Fortune favors the bold. If I don't take a gamble, am I supposed to be subdued by Yun Tian for the rest of my life?"

Lu Tu shook his head and said, "You're lying."

"I didn't! After Yun Tian imprisoned the princess and Prince Duan, he did come looking for me, and I killed him that very day!"

Lu Tu shouted from outside the door, "You won't listen to reason, so bring Qi Hong's family in!"