Chapter 246 Captured alive

Tu Feng was quite interested upon hearing this: "Miss Mu is a daughter of a military family. She is intelligent and resourceful, so why don't you tell us about it? If we can capture this barbarian, it will indeed be of great help to our army in pacifying the northern region and advancing towards Moyang."

When Mu Xi arrived, he already had a general idea about this, so he could blurt out: "That fellow had some dealings with me when he was on patrol in Yanshan. If I am willing to use myself as bait to lure him here, and the old general sets up an ambush in advance, are we confident that we can capture this scoundrel?"

"Using Miss as bait? How can that be? Not to mention that Miss is the future princess consort of the Prince, just the fact that you are the daughter of General Mu is enough for me, as your uncle, to not put you in danger." Tu Feng was, after all, a man of utmost loyalty and righteousness.

Mu Xi, however, was determined: "I will not rest until this scoundrel is eliminated. As for safety, General, you need not worry. As long as you set up a well-prepared ambush, I can lure him here and we will surely succeed."

"This..." Tu Feng hesitated, his hands behind his back.

Mu Xi had made his decision: "I have only one request. When the old general ambushes this fiend, it would be fine if he were killed on the spot. But if he could be captured alive... could the old general hand him over to me for disposal?"

Even with his poor ability to read people, Tu Feng, a martial artist, could see the immense hatred Mu Xi harbored for Liu Yang.

This matter does not conflict with his current situation; in fact, it is beneficial. There is no reason for him not to agree.

Her only concern was the safety of the future princess, but after Mu Xi's repeated insistence, she agreed.

What followed was actually quite simple.

Tu Feng was familiar with the terrain of this area and was also well-versed in the art of troop deployment, ambush, and luring the enemy.

Mu Xi then returned to the camp and deliberately spread the word that Prince Jin Fang had escaped from the East Sea and was hiding in a nearby valley.

Before long, Liu Yang received word of this and sent spies to track Mu Xi's whereabouts.

Mu Xi played along with Liu Yang's scouts for several days, using both feigned and real maneuvering, until she finally lured Liu Yang to personally take action.

So, as planned, when Mu Xi saw Liu Yang "fleeing in panic," Liu Yang indeed gave chase.

Mu Xi led his men into Tu Feng's ambush, trapping Liu Yang like a turtle in a jar.

When Liu Yang was bound hand and foot and pressed in front of Mu Xi, he still couldn't believe it.

Mu Xi's key to victory lies in this information gap.

Although Liu Yang knew her secret identity, even if he suspected that she had not escaped from the East Sea, he never imagined that she, a member of the Mu clan of the Great Yu, would have any connection with the former Han Hai Army.

Mu Xi looked down at him with a cold gaze: "I don't want you to die. Death is too easy for you. I want you to suffer a fate worse than death."

The events of that day are still vivid in my mind. The reason why I was so humiliated by Liu Yang was because I had no one, no power, and no one to rely on.

Not only did many guards, both open and covert, die as a result, but she, Mu Xun, and Bao Fan were all seriously injured, and even her volatile personality was destroyed as a result.

If it weren't for the presence of people and troops today, capturing this fellow alive would still be an impossible task, but she managed to do it in the end. It really is true that nothing beats having military power in one's hands.

The overwhelming hatred in Mu Xi's heart finally found its outlet today, but it was a pity that Mu Xun was not there to witness it.

After calming down, he did not intend to let Liu Yang die easily.

Liu Yang was in a sorry state, yet still arrogant: "Living a life worse than death? My mistake was that I shouldn't have held back back then, otherwise, how could I be in this situation today? If you want to kill me or torture me, do it quickly. Why resort to those womanly tricks? It's so boring."

"You'll show mercy? You're just delusional, daydreaming!" Mu Xi was filled with rage and wanted nothing more than to tear Liu Yang to pieces, but she already had a better idea. "But you're right, we do need to use some womanly tricks on you. We'll send you to Princess Qingyang; I'm sure the princess will be very happy to see you."

"What?" Liu Yang didn't react for the first second, but when he did, his expression changed drastically. "You can't...you..."

"Why can't I?" Seeing Liu Yang's terrified expression, Mu Xi's mood immediately improved. She turned to Tu Feng and asked, "General, is there any military intelligence you want to get from this fellow? If not, I plan to give him to Princess Qingyang as a thank-you gift."

Tu Feng stared at Liu Yang for a moment and thought, "This scoundrel is, after all, from a military family, and has always been loyal to Lord Xuanyou. I suppose even if we try to extract information from him, we won't get anything out of him. And even if we do get some information, it will be a mix of truth and falsehood that's hard to verify, so there's no need to waste our time. On the contrary, this time, it has already been the greatest help to Prince Kui Mu... to eliminate this scoundrel. However, since the prince wants to send this person to the East Sea, there will probably be many troubles along the way. We need to be careful and cautious. In case this scoundrel escapes, we should first cripple his martial arts."

"That's alright. As long as his face isn't bad, I'm sure Princess Qingyang will like it. As for crippling his martial arts, I should have a way. Thank you for reminding me, General." Mu Xi didn't care. She was even thinking it best to preserve his body as well. She might as well go back and ask Doctor Luo if there was anything she wanted to give him to take, to ensure that nothing would go wrong during the transport.

Liu Yang was forced to kneel on the ground, his eyes bloodshot with rage. His handsome face was contorted with anger and humiliation: "You...you actually want to send me to the East Sea to be tortured? Aren't you afraid that I will tell Princess Qingyang your secret?"

"What are you afraid of?" Mu Xi leaned down and used the tip of a short blade to lift Liu Yang's chin. "Do you think this is still a secret?"

Liu Yang was taken aback.

Mu Xi chuckled coldly: "Heh, you haven't yet witnessed Princess Qingyang's methods. A man like you who looks down on women should experience Princess Qingyang's methods for the rest of his life. Now that you mention it, you should really thank me for giving you the opportunity to see them for yourself."

"You..." Liu Yang was filled with hatred and unwilling to be humiliated. "Either you kill me now, or I'll expose your collusion with the remnants of the Qianyan clan, and then..."

"What then?" Mu Xi remained unfazed by the threat. "Who knows who will ultimately rule this world? Who has time to worry about anyone else right now? But your words remind me that I should first render you mute and cut off your hands and feet; that would be the safest course of action..."

Liu Yang's pupils shrank sharply. He hadn't expected that his threats would backfire so badly. He was about to open his mouth to beg for mercy, but he was too terrified to utter a sound.

Mu Xi, who was only trying to scare him, sneered, "Don't worry, I won't do that, and I'm not afraid of what you say. I won't cripple you and make you mute because the princess sometimes enjoys hearing people begging and crying; I won't cripple your hands and feet because the princess not only likes handsome men but also men with good physiques, and I don't want to spoil her enjoyment. You can tell the princess everything, and see if she's more interested in your body or if she's skeptical of what you say."

The East Sea has always been a peaceful corner of the world, and it never gets involved in the conflicts in the Yan Sheng inland. Even if Liu Yang mentions this matter, it is unknown whether he believes it or not. Moreover, as long as it does not involve the interests of the East Sea, that princess probably won't bother to pay any attention to it.

Liu Yang broke down.

After threatening him, Mu Xi ignored him and waved his hand to take the person away for strict guard.

Afterwards, Zhen obtained a prescription from Doctor Luo and forced Liu Yang to drink it. After drinking it, Liu Yang was completely fine, but his limbs were weak and he could no longer resist.

Then Mu Xi allocated 200 cavalrymen from Princess Qingyang's 2,000 cavalrymen to escort Liu Yang back to the East Sea via a detour, so as to deliver a "grand gift" to Princess Qingyang.

Back at the banquet at Yanshan, Princess Qingyang had also expressed her intention to subdue and tame Liu Yang. Now that he has been sent to her, he will surely satisfy her.