When the two armies first met, the secret guards had made this suggestion, but Gu Yufan rejected it.

Because he didn't think he would lose, he naturally wanted to capture the Duke of Qi alive and take him to continue threatening Qi Chengjun and Qi Chenglang.

Of course, the most important one is Qi Chenglang!

But he never expected that in just a few days, the situation would change drastically. Although his side still had the majority of men, the morale of the troops was clearly starting to crumble.

Duke of Qi...

Ling Jinhua, who had been quietly standing by without saying a word, suddenly knelt down: "Your Highness, please let the guards go."

She turned to the guard, her eyes reddening: "If you succeed, remember to bring back the Duke of Qi's head!"

The guards didn't speak, they just stared at Gu Yufan.

After a long while, Gu Yufan nodded solemnly: "Since that old scoundrel, Duke Qi, doesn't give me any face, then I won't spare his life."

The guard turned to leave, but Ling Jinhua said, "Your Highness, the Duke of Qi comes from a military background and is highly skilled in martial arts. In addition, with the two armies at war, the Duke of Qi naturally has many generals around him. If only one person goes, I'm afraid it will be difficult to succeed."

She frowned slightly, glanced at the guards, her eyes filled with worry about the success of the mission, but without a trace of disdain for them: "So, Your Highness..."

She bit her lower lip and continued, "Or, how about sending the secret guards along?"

When they intercepted Qi Chenglang, a number of Gu Yufan's secret guards were killed. Later, when they ambushed Qi Chengjun, many more secret guards were killed or wounded. Clearly, the number of secret guards that Gu Yufan could use was not much.

Once she gets rid of all these guards, she won't have to worry about anything like before.

As for whether the guards would succeed, Ling Jinhua lowered her eyes slightly; she naturally had ways to prevent them from succeeding.

With his bodyguards not around, Gu Yufan was naturally a little uneasy, but Ling Jinhua's words made sense; one or two bodyguards would probably just be easy prey.

Just as Gu Yufan was hesitating, Ling Jinhua spoke again: "Your Highness, there's no need to worry too much. The guards are agile; they'll be there in just an hour or two..."

A few hours of unease in exchange for the old life of the Duke of Qi is still worthwhile!

Gu Yufan nodded with a stern face and said, "In that case, you should all rest well. When it gets a little later, try to infiltrate the Lingnan Navy and make sure to take that old bastard's life!"

The guard glanced at Ling Jinhua with a deep look, feeling uneasy.

However, after Chief Secretary Ling died, they investigated Ling Jinhua for a period of time but found no problems.

The guard responded in a low voice and quickly went out.

When there were only the two of them in the room, Ling Jinhua mustered up her courage and stepped forward to massage Gu Yufan's shoulders: "Your Highness, you've worked hard. I'll go to the kitchen to make you something to eat."

Before Gu Yufan could refuse, Ling Jinhua continued, "I know Your Highness doesn't like Jiangnan cuisine, so I specially learned how to cook Beijing cuisine from the head chef in the mansion."

"Your Highness has been tired and worried these days, and has lost a lot of weight since you came. Please allow me to do my part."

Upon hearing that it was cuisine from the capital, Gu Yufan nodded, turned around and flicked Ling Jinhua's nose: "In that case, you can go ahead. If you cook to my liking, I will reward you handsomely!"

Ling Jinhua walked out with a smile, but as soon as the door closed, her face darkened. She turned around, went back inside to get a bag, and then slowly went into the kitchen.

She directed the kitchen staff to work in a frenzy, and while everyone was too busy to pay attention, she sprinkled the powder into a separate large pot next to her.

As the broth boiled, the medicinal powder quickly disappeared.

Ling Jinhua, without changing her expression, threw the medicine powder paper into the stove to destroy the evidence before turning her attention back to the people in the kitchen.

Unaware that Ling Jinhua had plotted against them, the guards ate a hot meal and rested briefly before sneaking ashore. They gradually made their way into the territory of the Lingnan Navy and then secretly submerged into the water.

Having finally located the ship where the Duke of Qi was, and just as he stood on the deck, before he could even launch a sneak attack on the soldiers on deck, he suddenly felt a sharp abdominal pain.

None of the guards escaped; they all knelt down, clutching their stomachs, their faces showing unbearable pain.

They were all covered in sweat, their limbs aching. They looked at each other, about to turn away with all their might, but they couldn't hold back any longer with the slightest movement.

One after another, the sounds of farting came from the deck, quickly attracting the attention of the soldiers who rushed over.

Even before they got close, they could smell a particularly unpleasant odor that nearly made the soldiers vomit up their leftovers.

Meanwhile, the guards could no longer control themselves and all developed diarrhea.

Little did they know that Ling Jinhua had added a large amount of croton powder to the soup that evening, with the aim of ruining their operation that night.

The deck immediately became lively. The soldiers saw that although these people were slumped on the ground and reeked of a foul stench, they were dressed in night clothes and had inexplicably appeared on the deck. They knew they were no good people, so they endured the stench and tied them up.

Duke Qi was quickly summoned by his confidants. He could tell at a glance that these people had come with ill intentions. Naturally, he didn't hold back and ordered his men to sever the tendons in their hands and feet. He waited for the effects of the croton powder to wear off so that the men could be rinsed in the river before being interrogated.

When the Duke of Qi returned to his room, he heard the army doctor say, "Your Excellency, when I was taking their pulses just now, I discovered that these people have profound internal strength and are all martial arts masters. If they hadn't been drugged beforehand, they wouldn't have been discovered so easily."

Duke Qi sneered, "These people must have been sent by Gu Yufan to assassinate me! I just don't know who is helping me behind the scenes."

The confidants had no idea, only secretly speculating that it might be a naval commander who, fearing punishment from the emperor after a defeat, wanted to curry favor in this way.

The Duke of Qi pondered for a moment with a stern face: "Still no news from the letter sent to Huizhou?"

The generals shook their heads, their faces darkening. They clearly understood that Prince Qi must also be in danger.

After a long while, the Duke of Qi said, "Pass down the order: launch another attack at 3:45 AM tonight!"

With the enemy's main generals still injured and the assassins sent by Gu Yufan to kill him captured, this was the perfect time to launch a counterattack.

"Having defeated the Jiangnan navy during the day, our morale is soaring. When you return, be sure to reward the soldiers handsomely."

"If we win the battle tonight, I'll have the purchasing staff go and buy some good vegetables tomorrow!"

We've been eating fish from the river for so long that everyone's getting sick of it!

But the situation is dire, and no one dares to suggest eating something different.

So when they heard what the Duke of Qi said, everyone felt full of energy and agreed in unison.