Li Guangyi gripped a sharp longsword, its blade flashing, and aimed directly at Greenberg before him.

Greenberg's face was as pale as paper, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his hands trembled with fear.

"Spare me! General Li, I will never dare to do it again! I will leave the Great Zhou immediately and never come here to preach again!"

Greenberg was almost in tears, knowing full well that there was no way out, but still clinging to a sliver of hope.

Li Guangyi frowned slightly, the tip of his sword pointing towards the ground, as he pondered something.

My gaze swept over Greenberg and suddenly I noticed the wound on his leg. It was a small, round wound from which bright red blood was slowly seeping out.

Li Guangyi was startled, recalling the wounds inflicted by the female assassin's hidden weapon during the previous assassination attempt in the harem, which had the same shape.

"This wound..."

Li Guangyi muttered to himself, thinking to himself, "Chen Zhennan's men? I've long heard that Chen Zhennan has some kind of special forces team under his command, whose weapons can kill people silently from a hundred feet away. Could it be..."

With a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, Li Guangyi ultimately decided to spare Greenberg's life for the time being.

Li Guangyi sheathed his sword and said coldly, his voice as cold as a blade, devoid of any warmth.

"I'm not sparing your life because you deserve sympathy. But if you dare to spread rumors again, I will surely cut you into a thousand pieces, though it seems you won't have that chance."

Greenberg breathed a sigh of relief and immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly, saying, "Thank you for your forgiveness, General Li. I will remember it forever and never dare to do it again!"

Li Guangyi merely snorted coldly, not even glancing at him, and turned to order his imperial guards: "Clean up the bodies at the scene. Greenberg, take him back to my tent."

The Imperial Guards moved swiftly, the air thick with the stench of blood. The bodies were dragged away, leaving only the bloodstains on the ground and Greenberg's trembling figure.

Li Guangyi returned to his tent, his anger still burning. He immediately dispatched a messenger on horseback to Chen Zhennan's camp, hoping to meet with Chen Zhennan as soon as possible.

The messenger waited anxiously outside Chen Zhennan's camp. Upon seeing Chen Zhennan, the messenger hurriedly conveyed Li Guangyi's request.

"My lord, my marshal wishes to meet with you in person and wants to meet as soon as possible."

After listening to the messenger's words, Chen Zhennan pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "Tell Marshal Li that I have no intention of meeting him at the moment. If he is truly sincere, we can meet again in a month. At that time, we will see who can completely eliminate the influence of the Jewish Cult."

A hint of disappointment flashed in the messenger's eyes, but he could only nod and turn to leave.

Chen Zhennan stood up and said loudly, "Someone, pass on my order: immediately begin preparing winter clothing and food!"

...

On the other hand, after his request to meet failed, Li Guangyi decided to learn from Chen Zhennan and do some practical things for the people.

However, when he was about to put his plan into action, he found himself in an awkward situation.

The financial power of the Great Wu was not in his hands, and he was unwilling to use forceful means to seize the financial power of the Ministry of Revenue.

He wanted to build roads and bridges for the people, but found that he didn't even have the money to hire them.

After much deliberation, Li Guangyi decided to take matters into his own hands, mobilizing his imperial guards to go into the mountains to cut down trees, build roads and bridges, and improve people's livelihoods.

But when he led the Imperial Guards into the mountains, unexpected events followed one after another.

As soon as the felling of trees began, the nearby people surged in like a tide, and thousands of figures, like a dark cloud, instantly surrounded Li Guangyi and his Imperial Guards.

Zhou Ji stood at the forefront of the crowd, his face full of anger and disdain.

"Li Guangyi, what do you mean by this! Who do you think you are? Does the marshal of the Great Zhou Dynasty have the right to trample on the livelihoods of the people at will?"

Li Guangyi's heart tightened. It was Li Guangyi again. Once this storm had passed, he would make sure Li Guangyi died without a burial place!

Suppressing his anger, Li Guangyi tried to soften his voice.

“Zhou Ji, I, Li Guangyi, am doing this to build roads and bridges and bring a better life to everyone. Tell me, over the years, when have I, Li Guangyi, ever done anything to wrong the people?”

However, the people were not convinced, and angry voices swept in like a storm.

“We don’t need your hypocrisy! This mountain doesn’t just belong to us hunters; millions of people rely on its firewood to get through the winter!”

"That's right! You can't touch it. If you disturb these forests, how are we supposed to survive?"

Li Guangyi felt a surge of powerlessness, a mixture of anger and helplessness, but he could only swallow his anger.

If the people lose their support, the Great Zhou will surely perish. However, it was unexpected that Zhou Ji would learn Greenberg's tricks of spreading rumors and deceiving the masses.

Just as Li Guangyi was at his wit's end, suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats broke the tranquility of the mountains.

A team dressed in black with red capes rushed up the mountain like black lightning. It was Chen Zhennan's special forces team. Their momentum was overwhelming, causing the surrounding people to take a few steps back.

Chen Zhennan sat high on his horse, his face filled with disappointment and helplessness, his eyes fixed intently on Li Guangyi.

"Marshal Li, are you really going to be so indecisive and let Zhou Ji run rampant?"

Li Guangyi gritted his teeth and angrily replied, "This is not your jurisdiction, Chen Zhennan. If you don't leave, I will use my Imperial Guards to 'send' you back!"

Just then, Zhou Ji interjected, "Li Guangyi, as the Marshal of Great Zhou, how dare you allow Chen Zhennan's 200,000 troops to freely enter Great Zhou! You should really resign from your position as Marshal and hand over military power to the current Minister of War!" His face was full of disdain, as if Li Guangyi's insistence was just a joke.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!