*Smack!*
"What exactly happened? Can any of you give me a reasonable explanation?"
Enraged, the barbarian king slammed his teacup to the ground, his eyes wide like copper bells, his gaze filled with sharp killing intent as he looked at the people in front of him.
The first few people huddled to the side, their eyes fixed on the backs of their feet, none daring to approach the barbarian king in his rage.
When the barbarian king saw that no one responded to him, his anger only grew stronger.
"Useless! You're all a bunch of useless trash! I've been raising an army for a thousand days to use it for one. What use are you useless people to me?"
As the barbarian king was speaking, the scout who had gone to investigate returned with a report. After hearing the scout's report, the barbarian king gritted his teeth in hatred, but was powerless to change the current situation.
"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous!"
He quickly turned his gaze to one person and said coldly:
"Have you prepared the ten beasts and three birds that I asked you to?"
The man trembled slightly upon hearing the barbarian king's question.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, quickly, we've gathered them all."
The barbarian king was clearly dissatisfied: "Useless! You can't even handle such a small matter? Are you trying to make up the numbers?"
We are no longer among the barbarians, and the Qi Kingdom is currently experiencing a year of famine. Without going to the city to buy them, it is not easy to obtain wild animals in the wild, not to mention there are species requirements.
But the man dared not say those words, and could only obediently lower his head and admit his mistake:
"It is my incompetence. I hope Your Majesty will give me another chance."
The barbarian king glanced coldly at the man, his expression gradually calming down.
"Alright, then I'll give you one more chance. You must gather the money and deliver it to those two Miao people before nightfall."
And I told them that if they did not act before dawn tonight, I would consider them Miao people who wanted to break the alliance.
If that happens, then all the promises I made will be null and void. Let their Grand Elder explain to the Miao King himself then.”
"Yes, I will take care of it right away."
After replying, the man quickly bowed and left, while the rest of the people remained too afraid to even breathe.
Then the barbarian king continued, "I heard that the person in charge of Jiangbei this time is not Wei Wuxiu, but Shen Muzhi's woman? Is this news reliable?"
Upon hearing this, the person in charge of gathering information quickly stepped forward to answer:
"Your Majesty, this news is true. I have long heard that Shen Muzhi's wife is somewhat strange. I heard that Qi Chengfeng of Yanyun City was brought down by her. We must be on guard!"
The barbarian king glanced coldly at the man upon hearing this and rebuked him in a cold voice:
"Since you knew all along, why didn't you report it sooner? Did you think we hadn't suffered a big enough setback this time?"
And what exactly were those weapons the Jiangbei army used this time? Why have I never heard of them before? How did you find out about this when the decision was made to attack Jiangbei?
The man was so reprimanded that sweat beaded on his forehead, and he immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
"It's all because of my incompetence. I shouldn't have thought the news was unreliable just because the other party was a woman, and therefore failed to report it."
As for that weapon, I truly have nothing. I am utterly incompetent!
“You are indeed incompetent. Don’t you know that the bravery of our barbarian soldiers mostly comes from cavalry charges? Now, without warhorses, cavalry are just toothless paper tigers. How can we deal with the Jiangbei army?”
The barbarian king was furious, but his expression became increasingly calm.
He finished speaking, took a deep breath, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and after a moment's thought, continued:
"I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. Immediately send a message to the Miao Queen, saying that all of our army's losses were due to her people's unwillingness to cooperate, and that the Miao people will compensate for the losses."
He then informed her that he suspected the Grand Elder harbored ulterior motives, and that if she wished to continue cooperating with his barbarian tribe, she must send representatives from other factions to assist him and counterbalance the Grand Elder's forces.
Upon hearing this, the man dared not delay and quickly agreed and withdrew.
After that person left, the barbarian king glanced coldly at the remaining few people, and waved his hand wearily, saying:
"Alright, you can all go down now. Let the soldiers rest and recover. Although we have suffered losses, we have not lost."
"Once the Miao people release their poison tonight, our army will press our advantage and attack the city directly. Then we can recoup our losses with interest."
"Yes! Your Majesty is wise."
The group agreed in unison and left the tent together, but a strange sense of unease crept into their hearts.
And soon enough, this unease came true.
At first, only a few people felt unbearably itchy all over and couldn't help but scratch.
However, this situation spread rapidly throughout the entire camp, until even the barbarian king was not spared.
The army doctors examined them one by one, but could only tell that it was poisoning, not fatal. As for what kind of poison it was or how to cure it, they couldn't say a word, because even they, as army doctors, were suffering from the same unbearable itching.
"What exactly happened? Who, who betrayed me?"
The barbarian king was furious. Based on the incident with the warhorses, he was certain that there was a traitor on his side, and it must be a high-ranking officer in the army.
Otherwise, an ordinary general would simply not be able to accomplish this in a disciplined military camp in a short period of time.
He gritted his teeth and ordered his men to tie up his most likely confidants, demanding that they quickly hand over the antidote to avoid physical suffering.
The group was equally itchy, and being tied up and unable to scratch made it even worse. They also felt wronged because they had been wronged.
The barbarian king, frustrated by his anger and itching, ignored their excuses and, seeing that no one confessed, ordered them to be tortured.
They then had the two Miao people "invited" over, intending to make an example of them.
As a result, the two Miao people hadn't arrived yet, but the Jiangbei army had arrived first.
Yan Xiao had timed it perfectly, and with her guardian angel as her all-powerful informant, her arrival was just in time.
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