I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

The next morning, the King of Nanyue heard the news of the assassination.

"Envoy Daqian, I heard that there was an assassin last night?" The King of Nanyue asked with pretended concern.

"That's true, but it's been resolved," Zhou Qingyun replied calmly. "It might have been some petty thieves who were tempted by the money."

"That's good," the King of Nanyue said with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "I will have people increase patrols to ensure the safety of the envoys."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty." Zhou Qing sneered in his heart. The King of Nanyue was obviously the mastermind behind this, and now he was pretending to be concerned.

"By the way," the King of Nanyue suddenly asked, "I heard that the Queen of Daqian ascended the throne at such a young age. I wonder how she governs the country?"

Here they come! Zhou Qing's heart moved. This was the real purpose of the King of Nanyue. They wanted to find out the truth about Daqian.

"Our emperor is wise and powerful, and governs the country wisely," Zhou Qing replied respectfully. "Although he is young, he is deeply loved by the people and respected by all civil and military officials."

"Oh?" The King of Nanyue seemed very interested. "What about the military? I heard that the Daqian army..."

"Your Majesty, rest assured," Zhou Qing continued before he could finish. "Although Daqian has suffered a disaster, our army is strong and our border defenses are secure. Not long ago, we even defeated a nomadic tribe in the northern border, beheading over ten thousand people."

This is of course a fabrication, but it is told in a very serious way.

The King of Nanyue's face changed slightly. If Daqian really won a great victory in the north, then they would have to reconsider their plan.

"Since the Daqian army is so powerful, I feel more at ease." The King of Nanyue forced a smile, but his heart was already beating fast.

Zhou Qing observed the man's expression and knew his words had had an effect. He continued to exaggerate, "To be honest, Your Majesty, before I left on this diplomatic mission, the court was still discussing whether to send troops to Nanyue."

"Using troops?" The King of Nanyue was shocked. "Why?"

"It's naturally about the cotton trade," Zhou Qing said, feigning indifference. "Some generals believe that Nanyue's unilateral breach of the treaty is a provocation to our Great Qian, and that war is warranted. However, our emperor is merciful and does not want to see the people suffer, so he sent me here to negotiate."

The King of Nanyue's expression grew increasingly grim. If Daqian really wanted to deploy troops, and their military strength was as strong as Zhou Qing claimed, Nanyue would be in danger.

"Then...how many troops does Daqian plan to send?" The King of Nanyue couldn't help but ask.

"Well," Zhou Qing said with an embarrassed expression, "I'm just a minor official, so I can't say much about military matters. But I heard the Minister of War mention it, it seems like 100,000 elite troops?"

One hundred thousand! The King of Nanyue gasped. The entire Nanyue army only had eighty thousand men. If Daqian really sent a hundred thousand men, Nanyue would be finished.

"Of course," Zhou Qing changed the subject, "if the peace talks are successful, there will probably be no military action. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

The King of Nanyue nodded quickly: "Of course, harmony is the most important thing, harmony is the most important thing."

In the next few days, the King of Nanyue's attitude towards Zhou Qing was obviously much better. Not only did he personally host a banquet to entertain him, he also took the initiative to propose to resume cotton trade, and the price would remain the same as before, without any increase.

Zhou Qing appeared to be very happy, but secretly he continued to investigate South Vietnam's military deployment.

That night, he sneaked into the Ministry of War in the Nanyue Palace alone, wanting to steal some confidential documents.

With the agility and strength granted by the system, Zhou Qing easily avoided the patrolling guards and sneaked into the lobby of the Ministry of War.

In a secret compartment, he found a secret letter. When he opened it, Zhou Qing was shocked.

This turned out to be an alliance between Nanyue and the northern nomadic tribes!

According to the terms of the alliance, once Daqian is in internal strife or invaded by foreign enemies, Nanyue and the nomadic tribes will send troops at the same time to attack Daqian from the north and the south.

What's even more terrifying is that the covenant also mentions a mysterious figure called "Red Wolf", who claims that he can create chaos within Daqian and cooperate with external attacks.

"I see," Zhou Qing gritted his teeth, "South Vietnam's ambitions are quite large."

He was about to continue looking at other documents when he heard footsteps. Someone was coming!

Zhou Qing quickly put away the secret letter and prepared to leave, but it was too late. Several guards had already rushed in.

"Who is it?" the leading guard shouted.

Zhou Qing knew he was exposed, so he stopped hiding, knocked the nearest guard unconscious with a punch, and then jumped out of the window.

"Catch the assassin!" the guards shouted.

The entire palace was suddenly filled with alarms, countless torches were lit, and soldiers searched everywhere.

Zhou Qing ran across the rooftops at full speed, his system-imbued agility making it seem like he was walking on flat ground. But there were too many pursuers, and he had to escape quickly.

Just then, a group of archers appeared in front of them, shooting arrows like raindrops.

Zhou Qing dodged most of the arrows, but one still grazed his arm, leaving a bloody mark.

"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth and rushed out of the palace at a faster pace.

Back at the inn, Wang Hu and others were waiting anxiously.

"Sir, you're finally back!" Wang Hu breathed a sigh of relief. "There was a lot of noise in the palace just now. We were all worried..."

"It's okay," Zhou Qing waved his hand, "Pack up your things, we'll return home overnight!"

"Yes!"

The group quickly packed their luggage and quietly left the capital of Nanyue under the cover of night.

It was not until the next morning that the King of Nanyue learned that the Daqian envoy had left.

"What? Gone?" The King of Nanyue's face turned pale. "Have you found out who the assassin was last night?"

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War said some documents were lost..." the guard reported tremblingly.

The King of Nanyue instantly understood that the seemingly harmless Daqian envoy was actually a spy!

"Pass the order down, send troops to pursue them immediately, and never let them return to Daqian!"

But it was too late, Zhou Qing and others had already disappeared without a trace.

Three days later, Zhou Qing and his party returned to the capital of Daqian, exhausted.

In the imperial study, Zhou Qing reported the true situation in South Vietnam to Xu Feihong in detail.

"What? Nanyue actually formed an alliance with the northern nomadic tribes?" Xu Feihong's face changed drastically.

"Not only that," Zhou Qing took out the stolen secret letter, "they also planted an insider in my Daqian."

Xu Feihong took the secret letter and his expression became uglier the more he read it. "Chilang... who is this person?"

"I don't know either, but since this person is able to move around within Daqian, he must have a high status," Zhou Qing analyzed.

"It seems that I really need to re-examine the personnel in the court." Xu Feihong sighed.

"Your Majesty, the most important thing now is how to deal with the threats from South Vietnam and nomadic tribes," Zhou Qing reminded.

"What do you suggest?"

"I think it's better to take the initiative than to passively defend." Zhou Qing's eyes flashed. "Now that we know their plan, we can definitely use their tactics against them."

"How to say?"

"We can deliberately create some 'chaos' on the border, making them think the time has come and launch an attack in advance. Then we can wait for them and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Xu Feihong's eyes lit up: "Great idea! But this requires precise planning. If we're not careful, we could be in real danger."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have already thought of a specific plan." Zhou Qing said confidently.

Song Jiayun listened from the side, her heart filled with shock. This Zhou Qing was not only a martial arts expert, but also a brilliant military strategist. Who was he?