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

"Yes, I think so too." Xu Feihong nodded, "Go and make arrangements. Let the secret guards investigate the recent movements of South Vietnam."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

At this moment, Song Jiayun rushed in: "Your Majesty, it's bad, there's news from the border, South Vietnam has assembled a large number of troops at the border!"

Xu Feihong stood up suddenly: "What?!"

"According to scouts, South Vietnam has assembled at least 100,000 troops on the border, and they are constantly increasing their forces."

"This South Vietnam really has bad intentions!" Xu Feihong said angrily, "Send an order to mobilize the border guards and take strict precautions!"

"Yes!"

Zhou Qing watched all this unfold, pondering inwardly. South Vietnam's swift actions clearly had been premeditated. It seemed this situation was far more complex than he had imagined.

Three days later, at the Daqian border.

Guarding General Zhao Yunfei was inspecting the city walls when a soldier suddenly came to report: "General, the envoys from Nanyue are here again!"

"Again?" Zhao Yunfei frowned. "What's the reason this time?"

"He said there was urgent military information to report."

"pass!"

Not long after, a South Vietnamese general walked up to the city wall. He was a tall and strong man with a stern face. It was obvious that he was a veteran who had fought in many battles.

"General Zhao of Daqian, I am Li Tieshan, the deputy general of Nanyue." The man said with a fist salute.

"General Li, what brings you here?" Zhao Yunfei asked.

"To be honest, Nanyue has no intention of going to war with Daqian," Li Tieshan said bluntly. "The reason we're gathering our troops this time is to guard against the barbarians in the north."

"Barbarians?" Zhao Yunfei was stunned.

"Exactly. The barbarians have been making frequent movements recently, and Nanyue is worried they might take advantage of Daqian's disaster to invade the south. Therefore, we have assembled our troops to assist Daqian in its defense."

This sounded reasonable, but Zhao Yunfei didn't believe it. When did Nanyue become so kind?

"I appreciate General Li's kindness. However, Daqian is capable of dealing with the barbarians."

"General Zhao, the barbarians are coming with great force this time. According to our spies in Nanyue, they have assembled at least 200,000 troops. The Daqian border guards alone may not be able to cope with them."

Two hundred thousand? Zhao Yunfei was shocked. If that was true, it would be a big problem.

"General Li, the barbarians have assembled such a large army, why didn't our Daqian spies discover it?"

"This..." Li Tieshan's expression changed slightly, "Maybe they are hiding too well."

Zhao Yunfei's suspicions grew even stronger, but he remained calm on the surface. "In that case, thank you, General Li, for letting me know. However, Nanyue will not have to worry about the defense of Daqian."

"General Zhao, this matter concerns the safety of both countries. How can we take it lightly?" Li Tieshan said anxiously.

"I know my limits," Zhao Yunfei said coldly, "General Li, please return."

Seeing this, Li Tieshan had no choice but to say goodbye. But before leaving, he left a message: "General Zhao, if the barbarians really attack, don't regret it when the time comes."

After seeing Li Tieshan off, Zhao Yunfei immediately summoned his generals for a discussion.

"General, do you think what Nanyue said is credible?" asked Deputy General Wang Yong.

"It's unbelievable," Zhao Yunfei said flatly. "South Vietnam's move is clearly an attempt to fish in troubled waters."

“So how do we respond?”

"On the one hand, we will strengthen our vigilance to prevent a surprise attack from the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, we will send people to investigate the movements of the barbarians to see if there are any unusual movements."

"Yes!"

At the same time, in the imperial study in the capital.

Zhou Qing was sorting documents when he heard a quarrel outside. He went out to see that several officials were arguing with Song Jiayun.

"Madam Song, this matter concerns the safety of the country. Please inform His Majesty." said one of the officials.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty is handling government affairs and is not available to meet guests." Song Jiayun insisted.

"Sir Zhou!" The official's eyes lit up when he saw Zhou Qing. "Please help us inform him that we have urgent military information to report."

Zhou Qing recognized the man as a doctor from the Ministry of War named Zhang Weixin, who was usually a fairly upright person.

"Master Zhang, what happened?"

"Sir Zhou, we received a secret report that the barbarian army is gathering southward, and the number may exceed 200,000." Zhang Weixin said solemnly.

Two hundred thousand? Zhou Qing's heart skipped a beat; he seemed to have heard this number somewhere before.

“Is this information reliable?”

"This is urgent intelligence sent back by border scouts." Zhang Weixin took out a document. "Look, this is detailed intelligence."

Zhou Qing took the document and quickly scanned it. The intelligence indicated that the barbarians were indeed gathering a large army in the north. However, the source of this intelligence made him suspicious—it had been provided by Nanyue.

"Was this information provided by South Vietnam?" Zhou Qing asked.

"No, it was discovered by our own spies," Zhang Weixin explained. "But South Vietnam did inform us of this as well."

Zhou Qing pondered inwardly. Nanyue had just threatened Daqian, and now it was proactively providing intelligence on the barbarians. This was too much of a coincidence.

"Master Zhang, please wait a moment. I will go and inform His Majesty."

Zhou Qing walked into the imperial study and told Xu Feihong the situation.

"A barbarian army of 200,000?" Xu Feihong frowned. "How credible is this news?"

"I find this somewhat strange," Zhou Qing said. "Nanyue just threatened us, and now they're offering intelligence on the barbarians. The timing is too coincidental."

"you mean?"

“Perhaps this is a South Vietnamese ploy. They want to create a crisis so they can make demands on us.”

Xu Feihong pondered for a moment and said, "That makes sense. However, regardless of whether it is a conspiracy or not, the movements of the barbarians must be thoroughly investigated."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Call Zhang Weixin in."

After Zhang Weixin entered the imperial study, he reported the situation of the barbarians in detail. However, many details in his report were consistent with the statements of the Nanyue, which made Zhou Qing even more suspicious.

"Sir Zhang, how did you get this information?" Xu Feihong asked.

"Your Majesty, it was obtained by border scouts at the risk of their lives," Zhang Weixin replied.

"Then why did South Vietnam also know this information?"

"This..." Zhang Weixin was speechless for a moment.

Zhou Qing saw the problem: "Master Zhang, tell me the truth, was this information provided by South Vietnam?"

Zhang Weixin's face changed drastically: "Master Zhou, what do you mean?"

"The meaning is simple. If this information was really obtained by our own investigation, then South Vietnam would not be able to know it in such detail," Zhou Qing analyzed.

"I..." Zhang Weixin hesitated, not knowing how to answer.

Xu Feihong saw the clue: "Master Zhang, I will ask you one last time, what is the real source of this information?"

Faced with the majesty of the empress, Zhang Weixin finally couldn't bear it: "Your Majesty, this information was indeed provided by South Vietnam. However, they said it was for the sake of friendship between the two countries..."

"Asshole!" Xu Feihong said angrily, "You believe what South Vietnam says?"

"I...I know I was wrong." Zhang Weixin knelt on the ground.

"Go down. From now on, you are not allowed to have any contact with South Vietnam without my permission."

"Yes... yes..." Zhang Weixin retreated dejectedly.