A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

A map is what we now call a map.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, roads in many places were difficult to travel, and there were no high-tech surveying methods such as satellites.

Obtaining an accurate and comprehensive map is extremely difficult.

Furthermore, since in ancient times, the reconnaissance of enemy positions on the battlefield relied entirely on human eyesight, maps held extremely important strategic significance.

The map in Huo Jiang's hand is a border map of the part where Beili and Daye meet.

Its preciousness needs no further explanation.

Holding the map, Huo Jiang's eyes gleamed with fervor. "So that's how it is! It's much more detailed than the maps we've drawn before. This valley wasn't marked out before."

"And this mountain pass allows us to drive straight into the heart of the northern region..."

There are so many details in the picture worth studying; you have to calm down and look at them carefully.

Huo Jiang calmed his excited emotions and looked up at Mu Nanzhao first.

This map is clearly not the original, and in Meng Chengping's squad, there must be someone with a photographic memory who can quickly hand-draw a map...

Who else could have this ability besides him?

Mu Nanzhao noticed Huo Jiang's gaze, and looked up to meet it without flinching, displaying a nonchalant and lazy demeanor.

Huo Jiang gave him a cold laugh, silently conveying his thoughts: You can fool others, but you can't fool me with your act!

Mu Nanzhao raised an eyebrow slightly, silently indicating that he understood and didn't care.

In the exchange of glances, Huo Jiang caught a glimpse of Meng Chengping walking out of the tent without a word.

His temper flared instantly. "I haven't finished asking my question yet! What are you doing now? Don't think that just because you retrieved the map and performed a great service, you can do whatever you want!"

"Now that you're standing before me, you still want to play that old trick of 'a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders'?! Meng Chengping, do you want to fly to the heavens?!"

Meng Chengping turned his head, revealing a lifeless, expressionless face. "Reporting to the General, there is another piece of spoils of war that I forgot outside. I will go and bring it in for you."

"Then you can beat me, kill me, or lock me up as you please, it doesn't matter."

After saying that, he drifted away like a ghost.

Huo Jiang was furious. "Look at what's happened after just one trip!"

"It's so easy to go astray, but so hard to go astray! They keep saying 'it doesn't matter,' like a dead pig that isn't afraid of boiling water!"

Although Huo Jiang never made it clear, he actually valued Meng Chengping highly and had been focusing on cultivating and refining him.

Looking at Meng Chengping's wretched appearance, Huo Jiang felt as if "a sapling he had painstakingly nurtured had suddenly grown crooked."

Mu Nanzhao glanced over coolly, "General, there's no need for you to make veiled accusations."

"With your General Meng's brain, how does it resemble what I learned from him?"

Since the unpleasant truths had been laid bare, Huo Jiang didn't hold back.

“This kid was a wild horse to begin with. I’ve been keeping him in check all day long, and it’s only with great difficulty that I’ve managed to tame his temperament a bit.”

"And what happened? You instigated him to do this big job. Doesn't he become arrogant and overconfident? If he gets carried away and becomes conceited, how are you going to compensate me?"

Mu Nanzhao stared at him expressionlessly, "Just tell me, do you want this map or not?"

Huo Jiang choked, "Ahem, let's keep things separate."

He rolled up the map and put it in his pocket, clearly afraid that Mu Nanzhao would change his mind and want to go back.

Mu Nanzhao said disdainfully, "You surnamed Huo, you took the benefits and now you're blaming me. You're really shameless."

Huo Jiang slammed his fist on the table. "Who are you calling shameless? If you hadn't acted first and informed me later, keeping me in the dark, I could have arranged for someone else to go with you! Otherwise, you would have tainted my precious gem!"

Mu Nanzhao's lips curled up, and he scoffed, "Returning a rough gem to its original state, it was originally a fine knife, but you've used it so much that it's almost turned into a stubborn rock."

Huo Jiang's eyes blazed with fury. "You mean I'm incompetent?"

Gu Xixi found it quite amusing to watch the two bickering.

Although she knew why Meng Chengping was acting this way, she didn't want to help explain so quickly.

She was genuinely curious whether the two of them would start fighting if they got too worked up.

At this moment, Meng Chengping returned, carrying a round, black cloth bundle in his hand.

Gu Xixi noticed that the bundle appeared to have fallen into a puddle, as it was covered with puddles of varying depths.

Meng Chengping placed the bundle on the table, making a thud.

Gu Xixi leaned over to look, curious about what kind of spoils of war they were.

Huo Jiang was still arguing with Mu Nanzhao. In his anger, he glanced at the bundle and tore it open.

In an instant, Mu Nanzhao's expression changed drastically. He grabbed Gu Xixi's shoulders and forcibly turned her towards him.

Gu Xixi was stunned for a moment, then asked, confused and angry, "What are you doing?"

Mu Nanzhao held her down tightly, his gaze deep and intense. "You'll regret it if you see this."

Huo Jiang also realized that Gu Xixi was still there.

Those who have never seen such a bloody thing before would probably be terrified if they saw it for the first time.

Huo Jiang hurriedly covered the package haphazardly and called to a guard, "Take it out and hang it in front of the battle lines so that the Northern Li army can see it clearly."

"I'd like to see how long they can hold out this time."

As the guard carried the package out, Gu Xixi caught a glimpse of a drop of dark red liquid falling to the ground.

Blood?

Her voice was trembling as she asked, "What is this trophy?"

Mu Nanzhao then said, "Heads."

Gu Xixi thought about how she had just tried to get closer to look at the table, and couldn't help but gag.

"...Thank you."

Imagine a bloody human head, perhaps still staring wide-eyed in death.

Gu Xixi couldn't guarantee how stressed she would be if she suddenly saw it, so it was indeed best not to look.

Two more guards came in, ventilated the tent, wiped the bloodstains off the table and the floor, and finally stained it with the scent of mugwort.

Gu Xixi felt better and breathed a sigh of relief.

Listen to the conversation between Huo Jiang and Mu Nanzhao, as well as Huo Jiang's questioning of Meng Chengping.

After completing their mission of distributing the epilepsy grass, Meng Chengping's squad changed course and ventured deeper into the territory, successfully finding a map of the northern border in the rear military tent.

The head belonged to a deputy general of the Northern Li.

Although this person does not have much influence in the military, he is a direct descendant of the royal family of Beili.

His first time joining the army was both for training and to enhance his resume.

He never expected that his accidental encounter with Meng Chengping's retreating squad would result in his death.

After Meng Chengping's team left, the border map remained unchanged, and the Beili people were unaware of this.

The reason they chased Meng Chengping's team so relentlessly, even frantically pursuing them into Daye territory, was because of this.

They discovered the headless corpse of the royal deputy general.

Firstly, the fact that their camp had been infiltrated in the dead of night and that an important nobleman had been killed was an unbearable disgrace. The generals were furious and vowed to make the enemy pay with their blood that very night.

Secondly, the people of Beili worship the gods. If a person's body is not intact after death, the gods will abandon them and they will not have an afterlife.

The lieutenant was of noble birth; if they didn't retrieve the head, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves when they returned.

Gu Xixi suddenly realized, "So the reason we were chased by the Northern Army last night was actually because of your involvement?"