Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Within his blood-red pupils, a strange blue light shone through.

The neck twisted and turned mechanically up and down, making a "crackling" sound of bones breaking.

The military officer tilted his head, staring intently at Murong Wei.

Murong Wei felt a chill run through his body, and his heart began to beat faster than usual.

"It's... mind control..."

Murong Wei seemed to understand something, clutching his chest tightly, his face contorting as his heart raced.

"General Wei, please stop."

The military officer ignored Murong Wei's desperate pleas and said coldly.

"Your Highness, are you aware of how devastating the losses were for our Great Yan in the Battle of Fengsui Fortress?"

"The imperial cavalry, meticulously trained by the royal family, all perished at the hands of Shen Lang. Why did the Khan send you to infiltrate Jiangnan? To let you have a romantic affair with a widow?"

"Your purpose in coming here is to control the power of the Chu sects and incite them to create internal strife in Chu."

"However, Your Highness seems to prefer indulging in this pleasure and has not taken the Khan's instructions to heart at all."

Murong Wei, his chest aching, knelt down, pleading, "General Wei, you've misunderstood me. Over the years, I've infiltrated Chu territory and sown discord between more than a dozen sects in the north and south and the Great Chu court."

"Now, even the Zixia Sect is under my control. After all, the Zixia Sect has close ties with the Chu royal family. Only by subduing them can we deliver the most fatal blow to the Chu royal family."

"Jie Jie Jie."

Upon hearing this, the military general let out a laugh that seemed to come from hell.

He suddenly thrust his head, adorned with the Shura mask, closer to Murong Wei.

"How much more time will Your Highness need before you can carry it out?"

The general actually turned his head counterclockwise, and the blue light in his pupils suddenly intensified.

"The men of the Iron Cavalry Battalion are waiting to see Shen Lang's body before they can finally rest in peace, do you know that?"

Murong Wei gritted his teeth: "Give me a few more days, and I will definitely, definitely fulfill the entrustment my father gave me. The Chu Kingdom will definitely become part of my Great Yan territory..."

"I hope Your Highness will keep your word. I await good news from the Fifth Prince."

"Oh, by the way, His Highness asked me to pass on a message to you: sometimes, a mismatch between ability and ambition is a tragedy. Do you understand what that means?"

After the general finished speaking, he withdrew the mind-controlling technique.

The instant the spell was dispelled, Murong Wei felt a churning in his stomach and immediately knelt on the ground, vomiting a large amount of black filth.

Just then, the general sniffed hard and suddenly said, "I'm so hungry, so hungry! I can smell meat."

As he spoke, his blood-red pupils spotted two Zixia Sect disciples who had just entered the mountain to chop wood not far away.

"Two-legged sheep, hehehe, hahaha."

The next moment, the general slowly drew a horizontal sword, emanating a strong aura of death, from his chest.

Puff, puff—

The moment the black flame blade energy was unleashed, the two disciples were instantly sliced ​​in two.

Having done all this, the general rushed to the two corpses like a madman, and from the smiling mouth of his mask, he extended a thick, crimson tongue and began to devour this delicious feast...

This scene made Murong Wei feel nauseous, and he turned around and vomited again.

Just then, another figure slowly walked up to him.

"Imperial sister?"

Looking up, one sees a woman in red, wearing a fox mask, her pupils also radiating a blood-red light.

The woman had a graceful figure, but her exposed skin was deathly pale, unlike any human skin tone, and emitted a faint, foul odor.

In addition, the woman had a shocking knife scar on her neck, as thick as a finger.

The woman squatted down in front of Murong Wei, and her cold voice rang out: "Royal brother, I know that you and the Second Prince are not on good terms, but I ask you to put the greater good first, temporarily put aside your personal grudges, and do everything you can to complete the great cause of our Yan Dynasty."

"Royal sister, I will never forget the great cause of Yan!"

"Then let's stop this chaos and subdue the Chu sects as soon as possible, and let them cause trouble for Chu."

"It will definitely happen, please rest assured, Your Highness."

Murong Wei trembled with fear, because the woman standing in front of him could not be considered a living person at all.

She was none other than Murong Xue, the princess of the Great Yan who was killed by Shen Lang with a single blow to the throat outside Fengsui Fortress.

The military general in question was none other than Wei Shuyu, the foremost general of the Great Yan Dynasty, who had long since turned into a demon because of Shen Lang.

After the two were tragically killed by Shen Lang, the Khan of Northern Yan, Murong Zhao, was unwilling to accept that his beloved daughter and general had died in vain.

Thus, by exhausting the nation's resources and the evil arts of Northern Yan, and combining them with the inextinguishable fire in Murong Ke's possession, they formed a Yin-nourishing formation, defying fate and resurrecting the two.

However, the two who returned from hell were no longer alive. Although they had self-awareness, they were only holding on by a stubborn obsession.

At that moment, a letter floated down in front of Murong Wei.

"Send this letter to Jinling and find a way to distribute it."

"This is……"

"Evidence sufficient to ruin Shen Lang's reputation."

"Ok?"

Murong Wei picked up the letter, puzzled.

"Royal sister, what exactly is going on..."

"The Battle of Fengsui Fortress was extremely brutal. If the powerful and influential people living in Jinling knew how Shen Lang survived at Fengsui Fortress, do you think the Empress would still trust him?"

"what!"

Murong Wei was greatly alarmed.

What exactly happened inside the beacon tower back then?

Murong Xue did not reply, but instead turned her gaze to Wei Shuyu, who was not far away.

"Hehe, I want Shen Lang to come to Wujian to keep me company!"

"What courage does he have to reject the love of this princess!"

After speaking, Murong Xue twisted her body in an extremely bizarre posture.

……

Several days later, in the Imperial Study of Weiyang Palace.

Jiang Mengxuan is discussing with Changsun Yang how to reorganize the sect.

The battle against Wu brought the Empress's prestige to a whole new peak.

Upon learning of this momentous news, the State of Song, which was separated from the State of Wu by only a river, immediately sent envoys to the State of Chu to offer their congratulations.

Clearly, Chu's expansionist actions have made Song feel an unprecedented sense of crisis, and Song is trying its best to maintain this friendly relationship.

And this was exactly what the Empress wanted.

The navy is still in its infancy, the battle fleet is still being assembled and built in the shipyard, and there are still some internal problems to be solved in Wu, so there is no time to continue the expedition.

They might as well take advantage of this time to clean up the armed forces of the various regional princes, along with the influence of the sects.

Previously, she dared not imagine this day would come, but the powerful firepower of the Central Army gave Jiang Mengxuan hope.

Her first target for experimentation was the Zixia Sect.

"Master Qingxuan is getting old, and I think she is no longer suitable to continue serving as the sect leader of Zixia Sect. Why not let Senior Sister Lu Qinghuan take over?"

"Your Majesty is wise. When Lady Lu finds out, she will be extremely grateful to Your Majesty."

Just as the emperor and his minister were about to discuss how to control the Zixia Sect, Jiang Chaoyun stumbled into the imperial study.

"Your Majesty, something has happened!"

Jiang Chaoyun, as a commander of the Jingwei Division, was always courteous and prudent in his actions, but at this moment he showed a rare look of fear.

"What's wrong, Commander Jiang? What major event has occurred?"

Jiang Mengxuan asked, puzzled.

Jiang Chaoyun did not answer, but stared intently at Changsun Yang.

Changsun Yang immediately understood, stood up and bowed to the Empress, saying, "Your Majesty, this humble subject will take his leave now."

After Changsun Yang left, Jiang Chaoyun took out a notice.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. Rumors are spreading throughout the city, and they are directed at the Emperor."

"Bring it here for me to see."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan took the notice and read it.

Even Jiang Mengxuan, who was usually calm and collected, was shocked by what she saw.

The notice was very simple, recounting a past event at Fengsui Fort: "Lieutenant Shen Lang was besieged by the Northern Yan army at Fengsui Fort for more than a month. With no food or reinforcements, he resorted to slaughtering his own soldiers and eating their flesh and blood."

In short, it can be summed up in four words:

Shen Lang eats people.

"Who is spreading rumors about my husband? Find them immediately!"

At this moment, Jiang Mengxuan was completely enraged.