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

On the first day of the seventh month, Murong Ke led his troops to Rangzhou again, determined to drive Shen Lang's forces out of Liaodong.

However, this time, there was widespread discontent within the Northern Yan army, with many expressing their incomprehension of Murong Ke's decision.

Looking back at the experiences of the Northern Yan over the past two years, one can understand how "militaristic" the Northern Yan was during this period.

The war with the Sirius Kingdom was a self-defense counterattack, which is perfectly justifiable.

However, the subsequent chain reaction dragged Northern Yan into an endless abyss of war.

The war with Goguryeo was met with widespread opposition in the Yanjing court, and even Murong Zhao himself strongly opposed it.

Having just repelled the barbarian wolves, Northern Yan desperately needed time to recuperate. If Goguryeo wanted to break away from its tributary relationship and become independent, then they should agree to their demands and draw a line to avoid war.

It's not too late to fight after the Northern Yan has recovered its strength.

However, Murong Ke defied all opposition and insisted on destroying Goguryeo in order to completely control the situation in Liaodong.

To this end, they did not hesitate to cede land in exchange for three million shi of grain and two million shi of relief grain from the Chu state.

However, as soon as he received the supplies, Murong Ke distributed them all to his troops, vowing to fight Goguryeo to the bitter end.

Now, under the combined attack of Shen Lang and Murong Ke, Goguryeo has finally perished as they had hoped.

However, Murong Ke was still unwilling to withdraw his troops and return to the capital to rest and recuperate, and had to continue advancing into the heart of Liaodong.

Only by completely eliminating Shen Lang's influence from the Liaodong region can Murong Ke win over the hearts and minds of the people in various tribes of Liaodong.

Moreover, Murong Ke is now in a difficult position and must continue fighting.

Because of his own negligence, a fire destroyed 80,000 troops. If he only captured Goguryeo, he would not be able to return to the capital to explain. Only by taking over all the tribes in Liaodong could he make up for the losses.

However, he overlooked an important issue: the morale of the troops was wavering.

Years of fierce fighting, coupled with extremely brutal victories, have led to war-weariness among the soldiers.

The soldiers thought they had held out until the fall of Goguryeo and could finally go home and reunite with their families. But before they could even catch their breath, they received orders to march towards Yangju.

This pushed the Northern Yan soldiers to their breaking point, resulting in more than a dozen small-scale mutinies. Fortunately, Murong Chui noticed in time and managed to suppress the unrest in the army, thus preventing a full-scale mutiny.

However, Murong Chui knew that the Northern Yan army at this time was like a volcano on the verge of eruption, ready to unleash devastating fury at any moment.

"I can't walk anymore! Let's rest for a bit!"

Halfway through the march, some soldiers sat down lazily, panting heavily, unwilling to advance any further.

The other soldiers around them also sat down in twos and threes on the main road, put down their weapons, took off their armor, and comfortably lay down under the shade of the trees to cool off.

"What are you doing? Who told you to rest! Keep moving, do you hear me!"

Seeing their attitude, the military officer immediately raised his whip, ready to force them.

But as soon as he raised the whip, he saw more soldiers sit down, as if they were ready to fight to the bitter end.

"You, what are you doing..."

"In this sweltering heat, we have to walk dozens of miles every day. Aren't you tired? Aren't we tired?"

The Yan soldiers glanced at the officer indifferently, then went on to rest.

Faced with thousands of people loafing around, the officer was afraid that a mishandling of the situation would cause a mutiny in the army, so he did not dare to continue to pursue the matter and immediately reported the situation to Murong Chui.

Upon receiving the news, Murong Chui immediately rode over.

Seeing thousands of people sitting or lying down like this, Murong Chui frowned deeply.

"I order you to rise immediately and continue the advance!"

However, Murong Chui, who was always highly respected in the army, did not make the soldiers stand up and listen to him this time. Instead, as soon as he finished speaking, more soldiers sat down.

Murong Chui snapped his whip, pointed at the crowd, and demanded sternly, "Are you all planning a rebellion? Get up right now, do you hear me?!"

One soldier, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "General, please have pity on us! We only get two coarse grain cakes a day. How are we supposed to have the strength to continue marching?"

Another soldier shouted, "General, we can't even get a full meal right now. Are you expecting us to travel on an empty stomach?"

After fighting for so long, don't we even have the right to a short rest?

"Exactly, you're not treating us like human beings at all."

"We agreed to go home after defeating Goguryeo, but now, even after defeating Goguryeo, we have to keep fighting. I'm quitting. Do whatever you want."

"Yes, we're quitting, we're going home!"

The soldiers removed their armor and weapons.

Instantly, Murong Chui's eyes turned cold, and a murderous intent rose in his heart.

If these people are not dealt with properly, it will definitely affect the army's subsequent plans.

Just as he was racking his brains about how to deal with the soldiers, Murong Ke, who had heard the news, rushed over.

"What happened? Why did they stop moving?"

Faced with Murong Ke's questioning, these Northern Yan soldiers, who had already decided to give up, all remained indifferent, not even glancing at him.

Murong Chui looked troubled: "Second Prince, I have done my best. To be honest, I also feel that the morale of the army is so low that it is really not suitable for them to go to the battlefield."

Murong Ke: "General, even you don't believe me?"

Murong Chui: "No, His Highness the Second Prince is a man of brilliant strategy. His purpose in attacking Rangzhou must be for the future of our Great Yan."

But as you've seen, there's widespread war-weariness in the army, and supplies are extremely scarce. They're bound to have many complaints about the Second Prince's decision.

"It would be better to return to the capital for rest and reorganization. Once the soldiers have rested enough and their homesickness has subsided, it won't be too late to rally the army and advance."

"Do you think I don't know the consequences of doing this now? Do you think I'm willing to send troops at this time?"

Murong Ke took out several letters from the scouts.

"These are the conditions in various tribes of Liaodong over the past two months. For the position of tribal chief, tribes are killing each other everywhere."

If I don't quickly take Rangzhou and stabilize this situation, I'll never have another chance to conquer Liaodong!

After reading it, Murong Chui's expression hardened: "Are you saying that the current situation among the various tribes in Liaodong is inseparable from Shen Lang?"

"This is absolutely inevitable."

Murong Ke replied with a gloomy expression.

"I think you and I both know very well what kind of person Shen Lang is. Back in the Bingzhou army, he displayed extraordinary leadership qualities."

Now that he has gained power, his initial goal has always been the ownership of the entire Liaodong region. If he doesn't take action now,

"Once Shen Lang comes to his senses, aren't you afraid that our Great Yan will suffer a devastating blow?"

Murong Chui: "But right now, the soldiers' war-weariness is extremely high. Nobody wants to fight anymore. What if we push them too hard..."

Murong Ke glanced around at the soldiers scattered across the ground and pondered for a moment.

“What you said makes sense. It is indeed not advisable to continue marching at this time. Therefore, the only option is to use the most extreme means to completely eliminate Shen Lang.”

"Once Shen Lang dies, the pressure on Northern Yan from Chu will be greatly reduced."

"Jiang Mengxuan alone is not enough to support the current foundation of the Chu Kingdom!"

At this moment, a green light flickered and danced in his pupils.