Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

Li Mao said coldly, "Since you didn't give the order, how did this assassination attempt come about? Why were people from your tribe infiltrating our army and taking the lives of my subordinates?"

“Your Highness, I know you won’t believe us no matter what we say now, but I assure you, we really didn’t send anyone to carry out the assassination.” Aya stepped forward, getting closer to Li Mao, and pleaded, “Can we investigate this matter together? Find the real culprit, clear our names, and prevent your subordinates from dying unjustly. We don’t know who the real culprit is.”

In fact, Li Mao had always felt that this matter was suspicious.

The Wolf Lord was already prepared to talk things out and even proposed a marriage alliance, so how could he suddenly launch an attack? Even if he wanted to kill someone, he should have killed someone like himself or Li Jingqing, who were prominent figures in the army. There was no reason to just kill Afu.

Li Mao and Aya looked at each other for a moment, then slowly lowered the long sword in their hands.

He pulled a portrait from his pocket and threw it to Princess Aya: "This is the portrait of the assassin. You must give me an explanation within five days, or I will still take the Wolf Lord's life with this blade."

After saying that, Li Mao turned and left.

The wolf lord was left with a look of anger and astonishment, while Princess Aya also had a complicated expression.

Stepping out of the tent, the night breeze caressed his face, but Li Mao felt no relief whatsoever.

He knew he was taking a risk, but at that moment, he had no other choice.

He wanted to avenge his subordinates. If he didn't use every means to pressure the Wolf Lord, they wouldn't feel a sense of urgency and wouldn't cooperate properly. Giving them only five days was to let them know that Li Mao meant what he said, and that he would repay the humiliation and offense they suffered a hundredfold.

"Damn it!" The Wolf Lord was furious, gritting his teeth as he said, "A mere thirty-something dares to threaten me like this? Does he really think he's something special? Hmph, so what if we don't negotiate or arrange a marriage? We'll just continue fighting the Tang Dynasty to the end. Who's afraid of who?"

"Father, what are you saying?" Princess Aya disagreed. "Now you're saying no peace talks and no marriage alliances? Does that mean all our sacrifices and efforts before were for nothing? Our goal is to find out the truth and give Prince Shou an explanation, not to confront him. Being at odds with him will not benefit us!"

In Aya's eyes, Li Mao simply wanted an explanation for the death of his subordinate.

The totem tattooed on that man's body proved his connection to the Wolf Lord's tribe. Since that was the case, he felt obligated to help investigate; even if he investigated diligently and still found nothing…

She believed that Li Mao wouldn't be unreasonable or force her to do something against her will.

Aya's persuasive and reasoned arguments calmed the wolf master down.

Then, Aya said, "Father Khan, I am willing to investigate this matter personally and give Prince Shou an explanation."

After calming down, the wolf master also felt extremely dejected.

He suddenly realized that he was really getting old and was always feeling powerless.

Since Aya volunteered herself, let's agree. After all, she's my only daughter, and I've raised her with great care since she was little. I have high hopes for her abilities.

Most importantly, she was a woman. No matter how arrogant Li Mao was, he couldn't force a woman to her death when he saw that he was facing her!

At that time, the Yinshan military camp.

Li Jingqing was already waiting at the entrance of the camp for Li Mao's return.

Seeing Li Mao return on horseback, unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief and went to greet him: "Your Highness, you're back. You went straight to the Wolf Lord's camp without saying a word. I was really worried for you."

Li Mao nodded, his face still bearing the chilling expression: "The Wolf Lord does seem unaware of the assassination attempt, but the totem on this man's body indicates that he has some connection with the Wolf Army. I have only given them five days. If there are no results after five days, I will not let this go."

Li Jingqing nodded: "Then what's next..."

“Wait,” Li Mao said in a deep voice. “Princess Aya has agreed to investigate this matter. Let’s see how they react. If they fail to give me an explanation this time, I don’t mind replacing the Wolf Lord’s tribe with a new leader.”

The struggle for tribal leadership is extremely brutal.

Now that the Wolf Lord has compromised with the Tang Dynasty to some extent, his future and life are in the hands of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Mao could either let him continue as the Wolf Lord, or he could step down and replace him with a new Wolf Lord. Just like dealing with the Turkic tribes in the Shuofang region, stirring up internal conflicts among them was often a very effective tactic.

Five days later, as dawn broke, Li Mao arrived at the wolf army camp on time.

This time, the guards outside the tent were noticeably more vigilant. Upon seeing Li Mao arrive, they were all extremely cautious, as if they were seeing a snake in a cup.

Upon entering the tent, they found no trace of the Wolf Lord, only Princess Aya seated in the main seat. Dressed in plain clothes with a solemn expression, she stepped forward and bowed to Li Mao, saying, "Your Highness Prince Shou, there's progress on the matter. Please follow me."

Li Mao didn't ask any more questions and followed her to a secluded tent at the back.

—This place was clearly being used as a makeshift interrogation room, with several portraits, other evidence, and three or five people who were bound and appeared to have been subjected to torture.

“A few days ago, our tribe had a conflict with another tribe outside Yinshan. They mocked us for wanting to be the lackeys of the Tang Dynasty, and said that my father Khan wanted to sell his daughter to the Tang Dynasty for personal gain.”

“Our tribe also has a few troublemakers who are unwilling to negotiate with the Tang Kingdom, saying that they will never be slaves and will never submit to the Han people. One night, these people conspired to defect to the neighboring tribe and have not returned since.”

Princess Aya pointed to one of them: "This is a defector we captured recently. We managed to extract some information about Afu from him. He admitted that he went to your camp disguised as our tribe's wolf soldiers to carry out the assassination on orders from another tribe."

Li Mao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you saying that their intention is to sow discord between our two factions, incite us to fight, and ultimately benefit from it all?"

Aya nodded: "That tribe has been trying to annex the wolf chief's tribe, so they came up with this plan to make us both suffer heavy losses so that they can profit from it!"

Li Mao narrowed his eyes, pondering to himself.

Although such schemes are insidious, they are also within expectations.

He'd seen all sorts of despicable schemes these past few days, so this was nothing compared to what he'd witnessed.

Seeing that Li Mao seemed to believe her, Aya gestured to the guards beside her to splash water on the tallest and most imposing man among the unconscious people to wake him up. When he woke up, his face was full of scars and his eyes were filled with viciousness.

When the man saw Li Mao, he was taken aback for a moment, then revealed a self-deprecating smile: "In the end, I still have to fall into the hands of you Han people. Heh, heh..."