The Duke Huguo originally intended to use Daqi to eliminate General Shi, but his plan was disrupted by Xie Jingchen.

He captured Xie Jingchuan, intending to threaten Daqi into reclaiming the hundred thousand taels of silver that had been paid, restoring military prestige.

However, Marquis Dongxiang played differently, avoiding the confrontation and targeting General Shi directly.

General Shi was the thorn in the Duke Huguo’s side; Marquis Dongxiang wanted General Shi to go to the Daqi Camp to negotiate the ransom for the hostage. The Duke Huguo would surely make General Shi go.

Even if General Shi was unwilling, the Duke Huguo would exert pressure to force General Shi to comply.

Once General Shi was in the Daqi Camp, if the negotiations went poorly, it would reflect General Shi’s incompetence. The Duke Huguo could then wash his hands of the matter and blame General Shi entirely.

Yet the Duke Huguo didn’t anticipate that Marquis Dongxiang wanted General Shi to go to the camp not for negotiations, but rather to capture him directly.

At the Daqi Camp, no matter how skilled General Shi was in martial arts, could he compete against Marquis Dongxiang, the Prince, Su Chong, and the many Daqi soldiers combined?

General Shi being captured was embarrassing, but understandable. The Duke Huguo who coerced him into negotiations with Daqi also bears half of the responsibility.

Moreover, with General Shi’s prior assurance to release Xie Jingchuan, even if the situation escalated, Daqi would hold the moral high ground. When nations engage, they do not punish envoys; Nanliang had already broken promises. Daqi was merely retaliating in kind. Should Nanliang be permitted to provoke while forbidding Daqi from retaliating?

By capturing General Shi, Marquis Dongxiang turned the tables on the Duke Huguo’s attempt to extort money, instead being robbed by Marquis Dongxiang.

The Duke Huguo couldn’t swallow this defeat; if the money were truly given, it would be the utmost humiliation.

The Duke Huguo refused to yield; he only agreed to exchange Xie Jingchuan for General Shi, unwilling to give a single tael of silver otherwise.

Thus, both sides remained in a stalemate for two days.

The Duke Huguo was unworried, but Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi were extremely anxious.

Though Dong Chenglang was ruthless when dealing with his uncle, this was self-inflicted. Now that he was in Daqi, Dong Chenglang worried his uncle would be mistreated, dreaming about General Shi being whipped.

As for Young Master Shi, the matter involved his father.

Both planned to go to the Daqi Camp to rescue him, when Xie Jingchen stopped them saying, "Daqi’s goal isn’t General Shi, they’re unhappy with Duke Huguo’s threats, but they won’t trouble General Shi."

Xie Jingchen had saved Dong Chenglang many times before, and helped Young Master Shi; both trusted Xie Jingchen.

Concern led them to confusion and panic.

They looked at Xie Jingchen and said, "Then tell us, how can we save my uncle?"

Xie Jingchen pressed them down and said, "I have a plan."

"Quickly, tell us," Dong Chenglang urged. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Xie Jingchen signaled them to come closer and whispered a few words.

Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi’s eyes widened.

Dong Chenglang gazed at Xie Jingchen’s head, wondering why it was so clever.

Xie Jingchen said, "This is a last-ditch plan, I’ll first go to the Daqi Camp to assess the situation. If I fail, you can proceed with the plan."

Young Master Shi objected, "My father is held captive, I should, as his son, go. Brother Li has already helped us many times."

Would Xie Jingchen allow Young Master Shi to go?

Last time he went back, he didn’t even have a chance to speak with his wife; does he want to disrupt their reunion again?

Xie Jingchen held Young Master Shi down, saying, "I am different from you, if worse comes to worst, I can use my Donglin Prince Mansion identity."

The relationship between Zhao Xu and Dongxiang Marquis Mansion was rather good; Young Master Shi wasn’t aware of this, but Dong Chenglang knew a little.

No wonder Brother Li every time he went to Daqi Camp was calm and unhurried, so there was this kind of amulet.

Dong Chenglang thought about it and said, "If Brother Li gets into trouble, I’ll notify Brother Zhao to fish you out."

Xie Jingchen reluctantly agreed.

The next day, at dawn, Xie Jingchen set off for the Daqi Camp.

By noon, news came back that he had been detained by Daqi.

Dong Chenglang, "..."

Young Master Shi, "..."

Only then did they recall that Xie Jingchen had threatened the Princess Consort Zhenbei and taken the second young master of the Prince Zhenbei Mansion as a hostage.

Without that incident, none of what followed would have happened.

Could Xie Jingchen benefit from falling into Daqi’s hands?

Xie Jingchen was hung on the Daqi City Gate.

Xie Jingchen, "..."

He was likely the only one in history to thrive undercover in enemy camps but found himself facing constant setbacks in his own camp.

Strung up on the city wall for demonstration, Prince NanAn, Chu Shun, and others stood at the city gate chatting.

Truly, they wondered whether Xie Jingchen was really their Brother Jingchen.

How had he wound up like this, with no semblance of being one of their own?

Even they doubted; could Nanliang guess he was a traitor, the Heir of Prince Zhenbei who disappeared after the avalanche?

No one believed it regardless.

Xie Jingchen felt desperate enough to want to die; he knew returning would lead to trouble, but to hang him, wasn’t that too extreme? Why not just imprison him with General Shi?

Yet Chu Shun and the others felt the errors committed by him and General Shi were different in nature.

Handling him lightly would arouse suspicion; after expressing this concern to Marquis Dongxiang, the Marquis acknowledged their well-rounded consideration and decided to hang Xie Jingchen.

Though Prince NanAn and the others remained at the city gate not for entertainment, but to protect Xie Jingchen.

The number of people unaware of his identity was too great, while there were too many soldiers in the camp who had been beneficiaries of Su Jin’s grace.

With Su Jin held captive, the curses aimed at Xie Jingchen would have drowned him.

They feared he might be killed by his own people in a moment’s negligence, hence, they felt secure only by keeping a watchful eye.

Standing in the sun at the city gate was tiring, after all.

Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi regretted not stopping Xie Jingchen, not accompanying him; wanting Xie Jingchen to suffer less, they followed the plan, going to rob the Military Governor.

The Military Governor, having received thirty strokes with the military rod, was recovering in the tent.

Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi went to demand money from him; if not for his reckless letters, the Emperor would not have punished him, causing General Shi to be angered and the Duke Huguo to bear a grudge, leading to the current impasse.

These things were said by Young Master Shi; Dong Chenglang remained silent, as he was actually the real cause.

However, the Military Governor was not a good person, so robbing him didn’t require guilt.

The Military Governor lay on the bed, bitterly complaining.

He had devoted himself to the Duke Huguo, yet the Duke did not trust him, nor had he identified the person framing him; he couldn’t swallow this injustice.

Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi robbed him, and the Military Governor gritted his teeth, "If the Duke learns of your robbery, he won’t spare you!"

Dong Chenglang picked up the memorial on the small table and patted the Military Governor’s head, "Do you really think the Duke Huguo would stand up for you?"

"My uncle is being detained by Daqi; the Duke Huguo right now doesn’t know what to do. We proactively offer twenty thousand taels to ransom my uncle. Do you think the Duke would care where these twenty thousand taels came from?"

"Are your twenty thousand taels more important, or is his Duke Huguo’s prestige more important?"

"Or should I reveal that you embezzled military funds?"