The Military Governor’s face turned pale.

Having received the silver note, Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi emerged from the Commander’s Tent.

Dong Chenglang looked at Young Master Shi and said, "Cousin, how did Brother Li come up with such a good idea of robbery?"

Young Master Shi shook his head, "Perhaps he was inspired by the Marquis Dongxiang’s robbery of Duke Huguo."

"Let’s first find Duke Huguo."

Dong Chenglang and he walked towards the main tent of the army.

In front of the soldiers, the two of them presented the silver note to Duke Huguo.

No one questioned the origin of the silver note, only praised Young Master Shi and Dong Chenglang for their filial piety.

Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi didn’t explain, letting people say what they would.

Although Duke Huguo couldn’t keep his pride, he couldn’t preserve even the appearance of dignity either, so he waved his hand and said, "Send someone to take the silver note and the second young master of the Prince Zhenbei Mansion to Daqi!"

Dong Chenglang said, "It’s better if my cousin and I handle this matter."

Duke Huguo did not oppose.

The two of them, acting as envoys, escorted Xie Jingchuan to the Daqi Camp.

Seeing Xie Jingchuan’s bruised and swollen face, Dong Chenglang felt somewhat guilty, as both he and his cousin had a part in it. Another person, Xie Jingchen, was already in the Daqi Camp.

Considering the temperament of Marquis Dongxiang and others, there was genuine fear that they would be beaten like this before being released.

Once inside the main tent, Dong Chenglang handed over the silver note.

Su Chong took the silver note from his hand, roughly glanced at it, and said, "Twenty-five thousand taels?"

It was astonishing enough that Nanliang was willing to pay at all, and even more surprising that they added an extra five thousand taels.

Dong Chenglang quickly responded, "This extra five thousand is to ransom Brother Li."

"Brother Li?" Su Chong raised an eyebrow, not immediately understanding.

"It’s the one you have hanging up at the city gate," Dong Chenglang replied.

"..."

Prince NanAn and Chu Shun nearly injured themselves trying to hold in their laughter.

Even Marquis Dongxiang couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from twitching twice.

He glanced at the Prince.

The Prince raised a hand to his forehead.

His son was really doing well in Nanliang.

The fact that Nanliang feared not releasing him and willingly paid an extra five thousand taels was telling.

It’s hard to argue with a smiling face, and with Nanliang making the first move, Daqi found it difficult to keep the person detained.

Prince NanAn walked over to Dong Chenglang, patted his shoulder, and said, "Your Brother Li is really daring to enter our Daqi Camp alone and even dared to take our sister-in-law hostage."

Upon hearing this, Dong Chenglang knew things were not heading in the right direction.

He worried Daqi wouldn’t release him, which was why he paid before speaking.

Xie Jingchen was Zhao Xu’s man, and Dong Chenglang couldn’t afford to speak up. Firstly, it would expose his secret communication with Zhao Xu, and secondly, if Xie Jingchen was indeed their man, would he have dared to take Daqi’s Princess Jin Ning, Princess Consort Zhenbei, hostage?

Previously not considering them as insiders, now being captured and trying to claim kinship wouldn’t calm Daqi’s anger, it would only provoke further.

In their haste to rescue him, they hadn’t thought things through, or perhaps out of trust in Xie Jingchen, they hadn’t considered it deeply.

They hadn’t anticipated that he would aid them at the cost of falling into Daqi’s hands.

Not rescuing him would burden them with a lifetime of guilt.

Dong Chenglang defended Xie Jingchen, "He was just following orders, the necessity of conflict between two armies."

"But he meant no harm to the Princess Consort Zhenbei, only to force Daqi to withdraw."

Prince NanAn exchanged glances with Chu Shun and the others.

Understood.

They didn’t know how Brother Jingchen had fooled them.

Even after being sold out by Brother Jingchen, they were still counting the money for him.

Prince NanAn looked at Dong Chenglang and said, "It’s only because he didn’t harm our sister-in-law that we merely hung him up as a warning. If he had hurt her even a little..."

Prince NanAn didn’t continue his sentence.

It’s not that stopping there achieved a more significant effect, but he genuinely couldn’t think of what to say next, so he ended it with a wry smile.

Su Chong passed the silver note to Marquis Dongxiang, who said, "Escort General Shi back to Nanliang."

Prince NanAn led Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi out of the military tent.

General Shi was not far from the tent and wasn’t detained in a cage as Dong Chenglang speculated.

However, as a martial artist, not restraining him would make it easy for him to escape.

Thus, Su Jin had administered some medicine to him, rendering him weak and listless, with guards stationed around the tent.

When Dong Chenglang and his group arrived at the camp, Marquis Dongxiang had already sent someone to detoxify General Shi.

General Shi didn’t cause a scene. After all, poisoning him was more laborious than directly imprisoning him in a cage. It was a show of Daqi’s respect, even though it was humiliating, it was certainly better than being caged.

"Father," Young Master Shi called out.

General Shi raised his hand, "I’m alright."

Then, he asked, "How did Duke Huguo agree to pay twenty thousand taels to ransom me?"

With his understanding of Duke Huguo, he would undoubtedly hold on to the second young master of the Prince Zhenbei Mansion and send a messenger to the Emperor for instructions.

In doing so, Duke Huguo could save face, not wishing to be coerced by Daqi. It would be the Emperor valuing General Shi, unwilling to see him suffer in Daqi.

General Shi had even been mentally prepared to stay in Daqi for half a month.

Dong Chenglang revealed the origin of the twenty thousand taels to General Shi, who regarded Xie Jingchen with newfound respect.

This all-encompassing scheme, considering even Duke Huguo’s psychology, was... fundamentally aligned with the methods of Daqi’s Marquis Dongxiang, leveraging power against power, forcing people to swallow their losses.

For the first time, General Shi found Xie Jingchen and Marquis Dongxiang somewhat alike, but upon reflection, there were quite a few similarities.

If it weren’t known that Su Chong was the son of Marquis Dongxiang, with Xie Jingchen hanging on the gate, he would’ve wondered if Xie Jingchen was Su Chong’s mole in Nanliang.

Prince NanAn and his party went to the city gate to release Xie Jingchen.

Xie Jingchen had anticipated that Dong Chenglang and his group would come to ransom him; the matter wasn’t particularly difficult.

Prince NanAn scanned Xie Jingchen from head to toe, prompting Xie Jingchen to ask in confusion, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I’m assessing how you could be worth so much," Prince NanAn chuckled.

"..."

"Why say it like that?" Xie Jingchen was puzzled.

His plan hadn’t included Dong Chenglang bringing money to ransom him.

Chu Shun patted Xie Jingchen on the shoulder and said, "The Heir of Marquis Changning of Nanliang paid five thousand taels to ransom you."

"While we all enjoy more silver, deep down we feel you’re not worth that amount."

"..."

To serve as a spy in Nanliang, end up captured by Daqi, and have Nanliang pay to ransom him.

Such a covert operation must surely be unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated?

As the Heir of Prince Zhenbei and the Prince Consort of Daqi, if word got out, it would certainly leave a rich, colorful stroke in the annals of history.

Being such good friends of Xie Jingchen, they all pondered how to squeeze their way into history alongside him.

After much thought, aside from giving Xie Jingchen a good thrashing, they couldn’t think of any better plan.

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Then Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi approached, and Prince NanAn and the others ceased their conversation.

They could all see that Dong Chenglang considered Xie Jingchen a brother.

Of course, Dong Chenglang was Zhao Xu’s man, and they wouldn’t make things difficult for him.

Besides, it was Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi who had roughed up Xie Jingchuan’s face.

Suffice it to say, Xie Jingchuan’s bruised and swollen appearance had greatly improved his standing with them.

If it hadn’t been for the undisclosed fact that Dong Chenglang was Zhao Xu’s man, Prince NanAn would have already dragged him to a tavern for a hearty drink.

This feeling of already considering the brother of a brother as a brother, while the other remains oblivious, was quite unsettling.

Su Chong and Prince NanAn, finding themselves with time on their hands, escorted General Shi back to Nanliang with three hundred Flying Tiger Army troops.

There was truly no need for such measures, but because Daqi had previously blamed Nanliang for not delivering people to Daqi’s territory, it couldn’t turn around and slap its own face.

Incidentally, showing Nanliang what proper release of a prisoner looked like.

Nanliang had no outlet for its grievances.