So, after much deliberation, he decided to abandon George Washington. In order to strive to become a qualified traitor, just now, he even revealed a lot of intelligence about the key strongholds along the way to the capital, hoping to win Andrew Lee's special attention and favor.

However, after listening to all this, Andrew Lee did not show any emotion. Everything would have to wait until the two subordinates he had sent—who had previously seen the Ming emperor—returned with their report.

Andrew Lee rubbed the sweat that had seeped into his palms from nervousness. He was even worried that the man might just be a decoy, and that the real Ming emperor had already escaped to Huailai, a major Ming military stronghold just over twenty li from Tumu Fortress, under the cover of others.

This agonizing wait felt like a terrifying beast was gnawing at Andrew Lee's fragile heart. Just as Andrew Lee felt he could hardly endure it any longer, Peter Scott and Robert Moore finally arrived at Andrew Lee's central command tent.

“Is that man truly the Ming emperor?” Seeing the joy and excitement on their faces, even without asking, Andrew Lee was almost certain of the answer. Still, out of instinct, he raised his voice and asked.

“Reporting to the Grand Preceptor, blessed by Eternal Heaven, that man is indeed the emperor of the Ming.” Peter Scott and Robert Moore both prostrated themselves on the ground, shouting excitedly. In an instant, the tent, which had seemed deathly silent, erupted into a frenzy.

Faces that had previously appeared calm were now all twisted with excitement. Even the deeply calculating Andrew Lee could not help but raise both hands and laugh wildly to the sky: “Blessed by Eternal Heaven, truly blessed are we, the sons of the blue wolf! We have finally defeated the Ming dynasty, and even their Son of Heaven is in my hands…”

The centurion My Lord, who had just been responsible for escorting Peter Scott and Robert Moore to verify the authenticity of George Washington, also jumped up in excitement and shouted, “Grand Preceptor, Eternal Heaven has delivered our great Yuan’s archenemy to us! We should kill him now and hang his head on our banner…” Before he could finish, the previously noisy tent instantly fell silent again.

Andrew Lee heard this and his previously jubilant expression froze. His gaze fell on this subordinate whose intelligence was clearly underdeveloped. The equally excited James Carter now walked over to the centurion My Lord with a sinister look and snarled, “Such matters of state and military—how could a mere centurion have the right to speak? Get out!”

Seeing Andrew Lee's face turn as cold as water, and the number two figure in the Oirat, James Carter, erupting like a volcano, the centurion called My Lord was so frightened that he repeatedly begged the Grand Preceptor and the Chancellor for forgiveness, scrambling and crawling out of the central command tent.

Since Andrew Lee became Grand Preceptor and took charge of the Privy Council, James Carter had held the position of Chancellor of the Central Secretariat, second only to Andrew Lee. The two brothers controlled both civil and military power in the Oirat, and with King Richard as Grand Commander, it could be said that the three brothers held almost all the military and political power of the Oirat, and could practically be called the true supreme rulers.

“Such a fool…” James Carter shook his head angrily. Just as he turned around, another general shouted, “Grand Preceptor, since we have captured the Ming emperor alive and annihilated their army, there can’t be many troops left in their capital. We should press the attack and march straight to their capital to restore our great Yuan.”

Hearing this, Carter, who had just driven out My Lord, rolled his eyes at this muscle-brained fool. “Our Oirat army numbers no more than fifty thousand. After days of fierce battle with two hundred thousand Ming troops, we are already exhausted. The defenses of the Ming capital are the strongest in the world. With our less than fifty thousand weary soldiers and no siege equipment, have you calculated how long it would take to attack?”

“…Moreover, though the Ming army at Tumu Fortress was slaughtered by us, with corpses strewn everywhere and the survivors scattered, the Ming’s strength remains. Huailai is heavily guarded, and there’s also Xuanfu and Datong… all of which have clashed with us before, and each has more than ten thousand elite troops. If we attack the capital with our exhausted army, can you guarantee they won’t dare to come out and fight?”

“Second Brother is right. Even the eagles of the grasslands need to rest, and the blue wolves lick their wounds after a hunt. We must not get carried away by a single victory.” Andrew Lee stroked the curls on his chubby chin, looking very satisfied. Indeed, when Andrew Lee first set out, his ambitions weren’t that great—he just wanted to test the waters with a skirmish or two against the Ming army. Who could have imagined such an outcome? Not only did he defeat two hundred thousand elite Ming troops, but he even captured the emperor. The feeling was no different from a beggar who couldn’t even find a cigarette butt suddenly discovering that someone had not only thrown him two big chunks of braised pig’s head, but also dropped a huge sack of hundred-yuan bills at his feet.

The fact that he didn’t faint from sheer joy was already a testament to Andrew Lee’s remarkable psychological fortitude.