Thud!
Che Hongluo kowtowed, his forehead striking the floor heavily.
Xiao Mi was utterly stunned.
This time, it wasn’t an act.
“Half a year ago, there was a sudden tremor at the mine. I led troops to investigate and found Beiluo scoundrels trespassing on our territory, attempting to seize our Western Zhou iron mine.”
“I intended to fight them to the death, but unexpectedly, a row of fully armored cavalry appeared in their ranks!”
“They call them the Iron Pagodas.”
Even now, mentioning them made Che Hongluo’s face pale with fear.
“The captain leading them threatened me. He said if I didn’t cooperate, they would send the Iron Pagodas down the mountain to raze Qingzhou to the ground.”
Xiao Mi foolishly interjected, “But we have the War God, General Huo! We don’t fear those Beiluo dogs!”
Che Hongluo’s expression turned grim, and he let out a heavy sigh.
“That’s exactly what I said then.”
“But the captain was utterly unafraid.”
“He told me to think about it: Would Huo Ci arrive faster, or would they finish slaughtering the city faster?”
For a moment, deathly silence filled the room.
“…The Prefect of Qingzhou was my close friend for many years. They… they actually made me use… use his head as a pledge of my betrayal.”
“When my friend found out, he took his own life right in front of me. He placed his head in my hands before collapsing dead.”
Che Hongluo’s voice choked up.
“I pretended to surrender, clinging to life, falsely reporting production numbers, just waiting for the Emperor to notice something was wrong and send someone to investigate.”
“But, the Beiluo scoundrels treat the miners on the mountain no better than beasts of burden, forcing them to work day and night.”
“Now, more than half are dead or injured.”
“Every three days when they come down the mountain to get supplies from me, they demand I provide three strong, able-bodied men to go back with them.”
“Over these past six months, I’ve exhausted all the death row prisoners in the dungeons.”
“They said if I couldn’t gather more men, they would come down to the city and take them by force. That’s why I… that’s why I—”
“That’s why you saw a beggar like me, with no family or connections, and decided to send me up there to die, right?”
Che Hongluo continued kowtowing. “I beg you, Warrior, please save the thousands of people in Qingzhou!”
Xiao Mi looked with complex emotions at the elderly Che Hongluo, humbly begging him to go to his death.
In the end, he still nodded.
——-
Jiang Xingyan rubbed her chin, struggling to understand. “You just agreed? He was asking for your life!”
“But this life of mine was always meant to be spent for the people of Western Zhou.”
“And how long could you last alone? What happens when more people die? Who would they capture then?”
“This—”
Jiang Xingyan tapped him irritably on the head.
“He’s an old fool, and you joined in the nonsense? A single secret message could have solved this. Why did you have to fixate on such a desperate path?”
Xiao Mi covered his head, defending himself. “He said there are Beiluo spies in the court. The moment you, General, left the capital, they would come to slaughter the city.”
Jiang Xingyan found this even stranger. “But our current mission, including the Second Prince’s urgent report, was announced by the Emperor himself in court. Why didn’t we see any spies reporting that?”
Xin Zhui and Xiao Mi put their heads together, thinking hard.
“That’s because this was a trap from the very beginning.”
Xiao Zhenhuai pushed the door open and entered, holding a secret letter from Xiao Ao.
Jiang Xingyan narrowed her eyes at him. “Your Highness was eavesdropping on us?”
Xiao Zhenhuai coughed twice, slightly affronted.
“I came to see if the General was awake. It was merely a coincidence.”
Jiang Xingyan didn’t want to dwell on it and asked about the letter in his hand. “What is this about?”
“Before our departure, Father Emperor instructed me to pay close attention to the situation in Qingzhou, stating clearly that the amount of iron ore they reported was suspicious.”
“Father Emperor said that when I proposed the border inspection, several ministers turned pale and their eyes shifted nervously.”
“After the court session, they secretly sent messages to Qingzhou. My third brother caught them all.”
“So, the urgent reports I sent to the capital served both to report the situation and to act as bait to lure out the snakes.”
“With my third brother’s capabilities, no spy could escape his grasp.”
Jiang Xingyan’s mind was reeling.
Is this how you people in the court play your mind games?
These intricately layered traps were enough to keep her thinking for a lifetime.
But just as well. With the spies neutralized, they could act freely and go all out.
“From last night until now, have any spies from the mountain come to investigate?”
No sooner had Jiang Xingyan asked than Su Mo walked in, dragging two men dressed in black.
Jiang Xingyan eyed them coldly.
The oppressive aura of the ‘Scourge of the North’ made the Beiluo spies break out in a cold sweat, kneeling and begging for mercy.
“General Huo, spare us! We’re just low-level lackeys!”
“No one else was willing to come, they forced us!”
“We’d just reached the city wall when we were captured! We didn’t do anything!”
The two of them talked over each other, making Jiang Xingyan’s head throb.
“Silence!”
The two men shrunk their necks in like quails.
“Your mission?”
“To enter the city and find out where General Huo was staying, and… and—”
He stammered, unable to get it out. Jiang Xingyan glared, and the man instantly became fluent, the words pouring out.
“If General Huo wasn’t dead, we were to retreat to Beiluo overnight. If…”
“If I, Huo Ci, was dead, then?”
Those unaware of the truth didn’t think much of it.
Xin Zhui and Xiao Zhenhuai’s corners of the mouth twitched. She draws the line so clearly, leaving no potential misunderstanding for herself.
“…Then we were to immediately notify General Tuoba, as they would likely launch a full-scale invasion of Western Zhou.”
Jiang Xingyan frowned. Does Huo Ci really have that much power to deter them?
Xiao Zhenhuai waved his hand, and Su Mo escorted the two men out.
“I sent a carrier pigeon to Father Emperor last night, suggesting he use this as a pretext to seize the initiative and confront Beiluo.”
“Hopefully, we can detain all Beiluo merchant caravans within our borders, forcing Beiluo into a passive position.”
Jiang Xingyan looked at Xiao Zhenhuai in surprise.
This man’s mind was so meticulous and thorough, and he remained so calm in a crisis. He really had the makings of an Emperor!
He was far better than that Xiao Zhonghua.
Xin Zhui glanced away sheepishly and shifted back slightly.
He had also sent a carrier pigeon to the General.
However, the matter he inquired about… concerned A’Xing.
She had looked so severely injured, yet her body showed no ill effects at all.
He had no idea what the reason was.
Xiao Zhenhuai grew increasingly curious about the soul residing within Huo Ci’s shell.
Last night, he had summoned a physician to give ‘Huo Ci’ a thorough examination from head to toe.
Not even a scratch.
But Xin Zhui clearly stated he saw an Iron Pagoda soldier raise a wolf-tooth club and strike Huo Ci solidly.
Huo Ci’s life was a matter of grave importance; Xin Zhui wouldn’t lie.
Adding to the mystery, the physician was also perplexed: “The General’s pulse is steady, but his spirit seems faint and nothing, almost as if… separated from his body.”
Xiao Zhenhuai had pondered this all night.
The only explanation was that the injuries suffered by the soul were being reflected onto its original body.
If that was the case, was the General’s Wife, far away in the capital, now in mortal danger?
Jiang Xingyan, unaware of the separate schemes occupying the minds of the two men before her, recalled the lingering unease from yesterday.
“The Iron Pagodas… do they really have no weakness?”
“General, what did you say?”
“Xin Zhui! Quickly, tell me exactly what you saw when you came to rescue me yesterday!”
Seeing the extreme seriousness on Jiang Xingyan’s face, Xin Zhui naturally didn’t dare delay.
He even recalled details he hadn’t noticed at the time: “The way those warhorses fell was very strange. Their hooves were curled up, as if their legs were broken.”
Jiang Xingyan felt she was getting closer to the truth, but just couldn’t break through that final layer.
Agitated, she began chewing on her thumbnail.
Xiao Zhenhuai frowned: Doesn’t that hurt?
Just then, Su Mo came in from outside carrying a large, heavy woolen cloak, preparing to drape it over Xiao Zhenhuai’s shoulders.
Xiao Zhenhuai refused wearily. “This one is too heavy. It feels suffocating. I’d rather wear the squirrel fur one.”
“Your Highness, the squirrel fur one is soiled—”
“Stop!”
Jiang Xingyan suddenly shouted, startling Su Mo so much he nearly dropped the cloak.
“What did you just say!”
“The squirrel fur one is soiled…”
“Not you! You!“
In her urgency, Jiang Xingyan forgot all about propriety and rank.
The pointed-at Xiao Zhenhuai was also startled and hurriedly tried to recall what he had just said.
The more he panicked, the less he could remember, so he could only stare blankly at Jiang Xingyan.
“I said—”
Jiang Xingyan stamped her foot in frustration.
It was Xin Zhui whose mind worked faster. “His Highness said this one is too heavy, it feels suffocating, and to change—”
“That’s it!”
Jiang Xingyan’s eyes lit up.
She remembered when she was riding the Iron Pagoda’s warhorse during her escape; it too had knelt down abruptly for no reason, throwing her off, and hadn’t been able to get back up.
The key was here!
“Too heavy!
It’s too heavy, both for the men and for the warhorses!”
Everyone present was clever.
Hearing Jiang Xingyan say this, they suddenly understood the problem.
Xin Zhui was ecstatic, springing to his feet. “General, are you saying the Iron Pagodas aren’t invincible?!”
Jiang Xingyan nodded. “They look terrifying, but their mobility is poor, and the cost is enormous.”
“They only chased us for a short while and lost so many horses.”
“Imagine a real battlefield – how many would they expend?”
Xin Zhui paced excitedly. “Yes! The General is right!”
He stopped abruptly. “Wait, General, that doesn’t make sense.”
“If the weakness of the Iron Pagodas is so obvious, they should keep it hidden, not letting us discover it, to catch us off guard.”
“Why would they engage us beforehand, allowing us to guess their weakness?”
Xiao Zhenhuai took over the thread. “That’s probably because their orders from above weren’t primarily to use the Iron Pagodas for combat, but mainly for intimidation.”
Jiang Xingyan found it very comfortable dealing with intelligent people.
“Correct.”
“Since Tuoba Hongxue considers me his lifelong rival, he wouldn’t make such a basic error.”
“But he doesn’t understand human nature.”
“Remember, there’s a price of ten cities on my head.”
“Back then, I was alone, and over a dozen Iron Pagodas came after me.”
“With the odds so stacked, anyone would be tempted to take the chance.”
“They just didn’t expect me to escape alive.”
“That’s why they are so anxious, sending people overnight to find out if I’m really dead.”
“I think the Beiluo scoundrels on the mountain must be in complete disarray right now!”
Xiao Zhenhuai smiled slightly. “Does General Huo wish to add fuel to the fire?”
Jiang Xingyan raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”
“Opportunity knocks but once.”
“Someone, spread the word. Say that I, Huo Ci, am severely wounded beyond cure, and… I’m dying.”