Firmament Sword

Afterward, the two men paid no mind to whether the food and wine were poisoned. The pair sat right down on the ground. Tang Yong grabbed a chicken, tore off a thigh, and took a vicious bite. Then he lifted the wine jug and, without bothering to pour it into a bowl, took two big gulps. GULP, GULP.

”Ah, that’s the stuff!” Tang Yong let out a long breath. ”Son of a bitch, how many years has it been since I’ve had such good food and wine?”

Li Yu did the same, taking a contented sip of wine, his movements much more refined than Tang Yong’s. He squinted and said, ”As long as I can see the families of our fallen brothers eating well, dressing well, and living without worry, with their children able to attend school... I’d be fine with never eating meat again for the rest of my life.”

Tang Yong nodded. ”You and I are living on borrowed time. Our brothers feared that if everyone died, no one would be left to care for their families, so they passed all their luck on to us. If we don’t look after them, who will?”

”Boss Tang, do you think we can completely trust the Second Young Master?” Li Yu mused. ”The Grand General is his father, after all.”

”Li Xiaoyu, you tell me. Besides trusting him, do we have any other choice? If he didn’t want to investigate this matter, he could have just given the word and we’d both be dead. Why would he waste his breath on us?” Tang Yong may have looked like a simpleton, but he wasn’t dumb at all.

Otherwise, he and Li Yu never would have been able to run their cons together in the Imperial City’s West Market.

Li Yu nodded. ”You have a point. That’s the very reason I agreed. We’re in his hands now. Our fate rests on his word, and no one would dare stand up for us. That being the case, we might as well take the gamble!”

Tang Yong gave a bitter smile. ”To be honest, Li Xiaoyu... aren’t you starting to suspect that what Yuan Zhi said back then... was actually true?”

Li Yu was silent for a long time before he finally said in a hoarse voice, ”Yes. If that’s really the case, then wouldn’t our years of conviction be incredibly foolish? If that’s true, it means we’ve wrongly blamed the Grand General all this time. The thought... I can’t even bear to entertain it...”

”Now that I think back on the look on the Grand General’s face when he drove us away... *Sigh*. I’m afraid it’s just as the Second Young Master said. He was protecting us! But at the time, we were blinded by resentment... it clouded our judgment, too! We were in no state to think things through.”

Tang Yong muttered, ”If that’s really the case, then not only have we been fools, unable to find our true enemy, we’ve been ignorant ones, too!”

”All we’ve wanted, after holding on for so many years, was to get justice for our brothers who died... nothing more,” Li Yu said in a low voice, taking a sip of wine.

...

”This handwriting... it’s a near-perfect forgery! Young Master, look here. Yes, this hook. They’ve perfectly replicated the... erm, Father’s personal habits. But I can say with certainty that this secret order is an absolute fake!”

「Late that night.」 Lianyi and Xu Luo sat with their heads bent together, carefully studying the secret order Xu Luo had just retrieved.

The secret order had yellowed with age and was clearly quite old. It was well-preserved, though it was stained with darkened spots of blood, a clear sign that Tang Yong and Li Yu must have paid a heavy price to protect it.

Xu Luo nodded. ”Exactly. My father is a military man, and his calligraphy carries a killing aura. His brushstrokes are sharp and firm. The writing on this secret order, while almost identical to my father’s, lacks that killing aura. A true calligraphy expert would be able to spot it at a glance!”

Xu Luo had been frail since childhood and unable to practice martial cultivation, but his literary talents were considerable. While he couldn’t be called a grandmaster in the art of calligraphy and painting, he was undeniably an expert.

The same was true for Lianyi. She had grown up with Xu Luo, and as a woman, she was even more proficient in these arts than he was.

As soon as the two of them unfolded the secret order, they both spotted the inconsistencies at a glance.

”The forger of this order was intimately familiar with my father’s handwriting. It’s... almost impossible for this to have come from an enemy nation. Furthermore, the National Guardian General’s Great Seal is also a perfect copy. While a Seal isn’t exactly a state secret, it’s not something an enemy spy could easily get their hands on...”

Xu Luo mused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, ”Lianyi, in the entire imperial court, isn’t Prime Minister Wei the only one... who is a master of various calligraphic styles, renowned as a grandmaster of the art?”

Lianyi was startled by Xu Luo’s theory, her face turning pale. ”That... that can’t be possible, can it? Even if Prime Minister Wei wanted to seize power and suppress the influence of the Military Generals, to do something like this... this is clearly collaborating with the enemy... This is treason!”

”Treason? Is there anything those heartless bastards wouldn’t do?” Xu Luo said coldly. ”If that old scoundrel was really behind this, I won’t let him get away with it, even if I have to bring the heavens down!”

”Young Master... please calm down. Let’s discuss this carefully. This is no small matter. Leaving aside Prime Minister Wei’s extremely high status, we can’t act rashly without conclusive proof. Besides, I find it hard to believe that Wei Feng would have had the nerve to do something so heinous all by himself back then.”

Lianyi analyzed calmly, ”Wei Feng was undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of that incident, but he wasn’t the only one fanning the flames! If you intend to investigate this, Young Master, you must be exceptionally careful. Not a single word can get out. If you startle them, they will surely retaliate with everything they have...”

”I know. Don’t worry, I won’t be reckless,” Xu Luo said, his gaze flickering. He suddenly asked, ”Lianyi, who was the enemy general during the defeat at Wansong Town?”

Lianyi furrowed her delicate brows slightly and said in a low voice, ”It was a general named Hao Liancheng. He was the target of the three hundred Death Warriors and the vanguard, General Wu. Afterward, because of that great victory, that man was appointed Grand General in the enemy nation!”

”Back then, Father received intelligence that Hao Liancheng had suddenly appeared in Wansong Town with only a few personal guards. That’s why Father planned the decapitation strike. If Hao Liancheng died, the entire border would be stable for at least twenty years! The operation was supposed to be top secret at the time. Very few people knew about it. The only record was a file left with the Military Department. Theoretically, no one else should have known.”

”Then... who gave Father that intelligence report?” Xu Luo asked quietly, his eyes narrowed. ”Let’s make an assumption. If what happened back then was a setup, a massive conspiracy, then Hao Liancheng’s appearance in Wansong Town must have been the first part of the trap!”

”Within that, the Reconnoitre who discovered this piece of intelligence is the first suspect! This Reconnoitre was most likely bribed. Of course, they could also have been an innocent pawn. We must get to the bottom of this.”

Lianyi nodded, taking up a brush to jot down Xu Luo’s words for later investigation.

Xu Luo continued, ”Now, let’s assume that this was a trap designed by the enemy general, Hao Liancheng, in collusion with a mole on our side. If that’s the case, then the entire incident makes perfect sense.”

Lianyi replied, ”That’s right. If someone on our side conspired with Hao Liancheng to set a trap, then deliberately allowed a Reconnoitre to discover Hao Liancheng’s location and report it to Father, Father would never have passed up such a heaven-sent opportunity.”

”Exactly. The other side even predicted how Father would react after discovering their troop movements. Thus, those mysterious experts appeared to intercept and kill Yuan Zhi. And after that, the switched secret order... it all falls into place!”

Xu Luo spoke slowly, his voice calm, but the fury on his face burned ever hotter.

”What a vicious scheme. If this was truly orchestrated by an insider, then that person is worse than an animal! To disregard the nation’s interests and all those lives lost, just for their own selfish gain... It’s utterly inhumane!”

The rims of Xu Luo’s eyes turned red. At the thought of all the lives lost and the countless shattered families they left behind, a monstrous rage surged within him.

”Lianyi, go and investigate the first Reconnoitre who discovered Hao Liancheng’s whereabouts. I want to see for myself whether this Reconnoitre was an innocent pawn or a traitor in league with the enemy!”

”That’s settled, then. We’ll start the investigation there!” Xu Luo said coldly as he put the secret order away.

”Understood. I’ll see to it at once,” Lianyi said, then stood and left the room.

In the room, Xu Luo’s gaze flickered as he muttered under his breath, ’Prime Minister Wei... Yuan Zhi dead in the Imperial Capital... Wei Ziting... the Yuan Brothers’ assassination attempt... the mysterious assassin by the Imperial City... the Military Heavy Crossbow...’

As he spoke, the light in Xu Luo’s eyes grew colder. He slowly rose to his feet and murmured to himself, ’Lianyi’s investigation can’t be detected by anyone. In that case... I’ll have to make some noise to distract you all.’

...

「Early the next morning」 Xu Luo rose, took a carriage from the Xu Mansion, and returned to the True Martial Academy.

The academy had many diligent students from humble origins. They rose early every day to train arduously in their martial skills, hoping to one day make a name for themselves.

Today, however, was a bit unusual. The students were gathered in twos and threes, excitedly discussing something.

Some of the boys even wore looks of longing, lost in daydreams.

Xu Luo’s mind was completely preoccupied with the Wansong Town massacre, and he had no interest in what these students were talking about. Though they were all around the same age, Xu Luo was far more mature than this group of inexperienced youths.

”Hey, Xu Luo!” As Xu Luo was walking with his head down, lost in thought, a voice suddenly called out from nearby, stopping him.

Xu Luo looked up, slightly startled to see who it was. A small smile touched his lips. ”What are you doing up so early, too?”

The person who had called him was Sun Donghai, a scion of the Sun Family and one of the top young masters in the Imperial Capital, known for his fondness for associating with people from the Jianghu.

Sun Donghai chuckled. ”The early bird gets the worm. If I’m not diligent, what will become of me? You’re up early, too, aren’t you?”

Xu Luo just smiled and offered no explanation.

Sun Donghai drew closer to Xu Luo and asked with a low chuckle, ”Do you know what everyone is chattering about?”

Xu Luo glanced at Sun Donghai. ”What, are you interested?”

”Haha, I’m not, but you should be,” Sun Donghai chuckled. He then leaned in close and whispered to Xu Luo, ”The Seventh Princess is coming to the True Martial Academy!”