Firmament Sword

Seeing everyone’s puzzled gazes, Su Tong smiled. ”Don’t look at me like that, Second Young Master. We’re not secretly spying on you. This news came from the Imperial Capital.”

”Oh?” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, ”Wei Ziting?”

Su Tong nodded. ”It’s quite amusing, actually. The Wei Family was secretly raising a private army in the north, thinking they were being perfectly discreet. In reality, the Grand General has known about it for a long time but just couldn’t be bothered with them. A few months ago, Wei Ziting quietly snuck into the north to mobilize the Wei Family’s private army. When he learned that Mo Yun’s remnant forces had arrived, he set a trap to ambush and wipe them all out. But in truth, they greatly underestimated Mo Yun’s remnants and overestimated the combat strength of their own private soldiers.”

As Su Tong spoke, he glanced at Xu Luo and the others with a grin, then continued, ”Speaking of which, that Wei Ziting is truly unlucky. If he had managed to completely wipe out Mo Yun’s remnants, it would have been a great accomplishment. At that point, the Emperor wouldn’t have pursued the matter of the Wei Family raising such a large private army. But who would have thought that Mo Yun’s remnants would be so surprisingly formidable? And that a group of people would appear out of nowhere, not only rescuing Mo Yun but also sanitizing the battlefield to destroy all traces... Wei Ziting was so furious he fell ill and almost died on his way back to the Imperial Capital. This whole affair was supposed to be a secret, but unexpectedly, that old scoundrel Wei Feng exposed it himself. Perhaps... he was scared by you, Second Young Master.”

”Hahaha.” Little Fatty and the others couldn’t help but laugh.

Indeed, Wei Feng had truly been scared by Xu Luo. Every time he ran into Xu Luo, nothing good ever came of it. The once-overlooked second young master of the Xu Family had, in just one short year, made the Wei Family tremble in fear at the mere mention of Xu Luo’s name.

This time, Wei Ziting hadn’t exactly caused a huge disaster. While raising so many private soldiers was a crime, it wasn’t considered that serious. After all, in the Empire’s thousand-plus-year history, which noble family didn’t have a few thousand private soldiers? Some had tens of thousands. During times of war, it was common for the court to borrow troops from the nobility.

The Wei Family’s only fault, at most, was concealing the existence of their private army. But if even the Emperor didn’t pursue the matter, who else would?

”During a court session, that old scoundrel Wei Feng first confessed his family’s error in raising a private army. Then he started attacking you, Second Young Master, claiming you sent people to abduct Mo Yun and rescue her remaining soldiers. He then said that your intentions were sinister...”

”Oh? He didn’t accuse me of treason this time?” When Xu Luo had decided to do this, he had already anticipated these consequences. He couldn’t help but be a little surprised. ’It seems Wei Feng has really learned his lesson this time.’

”No, he only said your actions were sinister,” Su Tong said with a smile. ”Then the Emperor asked on the spot if there was any proof... and Wei Feng very frankly admitted he had no proof, only suspicion.”

”That old scoundrel! How dare he sling mud without any proof?” Little Fatty said angrily from the side.

Su Tong gave a wry smile. ”Wei Feng is just trying to plant a thorn of doubt in the Emperor’s heart. He never expected to take you down directly with this. In fact, the Emperor still trusts you a great deal, Second Young Master. He reprimanded Wei Feng on the spot, telling him not to make baseless claims without proof. However, the matter spread throughout the Imperial Capital, which is how we learned that General Mo Yun was rescued by you.”

Xu Luo scratched his head. ”How are they so sure it was me?”

Su Tong chuckled. ”Anything that makes that old scoundrel unhappy, I believe you would be very happy to do, Second Young Master!”

At this, everyone burst into laughter again. Indeed, Su Tong was absolutely right. Anything that made Wei Feng unhappy made all of them very happy.

”And then, something major happened in the Imperial Capital that you probably don’t know about yet.” Su Tong’s expression suddenly turned serious, and he whispered mysteriously, ”The Crown Prince has been deposed!”

”Ah?”

”How could that be?”

”But... why?”

Everyone was shocked. This was truly unexpected.

The Crown Prince had never been particularly outstanding or brilliant, but he rarely made mistakes. No one knew why the Emperor would suddenly depose him.

”The court is in an uproar over it, and the Emperor hasn’t given a reason.” Su Tong sneered, glanced at Huangfu Chongzhi, and said, ”However, we have a bit of inside information. Among the group that attacked you when you first arrived at your fief... oh, the very same ones you’ve now incorporated into your ranks—they were actually acting on the Crown Prince’s written orders! When the Grand General found out, he was furious. He immediately wrote a confidential letter and had it sent express to the Imperial Capital.”

”The Crown Prince’s written orders?” Xu Luo narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at Huangfu Chongzhi.

Huangfu Chongzhi also looked somewhat puzzled. He asked, ”General Su, are you certain it was the Crown Prince’s written order?”

Su Tong shook his head. ”I didn’t see it myself, but the Grand General said that even if the Crown Prince didn’t do it, it was still an internal matter for the Royal Family.”

”So the Emperor also believes the Crown Prince did it?” Xu Luo glanced at Su Tong and added, ”Something about this is strange.”

Huangfu Chongzhi added from the side, ”The Crown Prince seems to... have no reason to do this.”

Su Tong looked at them strangely, seemingly confused by their reaction. ”If the Crown Prince didn’t do it, then who could it be?”

Xu Luo, Huangfu Chongzhi, and the others said in near unison, ”Wei Feng!”

”Wei Feng? Surely not?” Su Tong first raised his eyebrows, then fell into thought. After a long moment, he said, ”Could it be... you suspect... Wei Feng did this?”

Su Tong shook his head. ”I know what you’re suspecting, but Wei Feng absolutely does not have the guts! The commander you killed that day originally belonged to the Emperor before being transferred to the Crown Prince. While this wasn’t a top-secret matter, it wasn’t something the average person would know. However, Wei Feng, as the Prime Minister and a favored courtier of His Majesty, would certainly have known. Whether they were the Emperor’s men or the Crown Prince’s men, he wouldn’t have dared to do such a thing.”

”Using the Royal Family’s people to settle a personal grudge... He would have to be insane to do that,” Su Tong concluded.

”You see, even someone who detests Wei Feng as you do thinks this way. That means everyone else, including His Majesty, probably thinks the same,” Xu Luo said with a slight shrug and a calm tone. ”But I believe Wei Feng is definitely connected to this matter! We previously thought he had little to do with it, but now it seems... that old scoundrel Wei Feng has everything to do with it! He played this move beautifully. The Crown Prince, in all likelihood, was framed.”

Su Tong asked, baffled, ”How can you be so certain?”

Xu Luo explained, ”Look, Wei Ziting secretly left the Imperial Capital, came to the north to mobilize troops... his objective was obvious. He wanted to kill me.”

Su Tong nodded.

Xu Luo continued, ”But before that, I caused a huge scene at the Wei Family estate in the Imperial Capital. Wei Feng must hate me to the bone. He wants me dead even more than his son does. So, he wouldn’t hesitate to use his family’s hidden agents to try and ambush me.”

”We heard about that, too. The General was furious and said that after this campaign is over, he definitely won’t let Wei Feng off the hook when he returns to the Imperial Capital,” Su Tong said.

Xu Luo nodded, then said, ”However, my status is a bit sensitive. Although the Emperor stripped me of my noble title and official post, he didn’t take away my military rank as a General... Which means that, for all intents and purposes, I still count as a General of the Empire.”

Su Tong laughed. ”You’re too modest, Second Young Master. If you’re a ’nominal’ General, then what does that make the rest of us?”

Xu Luo smiled and waved his hand dismissively. ”General Su, there’s no need to flatter me. I’m well aware of my own capabilities.”

A flicker of satisfaction showed in Su Tong’s eyes. It wasn’t that he’d had a poor opinion of Xu Luo before; rather, Xu Luo’s humility was very reassuring, and it made him happy for the Grand General’s sake.

”So if Wei Feng had actually killed me, it would have caused an uproar in the court and beyond. Even if the attackers looked like a band of mountain bandits, my father would never have let him get away with it,” Xu Luo said. He then continued, ”And it just so happened that my sworn brother, Huangfu Chongzhi, was with me. After his outstanding performance in the Southern war, he caught the eye of those in the Royal Family. Someone who was never a threat to them before suddenly rose to prominence. I believe there are definitely people in the Royal Family who are unhappy with my sworn brother.”

”So what? The Eldest Prince is a member of the Royal Family. Would Wei Feng dare do something so treasonous?” Su Tong said.

Xu Luo smiled. ”Wei Feng wouldn’t dare, but the Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince would!”

”...” Su Tong fell silent, looking at Xu Luo and waiting for him to continue.

Xu Luo went on, ”So, Wei Feng secretly contacted a Prince and proposed this plan. However, Wei Feng is a ruthless man. His ruthlessness lies in the fact that he not only plots against others, but he even plots against his own people!”

”Hmm?” Su Tong looked at Xu Luo. ”What do you mean by that?”

”Heh, since you know that I’ve already incorporated those soldiers into my ranks, General Su, do you also know what orders those soldiers received that day?” Xu Luo asked with a smile.

”Orders? Wasn’t it to suppress bandits?” Su Tong looked at Xu Luo. ”Was it something else?”

”That’s right, it was to suppress bandits!” Xu Luo sneered. ”However, in the eyes of those soldiers, we weren’t the only ’bandits’... The men Wei Feng sent... were ’bandits’ as well!”

”Th-th-this... How is that possible? Wei Feng was willing to sacrifice his own hidden agents?” Su Tong’s eyes went wide with disbelief. ”The Wei Family’s hidden agents are the true foundation of their power!”

”Precisely. By making such a gesture, he wouldn’t arouse anyone’s suspicion!” Xu Luo said calmly. ”Once we were dead, his hidden agents would then be surrounded and killed by those soldiers. The whole affair... would be perfect! Then, even if His Majesty was furious, the matter could never be traced back to him!”