“Did Qi Zhuyin truly become a traitor?” Cen Yu found it hard to believe. “The Qi clan has guarded the East for a hundred years. With this move, she has destroyed a century of the Qi clan’s prestige…”
The Great Zhou bore the surname Li. They could remonstrate for the emperor, die for the emperor, but they could not accept a sovereign outside the Li clan. Hua Xiangyi said the people of the world rejected the Han child because the Han clan had lost virtue—that was an excuse. The ones truly standing in court were all ministers of the Li dynasty. Without the Li clan, they were merely remnants of the former dynasty.
If the emperor was not good, he could be replaced—but he must be Li. That was legitimacy. Otherwise, why would He Liangyi die to remonstrate? Why would Xue Xiuzhuo struggle to such an extent? Wouldn’t it be better to defect to another master and support Libei? The so-called “loyalty” spanning hundreds of years all rested on this single surname; stepping outside it meant treason, or the vile act of betraying proper order. They ran about, shouted, and fought desperately for the Great Zhou of the Li clan to rise again—not to kneel before another ruler.
Gao Zhongxiong’s reputation had risen, yet the people of Dingdu still cursed him when reading his writings, because he was a man of three allegiances. Betrayal of one’s original master was disloyal. A minister stood on loyalty; if he could not even remain faithful to one lord, what kind of minister was he? Nothing but a beast in human clothing.
Yao Wenyu’s talent shook the world, but most of the capable men he brought for Shen Zechuan were recluses from mountains and fields—very few came from Dingdu. In the Imperial Academy, people spoke of him as a gem misplaced, or condemned him for abandoning his former teacher’s legacy. He Liangyi died remonstrating to preserve orthodoxy, yet Yao Wenyu followed Shen Zechuan, who had an impure origin. To the Confucian scholars at the core of the Great Zhou, this was throwing oneself in with traitors; his once flawless reputation had long been discarded.
Kong Qiu reached this point and burst into tears. “I misjudged Qi Zhuyin!”
“Why did Shao Chengbi lose so easily?” Chen Zhen collapsed into his chair. “He even took away the Spring Spring Battalion’s fire lances…”
Shen Zechuan walked up the steps. Before dawn, smoke rolled thickly from the original encampment, and he could already make out Dancheng.
“The weather is turning cold,” Fei Sheng followed behind, holding Shen Zechuan’s cloak. “My lord, take care not to catch a chill.”
Frost had condensed in the mud. Qiao Tianya and Tantai Hu and the others passed with their sabers, following the lord upward. Tantai Hu had just finished with diarrhea; his face was pale as he knelt to salute Shen Zechuan and called out “Lord,” then immediately looked ashamed.
“You handled the scheme well,” Shen Zechuan said sideways. “When Second Master returns, there will be a reward.”
Tantai Hu blushed awkwardly. “This… this was all the lord’s flawless planning… I fucking… didn’t expect there were spies in the army.” It wasn’t his credit, and he didn’t want it. He pointed at Yu Xiaozai beside him and continued, “It was all Yu Jing’s quick thinking!”
“Then you should thank Ding Tao instead,” Yu Xiaozai teased. “That last moment when you dropped, he was the one who kicked your knee out.”
Normally, Qiao Tianya would have joked as well, but today his expression was gloomy and he stood silently at the side.
“How did the lord guess there were spies in the army?” Tantai Hu asked.
“Didn’t you tell me?” Shen Zechuan replied. Today his mood was quite good. “When you heard that Wang Xian arrived in Duanzhou, you immediately set out. If someone hadn’t incited you, with your usual blunt temperament, you wouldn’t have had the courage to think Wang Xian would file a complaint.”
Tantai Hu admired Xiao Chiye the most, and also feared him the most. Though he was rough and stubborn, he sincerely respected Second Master. If no one had whispered in his ear, he would not have thought of that.
“Now the question is,” Yu Xiaozai said, “who exactly is this spy? Is it a spy from Dingdu, or from Biansha?”
Fei Sheng said, “It was uncertain at first, but after what happened last night, it’s clearly a spy from Dingdu.”
“No,” Qiao Tianya suddenly said. “The spy hidden in the army is absolutely not sent by Dingdu.” Everyone turned to look at him. Qiao Tianya continued, “If it were Dingdu’s people, the Du army wouldn’t be completely unaware… and Shao Bo wouldn’t be unaware either. My lord, this matter is strange. Second Master is currently pressing toward Amur. If Amur arranged a scorpion here, he would not use diarrhea medicine—he would use lethal poison. That way the garrison forces would be unable to match the Du army. If Cizhou fell into danger, Second Master would withdraw to reinforce it, and Amur’s crisis would be resolved.”
Xiao Chiye had already reached Mo Sanchuan, and by persuading the Huairen tribe to form alliances with three tribes through trade, he was preparing to jointly attack Amur. Amur’s vanguard Hu Helu and general Hasen had already died in battle. He was now a trapped beast; if he wanted to break the siege, killing the Dunzhou garrison was the easiest method.
Tantai Hu, lacking deeper thought, said casually, “Then who could it be? It can’t be our own Zhongbo people, right?”
A careless remark, but it struck a chord.
Yu Xiaozai’s mind turned over countless thoughts, but he didn’t dare respond. It was impossible for Zhongbo to have no factions. When Shen Zechuan had first been in Cizhou, the staff under Zhou Gui had already had conflicts over this. Now, officials holding key positions in Zhongbo were either local officials promoted by Shen Zechuan, or former Great Zhou ministers who had come to serve him. Though they stood equal with the Six Prefectures’ officials, their relationships differed, their loyalties differed, and invisible boundaries existed between them.
Yu Xiaozai had studied under Cen Yu, and Cen Yu was still a senior minister of the inner court. He had come to Zhongbo to mediate, but in the end did not leave—this was his private desire to follow the lord. Shen Zechuan treated him well and gave him inspection duties; he traveled through the Six Prefectures supervising governance. Conflicts were inevitable, but not yet to the point of factional strife, because he did not govern any one prefecture and held no troops, directly reporting to Shen Zechuan, who could dismiss him at any time. What truly broke the balance was Wang Xian—a disgraced official exiled from the capital, yet he directly controlled the economic affairs of the Six Prefectures. In Chazhou, he had completely suppressed Luo Moke.
Shen Zechuan asked Tantai Hu, “You keep talking about spies—have you caught anyone?”
“Last night was chaotic,” Tantai Hu said, turning back to look at the distant troops. “The count hasn’t finished yet… my lord, the fire lances seized this time are all damaged.”
Only then did Shen Zechuan learn of it. His brow furrowed slightly. “Damaged?”
Qiao Tianya stepped in front of Shen Zechuan and lowered his voice. “The batch of fire lances from King of Wing in Ranzhou—one hundred thirty-five in total.”
Among the eight Great Zhou battalions, only the Spring Spring Battalion was equipped with fire lances. Back then, when Xiao Chiye wanted them, he had to rely on his relationship with Li Jianheng just to get a chance to handle them. They were strictly controlled by the Ministry of War; even the Ministry of Works did not have their blueprints, so circulation was extremely limited. Shen Zechuan, even through the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had never obtained them. Copper fire lances were rare; excluding those damaged in storage, there were fewer than two hundred in total.
Shen Zechuan said in a low voice, “Did you check the serial numbers?”
Qiao Tianya nodded. “The one hundred fifty fire lances brought by Shao Bo match the same serial numbers as those submitted by Huo Lingyun.”
No wonder they were all defective—the real fire lances had already been swapped into Shen Zechuan’s hands.
Shen Zechuan paused slightly, reacting quickly. “The Ministry of War stores the fire lance blueprints, and the Spring Spring Battalion armory keys—if Chen Zhen replaced them, he would not have handed them to Shao Chengbi, and Shao Chengbi would not have been able to mobilize troops.” He looked at Qiao Tianya, thoughts racing. “Shao Chengbi knew these fire lances had been swapped. He insisted on going to battle, coming here to die, because—”
Timing!
Shen Zechuan needed an opportunity to march into Dingdu.
“If the Grand Tutor told me to lie dormant in the Embroidered Uniform Guard waiting for the lord,” Qiao Tianya’s eyes were pitch black, “then in the contract given to the lord, neither surname nor place of origin was written.”
Qiu Huilian only wrote two words: “Songyue.”
“Then besides me,” Qiao Tianya said steadily, “is there also a ‘Fengquan’?”
Raindrops suddenly struck Shen Zechuan’s brow. A violent wind swept through, instantly dispersing the smoke in the camp. Heavy rain poured down in an instant. Fei Sheng shook open his cloak to shield Shen Zechuan from the rain.
“If one day we both die midway, then this arrangement today will be his ultimate life-saving killing move.”
Qiu Huilian sat cross-legged under the eaves, watching the downpour, setting down an empty wine gourd, and grinning at Ji Gang beside him, who seemed entirely unaware.
“You send him Yishan Snow, I send him the blade that kills an emperor.”