Yu Zhiyuan’s heart was both pained and filled with hatred. To avoid letting others detect anything amiss, he had to desperately conceal it, his entire being nearly driven mad by those emotions suppressed to the extreme. His five fingers embedded into his palm, the welling blood dyeing the inner side of his sleeve a deep color.

He stared at Xiao Li with eyes that wished they could devour his flesh and blood raw: “Still spouting nonsense! You traitor who harmed the Young Lord and County Princess should also be carved and have your flesh boiled to suffer this extreme punishment!”

Xiao Li coldly and lazily raised his eyes: “Wasn’t it Staff Officer Yu who killed the Prince Consort and County Princess?”

The oppression and sharp intensity in his eyes forced one not to dare look directly at him, yet his tone could not be more ordinary: “Don’t worry. This marquis guarantees that when Staff Officer Yu is carved alive and his flesh boiled, you’ll be cooked in the same pot as the poisonous strategist Yu, letting you father and son reunite in flesh and bone.”

These words made everyone present feel a chill rising from deep within their organs.

Yu Zhiyuan was also startled by that look from Xiao Li. For a moment he actually forgot to speak again. Xiao Li held up a letter between his index and middle fingers toward him, asking coolly: “Does Staff Officer Yu still recognize this letter?”

Zhang Huai, standing beside him, saw the letter in Xiao Li’s hand. His expression showed slight surprise, but he quickly concealed it, not letting anyone notice.

Yu Zhiyuan stared fixedly at the envelope in Xiao Li’s hand, seemingly pondering the letter’s authenticity. Very soon, he seemed to make some decision and laughed mockingly: “After randomly grabbing a Pei camp traitor to slander Yu failed, now you want to use some nonsensical letter to forcibly pin crimes on Yu?”

Xiao Li’s brow rose coldly and indifferently. He handed the letter to a personal guard beside him: “Read it.”

That personal guard took it, extracted the letter paper inside, and read aloud: “Father, esteemed regards. Since our parting in Zhuzhou, five years have passed. Respectfully inquiring after Father’s well-being. Your son followed his teacher on a journey in midwinter, traveling through Qingzhou when we encountered heavy snow. Seeing displaced people carrying young children begging, I recalled how in past years Father knocked on vermilion doors throughout to beg for gruel to feed me. I could not help but feel heartbroken and spirit darkened…”

With each sentence that personal guard read, Yu Zhiyuan’s face grew paler by another shade. By the end, even his lips were trembling somewhat beyond his control.

This letter was undoubtedly one he had written to Yu Jingwen.

Xiao Li raised one hand. The personal guard stopped reading.

Xiao Li raised his eyes to ask Yu Zhiyuan: “This letter was written in late winter of Shaojing year thirteen. Do you need me to continue reading?”

Yu Zhiyuan bit his teeth tightly, unable to say a single word. His mind had already become a tangled mess, unclear how many letters he and Yu Jingwen had exchanged that Xiao Li actually held.

Xiao Li seemed to know his thoughts and said carelessly: “Your esteemed father probably missed Staff Officer Yu deeply, which is why he properly preserved every single letter Staff Officer Yu sent back in a case.”

As he said this, another personal guard had already brought forward a brocade case. Xiao Li took it, turned his hand to overturn it indifferently: “Staff Officer Yu may continue to argue sophistically. This marquis will have people read them one by one.”

The letters in the brocade case scattered across the ground.

Seeing those letters falling like snowflakes, Yu Zhiyuan’s expression became even more ashen. His entire person could hardly stand steady.

The city tower erupted in clamor.

The torture rack over there seemed to have some faint movement. After Xiao Li glanced over, his expression became somewhat surprised: “Still not dead?”

Then he said with slight mockery: “This game has already ended. Keeping him alive is useless.”

His eyes, cold as quenched ice, were deeply dark and sunken. He gave the executioners a light instruction: “Continue the live carving.”

The executioners who had received the signal pulled up the iron chains, about to continue scraping Yu Jingwen on the rack, already a mass of bloody flesh.

But from the city tower came an extremely broken shout: “Stop!”

Everyone on the city tower froze.

Yu Zhiyuan braced himself against the crenelations, looking down below. His lips trembling, eyes so red they nearly dripped blood: “Don’t continue the torture!”

Earlier he had risked everything, watching Yu Jingwen being carved alive and boiled, thinking that if he endured until Yu Jingwen breathed his last, he could scheme for a way to survive.

Now he finally understood—everything was merely Xiao Li toying with him.

Xiao Li had long held evidence that he was a Pei camp spy. He deliberately didn’t say so, just to watch him, in seeking survival, make the choice to coldly watch his own father be carved alive and boiled to death!

To watch how he struggled laughably between life and death, showing his ugly state!

His will had already been completely crushed. Learning now that Yu Jingwen was still alive, the emotions he had determinedly suppressed while watching Yu Jingwen being carved alive backlashed, making him extraordinarily pained and guilt-ridden. Tears streaming, he hoarsely called: “Father—”

Between heaven and earth, aside from the wind, all was silent for quite a while.

Xiao Li no longer needed to say anything more. The infamy the Wei camp had pinned on him, in the moment Yu Zhiyuan acknowledged his father, all came crashing down and turned to dust.

After an uproar on the city tower, it also returned to deathly silence.

Yu Zhiyuan was bound hand and foot and brought down from the city tower to be handed over to Xiao Li for disposal. Although Yuan Fang had known early on that Xiao Li was wronged, he still felt unbearably ashamed and for a moment didn’t know how to broach the topic of apologizing and inviting Xiao Li back to Northern Wei.

Yu Zhiyuan urgently stepped forward, calling “Father” miserably, trying to say another word to Yu Jingwen bound on the torture rack.

But the armored soldiers behind him forcefully yanked the rope. His movements restricted, he stumbled beneath his feet and could not advance even half a step further. He could only continue to hoarsely call: “Father! Father!”

While crying, he apologized for his earlier hard-heartedness in watching Yu Jingwen being carved alive.

But the person with disheveled hair stained with blood, head hanging low, gave him not the slightest response from beginning to end.

Xiao Li sat on his tall horse, looking coldly at this scene, saying: “Rarely is Staff Officer Yu still a filial son. Unfortunately this filial heart came somewhat late. When Staff Officer Yu refused to acknowledge his father, your esteemed father had already been carved to death.”

His expression was indifferent. The jet-black warhorse beneath him stamped its hooves restlessly, trampling the letters scattered on the ground earlier into the dust.

When Yu Zhiyuan heard Xiao Li’s words, his entire body had already stiffened. Somewhat dully he raised his head to look at Xiao Li, then noticed those scattered letters on the ground—the writing on the envelopes was all scrawled characters, not at all the secret letters he and Yu Jingwen had exchanged!

But earlier the distance was too far. On the city tower he couldn’t see clearly the handwriting on these envelopes. Xiao Li had recited content from a letter he had written to Yu Jingwen, so he had thought Xiao Li truly had obtained all the letters he and Yu Jingwen had exchanged!

As if understanding something in this instant, Yu Zhiyuan moved his throat. Disheveled hair fell before his reddened eyes. With difficulty and viciousness, he said: “The letter… was also fake?”

“You tricked me!” Without needing Xiao Li to respond, he already knew the answer himself.

In this moment he was incomparably furious, wanting to lunge at Xiao Li like a madman. But the two tiger guard soldiers behind him quickly tightened the rope. In this desperate struggle he fell to the ground, still wanting to crawl toward Xiao Li with crimson eyes, but was firmly pressed down by the soldiers behind him.

He struggled until his mouth and face were covered in dirt and dust, demanding of Xiao Li: “You don’t have any other letters at all, do you!”

Xiao Li looked at him coldly and said: “When this marquis killed into the Pei camp’s main tent, among the case of letters the poisonous strategist Yu was burning, only that half letter just read to you remained unburned.”

This answer was undoubtedly the final fatal blow to Yu Zhiyuan.

He suddenly laughed madly, his laughter miserable and pained, banging his head against the ground: “So that’s how it is! So that’s how it is! I was confused—actually tricked out by you using such a scheme!”

Having said this, looking toward Yu Jingwen on the torture rack, carved to bloody death, tears streaming endlessly from his eyes, he said viciously: “Xiao Li, in terms of ruthlessness, my father and I are far inferior to you!”

Xiao Li sat high on horseback without speaking.

After today, his reputation for brutality would probably resound throughout the entire northern border.

But that was precisely what he intended.

Yu Zhiyuan was soon gagged by armored soldiers. Yuan Fang bowed with clasped hands toward Xiao Li, earnestly saying: “I beseech the Lord to return to Northern Wei!”

Behind him, a group of soldiers also clasped their hands and bowed down.

But Xiao Li only glanced, then turned his horse and departed at length. His black cloak trailed behind the horse, illuminated by sunlight into a stretch of dark silk luster.

Seeing this, Zheng Hu and the others needed to say nothing more. Snorting coldly, they all turned their horses around.

When Zhang Huai rode away, he did say to Yuan Fang: “That former Jin Princess your Wei clan supports, together with this Pei camp spy, slandered our Lord for killing the Marquis of Shuobian’s pair of children. The Wei clan’s generals even more so wanted to take our Lord’s life.”

He paused, half-mocking, half-not: “General Yuan now wants to invite our Lord back to Northern Wei? Best be careful of inviting fire upon yourself.”

His use of “our” carried considerable meaning, as if invisibly drawing some division.

Yuan Fang bent his waist at an even greater angle.

—Now that Yu Zhiyuan had been exposed, Wang Wanzhen, who had colluded with Yu Zhiyuan that day, certainly also had problems.

But Wang Wanzhen’s public title to them Northern Wei was equivalent to Wen Yu to Great Liang. As a subject, he could not publicly speak of Wang Wanzhen’s wrongs. He could only say somewhat awkwardly: “In this… there must be some misunderstanding. The Princess… will certainly give the Lord an explanation!”

Zhang Huai said nothing more, pulling the reins to ride his horse after the withdrawing army.

Two thousand light cavalry had come kicking up dust, and now departed kicking up dust again, leaving only the torture rack where Yu Jingwen was carved and that large stewing pot outside the city gate.

Seeing Zhang Huai ride up, Zheng Hu said dissatisfied: “Strategist, why are you still chattering with those Wei camp people!”

Zhang Huai said: “Communicating what should be communicated. Though the Lord’s scheme was dangerous, it was also extremely clever, forcing that Yu Zhiyuan to reveal himself while also intimidating other Wei clan former subordinates harboring ill intent. All the infamy has been cleared without needing proof. Of Wei Qishan’s line, only the fake princess’s unborn child remains. During these days, the Wei clan’s former subordinates whose heads weren’t clear should also understand how to conduct themselves now.”

Aside from those Wei generals led by Wei Tong on that day who had wanted to put Xiao Li to death, among those northern border officials who later chose sides after the infamy about Xiao Li killing the Wei Pingjin siblings spread, some were constrained by external reputation and Wei Qishan’s past kindness, while others were seeking power and redistributing interests.

Now that the infamy on Xiao Li had been washed clean and Yu Zhiyuan’s identity as a Pei camp spy was revealed to the world, everything should reverse.

Zhang Huai opened his folding fan to block some of the direct sunlight, saying: “Just wait. Those aristocratic families and powerful clans are most skilled at currying favor. Those fools who couldn’t see the situation clearly after the Marquis of Shuobian’s passing will soon rack their brains trying to ingratiate themselves with the Lord.”

“Given all the rotten things they did before, this old man will remember them for a lifetime!” Zheng Hu immediately spat viciously. Recalling the earlier scene outside Weizhou’s city gate, he finally felt somewhat satisfied and said to Xiao Li: “No wonder Second Brother said last night that man surnamed Yu would definitely acknowledge him—turns out Second Brother already had countermeasures!”

Xiao Li said: “Something’s strange.”

Zheng Hu asked in confusion: “What?”

Xiao Li’s face was directly sunlit. The brow and eyes slightly furrowed in contemplation appeared even sharper: “Pei Song buried Yu Zhiyuan as a chess piece so deeply. Even after the Marquis of Shuobian’s death, he never instructed him to take any action. Yet now he suddenly ordered him to kill the Wei Pingjin siblings and frame me—this seems too much like a desperate move.”

Zheng Hu’s brain couldn’t keep up. He looked toward Song Qin beside him.

“Huai also feels Pei Song made a foolish move here.” Zhang Huai said.

After Zhang Huai spoke, Song Qin only raised his chin slightly, signaling Zheng Hu to listen.

Zhang Huai, thinking of what he hadn’t said last night, said: “Wei Pingjin trusted Yu Zhiyuan so much. If he wanted Northern Wei to continue in internal chaos, he should have had Yu Zhiyuan do his utmost to persuade Wei Pingjin to fight with the Lord. Even if he couldn’t incite Wei Pingjin, wanting Yu Zhiyuan to conspire with the fake princess to use the child in her belly to command Northern Wei’s ministers—he should have waited until after the child was born, or until Yu Zhiyuan had obtained military authority, before doing this.”

When mentioning Wang Wanzhen, Zhang Huai’s eyes darkened somewhat.

On the night of Wei Qishan’s funeral, Wang Wanzhen had visited alone the guest courtyard where Xiao Li resided. He could see she was a woman whose ambition exceeded her own brain, which was why when she proposed to speak privately with Xiao Li, he had repeatedly warned her with his eyes.

Xiao Li had just taken over Northern Wei. Many Wei clan former ministers had not yet thoroughly submitted to Xiao Li. If that ambitious and self-clever woman entangled herself with Xiao Li and caused some incident, it would be very disadvantageous for Xiao Li.

Her later helping Yu Zhiyuan frame Xiao Li obviously also meant she had reached some cooperation with Yu Zhiyuan.

He just didn’t know whether when she went to see Xiao Li, she truly already had a pregnancy, or…

When that fake princess was reported pregnant, though the pulse showed over three months, Wen Yu had also taken fake pregnancy pills that could disorder pulse readings. Moreover, the wandering physician Song Qin knew had even said there were medicines that could disorder the months of pregnancy pulses.

If the child was truly Wei Pingjin’s, when she went seeking Xiao Li at that time, she had some calculations—after all, if Xiao Li fell for her honey trap, when the child was induced to birth one month early, she could insist it was Xiao Li’s. Wei Pingjin was a puppet. In the future, Xiao Li would scheme for the mother and child.

If not…

A certain possibility made Zhang Huai’s eyes suddenly deepen somewhat, but very soon, almost as if talking to himself: “No, that’s not right…”

With Yu Zhiyuan’s caution, even if he had a secret affair with Wang Wanzhen resulting in a secret pregnancy, he couldn’t possibly, without having obtained military authority, rush to kill the Wei Pingjin siblings.

Wei Pingjin, Wei Jiamin…

Something flashed through his mind, but before Zhang Huai could grasp that thought, Zheng Hu beside him had already interrupted to ask: “Strategist, what’s not right?”

That thread of thought, thus interrupted, disappeared without a trace. Zhang Huai halted his contemplation: “Nothing.”

He changed the subject: “Though Pei Song’s scheme was foolish, it was also truly vicious. Fortunately it allowed the Lord to take the opportunity to pull out this bone-deep thorn he had planted in Northern Wei, and also brought all the Wei clan former ministers with ill intentions to the surface.”

His smiling eyes held a stretch of cold desolation: “After clearing out this batch of treacherous ministers, the Lord will have truly unified the northern border.”

—