When the imperial decree came down, Shen Lingzhen was sitting on the bed wrapped in bedding.
She had slept for quite a few hours in the carriage during the day and was not actually tired at all. Not long after Huo Liuxing left, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Being in an unfamiliar place made her uneasy, so she simply sat up.
Jianjia and Bailu came in to add charcoal to the fire. Seeing she had no intention of sleeping again, they helped her dress in outer garments and piled fur cloaks and blankets on her to prevent her from catching cold.
Shen Lingzhen leaned against the bed rail, listlessly watching the sparks crackling and popping in the charcoal brazier. Just as she was wondering when Huo Liuxing would return, she suddenly heard a commotion from outside.
Armor scraped together, making clear clinking sounds, as if many people were rushing back and forth, while whispering in low voices about something.
Shen Lingzhen vaguely sensed something was wrong. She gave Jianjia a look, telling her to go outside and investigate.
Jianjia pulled open the tent flap and saw Imperial Guards in crimson armor divided into several small squads, seemingly searching everywhere. Many people nearby had also been startled at the same moment, with servants sent by family heads to inquire about the situation standing before tent entrances.
Jianjia grabbed a lone soldier and asked what was happening.
The soldier was in a great hurry to get elsewhere. Leaving behind the words “Prince Weiming has disappeared,” he ran off without a trace.
Shen Lingzhen had already arranged her clothing and gotten down from the bed. Hearing these words from behind the tent flap, her eyelids jumped.
Compared to keeping things hidden and mysterious, such a straightforward answer from the soldier revealed the severity of the problem even more. If it were simply a disappearance, they should not have released the news.
Shen Lingzhen’s intuition told her something major was brewing, and her heart began pounding.
On this important day of the Winter Sacrifice, who would dare harm the prince of the Xiqiang? And if this hostage prince who maintained peace between Xiqiang and Daqi truly met with trouble at the southern suburbs, what serious consequences would it cause?
More and more Imperial Guards were mobilized outside. Row upon row of human shadows projected onto the tent, pressing down overhead, creating an oppressive atmosphere that made one’s heart race with panic.
Shen Lingzhen stood anxiously by the tent entrance, at a complete loss, when she heard a rough, youthful male voice from just beyond the door: “Yinyin?”
It sounded like Xue Jie’s voice.
Unlike his father, Xue Jie did not need to stand duty outside the camp and should originally have been inside the tent.
Shen Lingzhen called urgently through the door: “Brother A’Jie? Why did you come out? Have the Imperial Guards found Prince Weiming?”
“Not yet. I heard General Huo went to the temporary palace and was worried you’d be frightened alone, so I came to tell you—stay inside properly and don’t leave the tent.”
She nodded: “I understand. You should also hurry back, lest you attract trouble at this critical moment.”
Shen Lingzhen mentally went through everyone present tonight. Racking her brains, she could not think of which court official would have the motive to secretly harm Weiming He, so right now she was more afraid of innocent people being implicated.
The Xue family already controlled military power and had lost the Emperor’s trust, making their position precarious. They could not afford any more problems.
Xue Jie made an affirmative sound. Rarely having the chance to exchange a few words with her, he hesitated as if wanting to say something more, but finding it truly inappropriate, could only say: “Then I’ll go back. Be careful in all things.”
Shen Lingzhen was just about to respond when she heard a soldier outside reporting to someone: “Prince Weiming has been stabbed and severely wounded!”
Immediately after, a mass of Imperial Guards seemed to swarm in unison toward some direction.
She started in alarm and pulled open a corner of the tent flap. By the firelight, she saw Weiming He, barely clinging to life, being carried spread-eagle by several soldiers, a short sword thrust into his left chest. The sword had pierced straight through his chest, with the tip protruding from his back.
This injury looked as if there was already no hope of survival…
Shen Lingzhen felt dizzy watching this. Turning her eyes, she saw that Xue Jie’s face was even more ashen than hers.
He stared fixedly at the direction Weiming He was being carried, his lips trembling as he said: “…That is my father’s sword.”
An ominous suspicion suddenly flashed through Shen Lingzhen’s mind, and her heart instantly felt as if it had fallen into an icy abyss.
Xue Jie shook his head, then shook it again, muttering to himself: “Impossible, this is absolutely impossible… How could Father…!” With that, he sprinted madly toward the camp gate.
Shen Lingzhen reached out to stop him but only touched a slippery sleeve that slid through her fingers.
She wanted to urge Xue Jie not to act rashly. She took two steps in pursuit but suddenly stopped in place. Though the camp was in complete chaos at the moment, not a single female family member had broken protocol by running outside. If she showed herself at this time, she might easily bring trouble to Huo Liuxing.
Shen Lingzhen told Jianjia to follow Xue Jie, while she herself retreated back into the tent, watching anxiously through the door crack.
Bailu went outside to gather information and reported back: “Young Madam, it really was General Xue who stabbed Prince Weiming. The Imperial Guards searching for Prince Weiming’s whereabouts saw with their own eyes General Xue thrust that sword. This cannot be faked.”
“Where did they see it?”
“In a mountain hollow about four li from the camp.”
Within three li of the camp, Imperial Guards stood watch everywhere. Xue Ce should originally have been patrolling at the three-li boundary. But the area from three to four li was outside the range of the sentries’ sight—exactly a blind spot.
“Has the news already reached the temporary palace?”
Bailu nodded: “His Majesty has already commanded the Imperial Guards to strip General Xue of his weapons and armor and escort him to the temporary palace. Young Master Xue tried to fight the Imperial Guards but was fortunately stopped by Jianjia.”
The reason Xue Jie was willing to listen to Jianjia’s dissuasion was ultimately because he knew she was following Shen Lingzhen’s orders.
Shen Lingzhen breathed a slight sigh of relief.
At present, the truth of the matter had not been thoroughly clarified—there might still be room for mediation. But if Xue Jie acted impulsively in the heat of the moment and came to blows with the Imperial Guards who symbolized imperial authority, even if it were later proven that this matter was all a misunderstanding, the Xue family would have become traitors.
Shen Lingzhen fell silent, pondering Bailu’s words, her heart gradually filling with doubts: “Something’s wrong… How could the news spread so fast?”
Bailu lowered her voice: “This servant secretly inquired with a soldier and heard that from the very beginning, it was His Majesty who first ordered the Imperial Guards to confirm whether Prince Weiming was safe. Only then did everyone discover Prince Weiming was missing.”
“For no reason, why would His Majesty suddenly suspect something had happened to Prince Weiming?”
This was beyond what a maidservant could discover. Bailu shook her head to indicate she did not know, but Shen Lingzhen made some connection on her own and suddenly felt her hair stand on end with horror.
—
Inside the temporary palace, Xue Ce knelt disheveled before the Emperor.
The Emperor’s face was cold as frost as he pointed at him: “I ask you, did you stab him or not?”
At an angle the Emperor could not see, Huo Liuxing in his wheelchair gently shook his head at Xue Ce.
From the corner of his eye, Xue Ce caught this gesture but maintained a solemn expression and paid it no heed, replying: “In answer to Your Majesty, that sword was indeed thrust by this humble subject, but it was not intentional. Rather, while patrolling I discovered a suspicious person, pursued and fought with them, and accidentally injured Prince Weiming who suddenly appeared.”
Huo Liuxing closed his eyes.
Weiming He dying at the hands of a Daqi person directly pointed to one result—Xiqiang now had legitimate justification to send troops against Daqi.
Tonight, Weiming He had secretly sought help from the Emperor, saying his own people wanted to kill him. This indicated that Xiqiang had currently recovered their strength and had the capability to stir up trouble, which is why they decided to sacrifice a prince to exchange for a “righteous cause” for unilaterally voiding the commitments in that surrender document in the future.
This world contained not only Xiqiang and Daqi—to the north and south were many other national powers. A war without righteous cause could very likely provoke the shared indignation of all under heaven and invite joint punitive action.
This move by Xiqiang precisely eliminated the future concerns about invading Daqi again.
The Emperor pressed his temples, suppressing his anger as he asked: “And what of this suspicious person?”
“This humble subject was incompetent and failed to capture this person alive…”
“With such an explanation, do you take me for a gullible three-year-old child?” The Emperor flew into a rage, sweeping his sleeve and smashing the tea cup on the small table to smithereens.
The killing had ironclad evidence, but the explanation was empty words. No matter how Xue Ce described the causes and consequences, objectively speaking, it was indeed quite lacking in credibility. To argue red-faced at this time would only add fuel to the fire.
Xue Ce clearly also saw the situation clearly and fell silent, saying no more.
Huo Liuxing opened his mouth to say something—the character “Your” had just left his lips when he saw Xue Ce’s hand hanging at his side wave slightly in small movements, hinting that he need not speak up on his behalf.
Right now, whoever spoke for the Xue family might also touch this bad luck.
Huo Liuxing sighed, recalling how previously at the imperial hunting grounds, when Xue Jie had been framed by Ya Lichong, he had planned to argue publicly but was also stopped by Xue Ce.
This upright and honest temperament truly suffered losses at court, no wonder the Xue family was repeatedly targeted.
The palace room fell silent. In the deathly stillness, the Emperor rubbed his brow without speaking, seemingly contemplating countermeasures.
Just then, Eunuch Yang entered with mincing steps and reported: “Your Majesty, news has come from the camp that Prince Weiming has died from his injuries…”
A sword through the chest—such a result was also to be expected.
The Emperor exhaled deeply: “Seal off the news. Publicly claim that Prince Weiming accidentally suffered some injuries on the eve of the Winter Sacrifice and has now been sent back to his residence to recuperate. Anyone attempting to send messages to Xiqiang shall be executed without exception.” Then he looked toward Xue Ce: “Escort General Xue back to the Court of Judicial Review in the capital to await judgment.”
—
When Huo Liuxing returned to the camp, he saw everything inside was orderly without any sign of chaos.
Those able to come to the southern suburbs to participate in the Winter Sacrifice were mostly shrewd officials. Though they had already guessed the inside story, they also knew that at this critical juncture they should keep their mouths tightly shut. Moreover, in this matter, all people of Daqi were a community of shared interests—no one would be foolish or wicked enough to oppose the Emperor.
As soon as Huo Liuxing entered the tent, he saw Shen Lingzhen rush up anxiously: “Husband…”
He grasped her pair of ice-cold hands and patted the backs of her hands to reassure her, but said nothing.
Shen Lingzhen then knew the situation must not be optimistic.
She speculated: “Husband, did Weiming He stage tonight’s drama himself, deliberately guiding General Xue to thrust that sword at him?”
Huo Liuxing nodded.
From the very beginning, Xiqiang had decided to sacrifice this prince. Weiming He was in the midst of it—how could he possibly not know the royal family’s intentions, only foolishly seeking Daqi’s help at the moment of the incident?
Weiming He had willingly sacrificed himself for Xiqiang.
Just as no one can wake someone pretending to sleep, similarly no one can stop a person determined to die.
“Why the Xue family? Why must it be the Xue family again?” Shen Lingzhen was so anxious she wanted to cry. “Husband, is there any way this time to protect the Xue family?”
Huo Liuxing was silent for a long while, then shook his head.
All vitality drained from Shen Lingzhen’s face.
Huo Liuxing sighed and looked at her steadily: “I am not someone qualified to play the lone hero. The previous two times I could help in passing, so I did. But if the price of protecting the Xue family this time is the collective downfall of the Huo family and even more former dynasty officials, I can only give up.”