The entire great hall fell silent.
Ling Zhiyan stared at Hua Yitang in astonishment: Did you know about this?
Hua Yitang was even more surprised than Ling Zhiyan, and looked toward Qi Yuansheng: Did Yun Zhong Yue tell you?
Qi Yuansheng’s eyes went wide, and he shook his head rapidly: I’ve never heard him mention it.
All three of them looked toward Lin Sui’an at the same time: Lin Niangzi, did you know?
Lin Sui’an hadn’t even noticed the three of them looking at her. Her mind had already dissolved into chaos.
She clearly remembered that in the golden finger’s memories, Jiang Wende had imprisoned Qin Nanyin in a hidden dungeon within a cave in order to refine “Pojun,” keeping her there until Qin Nanyin escaped with the children of the Pure Gate — and from beginning to end, Qin Nanyin had never once encountered Jiang Yongshou.
But Qian Jing’s memories had come to an abrupt stop the moment Qin Nanyin rushed toward Yi City. Could it be that — after the great victory at Yi City, the Taiyuan Jiang Clan still refused to give up, and used some despicable means to…
That damned bastard!
Lin Sui’an’s eyes burned like fire. Qian Jing’s jade-green light overflowed from its sheath, sending wave after wave of mournful cries rippling through the great hall.
Every person in the hall was seething with fury. If their gazes had substance, Jiang Wende and his ilk would have been sliced into a thousand pieces long ago.
And yet, when she looked again at Jiang Wende and Jiamu — they were the most shocked of anyone present.
Jiamu: “I don’t believe it! I refuse to believe it! She is Qin Nanyin — how could she have been… by that dog Jiang Yongshou… I don’t believe it!”
Jiang Wende shook his head wildly. “Impossible! Back then — at that time — I clearly had her—”
He stopped mid-sentence, snapping back to himself, and shut his mouth in horror.
Ling Zhiyan: “Back then? Which year?!”
Hua Yitang: “At that time? What time?!”
Jiang Wende’s face twitched. He glared at Yun Zhong Yue. “I remember now — Yun Zhong Yue, the greatest thief in the land with a thousand faces, a master of disguise. That face of his must be fake!”
Yun Zhong Yue laughed out loud.
“Whether it is real or false can be verified!” Chen Yanfan slammed down his gavel. “Coroner Fang, examine him!”
Fangke came forward carrying a dissection knife, eyes gleaming, circling around Yun Zhong Yue.
Yun Zhong Yue was somewhere between amused and exasperated. “Has Doctor Fang been waiting for this moment for quite some time?”
Fangke curled the corner of his mouth. “I’ll try to leave you a whole corpse.”
“Whether it’s whole or not doesn’t matter — just be careful with my face. This face of mine is precious.”
Fangke let out a contemptuous sound, then used his left hand to carefully feel along Yun Zhong Yue’s jawline, brow bone, nose bridge, and eye sockets, not letting a single bone go unexamined. His right hand held the dissection knife, scraping it along the skin of his face, as if searching for an angle to cut.
Everyone watched with their hearts in their mouths. Yun Zhong Yue himself was entirely indifferent — hands clasped behind his back, chin tilted up, the very picture of a man resigned to his fate.
After a full quarter of an hour, Fangke finally set down the knife, letting out a deeply regretful sigh. “It is not a disguise, nor a human-skin mask. It is his real face.”
The crowd: Oh!
“Impossible!” Jiang Wende bellowed. “I don’t trust this Fangke — he’s in league with Hua Yitang, Lin Sui’an, and Yun Zhong Yue!”
“Insolence!” Chen Yanfan thundered. “Fangke is a coroner of our Court of Judicial Review! Are you questioning our Court?!”
Jiang Wende: “This city of Andu is so vast — Fangke isn’t the only coroner! The Andu Prefecture also has coroners, and there are renowned physicians within the city. Summon them all, and verify them one by one!”
“There is no need for that trouble.” Like a conjurer’s trick, Yun Zhong Yue plucked the knife from Fangke’s hand and, with a swift slash, drew it across his own face — so fast that even Lin Sui’an hadn’t had time to react.
A half-inch wound appeared below Yun Zhong Yue’s left eye, in almost exactly the same position as a scratch on a mask. Blood welled up, tracing a line beneath his eye and across his cheek before dripping to the ground — like a trail of blood tears.
Nearly everyone in the hall clutched their chests at once: Such a face, and now it’s scarred — this is heartbreaking!
Yun Zhong Yue returned the dissection knife to Fangke. “There. Look clearly — this is a genuine, authentic real face.”
The veins in Jiang Wende’s eyes burst red. “At most, that only proves you are — you are her… a descendant of the Qin Clan! You cannot possibly have any connection to Jiang Yongshou! You simply claim to be Jiang Yongshou’s son and that’s that? Preposterous! This is nothing but baseless slander!”
Yun Zhong Yue sneered. “Do you think the Jiang Clan is something worth claiming? The very thought that the blood of beasts like yours flows through my body makes me sick to my stomach — I can’t even sleep.”
Jiang Wende: “You clearly only dare to say all this because you know Jiang Yongshou is already dead!”
Hua Yitang: “Ah, so yet again — a dead man cannot testify?”
Jiang Wende: “The words of a shameless thief like him cannot serve as evidence!”
Yun Zhong Yue: “And this shameless bloodline of mine is precisely the gift your Taiyuan Jiang Clan bestowed upon me!”
“Order! Order!” Peng Jing struck the table. “In the court of law, there shall be no private quarrelling!”
Ling Zhiyan frowned. “Coroner Fang — is there any method that can verify the kinship between a living person and one who is deceased?”
Of course there is! Lin Sui’an screamed inwardly — DNA testing. But in this era, that technology obviously didn’t exist.
“There is,” Fangke said, raising his voice. “The method of blood-drip bone verification.”
The hall fell quiet.
Lin Sui’an: Wait — what?!
Ling Zhiyan was delighted. “Coroner Fang, could you please explain in detail?”
Fangke: “If a certain person A is a father or mother, provided that their skeletal remains are available, kinship can be verified. First, select an intact bone and rinse it clean with water. Lay it on a mat to dry, then dig a pit and burn charcoal within it until the earth is glowing red. Pour strong liquor into the pit, and while the spirits are still steaming, place the skeletal remains inside to steam the bone for one quarter of an hour, then remove it.”
“If a certain person B is suspected to be the child of person A, take a drop of blood from person B’s fingertip and drip it onto the skeletal remains. If they are truly related by blood, the drop will seep into the bone. If not, it will not enter. This is called: the Blood-Drip Bone Kinship Test.”
Everyone suddenly understood, and looks of admiration and enlightenment spread across their faces.
Lin Sui’an’s heart was pounding wildly: This doesn’t sound very scientific…
Peng Jing: “In other words, if this method is to be used to verify kinship, we must —”
Fangke: “Exhume the grave, open the coffin, and retrieve the bones.”
Jiang Wende’s eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets. “What did you say?!”
Hua Yitang snapped his fan shut with a sharp crack. “If I recall correctly, the ancestral graves of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan are located at the auspicious grounds on the Northern Mountain. By carriage from Guanghua Gate, it is only half an hour away — quite close.”
Ling Zhiyan clasped his hands in salute. “This subordinate will order someone to prepare the carriages immediately.”
“Insolence!” Jiang Wende roared. “Are the Golden Feather Guards present?!”
Outside the hall, the sheaths of the Golden Feather Guards rang out in unison: “Present!”
The faces of the court attendants and constables went white with fright. The guards of the Xingyang Ling Clan and the Qingzhou Bai Clan drew their swords and moved to intercept, killing intent rolling off them in waves — a single spark away from igniting.
The Three Courts broke into a cold sweat, their gazes exchanging furious signals.
Peng Jing: What do we do? Are we truly going to dig up someone’s ancestral graves?
Fang Feiguang: Of course we must verify this!
Chen Yanfan: Damn right we verify!
Peng Jing: Hold on, hold on — that’s the Taiyuan Jiang Clan. Yes, their power has waned these past few years, but a dead camel is still bigger than a living horse. They have supporters all throughout the court. Let’s not go too far, shall we?
Chen Yanfan: Old Peng, just whose side are you on?
Fang Feiguang: The Ministry of Justice really is a bunch of spineless cowards!
Peng Jing: Fellow ministers, leave people a way out, so that we may meet again in better times!
Seeing the three of them waver, Jiang Wende let out a cold laugh and raised his chin. “The Taiyuan Jiang Clan — a thousand-year-old noble house. Our ancestors produced two Empresses, and our Earls and Lords are too numerous to count. We have served five generations of Tang dynasty emperors. I would very much like to see who has the audacity — who has eaten the gall of a leopard — to dare touch the Jiang Clan’s ancestral graves!”
“What thousand-year noble house? From all that has been seen and heard today, they are nothing but parasites gnawing at the nation’s bones — greedy, corrupt, rotten, and revolting!” Hua Yihuan rose to his feet. “The Qin Family Army was a household of loyal heroes and the backbone of this nation. They must not be subjected to such slander. If this case is not thoroughly investigated and made clear, we cannot silence the voices of indignation under heaven, nor can we quell the fury burning in the hearts of countless people. If today we allow monsters like the Taiyuan Jiang Clan, guilty of the most unforgivable crimes, to walk free — what face shall we have to meet our ancestors and the ten thousand heroic spirits when our time comes?”
With that, Hua Yihuan bowed with clasped hands: “Hua Yihuan of the Yangdu Hua Clan, on behalf of the Hua family, respectfully implores the Three Courts — open the coffin and verify the bones!”
Before his words had faded, Ling Xiufeng, patriarch of the Xingyang Ling Clan, rose to his feet as well. “Family Head Hua speaks truly. This case must be resolved. The Xingyang Ling Clan supports the exhumation and verification!”
Bai Haoran of the Longxi Bai Clan, Wan Ping of the Qingzhou Wan Clan, and Bai Rong of the Qingzhou Bai Clan simultaneously stood and clasped their hands. “We implore the Three Courts to open the coffin and verify the bones!”
Jiang Xirong, patriarch of the Ganzhou Jiang Clan, who had been silent throughout, spoke for the first time: “What the family heads have said is entirely correct. We implore the Three Courts to open the coffin!”
“You — you, you, you — you people are going too far!” Jiang Wende pointed at the assembled crowd and shouted furiously. “This is the city of Andu — it is the territory of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan! The Taiyuan Jiang Clan is the true master of Andu! What right do insignificant creatures like you have to point fingers here?!”
“Well said!” Hua Yitang stepped forward. “This is the city of Andu — then let the true masters of Andu decide!”
With that, he turned on his heel, raised his folding fan high, and declared: “The citizens of Andu are the true masters of this city! I ask you all — should the grave be exhumed? Should the bones be verified?!”
Jin Ruo was the first to raise her hand. “Dig the grave!”
Yita and the Four Saints echoed: “Dig the grave!”
The disciples of the Pure Gate: “Dig the grave! Dig the grave!”
The gathered citizens had long been seething with righteous anger, and they rushed to raise their fists one after another: “Dig the grave! Dig the grave! Dig the grave!”
In an instant, a roaring tide of voices surged up to shake the heavens, immediately drowning out the sound of the Golden Feather Guards without a trace.
Hua Yitang turned back and declared with clasped hands: “Your Honours — this is the will of the people!”
Chen Yanfan and Fang Feiguang both slammed the table and rose simultaneously: “Exhume the grave and open the coffin!”
Peng Jing had no choice but to steel himself and make his position known. “Ve— verify, then. Let’s verify!”
The veins on Jiang Wende’s forehead pulsed wildly. His throat convulsed, and he vomited a mouthful of blood — which, by terrible misfortune, landed squarely on the top of Jiamu’s head. Jiamu let out a yelp, convinced his skull had been split open, and fainted dead away.
Given their prior experience with opening coffins for autopsies, everyone knew the procedure was extremely complex and cumbersome.
It included erecting a red canopy to block the sun, burning medicinal herbs to drive away the miasma of the dead, and in particular, writing soul-suppression talismans — a step said to “purify malevolent energy, gather and condense the soul, escort the deceased to the afterlife, and comfort the departed spirit” — which under no circumstances could be skipped.
But today, Fangke dispensed with the entire procedure. He burned a few basins of herbs to fumigate the area, tossed out a handful of iron shovels, and had the constables begin digging — as for the “soul-suppression talismans,” he didn’t even mention them.
Fortunately, Yita and the Azure Dragon still remembered the proper customs, and distributed cloth face coverings to the assembled ministers and family heads to prevent them from being contaminated by the miasma. Jin Ruo and the Four Saints directed the Pure Gate disciples to hold back the citizens at a distance of ten paces, maintaining order.
The Jiang Clan members of Andu City all came rushing over, every one of them fuming with rage, their curses thundering to the sky — but they had barely gotten two words out before they were swamped by the spitting and shouting of the crowd. Guards from the Ling and Wan Clans closed in, and blades and clubs were brought to bear. These pampered noble sons, accustomed to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, immediately caved. Only Jiang Wende persisted relentlessly in his curses, along with a bewildered clan head named Jiang Yongcong, who seemed to have no idea whatsoever what was happening.
Hua Yitang’s contemptuous observation: The entire great Taiyuan Jiang Clan, and only Jiang Wende has any spine — what a pity that his character is utterly contemptible. He really is nothing.
Under the watchful eyes of the multitude, Guliang and the constables dug with impressive efficiency, and in less than half an hour, the coffin was exposed. Inside, Jiang Yongshou had long since been reduced to a pile of white bones, his burial robes rotted to rags. Fangke shouldered his shovel, leaned into the coffin, and rummaged about noisily — whether by accident or design, he snapped several bones in the process (Jiang Wende: Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!) — and after some deliberation, selected two femur bones, wrapped them in a grass mat, and carried them off to the adjacent pit.
The pit was packed with burning charcoal, its earthen walls glowing red. Zhu Que and Yita poured in a quantity of strong liquor, laid down a rack, and placed Jiang Yongshou’s skeletal remains upon it. Then they settled in to wait.
The waiting was dreadfully dull. Jiang Wende’s curses cycled through the same few phrases over and over until people were nearly nodding off. The investigation team huddled their heads together and began whispering among themselves.
Lin Sui’an: “Doctor Fang’s divine performance today was truly extraordinary!”
Hua Yitang: “Beyond exhuming the grave, flogging the corpse, and grinding the bones to scatter the ashes — this exceeds all of that. No one but Doctor Fang could have managed it!”
Ling Zhiyan: “Is Yun Zhong Yue truly Jiang Yongshou’s son?”
The three of them fell silent, their gazes simultaneously drifting toward Yun Zhong Yue in the distance.
Yun Zhong Yue stood at the edge of Jiang Yongshou’s grave pit, staring down at the disordered bones in the coffin with mockery in his eyes and a smile on his lips — as though he were watching the funniest joke in the world.
Qi Yuansheng stood beside him, sleeves folded in his hands, glancing at Yun Zhong Yue now and then, heaving one sigh after another.
Hua Yitang: “Judging by Yun Zhong Yue’s expression, it’s most likely true.”
“Though…” Ling Zhiyan paused. “…for the Taiyuan Qin Clan to have a surviving descendant is, at least, something to be glad about.”
Lin Sui’an said nothing. On the way here, she had gone over the visions in the golden finger’s memories once more, and felt that something was not quite right.
A quarter of an hour later, the bone steaming was complete.
Fangke placed the two femur bones in a wooden tray and set it on the high table. When the remains had cooled completely, he called out: “Yun Zhong Yue, come here.”
Yun Zhong Yue’s figure flickered and he appeared at the side of the table. He extended his hand, and Fangke selected a clean small knife, made a small cut on Yun Zhong Yue’s hand, squeezed out blood, and let it drip onto the skeletal remains.
Jiang Wende’s curses stopped abruptly. All around them fell instantly silent.
That drop of blood landed on the bone — and in barely the blink of an eye, it seeped into the bone membrane, leaving a small patch of deep crimson.
“The blood has entered the bone! Yun Zhong Yue is indeed Jiang Yongshou’s son!” Fangke announced loudly.
A thunderous roar erupted from all around — cries, shouts, curses, and weeping rose one after another. The members of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan went pale with shock, and several fainted on the spot.
“Impossible!” Jiang Wende screamed, eyes red. “This method of verifying kinship — I have never heard of it! I fear — I fear that anyone’s blood could seep into bone! It is a deception!”
Chen Yanfan jumped to his feet. “Jiang Wende! With ironclad evidence before you, you continue time and again to cause trouble, to question the Three Courts, to hold Tang law in contempt, and to create a clamour in this court of law. Are you planning to rebel?!”
Jiang Wende: “You have clearly colluded to frame the Taiyuan Jiang Clan and condemn us to utter ruin! I do not trust this method!”
Fangke let out a cold laugh. “Ignorant. A frog at the bottom of a well. Dumb as pigs and dogs.” He turned to Lin Sui’an. “Lin Niangzi, come here as well.”
Lin Sui’an startled, pointing to herself. “Me?”
Fangke nodded. Lin Sui’an walked forward in bewilderment, and once again all around fell silent.
Fangke switched to a fresh knife, pricked Lin Sui’an’s finger, squeezed out a few drops of blood, and let them fall onto the other bone. The red drops rolled across the surface of the bone for a few circles, then slid off and fell into the tray, not seeping into the bone by so much as a trace.
“The blood did not enter the bone, indicating the two have no blood relationship. This hereby proves that the Blood-Drip Bone Verification method — is accurate!”
Fangke’s voice carried on the wind to every ear present, and the crowd erupted once more. Gazes like sharpened blades pierced every member of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan.
The Three Courts, flushed with fury, rose together.
Fang Feiguang: “Today, the Three Courts have conducted a joint inquiry and hereby announce the truth of the case in which Andu Military Adviser Hua Yitang and Pure Gate’s Lin Sui’an were targeted for murder.”
Peng Jing: “The mastermind behind the plot to murder Hua Yitang and Lin Sui’an was Andu Prefect Jiamu, acting under the direction of Jiang Wende of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan. The reason they sought to harm these two individuals was because Military Adviser Hua had reopened the old case of the Qin Family Army’s alleged treason.”
Chen Yanfan: “Thirty-two years ago, Jiang Wende of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan, acting out of personal ambition, used the Golden Feather Guards to capture and kill Qin Nanyin, the garrison commander of Yi City; induced the Liu and Zheng Clans of Liu’an to embezzle military funds; coerced and manipulated former Qin Family Army Vice-Commander Gao Hongbo and the then-current Andu Prefect Jiamu into giving false testimony; and falsely accused Qin Nanyin of treason, framing the entire Taiyuan Qin Clan. This ultimately resulted in Yi City being left without a commanding officer, military equipment falling into disrepair, and enemy forces seizing the opportunity to attack Yi City — plunging countless citizens into the chaos of war and causing tens of thousands of soldiers to perish beneath the iron hooves of the Tuzan nation!”
All three spoke as one, raising their voices: “It has now been conclusively determined that the Qin Family Army were loyal to their sovereign and devoted to their nation — utterly faithful in heart and deed, without the slightest intent to commit treason, and without any act of treason whatsoever!”
The wind howled and the dust swirled. From among the crowd came the sound of quiet weeping, growing louder and louder, mingling with the wind — as though heaven and earth mourned together.
Lin Sui’an exchanged glances with Hua Yitang, Ling Zhiyan, and Fangke, and they shared a smile of relief.
Yun Zhong Yue stood in the wind. The trail of blood beneath his eye had long since dried. He lifted his face and gazed quietly at the drifting clouds on the horizon.
Peng Jing brought the gavel down hard. “Andu Prefect Jiamu — guilty of framing loyal subjects, his crimes are unforgivable and beyond the pale. His title and office are hereby stripped, all his family assets confiscated, and he is sentenced to decapitation. Execution to take place after autumn!”
Jiamu, having just regained consciousness and struggled to his feet, heard the verdict — and with a roll of his eyes, fainted dead away once more.
Chen Yanfan glared at Jiang Wende with unwavering intensity. “Vice Censor-in-Chief Jiang Wende — you have defiled a hero of this nation and destroyed a pillar of this dynasty. You are a traitor to the state, and shall be sentenced to death by dismemberment! The Taiyuan Jiang Clan — a clan of treacherous villains to its very roots, having exhausted every possible depravity — is hereby sentenced to full confiscation of assets and clan extermination!”
The Jiang Clan members nearly collapsed en masse in terror. Jiang Yongcong still wore a vacant expression. Then, all at once, Jiang Wende laughed — he tilted his eyes upward and called out in a cold voice: “Pojun — where are you?!”
Lin Sui’an’s heart lurched. She spun around abruptly, and saw the Golden Feather Guards who had been facing off against the Ling and Wan Clan forces suddenly stand motionless, as though their souls had been snatched away. A wave of blue-violet color swept across their pupils, and in an instant, the veins on their foreheads bulged and their murderous aura surged.
“This is bad — it’s Pojun!” Hua Yitang shouted. “Jin Ruo and the Pure Gate, protect the citizens! Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, Black Tortoise — together with the constables, protect the ministers and family heads! Everyone else—”
Before his words had finished, the Pojun-possessed Golden Feather Guards drew their blades and charged at the soldiers of the Ling and Wan Clans. Wan Lin led his eighteen cavalry with a battle cry and surged into the fray — and one exchange was enough to show how dire the situation was. These Golden Feather Guards were as if they had consumed some miracle drug, their strength terrifying, their speed horrifying, insensible to pain, killing machines to a man.
“Fall back! Hold a defensive formation! Do not make pointless sacrifices!”
A woman’s clear shout came from behind. Lin Sui’an passed through the storm of blades like a tempest of black, Qian Jing wreathed in crackling lightning, its jade-green light sweeping through the dust and splitting the air — without any flourish or superfluous movement. Or rather, she used only a single technique: “Throat-Slash, Blood Ten Paces.”
Every stroke struck precisely, piercing through the carotid arteries of the Golden Feather Guards’ necks with unerring accuracy. Blood sprayed wildly, erupting in one scarlet fountain after another, staining heaven and earth red.
Everyone present was stunned by the sight. Yun Zhong Yue and Ling Zhiyan, who had been about to move in to help, stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly.
Only Hua Yitang’s eyes had gone red, his heart aching so badly he was nearly in tears.
Dozens of the Pojun-controlled guards fell like rows of wheat being harvested — Lin Sui’an swept through them and they dropped to the ground in a crashing heap.
Wan Ping, Wan Lin, and He Sishan stared with wide eyes and spoke in unison: “That is Qin Nanyin’s horse-slaying swordsmanship!”
One by one the blood-fountains died away. Lin Sui’an, her hair and robes dripping with blood, gripped the still-wailing Qian Jing and walked step by step to stand before Jiang Wende.
Jiang Wende had already collapsed to the ground in fright, trembling like a sieve, staring fixedly at the girl before him. The face was different — and yet the shock and the pressure that struck at the depths of his very soul was unmistakably that of the same person.
“Who are you?! Who are you, truly?!”
Lin Sui’an gazed at him quietly and spoke the words from Qian Jing’s memory: “Jiang Wende — everything you have done was not for anyone else. It was solely for your own ambition.”
Jiang Wende’s pupils contracted violently. “You are not Lin Sui’an. You are Qin Nanyin! You are Qin Nanyin’s aggrieved spirit! You have come for revenge — to avenge yourself on me? On the entire Taiyuan Jiang Clan?!”
Lin Sui’an: “I only wanted the truth to be made clear to the world.”
In the shifting light and shadow, the blood-soaked girl stood resolute and beautiful — like a divine being.
Jiang Wende gulped, then stretched out both hands to catch the blood dripping from Lin Sui’an’s hair, cradling it as though it were something precious. “Qin Nanyin — you are repaying my kindness with enmity! If not for me using the Pure Fruit to refine you to this state, how could you have forged such a peerless swordsmanship? How could you have become a true God of War?”
Lin Sui’an narrowed her eyes. “Does this mean you are personally confessing to your crimes?”
“I confess! I confess to all of it! But, Qin Nanyin — you should not treat me this way! You should be deeply grateful to me! You should have served me as your master! You should have been solely my Pojun!” Jiang Wende stared at Lin Sui’an with a fixated gaze, and in his eyes there spilled out the same obsessive infatuation she had seen in the golden finger’s memories. “Do you know — my feelings for you could rival the sun and moon—”
“Eat filth!” A large boot suddenly appeared from nowhere and slammed into Jiang Wende’s face. Lin Sui’an lurched in shock, turning to see Hua Yitang grab up his robes and unleash a flurry of kicks and stomps directly on Jiang Wende’s face. “You maggot from the gutter — you dare think yourself worthy?! Today I will mince you into meat paste and throw you into a cesspit — go to hell!”
Jiang Wende collapsed to the ground and sobbed openly. He slowly raised his head — hair disheveled, face streaked with blood and tears, expression manic. “I deserve to die, it is true — and yet I cannot die!”
Hua Yitang: “What did you say?!”
“Look across the land — how many people were once students or disciples of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan? How many noble houses are our in-laws and close allies? Even His Majesty the current sovereign carries the blood of our Taiyuan Jiang Clan. We are the true foundation of this nation — its true pillars! Kill me, and the Taiyuan Jiang Clan will be left without a leader, and the Tang dynasty will descend into chaos! What is the Court of Judicial Review? What is the Censorate? What are the Three Courts?! No one can shake the Taiyuan Jiang Clan by so much as a fraction!”
“The hell they can’t!” Hua Yitang raised his foot to kick again, but Peng Jing suddenly called out: “Military Adviser Hua, hold! This man must not be killed yet!”
Ling Zhiyan wheeled around, staring at the Three Courts in disbelief.
Chen Yanfan and Fang Feiguang gritted their teeth but did not contradict him. Peng Jing’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he looked away.
Hua Yitang was incandescent with fury. “Are you serious?!”
Lin Sui’an, however, had understood — and almost laughed out loud.
How laughable. Truly laughable.
Jiang Wende scrambled to his feet, gesturing wildly and wailing: “I failed General Qin — I failed the Qin Family Army! I wish I had done otherwise! I deserve a fate worse than death! My remaining years should be spent in boundless, unending remorse — tormented each day by the condemnation of my own conscience, and the agony of regret — despised by all, leaving behind a name that will stink for ten thousand years! That would cause me far more suffering than killing me—”
“Schick!” A blade pierced through Jiang Wende’s chest, and a gush of blood sprayed out.
Hua Yitang and Ling Zhiyan were both horrified. “Lin Sui’an! Lin Niangzi!”
But when they turned to look, Qian Jing was still in Lin Sui’an’s hand — poised to strike, but not yet having moved.
Lin Sui’an was even more shocked than they were. She followed the length of the blade and looked behind — the person holding the knife was a woman in a black veil, who by her appearance was the personal guard of Jiang Xirong, patriarch of the Ganzhou Jiang Clan.
Jiang Xirong let out a single “ah!” and went still.
Everyone present was struck dumb. Jiang Wende spat blood, and turned his head in slow, frame-by-frame increments. “Who… dares… kill… me?”
The woman removed her veil, revealing a face of brilliant beauty and commanding authority. “A piece of filth like you — every person under heaven dares kill you!”
Lin Sui’an, Hua Yitang, and Ling Zhiyan were the closest of all, with the clearest view. A simultaneous shudder ran through them, and they dropped to their knees. “We pay our respects to Your Majesty!”
Only now did the rest of the assembly react, and in a crashing wave they knelt to the ground. “We pay our respects to Your Majesty! Long live His — Her Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!”
Jiang Wende’s eyeballs nearly rolled from their sockets. The blood in his mouth grew more and more. “Your Majesty… how… how is this possible…”
The Empress’s face was cold as ice. “Rest assured — even in death, you shall still be despised by all and leave a name that stinks for ten thousand years. As for the boundless remorse — savor it slowly in the depths of hell.”
With that, she pulled the blade free with a sharp “schick,” and kicked Jiang Wende away. He rolled several times and lay facedown on the ground, dead.
Dead silence fell over the entire assembly.
The Empress flicked the blood from the blade. Her brows and eyes were fierce. “Jiang Wende’s crimes are unpardonable; his guilt demands execution. Justice has now been served. Let his corpse be displayed for three days and not be buried, to comfort the spirits of the Qin Family Army in heaven!”
“All members of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan within three familial degrees of kinship shall be immediately detained. Any person with connection to this case shall receive no leniency whatsoever. Any who defy this order shall be beheaded!”
“All members of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan within nine degrees of kinship shall be rigorously investigated and interrogated. Those who confess may be treated with leniency. Those who collude in private, coordinate testimony, flee, or resist — shall be beheaded!”
Beneath the blazing sun, the Empress stood tall as a soaring dragon, resplendent with radiant light.
The citizens wept with joy and cried out “Long live the Empress!” The assembled family heads beamed as they praised Her Majesty’s wisdom. Jiang Yongcong suddenly had a moment of clarity, fell to his knees with a thud, and shouted: “Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace!” The Taiyuan Jiang Clan members awoke as if from a dream and broke into wailing and howling.
Ling Zhiyan’s expression shifted, and he raised his voice: “Your Majesty, Yun Zhong Yue also falls within three degrees of kinship of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan, however—”
The Empress looked toward Yun Zhong Yue, her eyes warm with compassion. “Although Yun Zhong Yue is Jiang Yongshou’s son, his birth mother was—”
“This commoner’s birth mother was a woman of the pleasure quarters,” Yun Zhong Yue said loudly. “She has no connection whatsoever to General Qin.”
A dead silence fell.
Lin Sui’an snapped her head toward Yun Zhong Yue so fast she nearly wrenched her neck.
The Empress was taken aback. “What did you say?!”
Yun Zhong Yue knelt upright with perfect posture. The crimson wind brushed past his moon-like face, and each word fell quietly, like light clouds drifting at the edge of the sky.
“This commoner’s birth mother bore a resemblance to General Qin in appearance, and was therefore forcibly seized by Jiang Yongshou and taken into his household, where she was mistreated for over a year before being cast aside and abandoned in the wilderness. By chance, she was found and rescued by this commoner’s teacher, and it was from his mother’s own account that he learned of the Taiyuan Jiang Clan’s evil deeds.”
“His mother had intended to end her own life, but discovered unexpectedly that she was with child. At his teacher’s urging, she gave birth to him — yet his mother had suffered abuse for so long that her heart meridians had knotted with stagnation, and she died from hemorrhage during childbirth.”
“His teacher, driven by a burning sense of justice, took him and traveled the land, traversing the length and breadth of the Tang nation. With great effort, he finally uncovered the truth of the Qin Family Army’s treason case — but the case was so old that gathering evidence was exceedingly difficult, and his teacher grew old and frail, ultimately dying in a foreign land.”
“His teacher’s sole dying wish was to overturn the verdict for the Qin Family Army and restore their good name. On his deathbed, he told this commoner of his true origins.”
Yun Zhong Yue pressed his forehead to the ground. “In order to fulfill his teacher’s dying wish, this commoner assumed the identity of Jiang Yongshou’s son to serve as a witness. However, this commoner is not a descendant of the Qin Clan. This constitutes the crime of deceiving the sovereign, and this commoner accepts whatever punishment Your Majesty sees fit to impose.”
Hua Yitang said urgently: “Your Majesty, please hear this — from beginning to end, Yun Zhong Yue only ever said that his birth father was Jiang Yongshou. He never once personally admitted that his birth mother was Qin Nanyin!”
Ling Zhiyan: “We implore Your Majesty to consider that Yun Zhong Yue rendered meritorious service in helping to solve this case, and show him mercy!”
The Empress’s tone carried a note of urgency. “Are you truly not a descendant of the Qin Clan?!”
Yun Zhong Yue raised his head and smiled softly — but Lin Sui’an felt that the trail of blood beneath his eye seemed to be bleeding again.
“This commoner’s teacher, while investigating the case, encountered a woodcutter from the mountains who claimed to have once seen a valiant woman riding a warhorse, wielding a horse-slaying blade, crossing through the forests and charging into the battle at Yi City. Based on the timing, it should have been the day the Qingzhou Wan Clan arrived with reinforcements at Yi City. The woodcutter said the woman was covered in wounds, as though she had escaped from somewhere, but her swordsmanship was unrivaled under heaven — peerless and unstoppable, like a God of War descended to the mortal realm.”
Wan Lin cried out and burst into tears. “I knew it — what we saw back then was no phantom! That horse-slaying blade was General Qin! We didn’t recognize her, but the Qin Family Army did! That’s why they followed General Qin without a moment’s hesitation and charged into the enemy lines!”
Wan Ping patted Wan Lin’s shoulder, nodding repeatedly, voice choked with tears. “That’s right — of course it was General Qin! Of course it was Qin Nanyin!”
The Empress’s eyes reddened. She asked once more: “Yun Zhong Yue — you are truly not the General’s descendant?”
Yun Zhong Yue’s eyes shone bright and clear. “The Taiyuan Qin Clan — they defended the homeland, fought with loyal hearts and righteous courage, and the entire clan fell in battle. Not one survived.”
Hua Yitang’s eyes grew wet. Ling Zhiyan turned aside to wipe his tears. Grief was written on every face around them, and the citizens knelt and wept softly.
Lin Sui’an squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back the burning heat behind them. When she opened them again, a gust of wind passed through, and Yun Zhong Yue’s robes bloomed into the phantom of nine cascading lotus flowers — and then he was gone.