Gong Sun Yin thought to himself that Xie Zheng knew there were candies in the dish, but he didn’t think eating a few of his candies was a big deal. He replied candidly, “Yes, what’s the matter?”
Xie Zheng coldly ordered his guards, “Throw him out!”
The two personal guards looked at each other, glanced at Xie Zheng’s expression, and ultimately had no choice but to drag Gong Sun Yin toward the exit.
Gong Sun Yin was stunned. By the time he came to his senses, he was already being dragged to the tent entrance. He exploded in anger, accusing, “Xie Jiuheng! Is this necessary? I just ate a few of your candies!”
As he struggled, the candies in his pocket fell out.
Gong Sun Yin’s eyes met Xie Zheng’s, and he felt the latter’s expression grow even colder.
When he saw the usually arrogant man bend down to pick up the fallen dried tangerine peel candies one by one, Gong Sun Yin was momentarily stunned.
He composed himself, freed his hands, and instructed the two guards, “You two go out first. I have important matters to discuss with the Marquis.”
The guards originally didn’t dare to throw Gong Sun Yin out. Having received his order and with Xie Zheng not objecting, they both retreated.
Gong Sun Yin walked back to the low table and frowned, asking, “Were these given to you by that Fan girl?”
Xie Zheng didn’t answer.
Gong Sun Yin knew it must be so. Seeing his reaction, he couldn’t help but say, “It’s just a few dried tangerine peel candies. I can compensate you if you want.”
Xie Zheng put the picked-up candies back in the porcelain dish. The hard candies made a crisp sound as they hit the dish. He calmly raised his eyes to look at Gong Sun Yin. His pitch-black eyes were cold and deep, like rocks at the bottom of the sea that hadn’t seen sunlight for ten thousand years. Just meeting his gaze sent a chill down one’s spine.
Gong Sun Yin rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and finally shut up.
Xie Zheng asked, “What did you come to see me about?”
At this, Gong Sun Yin’s expression suddenly turned strange. He looked at Xie Zheng and asked, “You have a daughter?”
Xie Zheng didn’t answer, only snorted dismissively.
Gong Sun Yin knew then that it must be a fabrication. He took out the letter from Yan State and handed it to him, saying, “This was sent by the Prince of Changxin. He says he has your daughter and if you don’t want her to be sacrificed, you should exchange Yan State for her.”
Xie Zheng didn’t take the letter, clearly not even bothering to look at it. He sneered, “Has old Sui Tuo gone mad, knowing he’ll never sit on that dragon throne in this lifetime?”
Gong Sun Yin also felt this matter was strange in every aspect. Logically, for the Prince of Changxin to dare send such a letter, he must be certain of victory. But as things stood now, this letter seemed too ridiculous.
He said, “Could he have received some false information, making him think you have a daughter living among common people?”
As he said this, Gong Sun Yin rummaged in his sleeve again and pulled out a bamboo whistle, placing it on the low table. He said with amusement, “Oh right, this bamboo whistle was sent along with the letter. They said it’s a token from your daughter.”
When Xie Zheng’s cold gaze swept over the bamboo whistle, he suddenly paused.
He recognized this whistle.
When he was severely injured at the Fan family’s home, Wei Yan’s assassins went to search for something and kill to silence witnesses. As he escaped with that child, she kept blowing this whistle the whole way.
Hadn’t she and her sister escaped safely? Why did this whistle end up in the hands of the Prince of Changxin’s people?
Xie Zheng picked up the bamboo whistle and examined it carefully, then ordered coldly, “Go investigate what happened to the child from the Fan family who was sent to Ji Prefecture.”
Hearing it was related to the Fan family, Gong Sun Yin quickly realized and asked, “Could the one in the Prince of Changxin’s hands be Miss Fan’s sister?”
Xie Zheng pressed his lips together without speaking, which was as good as confirmation.
Gong Sun Yin hadn’t expected such a mix-up. He opened and closed his folding fan, finally looking up at Xie Zheng, “If it is her sister, what do you plan to do?”
Ji Prefecture.
Although it was early spring, winter in the north always lingered longer than in the south. The red plum blossoms in the courtyard were still covered with a thin layer of unmelted snow. The icicles under the eaves were crystal clear in the sunlight, slowly dripping water droplets.
Fan Changyu stood under the eaves, lost in thought as she watched two sparrows hopping and pecking for food on the courtyard wall. Her back was straight, but there were faint dark circles under her eyes, clearly showing signs of fatigue.
Since the day of the fire at the courier station when Chang Ning disappeared, she had barely slept.
Her sister had been abducted, and she didn’t even know who the enemy was.
That day when the courier station caught fire, Madam Zhao was carrying Chang Ning out when she was stabbed. She immediately collapsed in pain, watching helplessly as Chang Ning was snatched away by a group of masked people.
Fortunately, the stab didn’t hit any vital organs, so Madam Zhao’s life was spared.
After investigation, the officials speculated it was an act of revenge. They said that since the culprits chose to take Chang Ning away instead of killing her on the spot, they must be planning to use her as a bargaining chip.
But three days had passed, and the kidnappers seemed to have vanished without a trace, sending no message.
Fan Changyu couldn’t think of any enemies she might have made. If there was anyone who might seek revenge, it would only be the remnants of Qingfeng Stronghold.
But the remnants of Qingfeng Stronghold had all been eliminated by the officials. Even if there were one or two who had slipped through the net, they wouldn’t dare cause such a commotion in the main city of Ji Prefecture.
Those strangely behaving soldiers who saved her that day – she had initially thought they were bandits in disguise. But she later learned from Li Huai’an that Lucheng, fearing Ji Prefecture’s main city had withdrawn too many troops to effectively suppress bandits, had sent a team of light cavalry to help.
It couldn’t have been bandits who kidnapped Chang Ning. Fan Changyu remembered what the leader of Qingfeng Stronghold had said – that the person transporting the treasure map back then wasn’t her father, but a eunuch named Ma Taiyuan. She began to suspect it might be related to her parents’ mysterious enemies.
Over the past two days, she had been asking around for information about the Sihai Escort Agency and Ma Taiyuan and found that the bandit leader hadn’t been lying.
The only breakthrough left was the official records from the interrogation of those men in black. Fan Changyu had run out of ideas and decided to ask Li Huai’an for help in accessing the records about her parent’s deaths and the two attacks on her family.
After the servant announced her arrival, she had been waiting in the front hall for the time it took to drink a cup of tea. With the weight of her worries, sitting for too long made her feel stifled, so she went to the corridor for some fresh air.
A clerk hurriedly walked over from the other end of the corridor. Seeing Fan Changyu, he politely said, “The magistrate is in the Wenjing Pavilion. Please follow me there, miss.”
After thanking him, Fan Changyu followed with quick steps, having no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the mansion.
The Wenjing Pavilion had floor heating, and a wave of warmth enveloped her as soon as she entered, keeping the early spring chill outside.
Li Huai’an, dressed in a crimson official robe, sat at his desk reviewing documents. Compared to when Fan Changyu first met him, his warm and gentle demeanor seemed to have been replaced by a more distant and authoritative air when wearing his official robes.
The clerk respectfully announced, “Sir, Miss Fan has arrived.”
Only then did Li Huai’an raise his head from the pile of documents. He set down his brush and said, “My apologies for keeping Miss Fan waiting. All the records of Ji Prefecture are kept in the archives. It took some time for the staff to make arrangements. We can go there now.”
As a member of the Li faction and temporarily taking over He Jingyuan’s position in Ji Prefecture, it would be inappropriate for him to immediately start examining records in the archives upon arrival, let alone bring outsiders in. He had to temporarily dismiss all unrelated personnel to facilitate this.
Fan Changyu said, “I’m causing trouble for you, sir.”
Li Huai’an looked at her with a smile, seemingly transforming back into that refined and pure scholar, “If it weren’t for Miss Fan, I might have lost my life to those bandits. Examining records is still within my capabilities. There’s no need for Miss Fan to be so polite.”
As they were about to leave, he glanced at Fan Changyu’s attire and called for the clerk to bring a cloak. He said, “To borrow records from the archives, it must be officially logged. Miss Fan, please come with me to view them. To avoid drawing attention, it’s best if you wear this cloak.”
Fan Changyu understood he was using his official authority to help her privately and didn’t want to cause him trouble. She put on the cloak and pulled up the hood, instantly covering most of her face, leaving only her chin and pale red lips exposed.
Li Huai’an’s gaze lingered for a moment.
On their way out, Fan Changyu didn’t encounter anyone else, presumably because Li Huai’an had cleared the way.
When they arrived, they saw a squad of stern-looking armored guards standing outside the main door. Only after Li Huai’an showed his official token did the guards allow them to pass.
Fan Changyu followed him into the tall, gloomy-looking building. She then realized that all the doors and windows were covered with a layer of black cloth. Only a faint light burned inside, and rows of bookshelves seemed to stretch endlessly, densely packed with bamboo slips and documents.
Li Huai’an carried a candle holder and walked in front, searching for a while based on the numbers on the shelves before pulling out a scroll, “Here’s the one from December last year.”
He handed it to Fan Changyu, who quickly started reading. Li Huai’an, seemingly to help her see better, stood closer to the candle holder but still maintained a small distance to avoid making her uncomfortable.
After quickly scanning through the document, Fan Changyu’s expression became even more solemn, “This record states that my parents were killed by bandits for a treasure map.”
Li Huai’an’s eyes flickered slightly, but he didn’t mention the possibility of tampered records. The only person who could manipulate records so freely in Ji Prefecture would likely be the Governor of Ji, who had personally gone to defend Lucheng.
He said gently, “Perhaps the bandit leader lied to save his own life.”
Fan Changyu remained silent. She had made inquiries to confirm the bandit leader wasn’t lying before daring to come to ask Li Huai’an for help.
Was this record deliberately written this way by the officials, or hastily fabricated just to close the case?
Unable to find any clues about her parents’ enemies from the official records, her mood became heavy. After leaving the archives, she bid farewell to Li Huai’an and returned to her temporary lodging.
Madam Zhao was injured and needed constant care. When Fan Changyu wasn’t around, the few remaining neighbors who had survived the courier station fire helped look after her.
The entire Clear Peace County now had only these few elderly, weak women and children left. The Ji Prefecture officials had directly settled them in the main city, providing monthly allowances of money and grain.
What Fan Changyu didn’t know was that news of her visit to the archives to view records that day was immediately sent to Lucheng by fast horse.
In the cold night air heavy with dew, He Jingyuan read the letter sent from Ji Prefecture under the lamplight. After a long while, he muttered to himself, “I’ve already given him what he wanted. Those two children know nothing. Given the current situation, he shouldn’t be able to harm them anymore.”
The wrinkles on his aged eyelids deepened as he considered a possibility, his usually scholarly face hardening, “Could it be that the Li Grand Tutor is deliberately setting up this situation for whatever the Fan family is hiding?”
After pondering for a moment, he finally picked up his brush and quickly wrote a letter. After sealing it, he called for his guard outside the tent, “Take this letter back to Ji Prefecture by fast horse and deliver it to Wen Chang.”
Zheng Wenchang was a prized student. Although He Jingyuan wasn’t in Ji Prefecture now, Zheng Wenchang was in control of the troops there and could handle some matters for him. It was Zheng Wenchang who had informed him about Li Huai’an taking Fan Changyu to view the records.
The guard took the letter and left quickly.
He Jingyuan gazed into the deep night, finally letting out a heavy sigh, “The world hasn’t fallen into chaos yet, but the common people are already suffering so much. If true chaos comes, how many more will die?”
In the Yan State camp stationed outside Lucheng, the central military tent was also brightly lit.
Scouts had returned with confirmed information that the girl lost at the courier station was indeed Chang Ning.
Gong Sun Yin pointed at the positions of Yan State and Chong State on the map, saying, “I think there’s a trick here. Let’s not even mention how childish it is for the Prince of Changxin to propose exchanging a young girl for Yan State. Just consider that Yan State is north of Chong State. The Northern Xue people are currently attacking Jin State. After Jin State, only Hui State and Yan State stand in their way. You previously deliberately weakened Yan State’s defenses to lure him into abandoning Ji Prefecture and attacking Yan State instead, to relieve the pressure on Ji Prefecture. He didn’t take the bait then, so why would he want you to give up territory now? Even if we take a step back and assume Jin, Hui, and Yan States all fall into his hands, he’d still need to allocate troops to resist the Northern Xue. How is that better than having you at the front blocking the foreign tribes while he marches south?”
Xie Zheng sat in his chair, his cold gaze sweeping over the two locations Gong Sun Yin pointed out on the map. He suddenly chuckled, “They’re using our strategy against us.”
Gong Sun Yin was stunned for a moment before he realized. Looking at the map again, he suddenly understood, “The Prince of Changxin has seen through our fake weakening of Yan State’s defenses and knows our true intention is to protect Ji Prefecture. Now he’s pretending to want Yan State, but in reality, he’s trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain and continue his attack on Ji Prefecture?”
He suddenly couldn’t hide his excitement as he looked at Xie Zheng, “If we can make the Prince of Changxin believe we’ve fallen for his trick and lead troops back to reinforce Yan State, when the rebel army attacks Ji Prefecture, our previous tactics can be put to use!”
Xie Zheng finished the latter half of his thought, “The difficulty lies in how to make the Prince of Changxin believe we’ve gone to reinforce Yan State.”
Gong Sun Yin said, “Exactly. Although Jin State is being defended by several of your brave generals, to be on the safe side, we absolutely cannot move the troops stationed in Hui State. But without a major troop movement, it’s really difficult to lure the Prince of Changxin into the trap.”
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes and looked at Yan State on the map for a moment before saying, “I’ll go to Yan State personally.”
Gong Sun Yin was shocked. Xie Zheng was planning to use himself as bait.
He couldn’t help but worry for him, “What if the Prince of Changxin thinks your life is worth more than Ji Prefecture and turns back to take Yan State?”
Xie Zheng raised his eyes and said, “Didn’t you say the Prince of Changxin is still counting on me to block the foreign enemies for him, so he can seize the opportunity to march south?”
Gongsun Yin was about to say more, but Xie Zheng simply chuckled. His seemingly indifferent eyes revealed a hint of arrogance. “If he truly dares to come for my life, I’ll sever his head on the battlefield and put an end to the chaos in the northwest once and for all.”
Gongsun Yin wanted to remark on how utterly reckless and arrogant this man was, but he suddenly realized something, and his expression became somewhat complicated.
During the Battle of Chongzhou, Xie Zheng had nearly lost his life in an ambush. The rumors of his death had circulated for so long that the military’s morale was already unstable. The Xie Family Army had been taken over by that inept Wei Xuan, who had squandered their strength in countless defeats, causing morale to plummet further.
Now that Xie Zheng had returned, he needed to win a decisive and resounding victory to restore the fighting spirit of the Xie Family Army, which had been nearly destroyed under Wei Xuan’s leadership.
Gongsun Yin even suspected that Wei Yan couldn’t find Xie Zheng’s body and, fearing his return, had deliberately sent Wei Xuan to take over Huizhou, specifically to ruin the Xie Family Army.
It takes three to five years to nurture an elite force, but just a few defeats to destroy it.
Whether Xie Zheng’s actions were purely for the greater cause, or if he was also looking to help his beloved recover her younger sister, Gongsun Yin refrained from questioning him at a time like this. Instead, he merely advised, “If the Marquis intends to use this strategy, then you must either recruit He Jingyuan or… eliminate him. After all, Lucheng’s current military strength is entirely in his hands. To set up a trap capable of swallowing the Prince of Changxin’s fifty-thousand-strong army, you’ll need to mobilize all of Lucheng’s forces.”
Xie Zheng’s half-closed eyes revealed a faint glimmer of insight. “After being in Lucheng for so long, it’s indeed time I met him.”
He had been investigating the secret behind the Fan couple for a long time but found nothing. Aside from Wei Yan, it seemed that only He Jingyuan might know the truth.