Deputy Adjutant Zhang quickly produced a small bag and received into it the items Shi Ting picked up one by one.

“The perpetrator used a clockwork timed bomb — controlling the detonation time with a clock mechanism.” Shi Ting examined a fragment in his hand. “This should be a metal gear from a clockwork mechanism.”

“It seems the perpetrator knew at what time the Commander’s train would pass through here.”

“Train schedules are affected by weather and road conditions and are not so precise. The perpetrator could not guarantee the train would pass here at exactly the set time.”

“Then how did the perpetrator manage to have the explosion occur precisely as the train was passing?”

This era had no advanced remote-control devices; a timed bomb was already a fairly high-tech detonation apparatus.

“There is only one answer.” Shi Ting looked at the wrecked train before him. “The perpetrator was on the train at the time — and not only on the train, but also had the ability to control the time at which the train arrived at Changsheng Bridge.”

“Young Marshal means… the train engineer?” Deputy Adjutant Zhang was greatly alarmed. “But that would be suicide, wouldn’t it? The locomotive sustained the worst damage — the engineer could not possibly have survived.”

“On a long-distance train like this, there are always two engineers who take turns driving. Go confirm with the county magistrate how many people were in the cab at the time.”

“Yes, sir.” Deputy Adjutant Zhang saluted and immediately departed.

Shi Ting saw that bodies were still being carried out from ahead, and couldn’t help but furrow his brows tightly.

This had been an assassination aimed at the Commander, yet so many innocent people had been swept up in it.

They may have only been cheerfully on their way to visit relatives and friends. Their families were still at home waiting for them to return safely, yet they had become lifeless corpses — dying with their eyes wide open in this frozen, snow-covered land.

At that moment, someone nearby accidentally bumped into Shi Ting.

“Sorry, sorry.” The person did not recognize Shi Ting, said a quick apology, and walked away carrying a stretcher.

That bump had nearly sent Shi Ting stumbling backward. He pressed a hand to his temple and waited for the dizziness to pass.

He had drawn too much blood just now, and had insisted on surveying the scene here. His body was now nearly spent.

He gave a bitter smile, thinking that if Yan Qing learned of what he had done, she would certainly scold him.

He pictured her little look when she was glaring at him with wide eyes, and warmth stirred in his heart unbidden — a smile crept to the corners of his mouth before he could stop it.

“Young Marshal.” Deputy Adjutant Zhang came rushing over, out of breath. “Young Marshal, the county magistrate said the cab was severely deformed and they had to use tools to pry it open with great effort. There was only one person inside — already crushed beyond recognition.”

Shi Ting narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

During a train journey, both the primary and secondary engineers would remain in the cab and would not move about freely.

To control the train — to have it arrive at Changsheng Bridge within the targeted time of the blast — only the engineer could do that.

If it was not that this train had only one engineer, then the other person must have jumped from the train just as it was approaching Changsheng Bridge to escape.

“Go find a place immediately and telephone the railway bureau. Ask them how many engineers were on this train in total.”

Deputy Adjutant Zhang said yes, then added with concern: “Young Marshal, you really should go back to the tent and rest. Your complexion is not looking good.”

“Don’t mind me.” Shi Ting waved a hand. “I’ll go look over there.”

Deputy Adjutant Zhang watched him walk away and could only sigh quietly.

“Young Marshal, Young Marshal.” Suddenly the county magistrate’s voice rang out from the ruined bridge above. “The Commander is in trouble.”

Shi Ting was standing below the bridge. Hearing the county magistrate’s shout, he immediately strode up quickly.

“The doctor says the Commander may not make it.” The county magistrate said cautiously. “Awaiting the Young Marshal’s instructions.”

This place was far from the county hospital. The Commander’s injuries absolutely could not withstand a long journey.

“What do the doctors I brought say? What is their assessment?”

“Those doctors also say the situation is not optimistic.” At this moment the county magistrate had a strong desire to bang his head against the wall. If the Commander were truly to die in territory under his jurisdiction, would the Young Marshal, in a fit of rage, feed him a bullet?

Shi Ting walked quickly to the tent, pulled back the curtain flap, and stepped inside.

~

The Lantern Festival had only just passed. The festive atmosphere in Shun Cheng had not yet faded, yet news of the Commander’s assassination attempt had been trumpeted by the newspapers until it was known to all. At the same time, a wave of rumors and gossip had spread alongside, circulating through every street and alley of Shun Cheng.

“Do you know? The Commander’s train meeting with an explosion was no accident at all — it was deliberate.”

“Someone wants to assassinate the Commander?”

In teahouses and taverns, all kinds of information flowed freely, and people liked to gather there to gossip.

“Who would have such audacity to assassinate the Commander? Could it be the Xin Guo people? Or the Xi Nan side?”

“The Xin Guo people are still in cooperation with us — why would they assassinate the Commander? As for Xi Nan, there has been no war between us for a long time, and how would they know the Commander’s whereabouts?”

“Then who do you say did it?”

The speaker lowered his voice and whispered: “Can’t you figure it out yourself? If the Commander were to die now, who would benefit the most?”

The other person thought for a moment, eyes lighting up. “Are you saying the Young Marshal?”

“The Commander dies, and the Young Marshal becomes the Commander. Think about it — the Commander is in his prime right now, in excellent health, no problem living another twenty years. As long as the Commander lives, the Young Marshal can never become the Commander. And there’s also Second Young Master right there, eyeing the position hungrily. Once the Young Marshal makes some grave mistake, the Commander could easily pass the Young Marshal’s position to Second Young Master. Though the Young Marshal is sitting in this seat now, he sits on pins and needles every day. So in this situation, what do you do?”

“What you say seems very reasonable. If the Commander dies, it’s only natural the Young Marshal succeeds him — then this domain of Bei Di can truly become the Young Marshal’s. So his position can be securely held.” The person slapped his thigh. “And then he just needs to find an opportunity to deal with his second brother — or send him somewhere far off — and who would still be competing with him for Bei Di?”

Yan Qing and Jing Zhi had been sitting at a nearby table for quite some time.

Both women wore hats and face masks, and no one had noticed them. Yet every word of this conversation had entered their ears without a gap.

“Miss, what you said was exactly right. Rumors are now spreading everywhere that the train explosion was the Young Marshal’s doing — so he could become the Commander. And the story is told with such conviction and detail that quite a few people have already come to believe it.” Jing Zhi said indignantly. “These people are truly something — just on the basis of hearsay and rumors they follow along blindly and believe it, without even thinking to investigate. The Young Marshal is famously filial — how could he do something so treacherous and unnatural?”

“The rumors were deliberately spread by someone, with the goal of making the whole world believe Shi Ting is behind the incident.” Yan Qing said.

“But without evidence…”

“When a falsehood is repeated by enough mouths, it turns gold to ash. In truth, no evidence is needed. When such talk spreads from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, repeated enough times, people will naturally come to believe it.”

“That must be Second Young Master’s doing again.” Jing Zhi said furiously. “Clearly he is behind everything, yet he comes away looking clean and innocent. But what I don’t understand is — is this all Shi Guang wants to do? Just ruin the Young Marshal’s reputation?”

“Shi Guang wants to move against Shi Ting and seize the Young Marshal’s position, but has no just cause to do so. This matter can conveniently become his justification to ‘raise the banner of revolt’.”

“I understand now.” Jing Zhi’s expression filled with worry. “Does that mean war is coming again?”

Yan Qing pressed her hand down on Jing Zhi’s. She shook her head lightly. “The peaceful days in Shun Cheng are not likely to last much longer. Once Shi Guang moves to oppose Shi Ting, war will be unavoidable.”

“But Bei Di’s economy has only just started to develop, and there are warlords all around looking on hungrily. If a civil war truly breaks out, aren’t they afraid others will take advantage of the chaos to move in?”

“Shi Guang is willing to collaborate with the Xin Guo people just to claim this position. Is there anything he is not capable of doing?”

“Miss, what do we do now? With the Young Marshal away, you and the Second Concubine remaining in Shun Cheng — will you be in danger?”

“This is his backyard — this is his home. We stay right here and wait for him to return.” Yan Qing, fearing Jing Zhi would worry, reassured her. “We still have the military police headquarters, and we have the forces Shi Ting has cultivated on this side. Nothing will go wrong.”

Just as she spoke, a group of people suddenly burst in from outside. They rushed straight toward the table behind Yan Qing.

There was a thunderous crash, and the table instantly shattered to pieces.

Jing Zhi was frightened and quickly moved aside with Yan Qing.

“Who gave you permission to speak such nonsense here?” The man leading the group wore a ferocious expression. “Let me tell you — Bei Di will soon be entirely the Young Marshal’s domain. Whoever dares to spread slander and gossip behind his back, I will cut out their tongue.”

The people at that table were also badly frightened, yet one of them still mustered the nerve to say: “No matter whose domain Bei Di is, don’t we still have the freedom to speak? If the Young Marshal didn’t harm the Commander, why would he be afraid of us talking?”

“Exactly. Walls have ears — if you’ve done nothing wrong, why fear people talking?”

“Shut up.” The man roared menacingly. “I told you to shut up, so shut up.”

“We’ll say what we like — what are you going to do about it?”

“That’s right.”

Ah!

A sharp scream rang out. The person who had just spoken suddenly clutched his right hand, howling in agony.

The ferocious man held an axe in his hand, pointing it directly at the people before him. “See that? Whoever keeps running their mouth — this is the consequence.”

Yan Qing looked toward the ground and saw a severed hand lying there, dripping blood. She couldn’t help but furrow her brow and glare at the man.

“Smash this place up.” The man swung the axe in his hand. “See if they dare keep talking.”

The axe-wielding man directed his people to begin smashing and destroying the tavern in all directions. Jing Zhi, afraid Yan Qing would be hurt, quickly pulled her out.

“These people are truly outrageous.” Jing Zhi stamped her foot. “Aren’t they deliberately destroying the Young Marshal’s reputation among the common people?”

Yan Qing looked at the tavern before her, now in utter chaos, her brows also tightly knitted.

Having people spread rumors everywhere was only the beginning. Once the rumors had dispersed widely, then sending people disguised as Shi Ting’s supporters to suppress them through violent means —

The rumors themselves were already unfavorable to Shi Ting. Now that violent suppression was added on top, with two such accusations pressing down, it was feared no one could bear the weight of it.

~