After entering the tent, Zheng Hu observed Xiao Li beginning to handle military affairs behind the desk, coughed once and said: “Second Brother, in such cold weather, the military advisor is a frail scholar and can’t compare to us military generals. If he continues standing like this, he’ll freeze and develop an ailment.”

Xiao Li looked at the official documents without even lifting his eyelids: “When did I tell him to stand there?”

Zheng Hu was rendered speechless. He scratched the back of his head, walked around the tent in a circle, then still sighed with an “Ai” and said: “I know the military advisor broke the rules with that matter at Wei camp before, but the military advisor was also doing it for our Xiao camp…”

“Did Zhang Huai ask you to plead for him?” Xiao Li suddenly spoke.

Zheng Hu quickly shook his head like a rattle drum: “It was me who couldn’t bear seeing the military advisor frozen like that outside.”

Xiao Li looked up at him: “Tiger, you and Elder Brother are both brothers I trust most.”

Zheng Hu heard something unusual in Xiao Li’s words and hastily patted his chest: “Second Brother, even if you told me to climb a mountain of blades or descend into a sea of fire, my mouth wouldn’t utter a single word of refusal. Pleading for the military advisor is also…”

“Then go back.” Xiao Li issued an order to leave.

As Zheng Hu left the tent, he glanced at Zhang Huai standing outside whose shoulders seemed to have accumulated another thick layer of snow, sighed, then helplessly shook his head at him before departing.

The personal guard stationed outside the camp also came forward to advise: “Military Advisor, the wind and snow are heavy right now. You should return first. Lord Marquis is busy today and is not receiving visitors.”

Zhang Huai’s refined and elegant long eyebrows were covered with quite a bit of frost and snow, his lips almost the same white color as his face, yet he still said with a smile: “No matter, I’ll wait here until Lord Marquis finishes his work.”

The personal guard had no solution and could only retreat again.

About another hour passed. When the personal guard carried in a stack of official documents for Xiao Li to review, he carefully spoke: “Lord Marquis, the military advisor is still standing outside…”

The person bent over the desk with documents raised his cold, stern, and striking eyes.

The personal guard quickly stopped talking and lowered his head: “This subordinate spoke out of turn.”

As the personal guard reached the tent entrance, Xiao Li finally spoke: “Let him in.”

The personal guard felt relieved and quickly lifted the curtain to relay the message.

Shortly after, Zhang Huai entered the tent, bowed with cupped hands to Xiao Li: “Huai has come specifically to beg punishment from Lord Marquis.”

After Xiao Li captured Wucheng, he received urgent letters from Song Qin’s side, learned that Mudan was in danger, and immediately deployed troops to Sishui City.

After the great victory at Sishui City, he received Zhang Huai’s letter report and learned that he had taken it upon himself to conceal Northern Wei’s request for aid, and had also secretly ordered someone to make a move against Wang Wanzhen, ultimately forcing Wang Wanzhen to reveal the abnormality with her pregnancy in order to protect herself.

Afterward, both Wei Ang and Yuan Fang had successively come to see Xiao Li—firstly to thank him for again sending troops to aid Northern Wei, secondly to explain the whole story of how Yu Zhiyuan, using his identity as Wei Pingjin’s chief advisor, had toyed with all of Northern Wei and framed him, and thirdly to request that he take charge of all of Northern Wei again.

Wei Tong, who had forced Wei Ang to hand over military authority and then fled in fear of punishment after abandoning Yanle Mountain, was intercepted by Wei Ang at Wujiabao. After cutting him down from his horse, Wei Ang brought the severed head to present to Xiao Li.

Yu Zhiyuan, who had been sent to Xiao’s camp before autumn arrived to be dealt with by Xiao Li, had been almost forgotten by Xiao Li who was busy with warfare—he’d nearly forgotten such a person was still imprisoned.

After Wang Wanzhen claimed the child was not Wei Pingjin’s, Zhang Huai had interrogated Yu Zhiyuan under torture to verify the truth of Wang Wanzhen’s words. Because the weather was still hot at that time, after Yu Zhiyuan was tortured, his wounds received no medicine. Before long, they became inflamed, festered, and suppurated. The food given to him in prison was only enough to keep him barely alive.

It was said that Yu Zhiyuan later went mad. Starving to the extreme, he even grabbed the maggots growing from his festering wounds and stuffed them into his mouth.

After the first heavy snow of winter, the jailers discovered he had died in prison—disheveled, reeking all over, so thin he was almost just skin and bones. No one knew whether he ultimately starved to death, froze to death, or died of illness.

Compared to the tragedy of his father being carved alive and cooked, the jailers actually didn’t know whether his father’s ending was better, or whether his own final state—neither human nor ghost, dying in muddled confusion in prison—was preferable.

But it could finally be considered evil receiving its just retribution.

At that time, Xiao Li hadn’t even returned to camp yet. After the jailers reported Yu Zhiyuan’s death, Zhang Huai ordered someone to drag him away to the mass grave wrapped in a straw mat.

However, though he had sent a letter early on to beg punishment from Xiao Li, after Xiao Li returned to camp, he assigned various important tasks to other selected people. When discussing subsequent southern campaigns, he also never again summoned Zhang Huai to deliberate together.

—Just as when Zhang Huai had taken it upon himself to publicly proclaim that the Liang camp had once ordered someone to poison Xiao Li and that Xiao Li didn’t owe the Liang camp anything, Xiao Li hadn’t explicitly blamed him, but through this cold treatment let him understand that he had once again overstepped boundaries.

The first time he overstepped, Xiao Li had let it pass.

Knowing Xiao Li’s taboos, he still committed the offense again. This was his great fault as a minister.

Zhang Huai had sought audience with Xiao Li several times only to be turned away. This was why he had simply braved the snow today to wait outside the tent.

Now, after he spoke these words begging punishment, the person above holding documents and looking down with lowered eyes only said indifferently: “What crime does Mister have?”

No charcoal fire burned in the central military tent. Though the tent fabric blocked some wind, after the frost and snow on Zhang Huai’s body was slowly melted by his own body heat, it soaked his clothes and became another kind of cold that clung to his skin and invaded his bones. A strand of dampened hair hung down on his forehead—quite a sorry sight.

His five fingers, stiff from cold, barely maintained the cupped-hand posture: “Huai previously took it upon himself to spread word of the Liang camp once injuring Lord Marquis with a poisoned arrow—this is the first crime. Lord Marquis was magnanimous and did not severely blame Huai for that transgression, yet Huai, knowing better, still repeated the offense by concealing Northern Wei’s request for aid this time and privately making moves against the Wei clan’s heir—this is the second crime. Huai knows he has disregarded Lord Marquis’s trust and committed great faults. Huai begs Lord Marquis for punishment.”

Xiao Li finally raised his eyes from the documents. Having spent most of this year in warfare, the killing aura he carried from mountains of corpses and seas of blood made his pair of fierce, sharp wolf-like eyes all the more suffocating when they looked at someone.

Under Xiao Li’s stare, Zhang Huai only felt that gaze was heavy as substance, pressing down until even standing there with cupped hands was barely manageable.

“Since you know it’s a fault, why commit it again?”

Hearing this cold, harsh question, Zhang Huai bowed his waist down further and replied: “Huai wished to clear away all hidden dangers for Lord Marquis. If infamy must fall, Huai is also willing to bear it for Lord Marquis, thus presumptively acted on his own and exceeded proper bounds.”

If these words fell into the ears of other power-seekers, it would probably be the most perfect answer. The superior would not only treat the matter lightly, but would increasingly rely on such a subordinate in the future.

After all, since ancient times, emperors often favored treacherous ministers precisely because those treacherous ministers were merely acting on behalf of the emperor and bearing eternal infamy for him.

Once the aroused public resentment reached a level that could affect imperial power, killing a few treacherous ministers and letting the common people curse and spit on their bones would quell public anger.

The emperor sitting in high position was merely deceived by treacherous ministers. Once the treacherous were eliminated, he remained a wise, martial, people-loving good emperor.

After listening, Xiao Li leaned back slightly.

His build was considered tall even among military generals. Strong, powerful muscles wrapped beneath his well-tailored arrow-sleeved military robe. Even doing nothing, just sitting there, his oppressive presence was extremely strong.

He said: “Xiao admits that aside from martial prowess, he has no other talents. Mister has great ability—serving under Xiao is beneath you.”

Hearing these words, Zhang Huai immediately felt something was wrong. But before he could respond, Xiao Li continued: “Mister has strategized for Xiao camp this past year. Xiao Li is endlessly grateful and will prepare generous gold and silver for Mister, so Mister may seek another worthy lord.”

Zhang Huai could no longer stand and knelt down, his expression at this moment showing not only disbelief but also some distress: “Huai knows he has erred, but why would Lord Marquis go so far as to expel Huai?”

Xiao Li’s expression was cold and hard: “It’s not that Xiao is expelling Mister, but that Xiao lacks great ambition. Having Mister assist is truly wasting your talents.”

“Xiao comes from humble origins. In conduct, he only seeks to have no shame before heaven. Even if his actions incur universal condemnation, Xiao will bear it alone—there’s no need for others to take this infamy for Xiao.”

Zhang Huai knelt below, meeting Xiao Li’s stern, upright gaze. His spine was pierced with cold pain by the frigid wind blowing in through the tent entrance. For quite a while, he said nothing more.

He understood the meaning in Xiao Li’s words.

He had his own principles of conduct and didn’t need others to make decisions for him.

Even if he made mistakes, he would bear the infamy himself—no need to shift blame to others.

His own approach of “doing what’s good for the lord” and willingness to bear infamy for his lord—Xiao Li disdained it and wouldn’t use it.

Though Zhang Huai had long known about the proud backbone and integrity in Xiao Li, today truly touching that barrier as solid as a city wall, he suddenly recalled many old matters.

Like when he finished his studies and came down from the mountain, his teacher told him that with his lifelong spirit and excessive sharp edges, if he entered someone’s household as a guest and strategized with them in the future, he needed to conceal his edges and restrain his arrogance somewhat, otherwise he would easily invite fatal disaster.

Also like that day when he interrogated Yu Zhiyuan—Yu Zhiyuan had been tortured, crisscrossing bloody whip marks on his prison garb, hands shackled and bound to the torture rack, breath like a thread, yet still looking at him with mocking laughter asking: “Your master’s methods are so ruthless and vicious—aren’t you afraid that someday you’ll end up with the same fate as me, this abandoned pawn of the Pei clan?”

What had he said then? He said: “A treacherous minister who brings disaster to the country—how can you compare to my lord?”

Yu Zhiyuan continued to laugh mockingly, though his eyes reddened somewhat. He said: “My father and I, owing someone the grace of a meal, are destined to run errands for them this life. In terms of learning, in terms of governing the world, my father and I are not necessarily inferior to you. If there’s a tomorrow, we would continue to follow former Liang’s Li Yao’s path of reform!”

At that time, he thought it was merely the wild ranting of a desperate fugitive who still thought highly of himself unto death.

Now the other’s every word and sentence had become incomparably clear in his mind.

Zhang Huai suddenly understood where he had truly erred.

He had been too impatient, too eager to quickly help Xiao Li achieve great unification and realize the aspirations he’d studied ten thousand volumes of sage writings to achieve.

To the point where he couldn’t tolerate the slightest hidden danger and presumptuously tried to clear all obstacles for Xiao Li.

But he forgot that the one he assisted was not that type of ruler who appeared upright and honorable on the surface while employing sinister methods behind the scenes.

All of Xiao Li’s ruthlessness was directly displayed in the open.

He could carve alive and cook Yu Jingwen, and could also slaughter all twenty thousand Pei clan surrendered troops in Sishui City who had killed countless Great Liang common people in the surrounding areas.

But he had initially promised Wei Qishan that as long as the Wei siblings behaved themselves, he wouldn’t harm his pair of children. Later, when confused old Wei faction members repeatedly provoked trouble, he truly never once thought of moving against the Wei siblings.

This courage and integrity—few power-seekers in the world could achieve it.

But it was precisely because of this boldness and broad-mindedness that those below dared to follow him with confidence and risk their lives.

—Abide by his rules, and you could obtain the fairness you deserved from him.

Zhang Huai previously only felt Xiao Li was a suitable lord to assist. Everything he plotted was only to facilitate his own ambitions after helping the other achieve great works.

Until this moment, after a brief blankness in his mind, he clearly realized one thing—it was because he encountered such a lord that he wanted to help him seize that empire.

Zhang Huai lowered his head. The thousand words in his throat coalesced into one sentence: “Huai truly knows his error.”

“Huai begs Lord Marquis to allow him to continue remaining in Xiao camp. If there’s another offense, Huai is willing to take his own life to resolve it.”