Firmament Sword

If not for this fear, why would a man like him—a heavyweight whose power overshadowed the court and whose position was unshakeable—need to put on such a hypocritical act?

First bootlicking the Emperor, then downplaying his own son’s achievements, and finally, even kneeling on the ground, weeping and wailing, to refuse any credit?

Recently, Wei Feng’s power and status seemed to have remained unchanged. In fact, the Emperor’s trust in him appeared even greater than before!

But in reality, Wei Feng knew one thing with absolute clarity: his greatest purpose was to limit the unchecked expansion of the Military Merit Group’s influence.

He and the Emperor did indeed have a personal relationship. Back when the Emperor was still a prince, the two of them had been the closest of friends.

Although they didn’t call each other brothers like Xu Luo and the Eldest Prince, Huangfu Haoran’s status back then wasn’t as awkward as Huangfu Chongzhi’s is now.

But in the end, there is a distinction between ruler and subject!

The prince became the Emperor, and the friend... became a subject.

Between them lay a celestial chasm, a great divide!

It was utterly insurmountable!

To expect the Emperor to indulge and tolerate him for the sake of their past friendship was a fool’s dream!

That was why Wei Feng was both overjoyed and worried after receiving that secret report from Wei Ziting.

He knew exactly what kind of person his son was. Wei Ziting simply did not possess the ability to devise strategies that could decide battles a thousand miles away.

Despite the Reconnoitre’s flowery and exaggerated praise in the report, Wei Feng didn’t believe a word of it.

All that talk of brilliant stratagems in sealed bags and Young Master Wei’s sagacious guidance... In Wei Feng’s eyes, it was all bullshit!

What Wei Feng cared about most was whether the destruction of the Yan Army Grain Dao was real!

And if it was real, was it a natural disaster? Or was it man-made?

That’s right. From the very beginning, Wei Feng never believed for a second that Wei Ziting was the one who had orchestrated it.

”He doesn’t have that kind of ability!” This was the first thing Wei Feng had said after a long, contemplative silence upon reading his son’s secret report.

For all these reasons, Wei Feng had acted as he did during today’s morning court. It was a performance born from years of cautious experience, a precaution against the worst-case scenario...

But he had never imagined that the very thing he feared most would actually come to pass.

At this moment, Wei Feng hated Xu Luo and the Xu Family with an unprecedented intensity.

’Failing to completely crush the Xu Family ten years ago was the greatest regret and mistake of my life!’ A tempest of uncontrollable rage and boundless terror surged through Wei Feng’s heart.

”Your Majesty... This old subject does not understand your words,” Wei Feng said, still kneeling, looking at the Emperor with a bewildered expression.

”It is fine if you do not understand. You can take a look before you speak.” The Emperor remained pleasant and showed no anger. Instead, he spoke with a hint of encouragement, ”We trust that with Prime Minister Wei’s experience, you may be able to discern who is telling the truth and who is not. And We trust that you, Prime Minister Wei, will make a fair judgment.”

As he spoke, the Emperor had someone bring the two secret reports over and hand them to Wei Feng.

A storm was raging in the hearts of many officials in the imperial court. Leng Mengde watched the kneeling Wei Feng with cold eyes, unable to stop himself from criticizing inwardly: ’The Emperor’s favor for Wei Feng has reached an unparalleled level. To think he’d so blatantly side with him even in a matter like this.’

’A fair judgment? Who is he trying to fool?!’ Wang Moxuan thought, his head lowered. ’With his own son on one side and the child of his rival on the other, only a Saint could be truly impartial!’

’A Saint? There’s no place for Saints in this imperial court!’ Wang Moxuan pursed his lips. He stood off to the side, affecting an air of detached composure, observing his nose and contemplating his heart. In any case, this had nothing to do with him, and he had no intention of getting dragged into the mess.

The other court officials reacted similarly. Only those ministers close to Wei Feng showed expressions of delight.

The Emperor was clearly favoring Wei Ziting!

This way, even if Wei Ziting wasn’t the one who had truly cut off the Yan Army Grain Dao, at the very least, the Emperor would certainly not punish him!

Just then, Sun Yunpeng stepped out from the ranks of officials, bowed to the Emperor, and said in a deep voice, ”Your Majesty, this subject has a question.”

The Emperor glanced at Sun Yunpeng and said coolly, ”Speak.”

”If I may be so bold, Your Majesty, which of the two secret reports arrived first?” The moment Sun Yunpeng spoke these words, the entire imperial court fell silent.

Many stared at Sun Yunpeng in astonishment, apparently shocked that this typically low-profile Lord Sun would actually step forward to question the matter.

Wei Feng, who was in the middle of reading the two reports, felt his hand tremble slightly. He squinted, his gaze sweeping over Sun Yunpeng as a dark, gloomy glint flashed in his eyes.

’What is this old fool trying to do?’ Wei Feng thought, then returned his attention to the reports.

The Emperor stated calmly, ”Xu Luo’s secret report was sent to Us seven days ago. We received Wei Ziting’s report yesterday evening.”

Sun Yunpeng nodded and bowed. ”In that case, forgive this old subject’s impertinence, but what is there left to discern?”

”This humble subject dares not agree with Lord Sun’s words.” A middle-aged official who looked to be in his forties stepped forward. He bowed to the Emperor, then turned to Sun Yunpeng and said, ”If we are to say that whoever is faster is the one who did the deed, isn’t that a bit too arbitrary?”

Sun Yunpeng glanced at the man who had spoken. It was one of Prime Minister Wei Feng’s trusted subordinates, an Imperial Censor named Guo Quan.

”Imperial Censor Guo, have you ever been on a battlefield?” Sun Yunpeng asked, squinting at the Imperial Censor who had jumped out, a faint, mocking smile on his face.

”Well... I have not. Has Lord Sun, perhaps?” As an Imperial Censor, his ability to counter-attack was naturally strong.

”If you’ve never been on a battlefield, you’ll never understand the military’s intelligence system. And you’re not wrong—in this matter, whoever is faster is indeed the one telling the truth!” Sun Yunpeng said coolly, looking at Guo Quan’s defiant expression. ”This old man may not like seeing children go to war, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never been on a battlefield myself! Imperial Censor Guo, if you don’t believe me, just ask around.”

From his throne, the Emperor spoke up. ”In his youth, Lord Sun served in the army for eight years, working in military intelligence. He has seen battle and shed blood for the empire.”

”Even though I haven’t been on a battlefield, I still believe in letting the evidence speak for itself!” Guo Quan said calmly after a moment of silence.

”Enough. Stop arguing.” Wei Feng, still kneeling on the ground, snapped in a low voice. He then slowly rose to his feet and said coolly, ”Your Majesty, this subject believes that Xu Luo’s secret report is a forgery, an attempt to steal credit.”

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar swept through the officials in the imperial court!

...

「The story returns to the day Xu Luo and the others sent their secret report.」

”I think we should split the secret report into two parts. One should be a simplified battle report, using the most concise language to describe the situation here. The other should be exhaustive, detailing everything from our initial scheme against Mo Yun’s remnants and instigating infighting between them, all the way to how we followed the grain path, finally found One-Line Heaven Gorge, and began to lay our trap... our design!”

Li Hong looked at the group, then said, ”We already sent the battle report about our scheme against Mo Yun’s remnants to Xu Jie’s father. This time, we need Uncle Xu to send all three of these reports to His Majesty!”

”And what’s the purpose of doing that?” Liang Ziyi asked, a little confused.

”The right to choose must be given to the Emperor,” Li Hong stated calmly.

Xu Luo nodded slightly. ”I was being a bit careless before. Just because we don’t want such a huge credit doesn’t mean others don’t. Even if Wei Ziting hadn’t set his sights on this, someone else probably would have. So, we’ll send these battle reports to the Emperor and let His Majesty choose for himself.”

Huangfu Chongzhi frowned in thought for a long while before finally nodding with a smile. He didn’t say much, but his heart was filled with immense admiration.

He had long known that this third brother of his was clever, but he never expected that this young man, who had been looked down upon for the past sixteen years, would have such a profound grasp of human nature.

He’d even managed to account for the Emperor in his calculations!

’My third brother truly understands my Imperial Father!’ Huangfu Chongzhi sighed inwardly. He thought, ’He knows that Father needs to maintain the balance of power between the civil and military factions. That’s why almost all the battle reports sent by Xu Luo have been transmitted as secret reports.’

In other words, if the Emperor chose not to acknowledge it, the matter... would be as if it never happened!

If they had truly wanted the military credit, there was a simple way: send the report to Yuwen Shentong or Xu Zhongtian, then have a messenger ride eight hundred li on an urgent dispatch, shouting the news all the way from the south to the north!

The entire nation would have known about it in an instant!

At that point, even the Emperor would find it absolutely impossible to suppress such a military achievement.

What emperor would be foolish enough to risk going against the will of the people to suppress someone’s military merit?

Especially Huangfu Haoran, who was renowned for his fairness. He would never do such a thing.

And so, several different battle reports were sent via the Southern Army’s commander, Xu Zhongtian, in the form of secret dispatches to the current Emperor.

...

When the Emperor first saw these different battle reports, he was stunned for a good while as he looked at Xu Luo’s handwriting on them.

He couldn’t help but curse, ”That little rascal!”

”He even dares to include Us in his schemes!” The Emperor squinted, but then couldn’t stop his brows from rising in a wide grin. He paced back and forth in the Imperial Study, muttering to himself, ”Xu Ji, you’ve really given Us a difficult puzzle! Your Xu Family... isn’t having the eldest, Xu Su, enough for you?”

”Did you have to produce such a little monster for Us?!”

”The entire Southern battlefield has been thrown into turmoil by a little brat on his first campaign...”

”First, he persuaded Cao Tianyi to help crush Mo Yun’s fifty thousand troops. Then, along the grain dao, he used discord to further batter Mo Yun’s fragile remnants until they were completely broken, utterly cutting off their hope of returning to Great Yan...”

”Along the grain path, in One-Line Heaven Gorge, the performance of that Sui Family boy was astonishing. Using Mechanical Skill, he detonated a chain of Spirit Beast Crystal Cores to trigger the collapse of One-Line Heaven Gorge. Not only did it destroy the supply route, but it also trapped a large contingent of enemy troops inside One-Line Heaven... Mechanical Skill, I never imagined it could be so powerful!”

”But the one who surprises Us most is still you, Xu Luo...”

The Emperor sighed softly. ”Truth be told, We misjudged you in the past. But you don’t have to be so cautious and wary of Us, do you? Why send so many different battle reports? Hmm? You’re only seventeen! Only seventeen years old!”

As he spoke, the Emperor picked up another secret report from his desk, one that had arrived much earlier. This one bore the seal of Yuwen Shentong.

It clearly detailed Xu Luo and his group’s movements after the combined Cao Army and Cangqiong Army crushed fifty thousand soldiers of the Yan Army.

”Harass the Yan Army Grain Dao. Use all possible means to destroy the Yan Army’s transport routes!”