Firmament Sword

”You... You’re talking absolute nonsense! I investigated this thoroughly! This has nothing to do with you all!” Wei Ziting was overcome with rage, pointing at Liu Feng and roaring.

After he said this, the surroundings instantly fell deathly quiet. There wasn’t a single sound. Wei Ziting suddenly felt he had misspoken. The gazes directed at him from all sides felt incredibly strange.

”Heh, investigated... nothing to do with us.” Liu Feng couldn’t even be bothered to spare Wei Ziting another glance, a cold sneer on his lips.

SMACK!

Wei Lei finally couldn’t take it anymore. He rushed forward and slapped Wei Ziting hard across the face, cursing, ”You bastard! Haven’t you caused enough embarrassment?! Get back with me, now!”

Wei Ziting roared, ”I won’t accept this! I deserve credit for this! I put in so much effort, I did so much! On what grounds can this damn fatty steal the military merit that should be mine with just a few words?!”

Wei Lei was about to faint from anger. The matter had already been completely settled in the imperial court.

Prime Minister Wei Feng had submitted a memorial pleading for his son, saying the boy had been deceived and, in his eagerness for merit, had done something foolish.

The Emperor hadn’t blamed him too much, only saying, ’What young man doesn’t want to achieve glory?’ He ordered Wei Feng to recall Wei Ziting and discipline him strictly.

Wei Feng, fearing his son would cause some irreparable trouble with the Southern Group Army, had quickly sent his own fourth brother to personally fetch him.

Initially, Wei Lei hadn’t thought much of it. The matter was settled, and Wei Ziting was the one who had fabricated his claim. ’Wouldn’t he be as meek as a mouse before a cat and just follow me home?’

He never would have imagined that what he thought was a simple errand would lead to such a huge complication!

Just a moment ago, he had repeatedly guaranteed to Xu Zhongtian that there would be no more trouble regarding this matter.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be just Wei Ziting who lost face!

The entire Civil Servant Group, led by Wei Feng, would lose an immense amount of face along with him!

Xu Zhongtian naturally didn’t want to offend the entire Civil Servant Group. Besides, Xu Luo had already explained the whole situation to him, so he understood it clearly in his heart: ’This is a contest between the younger generation of the Xu Family and the Wei Family!’

Emotionally, he was naturally inclined to support Xu Luo, but rationally, he could not favor either side!

It was just like the Grand General of National Guardian, Xu Ji. No matter how much he doted on his own child, at most... he would only secure Xu Luo the position of a Drummer at the Centennial Star Festival. He would never use his status to seek greater benefits for Xu Luo!

This, too, was the most basic principle of an upright man.

Wei Lei looked at Wei Ziting, whose face was now swollen, still roaring and trying to defend himself. A deep sense of powerlessness washed over him. He began to regret why he had agreed to his elder brother’s request and taken on this errand.

A matter that had already been settled in the imperial court was now being relentlessly pursued by the involved party... the party who was clearly in the wrong.

It wasn’t just Wei Lei; this was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Just then, a slight commotion rippled through the crowd outside. Immediately, the tightly packed mob parted to form a path, and a handsome young man walked in from outside.

”Xu Luo! Xu Luo! Xu Luo!”

When Wei Ziting saw the young man, it was as if he were looking at his mortal enemy. His eyes went bloodshot as he roared his name three times in a row.

”If you have any shred of a nobleman’s principles and integrity, then say something fair in front of everyone here today! The raid on the Yan Army Grain Dao—did it have anything at all to do with your Martial Soul Squad?” Wei Ziting yelled hoarsely.

At this, everyone’s gaze fell upon Xu Luo, upon this young man who had recently stirred up the entire southern war theater.

Xu Luo looked at Wei Ziting with a serious expression for a long time. His gaze was filled with pity. Then, he smiled. ”Although I’d love to give you the answer you want, you know that’s impossible. This isn’t about you hating me or me disliking you. The fact is, the matter of cutting off the Yan Army Grain Dao truly has nothing to do with you, Wei Ziting.”

As he spoke, Xu Luo gave a cold smile. ”Perhaps you paid a high price for this... to bribe those people who had probably never even seen what the Yan Army Grain Dao looked like before.”

BUZZ!

The surrounding crowd immediately erupted in an uproar.

When Liu Feng came over earlier, he had also rebuked Wei Ziting, but not like Xu Luo, who gave him absolutely no quarter!

”Bribing one of Cao Tianyi’s confidants to get a map of the Yan Army Grain Dao? Heh, was it the same as this one? Or did you get a simplified version? Otherwise, why did it take you so many days to find One-Line Heaven Gorge?”

As Xu Luo spoke, he brandished a map in his hand and said nonchalantly, ”The Martial Soul Squad, under orders from General Yuwen, ventured deep into the Cao Kingdom, carrying this very map of the Yan Army Grain Dao, to watch for an opportunity to destroy the Yan Army’s supply line and sever their lifeline...”

”This is a military order!” Xu Luo brandished it again. Those standing close could see it clearly: the Great Seal of Yuwen Shentong stamped on it was perfectly distinct.

”Furthermore, on the Yan Army Grain Dao, we used a ploy to successfully instigate Mo Yun’s remnant forces to clash with a grain transport unit. In the end, Mo Yun’s remnants were victorious, and the transport unit of over three thousand men was almost completely slaughtered... We already reported this matter.”

As Xu Luo spoke, his gaze swept across the faces of Wei Ziting and his followers. ”I presume you must have already heard about this, right?”

”So that’s how it was! I was so confused at the time, wondering how armies from the same kingdom could have a large-scale bloody conflict. It was practically a one-sided massacre... I never thought the Martial Soul Squad’s hand was in this too!”

”A ploy to sow discord! It must have been! Mo Yun’s remnants had just suffered a defeat and were full of anger; they definitely couldn’t withstand any provocation... I was wondering who did it back then, and now we’ve finally found the mastermind! Haha, luckily this was hard to pull off and the whole process was too bizarre, so our Eldest Young Master Wei didn’t try to steal the credit for it, right?”

”Hahaha, that’s right. Faking something like that is too difficult. It’s nothing like the severing of the Yan Army Grain Dao, which looked like a natural disaster...”

A wave of discussion immediately swept through the crowd, and many people’s faces showed dawning comprehension.

When they had first heard about that incident, they had indeed been astonished for quite some time, unable to understand why two forces from the same camp would engage in such a brutal slaughter.

Even if they held a grudge, it shouldn’t have gone that far!

Only now did they realize that the Martial Soul Squad’s hand was in this matter as well!

”Heavens, of all the major events that have affected the southern war, is there anything the Martial Soul Squad *wasn’t* involved in?”

”The Martial Soul Squad has accomplished so much in such a short time. I think they’ll be famous throughout the world even before this war is over!”

”I’m so envious of Li Hong and his group. But I think... the ones who are even *more* envious of Li Hong’s group are probably the ones who followed Wei Ziting, hahahaha!”

Many people who already disliked Wei Ziting began to talk without restraint, causing the faces of the group standing behind him to turn incredibly ugly.

At this moment, Xu Luo said softly, ”General Xu has the detailed report of that battle as well. It shouldn’t be a secret anymore. If the General permits, those of you who are interested can take a look.”

”We then followed the map and selected One-Line Heaven Gorge. After a discussion among all members of the Martial Soul Squad, we decided on a plan of action...” Xu Luo said, looking at Wei Ziting. ”The very thing you thought was a natural disaster... heh, was actually man-made! You thought it was a natural disaster and the credit was yours for the taking. But in truth... if you hadn’t jumped out to claim it, we, the Martial Soul Squad, would not have accepted the credit for this, because we feel guilty!”

”Liu Feng already said it. If we hadn’t destroyed the Yan Army’s supply line, trapping those soldiers and leaving them unable to complete their mission, forcing them to become roving bandits, then that village in the Cao Kingdom would not have met with such a disaster.”

”Perhaps they would have experienced the baptism of war someday anyway, but that... would not have been because of us.” Xu Luo’s voice grew very low. ”Anyone who hasn’t seen it with their own eyes can never imagine the tragic state of those innocent commoners. It is precisely for this reason that we chose to forgo the military merit for this.”

With that, Xu Luo raised his head, looked at Wei Ziting’s deathly pale face, and raised his voice, speaking coldly, ”But this military merit is absolutely not something that you, Wei Ziting... can just pick up for free!”

”You’re talking nonsense! Utter drivel! Do you think I’ll believe you just because you made up some story? Am I supposed to believe that?” Wei Ziting had now backed himself into a corner. If he hadn’t made a scene today and had just gone back with Wei Lei, there would still have been room to salvage the situation.

After all, Wei Ziting had done *some* groundwork. The Emperor didn’t want to make things difficult for the Wei Family. At that point, Wei Ziting would have at worst been charged with ’poor judgment of character’ and ’greed for military merit,’ confined to his home, or perhaps it might have been dismissed as a misunderstanding...

It was hard to accept, but this was a benefit of power. In this world, there was truly no such thing as absolute fairness.

But now, Wei Ziting had caused a huge ruckus at the Southern Group Army headquarters, publicizing the matter completely and forcing the members of the Martial Soul Squad, who could no longer tolerate it, to expose him on the spot...

Now, even Wei Lei was at his wit’s end. He could only stand by as a bystander, watching helplessly as his nephew, this young master from a top noble family of the Cangqiong Kingdom, slid step by step into the abyss.

”Do you really want proof that badly?” Xu Luo smiled and cupped his hands in a salute toward Xu Zhongtian. ”General Xu, must this matter be proven to be our doing in order to convince everyone?”

Xu Zhongtian had recently come to re-evaluate this junior who shared his surname. He knew that while Xu Luo appeared harmless, even a bit shy on the surface, deep down he was an extremely clever and methodical little rascal!

Hearing this, he couldn’t help but nod, saying gently, ”That’s right. The detailed battle report you submitted earlier is almost enough to prove you did it. But I think it would be best if you could produce... more convincing evidence. This should be what everyone is thinking, right?”

”The Grand General is wise!” a thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd. Even many of the soldiers joined in the loud cry.

Standing in the crowd, Huangfu Chongzhi and Li Hong exchanged a glance. Li Hong whispered, ”Don’t tell me the Boss... still has an ace up his sleeve?”

Huangfu Chongzhi shook his head with a wry smile and whispered, ”Who knows, with this guy...”