Firmament Sword

”Old dog, hand over my sister!” Xu Luo sneered.

Wei Feng’s power overshadowed the court; he had dominated its affairs for many years. When had anyone ever dared to speak to him like this? Not even Xu Luo’s father, Grand General of National Guardian Xu Ji, would address him with such disrespect. Wei Feng was so enraged his face flushed crimson, then turned a dark purple, then a ghastly, ashen shade. With a sudden gag, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He swayed on his feet, pointing a trembling finger at Xu Luo, his body wracked with shivers. ”You bastard! You bastard!” he stammered. ”Who... Who took your sister? These are baseless slanders!”

”Xu Luo, silence!” From the Dragon Throne, the Emperor saw that Xu Luo was about to anger Wei Feng to death. He could not simply sit by and watch. He shot Xu Luo a fierce glare and said in a grave voice, ”Do not go too far!”

At this moment, Xu Luo pulled a large envelope from his robes. He had a Guard deliver it to the Emperor and said, ”Your Majesty, please take a look. This is but the tip of the iceberg of the evil deeds the Hongcheng Wei Family has committed in Hongcheng over the years!”

The expressions of all the civil and military officials in the court turned peculiar. They stared at Xu Luo as if he were some kind of demon.

’How ruthless! He returns to the Imperial Capital with earth-shattering military achievements, and the first thing he does is throw the Wei Family into utter chaos. I heard he even smashed their main gate. And now, he stands before His Majesty, daring to curse the current Prime Minister as an ’old dog.’ And to top it all off... the bastard actually came prepared...’

The ministers in the Golden Hall were all left speechless. Even those aligned with Wei Feng couldn’t help but feel a chill creep up from the depths of their hearts.

’Confronted with a bastard who possesses immense military merit, acts completely unreasonably, and, on top of it all, came prepared... there’s simply no way to argue your way out of it!’

’Thank goodness he’s not targeting me!’

For a moment, an unknown number of officials felt a surge of relief.

’Incredible. The Xu Family has been brave and martial for generations, and for generations, they have also been loyal, kind, and sincere. When have they ever produced a little rascal who seems like a scoundrel on the surface but is actually cunning to the bone?’ Lord Leng stood aside, watching the drama unfold with an air of detached calm, but inwardly he was marveling. ’Xu Ji is so honest he’s almost a fool, and General Xu was just as kind and simple. So how did the Xu Family produce a little guy like this?’

Lord Leng couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief. ’Thankfully, my son corrected his attitude in time and mended his relationship with Xu Luo. Otherwise, anyone who made an enemy of him would probably suffer from sleepless nights.’

On the Dragon Throne, the Emperor examined the documents Xu Luo had submitted, his expression calm. He seemed to be reading them with great care.

The ministers below were itching with curiosity, desperate to know what was written inside, but they could discern no emotion whatsoever from the Emperor’s face.

The Golden Hall gradually fell silent, and the atmosphere... grew more tense by the moment.

In the end, the Golden Hall, filled with every civil and military official, became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone held their breath reflexively.

Even Wei Feng, who had just been angered to the point of vomiting blood, began to grow nervous. As he watched the Emperor’s serene face, a sense of foreboding washed over him for reasons he couldn’t explain.

”A good kill.” Having finished reading, the Emperor tossed the papers onto the desk in front of him. He let out a long sigh and muttered softly.

THUD!

Wei Feng, who was being held up by his supporters, felt his legs give way, and he collapsed onto the floor. He sat there, completely dumbfounded.

The Emperor’s words were as good as a final verdict on Xu Luo’s actions!

’ ”A good kill!” He had said it in the Golden Hall, in front of all the civil and military officials!’

The Emperor looked down at the handsome young man standing silently below him and continued, ”However, you were not the one who should have killed those people. If you were, what would become of the Empire’s laws?”

Xu Luo gave a crisp, elegant, and composed bow. ”I acknowledge my crime,” he said softly. ”I await Your Majesty’s judgment.”

At that, Lord Leng, Lord Zhao, Lord Sun, Lord Wang, and several other officials opened their eyes wide, a peculiar glint in their gazes as they stared at Xu Luo, their faces deeply pensive.

The Emperor paused in thought, then spoke slowly. ”Your contribution to the Southern Army’s great victory was... indispensable. Your role in securing the submission of the Cao Kingdom was equally monumental! You have guaranteed the Empire’s southern border at least ten years of peace!”

There was not a trace of arrogance on Xu Luo’s face, nor was there a hint of shame.

To the onlookers, this was astounding. ’Incredible!’ they all thought. ’To be so young and yet remain so composed in the face of both praise and condemnation... And what are our own children doing at his age?’

”But you massacred the entire Hongcheng Wei Family...”

”Your Majesty, I did not kill every member of the Wei Family,” Xu Luo interjected calmly. ”I had the women and children separated and sent to various villages throughout the South. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may dispatch men to investigate.”

The Emperor, not angered by the interruption, simply nodded. ”Fine. You killed several hundred people from the Hongcheng Wei Family. Even if their sins were heinous and they deserved to die ten thousand times over, it was ultimately not your place to act. Do you... accept this?”

Xu Luo nodded frankly.

”Upon your return to the Imperial Capital, you raised a commotion at the Wei Family’s residence, committed acts of violence, and killed several of their experts,” the Emperor said coolly, looking down at Xu Luo. ”That... was you being deliberately unreasonable. Do you accept this?”

”I cannot accept that,” Xu Luo said, raising his head to look at the Emperor, his face a mask of grievance. ”The Wei Family kidnapped my sister, the Princess of Vulture. As long as they refuse to hand her over, this matter... will not be over! Your Majesty, I fought and bled on the battlefield in service to the Empire. My sister is the Princess of Vulture, a title you personally bestowed, yet she was cruelly abducted by the Wei Family. To this day, it’s unknown if she is alive or dead... Your Majesty, you must deliver justice for me!”

”Nonsense! When... when did I ever abduct your sister? This is baseless slander, Your Majesty!” Wei Feng, who had just managed to calm himself, felt his anger surge anew. He gasped for air, looking as if he might pass out from sheer rage at any second.

”Xu Luo, do you have any proof for such an accusation?” the Emperor asked, his expression grave. ”If you have no evidence, then your behavior is a grievous crime! At that point, even with your monumental merits, We... will not be able to spare you!”

’Did We really care about evidence? Of course not! Did We really believe Lianyi was in the Wei household? Also, no! We knew perfectly well that Xu Luo was raising this ruckus for one reason: to regain his former freedom! And that, to some extent, was infuriating.’

’You’re afraid the Xu Family has become too glorious and conspicuous. You’re afraid your youthful success will attract envy... We can understand all that. But what you did in Hongcheng... that was enough! To come back to the Imperial Capital, first throw the Wei Family into chaos, and then enrage the Prime Minister of the Empire into spitting blood in the Golden Hall... This has gone too far!’

’Even if Wei Feng has a thousand faults, he is still the Prime Minister who manages the affairs of the nation!’

’When has he ever been so viciously insulted and ridiculed? Especially right in front of Us! How can he face the court officials after this? If word of this gets out, it will be a devastating blow to his reputation!’

’You, Xu Luo... you truly have the audacity of the heavens!’

’If We don’t punish you this time, minimize the fallout from this incident, and placate Wei Feng, I’m afraid the entire court will start having ideas about Us! Because... what if another person like you appears in the future, and they are the target?’

So the Emperor mused, yet his face remained perfectly serene as he watched Xu Luo.

”Proof? Everyone in the Imperial Capital knows what happened. And who isn’t aware of the Wei Family’s usual arrogance and tyranny? But if Your Majesty absolutely insists on evidence, then fine, I’ll present it.” As he spoke, Xu Luo pulled a crumpled, dust-covered handkerchief from his robes.

The handkerchief was exquisitely crafted; a single glance revealed it was beyond the means of any common family.

A eunuch stepped forward to take the handkerchief. Just as he was about to brush away the dust, Xu Luo barked, ”Don’t touch it!”

The eunuch jumped in fright and stared at Xu Luo in terror. As a personal attendant to the Emperor, he normally wouldn’t fear someone like Xu Luo—he wasn’t even particularly intimidated by Wei Feng. But Xu Luo’s actions today had thoroughly scared him. ’This is a man who dares to call the Prime Minister an ’old dog’ in front of the Emperor and the entire court, a man who would slap an Imperial Censor. Is there anything he wouldn’t do?’

”This is the evidence,” Xu Luo said coolly to the eunuch.

The Emperor frowned and said, ”Bring it here.”

The eunuch tremblingly presented the dusty handkerchief, spreading it out on the Emperor’s desk with the writing facing up.

The Emperor spared it a single glance before letting out a soft sigh. ’Princess of Vulture... Xu Luo...’ he cursed inwardly. ’You two siblings... what a brilliant scheme!’

On the dust-covered handkerchief, a single sentence was written in stark characters: ”I have been taken by the Wei Family...”

The Emperor let out a long, heavy breath. ’Xu Luo, you little bastard,’ he thought. ’Even when handing Us an excuse to punish you, you still make sure to leave yourself a way out. You really are... a true son of a bitch!’

”It’s difficult to determine the truth based on this single sentence alone, isn’t it?” the Emperor said, struggling to suppress his irritation as he looked at Xu Luo.

”That is my sister’s handwriting. When I couldn’t find her, I naturally went to the Wei Family’s residence first to ask for her return. Who could have expected them to be so accustomed to their tyranny? They immediately started shouting for me to be beaten and killed. I was left with no choice...” Xu Luo’s face was the very picture of injustice. ”...I had to defend myself.”

’How shameless!’ Most of the ministers in the Golden Hall had heard about what happened at the Wei residence. Watching Xu Luo’s performance, the same thought surfaced in all their minds: ’The Wei Family is used to being tyrannical? You’re far more tyrannical than they are!’

Over on the side, Wei Feng was being held up, his face completely numb. A cold, sinister light flickered in his eyes; he had clearly been provoked by Xu Luo to the brink of losing all reason.

At this point, the Emperor couldn’t be bothered to argue with the little scoundrel anymore. He declared directly, ”First, you slaughtered hundreds from the Hongcheng Wei Family. Then, you raised hell at Prime Minister Wei’s Mansion. Finally, you spoke with utter insolence in this Golden Hall. Your crimes are unforgivable! However, in consideration of your glorious achievements on the southern battlefield, the death penalty shall be waived, but you cannot escape punishment. We hereby strip you of your title of Marquis and revoke your Third-Grade Official’s Attire! Get back to your fief at once! From this day forward, you are to remain there quietly. Without a direct summons from Us, you are forbidden to take a single step outside your lands!”

”Your Majesty, what about the title of Seven-Colored Mighty General...” Xu Luo began, cautiously raising his head to look at the Emperor. ”Please... revoke that as well...”

Every minister in the court felt the urge to spit up blood.

”GET OUT!”