After Xu Wu left, Zijin asked Yuxi, "Madam, It must have been Qin Zhao who leaked the battle plan and marching route. Darn, that Qin Zhao! He is not even afraid of being struck by lightning[1]."
Yuxi shook her head. "It can't be Qin Zhao. He wouldn't be that foolish." Qin Zhao could not have done such a thing even if he wanted to kill Yun Qing. Not to mention that there would be no place for him in Yu City once he was discovered. But, with only 40,000 troops left in Yu City against the 100,000-strong army of the northern barbarians, Yu City was in great danger. Once Yu City failed to be protected, if he weren't severely punished, he would still be skinned alive since he was the head general. For this reason alone, Yuxi was convinced that Qin Zhao was not the one who did this.
Zijin frowned. "If it wasn't Qin Zhao, who could it be?" She was also reluctant to trust Qin Zhao. If it was actually Qin Zhao, Yu City might not even be able to be saved, and by that time, tens of thousands of people inside the city would be in danger of being wiped out.
Yuxi did not answer Zijin's question but went into her study instead. She wrote down the names of all the generals who knew about the battle plan and the army's route. There were only a few people who had access to such secrets. As long as she eliminated them one by one, it was relatively easy to deduce. She ruled out Qin Zhao and Yun Qing. Once she took out Fu Tian Lei and General Zhao, the ones remaining on her list were Qin Zhao's three subordinates. Since Geng Jichen was ordered to stay in Yu City, the three armies' battle plan and marching route should not have been that clear to him. So that left Xia Hong and Kang Donglin.
From what Yuxi had heard, Xia Hong was lustful and biassed, while Kang Donglin was short-tempered and could not stand even a bit of annoyance. Thinking of this, Yuxi circled Xia Hong's name with her writing brush. A short-tempered person, even when he was easily angered, wouldn't have lost his mind and accidentally leaked any military information. The same could not be said of the lustful Xia Hong, who could not hide secrets when he was in bed.
Once Zijin read through what Yuxi had written, she looked at Yuxi and asked, "Madam means Xia Hong is the one who leaked military information? But I've heard Yu Zhi say that Xia Hong fought bravely in battles and had killed many barbarians." How could such a person leak military information?
Yuxi rested the writing brush on its stand and said indifferently, "I don't think he deliberately leaked the military information. If my guess is correct, the problem should lie in the woman rewarded by the Crown Prince, Luo Shi." This beauty ploy could not have worked even better.
However, Zijin shook her head. "The Crown Prince is the future Emperor. How could he possibly let someone close to him do such a thing?" Zijin felt that there was something wrong with Yuxi's deduction.
Yuxi questioned her with an expressionless face, "Who told you that those rewarded by the Crown Prince must only obey his orders?"
Zijin's entire body froze. "Madam means......" After a pause, Zijin swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "The Song family......"
Yuxi did not shake her head. This attitude made it clear to Zijin that what she had said was right.
Seeing Yuxi's reaction, Zijin cursed, "They are not afraid of going to the eighteenth level of hell, are they? So many people, so many lives!"
Yuxi stood in front of the window, looking out at the blue sky, and muttered softly, "It's not the first time the Song family has done something like this." She knew that the Song family had always wanted to get Yun Qing killed, but she did not expect they would repeat the same trick. The restless souls of more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Tong City now added to the wrongful death of tens of thousands of soldiers in Yu City. Even if one peeled the skin and tendons of every member of the Song family, it would not be enough to pay for the sins they had committed.
Zijin wanted to say something but could not.
Yuxi thought for a moment and instructed, "Go and call Xu Wu over." She knew she couldn't use Xu Wu from Huo Changqing's side to deal with the other party.
When Yuxi saw Xu Wu, she told him her suspicions and ordered him, "This matter must be made known to Qin Zhao as soon as possible."
When Xu Wu heard that someone had leaked military information, which had caused the extermination of the entire Dingbei Army, he instantly wished he could kill someone. "Madam, I will arrest Luo Shi right now."
Yuxi shook her head and said, "It is not appropriate for us to come forward in this matter. You should let Qin Zhao know about this first and then reveal it to General Zhao and Fu Tian Lei. Remember, we must not let Qin Zhao and the others know that we're the ones who revealed this news."
Xu Wu asked in confusion, "Why is it inappropriate for us to come forward?" The Dingbei Army had the most prominent casualties, so naturally, it was their turn to take revenge and avenge them.
Yuxi looked at Xu Wu and explained, "Qin Zhao is the Crown Prince's man, and the Song family is also the Crown Prince's people, so we should not be involved with them. Moreover, the Yun Residence's current situation cannot attract outsiders' attention, or it will be dangerous." With Yun Qing's life and death unknown now, these people's attention would no longer focus on them. After all, if there were no leading men in a mansion, there was a limit to how capable a woman could be. Not to mention that she was still pregnant, the more reason for her to not do anything.
Xu Wu nodded his head with difficulty.
Yuxi's voice was clear and cold as she said, "Don't worry. They will pay the debts they owe with interest. However, now is not the time."
Xu Wu's expression eased slightly. "Madam, don't worry. I know the importance of the situation." Madam would be in danger if people knew that their Yun Residence had spread the news. The fact that the enemy had utterly wiped out the Dingbei Army was something they could not change. Therefore, Xu Wu couldn't let Madam get dragged into trouble again.
Looking at Xu Wu's back, Yuxi mumbled softly, "I wonder where Yun Qing is right now?" She believed that Yun Qing should be fine, but believing was not the same as not worrying. Yuxi could only hope that Yun Qing would suffer less and return home sooner.
The first one to receive this news was Mr Xia. When Mr Xia learned about it, he was shocked and immediately informed Qin Zhao.
Upon hearing this, Qin Zhao asked, "Sir, Luo Shi is the Crown Prince's people. Does Sir think the Crown Prince would conspire with the northern barbarians?" This accusation simply did not make sense.
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Mr Xia replied, "General, it is true that Luo Shi is someone bestowed by the Crown Prince, but she may not necessarily obey the Crown Prince's orders."
Qin Zhao naturally understood the meaning between the lines, but he still asked, "What does Mr Xia mean?"
Mr Xia answered bluntly, "The Song family has always wanted to end General Yun's life, but unfortunately, they have not found the right opportunity. This time, it is not impossible that they have used the northern barbarians to dispose of General Yun. But we will know whether or not this is true once we arrest and interrogate Luo Shi."
Qin Zhao pondered for a moment and asked, "How sure is Mr Xia?"
Mr Xia replied, "Seventy per cent." This number was a relatively safe estimate. According to Mr Xia's deduction, the problem, in all probability, lay with Xia Hong.
To not alert the snake while they beat the grass[2], Qin Zhao wanted to ask Xu Shi to invite Xia Hong's wife to their home and bring Luo Shi with her.
Mr Xia responded, "General, you must not do that. Xia Hong's wife is extremely disgusted with Luo Shi and always treats her harshly. If we asked Madam Xia to bring her over, and Luo Shi was the cause of this incident, she would be suspicious." At that time, it was the same as alerting the snake while beating the grass[2].
Qin Zhao understood what Mr Xia meant. "Sir means to go and arrest her directly? But how can we explain this to Xia Hong if we arrested the wrong person?"
Mr Xia found Qin Zhao's question somewhat amusing. "If General Xia comes back and questions us, we can just say Luo Shi is the enemy's spy." Although Xia Hong shared the same surname as him, Mr Xia couldn't stand the lustful Xia Hong a million times.
Qin Zhao briefly nodded.
The following day, the first thing Yuxi did when she got up was to ask if Huo Changqing had woken up. Mama Qu shook her head. "Huo Daren[3] has not yet awoke."
Yuxi had no appetite that morning. Despite that, she still had to eat, or else the child would suffer.
After breakfast, Yuxi went to see Huo Changqing. When she entered the room, she saw Shiliu wiping Huo Changqing's mouth with a wet handkerchief.
Seeing that it was Yuxi, Shiliu stood up and bowed, then explained, "I saw that Huo Daren[3]'s lips were too dry, so I wiped them using a wet handkerchief."
Yuxi nodded. "You did a good job." But when she turned her head to look at Huo Changqing, still wrapped up tightly and lying quietly on the bed, her eyes reddened again.
Zijin urged, "Madam, let's go out!" Master had scolded her yesterday and reminded her not to bring Madam here again, but she couldn't stop her!
Yuxi shook her head. "Help me sit down. I want to talk to Uncle Huo." A day had passed, and the longer it took for Uncle Huo to become conscious, the more dangerous it would be.
Zijin did not dare to go against Yuxi's wishes and moved a chair beside the bed. She didn't dare to walk away, so she stood by and waited. If anything happened, she could carry Madam back to the backyard immediately. Mama Bai was also anxious for Yuxi. Therefore she had prepared everything Yuxi needed, just in case.
Yuxi sat on a chair and said to the unconscious Huo Changqing, "Uncle Huo, no one knows Yun Qing's situation better than you. If anything happens to you, Yun Qing's illness will worsen, and it won't be easy to cure him then. Uncle Huo, Yun Qing was raised under your care. Can you bear to see him turn into a madman who can't control himself in the future?"
After a pause, Yuxi continued, "Uncle Huo, if Yun Qing can't control himself in the future, I don't know what I should do. It doesn't matter if I'm the only one getting hurt, but what if he becomes so reckless that he severely injures our child? My heart hurts just thinking about it." At first, Yuxi said those words to stimulate Huo Changqing, but as she spoke about them, she started to get worried. After all, what happened this time had hit Yun Qing extremely hard, and if Huo Changqing had also passed away, what she had just said might have come true. If Yun Qing couldn't control himself, he would truly hurt her and their child.
Zijin's eyes widened as she wondered what kind of illness Yun Qing had. How could it be so horrible that it would hurt Madam and her child? However, no matter how stunned Zijin was, she knew that this was not the time to ask this question.
Shiliu stood to one side, keeping her head down and not daring to look up. As for what Yuxi said, she ignored it all. She glanced at the bed and suddenly noticed that Huo Changqing's hand had moved. She thought her eyesight had gone blurred and wiped her eyes, but she saw Huo Changqing's hand move again. Shiliu was so excited that she couldn't care less about the occasion and hurriedly called out to Yuxi, "Madam, Madam, Huo Daren[3]'s hand just moved."
Yuxi wiped her tears and was overjoyed to see that Huo Changqing's hand was moving. "Uncle Huo, Uncle Huo......" No matter how much she called, Huo Changqing didn't react.
PS (Author): This is the third-night watch[4] released. It has not been easy for the author to write the book. Please support the original version. Thank you.
Footnotes Full List
- be punished by Heaven; divine punishment
- Chinese idiom: act rashly and alert the enemy
- title of respect toward superiors
- one of the five-night watch periods: 23:00-01:00
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