The clatter of hooves broke the silence.
The soldiers outside the north gate had not yet recovered from the revelry brought by hundreds of live sheep when a flurry of wild sand swirled at the end of the official road.
A dense squad of iron-clad cavalry pressed forward darkly, bearing straight down on the crowd.
Leading them was Vice General He Minghu. He rode a tall, majestic horse, his fine steel sword resting horizontally across his saddle.
Behind him, three hundred iron-clad guards flanked him on both wings. The scales of their armor clattered loudly, putting on an incredibly grand display.
The cheering ceased.
The starving soldiers surrounding the herd of cattle and sheep were forced to retreat again and again by this imposing formation, abruptly clearing a path and instinctively dropping to one knee.
The hundreds of frightened sheep bleated and squeezed into the crowd, and the cattle also grew restless. The entire official road instantly descended into chaos.
He Minghu reined in his horse, sweeping his gaze condescendingly over the area. His eyes passed over Tie Lanshan, Zhao Xiong, and those military officers with faces full of astonishment, finally locking onto Xu Zhan.
"Xu Zhan!"
He Minghu dismounted, drew his sword in a single motion, and approached with long, aggressive strides.
"You killed my men and robbed my supplies! Today, if you do not give me a proper explanation, no one is leaving!"
Xu Zhan stood his ground, raising his eyes to look at the approaching He Minghu, his gaze completely unruffled.
"What men?"
"You dare play dumb!" He Minghu roared fiercely. "Zhao Si! The squad leader under my command, Zhao Si, along with twelve personal guards! They were all murdered by you at Wild Fox Shoal! Weren't they?!"
Xu Zhan tilted his neck, cracking a joint.
"Zhao Si is indeed dead, but I wasn't the one who killed him."
"Not killed by you?" He Minghu laughed in extreme anger, the tip of his sword pointing straight at the supplies on the ground. "Then where did all these cattle, sheep, and provisions come from? And how did Zhao Si's men die? Why don't you make up a pretty excuse right here in front of the entire army!"
Xu Zhan frowned impatiently.
"Naturally, they were killed by the Helians. By the time I arrived, that precious subordinate of yours had already been stabbed to death on the boat."
"Bullshit!"
He Minghu abruptly raised his voice, facing the thousands of soldiers watching from inside and outside the north gate.
"Listen well, brothers!"
He Minghu's speaking pace suddenly slowed down. He thrust his sword into the ground, rested his hands on his hips, and put on an expression of mingled grief and indignation.
"The squad leader Zhao Si was audacious enough to hide his actions from me, secretly stealing the heavy glazed treasures sealed by the imperial envoy from the storehouse, and absconding to Wild Fox Shoal to trade for grain with the Helians!"
He Minghu pointed a finger at the hundreds of cattle and sheep, gritting his teeth.
"Even if Zhao Si committed the capital offenses of stealing military supplies and colluding with foreign enemies, he was still a man from my Vice General's estate, and he rightfully should have been brought back to the city to be dealt with by military law!"
"But look at you, Xu Zhan! To embezzle these traded supplies, you actually intercepted and killed your own comrade on the way! You robbed both the men and the goods, and you even dare to pin the blame on the Helians!"
As soon as these words came out, an uproar immediately erupted inside and outside the north gate.
The originally celebratory atmosphere instantly turned heavy. The crowd looked at each other in dismay, whispering in low voices, their faces full of suspicion.
"That's not right, is it? Centurion Xu came back with the brothers from the vanguard camp, covered in blood. That clearly shows they fought a battle with the Helians..."
"Good heavens... Zhao Si dared to steal the imperial envoy's treasures to trade for grain?"
"This whole thing seems fishy. Centurion Xu and the others are covered in blood; they clearly fought with the Helians..."
"Shh! Do you have a death wish? Since General He dares to say this in public, he definitely intends to nail this charge down!"
The buzzing of discussions spread in all directions from the crowd.
Tie Lanshan stood where he was, his hands behind his back, his face betraying no emotion.
He didn't speak; he only shifted his gaze from He Minghu to Ma Jin'an, who had dismounted behind him, and then shifted it back.
Zhao Xiong became anxious and was about to step forward to argue, but Tie Lanshan raised his hand and pressed it down with a moderate amount of force.
Zhao Xiong forcefully swallowed the words that had rushed to his throat.
"Vice General He," Tie Lanshan finally spoke.
His voice was not loud, but it was enough to let everyone within a radius of dozens of paces hear him clearly.
"You say Zhao Si went to trade for grain, and you say it was Xu Zhan who intercepted and killed his comrade. Do you have any proof?"
He Minghu was stunned for a moment, then raised his head and answered, "Commander, see clearly! Zhao Si stole the heavy treasures and left the city. Once I realized this, I immediately sent men in pursuit."
"On this point, Censor Ma can testify!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Jin'an walked out of the ranks of the iron-clad guards with measured, square steps.
Today, he wore the neat official uniform of a supervising censor, his rank badge smoothed out and his black gauze hat perfectly straight.
"Lord Commander," Ma Jin'an cupped his hands in a bow, his posture humble and respectful.
"Commander, see clearly! Zhao Si stole the heavy treasures and left the city. Once I realized this, I immediately sent men in pursuit. On this point, Censor Ma can testify!"
"Lord Commander, this subordinate official can testify! Zhao Si stole the loot and absconded. General He indeed ordered a pursuit overnight."
He paused, his tone growing a bit heavier:
"Although Zhao Si was a low-ranking officer, he was still a registered soldier of the Vice General's estate. No matter what faults he committed while alive, according to the laws of Great Qian, he should have been dealt with by the Vice General's estate in accordance with military law, rather than being killed in the wilderness by someone overstepping their authority."
What a wicked counter-accusation!
Anyone who didn't know the inside story would truly believe that He Minghu was impartially enforcing the law, and that Xu Zhan was a murdering, thieving bandit.
Xu Zhan had no interest in these convoluted schemes. He didn't care how Zhao Si died or who the cattle and sheep belonged to; he only cared about killing those who deserved to be killed and driving the cattle and sheep that needed to be driven. As for the rest, his sister would naturally worry about it.
He Minghu opportunely added with a face full of anger:
"I failed to judge his character and was lax in discipline. I am willing to accept punishment!"
"Zhao Si committed a capital crime. If dealt with by military law, even death would not wipe out his crimes! But..."
"But this man, Xu Zhan, is even more vicious!"
Yet Tie Lanshan's gaze merely narrowed slightly.
He said nothing.
Seeing that the Commander did not state his position, He Minghu felt his courage bolstered. He turned abruptly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
Suddenly, he stopped.
Inside the crowd, there were a few soldiers covered in wounds, being supported by the remnant soldiers of the vanguard camp as they sat on the ground.
Among them was a man with a severed right arm. He was keeping his head down, desperately biting the strip of cloth wrapped around his stump with his teeth.
Zhang Tiezhu?!
This kid actually didn't die at Wild Fox Shoal?!
He Minghu's heart suddenly sank, but the expression on his face switched in an instant.
He strode through the crowd, walked up to Zhang Tiezhu, and stared condescendingly at the trembling wounded soldier.
"Zhang Tiezhu? You are actually still alive?"
Zhang Tiezhu stiffened entirely. He buried his head even lower, his forehead almost touching his knees.
"Good," He Minghu's voice suddenly softened, carrying a gentleness that made one's scalp tingle.
"Zhang Tiezhu, you followed Zhao Si and have eaten from my payroll for three years. You are my soldier. How have I treated you normally?"
Zhang Tiezhu's lips were trembling.
"In... in reply to the General... you... you have not treated this lowly soldier poorly."
"That's good." He Minghu slowly squatted down to look Zhang Tiezhu in the eye. He reached out and patted Zhang Tiezhu's only remaining left shoulder, the force neither too heavy nor too light.
"You saw with your own eyes how Zhao Si died, and you even more so saw with your own eyes how Xu Zhan struck."
He Minghu's hand tightened slightly on Zhang Tiezhu's shoulder.
"You are my soldier! Today, in front of all our brothers in the city and before the Commander-in-Chief, just tell the truth!"
"Were the cattle and sheep that Zhao Si traded for intercepted and stolen by Xu Zhan along the way?"
