The crisp sound of the bronze plaque hitting the bluestone slab had not yet faded.
A war wolf totem, the waist tag of a centurion under the Helian Right Luli Prince.
At this moment, He Minghu's mind was racing.
"Xu Zhan!"
He Minghu reacted, pointing his finger straight at Xu Zhan.
"You actually brought out such a thing to bluff people! You stripped this waist tag off a Helian, who doesn't know that?"
He swept his gaze over the surrounding soldiers, raising his voice to fan the flames.
"You, Xu Zhan, are born with divine strength. You can smash a hundred-pound stone lock with a single strike of your mace. Who in Zhenbei City doesn't know this? A Helian centurion can't even last three moves against you!"
"You slaughtered the Helians, killed Zhao Si, and swallowed the goods from both sides! If this isn't thieves robbing thieves, what is?"
Xu Zhan frowned, too lazy to respond.
Ma Jin'an seized the opportunity, immediately stepping forward and bowing to Tie Lanshan with cupped hands.
"Lord Commander, as I just said, Zhang Tiezhu is a man with a severed arm, and Qian Fugui is a petty seventh-rank official. It is not surprising that these two would falsely accuse their superiors to save their own lives."
He paused, assuming an air of righteous indignation.
"But Xu Zhan's actions are supported by ironclad evidence! He intercepted and killed Zhao Si halfway, and took the stolen goods that should have been recovered by the Deputy General's Manor for himself. Even if Zhao Si committed a capital offense, it is not the place of a mere centurion to overstep his authority and execute him!"
"To put it bluntly, he is robbing his own comrades!"
After Ma Jin'an finished speaking, he took a half step back, putting on an appearance of fairness and impartiality.
What a relentless pestering!
These two sang the same tune, biting hard onto the phrase "thieves robbing thieves" without letting go, determined to force the label of a bandit onto Xu Zhan's head.
The discussions outside the North Gate rose another level.
"What General He said isn't entirely unreasonable. Centurion Xu did indeed make a move..."
"But Zhao Si stole it first!"
"Stealing first and robbing later, those are two different things, right?"
After listening to He Minghu's words, Xu Qinghuan suddenly raised her hand.
Clap, clap, clap!
"General He."
Xu Qinghuan lowered her hands, looking at him with a faint smile.
"Thieves robbing thieves... those words are used wonderfully."
He Minghu froze for a moment.
He never expected Xu Qinghuan to play along with his words. For a moment, he couldn't figure out this woman's strategy.
Ma Jin'an also frowned warily.
Xu Qinghuan didn't give them time to react and continued speaking.
She held up an index finger.
"First thing. Just now, General He personally said it in front of the entire army. Zhao Si, blinded by greed, privately stole the precious glazed treasure sealed by the Imperial Envoy in the Deputy General's Manor, fled to Wild Fox Beach, and exchanged it for provisions with the Helians."
Xu Qinghuan's gaze was like lightning, pressing straight at He Minghu.
"These were your own words, General He. I haven't added a single word, nor subtracted a single sentence."
He Minghu opened his mouth, his scalp tingling.
He had indeed said those words.
Before entering the North Gate, the story he and Ma Jin'an had agreed upon was exactly this: push Zhao Si out to take the blame, and insist it was a subordinate acting on his own.
"To... to answer Lord Xu, I did say it," He Minghu replied, bracing himself.
"Very well."
Xu Qinghuan held up a second finger.
"Second thing, what is the crime for privately stealing military supplies?"
This question didn't need anyone to answer; every civil and military official and veteran soldier present knew it clearly.
Xu Qinghuan continued herself.
"According to the laws of Great Qian, those who steal military supplies and baggage are to be beheaded."
"Those who privately trade with an enemy state are to be punished for colluding with the enemy."
"For those who collude with the enemy and betray the country, their entire clan shall be executed."
The three laws came out of her mouth, crisp and neat, much like reading a menu.
"Which means, according to General He's own classification, Zhao Si is no longer a soldier of Great Qian."
Xu Qinghuan turned around, facing the thousands of soldiers inside and outside the North Gate.
"He is a traitor who colluded with an enemy state; he is an enemy of Great Qian."
He Minghu finally realized what was happening, and a sudden chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
He wanted to speak up and interrupt, but Xu Qinghuan gave him absolutely no room to breathe.
"Then General He, listen further, and see what can be deduced by following your words."
Xu Qinghuan turned back and looked at He Minghu.
"Zhao Si, according to General He, is a national traitor who stole military supplies and colluded with the enemy."
"Zhao Si went to Wild Fox Beach to exchange for provisions with the Helians, and these provisions were in the hands of the Helians."
"Centurion Xu Zhan led the vanguard battalion to intercept and kill the traitor Zhao Si halfway, reclaiming the precious treasure of Great Qian. He then defeated thirty-seven Helian elites, captured all of the enemy's cattle, sheep, and provisions, and escorted them back to Zhenbei City!"
She paused for a beat.
"General He calls this 'thieves robbing thieves'?"
"Whose ill-gotten gains were robbed? The gains of a traitor who colluded with the enemy! The gains of the Helian barbarians!"
"Xu Zhan intercepted and killed a traitor, reclaiming our Great Qian's precious glazed treasure. He also defeated the Helian elites, capturing over seven hundred of the enemy's cattle, sheep, and provisions..."
Her clear, cold voice echoed in the night wind.
"I dare ask General He!"
Xu Qinghuan turned her head, facing He Minghu directly.
"Killing a traitor and seizing enemy provisions! Is this not a monumental achievement that asserts the might of Great Qian and brings merit to Zhenbei City?!"
When these words dropped, the entire North Gate became quieter than the dead of night.
And He Minghu was completely roasted over the fire.
Using the very knives he had spat out, Xu Qinghuan wove a flawless, fatal trap for him.
Refute it?
If you refute that Xu Zhan deserves merit for killing a traitor, it is equivalent to admitting that Zhao Si is not a traitor. Then who ordered Zhao Si to go to Wild Fox Beach to make a deal? You, He Minghu!
Even if you push away the responsibility, isn't Xu Zhan still a hero for reclaiming the food?
Do not refute it?
Then Xu Zhan is not just a warrior who seized enemy provisions, but a great hero who killed a traitor and thwarted the Helians. The origins of these cattle, sheep, and provisions are completely clean, and they have absolutely nothing to do with you, He Minghu.
Ma Jin'an's breathing quickened for a couple of beats.
He stood there with his mouth shut, desperately searching for loopholes in his mind, turning it over and over, yet unexpectedly unable to find a single usable gap.
Xu Qinghuan's logic grew right out of He Minghu's own mouth. To overthrow her was to overthrow He Minghu.
From beginning to end, this woman hadn't told a single lie or fabricated a single fact; she merely rearranged every word He Minghu had said.
The whispers in the crowd started up again, but this time, the direction was completely different from before.
"Imperial Envoy Xu makes sense! Zhao Si colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, what is wrong with Centurion Xu killing a traitor?"
"The cattle and sheep were also snatched back from the Helians, they weren't moved from the storehouse of the Deputy General's Manor!"
"Killing a traitor and taking the barbarians' food, isn't this a great merit?"
"Well said! Centurion Xu is winning face for our Zhenbei City!"
Several generals and commanders also nodded along.
Tie Lanshan finally moved.
The Lord Commander, who had been silent all along, took a step forward.
The boiling North Gate instantly fell quiet.
"Deputy General He."
Tie Lanshan exuded an irresistible, oppressive aura.
"I have pondered over the Imperial Envoy's words, and I cannot find a single flaw."
Tie Lanshan continued speaking.
"Zhao Si privately stole military supplies, colluded with the enemy, and betrayed the country. According to the law, he deserves to be executed, and even death cannot wipe out his crimes. This case is hereby closed!"
"Centurion Xu Zhan of the vanguard battalion intercepted and killed the traitor, defeated thirty-seven Helian elites, and captured the enemy's cattle, sheep, and provisions."
He looked around at the thousands of soldiers inside and outside the North Gate.
"Record this as a great merit!"
Cheers erupted once again above and below the city walls, and the entire army boiled with excitement! The cheers soared straight into the clouds.
Tie Lanshan raised his right hand and pressed it downward, and the roaring clamor slightly subsided.
"Take Zhang Tiezhu and the others down to be properly treated for their injuries."
"Commander Qian, you have done a great service by leading the way. You will be rewarded later. Go rest in the rear camp for now."
Tie Lanshan turned his head and jutted his chin toward Zhao Xiong behind him.
"Zhao Xiong, take your men and bring all these cattle, sheep, and grain carts into the Commander-in-Chief's camp..."
"Tonight, we reward the army! We eat meat!"
"Yes, sir!"
Zhao Xiong's response carried an uncontrollable excitement. He drew his waist blade, raised it to the sky, and roared at the elite cavalry behind him.
"Brothers! Come herd the cattle with me!"
Hundreds of elite cavalry scattered and surged toward the herds of cattle and sheep. The soldiers who had been starving for half a year did not even wait for orders. They scrambled to help pull ropes and shout at the livestock, terrified that if they were a step too late, the meat would fly away.
He Minghu froze in place.
The three hundred iron-clad guards behind him did not even dare to make a peep.
Because He Minghu had not given an order.
He did not dare to give an order.
Who would dare stop them? Stop the starving, crazed grunts of the entire city from eating meat? That would be like an old man swallowing arsenic—purely courting death!
The soldiers of the entire Northern Garrison City had been looking forward to tonight's mutton soup for half a year.
Whoever dared to stop it would become the public enemy of the whole city.
Ma Jin'an's face was ashen as he stood half a step beside He Minghu.
Their confident plan to turn the tables from just moments ago was now shattered into dust on the ground.
The cattle and sheep were herded away, and the grain carts were hauled off.
Zhang Tiezhu and Qian Fugui were escorted into the city by the men from the Commander-in-Chief's estate.
He Minghu had lost absolutely everything.
Xu Qinghuan sheathed her sword and strolled leisurely over to He Minghu.
She stopped exactly an arm's length away.
"General He."
He Minghu looked up numbly, meeting Xu Qinghuan's cold, clear eyes.
"I will gladly accept these supplies on behalf of the soldiers of the Northern Garrison City."
Xu Qinghuan leaned in slightly and lowered her voice, her tone carrying undisguised mockery.
"You should go back and get a good rest, General. Tonight we are rewarding the troops. If you have the time, come and have a bowl of mutton soup."
