At the foot of the Yin Mountains blessed by the Eternal Blue Sky, lay the right camp of the Helian Royal Court.
The Right Luli Prince, Helian Ashina Gudu, was sitting on a folding chair covered with white tiger skin, carving meat off a roasted golden-brown sheep leg bone.
A scout knelt in the middle of the tent.
On both sides of the tent stood eight burly Helian generals, each clad in heavy armor.
"Are you done speaking?" Ashina Gudu tossed a piece of carved fat into his mouth, chewing until his mouth dripped with grease.
"R-replying to Your Highness," the scout's voice trembled as he spoke with his face pressed to the ground. "The entire force was wiped out. Lord Helian Wu... had his skull smashed by a mace, leaving not even an intact corpse. Of the thirty-two royal court elites he took with him, none survived. All those cattle, sheep, and millet were taken by the Great Qian people."
"Outrageous!"
The chiliarch standing at the head of the left side, Wurigeng, half-drew his scimitar, the blade making a harsh grating sound against the scabbard.
"Those two-legged sheep of Great Qian have eaten the hearts of bears and the gall bladders of leopards! Helian Wu was a vanguard under the Left Luli Prince, and a warrior of our Royal Court! Wild Fox Shoal was our pasture to begin with. For the military dogs of Great Qian to dare cross the border and kill people, this is a provocation!"
Wurigeng dropped to one knee, clasping his hands together and raising them high above his head.
"Your Highness! Give me five hundred iron cavalry! Tomorrow morning I will flatten Wild Fox Shoal, let my horses drink from the White Horse River, and chop off the head of whatever centurion leads that outpost camp to serve as Your Highness's chamber pot!"
The other generals loudly voiced their agreement. Clamorous shouting filled the tent, accompanied by a cacophony of clashing weapons.
Ashina Gudu ignored the clamor.
The Right Luli Prince swallowed the mutton in his mouth, then used his short knife to pick up a piece of lean meat dusted with cumin, placing it in his mouth to chew slowly.
The noise echoed in the tent, but Ashina Gudu did not even raise his eyelids.
In his mind, however, surfaced the image of Chen Changfeng, who had visited the camp late at night half a month ago, wrapped in a black robe.
That night, holding a bowl of kumiss, Chen Changfeng smiled as he revealed a secret: Sarhan was going behind the Royal Court's back to Great Qian's Zhenbei City to exchange for capital to launch a rebellion.
Using this secret, Ashina Gudu took the opportunity to strike, directly executing Sarhan and logically purging the entire clan of Sarhan's uncle.
The condition Chen Changfeng offered was very simple: have the Helian people send troops to Wild Fox Shoal to kill a few people and ruin a business deal.
Ashina Gudu naturally obliged, dispatching that very Helian Wu.
"Have you all argued enough?"
Ashina Gudu finally spoke, suppressing all the shouting in the tent.
The Right Luli Prince sheathed his short knife and pulled over a piece of white linen to wipe the grease from his hands.
"Helian Wu died because his skills were lacking. Who else is there to blame?" Ashina Gudu tossed the linen into the charcoal basin, sending flames shooting half a foot high. "He was always a nail planted on my side by the Left Luli Prince. I am more than happy to use the hands of the Great Qian people to pull out this nail. What revenge is there to take?"
Wurigeng stood stunned in place, his mouth half-open, his scimitar still half-drawn.
"Your Highness, then... then what about our face..."
"How much is face worth?" Ashina Gudu sneered coldly, looking at the scout kneeling on the ground. "I ask you, where did the eight carts of Great Qian colored glaze that Chen Changfeng promised go?"
The scout quickly kowtowed even lower.
"Replying to Your Highness, this lowly one was hiding on the opposite bank of Wild Fox Shoal and heard everything clearly! Those eight carts of glaze were never transported out of Zhenbei City. Great Qian's imperial envoy seized the goods. The deputy general of Zhenbei City, He Minghu, lusted after the heavy treasure and sent his trusted aide Zhao Si to Wild Fox Shoal for a private trade, and the result..."
"And the result was that he was played by that Great Qian imperial envoy, a case of thieves robbing thieves?" Ashina Gudu picked up the thread of the conversation, bursting into a fit of loud laughter.
The laughter shook the tent.
"Interesting, truly interesting."
Ashina Gudu stood up and walked over to a cowhide map.
"The Great Qian border army can be said to be rotten from top to bottom. The commander-in-chief ignores his duties, the deputy general is fatally greedy for wealth, and the army inspector only cares about fighting for power and profit. Now, look at this, a female imperial envoy has arrived..."
Ashina Gudu's finger tapped on the location of Zhenbei City on the map.
"Chen Changfeng thought he could use me as his blade, borrowing my hand to crush that imperial envoy's prestige. But this imperial envoy is even more ruthless. She used those eight carts of glaze as bait and schemed against both He Minghu and Helian Wu."
Wurigeng stepped forward, looking confused.
"Your Highness, Great Qian officials are all spineless cowards. Could this female imperial envoy possibly have three heads and six arms?"
"Whether she has three heads and six arms, I do not know, but she is someone who knows how to do business." Ashina Gudu's finger slid down the route outside the north gate. "Zhenbei City has been out of grain for half a year. By bringing back this batch of cattle and sheep, she stabilized the army's morale. He Minghu suffered a loss in silence and doesn't even dare to utter a peep."
"These methods are simple and vicious."
Ashina Gudu turned around, looking at the generals in the tent.
"On the grasslands, one does not fear encountering a fierce tiger; one fears encountering a starving wolf."
"This female imperial envoy has a massive appetite. Since she has reached her hand into the border markets, it shows that she is likely not seeking fame, but profit. People with greed can be cooperated with."
Ashina Gudu put away his smile, his expression turning cold.
"Pass down my military order: no one is allowed to leak a single word about the matter at Wild Fox Shoal. If the Left Luli Prince's side asks about Helian Wu, say he encountered horse bandits while patrolling the border and fell off a cliff to his death."
Wurigeng quickly voiced his compliance.
"Also, send a message to Chen Changfeng." Ashina Gudu walked back to the folding chair and sat down. "Just say that I have accepted the gift he sent. As for the subsequent business deals, I will no longer discuss them with him."
Wurigeng was taken aback. "Then who will Your Highness discuss them with?"
"With that female imperial envoy."
Ashina Gudu's gaze swept across the tent, finally landing on a man. The man had a thin figure and had been standing in the corner the whole time.
This person was not wearing heavy armor. He was draped in the cyan long gown of a Great Qian Confucian scholar, yet he kept the braided hair of the Helian people on his head, making him look completely out of place.
"Huyan Chi."
The man in the long gown stepped forward, bowing and performing a Great Qian cupped-fist salute.
"Your subordinate is here."
"You spent your early years in Bianjing and are fluent in the official language of Great Qian. You have the best grasp of their convoluted ways." Ashina Gudu pointed toward the south. "Change into the clothes of a Great Qian merchant, take two eastern pearls, and sneak into Zhenbei City tomorrow morning."
Huyan Chi straightened up, his face expressionless.
"Your Highness wants your subordinate to go see Imperial Envoy Xu? Discuss what?"
"Discuss mutual trade, discuss border markets, discuss money." Ashina Gudu sneered. "Since she could produce eight carts of colored glaze, she definitely has more good things in her hands. Tell her that the price He Minghu cannot give her, I will give. The trade routes He Minghu cannot protect, my iron cavalry will protect for her."
Huyan Chi nodded and asked another question.
"What if that imperial envoy refuses to see your subordinate, or simply ties your subordinate up and sends him to the Commander-in-Chief's estate?"
Ashina Gudu untied a gold plaque engraved with a wolf's head from his waist and threw it to Huyan Chi.
"She won't. She has forced He Minghu into a corner, and He Minghu will inevitably counterattack. She now urgently needs outside help to stabilize the situation.
"Show her this plaque. Tell her that if she cooperates with me, she will take seven parts of the wealth from these northern borders, and I only want three parts."
Huyan Chi caught the gold plaque and tucked it into his robes.
"Your subordinate understands. Tomorrow morning, as soon as the city gates open, your subordinate will enter the city."
Ashina Gudu picked up the fiery liquor from the table and drained it in a single gulp.
"Go. Do not disappoint your king."
