Hearing the report from outside, the crowd's attention was momentarily drawn away. In that instant, the woman who had been lying on the ground, eyes rolled back, suddenly sprang up and bolted towards the door.
By the door were men from the Sizhou side, as well as Chen Yang and others who were detaining Du Liang and his group of soldiers. Chen Yang had arrived later and wasn't clear about the earlier situation. Seeing a woman charging towards him now, he took no action.
He didn't react, but Xiong Mao was completely incensed.
Xiong Mao suddenly felt his brief hesitation moments ago had been foolish beyond belief. The mistress and this woman were as different as cloud and mud. Looking at her now, she bore not a shred of the mistress's noble dignity. He immediately let out a fierce shout, drew his blade, and gave chase.
Soon, a scream rang out in the courtyard.
"Duke Li, your subordinate has a report." Lieutenant Liu hurried inside. Seeing Huo Tingshan also in the room, his expression changed slightly.
Li Xiaotian, noticing this, asked, "What is it you need to report?"
Lieutenant Liu recalled the journey here, having seen many Youzhou soldiers along the way—their numbers seemed significantly greater.
Lieutenant Liu hesitated.
Li Xiaotian, however, said with a smile, "What's with this stammering? It's unbefitting. You haven't learned the good things, how have you picked up the indecisiveness of those under Huo of Youzhou?"
Just then, Xiong Mao returned with his blade. Hearing Li Xiaotian's words, his whole body stiffened. He was dark-skinned, so a usual blush was hardly noticeable, but now it became somewhat apparent. His complexion was much ruddier than usual, a dark red, starkly contrasted by the blood continuously snaking down the blade.
Huo Tingshan glanced over. It wasn't an especially cold or severe look, yet it instantly caused a thin layer of cold sweat to break out on Xiong Mao's back.
He thought, it's over.
The Grand General didn't often personally reprimand people, but once he started...
Over there, prompted by Li Xiaotian's words, Lieutenant Liu gritted his teeth and said, "Duke Li, after failing to pursue the culprits, this subordinate returned to the scene to clear the battlefield. I unexpectedly discovered something unusual at the site where the Youzhou soldiers fell."
Li Xiaotian asked casually, "What anomaly?"
"The earth had the stench of corpses," Lieutenant Liu said.
Li Xiaotian didn't grasp it at first, but having rolled in the sands of battle for many years, and seeing Lieutenant Liu's wary look towards the Youzhou side, he immediately understood.
The earth had the stench of corpses. The Youzhou side's "soldiers" had been dead long before, not truly fallen in battle.
Why fake it?
Precisely to avoid being discovered that only their Sizhou men had died from start to finish.
Of the two parties traveling together, only one side suffered heavy casualties while the other remained unscathed. Anyone would suspect the other side of foul play.
From beginning to end, it was all Huo Tingshan's scheme.
Utterly despicable!
"Huo Tingshan, it was you who killed my son!" Li Xiaotian roared in fury.
Huo Tingshan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Li Sizhou, you mustn't make such wild accusations. Where is the evidence? Based solely on the stench of corpses in the earth?"
Li Xiaotian nearly ground his teeth to dust. "Isn't the stench of corpses enough? You used corpses to pass off as your own fallen soldiers, setting up this scheme to deceive me, all to cover up the truth of killing my son."
"Li Sizhou, your words are utterly absurd. What can a mere corpse stench prove?" Huo Tingshan scoffed disdainfully.
Li Xiaotian was seething with rage, about to draw his blade, when Huo Tingshan continued, "If I recall correctly, after the incident, you ordered one team of your subordinates to follow you in pursuit, and another to search the forests on both sides. I, on the other hand, gave the order to clear the battlefield and collect the bodies. Is that not so?"
Li Xiaotian paused briefly, then coldly affirmed it was.
Huo Tingshan: "You did not issue a cleanup order. Therefore, the rest of your men left the scene immediately. My side also withdrew after finishing the cleanup. Before your men returned to the scene, others must have certainly passed through."
Although Lan Zimu was also a military officer, he had originally won the favor of Shi of Bingzhou in his previous post through tactful dealings. Now that he had pledged allegiance to Youzhou, he naturally had to speak up for his superior.
Seeing the situation, Lan Zimu quickly interjected, "Exactly. Searching the forests couldn't have been done in an instant, but moving corpses is quick work, done in a few moments, not even the time for two cups of tea. After we left, how can you be sure no one else came? This is not a settled matter. Please, Li Sizhou, do not make baseless accusations and tarnish our Youzhou's reputation."
Lieutenant Liu, whose face had also darkened, was taken aback.
Come to think of it, when they returned later, the Youzhou troops were indeed already gone from the site. They had cleaned up the scene alone afterwards.
A glint flashed in Lan Zimu's eyes. "Moreover, this manor isn't far from the incident site. Those living here must be thoroughly familiar with the surrounding terrain and any hidden places. Perhaps interrogating them might yield some answers."
Hearing this, Li Xiaotian felt the fury about to erupt being pressed down by an invisible hand.
Interrogate the people of the manor.
The leader of this manor...
Li Xiaotian looked down at his feet. The headless corpse lay quietly on the ground, blood pooling around it.
The leader was dead, and by his own hand, no less.
Li Xiaotian's expression turned grim.
No one spoke. The originally spacious room became tense, swords drawn and bows bent, feeling instantly cramped. The Youzhou and Sizhou sides stood opposed, as if a single order from their leaders could ignite the invisible tension into open conflict.
A muscle twitched in Li Xiaotian's cheek. He had cooled down completely, knowing now was not the time to tear off the pretense. Huo Tingshan had brought more men than he had. There was no guarantee he didn't have further reinforcements waiting outside. Now was not the time to settle accounts.
"You are right. The people of the manor should be thoroughly interrogated. I, Li Xiaotian, will not wrong the innocent, nor will I let the scoundrel who killed my own flesh and blood go unpunished." Li Xiaotian forced out a grimace of a smile.
Huo Tingshan: "Well said, Li Sizhou."
The group left the room.
As he stepped out, Huo Tingshan's peripheral glance swept over the courtyard.
Not far away lay a woman. Her neck was slit, her head connected to her body by only a thin flap of skin. As she fell, her face had turned sideways towards the direction of the room door. Huo Tingshan's steps didn't falter. He took one look, then withdrew his gaze, utterly unmoved.
To say she bore even a resemblance would be an insult.
No one was like her.
What followed was interrogation. However, since the two forces had earlier broken in by force, a good number of the manor's soldiers had been killed resisting, leaving only about a dozen captives. These captives knew nothing, infuriating Li Sizhou so much he executed them on the spot.
Huo Tingshan looked at the corpses littering the ground. "Since there's nothing to be gained here, let's return."
It was a statement, not a discussion. Leaving these words, he led the Youzhou troops away directly.
They retraced their path.
Riding past the incident site, Huo Tingshan glanced down at the ground.
Earlier, Lieutenant Liu had split his team: one part to transport the bodies back to camp, the rest to the manor. This trip, the horses' hooves trampled over the site, kicking up dust that covered some of the traces.
Now that Huo Tingshan had returned, his men once again passed over the site of the incident. Dust rose again, covering more traces.
"Great General, should we clean up the traces?" Lan Zimu asked.
Huo Tingshan: "No need. Doing so now would be no different from declaring 'There are no 300 taels of silver buried here,' meaning a clumsy denial that only draws more suspicion."
Lan Zimu thought about it and agreed.
Li Sizhou already knew about the corpse stench from the earth. He was likely following not far behind at this very moment. To go and clean up now would be an easy way to get caught red-handed.
They had no choice but to leave it be.
Pei Ying returned to the military camp before noon. She waited until noon, but Huo Tingshan still hadn't returned, so she had the midday meal with her daughter and Huo Zhizhang, who returned later.
Pei Ying ate very little at the midday meal, less than a third of her usual amount. She just picked at her food a couple of times before putting down her chopsticks.
"Mother, won't you eat a bit more?" Meng Ling'er asked with concern.
Pei Ying shook her head, "I can't eat anymore."
Earlier, to make the scene convincing, she had lifted the carriage curtain to watch the fight outside. The Youzhou side was putting on a fake show, just going through the motions, but the neighboring Sizhou side was real—white blades going in, red blades coming out, stray arrows flying, and those hit screaming as they fell.
At the time, her heart was in her throat. First, she worried the Sizhou side would discover the ruse, then she feared Li Xiaotian would see through it. That fear and nausea were suppressed somewhat under the extreme tension.
However, now that she was back in the safety of the camp, with no other worries pressing on her, the earlier scenes resurfaced vividly in her mind, like buoyant logs freed from a bundle, parading before her eyes.
"Mother, should I summon Physician Feng?" Huo Zhizhang asked.
"No need, I'll be fine after resting a while." Seeing the lingering worry on their faces, Pei Ying added, "When your father returns later, I'll have a little more food with him."
The two younger ones had no choice but to let it be.
After the meal, Huo Zhizhang went to attend to other duties. The ambush on the Sizhou army and the assassination of Li Kangshun were not the end; he had other tasks.
Meng Ling'er stayed with her mother for two quarters of an hour. Seeing it was Pei Ying's usual time for a nap, she also withdrew.
Pei Ying lay on the soft bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Just as she thought about finding something to do, she heard a commotion erupt outside the tent.
By the sound of it, it seemed Huo Tingshan had returned.
Unable to sleep, Pei Ying simply got up, casually picked up a cloak, put it on, and stepped out of the tent.
The soldiers who had gone out with Huo Tingshan hadn't eaten their midday meal. The operation had gone smoothly; not only was Li Kangshun eliminated, but all the spies from Chang'an were also rooted out. Everyone was in high spirits.
"Great General, the kitchen crew has brought the midday meal. Aren't you going to eat?" Lan Zimu saw Huo Tingshan break away from the group and head towards the tents.
Huo Tingshan waved a hand, "Don't mind me. You all go ahead."
Lan Zimu was puzzled, but Chen Wei and Chen Yang, the two brothers, exchanged glances and steered him away.
Once they were some distance away, Lan Zimu asked, "Why isn't the Great General eating? It was quite a busy morning; he should reward himself with a good meal now."
Chen Wei: "The Great General is probably going to find the Madam."
Lan Zimu didn't understand: "Couldn't he go find her after eating? The Madam is in the camp; she's not going anywhere."
Chen Wei was stumped by the question and said hesitantly, "Well, it's probably urgent. After all, that 'cousin' was beheaded. Whether it was real or not, he has to inform the Madam."
Chen Yang, who had arrived later and completely missed the "cousin" story, immediately grew curious: "What cousin?"
Chen Wei gave him a rough account of what happened. After hearing it, Chen Yang said indignantly, "That distant cousin was no ordinary woman; she was probably a spy. Remember how a whole batch of female spies popped up at the Yunxiu Tower before, causing a lot of trouble for us and the Madam."
At the end, the two brothers looked at each other, both visibly frustrated.
Back then, they had thought they were just a few women who couldn't possibly stir up much trouble. Little did they know that one misstep could lead to everlasting regret. The Yunxiu Tower incident became the most significant failure in their careers.
Later, when news of the incident reached the Chen family's main house, they were severely punished upon returning to Youzhou with the army.
...
Huo Tingshan rounded a tent and happened to see Pei Ying coming out.
It was early spring now, past the coldest snow-melting season. She was dressed more lightly than before, wearing only an apricot-white cloak over her clothes.
She had deliberately disheveled her hair earlier. Now, she had completely undone her elaborate chignon and removed the gold and jade hairpins, simply tying her full head of dark hair with two deep blue ribbons. The smooth, dark tresses cascaded over her shoulders and onto the cloak, a stark contrast of black and white.
Black was her hair; white was the cloak and her complexion.
He quickened his pace. "Has my wife summoned Feng Wencheng?"
Pei Ying shook her head, "No need. I'll be fine after a nap later."
Huo Tingshan heard her refusal and gave a soft, scoffing laugh. "It's a good thing there's no wind now. Otherwise, with my wife's current delicate, willow-in-the-wind state, a strong gust might just blow you away."
Pei Ying: "..."
"Have Feng Wencheng come here." Huo Tingshan casually ordered a guard to relay the message, then led Pei Ying back into the tent.
Once inside, Pei Ying asked him, "Huo Tingshan, was your mission successful?"
The man untied the pouch from his waist and set it aside. He took out the old eagle-embroidered pouch from a wooden box as he said, "Rest assured, your husband hasn't encountered any setbacks since taking a wife."
His tone was rather arrogant. Pei Ying couldn't help but say, "Be careful. After all, Li Sizhou has lost his son, and his only legitimate son at that."
Previously, while chatting with Zhuang Manxiang, their conversation had naturally progressed from light topics to deeper ones, eventually touching on household matters. She knew Li Xiaotian had many illegitimate sons and daughters, but he only had one legitimate son and one legitimate daughter.
The Great Chu dynasty currently placed great emphasis on legitimacy. Those with legitimate sons seldom invested much in educating their illegitimate ones. Having lost the heir cultivated with a pool of heart's blood, Li Xiaotian was surely deeply aggrieved.
"I'm not afraid of him causing trouble and stirring up waves; I'm more concerned if he remains unmoving and still." Huo Tingshan reattached the old pouch.
Pei Ying asked him, "Have you eaten?"
He answered truthfully, "Not yet."
"Go eat first. When Physician Feng arrives, I can speak with him myself." Pei Ying urged him to go for his meal.
The burly man stood still. He suddenly reached out, cupping her jaw with his palm, his thumb and forefinger framing her chin. He turned her face slightly, looking at her from left to right. "My wife didn't eat at noon?"
Pei Ying was slightly taken aback, about to ask if he had spoken to the children, when he continued, "Otherwise, why do you look like you've lost weight from hunger?"
Hearing this, Pei Ying knew he was talking nonsense. "I just ate less. One can't lose weight from that."
"So you really didn't eat much. I'll have the kitchen crew bring the food here. My wife will keep me company for a bit." Huo Tingshan released his hold. Seeing a faint redness appear on the skin of her jaw, he unconsciously brushed it with his thumb. The blush deepened, like rosy clouds reflected on snow, revealing a hint of springtime delicacy and charm.
He paused briefly, then withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.
Feng Wencheng hurried to the main tent. At first, he thought Huo Tingshan had returned wounded. Upon realizing the patient was Pei Ying, he felt slightly relieved.
After taking the pulse, Feng Wencheng picked up his brush to write a prescription, listing several medicinal herbs like wild jujuba seed and poria cocos. "Madam, you must not let your worries burden you too heavily. Some matters should be treated as mere passing clouds; do not dwell on them too much."
He finally prescribed a calming decoction.
Pei Ying said, "Thank you for your trouble, Physician Feng."
"It's a trivial matter, not worth mentioning." As there were still wounded soldiers in the camp needing attention, Feng Wencheng came and went in a hurry.
After he left, Huo Tingshan said, "Wife, do you remember that 'fish-eye pearl' I mentioned to you before?"
The nickname he had coined nearly made Pei Ying fail to connect it to the person. "...I remember. What about her?"
"That woman is utterly shameless. She actually claims to be your cousin," Huo Tingshan said with a cold laugh. "That Ji Xianbai has miscalculated. A distant cousin has no real connection to you, my wife. If he had sent someone claiming to be your former husband, perhaps I might have spared his life out of consideration for his past care for you."
Pei Ying: "..."
"Wife," his tone sounded quite casual as he asked, "was that little girl's biological father your childhood sweetheart?"
