The young General Ning Ciyou, son of Grand General Ning Ze, had returned to the capital to report on his duties.
Mounted at the head of the procession on a silver-saddled white horse, the young general looked every bit the picture of youthful confidence. His sharp brows swept toward his temples, his eyes gleamed like bright stars, and his tall, straight figure resembled a sturdy pine. Clad in pale-gold armor that gleamed beneath the sunlight, he carried an imposing air that warned others not to approach lightly.
The people of the capital lined the streets to welcome him, their excited voices filling the air.
“That’s the Young General Ning? Just as they say, a tiger father truly does have a tiger son. He’s so young, yet already so imposing!”
“Why do I feel like Young General Ning looks more like a scholar than a soldier?”
“Ha! You people don’t know anything. Young General Ning’s twin sister is a consort in the imperial palace!”
“Oh?”
“Think about it. If she’s beautiful enough to become an imperial consort, how could she possibly have an ordinary face?”
“They’re twins, aren’t they? Then Young General Ning must look quite similar to his sister. No wonder he’s so handsome.”
“He’s so fair and refined. He really does look like a scholar.”
“Don’t let that clean-cut appearance fool you. If you ask me, his sister is the truly formidable one. Back in the day, she beat so many noble young masters until they were crying for their mothers…”
“Hey, why are you all staring at his face and talking about his looks? Can’t you see there’s a spy being escorted behind him? So what if he looks refined? I heard that Young General Ning personally captured that spy!”
“Quick, let me have a look!”
The crowd erupted into even more chatter as everyone craned their necks to see.
Sure enough, among the soldiers accompanying Ning Ciyou back to the capital was a prison cart. A disheveled man was locked inside, keeping his head bowed and shrinking into himself as though he wished he could disappear.
He was presumably the spy Ning Ciyou had personally captured.
“I heard this is the spy who has been carrying messages back and forth between Chancellor Wen and the Northern Rong.”
“Tsk, tsk. Who would’ve thought? Chancellor Wen really turned out to be that kind of person.”
“The bastard deserves to die! Bah!”
Amid the furious crowd, however, a lean man with two thin tufts of goatee quietly slipped toward the back of the crowd.
Ever since he had left for the frontier at the age of twelve, taking the place of his elder sister Ning Wuyu when she returned to the capital, Ning Ciyou had not set foot in the capital for eight years.
Knowing that the siblings had not seen each other for eight long years, Li Jinghuai generously arranged the family banquet in Ning Wuyu’s Changxin Palace so that brother and sister could properly catch up.
Rare delicacies and exquisite dishes were brought out one after another, filling the banquet table. Li Jinghuai was in exceptionally high spirits and even ordered the chief eunuch, Wang Qi, to personally pour wine for Ning Ciyou, a gesture meant to show the young general how highly he regarded him.
“It has been eight years since we last met. You have guarded the frontier all these years, my loyal subject. It must have been hard on you. I still remember that when you first left the capital, you hadn’t even grown taller than your sister. And now look at you, you’ve become such a fine young general. Truly, heroes emerge from the young!”
Li Jinghuai raised his cup, intending to toast Ning Ciyou first.
But Ning Ciyou hurriedly rose and bowed.
“To be able to serve Your Majesty and labor for the empire is this humble general’s greatest honor. I would never dare claim credit.”
“What are you doing, my loyal subject? Quickly, sit down. We are all family here. There’s no need for such formalities.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Li Jinghuai made no effort to conceal his admiration for Ning Ciyou. Even when he looked toward Ning Wuyu, his eyes were filled with unmistakable affection.
Yet Ning Ciyou understood perfectly well that between himself and Li Jinghuai there was only the relationship between emperor and subject. There was no brother-in-law bond between them.
Serving beside the emperor was like accompanying a tiger.
He could never allow himself to become careless simply because the emperor happened to favor him at the moment. One wrong step, one moment of overconfidence, and he could easily cross a line he should never have crossed.
After several rounds of wine, Li Jinghuai sighed heavily.
“The Northern Rong barbarians are truly ambitious wolves. They actually dared to collude with officials of Great Qi, plotting to work from within and without to undermine the foundation of our nation. How utterly despicable!”
“This humble general was fortunate enough to fulfill his duty and capture the spy at the Northern Rong border.”
Ning Ciyou raised his cup.
“He has now been escorted back to the capital and delivered into Your Majesty’s hands for judgment.”
Li Jinghuai gave a cold snort.
“What is there left to judge? Execute him on the spot.”
Ning Ciyou smiled and agreed.
As he lowered his head to drink, he discreetly glanced toward Ning Wuyu across the table, using his wine cup to conceal the movement.
“Your Majesty, I believe it would be better to interrogate the spy first.”
Ning Wuyu rose and served some food onto Li Jinghuai’s plate, her smile seemingly casual.
“Although Wen Zheng has already fallen, how can we know that he has no other accomplices in the capital?”
“Accomplices?”
Li Jinghuai narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening.
The Dali Temple had only found letters proving collusion with the enemy in Chancellor Wen Zheng’s study. Yet the Northern Rong had never actually managed to steal Great Qi’s military intelligence or anything concerning the foundations of the state.
Aside from the spy Ning Ciyou had brought back from the frontier, there was no other evidence that could conclusively prove Wen Zheng’s treason.
Li Jinghuai naturally understood that there were many suspicious points surrounding the case.
If the matter were investigated thoroughly, it was entirely possible that Wen Zheng was innocent.
But an opportunity to wipe out the entire Wen family was something that might not come again for a thousand years.
What was more, Lu Ningrou was already carrying his child.
He simply could not wait any longer.
Yet the “accomplices” Ning Wuyu had mentioned were equally important.
As emperor of the entire nation, if he simply brushed the matter aside, people would inevitably question whether he was too lenient in governing the country.
Seeing the hesitation in Li Jinghuai’s expression, the Ning siblings exchanged a subtle glance.
Ning Ciyou gently swirled the wine in his cup and smiled.
“Actually, when I first captured this spy, I intended to kill him immediately to boost the morale of our troops.”
“Oh?”
Seeing that Li Jinghuai had become interested, Ning Ciyou continued.
“This spy was rather cunning. He claimed that if we spared his life, he would reveal the identities of the people working with him.”
He paused briefly.
“Since the matter was of such great importance, I decided to bring him back to the capital to face Your Majesty in person.”
A flicker of interest appeared in Ning Wuyu’s phoenix-like eyes.
“I don’t care much for singing and dancing, so I didn’t arrange any performances for today’s family banquet. But what fun is there in simply drinking wine?”
She turned toward Li Jinghuai with a smile.
“Your Majesty, why don’t we have the spy brought in now and interrogate him? We can consider it a little entertainment for the evening.”
Li Jinghuai thought for a moment before nodding.
“Very well. We shall do as my beloved consort suggests.”
After all, one more innocent soul sent to the grave might not mean much to Great Qi.
But if they truly allowed a hidden worm to escape, it could cause endless trouble.
The guards received the order and withdrew.
Not long afterward, they brought the prisoner into the hall.
The man kept his eyes lowered, too frightened to look at anyone. His whole body trembled as he stammered,
“This humble one is Cao… Cao Er. I… I pay my respects to Your Majesty.”
Li Jinghuai looked down from his elevated seat at Cao Er kneeling before him. His eyes were cold and full of scrutiny.
“Who gave you the courage to commit treason against your own country?”
“Your Majesty, this humble one… this humble one is only a traveling merchant.”
Cao Er looked as though he were about to cry.
“Truthfully, I don’t even know the name of the person behind all this. At first, he only told me that he had relatives living near the frontier and asked me to help deliver letters to his family. I had no idea those letters were messages betraying our country!”
“You still dare to make excuses?”
Li Jinghuai’s voice dropped, his authority unmistakable. Cao Er’s heart trembled violently.
“If you insist on protecting him, you will be executed by slow slicing.”
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger! Please calm your anger!”
Cao Er hurriedly knocked his head against the floor, begging for mercy. Then, like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, the words came pouring out of him.
“Although I don’t know his name, I have seen what he looks like! He has two little tufts of mustache, and he’s not young anymore. He’s thin, as skinny as an old goat! Oh, right! I once accidentally saw a jade pendant fall from his clothes. There was a single character carved onto it…”
Cao Er swallowed nervously.
“An ‘Deng’ character!”