The cold blade of the tachi pressed tightly against his neck, the crackling Electro energy coiling around it raising goosebumps on Lu Heng’s skin.
“Greedy? Lustful? What in the world is all this?!”
In this life-or-death moment, Lu Heng’s brain short-circuited for a second.
“Wait… General Sara, if you’re drawing your blade to execute me, at least get the charges right! Who in the entire Tenshukaku doesn’t know that I, Lu Heng, am a loyal and patriotic man? If we’re talking about greed, sure, I love Mora, but where on earth does ‘lustful’ come from?! I am a perfect gentleman!”
Kujou Sara’s eyes were icy, having absolutely no desire to listen to this scoundrel’s honeyed words.
“Silence! You traitor who deceives the Shogun, not only did you embezzle relief grain, but on your very first day in office, you blatantly ordered the Shogun’s guards to beat your former colleague, Kujou Otake, showing utter arrogance! And what of the dirty deeds you committed in the past? Did you think no one would bring you to justice?!”
Hearing these accusations, Lu Heng’s pupils contracted.
He keenly sensed that there was something highly fishy going on.
*Relief grain?
Kujou Sara spends her years commanding troops and arresting people on the front lines.
She has absolutely no way of getting information about internal administrative logistics.
Unless…*
A suspicion bloomed in his mind.
This had to be the work of the Kujou Clan’s higher-ups, right?
His mind raced as he glanced at the mountain of documents piled high on the desk.
A scheme formed in his mind.
The panic on his face vanished, replaced by a look of sheer, grief-stricken indignation, as if he had suffered an unspeakable humiliation!
Kujou Sara paused slightly.
“General Sara, you accuse me of corruption, of deceiving the Shogun… and even of being lustful?”
Lu Heng abruptly raised his hand, completely ignoring the blade at his throat, and pointed at the massive desk.
Piled upon it were official documents at least half a man’s height, looking as if they could bury a person alive.
His eyes turned slightly red, his voice thick with a profound sense of grievance.
Still trembling slightly from his initial fright, his tone sounded incredibly genuine.
“Open your eyes and look! Look at the mountain of paperwork in my room! If I were truly the corrupt and… and…”
Lu Heng paused.
“…lustful traitor you claim I am, would there be this many documents in my room?! Would I be handling so many affairs personally?!”
Lu Heng cried out with heart-rending grief, appearing pushed to the absolute limit of his emotions.
This sudden, hysterical “bachelor’s roar” was deafening in the silent room.
Even the Tengu general, who was well-accustomed to life-and-death battles, was momentarily stunned by this raw, excessively realistic display of grief.
The hand holding the blade actually hesitated for half a second.
“Don’t… don’t try to change the subject!” Sara gritted her teeth, forcing herself to maintain her composure.
“The facts speak for themselves! Do you dare deny that you ordered your own archives to be sealed? Is that not a guilty attempt to destroy evidence?!”
“I’m changing the subject?” Lu Heng let out a cold laugh.
“You keep claiming that I sealed the archives out of guilt and deceived the Shogun. Who told you all of this? Was it Kujou Takayuki?!”
Sara’s pupils shrank slightly.
She remained silent.
“Heh… What a joke!”
Seeing her reaction, Lu Heng had his answer.
*So it really is the head of the Kujou Clan, that old fox Kujou Takayuki!
Realizing his schemes are being exposed, he actually exploited his adopted daughter’s loyalty and lack of information to send her to Tenshukaku to purge the Shogun’s court!
Hah, truly sickening…*
His eyes flashed.
In the next instant, he stood up straight, his voice ringing with power and conviction.
“The decree to seal those archives was not issued by me at all. It was issued personally by the Ogosho herself!”
“The Eternal Paradise initiative I am implementing is the only path for the Shogun to achieve Inazuma’s eternity! It represents the Shogun’s own will! Precisely because it is of such grave importance, all information regarding me has been classified as top secret! Do you honestly believe a mere scribe like me has the authority to pull that off?!”
“Nonsense!” Sara barked.
She tightened her grip on the hilt and pressed on, “Even if the matter of the archives was a divine decree, what about Kujou Otake?! The Tenryou Commission has solid evidence that the moment you gained power, you sent men to publicly beat your former colleague. Such ruthless methods—was that for the Shogun as well?!”
“Kujou Otake? A colleague? Heh…” Lu Heng laughed as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
“General Sara, you spend your years commanding troops abroad. I’m afraid you have absolutely no idea what kind of parasites are breeding in your own backyard! What right does he have to be called a colleague? He is nothing but a playboy from a branch of the Kujou Clan who can’t even read an official document!”
Lu Heng stared hard at her.
“Why don’t you go to the taverns in Hanamizaka yourself and ask around about how he usually lords his power over others? Why do you think he suddenly replaced me? He got beaten? Ha! It was because he spewed arrogant drivel and brought disaster upon himself! Just imagine what kind of outrageous things he must have said to make the Shogun’s own guards lose their patience and beat him!”
This rapid succession of counterarguments hit Kujou Sara’s perception like heavy hammer blows.
A flicker of doubt crossed her eyes.
“Are you questioning the Ogosho’s judgment?!”
Lu Heng suddenly raised his voice, his thunderous roar like a sudden clap of lightning!
Instead of retreating, he took a step forward, directly into the sharp edge of the tachi! Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The blade sliced his skin, and a thin trickle of crimson blood snaked down the steel.
As if completely numb to the pain, his eyes burned with a fanatical intensity that made even Sara feel a chill.
“The Shogun is wise and far-sighted! If I were truly a treacherous villain, do you think she wouldn’t have seen through me?!”
“Heaven as my witness! I, Lu Heng, have dedicated my entire heart and soul to the nation and the Shogun’s grand cause. My personal humiliation is a minor matter, but I will absolutely never allow anyone, in any way, to question the majesty and judgment of Her Eternal Excellency, the Almighty Shogun!”
In her experience, corrupt officials would fall to their knees begging for mercy the moment a blade was pressed against their neck.
Yet this physically weak man before her had airtight logic, and had even turned things around to expose the corrupt underbelly of the Tenryou Commission!
Sara was utterly shaken by this display of unparalleled loyalty!
Cold sweat broke out in the palm of her hand holding the tachi, and she subconsciously pulled the blade back by half an inch.
Lu Heng keenly caught the hesitation in her eyes.
Now was the time!
Pressing his advantage step by step, he forced the high-and-mighty Tengu general back until her shoulders hit the wooden door, looking down into her golden eyes.
“General Sara, you have asked me so much. Now, it is my turn to ask you.”
Lu Heng’s voice suddenly dropped, carrying an unquestionable weight of authority.
“As a warrior of the Shogun, what is your duty?!”
“Look into my eyes! Answer me!”
This sudden rebuke, brimming with the commanding authority of a superior, struck at the very core of Sara’s programming.
The battle-hardened Tengu actually straightened her spine instinctively, her tone softening by several degrees.
“…To clear all obstacles for the Shogun’s grand cause.”
“Very well.” Lu Heng masterfully shifted his tone, his thunderous rage instantly giving way to a gentle warmth.
“Everything I am doing now is to carry out the Shogun’s will.”
He stared deep into Sara’s eyes and spoke slowly.
“If you still believe I am a treacherous villain, General Sara, then why don’t you stay by my side? From this day forth, you can accompany me, participate in implementing the Eternal Paradise project, and oversee it personally. You can watch every single ledger I keep and every order I issue. If I commit even the slightest act of corruption or do anything to harm the Shogun’s grand cause…”
Lu Heng pointed to his own neck, where the wound was still bleeding.
“…we shall initiate a Duel Before the Throne! At that time, you can decapitate me with full justification, clearing this obstacle for the Shogun.”
Lu Heng leaned in slightly, his voice like a devil’s whisper.
“This is a deal where you have absolutely nothing to lose, isn’t it?”