The Road to Glory

Chapter 200

"You deceived me!"

Yu Zhiyuan's heart was torn between agony and hatred. To avoid revealing any clues, he had to desperately conceal his emotions, nearly driven mad by the overwhelming suppression. His fingers dug into his palms, the bleeding staining the inner side of his sleeve a deep shade.

He glared at Xiao Li with a gaze that seemed capable of devouring flesh: "Still spouting nonsense! You, the treacherous villain who harmed the Young Master and the County Princess, deserve to be flayed and boiled alive for such an extreme punishment!"

Xiao Li lifted his eyes coldly and lazily: "Wasn't it you, Adjutant Yu, who caused the deaths of the Imperial Son-in-Law and the County Princess?"

The pressure and sharpness in his gaze made it impossible for anyone to meet his eyes, yet his tone was as casual as ever: "Don't worry, this Marquis guarantees that when Adjutant Yu is flayed and boiled alive, he will be cooked in the same pot as Yu the Poisoner, reuniting father and son in flesh and blood."

These words sent a chill running through everyone present, rising from the depths of their hearts.

Yu Zhiyuan was also startled by Xiao Li's gaze and momentarily forgot to speak. Xiao Li raised a letter between his index and middle fingers, asking indifferently: "Does Adjutant Yu recognize this letter?"

Zhang Huai, standing nearby, noticed the letter in Xiao Li's hand and showed a slight change in expression, though he quickly concealed it, unnoticed by anyone.

Yu Zhiyuan stared fixedly at the envelope in Xiao Li's hand, as if pondering the letter's authenticity. Soon, he seemed to have made a decision and sneered: "First, you failed to frame me by capturing a random bandit from the Pei camp. Now, you want to pin a crime on me with some nonsensical letter?"

Xiao Li raised an eyebrow indifferently and handed the letter to a guard beside him: "Read it."

The guard took the letter, retrieved the paper inside, and began reading: "To my esteemed father, it has been five years since we parted in Zhuzhou. I respectfully inquire after your well-being. In midwinter, I traveled far with my mentor and encountered heavy snow in Qingzhou. Seeing refugees begging with their children, I recalled how you once knocked on every wealthy door to beg for porridge for me. My heart aches, and my spirit grows dim..."

With each line the guard read, Yu Zhiyuan's face grew paler. By the end, his lips were trembling uncontrollably.

There was no doubt—this was the letter he had written to Yu Jingwen.

Xiao Li raised a hand, and the guard stopped reading.

Xiao Li looked up and asked Yu Zhiyuan: "This letter was written in the late winter of the thirteenth year of Shaojing. Shall we continue reading?"

Yu Zhiyuan clenched his teeth tightly, unable to utter a word. His mind was a tangled mess, uncertain how many more letters exchanged between him and Yu Jingwen were in Xiao Li's possession.

As if reading his thoughts, Xiao Li said nonchalantly: "Your father must have missed you dearly, Adjutant Yu, to have carefully preserved every letter you sent back in a box."

As he spoke, another guard stepped forward with an ornate brocade box. Xiao Li took it, turned it upside down, and said indifferently: "Adjutant Yu may continue to deny everything. This Marquis will simply have someone read each letter aloud."

The letters from the brocade box scattered across the ground like snowflakes.

Seeing the letters strewn about, Yu Zhiyuan's expression grew even more ashen, and he nearly lost his footing.

An uproar broke out on the city wall.

A faint movement seemed to come from the direction of the Rack. Xiao Li glanced over, his expression turning slightly surprised: "He's still alive?"

Then, with a hint of mockery, he added: "This game is over. There's no use keeping him alive."

His ice-cold eyes were dark and profound as he lightly commanded the executioner: "Continue flaying him alive."At the signal, the executioner pulled the iron chains, preparing to continue flaying the already mutilated Yu Jingwen on the rack.

But from the city tower came an utterly broken scream: "Stop!"

Everyone on the tower froze.

Yu Zhiyuan leaned against the battlements, looking down with trembling lips and eyes so red they seemed to bleed: "Stop the torture!"

He had previously staked everything, watching Yu Jingwen being flayed and boiled alive, believing that enduring until Yu Jingwen's death would secure his own survival.

Now he realized it was all just Xiao Li's cruel game.

Xiao Li had long possessed evidence of his espionage for the Pei camp but deliberately withheld it, all to watch him choose survival over his father's gruesome death—to witness his pathetic struggle between life and death, his utter degradation!

His spirit completely shattered, the realization that Yu Jingwen was still alive triggered a violent backlash of the emotions he had suppressed while watching the flaying. Overwhelmed with agony and guilt, he wept hoarsely: "Father—"

For a long moment, only the wind broke the silence.

Xiao Li needed no further words. The slanders the Wei camp had pinned on him crumbled to dust the instant Yu Zhiyuan acknowledged his father.

After a wave of murmurs, the tower fell deathly quiet again.

Yu Zhiyuan, bound tightly, was escorted down to the city gate and handed over to Xiao Li. Though Yuan Fang had long known Xiao Li was framed, he still felt profound shame, uncertain how to apologize and ask him to return to Northern Wei.

Yu Zhiyuan desperately stepped forward, crying "Father" in a mournful voice, trying to speak to Yu Jingwen tied to the rack.

But the armored soldier behind him yanked the rope hard, restraining his movement. Stumbling, he could advance no further, only continuing his hoarse cries: "Father! Father!"

Weeping, he apologized for his earlier heartlessness in watching Yu Jingwen be flayed.

Yet the disheveled, blood-stained figure with bowed head gave no response throughout.

Xiao Li, seated high on his warhorse, watched coldly and said, "Rare to see Advisor Yu as a filial son. Pity this devotion comes too late. Your father died from the flaying when you refused to acknowledge him."

His expression icy, his jet-black warhorse restlessly stamped its hooves, trampling the scattered letters on the ground into the dust.

Upon hearing Xiao Li's words, Yu Zhiyuan stiffened. Slowly, he looked up at Xiao Li, then noticed the fallen letters—their covers bore scribbled characters, none of which matched the secret correspondence between him and Yu Jingwen!

From the distant tower, he hadn't been able to discern the handwriting. Xiao Li had recited content from one of his letters to Yu Jingwen, leading him to believe all their communications had been seized.

As if suddenly understanding, Yu Zhiyuan's throat moved, tangled hair falling over his bloodshot eyes. He spoke with difficulty and venom: "The letters... were fake too?"

"You tricked me!" He didn't need Xiao Li's confirmation; he already knew the answer.In that moment, he was utterly enraged, frantically trying to lunge at Xiao Li like a madman. But the two tiger guards behind him swiftly tightened the ropes, causing him to stumble and fall amidst his desperate struggle. With bloodshot eyes, he still attempted to crawl toward Xiao Li, only to be firmly pinned down by the armored soldiers behind him.

Struggling until his face and mouth were covered in dust and mud, he demanded of Xiao Li, "You don’t have any other letters at all, do you!"

Xiao Li watched him coldly and said, "When this marquis stormed into Pei’s command tent, the box of letters Yu the Poisoner was burning contained only the half-letter I just read to you that hadn’t yet been fully consumed by the flames."

This answer was undoubtedly the final, fatal blow to Yu Zhiyuan.

He suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, the sound both desolate and agonized, and began pounding his head against the ground. "So that’s it! So that’s it! I was a fool—to be tricked into revealing myself by such a deceitful scheme!"

After saying this, he looked toward the Rack where Yu Jingwen had been flayed alive until death, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes, and he snarled viciously, "Xiao Li, in ruthlessness, my father and I are far inferior to you!"

Xiao Li sat high on his horse, silent.

After today, his reputation for brutality would likely resound throughout the entire Northern Border.

But that was exactly what he wanted.

Yu Zhiyuan was soon gagged by the armored soldiers. Yuan Fang bowed deeply toward Xiao Li, clasping his fists and pleading earnestly, "I beg the marquis to return to Northern Wei!"

The soldiers behind him followed suit, bowing and cupping their fists in salute.

Yet Xiao Li merely glanced at them before turning his horse around and riding off, his black cloak trailing behind the horse, gleaming like dark silk under the sunlight.

Seeing this, Zheng Hu and the others needed no further words; they snorted coldly and one by one turned their horses around.

As Zhang Huai rode off, he did say to Yuan Fang, "The former Jin princess supported by your Wei clan, together with this spy from Pei’s camp, falsely accused our marquis of killing the children of the Marquis of Shuobian. Moreover, the Wei generals sought to take the marquis’s life."

He paused, his tone tinged with sarcasm. "General Yuan, now you wish to welcome our marquis back to Northern Wei? Beware of bringing fire upon yourself.His use of the word "our" was quite significant, as if drawing an invisible line of division.

Yuan Fang bent his waist even lower.

—Since Yu Zhiyuan had already been exposed, Wang Wanzhen, who had conspired with Yu Zhiyuan that day, must also be implicated.

But Wang Wanzhen’s public status was to Northern Wei what Wen Yu was to Great Liang. As a subordinate, he could not openly point out Wang Wanzhen’s faults and could only say with some embarrassment, "There must be... some misunderstanding in this. The princess... will surely give the marquis an explanation!"

Zhang Huai said nothing more, tugged on the reins, and urged his horse to catch up with the retreating army.

The two thousand light cavalry had arrived kicking up clouds of dust, and now they departed just as swiftly, leaving behind only the Rack where Yu Jingwen had been flayed alive and the large boiling cauldron outside the city gate.

Seeing Zhang Huai riding up to join them, Zheng Hu complained discontentedly, "Strategist, why bother wasting words with those people from the Wei camp!"

Zhang Huai replied, "Just clarifying what needed to be said. Although the marquis’s plan was risky, it was also brilliant—it forced Yu Zhiyuan to reveal his true colors, intimidated the other disloyal remnants of the Wei faction, and cleared all the false accusations without needing further proof. With Wei Qishan’s line nearly wiped out, leaving only the lone seedling in the false princess’s womb, those confused remnants of the Wei faction should now understand how to act in the coming days."Aside from the Wei generals led by Wei Tong who had sought to put Xiao Li to death that day, there were also some Northern Border officials who, after the slander of Xiao Li killing Wei Pingjin and his sister was spread, chose to take sides. Some were hindered by their external reputation and Wei Qishan's past favors, while others aimed to realign power and redistribute benefits.

Now that the slander on Xiao Li has been cleared, and Yu Zhiyuan's identity as a spy for Pei Song's camp has been exposed to the world, everything should reverse.

Zhang Huai opened his folding fan to block the direct sunlight and said, "Just wait. Those aristocratic families are most adept at currying favor. The fools who failed to see the situation clearly after the death of the Marquis of Shuobian will soon rack their brains to flatter you, my lord."

"After all the rotten things they did before, I'll remember them for life!" Zheng Hu spat fiercely, recalling the scene outside Yuzhou's city gates earlier, which eased his mind somewhat. He turned to Xiao Li and said, "No wonder Second Brother said last night that that bastard Yu would definitely confess—turns out Second Brother already had a plan!"

Xiao Li said, "Something's odd."

Zheng Hu asked, confused, "What?"

Xiao Li's face was half-lit by the sun, his furrowed brows appearing even sharper as he pondered. "Pei Song buried Yu Zhiyuan as a spy so deeply that he didn't even activate him after the Marquis of Shuobian's death. Yet now, he suddenly ordered him to kill Wei Pingjin and his sister and frame me. It seems too much like a desperate move."

Zheng Hu's mind couldn't keep up, so he looked at Song Qin beside him.

"Huai also feels that Pei Song has made a foolish move," Zhang Huai said.

After Zhang Huai spoke, Song Qin merely lifted his chin slightly, signaling Zheng Hu to listen.

Zhang Huai, thinking of what he hadn't said the previous night, remarked, "Wei Pingjin trusted Yu Zhiyuan so deeply. If Pei Song wanted Northern Wei to remain in turmoil, he should have had Yu Zhiyuan persuade Wei Pingjin to fight against you, my lord. Even if he couldn't incite Wei Pingjin, if he wanted Yu Zhiyuan to conspire with the fake princess and use the child in her womb to sway the Northern Wei officials, he should have waited until the child was born or until Yu Zhiyuan had secured military power before acting."

When mentioning Wang Wanzhen, Zhang Huai's eyes narrowed slightly.

On the night of Wei Qishan's funeral, Wang Wanzhen had visited Xiao Li's guest residence alone. He could tell she was a woman whose ambitions far exceeded her intelligence, which was why he had repeatedly warned her with his eyes when she requested to speak with Xiao Li privately.

Xiao Li had just taken over Northern Wei, and many of the old Wei officials hadn't fully submitted to him yet. If that ambitious and self-righteous woman had entangled herself with Xiao Li and caused trouble, it would have been highly detrimental to him.

Her later assistance to Yu Zhiyuan in framing Xiao Li clearly indicated some kind of collaboration between them.

It was unclear whether she was already pregnant when she went to see Xiao Li or...

When the fake princess was rumored to be pregnant, her pregnancy pulse was said to be over three months. However, Wen Yu had also taken fake pregnancy pills that could disrupt pulse readings, and the itinerant doctor Song Qin knew had mentioned that there were drugs that could alter the perceived months of pregnancy.

If the child was truly Wei Pingjin's, her visit to Xiao Li at that time might have been a calculated move. If Xiao Li had fallen for her charms, the child could have been induced a month early, and she could have insisted it was Xiao Li's. With Wei Pingjin as a puppet, Xiao Li would have been left to plan for her and the child in the future.

If not...

A certain possibility made Zhang Huai's eyes darken momentarily, but he soon murmured almost to himself, "No, that's not right..."Given Yu Zhiyuan's cautious nature, even if he had been secretly involved with Wang Wanzhen to the point of an unplanned pregnancy, he would not have been so eager to kill Wei Pingjin and his sister before securing military power.

Wei Pingjin, Wei Jiamin...

Something flashed through his mind, but before Zhang Huai could grasp the thought, Zheng Hu beside him interrupted and asked, "Military advisor, what's wrong?"

The earlier clue vanished without a trace after this interruption. Zhang Huai halted his train of thought and said, "It's nothing."

He changed the subject: "Although Pei Song's plan was foolish, it was truly vicious. Fortunately, our lord took the opportunity to remove this deeply embedded thorn he had planted in Northern Wei, and it also brought the disloyal old officials of the Wei family to the surface."

His smiling eyes held a chilling coldness: "After clearing out these petty officials, our lord will truly unify the Northern Border."

Author's note: Wishing everyone a happy Minor New Year!