Wei Rao obtained the secret letter General Xiuji had written to Han Liao. It bore Xiuji’s military seal, his demand for Han Liao to release the Eighth Prince, and his threat: if he did not see the Eighth Prince within ten days, he would expose how Han Liao and his son had framed Lu Zhuo and his brother.
This secret letter had been discovered by the Divine Martial Army, hidden within the inner layer of the shoe padding of a Wuda envoy. Following the usual protocols for envoys between the two armies, if Wei Rao had not harbored suspicions about the Han father and son, if she had not identified a prince hidden among the captives and given prior instructions, how could the Daqi troops have imagined that an envoy would go to such lengths to conceal a secret letter? How could they have guessed that the commanding general of the Soaring Dragon Army and his son would collude with the enemy to harm loyal subjects?
Wei Rao’s hand trembled uncontrollably as she held the letter.
Lu Zhuo had long suspected the Han father and son. If not for Lu Ya disregarding his warning and leaving the camp, falling into the trap set by the Hans and Xiuji, Lu Zhuo would never have been in peril.
A man so noble and proud had met his end because of this flimsy letter.
Wei Rao resented Lu Ya for his impulsiveness that led to disaster, and she resented Lu Zhuo for prioritizing his brother over her and their daughter. Yet this resentment stemmed from her unwillingness to accept Lu Zhuo’s death. The ones she truly hated were Han Liao and his son.
On the second day, Wei Rao began feigning illness.
On the fourth day, an edict arrived from the capital. Emperor Yuanjia ordered the Marquis of Xiting, Qin Min, and others to lead their troops deeper into Wuda to avenge the fallen soldiers. The Marquis of Xiting, Qin Min, and other generals gathered in the command tent to discuss their strategy. Lu Ya was among them, as the Divine Martial Army still had nearly twenty thousand soldiers and remained combat-ready.
Wuda’s two hundred thousand cavalry had split into two routes and had already suffered over half their losses. If Daqi’s two armies pressed forward, they could surely breach Wuda’s capital.
As they deliberated, Zhao Bai suddenly requested an audience outside.
Zhao Bai represented the princess consort. The Marquis of Xiting permitted him to enter.
Zhao Bai’s eyes were red-rimmed. Upon entering the tent, he addressed the Marquis of Xiting and Qin Min, who were at the head: "The princess consort... she has been vomiting blood incessantly and may not survive. Hearing that the generals are about to depart, she sent me to request Your Lordship and General Qin to speak with her in her tent. She has matters to entrust to you."
After speaking, Zhao Bai—a man built like an iron tower—shed two streams of hot tears from his fierce eyes.
Lu Ya staggered, then rushed out first. His elder brother’s body was not yet cold; if his sister-in-law were to die as well, how could he ever face returning to the capital?
Han Liao also shot to his feet with a bang, but a sharp glare from the Marquis of Xiting stopped him, making him realize his impropriety.
The Marquis of Xiting and Qin Min exchanged a glance. As they stood, the Marquis inquired, "How did the princess consort fall so gravely ill? Wasn’t the army physician checking her pulse daily?"
Zhao Bai wiped his eyes and said hoarsely, "The princess consort hasn’t eaten properly these past few days. Whatever she eats, she vomits. The army physician is at a loss, and we couldn’t persuade her either. Who would have thought…"
The Marquis of Xiting sighed deeply, though inwardly he was delighted. It would be best if Wei Rao died. She hadn’t interrogated the prisoners. Once she was gone, he could find an excuse to execute them, eliminating any future worries. As for Wuda, they would be only too glad to have more Daqi generals willing to cooperate with them. They would never voluntarily reveal this affair, and even if they did, without evidence, no one would believe them.
As he stepped out of the command tent, the Marquis of Xiting thought to himself: Women will be women, making a fuss over love and life. Now she’s summoning them, probably to entrust them with avenging Lu Zhuo.Wei Rao had only invited the Marquis of Xiting and Qin Min, but Han Liao voluntarily followed behind the Marquis, deeply concerned about Wei Rao's illness.
Since he had already followed, the Marquis of Xiting feared that saying too much would arouse suspicion and refrained from scolding his son.
Lu Zhuo's tent was located at the center of the Divine Martial Army's camp. The Marquis of Xiting, Qin Min, and Han Liao followed Zhao Bai and soon arrived at Lu Zhuo's tent.
From inside came the sound of Lu Ya's suppressed sobs.
Zhao Bai lifted the tent flap, inviting the Marquis of Xiting and Qin Min to enter, while he remained outside, casting a cold glance at Han Liao.
With Lu Zhuo already dead, how could Han Liao possibly regard Zhao Bai with any respect? Once the Soaring Dragon Army became the leader of the Four Elite Armies and the Lu Family's prestige faded, he would find a way to deal with Zhao Bai and his ilk.
Inside the main tent, the outer section was empty. Before the inner curtain stood a young maid with red-rimmed eyes.
Upon seeing the two generals, the maid bowed her head in greeting and lifted the curtain.
The Marquis of Xiting saw Lu Ya kneeling before the princess's bed. On the bed, the princess sat propped against cushions, her once radiant face now gaunt and haggard, evoking pity. Stains of blood dotted her snow-white underwear.
Without a moment's doubt, the Marquis of Xiting was the first to stride inside.
At that moment, the maid who had lifted the curtain suddenly let out a sharp cry and threw herself toward Qin Min: "The Marquis has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the state! I beg the General to assist the princess in capturing the traitor!"
Qin Min had been about to kick away this maid, who seemed like an assassin, but upon hearing her words, he froze in astonishment.
Simultaneously, inside the inner tent, hidden archers shot the Marquis of Xiting in both legs. Lu Ya shielded Wei Rao's bed, watching as several strong and young garrison soldiers rushed forward to subdue the Marquis, who had been struck by arrows in the legs.
With the threat inside the tent neutralized, Lu Ya exchanged a glance with Wei Rao and strode outside. Confronting the grim-faced Qin Min, Lu Ya said solemnly, "General, please remain calm. The princess will provide an explanation shortly."
Before arriving, Lu Ya had genuinely believed his sister-in-law had coughed up blood. It was only when he rushed in and saw the archers hidden on either side of the inner tent entrance that he was taken aback. With little time to spare, his sister-in-law had not explained much, only saying she had obtained evidence of the Han father and son's collusion with the enemy and asking him to feign grief and play his part.
Lu Ya did not need to act. His elder brother was dead, and he carried guilt in his heart. Usually, he suppressed it, but once his sister-in-law asked him to weep, his tears were genuine.
Outside the tent, Zhao Bai and the two garrison soldiers guarding Wei Rao had joined forces to subdue Han Liao.
With both father and son of the Han family captured, the Soaring Dragon Army, having rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, hesitated to act recklessly for fear of endangering their leaders.
The Yucheng Army, seeing Qin Min standing unharmed beside Lu Ya—though his face was ashen—and not ordering an attack, temporarily held their positions.
The Divine Martial Army naturally protected Wei Rao and Lu Ya.
At this moment, the three armies in the camp were completely divided, forming three factions.
The Divine Martial Army, along with Wei Rao's garrison soldiers, totaled nineteen thousand men.
The Han family's Soaring Dragon Army had suffered eight thousand casualties in the battle at Iron Scorpion Ridge, leaving just over forty thousand.
The Yucheng Army had the largest force, numbering over one hundred twenty thousand.
Lu Zhuo had trusted the Yucheng Army, so Wei Rao also trusted Qin Min, Deputy General Zheng, and other Yucheng commanders. Since the Han father and son could frame the Divine Martial Army, they could just as easily frame the Yucheng Army. Without capturing the Marquis of Xiting and his son, how could Wei Rao dare let the Marquis lead troops again? What if the Han father and son continued to collude with Wuda? Should the Yucheng Army be sacrificed in vain?
After changing her clothes, Wei Rao stepped out of the main tent.
Lu Ya and Zhao Bai immediately took their positions on either side of her.
Wei Rao first sent Zhao Bai to fetch a few individuals from among the captives.When everyone had gathered, Wei Rao pointed at one of the young Wuda soldiers with a sinister gaze and an injured calf, saying to Qin Min and the others, "This is the eighth prince of Hulun Khan. The Wuda prisoners can testify to this."
The bound Marquis of Xiting and Han Liao paled dramatically—how could there be an eighth prince among the captives?
Wei Rao then pointed at the gagged Wuda strongman: "This is an envoy sent by General Xiuji. On this envoy, the soldiers of our Divine Martial Army found a secret letter from General Xiuji to Han Liao. General Qin, here is the letter. Please read it aloud before the entire army."
Wei Rao handed the letter to Qin Min.
Qin Min's face turned frosty. As he unfolded the letter, his expression grew even darker. With a bloodthirsty glare sweeping over the Han father and son, Qin Min read the letter aloud in a clear voice.
With each word he read, the soldiers of the Divine Martial Army and the Yucheng Army grew increasingly furious. The Battle of Iron Scorpion Ridge had inflicted the heaviest casualties on the Divine Martial Army, but the Yucheng Army had also lost over ten thousand men. If they had died honorably in open combat, it would have been one thing, but such a devastating battle turned out to be a trap orchestrated by the Han father and son colluding with the Wuda to frame the Divine Martial Army?
Not only the Divine Martial Army and Yucheng Army, but even some soldiers of the Soaring Dragon Army showed pained expressions, their trust in the Han father and son wavering. These were all loyal soldiers devoted to their sovereign and country, who had bid farewell to their families to fight for the peace of their homeland. Except for the Han father and son's close confidants, the soldiers of the Soaring Dragon Army also desired victory and found it hard to swallow the sacrifices of their comrades.
In the capital, the Four Elite Armies were rivals, but once on the frontier, the soldiers of the Four Elite Armies and the border troops became brothers sharing life and death. The Han father and son had spoken these words too—were they merely empty rhetoric?
"Wei Rao, how dare you slander us! Clearly, you’ve been driven mad by grief over your husband’s death, resenting us for failing to save Lu Zhuo, and now you’ve fabricated this letter to defame our Soaring Dragon Army!" Han Liao glared at Wei Rao with wide, furious eyes, then turned to Qin Min: "General Qin, don’t listen to this madwoman! With a major battle imminent, she’s scheming against the commander and disrupting morale. General Qin, why haven’t you seized her yet?"
Qin Min looked at him and suddenly asked, "During the Battle of Iron Scorpion Ridge, Xiuji’s reinforcements were supposed to be held back by you. Why were they able to bypass you and provide support? When the Marquis sent messengers to you, why couldn’t they find any trace of your Soaring Dragon Army?"
Han Liao, well-prepared, retorted angrily, "I’ve said it before—Xiuji was cunning and misled me into pursuing the wrong direction, causing the delayed rescue!"
Qin Min sneered, "You claim the Princess has gone mad, but how do I know you aren’t just twisting words now? Further talk is pointless. This matter is of grave importance. I will petition the Emperor and let His Majesty decide everything."
With that, Qin Min turned to Wei Rao, instructing her to remain in the main tent under the guard of Yucheng Army soldiers, effectively placing her under house arrest.
Wei Rao complied willingly and bowed solemnly to Qin Min. "I beg you, General, to seek justice for the wronged soldiers who died at Iron Scorpion Ridge."
Qin Min nodded.
Wei Rao glanced at Lu Ya and entered the main tent.
The task of reassuring the three armies naturally fell to Qin Min. Before the imperial decree arrived, the deputy generals of the Divine Martial Army and the Soaring Dragon Army were detained separately in tents pending investigation. The over fifty thousand troops of the Divine Martial Army and Soaring Dragon Army were temporarily placed under the command of Yucheng generals, with heightened vigilance in the camp to guard against potential Wuda raids.
By the time Qin Min’s battle report reached the capital, Hulun Khan of the Wuda, faced with successive defeats and the capture of his beloved son, once again sued for peace.After much deliberation, Emperor Yuanjia presented numerous conditions to Wuda, one of which was to exchange Lu Zhuo's corpse for the intact body of the Eighth Prince.
Khan Hulan agreed.
General Xiuji, who had been confronting the Yu City army, received the order and sent over a body. Since Lu Zhuo had fallen from a cliff, the corpse was mangled beyond recognition and could only be identified by his armor and build.
Lu Ya saw the body and adamantly refused to let Wei Rao look. Wei Rao forced him aside with her sword, but after just one glance at the corpse, she fainted.
With the two nations ceasing hostilities, Qin Min also uncovered irrefutable evidence of the Han father and son's collusion with the enemy from the confidants of the Soaring Dragon Army's Han family.
In late September, as the autumn wind blew bleakly, Lu Zhuo's coffin and the cage imprisoning the Han father and son entered the capital one after another.
While the Duke of Yingguo's Manor was engulfed in mourning over Lu Zhuo's death, Emperor Yuanjia issued an edict to exterminate the nine clans of the Han family of the West Pavilion Marquis Estate for the crime of colluding with the enemy and treason. From then on, the command of the Soaring Dragon Army, one of the Four Elite Armies, changed hands, and the Han lineage vanished from the capital's noble families.
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