As Ling Zhang hiding among members of a caravan affiliated to Jiahe Chamber of Commerce entered Jifang City, Yuwen Tong received a message from the Wan army, which said that an envoy of the Wan Kingdom was on his way to seek an audience with Yuwen Tong.
“Why did they send an envoy here at this point in time?” said Yuwen Jin.
Chen Jing’s army had been retreating in defeat again and again. He seriously believed that he could save the day by merely sending out an envoy?
“Sire, this might be some kind of trick.” Yao Yi and the other bodyguards of Yuwen Tong’s, who knew that someone whose identity was unknown was planning to take revenge on Yuwen Tong, instantly tensed up. Naturally, they were on full alert for the Wan envoy who was heading for their encampment to seek an audience in these circumstances.
“Is the Wan Kingdom planning to sue for peace, by any chance?” said one of the officers.
Xiao Jiangyue shook his head. “They would be showing a blatant disregard for us if they sue for peace at this point in time. I mean, we’ve taken Langqiao City and occupied the whole south of the Wan Kingdom. From the vantage point of the present, there’s no way their troops could stop us from taking more cities. If they want to sue for peace, the terms they’ll have to offer would be the cession of all the cities we’ve taken or reducing the Wan Kingdom to a tributary of the Great Wen, but I don’t think the Wan Kingdom would give up that easily. Even if they really make that offer, and that’s a big if, on no account would we accept it.”
Given how things stood in this war, what made the Wan Kingdom think they were still in a position to sue for peace? The troops in Jifang City? Their northern garrisons that could move south? They seriously believed they would be able to hold the army of the Great Wen at bay with these two forces? They were too naive.
Yuwen Tong thought for a while and then said, “It does no harm for me to grant their envoy an audience. I’ll find out what it is they’re up to.”
Xiao Jiangyue and the others also felt that there was no harm in Yuwen Tong’s meeting the envoy. They wouldn’t suffer any losses anyway. They just wanted to ascertain what game the Wan Kingdom was playing.
…
The Wan envoy soon arrived. He acted quite humbly when he was brought to Yuwen Tong. “We want to make peace with the Great Wen.”
It turned out the envoy was indeed here to sue for peace, but currently it was manifest that the two sides were not on equal terms. Besides, the Great Wen had nothing to gain by signing a peace accord. What made these people of the Wan Kingdom think they would agree?
Yuwen Tong, who couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush, directly said, “You’re in no position to sue for peace. More than half of your country is under my control. Considering Langqiao City has fallen, it’s only a matter of time before my army flatten the Wan capital. Why would I agree to make peace with you?”
The look on the envoy’s face instantly went ugly. In a disapproving tone of voice, he replied, “No offence, but don’t you think you’re being overconfident, Your Majesty? There’s no way your men could breach the defense of Jifang City. On top of that, a Luohai army has mustered outside Youzhou Pass. If you want to stop them from taking Youzhou Pass, you’ll have no choice but to sent your North-western Army back. How are you going to take Jifang City without the North-western Army? Besides, your troops, who have come a long way and been through so many fights, have some time ago been tired out. Soon our northern garrisons would arrive to rendezvous with our troops in Jifang City. How long do you think your men would last under their concerted attack? It’s a far better choice to put an end to this war which is taking a heavy toll on the economy of both sides than it is to continue it. We’re willing to cede the two south-western prefectures to you as a demonstration of our sincerity.”
Every one of the others had an odd expression on his face at these words. Yuwen Tong, however, gave several sneers and, looking at the envoy, said, “It would seem Chen Jing is ill-informed. Does he not know that Mu Hengtian is dead? Nian Feng has some time ago drafted more than half of the troops stationed outside Youzhou Pass back to Luohai capital to help the prince he supports take the throne. The Luohai Kingdom is in full-blown internecine warfare as we speak. Your monarch should at least do some research before sending you here to sue for peace, shouldn’t he?”
The envoy’s face changed drastically. “That’s impossible!”
Yuwen Tong looked at him with wintry eyes. “My army will take Jifang City by hook or by crook. You people would be putting your time to better use if you think about how to beg me for mercy instead of suing for peace.”
…
The Wan Kingdom sending out an envoy to sue for peace was like a farce. The envoy, after being humiliated, left with indignation written all over his face.
After the envoy took his leave, Yuwen Tong asked with a slight frown, “How many people did that envoy bring here? Who did they talk to in our encampment?”
“He brought a team of crack troops with him. They’ve been staying outside the encampment all along. None of them entered or talked with any of our men. I myself led the envoy to this tent after his arrival and he never conversed with anybody on his way here,” responded Yao Yi.
“Does the arrival of this envoy strike you as weird, Sire?” asked Xiao Jiangyue.
Yuwen Tong said, “Either Chen Jing is indeed unaware of Mu Hengtian’s death, or they have some ulterior motive. What are the odds Chen Jing doesn’t know Mu Hengtian has died?”
The others furrowed their brows. Xiao Jiangyue said, “Zero. Even if Chen Jing is not in the capital and Shan Congli is trying to keep it secret from him, there’s no way he hasn’t received any secret messages about it, given how many influential contacts the Chen family has in the Wan capital. In addition, a city near the border between the other two countries is in the charge of a loyal ally of the Chen family. The moment there are any changes of the situation in the Luohai Kingdom, Chen Jing, as the patriarch of the Chen family, would without doubt be informed immediately.”
After hearing Xiao Jiangyue’s words, the others felt that the arrival of the envoy was indeed quite odd. However, none of those brought by the envoy had entered the encampment, and the envoy himself had been under constant watch and never talked with anybody other than Yuwen Tong. He hadn’t had any opportunities whatsoever to play any tricks. What ulterior motives could he possibly have that were unknown to them?
Yao Yi felt that this thing had happened in suspicious circumstances. To be on the safe side, he had some men examine everything that the envoy had touched in the encampment. He even sent some men to watch the diplomatic corps leave. However, the envoy, after entering the encampment, had not only never talked with anybody except for Yuwen Tong but also hardly touched anything. In fact, he hadn’t even had the time to sit down to take a sip of water.
Yuwen Tong gave it some thought and then instructed, “Keep a close eye on Chen Jing’s army.”
“Yes, Sire.”
…
On that very night.
The candle in Yuwen Tong’s tent had been ablaze all along. When he was having some rest in the bed at the far side of the tent, Yao Yi and some others were standing guard in it. Xie Shi, chewing a piece of beef jerky, thought back to the envoy’s brief stay in the encampment during the day. To be honest, he really couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary about it. The detoxification skills of Xie Shi were top-notch, if not unparalleled, and, having been in tense atmosphere for many years, he was particularly sensitive to a lot of things. If that envoy had played some kind of trick in this regard, Xie Shi would have immediately found out about it.
However, the matter that Ling Zhang had talked about in that letter delivered by a carrier hawk had been weighing on their minds all along. Xie Shi didn’t dare drop his guard for a single moment before that “avenger” was taken care of.
It had been very late when Yuwen Tong had finished dealing with all the military affairs and the few memorials to the throne from the capital city. The thought that Ling Zhang should have arrived in Jifang City by now and his worries about Ling Zhang’s safety were keeping him from getting to sleep. As Ling Zhang had been covering his tracks, it was inconvenient to write to him. He had received an urgent letter from Ling Zhang a couple of days ago but hadn’t heard anything about him ever since.
Though unable to sleep, Yuwen Tong, in order to be refreshed and energetic the next day, forced himself into performing Qi circulation, deciding to have his Qi go a couple of circuits of his meridian network.
By the candlelight, Xie Shi and the other guard, who were on the other side of the screen, could vaguely see Yuwen Tong sitting cross-legged in meditation. They kept quiet lest they disturb Yuwen Tong’s meditation.
While meditating circulating his internal energy, Yuwen Tong retained a small part of his consciousness so that he would know if something happened around him.
About two hours passed. The Zi Hour (23:00-00:59) had ticked away, and it was now Chou Hour (01:00-02:59). Yuwen Tong suddenly seemed to feel a peculiar fragrance waft into his nostrils. The fragrance was different from the refreshing perfume he had been using for years. It was pungent, faintly stale and unpleasant, making him reflexively frown. Yuwen Tong held his breath and opened his eyes almost immediately. Everything around him was the same as they had been before he started meditating. Xie Shi and the other bodyguard were still present. As they perceived the change in Yuwen Tong’s breathing, the two of them were instantly on the alert, looked in Yuwen Tong’s direction and, standing on the other side of the screen, said, “Sire?”
Yuwen Tong’s piercing eyes swept around him. Almost at the same time, he felt a sudden prickle in his arm. Immediately, he raised his other hand, and, mobilizing his internal energy, generated a strong air current as sharp as a blade, cut his sleeve with it, quickly ripped the sleeve off and saw that a red spot had suddenly appeared on his skin close to his wrist.
Yuwen Tong knitted his brows, and, promptly striking a particular acupoint in his left hand, called, “Xie Shi!”
Xie Shi hastened inside almost in the blink of an eye. At the sight of Yuwen Tong’s bare arm, he immediately stepped over to check it before Yuwen Tong could say anything. It took him only a split instant to notice the red spot. He reached a hand into his belt, produced a couple of fine silver needles from somewhere about his person, rapidly stuck them into a couple of acupoints in Yuwen Tong’s forearm, then used another silver needle to cut open the red spot to let it bleed. Bright red blood instantaneously flowed out. The color of it was perfectly normal. Surprised, Xie Shi scrutinized it for a while but still couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. To be on the safe side, he meticulously felt Yuwen Tong’s pulse and then examined his arm once again, carefully checking his skin inch by inch, a deep frown on his face. Still, no anomaly was found.
“Nothing?” Yuwen Tong could tell that Xie Shi didn’t find anything just by looking at him.
Xie Shi looked up at him. “When did this red spot appear?”
Yuwen Tong said, “Only a moment ago. First there was a weird fragrance, and then I felt a sudden sting in my arm. I ripped off my sleeve and saw this red spot. I’ve blocked a couple of acupoints of mine before you came in.”
Xie Shi immediately crouched down, picked up the sleeve on the ground and, fumbling at it, inquired, “What kind of fragrance?”
Yuwen Tong thought back to that moment and gave Xie Shi a detailed description of the peculiarity of that scent. “It lasted only a fleeting instant. I held my breath the moment I smelled it. It has disappeared by the time you came in.”
After hearing it, Xie Shi, instead of relaxing, had an even more grave look on his face. He told the bodyguard beside him to examine the furnishings in the tent, while he himself resumed scrutinizing Yuwen Tong’s sleeve, carefully checking each seam.
“There’s nothing wrong with any of the furnishings. I’ve also checked the ground. There’s not even an ant here,” said the bodyguard, who had checked everything in the tent.
Xie Shi was still examining the piece of cloth torn from Yuwen Tong’s sleeve. His first check was unfruitful. Concerned, he checked it again. The existence of one questionable point might be coincidental, but the existence of two was by no means a coincidence. The source of that odd fragrance was unknown. There was no doubt the red spot on Yuwen Tong’s arm had been caused by a bite of some kind of creature. Though it was tiny, Xie Shi was positive that it was a bite. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a red spot, and neither would Yuwen Tong had felt a sting.
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