Chapter 66: Traitor
Editor: Atlas Studios
After his brother left, Qi Xiuyuan fell into deep thought. Since his brother could guess his defense from his arrangements, could others do the same?
Qi Xiuyuan called Rong Xuan over. The latter pondered for a moment before saying, “The possibility is not high. The information about the various camps is actually well-contained. Only Haoran and Zijin can come into contact with this information at the same time.”
“No matter what, we should still be careful,” Qi Xiuyuan said. “The defense hasn’t been completed yet. Nothing must happen.”
Rong Xuan immediately stood up. “I’ll go tell them to be careful. Those who are assigned to the patrol team will be told to keep it a secret.”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded.
However, none of them expected that the problem would appear internally. One of Qi Xiuyuan’s trusted aides, Lu Cheng, had already snitched before they finished setting up the defenses, and even before Qi Xiuyuan’s document reached the emissary.
The emissary directly sent an army supervisor to keep an eye on Qi Xiuyuan, and the platoon commander of an elite troop who escorted the army supervisor over also stayed on in Xingzhou Prefecture.
Qi Xiuyuan’s expression was ugly. “Why did Lu Cheng betray me?”
He felt that he had treated his subordinates well. Lu Cheng had been under his command for three years. When his mother fell seriously ill, his salary was not enough to seek medical treatment, and it was he who had given Lu Cheng silver taels and medicinal herbs. Lu Cheng was also grateful to him for that. There was once, he even shielded him from a knife on the battlefield to save him. He really could not fathom why Lu Cheng would betray him.
The people sitting below lowered their heads in silence. After asking them to leave, Rong Xuan patted Qi Xiuyuan’s shoulder. “He must’ve received greater benefits. But no matter what, the most important thing now is to deal with it.”
Qi Xiuyuan’s aura became sharp, and his gaze was like a falcon. “We can’t use the original defense, but we still have to send people to patrol around Chef Mountain. They’re underestimating me if they think they can restrain me with an army supervisor and a platoon commander.”
“Huang Jian said that the Imperial Court is in the midst of negotiating a marriage alliance with the Jin Kingdom. Since our dynasty might send a princess to marry over, the emissary forbids us from destroying the diplomatic relationship between the two countries,” Rong Xuan said.
Qi Xiuyuan was so angry that his liver hurt. “How many princesses has our imperial court married over to the Jin Kingdom? Do they think that by doing so, the Jin soldiers won’t attack us? There’s no way the Hus and the Hans can ever be a family in the true sense. Not to mention that the princesses who marry into the Jin Kingdom can’t give birth to children, even if they do give birth to an heir who ends up ascending the throne, the heir will still be a Hu, not a Han.”
Frowning slightly, Rong Xuan couldn’t help but say, “Making peace with rulers of minority nationalities in the border areas by marriage is still effective…”
Qi Xiuyuan sneered. “Of course it’s effective. With the dowry that the princess brought over, the Hus will be obedient for at least a year or two.”
Qi Xiuyuan did not agree with such an act. They were a vast country, yet they had to sacrifice their princesses in exchange for a few years of living in shame. Rather than that, he would rather they fight a grand battle. If they lost, he would just die for his country. At the very least, he would die with dignity.
However, Great Zhou was strong in academics and weak in martial arts. Every time they were defeated in a major battle, a princess would be sent out for marriage alliance. Not only did they marry princesses over to the Jin Kingdom, but the Great Zhou also did the same with Xia, Tibet, and Western Liao in order to keep the peace. In the ten years after the imperial court fled south, because the emperor did not have a princess of suitable age, almost all of the daughters of the imperial clan and important ministers had been conferred as princesses. However, be it true princesses or conferred princesses, none who married over could live past 25 years old, nor had a son or daughter before their passing.
If it was just one or two instances, Qi Xiuyuan could treat it as an accident. But not a single one of the princesses had any children left behind. Qi Xiuyuan felt sad for the princesses and even more indignant to see Great Zhou’s precious princesses be humiliated on a foreign land.
It was almost impossible for Qi Xiuyuan to temporarily keep out of the Jin Kingdom’s way in order to facilitate the marriage alliance between the two countries. In fact, he couldn’t wait to destroy the marriage alliance. At the very least, he could prevent a princess from dying in a foreign land. Moreover, his camp was here. If he merely held on and didn’t counterattack, it would be his soldiers and the people under his rule who would die.
He and the soldiers were fed and clothed by the commoners here. How much of a beast would Qi Xiuyuan be to stand by and watch while the commoners get robbed?
Hence, Qi Xiuyuan told Rong Xuan with certainty, “You don’t have to worry about this matter. We’ll only lower the specifications of the defense. If Huang Jian dares to stop us, let him come and find me.”
“What about Lu Cheng?”
Qi Xiuyuan pondered for a moment and said, “Let him continue to be the lieutenant.”
Rong Xuan raised his eyebrows. “You’re not going to deal with him?”
The corners of Qi Xiuyuan’s lips curled up slightly as he said coldly, “He only bypassed me to report some things to the emissary. This is not a crime. Besides, I’m curious to see if he will come and explain things to me.”
For traitors, sometimes silence was harder to endure than movement.
Rong Xuan did not say anything else.
Lu Cheng didn’t come to Qi Xiuyuan to explain, and Qi Xiuyuan didn’t find trouble with him. Instead, Qi Haoran threw a gunnysack over Lu Cheng on his way home and beat him up. The next day, Lu Cheng showed up at the military camp with a swollen face.
When Fan Zijin heard this, he was so angry that he kicked Qi Haoran and shouted, “Why did you hit his face? Since you knew to put a gunnysack over him, why didn’t you just strike him at painful yet inconspicuous spots?”
Qi Haoran shouted, “Who said I didn’t hit him where it hurts? I dare to say that he must be suffering from internal injuries right now.”
“Even so, you can’t hit his face. With that face, those who don’t know better would think that Big Brother ordered it.” Fan Zijin sneered and said, “Cousin still wanted to give him a chance to explain, but I saw that he had no intention of repenting at all. If he really feels guilty, he should have stayed at home to recuperate. He should have made up some excuse to take leave instead of wandering around the army with such a face. Are you afraid that others won’t know that you beat him up?”
Qi Haoran jumped up and said, “How would others know that I beat him up? I threw a gunnysack over him.”
“You’re really stupid.” Fan Zijin patted his head and said resentfully, “Brother Jiang Ze couldn’t take it anymore and got someone to spread the news that Lu Cheng betrayed Cousin. Now, everyone holding the rank of a platoon commander and above knows that Lu Cheng offended Cousin and that there’s a grudge between them. At this time, Lu Cheng was put in a sack and beaten up. Anyone would guess that it was to avenge Cousin. Who else in Xingzhou Prefecture can do such a thing for Cousin? Those who know might say that you’re doing this out of brotherly love and disdain for traitors. Those who don’t know might think that you’re arrogant and do whatever you want with Cousin’s power. Some even more sinister people might say that it was Cousin who instructed you to do this.”
Qi Haoran did not expect there to be so many twists and turns. For a moment, his head hurt. “Then what do you think we should do?”
“Since you’re seriously injured, you should just rest in bed from today onwards,” Fan Zijin said seriously.
“What did you say?” Qi Haoran widened his eyes. “I didn’t even lose a single strand of hair. What’s that about being seriously injured? Don’t damage my prestige. With Lu Cheng’s pathetic martial arts skills, no way is he able to hurt me.”
Fan Zijin glanced at him as he said slowly, “If I say you’re sick, then you’re sick. Lie down obediently.” With that, he turned around and went to the city to find three good physicians with great fanfare. He left them in the general’s residence to treat Qi Xiuyuan.
Then, he took out a piece of ginger and rubbed it forcefully against his sleeve. After which, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, causing his eyes to immediately turn red.
When Fan Zijin raised his head again, he looked overwhelmed with grief and indignation. The two servants were dumbfounded, but Qi Haoran was already used to it. Every time Fan Zijin revealed such an expression, it meant that someone was going to be unlucky.