The Imperial Academy's Sword-Wielding Combat Arts teacher, Su Qian, was dead.
This was the final conclusion reached by Sima Huo, the chief medical officer and the old man known as the "Living Dead," after the Yulin Imperial Guards knocked on the Sima family's door in the middle of the night and disturbed his elegant sleep.
Su Yulou's fifth son, Su Qian, was dead—killed by Qin Leyin.
As soon as dawn broke, the news spread throughout Yan Capital.
Who was Su Yulou? The left-army commander of the Yan Capital Five Army Camps, the renowned Broken Sword Martial Pillar, the current head of the Yanxia Su Clan, Earl Yanxia Su Yulou!
The Yan Capital Five Army Camps were the true defensive force of Yan Capital. They guarded the towns and passes around the capital, resisting probing clashes from the armies of the outer regions. Without the Five Army Camps stationed at those strategic routes, the outer-region armies would have reached the city gates long ago, asking how heavy the throne was and whether the Holy Sword Huiyao was dazzling enough to hurt the eyes!
The reason Yan Capital was peaceful enough to resemble an age of prosperity was entirely thanks to the Five Army Camps bearing the burden and pressing forward. To put it bluntly, the Yan Lineage and the Twelve Imperial Guards were all trash before the Five Army Camps. The Yan Lineage and the Twelve Imperial Guards were only skilled at internal warfare; the Five Army Camps were the true gods of external warfare.
Of course, even the officers of the Five Army Camps could not act recklessly. If an officer issued a treasonous order, the soldiers would not follow them into chaos—their wives, children, and families were all under the protection of the Yan Lineage and the Twelve Imperial