After a long while, Jiang Ziya was the first to break the deathly silence, his aged voice wrapped in a heavy, brooding fury as it swept over everyone beneath the tent.
"We were only one final step away from completing our great undertaking, yet such a calamity has arisen.
"Have you all investigated clearly? Who exactly set the fire that burned our grain and fodder and ruined Xiqi's grand cause?"
The generals beneath the tent looked at one another. No one answered.
At the very end, a young patrol officer hunched his shoulders, his head buried extremely low. His body trembled uncontrollably, and he twisted this way and that in helpless panic. His lips moved for a long time, but he could not get out even half a complete sentence.
Jiang Ziya's brows abruptly drew together, and a layer of icy light flashed through his eyes. His voice sank several degrees, carrying an authority that allowed no shirking.
"Stammering and hesitating—what hidden matter is there? Speak plainly!"
The young officer shuddered all over at the rebuke, his knees bending slightly, his teeth chattering. His words came out in fragments, the truth squeezed out in broken starts and stops:
"It was... it was General Huang Feihu..."
The words exploded through the tent like a sudden clap of thunder. Jiang Ziya shook from head to toe, his body jerking forward, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Back then, Huang Feihu had hated Shang Zhou's atrocities and had been one of the earliest great generals to abandon Shang and surrender to Xiqi. Through years of campaigning, his loyalty had never wavered, and he had repeatedly rendered great service on the battlefield. Xiqi had treated him with high office, generous salary, and every favor. How could he turn traitor at this critical juncture?
His brows