Shen Tang sucked in a sharp breath.
Only now did she understand why Qi Shan had looked so grim.
Who could bear such a humiliating disgrace?
"The defeated royal family leads its officials in surrender—that's an honor the victor is entitled to enjoy. Surely Xin's Sovereign, however unwilling, won't resist. But Zheng Qiao... has he gone mad?"
Qi Shan sneered. "I think he just can't let it go..."
He wanted Xin to repay tenfold, a hundredfold, the humiliation he had suffered there all those years ago. He wanted Xin nailed to history's pillar of shame.
Shen Tang fumed. "That's too despicable!"
Even "despicable" wasn't enough to describe Zheng Qiao's depravity. Shen Tang found him vicious, petty, and disgusting.
What did it mean to surrender with one's hands bound behind one's back and a jade tablet in one's mouth?
Simply put, the surrendering party had their hands tied behind them and held a piece of jade in their mouth. In funeral customs, people believed that jade placed in a corpse's mouth could keep it from decaying, while also signaling the dead person's noble status. By surrendering in this fashion, they showed their submission to the victor.
In practice, they generally had to bare their upper bodies to show they carried no weapons. It also meant they were lambs waiting for the slaughter: they truly placed their lives in someone else's hands, at their mercy, to be killed or carved up as they pleased.
And now, Zheng Qiao was forcing Xin's Sovereign to abdicate in favor of the Princess—a woman without a Literary Heart or Martial Gall, and also the Sovereign's only daughter. He was making her bare herself and publicly hand over the surrender documents, Seal Ribbon, household registers, and state treasury.
There was no doubt he was trampling Xin's surviving people underfoot, grinding their dignity into the dirt without leaving them the slightest room to save face.
Qi Shan stared coldly at the teacup in his hand. He exerted every ounce of self-control to keep from crushing it, then took several deep breaths in secret before his volcanic fury finally subsided. "Raised deep within the palace, a favored parasite who knows only how to curry favor with his looks—how much 'nobility' did you expect from his methods and character? Without Xin's National Seal, the spoils of this war are cut in half. With Zheng Qiao's temperament, of course he won't let it go..."
Hearing "National Seal" once again, Shen Tang's eyelid twitched faintly. "A man like that won't hold on to his throne."
Qi Shan had said earlier that if Zheng Qiao didn't die within five years, Geng Country would surely fall. Even that prediction had been conservative.
Given Zheng Qiao's current brutality and cruelty, whether he could last three years was a big question mark.
And he had already made a terrible start—
He let the troops under his command run amok, burning, killing, and pillaging.
Military discipline and loyalty were difficult to cultivate, but easy to shatter.
Outside the teahouse, some Geng soldiers saw that the proprietress was rather pretty and took a wicked fancy to her. They exchanged glances, then deliberately asked her to refill their tea. As she served them, they stroked her hands and put their arms around her waist. The more brazen ones even puckered their lips and leaned in for a couple of kisses. The proprietress turned pale with fright and cried out repeatedly, while the soldiers roared with laughter.
"Please, sirs..."
The teahouse owner tried to step in and help his wife, only to be slapped hard across the face. One side of his face quickly swelled and reddened.
"Get lost! You want to ruin our fun? Looking to die?"
Crack—
Qi Shan followed the sound and lowered his head to look at Shen Tang's hand.
The teacup in her hand had been crushed between her fingers.
Fortunately, Young Master Shen didn't slam the table in fury or charge out to fight. Instead, she said coldly, "If strict military discipline can't keep the troops in check, then these blades that fight south and north for Zheng Qiao and serve at his beck and call will one day have their desires denied, grow resentful of him, and finally—turn around and devour their master."
At her words, Qi Shan looked up into Shen Tang's eyes.
He did it entirely on instinct.
Her gaze was far too calm.
So calm that it made him wonder if she was looking at a swarm of doomed ants. The thought surfaced, and Qi Shan faltered for an instant. He covered his subtle reaction by taking a sip of tea. "But before that happens, who knows how many innocent commoners and people of insight will die... Alas, that's the state of things... Young Master Shen, what can you and I do? We can only watch from the sidelines."
"Yuan Liang."
Qi Shan raised an eyebrow.
Young Master Shen was always calling him "Mister Qi" or "Mister," which sounded respectful enough. But he could tell the difference between sincere respect and false, perfunctory politeness. By contrast, the "Qi Yuanliang" that had slipped out when she was angry earlier had sounded far more genuine.
Now she was calling him "Yuan Liang" outright...
He didn't find it offensive. In fact, he was a little eager to hear what she had to say.
"What is it?"
Shen Tang sat down and forced herself not to pay attention to the commotion outside the teahouse. Those soldiers were still at the stage of groping and taking liberties. Besides, they had prisoners to escort, so they probably wouldn't go any further. If she jumped out to "stand up for the helpless," she might bring trouble down on them instead.
So she had to distract herself with something else, to smother the helpless frustration of being unable to do anything.
"I'm curious. Who are you, really?"
Qi Shan knew far too much.
Besides, his appearance had been far too timely.
Just how high did Shen Tang's luck have to be for her to run into a know-it-all big shot after starting out in hell?
But Qi Shan didn't answer. Instead, he tossed the question back to her.
"Before answering that, shouldn't Young Master Shen be honest about your own identity? It would show good faith."
And why did she have a National Seal?
He didn't ask that aloud. He trusted that Young Master Shen was cunning enough to understand what he had left unsaid—
Perhaps that was the understanding between them.
Shen Tang: "..."
Asking her wouldn't help.
If she had a fallback plan and the body's former owner's memories, would she need to stick by Qi Shan's side and fish for information?
"Who do you think I am, Yuan Liang?"
Shen Tang used a tried-and-true, vague answer to parry his question.
So he wanted to toss the ball back and act mysterious? She could do that too!
But as soon as she spoke, Qi Shan fell silent. His expression turned so complicated that she couldn't read it. Then he suddenly sighed. "I thought... Of course. Shen, your surname is Shen!"
Something seemed to occur to him, and his expression suddenly cleared!
Shen Tang was utterly baffled. Three question marks practically lit up over her head, but she couldn't let it show. "My surname is Shen. Didn't you know that already, Yuan Liang? A Literary Heart can't lie, unless you think I'm as skilled at disguising myself as you are."
But—
What did her surname being Shen have to do with anything?
Qi Shan's next words left her speechless.
"So that's it. Young Master, you're 'Gong Cheng'?"
Shen Tang: "..."
Who was Gong Cheng???
She suddenly wanted to know what Qi Shan had imagined this time.
Qi Shan continued speaking on his own, his gaze fixed intently on Shen Tang as he recounted a rumor. "Xin's Sovereign is fond of women and treats them with little regard. Perhaps it's karma: he has only one child, the Princess, and she's a daughter. Yet he favors Gong Cheng, the legitimate son of the Gong Clan, far more than he does the Princess. Once, some busybody suggested that Gong Cheng become the Princess's husband, but the Sovereign rebuked him harshly and even demoted him... And so, rumors began circulating..."
Shen Tang filled in the blanks herself. "You mean Xin's Sovereign planted a field of grass on the Gong Clan Leader's head? No, I mean, he slept with the Gong Clan Leader's wife?"
Gong Cheng was Xin's Sovereign's kid???
The Gong Clan Leader had been a cuckold for years???
Wait—
Shen Tang suddenly froze. It took her a good while to react.
She looked at her Literary Heart, then at Qi Shan, whose eyes practically said, "I've seen right through your secret." She nearly spat up a mouthful of blood.
She asked, trembling a little, "The Xin Royal Family's surname is..."
"Shen," Qi Shan said.
Qi Yuanliang's imagination ran wild, but the truth was...
Before you continue