The Story of Moon City
The young King did his best to maintain his dignity, but his voice trembled. After he spoke, the guards standing in the hall grew even more tense.
"Why would I do that?" Xu Huo countered. "I made it very clear when I arrived: I came on behalf of the King of Gemstone City to reclaim the Most Beautiful Gemstone. If you don't want to return it, there's nothing I can do. Why would I kill people over a stone?"
"But it's no ordinary gemstone. It's the Most Beautiful Gemstone," the King retorted. Then he had a guard bring over a document. "We already returned the Most Beautiful Gemstone we borrowed back then. This bears Gemstone City's signature."
The document recording the two countries' dealings had once been torn to pieces. Now it was wrinkled and sealed inside a glass frame. The guard kept a cautious distance from Xu Huo, as if terrified he might damage the already tattered page.
"This document is genuine," the King said, his voice tinged with urgency. "Since you were sent by Gemstone City, you should be able to verify the signature."
"Signatures are easy to forge," Xu Huo said. "This doesn't prove that you returned the Most Beautiful Gemstone."
"We really did return it!" The King couldn't help standing up. "Besides this document of return, we also have all the correspondence between the fifth King and Gemstone City, including the letter of thanks that accompanied the gemstone's return. There are two copies of everything: one was sent to Gemstone City, and one was kept here in Moon City. If you don't believe me, I can show you all of it!"
Xu Huo thought it over. "Letters are indeed harder to forge, especially if you still have the reply from the