Thorn Whips Split Backs and Silence Slander; Black Armor Rises to Subdue Handan

Chapter 172:

"Oh? Let's go see."

Zhao Cheng turned and walked away.

Qin Guli stared, watching the towering figure recede into the distance.

He reached out, lips moving soundlessly, but in the end he didn't dare try to stop him.

All he could do was clench his fists in anguish.

Why did he always leave at the critical moment!?

At the thought of the steel-refining method Zhao Cheng hadn't revealed, Qin Guli felt as if his heart and guts were being clawed at. He wanted nothing more than to rush over, tie Zhao Cheng up, and force the answer out of him for three days and three nights!

But he didn't dare.

All he could do was sigh in misery. In just three days, he'd already lost a third of his hair...

The wind beneath Handan's walls swept up dust and whipped across Lord Changping's bare back, setting the thorny branches he carried rustling.

The noble enfeoffed by Great Qin knelt beneath the city walls, his back ramrod straight. Yet he deliberately reined in his usual sharpness, allowing just the right measure of remorse to show.

Behind him, the officials whispered among themselves.

"My lord, you are Lord Changping. Why put yourself through this?"

"His Majesty is far too protective of Zhao Cheng. Lord Changping merely had doubts over the secret letter and offered a few words of advice to prevent future trouble. How could he make him carry thorny branches and beg forgiveness?"

"What do you know? My lord is yielding ground to gain an advantage. For years, he has devoted himself heart and soul to Great Qin and rendered outstanding service. Zhao Cheng may be a general His Majesty holds in high regard, but he has shallow roots.

"My lord has already come to beg forgiveness with