Seeing Lu Zhi's unusually serious expression as he spoke such absurd nonsense, Zuo Feng's face stiffened.
"You mean a god descended from Heaven?" he repeated.
Lu Zhi nodded.
Zuo Feng's eyes widened. He bent slightly at the waist and circled Lu Zhi, as though inspecting something inconceivable.
"Lord Lu, you really think I'd believe you when you say something like that?" Zuo Feng scoffed.
He called Lu Zhi Lord Lu only because of his lofty status. Though Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Rang had his back, Zuo Feng knew better than to casually offend a high-ranking official like Lu Zhi.
But if Lu Zhi thought he could fool him and the Son of Heaven with the absurd claim that some god had descended after his defeat, that was downright laughable.
If Lu Zhi truly angered him, Zuo Feng could just as well call him Lu Zhi, you miserable wretch!
Lu Zhi replied helplessly, "Every word is true. I haven't said a single falsehood."
Zuo Feng furrowed his brow and stood before Lu Zhi, speaking cautiously. "Lord Lu, I advise you to watch your words. Though you are a defeated general, you are still a veteran of the imperial court with considerable military merit. His Majesty won't be too harsh with you. But if you intend to deceive and mislead His Majesty, well, the outcome may not be so pleasant."
Lu Zhi said earnestly, "Do you think I enjoy talking about ghosts and gods? My defeat this time truly was because of the Descent of the Yellow Heaven God, who protects the Yellow Turban rebels. More than ten thousand elite Han soldiers were cowed by divine might. Not one dared resist; they all knelt and surrendered."
Seeing how earnest Lu Zhi looked, Zuo Feng found himself starting to believe him.
After all, Lu Zhi was a great Confucian scholar of the empire who had always kept his distance from talk of ghosts and gods. His character was also among the finest of the many nobles and ministers. It seemed unlikely he would invent a tale about Immortal Gods just to shirk responsibility for his defeat.
Still, he couldn't bring himself to believe it. After a moment's hesitation, Zuo Feng said, "Please summon a few military officers, Lord Lu. I'll question them one by one."
Lu Zhi let out a breath of relief. "That's only right. I'll summon them at once."
A quarter of an hour later, five military officers, including Zong Yuan, stood below the hall. Zuo Feng had "driven" Lu Zhi out.
Standing before the five men, Zuo Feng said gravely, "Tell me in detail how you lost this battle."
Zong Yuan looked from side to side. When the others stayed silent, he was the first to speak. "In reply to the Imperial Envoy, this defeat was truly no fault of our army. Our forces..."
He spoke at length, and his account was almost entirely consistent with Lu Zhi's.
Zuo Feng acknowledged it noncommittally, then pointed to another man and told him to repeat the story.
The next man's answer matched Zong Yuan's exactly, with a few details added.
Then another man gave his account. By the time all five had finished, Zuo Feng was leaning toward the belief that the Yellow Turban Army really was protected by a god.
He waved for the five men to leave, then paced alone beneath the hall, lost in thought.
He didn't know whether he should report the military situation truthfully to the Son of Heaven. If he did, the story was so absurd that he feared Emperor Liu Hong would curse and beat him mercilessly.
But if he didn't report the truth, what could he tell the Son of Heaven?
After much deliberation, he finally decided to tell the truth. The claim that Sovereign Yellow Absolute had descended had come from Lu Zhi himself; Zuo Feng was merely the messenger.
If Liu Hong truly flew into a rage, it would be directed at Lu Zhi, Zong Yuan, and the others.
Zuo Feng clapped his hands softly. "I should also question the soldiers who fled back with Lu Zhi and the others. Unlike Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan, they don't hold high positions. Facing an Imperial Envoy like me, they'll be trembling with fear. They wouldn't dare lie."
With that, Zuo Feng found a servant and told him to bring twenty of the surviving soldiers.
Before long, twenty somewhat timid men stood below the hall, heads bowed, afraid to look at the Imperial Envoy who seemed so far above them.
Zuo Feng was pleased by their demeanor. He nodded slightly, drawing out his words in a high, thin voice.
"You all know I'm the Imperial Envoy sent by the court and enjoy His Majesty's deep trust. I've summoned you today to ask about the details of the battle at Guangzong. You must answer truthfully. If you dare conceal anything, you'll be executed without mercy. Understood?!"
"Understood! Understood!" they hurriedly replied.
With his hands behind his back, Zuo Feng paced before them. Suddenly, he raised a hand and pointed at one man, making him flinch.
"You. Speak!"
"Yes, yes!" The man lowered his head and stammered nervously. "At Guangzong—in the battle at Guangzong, we followed General Lu and drove the Moth Bandits back again and again. The enemy's morale was faltering, their formation was about to collapse, and victory was within our grasp when suddenly, suddenly..."
"Suddenly what? Look at me!" Zuo Feng grabbed the man's shoulder and leaned in close, his eyes fierce.
The man instinctively stumbled two steps backward, his words tumbling out in confusion. "A god! The Holy Infant descended!!"
Zuo Feng's heart sank. He pretended to accuse him. "You dare deceive me? I just questioned Lord Lu. He said he was defeated because of his own poor command, and that the Moth Bandits beat him. He never mentioned any god!"
The man was stunned. "How could that be? It was clearly the Yellow Heaven Holy Infant who descended to the mortal world! I saw the Holy Infant flying in the sky, walking five steps, then turning into a five-year-old child..."
As a Junior Yellow Gate who served the emperor, Zuo Feng was skilled at reading people's expressions. A close look was all it took to see that the man was telling the truth.
Zuo Feng fixed his fierce gaze on another man. "You. Speak!"
The man looked close to tears. "Imperial Envoy, Imperial Envoy, I don't know how to explain it. The Moth Bandits really did have a Holy Infant descend to the mortal world. That's why we lost. Otherwise, how could a mere band of Yellow Turban rebels defeat the mighty army of our great Han?"
Zuo Feng glanced around and saw the same expression on every face. His heart lurched. He waved for them to leave, then stood alone beneath the hall, dazed.
"The Yellow Heaven Holy Infant... Sovereign Yellow Absolute..."
He murmured to himself, then abruptly smacked his forehead. "True or not, I'd better get out of Lieren and return to Luoyang first. The Han Army has suffered a crushing defeat, and with nothing to restrain the Yellow Turban rebels, all of vast Ji Province is dangerous."
Once he'd decided, he hurriedly led the soldiers traveling with him out of Lieren County, heading toward Luoyang. He didn't even have time for his favorite pastime: extorting bribes.
In the original history, after reaching the Han Army's camp outside Guangzong City, he had demanded money and silks from Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi was upright and unyielding, and refused to pay.
Filled with resentment, Zuo Feng reported to the Son of Heaven that Lu Zhi had easily surrounded the Yellow Turban rebels but refused to attack, waiting for Heaven to destroy the Moth Bandits—in other words, that Lu Zhi was deliberately keeping the rebels alive to strengthen his own position.
Liu Hong was furious when he heard this. He immediately ordered, "Put Lu Zhi in a caged cart and summon him to court; reduce his sentence by one degree from the death penalty." Poor Lu Zhi was then taken to the capital under arrest.
But this time, Lu Zhi had truly become a defeated general. Zuo Feng was so frightened that he didn't even bother to extort a bribe. He fled back to Luoyang in a hurry...
More than ten days later.
After a grueling journey, Zuo Feng returned to the familiar imperial palace in Luoyang and went to see the Son of Heaven, Liu Hong.
Liu Hong had been in good spirits thanks to the successive victory reports Lu Zhi had sent. But Zuo Feng's account left him utterly stunned.
"What did you say? The entire Han Army was wiped out?!"
"What? A Holy Infant descended among the Moth Bandits, and the gods protected them?!!"