15, Deeming you worthy, I call you Duke Lu

Watching Lu Zhi's exceptionally earnest expression while he spoke such absurdities, Zuo Feng's face stiffened.

"Are you saying that a god from the heavens has descended to the world?" he repeated.

Lu Zhi nodded.

Zuo Feng's eyes widened; he hunched his back slightly and circled around Lu Zhi, as if inspecting something beyond belief.

"Lord Lu, do you truly expect me to believe such a thing?" Zuo Feng sneered.

He addressed Lu Zhi as "Lord Lu" only because of Lu Zhi's high status. Although he had the backing of the Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Rang, he knew better than to rashly offend a high-ranking official like Lu Zhi.

However, if Lu Zhi thought he could hoodwink him and the Emperor with such ridiculous claims of divine intervention to excuse his defeat, then it was truly laughable.

If he were truly provoked, calling him "that scoundrel Lu Zhi" would be the least of his concerns!

Lu Zhi sighed helplessly: "Every word is the truth, there is not a shred of falsehood."

Zuo Feng frowned deeply. Standing before Lu Zhi, he cautioned: "Lord Lu, I advise you to be careful with your words. Although you are a defeated general, you are still a veteran of the imperial court with significant military achievements. His Majesty will not be overly harsh on you, but if you intend to deceive and fool the Emperor, hmph, the consequences will be hard to predict."

Lu Zhi said sincerely: "Am I the sort of man who enjoys discussing ghosts and spirits? My defeat this time was indeed because the Descent of the God Huang Tian, who protects the Yellow Turban rebels, occurred. Tens of thousands of elite Han Army soldiers were struck by the divine might, and none dared to resist, all kneeling in surrender."

Seeing the extreme sincerity in Lu Zhi's expression, Zuo Feng began to waver in his skepticism.

After all, Lu Zhi was a great Confucian scholar of the dynasty who had always kept his distance from talk of ghosts and spirits. Furthermore, Lu Zhi's character was among the best of all the princes and ministers; it was unlikely he would fabricate tales of immortals and gods just to shirk responsibility for a defeat.

Still, he could not bring himself to believe it. Zuo Feng hesitated and said: "Please summon several of your military officers, Lord Lu. I wish to question them one by one."

Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief: "That is only right. I shall go and call them at once."

A quarter of an hour later, Zong Yuan and four other officers stood in the hall, while Lu Zhi had been "shooed" away by Zuo Feng.

Zuo Feng stood before the five men, his expression grave: "Tell me in detail about this recent defeat."

Zong Yuan looked left and right. When the others remained silent, he immediately took the lead: "Reporting to the Imperial Envoy, this battle was truly not a failure of strategy. Our army..."

He gave an account that was almost identical to what Lu Zhi had said.

Zuo Feng gave a noncommittal grunt and randomly pointed to another man, ordering him to repeat the story.

The next man's answer matched Zong Yuan's perfectly, even adding a few supplementary details.

One after another, the men answered. By the time all five had finished, Zuo Feng was already leaning toward the belief that the Yellow Turban Army was indeed protected by a deity.

He waved his hand to dismiss the five men and paced the hall alone, lost in thought.

He did not know whether he should report the military situation to the Emperor truthfully. If he did, it sounded so absurd that he feared the Emperor Liu Hong would lash out at him with vicious insults and beatings.

If he did not report it truthfully, how else was he to answer to the Emperor?

After long deliberation, he finally decided to tell the truth. After all, the claim about the Sovereign Yellow Absolute descending to the world had come from Lu Zhi's own mouth; he was merely the messenger.

If Liu Hong were to be truly enraged, he would direct his fury at Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan.

Zuo Feng clapped his hands softly: "I still need to see the soldiers who fled back with Lu Zhi and the others. They do not hold the high rank of Lu Zhi or Zong Yuan; facing an Imperial Envoy like me, they will surely be trembling and will not dare to lie."

With this thought, Zuo Feng found a servant and ordered him to bring twenty of the surviving soldiers.

Before long, twenty cowering men stood in the hall, heads bowed, not daring to look at the Imperial Envoy who stood so high above them in their eyes.

Zuo Feng was satisfied with their demeanor. He nodded slightly and deliberately drew out his words, his voice sounding somewhat shrill.

"You all know that I am the Imperial Envoy sent by the court, deeply trusted by His Majesty. I have summoned you today to ask for the details of the Battle of Guangzong. You must answer truthfully. If you dare to conceal anything, you will be executed without mercy—do you understand?!"

"We understand! We understand!" the men replied in a flurry.

Zuo Feng paced before them with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, he pointed at one man, causing him to shudder in fright.

"You, speak!"

"Y-yes!" the man stammered, head bowed. "The Battle of Guangzong... under the leadership of General Lu, we drove the Moth Bandits back repeatedly. Just as we saw the enemy's morale failing and their formation about to collapse, and we were on the verge of victory, suddenly... suddenly..."

"Suddenly what? Look at me!" Zuo Feng grabbed his shoulders, leaning in close with a fierce glare.

The man subconsciously stepped back, babbling incoherently: "A god! The Yellow Heaven Holy Infant has descended to the world!!"

Zuo Feng felt a chill in his heart and deliberately bluffed: "You dare to deceive me? I just asked Lord Lu, and he said it was his own poor command that led to the defeat by the Moth Bandits—there was never any heavenly god!"

The man was bewildered: "How can that be? It was clearly the Yellow Heaven Holy Infant descending to the world. I saw with my own eyes the Holy Infant flying in the sky, taking five steps, and turning into a five-year-old child..."

As a Junior Yellow Gate serving the Emperor, Zuo Feng was skilled at reading faces. He scrutinized the man's expression and easily discerned that he was telling the truth.

Zuo Feng turned a fierce gaze toward another man: "You, speak!"

The man pointed at looked miserable: "Imperial Envoy, Imperial Envoy, I don't know how to explain it. The Moth Bandits truly had a Holy Infant descend; that is why we were defeated. Otherwise, how could mere Yellow Turban rebels overcome the heavenly army of our Great Han?"

Zuo Feng looked around the room and saw the same expression on everyone's face. His heart sank. He waved his hand to dismiss them and stood alone in the hall, dazed.

"Yellow Heaven Holy Infant, Sovereign Yellow Absolute..."

He muttered to himself, then suddenly slapped his forehead: "True or false, it is better to flee Lieren and return to Luoyang. The Han Army has suffered a crushing defeat, the Yellow Turban rebels are unchecked, and this vast Ji Province is a dangerous place."

Having made his decision, he hurriedly took his escort of soldiers and left Lieren County, heading toward Luoyang, not even finding the time for his favorite pastime of soliciting bribes.

In the original history, after he arrived at the Han Army camp outside Guangzong City, he demanded money and silk from Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi, being a man of integrity, refused to give them.

Zuo Feng, harboring resentment, reported to the Emperor that Lu Zhi had easily surrounded the Yellow Turban rebels but refused to attack, waiting for Heaven to destroy the Moth Bandits—implying that Lu Zhi was prolonging the war to protect his own position.

Liu Hong was furious upon hearing this and immediately ordered: "Confine him in a cage cart to be brought to the capital, and reduce his death sentence by one degree." Poor Lu Zhi was then taken into custody and sent to the capital.

However, this time, Lu Zhi had truly become a defeated general, and Zuo Feng was so terrified that he didn't even care about soliciting bribes, fleeing back to Luoyang in a panic...

More than ten days later.

Having traveled in haste, Zuo Feng returned to the familiar imperial palace of Luoyang to meet with the Emperor, Liu Hong.

Liu Hong had been in a good mood due to the successive reports of victory sent by Lu Zhi, but Zuo Feng's words left him completely stunned.

"What did you say? The Han Army has been completely wiped out?!"

"What? The Moth Bandits have a Holy Infant descended from the heavens, protected by divine spirits?!!"