A strange penchant

Han Xingzhou's already gloomy mood shattered completely when he saw Steward Zhang approach with a familiar box.

"General, this box was found in the study. Please take a look."

Watching Han Xingzhou struggle desperately—and utterly fail—to conceal his expression, Mao Qiantao gave two cold chuckles and brought the box straight before him.

"Han Xingzhou, care to guess what's inside this box?"

Hearing that familiar name, Han Xingzhou's eyes widened. Ever since coming to Great Xia, he had used a false name, yet Mao Qiantao had called out his real name without hesitation. Terror surged through him.

"You—you knew all along!"

Han Xingzhou spoke with certainty.

Mao Qiantao smiled, neither confirming nor denying it.

He casually tossed the box into the air a couple of times, then said with a malicious smile:

"Let me guess. Could these be letters between me and an enemy nation? After all, I've never deliberately concealed my handwriting. You've spent so many years in the General's Residence that imitating it wouldn't be difficult."

Mao Qiantao named the contents outright, convincing Han Xingzhou even further that he must have known all along.

"Hahahahaha! Mao Qiantao, what a cunning schemer you are! I always thought you were a reckless brute, all courage and no brains. Who would have thought your mind worked in such fine detail? All these years, every move I made in the General's Residence must have been right under your nose!"

Han Xingzhou was consumed by regret. He had thought himself the mantis stalking its prey, never realizing there was an oriole waiting behind him!

So Great General Mao knew all along. And here I was, worrying about him for so long. I thought he was an honest, straightforward man.

Hearing that thought, Mao Qiantao smiled helplessly. He had only just found out himself.

Wait, that doesn't make sense. If he knew all along, why did he let his concubine carry on an affair with a guard? Does he have a cuckold fetish?

Jiang Nuan suddenly spotted the flaw.

Mao Qiantao's face stiffened. He had only wanted to make it seem as though Han Xingzhou hadn't been playing him like a puppet all this time. Evidently, he had succeeded, but now Jiang Nuan had mistaken him for a pervert.

The strange look Jiang Nuan gave him made him want to claw a hole in the ground with his toes.

Meanwhile, An Yan, who had witnessed the whole exchange from the sidelines, couldn't help curving her lips into a smile. So watching juicy drama was this entertaining. No wonder her younger sister loved it so much.

To divert attention, Mao Qiantao simply broke the box open with brute force. Inside was a stack of letters, just as expected.

He opened them and examined them closely. Though he had braced himself, he was still startled. Han Xingzhou had not only imitated his handwriting, but even reproduced his little writing habits. Even the tone was exactly how he usually spoke.

Had he not been the person involved, even he would have been suspicious.

He had fought countless battles throughout his life, and naturally, not every one could have ended in a flawless victory. He could win nine battles out of ten, but sometimes casualties were heavy, and sometimes he suffered a narrow defeat. These letters discussed almost nothing but his military plans, and the campaigns mentioned happened to be precisely those imperfect victories and defeats.

A single glance was enough to bring Mao Qiantao out in a cold sweat.

To prevent a long night from breeding more trouble, Mao Qiantao immediately had a brazier brought over and burned every last letter to ashes.

Besides the letters, an assortment of other things was found in Han Xingzhou's bedroom. Mao Qiantao immediately had them all disposed of before his eyes.

Barely the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed since those things were disposed of when officers and soldiers burst into the General's Residence.

The officer leading them saluted Mao Qiantao.

"General, someone has beaten the grievance drum, claiming that his child served in the army and died because you colluded with the enemy and betrayed the nation. Many commoners have already gathered outside the Court of Judicial Review. We now need to investigate the General's Residence. Please cooperate with us."

Cold sweat broke out on the officer's forehead. Mao Qiantao truly was a man who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even someone like him, who had encountered plenty of vicious criminals, could not withstand the general's imposing presence.

But he had no choice. His superiors all knew Mao Qiantao had an explosive temper and wanted no part in these muddy waters. With little standing and no influence, he had been pushed forward instead.

Unexpectedly, however, Mao Qiantao looked perfectly calm, without the slightest sign of anger.

"Very well. If you want to search, then search!"

Had he heard someone accuse him of colluding with the enemy and betraying the nation without knowing what was going on, he would certainly have flown into a towering rage. But now he knew someone had framed him. The planted evidence had already been disposed of, and he had even captured the culprit himself. Naturally, he no longer cared.

"General, even if you refuse, we must follow procedure... huh?"

The officer began reciting the speech he had prepared beforehand, only to realize halfway through that Mao Qiantao had actually agreed! He had actually agreed!

Was this still the Great General Mao he knew?

"What, aren't you going to search? Then hurry up and leave. I have important matters to attend to!"

Mao Qiantao shot him a glance and spoke irritably.

"We are! We are! Of course we're going to search!"

Afraid Mao Qiantao might change his mind, the officer hurriedly ordered his subordinates to look for the evidence described by the man who had beaten the drum.

After a long while, the men returned empty-handed and shook their heads at the officer in charge.

"My apologies for disturbing you, General."

With that, he hurried away as though a vicious dog were chasing him.

Once Han Xingzhou saw the officers leave, his heart turned to dead ashes. After all his lengthy plotting and scheming, it had amounted to nothing! All! For! Nothing!

Mao Qiantao had kept him here this long solely to crush his hopes completely. Now that he had achieved his goal, there was no need to keep him around.

"Take him away!"

"Let go of me, you lowly servants! My father is a great general of Goryeo! I'll beat every last one of you to death! Hahahaha..."

Han Xingzhou twisted his body, trying to shake off the guards' hands, only to aggravate the places where he had just been beaten and grimace in pain.

"Who—who dares hit me? You must be tired of living! I'll kill you all! Kill you all!"

Jiang Nuan watched the scene, dumbfounded.

Did Han Xingzhou go mad because he couldn't take the shock? His ability to cope is far too poor!

Seeing Han Xingzhou's deranged state, Mao Qiantao hurriedly ordered the men to take him away.

He absolutely could not let this madman hurt the Ninth Princess!

"Thank you for your warning today, Ninth Princess. Otherwise, I really would have capsized in a gutter. There aren't any amusing trinkets in the General's Residence, but I do happen to have some gold ingots..."

The moment he finished speaking, a maid brought a tray piled high with gold ingots before Jiang Nuan.

Mao Qiantao had no taste for things that merely put on an air of refinement. To him, nothing was more practical than gold and silver. From Jiang Nuan's thoughts earlier, she seemed quite fond of them too, so he was giving her exactly what she liked.

After all, without Jiang Nuan's thoughts today, he would have had nine chances of dying and only one of surviving. Thus, he had come up with this way to thank her.

"Oh, General Mao, you're far too kind."

Though Jiang Nuan said that, her hands did not slow in the slightest as she stuffed the gold ingots into her pockets in a heap.