Inspecting Yan Pass on the Emperor's Behalf

"General Chen, I heard you were wounded atop the city walls. How is your injury?"

Wei Li asked Chen Lin as soon as he entered.

Yet there was not a trace of sincerity in his eyes.

Chen Lin's eyes were slightly lowered, his face pale and utterly bloodless. Even his eyes had lost their former clarity.

"Deputy General Wei, I was careless! I never imagined that brat Wan Li would dare poison his arrows!"

After struggling to finish that sentence, Chen Lin grew short of breath and had to stop, panting heavily.

"Deputy General Wei, you have guarded Yan Pass alongside me for many years and are familiar with its affairs, great and small. While I recover here, I intend to entrust the position of commander to you temporarily."

Wei Li's eyes flickered. "General Chen, why would you say such a thing? With Physician Yan here, a minor arrow wound is nothing his medical skills cannot handle. Set your mind at ease and recover."

"Had you listened to my advice yesterday, General, you could likely have avoided today's calamity."

Chen Lin nodded. "Indeed, I bitterly regret my decision! But matters have already come to this, and spilled water cannot be gathered back. I hope you will not follow in my footsteps, Deputy General Wei."

"Of course," Wei Li said. "You may rest easy and tend to your wounds, General Chen. As for Yan Pass, I will set everything in order."

"Then I am sorry for the trouble, Deputy General Wei!"

Chen Lin cupped his hands toward Wei Li. "I will report to His Majesty in the coming days and ask him to grant you the position of commander."

Wei Li waved his hands repeatedly. "That would never do. I am merely managing affairs on your behalf for a few days. In time, you must personally lead our soldiers at Yan Pass again."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Wei Li rose and took his leave, thoroughly satisfied.

Once outside the Central Army Tent, he stopped.

When Yan Ming emerged from the Central Army Tent, he saw Wei Li standing before it.

From the look of things, he seemed to be waiting for him.

"Deputy General Wei, did you need something?"

Wei Li motioned for Yan Ming to follow him, and they went together to his military tent.

As soon as they entered, he looked gravely at Yan Ming. "Physician Yan, how is General Chen's injury?"

Yan Ming shook his head. "The outlook is poor."

"Still, if we do all we can to treat him, there may yet be a sliver of hope."

"I will become the commander of Yan Pass in the future. If you join my ranks, Physician Yan, I certainly will not treat you poorly."

Though Wei Li had not said it outright, Yan Ming understood his meaning perfectly.

"I am unworthy of such favor, Deputy General Wei. But General Chen still needs someone by his side to care for him."

Yan Ming spoke with great humility.

"Chen Lin's condition is a sign that his days are numbered. Physician Yan, a wise bird chooses the tree in which it roosts. Surely I need not teach you that principle?"

Yan Ming cupped his hands toward Wei Li. "I am merely an army physician. On the day of your promotion, Deputy General Wei, I will naturally come to serve at your side."

Wei Li stared at Yan Ming with a dark, brooding gaze for a long while before waving him away. "You may go!"

Yan Prefecture City, County Office

Chu Yifeng sat in the seat of honor in the inner hall, looking at Yang Qing and Dai Sheng below. "The bandit scourge in Yan Prefecture City has finally been eradicated. This is truly cause for celebration. I will soon submit a memorial to my imperial father requesting rewards for you!"

Yang Qing and Dai Sheng bowed together. "This was all thanks to His Majesty's boundless imperial might. We dare not claim the credit!"

Chu Yifeng waved a hand. "Your achievements are plain to see. Just await your generous rewards. But these vicious bandits have only just been eliminated. You must not lower your guard, lest the dead embers flare to life again."

"We will remember your instructions!"

"Furthermore, before I left the capital, my imperial father repeatedly reminded me that the situation between Western Chu and Northern Liang is delicate. The state of affairs at Yan Pass has long weighed on his mind."

"But because of my special status, I cannot visit Yan Pass in person. He therefore specifically ordered me to convey his verbal decree."

At the words "verbal decree," Yang Qing and Dai Sheng knelt together. "Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty! May he reign for ten thousand years!"

Only then did Chu Yifeng continue. "Yan Pass is the gateway to our Western Chu and must not be lost. Commissioner Yang is hereby ordered to inspect Yan Pass on the emperor's behalf, first to convey the court's concern, and second to investigate Northern Liang's movements."

"Lord Yang, have you understood?"

Yang Qing bowed all the way to the floor. "I will exert every effort and fulfill the trust His Majesty has placed in me."

Chu Yifeng nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. I, too, believe you will handle this matter properly. With the bandit scourge in Yan Prefecture resolved, a great burden has been lifted from my heart. I will return to Capital City tomorrow."

"We respectfully bid Your Highness farewell!"

After leaving the County Office's second hall, Yang Qing had not gone far before Bu Er darted into view. "Young master, Tiger, the man we were holding captive, has escaped!"

Escaped?

Yang Qing stopped in his tracks.

When he had ordered Bu Er to kill Wood and spare only Tiger, he had hoped to learn more from him about the massacre of his family all those years ago.

But the series of events that followed had left Yang Qing no time to deal with him.

He had never expected Tiger to escape at such a critical juncture.

"That man is vicious beyond measure. If he has fled far away, that is one thing. What worries me is that he might be hiding in some corner, waiting for a chance to hurt someone."

Yang Qing considered for a moment, then told Bu Er, "Investigate discreetly. If you discover his whereabouts, kill him on the spot. There must be no mistakes!"

Bu Er acknowledged the order, turned, and vanished.

Yang Qing's gaze settled on a spot outside the County Office, and an almost imperceptible smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

He slowly left the County Office and headed toward Little Willow Lane.

Before long, the buildings along the street began to grow fewer.

The pedestrians grew sparse as well.

As though he had noticed nothing, Yang Qing continued slowly forward.

Just as he rounded a corner, a length of bamboo with a sharpened tip thrust across his path.

"You Yang brat, you're quite something!"

Yang Qing looked at the ragged man before him, whose face was filthy, and replied calmly, "You flatter me. You flatter me."

"Since you're that survivor from ten years ago, I'll send you on your way today so your whole family can reunite!"

Tiger ground his teeth with an audible rattle.

He had never imagined that in a mere month, this Yang Family brat would wipe out every last trace of the power they had spent years building in Yan Prefecture!

"Today, I'll slaughter you as an offering to my fallen brothers!"

Tiger drove the bamboo in his hand toward Yang Qing's neck with all his strength.

But when its sharpened tip was barely an inch from Yang Qing's neck, it could go no farther.

A sharp dagger had pierced his chest.

"If I'd arrived a moment later, would I have had to bury you all over again?"

Expressionless, Jiang Zhizhou pulled the dagger from Tiger's chest and wiped it again and again on Tiger's clothes in disgust.

Yang Qing smiled. "But you're here now, aren't you?"