"I've been wronged!"
A sudden shout rang out. Peng Feng dropped to his knees, then crawled on them to Cao Jinxing's feet, weeping in his fourth-rank court robes. The sight of that flying-fish robe made him tremble all over, his heart clenching.
He knew perfectly well that if the Embroidered Uniform Guard knew, the emperor knew. Even the former Great General Qiu Luan had not escaped the punishment for colluding with foreign peoples-death by a thousand cuts, his head displayed across the nine frontier garrisons!
Let alone a mere fourth-rank prefect like him.
Right now, this member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard might be the only person who could save his life.
"You misunderstand, Lord Qianhu!"
Kneeling on the ground, Peng Feng declared righteously, "We are all officials appointed by the court, our families blessed by imperial favor for generations. How could we defect and betray our country? The Wokou attacked so suddenly, and the city's defenses were inadequate. We had no choice but to humble ourselves and serve the bandits, waiting for reinforcements so we could coordinate from within and without and catch them all in one net, my lord!"
"Yes! Exactly!"
"That was precisely our intention!"
"Please see the truth, my lord!"
The other officials also knelt and protested their innocence.
Cao Jinxing laughed without the slightest courtesy, but there was no mirth in his smile.
He bent down, looked Peng Feng in the eyes, and said mildly, "Do you know who I am, Lord Peng?"
Peng Feng froze, then asked timidly, "May I ask... may I ask your... honorable name, my lord...?"
"I am Cao Jinxing. The man who sent Great General Qiu Luan to the next world a few months ago."
"?!!"
Peng Feng's face changed drastically. So frightened that he tipped backward, he landed on