The Man Behind the Curtain

Li Xing and Lu Gaosheng were discussing the troubles in the north late at night in the room behind the Lu mansion's garden.

Lu Gaosheng nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. Wang Jue has been in the north for many years, so the location of his provisions and supplies must be deeply hidden and heavily guarded. Yet in the end, the enemy army still managed to burn them."

As Lu Gaosheng said, the matter of the provisions was most strange.

Li Xing speculated, "Could it have been the work of spies from the northern countries?"

Lu Gaosheng replied, "It's not impossible, but I think the possibility is low..."

Looking at the map on the table and the letters conveying messages again, a flash of inspiration came to Lu Gaosheng's mind, as if he had figured something out.

Picking up the letters, Lu Gaosheng read them through again. His eyes grew increasingly bright!

Li Xing asked from the side, "Sir, have you discovered something?"

Lu Gaosheng said in a low voice, "The gates of Shuangxue Country were broken through by the Zhenbei Army, allowing deep incursion. Then these two countries suddenly appeared, cutting off the retreat and luring Wang Jue to dispatch troops. Afterwards, they took a detour to the rear and burned the provisions. The alliance of the five countries gave no hint of this beforehand, but looking at their actions, so swift and interlocking, it must have been premeditated!"

Lu Gaosheng's tone paused as he spoke in a doubtful voice, "However, the fifteen northern countries have never gotten along, fighting each other for years. Wolf Country and Shuangxue Country especially are lifelong enemies. How did they form an alliance? And after Shuangxue Country was breached, how did they, in just half a month, formulate such detailed plans and quickly implement them?"

Since there were doubts, there would be answers.

Turning the white jade finger stall on his right hand, Lu Gaosheng thought the most likely explanation was:

In addition to the five countries, there was another black hand behind the turmoil in the north!

He had brought about the alliance of the five countries and formulated the plan to oppose Wang Jue. He might even be connected to the burning of the provisions camp.

But when it came to the Zhenbei Army's provisions camp, Lu Gaosheng immediately denied it could have been northern spies.

Otherwise, if they had the ability to find the Zhenbei Army's provisions camp, they would have burned it long ago instead of letting Wang Jue repeatedly attack cities and plunder the land all these years.

It was someone from within Dawu Country, who had the ability to access the classified information of the Zhenbei Army's provisions camp, as well as the means to contact the five northern countries.

Lu Gaosheng felt he was gradually seeing the truth behind the whole matter.

Having listened to Lu Gaosheng's earlier analysis, Li Xing was also thinking. Not until this moment did he dare to say with some uncertainty: "Hearing sir speak of it this way, could this whole matter actually be a conspiracy?"

Lu Gaosheng said, "Although there is no evidence at all, not even a hint, I think it must have been someone from the court, someone highly placed and influential, with the goal of toppling General Wang Jue of the northern defenses."

As Lu Gaosheng spoke, Li Xing gasped!

It was too vicious!

To even dare touch the Zhenbei Army, this was outright treason!

"Sir..."

"No need to say more." Lu Gaosheng slowly stood up.

Walking to the bookshelf behind him, Lu Gaosheng slowly said, "Based on the information we have so far, this is about as far as we can speculate. Thinking more would be meaningless."

As he spoke, Lu Gaosheng took out a map of Dawu Country from the bookshelf and spread it out on the desk.

Lu Gaosheng pointed out the location of Hanwu Commandery on the map.

It was the northernmost commandery of Dawu Country. Although barren and frigid, it was vast in area.

Lu Gaosheng's finger slid down Hanwu Commandery in a straight line. Before long, Lu Gaosheng's fingertip stopped at a place on the map.

Tian'ge Commandery!

Seeing Lu Gaosheng's actions, Li Xing realized, "Sir..."

Lu Gaosheng said, "I don't think this matter is over yet. Let's just wait patiently. You may leave."

Li Xing silently bowed and withdrew.

Lu Gaosheng remained standing there for a while before finally coming out of his thoughts. He tidied up the map and burned the letters. Returning to the hall, he opened the door.

Facing the cold moon, Lu Gaosheng smiled coldly at the corner of his mouth.

Although there was no evidence at all, not even a hint...

Lu Gaosheng mumbled to himself in a mocking tone: "Was it you, respected father-in-law, Minister Song, Song YanShi!"

"Twenty years ago you toppled the General of the Southern Defenses, assassinating Bai ShiXuan on his journey home with martial artists. After the dust settled, you put in your own trusted aide, wielding power over court and jianghu for twenty years. And now, you've set your sights on the Zhenbei Army?"

"I hope I'm not wrong."

Lu Gaosheng sneered inwardly.

But when he was alone in the room again, Lu Qingming's mocking voice rang out by his ear once more.

"Is that so, Lu Gaosheng? Speaking of which, you've helped Song YanShi quite a bit too. Otherwise, how would you have attained the position of Prefect?"

The headache and chest tightness assaulted him again. Lu Gaosheng felt very irritated.

...

...

The calm of the common folk did not represent calm in the Dawu court.

Undercurrents surged as the Six Ministries held conferences continuously for a full day and night without stopping.

Lu Gaosheng noticed the officials of the Nine Ministers all realized, even if somewhat late, that something was off about Wang Jue's actions.

Someone suggested the emperor issue an edict forcing Wang Jue to retreat, not allowing him to risk the 200,000 troops.

Someone else suggested letting Wang Jue do as he wished, because judging from the memorials he sent back, he was very confident and sure of success.

Other suggestions like first gathering provisions to send to Hanwu Commandery were temporarily set aside,

because whether to fight or retreat was what these officials cared about most right now.

Yet at the same moment, under the same dark night, the Prefect of Zhengwu Prefecture in Hanwu Commandery - Wu Qixue, sat alone in the main hall of his government office.

Oddly though,

Wu Qixue sat upright in the hall without any candles lit, allowing the surroundings to be pitch-black.

Thus his appearance and bearing could not be seen clearly.

Unlike Lu Gaosheng, Wu Qixue had terrible luck in his official career. Although he had held the position of Prefect all along, considered a high office, he was first transferred from the south to the central region, then from the central region to the north.

After being in a northern commandery for not long, he was transferred again to Hanwu Commandery, the northernmost part of Dawu Country, as well as its most barren area with the least spoils.

His office was not low, but his jurisdiction grew worse year after year.

Especially this year, after exposing a colleague for corruption but lacking sufficient evidence, he was jointly impeached by all the Prefects of Hanwu Commandery.

It looked like he might be dismissed at any time, but was delayed for now due to Wang Jue's matter.

So he was still the Prefect for the moment.

But sitting in the hall in darkness, as Prefect of Zhengwu Prefecture governed by Hanwu Commandery, what Wu Qixue thought about was not whether he could keep his position this year, but...

This year's harvest was extremely poor, it could be called a famine year. And now the granaries had been raided empty by the sudden arrival of the Zhenbei Army.

What will I eat?

What will my elderly parents eat?

What will the 80,000 common folk under my rule in Zhengwu eat?

Thinking of this, Wu Qixue also immediately realized, in this decadent age, those highly placed court officials were probably most anxious about the outcome of the great northern battle right now. They definitely wouldn't care about or even mention the life and death of the hundreds of thousands of commoners in Hanwu Commandery.

Didn't the 100,000 commoners of Ya Commandery back then starve to death alive!

Wu Qixue laughed mockingly in the darkness.

Admittedly, a mere Prefect could not shake the court, let alone sway General Wang Jue of the northern defenses.

But!

The people regard food as heaven!

I, Wu Qixue, have 80,000...people under me who need to eat.

Wu Qixue made a decision in the darkness.

He would make those lofty figures, including General Wang Jue of the north, understand what it means when a single spark can start a prairie fire.

"I will make you willingly send food to us, and at the fastest speed," Wu Qixue said softly.