Brother? The only one who had the right to call Gong Qianyu brother was Gong Qianze, the half-brother of Gong Qianyu. So this man was Lord Rui, Gong Qianze?
Gong Qianyu, who just came back from the battlefield, actually encountered his mortal enemy who wanted to take his life.
Murong Xue looked up at Gong Qianyu, only to find him gazing fixedly at Gong Qianze. He then said, “If I don’t come back, I can’t witness how my butler smeared me.” There was a hint of sarcasm in his words.
Gong Qianze said blandly, “Father appointed you to go to Mingzhou. Without the enemy troops in full retreat, the troops at the front cannot return. Father never issued a decree to call you back. Now you appear in the capital of Nanjiang, which seems inappropriate.”
“So what?” Gong Qianyu squinted at Gong Qianze, his dark eyes flashing with imperceptible mockery.
“According to the laws of Nanjiang, those who enter the capital without being summoned will be executed!” Gong Qianze said word by word.
Six guards came out and besieged Gong Qianyu with long swords.
Gong Qianyu turned a blind eye to them, looking straight at Gong Qianze, “Brother, do you intend to kill me at your own will?”
“So many people have seen you in the capital. To kill you is what the laws of Nanjiang require. How can this be regarded as private killing?”
“As is known to me, the laws of Nanjiang are made by the Ministry of Punishment. Those who violate the laws will be punished either by Shuntian Mansion or by the Ministry of Punishment. You are neither working in Shuntian Mansion nor in Ministry of Punishment. What right do you have to kill me?” Gong Qianyu said with scorn.
“These guards are guards of the Ministry of Punishment. They will take you back to the Ministry of Punishment. Convicted by the minister there, you will be punished then!” Gong Qianze said in a low voice without any emotion.
So that was his intention. He wanted Gong Qianyu dead.
Gong Qianyu curled up the corners of his mouth into a cold smile. Six guards stabbed at him with their swords, planning to catch him. Gong Qianyu frowned and directed dark blue flames from his sleeve at those guards. They were knocked to the ground, dizzy and painful.
Upon noticing that, Gong Qianze moved his fingers under his sleeve so as to utilize a technique to attack Gong Qianyu. Unexpectedly, Gong Qianyu tapped on his tiptoes and then flew into the air. When he landed in the private room of a restaurant nearby, he said to a man who was sitting by the window, “Father.”
Murong Xue was shocked. She had long noticed that there were several people in the restaurant with light breathing and excellent martial skills, but she did not expect that one of them would be the Emperor of Nanjiang.
Instead of dealing with the memorials to the throne in the imperial palace, the emperor just had an incognito visit to the capital in casual clothes.
“Why do you come back without being summoned?” the emperor looked at Gong Qianyu with sharp eyes. The war between Qingyan and Nanjiang was impending. However, Gong Qianyu did not guard the border and even went back to the capital without the emperor’s call. What’s more, he kept a high profile and almost all people in the capital knew his return. The emperor couldn’t hide this event even if he wanted to.
“I came back because of them,” Gong Qianyu said when he took out a bag, placed it on the table and unwrapped it. Five bloody heads appeared in front of them.
The emperor’s face sank, “What’s going on?” Although he lived in the palace, he also recognized these were heads of five generals who had been guarding Mingzhou all these years.
“Father, I overheard these five generals’ whispers. Their master plotted to usurp the throne and take the helm of state. I sensed something wrong, so I caught them all, planning to interrogate them. Unexpectedly, they were killed when I was away. This made me worried about you, Father. So I came back, also to find out the truth,” Gong Qianyu lied collectedly without turning a hair.
The emperor narrowed his sharp eyes, “So one of my ministers covets my territory, huh?”
“I think so, according to the five generals. Do you have any one in mind, Father?” Gong Qianyu fixed his eyes on the emperor.
The emperor gave it a thought and then shook his head with a mysterious look. Prime Minister Cang possessed the greatest power at the court, but he was an official without military power. Even if he attempted to usurp the throne, he wasn’t capable of doing that.
“What do you think, Brother?” Gong Qianyu squinted at Gong Qianze who just flew inside the room.
“Even Father doesn’t know that, how could I know?” Gong Qianze said blandly. As he swept across those heads with a mysterious look, he continued, “Were they really killed by an assassin?”
“Who else do you think did that?” Gong Qianyu gazed at his brother with a touch of imperceptible mockery.
“Well, if you didn’t say that, I’d assume that you killed them all in a pet when you failed to reach an agreement on a war plan, since you have a proud disposition and the five generals had a fuse,” Gong Qianze said without an emotion.
Murong Xue smiled. As she imagined, the five generals chose Gong Qianze as their master. Though Gong Qianze was well-aware of their death, he had to keep it a secret and trickily blamed it on Gong Qianyu.
“I know what my priority is. I wouldn’t kill the five generals out of hatred at this critical time,” Gong Qianyu said blandly.
“The five generals achieved notable merits for Nanjiang. Why didn’t you bring back their bodies?” Gong Qianyu shot a piercing gaze at his brother.
“It’s far from Mingzhou to the capital and it was an urgent decision to leave Mingzhou. So it was inconvenient for me to bring their bodies with me. Besides, why is it necessary to keep their entire bodies since they were rebels? I think I’ve done more than I should to have brought their heads back to the capital,” Gong Qianyu answered casually.
Murong Xue smiled. The five generals were killed by the flames of Gong Qianyu, who was the only one capable to use the flame technique. If he brought their bodies back to the capital, then everyone would know Gong Qianyu was the murderer. Gong Qianyu was not that stupid to have the evidence shown.
He even particularly ordered the soldier to cut from the edge of the burn on the generals’ heads.
Gong Qianze turned sullen and was about to say something, but the emperor interrupted him abruptly, “Stop arguing. Now, the priority is to find out who covets Nanjiang territory.”
