Chapter 1892

Hu Xiaotian thought, I and Xue Daoming have no particular friendship, but in this world there is no eternal unchanging hatred; personal grudges appear insignificant before national interests; as a high-ranking person of Da Yong, Xue Daoming's foremost concern is still his realm and altars, and for Da Yong he can do anything.

General Dong took out a map and slowly unfolded it before Hu Xiaotian; this map is the border between Dakang and Da Yong, the special part being that the boundary between the two countries is newly marked in red line.

Hu Xiaotian merely glanced at the map and already understood that Xue Daoming wanted to use ceded land as payment for his help, but the land he offered was not any strategic stronghold except Dongluo Storage; Xue Daoming generously gave him the city that Hu Xiaotian actually controlled, and overall it was just a grand perfunctory gesture.

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, 'Your Highness must have put a great deal of thought into this gift.' He slowly moved the map to one side, revealing his disdain for the gift.

General Dong was quite taken aback; in his view not an inch of Da Yong's territory is superfluous, and Xue Daoming has already made enormous concessions and sacrifices, yet Hu Xiaotian shows no appreciation. He sighed, 'Prince, do you feel this is still not enough?'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head and said, 'It's not that I'm insatiable; I can see Your Highness's sincere intentions, but I always act on principle—no merit, no reward. How could I accept such a great gift from Your Highness for nothing?'

Only then did General Dong understand why Hu Xiaotian refused; he smiled and said, 'Actually, His Majesty also has a matter he wishes to entrust to the Prince to handle.'

'I would like to hear the details!'

General Dong said, 'His Majesty wishes to join forces with the Prince to eliminate a person!'

Hu Xiaotian thought to himself, everything indeed unfolded as he expected—Xue Daoming has long wanted to get rid of Li Chen Zhou, a fact known to all under heaven; yet why would he seek his cooperation? He deliberately put on a show of deep contemplation, pondering for a long time before saying, 'I really cannot imagine how I could be of any help to Your Highness.'

General Dong said, 'Earlier the Grand Princess went to Kangdu; surely the Prince knows her itinerary like the back of his hand?'

Hu Xiaotian secretly laughed, thinking: Could it be that I deliberately spread rumors, and now everyone under heaven knows, thinking that I and Xue Lingjun are taking this opportunity to have an affair? Li Chen Zhou must have been driven mad by anger; everyone will think that this scoundrel has been made a cuckold twice by me; one can imagine how deep his hatred for me must be. Hu Xiaotian shook his head and said, 'As the Prince Zhenhai of Dakang, I have many affairs to attend to each day; how could I have so much time to worry about her matters?'

General Dong smiled and said, 'Although the Prince may not be aware, we know every move of the Grand Princess clearly—how many days she stayed in Kangdu, whom she met, and what gifts she gave.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded; Xue Daoming is no ordinary figure, and it is obvious he has already launched comprehensive surveillance of Xue Lingjun, yet we do not know what flaw she has revealed.

General Dong said, 'The Grand Princess once sent a piece of calligraphy to Your State's Grand Tutor Wen Chenghuan.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'She wandered around Kangdu and gave many gifts.' He already felt that this gift from Xue Lingjun was out of the ordinary.

General Dong said, 'This piece of calligraphy she sent is the handwritten work of the Da Yong Jingguo Gong Li Xuan, the 《Bosan Man》.'

'I have heard that the Jingguo Gong is a master calligrapher of a generation; his ink treasures must be priceless.'

General Dong said, 'The value of the ink treasure itself is secondary; this 《Bosan Man》 was written by the Jingguo Gong after his young son Li Mingzuo was killed.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, 'Indeed precious!' His tone carried a hint of disdain.

General Dong said, 'Recently His Majesty, while sorting through the late emperor's relics, happened upon some letters, and among them he actually found correspondence from when he and Li Mingzuo were young. Tracing back, it turned out the former emperor and Li Mingzuo had once been classmates and close friends. In the letter, Li Mingzuo revealed his grand ambition to endure hardship and infiltrate enemy territory for Da Yong; judging by the date, he must have been killed not long after. His Majesty has always liked calligraphy; upon seeing a master's handwriting he often remembers it at a glance, and seeing this letter he felt a sense of familiarity. Upon further reflection he actually found someone whose calligraphic style resembles Li Mingzuo's.'

'Who?'

General Dong said, 'Your State's Grand Tutor Wen Chenghuan!'

Hu Xiaotian had actually also thought of Wen Chenghuan; otherwise General Dong would not have specially brought it up just now.

General Dong said, 'No matter how a person changes, even if his handwriting changes, the habit of his brushwork is like a brand that cannot be eradicated at its root. Therefore His Majesty ordered people to gather Wen Chenghuan's recent writings and compare them with the available ink traces of Li Mingzuo from back then; they can almost conclude that Wen Chenghuan is Li Mingzuo!'

This news also shocked Hu Xiaotian greatly; General Dong produced two samples of ink traces, one from Li Mingzuo and one from Wen Chenghuan, and handed them to Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian unfolded them and saw the characters were completely different; his calligraphy skill is insufficient, so he cannot determine whether they were written by the same person.

General Dong said, 'There's no rush; Prince, just have people examine it slowly. Finding Wen Chenghuan's calligraphy should not be difficult; invite several calligraphy masters to appraise it, and the subtleties should become clear.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded.

General Dong said, 'His Majesty's meaning is……'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'I understand; if this is carried out, I will naturally respond.'

Kangdu was shrouded in continuous autumn rain; Yang Lingqi braved the rain to arrive at the imperial study. Yongyang Princess Qiqi furrowed her delicate brows, intently staring at the several pieces of calligraphy on the desk, whose common feature is that their signatures are all covered. Yang Lingqi respectfully said, 'Your Highness, I do not know why you urgently summoned me; what is the matter?'

Qiqi calmly said, 'Can't I summon you if there's no matter?'

'I did not mean that,' Yang Lingqi said, feeling fearful and reverent.

Qiqi pointed to those several pieces of calligraphy on the desk and said, 'Take a look!'

Yang Lingqi stepped up to the desk and examined the characters on it from beginning to end, carefully and thoroughly.

Qiqi said, 'Can you tell whose handwriting these characters are?'

Yang Lingqi said, 'If I am not mistaken, these characters were all written by one person.'

'Have you examined them carefully? Can you be certain?'

Yang Lingqi nodded and said, 'I can be certain; a person's hand may change, but his brushwork's essence cannot be altered—just as a person can become fat or thin, handsome or ugly, even disguise himself as another, yet his bone structure cannot change; these characters are definitely the handwriting of the same person.'

Qiqi said, 'Given your expertise in calligraphy, what you say naturally cannot be wrong.'

Yang Lingqi said, 'I do not know who wrote these characters.'

Qiqi said, 'Wen Chenghuan.' She lifted her eyes and glanced at Yang Lingqi, saying, 'Could you possibly not see that?'

Yang Lingqi smiled and said, 'The signatures are covered; I merely feel they are similar, and without the Princess saying so I would not dare to assert it.'

Qiqi said, 'Yang Lingqi, you have become much more smooth-talking lately; if I recall correctly, you have not spoken ill of Hu Xiaotian in my presence for some days.'

Yang Lingqi's face showed embarrassment; he gave an awkward laugh and said, 'As a subject, one ought to know how to read looks and listen to tones; the Princess wants to hear what she wants, and I dare only say what she wishes to hear.'

Qiqi gave a hollow chuckle and said, 'That's just speaking to people as people and to ghosts as ghosts; in your heart, am I a person or a ghost to you?'

Yang Lingqi respectfully said, 'A deity!'

Qiqi stared at Yang Lingqi and said, 'These days I have been thinking: if someone were lurking by my side, betraying my interests to curry favor with his true master, how should I treat him?'

Yang Lingqi's expression unchanged, he said, 'That depends on his intentions; for a person like Wen Chenghuan, killing him would be just killing him, but if we could expose Li Chen Zhou, the Da Yong side would only be grateful to Your Highness.' He of course knew that Qiqi's remark was not about Wen Chenghuan.

Qiqi said, 'Do you really think I dare not kill you?'

Yang Lingqi said, 'My death is not worth mourning; if my death could bring peace to Dakang, if my death could restore harmony between the Princess and the Prince, then my death would be worthwhile.'

Qiqi snorted and said, 'Yang Lingqi, Yang Lingqi, I always thought you were an honest person, but I never expected you to be so cunning.' She also realized that Yang Lingqi saw that she would not kill him; this scoundrel is clearly a pawn that Hu Xiaotian has long buried beside her; she herself had long been aware of it, but just never exposed him; now that she and Hu Xiaotian have reconciled, she has also abandoned the idea of eliminating Yang Lingqi, yet her heart is unwilling to let him go so easily. Actually, if she thinks about it, there are indeed not a few people like Yang Lingqi around her; is not Shi Xuedong one such?

Yang Lingqi calculated that Qiqi would not turn against Hu Xiaotian because of him, and respectfully said, 'My loyalty to Dakang will never change.'

Qiqi said, 'Loyalty or treachery is not just empty talk.' Her gaze fell again on those characters on the desk, and she said softly, 'Wen Chenghuan has lurked in Dakang for many years, endangering the state's foundations, stealing countless secrets of Dakang and selling them to Da Yong; his heart deserves death. This matter is entrusted to you to handle; you must see it through in a splendid manner, known to all under heaven.'

Yang Lingqi said, 'Your Highness, how do you wish to handle this?'

Qiqi said, 'Do you have any ideas?'

Yang Lingqi said, 'If we use this to expose Wen Chenghuan's identity, in Dakang he would naturally be irredeemably guilty, but in Da Yong he would be a martyr who sacrificed himself for righteousness, and the reputation of the Da Yong Li clan would not only remain intact but would be enhanced; if we want him to pay a price, we should instead conceal the fact of his identity.'

Qiqi said, 'You mean we should not deal with him as a traitor to the state?'

Yang Lingqi said, 'When one wants to add a crime, there is never a lack of pretext; simply pin any charge on him and he can be killed. In my view, we should charge him with corruption, confiscate his property and exterminate his clan; in this process there will certainly be many unexpected discoveries, and while eliminating Wen Chenghuan we will also visit trouble upon the Da Yong Li clan, giving the Da Yong emperor a noble pretext to deal with Li Chen Zhou; even if he cannot get to Li Chen Zhou, he can still damage the Li clan's reputation.'

Qiqi nodded, sighed softly, and said: "Hu Xiaotian's subordinates are all no good!" (To be continued~^~)