Chapter 784: Explaining the Cause (Part 1)

Huo Shengnan was quite familiar with the situation in this area; she led Hu Xiaotian over walls and through houses as if walking on flat ground, having walked about five li, and finally arrived before a large mansion, where she vaulted the wall and jumped in. After this hustle, Huo Shengnan was already panting, but Hu Xiaotian showed no flushed face or breathlessness; his face wasn't red because it was smeared with soot, while his lack of breathlessness relied on his profound internal energy foundation.

Recalling how, in the secret chamber beneath the Wild Goose Tower today, he had almost had his internal energy completely drained by the black corpse, he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear; it was also thanks to his great fortune that, at the critical moment, he managed to reclaim his internal energy and even absorbed most of the black corpse's power.

Hu Xiaotian approached Huo Shengnan and whispered, "Where is this?"

Huo Shengnan bit her cherry lips, gave no reply, and hurried through the rear courtyard into the inner quarters. Seeing her familiar ease, Hu Xiaotian vaguely guessed she must have been here before. Afraid of losing her, he followed closely behind her like a shadow.

Entering the inner residence, seeing the waterside room still lit, Huo Shengnan gestured for Hu Xiaotian to stop.

The two hid among the bushes; Hu Xiaotian secretly wondered what Huo Shengnan was doing here. At that moment, urgent horse hooves sounded from outside. Hu Xiaotian's heart jumped, and he lowered his voice to Huo Shengnan: "Bad news, they must have tracked us here."

Huo Shengnan said nothing, but her eyes showed some tension.

At that moment a cough was heard, and an elderly man emerged from the lit room. Hu Xiaotian's eyesight was extremely sharp; despite the distance, he instantly recognized the old man as the Grand Marshal of Da Yong's Armed Forces, Weichi Chong. It turned out Huo Shengnan had brought him to flee to the Marshal's Residence.

Weichi Chong stepped out of the study, and his retainer Qin Heng quickly entered the inner court.

Weichi Chong said in a deep voice, "Qin Heng! What's going on with all those horse hooves outside?"

Qin Heng cupped his fists and said, "Sir, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Wang Zhixing, requests an audience!"

Weichi Chong said, "A visit at this hour must be urgent. Let him in."

"Yes!"

Hu Xiaotian and Huo Shengnan exchanged a glance, both understanding that the Imperial Guard commander's visit almost certainly concerned tonight's events.

At this moment Huo Shengnan felt extreme guilt; she did not regret venturing to the Red Mountain Hall, but she did not want to implicate her foster father. Now that Prince Wanyan Chixiong had been killed, she did not know what impact it would have on him. Thinking that tonight's affair had been entirely orchestrated by Hu Xiaotian, she could not help but grow angry at him and glare fiercely.

Hu Xiaotian sent a mental transmission: "Perhaps the situation isn't as bad as you imagine."

Huo Shengnan turned her pretty face away, not even wanting to glance at him again.

After a while, Qin Heng led the Imperial Guard commander Wang Zhixing forward.

Grand Marshal Weichi Chong enjoyed immense prestige in the Da Yong army; many of its officers were his disciples, Wang Zhixing among them. Wang Zhixing approached Weichi Chong, hastily bowed with clasped hands and said, "Student, I am still in armor and cannot perform the full salute; I hope my teacher will not take offense."

Weichi Chong stroked his whiskers and said, "Since you are on duty, you need not stand on ceremony. Speak. What urgent matter requires mobilizing troops in the dead of night?"

Wang Zhixing said, "Grand Marshal, do you know Huo Shengnan's whereabouts?"

Weichi Chong replied, "Isn't she at the Ministry of Justice?"

Wang Zhixing said, "Grand Marshal may not know, but earlier today the commander of the Tiger Banner Battalion, Dong Tianjiang, acting on the Seventh Prince's order, took her from the Ministry of Justice, supposedly to investigate the assassination of Princess Anping of the Qichen Palace."

Weichi Chong furrowed his brows and said, "Since you know her whereabouts, you should go to the Seventh Prince to demand her return, rather than come to me."

Wang Zhixing said, "Grand Marshal, you misunderstand; I came to report some matters to you. Just now a major incident occurred at the Red Mountain Hall..." He paused, then continued, "The Fourth Prince of the Black Hu, Wanyan Chixiong, has been assassinated."

"What?" Weichi Chong was also greatly startled.

Wang Zhixing said, "The one who shot Wanyan Chixiong was the Heaven-Shaking Bow!"

Weichi Chong angrily shouted, "Nonsense! Are you trying to frame me?"

Wang Zhixing respectfully said, "Please calm your anger, Grand Marshal; I have just personally witnessed the arrowhead that killed Wanyan Chixiong, and it was indeed fired from the Heaven-Shaking Bow."

Weichi Chong sucked in a breath of cold air, then told Qin Heng, "Qin Heng, go check the White Tiger Hall to see if my Heaven-Shaking Bow is still there, and whether any arrowheads are missing from the quiver."

"Yes!" Retainer Qin Heng hurriedly turned and left.

Hearing this news, Huo Shengnan felt as if struck by a thunderbolt from a clear sky; although she was already in trouble, she still harbored a slim hope that the matter would not implicate her foster father. Now that she learned Wanyan Chixiong had died at the hands of the Heaven-Shaking Bow, she fully realized that this conspiracy targeted not only her but also her foster father. Her heart filled with both anger and self-reproach, and all her hatred was directed at Hu Xiaotian.

Seeing Huo Shengnan's hate-filled gaze, Hu Xiaotian knew things were bad, yet in this situation it was inconvenient to explain.

Huo Shengnan suddenly opened her cherry lips, revealing gleaming white teeth, and bit down hard on Hu Xiaotian's arm. Hu Xiaotian felt pain so intense he almost cried out—this girl's bite was vicious! He had wanted to pull away, but seeing two streams of tears in Huo Shengnan's beautiful eyes, which washed away the soot on her face to reveal jade-like skin, Hu Xiaotian bit his lip, reflecting that he had brought this great trouble upon her, and thus enduring the bite was only fitting; he gritted his teeth and bore the pain.

Wang Zhixing continued, "Frankly, Grand Marshal, the Black Hu people identify two persons involved in the assassination: one is Huo Shengnan, the other is Commander Dong Tianjiang."

Weichi Chong said, "The Hu people are treacherous; their words cannot be trusted!" Before any solid evidence, Weichi Chong had taken this foster daughter under his protection.

Wang Zhixing said, "Grand Marshal, I also hope this matter has nothing to do with Huo Shengnan, but the killing of the Black Hu Fourth Prince is no trivial matter; at this crucial juncture of the Black Hu–Da Yong alliance, such an incident would not only render the alliance moot but might also provoke a frenzied retaliation from the Black Hu, reigniting war between the two nations."

Weichi Chong coldly replied, "Shengnan is certainly not someone who lacks sense of the bigger picture; her loyalty to Da Yong is unwavering, evident to sun and moon—how could she commit an act that harms national interests? Surely someone is deliberately smearing her."

Wang Zhixing said, "I came not to investigate, but merely to inform you, Grand Marshal, so you can prepare. If the news of the Black Hu Fourth Prince's death reaches the palace, we do not know how the Emperor will react, and you must devise a response early."

Weichi Chong nodded and said softly, "Zhixing, I understand."

Wang Zhixing cupped his fists and said, "By order of my superiors, I must seal off all approaches to the Marshal's Residence to prevent suspects from entering; I hope the Grand Marshal will understand."

Weichi Chong said, "I can understand your difficulties."

"Farewell!" Wang Zhixing bowed deeply, retreated a few steps, then turned and left.

Just as Wang Zhixing had left, Qin Heng hurried back, arriving at Weichi Chong's side and whispering in his ear, "Grand Marshal, disaster! The Heaven-Shaking Bow and its quiver are both gone!"

Weichi Chong's face showed no surprise; indeed, when Wang Zhixing had just mentioned that Wanyan Chixiong was shot by the Heaven-Shaking Bow, he had already suspected this would happen. He nodded slowly and said, "Qin Heng, prepare the carriage; I am going to the palace."

"Grand Marshal, it's still the middle of the night!"

Weichi Chong raised his head, gazed at the bright moon in the sky, and said softly, "Such a major event has occurred; even the Emperor will not be able to rest peacefully."

Huo Shengnan had at some point released her bite; she buried her forehead in the back of her hand, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably, evidently sobbing silently. Seeing her thus, Hu Xiaotian felt even more guilty; his original intention had been to help Huo Shengnan make amends through merit, yet he had instead worsened the situation, dragging her into this tremendous trouble, and for a moment he did not know how to comfort her.

Huo Shengnan suddenly lifted her face; most of the soot on her face had been washed away by tears. She bit her cherry lips, rose resolutely, and walked toward the lit study. Hu Xiaotian feared she would do something foolish, rushed forward to grab her arm, and lowered his voice: "Don't go—if you go, it's over..."

Huo Shengnan glared at Hu Xiaotian and said, "Let go of me, or I'll kill you with a single stroke right now."

Hu Xiaotian had no choice but to release her arm, watching helplessly as Huo Shengnan walked toward the study.

Weichi Chong had already changed into court attire and was picking up his black gauze hat to put on, when he paused and said softly, "Shengnan?"

Behind him came the sound of knees hitting the ground; Weichi Chong turned his face and saw Huo Shengnan dressed in black, her face streaked with tears, kneeling before him.

Weichi Chong said, "Shengnan, get up quickly—what are you doing?"

Huo Shengnan wept, "Foster father, Sir, I am sorry to you!"

Weichi Chong strode to her side, reached out to lift her from the ground, and said, "Good daughter, I have wandered the battlefield for decades—who has ever seen me afraid of anything? Though I dislike stirring up trouble, I also never fear it; if anyone dares to bully my good daughter, I will be the first to refuse to yield."

Huo Shengnan, tears in her eyes, said, "Foster father, all mistakes are mine; just hand me over to the imperial court!"

Weichi Chong said, "Shengnan, calm down first—what exactly happened? Tell me why the Black Hu people claim you killed Wanyan Chixiong, and why Wanyan Chixiong died at the hands of the Heaven-Shaking Bow."

Huo Shengnan herself could not explain clearly; the original planner of this scheme was actually Hu Xiaotian, and she had merely been a passive participant from start to finish, yet she never expected to become the target of everyone's blame. Upon hearing her foster father's question, she felt both wronged and anxious, and tears streamed down uncontrollably.

At this moment a sigh suddenly came from outside the door: "Grand Marshal, don't ask her about this—let me explain it to you!" However, it was Hu Xiaotian who voluntarily revealed himself and entered the study.

Huo Shengnan saw Hu Xiaotian appear, clang! drew his waist sword.

Weichi Chong shouted at Huo Shengnan, also only after hearing Hu Xiaotian's voice did he recognize his identity, and said softly: "Now, this old one somewhat understands what exactly is going on."

From the Monthly Ticket and tips, Zhangyu can see that everyone has already done their best; Zhangyu expresses deep gratitude. At the end of the month there are still two days left; Zhangyu will not lightly give up, but we also cannot sacrifice the article's quality by desperately rushing for the Monthly Ticket, otherwise it would be irresponsible to the readers. Thank you all for giving me motivation; Two updates delivered. Believe our performance will get better and better; what we strive for is not others, but always ourselves! Let us strive forward and see how high the Medical Union can ultimately reach! (To be continued~^~)