Chapter 147: Covert Warfare

Ye Xin's words were equivalent to stripping away Tie Xinsheng's last shred of self-respect, throwing it on the ground, and trampling it to pieces.

"I will give you the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, and then I will have no choice but to do it myself." Ye Xin smiled, then turned back and shouted, "Light the incense."

Xue Baiqi immediately took out the prepared sandalwood incense, lit it, and kicked it toward Ye Xin. Ye Xin thrust the sandalwood into the mud, then slowly walked over, mounted the back of the Boundless Celestial Wolf, and quietly looked down at Tie Xinsheng.

The rest of the people only heard Tie Xinsheng's roar without knowing what Ye Xin had said, feeling utterly baffled by this bizarre scene.

Ye Xin looked up at the night sky. Whether Tie Xinsheng would choose to end his own life before the world, he did not care. What he had said to Qiu Xiang was from the bottom of his heart; his task was to figure out the logic and act as its executor. As for how Tie Xinsheng would choose, that was Tie Xinsheng's own affair.

If Tie Xinsheng insisted on forcing Ye Xin to stain his hands with blood, he would not mind letting the entire Nine Tripods City burn in a sea of hatred.

Of course, this possibility was extremely, extremely small. Tie Xinsheng was a monarch of a generation, not a warrior. Allowing one's life to bloom with a final burst of brilliance was the choice of a warrior, not Tie Xinsheng.

Han Sanmei finally arrived "in the nick of time," bringing with him hundreds of household guards from the Han estate. However, the scene here was extremely peculiar: Ye Xin and Tie Shudeng had not engaged in a fierce battle; the former was sitting serenely on the back of the Boundless Celestial Wolf gazing up at the starry sky, while the latter was lowering his head and staring fixedly at a burning stick of sandalwood.

Han Sanmei was filled with puzzlement, so naturally, he could not rush to declare his stance. He reined in his horse and silently observed from a distance.

The sandalwood was finally about to burn out. Tie Xinsheng suddenly raised his head and let out a wild, arrogant burst of laughter, then placed his sovereign sword horizontally across his neck and drew it firmly across. Fresh blood spurted from his neck, and the next moment, his figure slowly tumbled backward.

Wen Rong, Ye Ling, and several others widened their eyes in disbelief. Ye Xin had actually pulled it off? Exactly what had he said to Tie Xinsheng? They say that throughout the ages, death is the only difficult thing to face, yet Tie Xinsheng had the courage to confront death head-on. Why didn't he launch a final battle?!

Yet, the story that unfolded here was destined to be buried by the dust of history; no one would ever figure out why Tie Xinsheng chose to take his own life at the very end.

Perhaps figures like Shen Wangji and Han Sanmei might guess the truth, but they would absolutely never speak of it to outsiders.

Ye Xin suddenly felt a sense of listlessness. Life was so fragile, even for Tie Xinsheng, the ruler of a nation, who could be so easily erased. What about his own future, then? Would he also encounter situations he was utterly powerless to resist?!

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty..." Those commanders of the palace guards cried out in anguish as they lunged toward Tie Xinsheng's corpse.

"Let's go," Ye Xin put away the God-Slaying Saber and said indifferently.

The wolf cavalry turned their mounts and headed toward the front hall. As they passed Han Sanmei, Han Sanmei had already ordered his household guards to clear a path to avoid any misunderstandings. Ye Xin suddenly said, "Grand Tutor, I leave this place in your hands."

Han Sanmei's expression was grave. At this moment, nodding would be wrong, and shaking his head would be equally wrong. The former would lead people to mistakenly believe he was in cahoots with Ye Xin, while the latter would be an expression of hostility. Heaven is my witness, his heart was filled with gratitude toward Ye Xin; if Ye Xin had not taken such a desperate risk, how could Tie Shudeng ever have had the opportunity to ascend the throne? To be able to support Tie Shudeng in rising to power during his lifetime was his greatest wish. Right now, all he cared about was how to ensure a smooth transition. He would only cooperate and never stir up trouble.

A storm of blood and slaughter had ended with Tie Xinsheng's suicide, but had it truly ended?

The State of Wei had paid a heavy price for this. Wei Juan had been killed, and Guan Hanyu had been murdered; the overall combat strength of the State of Wei had naturally dropped significantly. Moreover, Ye Xin, having rebelled, would certainly not go to the southern front—even a fool knew this logic. If Ye Xin dared to leave Nine Tripods City, an upheaval was highly likely to occur.

This also meant that both the southern and northern fronts of the State of Wei were now devoid of commanding generals.

A disconsolate Little Fuzi, accompanied by several plainclothes guards, broke directly into the Han estate and saw an equally disconsolate Tie Shudeng sitting in the living room.

"Second Grand Eunuch, why aren't you in the palace protecting His Majesty? What brings you here?" Tie Shudeng asked in shock.

Little Fuzi wailed loudly as if he had just laid eyes on a close relative, coughing up blood-tinged saliva as he spoke. Although Ye Xin's previous blade strike had not taken his life, it had severely damaged his internal organs: "Your Highness, His Majesty has passed away... He has passed away..."

Tie Shudeng failed to catch his breath, his eyes rolling back into his head, and he crashed straight backward. When he heard that Ye Xin was going to rebel, Han Sanmei had told him he should faint and become unconscious to give himself a reasonable excuse, but he had still managed to endure that shock. Upon hearing that Tie Xinsheng had truly perished, however, he instantly collapsed.

It took nearly a full night before Tie Shudeng recovered from his fainting spell. He cried out a few times before relapsing into unconsciousness. After repeating this cycle—he had no idea how many times he had woken up—he discovered that standing beside his bed was not only Han Sanmei, but also an unfamiliar elderly man.

Tie Shudeng stared blankly at the old man, who lowered his voice and said, "This old man, Zong Bieli, pays his respects to Your Highness..."

***

The news of Tie Xinsheng's suicide spread. Countless people spent that page of history trembling in fear, only finding the courage to venture out and move about once dawn broke, only to discover that the streets were not overly abnormal.

The sovereign was dead, but that did not mean the entire country had to grind to a halt. People needed to eat, drink, work, conduct business, and attend school; basic needs could not be suppressed.

Since Ye Xin had no intention of escalating the slaughter, there was no need to remain terrified. Anyway, Tie Xinsheng was dead, and Ye Xin could be considered to have avenged his grievances, couldn't he?

The words uttered by Ye Xin—"wrath of a king for the sake of a beauty"—were also continuously passed from person to person. Those who despised Ye Xin naturally cursed his absurdity behind his back, actually doing something so treasonous for a woman; whereas those who held little affection for Tie Xinsheng praised Ye Xin as a man of true character. Tie Xinsheng was going to execute his fiancée after all—if Ye Xin had turned a blind eye and continued rushing to the front lines, he would have been no better than an animal!

The royal city had already been cleaned up. The soldiers of the palace guards who had fallen in battle were easier to deal with, but Tie Xinsheng's corpse was a trouble. After all, given his status as the sovereign, a state funeral had to be held, and it had to be presided over by Tie Shudeng; no one else possessed the qualifications. Yet Tie Shudeng was bedridden and utterly incapable of showing his face, leaving them with no choice but to place Tie Xinsheng's coffin in repose within the royal palace.

If Nine Tripods City was to function normally, a court session before the palace was unavoidable. On this day, several senior ministers in the court received invitations from Ye Xin. They felt somewhat awkward inside because the royal palace was now a place of ill omen, and they did not wish to go. Later, upon learning that the venue for the court session had been changed to the Grand Commandant's estate, they finally breathed a sigh of relief, but upon deeper reflection a moment later, they felt even more awkward.

Before long, the senior ministers had all entered the Grand Commandant's estate. Tie Xinsheng had mentioned during his lifetime that once Ye Xin matured a bit more, he would take over the power of the Grand Commandant's estate from Wei Juan. Although this was happening a bit earlier than expected, it was still barely acceptable. Besides, who would dare to protest?

The people Ye Xin had invited were few: Grand Tutor Han Sanmei, Grand Prefect Wang Fang, Grand Cabinet Minister Shen Wangji, Grand Palace Minister Deng Zhiguo, along with Wen Yuanren. Including Ye Xin, there were only six of them, representing the people of the highest combat strength in the State of Wei, all gathered together.

Since it was the Grand Commandant's estate, Ye Xin naturally sat in the main seat, with Han Sanmei and the others arrayed on both sides. The combined ages of these individuals were more than a dozen times greater than Ye Xin's...

Regardless of whether they were happy about it or not, Han Sanmei and the others were profoundly sophisticated people, and their expressions appeared very calm.

Moreover, knowing Ye Xin's purpose, they did not put on airs. Han Sanmei was the first to open the conversation, bringing up government affairs.

Ye Xin did not interrupt, simply listening quietly as Han Sanmei and the others exchanged views with one another. In such court sessions, debate and compromise were the most commonplace occurrences. Ye Xin did not lack negotiating skills, but he lacked experience in government affairs. Blundering into the conversation might invite ridicule due to ill-considered remarks, so it was better to conceal his shortcomings.

Next, Grand Prefect Wang Fang brought up the recruitment and reorganization of the Grand Prefect's Office. Pan Yuanshan's Blood Mountain Legion had attacked, and Shen Wangji and Wang Fang had already incorporated most of the patrollers into the new army, leaving only a few senior and experienced patrollers to maintain the normal operations of the Grand Prefect's Office. However, this was an expedient measure; the personnel of the Grand Prefect's Office were severely insufficient. Last night, when Ye Xin led the wolf cavalry to charge through the city, it had triggered chaos, and many villains had seized the opportunity to make trouble. This phenomenon could not be allowed to continue and had to be resolved by some means.

Deng Zhiguo, who had remained silent all along, gave a dry cough and then spoke up: "When I came to the Grand Commandant's estate, I saw quite a few martial artists from the Righteous Alliance patrolling the streets. They are considerate people who know that Nine Tripods City's most urgent need right now is stability. In my view... Grand Prefect, why not recruit them into the Grand Prefect's Office?"

"This strategy is sound," Han Sanmei nodded and said, "The martial artists of the Righteous Alliance are originally denizens of the streets; they are intimately familiar with their own territories. If they can dedicate themselves to the public good, they should be able to bring peace back to Nine Tripods City very quickly."

"What is the Grand Commandant's view?" Deng Zhiguo looked at Ye Xin. This form of address, "Grand Commandant," proved that he officially acknowledged Ye Xin's status and identity.

Ye Xin smiled. He knew very well that the hidden dangers in such an occasion were comparable to a battlefield of swords and spears. What kind of personnel the Grand Prefect's Office should recruit should first be up to Grand Prefect Wang Fang to decide, not him, Ye Xin. Deng Zhiguo intentionally bypassed Wang Fang, treating Ye Xin as young and ignorant of the nuances, while also intending to test him.

As for Han Sanmei, his immediate step forward to support the idea was also for the sake of the future city defense army. The original city defense army had all gone to the southern front, and Han Sanmei should have been reorganizing a new army. The fact that he had delayed bringing it up was precisely out of concern that Ye Xin would cram those martial artists of the Righteous Alliance into the city defense army to hollow out Han Sanmei's authority, so he played a diplomatic game: there were only so many martial artists in the Righteous Alliance; first supplement the Grand Prefect's Office, and even if the remainder entered the city defense army, their numbers would be very limited, allowing Han Sanmei to maintain total control.

The most crucial point of all was that Wang Fang would be utterly furious in his heart!

They had already witnessed Ye Xin's combat prowess, but they refused to believe that Ye Xin possessed sufficient intellectual acumen to maneuver and play political games with them in this arena.