Chapter Thirty-Eight: Chaos
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The moment rumors of deliberate arson began to circulate, suspicion took root in everyone’s heart.
One by one, they speculated that enemy spies were responsible.
Tension spread like a plague, rapidly spiraling out of control.
“Everyone, stay calm!”
Song Ziyong tried to soothe the crowd.
Seeing that matters were on the verge of slipping beyond control, he wore an anxious expression.
“I had long heard that Phoenix Rest County was a complicated place, but I never imagined its law and order would be this poor.”
“As for the accidental fire at the armory, the magistrate can hardly escape responsibility.”
“This palace will certainly report the matter to His Majesty!”
Gao Changsheng spoke with a cold expression.
“Thud!”
The magistrate’s legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees.
“Your Highness, spare me!”
“I was indeed negligent, but I certainly did not knowingly allow enemy spies to infiltrate the city.”
“I beg Your Highness to forgive me!”
The magistrate burst into terrified sobs.
Once this matter was reported, his fate would be all but sealed.
And this had happened at a critical juncture, when the two armies were engaged in war.
If someone added the charge of colluding with the enemy, beheading would be the least of his worries.
He might even suffer the extermination of three entire clans. That would truly be a catastrophe beyond imagining.
“Why are you so certain that enemy spies burned down the armory?”
“The matter has yet to be investigated. Your Highness is disturbing the army’s morale!”
Song Ziyong’s face flushed crimson as he hurriedly rebuked Gao Changsheng.
Officials were most skilled at pinning labels on others.
Even a prince like Gao Changsheng could casually be branded by Song Ziyong as someone who was disturbing military morale.
If this had been anyone else, who knew what sort of slander Song Ziyong would have heaped upon him?
“So Magistrate Song does know that this is a military camp!”
“Though the supply corps is responsible only for transporting provisions to the main army and does not directly participate in battles at the front…”
“Anything can happen on a battlefield.”
“Are there not countless examples in the history books of armies being defeated because their supply lines were severed?”
“And yet, as the officer in charge of the First Supply Corps, you failed to take even this possibility into consideration, resulting in the armory being burned.”
“You are guilty of the primary offense!”
“Yet when the armory caught fire, you dragged your feet and failed to discover the cause.”
“That is dereliction of duty.”
“Magistrate Song, what exactly are your intentions?!”
Gao Changsheng publicly lashed out at Song Ziyong, and every accusation struck directly at a vital point.
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He had practically told everyone outright that Song Ziyong was a lackey of Northern Qi.
“I… You are slandering me!”
“Even if you are a prince, you have no right to defame me. I am an official of the imperial court, a Vice Minister of War of the second rank!”
Song Ziyong, furious and flustered, tried to use his position to intimidate him.
But Gao Changsheng standing before him was a true prince of Great Yong. How could a mere second-rank official hope to overpower him?
“Magistrate Song, there is no need to put a label on me.”
“The fire at the armory is a matter of grave importance. I will certainly report it to the imperial court.”
“Furthermore, given your dereliction of duty, it would be improper to let you continue overseeing the security of the First Supply Corps.”
“Please withdraw and await the court’s judgment!”
With that, Gao Changsheng cast a glance at Shi Meng and the others.
Shi Meng nodded, then strode toward Song Ziyong.
“Sir, this way!”
Shi Meng’s voice was rough and booming.
At that moment, Song Ziyong felt as though the sky had darkened before him.
When he turned his head, he saw a brawny man as large as a small mountain looming over him.
If Shi Meng had merely been tall, it would have been nothing remarkable. The problem was that he was also enormously built.
His fists alone were larger than a baby’s head.
The moment he stood there, he exuded an oppressive presence.
“Hmph!”
Faced with such a powerful brute, Song Ziyong did not dare provoke him.
He merely gave a cold snort before returning to his quarters.
Before leaving, Gao Changsheng called Shi Meng over and gave him a few instructions.
“Take five men and keep a close watch on Song Ziyong.”
“Until tomorrow morning, do not let him meet anyone or send out any messages.”
“If you discover that he is colluding with outsiders, do not hesitate. Kill him immediately!”
Gao Changsheng spoke viciously.
“Yes!”
Shi Meng agreed without the slightest hesitation, then led his men away.
Privately executing a high-ranking imperial official was an earth-shaking matter in any dynasty.
Even if one witnessed Song Ziyong conspiring with the enemy, the best course would be to restrain him first and then hand him over to the Divine Martial Emperor for judgment.
Yet Gao Changsheng had taken it upon himself to decide Song Ziyong’s fate. This would inevitably arouse the Divine Martial Emperor’s suspicion.
It might also cause many officials at court to resent his manner of acting.
But for Gao Changsheng, tonight was destined to be a difficult predicament.
He could not afford the slightest negligence.
Every uncertain factor that might take his life was a threat.
Only by preserving his life would he have the right to speak of the future. That was the fundamental logic guiding Gao Changsheng.
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Therefore, Gao Changsheng often had no choice but to act decisively.
Or rather, he had no choice at all!
“My lord.”
“How are we to control the twenty thousand men of the supply corps?”
The impostor Dou Yuan stepped forward and asked in a low voice.
In truth, Gao Changsheng had been considering the same question all along.
Without Song Ziyong, controlling the supply corps would not be difficult.
The true difficulty lay in the fact that he could not determine how many of those twenty thousand men were spies planted by Crown Prince Gao Changling.
Nor could he be certain whether Northern Qi had dispatched secret agents among them.
Although the armory’s security the previous night had not been especially tight, infiltrating it to start a fire without being discovered while surrounded by twenty thousand men would still have been exceedingly difficult.
Unless the culprit had been one of their own.
In other words, there was a high probability that hidden agents were embedded among the twenty thousand men of the supply corps.
With this in mind, Gao Changsheng could not possibly make a grand spectacle of revealing the truth to everyone.
“No wonder he is the crown prince. His methods are far more sophisticated than those two fools, Gao Changwen and the other one.”
“When there is no way to distinguish friend from foe, no one can be trusted. What a masterful psychological battle!”
Gao Changsheng’s expression darkened.
Ultimately, his foundations were still too shallow.
Apart from a small number of trusted aides, such as Han Cong and Shi Meng, he could trust very few people.
Even Wang Yong and the magistrate could not be cleared of suspicion with absolute certainty.
Thus, Gao Changsheng faced not only assassins lurking in the shadows, but also the danger concealed among the twenty thousand men of the supply corps, waiting for the right moment to strike.
No matter how he looked at it, this seemed to be an insoluble dead end!
“If it were Miaofa, how would he break this deadlock?”
Gao Changsheng lowered his head and fell into deep thought.
He tried to transform himself into Miaofa, observing the entire situation through Miaofa’s way of thinking.
Gradually, the outline of what had seemed like a hopeless game of chess began to emerge.
The pieces that had appeared chaotic and disordered now occupied distinct regions in Gao Changsheng’s eyes.
“The assassins are outside; the killers within the supply corps are inside.”
“The granary divides the area into two separate zones.”
“In other words, although their objectives are the same, the imbalance of information has instead divided them into two entirely different factions.”
“Perhaps I can use this difference in information to throw the entire game into chaos.”
“It may not be enough to completely reverse the situation, but it should be sufficient to buy us more time!”
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