Shen Leng did not expect Hei Yan to be waiting for him in the tent the moment he got back to the Navy’s camp. From the looks of it, it seemed as though something had happened. There were two pots of wine on the table. That strong and unyielding man lowered his head, and the ground next to his feet was wet.

“What happened?”

“Drink with me.”

Hei Yan lifted his head. His eyes were exceptionally red.

Shen Leng lifted the two pots of wine on the table. He pulled out the cork of one of them and passed it to Hei Yan. He opened the other one for himself. “Something happened to one of your brothers?”

“Yeah…”

Hei Yan smiled. However, that smile on his face made one’s heart ache. A good brother.

“A good brother.”

He tilted his head upwards as he chugged the wine. His smile was rigid. Thereafter, he buried his head in his hands and started crying. “I cannot cry in front of my Liu Yun Sect brothers. I am their leader. I need to make them think that I am very strong. But my brother died…my brother died. His corpse was torn apart and his flesh was shredded.”

He tried to restrain himself, and forced himself to make as little sound as possible. He did not want to cry out loud.

Shen Leng poured some wine onto the ground. “A while ago, I experienced such a feeling too. One of my subordinates, a brother, was named Li Tuming.”

Hei Yan looked at Shen Leng. “He’s dead?”

“Dead.”

“What did you do?”

“Revenge.”

Shen Leng looked into Hei Yan’s eyes. “Don’t be afraid to cry in front of your brothers. You don’t have to think so much in front of the people you call ‘brothers’. If you know who the enemy is, from now onwards, set your heart one thing…how to seek revenge.”

Hei Yan said. “But I can’t do that yet. I still have to wait.”

Shen Leng asked, “Why?”

Hei Yan lowered his head once again and looked at the pot of wine in his hands. “You should already be aware that Liu Yun Sect is not an actual secret society in the underworld. At that time, before that brother left Liu Yun Sect to go to another place, I sent him off at Changan city. As we were leaving the city, I told him that we were different from other people. There is a word hanging above our heads. Our head told us that because of this word, when we do things, it seemed grand and impressive, and that there is absolutely no apprehension. But in reality, we have even more apprehension than anyone else.”

“Everything has to be done according to the rules. Even revenge.”

Hei Yan’s hand gripped the pot of wine hard. “The brothers think that the word is ‘official’, but no…it was ‘palace’.”

Shen Leng’s hand that was holding onto the pot clenched for a moment. Even though he did make such a guess before, it was inevitable for him to feel stunned, hearing it from Hei Yan himself. Why did the emperor of Great Ning want to interfere in the matters within the underworld?

If other people were to find out about this, even though nobody would dare to say anything, they would still make fun of the emperor behind his back, calling him preposterous.

However, Shen Leng on the other hand understood now. Because it was most likely related to the inside intelligence boxes.

“Revenge will be taken.”

Hei Yan finished the rest of the wine in the pot at one go. “Perhaps I might not have to wait a long time.”

Shen Leng said, “You came to look for me not just to drink wine with me, right?”

“There is something I should tell you. “Cen Zheng had already said what he needed to say to you, but I did not say that it’s because he already feels that you are trustworthy. But I cannot let myself down, as well as my responsibility, and I cannot let His Majesty down. In a sense, the messenger of the inside intelligence box is more classified than the person holding onto the inside intelligence box. Originally, it would not require someone of my rank to make direct contact with you. However, recently, something big might happen, so I took over. The name list that Cen Zheng left behind for you, you will utilize it in the future. Before that, we will keep in contact.”

Hei Yan said everything at one go. “Hence, I need to explain clearly to you about the thing that might happen soon.”

At the same time, in Changan city.

The great scholar’s residence.

Even Bai family’s members, who came from Xiangning, would not be timid at all in the face of the great scholar. Instead, they were angry towards him.

“Great scholar, the plans have been shifted a lot earlier. If there isn’t a reasonable explanation, I’m afraid there is no way for the Bai family to cooperate.”

Mu Zhaotong leaned against the chair. He did not look up – his eyes continued to look at the book in his hands. “You seem to not understand one thing. You think that we are cooperating? No…from the very start, you people are not qualified to cooperate. You can only listen to orders. If nothing bad were to open, someone at the top has already sent someone to Xiangning.”

“At the top?”

Bai Mei was taken aback. “Is that the empress’ idea? That’s impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible.”

Mu Zhaotong said plainly, “If nothing bad were to happen, within seven days, His Majesty will go to the temple. Nobody can stop the crown prince from being crowned anymore. Do you know the significant meaning behind the term ‘crown prince’? It means that he is perfectly legitimate…when the former emperor died, why did chaos ensue? That is because the former emperor had no sons, Now, the crown prince’s status has already been decided. A lot of things are only to be expected.”

Bai Mei understood it, hence his heart started racing. “You people are too gutsy!”

“If not, then what?”

Mu Zhaotong put down the book in his hand. “Wait till the day I become completely powerless? I can wait, but the empress cannot wait. If I collapse, who will assist the crown prince?”

“What about Prince Li Xiaoran? I know that you have been keeping in contact with him in private.”

“When the crown prince’s status was uncertain, naturally, the best thing to do is to contact more. Right now, the circumstances have changed. His Majesty personally handed us this opportunity on a platter. If we don’t cherish it, wouldn’t it be a waste?”

Mu Zhaotong said, “Don’t forget – if we were to really talk about it, the Bai family is much deeper in it than me.”

In an instant, Bai Mei became dejected. “From the very start, I already know that sooner or later, the Bai family will be destroyed in the hands of people like you.

“Without the empress, and without the support of her family, the Bai family would barely have a slight influence in Xiangning. Other people have been very curious as to why there has been a lot of talented young men emerging from the Bai family, which has always been unpromising all along. One by one, the empress’ family carefully selected some children and sent them to Xiangning and changed their last names to Bai. The Bai family’s prestige is supported by the empress’ family…You think that you can reap all the benefits without doing anything? There is no such thing in this world.”

Bai Mei said, “I will rush back to Xiangning as fast as I can to report this matter.”

“By the time you go back it’s too late.”

Mu Zhaotong said, “Do you think that I am seeking your opinion? Who gave you such confidence in front of me?”

Bai Mei’s face was ashen. He knew that there was nothing he could change or influence. At this moment, all he could do was lower his head.

Hence, he lowered his head as much as possible. “Please forgive me, great scholar. I was too anxious earlier, and forgot my place.”

“Go back. Bai Shangnian is a lot more dauntless and determined than any one of you Bai members. This is also what I admire about him. At the very least, he understands that regardless of whether it’s him or you people who want to rise to power, it is impossible to do that under the current circumstances.”

Bai Mei bowed once more. He did not say anything and turned around before leaving.

The palace, Si Mao Zhai.

The academy head was brewing some tea. He had always been a person who had a divine poise. Brewing tea was also a very refined thing, hence, he had an even more divine poise. The disciples in the academy treated him like some sort of divine immortal-like figure. Looking at his graceful and elegant manner at this very moment, it was no wonder why.

The emperor put down the memorial and looked at the tea. “It seems rather abnormal recently.”

“Your Majesty, what are you referring to?”

“Recently, Mu Zhaotong’s attitude has been rather interesting.”

The emperor walked over to the table where the tea was at and sat down across from him. “Previously, he had always been an official that dared to speak frankly before me. Recently, regardless of what I say, he agreed with everything. It’s rather interesting.”

The academy head laughed, “If the wind is harsh, the waves would be fierce. He cannot possibly always be at the heart of the struggle, where the wind and the waves are the fiercest.”

The emperor asked, “The thing you’ve been worried about a few days ago – are you still worrying about it?”

“I’m no longer worried.”

The academy head poured more tea for the emperor. “I was worried previously because I couldn’t see things clearly.”

The emperor laughed too. “Recently, quite a number of imperial censors submitted the account books, saying that most likely, a huge sum of the gold and silver of the members of the Bai family came from unknown origins and were used to bribe officials. I lectured all of them. Those people from the Bai family can truly create huge waves?”

“You’re right in lecturing them, Your Majesty. Those imperial censors only know how to ruin things.”

“Hahahaha…that’s why I like them.”

The emperor pointed to the chessboard. “One round?”

“No, no.”

The academy head shook his head like a drum-shaped rattle. “Tantai Yuanshu came to me a while ago and complained about being hard up. Your Majesty must have got him to play chess with you. If I keep you company and play chess with you, he will not have a place to borrow any money from.”

The emperor laughed even more happily. “He’s a great general of the imperial guards, and yet he went to borrow money. How embarrassing…I saw the textiles sent over by Jiangnan’s Weaving Repository this year. They are not bad. I already got someone to split them up into two batches – one of them will be sent to your residence, and the other to Tantai’s residence. At least it will take some pressure off of the both of you for getting new clothes for your family.”

“Your Majesty, if you don’t take our money, wouldn’t it be better?”

“Then in that case it will not be as fun anymore.”

The emperor took a sip of his tea. “You should advise the imperial censor, Lai Cheng, to stop spending his entire day on the accounts book. After all, he is your student too.”

“Him?”

The academy head shook his head even faster. “He’s a person who dares to hit his head against a pillar. I’m afraid he might knock me down, killing me off.”

The emperor sighed, “Leave them be then.”

The academy head’s lips curled upwards. “Yes, leave them be.”

Jiangnan, the Navy’s camp.

The preparations in the final few days had been completed. The troops that were participating in this drill had already assembled. They would be boarding the ships tomorrow in the morning. Zhuang Yong made a brief speech before he dismissed them. The five generals of the five armies had to tag along as well, while the deputy commander, Mu Xiaofeng, stayed behind in the Navy’s camp to manage military affairs. No matter how one looked at it, he was somewhat abnormal.

Hei Yan had already left. Shen Leng thought about how in the future, someone might suddenly appear in his tent from time to time, so he had to pay more attention. He was used to taking a shower right after training ended. He had to change that habit from now on. Who knew where Hei Yan appeared from?

Zhuang Yong pushed aside the curtain. When he entered, Shen Leng was in a daze. Zhuang Yong frowned slightly because he saw two empty pots of wine.

“I’m wrongly accused.”

Shen Leng immediately reacted.

“Drink it, then you won’t be wrongly accused anymore.”

“Please forgive me.”

“Why don’t I deduct a month’s worth of pay?”

He was speechless.

Zhuang Yong sat down. After staying silent for a while, he said, “Be more careful and pay more attention during this combined drill. Mu Xiaofeng has been behaving strangely.”

“I know that.”

Shen Leng smiled, “Before something bad happens, some people always believe they are infallible, and try to make themselves appear as normal as possible. But the more they try to do that, the more they would appear to be abnormal.”

“I heard that you mobilized a battalion?”

“Du Weiming must have said it, right?”

“He has to remember that his task is to keep an eye on you.”

“Indeed, I pulled out Yang Qibao’s entire battalion.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Can I tell you in the morning on the day after tomorrow?”

“Why?”

“I’m afraid you will betray me, general.”

Shen Leng spoke sternly with a sense of justice. He had a shameless look on his face.

Zhuang Yong was speechless.

“Tomorrow, the Navy will be setting out. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Why would I cause any trouble for no reason?”

Shen Leng shrugged. “When was I ever unreasonable whenever I caused trouble?”