Chapter Sixteen: The Court Debate

  On the official road of Kyoto in Xia Guo, dozens of horses came galloping, and this group of people and horses all wore armor, it was Qin Xiao Tian and others who received the imperial edict from Longhua City and returned to the capital to report.

  "Hush! Hush!!" A series of neighs echoed, and dozens of war horses arrived in front of a city wall that seemed to stretch on forever. They stopped the horses' hooves and dismounted one after another.

  "The old slave has seen the young master." An elderly man who seemed to be an old steward quickly came before Qin Xiao Tian and respectfully saluted, saying. Behind him, more than a dozen men in uniform also followed suit, saying in unison: "Your subordinates have seen the young master."

  Qin Xiao Tian saw the old man's movements and quickly stepped forward to support him, his face filled with respect. "Uncle Hei, absolutely not, you're being too polite to Xiao Tian."

  "Director Zhang, what General learned in those years were all taught by Hei Lao." Hu Tian's voice sounded beside Zhang Hua Ming's ear.

  "Master." Zhang Huaming felt a strong sense of danger when he saw the old man, so in his first reaction, he knew that the seemingly weak and frail old man was actually a master, with cultivation absolutely above Wu Zong.

  The old man heard Qin Xiao Tian's words and a weak smile appeared on his face: "Lao Nu is a servant of the Qin family, Young Master is the young master of the Qin family, Lao Nu should pay respects."

  Qin Xiao Tian's face immediately showed displeasure upon hearing the old man's words, saying: "Hei Shu, you've seen me grow up, don't you understand my personality? This time it must be that old fellow who called you here!"

  The old man heard Qin Xiao Tian's words and smiled bitterly, saying: "Young master, it's been so many years, why do you still hold a grudge? Last time, the old master personally went to court for your sake and had a big argument with the Liu family's previous head of household. Let bygones be bygones!"

  "Past?" Qin Xiao Tian's eyes widened in anger as he heard the old steward's words, which sounded like a mixture of his teacher and father. "Was it that easy? If it weren't for his interference back then, would Xiaolan have met with disaster? Hei Shu, if you came to see me purely to reminisce about old times, I'd be happy to chat with you. But if you're here to speak on his behalf, please spare me the nonsense. I still need to go to the palace to report back."

  The old man seemed to have understood Qin Xiao Tian's reaction long ago, and a helpless smile appeared on his face as he sighed and said: "Since the young master has an imperial decree on him, this old slave dare not disturb him, so I'll take my leave first."

  "Please."

  In the magnificent palace, Zheng Chenggong sat on the dragon chair and listened to the reports of civil and military officials from various regions below.

  "Report! General Qin Xiao Tian has arrived to report for duty." A voice echoed from outside the palace.

  "Hush!" The entire imperial court, civil and military officials, were shocked at the same time. Hundreds of eyes turned to the palace gate, and then five figures appeared in front of the palace gate.

  "General Qin Xiao Tian requests an audience with Your Imperial Majesty."

  "Then Wang Hu, Wang Bao, Wang Shi and Zhang Hua Ming will meet with His Majesty the Emperor."

  Zheng Chenggong saw the civil and military officials of the Qing court, seeing Qin Xiao Tian's fearful expression, secretly sneered in his heart, then smiled and waved his hand: "All beloved generals, please calm down."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Qin Xiao Tian and the others stood up in unison. Qin Xiao Tian's eyes scanned across the civil and military officials in the court, only stopping for a moment on two people. One was his own father, Qin Wang, where his gaze lingered with a complex expression. The other was Liu Heng, the head of the Liu family, where his gaze stopped with a fierce and murderous intent.

  Zhang Huaming took advantage of this spare time to cast his gaze on the master of the Zhang family, who was in charge of the financial power in the court, and also the owner of his father's body. The latter seemed to have felt his son's gaze, and when he saw the armor emblem on Zhang Huaming's body, his expression slightly stiffened, apparently not expecting Zhang Huaming to climb to this position so quickly!

  "This kid is actually the Chief of Staff?" Even though Zhang Wubing had already known some of this son's affairs from his father's mouth beforehand, he still couldn't believe that his own son could climb to this position in just one short year. Others may not be clear about the organization of the Měng Hǔ Tuán (Fierce Tiger Troop), but as the person in charge of the entire Xia Kingdom's finances, he was very clear. Although the Měng Hǔ Tuán only had the organization of a single army, its actual manpower reached that of three armies, and its combat strength was equivalent to that of four or five large armies. Every year, the Xia Kingdom's military expenses were more than half occupied by the Měng Hǔ Tuán.

  Zhang Huaming could clearly feel that his cheap old man's gaze at him was full of puzzlement and complex expressions, and he slightly furrowed his brow before withdrawing his line of sight.

  Zheng Chenggong took in the scene of the civil and military officials in the imperial court, just as he was about to speak. At that moment, three figures appeared at the entrance of the palace. When Zheng Chenggong saw these three figures, a bitter smile spread across his face. The reason was none other than that the arrivals were Qin, Zhang, and Liu, the former masters of the three families.

  "Your humble servant and inferior general pay their respects to Your Majesty."

  "Three old men are exempt from courtesy, I wonder what important matter the three old men have come for?" Zheng Chenggong secretly prayed in his heart that these three old foxes would not bring up old matters again.

  "I report to Your Majesty, I heard that my grandson returned to the capital this time to report back. This time he came specifically to ask about the previous matter, so that some people with ulterior motives can give an explanation." Qin Li replied solemnly, his eyes staring at Liu Mao, with a questioning expression.

  Zheng Chenggong was worried about what would happen next, and with a helpless expression, he nodded slightly and then looked at Liu Mao with a bitter smile: "What brings Elder Liu here today?"

  Liu Mao responded with a calm expression: "Your Majesty, I came to court only because I was worried that some people would turn things upside down and pour dirty water on my grandson."

  Zheng Chenggong shook his head again with a bitter smile, looking at Zhang Xiaotian.

  Zhang Xiao Tian seemed to know the meaning of this expression, so he smiled and responded: "Your Majesty, I heard that my grandson has returned to report, I just miss him dearly, nothing else."

  "Grandson?" Zheng Gongcheng was slightly taken aback by Zhang Xiaotian's words, his eyes directly drifting to Zhang Huaming standing beside Qin Xiao Tian, a glint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.

  "Ah!" The entire court of civil and military officials heard Zhang Xiaotian's words, and immediately they were shocked. Hundreds of eyes turned to Zhang Huaming at the same time. After all, Wang Hu and his four brothers had seen some of the officials before, but when Zhang Xiaotian mentioned "seeing his grandson" today, it was most likely that Zhang Huaming was the one with a very young face. However, they didn't understand that in their impression, there seemed to be no news about any young master from the Zhang family joining the army. And yet, suddenly a military strategist's son appeared, which was strange. Moreover, he was so young, how could it be possible?

  Even Zhang Huaming, who was used to seeing big winds and waves, felt uncomfortable all over his body under the gaze of hundreds of eyes. He turned away, pretending not to know the Zhang family, but in fact, he had never wanted to have any relatives since coming to this world, as he was accustomed to being free and unrestrained from his previous life. Moreover, with the hatred towards his original family due to this body, he would not acknowledge this so-called family affection.

  Zhang Huaming's actions made the civil and military officials in the imperial court surprised for a moment, and the next moment the eyes of the civil and military officials swept back and forth on Zhang Xiaotian, Zhang Wubing, and Zhang Huaming.

  Zhang Xiaotian saw his cheap grandson's movements, and his eyebrows slightly furrowed. The next moment, he let out a slight sigh. His son Zhang Wubing, who was following him, heard his father's faint sigh and changed his expression, with a serious face, shouted at Zhang Huaming: "Rebellious son, don't you hurry over?"

  Zhang Huaming heard Zhang Wubing's shout, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and a flash of murderous intent flickered in his eyes as he glared at Zhang Wubing, the cheap old man, who was actually startled by this gaze.

  "Shut up." Zhang Xiao Tian had lived for many years, how could he not see through his own son's foolish behavior towards the Zhang family, so he stopped him.

  "Your Majesty, during the Cloud City Battle, I failed to defend the city. Please punish me." Qin Xiao Tian stood on the court and bowed his head.

  "Ah," Zheng Cheng smiled and waved his hand, "General Qin, I've also heard about your achievements in the battle of Yunzhong City. This time, Dongguo launched a large-scale attack, with three routes of troops rotating to attack from both inside and outside. You were able to hold off the enemy army for three days with just one newly established vanguard camp, not to mention annihilating one route of enemy troops. That's a great achievement, what's there to be humble about?"

  "Your Majesty, I, the last general, will report to you!" Wang Hu stepped forward.

  Qin Xiao Tian's expression changed as he saw this scene, and he shouted: "Shut up, get out!"

  "General." Wang Hu's face showed a discontented expression, but after being glared at by Qin Xiao Tian, he pushed away with an angry look.

  "Your Majesty, I'm afraid that if this matter is not resolved, it will affect the morale of our Xia State army!" Qin Li stepped forward and said.

  "Your Majesty, we believe that if this matter is not resolved, it will affect the morale of our Xia State army!" One-third of the civil and military officials present stood up in unison.

  Koxinga's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he watched this scene, and the next moment a smile appeared on his face as he looked at Wang Hu and said: "Wang Pianjiang, you just said you wanted to report to Yu Zhuang, what is it about?"

  "I report to Your Majesty, before the fall of Yunzhong City, I received a letter from General Liu requesting reinforcements. My three brothers and I mobilized three large troops overnight to support Yunzhong City, but who knew that General Liu, stationed at Fengyunguan, used the excuse of war to delay our supporting troops for one day, which led to the fall of Yunzhong City. Please, Your Majesty, clear our names..."

  "Fart, you're just a small general, it's rare that you say I'm your grandson blocking you for one day, and do you think the emperor will believe what you, a mere general, have to say?" Liu Mao naturally wouldn't let Wang Hu continue speaking, cutting him off abruptly.

  "Yes or no, Minister Liu will know once he summons General Liu back." Wang Hu responded calmly.

  "Uh!" Liu Mao heard Wang Hu's bland response and was suddenly stunned.

  "How dare you, a mere low-ranking officer, speak to Commander Liu in such a manner! Take him away!" A tall and sturdy man shouted coldly.

  "How arrogant!" Wang Bao and Wang Shi saw several high-ranking officials from the imperial court walking towards their elder brother, with their hands resting on the hilts of their waist weapons, looking as if they would start a fight at any moment.

  "Enough!" Qin Xiao Tian shouted loudly, and the entire court immediately fell silent.

  Qin Xiao Tian's eyes scanned the several generals who were about to approach, and after being swept by his gaze, they all retreated a few steps. Finally, his gaze fell on the burly man who had given the order, and he coldly shouted: "Liu Xiao, in the imperial court, it is His Majesty's word that counts. My deputy general may not be worth mentioning, but can you, as a mere commander of the Imperial Guard, arbitrarily arrest people in the imperial court? Or do you think that my Hu Tiger Corps is nobody to contend with? If you don't believe me, let's compare notes."

  "Come if you dare, who's afraid of whom?" The commander of the Imperial Guard who was summoned by Liu Xiao said coldly.

  "Hmm!" Just as the two sides were about to clash, Emperor Zheng Chenggong let out a cold hum on the imperial court, and this tense atmosphere dissipated instantly.

  "Look at you, brandishing swords in the imperial court, don't you think I'm not taking this seriously?" Zheng Chenggong said with a furious expression.

  "I, your humble servant and low-ranking general, will be punished for my crime."

  "Since none of you are convinced, then it's settled, Liu Xiao, Qin Xiao Tian."

  "The end will be there."

  "The matter of Yunzhong City has faults on both sides. Qin Xiao Tian has made contributions in killing the enemy, and is rewarded with a thousand taels of gold, a Qilin war horse, and the generals who have made contributions in killing the enemy are each rewarded with a thousand taels of silver."

  "Thank you for your gift, Your Majesty."

  "General Liu delayed military action and was penalized one year's salary as punishment."

  "Yes."

  "Alright, let's put this matter to rest. Liu Xiao, since you're so dissatisfied with Qin Xiao Tian, I'll give you both a chance to settle this once and for all. Qin Xiao Tian has five people on his side, and you can choose five from the Imperial Guard to compete against them. Regardless of who wins or loses, this matter will not be brought up again after today. The time is set for three days from now at noon. Do either of you have any objections?"

  "Yes, sir!" Qin Xiao Tian and Liu Xiao responded in unison.