A Bitter Heart (Part 13)

Seeing this, Wei Ming finally understood. When he had read the case files before, he'd always felt something was off but couldn't pinpoint the source of the awkwardness. Not long after Fang Tianchong was transferred to the West Sea, he connected with the Qiyun Sea Merchants and began his "career" of killing the innocent to claim credit and deceiving his superiors. No wonder he was so skilled and picked it up so quickly; the seeds of disaster had been sown back during his time in the North Land Army.

For the next few days, Li Pingnan did not deliberately approach Fang Tianchong again, which instead heightened his unease. In the mirror's reflection, his gaze lingered on Li Pingnan's back for long periods, and he often stared blankly when alone in his tent. When Meng Sui's transfer order finally arrived at the North Land Army, all the generals were in an uproar, but he did not act rashly. He merely exchanged a glance with Wei Chenwu before hastily lowering his head.

Li Pingnan leisurely asked, "I'm set to return to the Capital tomorrow. How is Deputy General Fang's consideration coming along?"

Meng Sui would remain in the army and was not leaving, so Li Pingnan had to return alone. On the eve of his departure, he found Fang Tianchong again, using his weakness as leverage to demand an answer.

"Do I have a choice?" Fang Tianchong's face was grim as he said coldly, "What is it you people want me to do?"

Li Pingnan, however, laughed. "That's more like it. A wise man submits to circumstances. If your general had such broad-mindedness, it would have saved our Lord Minister so much trouble."

He took out a white porcelain bottle with a wide body and a slender neck from his luggage and handed it to Fang Tianchong. "Here, take it."

Fang Tianchong reacted as if he were holding a venomous snake, subconsciously recoiling. "What is this?"

"Relax, it's not fatal. It's just a medicine that causes weakness, coughing, and wheezing. If you don't believe me, you can try some yourself," Li Pingnan said. "The medicine is colorless and odorless. Give it to your general once every ten days. You're his trusted subordinate, so this should be a simple task, right?"

...

Fang Tianchong hesitated for a moment before finally taking the bottle. Li Pingnan found it amusing. "Deputy General Fang, you don't seem like such a cautious person. Never mind that this medicine isn't fatal—even if it were a potent poison, so what? Is it that you haven't killed enough people? If he dies, you'll be the next general. What's there to be afraid of?"

Fang Tianchong abruptly raised his head to look at him.

"Since you're willing to relieve the Lord Minister's worries, the Lord Minister will naturally not treat you poorly," Li Pingnan said with a smile. "General Wei's body can no longer keep up. After he steps down and resigns, The Imperial Court will inevitably downsize and split up the North Land Army to facilitate control. When the time comes to appoint people, the Lord Minister will remember you."

Fang Tianchong was finally and utterly convinced. He clutched the porcelain bottle tightly, cupped his hands, and said in a low voice, "Then I am at the Lord Minister's disposal."

After the envoy from The Imperial Court left, Fang Tianchong did as Li Pingnan had instructed, adding a bit of the poison to Wei Chenwu's tea every ten days. At first, the effects were negligible, and Wei Chenwu, completely unaware, seemed perfectly fine. It wasn't until after winter began that he carelessly caught a chill and started to show symptoms of a cough, which he merely dismissed as the aftereffects of a common cold.

During this period, Meng Sui rose in power. The morale in the North Land Army was unstable, and a rift gradually began to form. One faction of generals loyal to Wei Chenwu was extremely hostile toward the eunuch army supervisor, while the other chose to submit for the sake of self-preservation. Wei Chenwu seemed to have sensed The Imperial Court's attitude and quietly began planning to transfer some people away from the border. He also ordered someone to secretly collect and organize some documents. However, Fang Tianchong was not involved in this and could not guess what he was planning.

After the new year arrived and spring began, Wei Chenwu's coughing and wheezing did not improve. Instead, it grew increasingly severe. The military physicians who were summoned to diagnose him all said it was an ailment of wheezing caused by accumulated fatigue. They warned that if he continued to toil in the wind, sand, and dust of the border, it would only worsen, and it would be best for him to recuperate in the warm, humid lands of the south.

With this, a convenient way out was laid at his feet. If Wei Chenwu knew what was good for him, he should have taken the hint and submitted a memorial to The Emperor to resign, citing that his ailing body could no longer bear the heavy responsibilities.

One evening, Fang Tianchong was summoned to the general's tent by Wei Chenwu. When he arrived, Wei Chenwu had just finished writing a memorial and placed it inside a specially made box. Fang Tianchong's gaze froze on the box for a moment before he lowered his head respectfully and said, "General."

Wei Chenwu seemed to notice and moved the box further away.

Deeply troubled by his wheezing, he looked haggard. His once tall and straight figure was now somewhat stooped, like a great beast approaching old age, surrounded by a faint air of decay.

At this moment, it was unknown what the Fang Tianchong in the mirror was thinking, but the same thought suddenly surfaced in Wei Ming's and Chi Lian's minds: 'Was that colorless, odorless poison really just something that caused coughing and wouldn't take a person's life?'

"I have already decided to submit a memorial to The Imperial Court to resign from my post and return to my hometown to recuperate. This way, His Majesty can also be at ease." Wei Chenwu had to cough after every couple of sentences. "After I leave, the North Land Army is bound to be in chaos for a while. Meng Sui will take the opportunity to rise, and Zikuan and the others are hot-tempered. If they offend people because of this, I hope that for the sake of our past friendship, you will look after them."

Fang Tianchong quickly agreed, "This subordinate understands. Please rest assured, General."

Wei Chenwu turned his head away and coughed twice, managing to calm his breathing before speaking again, "I called you here tonight for another matter. I want to hear you tell me about it personally."

Fang Tianchong said, "Please speak, General. This humble general will tell you everything I know."

"The year before last, you led troops into battle against the bandits of the Husiqi Tribe at Yuanshi River Head. The ambush was a success; you wiped out a hundred bandits in one fell swoop and took more than thirty enemy heads..." Wei Chenwu stared at him grimly, his dry, purplish lips parting and closing as he spoke the words Fang Tianchong dreaded most, "Youzhi, tell me the truth. Was that ambush really a success?"

Almost without thinking, Fang Tianchong immediately said, "Why does the General suddenly ask this? The battle report has already been submitted to The Imperial Court. How could it be false?"

Wei Chenwu said flatly, "I know how the battle report was written. I'm asking you now."

"I..." Fang Tianchong choked, actually stumbling over his words in front of Wei Chenwu. "Of course, of course it's true."

Wei Chenwu sighed. "You were given good names. Tianchong, Youzhi. Your luck is much better than others, to be able to pull off such a grand deception. The people in that village were slaughtered by you, the Husiqi Tribe was busy at war with the Fenglin Kingdom, and the men you took with you that day were all grasshoppers on the same rope. So no one would testify against you... But paper can't wrap up a fire. What you've done will be exposed sooner or later..."

He began to cough violently again. Fang Tianchong stood there dumbly, listening to him say intermittently, "There was a spy from the Husiqi Tribe in your unit. He was the one who leaked the information, which is why your ambush failed... I interrogated that man not long ago. He confessed to the events of that day without reservation..."

No one could have expected Fang Tianchong to suddenly lash out. In an instant, he rushed in front of Wei Chenwu, his iron-pincer-like fingers gripping his throat tightly!

Wei Chenwu's heart and lungs were already damaged by the poison. Caught by surprise and with his throat constricted, his face immediately swelled and turned purple. He struggled to breathe, a wheezing sound issuing from his throat. Fang Tianchong's eyes suddenly met his dying gaze, as if he had been jolted awake by cold water. He finally realized what he was doing and, as if bitten by a venomous snake, flung his hand away, throwing Wei Chenwu heavily to the ground.

"General, General... I..."

Wei Chenwu was on the verge of suffocation. One hand clutched his own neck while the other clawed desperately at the ground, but he couldn't make a sound. His turbid eyes stared at Fang Tianchong as he frantically mouthed the words "save me," but Fang Tianchong's feet seemed to be nailed to the floor, not moving forward a single step.

In the midst of his silence, Wei Chenwu finally breathed his last.

Fang Tianchong stood stunned for an unknown length of time before finally snapping back to his senses with a jolt. He darted to the desk, fumbling to stuff the secret box into his robes. He then gasped for breath a few times, calmed himself for a moment, and looked around. Seeing that he had left no other traces of a struggle, he hurried out of the tent and grabbed a patrolling soldier, saying, "Go and ask Eunuch Meng to come to the general's tent!"

The North Land Army was currently split into two factions. He couldn't let the faction loyal to Wei Chenwu learn of this first, or else they would investigate General Wei's cause of death, and he would surely be implicated. For Meng Sui, however, Wei Chenwu's death meant the North Land Army was a dragon without a head—the perfect opportunity for him to consolidate power and establish his authority. If he sold this information to him, he might be able to advance even further on the strength of this favor.

The decision was made quickly and decisively. Without even hesitating, he started down another diverging path.

He formed an alliance with Meng Sui, reported to The Imperial Court that Wei Chenwu had died of a sudden illness, and seized control of the North Land Army. Then, using the opportunity of The Imperial Court's military downsizing, he eliminated Wei Chenwu's trusted confidants one by one, finally concealing the truth of that night completely.

The only thing that was unexpected was the unsent secret box he had stolen. It did not contain a report from Wei Chenwu explaining the truth to The Imperial Court, but rather a memorial impeaching the Minister of War, Wu Fuyong, for corruption, accepting bribes, and perverting the law for personal gain. It enumerated the crimes of Wu Fuyong during his tenure, such as suppressing the North Land Army and concealing their military merits.

It was as if Wei Chenwu's last words had truly come to pass. Fang Tianchong's luck seemed heaven-sent. Not only did he emerge unscathed from Wei Chenwu's death, but by a strange twist of fate, he also obtained leverage over Wu Fuyong. Using this as blackmail, a year later, with Wu Fuyong's recommendation, he was transferred to the West Sea to oversee maritime defense, where he soon resorted to his old tricks, treading the familiar path of deceiving his superiors.

Wei Ming already knew what happened next and said softly, "Put it away."

Chi Lian waved his hand, dispelling the light mirror. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Wei Ming, both gazing at the sleeping Fang Tianchong, whose brows were still furrowed. He suddenly said, "General Wei didn't actually intend to expose him back then, did he? Otherwise, why would he have entrusted the care of others to him? It was Fang Tianchong's own guilty conscience that made him strike a fatal blow, killing General Wei."

"General Wei's death was half due to Fang Tianchong's madness and half due to being forced by The Imperial Court. Neither of them is any good." Wei Ming's expression was calm, but his words were blunt. "Do you know the art of dream-crafting? Create a couple of nightmares for him about hanging and drowning, let him also experience the taste of suffocation."

So Chi Lian formed another hand seal. A red light in his palm gave birth to three wisps of black qi, which he flicked toward the bed. The dark wisps entered Fang Tianchong's brow one by one.

Wei Ming took him and left, saying to the official waiting outside, "Send him back to his cell. Prepare paper and a writing brush for him."

A short while later, the rumbling of wheels echoed in the alley. The carriage, just as it had when it arrived, passed through the long, dark street, heading in the direction of Prince Duan's Manor.