Chapter 60
Chapter 60
After leaving the tent, father and son found a secluded spot.
“Mo’er, what do you want to tell me?”
Xiao Jingmo did not beat around the bush. They were father and son and had no need to avoid difficult subjects. Their situation was dangerous, and if they wanted to protect the family, they had to prepare as soon as possible.
“Father, can you contact your former subordinates?”
Shock flashed through Xiao Che’s eyes. He pulled Xiao Jingmo even farther from the camp.
“Mo’er, why would you ask that? Don’t tell me you want to…”
He did not finish the question, but there was no need.
“Father, you’ve seen our situation. Prince Cheng already knows Little Sister is the Star Maiden. We must find a way to respond quickly, or all we can do is wait to die.”
Xiao Jingmo held his father’s gaze.
Xiao Che shook his head. “No. The Xiao Family has upheld its honor for a hundred years…”
“Father, what use is honor if we’re all dead? As long as we live, we can earn it back. Our purpose hasn’t changed. We still want the common people to live well. Rebuilding our strength isn’t rebellion. It is giving us the power to protect ourselves.
“If we take control of the Northern Frontier and govern it well, allowing the people to live and work in peace, they won’t care who stands above them. They want a leader who keeps them from starving, shields them from war, and lets them remain in their homes. Father, I believe you can do that.”
Xiao Jingmo’s words left Xiao Che speechless.
He had always valued the Xiao Family’s honor above his own life. Yet the family’s ancestral teachings charged them to safeguard the people. All along the road, he had seen commoners without enough food to fill their stomachs or clothing to cover their bodies. Cold hearths and people surviving on grass were everywhere.
Perhaps Mo’er was right.
“Let me think about it. We should go back for now.”
Xiao Jingmo said nothing more. He knew it would not be easy for the famously upright War God to make such a choice.
But even a rabbit would bite when cornered.
Prince Cheng had gone too far.
Before father and son returned, Ye Qi suddenly appeared.
“Marquis, the Eldest Young Master ordered this subordinate to give you a letter.”
Xiao Che immediately accepted it.
He unfolded the paper and read by the faint light.
“Prince Cheng! I, Xiao Che, swear I will never coexist with you!”
After reading the letter, his chest heaved violently.
Xiao Jingmo hurriedly took it and read it as well.
Xiao Jingxing had discovered that the sinister formation placed in the Marquis’s Mansion was Prince Cheng’s doing. More than that, Prince Cheng had also been responsible for the Old Marquis’s death.
The methods in both cases were the same. The Old Marquis had been killed with Gu Poison.
Xiao Jingxing also brought another piece of news.
The Emperor was critically ill and might not survive.
Xiao Jingxing suspected the illness was unnatural and most likely connected to Prince Cheng.
Prince Cheng had already set out for the Capital under the pretext of celebrating the Emperor’s birthday.
No one needed to guess his true intention. The birthday celebration was merely a cover for rebellion.
The Emperor had only two sons. One was already grown but had been sickly since birth. The imperial physicians said he would not live past twenty. The other was only eight years old.
Prince Cheng was determined to seize the throne.
Once he took that position, the entire Xiao Family would be doomed.
“Father, what do we do now?”
Xiao Jingmo quietly waited for Xiao Che’s decision.
Xiao Che closed his eyes and raised his face to the sky. Two silent streams of tears ran down his cheeks.
“I brought ruin upon the Marquis’s Mansion. If I hadn’t been close to Prince Cheng back then, he would never have conceived such ambitions.
“He thought our family would help place him on the throne. When he failed to get what he wanted, he attacked us from the shadows.
“He killed your grandfather and nearly destroyed our entire household. I am the sinner of the Marquis’s Mansion.”
Tears of regret flowed endlessly down Xiao Che’s cheeks and soaked into his collar.
He wished the bandits had simply killed him when they abducted him years ago. Then none of the later disasters would have happened.
Xiao Jingmo, however, frowned.
“Father, have you considered that Prince Cheng might have planned your abduction too?
“He could have staged the entire thing so you would mistakenly believe he had saved your life.”
Xiao Jingmo had never considered this before. Now that so many buried truths had surfaced, he could not help connecting the events. It was entirely possible.
After a long while, Xiao Che finally mastered his emotions. The past had to be settled someday.
“Mo’er, the Xiao Family spent decades in the Southern Frontier. Every soldier in the Xiao Family Army is brave and battle-hardened. I can indeed contact them.
“But this isn’t the time. We can barely protect ourselves. How could we feed a hundred thousand soldiers?
“We’ll decide once we’ve established ourselves. If Prince Cheng truly dares overthrow the imperial house, that will be our chance for revenge.”
Understanding dawned in Xiao Jingmo’s gentle expression. With those words from Xiao Che, he could act without restraint.
“Father, much of the information Zhu Laosan provided may be inaccurate. Should we send Ye Qi to investigate the Vulture Tribe first?”
Xiao Che did not know how Xiao Jingmo had convinced Tie He that Prince Cheng’s men were spies. Still, provoking a war between the two tribes was indeed useful to them. Once both sides started fighting, the family could flee in the confusion.
“Mo’er, how did you make that Zhou man believe Ye Qi served Prince Cheng?”
Xiao Jingmo took out a token and handed it to his father.
“I searched this from Cui Jin’s body in Jinzhou. It bears the mark used exclusively by Prince Cheng’s Mansion. If that man served Prince Cheng, he would recognize it. I gave it to Ye Qi, and Master Zhou never doubted him.”
Xiao Che nodded approvingly and returned the token.
“In that case, send Ye Qi to investigate the Vulture Tribe.”
When they returned to the tent, everyone was already asleep.
They had slept less than two hours when a disturbance sounded outside.
Tie He came looking for Xiao Jingmo with dark circles beneath both eyes.
“Young Master Xiao, I’ve fulfilled half of my promise. Shouldn’t you tell me how to fight the Vulture Tribe today?”
One glance at Tie He’s face told Xiao Jingmo that the Vulture Tribe had become a sickness in the Blackstone Tribe’s heart. Otherwise, Tie He would not have spent the entire night obsessing over how to defeat it.
“Chieftain Tie He, we’ll come after we’ve washed and dressed.”
“Ow!”
The moment Xiao Jingmo finished speaking, a cry of pain sounded outside. Judging by the voice, the injury was serious.
“What happened?”
Tie He strode from the felt tent.
Xiao Jingmo and Xiao Che followed close behind.
The three men emerged and froze.
Jin Bao was sitting astride a warrior of the Blackstone Tribe, her soft white fist raised to punch him in the face.
“Little Sister!”
“Good girl!”
Xiao Che and Xiao Jingmo shouted at the same time, stopping her fist in midair.
Xiao Che flashed behind her, stretched out one long arm, and scooped Jin Bao off the man.
He anxiously examined her. Before his heart could settle at finding her unharmed, the warrior pushed himself up while clutching his stomach and complained tearfully, “Chieftain, she hit me!”
Tie He stared at his aggrieved subordinate pointing at Jin Bao and felt his face burn with shame.
“Xiongying, leave. Do not disturb our honored guests. The Xiao Family are the Blackstone Tribe’s most distinguished guests. None of you may treat them rudely and make others laugh at our tribe.”
“Chieftain, she really did hit me. My insides feel twisted into knots.”
“I said leave! She’s only three, not even as big as your son. What could ten punches from her do, much less one? It would be like an ant scratching you. Xiongying, when did you become so delicate?”
Xiongying wanted to protest that he truly was in pain, that the little girl’s fists were a hundred times stronger than Baatar’s.
In the end, he said nothing and left with a miserable expression.