As dusk began to fall, Qian Zhao finally made his way to the adjacent room where Emperor Wu was resting.
He gave the prearranged signal—two long knocks followed by two short ones—and the door opened almost immediately.
"Brother Qian, you're here." Yuan Lu opened the door, his eyelids visibly heavy and swollen with fatigue. He was still holding a plate of candied fruit, smiling cheerfully.
"I'm here to relieve you, go get some rest," Qian Zhao said.
"Alright, these are for you." Yuan Lu pushed the plate of candied fruit into Qian Zhao's hands.
Looking at the candied fruit that had suddenly appeared in his hands, Qian Zhao still felt a faint stirring in his heart. "Did you take your sugar pills today?"
Yuan Lu looked slightly helpless. "I took them, I took them. Brother Shisan already asked me that once this morning."
"Good." Qian Zhao stepped into the room, while Yuan Lu quickly hurried toward his own quarters, yearning for his little cot.
Qian Zhao carefully closed the door, making as little sound as possible. Lying on the bed inside with his eyes closed and facing upward was none other than Emperor Wu, whom they had risked their lives to rescue on this journey.
Qian Zhao placed the plate of candied fruit by the windowsill and walked step by step with extremely light paces toward the sleeping Emperor Wu.
When he stood still beside the emperor's bed, he remained motionless for a long time. The heavy sword and scabbard in his hand made a faint rustling sound as they brushed against each other, but finally steadied.
He walked over to the window instead, continuing to look out into the night while popping a piece of candied fruit into his mouth from time to time, the sweetness spreading from the tip of his tongue to fill his entire mouth.
"Qian Zhao, what were you just about to do to Us?" Emperor Wu's eyes slowly opened, his voice soft as if he feared startling anyone outside.
"You actually remember my name." Qian Zhao replied indifferently, his tone laced with alienation, though he still used a respectful title. Yet he did not directly answer the emperor's question; perhaps in his subconscious, he had no wish to commit the crime of deceiving his sovereign either.
"We always felt your features looked somewhat familiar. Are you and Chai Ming—"
"Your Majesty, you should rest. I'll go have Yu Shisan take over." Qian Zhao interrupted the emperor and turned to leave.
"Were you just trying to kill Us?"
Emperor Wu slowly propped himself up into a sitting position. Once those words were spoken, the entire room fell into silence.
"We have been a light sleeper these past few days, and just now Yuan Lu was chewing on candied fruit beside us all this time... Besides, of late, We always felt your attitude was a bit different from the others..."
Hearing this, Qian Zhao was somewhat surprised, but it was also within reason. Faulty as he might be, the man was still the sovereign of Wu and no fool; his true intentions could not be hidden forever.
"So, Your Majesty wishes to charge me with guilt by association?" Qian Zhao's voice was cold, seemingly suppressing something.
"You have every right to hate Us. Chai Ming and the others died violent deaths entirely because of Us. We will give them an accounting." A momentary grief seemed to flash across Emperor Wu's eyes.
"You don't need to tell me that. Your life was bought with the lives of so many brothers from Liudao Hall. If I were to take it, I would be acting unjustly toward them." With that, he walked straight toward the door.
Just as he reached the exit, he paused and said, "Ten miles to the southwest of this window is where he died—his intestines pierced by a hail of spears, his blood flowing endlessly. Brother Tian Dao died defending the sovereign of Wu, so he died a worthy death. But ask your own conscience: do you deserve it?"
Having said that, Qian Zhao stepped outside and called out Yu Shisan's name.
That final question from Qian Zhao pierced deep into the heart of Emperor Wu on the bed.
*Sovereign of Wu, do you deserve it?*
*Sovereign of Wu, do you deserve it?*
*Sovereign of Wu, do you deserve it?*
...
In the past, had anyone dared to speak to the Son of Heaven in such a manner, he would have had the offender's entire clan executed, or at the very least their property confiscated and themselves exiled. But today, he truly lacked the confidence for it.
It seemed he truly did not deserve it.
Struggling with his weary body, he walked over to the window, stood in the very spot Qian Zhao had just occupied, and gazed toward the southwest...
Banners fluttered like metal, the battlefield was thick with the smoke of war, and the men of Liudao Hall, clad in their guard armor, fought valiantly against the enemy.
He caught sight of Chai Ming, who shared the exact same facial features as Qian Zhao, though his face appeared somewhat more youthful. Wielding a long sword in his hand, Chai Ming fought off the enemy while retreating step by step.
With nowhere left to retreat, a squad of enemy soldiers thrust their long spears forward simultaneously...
"Careful!" Emperor Wu cried out in alarm, wanting to warn him to dodge, but it was all in vain—just as when Chai Ming had died right beside him, before he had even managed to learn his name.
The spears plunged into his body in unison, blood slowly streaming down the shafts...
Emperor Wu snapped back from the battlefield vision, unconsciously breaking out in a cold sweat. Yet before his eyes now lay nothing more than a stretch of woods.
The clash of arms and weapons was already a matter of months ago.
After that day, as if some rebellious spirit had been provoked within him, Qian Zhao's attitude toward Emperor Wu worsened by leaps and bounds.
Whenever they ate on the road, the emperor would invariably be urged to hurry halfway through his meal; whenever there was food Emperor Wu disliked, Qian Zhao would deliberately have it prepared.
At first, Yu Shisan and the others were quite worried. After all, this was His Majesty the Emperor; if he chose to settle old scores later, there was no telling how he might deal with Qian Zhao.
Yet Emperor Wu seemed entirely unconcerned, and even grew more attentive to everyone around him because of Qian Zhao. Whenever he tasted some food on the journey, he would always ask whether the others had gotten a share.
Sometimes when they hunted a mountain pheasant, he would only take a few bites before distributing the rest to the others.
Chief Du and his men naturally dared not accept it, and since Qian Zhao held them in disdain, Yu Shisan and Sun Lang could not bring themselves to disregard their brothers' pride either. In the end, Emperor Wu could only use his imperial authority to force the youngest, Yuan Lu, to eat it.
Yu Shisan observed all this with a mere smile, thinking that perhaps when Ning Yuanzhou returned, he might feel a glimmer of joy—the future of Wu might not be entirely devoid of life after all.
At that moment, Ning Yuanzhou was riding a swift horse, traveling day and night. Changing mounts at almost every branch station, he finally arrived at the Anwu border two days behind Qian Zhao and the others.
Here, he received information from the brothers at the branch, learning that Qian Zhao and his party had all arrived safely and had already successfully crossed into Wu territory.
Upon learning this, Ning Yuanzhou was finally reassured. He then drew the token representing the head of Liudao Hall from his tunic and said to the head of the branch:
"Senluo Palace of Liudao Hall is reactivated as of today. Gather and compile all intelligence reports and dispatch them to Wu Capital."
Upon hearing these words, the branch leader's eyes lit up, and he quickly bowed in acknowledgment.
They had waited far too long for this moment. Ever since Ning Yuanzhou was framed, the paperwork of Senluo Palace had been all but suspended. Then came the defeat of Wu, and these border-dwelling branches had lived like street rats, daring only to hide in sunless nests without the courage to make a move.
As Ning Yuanzhou visited the various branches along the way, he was also verifying their combat readiness; rebuilding the intelligence network of An Kingdom for Liudao Hall was imperative.