Chapter 19: You Have Come to Silence Me

These few words carried such an overwhelming amount of information that everyone’s mind struggled to process them.

Inside the estate, Qin Cang’s hand tightened around his sword hilt. He looked toward Xiao Zhan and found that the latter was looking back at him. In both their eyes, there was an identical expression of shock and sudden realization.

"Master Mo."

Xiao Zhan’s voice broke the silence. Standing on the gatehouse, his voice was not loud, yet it rang clearly in everyone’s ears.

"I think I understand now. You didn't come to reap the rewards; you came to… silence the witness."

He shifted his tone, his words becoming highly inflammatory.

"This Ghost-Masked Man, who burned my grain stores and attacked my Prince’s estate—it turns out he was acting on an imperial decree from the Empress Dowager herself? Collaborating with such a man, while intent on wiping out us loyal officials and generals—is this what you call 'mediation'? Is this the 'benevolence' of the Empress Dowager?"

"You… you are spouting nonsense!"

Mo Di’s voice sharpened into a shrill pitch. He forced himself to remain calm and barked sternly, "This wretch is at death’s door and is spewing gibberish, attempting to frame the Empress Dowager and sow discord among us! His crimes deserve death!"

The cavalry soldiers behind him also began to show confusion and hesitation. Their orders were to suppress rebels, yet the leader of these "rebels" had just shouted out such a shocking secret.

"If it’s nonsense, why not just grab him and ask?" Xiao Zhan spoke with composure, twirling his Desert Eagle between his fingers. "Oh, I forgot. Master Mo is here to 'cleanse' the area. Dead men tell no tales, right?"

"Archers, ready!"

Mo Di’s patience had completely evaporated. He roared in near-hysteria, "Shoot that lunatic who is spewing filth! Now! Immediately!"

He no longer cared about the Prince of Yan’s estate; his top priority was to ensure the Ghost-Masked Man was silenced forever.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Dozens of Mo-flag archers immediately drew their bows. Arrows flew like a swarm of locusts, aimed at the dying Ghost-Masked Man.

However, a thunderous shout erupted from within the estate!

"Stop them! I want this man taken alive!"

Qin Cang had moved! He understood the weight of the Ghost-Masked Man’s words better than anyone. If this were true, then the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager… he dared not think further. But this Ghost-Masked Man was his only witness to clear his name and potentially turn the tables! He could not be allowed to die like this!

Following his command, he led his remaining few dozen Capital Guard soldiers, charging out from the side gate they had just entered. Like a rusted yet still sharp dagger, they thrust directly toward the position of the Ghost-Masked Man!

"Qin Cang! How dare you?!"

Mo Di had not expected Qin Cang to charge out at such a moment; he was so furious he nearly fell from his horse. His troops were split between preparing to attack the gates and acting as archers; caught off guard by Qin Cang’s sudden counter-charge, their formation fell into chaos.

"Hmph, the mantis stalks the cicada."

Xiao Zhan watched coldly from the gatehouse, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"But there is more than one oriole."

He raised his arm sharply. "Open fire!"

*Rat-tat-tat-tat! Bang! Bang-bang!*

On the gatehouse, a dozen AK-47s and several Desert Eagles roared once more. But this time, the targets were chosen with tactical precision.

A portion of the bullets wove a whip of fire, lashing out at the Mo-flag archers who were preparing to release their arrows. Before their arrows could leave the strings, those archers fell in heaps, screaming. The rest scrambled for cover, no longer able to focus on shooting the Ghost-Masked Man.

The other portion of the gunfire raked the ground in front of Qin Cang and his charging men, creating a "death zone" of craters. Debris and dirt flew everywhere, forcing Qin Cang’s troops to slow down, unable to reach the Ghost-Masked Man immediately.

"Xiao Zhan! What are you doing?!" Qin Cang roared back, both startled and furious.

"Helping you, General Qin." Xiao Zhan’s voice sounded incredibly "sincere." "Master Mo’s archers are too formidable, so I’m providing some suppressive fire. You’d better hurry, or if the witness dies, neither you nor I will be able to explain ourselves."

While he claimed to be helping, his firepower cleverly held both Qin Cang’s and Mo Di’s forces at a delicate distance, making it impossible for either side to easily reach the dying Ghost-Masked Man.

The entire battlefield had dissolved into total chaos. Mo Di’s men wanted to kill the Ghost-Masked Man but were pinned down by Xiao Zhan’s firepower. Qin Cang’s men wanted to capture him alive but were blocked by the same barrage. Meanwhile, Xiao Zhan stood high above on the gatehouse, coldly manipulating the life and death of every piece on the chessboard.

He didn't care if the Ghost-Masked Man lived or died; he wanted the water to be as muddy as possible! He wanted Qin Cang and Mo Di to tear each other to pieces on this small battlefield!

Just as the three-way skirmish reached a bizarre peak of intensity:

"Brother!"

A female voice, filled with tears and urgency, rang out from behind him.

Xiao Zhan frowned. Turning around, he saw his sister, Xiao Yunshang, who had ignored the danger and run up to the gatehouse, followed by a pale-faced Qiushuang.

"Go back! It’s dangerous here!" Xiao Zhan barked.

"No! Brother! Look at that man!" Xiao Yunshang did not retreat. She pointed a trembling finger at Mo Di, who was in the distance, surrounded by his personal guards, bellowing orders as he directed the battle.

"That man… that man surnamed Mo!"

Xiao Yunshang’s voice trembled with agitation. She gripped Xiao Zhan’s arm, saying every word clearly:

"I have seen him before!"

"About half a month before Father was taken away, in the dead of night, it was him! He entered Father’s study alone, in secret!"

"They… they locked the doors and held a secret meeting for an entire hour!"

Xiao Zhan felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him on the crown of his head! He grabbed Xiao Yunshang’s arm with such force that she winced in pain, but he was completely unaware of it.

"Sister! What did you say?!" Xiao Zhan’s voice was hoarse and distorted by extreme shock. "Say it again! That man, that Mo Di, went to Father’s study?!"

"Yes! It was him!" Xiao Yunshang was frightened by her brother's reaction, but she nodded with absolute certainty. "I couldn't be mistaken! That night, I brought Father a late-night snack and saw him enter the study with my own eyes! Father even dismissed all the servants; he didn't even let me in!"

"Half a month ago… a secret meeting for an hour…"

A buzzing sound filled Xiao Zhan’s head. Countless clues that hadn't made sense before were suddenly ignited by this unexpected fuse!

Before his father was arrested, he had met secretly with the Empress Dowager’s people!

In the letter Zhao Tieniu sent, his father had warned him to be wary of anyone who offered unsolicited goodwill, especially Qin Cang!

Before the Ghost-Masked Man died, he had screamed that the Empress Dowager had promised him the Prince of Yan’s estate and the "Thunderbolt Cannon"!

Qin Cang was acting under the Emperor’s decree, but Mo Di was holding the Empress Dowager’s "imperial edict"!

Everything, when connected, pointed to a chilling truth!

This wasn't just the Emperor trying to eliminate the feudal princes!

This was a multi-layered, orchestrated slaughter, meticulously planned behind the scenes by the Empress Dowager, targeting the Emperor, the Prince of Yan’s estate, and even the generals who held military power—like Qin Cang!