CHAPTER 161: CHAPTER 160: REIGNITED ASHES

"General Situ, I have something to ask you, it might be a bit presumptuous, so I hope you can forgive me." Zhu Yu frowned. She initially thought that what she and Lu Qing deduced from the Li State camp should have been clear to Situ Jing too. However, as soon as he spoke, he mentioned that Shuo Country and Jie Country were in collusion, which seemed to suggest other intentions. "If you had intended to harm my master that day, would you have done it personally and used your own sword to injure him?"

"Naturally not." Situ Jing showed no displeasure at her inquiry, but mentioning the incident where Lu Qing was injured still left him somewhat uneasy.

"There are so many kinds of poisons in this world, whether it’s those that make one’s bowels rot in agony or those that can take a life in an instant, they are countless." Zhu Yu didn’t give him more chance to speak and continued, "If Jie Country and Shuo Country wanted to cause trouble, they could easily use a poison readily available in Jin Country. Why specifically use a poison herb unique to Jie Country in the imperial guard camp?

Are they afraid others wouldn’t associate the matter with Jie Country?

And Shuo Country is even more so. If I’m not mistaken, before my master arrived in Li State, none of the soldiers in the Li State camp showed symptoms similar to that of the later Pang Centurion, indicating that Shuo’s Lai Jiao wasn’t used at that time.

This is equivalent to you, General, sending your personal soldiers, wearing the regular uniforms of the Situ Mansion’s personal soldiers, carrying your sword to assassinate my master, isn’t it?

Do you really think the Jie King and Prince Shuo are that foolish?"

Situ Jing sighed and waved his hand: "No! If it were just about the Li State camp incident, I wouldn’t need to come specially to remind you both at night."

He deliberated a bit: "My father and brother had sent me a family letter before, mentioning that in several counties adjacent to our Da Jin and Jie Country, there had been bandits causing trouble, occasionally raiding farms, causing the local people to suffer greatly.

Later, my father and brother were ordered to dispatch troops for a sweep, successfully driving those bandits away.

Their weapons were dropped in their hasty escape and were picked up by the imperial guard. It turned out that those weapons were forged with Black Iron and, judging from the forging techniques, they also originated from Shuo Country."

"Indeed, Black Iron is unique to Shuo Country, there’s no denying that." Zhu Yu did not refute this, "Apart from Black Iron, Shuo Country also has large reserves of ordinary iron ore, and their iron forging skills are the best among the Four Seas and Five Countries.

Not just Jie Country; apart from Da Jin, the weapons used by other vassal states also primarily come from Shuo Country, which is not strange.

Why is it that after capturing the weapons from Jie bandits, you firmly conclude it’s a conspiracy between Jie and Shuo?"

"You’re not wrong, it’s just that when countries need new weapons, they have to request approval from the Holy Emperor, then have it recorded by the Ministry of War before personnel are assigned to transport the marked weapons to various locations.

The seized weapons, upon verification, were found to be identical in style to those equipped by Jie soldiers, yet they weren’t marked, suggesting they were illicitly made.

Thus, the rumor of a conspiracy between Jie Country and Shuo Country started to spread.

Then the Holy Emperor sent Prince Yi to inspect the borders, which should already signal something." Situ Jing said.

At this point, he suddenly fell silent.

He had already understood this from his father and brother’s letters. Yet, when recalling those unmarked weapons, his mind was filled with the Chief Historian’s words earlier—"This is equivalent to you, General, sending your personal soldiers, wearing the regular uniforms of the Situ Mansion’s personal soldiers, carrying your sword to assassinate my master, isn’t it?

Do you really think the Jie King and Prince Shuo are that foolish?"

Indeed...

On closer thought, this did seem rather intriguing.

If Jie Country wanted to collaborate with Shuo Country to secretly forge weapons, Shuo Country could easily use ordinary iron ore to create weapons to sell surreptitiously. Even if discovered, the blame wouldn’t easily fall on Shuo Country.

Yet, Black Iron is unique to Shuo Country, and as long as a weapon is made from Black Iron, even if the forging techniques don’t indicate much, this alone is enough to leave Shuo Country with no defense.

Zhu Yu, having heard Situ Jing’s words, was also quite surprised.

However, her thinking contrasted with Situ Jing’s.

During her years at Prince Shuo Mansion, although she was merely a concubine’s daughter ignored by her father, she did observe this father of hers.

If Zhu Cheng had such ambition and courage to conspire with the Jie King, intending rebellion, Zhu Yu feared she’d laugh out loud.

But now, what worried her was how Shuo’s Black Iron flowed into Jie Country? Why did the illicitly made Black Iron weapons still carry evident Shuo-crafted techniques?

This concern weighed heavily on her heart, making her feel uneasy.

Situ Jing, seemingly also perplexed by the contradictions in this matter, displayed a peculiar expression.

Lu Qing, after a brief silence, suddenly spoke, shifting the conversation, "General Situ may need to contemplate future matters as well?

Since you took over as Commander at the Li State camp, intentional rumors have been stirred, resulting in deep-seated conflicts between soldiers and your personal troops.

Even though misunderstandings have been cleared up now and everyone knows it was due to deliberate incitement by treacherous persons, past misunderstandings do not erase the cracks.

Prejudice, like extinguished ashes, can reignite with just a little stirring.

Remaining in the Li State camp as its Commander, handling affairs impartially means you risk being criticized for favoritism towards your own troops.

Yet, if you shy away to avoid suspicion, striving to silence critiques by favoring the imperial guards, it could dishearten your personal soldiers due to perceived unfairness.

You risk being caught in a dilemma, ultimately dissatisfying both your superiors and subordinates."

His words successfully pulled Situ Jing’s attention back from the earlier dialogue with Zhu Yu.

Situ Jing exhaled lightly, shook his head: "I understand your meaning, my lord, but whether to stay or leave isn’t my decision.

Since the Holy Emperor placed me here, he must have his reasons. If I can’t manage the Li State camp properly and request to be transferred elsewhere before the internal and external troubles are completely resolved at the camp... that would be inappropriate.

My father battled and guarded the borders, dedicating years to uphold the honor of the Situ Family. I can’t let that be ruined due to my cowardice in shying away from challenges.

How the soldiers view me is unimportant; I will perform my duties, leading my men to defend the Li State camp well.

If Jie and Shuo have no ambitions of invasion, I’d naturally welcome peace and prosperity for the people.

But if outsiders dare to invade, I’ll fight to the end, never allowing anyone to breach the Li State imperial guards and bring mischief into Da Jin!"