As the bedroom door slowly shut, Bai Heting sat up from the bed.
Not long after the confinement decree was issued, an Omega rebellion inevitably erupted once again. Although the task of suppressing the unrest still fell on Bai Heting, Bai Yi kept him in the capital.
He had spent the entire day handling military affairs at the infantry camp and didn’t return home until near sunset. After a simple dinner, he bathed and went to bed early.
However, he still had one important matter left unfinished.
Standing in the council chamber, Qiu Chen noticed that Bai Heting wore only an outer robe over his nightshirt. He quickly called a servant to add more firewood to the fireplace and then presented him with two investigative reports.
Bai Heting picked up the first report and looked through it.
Qiu Chen was efficient and reliable. In accordance with his requests, he had meticulously listed every major event related to the Church since the founding of the nation, filling a thick stack of papers.
He set that stack down and picked up the second one.
“This is…” Even though that person had been stripped of his title and military rank, Qiu Chen still refused to overstep by speaking his name directly, “…the details of that person’s trial.”
This report was only a single page long.
Bai Heting quickly scanned the contents before asking in surprise, “Only this much?”
Qiu Chen replied, “This is the transcription I copied from the Royal Library. It contains everything that was documented there, exactly as it was written without a single change.”
Bai Heting stopped speaking and read the words carefully.
The record stated that Pei Ming had not only formed a private army in Urdan but had also conspired with the Ximo royal family in an attempt to overthrow the Damasen regime by military force. His correspondence with the Ximo people had been intercepted, which completely exposed the plan. Yet, the scribe had surprisingly left out the specific contents of those secret letters, and the court trial process was recorded in only a few brief strokes.
The more Bai Heting read, the stranger it seemed, “He just confessed to the crime for a treasonous capital offense that wipes out an entire family so easily?”
Qiu Chen said, “I found several ordinary citizens who witnessed that trial, and this record matches the facts.”
There wasn’t much text, and Bai Heting quickly finished reading through it. Only then did he pick up the first report on the desk and begin reviewing it page by page.
Qiu Chen waited quietly by his side. Suddenly, he saw Bai Heting’s expression turn serious as he picked up the record of Pei Ming’s case, cross-referencing the two reports several times.
“The Church’s first public sale of indulgences happened right after Pei Ming was executed?” Bai Heting asked.
Qiu Chen had noticed this point as well.
However, even someone as influential as Pei Ming had no authority to interfere with the revision of ecclesiastical law.
“Yes, but the two…” he hesitated, “…don’t seem to have any connection.”
“Indulgences” was what the common people called them; in reality, they were certificates of absolution obtained through donating to charity. Believers of the Xili Religion believed that as long as they received the pope’s absolution, they would not have to suffer the punishment brought by their sins in purgatory after death. Shortly after Pei Ming was executed, purchasing indulgences became a means of penance recognized by the Inquisition.
Considering the coincidence in timing, Bai Heting could not help but think of what had happened to Zheng Yunshang back then.
He put away the two reports and asked further, “Have the specific details of that rumor been cleared up?”
He was referring to the rumors regarding Pei Yan within the borders of Urdan.
“The Urdan people have always firmly believed that the child did not die,” Qiu Chen said. “Supposedly, that child really has appeared now, and has even become the commander of the Urdan rebel army.”
“Commander?” Bai Heting grew even more perplexed. “Is that what they are saying?”
“Yes.” Qiu Chen confirmed.
Bai Heting pursed his lips and fell silent for a moment.
Setting aside whether this young man had the ability to lead a group of Urdan people in an uprising, during this past month since returning to the mansion, Luo Congye had been practically inseparable from him, dutifully guarding him every night until he fell asleep before leaving.
Tonight was no exception.
Unless Luo Congye possessed the art of bilocation… or perhaps, the rumor in Urdan was simply a lie deliberately spread by someone just to incite the people.
Bai Heting suddenly asked, “Does he go to meet anyone else after he leaves my bedroom every night?”
“He? Who?”
This topic was a bit of a leap for Qiu Chen; it took him a moment of reflection to realize what Bai Heting was asking.
“Probably not.” A hint of embarrassment appeared on his face. “How would he dare…”
He had completely misunderstood his meaning. Unwilling to discuss this topic any further, Bai Heting merely waved a hand at him, “Alright, I see.”
His tone was very impatient. Qiu Chen immediately closed his mouth, and only after a brief moment did he speak tentatively, “General.”
Bai Heting threw him a look that said, “spit it out.”
“The reason the Urdan people firmly believe that child is still alive is because, back then, someone saw him being taken away by a youth.”
The firewood crackled and blazed fiercely in the fireplace, and the flickering firelight cast shifting shadows across Bai Heting’s increasingly pale face.
He rarely lost his focus during a conversation. Qiu Chen picked up the reports on the desk, organizing them as he spoke, “You’ve been busy all day today, you should rest early. I will arrange for people—”
“What kind of youth?” Bai Heting asked. “And how was it seen?”
“They said it was a youth of fourteen or fifteen, but nothing else is known.”
Bai Heting sat down in the armchair. Leaning against the back of the chair, he closed his eyes for a moment, and then said in a low voice, “Go investigate the source of this rumor and bring the person who said this back to me.” He then instructed, “Be discreet, do not draw anyone’s attention.”
“Yes.” Qiu Chen replied.
He finished organizing the two reports and was just about to excuse himself when Bai Heting suddenly stood up again and commanded, “Prepare a horse for me, I need to go to the palace.”
His voice sounded extraordinarily exhausted and lacked any strength. Qiu Chen glanced out the window; the sky was completely dark.
He asked in confusion, “Now?”
“Yes.” Without delaying for a single moment, Bai Heting lifted his leg and walked toward the door. “I will go by myself.”
*
“What kind of youth? Which direction did they go?”
Shao Yixiao handed his empty wine glass back to the attendant, took a few unhurried steps around the spacious dungeon, and finally came to a stop in front of the iron chair placed at the very center of the room.
“We have already wasted over a month.” He leaned forward slightly, squinting his eyes as he looked at the Alpha on the chair, and said softly, “I brought all of you back from that wasteland across thousands of miles. Now you’re the only one left. If even you disappoint me, I’ll be very upset.”
The man shook his head weakly, teetering on the brink of death.
The hundreds of iron nails on the surface of the chair were firmly pierced into his body; prolonged pain and blood loss had long since left him semi-conscious.
It looked like he could not hold out for much longer.
“You’re truly useless,” Shao Yixiao sighed with regret. “The one I meticulously selected for you is already the gentlest.”
His gaze swept across the dazzling array of torture instruments lining the wall as he considered what to change him to, when the attendants behind him suddenly spoke in unison, “General.”
Shao Cheng rarely came to the dungeon in person. Shao Yixiao immediately lowered his head and called out, “Father.”
The ground was mottled with blood and everywhere was a complete mess. Shao Cheng frowned, “Do you absolutely have to make this place so filthy?” He found a cleaner spot to stand, looked at the Alpha who was barely hanging onto life, and asked Shao Yixiao, “Have you found out anything?”
“I’ve tried both soft and hard tactics,” Shao Yixiao said through gritted teeth. “These lowlifes don’t know what’s good for them.”
Shao Cheng shook his head and was about to walk out when Shao Yixiao hurriedly called out to him, “Father.”
He hesitated for a few seconds, then asked with a lack of confidence, “If that child is still alive, he should be twenty years old, right?”
“Yes,” Shao Cheng said. “Why?”
Shao Yixiao replied, “I encountered someone who is a bit strange.”
Shao Cheng’s expression darkened slightly. “Don’t beat around the bush when you speak.”
Formulating his words, Shao Yixiao explained, “The last time His Highness and I were talking about Pei…” Midway through his sentence, he remembered his father disliked hearing that person’s name and changed his wording just in time, “…talking about that criminal, there was an Alpha whose behavior was a bit strange.”
He could still recall the scent of that tequila pheromone. The rank was not low, and it had made him extremely uncomfortable at the time.
“His pheromones had clearly gone out of control, and looking at his appearance, he was only about twenty years old.”
Shao Cheng listened to this statement expressionlessly and asked him, “You found it strange, yet you didn’t arrest him?”
“I couldn’t arrest him.” Shao Yixiao shrugged. “That man is Bai Heting’s personal guard.”
Shao Cheng was taken aback, his expression suddenly turning serious. “Are you sure?”
“I am sure. The scouts I sent out said that Alpha entered Bai Heting’s mansion right around the age of five or six.” Shao Yixiao had already been secretly investigating this matter for a month. He paused, then said with hesitation, “But Bai Heting… he is nothing but His Majesty’s dog, how could he possibly…” He fell back into his entanglement once more. “Yet, I clearly sensed killing intent from that Alpha’s pheromones.”
Shao Cheng calmed down before picking up a glass of wine from the tray held by an attendant to moisten his throat.
He still remembered a strange occurrence from back then.
Among the Alphas dispatched to carry out the silencing operation, one had his throat cleanly slit. After dawn, his body was found in a dark alley dozens of meters away from the blaze.
That was a trained Alpha soldier; neither a six-year-old child nor a fourteen-or-fifteen-year-old youth could have been his match.
But not necessarily.
After all, some individuals were capable of infiltrating an enemy camp alone at the age of thirteen to cut the throat of an Alpha general.
“People can lie, but pheromones cannot. If you sensed killing intent, then he definitely harbored an intent to kill you.” Shao Cheng’s face relaxed again. He placed the wine glass back onto the tray and reached out to squeeze Shao Yixiao’s shoulder. “Son, when you cannot figure things out, you must trust your intuition.”
T/N: I’m a little busy these days, so there won’t be any updates after this one. I’ll resume posting all of my projects on August 1st. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you’ll come back on August 1st!
