After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Climb the nine white stone steps.

On each side stood two guards, wearing red hats and yellow jackets, with swords at their waists, resolute faces, and intense killing intent in their eyes.

Despite being dressed in a blood-stained robe, Vice Envoy Ning strode across the threshold and into the brightly lit study.

There were only two people in the study.

A man in his early forties, dressed in black casual clothes, sat upright behind a sandalwood desk.

The desk wasn't tidy. There were several stacks of official documents, an inkstone, and a pen holder with five or six brushes of different sizes hanging on it. In front of the pen holder was Yue Le's head, which lay there with its eyes wide open in death.

A thin, pale-faced young man stood next to the desk.

He was dressed in black casual clothes, with a jade belt around his waist and a jade pendant hanging from his left waist. He looked to be in his early twenties and was slightly bowing his head. Ning Nan's gaze shifted downwards and he noticed that the man had many black spots on his hands.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the black spots were actually bloodstains, which only appeared to be black due to the lighting.

He glanced around out of the corner of his eye and saw a row of bookshelves on the right side of the study.

To the left of the study was a screen with a painting on it: an emperor in a dragon robe climbing a mountain. If the painting had not been a gift from the emperor himself, it would have been presumptuous of him.

Ning Nan subtly withdrew his gaze.

The middle-aged man behind the desk, sporting a mustache, stood up with a smile, bowed slightly, and said:

"Guarjia Mushu greets Vice Envoy Ning."

Guarjia… Ning Nan narrowed his eyes slightly.

It seems that the Guarjia and Niohuru clans mostly came from the Plain Red Banner, but I don't know if the managing minister was also from the Plain Red Banner.

Ning Nan, suppressing his breath, bowed and said, "Ning Nan, Deputy Envoy of the Great Liang Delegation, greets Lord Mu Shu."

"Vice Envoy Ning, you're too kind."

"I won't waste any more words," Ning said.

After a simple greeting, Ning Nan's face turned pale. He went straight to the point, his tone harsh:

"Our dynasty will not investigate how your dynasty protected the delegation, nor will it investigate the extent of the losses caused to our dynasty by your negligence, nor will it investigate why your country lost our King Jing!"

"I only request one thing from you, sir: send me a group of men so I can personally apprehend these damned traitors and bring Prince Jing back!"

The deputy envoy from the South spoke coldly, his voice growing increasingly harsh, until the last few sentences were raised in volume and almost shouted.

After listening, Mu Shu lowered his eyelids, glanced at the head on the table, then raised his head and looked at the Southern Kingdom's deputy envoy, whose face was red and eyes were full of anger.

He forced a smile, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and thanked the other party.

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Vice Envoy Ning."

"Vice Envoy Ning, rest assured, the gates of the capital are already tightly closed. The Yin-Yang Combination Talisman, the Nine Gates Commander's order, and my own order—if any one of these three orders is missing, the Nine Gates commanders will not open the gates. The traitors will certainly not be able to escape the inner city."

"Our soldiers are now tilling the land inch by inch. No matter what, our dynasty will surely be able to send your Prince Jing back safely."

"Hmph! Unharmed?"

Ning Nan snorted coldly, stepped forward, and questioned sharply:

"Do you know who kidnapped Prince Jing?! What gave you the ability to make that person surrender so easily?!"

Mu Shu's eyes narrowed suddenly:

"Does Vice Ambassador Ning know who attacked the embassy tonight?"

Ning Nan's eyes reddened, and he took another half step forward, gritting his teeth and saying impatiently:

"If I didn't know, why would I come to your Yonghe Palace to borrow troops?! If I didn't know, why would I, at this critical juncture, not rush to find Prince Jing, but instead come to see you all?!"

A barrage of rhetorical questions rained down on Mu Shu.

At this moment, the pale young man standing by the desk sniffed, glanced at the Southern Dynasty deputy envoy who was standing in the center of the study, loudly rebuking Lord Mu Shu, his gaze lingered for a moment on the bloodstains on the other man's chest, and then looked away.

He glanced at Mu Shu with his triangular eyes, and when he noticed the adult's gaze falling on him, the pale young man nodded almost imperceptibly.

Mu Shu remained expressionless, but his heart was in turmoil... Fei Ting had an extremely keen sense of smell. On the collar of the Southern Dynasty's deputy envoy who was staring at him, there was a patch of dark blood, and this blood... belonged to Yue Le.

After a few breaths, Mu Shu took a slight breath and said, "Vice Envoy Ning, please calm down."

He suppressed his emotions and questions, and frowned:

"I wonder who this traitor is, Vice Envoy Ning? Please tell me, Vice Envoy Ning. I guarantee that our dynasty will deploy all its elite forces tonight and capture the traitor before dawn, and bring back your Prince Jing."

Ning Nan, however, didn't take it to heart. He put his hands behind his back and snorted:

"A guarantee? You can't even guarantee the safety of our embassy? And you still want to capture that person? Why should I believe your guarantees?"

Ning Nan's eyes sharpened. He stopped wasting words and issued his final ultimatum:

"Lord Mu Shu, please forgive me! I truly have no time to waste here with you! If you refuse to lend me men to capture that person in exchange for Prince Jing, please speak plainly! I will not waste any more time here. I—"

He clasped his hands together in a fist salute to the sky: "I will immediately report to your emperor and beg for a favor!"

Capture that man in exchange for Prince Jing? ... Listening to the other party's words, Mu Shu's doubts grew stronger, and her gaze towards the aggressive Deputy Envoy Ning became somewhat unfriendly.

He reached out and pressed down on Yue Le's head on the table, his suspicious gaze vanishing, and sighed:

"Vice Envoy Ning...you flatter me. To be honest, I regard Yue Le as my own son. Tonight, Vice Envoy Ning disregarded your own safety, fought off the bandits, and helped me retrieve Yue Le's head. Mu Shu is eternally grateful..."

At this moment, to Mu Shu's surprise, Vice Envoy Ning, who was opposite him, was stunned when he heard these words. His previous impassioned speech suddenly stopped. He mechanically turned his head to look at Yue Le's head, his face turned pale, and a look of sadness suddenly appeared in his eyes.

The other person sighed, shook their head, and said softly:

"Regarding this matter... Lord Mu Shu need not thank me... Yue Le's head... ha... was not something I retrieved..."

"Oh?" Mu Shu paused, his hand on Yue Leren's head faltering slightly. "What does Vice Envoy Ning mean?"

Ning Nan hesitated for a moment, about to speak, but then seemed to suddenly remember something. He glanced at the pale young man beside the desk, his expression hesitant and unable to speak.

Seeing this, Mu Shu said, "Fei Ting is my confidant. If Vice Envoy Ning has any inside information to share, please speak freely without any hesitation."

Ning Nan lowered his head and pursed his lips, his face showing a troubled expression, as if he were having an internal struggle.

After a few breaths, he raised his head, his eyes clear and filled with sorrow, looked directly into the other person's eyes, and frankly told him:

"Originally... originally I also intended to speak out of respect for Your Excellency, after all, Brother Yue Le died for my Southern Kingdom delegation, but..."

Ning Nan sighed deeply, exhaling a puff of white breath:

"After much deliberation, Ning Nan realized that merely speaking out of respect for His Excellency would be disrespectful to your court. Since Lord Mu Shu has inquired, I can only tell you frankly. As for the cause of Lord Yue Le's death and how to report it, that is up to Your Excellency to decide."

Mu Shu placed one hand on Yue Leren's head and the other on the table, his thick eyebrows furrowing.

Ning Nan sighed and looked at the Minister in charge of the Sticky Rod Office opposite him:

"To be honest... alas... Brother Yue Le... he... he... he didn't die a heroic death..."

"At that time, Yue Le and Ning, together, covered the rear of our Liang envoys."

"Brother Yue Le led four guards in front, while I, Ning, led a group of Imperial Guards behind."

"We were about to pass through an octagonal gate when suddenly a cold light flashed from the wall, a sword flashed, and it took the heads of Yue Le and his brother..."