Chapter 1136: Bai Yanqing loses his edge (2/2)
Mu Qingwu knitted his brows. “What are you talking about?”
He had no idea what Bai Yanqing meant. The Li Clan? Isn’t that one of the Seven Noble Families? Didn’t they control an army of 100,000 men, only to disperse all of their soldiers?
He had the most interest in the Li Clan out of all the Seven Nobles--not because of their neutral stance, but because he was interested in their war strategies.
When Bai Yanqing saw his reaction, he suddenly burst out laughing. “Stop pretending! Tianning’s Mu Clan are the descendants of the Li Clan. Unfortunately, Long Feiye forced himself into Tianan’s capital city and slaughtered your entire Mu family. Your father, your beloved little sister, even your clansmen’s heads were...heheh, all hung over the city gates. By now they’ve probably rotted into bare bones.”
Mu Qingwu was stunned. After reeling a bit, he roared, “Impossible! You’re lying to me! Don’t try to trick me!”
Bai Yanqing tossed out a command token that was a personal item of Great General Mu’s. The “Mu” (穆) character was carved onto its surface. Mu Qingwu had seen this token in the past, but he never touched it with his own hands. This was the token possessing supreme authority in the Mu Clan, similar to a tiger-shaped tally issued to generals as imperial authorization to move troops.
“Feel the back, see if you can make out the edges of the ‘Li’ character,” Bai Yanqing reminded helpfully.
Mu Qingwu refused to believe it and didn’t want to feel, but his fingers couldn’t help rubbing against the token secretly.
The Li (离) character!
It was unmistakable!
Does that mean Bai Yanqing isn’t lying? The Mu Clan really are descendants of the Li Clan? But why didn’t father tell me? Why did he hide it for so long?
Mu Qingwu didn’t want to accept the tuth. He carefully examined the command token in his hands, but he’d seen it so many times that he knew it was his father’s! Even if someone made a fake, it was impossible for them to replicate the brown hanging tassels his father had tied to the end!
“Looks like you didn’t know about a lot of things!” Bai Yanqing chortled before telling him all about the incident at Hundred Poisons Sect.
It was that incident that stirred Bai Yanqing’s suspicions. Duanmu Yao helped ferret out the truth with her spies from Western Zhou’s royal court, allowing him to find out the Western Zhou emperor’s plan to gather all those spectators at Hundred Poisons Sect was actually masterminded by Mu Yuanbo!
Mu Yuanbo delivered a letter through Long Tianmo to a deputy general of the Chu Clan troops, who then passed it on to Emperor Kangcheng. Only then did the sovereign step out to act. Without Duanmu Yao’s help, Bai Yanqing would never have found this mastermind behind the scenes. Someone who could plant a spy within the Chu Clan troops and lead an army for generations was naturally a candidate to be a Li Clan descendant.
Mu Qingwu could only gaped as he listened to the story. He knew Long Tianmo had always been clueless about the details at Hundred Poisons Sect, much less why his father chose to do such a thing. His father never had any direct contact with the Chu Clan troops, but still managed to bribe one of its deputy generals to his side. Now everything suddenly made sense.
He always thought his father hated war and only helped Long Tianmo wind Tianan for the sake of his little sister. Who knew...who knew his father was a man of ambition too? Much less that the Mu Clan was the Li Clan, who ran away from battle after dismissing their troops! Mu Qingwu broke into laughter, his laughs filled with bitterness and pain!
He had once rejoiced in the fact that he wasn’t born to an imperial household. Living in a military family, he didn’t need to face such things as cruelty between brothers or conflicts between father and son for the sake of power. Instead of focusing on petty squabbles, he could dedicate his loyalty to the country and protect its safety. When he was very young, his father had personally taught him the art of war and read him books on military tactics.
Whenever they got to the story of the Li Clan and its 100,000 troops that ran away from the East-West Qin war, he and his father would end up red-faced from their disagreements. Mu Qingwu couldn’t bear to think whether his father had hidden the truth from him because he’d always looked down on the Li Clan and blamed them as deserters?
That thought only brought another pang to his heart!
Bai Yanqing didn’t mention the agreement he’d forced on Mu Yuanbo, but chuckled and said, “Your father was hoping for Long Feiye and Han Yunxi to turn against each other too. Unfortunately, Long Feiye personally led an expedition south and reclaimed Tianan, then hung the heads of your Mu Clan above the city gates. He threatened all of Tianan’s soldiers to surrender. Young general, you--”
“Enough!” Mu Qingwu snarled.