Pingjiang Barracks.

Generalissimo Wei He tapped his finger on the scroll of secret letters placed on the small wooden table. His face was unpredictable, his eyes were half-hidden, and his expression was in a trance. The crackling of the tin furnace in his tent was the only sound.

"It's treason." The supreme military governor of the Southern Empire finally spoke, his voice almost like a whisper. His eyes were fixed on Karid, scrutinizing the knight's face. "I have sworn to the king. That's what everybody in my military does. ”

His hand was raised from the table and he pointed at the knight with the golden lion's head on the generalissimo's staff. "Xue Ju and you have sworn the same oath. We obey our emperors and kings, we cannot and have no right to judge whether their rule is right or not, it is enough for us to fulfill our duties. ”

Karidli was standing, feeling the winter cold lapping against his back through the canvas tent behind him. He was the only one with Wei He except for Wei He's lieutenant general, which gave him confidence, even if the general's words did not reassure him. It stands to reason that he should have been arrested as soon as he appeared in the army camp.

Kalid knew that the Emperor of the Southern Imperial Court had declared the existence of the remnants of their forbidden army illegal, and this was an order that Wei He had to pay attention to. Wei He had every right and reason to arrest him and execute him on the spot. But he didn't, he acquiesced to his tent and read the contents of the secret letter, and that was all the evidence that Calid needed to give him hope.

In his heart, the lords of the southern kingdom knew that Xiao Guang was a dictator and tyrant. If his conscience, or his sense of responsibility and honor, can be overcome, if he can see that his ultimate loyalty is to the empire itself, and not to the one who wears the emperor's crown, then they will choose to support the one on the throne.

"If we don't make a decision," Karid said, "then who's going to decide?" Our Lord will be a man as faithful as you are, but he will eventually find that he has given that loyalty to someone who is not worthy of loyalty. ”

Wei He shook his head. "He swore an oath, but he broke it."

"For this, he was most shamelessly humiliated and murdered." Karid said, his voice becoming as cold as the wind behind him.

Wei He's face became sad. He got up from his chair and paced the cramped interior of the tent. "I heard what happened," he said regretfully. "But this is not what the emperor did. It was the courtiers around him, the clown-like general, and the idiots. ”

"They are all the Emperor's men." Karid reminded. "If he had been so disgusted with them, they wouldn't be there."

Wei He shook his head with a smile and said, "That's because you don't understand politics, and you don't understand how those ancient families used their influence to forcibly obtain important positions. I tell you, the emperor doesn't believe in such a thing!"

"Just with Han Cheng's humble background? What kind of influence can he have?" Karid sarcastically said. "Xiao Guang kept Han Cheng because he felt that this person was useful. How many great families have ever resented the power and sphere of influence of this serf, and the fact that a commoner was their commander?"

Wei He returned to his chair in silence, his face full of unease. "I swore it," he repeated.

"The Emperor betrayed our loyalty." Carid insisted. The knight waved his hand and pointed to the trembling walls of the tent, and the snow drifting under the eaves. "This campaign against Pingjiang is nothing more than greed and abuse of power. This army is nothing more than a bunch of mercenaries sent to fill that disgruntled coffer!"

Wei He raised his eyes, stared into Karid's eyes, and said in a stern tone. "You're too much. I don't want to listen to any more treasonous rhetoric. ”

Kalid was expressionless, but he felt a kind of ecstasy inside. The general's growing agitation showed that the doubts that had already existed in his heart were developing in the direction he expected.

"He has sent an entire army to Nanyu to force Pingjiang to keep the market open and overturn your efforts to control the spread of the plague," Karid propped his hand on the table, bringing his face as close to Wei He as possible, his voice lowered to a contemptuous hiss, every word like a knife stabbed into Wei He's heart. "But what was his order when he could have left your troops on the battlefield to protect the people who had been sacked by the robbers after the war? He demanded that the army be disbanded and the soldiers sent home so they could help with the harvest! He's going to have to pay more taxes to fill his pocket!"

"Enough!" Wei He roared. His fist clenched into the secret letter, crumpling it to pieces with his fingers. Slowly, he got up again and walked towards the stove. He stared at the fire, then threw the pieces of paper into the flames.

Wei He sighed. He turned and grinned. "I was taught to put reason above all else. To understand why things are the way they are and how to change them with the mind. He began to pace again, his saber pinned to his waist slapping his leg with every step. I have been taught from an early age to make every vow sacred and unviolable, even if I am not of noble birth, that reason demands that I support your coup d'état, and that honor and loyalty demand that I refuse. ”

Karid scoffed at Wei He's decision. "That's the last thing you're going to say?"

Wei He looked at the knight, and then at the lieutenant who was waiting at the door. For a moment, his eyes had a distant gaze of a soothsayer. Finally, he turned and approached the table, picked up a brush, and began to transcribe a letter. "You can give this back to the people who sent you," a smile appeared on his face, "I don't want to know their names, because even doubting who they are is bad enough." ”

The knight stepped forward and took the letter from the generalissimo's hand. He looked embarrassed. "I'm afraid I'm illiterate," Karid confessed.

Wei He stepped aside and approached a large map of the empire that stretched across the walls of the tent. "I've agreed to give in to your conspiracy," he said. "I will not take up arms against my monarch, but if he is deposed, I will support your new emperor, Your Majesty." He tapped his finger on the map. "Besides, if you are afraid that you will inherit a war from your current Majesty that you do not want to take over...... In this regard, I can help more directly. ”

"Right now, we're moving along the offshore. Our supplies were brought in by the fleet. This is the most direct route to Yangning, but it is very risky to be discovered. I think the adventure is too big, so I'm going to change course and go around the big forest and along the open sea until I get closer to the Sunset Country. Much of it has been wiped out by the King of the Night, but many of my officers are familiar with the terrain there. This is a more prudent approach, which has been advised to me by some of my more cautious commanders. ”

"It's important to your friends, though, and this careful path means we're going to be on the road for two months. Before I can return to the South, you and your army will have two months to remove the one on the throne. ”

Kalid bowed to the Generalissimo of the Empire. "Thank you, Marshal. In two months, Xiao Guang's tyranny will end, and we will not forget your support. ”

Wei He sighed and continued pacing. "I'm afraid not," he said. "When you start an uprising, you must imprison Han Cheng, even if you can't capture Xiao Guang. I don't want the farmer to come to me in any situation. ”

"Don't worry, Marshal. We won't get you in trouble. ”

"I hope so........"