"Elder Sun, in your opinion, is it possible that these cases were the work of foreign enemies?"
Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang mulled it over for a moment before speaking cautiously, "Your Majesty, judging from their methods, the culprits are indeed intimately familiar with the Great Xia Imperial Palace, as well as the Inner Treasury and the National Treasury. Logically, it should be an inside job."
"However, it’s not impossible that foreign enemies have spent decades cultivating spies who then infiltrated high-ranking positions in the palace. Similar incidents have happened before."
His words were quite clever, neither confirming nor denying anything. However, Sun Wuyang also leaned toward it being the work of a group—and not just any ordinary one.
Only a major power could cultivate such a group. To some extent, he suspected the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, both longtime enemies of the Great Xia Dynasty. It could even be some of the smaller kingdoms of the Western Rong, or perhaps certain Barbarians from the Eastern Islands.
Emperor Xia nodded and looked toward Tantai Zhan. "General Tantai, what is the situation on the borders recently?"
A strange glint flashed through Tantai Zhan’s eyes; he already had a plan. He subtly glanced at Shadow Guard Chief Zheng Zhicang, the two of them sharing a tacit understanding. "Your Majesty, there have indeed been many anomalies on the northern border recently. Our spies secretly report that the Northern Da Kuo Royal Court has been covertly gathering a large number of its Iron Cavalry. They could launch a ’spring hunt’ at any time, and the target of this hunt, needless to say, would be our Great Xia Dynasty."
"And what about the Western Rong?" Emperor Xia asked with a frown.
Tantai Zhan said gravely, "Among the Western Rong, diplomatic missions from the smaller kingdoms have been traveling back and forth frequently. The number of merchants has also increased significantly. However, many of these so-called merchants are powerful individuals—far more than we’ve seen in the past."
"And then there are the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, who have been especially active. It’s said that some of their Witch Doctors have developed a potent poison called the Broken Yang Pill. After being poisoned, the victim’s Yang Meridian gradually withers, causing them to eventually lose all male function and become a eunuch."
The Broken Yang Pill did indeed exist, but it had been developed several years ago. Tantai Zhan was just bringing it up now.
As expected, Emperor Xia’s pupils constricted at these words. ’Aren’t these the exact symptoms that Third Prince Xia Wuchen, Fifth Prince Xia Wushang, and the others suffered from?’ He couldn’t help but slam his hand on the table and rise to his feet. "Those vile Southern Barbarians! It was their poison after all."
This solidified his suspicions. He concluded that the Southern Barbarians had used the Broken Yang Pill to harm the Princes of the Great Xia Dynasty. Then, they colluded with the Northern Da Kuo Royal Court to orchestrate these various incidents, plunging the Dynasty into internal chaos. Their goal was to find an opportunity to dispatch their armies once more and plunder the Great Xia Dynasty.
The conclusion left him both furious and relieved. He was furious at the sheer audacity of these foreign enemies, but relieved that they had finally identified the culprits. It was far better than the previous state of utter ignorance, which had left him constantly on edge.
Afterward, Shadow Guard Chief Zheng Zhicang also confirmed that both the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races had been unusually active lately, seemingly engaged in some nefarious conspiracy.
Neither of the two men was lying, but they employed a subtle trick. The Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races had made similar moves in the past.
Their recent increase in activity was merely a reaction to the successive crises within the Great Xia Dynasty. In just a few short months, so many Princes and Princesses had met with disaster, and even the Inner Treasury and National Treasury had been plundered.
Seeing so many problems crop up in the Great Xia Dynasty, how could the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races not be tempted? Naturally, they would make some moves, ones that were even more audacious than before.
Yet the two men deliberately muddled the sequence of events. The internal problems of the Great Xia Dynasty had clearly come first, only then prompting the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races to take action.
But based on their reports, Emperor Xia was led to believe that the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races had been stirring restlessly long before these events, and had been plotting this all along.
Although Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang sensed that something was amiss, even Grand General of the Imperial Guard Tantai Zhan and Shadow Guard Chief Zheng Zhicang were saying the same thing. He himself also suspected it was a conspiracy, most likely orchestrated by major powers like the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, even if he had no concrete evidence.
Besides, the continued lack of progress was damaging his reputation. Since Emperor Xia was already convinced it was the work of the Da Kuo Royal Court, the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, and others, he might as well just go with the flow.
So he held his tongue, appearing to acquiesce. When Emperor Xia saw this, he became utterly convinced.
He had never been very skilled in matters outside of cultivation. In the past, with the Shadow Guard Chief and Grand General of the Imperial Guard Tantai Zhan to assist him, he hadn’t been so easily muddled.
But now, both of these right-hand men belonged to Xia Wuyang. Their deliberate misdirection naturally led the Emperor to make the wrong move.
"Issue the decree!" Emperor Xia’s voice was cold and sharp. "Effective immediately, thoroughly investigate all spies from enemy nations! The borders are to enter a Level 1 state of readiness! Also, place all foreign envoys under strict surveillance!"
"We obey the decree!"
The three of them responded in unison and quickly set about their tasks.
When the news reached Xia Wuyang, he was leisurely enjoying himself with Hanik’s Heart in his arms.
After hearing the news, he couldn’t help but let out an incredulous laugh.
He’d never expected that Emperor Xia would spin such a wild tale for himself, blaming everything that had happened on the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races.
He had been wondering how to further misdirect the investigation to keep it away from him. He never expected Emperor Xia to walk right into the trap on his own. ’A foreign conspiracy, he says? His imagination is certainly running wild.’
Although the theory was full of holes, those flaws ceased to matter when two of the three men Emperor Xia had summoned were his own.
Emperor Xia was talented when it came to cultivation, but he was woefully inept at managing the affairs of the state.
’Still, this is for the best. It saves me a lot of trouble.’
Xia Wuyang immediately sent out orders for Grand General of the Imperial Guard Tantai Zhan and Shadow Guard Chief Zheng Zhicang to "cooperate" with Emperor Xia—to muddy the waters and make his life as difficult as possible.
And so, in the following days, more "evidence" surfaced.
The Shadow Guard "occasionally" intercepted a batch of secret letters exchanged between Da Kuo Royal Court spies and Palace Attendants. The letters were real, as were the traitors, but the timeline was once again deliberately confused.
While searching the residence of a certain Prince, the Imperial Guard unexpectedly discovered traces left by the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races. This Prince was one of those who had been turned into a eunuch.
There was even a spy from the Southern Barbarians in the Celestial Prison who confessed, saying that the Broken Yang Pill had been sent to White Jade City long ago, with a plan to poison the Princes and Courtiers of the Great Xia Dynasty...
Piece by piece, one after another, all the "evidence" pointed toward the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races. Even the Western Rong did not escape suspicion.
This made the already suspicious Emperor Xia utterly certain. It was just like the great war decades ago. The two empires, led by the Da Kuo Royal Court and the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races, had deployed spies and experts to sow chaos within Great Xia. They were waiting for an opportunity to strike, to plunder Great Xia’s lands and people.

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