Chapter 281: Game of Wits

Chapter 281: The Game

"How did it go?" Xia Yuan asked immediately as Feng Chu returned.

Feng Chu's expression was strange. "I cannot confirm whether Meng Wan is actually dead."

Xia Yuan didn't understand his meaning at first. "Even with you personally handling it, you failed? Shouldn't his companion Chi Yu be no match for you?"

"Another group interfered midway, and Meng Wan was taken by them." Feng Chu thought of Ge Quan's formidable skill and had to speak the truth. "That person's martial arts were extremely high—I was no match."

"Even you were no match? Well, Meng Wan is quite a figure. Killing him and taking control of his Zhen Guan Workshop would have been a bonus, but even without that, the Luo family is continuously generating wealth for Prince Lian. We can afford to lose that piece of Lingnan." Xia Yuan was indeed surprised, but not deeply so. Taking care of Meng Wan was just a side errand.

He'd originally only wanted Meng Wan as a witness, because neither Song Tingzhou nor the Qin family were suitable—only Meng Wan's status was just right.

His husband was a fourth-rank official, Meng Wan was on good terms with Prince Qin, and his Zhen Guan Workshop had the Crown Prince's backing—he was the most fitting person to witness the Crown Prince's death.

But gradually, during the few short months of dealing with Meng Wan, he discovered that this man could not be controlled.

Too many ideas, too clever, and even accustomed to commanding the overall situation—an aura that couldn't be faked, born from long habit of being in charge.

If he couldn't be controlled, he had to die. Xia Yuan would deliver the news to the court himself. Though it risked exposing himself, he couldn't bring a potential threat like Meng Wan to the Annam capital.

Xia Yuan had a premonition that bringing the man along to run the operation might cause major chaos.

Unable to confirm Meng Wan's death, Xia Yuan wasted no time in setting off with Feng Chu for the Annam capital.

This much he hadn't lied to Meng Wan—he had indeed come for the Crown Prince, but not to rescue him. He'd come to kill.

If the Crown Prince died at the hands of the Annamese, everyone would be thrilled. Prince Lian could even use it as an excuse to send troops into Annam to avenge his elder brother, and look virtuous doing it. But if the Crown Prince didn't die...

Then he'd have to be the one to do it.

If Meng Wan had been foolish, bringing him to Annam wouldn't have noticed a thing. But he was too clever—he'd already caught on to something at Cat Ba Island, wrecked one of the Luo family's money-making operations, and escaped unscathed.

Too bad he didn't die on that island.

Xia Yuan was still stewing over it even upon reaching the Annam capital.

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"The King of Annam is a young monarch who came to power recently and rules with a ruthless hand—this is evident from his machinations against Qinzhou since taking the throne. But Annam has one fatal flaw..."

Xia Yuan hadn't wanted Meng Wan to stay in Annam, but Meng Wan simply hadn't left. Meng Wan sat on the small boat discussing matters with Ge Quan and the others. The group listened to him hold forth—some confused, some deep in thought.

"I heard the old King of Annan was forced off the throne and killed. The current king killed all but three of his sixteen sons." Fan Er sighed. "What a ruthless man. No wonder he succeeded while we're just hauling cargo to scrape by."

He had spent years roaming the seas around Beihai, dealing with people from all corners, and had heard all sorts of stories.

Meng Wan looked thoughtful. "Annam's territory is small. The king's got ambition but no room to use it—he must be desperate to expand his borders and develop his power. No wonder he's in such a hurry."

"Are we really going to the Annam capital? The king's not easy to get an audience with." Ge Quan asked from outside the cabin. His complexion was even fairer than Meng Wan's, like he could never tan, no matter how much sun he got. Sword tucked in his arms, he looked more like a proper scholar than Song Tingzhou.

Meng Wan had already formed his plans. He lowered his head to struggle writing a letter on the wobbly low table, answering Ge Quan as he did. "We've got to go, but we don't need to see the king."

He carefully sealed the letter and handed it to Fan Er. "Second Brother Fan, once we get off the boat and head out, I'll need you to deliver this letter for me."

Fan Er was small in stature but loud in voice. "Hah! What trouble is that? A simple favor—and I haven't even thanked you for hooking us brothers up with work!"

"Since we're all friends, I won't hold back. Second Brother Fan, whenever you and Second Sister-in-law come to Xiwu Prefecture, I'll buy you a drink!" Meng Wan enjoyed dealing with Ge Quan's friends. Like Feng Zhong, they had no ulterior motives, and in this era where ordinary people struggled just to eat their fill, they were exceptionally sincere toward their friends.

Everyone on the boat cracked up, thinking this kid was a riot. "Hahaha, alright! We'll be waiting for your drinks!"

Fan Er and his men were an easygoing bunch. They escorted Meng Wan and his party along the waterways to just outside the Annam capital before taking their leave.

With Ge Quan by his side, Meng Wan's confidence soared. Yet he didn't rashly enter the city. Instead, he holed up on the outskirts, wandering the vicinity every day.

"Fulang, what are we waiting for?" Chi Yu was restless by nature—staying here was worse than going out to fight. He scratched his head and asked Meng Wan, itching to head south and pick a fight.

Did Meng Wan want to stay in this godforsaken place? He wanted to go home immediately too, but Xia Yuan hadn't left, so he couldn't make a move either. He could only wait it out, frustrated, in Annam. "Waiting for someone. Don't worry, it should be within the next couple of days."

They had come by water and had actually beaten Xia Yuan's party there. Moreover, Meng Wan didn't need to station people at the city gates—he only needed to just sit tight, and someone would naturally report Xia Yuan's movements to him.

The next day, Chi Yu's jaw dropped when he saw the arriving man. "Aren't you that An... An..."

"Ambo's here?" Meng Wan heard Chi Yu's words and hurried out.

Ambo had clearly endured a difficult journey—he looked little better than a famine refugee. He smiled bitterly at Meng Wan and spoke in his still-awkward foreign accent. "I almost got killed, but fortunately Master Tang decided to let me off."

Xia Yuan was a proper second-rank court official, not a murderous maniac. Before knowing that Ambo was also one of Meng Wan's people, he wouldn't go around killing people for no reason.

Chi Yu was completely bewildered. Wasn't Ambo just a foreign translator they'd rescued along the way? How did it look like he and Meng Fulang had known each other all along? Just how many connections did their fulang have, and how many people did he know?

"I didn't speak with you alone on the journey for fear of being discovered." Meng Wan explained to Ambo.

Rescuing Ambo had truly been an accident. At first, neither knew the other, until Ambo mentioned he was seeking relatives, and only then did Meng Wan begin to suspect something.

"Is Na Tuo doing well? His sister has been thinking of him constantly."

That's right—Ambo was the foreigner who had run off with Na Tuo's sister, the culprit responsible for the headman of Yanlin Stockade still being a bachelor to this day.

Meng Wan sent Chi Yu to prepare some clean clothes and hot water for Ambo, then said to him with a smile, "He's doing well. Unfortunately, relations between the two countries aren't cordial right now, so he can't come to see Sister Na Lan."

Meng Wan had once had a rather dark disposition, but after years of being healed by the Song family mother and son, he had become someone with a bit more sunshine and brightness in his heart.

These days, winning people's goodwill came easily to him. Ambo washed away the exhaustion of his journey, changed into clean clothes, and sat at the table devouring his meal.

Though famished, Ambo didn't wolf down his food—he had good upbringing, suggesting a decent family background.

"I was afraid that man called Brother Chu would notice me, so I didn't dare get too close. Fortunately, they were in a hurry and never expected that after parting ways at Guang'an Prefecture, I would follow them to the capital."

Ambo hadn't known Meng Wan's identity at first. It wasn't until they were about to leave Cat Ba Island that Meng Wan took the opportunity to reveal himself.

He had also been afraid that if Ambo knew too much, he might slip up when facing Xia Yuan.

Meng Wan ate a piece of zongzi—made with glutinous rice, mung beans, and pork belly, not greasy at all, with a pleasant grain fragrance. He picked one out for Chu Ci and made his decision. "If that's the case, Xia Yuan has already been in the city for at least a day or two. He probably won't stay long. We'll enter the city in three days."

Xia Yuan, deep in his scheming, had no idea Meng Wan was following him like a stubborn burr. At this moment, he was speaking with a white-haired old man in plain clothes.

"Prime Minister, are you certain you truly captured our Crown Prince?" Xia Yuan questioned the white-haired Annamese prime minister before him.

The old man had never seen the Crown Prince. In fact, only one or two elderly figures in all of Annam had accompanied the previous king to the Yu capital for tribute and had seen the Crown Prince once—but at that time, he wasn't the Crown Prince yet, merely a young imperial prince.

The old prime minister spoke tremulously. "This official personally summoned the Grand General stationed at the border to come identify him. This man is indeed the Crown Prince who was protected in the center during the battle between our two nations. Your country's young General Qin risked his own life to shield him and took a blow from the Grand General's blade, nearly dying on the spot."

Seeing his earnest conviction, half of Xia Yuan's doubts were laid to rest. "Then let's open the coffin and see."

They were currently at an auspicious burial site outside the city. Even with eight hundred times the courage, the King of Annam wouldn't dare reveal that the Yu Crown Prince had died in Annam. So, guilt-ridden, he had found a plot second only to the imperial mausoleum and had a golden nanmu coffin made to bury the man with full honors.

The old prime minister's sagging jowls twitched twice, but he actually followed Xia Yuan's instructions and ordered his men to begin digging up the grave and opening the coffin.

First, they pried open the outer coffin lid, then the inner one. The heavy wood was tossed to the ground with a dull thud, followed by the stench of rotting flesh.

The smell lingered for a long time before finally fading. After steeling himself, Xia Yuan peered inside with a handkerchief covering his nose—

The corpse's silver-gray armor was intact, but the flesh had badly rotted away, making it impossible to make out a human shape, let alone the face.

Xia Yuan frowned. Could this really be the Crown Prince lying here?

"Feng Chu, go down and check if there's an old wound on the bone in the corpse's left arm." He vaguely recalled that the Crown Prince had gone to war with the Qin Family Army as a young man and taken a serious hit to his arm.

Without a word, Feng Chu climbed down into the coffin and carefully examined the body, focusing on the left arm. Then he climbed out and reported to Xia Yuan, "Sir, this corpse's build does match the Crown Prince's, and there is indeed an old wound on the left arm."

Feng Chu knew how to kill but not how to examine a body properly, so that was all he could tell for now.

The people of Annam wouldn't know the private matters of their Crown Prince, would they?

Feng Chu's confirmation finally loosened the knot of tension in Xia Yuan's mind. After a moment, he sighed, "Then let's head back."

The Annam Prime Minister stepped in front of Xia Yuan. "Though I don't know who you are, you must be one of the Yu Prince's men." The Prime Minister wasn't a fool. Anyone who could feed them intel about the Crown Prince on the battlefield had to be from the royal family—trying to use Annam's blade to do their killing.

Xia Yuan would never admit it. He turned away, his veiled face completely obscured. "Prime Minister, you need not know who I am. That your forces could cripple our Yu army was all thanks to my master's efforts. We aided you, and you repay us once—this is a perfectly fair deal."

The Prime Minister still didn't order his men to stand aside. He pressed on, "But if you return to Yu and spread word that your Crown Prince died in Annam, the Yu Emperor will surely not let this rest." He was remarkably clear-headed, not swept up in the victory.

Xia Yuan paused, then a hint of amusement slipped into his voice. "Prime Minister, you worry too much. The body is in your hands—if you say you never saw it, who's to say otherwise? If I were you, I'd simply burn the corpse and be done with it."

The Prime Minister hesitated. Few court officials knew the Crown Prince had died in Annam, and among those who did, more than one had thought of this solution—but no one dared act on it, or be the first to say it out loud.

At that moment, Feng Chu drew his sword and, before everyone's eyes, sliced off a chunk of the old Prime Minister's beard. He moved so fast that if he'd been off by even a hair, it would've been the Prime Minister's head, not his beard, hitting the ground.

Yet none of the Prime Minister's guards even reacted—which made it clear that Feng Chu had deliberately concealed his skills when traveling with Xia Yuan and Meng Wan earlier.

His action told everyone present that unless the Prime Minister wanted to make a big deal of it, these few men couldn't possibly stop them from leaving.

Watching Xia Yuan depart, the old Prime Minister's gaze fell, defeated, his expression seeming even more aged. He was old now; his words no longer carried the authority they once did, and many things he could no longer stop.

"Old-timer, do you really believe what he said?"

Before Xia Yuan had even been gone a few minutes, Meng Wan and his group seamlessly appeared.

Even without hearing what Xia Yuan and the Annan Prime Minister had discussed, Meng Wan could figure out most of it.

"Did he tell you to burn the body to get rid of the evidence?" Meng Wan, also wearing a veiled hat, approached with Ge Quan at his side.

"Who are you?" The situation was uncannily similar to when Xia Yuan had first approached him. The old Prime Minister's eyelids twitched—two had just left, and now two more showed up?

Do the Yu people ever quit?

Meng Wan gave a soft laugh. "Who we are doesn't matter. What matters is that you—and your King of Annan—have both been deceived."

The old Prime Minister trusted this sudden Meng Wan even less than he had Xia Yuan. His aged voice rasped, "What do you mean by that?"

Hearing the distrust in his tone, Meng Wan didn't seem bothered. He said something genuinely chilling, and he sounded completely sincere, "Believe it or not, the second you burn that body, the Yu army will be marching into Annan's territory."

"Impossible!" The old Prime Minister's voice trembled slightly. "The Qinzhou army was devastated by the flood we unleashed, while our forces are unstoppable. Yu won't be able to attack for at least a year!"