Routed

Ten days later. The Imperial Capital, Gewu Academy. As the place where formation script masters lived and worked, the Tianwen Directorate possessed an exceedingly elegant setting. Birds sang amid fragrant blossoms, lush greenery blanketed the grounds, and pavilions and terraces stood in neat rows while gentle breezes stirred ripples across the lake. The midday summer sun was warm. Formation script masters clad in yellow-and-blue uniform robes walked along the wide, shaded avenues, chatting and laughing. Tall martial apprentices carefully loaded crates of "goods" from the storehouse onto beast-drawn carriages, everything proceeding in an orderly fashion. Yet this peace was soon shattered by two figures. One old, one young. The elder had pure white hair and beard, exuding the bearing of a transcendent immortal, though his face bore a distinct look of ingratiation. The young woman wore a water-blue jacket and skirt. Her shoulders looked as if carved, her waist as slender as silk ribbon, and a hint of anger tinged her gentle, water-clear eyes. The two strode briskly outward all the way from the storehouse. Along their path, even the academy's top-tier Heavenly First formation script masters bowed respectfully upon seeing them. Yet neither paid these people the slightest heed. The girl marched outward in a huff. The old man followed with an appeasing smile, trying to laugh it off: "Xinyao... Xinyao, don't be mad. Oh, come on, Xinyao, don't be angry..." "..." Xu Xinyao came to an abrupt halt, her lovely eyes fixed somberly on Jiang He. Even in anger, her voice was as refreshing as clear water. "Master, what did you promise me back then?" "Uh..." Jiang He opened his mouth, offering a sheepish grin. "Xinyao... which promise do you mean?" Xu Xinyao stared at him in silence for several breaths, then retrieved a sphere roughly half a chi in diameter from her Sumeru ring and held it in her hand. "What is this?" Jiang He choked on his words, instinctively averting his gaze as he mumbled sheepishly, "A Sun-Blotter..." "What materials went into it? What formation scripts?" Xu Xinyao bit her lower lip. "I remember you promised me, Master, that you would never let these things be used for military purposes again." Jiang He gave a light cough, trying to change the subject as he said in a low voice, "Xinyao, Master hasn't seen you in such a long time..." Xu Xinyao sniffled, her clear eyes reddening slightly as she asked, "Master, what the northern war needs right now is the modified Cloud Qi Bomb you designed, not these Sun-Blotters. Why is Gewu Academy producing so many of them?" Jiang He looked at his disciple, who had grown into a graceful young woman, and sighed. "Xinyao... this matter has nothing to do with you." Xu Xinyao lowered her eyes, her fingernails digging into her palms. "Over twenty crates, more than three hundred Sun-Blotters... Gewu Academy couldn't have made only this many, could it?" "..." Jiang He's fingers twitched. He raised a hand to pat his disciple's head, but paused halfway. After a long while, Jiang He withdrew his hand. The wrinkles on his aged face seemed to deepen slightly as he nodded. "Yes. The Lord Chancellor ordered our Gewu Academy to produce a thousand Sun-Blotters. Seventy percent have already been delivered to the Black Scale Army. What you see here is the last batch." Hearing this, Xu Xinyao froze, her voice trembling slightly. "Shipped to the Northern Border?" "Yes. Those Sun-Blotters have already been transported to various parts of the Northern Border using the imperial court's disaster-relief carriages." This answer was brisk and direct, yet the tone was gentle and warm, unlike Jiang He's aged voice. Beneath the sunlight, a figure in green drifted down, gazing at the blue-clad girl. Xu Xinyao looked up at the sound and met the man's tender, fleetingly graceful gaze. A complex look filled her eyes as she murmured softly, "Eldest Brother..." Xu Changge's eyes curved into a slight smile. "Xinyao, long time no see. Father misses you dearly. Come home with me first." Xu Xinyao pursed her lips without answering. Jiang He drew a sharp breath and grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Xu Changge, this old man hasn't even had a proper word with my disciple—" "All right. I miss Father, too." "..." Jiang He's mouth hung open. Xu Xinyao curtsied to Jiang He. "Master... I will come see you tomorrow." With those words, Xu Changge offered Jiang He a polite nod, channeled his qi to envelop Xu Xinyao, and soared away. Left standing alone where he was, Jiang He gazed at the figures drifting further and further into the sky, his disappointment dissolving into a low sigh. *** Neither spoke along the way. Xu Changge brazenly bypassed the no-fly zone above Di'an, carrying Xu Xinyao down into the sprawling Chancellor's Manor. Upon entering the inner courtyard, Xu Xinyao looked at the familiar, unchanging layout of their home, and the gloomy look on her face eased slightly. After glancing around, she asked softly, "Eldest Brother, has Father not returned yet?" Xu Changge walked forward at an unhurried pace, nodding slightly with a smile. "Father went to the palace for an imperial audience today. He might be back a bit late." "Oh..." Hearing this, Xu Xinyao instinctively glanced toward the second courtyard to the right of the main hall and asked in a low voice, "What about Third Brother?" "..." Xu Changge fell silent. Seeing her eldest brother's reaction, a hint of mirth entered Xu Xinyao's lovely eyes. Pursing her lips, she scoffed playfully, "Third Brother couldn't have run off to the pleasure houses in broad daylight again, could he?" Xu Changge let out a wry chuckle, a complex smile touching his narrow eyes as he shook his head and said gently, "No. He isn't in the Imperial Capital right now." "Not in the Imperial Capital?" Surprise flickered in Xu Xinyao's eyes. She had returned to the Imperial Capital specifically to craft a set of self-defense spiritual mechanisms for Xu Yuan, modeled after the ones she wore. "Changtian went to the Northern Border. He should be in Beifeng City right now." "..." Xu Xinyao stared blankly at her eldest brother. "Third Brother's cultivation is so weak... won't he be in danger?" Xu Changge let out a breath and gazed distantly toward the north, murmuring, "Beifeng City has fallen." "..." Xu Xinyao's pupils constricted slightly, and breathing suddenly felt difficult. After a long silence, she asked at a loss, "Beifeng City... how could Beifeng City fall? The city-protecting formation there..." "The sects stood by and did nothing, so it fell." A chill surfaced in Xu Changge's eyes, but when his gaze returned to Xu Xinyao, his expression softened once more, and he comforted her, "Father does not enter the palace for an imperial audience without good reason. Once he returns, we should be able to learn Third Brother's current situation." "Oh..." Xu Xinyao gave a subdued reply, her fists clenching beneath her sleeves. "Third Brother... Third Brother is so clever. He will surely be fine." "I think so too." Seeing that Xu Xinyao remained in a daze, Xu Changge paused for a moment, then rather stiffly changed the subject. "All right, don't dwell on it. Tell me about what you've seen and heard during your travels all these years..." *** The Imperial Palace. In a pavilion at the center of the lake, a warm breeze blew, intoxicating the senses. Sunlight shone through the window lattice upon two figures seated around a weiqi board. The game was intricate, black and white stones entwined, already drawing to its close. The old man clad in an imperial dragon robe casually tossed the black stone in his hand onto the board, propped his hands on his knees, and slowly stood up, laughing. "The late emperor loved weiqi. To win his favor back then, We spent the better half of Our life studying it, only to end up unable to beat an old duffer like you now." Xu Yinhe gently placed the white stone in his hand back into the bowl, replying evenly, "Your Majesty's play has grown too impetuous. Though fierce and hard to check, it leaves many openings." The dragon-robed elder grinned. "Enough. One does not visit without purpose. Chancellor Xu, you didn't enter the palace to see Us just to play weiqi, did you?" Xu Yinhe glanced up at the emperor and countered, "Was it not Your Majesty who proposed the match today?" "..." Hearing this, the dragon-robed elder's eyebrows twitched, and the wrinkles on his face curved into a smile. "We recall the last time Chancellor Xu cracked a joke with Us was twenty years ago, the day your third son was born. Heh... it seems something good has happened." A trace of nostalgia appeared in Xu Yinhe's hawklike eyes, accompanied by a faint smile. The old emperor chuckled softly. "Chancellor Xu, We do not have much time left. Keeping Us in suspense and wasting time is hardly a good habit." At these words, Xu Yinhe's eyes instantly darkened. He slowly rose to his feet, bowed, and cupped his hands. "A piece played cannot be taken back, Your Majesty. We can make our move now." The air suddenly froze. In the heavy silence, the old emperor narrowed his eyes, staring at his old friend as he enunciated each word, "Chancellor Xu, what do you mean by that?" "..." Xu Yinhe slowly raised his gaze, meeting Li Yaoxuan's sharp eyes through the quiet air, and said in a calm, deliberate voice: "Lou Ji has sent word. The northern sects' three hundred thousand elites... were routed last night."