Looking at Lu Zhi's remarkably earnest expression as he uttered such preposterous words, Zuo Feng's face stiffened.
"Are you saying a god from heaven descended into the mortal realm?" he repeated.
Lu Zhi nodded.
Zuo Feng's eyes went wide. Stooping slightly, he circled Lu Zhi as if examining something utterly bizarre.
"Lord Lu, speaking like this, do you honestly think I will believe you?" Zuo Feng scoffed.
He addressed Lu Zhi as "Lord Lu" merely because of Lu Zhi's lofty standing. Though Zuo Feng had Regular Palace Attendant Zhang Rang backing him, high officials and prominent dignitaries like Lu Zhi were still best not offended lightly.
However, if Lu Zhi thought he could dupe him and the Son of Heaven after a defeat by leaning on some ridiculous claim of a deity descending to earth, that was truly laughable.
If he were pushed too far, he would not hesitate to call him "Lu Zhi, you old scoundrel" right to his face!
Lu Zhi said helplessly, "Every word is true. There is not a single falsehood."
His brows furrowing deeply, Zuo Feng stopped before Lu Zhi and said cautiously, "Lord Lu, I advise you to watch your words. Though you are a defeated general, you are, after all, a veteran commander of the imperial court with substantial military merit. His Majesty will not treat you with excessive harshness. But if you intend to hoodwink and make a fool of His Majesty, hmph, the outcome might not be so pleasant."
Lu Zhi said in all sincerity, "Am I the kind of person who enjoys babbling about ghosts and gods? The defeat this time truly occurred because the God of the Yellow Sky, who protects those Yellow Turban rebels, descended into the dust of the mortal realm. Over ten thousand elite Han soldiers were paralyzed by divine awe, none daring to resist, and fell to their knees in surrender."
Seeing Lu Zhi's profoundly earnest demeanor, Zuo Feng found himself half-convinced.
Lu Zhi was, after all, a great Confucian scholar of the realm who had always kept ghosts and spirits at arm's length. Moreover, Lu Zhi's character ranked among the very finest of the court's princes and high officials; it was hardly likely that he would concoct tales of immortals and gods merely to shirk responsibility for a defeat.
Even so, he still could not bring himself to believe it. After a moment's hesitation, Zuo Feng said, "Please summon several of your military officers, Lord Lu. I wish to question them one by one."
Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. "That is only proper. I will summon them at once."
A quarter of an hour later, Zong Yuan and four other officers stood below the dais, while Lu Zhi had been "ushered" outside by Zuo Feng.
Standing before the five men with a grave expression, Zuo Feng said, "Tell me in full detail how this defeat came about."
Zong Yuan glanced left and right. Seeing that none of the others spoke, he took the initiative. "To answer the Imperial Envoy: this engagement was truly not a failure of arms. Our army..."
He gave a lengthy account that matched what Lu Zhi had said almost word for word.
Zuo Feng offered a noncommittal grunt, casually pointed to the next officer, and bade him repeat the story.
The next man's answers aligned completely with Zong Yuan's, even adding a few supplementary details.
Immediately following that was the next officer's testimony. By the time all five had finished answering, Zuo Feng had already leaned toward the belief that the Yellow Turban Army truly was protected by a deity.
He waved his hand to dismiss the five men, pacing the hall in solitary contemplation.
He did not know whether he should report the military situation truthfully to the Son of Heaven. If he did, it sounded so preposterous that he feared Emperor Liu Hong would curse and whip him mercilessly.
Yet if he did not report it truthfully, how was he supposed to answer to the emperor?
After agonizing over it, he ultimately decided to speak the truth. In any case, the claim that Zhonghuang Taiyi had descended had come from Lu Zhi's own mouth; he was nothing more than a messenger.
If Liu Hong truly flew into a rage, it would be directed at Lu Zhi, Zong Yuan, and the others.
Zuo Feng clapped his hands softly. "I still need to see the soldiers who fled back with Lu Zhi and the rest. They don't hold high status like Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan. Standing before an imperial envoy like me, they are bound to tremble with fear and dare not utter a single lie."
With that thought, Zuo Feng summoned a servant and ordered twenty of the routed soldiers to be brought before him.
Before long, twenty somewhat cowering men stood below the hall, their heads bowed, not daring to look upon the imperial envoy whom they held in reverent awe.
Zuo Feng was quite satisfied with their demeanor. Nodding slightly, he deliberately drew out his words in a high-pitched, shrill tone.
"As you all know, I am an imperial envoy dispatched by the court, deeply trusted by His Majesty. I have summoned you today to inquire into the details of the battle at Guangzong. You must answer truthfully. If anyone dares conceal anything, they shall be executed on the spot without mercy. Understood?!"
"Understood, understood!" the men replied in a flurry.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Zuo Feng paced before them. Suddenly, he raised a hand and pointed at one man, startling him so badly that he shuddered.
"You, speak!"
"Yes, yes!" The man kept his head low and stammered in panic, "The... the battle at Guangzong, under General of the Household Lu's leadership, we drove the moth-rebels back repeatedly. Seeing that the enemy's morale was broken and their battle lines were about to collapse, just as we were about to claim victory, suddenly... suddenly..."
"Suddenly what? Look at me!" Zuo Feng seized the man's shoulder, thrusting his face close, his gaze turning vicious.
The man took two steps back instinctively, babbling incoherently, "A god! The Holy Infant descended!!"
A chill ran through Zuo Feng's heart, but he deliberately bluffed, "You dare deceive me? I just questioned Lord Lu, and he admitted that it was his own poor command that led to the defeat by the moth-rebels! There was never any god from heaven!"
The man was dumbfounded. "How could that be? It was plainly the Holy Infant of the Yellow Sky descending to the mortal realm! I saw with my own eyes the Holy Infant flying in midair, walking five steps, and turning into a five-year-old child..."
As a Junior Attendant serving the emperor, Zuo Feng was highly adept at reading faces and moods. Scrutinizing the man's expression, he could easily tell that he was telling the truth.
Zuo Feng turned a piercing glare toward another man. "You, speak!"
The one singled out wore a weeping face. "Envoy, Imperial Envoy, this humble soldier doesn't know how to put it! The moth-rebels truly had a holy infant descend, and only then were we defeated. Otherwise, how could a mere bunch of Yellow Turbans ever overcome the heavenly army of our Great Han?"
Zuo Feng looked around and saw that everyone bore identical expressions. His heart gave a violent lurch. Waving his hand, he dismissed them all and stood alone in the hall, dazed.
"The Holy Infant of the Yellow Sky, Zhonghuang Taiyi..."
He mumbled under his breath, then slapped his forehead abruptly. "True or false, it's best to flee Lieren County and head back to Luoyang first! With the Han army routed and the Yellow Turban rebels unchecked, the vast expanse of Ji Province is perilous ground."
Having made up his mind, he hurriedly gathered the escort of soldiers who had traveled with him and left Lieren County, riding toward Luoyang—so pressed that he did not even have time for his beloved extortion of bribes.
In the original history, after arriving at the Han encampment outside Guangzong, he had demanded money and silk from Lu Zhi. But Lu Zhi was upright by nature and adamantly refused.
Harboring resentment, Zuo Feng reported to the Son of Heaven that Lu Zhi had surrounded the Yellow Turbans with ease yet delayed attacking, merely waiting for Heaven to destroy the rebels, implying that Lu Zhi was deliberately preserving the enemy to inflate his own importance.
Liu Hong was furious upon hearing this and immediately issued an order to "summon Lu Zhi in a cage cart, sparing him execution by one degree," sending the poor commander back to the capital under arrest.
Yet this time, Lu Zhi was undeniably a defeated general, and Zuo Feng was so thoroughly terrified that he forgot all about seeking bribes, fleeing in haste back toward Luoyang...
More than ten days later.
After a grueling journey, Zuo Feng returned to the familiar imperial palace of Luoyang and gained an audience with Emperor Liu Hong.
Liu Hong had originally been in high spirits thanks to the steady stream of victory dispatches sent by Lu Zhi earlier, but Zuo Feng's words left him completely stunned.
"What did you say? The Han army was completely wiped out?!"
"What?! The moth-rebels had a holy infant descend, protected by a god?!!"
Chapter 15