Chapter 126 Truth

While Shang Xingyan was laughing loudly, I held the two maps in front of Lin Zhao and Wang Xiaohuan. "See anything?"

Wang Xiaohuan said, "Judging from the age of the maps, they should have been drawn around the same time."

"The one from Banxianzhuang is more detailed. These places seem to have been re-marked."

I nodded. "So, there was a traitor in Banxianzhuang more than twenty years ago. And this person held a high position."

I hesitated for a moment, then walked into the weeds to make sure no one was nearby, and said in a deep voice, "Lao Shang, Lao Shang, come out here... Daddy's good son, Shang Xingyan, get your ass out here!"

I shouted for a long time, but no one answered. My face sank.

Lin Zhao said with a smile, "See? Your son isn't listening to you. As the saying goes, a good son doesn't need many, just one to piss off his dad!"

My face darkened, and I drew my knife with a whoosh, pressing it against my neck. "Shang Xingyan, you little bastard, if you don't come out, I'll slit my throat right now and go find you in the underworld."

Lin Zhao was about to speak, but I pointed at her and Wang Xiaohuan. "Don't either of you say anything. I'm serious. If he doesn't come out, I'm going to the underworld right away."

Wang Xiaohuan silently lit a white lantern. "I'll send you off!"

I almost fainted from Wang Xiaohuan's words. She was just making things worse!

I was trying to force Shang Xingyan to come out and see me, but her lighting a lantern made it seem like I was joking!

Just as I was wondering what to say to Wang Xiaohuan, I saw a faint figure appear in the lamplight.

Even my ghost eyes couldn't see it, but Wang Xiaohuan brought it out with a lamp?

It seemed like the figure didn't know I could see him!

While I was wondering, Lin Zhao came up and tried to grab my knife. Instead, she accidentally pushed me forward, and I felt the blade sink into my neck a tiny bit.

But it felt like the knife had cut into my neck quite a bit.

If I pulled the knife back, I wouldn't just see Shang Xingyan, I'd see King Yama himself.

Just as I was about to curse her, the figure suddenly appeared in front of me. "Young Master, please calm down, please calm down. I'll go get Lord Shang right away. Please don't do this..."

The figure disappeared with a "whoosh," and soon Shang Xingyan ran over in a panic. "Young Master!"

"Call me Dad!" I was furious.

"Dad!" Shang Xingyan was quick to catch on.

I squinted at Shang Xingyan. "Where's your mourning hat? Where's your mourning sash? Why didn't you bring them?"

"You were planning to kill your dad, shouldn't you hurry over to mourn?"

Shang Xingyan said with a smile, "Look at what you're saying. How could I do something like that?"

"Bah!" I spat directly on Shang Xingyan's face. "Tell me, what are you hiding from me?"

Shang Xingyan said innocently, "How dare I hide anything from you, Dad!"

I simply squatted down and looked Shang Xingyan in the eye. "Lao Shang, can we not be so sickeningly sweet?"

"I don't want to know what your identity is. I just want to know, what did you find out from Pei Haohong? Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes!" Shang Xingyan's face was twisted. "According to the rules, the Embroidered Uniform Guard cannot transmit intelligence to the Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren (one who borrows life from the underworld). Unless, you are under the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Also, the Embroidered Uniform Guard cannot be Jie Ming Ren!"

"This time, if Pei Haohong hadn't kept ghosts and gods, allowing us to skirt the rules, I wouldn't even be able to ask about this."

"Oh—" I said with a long "oh." "Fine, then I'll slit my throat right now. Then I won't be a person of the Yang Realm, you can say whatever you want!"

Shang Xingyan was about to be scared to death. "My dear Dad! Please stop messing around. If the commander-in-chief finds out I killed you, burning me with Yin fire for a thousand years would be light punishment."

I threw the knife in front of him with a "pa." "Then why don't you kill yourself!"

"What do you mean?" Shang Xingyan was even more confused.

I said solemnly, "Aren't you calling me Dad? If a dad asks his son a question and the son doesn't answer, that's unfilial. You're a scholar, you know that filial piety is the most important of all virtues, right? You unfilial son, why don't you hurry up and kill yourself? What are you waiting for?"

Shang Xingyan almost slapped himself. "Why did I ever act in this play with you?"

I waved my hand. "Never mind whether it's real or not, you've already called me Dad. Just tell me, are you going to die or not?"

Shang Xingyan said with a mournful face, "Fine, I'll talk, I'll talk! You're even more ruthless than the commander-in-chief! What do you want to know?"

I stared at Shang Xingyan without blinking. "Tell me, who is my mother?"

"I don't know that!" Shang Xingyan waved his hands repeatedly. "Young Master, you have to understand one thing. Subordinates can share the burden of their superiors, but they can't pry into their superiors' private lives."

"Have you ever seen a minister ask the emperor, 'Who did you sleep with last night?' That's just asking for a beating, right?"

I thought: What Shang Xingyan said made sense.

Like Xiang Yu's song before he committed suicide: "My strength uprooted mountains, my spirit overshadowed the world..." I've always felt that was fabricated by Sima Qian himself.

First of all, let's not talk about whether Xiang Yu had a secretary in the army at that time. Even if he did, could he sneak into Xiang Yu's tent and listen to what the couple was saying? And then write it down?

It's useless to ask Lao Shang about this!