From his spot in the county memorial service, Xu Qing turned and looked toward the distant Yao Yunhui and Zhang Siyun.0

He thought about how the Smokewights in Daybreak Prefecture had mentioned Marquis Yao. He also considered Marquis Yao’s previous actions, and how he’d simply disappeared from the battlefield. On the surface, it really did make it seem like there was something suspicious going on with him. What was more, the palace lord had also suspected Marquis Yao.[1]1

But there were some things that didn’t make sense to Xu Qing. Why would Marquis Yao take his entire people, with the exception of the women and children, to the battlefield, where they were all wiped out? And why would all the women and children just sit around waiting to be arrested? What was more, Marquis Yao had been the one to rally the nonhumans into an alliance and then lead them to the northern front. And everything had gone smoothly in that regard. When you considered all the elements as a whole, they didn’t add up.2

Of course, Xu Qing was well aware that he couldn’t possibly be the only person to have come to this conclusion. But right now... no one dared to speak up.1

For one thing, Marquis Yao was generally disliked. What was more, there was no evidence to prove that he wasn’t a traitor to humanity.7

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. By now, he had come to the conclusion that the war in Sea-Sealing County was a lot more complicated than just two enemies fighting each other. The fact that Seventh Prince showed up at almost exactly the...18