Chapter Thirty: The Target Has Been You from the Very Beginning...

Half an Hour Earlier...

The guards stationed in the northern courtyard were few, especially compared to the southern courtyard where Lady Yan resided and the eastern courtyard housing the Crown Prince. The sparse security there was startling. In Beihai, during winter with no sunlight in the daytime, the biting cold wind was relentless, making the place desolate. The thin presence of guards only amplified the bleakness, making it hard to imagine that the head of the Yuchi family would be assigned to such a place.

There was no charcoal fire in the room where the family head stayed, yet the entire chamber felt remarkably warm—all thanks to a single guard stationed at the door.

The guard appeared to be under thirty, with delicate features and a slender build. Though not imposing, any warrior nearby would recognize him as a formidable figure. Just his presence at the door made the whole room feel like spring, like a furnace radiating warmth. Even squirrels gradually approached, and most of the cats in the courtyard drew near the room.

“Lord Zhong, it’s time for the meal. Today the kitchen prepared venison blood porridge...”

The middle-aged man closed his eyes to rest but nodded in response. “Place it nearby.”

“Sir...” The guard carrying the food box leaned in and lowered his voice. “The six sons and four daughters of the Zhong family have been arranged to board the ship. Apart from the wife of the main branch, the wives from the third branch are also on the list...”

“The third sister-in-law comes from a scholarly family. Her father, Zhong Taiqing, is the vice principal of Bailu Academy. She is proficient in the arts, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and well-versed in classics and national doctrines. She was chosen to complement the family’s scholarly heritage. A military man does not mean ignorance of literature. To rise again, the family’s academic foundation must not be too shallow.”

“You speak wisely... but as for you...” The other guard tried to speak but was immediately silenced by the man’s sharp glare, swallowing his words.

The Yuchi family was likely doomed this time, but its roots were deep. They had business in many islands outside Beihai. Preserving the spark and retreating to Beihai still left some hope for the future. The Zhong family was a subordinate clan; when the Yuchi family prospered, they lived in luxury. Now that disaster had struck, they could not remain unaffected.

No one in the family holding military positions could escape, especially the adult men of importance. The court demanded accountability. If too many important figures fled, troops would be sent in pursuit, possibly extinguishing every last spark.

Yet, despite all this, Zhong Yu—the most gifted disciple of the family, a thirty-year-old first-rank innate warrior who once held a draw against the head of the Qingshan Sect during the imperial martial contest—should have evacuated Beihai with the others. Instead, he insisted on staying here, guarding the dying head of the Yuchi family.

“Tell the other branches to stop disputing over quotas. Tell the second sister-in-law to stop causing trouble. If she stirs up more trouble, her children who boarded the ship will be thrown into the sea...”

“Yes...” The guard looked up, about to reply, but suddenly froze.

When did a shadow appear between them?

It was a girl no taller than a meter, incredibly frail and pale. In this chilling wind, such a delicate child left passersby worried, but here, it was terrifying.

“Who are you?” The guards drew their blades.

“Hold!” Zhong Yu quickly stopped them. His expression was grave, body leaning slightly forward, hands folded respectfully. “Which elder has descended? What guidance do you bring?”

In broad daylight, with no warning, she appeared less than two meters before them. At first glance, he knew none of them could mount any resistance.

With her ghostly skill, if she wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t have reacted at all.

“My master wishes to see Yuchi Peng!”

The guards’ faces changed, but none shouted recklessly. They understood the sign this silent appearance at noon represented.

When had such a figure walked the world? Could she be one of those mythical beings who practiced martial arts until reversing aging?

“May I ask where your master is?” Zhong Yu asked cautiously.

“You have no right to see or ask...” the girl said coldly.

Zhong Yu gritted his teeth, calculating his chances if he fought. He wasn’t confident of victory, but at least he could delay long enough for the family head to escape and await reinforcements.

“Let her in.”

Inside the room, a heavy, weary voice sounded. Many guards were stunned. It was said that Lord Yuchi had been unconscious for days, yet he could still speak. No wonder Lord Zhong forbade them from speaking ill of the Yuchi family earlier.

“Yes...” Zhong Yu hesitated briefly, then rose. “Please, elder, this way...”

Once inside, Murong Yunji finally met the man known as the foremost military warrior.

Yuchi Peng looked extremely weak, with a waxy complexion, yet sat upright on the bed. Murong Yunji could distinctly feel a latent force within him.

Like a frozen volcano, his energy was terrifyingly immense.

“You saved this blow to wait for the mastermind?” Murong Yunji frowned.

“Yes...” Yuchi Peng forced a smile. “But you don’t seem to be the one behind it.”

Murong Yunji said no more and unfurled a scroll. Zhang Rui, dressed in green official robes, stepped out.

How convenient...

Zhang Rui glanced around and sighed inwardly. If this failed, perhaps they could find more spirit paintings to hide the entire family inside, allowing Murong Yunji to escape overseas with them—a contingency plan.

“Lord Zhang?” Yuchi Peng squinted.

Zhang Rui looked at him and thought: It seems Yuchi Peng still controls the courtyard. I arrived only recently, yet he already knows of me.

“I am Zhang Rui, greetings, Your Grace.”

“Lord Zhang, no need for formalities. Your willingness to risk Beihai for the nation’s sake is rare. If I survive this ordeal, I will count you as a friend.”

Zhang Rui sighed.

“Do you think the Yuchi family cannot survive this disaster?” Yuchi Peng smiled.

“I don’t know about the Yuchi family, but Your Grace likely cannot...”

Yuchi Peng looked at Zhang Rui for a long moment, then nodded. “I understand. You came to make me act?”

“Yes...” Zhang Rui bowed. “That monster has yet to strike because it’s uncertain about you. If Your Grace cannot withstand the plague and dies, it will consume everything you have. Not just Beihai, but perhaps the entire world will have no rival to it. Coupled with its plague ability, it will become a calamity for all mankind!”

“So Lord Zhang has already identified it?”

“Luo Sanye!”

“What?” Zhong Yu, who had remained silent, exploded. Even when knowing nine-tenths of his family would perish with the Yuchi, he had never been this shocked.

Yuchi Peng, however, only showed momentary surprise at the name, lacking disbelief.

“Seems Your Grace is not shocked...” Zhang Rui said.

“Such an absurd claim from the master, the family head would naturally not be surprised!” Zhong Yu said coldly. Among the Yuchi, his greatest respect was for Luo Sanye. Born with innate defects, unable to train martial arts or take the imperial exams, yet through his own ability, he became the most respected guest official. Deep down, Zhong Yu admired Luo Sanye even more than the family head.

Yuchi Peng raised a hand to stop Zhong Yu from speaking further and looked at Zhang Rui with a sigh. “How did you guess?”

“Twenty years ago, at the Battle of Youyun, Your Grace crushed the Youzhou Iron Cavalry, beheading nearly a hundred thousand men. I don’t disbelieve that a smaller force can defeat a larger one—history has many such examples—but I have never found a case where a force was utterly annihilated despite a disparity of several dozen times. Combining that with the current situation in Beihai, I have a guess: Your Grace must have encountered this plague twenty years ago, right?”

Zhong Yu’s eyes widened, about to shout in anger, but Yuchi Peng spoke first.

“Lord Zhang is truly extraordinary. That event—countless great families in the capital sought weaknesses in the Yuchi family to overturn our achievement but failed. Lord Zhang saw the truth immediately. If you weren’t so young, I would suspect you are the legendary seer who foresees all.”

“Far from worthy of that honor...” Zhang Rui said humbly.

“But Lord Zhang, if you know the truth, why do you think Luo Sanye is possessed rather than me?”

“With that monster’s power, if it had inhabited Your Grace’s body for twenty years, absorbing the blood and flesh of a hundred thousand soldiers, it would have long since become a master-level cultivator, with no need to support any crown prince. Not even Your Grace—any martial talent with such a supply would have turned into a calamity. The only possibility is that the monster possessed someone with no talent, perhaps even with innate defects. Only then could it grow so slowly.”

“I see...” Yuchi Peng took a deep breath, eyes full of sorrow.

“Did you ever suspect him before?” Zhang Rui asked curiously.

“I did...” Yuchi Peng nodded. “That night he suddenly proposed mobilizing troops, as if he knew something would happen within the Northern Qi army. I suspected then, but after so many years with no further action, I let down my guard.”

“And this time, with the Beihai plague, you didn’t suspect him?”

“I did suspect...” Yuchi Peng smiled bitterly. “But I couldn’t imagine his motive. Our family’s momentum was so strong, soon the Crown Prince would ascend, making us the top military family in the Great Jin. He is our chief guest official, his status rising. Why betray us?”

“Only when Lord Zhang told me the monster could compensate for its innate flaws by slaughtering others did I understand...”

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Southern Courtyard:

“I didn’t expect...” Luo Sanye looked at the icy Yuchi Peng and chuckled. “I planned everything, but never imagined a little upstart would appear out of nowhere and know all the secrets. How do you always get so lucky?”

“I thought... though we have different surnames, our bond was like that of true kin!” Yuchi Peng slowly stood, energy erupting like a rising sun. The entire courtyard’s moisture seemed to dry instantly.

Looking again at this brother he had grown up with, Yuchi Peng’s eyes were void of warmth or hesitation.

From the start, the target was never the Crown Prince. From beginning to end, the enemy sought the Yuchi family. From the start, the target was himself!