"You alright?"
Chen Sanshi waited for a moment, then stepped forward to help the fat Wang up.
"You heard it all?"
Wang Zhi's eyes were empty and lifeless. "That's right. It was me… I'm the one who caused the death of my junior brother and all those soldiers."
"Then why didn't they take your head?"
Chen Sanshi frowned.
If a commanding officer's mistake had wiped out an entire elite garrison, execution would've been the only possible punishment.
"..."
Wang Zhi stayed silent for a long time before rasping out, "I had no choice… no choice, do you understand?"
He dropped to his knees again and sat weakly on the ground.
"It was the fifty-seventh year of the Yongchang Era.
"With Grand Secretary Yan Liang and the other officials stirring things up, the court accused Grand Commander Sun of false crimes, recalled him to the capital, and threw him into the imperial prison.
"That same year… the Nanxu Kingdom launched a massive invasion.
"The Eight Great Garrisons were sent to defend and counterattack.
"My real name is Tang Ruoshan. At that time, I was the commander of the Xuanwu Garrison.
"But that battle… wasn't lost because of my command."
His voice grew lower, carrying a pain that had clearly rotted in his chest for years.
"At that time, the Nanxu Kingdom had already seized several key strongholds, including Lingchuan Prefecture.
"If we didn't find a way to take Lingchuan back quickly, the entire southern line would collapse once Nanxu stabilized its foothold.
"But Lingchuan's terrain was steep and easily defended.
"The only effective strategy was to first attack from the east—tear open a path through Kangning Prefecture.
"But that was no simple task.
"The best move was to wait for reinforcements from the court and crush the enemy with overwhelming force.
"But they never came!"
Tang Ruoshan's voice cracked, trembling with suppressed fury. "The imperial army in the capital had long been assembled. Yet they refused to march toward Kangning Prefecture. Do you know why?"
"To let you all die," Chen Sanshi answered quietly.
"Exactly!"
Tang Ruoshan's tone turned sharp with hate. "The court wanted to use this battle to weaken the Eight Great Garrisons. The more generals that died, the better—it'd make it easier to replace us later!
"The Grand Commander—our master—was locked in prison as their hostage!
"If we disobeyed orders and delayed too long, the court would brand the Eight Great Garrisons as traitors. What do you think would've happened to our master then? And afterward? They'd slowly purge the entire garrison, one after another.
"But if the Eight Great Garrisons showed 'loyalty' by volunteering as the vanguard—charging ahead of the imperial army—it would prove that we were still under imperial control. Then maybe, just maybe, our master and others would be spared.
"I saw it clearly.
"But the blood of soldiers alone wasn't enough to satisfy them… they wanted another offering."
Chen Sanshi's brow furrowed. "The third young master?"
Tang Ruoshan didn't answer immediately. His voice sank lower, colder.
"Do you know when the Eight Great Garrisons were founded?"
"Fifty-seven years ago—the first year of the Yongchang Era, when the current emperor ascended the throne.
"Back then, our master and the emperor had known each other since childhood. The emperor trusted him more than anyone, which was why he granted him the right to recruit and train his own troops.
"Even when the people began calling the Eight Great Garrisons the 'Sun Family Army,' the emperor tolerated it.
"Do you know why, after fifty-seven years, that tolerance suddenly vanished?"
He clenched his fists, knuckles pale.
"Because someone extraordinary was born in the Sun family.
"Our master had five children in total.
"The eldest and second sons died young, and even if they'd lived, their talent in martial arts was ordinary at best.
"But the third, Sun Buhui, was a true genius.
"He had practiced martial arts for less than four years, yet he had fought in hundreds of battles—each one victorious. His reputation among the troops was unmatched.
"In the past, the emperor tolerated the existence of the 'Sun Family Army' because he knew it would eventually end.
"When our master retired or passed away, the court would inherit a fully trained, elite army without lifting a finger. It was the perfect arrangement—why wouldn't he allow it?
"But the appearance of Sun Buhui changed everything.
"Buhui… that junior brother of mine… was too gifted—and too ambitious.
"He openly declared that one day, he would inherit the Eight Great Garrisons.
"And that… touched the emperor's reverse scale."
Tang Ruoshan's expression turned grim.
"In the Great Sheng Dynasty, having one Grand Commander Sun meant a loyal pillar of the realm—a symbol of harmony between ruler and minister.
"But if a second Grand Commander Sun were to appear, everything would change.
"Then the Eight Great Garrisons would no longer belong to the Great Sheng Dynasty.
"They would truly become the Sun Family Army.
"And the Sun family… would no longer be mere frontier governors, but equivalent to a clan of kings with their own domain."
"How could the court possibly allow something like that to happen?
"Worse yet, every general in the Eight Great Garrisons supported him.
"How could the emperor ever tolerate that?"
"That's why," Tang Ruoshan said bitterly, "they used a fabricated court case as an excuse to throw Grand Commander Sun into the imperial prison."
So that was it.
From Chen Sanshi's perspective, there could only be two outcomes.
First, Grand Commander Sun would die, the Sun family's military power would be stripped, and their entire clan would be confined.
Second, Sun Buhui would die.
Tang Ruoshan's hoarse voice continued in the cold air.
"But I watched that boy grow up. How could I ever bear to let him die?
"I tried everything—every possible way to save him. I even thought about rebelling.
"But Master was already imprisoned. The moment we raised arms, he'd be executed first.
"And the Eight Great Garrisons had no second Martial Saint back then—we wouldn't have stood a chance.
"So in the end, I took Buhui with me to storm the city, intending to die with him. One garrison's blood to buy the survival of all eight.
"But… I didn't die. I didn't die!"
Tang Ruoshan's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted in anguish. "I was the first to climb the city wall! I never took a single step back! I killed until I blacked out—but I still didn't die!
"When I woke up, I was lying in bed. The Nanxu army had already been driven off.
"Little Buqi and Sun Li—still just children back then—were standing beside my bed, asking where their third brother was…
"Master had returned too.
"He said our ties as master and disciple were severed from that day forward. That I should fend for myself."
Chen Sanshi asked quietly, "Because of the third son's death?"
"No."
Tang Ruoshan trembled all over. "He didn't blame me for that.
"He said it was his own failure—his weakness for not protecting his son. He said Buhui had been young and reckless, and had to pay the price for his pride.
"He drove me away not out of anger over the death itself, but because I'd let the entire Xuanwu Garrison be wiped out when only my junior brother needed to die. He said it was too reckless, unworthy of a commander…"
"And after that?"
Chen Sanshi pressed. "It just ended there?"
"No. It didn't end there!"
Tang Ruoshan suddenly lifted his head, his voice trembling with both grief and awe. "Not long after, Master avenged us!
"He rode alone back to the capital, walked right up to the palace gates, and ran his spear clean through the Minister of War—the very one who refused to send reinforcements! Then he left the capital as openly as he came!"
"Wait—he killed someone at the palace gates?"
That was basically murder under the emperor's nose.
Then why hadn't he done it earlier?
Chen Sanshi frowned. Could it be that Grand Commander Sun had made another breakthrough after the tragedy?
Tang Ruoshan seemed to know what he was thinking.
"Rumor has it," he said quietly, "Master broke through to a realm beyond the Martial Saint."
"Beyond the Martial Saint…"
Immortal Dao?
Chen Sanshi felt his breath hitch. That level was too far removed from where he stood.
He was still far from even completing the tempering of his organs. Beyond that came the realm of transformation— Transforming Strength.
If Grand Commander Sun truly stood beyond the realm of a Martial Saint, then why hadn't he rebelled? And more importantly, how could the emperor still allow him to live?
Unless… neither could kill the other.
The thought made Chen Sanshi's chest tighten.
He remembered that the emperor himself had long pursued the path of cultivation.
All things considered, the rift between the Eight Great Garrisons and the royal family was already too deep to mend.
Still, Chen Sanshi knew one thing clearly—he had to go to the Grand Commander's estate.
Because if the imperial court truly acted according to its usual rotten nature, once his martial level rose high enough, they would surely find a way to control or use him.
By comparison, the Grand Commander's Mansion was still the safest—and the wisest—place to turn.