Chapter 116: Victorious From The First Strike
“Xiao Lintta!”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the large tent was stunned.
No one had expected that this Uliji Tribe man would defect on the spot in front of Xiao Simo and bite back.
He actually claimed that the one who killed his father was not Li Xiao, but Xiao Lintta?
“This~”
Wumeng and the other chiliarch looked at each other in dismay, their faces full of shock.
They had originally thought this was a conspiracy by Xiao Lintta against Li Xiao, but now it seemed the situation was off.
Xiao Lintta had instead fallen into Li Xiao’s trap.
“You’re talking nonsense.”
At this moment, Xiao Lintta completely lost his composure, glaring viciously at Amo with undisguisable killing intent deep in his eyes.
The betrayal of a key witness was the most fatal.
He had thought it was his trump card, but he never expected to be deceived by this bastard.
Xiao Lintta immediately realized that this Uliji Tribe man had been Li Xiao’s man from beginning to end.
He had outsmarted himself with his own cleverness.
“Lord, I am not talking nonsense,” Amo’s firm voice said.
His fierce gaze met Xiao Lintta’s without flinching.
Because he had no way out.
Xiao Lintta had not only killed his father but also colluded with the high priest and his son to swallow up the Uliji Tribe.
And by then, would these people spare him, a stumbling block?
Now, Amo’s only way out was to stick closely with Li Xiao.
Only then would he have a chance for revenge, and more importantly, a chance to reclaim the Uliji Tribe and even inherit his father’s position as chiliarch.
So now, he could only confront Xiao Lintta to the end.
“Lord, it was Xiao Lintta who colluded with the high priest of my Uliji Tribe and conspired to kill my father,” Amo’s firm voice said.
Then he briefly recounted the events, including how E Tu Lu had sneaked up and shot Uliji dead on the battlefield.
Afterward, Xiao Lintta conspired with the high priest and his son to seize Uliji’s position as chiliarch and frame Li Xiao for it.
He told everything.
Xiao Simo’s face grew increasingly grim as he listened, and he finally glared viciously at Xiao Lintta.
He believed everything Amo said was true.
This matter was definitely Xiao Lintta’s doing.
To frame Li Xiao, this bastard had actually killed a chiliarch.
He really dared to do anything.
After being glared at by Xiao Simo and hearing a faint cold snort, Xiao Lintta felt a chill in his heart, cold sweat pouring down.
His mind raced frantically, trying to figure out how to resolve this farce.
At that moment, Xiao Simo shouted loudly, directly stopping Amo’s accusation.
“Enough~”
His cold face made the atmosphere extremely oppressive; Wumeng and the others all lowered their heads deeply, minimizing their presence.
Amo also immediately shut his mouth and looked pleadingly at Xiao Simo, waiting for him to uphold justice for him.
But unfortunately, Amo was destined to be disappointed.
Because Xiao Simo did not care about him, or rather, the Uliji Tribe at all.
First of all, Xiao Lintta was a trusted general who had followed him for many years, with far higher status than the Uliji Tribe.
A mere nomadic tribe’s chieftain—let alone being secretly killed by Xiao Lintta—even if killed openly, Xiao Simo would only give a light punishment, not take Xiao Lintta’s life to compensate.
Secondly, as a superior, he had to consider political impact.
Once he punished Xiao Lintta, it would inevitably disrupt Jin Prefecture’s political ecology.
Xiao Lintta was already at a disadvantage in Jin Prefecture; if affected by this, he would be even less able to check Li Xiao.
Jin Prefecture might end up with one faction dominating.
So, from Xiao Simo’s own standpoint, he definitely had to protect Xiao Lintta to the death.
The best way was to stop this from developing further and pretend it never happened.
He would not punish anyone, at most give Amo some compensation, and that would be the end of it.
As for what happened to Amo later, he wouldn’t care.
“This matter~”
However, just as Xiao Simo was about to speak, a personal guard reported from outside the tent.
“Great King, Governor Li Xiao requests an audience.”
Hearing this, Xiao Simo slowly swallowed all the words he had prepared.
A cold smile appeared on his indifferent and emotionless face.
“Good, good, the other protagonist has arrived.”
What was Li Xiao, that bastard, here for?
Definitely to back this Uliji Tribe man.
Since Li Xiao had seized Xiao Lintta’s handle, he would surely cling to it and not let Xiao Simo muddle through easily.
Xiao Simo laughed in anger and then said in a heavy voice: “Let him in.”
Xiao Simo himself had considerable political acumen and awareness; the moment he heard the news of Uliji’s death.
He had connected all the dots.
Behind this was his two proud confidants, Xiao Lintta and Li Xiao, fighting it out.
He had originally thought Xiao Lintta had the upper hand, but unexpectedly, Li Xiao had set this trap for Xiao Lintta to fall into.
To be honest, at this moment, Xiao Simo suddenly felt that placing both Xiao Lintta and Li Xiao in Jin Prefecture might not have been the right choice.
Xiao Lintta was someone with a strong desire for power, and Li Xiao was no pushover either, backed by local forces in Jin Prefecture.
Although Xiao Simo had deliberately created a balance between the two governors, he did not want their struggle to go too far.
Damaging the Northern Frontier’s strength.
Now, with Xiao Simo still in Jin Prefecture, the two were already fighting.
Once he left, wouldn’t these two go to war?
Soon, Li Xiao entered the large tent, fist to chest on the right: “Greetings, Lord.”
He then straightened up, scanned the crowd, and said to Xiao Simo: “Lord, I came today because I heard that Chiliarch Uliji is dead.”
“And it seems related to Governor Xiao Lintta~”
Before Li Xiao finished speaking, Xiao Lintta glared furiously and roared at him.
“Li Xiao, don’t spout nonsense.”
“I conduct myself uprightly and sit squarely.”
“As Jin Prefecture Governor, why would I harm a subordinate chiliarch without cause?”
Then, with a look of righteous indignation, he shouted at Xiao Simo: “Great King.”
“Li Xiao is spouting utter nonsense; he is slandering me, slandering me!”
Faced with Xiao Lintta’s loud cries of innocence, Xiao Simo felt indignant inside.
He cursed inwardly: “Two useless things.”
Undoubtedly, this was a drama staged by the two for power and profit.
Uliji, that fool, had unwittingly become their tool.
“Hmph~”
Thinking of this, Xiao Simo grew even more annoyed.
Li Xiao, facing Xiao Lintta’s outburst, showed no weakness and said in a deep voice: “Governor Xiao, whether Li Xiao is spouting nonsense will be decided by the governor; you can’t quibble.”
“Li Xiao, are you trying to fight me to the death?”
Li Xiao confronted him: “Governor Xiao need not threaten me.”
“I, Li Xiao, don’t fall for that.”
“With someone else’s blade already at my neck, do you expect me, Li Xiao, to stand idly by?”
“You~” Xiao Lintta was furious.
In so many years, he had rarely lost composure like this.
“In short, I, Xiao Lintta, am upright in conduct and without guilt.”
“Uliji’s death has nothing to do with me; this is slander.”
Xiao Lintta had to resist to the end.
Moreover, he believed this matter was flawless; Li Xiao had no evidence to accuse him.
But unexpectedly, the next second, Li Xiao took out something.
He said with a cold laugh: “Slander?”
“Governor Xiao, open your eyes and see what this is.”
“It is the token of a guard by Governor Xiao’s side, found on the high priest of the Uliji Tribe.”
“At that time, you sent a confidant to secretly plot with the high priest, carrying your guard token to verify identity.”
“But you didn’t expect that the Uliji Tribe’s high priest was a thief.”
“He secretly swapped your guard’s token.”
“You didn’t know?”
“Perhaps your guard discovered it afterward but didn’t dare tell you.”
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Xiao Lintta was instantly dumbfounded.
He truly did not know about this; his guard had never mentioned losing the token.
Thus, he shouted instinctively: “Impossible, absolutely impossible.”
But the next second, when he clearly saw the token in Li Xiao’s hand, he was even more stunned.
Because it really was his guard’s token.
No mistake.
But why was it in Li Xiao’s hand?
Could it really be as Li Xiao said, that the Uliji Tribe’s high priest stole the token, and his own guard didn’t dare tell him?
Thinking of this, Xiao Lintta broke out in cold sweat, his face turning extremely ugly.
Anyone could see something was off with his demeanor.
He seemed lacking in confidence, extremely guilty.
The Khitan chiliarch under Xiao Lintta closed his eyes in despair.
Wumeng and the other chiliarch shook their heads speechlessly.
Xiao Lintta usually seemed insidious and cunning with a steady mind; how did he suddenly drop the ball at this moment?
Forget those like them who knew a bit of the inside story—even an uninformed person could see something was wrong with Xiao Lintta now.
Instead, Xiao Simo, sitting at the head, turned his head and glared fiercely at Xiao Yanyan, who was smugly sitting nearby.
“You really want to play Xiao Lintta to death?” Xiao Simo thought helplessly.
As one of the few in the know, he naturally knew how Li Xiao got that token.
It was what Xiao Yanyan had “stolen” from the central army warehouse not long ago.
Tokens like these representing guard identity were generally supervised by the governor’s mansion, with spares kept for generals to expand their guard teams.
Of course, now that Xiao Lintta was Jin Prefecture Governor, future guard tokens would be supervised by the Jin Prefecture Governor’s Mansion.
But since he had just taken office, they hadn’t been replaced yet.
They were still using the old ones.
The warehouse keeper didn’t dare offend Xiao Yanyan and hurriedly reported it to Xiao Simo.
He had originally been unclear what Xiao Yanyan wanted the token for.
Now, Xiao Simo understood.
To frame Xiao Lintta!
The key was, Xiao Lintta seemed to have really fallen for it.
“Really~”
“Can’t hold up a wall of mud.” Xiao Simo thought, shaking his head inwardly.
