In this chaotic world of vying for power, I can become stronger by marrying a wife.

The firelight illuminated half the sky.

The ruins of the Heifengkou granary were still emitting black smoke, and the air was filled with the smell of burning.

Su Ming stood there, half-closing his eyes as he looked at the middle-aged man in black armor before him, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Thirty thousand taels of silver?"

The man's voice was so soft it sounded like he was talking to himself, but Zhang San and the others behind him couldn't help but shiver.

Although they hadn't been following Su Ming for long, they were very clear about what that tone meant.

Someone's going to be in trouble!

The middle-aged man sneered, raised his hand, and immediately a dozen or so armored cavalrymen surrounded him, their spears pointed at Su Ming and his group. "Su Ming, you have privately burned down the army's granary and destroyed the Ministry of War's property. Your crimes are unforgivable!"

"Now, come with me to the Ministry of War for trial! Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without exception!"

Wei Lang's expression changed, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the hilt of his knife.

Zhang San and his men drew their weapons, staring fiercely at the armored cavalry, instantly creating a tense atmosphere.

Just then, Su Ming raised his hand and made a downward pressing motion.

"All of you, step back."

Wei Lang gritted his teeth, but finally loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword and led his men to retreat to the side.

Su Ming stepped forward, walked up to the middle-aged man, looked up at him, and asked, "May I ask your surname, sir?"

The middle-aged man looked down at him and snorted coldly, "Qian Kun, the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of War."

Su Ming nodded and smiled, saying, "So it's Lord Qian. My apologies for not recognizing you."

As he spoke, he pulled a small notebook from his pocket, flipped through it, and his smile grew brighter with each page: "Qian Kun, Principal of the Ministry of War, a confidant of Vice Minister Liu, in charge of the allocation of provisions for the Jing'an Army..."

"Oh, right, he also has another identity: the older brother of Qian Li, the adjutant at the Black Wind Pass granary."

Qian Kun's expression changed instantly upon hearing this. "You... what nonsense are you talking about!"

"Nonsense?" Su Ming closed the notebook and clapped his hands.

"Wei Lang, bring the things out."

Wei Lang understood and immediately had a large box brought up and opened.

Inside, account books, banknotes, and several letters were neatly stacked.

Su Ming picked up a letter at random and unfolded it.

"Brother, this batch of grain is ready and will be transported to Black Mountain Pass tomorrow. The Red Wolf King is pressing us hard, so please make the arrangements as soon as possible..."

He paused, then looked up at Qian Kun. "Lord Qian, do you recognize this handwriting?"

Cold sweat broke out on Qian Kun's forehead. "This...this is a forgery! You're trying to frame me!"

"Framed?" Su Ming laughed, a cold laugh.

"And what about these account books? They clearly record that in the past six months, the Black Wind Pass granary transported out a total of 30,000 shi of military rations and 5,000 jin of ironware, all of which flowed to the Northern Barbarians."

As he spoke, he waved the ledger in his hand. "Every entry has the signature of the person who handled it. Mr. Qian, would you like to take a look and see if your brother's name is on it?"

Qian Kun's face was ashen.

The soldiers watching nearby also began to whisper among themselves.

"Thirty thousand shi of military rations? That's three months' worth of food for our entire camp!"

"No wonder the food has been getting worse lately; these corrupt officials have sold it to the barbarians!"

"They deserve to die! These bastards deserve to be torn to pieces!"

Hearing the surrounding chatter, Qian Kun trembled all over, suddenly drew his waist knife, and pointed it at Su Ming.

"You're making baseless accusations! These things are all forgeries!"

"Forgery?" Su Ming's eyes turned completely cold. "Then, Lord Qian, can you explain why you arrived here the moment the granary burned down?"

"Black Wind Pass is thirty miles from the main camp. Even at the fastest speed, it would take an hour. But only half an hour has passed since the granary caught fire."

"How did you know there was an accident at the grain warehouse?"

"Could it be... that you knew something bad would happen tonight?"

One sentence, like a thunderclap.

The surrounding soldiers all turned to look at Qian Kun.

Qian Kun's face was beyond pale; he opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

Su Ming ignored him and turned to the black-armored cavalrymen. "Brothers, you are also members of the Jing'an Army, and soldiers of the Great Zhou."

"I ask you, shouldn't those who colluded with the northern barbarians, sold military rations, and caused the deaths of countless comrades be killed?"

Everyone fell silent.

A moment later, a black-armored cavalryman suddenly dropped his spear and knelt on one knee.

"He deserves to die!"

Then, the second, the third...

A dozen or so armored cavalrymen all knelt down.

"He deserves to die!"

Qian Kun panicked completely. He turned around abruptly to run away, but Zhang San kicked him to the ground.

"Trying to run away?" Zhang San grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "What I hate most are you traitorous dogs."

As he spoke, he slashed Qian Kun's leg with a knife.

"Ah—!" Qian Kun screamed in agony, clutching his leg and rolling on the ground.

Su Ming walked up to him, looking down at him. "Lord Qian, is there anything else you wish to say?"

"I...I'll tell you everything..." Qian Kun trembled all over, his eyes filled with fear. "It was all Liu Shilang's idea! He had my brother in charge of reselling military rations, and I was responsible for covering for him at the Ministry of War..."

"And...and..." He gritted his teeth, as if making a decision, "There's someone behind Minister Liu! It's...it's..."

Before he could finish speaking, an arrow pierced through the air and went straight through his throat.

Qian Kun's eyes widened, he opened his mouth, but could no longer make a sound, and slowly collapsed to the ground.

Su Ming turned around abruptly and looked in the direction from which the arrow had come.

In the darkness, a dark shadow flashed by.

"Chase!"

Wei Lang immediately led his men to give chase.

Su Ming didn't move, but stared at Qian Kun's corpse on the ground, his eyes growing colder.

They silenced them.

It seems the waters behind this are deeper than he imagined.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar.

A group of people galloped over, led by Xiao Qingtian.

He dismounted, glanced at the corpse on the ground, then at Su Ming, and said in a deep voice, "Something happened?"

Su Ming nodded and briefly recounted what had just happened.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingtian's face darkened horribly. "The Ministry of War moved so quickly? What do you plan to do?"

"Since they want to play, let's play big." Su Ming was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, and didn't forget to take out the black scroll from his pocket and hand it to Xiao Qingtian, "Captain, the evidence in here is enough to bring down Minister Liu, isn't it?"

Xiao Qingtian took the scroll, opened it, and looked at it; his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"That's enough, absolutely enough!"

"That's good."

Su Ming's smile grew even brighter. "Tomorrow morning, I would like to trouble you, Captain, to deliver these things to the Censorate for me, and also pass on a message to Vice Minister Liu."

"Just say that I've taken his son's life, and I'll personally go to the Ministry of War to collect his head in three days."

Xiao Qingtian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Good! Well done, Su Ming! Don't worry, I'll take care of it!"

After saying that, he led his men away.