THE NIGHT EMPEROR: 夜安王 【The Night Emperor Book 1】| ✔️

Chapter 15 Protest

"Foul play?" Ye An cocked her head slightly to one side. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

Xiao Yan smiled triumphantly. "Hah. Finally something you don't know. If you're thinking whether it means that the invasion ten years ago was an inside job, then the answer is yes. At least according to my source."

"This is why I need you, Xiao Yan." Ye An returned with a gracious smile. "So what about it?"

"You know how the security at the northern border is notorious for being impenetrable? The Great Emperor Lee Gang made sure that the walls were twenty feet thick and ten stories high." Xiao Yan paused to sip on her tea before continuing while Ye An shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the late emperor who happened to be her grandfather.

"Just take the invasion this time as an example. The Northerners weren't able to cross over to this side before being plunged by arrows from the top of the wall. Sure, there were extra guards this time, we'll come back to that later. But even so, the wall is virtually impenetrable even with the usual number of guards. However, the invasion was successful ten years ago. Makes you wonder how that was possible, isn't it? No matter how you think about it, everything points towards an inside job. Someone from the inside opening those doors to the enemy."

Ye An wrinkled the space in between her eyebrows. "Does your source have any information on who it might have been?"

Xiao Yan shook her head regretfully. "Unfortunately no. They're not even sure if that person was involved in the war afterward. He.. or she might have just fled after the Northerners entered our side."

Both Ye An and Xi Chen ruminated on that possibility before Xiao Yan continued. "Another thing that my source couldn't confirm was whether the person who opened the door was indeed the mastermind behind the entire incident or there was another person. But other than that, my source had a pretty clear idea of what had happened."

"Please. Fill me in." Ye An said, eager for some new information.

"According to what my source had informed me, the Northerners most likely entered the military barracks under the cover of the night, stole some military uniforms, and left to the nearest town. They were smart. They didn't harm any military officers while they were in the barracks. So the alarm wasn't raised as quickly. Apparently, when the military realized that some uniforms were missing, they just drew that up as a prank until there were reports of men dressed in military uniforms threatening and murdering people at a couple of small towns near the border. By then it was too late, many were dead and the Northerners were steadily moving southwards, in the direction of the capital. That was when General Shao was dispatched to the northern border to quell this matter."

Come to think of it, Ye An suddenly recalled that there was a period of time when General Shao's shadow was nowhere to be found on the royal compounds.

"He and the late Lieutenant General Peng managed to contain the issue through war. My source also mentioned the recruitment of orphaned children to fight the war. Untrained children who contributed to the many lives lost. But thankfully the people from the northern region are a resilient bunch, they managed to fully return to normal life only after a year. But that was still a huge price to pay for a three-month war that was largely unknown to the rest of the country."