"YOU WISHED to see me?"
Apa Khagan had brought a number of guards with him. This was his territory: He could bring whomever he wanted wherever he wanted, without permission from anyone else. The new crowd of people brought a wave of heat into the yurt. That already-faint scent was quickly overpowered, almost entirely undetectable.
Cui Buqu nodded. "I wished to see you."
"Speak." Apa Khagan looked down at Cui Buqu with the air of a man who had victory in his grasp. His weathered face bore witness to the difficult lives of the nomadic tribes, creased with hardships unknown to the nobles of the Central Plains. As he looked at Cui Buqu, his expression held indifference and mockery, with none of his previous hospitality and desire to please. He regarded Cui Buqu as if killing him would be like crushing an ant.
"The second prince only just passed away," Cui Buqu said without preamble. "So why is it, Khagan, that you don't seem sad at all?"
"As a Göktürk khagan, all the Göktürk people occupy my heart," said Apa Khagan coolly. "I can't forget my duties as khagan simply because my son died."
Any Göktürk would be awed by such principled and upstanding words. Even the guards at Apa Khagan's side looked moved. Apa Khagan's previous buffoonery seemed to have been completely forgotten—had this been the Central Plains, they'd probably have fallen to their knees on the spot and cried, Long live the khagan!
But Cui Buqu simply laughed, as though what Apa Khagan had said was a joke. His laughter drew furious glares from the guards, who looked as though they might rush over and strike him.
"I wish to speak to the khagan alone," Cui Buqu said. "If not, Khagan, I fear I may say something you'll regret."
The two of them stared each other down. Apa Khagan showed not a ripple of emotion. He signaled the guards to leave and ordered a heavy curtain hung over the entrance to block any noise and prevent prying eyes.
"What did you wish to say?" asked Apa Khagan.
Cui Buqu remained silent.
Apa Khagan laughed breezily. "It doesn't matter. Nothing you say now can avert your death."
Cui Buqu coughed twice. His complexion was paler now than when he'd arrived from the Central Plains, but the change was merely that of white to whiter. Few people would observe him closely enough to notice the difference.
He raised a sleeve with slender fingers, his bony knuckles straining beneath delicate skin as he covered his mouth. Yet he looked anything but frail or helpless. Instead, his fingers resembled bamboo, straight and unbending under that wide sleeve. "But you still came," he said. "You're curious about what I have to say. Or maybe you're curious how much I know."
Apa Khagan didn't speak. He was waiting for Cui Buqu to continue, as he knew Cui Buqu would. He'd stall for time by flaunting his intelligence and interrogating Apa Khagan as long as he could. It didn't matter; Apa Khagan had come prepared. No matter what Cui Buqu said or how much he knew, it would make no difference to the outcome.
Sure enough, Cui Buqu's next words were shocking: "At first, I thought the Black Moon Shaman was impersonating you."
Apa Khagan arched a brow in interest. "And what changed your mind?"
"The stone hut."
"Oh?"
"Feng Xiao went to the stone hut that night," said Cui Buqu. "His nose is keener than a dog's. He picked up the scent of medicinal ingredients—in particular, lovage, musk, and ginger."
Feng Xiao wasn't there to make a retort on Cui Buqu's comment about his nose, nor protest that Cui Buqu had compared him to a dog. Cui Buqu was free to say whatever he wished.
"A pinch of musk, half a tael of ginger, a tael of ganquan, and a tael of lovage. Do you know what the resulting drug is?" Cui Buqu didn't wait for a reply. He didn't need one. "Purification pills. Burning them neutralizes the stench of corpses.
"Jinlian mentioned that it was the Black Moon Shaman who cured the khagan when he fell ill shortly before our arrival. Upon Jinlian's return from the Central Plains, she found Apa Khagan's attitude had undergone a complete reversal. He was no longer willing to support her in seeking an alliance with the Central Plains and refused to see the Sui envoys. He even treated Jinlian herself with a cold distance that was completely unprecedented.
"The recipe for these pills calls for ginger and musk, which can't be found here in the Western Khaganate; you must purchase them from the merchants of the Central Plains. I therefore sent Jinlian to discover who had gone to the merchants for these items. It was you, Khagan.
"At first, I thought the Black Moon Shaman had killed the khagan and assumed his identity. But the purification pills changed my mind. A Göktürk, even a great shaman, couldn't possibly be familiar with such a recipe—let alone know that it can be used to disguise a corpse's stench. This wasn't something a Göktürk would do. And as for you? Since disguising yourself as the khagan, your actions have never seemed to benefit the Western Khaganate."
Apa Khagan raised his hands and began clapping slowly.
He showed no sign of panic. He'd patiently waited for Cui Buqu to finish his entire speech, exhibiting neither alarmed confusion nor rage born of humiliation. If anything, his expression might have been described as appreciative. "I expect nothing less from the chief of the Zuoyue Bureau. How much you can deduce merely from the scent of some herbs. Someone once told me Great Sui is served by several people I couldn't afford to offend. One was Feng Xiao with his martial arts. Another was Cui Buqu with his scheming. I personally witnessed Feng Xiao's martial prowess; even the Khaganate's foremost expert fell at his hands. Now that I've heard your wise words, I've gained yet more understanding."
Every word was in flawless Chinese of the northern Central Plains.
But Cui Buqu had long anticipated this. His face remained blank, showing no surprise. "Should I thank the khagan—no, should I rather thank this good brother who's impersonating the khagan—for his praise?"
The fake khagan laughed. "When did you realize?"
"From the beginning," said Cui Buqu.
"Impossible!"
Cui Buqu regarded him coldly. "You slipped up within our first moments in your presence. Apa Khagan is a lustful man, and Qiao Xian is beautiful. But when I brought Qiao Xian into the royal yurt on the first day, you didn't once glance at her, let alone express amazement or make a lecherous remark. Do you think that's typical of the khagan?"
The man looked thoughtful and gave a slight nod of agreement.
"What's more, on the night the Black Moon Shaman died, all the envoys were present at the start of the banquet. You, the ruling khagan, should properly have been there as well. Yet you did not appear. Everyone said that you'd recently spent all your time in the arms of your new Kuchean beauty at the expense of your duties. They thought you were happy to be late even for such an important occasion. But to me, this proved only one thing: You predicted Feng Xiao would go looking for the Black Moon Shaman and set a trap for him. While everyone was at the banquet, you fought Feng Xiao, making him think you were the shaman. Then you set fire to the stone hut along with the shaman's corpse and made sure Feng Xiao took the fall.
"There's more. Feng Xiao was injured during your fight, but you were no better off. Feng Xiao slipped into the second prince's yurt and managed to mask the smell of blood by pretending Prince Ade had some bizarre proclivities. When you arrived with that Kuchean woman, I could smell that her perfume was stronger than usual. You must have used her to mask the smell of blood."
Cui Buqu delivered this entire speech in a single breath. His body was at its limit, and as soon as he finished speaking, he bent his head and coughed. But his thoughts were racing. This was a person capable of disguising themselves as a Göktürk khagan as part of an incredibly elaborate scheme. He'd played everyone for a fool, including Fo'er. Even Cui Buqu hadn't been confident in his suspicions at first. Anyone could see how frightening this man was.
But he'd also patiently listened to Cui Buqu's speeches as he stalled for time, and it certainly wasn't because Cui Buqu's face was handsome, nor that his voice was especially lovely. It was clear that this man also wanted to buy time for reasons of his own.
Right now, Cui Buqu was a sitting duck. Whatever reason this man had for stalling, it had to have something to do with Feng Xiao. At that thought, Cui Buqu began to cough more violently. All he could do was hope Feng Xiao had understood his intentions, and that he'd cooperate with him from outside. Without this, all his struggles here would be for naught.
The fake Apa Khagan cast him a concerned look, yet the words that emerged from his mouth were quite the opposite. "Are you all right? Does all this coughing mean you're about to die? From what I've seen, you're frail and sickly. Why don't you just give up?"
Cui Buqu coughed twice more. "Thank you for your consideration, Yuxiu-chanshi,1 but I fear I must disappoint you."
The fake khagan narrowed his eyes, surging with bloodlust.
Cui Buqu seemed not to notice. The coughing had tired him, and he leaned against a pillar for support as he caught his breath. His hand remained pressed to his chest—there was a throbbing pain there, which even breathing aggravated. At times like these, Qiao Xian would normally rush over and grab his hand to channel him some internal energy and alleviate his suffering. But Qiao Xian wasn't here. All he could do was breathe as shallowly as possible to try to lessen the burden on his body.
The fake khagan's bloodthirsty stare was like needles pricking his skin. The pain increased, and his back broke out in a cold sweat. At long last, he heard the man say, "How did you know it was me?"
Cui Buqu closed his eyes, waiting out a surge of agony before he answered. "In Qiemo, you ensured we met the monk Yuheng, who greatly resembles you. You meant to mislead us, and at first it worked. We really did think he was you. In hindsight, by then you must have already arrived in the Western Khaganate and set your plans in motion.
"Apa Khagan is a leader of his people. There are countless people around him at all times. Killing him is one thing, but successfully disguising yourself as him and taking his place is quite another. It was no small task. Killing the Black Moon Shaman, however, was much easier. He lived far from the rest of the tribe, with few servants. You killed him first and stole his identity. Then, under the guise of treating the khagan, you murdered him and hid his corpse in the stone hut. The purification pills concealed the stench, and you emerged in your disguise as the khagan, putting out that the shaman was recuperating in seclusion.
"You attached yourself to the Kuchean beauty because she arrived after you took Apa Khagan's place. On the one hand, she corroborated your reputation as a lecher; on the other, you were able to minimize the time you spent with the khagan's other women, who knew him better and might expose you. It was a brilliant plan.
"Everything you did after assuming Apa Khagan's identity was intended to exacerbate the conflict between Ishbara and the Sui dynasty. You wished for the Western Khaganate to fall into chaos, and led them down the path of destruction. When I look at the way you impeded us throughout, everything makes sense. In truth, prior to this I was only speculating. I wasn't certain until now." A faint smile spread across Cui Buqu's face. "When you admitted it yourself."
The fake khagan—no, the monk Yuxiu—nodded indifferently. He had no further interest in affecting the aged, raspy voice of Apa Khagan and returned to his original voice with its clear and pleasant timbre. He was a youthful and handsome monk, and even the time-creased face he wore couldn't fully conceal the unconscious elegance beneath.
"I admitted it. So what? Don't tell me you're waiting for Feng Xiao to save you? To be blunt, I'd imagine he's happy to see you die. Even if he does find his conscience, it's impossible for him to come for you."