Chapter 39: Will You Take the Bet?

What Lan Ruoting told him was nothing other than the matter of the hundred thousand Crow Generals. After hearing the truth, Niu Youdao understood. The court had originally intended to uproot Prince Ning's entire remaining power, and Shang Chaozong should by all rights have died. To save him, Lan Ruoting had deliberately fabricated the rumor. Then, seeing Great Yan beset by troubles within and enemies without, tottering in the wind and rain, he realized an opportunity had come and fanned the flames further by implying that the hundred thousand Crow Generals were hidden in Canglu County. Only then had Shang Chaozong finally seen daylight again and walked out of the Imperial Prison.

Niu Youdao also understood why the three of them had been unwilling to tell him the truth. If he were a spy sent by the court and managed to coax the truth from them, allowing the court to learn that the hundred thousand Crow Generals were nothing but a rumor, the consequences hardly needed imagining. So many lives depended on the secret. Their caution was understandable. He could not help glancing once more at Shang Shuqing. It had clearly been at this woman's signal that the other two finally loosened their tongues. He found her increasingly interesting.

His thoughts shifted, and he asked, "Mr. Lan, surely you didn't point the rumored hiding place of the hundred thousand Crow Generals toward Canglu County for no reason?"

Lan Ruoting explained, "Canglu County has difficult terrain and is easy to defend but hard to attack. Once His Highness arrives, it will be easier for him to establish a foothold."

Niu Youdao gave him a cold sidelong look. "Five hundred cavalrymen can still fight on open ground. Put them in difficult terrain and that becomes the cavalry's weakness instead—they won't be able to maneuver at all. Even if Canglu County is easy to defend, what does that change? Can a mere five hundred men hold off an imperial army from Canglu County? Mr. Lan, surely you don't think I'm young enough to be easily fooled."

The bluntness left Lan Ruoting somewhat embarrassed. Shang Shuqing hurriedly smoothed matters over. "When Father was alive, some of his old subordinates went into hiding. They were settled in Canglu County for precisely this reason."

Niu Youdao asked, "How many?"

Shang Shuqing sighed softly. "Father once commanded the armies of Great Yan, but when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Add the present emperor's ruthless purges, and very few truly loyal and dependable people remain. Only a little over a thousand are waiting for Brother in Canglu County. Nor did we dare recruit ordinary people too freely."

That brought another question to Niu Youdao's mind. "I've heard something of Prince Ning's reputation. A famous battlefield commander was hardly a witless man. Even if he wanted to restore the Wu Dynasty's former glory and suppress the cultivators beneath Heaven, he didn't need to proclaim it openly. Why go out of his way to offend the entire cultivation world?"

He left one thought unspoken. If not for that, with a group of expert cultivators protecting a Grand Marshal who commanded the realm's armies, how could Prince Ning have been assassinated so easily? The subject made the three of them awkward again. Prince Ning's position had infringed upon the interests of cultivators throughout the realm, and Master Dao was, after all, a cultivator himself.

Shang Chaozong, who had been quietly observing Niu Youdao, slowly said, "I'm afraid that matter cannot be separated from the present emperor."

Niu Youdao gave an interested sound. "How so?"

Lan Ruoting sighed. "Cultivators and sects throughout the realm need secular proxies to provide them with benefits—in other words, cultivation resources. Yet those proxies are unwilling to remain puppets under someone else's control forever. They therefore court different sects to restrain and suppress one another, preventing any single faction from becoming dominant. Otherwise, their own lives could be at risk at any moment. That is how the present balance beneath Heaven came to be. In truth, no imperial court willingly submits to the coercion of cultivators. Most rulers probably think much as Prince Ning did; they simply dare not show it. Prince Ning was no fool. Why would he publicly provoke universal outrage? In the end, someone was working behind the scenes. Back then, the late emperor actually intended to pass the throne to Prince Ning. Then Prince Ning's so-called extreme position suddenly came to light. Under pressure from cultivation powers on every side, the strain on the late emperor was beyond what outsiders could imagine. In the end, the late emperor suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. Then came the posthumous edict passing the throne to the present emperor. There were far too many suspicious points in the whole affair."

Once Lan Ruoting put it that way, Niu Youdao understood. At bottom, it had been a struggle over imperial power. He had little interest in the old dispute and only wanted enough background to understand the situation. Once he had it, he said no more and found the map of the State of Yan, spreading it across the table. Shang Chaozong watched somewhat coldly, curious to see what Master Dao intended to do.

Beneath her veil, Shang Shuqing's gaze drifted toward Niu Youdao from time to time, carrying a trace of expectation. She still remembered what Yuan Gang had said: given their circumstances, the man Master Dao was mattered more than his cultivation. She had doubted that judgment, but she no longer dismissed it. They had already underestimated Niu Youdao once because of his youth, only for his first real display of strength to shock everyone. The man clearly had a habit of hiding his depths. On the map, the State of Yan covered less territory than the other great powers. The State of Song lay to the east, the State of Han to the north, the State of Zhao to the west, and a vast sea stretched along the south.

Canglu County belonged to Qingshan Commandery in Nanzhou, in the southern part of the State of Yan. The county itself lay on the coast. Guangyi Commandery was nearby to the east, while only a single county separated it from the State of Zhao to the west. Nanzhou governed eleven commanderies, including Qingshan Commandery and Guangyi Commandery. Its Provincial Governor, Zhou Shouxian, was a trusted minister of the present emperor and guarded the region on his behalf. A capable official, he had consistently kept pressure on Feng Lingbo, Commandery Governor of Guangyi Commandery.

Lan Ruoting continued for quite some time, laying out the surrounding strategic situation. When he finished, Niu Youdao pointed at Guangyi Commandery on the map. "Feng Lingbo controls only one commandery, yet he dares hold troops for his own ends. The cultivation sect behind him cannot be weak."

Lan Ruoting stroked his beard and nodded. "Indeed. Feng Lingbo is backed by the Tianyu Sect, one of the major cultivation sects of the State of Yan. His wife, Peng Yulan, is the daughter of the Tianyu Sect's current Sect Leader, Peng Youzai. One could say Feng Lingbo owes both his rise and his limitations to Peng Yulan."

"Oh?" Niu Youdao asked. "How so?"

Lan Ruoting explained, "It was precisely because he married Peng Yulan and gained the Tianyu Sect's full support that Feng Lingbo dared to go this far and acquired the strength he has today. But because he married Peng Yulan, the other cultivation sects do not dare let him become too powerful. They fear that if Feng Lingbo gains supremacy, the Tianyu Sect will monopolize the largest share of the benefits. So they work to suppress him."

"So that's the situation..." Niu Youdao rubbed his chin and thought.

He stared at the map for a long while before slowly asking, "What does Your Highness plan to do after reaching Canglu County?"

Shang Chaozong answered one word at a time. "Master Dao, this is not a question of whether I trust you. What you're asking concerns lives. If word leaks out, I don't know how many heads will fall."

The implication was clear: some things still could not be told to him. Niu Youdao smiled faintly. If Shang Chaozong had simply answered, he might still have harbored doubts. This refusal instead gave him a measure of confidence.

He tapped Canglu County on the map. "A tiny patch of land. Even with another thousand men waiting there, what does it amount to? The story of the hundred thousand Crow Generals may fool the court for a while, but it cannot fool them forever. Once the court decides to act, Your Highness's present strength cannot possibly resist. And since the court dared release Your Highness and send you there, it must already have made preparations in Canglu County. So I assume Your Highness has already prepared a retreat. There are only so many possible roads. The State of Song is too far to the east for you to reach. The State of Zhao to the west offers more of a possibility, but judging from how displeased Your Highness was when I threw away some dry provisions on the road, I doubt you are the sort to defect to an enemy state. And the State of Zhao may not give you any chance to rise again anyway. Which leaves only..."

His finger slid down the map and came to rest on the sea south of Canglu County.

"The sea. Your Highness's side has operated in Canglu County for years. I assume you have a way to slip away without attracting attention. Once you reach Canglu County, you can judge the situation. If things turn bad, immediately gather your people, take a secret route south, and put out to sea. Preserve yourselves first, then look for a chance to rise again later. Have I guessed correctly?"

Shang Chaozong, Lan Ruoting, and Shang Shuqing all looked shocked. Shang Chaozong had known nothing of the plan while imprisoned. Lan Ruoting and Shang Shuqing had secretly prepared the escape route outside the prison for a long time, and Shang Chaozong had learned of it only afterward. It was a secret known only to the three of them. Yet Niu Youdao had pierced it with a few deductions. If the plan leaked, their final road of retreat would be severed. Yuan Gang watched the reactions of the three and guessed that Master Dao had hit the mark.

Niu Youdao tapped Guangyi Commandery again. "Your Highness, in my view there is no hurry to go to Canglu County. You might as well linger in Guangyi Commandery for a while longer."

Shang Chaozong's attitude changed at once. He cupped his hands respectfully. "I would like to hear Master Dao's reasoning."

"Once you enter Canglu County, you will essentially have no other road left. You are Prince Ning's son. No state will lightly take you in. Your only real option would be to flee south by sea. But once you run, you are abandoning your last foothold in the State of Yan. Worse, fleeing could easily earn you the label of traitor. That would make it difficult to win the hearts of the people of the State of Yan in the future. So long as the State of Yan itself does not collapse, Your Highness may never get another chance to return. And who knows whether the present emperor would simply send people to hunt you across the sea anyway?" Niu Youdao pointed at Guangyi Commandery. "Feng Lingbo's decision to hold troops for his own ends is your opportunity. You can join forces with Feng Lingbo against the court."

Shang Chaozong smiled bitterly. "With the little strength in my hands, Feng Lingbo probably wouldn't even look at me properly, much less ally with me. And the Tianyu Sect likely has no desire to see Feng Lingbo become entangled with me."

"Your Highness is mistaken. Your hard power may be weak, but you still possess some soft power. The signboard of being Prince Ning's son alone leaves plenty that can be done." After offering that reassurance, Niu Youdao revealed a sly smile. "How about Niu makes a wager with Your Highness?"

Shang Shuqing and Lan Ruoting looked at one another. Shang Chaozong gave an interested sound. "What do you propose to wager?"

Niu Youdao smiled. "I am willing to make a trip into Guangyi Commandery on Your Highness's behalf and borrow a force of troops from Feng Lingbo—enough to ensure Your Highness can establish yourself securely in Canglu County. What does Your Highness think?"

All three of them froze. Their expressions might as well have said: Are you talking in your sleep? Forget forming an alliance. If Feng Lingbo merely refrained from driving them out of Guangyi Commandery, that would already be fortunate. And Niu Youdao expected Feng Lingbo to lend him troops?

What sort of joke was this?

Unless Feng Lingbo were an idiot, why would he ever agree?

Of everyone present, only Yuan Gang remained completely unperturbed.

Shang Shuqing spoke carefully. "Master Dao, this is not something to joke about."

Niu Youdao waved a hand. "I ask only one thing. Will Your Highness take the bet or not?"

Shang Chaozong answered without hesitation. "Good! This prince accepts. What is the stake?"

Niu Youdao pointed toward Yuan Gang. "If I fail to borrow the troops, Monkey will serve under Your Highness's command. If I succeed, I'm afraid Your Highness will have to suffer one small grievance."

[End of Chapter 39]