Chapter 87: Marquis of Jingnan

Just as the stone was about to smash into Zheng Fan’s forehead, a low shout rang out:

“Demon Child, are you trying to get us all killed?!”

BUZZ!

The stone began to slow.

At last, it stopped directly in front of Zheng Fan’s forehead.

Perhaps because it had decelerated too violently, the air still carried a faint scorched smell.

Even Zheng Fan’s bangs had been singed and curled.

Zuo Jiqian heard the voice behind him.

Still lying on the ground, he instinctively tried to turn his head and look.

BANG!

A’Ming kicked him directly in the head.

Already injured, Zuo Jiqian immediately lost consciousness.

“He is your father!”

A’Ming shouted while clutching his own left hand.

His left hand had already turned dark purple.

Clearly, he had forced the poison that had spread through his body after being struck by the needles to gather there for suppression.

At that moment, a childish infant’s voice emerged from inside the stone.

“I was only following orders.”

“Orders?

“Whose orders?” A’Ming asked.

“My... father’s orders.”

The word *father* was practically ground out between clenched teeth.

He sounded utterly unwilling to say it.

A’Ming looked at Zheng Fan in confusion.

Zheng Fan looked back at A’Ming with equal confusion.

He had not lost his mind badly enough to give an order like that.

“He said...

‘Son, smash!’”

“...” Zheng Fan.

...

“Faster!”

“Move!”

“Faster!”

Squad after squad of cavalry came galloping in at high speed, gathering beneath the northern gatehouse of Southwatch City.

The soldiers stationed at the north gate immediately shut the gates.

Archers moved into position along the walls.

The Patrol Lieutenant Commander responsible for the north gate drew his saber and shouted toward the approaching force which was clearly wearing standard Yan military armor as well:

“Who are you?

“Why are you charging the city gate?!”

At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing gilded armor and a black cloak slowly urged the Pi Beast beneath him out from the formation.

Yan tradition: when judging a man, look at his mount first.

The higher a person’s status, the finer the quality of Pi Beast he could usually obtain.

The beast beneath this middle-aged man had thick, powerful limbs, a massive frame, and three long black horns growing from its forehead.

A savage aura radiated from its entire body.

Compared with it, the unicorn-like beast Xu Wenzu rode was eighteen streets behind in quality.

The middle-aged man did not announce his identity.

But his armor, combined with his mount, was already enough for many soldiers on the walls to recognize him.

The Patrol Lieutenant Commander guarding the gate opened his mouth.

“Mar...

Marquis...”

The man raised a purple-gold command token.

His voice rang out:

“Rebels have stirred unrest inside Southwatch City.

“This Marquis has brought troops into the city to suppress the rebellion.

“Anyone who obstructs us will be treated as an accomplice of the rebels and executed without mercy!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

Behind him, several thousand cavalry raised their weapons and roared in perfect unison.

The systems of nobility differed across the four great states.

In Yan, Marquis was the highest noble rank.

No one outside the imperial clan could be made a Prince.

The foremost Marquis of Yan was naturally the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Beneath his residence stood three hundred thousand Zhenbei troops, which had suppressed the barbarian tribes for a century.

But in the south of Yan, there was another Marquis the Marquis of Jingnan, commander of fifty thousand Jingnan troops.

In truth, the real force stationed in the south to defend Yan’s frontier against Qian had never been the network of fortresses centered around Southwatch City.

Yan people excelled at offense and were poor at defense.

Even during the darkest years, when they faced the barbarian Royal Court at its strongest, Yan armies still preferred to march out proactively and fight barbarian cavalry head-on.

The true force regarded by Qian’s frontier commanders as the greatest threat was these fifty thousand Jingnan troops.

As long as the Jingnan Army remained, even if Yan’s entire southern defensive line were dismantled, Qian’s armies would still not dare casually march north.

If Qian sent too few soldiers on a northern expedition, the Jingnan Army might simply swallow them whole.

If Qian sent too many, the Jingnan Army could rely on cavalry mobility to choose whether to fight, withdraw, outflank, or delay.

They could calmly buy enough time for Yan to transfer reinforcements from elsewhere.

Unlike the line of the Marquis of Zhenbei, however, the Ji imperial clan had no interest in creating another hereditary frontier house of comparable power.

So each generation’s Marquis of Jingnan was personally appointed by the Emperor.

When a Marquis of Jingnan reached retirement age, or when a new Emperor ascended and needed to install his own trusted man, the position of Marquis of Jingnan would be replaced just like the office of Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The former Marquis retained the noble rank of Marquis, but no longer carried the title “Marquis of Jingnan.”

A new Marquis of Jingnan would appear and take the post.

Therefore, the Jingnan Army’s standard fifty-thousand-man force was essentially an Imperial Guard army stationed outside the capital.

And “Marquis of Jingnan” was more like an office than a hereditary noble title.

The current Marquis of Jingnan was the Empress’s younger brother the present Emperor’s brother-in-law.

Not long after the current Emperor of Yan ascended the throne, he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jingnan and given command of the Jingnan Army.

“Sir... do we open the gate or not?”

A Centurion asked the Patrol Lieutenant Commander beside him.

The officer glanced uneasily back into the city.

They had already sensed the disturbance at the Garrison Commander’s residence.

City Defense troops had been deployed there as well.

But at a moment like this, the Marquis of Jingnan had suddenly arrived with an army and wanted to enter Southwatch City...

Yan kept military and civil authority separate.

In Beifeng Commandery, that rule was practically meaningless.

The residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei was essentially the local emperor there.

But elsewhere, the separation was enforced quite strictly.

The Marquis of Jingnan normally could only station his forces inside the Jingnan Army’s own camp.

And because his title was not hereditary, he did not even maintain a separate Marquis’s residence.

Under the pressure from the Jingnan Army below, the Patrol Lieutenant Commander finally gritted his teeth.

“Pass the order.

“Open the gates.

“Let the Jingnan Army enter.

“I refuse to believe the imperial brother-in-law himself is about to rebel!”

The gates slowly opened.

The Marquis of Jingnan rode in first.

Behind him, the iron cavalry of the Jingnan Army poured through in a continuous stream.

The instant he entered the city, the Marquis of Jingnan ordered his commanders:

“Take control of all four city gates immediately.

“Seal the government granaries and treasuries.

“Impose a curfew!”

“Understood!”

“Understood!”

Under the command of their officers, the Jingnan troops began systematically disarming the Southwatch City garrison.

Key intersections, government repositories, and storehouses were all brought under Jingnan Army control.

While those operations unfolded in orderly fashion, the Marquis of Jingnan himself did not delay for even a moment.

With his personal guards, he rode directly toward the Garrison Commander’s residence.

City Defense troops had already surrounded and secured the residence.

The officer leading them saw the gilded armor and the Pi Beast beneath the newcomer.

He immediately dropped to his knees.

“Greetings, Marquis!”

“Greetings, Marquis!”

“Return to your barracks immediately.

“Without an order from this Marquis, no one is permitted to leave camp.

“Any violator— executed!”

The City Defense troops did not understand why the Jingnan Army had suddenly entered the city.

Nor did they understand why the Marquis immediately intended to disarm them.

But Xiao Dahai, the Garrison Commander of Southwatch City, had just died.

And the Prefect of Southwatch City had been assassinated during the earlier chaos.

So at this moment, across the entire city, there was nobody with enough official standing to speak to the Marquis of Jingnan as an equal.

The City Defense troops therefore did not resist.

Under their officers’ restraint, they surrendered their weapons to the Jingnan Army and began returning to barracks.

The Marquis of Jingnan dismounted from his Pi Beast.

Surrounded by personal guards, he entered the Garrison Commander’s residence directly.

The entire compound had already been brought under Jingnan Army control.

Rows of armored Jingnan soldiers occupied every surrounding position.

Physicians from across the city had been summoned to treat the wounded inside the residence.

“Are there many wounded?” the Marquis of Jingnan asked the trusted Lieutenant Commander who had entered ahead of him.

“Reporting to the Marquis: the assassins first hid inside the coffin.

“While everyone was paying respects, they fired concealed weapons.

“The needles were poisoned.”

“Can they be saved?”

“Reporting to the Marquis... some can.

“Those whose bodies were already weak, or who suffered from other illnesses, may not...”

“Heh.”

The Marquis of Jingnan changed the subject.

“Were all the assassins captured?”

“Twenty-six assassins were killed.

“Not one survived.”

“Not one?”

“Yes.

“Not one.

“Several assassins disguised as Daoist priests swallowed poison and committed suicide after being gravely wounded.”

“Heh.

“Twenty-six assassins.

“Twenty-six deathsworn.

“When did the Garrison Commander’s residence of Southwatch City become a den of thieves?

“And to think so many could hide here at once.

“Lieutenant Commander Chu.”

“This general is here!”

“Pass down my order.

“Search the entire city.

“This Marquis refuses to believe that anyone could arrange such a major incident and infiltrate the Garrison Commander’s residence so deeply without accomplices inside Southwatch City!

“No matter who they are.

“No matter which clan they belong to.

“If any connection is discovered— imprison them immediately.

“Anyone who obstructs the investigation— confiscate the household and exterminate the clan!”

“This general obeys!”

After giving the order, the Marquis of Jingnan walked into the mourning hall.

The Prefect’s perfectly good head had been placed on the offering table.

Blood covered the surroundings.

Fortunately, the dead and wounded had already been moved elsewhere for treatment and temporary placement.

The mourning hall itself had become much quieter.

For once, it actually felt like a mourning hall.

The Marquis of Jingnan took three sticks of incense.

He lit them, bowed, and placed them into the censer.

At that moment, a Lieutenant Commander approached and saluted.

“Marquis.

“Our soldiers found Garrison Commander Xiao Dahai’s body inside a privy.”

“Mm.”

The Marquis of Jingnan closed his eyes.

After a moment, he said calmly:

“Commander Xiao was obviously murdered by the assassins.

“There is no need to hand his corpse over to the coroner and let them toss him around.

“Leave some dignity for a Garrison Commander of The Great Yan Dynasty.

“Prepare his body properly first.

“Right...”

The Marquis of Jingnan reached out, picked up the Prefect’s head, and tossed it to the Lieutenant Commander.

Then continued:

“Return the Prefect’s head to his family first.

“Afterward, find several skilled tailors in the city and sew it back on.”

“Understood.”

The Lieutenant Commander withdrew.

Not long afterward, another Lieutenant Commander approached.

“Marquis.

“The assassins’ corpses have all been checked.”

“Checked?

“By whom?”

“Reporting to the Marquis: when the assassins struck, two Fortress Commanders happened to be present inside the mourning hall.

“They later joined the residence guards and killed the assassins.”

“Oh?”

The Marquis of Jingnan seemed mildly surprised.

He turned.

Walked several steps.

Then sat down boldly on the bloodstained steps outside the main entrance of the mourning hall.

“Bring the two of them here to see this Marquis.”

“Understood!”

Soon escorted by a group of Jingnan soldiers—

Zheng Fan arrived before the Marquis of Jingnan, who was seated on the steps.

Zheng Fan’s white scholarly robe had already been dyed red with blood.

Yet the blood-soaked appearance actually suited him rather well.

Zuo Jiqian looked far more miserable.

His left arm had been bandaged.

His head had been bandaged too.

A genuinely handsome man could still look handsome with a shaved head.

But even the most handsome man alive would struggle to look good after losing too much blood and being wrapped in bandages.

Standing side by side, the contrast between the two men was obvious.

After all, nobody would have gone out of their way to explain every detail of the earlier fighting to the Marquis of Jingnan.

The fellow who had spent the entire battle hanging back and stealing kills naturally possessed a much prettier record on paper.

“This general Zheng Fan, Commander of Green Willow Fortress, greets the Marquis!”

“This general Zuo Jiqian, Commander of Jitui Fortress, greets the Marquis!”

Both dropped to one knee together.

The Marquis of Jingnan toyed with the jade thumb ring on his hand.

Then asked:

“Zuo Jiqian?

“You’re from the Zuo Clan of Huwei?”

At those words, Zuo Jiqian immediately bowed his head again.

“Yes.

“The Zuo Clan of Huwei.”

This was one of the defining characteristics of aristocratic-clan politics.

Family background came first.

If your lineage was equal, or impressive enough, that was the greatest calling card of all your qualification to sit at the table.

“How is Old Master Zuo’s health?” the Marquis of Jingnan asked.

Old Master Zuo was obviously the current clan head of the Zuo family.

“Reporting to the Marquis: my grandfather remains quite healthy.

“When this general was still at home, I often heard Grandfather mention the Marquis.”

Comrade Zheng Fan who did not even qualify as a “humble family,” no.

Who did not possess so much as a “gate” at all continued kneeling quietly nearby.

His face showed neither envy of aristocratic lineage nor jealousy that Zuo Jiqian was receiving more attention.

At last, after finishing his small talk with Zuo Jiqian the Marquis of Jingnan finally shifted a fraction of his attention toward Zheng Fan.

“Your surname is Zheng?”

“This general’s surname is Zheng.”

“What relation do you have to the Zheng Clan of Sanshi?”

“Reporting to the Marquis: none whatsoever.”

“None?”

The Marquis of Jingnan looked at Zheng Fan twice more in surprise.

The rules of Yan politics were clear.

Children of aristocratic clans had far greater chances of rising, because their families controlled overwhelming resources.

But it was not literally impossible for commoners to climb upward.

In fact, Yan’s most inspirational example of a commoner rising from nothing was the first Marquis of Zhenbei.

He had originally possessed no family status whatsoever.

He had not even qualified as a “humble family.”

Yet through military merit, he had forced his way upward.

His Li Clan eventually became the foremost aristocratic clan in all Yan.

But under the present system, when a man without lineage succeeded, two things often happened.

First, he himself might develop an inferiority complex and proactively search for some great clan to attach his genealogy to.

Second, the aristocratic clans themselves were not about to ignore the opportunity to absorb an elite talent.

So some men simply changed surnames and entered a great clan.

The Marquis of Jingnan did not believe the Zheng Clan of Sanshi would ignore a same-surnamed military officer who had already risen to Fortress Commander.

After all, the Zheng Clan of Sanshi could not compare with the Zuo Clan in influence.

All they needed was a ceremony and a fabricated story.

For example:

Several generations ago your branch moved elsewhere and lost contact with the main line.

Now you had returned to your ancestors.

A few characters changed in the genealogy and the matter was settled.

Such things were extremely common in Yan.

Even in later generations, after the Qing dynasty was already dead, so-called “princesses” were still hot commodities on the marriage market.

“Where are you from?”

“Reporting to the Marquis: this general comes from Beifeng Commandery.”

“Beifeng Commandery?”

The Marquis of Jingnan turned the words over in his mind.

Then asked:

“What is your relationship with the Li Clan?”

This man was a genuine Marquis.

The title was not hereditary.

His Jingnan Army numbered only fifty thousand.

Even so, he remained one of the foremost military nobles of the current Great Yan Dynasty.

Zheng Fan did not dare use the same method he had used to deceive Xu Wenzu.

He certainly was not going to imitate Zuo Jiqian’s earlier behavior and casually tell the Marquis of Jingnan:

Oh, my Marquis often mentions Your Lordship at home.

The man before him was someone who could sit on equal footing with the Marquis of Zhenbei.

He could personally meet the Marquis of Zhenbei.

If Zheng Fan’s train of bullshit ever derailed, what would he do then?

So this time, Zheng Fan was exceptionally humble.

“By the grace of the Marquis’s residence, they did not despise this lowly one.

“This lowly one was fortunate enough to become one of the hounds beneath the Marquis’s gate.”

Sometimes, the more modest you acted, the less others dared look down upon you.

For example, Zuo Jiqian kneeling beside him did not reveal the slightest contempt for Zheng Fan’s low birth.

The residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei had few descendants, but its influence remained immense.

Among the seven Regional Commanders beneath it, six had been granted the surname Li!

The Marquis of Jingnan continued stroking his thumb ring.

Then said:

“You both checked the corpses.

“Were any assassins missing?”

Zuo Jiqian immediately raised his head.

With a grave expression, he answered:

“Reporting to the Marquis: one assassin was not among the corpses.

“She was a woman.

“She was the one who initially hid inside the coffin and fired the poisoned needles inside the mourning hall.

“This general checked twice.

“There was no female corpse among the assassins!”

“Oh?”

The Marquis of Jingnan gave an “oh.”

Then turned toward Zheng Fan.

“You speak.”

Zheng Fan immediately raised his head.

With equal seriousness, he said:

“This general never saw any woman.

“According to this general’s examination— every assassin was killed.

“Not a single one escaped!”

“...” Zuo Jiqian.

(End of Chapter)