Chapter 129: Demolish It

“Our family foundation is thin.

“There is only one leg of lamb.

“It was never enough to fill everyone.

“So what is the point in fighting over it?”

Inside the imperial study—

Wei Zhonghe was repeating Zheng Fan’s words one by one.

There was only the slightest delay.

Not a single word was wrong.

His left ear kept twitching faintly as he spoke.

This was practically live audio transmission.

Even Zheng Fan’s tone was being imitated.

Ji Runhao tore off a piece of lamb and slowly chewed it.

Then he said, “That brat really is somewhat interesting.

“No wonder Chengjue can play together with him.”

Ji Chengjue was the name of the Sixth Prince.

“Your Majesty.

“That brat’s mind is transparent and nimble.

“This servant has taken quite a liking to him as well.”

This was the second time Wei Zhonghe had said that today.

Which meant he genuinely did appreciate Zheng Fan.

He truly felt Zheng Fan was extremely well suited for life inside the imperial palace.

The palace ecosystem itself resembled raising venomous insects in a jar.

Any great eunuch capable of climbing from the lowest little palace eunuch to the heights inevitably possessed extraordinary cunning and methods.

But the palace was not a battlefield.

Nor was it the martial world.

A eunuch’s identity was fundamentally incomplete.

Strictly speaking they were barely even treated as full human beings.

Everything depended upon their own master.

So the ability to please one’s master was the foremost survival skill of any eunuch in the palace.

On this point—

Wei Zhonghe thought extremely highly of Zheng Fan.

He had pleased the Sixth Prince.

Pleased the Marquis of Jingnan.

Now he had pleased the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Even His Majesty himself had called him interesting.

And besides during the day, Wei Zhonghe had personally watched Zheng Fan use a scabbard to cripple all five of the Third Prince’s limbs.

That scene had shown him the vicious madness buried deep inside Zheng Fan.

Sigh.

A man like that was truly born to become a great eunuch.

In the martial world, it would be equivalent to a Martial Artist being born with a perfectly formed innate body.

Or a qi refiner being born with a natural foundation for qi fusion.

Unfortunately—

Wei Zhonghe also understood that he probably would never have the opportunity to cut off Zheng Fan’s little brother and make the man acknowledge him as godfather.

If both Marquises discovered he had severed the descendants of the military talent they admired hiss…

“Heh.

“Now this becomes interesting.

“You castrated dog like him.

“Wujing has clearly decided to promote him.

“And now Liangting is obviously interested in this brat too.

“He really has become a fragrant bun.

“Everyone wants him.”

“How could that be?

“No matter where the brat stands, doesn’t he ultimately belong to Your Majesty?

“The Marquis of Zhenbei may wish to promote him, but whether the brat agrees is still difficult to say.

“After all, the Marquis of Jingnan has treated him exceptionally well too.

“But regardless— so long as Your Majesty opens your golden mouth, wouldn’t the brat immediately scamper over and kneel obediently before you?”

“He crippled Our son.

“We do not mind.

“Do you really think he does not mind inside his own heart?”

“This…”

“Good steel must be used on the blade’s edge.

“That brat comes from Beifeng Commandery.

“Originally, he should have been one of Li Liangting’s Zhenbei Army men.

“How did Wujing get to him first?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.

“This servant investigated his record.

“Originally, he was promoted by the Commandery Princess.

“While serving as a laborer, he earned military merit by taking the head of the Shatuo tribal chief.

“But the Commandery Princess only made him Lieutenant Commander of Merchant Protection.

“Nominally, the post was under the Zhenbei Army.

“In reality, it was merely an idle office with a name and no substance.

“Later, the Imperial Court intended to transfer northern officers south.

“That brat was sent to Yinlang Commandery to serve as Garrison Commander of a fortress.”

“Through which office?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.

“The Ministry of War.”

“Chengjue arranged it?”

“The youngest son of Jiang Wenzhou, Vice Minister of War, owed a considerable amount of silver at a gambling house under Sixth Highness’s name.”

“Oh?

“Chengjue did not even conceal it?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.

“This was the first time in many years that Sixth Highness took action to place one of his own people into office.”

“He does possess good judgment.

“This Zheng Fan— is a talent.”

“It seems it is not only the two Marquises and this servant who appreciate him.

“Even Your Majesty appreciates him now.

“This servant truly envies the brat.

“What blessings did he cultivate across previous lives to obtain such fortune today?”

“You castrated dog.

“We tell you to read more books normally, but you refuse.

“All you know is collecting useless godsons everywhere and buying land for yourself.”

“Your Majesty.

“This servant’s dead head truly cannot absorb books anymore.

“This servant is old as well.

“My only wish in this lifetime is to serve Your Majesty until I can no longer move.

“Then I will return home, buy myself a small estate, build a shrine, and continue praying every day for Your Majesty’s fortune.”

“That flattery is not sincere.

“You old eunuch.

“Your qi-refining skill is almost catching up to the Old Master’s, is it not?”

“I would not dare!

“I would not dare!

“Compared with the Grand Patriarch’s ability, this old servant learned only the outermost skin.”

Inside the palace, people were permitted to call that qi refiner “Grand Patriarch.”

After all, the man had once suffered grievous injuries to escort the late Emperor’s family safely out of the capital.

One could say he had also saved the life of the current Emperor.

“Enough empty words.

“We estimate We probably won’t outlive you, old castrated dog.”

“Then that makes things even easier.

“When Your Majesty leaves, simply take this old servant along.

“Once we reach Heaven, this old servant can continue serving Your Majesty.”

“Heh.

“When it comes to bootlicking skill—

Zheng Fan is inferior to you.”

“That is the skill this old servant relies upon to survive.”

“Sigh.

“You.

“You…”

The atmosphere around the Yan Emperor’s brows suddenly changed.

Then he said, “Our family foundation is thin.

“There isn’t enough lamb to divide.

“With only this little property, it is not worth fighting over— nor is it worthy of being fought over.

“Better to risk everything and go outside together— to carve out an enormous realm for Great Yan!”

Wei Zhonghe’s heart jolted.

“Your Majesty.

“That brat truly meant this?”

He really dared say it.

He truly dared.

And what shocked Wei Zhonghe even more was that Zheng Fan could actually see the situation this clearly.

“That boy’s heart is enormous.

“And he sees through matters clearly.”

That was the Yan Emperor’s evaluation of Zheng Fan.

What he did not know was that behind Zheng Fan stood the Sixth Prince, who most resembled his father plus the Blind Man, an unmatched old fox.

It was equivalent to having two think tanks sitting beside you while watching the evening news.

Naturally, you could understand more than the average viewer.

“Earlier— after he finished explaining his strategy for attacking Qian—

Liangting said something to him.”

“The Marquis of Zhenbei taught him how to roast lamb?”

The Yan Emperor’s gaze swept toward Wei Zhonghe.

Wei Zhonghe immediately slapped his own face twice.

The slaps were not loud.

But he instantly dropped to his knees.

“This servant misspoke.

“Your Majesty, please punish me.”

Truthfully—

Wei Zhonghe had not actually said anything factually wrong.

Li Liangting truly had begun teaching Zheng Fan how to roast a lamb leg immediately after Zheng Fan finished discussing his strategy for attacking Qian.

The mistake was that Wei Zhonghe’s tone had carried the faintest trace of disdain toward Li Liangting.

Light as a cicada’s wing yet the Yan Emperor had caught it.

Everywhere possessed regional prejudice.

Everywhere possessed occupational prejudice.

Human nature.

Impossible to eliminate completely.

Eunuchs were effectively positioned at the very bottom of occupational prejudice.

Nearly the absolute bottom.

Even a brothel procurer if he suddenly straightened his spine one day might still possess a path upward.

But if you thought Wei Zhonghe was looking down on Li Liangting merely because of the Marquis’s northern-barbarian origins then you were underestimating Great Yan’s Eunuch Holding the Seal of the Directorate of Ceremonial far too greatly.

In truth, he had been probing.

Testing the Yan Emperor’s genuine feelings toward the Marquis of Zhenbei.

A servant survived by reading his master’s heart.

That instinct had already soaked into Wei Zhonghe’s bones.

But clearly—

His Majesty’s feelings toward the Marquis of Zhenbei had become so sensitive that even this tiny probe crossed the line.

“Rise.

“If there is a next time— go ahead of Us and guard Our tomb until We arrive.”

“Your Majesty.

“This old servant would not dare.”

Wei Zhonghe slowly stood again.

“Liangting may have been speaking about roasting lamb— but in another form, he was telling Zheng Fan that the strategy was correct.

“A general sees only how to defeat the enemy directly ahead— how to capture the city immediately before him.

“The common saying claims:

‘A thousand soldiers are easy to obtain, but one general is difficult to find.’

“But in Our view— a thousand generals are easy to obtain.

“One commander is difficult to find.

“And what would you think if We told you that the strategy Zheng Fan proposed— was almost identical to the plan We discussed years ago with Liangting and Wujing?”

“This old servant congratulates Your Majesty on gaining another great talent!

“Congratulations to Your Majesty!

“Congratulations to Great Yan!”

It was like roasting a leg of lamb.

You had to consider what feed the sheep ate before slaughter.

What charcoal to use.

Which seasonings.

Everything.

The same applied to a true regional commander or a commander capable of conquering an entire front.

He could not think only about victory or defeat in the next battle.

Nor merely whether one city was taken or lost.

He had to consider politics.

Economics.

Culture.

Changes at the enemy court.

Changes inside his own court.

All of it.

That was called vision.

And what Li Liangting and the Yan Emperor appreciated in Zheng Fan was precisely that sense of scale displayed in his strategy.

Of course, the Yan Emperor and Marquis of Zhenbei did not know exactly how many capable people stood behind Zheng Fan.

Newton had stood upon the shoulders of giants.

Zheng Fan was being carried by seven dwarfs.

“The Jiang Clan.

“Are they on the penal-servitude list or the extermination list?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.

“They are on the penal-servitude list.”

“Move them to the extermination list.”

“This servant obeys.”

“Another matter.

“Did Chengjue build a temple outside the city?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.

“A small Earth God temple.

“But behind the main shrine are tablets belonging to the Min Clan.

“And—

Consort Min.”

“Sigh.

“Poor Chengjue.”

Wei Zhonghe stood beside him.

He did not dare speak.

A moment later the Yan Emperor said, “Demolish it.”

……

“Full?”

“Reporting to the Marquis.

“This subordinate is full.”

“How did you get full after eating so little?”

“This subordinate truly is not accustomed to eating something this greasy early in the morning.”

“That is because your ordinary life has been too comfortable.”

“Before joining the army, my family ran a small business.

“We never lacked food, clothes, or ordinary necessities.”

“If this Marquis says he envies you— would you believe it?”

“I would.”

“Oh?”

“Because the food at the Marquis’s estate really is terrible.”

“Aiya.

“It truly is terrible.

“You know something?

“When this Marquis was young, I used to look forward to every chance to enter the capital.

“Whenever I entered the capital as a child—

I could steal His Majesty’s chicken legs.”

“…”

Zheng Fan.

This was still the imperial palace.

The Marquis of Zhenbei could casually reveal the Yan Emperor’s embarrassing childhood stories.

Zheng Fan knew perfectly well he could not join in.

The Marquis of Zhenbei walked ahead.

Zheng Fan followed behind him.

In his arms—

Zheng Fan carried a large pile of the Marquis’s barbecue equipment.

The Marquis was a practical man.

He had personally brought all his tools into the Imperial Garden to roast lamb.

And he had no intention of leaving them behind.

When they passed through a pavilion gate—

Zheng Fan felt one section of the grill beginning to slip.

He turned toward one of the palace guards stationed beside the gate.

“Brother.

“Give me a hand.”

The guard immediately reached out.

He had just accepted one piece of the grill when Zheng Fan saw two armored soldiers run up from behind.

One covered the guard’s mouth.

The other placed a blade against his throat.

Zheng Fan froze.

The two armored men smiled at him.

Zheng Fan smiled back.

He understood.

They probably did not want blood splashing onto him.

It was a kindness.

Zheng Fan retreated two steps.

“Puh!”

The blade sliced across the helpful guard’s throat.

One of the armored soldiers accepted the grill section from the dying man.

Then he said to Zheng Fan, “My Lord.

“This subordinate will carry it for you.”

“Oh.

“Thank you.

“Just stack it back on top for me.

“Make it neat.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

The other armored soldier dragged the palace guard’s corpse away.

Once the barbecue equipment had been stacked properly again—

Zheng Fan quickened his pace and caught up with the Marquis of Zhenbei.

While running, Zheng Fan clearly saw other groups of armored soldiers running as well.

Along the way several palace guards who had saluted Zheng Fan only moments earlier were suddenly killed by the troops moving beside him.

But they were not killing everyone.

For example, if several guards were patrolling or standing watch together, one might be killed.

Then an armored soldier immediately replaced the dead man.

The patrol kept patrolling.

The post remained guarded.

It was like a gust of wind passing through.

It made you squint.

But by the time you rubbed your eyes and looked carefully again nothing seemed to have changed.

“What?

“Still able to carry all that?” the Marquis of Zhenbei asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Mm.

“Young men should do more work.”

The Marquis of Zhenbei did not explain what was happening inside the palace.

So Zheng Fan did not ask.

Truthfully he already had a rough guess.

The influence of the aristocratic clans over Great Yan existed everywhere.

Especially among palace guards.

Yan did not operate exactly like the later Qing Dynasty, where palace service was dominated by noble sons.

But ordinary families still found it difficult to obtain these posts.

After all the closer one stood to powerful people, the greater the opportunity.

Before they had endured in silence.

But from the moment the Marquis of Jingnan exterminated the Tian Clan everything had begun.

Most likely the imperial palace was not the only place undergoing a great purge.

The Imperial Guards outside were probably already drenched in a storm of blood as well.

And the Tiancheng Commandery troops controlled by the Eldest Prince they too were almost certainly doing something similar.

That was the strength of the aristocratic clans.

They existed everywhere.

Their influence reached nearly every aspect of the state.

To move against them was to scrape poison from the bone.

Ahead several groups of eunuchs and palace maids hurried toward the rear palace.

Each procession was led by a high-ranking eunuch dressed in red.

They were going to invite certain imperial consorts to ascend to Heaven.

“The Emperor has no private family affairs.”

That saying did not merely mean imperial women were constantly reduced to tools of political marriage.

Truthfully the Emperor himself was also a sacrifice beneath those words.

In earlier years in order to win over aristocratic clans, you had to marry this family’s daughter.

Then after marrying her, you could not neglect another clan.

So you married theirs too.

And theirs.

And those over there.

Many women in the rear palace had whole families standing behind them.

Sometimes for deeper political alliances the Emperor even had to work diligently enough to make those women pregnant and produce Princes or Princesses carrying the blood of their maternal clans.

Thinking back to what Little Sixth had said yesterday his father had recently been working constantly upon those Xiahang “Beauties” from Qian.

Perhaps he truly intended to produce one or two descendants with Qian blood to make ruling Qian easier after the coming war.

No matter how entertaining and pleasurable something might ordinarily be once it became a political assignment all that remained was monotony and exhaustion.

A great fire had begun at the Tian estate.

Very soon it would sweep across the entirety of Great Yan.

Walking through the imperial palace at this moment—

Zheng Fan genuinely felt somewhat excited.

Perhaps that excitement came from realizing he had somehow become a witness to a historical moment.

Ahead a man in black armor appeared.

His armor was of the Zhenbei Army style.

Beside him rested a wooden chest.

“Marquis.

“Please put on your armor.”

“This armor is so damned heavy.

“I truly don’t want to wear it.”

The Marquis of Zhenbei shook his head.

Yet his expression carried a little helplessness.

The man opened the chest.

Inside lay a set of ancient, imposing armor.

Ancient yes.

As for how a suit of armor could somehow look “imposing” that was probably Zheng Fan’s own imagination adding details.

After all this was the Marquis of Zhenbei’s armor.

Just like the lamb leg personally roasted by the Marquis it naturally carried a special aura.

The Marquis did not bother setting up curtains to change.

In truth, his journey from the Western Garden into the palace today had itself been absolutely secret.

Only this man had accompanied him.

Zheng Fan stepped forward to help.

The armor was extremely heavy.

Even lifting individual pieces made Zheng Fan strain.

Now he understood why the Marquis disliked wearing it.

It felt like carrying several sacks of rice over your body.

Inside the chest was also a great ring-pommel saber with a python-head hilt.

Good lord.

It was absurdly heavy.

Zheng Fan failed to lift it on his first attempt.

The man reached down and casually picked it up with one hand.

The Marquis of Zhenbei accepted the saber.

He did not stupidly hold it raised.

Instead he lowered the blade.

Its edge pierced directly through the stone paving of the imperial palace.

Leaning on the saber the Marquis called, “Qingshuang.”

“Marquis.”

So this man was called Qingshuang?

Sounded slightly feminine.

Seven great Commanders-in-Chief served beneath the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate.

Six had been granted the surname Li.

Only one retained another surname.

Zheng Fan remembered hearing Little Sixth mention him.

The fact that this one Commander-in-Chief had not been granted the Li surname did not mean he was less trusted.

Quite the opposite.

His identity was simply too sensitive.

Rumors claimed his blood carried the golden lineage of the Barbarian Royal Court.

Others said he descended from some Prince who had fought the late Emperor for the throne.

Still others claimed he carried blood from the imperial houses of Jin or Chu.

At least judging by his appearance now—

Zheng Fan felt he probably did not possess blood from the Barbarian Royal Court’s golden lineage.

Barbarian facial features differed clearly from those of Yan people.

“Open an Assistant General post in your garrison.

“Give it to this brat.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

“Marquis…”

“You were born in Beifeng.

“You belonged to our Zhenbei Army from the start.

“Now— you are merely returning home.”

“Marquis…”

“No need to rush into thanking me.

“Our Marquis’s estate does not care for that sort of thing.

“If you want to thank this Marquis— use military merit.

“This Marquis has never misjudged a man.

“Do not become the first exception.”

“Marquis…”

“Then it is settled.

“From now on, follow Qingshuang.

“Do not worry about Tian Wujing blaming you.

“Compared with this Marquis—

Tian Wujing is still half a generation junior.”

“Marquis.”

“Mm?”

This time—

Qingshuang was the one who spoke.

He was reminding him.

Only then did the Marquis of Zhenbei stop talking to himself and look in the direction Qingshuang indicated.

Suddenly the Marquis’s face actually flushed red.

Standing there was a towering figure somewhat younger than the Marquis of Zhenbei.

The gilded armor covering his body gleamed brilliantly beneath the first light of dawn.

(End of Chapter)