Chapter 130: A True Man Should Be Like This!

Poaching someone from another camp was an underhanded thing.

No matter who did it, no matter the trade, it never sounded good when spoken aloud.

And if you were going to poach someone, fine.

At least do it quietly.

But poaching a man right in front of his current superior?

Even someone as broad-minded and forthright as Marquis of Zhenbei Li Liangting could not help flushing red on the spot.

The Marquis of Jingnan simply stood there in silence.

The scene was spectacularly awkward.

Especially because the Marquis of Jingnan said absolutely nothing.

It almost seemed deliberate.

As though he wanted to let the awkwardness linger a little longer and make the Marquis of Zhenbei suffer through it for a few more breaths.

In the State of Yan, only two people dared deliberately make the Marquis of Zhenbei lose face like this.

Unfortunately for Li Liangting the Marquis of Jingnan was one of them.

“Wujing.

“Your eye for talent isn’t bad.

“Heh.”

The Marquis of Zhenbei reached out and slapped Zheng Fan on the shoulder.

He used a little too much force.

Zheng Fan’s entire body swayed.

He was already a ranked Martial Artist, yet beneath the Marquis of Zhenbei’s palm he looked almost delicate enough to be called a willow bending in the wind.

But it was like an elder patting your head.

Even if you disliked it you did not dare complain.

Truthfully, just as the Yan Emperor had told Wei Zhonghe earlier inside the imperial study, the Marquis of Zhenbei had not taken an interest in Zheng Fan because of his Martial Dao talent.

Nor was it because Zheng Fan was amusing to talk to.

A man like the Marquis of Zhenbei already stood atop one of the highest peaks.

He understood better than almost anyone else how important breadth of vision was.

There was no shortage of men beneath his command who could lead troops and fight battles.

To say fierce generals gathered beneath his banner like clouds would not be an exaggeration.

But someone capable of considering the politics, economy, culture, and countless other factors of two states together that was rare.

That was the seed of a commander.

A genuine commander.

At present, he was still only a rough stone.

But who knew whether ten years of polishing might reveal a piece of jade beautiful enough to move the heart?

Most importantly his proposed strategy for attacking Qian was almost identical to the strategy the three of them had once discussed.

Unless Tian Wujing had absurdly leaked the answer in advance just to flatter the brat an extremely unreliable possibility then it meant this stone was already beginning to show a glimmer beneath the surface.

Buying him now was merely a question of how much profit there would be.

Losing on the investment?

Impossible.

“Aiya, Wujing.

“Don’t just stand there silently.

“Let me have this man.”

Seeing the Marquis of Jingnan remain silent, the Marquis of Zhenbei could not help asking a second time.

The Marquis of Jingnan had exterminated his own entire clan only last night.

Yet right now he looked as though nothing had happened.

Not a trace of grief could be seen on his face.

He remained exactly as Zheng Fan had first perceived him.

Steady.

Always steady.

He had been steady when leading the Jingnan Army into Nanwang City.

Steady while confronting the Qian army.

And steady last night when he gave the command to “leave not even chickens or dogs alive.”

“He is from Beifeng Commandery.”

At last, the Marquis of Jingnan spoke.

“Exactly.

“He’s from my home region.”

“Your home, Li Liangting— is Yinlang Commandery.”

“Ancestral home.

“Ancestral home!

“My Li Clan has taken root in Beifeng Commandery for a hundred years.

“We became Beifeng people long ago.

“And let me say something without fearing our Emperor’s anger.

“Go outside and ask anyone you like.

“Find some random person and ask him:

Does Beifeng Commandery bear the surname Li or not?”

That statement was outrageously taboo.

If anyone else said something like it it would count as grave disrespect.

Extermination of the clan would not be excessive punishment.

But the Marquis of Zhenbei truly possessed the foundation to say it.

Besides this was the same man who could roast a lamb leg inside the Imperial Garden at dawn.

Such words were hardly strange coming from him.

“Then does that not prove— you, Li Liangting are blind?”

“…”

The Marquis of Zhenbei.

A talent from Beifeng Commandery.

A talent produced upon Li Clan territory.

Yet the man had been discovered down south in Yinlang Commandery by the Marquis of Jingnan.

If that was not blindness what was?

“Fine.

“Let us say I, Li Liangting, misjudged someone once.

“Then answer me directly, Tian Wujing.

“Will you release this man or not?”

“Let him choose.”

“Good.

“Then let him choose.

“This Marquis has already offered him an Assistant General’s post.

“And I can assign one thousand Zhenbei Army iron cavalry under his command.”

Great Yan’s military system distinguished between substantive and nominal posts.

When Zheng Fan had first become Lieutenant Commander of Merchant Protection in Tiger Head City, even ordinary gate soldiers had dared joke with him.

Why?

Because he had possessed only an empty title.

But one thousand Zhenbei Army iron cavalry—

Zheng Fan instinctively swallowed.

What kind of elite force was the Zhenbei Army?

The few hundred barbarian cavalrymen currently under Zheng Fan’s command had already been able to stroll around Qian’s frontier almost at will.

Yet those same barbarians, back in the desert on their own home ground, had been beaten so badly by the Zhenbei Army they practically called them Father.

If he truly had one thousand Zhenbei cavalrymen under his hand—

Zheng Fan did not know whether he himself would dare do it.

But Liang Cheng would unquestionably dare launch a frontal charge against three thousand Qian cavalrymen.

Li Liangting had named his price.

A good bird chose the tree in which it nested.

That principle had never changed.

At the same time everyone carried the sedan chair together.

Even if Zheng Fan ultimately did not choose him, Li Liangting was indirectly raising Zheng Fan’s value.

The finest food was food fought over.

Food snatched from someone else’s hands always tasted best.

Li Liangting had increased his bid.

No matter what—

Tian Wujing should at least add something in return.

Ultimately, in Li Liangting’s view, although their camps differed and their troops belonged to different systems, everyone was still a man of Yan.

He valued Zheng Fan.

So he did not mind pushing the youngster forward and helping him rise earlier.

Great Yan was about to enter a time when men would be desperately needed.

What did it lack?

Talent.

A national war was coming.

This was exactly an age when the stars of great generals would blaze.

Yet the Marquis of Jingnan merely said calmly, “Garrison Commander of Willow Fort, Yinlang Commandery.”

The post did not change.

He did not promise Zheng Fan any Jingnan Army elites either.

Just that single plain sentence.

The Marquis of Zhenbei’s eyes widened.

Had Tian Wujing not exterminated his entire clan the previous night and perhaps been in a poor mood the Marquis of Zhenbei genuinely might have started cursing.

How much confidence did you, Tian Wujing, possess to refuse to increase your offer by even a single coin?

Fine.

The prices had been stated.

Now it was time for Zheng Fan to choose.

Zheng Fan suddenly felt the tone of the scene had gone slightly wrong.

Very wrong.

In his previous life, he had run a horror-themed comic studio.

He had never drawn this sort of syrupy, romantic nonsense.

Still, Zheng Fan immediately suppressed the faint discomfort inside him.

Truthfully he had already thought the matter through long ago.

He had already decided.

Zheng Fan immediately stepped forward two paces.

He bowed deeply toward the Marquis of Zhenbei.

“Many thanks for the Marquis of Zhenbei’s appreciation.”

That sounded like gratitude.

In reality it was a refusal.

The Marquis of Zhenbei raised a hand and stopped Zheng Fan before he could continue with more sour, ceremonial nonsense.

He asked directly, “Give this Marquis a reason.”

“Marquis.

“This subordinate wants to fight wars.”

The Marquis of Zhenbei’s gaze sharpened.

He first glanced toward the Marquis of Jingnan.

But then he realized Tian Wujing was unlikely to have told the brat about this matter too.

Which meant had the brat figured it out himself?

The Marquis of Zhenbei suddenly felt he had lost even more.

Zheng Fan walked behind the Marquis of Jingnan and stood there.

The Marquis of Jingnan remained silent.

There was no joy of victory upon his face.

Still calm.

I want to fight.

I want to go to the front.

That was why I did not choose you.

Because Zheng Fan understood perfectly well:

Yesterday, the Marquis of Jingnan’s extermination of the Tian Clan had merely been the beginning.

After today’s morning court, the Yan Emperor would gather the strength of all three armies and bring the blade down upon Great Yan’s aristocratic clans.

Scraping poison from the bone required powerful medicine.

It had to be ruthless.

It had to be decisive.

The Zhenbei Army would obviously become that bone-scraping knife.

First the Zhenbei Army was the foremost elite army of the age.

Using them to ride down the aristocratic clans was enough to make those clans despair.

Second the Zhenbei Army had always remained firmly controlled by the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate.

Its purity was higher.

They might not obey the Yan Emperor.

But they would unquestionably obey the Marquis of Zhenbei.

As long as the Marquis of Zhenbei pointed his blade the Zhenbei cavalry would not care whether the people before them came from scholarly families with centuries of inheritance or were some enormous aristocratic clan.

They would simply flatten them.

Third when you gave your house a thorough cleaning, someone needed to stand watch outside the front door.

Otherwise neighbors might pass by and steal things.

The Jingnan Army had originally been built to deal with Qian.

Keeping the Marquis of Jingnan in Yinlang Commandery to continue confronting Qian while beginning the first stage of the Qian campaign was the most natural arrangement possible.

Unless the Yan Emperor and Marquis of Zhenbei had both suffered brain damage that was obviously what they would choose.

Therefore, over the next period of time the Zhenbei Army and Li Liangting were unlikely to appear on the Qian front.

Their task was to lead the Zhenbei Army like a plow and run it back and forth across the aristocratic clans of Great Yan several times.

Only after that would the Zhenbei Army be freed and transferred toward the Qian battlefield.

Originally, according to the plan Zheng Fan and the Blind Man had made, they would first farm and develop at Willow Fort.

Then, once the Yan Emperor began moving against the aristocratic clans, they would immediately become vanguard opportunists in bringing those clans down.

But plans never kept pace with change.

First, the Marquis of Jingnan had already made his position clear.

He had exterminated his own entire clan.

That alone guaranteed the attitude of the Jingnan Army and even the whole of Yinlang Commandery.

At the same time—

Zheng Fan had already gained the Marquis of Jingnan’s attention.

There was no longer any need for opportunistic political speculation.

And more importantly—

Zheng Fan did not want to spend the next six months or year leading his men from one aristocratic clan estate to another.

Most of those clans’ private troops had already been gathered in Tiancheng Commandery.

Once thunderous measures were used, resolving the matter would not actually be that difficult.

The tenant farmers living under those clans could indeed be armed into private troops.

But if you never gave them the time to arm and mobilize most clans would collapse just like the Tian estate the night before.

An enormous creature.

Yet it fell apart with shocking ease.

Fighting Qian was far more interesting.

Zheng Fan held no personal hatred toward the Qian people.

But at least his opponent there would be an actual Qian army.

He would no longer have to experience another scene like the banquet in the Elegant Garden.

The Marquis of Zhenbei said nothing.

He simply stood there.

Qingshuang, like Zheng Fan, stood behind his own Marquis.

Until bells rang.

Ceremonial whips cracked.

The palace gates opened.

And the assembled officials began entering.

……

“One leg of lamb really isn’t enough to divide.”

“Your Majesty.

“The palace gates have opened,” Wei Zhonghe reminded him.

The Yan Emperor tore the final scrap of meat from the lamb leg and placed it into his mouth.

He even licked the grease remaining on his palm.

Then muttered to himself, “But we still have to feed ourselves first.

“Only once we’re full will we have the strength to go outside and steal sheep.

“Wei Zhonghe.

“Change Our robes.”

“This servant obeys.”

Ji Runhao had worn the imperial dragon robe so many times over the past ten-odd years that he could no longer remember the count.

Before he had always felt the robe did not fit.

Too tight.

Restricting.

But today he suddenly felt it had loosened.

Once he wore it, even breathing became smoother.

“Your Majesty.

“The imperial carriage is waiting outside.”

“No need.

“This time—

We will walk.”

Ji Runhao, dressed in dragon robes, stepped out of the imperial study.

The first light of dawn fell across his body.

Not dazzling.

Instead it gave him a slightly hazy appearance.

Ji Runhao’s ten fingers slowly clenched.

Then gradually relaxed again.

Liangting.

Wujing.

The day the day we have waited for all these years has finally arrived.

……

Court sessions in the State of Yan differed from those in Qian.

Officials were not required to rise quite so obscenely early.

But today long before the palace gates were due to open the assembled civil and military officials had already gathered outside.

Any political animal without a dog’s nose for trouble did not deserve the name.

Everyone had smelled the abnormality in the air.

Especially the representatives of the great aristocratic clans in the capital.

Even several clan patriarchs who normally had no reason to attend court had arrived today.

A storm one that had brewed for a very long time would finally break today.

The pattern of Great Yan for the next twenty years would be decided now.

The two princely titles in north and south now seemed all but inevitable.

The aristocratic clans had already prepared themselves to force the palace’s hand.

Some people did wonder why Tian Clan patriarch Tian Bokai had not come today.

But while some found it strange others felt it completely reasonable.

Today, the Tian Clan was about to gain a princely title.

Tian Bokai keeping a low profile and staying home to enjoy the joy privately was perfectly understandable.

Heaven knew how many aristocratic-clan patriarchs were envying Tian Bokai’s good fortune right now.

“Creeeeak…”

The palace gates opened.

The officials began entering.

The moment they passed through the gates, many noticed there seemed to be considerably more palace guards than usual.

Those with sharper eyes noticed something else as well.

Many of these guards looked unfamiliar.

But no one paid the matter much attention.

Perhaps this was merely the Yan Emperor’s attempt to put a little pressure on everyone.

And that was all it could be.

Yet just as the officials and clan representatives reached Clearwater Bridge, still some distance from the great hall where court would convene the ground of the imperial palace suddenly began trembling.

An earthquake?

That was everyone’s first thought.

But very quickly they rejected it.

Because as the sound approached, its rhythm became clearer and clearer.

……

Naturally, the imperial palace did not possess only one gate.

This place stood not far from the imperial study.

Behind the imperial study lay another imperial garden.

The Imperial Garden itself was merely somewhere the Emperor could stroll after finishing official business.

The larger garden behind it belonged to the palace complex itself.

That was the place where the Emperor and his consorts could actually play hide-and-seek.

The Marquis of Zhenbei removed a black token.

Qingshuang stepped forward with a bow and accepted it.

Then, holding the token, he walked directly toward the rear.

Zheng Fan hesitated.

He looked at the Marquis of Jingnan standing in front of him.

This…

Should he copy what Qingshuang had just done?

But nobody had rehearsed this.

He had no idea what was happening.

If they did not need to do the same thing and Zheng Fan stupidly walked up asking for a token wouldn’t he look like an idiot in front of the Marquis of Zhenbei?

But if the Marquis of Jingnan had also prepared something, and Zheng Fan failed to step forward forcing the Marquis to turn around and personally hand it to him would that not damage the Marquis’s endlessly steady image even more?

Awkward.

So damned awkward.

Zheng Fan drew in a breath.

Then finally stepped to the Marquis of Jingnan’s side.

He bowed and opened both hands.

Very soon something cold dropped into his palms.

A silver token.

Far heavier than the pass the Emperor had given him earlier for entering Lakeheart Pavilion.

Hoo…

So we do have a token.

Zheng Fan immediately hurried after Qingshuang.

If he did not keep up he had no idea where to go!

Zheng Fan did not lose Qingshuang.

He followed him to a city gate.

To put it simply the officials entered from the southern gate.

This place was the northern gate of the imperial palace.

It opened directly toward a garden.

But hidden inside that garden were several thousand cavalrymen.

The troops had split into two columns.

Everyone remained silent.

Yet whenever gazes from the two armies met sparks almost seemed to fly through the air.

Soldiers naturally possessed soldiers’ pride.

The Zhenbei Army considered itself the foremost elite beneath Heaven.

The Jingnan Army did not believe itself inferior.

It simply had not yet received the opportunity to prove otherwise.

At the front of each formation, east and west three Assistant Generals sat astride their horses.

Qingshuang walked forward and raised the Marquis of Zhenbei’s token.

“The Marquis commands!

“Zhenbei Army— enter the palace!”

Fine.

Someone else had already demonstrated the process.

Zheng Fan only needed to imitate him.

He also raised the token given by the Marquis of Jingnan.

“The Marquis commands!

“Enter the palace!”

Zheng Fan felt slightly regretful.

Had he known this scene was coming he should have taught them some rhyming slogans beforehand.

Soldiers from both armies led horses forward for Qingshuang and Zheng Fan.

After mounting—

Qingshuang urged his horse forward.

The Zhenbei soldiers behind him began moving at the same pace.

Zheng Fan, meanwhile, raised his riding crop.

Inside his mind appeared the Marquis of Jingnan’s movement outside the roast-duck restaurant the day before.

He pulled the reins.

His horse raised both front hooves.

Forget it.

He would cosplay Big Brother first.

Qingshuang looked at Zheng Fan.

He had no idea what this fellow—whom he had only met today but whom his Marquis seemed to value so highly—was doing.

Then, Zheng Fan brought the riding crop down hard.

His horse shot forward.

The Jingnan cavalry behind him immediately accelerated into a charge.

In one burst they overtook the Zhenbei Army.

“…”

Qingshuang.

Anyone who had served in the army understood this instinct.

When two units were competing who wanted to lose?

Immediately the Zhenbei cavalry accelerated as well.

One side chased the other.

The other refused to yield.

Finally both sides completely released their horses and entered a full charge.

The overwhelming thunder of hooves shook the entire imperial palace.

And at this moment—

Ji Runhao, dressed in dragon robes and accompanied by Wei Zhonghe, had already reached the space between the Marquis of Jingnan and the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Then, when the three men saw several thousand cavalrymen thundering toward them the corners of both Marquises’ mouths twitched.

“Good!”

Ji Runhao, however, showed not the slightest anger.

Nor did he feel the dignity of his imperial palace had been violated.

This was exactly the momentum he wanted.

Exactly the sight he wanted.

Today the Yan Emperor was excited.

He had been suppressed for far too long.

What happened next would remain branded into the hearts of the officials for the rest of their lives.

Although for many among them the rest of their lives would last only until the end of today.

Beneath the light of dawn—

Ji Runhao, dressed in dragon robes, walked at the very front.

In his hand the Son of Heaven’s Sword.

Behind him, one to each side walked the two most powerful and exalted Marquises in all Great Yan.

Behind the three of them rolled two great rivers of iron cavalry.

Today the Emperor of Great Yan, carrying with him Great Yan’s two strongest armies declared war upon Great Yan’s aristocratic clans.

Inside the cavalry formation, Zheng Fan stared at the backs of the three men ahead.

Suddenly an overwhelming sense of pressure rose inside him.

Like a black iron curtain descending and covering him completely.

Was he destined for the rest of his life to remain an obedient subject beneath these three mountains?

But in the next instant—

Zheng Fan clenched his teeth.

He suddenly remembered the old ancestor of his own people from another age.

The oppressive darkness inside him was swept away by more than half.

And amid the thunderous roar of hooves he shouted, “A true man should be like this!”

(End of Chapter)