Chapter 226: His Majesty Is Well

Zheng Fan slept until afternoon before finally waking.

When he pushed open the door and walked out, his face was pale, cold sweat covered his skin, and his steps were unsteady.

He was clearly a newly advanced Seventh Grade Martial Artist, yet he looked as though his entire body had been hollowed out overnight.

Behind him stood a somewhat resentful Siniang.

After all, she hadn’t been the one who hollowed him out.

That long night of dreaming had consumed far too much of his energy. After washing up and casually eating something, Zheng Fan lay down in a reclining chair and began basking in the sun.

He couldn’t fall asleep again, yet he was still exhausted beyond belief. That was actually the most miserable kind of fatigue.

For the first time in his life, Zheng Fan experienced the hardships of being a father.

Raising a child wasn’t easy.

Whichever family wanted this future son-in-law, hurry up and take him away early. He could guarantee peace and security for your entire household.

While Zheng Fan was dozing with his eyes half-closed, a small child came over.

The wolf cub actually had a name. His barbarian name was too difficult to pronounce, so they had named him Zheng Man.

After coming to this world, they had inevitably been influenced by its customs. The seven Regional Commanders beneath the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate were all surnamed Li, while on Zheng Fan’s side, people were gradually being lined up under the surname Zheng.

In truth, that was one of the earliest functions of a surname. Before banners, borders, and ethnic divisions, sharing a surname meant belonging to the same family—to one’s own people.

Zheng Fan’s group had another peculiar trait.

Other powerful ministers and ambitious men usually began cautiously, trembling with fear, unwilling even to aim too high.

But Zheng Fan’s side had started planning far into the future almost immediately.

Those plans might be useless now.

They might still be useless in the future.

But they were excellent for painting grand visions—and at least these visions had a clear target.

Take the wolf cub, for instance. The Blind Man had long told him that one day he would become the new Great Khan of the barbarians. His tribe would replace the Barbarian Royal Court and, by command of the Demon Kings, guard the desert!

The wolf cub knew perfectly well that this was mostly empty boasting.

Even so, every time he heard that “prophecy,” he was delighted beyond measure.

“What is it?” Zheng Fan asked weakly.

“Master, I… I want to join the army.”

“Join the army?”

“Yes, Master!”

“Can you even lift a saber?”

“I can!”

“You’re still too young.”

Give him another few years and he would be old enough even to serve as a child soldier. But right now, the wolf cub was simply too young.

Zheng Fan valued old ties.

Very few of the first batch of barbarian soldiers remained now. This child was, in a sense, the last remnant of that convict tribe.

“Master, I can train under Third Master.”

Xue San was short, but his abilities were formidable. The wolf cub wanted to train under him.

Zheng Fan waved a hand.

“No.”

“Master, I…”

“San’er trains assassins and scouts. They’re all people who have to hide in the shadows. You’re supposed to become the Great Khan of the barbarians one day. If you train under San’er, I’m afraid it’ll make your horizons too narrow.”

“Master, but I… I want…”

“The school is about to open. Go study.”

“I don’t want to study. Studying is useless. The people of Yan aren’t as good at scholarship as the people of Qian, but Yan still beats our barbarians like dogs. Yan beats Qian like dogs too.”

That was certainly a readily available example.

The State of Qian’s literary culture was the finest in the world, yet for the past century it had remained a soft persimmon anyone could squeeze.

Sixty thousand troops from the Zhenbei Army had marched directly to the walls of its capital. Granted, the Marquis of Jingnan’s feint had helped create the deception, but no matter how one looked at it, Qian’s underpants had still been ripped off for everyone to see.

“Barbarism can dominate for a time. Culture can endure for generations. Since you have the opportunity, read more.

“Yan may not be as cultured as Qian, but do you really think those century-old aristocratic clans of Yan had no culture?

“Be humble. Learn more. Don’t wait until you’re older before regretting that you didn’t study properly when you were young.”

There were countless people who spent their youth reckless and ignorant, only to reach middle age, experience society’s cruelty, and regret not studying harder as children.

The wolf cub was clearly dissatisfied, but he didn’t dare defy Zheng Fan. He could only lower his head.

“Yes, Master.”

“Go on. Focus on your studies first.”

The wolf cub left.

A’Ming, who had been leaning nearby without approaching, now walked over with a smile.

“Master, do you know what came to mind when I saw you talking to the wolf cub just now?”

Zheng Fan rolled his eyes at A’Ming.

“Li Chengliang and that adopted son of his.”

“Master truly is a creative professional. Your mind works quickly.”

“Did you come here specifically to flatter me?” Zheng Fan asked.

“No.”

“I thought so. That level of flattery isn’t enough.”

“Master, have you never worried that if this wolf cub truly grows according to the prophecy we casually made up for him, he might one day change the balance of the entire world?”

“Blaming the enemy for learning instead of blaming yourself for being useless—that’s pathetic.”

Zheng Fan rubbed between his brows.

“You people shouldn’t care about that sort of thing anyway.”

“I thought Master would care.”

“Raising a character like this is rather interesting. But I think the fact that we’re still a bunch of quails ourselves while worrying about something so far in the future is even more interesting.

“All right. Why are you here?”

“Just passing by. Came to have a look.”

“Have you got nothing better to do?”

“Just wait, Master. I won’t be the first person to ‘pass by’ today. If you want to rest, you’d better lie down inside.”

“That actually makes some sense.”

…

Yanjing.

The imperial palace.

The Imperial Study.

Every year on this day, the imperial family held a family banquet.

It wasn’t a festival or holiday. The custom belonged solely to the imperial family, not the common people.

Nor was there any grand celebration. The custom simply called for everyone to gather and eat a meal together.

It originated several centuries ago. Around this time each year, the snow and ice would begin to melt. To a large extent, that meant a new round of warfare against the barbarians was about to begin. After lying dormant through the bitter winter, both sides would once again compete to spill blood.

After the Ji Clan gathered for this meal, most of its adult men would head to the front.

Over the past century, however, peace had gradually become the norm, and the custom had slowly evolved into little more than everyone casually sharing a meal on this particular day. Because of its historical origins, there was still no extravagant celebration or ostentatious ceremony.

Ji Runhao sat at the head.

Second Prince Ji Chenglang occupied the first seat below him, followed by Fourth Prince Ji Chengfeng, Fifth Prince Ji Chengwen, and Sixth Prince Ji Chengjue.

The still-young Seventh Prince Ji Chengsu had also outgrown his wet nurse’s constant care. He sat properly behind his elder brothers and quietly ate his meal.

Two people were absent.

The Eldest Prince was stationed on the frontier in Beifeng Commandery.

Third Prince Ji Chengyue remained imprisoned at the pavilion in the middle of the lake.

Fifth Prince Ji Chengwen had finished his punishment of confinement and reflection and had been released.

There was little familial affection in an imperial household. With a father like Ji Runhao, expecting warm father-son intimacy was even more unrealistic.

From the Second Prince down to Little Seven, every prince ate with extreme caution.

The portions were fixed.

Nothing could be left over. Even the bottoms of the plates had to be scraped clean.

Ji Runhao had already finished eating. He was using a steamed bun to wipe the last traces of food from his plate, taking small bites while silently watching his sons below.

The emperor’s gaze carried almost tangible pressure.

Most of the princes below found even eating difficult beneath it, as though they could barely breathe.

There was one exception.

After finishing everything in front of him, he even helped Little Seven eat part of his portion.

“Chengjue, are you very hungry?”

The Emperor of Yan’s gaze fell upon his sixth son.

The Sixth Prince smiled and nodded.

“Imperial Father, your son has been rather short of meat and oil lately.”

The princes’ residences received food allotments, but they were hardly generous. Each prince also supported quite a few people who weren’t officially on the household rolls, which made everyone’s circumstances suddenly rather tight.

“That is Our fault, then. We’ve allowed Our imperial son to go hungry.”

“I’m not starving. I can still eat my fill at every meal. For an ordinary household, that would already be an extraordinary blessing. So whenever I get the chance to enjoy a proper banquet, it naturally feels wonderful.”

“Wei Zhonghe.”

“This slave is here.”

“Send an additional banquet spread to the Sixth Prince’s residence afterward.”

“This slave obeys the decree.”

The Sixth Prince immediately rose from his seat and knelt.

“Thank you, Imperial Father.”

The Emperor of Yan waved his hand.

“Enough. If you can’t eat any more, stop eating. Forcing it down only to carry the stones back up the mountain later is still wasting food.”

“Your son obeys.”

“Your son obeys.”

The princes all rose together and bowed in thanks.

The amount of food served had always been fixed by custom.

The rule had existed for a very long time: so much food, so many dishes. The rule did not change.

People, however, often did.

The Ji men of earlier generations had been valiant warriors, and naturally they had large appetites.

Among the princes now, aside from the absent Eldest Prince, who ate enormously, and the Sixth Prince, who was starved for meat and oil, the others had little connection with martial vigor.

“Chenglang stays. The rest of you may leave.”

“Your son obeys.”

“Your son obeys.”

The Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Little Seven withdrew.

Second Prince Ji Chenglang remained.

Yet there was one other person who failed to take the hint and stayed behind.

The Sixth Prince.

He actually pulled a cloth sack from inside his robes and began stuffing the leftover food from his brothers’ tables into it.

Seeing this, the Emperor of Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and hurled his chopsticks directly at him.

The Sixth Prince dodged aside, then continued packing up the leftovers.

“Who are you putting on this pitiful act for?”

The Sixth Prince trembled.

He turned toward the Emperor of Yan.

“Such good food, Imperial Father. It would be a shame to waste it. It’s going to be bestowed on the servants anyway. Since this son of yours has family at home who need to eat, shouldn’t your own son get first pick?”

“Have We failed to issue your princely stipend?”

“No. It’s just that your son has too many concubines at home and too many mouths to feed. I’ve already made them weave cloth at the residence.”

The Emperor of Yan lightly tapped his fingers against the table.

Wei Zhonghe immediately bent forward.

“This slave is here.”

“Confiscate all the Sixth Prince’s concubines into government servitude. If he cannot afford to support them, the imperial court will support them for him.”

“This slave… this slave obeys the decree.”

The Sixth Prince’s entire body swayed.

In the end, he still knelt.

“Your son… thanks Your Majesty for your boundless grace.”

…

The Sixth Prince walked out of the imperial palace with a sack slung over his back, looking utterly dispirited.

Still dazed, he let Eunuch Zhang support him into the carriage waiting outside.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

While waiting at the palace gate, Eunuch Zhang had already seen the eunuch carrying the imperial decree leave. Naturally, he knew what had happened.

“Your Highness, you must endure. You must endure.”

“A cloth.”

The Sixth Prince held out his hand.

“Oh. Right away.”

Eunuch Zhang immediately handed him a warm towel.

The Sixth Prince wiped his face.

He lowered the towel.

Then let out a long breath.

Looking at Eunuch Zhang, he said, “The old man’s health has gone wrong.”

[End of Chapter 226]