Chapter 485: - Entering the Capital in Splendor

Because Gao Yi had taken a hundred personal guards to escort the prisoners back to Snow Sea Pass, Count Pingye now had considerably fewer guards around him.

It did not matter much.

For one thing, the Sword Saint was with him. For another, after continuing west from Litian City and entering Yan territory, security was no longer a serious concern. Unless a large force lay in ambush, there was essentially nothing capable of threatening Count Pingye.

The journey passed without incident.

And before the date stipulated in the imperial edict, Count Pingye’s procession arrived outside the capital.

The last time Zheng Fan entered Yanjing, he had been one of the Marquis of Jingnan’s personal guards.

This time, officials from the Ministry of Rites and men from the Imperial Guards had already been waiting for him in Tiantai County outside the capital.

Ordinarily, when a general stationed elsewhere returned to the capital, the matter belonged to the Ministry of War.

A low-ranking officer simply had to arrive on time and report to the Ministry of War after entering the city. From the moment he stepped through the ministry’s gates, he would be expected to smile politely at everyone. He might even need to bring some local specialties as gifts, or people would think he did not know the rules.

For a high-ranking general, the Ministry of War would send someone out to meet him, accompany him into the capital, and take him to the ministry to report. Once inside, aside from the few great figures at the top, he could converse freely with everyone else.

But once the Ministry of Rites became involved, it generally meant there was no need for you to visit that rough soldiers’ yamen called the Ministry of War at all. They would send someone to your residence, or find you themselves, and complete the necessary formalities.

As for you, either you were going directly into the palace for an imperial audience, or preparations were being made for a formal entrance into the city.

Count Pingye fell into the latter category.

The Ministry of Rites official had come specifically to inform him that there would be a formal ceremony for his entrance into Yanjing.

The Imperial Guards who accompanied him served partly as protection and partly as an honor guard.

Count Pingye himself had to put on the golden armor bestowed by the Emperor and carry the bestowed Barbarian saber. The princess had to change into formal court dress, while an imperial carriage was already waiting there for her.

Perhaps fearing the princess had not brought enough jewelry, the Ministry of Rites had even brought exquisite clothing and all manner of imperial ornaments.

These were gifts. They would not be taken back.

Once everything was ready, Count Pingye climbed into the large imperial carriage first and sat with Xiong Liqing. After all, they still had some distance to travel before reaching the city gates.

“Ah. Yan never used to fuss over this many formalities.”

Thinking back to his previous entrance into Yanjing, there had been nothing like this much ceremony.

Indeed, the reason the people of Qian and Chu had called the Yan “barbarians” for centuries was precisely because Yan people had never cared much for elaborate ritual.

But over the past few years, Great Yan had hammered Qian and Chu in succession and annexed Jin. Now that it had become the strongest empire in the East, it had finally begun consciously paying attention to its own “dignity.”

Xiong Liqing said, “The strong are respected. Whatever the strong do becomes correct and reasonable. To tell the truth, Great Yan’s ceremonies still aren’t nearly as complicated as those of my Chu.”

“You’re wearing so much on your head and body. Isn’t it tiring?”

“I’m used to it.”

“Want to lie down and rest?”

Xiong Liqing shook her head. “I’ll sit like this. Otherwise they’ll have to arrange everything again later. Too troublesome.”

Count Pingye nodded, leaned against the wall of the carriage, and closed his eyes.

“This is your second time entering the capital, isn’t it, Husband?”

“Yes. The first time, I came with the Marquis of Jingnan. I suppose I was one of his personal guards then. But I came in a carriage that time too.”

Xiong Liqing could hear a distinct note of pride in her husband’s voice.

“So the Marquis already valued you back then.”

“I suppose so. At the time, I was thinking that someday I wanted a huge carriage of my own, with a beautiful woman beside me adding fragrance to my red sleeves, and two or three little cats trembling in front of me.”

“That’s easy enough. Zhao Cheng.”

“This slave is here.”

“Come in.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Eunuch Zhao entered with his back bent and knelt.

Count Pingye opened his eyes, looked at Zhao Cheng, and shook his head.

“He’s not as clever as I was back then.”

“You are correct, Count. How could this slave possibly compare with you?”

“Go back out.”

“Yes, Count.”

Eunuch Zhao withdrew.

Xiong Liqing sounded a little wistful. “So things weren’t easy for you back then either, Husband.”

“When you first start climbing, of course you have to tread carefully. You need to show that you’re useful while also keeping the people above you happy. Looking back now, I really was pretty impressive.”

“What about now?”

“Now? I’m getting less and less willing to swallow grievances.”

“Have you become proud?”

Count Pingye shook his head. “If I still had to bow and scrape before everyone I met, what would have been the point of all the struggling I did back then?”

“You always say things that make people think.”

“Actually, I’m already looking forward to the next time I enter the capital. I imagine it’ll be different from this time too.”

At that moment, the Ministry of Rites official called from outside.

“Count, it’s time to come out.”

“All right.”

Zheng Fan drew a deep breath and looked at the princess.

“Once we finish today’s ceremony, that should more or less be the end of it. After this, if you don’t want to, I won’t make you appear in public again.”

“Do you mean that, Husband?”

“Even among ordinary people, what normal man enjoys sending his wife out to show her face so she can earn money and support the household?”

“But I’m happy that I can help you with things.”

“There are always happier ways to live.”

Count Pingye reached out, stroked Xiong Liqing’s chin, then stepped out of the carriage.

Golden armor.

A Pixiu.

Imperial Guards clearing the road on both sides.

Behind him, an exquisitely decorated carriage.

Ahead, beneath the city gates, a dense sea of people waited.

Litian City had been Jin territory, but here in Yan proper, the common people were naturally far more enthusiastic and excited about Count Pingye.

After all, Count Pingye was a Yan man, just like them.

The Marquis of Jingnan’s achievements shook the world, but the stain of exterminating his own clan had always damaged his reputation among ordinary people. Count Pingye, by contrast, had risen from the common ranks and won victory after victory. Naturally, he had become the military hero most eagerly celebrated by the common people of Yan.

And on top of that, he had stolen a princess back from Chu!

As the procession approached the city gate, the crowds on either side erupted into cheers.

There were too many people to count.

Yet at this moment, Count Pingye found himself missing Snow Sea Pass.

The soldiers and civilians there knew much better how to cooperate with him. Everyone knew how to follow Count Pingye’s lead in perfect unison.

Perhaps, when he had entered the capital beside the Marquis of Jingnan years ago, Zheng Fan had envied the Marquis’s solitary splendor and imagined how excited he himself would feel if he ever experienced something similar.

But now that he truly stood in that position and faced this spectacle, his heart was remarkably calm.

What you cannot have is always the thing that stirs you. Once you truly obtain it, you discover that this is all it amounts to.

Because your horizons have already risen with your status.

Guo You, Vice Minister of Rites, approached carrying an imperial edict. Beside him stood a young man in a python robe.

He was presumably a prince.

A prince this young...

One of the Emperor’s sons?

“An edict from His Majesty!”

Count Pingye prepared to dismount and receive it.

“Count Pingye is permitted to receive the edict from horseback.”

Count Pingye stopped and cupped his hands.

“This subject thanks His Majesty for his boundless grace.”

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Zheng Fan, Chief Commander of Snow Sea Pass, Grand General of Cheng State, and Count Pingye, has returned after rendering meritorious service. My heart rejoices. Great Yan stands in an age of expansion, and the realm requires outstanding men such as Count Pingye to serve as the wings of the state. Only thus may the foundations of Great Yan remain evergreen. For ministers who render merit, I shall never be stingy with reward. I therefore grant him an honor guard for his entrance into the capital and command an imperial prince to lead his mount, that all beneath Heaven may know of his distinction.”

“Long live His Majesty! Long live! Long, long live!”

Vice Minister Guo You stepped forward and handed the imperial edict to Count Pingye.

At the same time, the Fifth Prince, Ji Chengwen, stepped forward and took hold of the reins at the Pixiu’s neck.

“Sorry to trouble Your Highness.”

Ji Chengwen smiled. “It is only proper.”

And so the procession entered Yanjing.

Count Pingye had been itching to ask whether this was Fourth Highness or Fifth Highness.

He had already met the First, Second, Third, and Sixth Princes. The Seventh was still a child. Only the Fourth and Fifth were strangers to him.

Then Count Pingye noticed old black stains beneath the man’s fingernails, likely left by frequent use of an ink line.

Understanding dawned.

This must be the one who liked carpentry.

The procession advanced along Yanjing’s imperial avenue. Both sides of the road and the upper stories of the buildings were packed with spectators. The crowds were immense, and the atmosphere extraordinarily lively.

When the procession reached Imperial Avenue, another formation of Imperial Guards was already waiting ahead.

At their head, standing atop a raised platform in a yellow robe, was Crown Prince Ji Chenglang.

Count Pingye spotted him from a distance.

The Crown Prince had clearly lost weight. His entire bearing seemed listless and drained.

He wore a yellow robe one rank above the garments of the other princes, yet his body had become so thin that it almost seemed unable to support the clothing.

Over the past few years, the Crown Prince had first watched his maternal clan be destroyed. Then his marriage to the Commandery Princess had been postponed indefinitely. After that, his mother, the Empress, had died.

After blow upon blow like that, the fact that he could still stand there at all was already remarkable.

If everything had gone smoothly, the Crown Prince’s maternal uncle would have been the Marquis of Jingnan, his father-in-law the Marquis of Zhenbei, while he himself occupied the Eastern Palace as the formally designated heir to the state.

It could hardly have been more perfect.

But Count Pingye understood that the more perfect such a situation might have been, the less likely it was ever to be allowed to happen.

No emperor could possibly sit on the throne while permitting an heir of that magnitude to exist.

To put it unpleasantly, if things truly had developed that way, the Crown Prince’s power would have been sufficient to “purge the evil ministers at the sovereign’s side,” or simply stage his own Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Both great marquises of north and south would stand behind him. The two strongest armies in Great Yan would support him. He would also be the Crown Prince, the lawful foundation of the state. Promise the civil officials gentler policies once he took the throne, and Emperor Yan could find himself turned into a retired emperor at any moment.

The Crown Prince stood on the platform with both hands behind his back, looking as though a gust of wind might carry him away.

Yet his voice rang out clearly.

“His Majesty gives an oral decree. Count Pingye is permitted to hear it from horseback.”

Receiving an edict from horseback was itself a special honor.

Even in the State of Qian, famous ministers and meritorious officials returning to the capital were sometimes excused from kneeling. Otherwise, if they had to dismount and kneel every time an edict was proclaimed along the route, it would ruin the atmosphere entirely.

Count Pingye cupped his hands.

“This subject respectfully inquires after His Majesty’s health.”

The Crown Prince turned and cupped his hands toward the Imperial Palace.

“His Sacred Majesty is well.”

Then the Crown Prince faced Zheng Fan.

“Count Pingye has rendered meritorious service to the state. The Crown Prince is commanded to receive him before the throne and guide him directly to the palace gates.”

In other words, the Crown Prince himself was to lead the way for Count Pingye.

“This subject thanks His Majesty for his boundless grace.”

The Crown Prince mounted a horse and rode ahead.

Count Pingye followed on his Pixiu.

First an imperial prince had led his mount. Now the Crown Prince guided him toward the palace.

Such honor was virtually unprecedented.

When Emperor Yan’s earlier decree had spoken of buying a horse’s bones for a thousand pieces of gold, he truly had arranged matters accordingly.

Count Pingye’s entrance might not have been as extravagantly lively as the Sixth Prince’s wedding, but its ceremonial rank was clearly higher.

For years afterward, whenever the people of Yanjing spoke of Count Pingye, they would inevitably mention the splendor of his entrance into the capital that day.

At this point, the Fifth Prince had completed his assignment. He no longer needed to lead the Pixiu and withdrew to a carriage following behind.

Inside, the Fourth Prince was sitting and peeling peanuts.

When he saw Fifth Brother climb in, he smiled.

“Legs still working?”

“I’m exhausted.”

The Fifth Prince immediately pulled off his boots.

The Fourth Prince waved a hand in disgust.

“Ah, that Pixiu kept breathing right onto my back. It was like standing in a steamer. I nearly got cooked alive.”

“Heh. Well, you’ll be leaving the capital with Zheng Fan for Jin soon enough. Getting on good terms with him early isn’t a bad thing.”

“Fourth Brother, we’re imperial princes.”

“Then tell me this. If hail started falling from the sky and Father had to choose one person for it to smash to death, who would he choose?”

“Wow, Fourth Brother. I know you’re upset because you didn’t get the Nanwang City assignment, but there’s no need to mock your little brother quite that openly.”

“Eldest Brother has managed to stand back up at Nanwang City by earning military merit against the Qian forces.”

The Fourth Prince had, in fact, spent a long time maneuvering for that assignment himself.

Among Emperor Yan’s seven sons, the First Prince genuinely understood warfare. The Fourth Prince did as well, because his maternal clan, the Deng Clan of Sanshi, was a great family whose position had been inherited through military merit.

The Deng Clan had escaped the cavalry purge of the great clans, only to throw away its accumulated strength and reputation on the banks of the Wang River.

The Fourth Prince had assumed that Eldest Brother, having already married a Barbarian princess, would never again receive an outside military command.

Who could have expected the Barbarian envoys suddenly to lower their posture, while Little Sixth maneuvered from above and below? In the end, Eldest Brother had gone so far as to threaten to smash his head against a pillar in court if he was not allowed to lead troops and serve the country.

He had actually torn the Nanwang City assignment straight out of the Fourth Prince’s hands.

“He is our eldest brother, after all. Heh. Fourth Brother, listen to one piece of advice from me. Stop thinking about all those things that aren’t going to happen. Find an opportunity and do Little Sixth a favor. We’re brothers in the end. Break the bones and the tendons still connect us.”

The Fourth Prince’s expression darkened.

There were things he could not say.

When Third Brother had plotted against Zheng Fan, the Fourth Prince had also pushed matters along from behind the scenes, ultimately helping bring Third Brother down completely.

He did not know whether Zheng Fan knew about that.

The Fifth Prince continued rubbing his feet.

“Whew. Anyway, I’ve figured it out. That seat is hard to fight for, and I never wanted to fight for it in the first place. The Ministry of Works may be exhausting, but at least I finally have something to do. Going out and seeing the world is better than being imprisoned in Yanjing forever.”

“You certainly know how to let go,” the Fourth Prince said perfunctorily. “But will Little Sixth let us go?”

“Whether he does or doesn’t, what can we do? Second Brother still has the title of Crown Prince. Don’t be fooled by how miserable he looks now or how shaky his status as heir seems. At least Second Brother still has a chance. As for Little Sixth, there’s even less to say. Eldest Brother is already standing behind him. What exactly are the two of us supposed to do?”

“Fifth Brother, I refuse to accept it.”

“Then keep it bottled up.”

The Fifth Prince put his boots back on.

“Why haven’t you changed into your python robe? Father may summon us to the banquet later.”

“I brought it. It’s too hot. I’d sweat through it if I wore it now. I’ll put it on later.”

“Oh, right. Don’t just eat peanuts. Where’s the food I told you to bring?”

“Father is probably hosting a banquet later, and we’ll be seated there. Why did you want me to bring food?”

“You didn’t bring any?”

“I forgot.”

“You... ah. Zheng Fan is of our generation. At the banquet, Father is bound to use him as an example to lecture us about how useless and unambitious we are. We’ll be too busy kowtowing and admitting our faults to eat anything.”

“Right. I’ll send someone to buy food immediately.”

...

Count Pingye’s procession reached the palace gates.

There it stopped.

The white-haired Grand Director of the Court of the Imperial Clan stood before the gates holding an imperial edict.

The Crown Prince turned to Count Pingye.

“This is the princess’s investiture.”

It was the first thing he had said directly to Count Pingye throughout the entire journey.

The investiture of a princess should not be proclaimed by an ordinary official. It properly belonged to the head of the imperial Ji Clan.

More than eight hundred years ago, the Marquises of Yan and Chu had both been vassals of the Son of Heaven of Great Xia, ordered to open the frontiers.

Yan and Chu might have been at war not long ago, but this was like two neighboring families whose adults had gotten into a fight. One did not take that anger out on a child visiting the house. That would simply be beneath one’s dignity.

So having the Grand Director of the Court of the Imperial Clan proclaim the investiture represented a kind of familial connection between the Ji and Xiong clans.

“Princess Xiong Liqing of Chu, receive the edict.”

Xiong Liqing stepped out of the carriage.

Dressed in magnificent formal attire, she slowly knelt.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees...”

The edict lavished praise upon the princess’s arrival in Yan. It did not treat her as a captive or a trophy to be displayed.

Emperor Yan did not lack that degree of magnanimity.

Naturally he was pleased. This was something that brought him great face.

But even while enjoying that satisfaction, a ruler still had to possess stature.

“Therefore, Xiong Liqing is hereby invested as Princess Zhaode of Great Yan, granted Cang County as her fief, and authorized to establish a Princess’s Residence. Respect this.”

Princess Zhaode.

A fine title.

Certainly much better than something like “Princess Who Submitted to Righteousness.”

What caught Count Pingye’s attention more, however, was the fief.

Cang County.

The place was poor, dilapidated, and almost devoid of population.

Because Cang County lay directly south of Snow Sea Pass. Of all the former counties of Cheng State, it was the one closest to Snow Sea Pass.

By choosing Cang County as the princess’s fief, Emperor Yan was effectively giving the county to Zheng Fan, her husband.

In other words, he was also handing Zheng Fan local administrative authority over the area surrounding Snow Sea Pass.

“This subject thanks His Majesty for his boundless grace. Long live His Majesty! Long live! Long, long live!”

Xiong Liqing accepted the edict.

The Grand Director said warmly, “Girl, get up.”

Then his gaze shifted to Zheng Fan.

He took another imperial edict from an attendant.

“Zheng Fan, Chief Commander of Great Yan’s Snow Sea Pass, Grand General of Cheng State, and Count Pingye, receive the edict.”

This time no one had told him he could remain mounted, so Count Pingye obediently dismounted and knelt.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Today I bestow a marriage. Princess Zhaode is to marry Count Pingye, Zheng Fan. May you treat one another with the respect due an honored guest and enjoy a harmonious union for a hundred years.”

This was merely procedure.

Although Count Pingye had not actually done anything yet, everyone else naturally assumed he and the princess had already done everything there was to do.

But the princess had only just received formal investiture from Great Yan. Naturally, her status had to be formally recognized before the proper procedure could be completed and she could be married to Count Pingye.

It also meant another title had to be added to the already absurdly long string attached to Zheng Fan’s name:

Zheng Fan, Chief Commander of Great Yan’s Snow Sea Pass, Grand General of Cheng State, Imperial Son-in-Law of Great Yan, and Count Pingye.

Zheng Fan felt that if he worked a little harder, he might eventually catch up with the Mother of Dragons.

“This subject thanks His Majesty for his boundless grace.”

While the edict was being proclaimed, farther back in the procession Wei Zhonghe walked over to the man in white.

“Greetings, Sword Saint. Please come with this old servant. Suitable arrangements have been made for you.”

In truth, only Zheng Fan and Xiong Liqing would be entering the palace shortly. Everyone else would be settled elsewhere.

The Sword Saint was different.

Not only could he not simply be placed anywhere, someone had to keep an eye on him personally.

That was only reasonable.

After all, he did have a prior conviction for regicide.

Once Zheng Fan and Xiong Liqing had accepted their edicts and risen, the Grand Director stepped aside.

“Go in. His Majesty is waiting for you.”

At that moment, Ji Chengjue appeared just inside the palace gates.

Two horses stood behind him.

An imperial edict was in his hand.

The Grand Director smiled. “That should be the edict permitting you to ride within the palace.”

Count Pingye smiled politely at the Grand Director, then took Xiong Liqing by the hand and walked inside.

The Crown Prince, the Grand Director, and the officials and eunuchs waiting outside the palace gates prepared to follow.

At the same time, everyone readied themselves for the final edict of the day, the one granting permission to ride within the palace. They were already prepared to walk forward a few steps and naturally drop to their knees.

But Ji Chengjue merely held the edict pinched in one hand.

He did not open it.

He waited until Count Pingye, still holding the princess’s hand, walked right up to him.

And still Ji Chengjue did not proclaim the edict.

Just as everyone began wondering what was happening, Ji Chengjue looked directly at Zheng Fan and spat out two crisp words.

Count Pingye looked straight back at the Sixth Prince and returned two equally crisp words.

For a moment, everyone inside and outside the palace gates stood dumbfounded.

“Beast.”

“Bitch.”

————

Thank you to classmate ZZZ Xinmiao and reader 140508000452321 for becoming new Alliance Leaders of Demons Advent!

Good night.

[End of Chapter 485]