Chapter 623: - A Hand

South of Shangjing in the State of Qian stood a mountain.

The common people of Qian called it the Back Sea.

The mountain enjoyed spring warmth and blooming flowers throughout all four seasons, as though Heaven and Earth had bestowed some special wonder upon it.

A sea of flowers was still a sea.

But in the minds of ordinary people, the name came more from the belief that immortals lived on that mountain.

When immortals traveled, there should naturally be drifting seas of cloud.

Where immortals lived, there should naturally be mist and haze.

So the place became the Back Sea.

The Qian court, however, whether the Emperor himself, men like Yao Zizhan, or people from other states, called that same place the Back Mountain.

Because they understood that there was only one mountain there.

And they understood that there were no immortals on it.

Only a group of Qi Refiners.

The difference in names also revealed a difference in attitude.

The acting head of the Back Mountain was presently Master Xundao.

He favored white robes.

And he rarely handled ordinary affairs.

In truth, although the Back Mountain was a gathering place for Qi Refiners, it was neither a formal sect nor a government yamen.

It stood too close to Shangjing.

The Qian court would never permit a strict, disciplined sect composed entirely of Qi Refiners to exist that close to the capital.

So the Back Mountain had always remained loose without becoming scattered.

There were rules, but they were not harsh.

Its disciples also enjoyed traveling among ordinary people.

Today, Master Xundao left seclusion.

His retreat had been inside a pavilion at the center of a flower pond on the Back Mountain.

Within that pond grew a white lotus.

It was said that years ago, when Master Zang entered Yanjing to sever the dragon vein, all that ultimately returned with Baili Sword was one half-closed white lotus.

Master Xundao entered a carriage.

Driven by a young Daoist attendant, it swayed down from the Back Mountain, traveled through the night, and entered Shangjing.

Naturally, if Master Xundao of the Back Mountain wished to enter the capital in the middle of the night, the city guards were not going to close the gates in his face because of curfew.

The carriage continued onward.

It entered the Imperial Palace and reached the Warm Pavilion without obstruction.

Outside the Warm Pavilion, Master Xundao saw Baili Xianglan sitting there playing Go.

Baili Sword did not often remain in Shangjing, but Baili Xianglan held office in the Silver-Armored Guard.

The Baili Clan’s main household was in Jiangnan.

It was not exactly a sect, because it did not widely recruit disciples, yet it had already become one of the sacred grounds of swordsmanship in the State of Qian.

To gain something, one had to give something up.

If the Baili Clan wished to continue developing until it became the foremost sword clan of the age, then it first had to hand the court a proper token of allegiance.

The most stable relationship in the world was mutual need.

“Playing by yourself?” Master Xundao asked.

Baili Xianglan stood and saluted him.

“No.”

“With whom?”

“Master Yao.”

“Master Yao has already returned?”

Yao Zizhan had indeed stepped down as Governor-General of the Three Frontiers and handed the post to Zu Zhuming.

But by rights, he should remain at the Three Frontiers a while longer.

First, to make the transfer smoother.

Second, to hold a place for the next civilian official the court intended to send there.

“This is the game Master Yao left here last winter.”

“So you have been hesitating over your next move for this long?”

Baili Xianglan shook her head.

“The game is not dead. It can still continue.”

“Then?”

“Master Yao promised me that whenever someone came to the Warm Pavilion to see His Majesty, if thirty people of sufficient status asked me about this game, then when he returned he would compose seven poems for the swords of my Baili Clan. Master, you are the twenty-ninth. I am almost finished collecting them.”

“I suspect Master Yao never asked you to explain the second half.”

“He never told me not to.”

A fine anecdote had originally been taking shape:

Great Qian’s Literary Saint, Yao Zizhan, had left a Go position outside the Warm Pavilion, and his opponent had gone an entire year without making the next move.

But after Baili Xianglan explained the truth, the story became rather difficult not to laugh at.

“Master, are you here to see His Majesty?”

“Yes.”

“His Majesty is waiting for you.”

“I know.”

“Then it seems this is not some urgent matter. Otherwise Master would hardly have the leisure to joke around with me here.”

“It is not urgent. I only came to notify him of something. The mountains are high and the roads are long. There are many days ahead. We are not short of the time it takes to drink two cups of tea.”

“Then Master came looking for me?”

“I came looking for your elder brother. He promised he would enter the Back Mountain in the second half of the year and lend me his strength. There is snow on the ground already.”

“The New Year hasn’t arrived yet. That means it is still the second half of the year.”

“Where did your brother go?”

“He said he was going out to sea. By rights, he should be returning soon. My brother keeps his promises. He will not break this one.”

As she spoke, Baili Xianglan pointed toward the Go board before her.

“My brother will probably be like this game. On New Year’s Eve, two hours before midnight, Master should have your disciples begin warming the wine.”

“Oh?”

“Because my brother will probably arrive during the final hour. Baili Sword. Baili Promise. When I was little and read books, I always found anecdotes about famous people and famous sayings interesting. Now that I have grown up and met so many famous people, I somehow find them even more interesting.”

“A lifetime in this world is nothing more than a search for something interesting. Interesting to oneself. Interesting to outsiders. Interesting to later generations. In the end, that is about all there is to it.”

“Master truly did not come on urgent business.”

“That year, if you had managed to bring that child back while leading all those Silver-Armored Guard experts, there would be no matter to discuss today.”

“Master Yao said Tian Wujing of Yan is no jianghu brute. You cannot kidnap his wife and child and expect him to become obedient. And I believe the child being in the hands of Zheng... heh, the Marquis of Pingxi of Yan, is a greater danger to Yan than if the child were in our Qian hands. A child alone cannot mobilize the Jingnan Army. Even if that child were in our hands, we could not mobilize the Jingnan Army. We would only make the whole Jingnan Army unite in hatred against us. But with that child in the hands of the Marquis of Pingxi, he can hold the heir in his hands and command the Jingnan Army.”

“But do you understand? There are not so many things in this world that naturally ought to happen.”

“Please enlighten me, Master.”

“Years ago, every Chancellor in Great Qian’s court had a literary reputation like thunder and moral character like green pines. And in the end, Yan iron cavalry still reached the walls of Shangjing. That is the best example. Two years ago, the celestial sign of the Four Symbols Meteor Fall appeared, and a star fell upon the northeastern frontier. That was also the reason for my previous visit to the palace. At the time, he was only Garrison Commander of Snow Sea Pass. Now, he is already Great Yan’s Marquis of Pingxi. A Marquis of Great Yan... earned through military merit.”

“Master believes that celestial sign fell upon the Marquis of Pingxi?”

“You do not believe it.”

“No. People of the Baili Clan believe only in the swords in our hands.”

“Heh.”

Master Xundao smiled and nodded.

“There are not so many things in this world that naturally ought to happen. For a hundred years, generation after generation of Chancellors and Emperors believed that weakening the authority of military commanders would guarantee lasting peace and prevent rebellion. What did it actually produce? By a few years ago, military preparedness had decayed so badly that the north could not withstand Yan iron hooves, while the southwest remained a festering wound. You all think that child being in the Marquis of Pingxi’s hands will one day create chaos within Yan. Perhaps the next man to lead an army through the walls of Shangjing will be that very Marquis of Pingxi. A small merchant doing business knows that no matter how certain the profit seems, when he lies down at night his heart still hangs in suspense. Because he understands what it means for Heaven to send unexpected storms. And yet when governing a great state, people can calmly convince themselves that certain outcomes are inevitable. Do you not find that interesting?”

“Master is unusually talkative today. This is the Warm Pavilion. This is His Majesty’s bedchamber. What you are saying is no longer merely about heavenly signs. You are speaking directly about state policy.”

The unspoken meaning was obvious.

You have crossed the line.

Master Xundao shook his head.

“Before I entered the Back Mountain, my name too was proclaimed before Donghua Gate. I was a scholar. What is wrong with a scholar saying these things?”

Baili Xianglan smiled.

“Master plans to come down from the mountain?”

“If the heart is on the mountain, then the person is on the mountain. If the heart is below the mountain, then the person is below the mountain.”

“Xianglan understands.”

“I am going in to see His Majesty.”

“Please.”

...

Master Xundao entered the Warm Pavilion.

Inside, the Emperor of Qian, dressed in Daoist robes, tossed the memorial in his hand to the floor.

Then he lifted his tea and drank.

Below him knelt the trembling Grand Commander of the Silver-Armored Guard, Luo Mingda.

In truth, Luo Mingda’s relationship to the Qian Emperor was the same as Lu Bing’s relationship to the Emperor of Yan.

Both were milk-brothers to their sovereigns.

That was not some excessive coincidence.

There was an inevitability to it.

First, an emperor had originally been a prince.

Princes naturally had childhood playmates.

The children of their wet nurses often grew up beside them.

That was a bond formed from childhood.

Second, the entire household of a wet nurse generally rose because she had nursed the future emperor.

All of their honor was therefore bound to the emperor alone.

They had little reason to become entangled with anyone else.

Most important of all, a milk-brother was called a brother, but there was no blood relationship.

Actual brothers who shared your blood might one day begin eyeing the supreme throne beneath you.

In older times, a milk-brother was almost the same thing as a childhood companion.

Master Xundao stepped forward.

He bent down, picked up the memorial, and placed it back on the side table to the Emperor’s left.

Everyone present was intelligent.

That one motion already said a great deal.

The Emperor’s gaze swept over Master Xundao.

He gave a slight nod.

Then the Emperor yawned, pointed at Luo Mingda kneeling below, and cursed:

“The Silver-Armored Guard’s nail in the southwest was fooled by the native tribes and sent back false military intelligence. One column of the Western Army walked straight into an ambush. Nearly ten thousand casualties. The southwest is rotting again.”

“This subject deserves death! This subject is guilty!”

Luo Mingda pleaded guilty.

“Your Majesty,” Master Xundao said.

“Minister Li, speak freely.”

Kneeling on the floor, Luo Mingda felt his heart give a sudden jolt.

Did this mean Master Xundao of the Back Mountain, the Tanhua scholar whose name had once shaken Shangjing, intended to return to government service?

“The southwest becoming chaotic was inevitable. Over the past few years, the main forces of the Western Army were successively transferred to the Three Frontiers. That weakened the deterrence and suppression of the southwest. Then Old Chancellor Zhong died. It is entirely natural for the native chieftains to begin stirring. The present situation is not truly the fault of any one person. It is an inevitable consequence of the greater momentum. This subject believes the southwest should follow the method once used by the Tattoo-Faced Chancellor. Entrust all military and civil authority in the southwest to one man and settle the situation quickly. If we offer only amnesty, the native tribes will fear our might but never cherish our virtue. If we focus only on suppression, then most of Great Qian’s truly battle-worthy troops are presently stationed at the Three Frontiers. Yan is Great Qian’s true great threat. Therefore, we should divide the native powers, break their alliances, punish where punishment is needed, and restore stability as quickly as possible.”

“Does Minister have someone to recommend?”

“This subject is willing to go.”

“Granted. Tomorrow, Minister will wear official robes and attend court to receive the appointment.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The southwest.

He wanted to go himself?

Several times Luo Mingda, still prostrated on the floor, wanted to raise his head and say something.

To remind the Emperor of something.

But he did not dare.

Because he understood that whatever he wanted to say, whatever he wanted to warn about, His Majesty already knew.

And His Majesty had already agreed.

The Silver-Armored Guard was the most powerful intelligence and secret-police yamen in Great Qian.

Within its archives were files sealed at the highest level of secrecy.

As Grand Commander of the Silver-Armored Guard, Luo Mingda naturally had the authority to read them.

One such record concerned this man who had quietly presided over the Back Mountain for years without showing either mountain or water.

Li Xundao.

Master Xundao.

He was the surviving orphan of the Tattoo-Faced Chancellor, personally taken to the Back Mountain and protected by Master Zang.

The Emperor took a handful of dried fruit and tossed several pieces into his mouth.

“Minister came to the palace this time because you sensed something?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, while on the mountain this subject sensed that someone had tried to peer into the fate of the child surnamed Tian.”

Li Xundao paused.

“This itself was a small matter. But this subject took it as a sign that the time had arrived. The time for this subject to descend the mountain.”

“Heh. Indeed.”

The Emperor answered, then looked toward Luo Mingda.

“The night We received the news, We summoned this idiot and cursed him for half the night. But no matter how We cursed, the idiot refused to admit that he was the one behind it.”

“Grand Commander Luo would not do such a thing. A living wife of the former Marquis of Jingnan, the present Princess Consort of Jingnan, would have been the most useful piece. Even if that piece lost contact long ago, even if it ceased responding, the identity attached to her could never be stripped away.”

“Minister Li thinks so too?”

“Yes. Anyone with clear eyes would not believe this was the work of Grand Commander Luo, or Great Qian, or Your Majesty. The loss is too great. It would not be worth it. Anyone truly paying attention would instead begin wondering...”

“Whether it was the work of that Yan emperor across the border, intended to prevent one of his ministers from becoming too powerful to control?”

The Emperor shook his head.

“He gathered those two men around himself through loyalty and friendship. Even if he truly wanted such a thing done, he could simply order Tian Wujing himself to kill his wife and child. Why go through all that trouble?”

Luo Mingda and Li Xundao both seemed ready to speak.

The Emperor raised a hand and cut them off.

“We are an emperor. He is an emperor too. So We understand him better. We can even understand Tian Wujing more easily. We believe that Yan emperor was probably not entirely ignorant of what happened to Dujuan. But to say he forcibly acted at that moment because he wanted to cut off the Tian Clan’s descendants and sever the future inheritance of the Jingnan Army... We do not think he would go that far. Of course, that does not mean his hands are truly clean. In this world, the easiest character to write is ‘one.’ And in this world, the hardest character to write is also ‘one.’ One is the beginning. And one means remaining the same from beginning to end. For those who govern, nothing is more taboo than changing morning orders by evening. For a sovereign, the favorite saying is that the ruler does not speak in jest. Ji Runhao gained the help of Li Liangting and Tian Wujing through loyalty and friendship. The three of them, no matter what happens, must continue walking that same road from beginning to end. Because none of them can turn back anymore. The moment one of them turns back, he becomes the target of every arrow. The Li Clan had a century-old Marquis of Zhenbei Residence. The Tian Clan had a century-old great aristocratic house. If those things are thrown away, then so be it. But his Ji Clan has ruled an eight-hundred-year realm! If you tell Us that Ji Runhao is a fool, then what does that make Us, the emperor who was humiliated again and again beneath the hooves of his Great Yan cavalry?”

At this point, the Emperor’s eyes slowly lowered.

His voice came one word at a time:

“There was another hand. Back then, another hand reached into that affair and smeared all of us completely filthy.”

[End of Chapter 623]