Chapter 639: - Cutting One's Own Throat

“Little Brother, just keep doing things this way. If there is something you do not understand, ask Father more often. If Father is tired, come ask me. Your elder brother is still here. Whatever I can help you with, I will. At the end of the day, I am still a member of the Sun family.”

At the end of the day... I have already given up.

Sun Ying rested his head against the wooden door.

He would never forget the day that man barged into the Sun Residence and trampled his dignity utterly into the dirt.

He had once looked down on, even despised, the people who believed there was no hope of reversing the tide and therefore spent their lives scurrying about like flies and dogs for scraps.

But after struggling with all his strength, after fighting as hard as he could, what he received in return was exactly the same answer and exactly the same ending.

Perhaps this was simply the times and fate.

Perhaps this was simply the momentum of the State of Yan and the fortune of Marquis Pingxi.

“Brother, don’t worry. This time I understand. From now on, I absolutely will not make decisions on my own. Besides, I do not dare anymore. Brother, say a few good words to Father. I’ll help plead for you too. You have a wife, a daughter, and descendants. How can you remain shut in here forever?”

“Whether I can come out is not Father’s decision. Do your work properly. When the time comes, I will naturally be able to leave. Truthfully, whether I leave or not makes little difference. I have food and drink here. There is one more thing I need to warn you about, Little Brother.”

“Tell me, Brother.”

“Do not let the Sun family involve itself in Prince Cheng Residence’s affairs.”

“How would I dare?”

“I am not talking about you. I am talking about Father. Father has let go of things, yes. He can sit by and watch the remnants of Great Cheng... heh, remnants... decline and disappear. But when Prince Cheng Residence finally reaches the point where it can no longer hold on, Father may remember old loyalties. He may act impulsively and stop caring even about the Sun family’s safety.”

“Ah? How could that happen...”

“Anything can happen. Father looks detached on the surface, but that old stubbornness still runs in his bones. That is why I need you. Some of the household servants, some useful subordinates, even a few of my own people can be handed to you. I am not asking you to use them for anything. Simply keep an eye on the household and, when appropriate, keep an eye on Father. If that moment truly arrives, you will have to stop him.”

“I... can I?”

“Why couldn’t you? I am already a cripple. Is the future of the Sun family not going to rest on your shoulders? Besides, Father is old now. The servants understand that too.”

“I know. I know.”

“Actually, our Sun family has things fairly easy. When Father said he wanted to retire, he was allowed to retire. But Prince Cheng Residence, no matter how much it retreats, still stands there. Heh. If the people inside could quietly accept the situation, the Yan would even need them as a ceremonial archway, something to show the rulers of Chu, Qian, and those little states. But they simply refuse to live peacefully.”

“Brother, the Prince is still young. How could...”

“The Prince is still young. But the people around him are not. They used to look down on me. Now I look down on them. There is something I will tell you now, but you must not tell Father.”

Sun Liang immediately looked around nervously.

On the other side of the door, Sun Ying sighed irritably again.

“Call out and tell them to withdraw.”

“Withdraw! All of you, withdraw. I have more to discuss with my elder brother!” Sun Liang shouted.

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

“Brother, is it all right now?”

Sun Ying looked toward the servant who had carried him out earlier.

The servant nodded, indicating that the guards had backed away.

“Little Brother, do you know why I said earlier that you were intelligent?”

“I... I don’t. I know I have been dull since childhood. I cannot compare with even one ten-thousandth of you, Brother.”

“In this world, anyone who does not think himself clever is already cleverer than more than ninety percent of the clever people. A man’s greatest treasure is knowing himself.”

“Thank you for the... compliment, Brother.”

“Some people simply do not know themselves. Being restless would be one thing. That would even be normal. I suspect the Yan court could tolerate Prince Cheng Residence being restless to a limited degree. Even the soundest sleeper has to roll over once in a while. But we are Jin people. The distinction between Yan and Jin will need at least two generations before it truly fades. For those two generations, we must keep our heads lowered and our waists bent. That is our proper place. Do you understand?”

“I understand, Brother.”

“No. Some people have forgotten their place. They are restless, yet they do not dare stand upright and reach for what they want with their own hands. Instead, while still kneeling on the ground, they twist their necks around and meddle in someone else’s family affairs. They have forgotten that once you strip away that glittering layer of status from them, what the hell are they? Are they even worthy?”

“Brother, who are you talking about?”

Sun Ying drew in a breath.

“Do not tell Father about this. I have already thought everything through. I will not fight anymore. There is no point. I cannot win. I only ask that the Yan not turn us into something like the slave households of Chu. At least leave us a little dignity.”

“Brother, I still don’t quite understand.”

“You want it plainly? Fine. I’ll tell you plainly. Someone in Prince Cheng Residence has established a line with people in Yanjing. They are dreaming. Dreaming that one day they can fly into the sky. They do not understand that in the eyes of the people holding the strings, Prince Cheng Residence itself is nothing more than a toy. Keep this from Father. Find an opportunity and tell Marquis Pingxi.”

“Brother...” Sun Liang panicked.

“What?”

“You are asking me to tell him. Wouldn’t that mean we are meddling in their family affairs too?”

“Heh. Hahaha...”

Behind the door, Sun Ying truly laughed this time, tears mixed into the sound.

“Even though the reason your elder brother is so miserable now is that Marquis, this time I really am willing to bet on Marquis Pingxi’s life being hard enough to survive it. I am betting that eastern Jin in the future will belong to his Marquis Residence!”

...

Ran Min rode at the head of every armored soldier from the twelve yamen of Yingdu’s City Patrol Office, advancing in a great column toward Prince Cheng Residence.

Yan rule in the Jin lands, especially in the major cities, followed a principle of strength within and looseness without.

Any city important enough to matter had military camps stationed outside it. Usually the banners were balanced. Yingdu, for example, had four gate camps, two Jin and two Yan. But in actual manpower, the Jin camps held two to three times as many soldiers as the Yan camps.

Inside the city, however, the security yamen represented by the City Patrol Office were staffed almost entirely by Yan people. Even when they recruited Jin men, those were people who had submitted early enough to be regarded, for all practical purposes, as Yan’s own.

That meant the City Patrol Office, which in Yan proper amounted to little more than armed yamen runners, possessed first-rate armor and weapons in the Jin lands.

Ran Min was now Commandant of the City Patrol Office. Under Yan’s system, where identical offices could carry very different grades depending on location and duty, his actual rank was no lower than that of the Garrison Commanders outside the city.

It was rather like the difference between the Lieutenant Commander of Merchant Protection in Tiger Head City and a Gate Lieutenant Commander in Yanjing. The names belonged to the same general tier, but their actual standing was worlds apart.

Once upon a time, Ran Min had been a murderer awaiting judgment in Nan’an County’s yamen, drinking and singing with the constable named Yan Xiaoliu.

Had Great Yan not been campaigning abroad at the time, he might have been beheaded there rather than being thrown into a penal battalion.

He should originally have been assigned to Shengle City, but by a strange twist of fate he was temporarily placed among civilian laborers instead. From there he fought his way upward, from laborer to auxiliary soldier, from auxiliary soldier to regular, then squad leader and section leader, until Mao Mingcai noticed him and gave him an official position.

Two years of steady work followed.

Then last year, he had led men to breach the dike along the Wang River, and the job had been done beautifully, cleanly, without leaving loose ends.

That achievement finally raised him to his present post as Commandant of the City Patrol Office.

It was not that Ran Min had never fallen.

He simply climbed back up every time.

If one ignored Marquis Pingxi, whose ascent had been so absurdly smooth, then Ran Min was the one who truly represented a rise from the very bottom.

And now, he led soldiers to the gates of Prince Cheng Residence.

The new Prefect, Xu Wenzu, had already moved into the Prefectural Yamen.

Prince Cheng Situ Yu, who was not supposed to have gone out but had done so anyway, had already returned to his residence.

Ran Min waited for a while.

He knew Prince Cheng Residence would never bind its own guards and hand them over to the City Patrol Office.

For one thing, if the guards were expected to bind themselves, who exactly would tie the ropes?

For another, the residence could not possibly do such a thing with its own hands. That would amount to chopping off its own wrist and severing its last reach beyond the compound walls.

But waiting was still necessary.

Once enough time had been given, Ran Min moved.

The City Patrol Office soldiers possessed excellent armor and weapons, together with certain pieces of siege equipment.

Ran Min had two small battering rams pushed forward.

Heavy bed crossbows and similar weapons were set out beside them in a full line.

A new superior replacing an old one was always an awkward moment for a former favorite like Ran Min.

But it also meant a new opportunity.

His nose was sharp enough to smell that Xu Wenzu was not the kind of superior who came here to smooth mud over cracks.

If the man above was impatient to cut, then the knife beneath him had to hurry and sharpen itself.

The more people your blade killed, the cleaner the work, the better your chance of rising.

As for birds being gone and fine bows put away afterward, that was a problem for another day.

First climb high enough to become that bow.

The gates of Prince Cheng Residence were not tightly shut.

Several rows of guards stood outside.

When the armored soldiers of the City Patrol Office pressed forward, those guards drew their sabers and formed ranks.

Ran Min sat on his horse, closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

He did not especially enjoy the pleasure that came from wielding authority.

What he truly loved was the sensation of trampling beneath his feet everything that had once been noble, sacred, and untouchably high.

Oh.

A princely residence.

The former imperial palace of Great Cheng.

A few years ago, the people inside had been real Crown Princes, princes, imperial sons, and imperial grandsons.

Whatever thoughts churned in his heart, Ran Min’s face remained calm.

By nature he was forthright and fond of making friends, and he was extremely popular with his subordinates. But whenever he went out on official business, he inevitably wore a severe expression, earning him the nickname Cold-Faced Commandant.

Ran Min knew countless eyes were undoubtedly watching this place now, waiting to see whether the new Prefect’s blade was truly as sharp as he claimed.

He did not care what anyone else thought.

He only needed Xu Wenzu to see his performance.

Straightening his back, Ran Min said:

“The guards of Prince Cheng Residence neglected their duty. According to the residence’s official guard register, every one of them is to be arrested.”

He pointed at the guards ahead.

“If you surrender now, only you yourselves will die. Anyone who resists will be judged guilty of rebellion, and his whole family will be implicated. If you are men, put down your sabers yourselves. Of course, you are welcome to keep holding them too. My brothers have not enjoyed themselves in a long time. Perhaps the women in your households are all soft-skinned and tender. Maybe even your old mothers still smell of face powder. My brothers will not be picky. So do as you please. It is entirely up to you whether you want to give my brothers the chance to taste something new!”

With that, Ran Min raised one hand.

Every crossbowman immediately prepared to fire.

Clang!

The residence guards dropped their sabers.

In truth, they were bewildered because no one in authority inside the residence had appeared.

Nor were they afraid of death.

Years ago they had been given choices. They could enter the army and earn merit or accept arrangements elsewhere. As hereditary palace guards, they would have been valuable wherever they went.

Yet they chose to remain here, inside a princely residence whose sun was already setting, and continue offering their loyalty.

If Prince Cheng himself appeared now...

No.

Even if nothing more than a steward came out and shouted one word, “Kill,” they would undoubtedly charge.

But no one came.

Under those circumstances, they had no choice but to think of their wives, children, parents, and families.

Ran Min waved his hand.

The City Patrol Office soldiers advanced and bound all of them.

These guards were actually quite skilled. If a fight had truly broken out, the scene would not have been pleasant.

Unfortunately, they had followed the wrong master.

Who told your master to disobey the Marquis’s order and leave the residence again?

“Enter the residence! Arrest them!”

“Yes!”

The armored soldiers surged into the compound.

Perhaps someone had warned the household in advance, because the expected scene of palace maids and eunuchs scattering like frightened chickens and screaming everywhere never appeared.

Ran Min dismounted and led the soldiers forward.

Then an angry shout rang out.

“Impudent!”

Supported by a maid, the Queen Mother slowly emerged from the rear in magnificent formal dress.

Several eunuchs walked ahead holding a ceremonial canopy over her.

Others followed behind, lifting the train of her robe.

She had, after all, once been a proper Empress.

Whatever else might be said, when she truly dressed and carried herself for the occasion, her presence was not much inferior to Xiong Liqing’s.

The difference was that the Regent standing behind that Princess had proved capable. Whatever had happened, he had managed to prop Chu back up.

Great Cheng, however, had long since vanished like smoke.

So the Queen Mother’s magnificence remained magnificence, but it inevitably carried the strained feeling of someone forcing grandeur onto a stage that no longer existed.

“This Dowager would like to see who dares behave so outrageously inside this residence. This Dowager would also like to ask His Majesty the Emperor of Great Yan whether the late Emperor of Cheng was wrong to entrust Great Cheng to him back then. Are this Dowager and her orphaned son truly to be bullied like this?”

For a moment, the City Patrol Office soldiers stopped advancing.

Every head turned back toward their Commandant.

Ran Min smiled.

He gestured for the men on both sides to move aside, then walked forward alone and knelt.

“This lowly officer, Ran Min, Commandant of the City Patrol Office, pays respects to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother enjoy health and good fortune!”

The Queen Mother lowered her eyes slightly.

She snorted.

“Commandant of the City Patrol Office. What imposing authority.”

“This lowly officer would not dare. I am merely carrying out orders. The guards of Prince Cheng Residence failed in their duties and could not protect the Prince and the Queen Mother. Naturally they must be punished.”

“The guards of Prince Cheng Residence are servants belonging to my own household. Since when does some petty Commandant like you have the right to come into my residence and seize them?”

Ran Min remained neither humble nor overbearing.

He raised his voice:

“Replying to the Queen Mother, Ran Min is indeed only a petty Commandant. But Ran Min is loyal to Great Yan, loyal to the court, and loyal to His Majesty. Ran Min is willing to be Great Yan’s hawk and hound. I am willing to be His Majesty’s hawk and hound!”

“You...”

The meaning was simple.

Yes.

The guards were servants of your own household.

But do not forget: everyone in Prince Cheng Residence is also a dog of the Emperor of Yan.

We are all dogs here.

Who exactly are you looking down on?

It had to be said that the confidence of Yan people in this era was extraordinarily swollen.

There was no helping it.

They had suppressed the Barbarians for a century. Then they had fought their way to the capital of Qian, destroyed the Three Jin lands, crushed the Savages, and burned Chu’s Ying Capital.

Great Yan’s iron cavalry had fought across the whole realm.

Of course the people of Yan had become arrogant.

It would have made no sense for Great Yan’s cavalry to keep winning battle after battle while its own people bowed and scraped before foreigners and voluntarily treated themselves as inferiors.

There was no such principle beneath Heaven.

While Mao Mingcai held office, his habit of smoothing over every disagreement had concealed or softened the contradiction between Yan and Jin.

But deep in their bones, the Yan genuinely looked down on the Jin.

“Good. Very good.”

The Queen Mother pointed at a pillar beside her.

“Do you believe this Dowager will smash her head against that pillar and die here? This Dowager will let the people of the world see exactly how you Yan bully an orphan and a widow. This Dowager will make His Majesty the Emperor of Yan remember the words in the imperial decree read at the late Emperor’s state funeral! And this Dowager would also like to ask you, a petty Commandant of the City Patrol Office: Are those little shoulders of yours truly broad enough to carry the responsibility?”

Ran Min remained kneeling with his head lowered.

Inside, he was practically laughing himself sick.

What a stupid woman.

Truly, astonishingly stupid.

She had once been mistress of an imperial harem and was now mistress of the inner household of a princely residence, yet apart from her status, she herself possessed practically nothing.

She was not even as useful as Taohong, the girl he had selected in the red-tent quarter a few days earlier.

That girl at least understood what she needed to do if she wanted to keep a customer and earn a reward. She knew how to please someone in order to reach her own goal.

And this woman?

Was she throwing a tantrum?

At a moment like this, she was actually doing nothing more than venting her temper?

Ran Min, who had already spent enough time immersed in officialdom, could only shake his head inwardly.

What was the point of threatening a mere Commandant?

More importantly, such resentful words were one thing if she merely thought them in her heart. She was actually saying them openly.

Did she truly think this was still Great Cheng beneath Heaven?

Did she truly think Situ Lei was still alive?

Did she truly think His Majesty the Emperor of Great Yan was some gentle and easygoing sovereign?

For a subject, the rule was simple:

If the sovereign wished the subject dead, the subject could not refuse death.

Yet she dared openly show disrespect toward His Majesty, dared resent the Son of Heaven, dared invoke old sentiment to threaten the Son of Heaven.

Hahahahaha.

Fine clothes. Fine food. Magnificent makeup and ornaments.

Could she not spare a little of it to feed her own brain?

Ever since receiving Xu Wenzu’s order that morning, Ran Min had been thinking through every situation he might encounter and every method he might need in response.

But he truly had never expected this matter to become so simple.

What Ran Min feared most, or rather what every Yan official in Yingdu feared most, including former Prefect Mao Mingcai and current Prefect Xu Wenzu, was that when things reached this stage, the Queen Mother and Prince Cheng would kneel there together.

They would quietly weep.

They would cooperate with everything.

They would utter no complaint whatsoever.

And all the while they would say:

Whether thunder or rain, all is the sovereign’s grace.

No struggle.

No complaint.

No hatred.

No anger.

Complete obedience.

Complete submission.

That would have been the truly difficult thing to handle.

Situ Lei had left behind an enormous reservoir of goodwill.

But goodwill was supposed to be like spring rain moistening things silently, something both sides understood without speaking.

The moment you began shouting about it, it became disgusting.

Heh.

Ran Min reached down, removed the saber at his waist, and tossed it onto the ground.

“You dare...”

The Queen Mother recoiled two steps in fright.

Ran Min calmly pointed at the saber lying before him.

Then he raised his head and looked directly at the Queen Mother.

“This lowly officer understands perfectly well that if anything happens to the Queen Mother, if the slightest mishap befalls you, it will be an enormous crime on my part, one from which there will be no escape. So if the Queen Mother truly insists on smashing her head against that pillar and dying here, then this lowly officer will immediately slit his own throat with this saber. I will not delay even a moment.”

With that, Ran Min picked up the saber and laid the blade across his own neck.

His cold eyes remained fixed on the Queen Mother.

He even tilted his head slightly.

The meaning could not have been clearer:

“Please. I am waiting to slit my own throat.”

“...” the Queen Mother.

[End of Chapter 639]