Chapter 650: - We Fight for Every Moment!

The sour broth used for fermented noodle soup was made by fermenting the whey left over from making tofu.

It possessed a distinctive sour fragrance, clearly different from aged vinegar or rice vinegar, and somewhat closer to fermented mung-bean drink.

When the noodles were served, one could drizzle them with rendered lard and add cilantro, chopped scallions, and other garnishes.

The result was tart, fragrant, refreshing, and exceptionally good at waking the appetite.

Old He carefully placed a bowl of sour-fermented noodle soup on a small wooden stool.

Beside it lay a pair of freshly washed chopsticks.

Once that was done, Old He and He Chu stood properly nearby, hands lowered before them.

Once upon a time, while watching their daughter and little sister grow up day by day, father and son had both imagined what they would do if Sisi’s future husband’s family treated her poorly.

Old He had even summoned every scrap of courage he possessed on the day Little Sixth came to Nan’an County to fetch his bride.

Pretending not to know who the groom truly was, he briefly put on the airs of a father-in-law and offered a few admonishments and scoldings.

The moment the door closed afterward, he nearly collapsed from fright.

He Chu had once thought the same way.

Butcher knife in hand, damn the bastard, whoever dares humiliate my little sister had better not think all those pigs your Grandpa He butchered over the years died for nothing!

But... how should one put it?

When you discovered that your in-law was Great Yan’s...

No.

More precisely, the person with the greatest might and prestige anywhere in the entire East, the man who was Heaven itself in the hearts of Great Yan’s people, all those thoughts of backing your girl, all that courage, all those warnings, naturally vanished without a trace.

It was not that the He father and son were cowards.

Even if Heaven granted the two of them ten more shares of courage, cowardice was still their only possible choice.

The Emperor of Yan picked up the chopsticks and calmly took one bite.

He was not some emperor so detached from reality that his attendants could fool him into believing a single egg cost several taels of silver.

Nor was he the sort of man who would taste some common street food and become so astonished by its flavor that he almost swallowed his own tongue.

In fact, after the first mouthful, he did not find it particularly refreshing or appetizing.

Instead, he simply was not used to the taste.

He raised his head slightly and looked at Old He and He Chu.

Father and son stood there barely daring to breathe, plainly waiting for his judgment.

Helplessly, the Emperor lowered his head again.

He ate several more mouthfuls before finally setting down the chopsticks.

The red-robed attendant offered a handkerchief.

The Emperor wiped the corner of his mouth, nodded, and said:

“It is good.”

Old He and He Chu both released long breaths.

The thousand-jin burden in their hearts finally fell away.

Then the Emperor leaned back slightly.

“How are your lives?”

“Good. Very good,” Old He answered hurriedly.

“Does Chengjue come visit you?”

“Often. Very often,” Old He replied immediately.

The Emperor nodded.

“And yet he never makes a special trip to visit Us.”

“...” Old He.

When the Emperor first entered the Rear Garden, the Crown Prince had regularly brought ministers from the various ministries to request instructions.

Ji Chengjue controlled the Ministry of Revenue, so naturally he had been among them.

Later, the Rear Garden issued its order closing the gates.

The Crown Prince and the other imperial princes in Yanjing still requested audiences every few days.

None were admitted.

But at least they made the gesture.

Ji Chengjue, on the other hand, had never once come even to put on a show.

The Emperor looked around the courtyard.

It had been kept clean and tidy.

There might be no women in the household, but father and son still lived diligently enough.

“He Chu still has not arranged a marriage?” the Emperor asked.

“No hurry. No hurry.”

“Right. I’m in no hurry either.”

A trace of exhaustion appeared in the Emperor’s eyes.

He might be sitting here and speaking normally, but if one rolled back his sleeves now, patches of discoloration would be plainly visible along his wrists and arms.

Pill poison.

In other words, heavy-metal poisoning.

He could remain in bed, barely alive, muddled and half-conscious as he slowly waited for death.

Or he could preserve relative clarity, endure pain and poison every day, and accept that he might suddenly collapse and die at any moment.

The Emperor of Yan had plainly chosen the latter.

“The in-laws of the imperial house should not live this plainly,” the Emperor said.

Old He immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed.

“Your Majesty, this old man is already satisfied. Satisfied. These days are already very good. Truly, they are already very good.”

“You should still have something respectable,” the Emperor said, shaking his head. “The He family may not want it, but the Ji family still has face to maintain.”

Old He had nothing he dared say.

He simply remained kneeling.

He Chu saw his father kneel and followed suit.

“Choose something.”

“Huh?”

Old He did not understand.

The Emperor slowly rose.

“This courtyard is good. Very clean.”

The red-robed attendant supported him as he walked out through the gate and boarded the carriage.

But the carriage did not leave the city and return directly to the Rear Garden.

Instead, it continued moving through Yanjing’s lanes.

The red-robed attendant offered tea.

The Emperor waved it away.

The attendant said:

“Your Majesty, that He family lad truly possesses an excellent fate.”

“If Grand Elder were sitting here, he would not have wasted words saying that.”

The young eunuch immediately knelt and begged forgiveness.

“What does his fate have to do with Us? Do you imagine We might reach out and take his fate for Ourselves to extend Our life a little longer?”

The attendant remained silent.

“Even those Qi Refiners behind the mountain in Qian, the ones who love boasting about everything beneath Heaven, would not dare slap their chests and promise they could accomplish such a heaven-defying act. What? Can you?”

“This slave is willing to offer everything to Your Majesty!”

“Then it becomes meaningless. We have never believed in these things. Fate. National fortune. Repeating that mystical nonsense over and over is irritating.”

The Emperor waved one hand.

“We know that is not what you meant. But We refuse to become one of those old, muddled sovereigns who will stop at nothing for so-called immortality or so-called fortune, believing themselves clever all the while. Liangting and Wujing would laugh at Us. If you let your tongue run loose again, go below and serve Grand Elder instead.”

“This slave knows his crime!”

So long as this sovereign remained conscious, no one could deceive him.

He would never permit himself to become muddled, to make mistakes, or to allow the ordinary desires of a human being to distort his sight.

He had left the Rear Garden and entered Yanjing today not because he had deliberately come to inspect the He family.

That visit had merely been incidental.

Secret Intelligence Department agents surrounded the He household.

Every movement of Old He and He Chu was known.

Ji Chengjue also had his own men assigned to protect the father and son.

Those men and the Secret Intelligence Department spies had always kept to their own side of the river, neither interfering with nor acknowledging the other.

Each simply performed his own duty.

The Emperor of Yan also knew about the He father and son going to have He Chu’s fortune told.

Especially the fortune-teller’s words:

“Someone else in the family needs to use it.”

To someone paying close attention, the implication was obvious.

The matter could be called enormous.

It could also be called tiny.

But it touched the greatest question currently hanging over the imperial court.

When Secret Intelligence Department men went to investigate that fortune-teller, however, the man had suddenly vanished from the face of the earth.

A deeper investigation found no trace of him moving in or around Yanjing at all.

It was as though he had appeared from nothing and disappeared into nothing.

As though on that one particular day, he had deliberately gone up the mountain, chosen the least conspicuous corner, and waited solely to tell the He father and son that fortune.

“Whether the He boy is destined for great wealth or high rank, whether he is destined to be ordinary or mediocre, We do not care. We told you to examine his face merely on a whim. In Our eyes, all this talk of the physiognomy of fortune, prosperity, and longevity is nonsense. From ancient times to the present, the first thing that decides whether a man achieves great things or rises to great rank is not fate. It is ability. A capable man with poor fate may indeed fail to accomplish what he should. But a man with no ability, however excellent his fate, remains mud that cannot be propped against a wall. These past few years, We have seen only one man who truly possesses the look of immense wealth and rank. Our new Marquis, Zheng Fan. He has passed through battle after battle, earned merit again and again without suffering some fatal accident, spent years amid war and returned victorious time after time. People say the times create heroes. But without heroes, how could those times ever be called heroic? One He family boy. Even if he carried the physiognomy of the Supreme Ninth-Five, what would that matter to Us? If We had truly fallen so low that We could no longer tolerate another man merely because his fate looked too good, then what sort of Emperor would We be?”

The young red-robed eunuch nodded repeatedly.

The Emperor continued:

“We know that Qi Refiners, after refining and refining for long enough, inevitably develop that floating illusion that they have grasped the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, that they have understood the threshold between Heaven and man. As though all the countless people of this world were mere vulgar fools. As though princes, marquises, generals, and ministers were all idiots. Everyone else is drunk and I alone am sober. No one else can see through it, only I possess clear eyes and a bright mind. That is what We despise most about Qi Refiners. People who think too highly of themselves, people convinced they alone understand everything, are often the greatest fools of all. We are telling you this not because We wish to beat you down, and not because Our throat is itching and We simply want to talk. Great Yan has always trusted armored cavalry and gleaming weapons. Not this sort of empty mystical babble. For eight hundred years, the iron hooves of the Barbarians have approached Yanjing more times than anyone can count. Every Emperor of Great Yan before Us responded by personally taking command. Was there ever one who curled up inside the palace, begged gods and ghosts for omens of fortune and disaster, and trembled in fear? Even the late Emperor... do you truly believe the late Emperor devoted his whole heart to seeking immortality and the Dao? Heh. Grand Elder was Grand Elder. You are not Grand Elder. You do not possess that bond with the Ji family. The only connection you have comes through your relationship with Grand Elder. And even that extends only as far as Us. When the next Emperor ascends, what foundation of affection will he share with you? We know you are frightened. We understand. You want to do something. There are plenty of men among the civil and military officials of court with exactly the same thought. One glance is enough for Us to see it. This is the final portion of sentiment We owe Grand Elder. So We are warning you. In the future, be a proper paperhanger. Do not let either your hand or your schemes reach too far.”

“This slave understands. This slave understands clearly.”

“As for that fortune-teller, even if you must dig three feet into the earth, find him for Us. In this life, what We have hated most is anyone who dares play ghosts and gods beneath Our own eyes!”

“This slave accepts the order!”

“We are tired. We will close Our eyes for a while. It is rare to leave the Rear Garden. At least this counts as getting a little air. Funny, really. We are the Emperor, yet now even stepping outside requires sneaking around like this.”

If word spread that the Emperor had left the Rear Garden and entered Yanjing, the entire balance of court would convulse immediately.

Was His Majesty dissatisfied with the Crown Prince’s regency?

Was he dissatisfied with some particular policy?

Was he attempting to announce to his officials and subjects that he, the Emperor of Yan, remained the true master of Great Yan?

But in truth, none of those thoughts had crossed his mind.

That was why he had to conceal himself.

Why he had to keep the matter covered.

It saved people outside from thinking too much.

And saved him the irritation of dealing with their thoughts.

The carriage entered the Lu Residence.

Everything remained silent.

Perhaps because the Emperor of Yan was old, perhaps because he had been living in the Rear Garden, the thoughts of people beneath him had inevitably begun drifting.

Men would begin thinking of choosing another tree before the old one fell.

That was natural.

That was human.

Every aged or seriously ill sovereign eventually had to accept the reality.

But with the Emperor of Yan’s authority, completely concealing one small trip through the capital was still not particularly difficult.

The people of the Lu Residence did not know who had arrived.

Young masters, young ladies, servants, and laborers continued with their ordinary lives.

After Lord Lu Bing returned from duty, he followed his usual habit and first went to the Buddhist hall in the rear courtyard to pay respects to the old matriarch.

This time, Lu Bing remained kneeling in the passage connecting the outer chamber with the inner room, his head lowered.

Inside, the Emperor of Yan slept on a bed.

The aged Madam Fengxin held no prayer beads.

Instead, she leaned beside the bed with a palm-leaf fan, slowly and gently fanning the Emperor.

It was cold weather.

The fan was not meant to chase mosquitoes away or cool him.

It merely stirred the faint fragrance clinging to the fan.

For a moment, everything seemed to return to years long past.

Back then, it had been exactly like this.

The man who had not yet become Emperor lay on a small couch with his head resting on her lap.

She had fanned him in the same manner.

Lu Bing sat on a little stool beside the wall and dozed.

Li Liangting had been too mischievous to sit still.

He practiced martial arts outside instead.

Slowly, the Emperor opened his eyes.

It was the best sleep he had enjoyed in a year.

Madam Fengxin said softly:

“Your Majesty, you are tired. Sleep a little longer.”

The Emperor shook his head.

“Foster Mother, We still need to hold on for a little while. Once We get through this, We will finally be able to rest properly.”

“That is good. People always need to rest eventually. Your Majesty has worked too hard.”

When some people said words like that, they hinted at ulterior meaning and invited their own destruction.

When others spoke them, there was nothing but sincerity.

Everything depended on the heart of the sovereign listening.

“The ones who are truly tired are Liangting and Wujing. Neither of them has set out for Yanjing yet because they want Us to suffer a little longer. We understand them. And We wronged them. We will endure a little longer. Hold on a little longer. By the time they finally come and we meet, most of the anger inside them should have burned away. Then we can speak properly.”

“Between brothers, what grudge lasts overnight? There is no matter that cannot be talked through. Your Majesty is the elder brother. Lower your head once. Admit one mistake. How could those two younger brothers keep their faces stiff and make things difficult for their elder brother? Your Majesty once said that you are not merely brothers for this lifetime. Even after all of you go below someday, there will still be a very long road ahead.”

“Heh.”

The Emperor laughed.

“Yes. Great Yan also has a very long road ahead.”

His gaze slowly settled on the palm-leaf fan.

“Foster Mother.”

“Mm?”

“Let Chuanye stay with you for a while.”

“Good.”

“It will trouble you.”

“Looking after Your Majesty’s grandson is no trouble. Besides, I like Chuanye. I have looked at him carefully. He resembles Your Majesty when you were a child.”

“Chengjue looked very much like Us when he was young too.”

Lu Bing, still kneeling by the doorway, felt waves beginning to rise inside his heart.

“Milk Brother.”

“Your Majesty, this subject is here.”

Lu Bing immediately rose, entered the inner chamber, and knelt beside the bed.

“We have rested enough. Take Us back to the Rear Garden.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Lu Bing helped the Emperor sit up.

At the instant he rose from the bed, the Emperor’s brow abruptly tightened.

A suffocating pain flared violently in his chest, like fire burning through it.

But the Emperor paused for only a moment.

Then he clenched his teeth and forced himself through the pain.

By the time he stood, cold sweat already covered his forehead.

“Your Majesty...”

“Foster Mother, We are going back.”

“This old woman respectfully sees Your Majesty off.”

...

The carriage began moving toward the city gate.

The Emperor reclined inside.

Two blankets covered his body.

“Your Majesty, that is everything concerning Yingdu,” Lu Bing reported.

“Leave the matter to Zheng Fan. Let him handle it himself. He understands how to make the outcome look proper. He knows how to do things, and he understands people even better. A pity. If eastern Jin did not require him so badly, We would truly like to keep him beside Us.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Milk Brother.”

“Your Majesty, this subject is here.”

“We trust you.”

“This subject will never betray Your Majesty’s trust!”

“Yes. All these years, few of the people We chose have betrayed Us. Yet We have betrayed quite a few of them. That is Our failing. We wronged them.”

“Your Majesty acted for Great Yan’s thousand-year future and for unifying the realm beneath Heaven. Meng Shou once left a line in the history he compiled: right and wrong, merit and fault, await the judgment of the annals. This subject believes that only history itself is qualified to judge Your Majesty.”

The Emperor reached out and lightly lifted the carriage curtain.

The noise of the streets outside flowed in.

A long time passed.

Then the Emperor smiled.

“History can go fuck itself. We fight for every moment.”

[End of Chapter 650]