Chapter 672: A Conversation with Tian Wujing

Litian City.

They had arrived.

Advance scouts had reached the city ahead of them and notified the local officials that no one, whether of Yan or Jin origin, needed to come out to welcome the Marquis. Even the various military camps and yamen inside and outside Litian City were forbidden from making any unnecessary movements.

The Prince of Jingnan was here.

As Marquis of Pingxi, Zheng Fan could not be bothered stirring up any pomp of his own.

Or perhaps, more simply, when there was someone important he needed to see, he had no patience left for social obligations.

So, unlike the last time he entered Litian dressed in white mourning clothes, this time the Marquis of Pingxi left most of his escort outside the city. He took only a group of personal guards in Flying Fish Robes, mounted his Pixiu, entered through Litian City's eastern gate, and rode straight to the old Marquis Residence, now the Prince of Jingnan Residence.

He dismounted.

Every soldier at the gate saluted him.

Zheng Fan raised a hand, then walked straight inside.

No one stopped him.

No one questioned him.

Not because he was a Marquis.

Because everyone in the army knew that he was the man the Prince of Jingnan trusted most.

An imperial eunuch bearing an edict could be barred from entering.

Marquis Pingxi could come and go as he pleased.

The residence still looked exactly as before.

To a certain degree, Old Tian truly was a nostalgic man.

Only the outermost areas contained a few servants, household attendants, and maids.

The core of the residence was almost empty.

Because Great Yan's Southern Prince did not like being disturbed.

Zheng Fan walked inward.

He saw the desolation filling the garden and the pond beneath late-autumn skies.

But when his gaze fell on the threshold, the white-haired figure was not there.

A little surprised, Zheng Fan looked around.

Then he saw someone sitting in a pavilion behind the pond.

Who else could it be but Tian Wujing?

A pot sat in front of him, steam rising from it.

Zheng Fan walked over and saw a crimson broth bubbling inside. Many dishes waiting to be cooked had been arranged beside the table.

"Your Highness..."

Tian Wujing was slowly stirring the pot with his chopsticks so nothing would stick to the bottom.

Then he raised his head and looked at Zheng Fan.

Tian Wujing was not unshaven.

His eyes were not lifeless.

Nor did he carry any especially heavy late-autumn sorrow.

"What? You didn't find me sitting there utterly lost and broken, so you're not used to it?"

"No, no."

Zheng Fan immediately sat down.

A set of bowl and chopsticks had already been placed for him.

"I remember you liked eating this before," Tian Wujing said. "I tried adjusting the broth. Taste it and see whether it suits you."

"How could a broth prepared by Your Highness possibly taste bad?"

Tian Wujing shook his head and began adding food to the pot.

"How are things in eastern Jin?"

"To answer Your Highness, development is going well. The board is stable now. Next comes a greater focus on restoring people's livelihoods. In short, the hardest stretch has passed."

The hardest period had been from last winter until this autumn.

Not because they feared starving people gathering in revolt.

Not because they feared another war.

It was because the previous year had been the critical period for laying foundations. Once the foundation was firmly planted, the entire system would begin moving in a better and better direction.

Otherwise, all they would truly have accomplished was stationing armies in three locations and turning them into oversized military forts.

"I have always thought that you seem better at governing people's livelihoods than you are at fighting wars," Tian Wujing said. "This Prince has never been good at governing a place."

"In truth, once you've beaten the people outside into submission, managing the household becomes much easier and calmer. To secure the inside, first remove the threats outside. Eastern Jin was able to settle because Your Highness fought those victories."

"Yes. Toward the outside, one can never bow one's head. Bowing once is too easy. Once becomes twice, then three times, then countless times. Great Yan founded its state through martial force. Weapons are Great Yan's spine. But in truth, Qian, Chu, and Jin were all founded through martial force as well. I have read essays claiming that only after the civilizing influence of royal virtue was extended did the barbarians submit, and only then did the Xia realms acquire the vast territory they possess today. But if you do not first use blades, spears, and iron cavalry to force those barbarians into submission, if you do not beat fear into them, they will never admire your culture."

"Your Highness is right."

"Great Yan, however, had a difficult founding and is difficult to maintain. Unlike the other three states, they can bow their heads a little and survive. But Great Yan is different. Once it bows, others can easily climb onto its neck, and from there it is only a matter of time before it is overturned. It was so before. Now, even more so. The more territory we conquer, the richer our military achievements become, and the higher the army's morale rises, the less we can afford to lose. Zheng Fan."

"I'm here."

"Remember these words. Once a man sits in a position like yours, whether you realize it or not, you already possess a bottom line of your own. You like stratagems. You like detours. That was the old you..."

"And now I..."

"You've tasted the benefits of strong soldiers and powerful horses?"

"Yes."

"You can be even more arrogant."

"I know I was wrong."

"You were not wrong. I mean exactly that. You should be more arrogant. If you want to be arrogant before others, then behind them you must work even harder so you never fall one day and turn all the flattery surrounding you into arrows of mockery. That, too, is a kind of spur."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"The day after tomorrow, we leave. Tomorrow, come with me to Mount Tianhu and take another look."

"All right, Your Highness."

"Have you formed an opinion about the succession?"

"Uh..."

Zheng Fan genuinely had not expected the topic to turn so quickly and so directly.

"Still no opinion?" Tian Wujing asked.

"Truthfully, this entire journey, all I've been thinking is that I'll stand behind you. Whatever you say, I'll agree with. Whatever you want to do, I'll lend a hand. So I haven't bothered wasting my brain on it."

Tian Wujing pointed his chopsticks toward the pot.

"You like spicy food. But if you are truly hungry, even vegetables boiled in plain water will still go down."

"You're right. I really have started feeling that who becomes Crown Prince is no longer especially important."

Whoever became Crown Prince would spend the immediate future stabilizing the situation.

Unless the successor were Zhu Yunwen reincarnated, he would not rush to strip the regional powers of their fiefs the instant he took the throne.

Whether it was Little Sixth or the Crown Prince, neither was a fool.

Neither was the kind of man who could be casually manipulated by others.

As long as there was no immediate campaign to strip the regional powers of their fiefs, the relationship between the frontier powers and the central court would remain workable.

At most, both sides would keep tugging back and forth, probing each other like two men endlessly pushing hands in taiji.

That had little direct connection to who actually sat on the Dragon Throne.

Because once the Emperor of Yan died, whoever succeeded him would inevitably possess far less prestige than that mighty sovereign had enjoyed.

That was also why Little Sixth had understood Zheng Fan's increasing coolness and never became angry about it.

For Little Sixth, the imperial succession concerned his own life and the lives of his entire household.

For Zheng Fan as he was now, it had already become half someone else's problem.

Just as Old Tian had said:

You are no longer starving.

Zheng Fan picked up a slice of meat, put it into his mouth, and chewed.

"To tell Your Highness the truth, I started looking forward to a day like this a long time ago. You know what kind of person I am. I like freedom. I like living a little more unrestrained. I don't much enjoy someone holding me by the throat."

That was already an outrageously disloyal thing to say.

But before Old Tian, Zheng Fan truly had almost nothing he did not dare say anymore.

"A person should still find something to revere," Tian Wujing said. "Otherwise, it becomes too easy to grow lazy."

"I have things. Don't worry about that. I have always wanted to visit Jiangnan. But I don't dare sneak in there incognito. I'm afraid the Silver-Armored Guard would catch me. Still, I yearn for Jiangnan's scenery and customs very much. Rest assured, Your Highness. One day, I will lead a great army there personally. I'll stroll through Jiangnan and listen to their finest courtesans sing."

Zheng Fan wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"And lately, I've met a few western merchants. I want to go see the West too. I want to see their magic and battle qi and find out how they differ from our Qi Refiners and Martial Artists. I want to plant Great Yan's Black Dragon Banner on top of their city walls."

Those were sincere words.

He was not saying them to flatter Tian Wujing.

But spoken here, at this moment, they also became a declaration of loyalty without him intending it.

Not loyalty to a sovereign.

Loyalty to the oath he had once sworn beneath the commander's tent while holding the Black Dragon Banner.

"There are still so many landscapes I want to see. How could I truly become lazy? When I've been fighting too long, I start missing home. I miss the women at home. I miss my bathing pool. But stay home long enough and slowly my body starts itching again. I start wanting to go out and wander. The hand accustomed to gripping a saber begins to ache, and I want to swing it again. Not empty martial practice. I want to charge and take an enemy general's head off with one stroke. Living as a human is a lifelong business. It isn't easy. That's exactly why I keep wanting to make trouble. If I don't toss myself around a little, then this trip through the mortal world would have been wasted."

Tian Wujing listened.

Slowly, he put down his chopsticks.

"Are you teaching this Prince?"

"I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't dare. You've always been the one teaching me."

"Tian Tian can walk now, yes?"

The subject changed again.

Fortunately, Zheng Fan was used to it.

"He can run now. Every day he plays with a few companions in the rear residence. He's very good, very sensible, and very obedient. He just likes sachima too much. It's sweet, so we don't let him eat much. We're afraid it'll ruin his teeth."

"You've taken trouble over him."

"I'm his godfather. Your Highness, saying that makes things too formal."

"True."

Then Tian Wujing seemed to remember something.

He said:

"Right. That matter I mentioned to you last time. This Prince..."

Zheng Fan's heart suddenly gave a hard thump.

The scene in burning Ying Capital immediately surfaced in his mind.

Tian Wujing had told him that when the time came for him to seek release, he would discuss it with Zheng Fan and choose the most suitable way to end things.

Clatter!

The chopsticks slipped from Zheng Fan's hand.

"Your Highness... this soon?"

Tian Wujing looked at him.

"It has already been a long time."

Marquis Zheng suddenly felt like crying.

"Yes, yes. It has been so long. And you still remember that?"

"I had forgotten. Then I calculated that you should be arriving soon, and I remembered again. I thought I would ask you to help me taste it."

"I..." Zheng Fan nodded. "You've already decided?"

"It was never anything difficult."

"Yes, yes, it isn't difficult. I promised you before. But could you not say it so casually?"

"Is it difficult?"

"For me, it is."

"Heh. You did quite well last time."

"That was because you forced me! Every single time, you forced me!"

I don't want to die.

I've always wanted to turtle up.

To farm.

To develop.

You're the one who keeps shoving me out front to risk my life!

"Forced?"

"More or less."

"Oh. This one of mine is not forced."

"I know. I know. You decided long ago. Fine. Fine. Fine. I shouldn't have rushed all the way here. I came to the wrong place."

As Marquis Zheng spoke, he reached up and wiped at eyes that had begun reddening.

"You couldn't not come. If you hadn't..."

Tian Wujing stretched out one hand and grasped sideways through the air.

Outside the pavilion stood a small stove, with a bamboo steamer resting over it.

At once, the steamer was pulled through the air and landed on the table.

Tian Wujing removed the lid.

Inside lay a ring of steaming white buns.

He picked one up and handed it to Zheng Fan.

"If you didn't come, how would I know whether these stuffed buns I made are authentic?"

[End of Chapter 672]