Chapter 680: Picking a Pup

"Of the three of us, which one is well?"

"Look at you saying that. At least from where I'm standing, Great Yan is getting better and better."

Li Liangting shook his head.

"On the road east to Yanjing, what I saw and heard didn't suggest the common people are living particularly well."

"The troubles that need cleaning up will be handled one by one. After that, life will slowly improve. Besides, natural disasters are impossible to predict. When they come, we simply have to endure them. But no matter how terrible a natural disaster is, it's still better than the disaster of war."

Zheng Fan helped Li Liangting into a chair.

Prince Zhenbei looked at him and smiled.

"You little brat. You went from a tiny shrimp back then to a Marquis right before my eyes, yet you still know how to make your words sound pleasant."

"Whatever happens, a man can't lose the tool he eats with."

"Too modest. Far too modest. When it comes to commanding troops, which brat of the next generation can compare with you?"

"I like hearing that. Please say more."

"Heh. I'm hungry. Can't talk anymore. I've been craving this duck. Sigh, the rules our ancestors laid down are truly boring. What's the point of wealth and honor if you even cut out the pleasure of eating? What kind of damned life is that?"

Zheng Fan personally wrapped a piece of duck and handed it over.

Li Liangting accepted it and put it into his mouth.

Then he pointed toward the table and shouted at Ji Chengjue:

"Little Sixth, that's all you've got?"

"Oh, Uncle, eat as much as you want. I guarantee the food won't stop coming!"

Ji Chengjue went downstairs to keep roasting ducks.

Watching Little Sixth's back as he left, Li Liangting smiled.

"I just love eating the duck this boy roasts for me."

"It tastes very good."

"No, no. Once meat is cooked and seasoned, it all tastes about the same to me. But among His Majesty's sons, he's the one who resembles His Majesty the most, in looks and in other ways. When His Majesty and I were young, he used to fight me over chicken legs. Now, when I watch this boy, it's almost like I'm watching His Majesty roast duck for me."

That was something Li Liangting could say.

Zheng Fan could not.

At that moment, Li Liangting looked toward the Sword Saint.

"I remember Liangshen telling me years ago that you once went to Beifeng Commandery and fought him?"

The Sword Saint did not answer.

He rose silently and walked to another window.

Prince Zhenbei did not become angry.

Just because the Sword Saint lived next door to the Marquis Residence, and just because he had accompanied Zheng Fan on several journeys, did not mean the Sword Saint of Jin had somehow become a household retainer or family guard of the Marquis Residence.

The Sword Saint's pride had never diminished.

He had once killed the old head of the Situ family with a single sword.

Naturally, he could show the same lack of restraint toward Prince Zhenbei of Great Yan.

He had answered Li Liangshen earlier not because Li Liangshen was a Garrison Commander of Prince Zhenbei Residence, but because Li Liangshen was a swordsman and the two had met before.

The Sword Saint did not know the line, "How could I bow my brows and bend my back before men of rank and wealth?"

But at his present level, if he did not wish to participate, or simply could not be bothered, he could ignore almost every social obligation in the world.

Li Liangting smiled.

"I remember you lost to Wujing once, didn't you?"

The Sword Saint still ignored him.

"As for me, back then my martial arts were just a little better than Wujing's. But Wujing's talent was better. If I hadn't been injured, then today he should probably be just a little stronger than me. So really, you and I are about even."

The Sword Saint remained unmoved.

He continued looking down at the people and scenery along the streets of Yanjing.

Li Liangting chuckled.

His hair was already half white.

In truth, he was not especially old.

But this time, seeing him enter the capital felt distinctly different from the previous time.

It was said that Prince Zhenbei had once suffered a grave injury that cut short his martial path.

For Martial Artists, blood and qi normally began declining only in old age.

But on Prince Zhenbei, that decline had arrived much earlier.

Li Liangting continued eating roast duck.

At the same time, he asked Zheng Fan:

"Any trouble in eastern Jin?"

The earlier conversation had been reminiscing between an elder and a junior.

Now they were discussing public affairs.

Since it was public affairs, Zheng Fan no longer needed to hold himself in a junior's posture.

"Nothing serious."

Li Liangting nodded.

"The Savages really aren't as tough as the Barbarians."

"That's true."

Zheng Fan would not deny that.

The snowfields truly could not compare with the desert.

If the Savage King had never appeared, even the Situ family after the partition of Jin could have grabbed the Savages by the balls and beaten them senseless.

The desert was different.

For a hundred years, Marquis Zhenbei Residence had never truly relaxed its vigilance toward that land covered in sand.

When Keyan Dongge's tribe first arrived at Snow Sea Pass, Zheng Fan had dared lead them immediately into battle against the Savages.

Those Barbarians had happily howled as they charged in to beat the Savages.

That too was a kind of food chain.

"Tell me how you plan to deal with them," Li Liangting said. "After all, one principle is the same. Whether desert or snowfield, Great Yan's armies cannot completely cover the whole region with permanent garrisons. The two of our households, if we were in Qian, would amount to two great frontier commands. Since we're guarding the borders for the state, there's no reason to hoard secrets. We should exchange what we know and learn from each other's experience."

There was still a trace of an elder's manner in his tone.

But in practice, Li Liangting was treating Zheng Fan as someone of the same level.

"Your Highness, the method is still the same old method. Divide them. Win some over. Strike the rest."

"Nothing new?"

"I organized a group of people from outside the orthodox establishment. Monks, Daoists, occult practitioners, and even some men from the swindler trades. I sent them onto the snowfields to spread their teachings. It's already begun showing results. Quite a few of the major snowfield tribes have built Daoist temples or Buddhist monasteries."

"Heh. I remember the Savages worship some kind of stars, don't they?"

"Yes."

"More or less the same thing. The Barbarians worship their Barbarian God. In essence, they're all vague, smoky things no one can see or touch. Your method isn't bad. You're digging up their ancestral graves from the roots. Unfortunately, it still can't be used in the desert."

Zheng Fan nodded.

Li Liangting wiped his mouth.

"The snowfields were beaten flat, beaten obedient, beaten soft by you and Wujing together. Since ancient times, if your blade isn't sharp and you can't win on the battlefield, you can't keep your pride straight. Think about Qian. It calls itself a land of culture and education, filled with talented scholars and elegant men. But look at Great Yan now. We certainly still have some sour Confucian scholars, but most ordinary people look down on that feather-fan-and-silk-cap affectation of the Qian people. No other reason. They're useless on the battlefield. With the Barbarians, for the past hundred years we've only been slicing them with a soft knife. We need to break them once. Break them until even they believe their Barbarian God will no longer protect them. After that, your method will truly work. Good. Write home and send some of those people over. Let them come preach inside my territory too. We ought to prepare in advance. Don't worry. I won't take them for nothing. Are you short of warhorses?"

"To answer Your Highness, no."

"Right. Nearly forgot. The snowfields produce horses too. What about armor?"

The armored troops of Marquis Zhenbei Residence were famous beneath Heaven.

"To answer Your Highness, we're making our own now. There are mines being worked in the Tianduan Mountains, and forges outside Fengxin City are hammering armor every day."

San'er had improved their forging methods, from the smithing techniques to the furnaces themselves.

The one thing he did not understand was probably those near-mythical inscriptions.

But compared with a lost inscription craft no one could reproduce anyway, the improvements to ordinary metallurgy were already enough to ensure that the garrisons under the Marquis Residence were reequipping in steady order.

The quality of the armor was absolutely guaranteed as well.

Li Liangting seemed slightly surprised.

Then he shook his head and laughed.

Of course.

He had heard that this little brother was no less capable at governing people's livelihoods than at commanding armies.

A pity.

A pity.

Back then, he had failed to win Zheng Fan away from Tian Wujing.

And he could only blame himself for not being decisive enough.

If he had truly insisted, perhaps this boy would have come to him instead.

After all, Zheng Fan was originally a man of Beifeng Commandery.

"You don't lack warhorses. You can supply your own armor. Grain obviously can't be hauled all the way over there. Sigh. But in my whole life, I've never liked owing favors. How about I give you Qian'er?"

"..." Zheng Fan.

"You and Qian'er have fate between you."

"Your Highness..."

Siniang might spend every day at home talking about training princesses and commandery princesses.

But when it came to the Commandery Princess of Prince Zhenbei Residence, Marquis Zheng genuinely could not imagine what his rear residence would become if she moved in.

What man wanted a madwoman living in his inner household?

"Qian'er gets mocked often. People say she was the first to discover you back then, yet she let a Fledgling Phoenix slip out of her hand. The higher your position climbs, the more criticism she receives. For someone in a high position, most flaws can be tolerated. But there is one that cannot: failing to recognize talent. That is the greatest defect! If I give Qian'er to you, no one will dare use what happened back then to mock her again. Isn't that right?"

"Thank you for Your Highness's kindness, but... I already have a wife."

Inside the Marquis Residence, Siniang was unquestionably the true mistress. Even the Princess did not dare show the slightest defiance toward her.

But officially, the Princess was Zheng Fan's principal wife.

"Heh. A Princess of Chu, that's all. Her status is certainly noble, but is a Commandery Princess of my Prince Residence truly inferior to a Princess of Chu? Have His Majesty issue an edict and make Qian'er a coequal wife. We wouldn't even be bullying the Chu woman."

"Your Highness..."

"Hahahahaha! I'm teasing you. I'm teasing you."

Li Liangting slapped the table.

"Little Sixth! Are you trying to starve your uncle to death?"

"Coming, coming!"

Little Sixth came upstairs carrying another freshly roasted duck.

As he walked, he laughed.

"I was afraid of interrupting Uncle while you were choosing a son-in-law."

Li Liangting looked at Zheng Fan.

He shook his head and laughed.

"Not like the old days. Not like the old days. Brother Zheng..."

"Your Highness, I can't accept that form of address."

First son-in-law, then little brother.

The generational hierarchy was changing too quickly.

"Hey, I'll say something else you may not like. Back then, if Qian'er hadn't already been betrothed to the Crown Prince, when I saw you in the Imperial Garden, I truly wanted to tie you up and haul you back to become a live-in son-in-law of my Li family!"

By the window, the Sword Saint, who had been watching the scenery, let the corner of his mouth curl slightly.

Marquis Zheng did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course he knew Prince Zhenbei was joking.

But to say he had not felt a sudden stab of fear would have been false.

Just a tiny difference back then and the Demon Kings might all have changed scripts with him into the live-in-son-in-law route.

Then the Demon Kings would kneel before him and shout:

"Welcome back, Master, live-in son-in-law of the Li family!"

That image was far too wrong.

Li Liangting kept chatting while eating duck.

He did not eat especially fast.

But whereas a normal person would stop upon reaching a certain point, or at least sip tea and only nibble afterward, he maintained essentially the same steady pace throughout.

The second duck vanished quickly.

Then came the third.

After finishing five ducks in a row, Li Liangting finally patted his belly and sighed.

"Old. I'm old. Even my appetite is failing."

The ducks Ji Chengjue roasted were large and fat.

For an ordinary adult, one whole duck with pancakes would already be the absolute limit.

Most guests who came here ordered one duck for two or three people to share.

At that moment, a eunuch in red robes came upstairs.

He saluted Li Liangting and Zheng Fan in turn.

"This slave pays respects to Prince Zhenbei. This slave pays respects to the Marquis of Pingxi."

Li Liangting wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Have they finally finished going through the motions over there?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Outside the city, the ceremony welcoming Prince Zhenbei back to the capital was still underway.

"Damn them. I knew they'd drag it out this long. Good thing I came in early to eat duck. Otherwise, standing out there on an empty stomach while they performed all that theater would have been miserable. Right. Am I entering the palace now?"

"Your Highness, His Majesty's meaning is that you should wait here for the moment."

"Oh."

Li Liangting nodded to show he understood.

Taoran Street was cleared.

Imperial Guards, palace guards, and agents of the Secret Intelligence Department combed the whole street again and again as though plowing a field.

Not long afterward, someone arrived by carriage.

It was the Crown Prince.

Like everyone else, he wore ordinary clothes.

The Crown Prince came upstairs, first saluted Prince Zhenbei, then sat at another table.

Ji Chengjue sliced a duck and sent it over to him.

A short while later, the Fourth Prince arrived, also in plain clothes.

After coming upstairs, he first saluted Prince Zhenbei, then the Marquis of Pingxi, then sat at a table behind the Crown Prince.

After that came Little Seventh.

Upon entering, Little Seventh kowtowed to Prince Zhenbei, saluted the Marquis of Pingxi, then sat beside Fourth Brother.

Ji Chengjue sent a duck to their table as well.

The First Prince had still not returned.

Strictly speaking, this gathering in Yanjing was supposed to bring together two Princes and two Marquises.

But there seemed to be some difference in timing.

The Prince of Jingnan had arrived slightly early.

The First Prince, on the other hand, appeared to have been deliberately ordered to arrive somewhat later.

Then Tian Wujing came upstairs.

"Hahahahaha."

Li Liangting laughed the moment he saw him.

Zheng Fan rose and saluted.

The Crown Prince and the other imperial princes also stood and paid respects to the Prince of Jingnan.

After the confrontation outside the city the other day, the question of whether the Crown Prince or the Prince of Jingnan would bow first had already been settled.

So the losing side showed no awkwardness now.

Tian Wujing sat opposite Li Liangting.

Li Liangting pointed at his own hair.

"Wujing, you really need to take care of yourself. Your hair is going white even faster than your elder brother's."

Tian Wujing picked up his teacup and drank.

He did not answer.

At that moment, the Sword Saint flew out through the window and landed on the roof of the restaurant opposite.

Four experts of the Secret Intelligence Department stood there.

All four saluted him.

Then the five of them sat down together.

"Cough... cough..."

A cough sounded from the stairway.

Supported by Wei Zhonghe, the Emperor of Yan slowly walked upstairs.

At once... the Prince of Jingnan and Prince Zhenbei rose together and dropped to one knee toward him.

"This minister greets Your Majesty!"

"This minister greets Your Majesty!"

Marquis Zheng stepped back several paces and knelt as well.

The imperial princes all dropped to their knees.

"This son greets Imperial Father."

"Rise. All of you, rise."

The Emperor of Yan sat in the principal seat at the head of the table.

Li Liangting and Tian Wujing sat on either side of him.

Eunuch Zhang came forward, removed the roast duck, and replaced it with tea and snacks.

The square table had three men seated around it.

Marquis Zheng did not fill the vacant fourth side.

Instead, he sat at the next table back.

The imperial princes did the same.

The Crown Prince sat alone at one table.

Ji Chengjue, the Fourth Prince, and Little Seventh shared another behind him.

The Emperor's chair had a back.

Once seated, he naturally leaned against it.

Li Liangting looked at the Emperor's condition.

He did not cry.

Instead, he laughed.

"I told you long ago. Wearing out the mind destroys a man faster than wearing out the body. You refused to listen. Look at you now. Hahaha."

The Emperor of Yan pointed at Li Liangting and laughed as well.

Li Liangting had suffered an injury in youth and his blood and qi had declined prematurely.

The Emperor of Yan had never suffered such an injury.

His body had simply been worn down by exhaustion.

This was not the imperial palace.

Not the Imperial Study.

It was a roast-duck restaurant.

No one had deliberately arranged this gathering.

At most, one could call it a tacit understanding.

Little Sixth had not organized it.

He had merely guessed that Li Liangting would probably come.

When Ji Chengjue invited Marquis Zheng, Zheng Fan had guessed something as well.

But there had been no way to predict that His Majesty and the Prince of Jingnan would come too.

The whole scene felt more like a gathering of family and close friends.

There were no two ranks of civil and military officials in their embroidered robes.

No ministers harboring separate schemes beneath some plaque proclaiming perfect justice and light.

Here, in a place filled with the fragrance of roast duck, everyone seemed much more at ease.

Once they entered the palace, everyone would become what his status dictated.

Who sat where.

Who stood where.

Sovereign as sovereign.

Minister as minister.

The rules would naturally return.

There would be no possibility of the freedom they had now.

The Blind Man had once jokingly called the Emperor of Yan, the Prince of Jingnan, and Prince Zhenbei Great Yan's Iron Triangle.

In truth, that was exactly what they were.

It was now late autumn of the Fourth Year of Yongping.

The previous time the Iron Triangle gathered had been in the First Year of Yongping.

No.

Not even the First Year yet.

Back then, the three of them had still been full of vigor and heroic spirit.

Now... signs of old age and decline were already unmistakable.

Even Tian Wujing, the youngest of the three, whose blood and qi were at their strongest and whose Martial Artist cultivation stood at its peak, could hardly be called a young man when one looked at his full head of white hair.

"Pups, kneel."

The Emperor of Yan spoke.

The second pup, fourth pup, sixth pup, and little pup present all dropped to their knees again.

Marquis Zheng hesitated.

Then remained seated.

His generational position was difficult to define.

Call him a junior, and he already stood within the same tier of power.

Call him a peer, and even he himself felt a little guilty claiming it.

The Emperor of Yan pointed toward the four Ji pups kneeling on the floor.

Then he said to Li Liangting and Tian Wujing:

"Everyone at court and throughout the country thinks the two of you were summoned to Yanjing so that together with Us, you could settle the foundation of the state. Fine. Then let's settle it first. We are tired of looking at them. We do not wish to keep looking. Even one's own sons become irritating after staring at them long enough. Liangting. Wujing. You two take a look for Us. Whichever pup pleases your eye... pick that one."

[End of Chapter 680]