Chapter 687: Worldly Affairs Are Like Chess, Life Is Like a Play

Prince of Jingnan Residence.

The Crown Prince's carriage slowly rolled inside.

Before the Prince of Jingnan entered the capital, the Imperial Household Department had already staffed the residence with plenty of well-trained maids and servants. But on the very first day Tian Wujing moved in, he sent every last one of them back.

Only a number of his personal guards lived inside the residence.

They were responsible for the cleaning.

So when the Crown Prince stepped down from his carriage, there was not even a steward who came forward to guide him.

The lingering smell of blood on the pair of stone lions outside the old Marquis Residence in Litian City had long told people exactly what kind of warmth one could expect from the Prince of Jingnan's household.

Perhaps there was only one exception.

The Marquis of Pingxi.

Outsiders might find it difficult to understand why Marquis Pingxi, an outsider, was always treated so favorably here, especially by the Prince's personal guards.

But the guards could see it.

When their Prince was with Marquis Pingxi, a smile appeared on his face.

Back when the State of Qian's military had decayed to its worst, no matter how viciously the commanders of the Three Frontiers embezzled their soldiers' pay, they still never forgot to provide ample grain and salaries to their own personal household troops, and sufficiently generous compensation when those men died.

That was instinct for a commander.

No.

Even the lowest-ranking officer possessed that instinct. Even a child knew that if he had candy in his hand, he should share some with the neighborhood playmates closest to him.

What truly distinguished a commander of an entire front, a peerless general of his age, was something else.

When his command banner rose... ten thousand, tens of thousands, a hundred thousand, hundreds of thousands... would willingly die for him.

The Blind Man had once said that in this age, a truly powerful army was itself a religion.

Then the Blind Man had corrected himself.

Calling a truly exceptional army a religion was, in fact, almost blasphemous.

More precisely... it should be called faith.

And that faith gathered around the commander.

From Cuiliu Fort to Shengle City, from Snow Sea Pass to today's Fengxin City, the Demon Kings had spent years helping Master build his legend.

And throughout that process, they had always possessed one extremely clear point of reference.

The Jingnan Army.

During the last campaign against Chu, the forces taking part had included not only the Jingnan Army's main body, but also Zhenbei troops, armies from Jin, the Imperial Guards, and local forces. Hundreds of thousands of men had gathered, their composition extraordinarily complicated.

Yet within that army, the Prince of Jingnan's military orders had been the most sacred iron law of all.

When an elite force had to be assembled and handed to Zheng Fan for a deep flanking operation without disrupting official unit designations or alerting the Chu... not one commander dared play tricks.

Every last one handed over the hardest-fighting, most elite soldiers under his command.

That was influence.

That was faith.

And the personal guards who followed directly beside the Prince were the purest concentration of that faith.

Their Prince was their Heaven.

So they had no reason to bow and scrape before any noble or powerful visitor who came to the door.

After waiting for quite some time, an old veteran carrying a broom finally walked over.

"This soldier greets Your Highness the Crown Prince. May Your Highness enjoy health and peace."

The Crown Prince asked gently:

"Where is my uncle?"

"To answer Your Highness, the Prince is in the rear residence."

"Mm."

The Crown Prince nodded.

The old soldier rose, picked up his broom... and left.

Yes.

He simply left.

Beside the Crown Prince, Li Yinglian stared at the veteran's back with disbelief all over his face. He wanted to curse the old grunt for having no sense of rules whatsoever, but although his mouth opened, he did not dare make a sound.

He was the chief steward of the Eastern Palace.

Yet inside this place, he did not dare act presumptuously in the slightest.

The Great Yan Southern Prince's reputation did not merely suppress enemy states.

Inside Great Yan itself, that reputation cast an equally terrifying shadow.

The Crown Prince walked toward the rear residence on his own.

Li Yinglian followed with a food box in hand. At the same time, he waved for the rest of the attendants to remain where they were.

Almost in unison, the attendants quietly released breaths of relief.

Merely entering the gates of this Prince Residence had already left them deeply oppressed.

Great Yan's Imperial Household Department had always been a yamen that bullied the weak and feared the strong.

When repairing this Prince Residence, no one believed the Prince of Jingnan would ever send silver under the table or call in favors to make the work go smoothly.

Yet the Imperial Household Department still had not dared show the slightest negligence.

They had worked with absolute devotion.

Some of the department's chief officials had probably never put half as much care into repairing their own mothers' homes.

But no matter how fine a garden might be... if there was no human presence inside it, it would inevitably feel desolate.

To the Crown Prince... walking through this residence... felt like walking through Fengzheng Palace, which he himself occasionally visited.

"Uncle."

Reaching the rear residence, the Crown Prince called out.

Then... he saw a figure in a white python robe step out from the house.

An uncle and nephew should, by rights, be close.

And once upon a time... they truly had been.

Ji Chenglang still remembered how, when he was young, his uncle had taken him riding and shooting.

At dusk, his uncle would bring him back to the palace, and Mother would chide him:

"You. You just love taking him out to run wild!"

Back then, whenever Mother said those words, there was always a smile at the corner of her mouth.

And Uncle... had smiled too.

Ji Chenglang no longer knew when those days had suddenly disappeared.

It had not been the day the Marquis of Jingnan exterminated his own clan.

No.

It had been much, much earlier.

Ji Chenglang looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face standing before him.

And suddenly... his memories dragged him back many years.

That day... he had been deeply unhappy.

Imperial Father had tested all the princes on their studies and asked several questions concerning state policy.

Sixth Brother's performance... had been perfect.

Imperial Father had been overjoyed.

He pulled Sixth Brother into his arms, set him on his knee, and said:

"Hahahaha! Chengjue is simply exactly like We were when We were young."

At the time... he, Eldest Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, and Fifth Brother had all been kneeling below.

Ji Chenglang admitted it.

In that moment... he had been jealous.

He had envied Sixth Brother, who had displayed astonishing intelligence from childhood.

He had resented himself.

Why was he so many years older, yet still unable to surpass this younger brother?

Why?

Why?

Why could Imperial Father not praise me too?

I... have clearly worked very hard as well.

Mother had never once said to him:

You are Great Yan's eldest legitimate imperial son.

Mother's temperament was gentle yet strong.

But toward him... she had always been soft.

She had never told him to fight for Imperial Father's happiness and favor.

Never told him to compete for the Eastern Palace.

Never told him that one day, like Imperial Father, he should rule all beneath Heaven.

Not once.

From the day his memories began... not once.

But he himself... had always known.

He...

Ji Chenglang... was the eldest legitimate son.

According to ritual and law, the Eastern Palace should be his.

And afterward... the Dragon Throne should also be his.

His uncle... was Great Yan's Marquis of Jingnan, commander of fifty thousand regular Jingnan troops and another fifty thousand rear-camp soldiers.

His maternal grandfather was head of the Tian Clan, one of the foremost aristocratic houses in Great Yan.

His mother was the Empress.

Mother of the nation.

Then why... why could he still not compare with Sixth Brother?

Why?

That night... he cried until his pillow was wet.

Young and proud, yet determined to appear refined and courteous, he had always consciously protected the dignity expected of the eldest legitimate imperial son.

So he could only cry alone.

Secretly.

Deep in the night.

That night... he had even beaten his pillow with his fists and cursed Sixth Brother.

Why didn't he die young?

Didn't everyone say Heaven envied great talent and gifted children often died early?

Why couldn't Sixth Brother... just die?

An hour before dawn... he sat up.

He dismissed the eunuch companion and palace maids sleeping below his bed.

Then he sat alone at the bedside.

He was afraid.

Afraid of the hysterical thoughts that had possessed him earlier.

He was ashamed.

Because... he was still the elder brother.

He sat there all the way until dawn, tormented without pause by remorse and disgust over the poison that had filled him in the night.

It should not be like this.

I... should not be like this.

This was not about dignity.

Not about guilt.

Not about hatred.

An elder brother... could not be like this.

"This is... wrong..."

He wept as he repeated those words over and over.

Until Li Yinglian came to urge him several times that the teacher would arrive soon and he needed to attend lessons.

He rose and took the towel Li Yinglian handed him.

He scrubbed his face hard.

Not because he wanted to wipe away the exhaustion of a sleepless night... but because he wanted to wipe away the person he had been the night before.

And then... that day...

Sixth Brother did not come to class.

He found it strange.

But thought little of it.

When he went to pay respects to Mother... he saw Uncle standing outside the gates of Fengzheng Palace.

Uncle stood before the palace doors in the gold-trimmed armor Ji Chenglang had always envied, armor he had always thought unbearably heroic.

At his waist hung Kunwu, bestowed personally by Imperial Father.

As always, Ji Chenglang ran toward his uncle.

He wanted to ask whether Uncle was taking him out to play again.

He wanted to ride Uncle's Pixiu.

Wanted Uncle to take him shooting.

Wanted Uncle to take him to watch the soldiers drilling.

But... just as he was about to reach his uncle... he heard his mother's shrill screams from inside Fengzheng Palace.

"Why? Why? Wujing, why are you like this? Why have you become like this? He tells you to do something and you simply do it? Whatever he tells you, you'll do it? Is that it? Little Brother... Little Brother... how did you become like this? Little Brother... how could you..."

Ji Chenglang stopped.

At that moment... his uncle seemed to sense his arrival.

He turned slightly and looked toward him.

Uncle smiled at him.

But Ji Chenglang suddenly felt incomparable fear.

Because the armor across Uncle's chest... was drenched in blood.

Layer after layer of it.

Blood had congealed across the metal.

Ji Chenglang had noticed nothing at first.

But once he saw the blood... it was as though the rich stench of it suddenly flooded his nose.

He crouched down and began vomiting.

"How is she supposed to live? How can she possibly keep living? How can all of you expect her to go on living! You and him... why are you both so cruel? Why are you so cruel? Why? Why!"

Ji Chenglang did not understand why Mother was so agitated.

He knelt on the ground and looked through the palace doors.

Mother was kneeling inside too, crying and screaming.

Palace maids and eunuchs surrounded her, trying to help her up.

She shoved them all away.

Then...

Uncle spoke.

"Wujing acted by imperial decree."

"You exterminated the maternal clan of an imperial prince. Wujing, across all history, has anyone who committed such an act ever met a good end?"

Uncle did not answer.

He merely nodded once toward Mother.

Then... turned away.

Mother screamed:

"Little Brother! Don't become like him! Don't become like him..."

Uncle did not turn around.

Did not answer.

When he reached Ji Chenglang... he lowered his head and looked at him once more.

Uncle extended a hand, intending to pull him to his feet.

But Ji Chenglang, already terrified beyond measure... hurriedly shrank backward.

Uncle withdrew his hand.

And walked out of the palace.

Afterward...

Ji Chenglang learned what had happened.

The previous night...

Uncle had led three thousand Jingnan cavalry and exterminated the entire Min Clan.

From top to bottom... not even the chickens and dogs were spared.

He had acted... on Imperial Father's decree.

The blood congealed across the front of Uncle's armor belonged to Sixth Brother's maternal clan.

Layer after layer... splashed across him again and again.

Why had there been none on his back?

Because Uncle had held his saber... and slaughtered forward without ever turning back.

"Ah... ahhh..."

Ji Chenglang scrambled to his feet.

His mind was blank.

He remembered only that he had to find Sixth Brother.

He found him.

Sixth Brother was curled in one corner of his bedchamber... arms around his knees... quietly sobbing.

When Ji Chenglang rushed inside, Sixth Brother raised his head and looked at him.

Tears covered his face.

Ji Chenglang had never seen Sixth Brother like this.

Perhaps only when he had been very, very young and fallen down had he cried like that while calling:

"Second Brother... falling hurts..."

Afterward, Sixth Brother revealed intelligence far beyond ordinary people.

He learned everything quickly.

Saw through everything quickly.

But at this moment...

Sixth Brother once again cried out to him:

"Second Brother... my mother... my mother... she's gone..."

Consort Min... after learning what had happened the night before... had hanged herself.

That woman... was gone.

Ji Chenglang had never disliked her.

And he knew Mother had not disliked her either.

More precisely, in the old princely residence, then the Eastern Palace, and now the imperial harem... very few people had ever disliked Consort Min.

After Imperial Father ascended the throne, he enforced strict frugality.

Consort Min used her own family's money to buy food and everyday goods for the imperial princes.

Whatever Sixth Brother received... the other brothers received as well.

Mother had once advised her not to be so extravagant.

Consort Min only laughed.

"Elder Sister, I've already married into the Ji family. Since I'm a Ji woman now, isn't it perfectly natural to dig some silver out of my natal family and use it to support the men of our own Ji household? His Majesty wants to cut spending. What he's saving is the state treasury's silver. That's an account shown to outside ministers. When they see how much less the inner treasury spends, they'll understand the message. But if our own family truly starts chewing husks and swallowing wild greens, do you really think those ministers will believe it? Do you think the common people will believe it? So we might as well keep eating and drinking well."

She had been generous.

Openhearted.

Excellent with people.

She never made others resent the rich or feel uncomfortable about wealth.

Instead, being around her felt like spring sunshine.

Whenever Ji Chenglang received an ornament, a fan, or some little pendant from her hands, he would always look up shyly and happily and say:

"Thank you, Auntie."

Even after Imperial Father ascended the throne and everyone moved into the imperial palace, the princes had never wanted to change that form of address.

She was Sixth Brother's birth mother.

And Auntie to all the princes.

Then... she was gone.

Ji Chenglang knelt and wrapped his arms around Sixth Brother.

"Second Brother... my mother is gone... gone..."

Sixth Brother kept crying.

And Ji Chenglang's hands... trembled.

He was terrified.

Terrified that the curse he had spoken the night before had somehow brought today's calamity down upon them.

...

"Your Highness. Your Highness."

Li Yinglian's voice interrupted Ji Chenglang's memories.

The man in the white python robe still stood there.

Quietly watching him.

Saying nothing.

Li Yinglian was growing anxious.

It was time to take out Uncle's favorite pastries.

The foods Mother used to prepare whenever Uncle visited Fengzheng Palace were still inside the food box.

The shoe patterns... should also be shown to Uncle now.

At that moment... a deep-autumn wind began to blow.

The weather was already cold.

Against the emptiness of this lifeless Prince Residence... the chill seemed to pierce into the bone.

For a moment...

Ji Chenglang felt dazed.

As though everything had returned to that day, all those years ago.

He stood on the palace road leading toward Fengzheng Palace.

Uncle... was still standing there.

In the deepest part of his mind, he seemed once more to hear Mother's crying.

But this time... she was not crying over Consort Min.

She was crying over... the Tian Clan.

Time seemed to have passed for years upon years... and yet somehow rolled backward in a circle.

Sixth Brother, who had wept in his arms that day... became more fond of smiling than ever before.

He became absurd.

Carefree.

He kept countless singers and dancers in his princely residence and private estate.

He told jokes.

He entertained his brothers.

And when facing Imperial Father... he became far more natural than before.

It was almost as though... after his mother's death... the bond between father and son had become closer.

Deeper.

Ji Chenglang could feel that Sixth Brother had put something down.

For example... his pride.

The younger Sixth Brother had been outstanding.

Brilliant.

But because he was still too young... he had not yet learned to hide the pride deep inside his eyes.

He measured himself against Imperial Father.

Knew he was better than his brothers.

Born into an ordinary family, such a child would be called a Heaven-blessed prodigy.

Born into an imperial household... such a child would be called...

But in all the years afterward, Ji Chenglang never again saw the word pride inside Sixth Brother's eyes.

Not once.

Had it disappeared?

Ji Chenglang did not believe that.

Sixth Brother had merely learned to hide it better.

Sixth Brother had told him that outside Marquis Zhenbei Residence, he had met an interesting Lieutenant Commander surnamed Zheng.

That man surnamed Zheng had saved him from a Barbarian.

The Barbarian had been very powerful.

The Left Guli King of the Barbarian Royal Court.

Later...

Ji Chenglang learned that the Lieutenant Commander surnamed Zheng had gone through the Ministry of War and been transferred to Yinlang Commandery as a garrison officer.

And then...

Ji Chenglang met him.

At the imperial prince's residence.

More precisely... the first person Ji Chenglang saw that day was Uncle, who had not returned home in a very long time.

Uncle... was back.

After returning... inside the imperial prince's residence... he had the man surnamed Zheng cripple Third Brother.

Ji Chenglang had been bewildered.

Unable to believe it.

Then Uncle went home.

Mother returned home too, visiting her natal family.

...

The autumn wind rolled dead leaves across the ground.

They scraped against the earth with a soft rustling sound.

Ji Chenglang drew a deep breath.

Again, he heard Mother's voice.

Calling "Little Brother."

Calling "Wujing."

Over and over:

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Why?"

So... why?

Ji Chenglang raised his head.

He looked at his uncle.

The Prince of Jingnan's gaze remained calm.

Li Yinglian beside him was growing increasingly anxious.

Ji Chenglang knew what he was supposed to do.

Reminisce.

Do not be too direct.

But be sincere.

Show true emotion.

Let it flow.

Mr. Zhu had said that the Prince of Jingnan was not some demon devoid of humanity.

His hair turning white overnight... his support and protection of Marquis Pingxi... the arrangements he had made for his own son... all proved it.

Ji Chenglang wanted to say:

I do not need you to help me see that.

I know better than you exactly what kind of man my uncle is.

Ji Chenglang pressed his lips together.

Then he began walking forward.

Toward the Prince of Jingnan.

One step.

Another.

And another.

The Prince of Jingnan stood there.

As though waiting for him to come closer.

Watching his nephew approach... just as he had watched that child run toward him all those years ago.

Ji Chenglang's boot crushed a dead leaf.

Suddenly... his heart hurt.

Ridiculously so.

He had once possessed almost everything Crown Princes throughout history could dream of... everything many could not even imagine in their wildest dreams.

Great Yan's God of War... was his own maternal uncle.

Great Yan's other pillar holding up the sky... was his father-in-law.

He was the eldest legitimate son.

Everything... should have followed naturally.

Shouldn't it?

Then... why?

He stopped.

Across that short distance... he looked at Tian Wujing.

Why... had things become this way for him?

And what about Uncle?

Why had Uncle done what he did?

The legitimate son of an aristocratic clan.

Young master of the Tian Clan.

His elder sister the reigning Empress.

His nephew the leading candidate for Crown Prince.

He himself a peak Martial Artist, capable of defeating the Sword Saint, and a commander of tens of thousands who could destroy states and break capitals.

Then why... had he chosen that road?

Suddenly...

Ji Chenglang could no longer say the word why.

Not because he could not find the answer in his uncle.

But because he knew... his uncle had an answer.

And Ji Chenglang was not afraid that no answer existed.

He was afraid... of facing it.

In that instant... everything did not exactly become meaningless.

It simply became like the autumn wind blowing through the courtyard.

Less important.

There was none of spring's vitality.

None of summer's burning heat.

None of winter's bone-deep cold.

Only a faint chill.

Just a little cold.

He wanted to say:

Uncle...

I'm so tired.

But he still could not get the words out.

The man standing before him... was surely countless times more tired than he was.

Ji Chenglang opened his mouth and drew several breaths.

He wanted to cry.

No tears came.

This damned autumn... was so dry it hurt.

Ji Chenglang turned around.

Without saying a word... under the Prince of Jingnan's gaze... he began walking back.

"Your Highness... Your Highness... this..."

Li Yinglian did not understand.

This was the final opportunity.

And the best opportunity.

Tomorrow's grand court audience would be extraordinarily dangerous.

Yet the Crown Prince had come like this... and now he was leaving.

The pastries in the food box had never even been taken out.

The nephew left.

The uncle remained standing where he was.

He did not call him back.

The Crown Prince returned to his carriage.

Then said only two words:

"Return to the palace."

The carriage slowly rolled out of the Prince Residence.

Li Yinglian knelt to one side.

His stomach was full of questions.

He did not dare ask a single one.

Inside the carriage, a charcoal brazier flickered between light and darkness.

The Crown Prince drew two shoe patterns from his sleeve and laid them before himself.

He looked at them carefully.

Then... tilted his head slightly back.

And drew a deep breath.

Tonight's palace banquet.

Tomorrow's grand court audience.

The offensive Sixth Brother was about to launch... he did not want to think about any of it.

Did not want to calculate any of it.

Like a bird...

Heaven gave me wings.

Then who... broke them off one by one with their own hands?

Whoosh!

The shoe patterns landed in the charcoal brazier.

"Your Highness!"

Li Yinglian cried out in alarm.

"Heh-heh-heh..."

The Crown Prince began laughing.

He raised a hand, forbidding Li Yinglian from rescuing the patterns.

He simply sat there and watched them burn to ash in the brazier.

A thread of blue smoke rose inside the carriage.

At that moment... he remembered once again the little boy curled in the corner of his bedchamber, sobbing without stop.

"Heh... hahahahaha... Worldly affairs are like chess. You and I are pieces on the board, so what meaning is there in victory or defeat? Life is like a play. All living beings are actors, so what is there to cling to?"

[End of Chapter 687]