Chapter 719: I, Tian Wujing

The title Count Dinghai carried the meaning of "stilling the seas and calming the storms." It signified the responsibility of guarding the capital that Li Liangshen was now taking upon himself.

Before, his troops had been stationed outside the city.

From now on, they would be stationed inside it.

On the surface, this was merely a matter of moving from one side of the city wall to the other.

In truth, it represented a genuine rise in power and status.

And it also showed the breadth of Ji Chengjue's heart.

He dared place a man who had once tried to kill him directly at his side and entrust that man with his personal safety.

That sort of nerve really was extraordinary.

An ordinary man, faced with such "repaying resentment with virtue," might already have burst into tears, dropped to his knees, cried, "Thank Your Majesty for your boundless grace!" and sworn to exhaust every last ounce of strength in repayment for imperial favor.

Li Liangshen did none of that.

He was surprised.

He was moved.

The new sovereign's arrangement truly did make him feel a certain admiration.

But what Li Liangshen wanted... was to be sent out.

To lead troops on the frontier.

To fight.

He had already guarded the capital region for years.

Was he supposed to keep guarding it forever?

Marquis Zheng, who was still eating a fried dough stick nearby, spoke.

"What Count Dinghai wants is to lead troops into battle."

As for Li Liangshen, since Ji Old Sixth wanted to bestow favor upon him, Zheng Fan had no reason to keep competing over the man.

Besides, Marquis Zheng did want Li Liangshen... but not desperately.

So at a moment like this, he might as well sell Li Liangshen another favor and smooth the road for him.

After all... the two of them did not actually have any deep blood feud.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Ji Chengjue looked toward Li Liangshen.

This time, Li Liangshen finally spoke.

"To reply to Your Majesty, this general wishes to earn merit upon the battlefield!"

Only when a man wanted something would he show proper respect.

The art of ruling subordinates was actually very simple.

Whatever the people below wanted... if you could give it, give it.

Even if you could not give it immediately, at least draw the pastry first and let them smell it.

That was how you kept them hanging on.

This time...

Li Liangshen had truly lowered his head.

"That's easy enough. Wasn't the Capital Camp already torn apart into pieces? Put it back together. Train it properly. Straighten it out. Two years. That should be about right. Great Yan is in difficulty right now. We have to find some way to fill the people's stomachs first. One year to recover. One year to build strength. Two years from now, We intend to begin using troops again. We promise you: when that time comes, We will let you lead an army. How does that sound?"

This was the Emperor.

Speaking to you in the tone of a discussion.

Li Liangshen kowtowed.

"Thank Your Majesty for your boundless grace."

"Good. Count Dinghai, you may withdraw. Fourth Brother."

"Your Majesty. This minister is here."

"Handle the handover."

"This minister obeys."

"Fourth Brother, have you eaten breakfast?"

"This minister has."

"Then We won't keep you."

"This minister takes his leave."

"This minister takes his leave."

Ji Chengfeng and Li Liangshen withdrew.

The Fourth Prince let out a long breath.

The burden on his shoulders... had finally been lifted.

Eunuch Wei let out a long breath too.

Earlier... he had genuinely been nervous.

Ji Chengjue sat back down and looked at Zheng Fan, who was still eating.

"You meant earlier that you wanted to take him away?"

"Yes."

Marquis Zheng was perfectly frank.

"We kept him."

"Then keep him."

"You have a swordsman beside you. We need one beside Us too."

"Heh. Childish."

"Seriously. Before, We thought Li Liangshen was insufferably arrogant, with his eyes on top of his head and a foul temper to match. He was irritating as hell. But now that Our position is different, We look at him again and think: a man with that kind of foul temper is actually perfect for controlling the capital's defenses. If other people try to reach their hands in, they won't be able to. At least We can sleep more soundly at night. There is one thing we can be certain of. He dares kill an imperial prince. But he does not dare kill an Emperor. At the end of the day... he is a Yan man through and through."

"Mm."

Marquis Zheng took a mouthful of porridge and followed it with pickled vegetables.

"Why aren't you asking Us something?"

"What?"

"Why We wanted to use him, but last night still wanted to borrow your sword to kill him?"

Zheng Fan refused to play along, so Ji Old Sixth could only set up his own punchline.

"One attempt to kill each other. Neither owes the other anything anymore. Only after that does the heart truly feel comfortable. Then the man becomes usable."

"Those words should have come from Us."

"I said them for you. Same thing."

"Zheng. We are an Emperor now, at least give Us some face."

"Here. Open your mouth. Have a fried dough stick."

"We are full."

Ji Chengjue rubbed his brow.

"Just wait. In a little while, news that the Chancellor was assassinated by the Barbarians will arrive."

"Exactly. Those vicious, murderous Barbarians. Their delegation in the capital secretly plotted to assassinate Great Yan's Chancellor, a loyal minister who devoted himself wholly to the state. Despicable. Utterly despicable!"

Marquis Zheng said it with righteous fury.

"Wei Zhonghe."

Ji Chengjue looked toward Eunuch Wei.

"To reply to Your Majesty, Lord Lu already sent word earlier. His men at the guest residence of the Court of State Ceremonial have detained every member of the Barbarian delegation."

Lu Bing was the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial.

"Mm."

Marquis Zheng turned toward Ji Chengjue.

"Your Majesty. This minister requests permission to lead troops against the Barbarians and wash away this national humiliation!"

"Excellent. Marquis Pingxi's loyalty and courage are commendable. Truly a blessing to Us and to Great Yan!"

The two men exchanged one look.

Then both laughed.

Zhao Jiulang was already dead.

There was no point wasting grief on a dead man.

"In a little while, We will convene a grand court audience," Ji Chengjue said. "As for the Chancellor's death, we'll place everything on the Barbarians."

"What fine acting."

Marquis Zheng clicked his tongue in admiration.

What did it mean to be a merchant?

A real merchant squeezed every last bit of value out of a man... whether that man was alive or dead.

That was the genuine article.

The instant Ji Chengjue said "the Barbarian delegation assassinated the Chancellor," Marquis Zheng, who understood business every bit as well, immediately saw what Ji Old Sixth intended.

The Chancellor's death... would be blamed on the Barbarians.

And Ji Old Sixth would instantly become a new Emperor who had ascended amid "national peril, storms gathering over the realm."

Then... at the grand court audience convened because of the Chancellor's death... he would denounce the Barbarians in fury!

The new sovereign lacked neither methods nor connections.

What did he lack?

Prestige.

Why had the late Emperor of Yan become Great Yan's truly supreme ruler?

A small part of it had come from centralizing power after trampling the great aristocratic clans beneath cavalry hooves.

But the fundamental reason... had been victory after victory abroad.

Destroying states.

Expanding borders.

Those victories had forged the supreme sanctity of the Dragon Throne beneath the Emperor of Yan.

And now Ji Old Sixth intended to forcibly stir up the hatred and fear of the Barbarian people buried inside every Yan heart.

Centuries of blood feud.

A shadow that could never truly be erased.

In Great Yan... the Barbarians were the original sin behind everything.

Stir it up.

Beat the drums.

Issue the imperial decree.

Swear to flatten the Barbarian Royal Court and avenge today's humiliation!

Inside Yanjing, there were actually quite a few people qualified to learn the truth behind the Chancellor's death.

After all... how exactly had the Barbarian delegation supposedly mobilized Jingnan troops to cooperate with the assassination?

And what had that heaven-piercing sword qi last night been about?

Anyone truly qualified to know would inevitably know.

Smothering a Chancellor to death inside Yanjing was never going to be simple.

Besides, Marquis Zheng had barely bothered concealing his tracks.

He had acted for speed.

And because it felt good.

Details?

He had not cared in the slightest.

But it did not matter.

So long as the majority believed the Barbarians had done it... that was enough.

The common people, especially, would believe outright that the Barbarians had drawn a blade against Great Yan and delivered the gravest provocation imaginable.

Suppress first.

Then raise.

An excellent move.

First... raise the pitch as high as possible.

Pile up grief.

Pile up fury.

Pile up hatred.

Then... when news of the great victory against the Barbarians arrived... the new sovereign... would complete his "enthronement" in the truest sense!

Destroying the Barbarian Royal Court was an achievement in no way inferior to annexing the whole of Jin.

For an Emperor of Great Yan... using military merit to crown himself could hardly have been more appropriate.

In truth, this was simply exploiting a gap in timing.

Taking the late Emperor's achievement... and placing it atop the new sovereign's head.

Of course... one could also say the late Emperor had deliberately left this crown behind for his successor.

"Zheng Fan. Tell Us the truth. Do you think this battle will go smoothly?"

"What? Feeling a little nervous?"

"We have never fought on a battlefield."

"Put it this way. I cannot think of any reason we would lose."

"You're that certain?"

"Zhenbei veterans have ridden the edge of the desert for years. They know the climate and terrain so well it might as well be carved into their bones. Prince Zhenbei Residence has spent a century working along the desert frontier. There must already be countless nails driven into the Barbarian tribes. And the desert doesn't have fortified cities worth talking about. Once iron cavalry moves, it can gallop a thousand li without restraint. And judging by the timing... the old Barbarian King and the Young Barbarian Prince should only just now be receiving news that the late Emperor coughed blood at the grand banquet. In a few more days... they'll receive news of the late Emperor's death. This kind of smokescreen is almost impossible not to believe. With all that preparation. With all that groundwork. With the Prince of Jingnan personally commanding the army... Your Majesty. Even if I try to be as cautious as possible. Even if I try to tell you the safest possible line about never underestimating any enemy... sorry. I can't do it. I think the Barbarian Royal Court is already a roast pig with marks drawn over the skin. The only question now... is where we cut first and how we divide the meat."

"We trust both Princes. We also trust Imperial Father's final arrangement before his death. But you need to understand something. Once We release this wind today, if what arrives in a few days is not news of a great victory... then from the very beginning... this Dragon Throne beneath Us will never sit steady."

Marquis Zheng accepted a cup of tea from Eunuch Wei and took a sip.

Stir up populist passion.

Redirect domestic contradictions toward an outside enemy.

Use it to drive a sovereign's prestige upward.

Then if you lost... of course everything collapsed.

That was perfectly normal.

Naturally, Zheng Fan could not say that aloud.

He understood.

Ji Old Sixth was genuinely a little nervous.

Zheng Fan held the teacup in his left hand.

With his right, he placed a hand on Ji Chengjue's shoulder.

Patted it.

"Don't panic."

Ji Chengjue turned and looked at him.

Marquis Zheng blew gently across the surface of his tea.

Then took another slow sip.

"Even if something really does go wrong, worst case, I'll make the trip myself and flatten the Royal Court for you. After all... I'm Marquis Pingxi."

...

The Pixiu galloped.

Several Zhenbei Army scout riders appeared on both sides and began following it.

They did not recognize the man seated on the beast.

But they recognized the Pixiu.

Only four Pixiu were publicly known in this world.

Their own Prince had one.

The Southern Prince had one.

The First Prince had one.

Marquis Pingxi had one.

Then they looked at the man's head of white hair.

His identity was all but obvious.

And precisely because of that... the scouts grew even more nervous.

Intercept him?

No.

Question him?

No.

All they could do was follow.

More and more scouts joined.

Before long, they had somehow become a troop of their own, almost like personal guards escorting him.

Ahead... a fortified army camp appeared.

This was the main camp of the military garrison under Zhenbei Army Garrison Commander Li Yuanhu.

More than thirty thousand troops were stationed here year-round.

It formed part of the force guarding Prince Zhenbei Residence.

The watchtowers had noticed them long ago.

It was rare enough to see so many roaming scouts return at once.

Add in the Pixiu running inside their ring... and the whole sight was impossible to ignore.

"Wooooooo!"

Horns sounded.

The gates opened.

Cavalry rode out from both sides.

In the center... formations of shieldmen, spearmen, and crossbowmen rapidly advanced.

True iron cavalry did not merely know how to fight on horseback.

Once dismounted... they could form ranks and kill just as well.

"Tiger!"

"Tiger!"

"Tiger!"

Spears rose.

Crossbows were cocked.

The Pixiu beneath the Prince of Jingnan stopped.

Its mouth hung open.

Its tongue lolled out.

It panted furiously.

It was tired.

Genuinely tired.

Even a Pixiu could not casually endure the horrifying long-distance run westward from the capital without rest.

The Emperor of Yan's earlier guess had been correct.

Li Liangting... had fallen behind.

The Prince of Jingnan... arrived first.

The scout riders surrounding him peeled away.

Two groups of Zhenbei cavalry took their place.

Infantry formation in the center.

Cavalry on both wings.

The Prince of Jingnan swept his gaze around.

The spear formation in front was fine.

It simply stood there.

The cavalry on both wings, however, should by regulation have drawn sabers and pointed the blades toward the intruder.

Yet under that man's gaze... those riders gradually lowered their edges.

How could soldiers of the Zhenbei Army not have heard the stories surrounding the Prince who commanded the Jingnan Army?

Great Yan possessed two great cavalry field armies.

To outsiders... they were the twin walls of the empire.

To insiders... they were rivals.

Competitors.

In the early years, Great Yan had possessed only the Zhenbei Army.

Over just the last several years... the Jingnan Army's fame had already surpassed it.

Naturally... the Zhenbei soldiers were unconvinced.

But even if they knew perfectly well the man before them was almost certainly that Prince... they still did not dare display their dissatisfaction or deliberately make things difficult for him.

Yes.

Everyone could guess who he was.

But before the proper procedure had been followed, before the formal exchange had been made... they had to pretend they did not know.

A military camp had rules.

An intruder was still an intruder.

Yet inevitably... the men were considerably more polite.

The earlier scouts had behaved the same way.

By regulation, anyone entering the forbidden perimeter around the camp without authorization could simply be shot as a spy.

Not one scout had dared loose an arrow.

Not because they were afraid.

Because they respected him.

The Zhenbei soldiers here did not think much of the Jingnan Army.

Whenever they had idle time and gathered around telling stories, they often mocked that so-called Southern Army.

Qian men?

What were Qian men?

Jin men?

What were Jin men?

Savages?

Chu men?

What the hell did any of them amount to?

Compared with Barbarians... they weren't even testicles!

But looking down on the Jingnan Army did not mean they dared disrespect the Prince of Jingnan.

They were soldiers.

They carried the name of the Zhenbei Army.

Even if they knew the man only through rumor, everyone understood one thing.

Great Yan's living God of War... had to be a peerless figure.

"Who goes there? Trespassing into a restricted military zone is punishable by death!"

A Lieutenant Commander called out.

The Prince of Jingnan raised a command token.

Before leaving Yanjing, he had given his own Prince of Jingnan's Command Token to Zheng Fan.

The token in his hand now... belonged to Prince Zhenbei.

The Zhenbei Army still habitually called it the Marquis Residence Command Token.

To see the Residence Command Token was the same as seeing the Marquis himself.

"This Prince bears Prince Zhenbei's Command Token. I have come ahead to take command of this camp."

They had seen the Residence Command Token.

The visitor had called himself "This Prince."

Procedure complete.

The Lieutenant Commander stepped forward and examined the token closely.

Then immediately dropped to his knees.

"This general greets the Prince of Jingnan!"

Shing!

Shing!

Cavalry on both wings sheathed their sabers and shouted together:

"We greet the Prince of Jingnan!"

"We greet the Prince of Jingnan!"

"What a joke! My Zhenbei Army knows only Prince Zhenbei. Who the hell knows some Southern Prince!"

A man in armor came striding from inside the camp, laughing loudly as he shouted.

The infantry formation in front had already split apart to make way for him.

Li Yuanhu walked with both hands tucked beneath the folds of his armor.

Then stopped.

The Lieutenant Commander who had examined the Residence Command Token hurried over and whispered:

"General, it really is the Residence Command Token. And this man... should indeed be the Prince of Jingnan."

The Residence Command Token could not be faked.

The Pixiu could not be faked.

The head of white hair was right there.

Most importantly... there was the man's presence.

To put it in a way that did the Zhenbei Army little credit, every soldier naturally revered his own Prince Zhenbei.

But deep down... they still had to admit something.

This Southern Prince... in sheer presence... looked even more like a supreme commander than their own Prince did.

Li Yuanhu snorted.

He lightly pushed the Lieutenant Commander aside.

Worked his mouth once.

Spat onto the ground.

"Heh. Some random man shows up and thinks he can take command of my camp directly? What a joke. Southern Prince, was it? This general... doesn't know you."

Buzz!

The next instant... the Prince of Jingnan launched himself from the back of his Pixiu.

Then... dropped straight toward Li Yuanhu.

Li Yuanhu was not alarmed.

He was delighted.

He shouted:

"Good! Come on!"

The Prince of Jingnan descended.

One fist smashed downward.

Li Yuanhu answered with a fist of his own!

But just before their fists collided...

Li Yuanhu suddenly felt the surrounding air grow heavy.

Then came a terrifying pressure so strong it made his scalp prickle.

Left with no choice... he threw both fists upward together.

Bang!

The Prince of Jingnan descended with one fist.

Li Yuanhu blocked with two.

In an instant... the Prince of Jingnan hung unmoving in midair.

Li Yuanhu's entire body shook violently.

Then... the Prince of Jingnan withdrew that fist.

And struck again with the other.

Li Yuanhu had already thrown both fists and effectively committed his full strength in the opening exchange.

There was no way to immediately gather strength for another proper counterpunch.

Yet in that instant... he hesitated and failed to dodge.

After all, when Martial Artists compared strength... whoever retreated first... whoever yielded space first... was the one admitting weakness.

Admitting defeat.

The Prince of Jingnan's second fist fell.

Once again... it struck Li Yuanhu's two fists.

This time, the blood and qi throughout Li Yuanhu's body were beaten directly into disorder.

His face swelled outward as though someone had struck a waterskin from the side.

The first fist... had crushed his gathered fist-force.

The second... had shattered the smooth circulation of blood and qi inside him.

Standing below, after taking those two blows head-on...

Li Yuanhu's body was already numb.

Then... the Prince of Jingnan changed posture in midair.

One boot landed steadily on Li Yuanhu's shoulder.

It looked almost casual.

Easy.

As though the point of striking you... was simply to strike you.

BOOM!

A deafening impact rang out.

Li Yuanhu was kicked face-first into the ground.

Tian Wujing landed as well.

But one boot remained planted against the back of Li Yuanhu's head.

The outcome... had been settled.

"Now... do you know who I am?"

[End of Chapter 719]