Chapter 725: The Two Princes Gather, Cavalry Tramples the Royal Court!

The Golden Tent Grand Assembly had begun.

To Li Fei, the whole thing carried a thick air of rustic crudeness.

A royal city with low walls.

A coarse Barbarian noble order.

Tribal relationships where one man's sworn brother was another man's brother-in-law.

Factions gathering and mingling, yet still looking down on one another.

And so on.

Perhaps this was the most primal flavor of power.

Unfortunately... without "ritual"... everything still carried a wild, uncivilized air.

It reminded Li Fei of something the old Confucian scholar had once said:

"The Xia Emperor honored ritual, and only then did all Xia come into being."

Whenever the old scholar drank too much, he would pinch peanuts between his fingers and lament how morals had declined, how hearts were no longer what they once were, how rites had collapsed and the kingly way had vanished.

Back then, Li Fei and Chen Xianba had both thought the sourness in the old scholar's bones came exactly from this sort of thing.

No wonder his own matron had never taken a liking to him.

But now... after seeing the preparations for this grand assembly and watching it begin...

Li Fei finally felt as though he had genuinely touched the meaning behind those words.

If a country or a people had never fully established ritual and law... then something about them really did look wrong from every angle.

If the Barbarians were still strong, that would have mattered less.

All this coarse wildness could still have created a terrifying image: uncivilized, perhaps... but fearsome.

Much like Yan in the eyes of Qian and Chu.

The problem was... as a Yan man... as the Heir of Prince Zhenbei Residence...

Li Fei did not feel that kind of fear toward the Barbarians.

Once the fig leaf of strength had fallen away... and the fig leaf of ritual was already tattered... what remained before his eyes looked like nothing more than a crowd of clay chickens and pottery dogs dressing monkeys in official caps.

Any crude insult could be used.

And it would fit.

Even from the perspective of some boy raised in a mountain village, one could feel that the way these nobles sat together was inappropriate.

The Young Prince wrestling with various men while calling them brothers was inappropriate.

Everyone circling bonfires, singing and dancing, while even the Barbarian King offered up several of his younger consorts to liven the festivities and let them pull and tug playfully with the chiefs present... that was even more inappropriate.

In stage plays.

In storytellers' tales.

Even some ordinary Yan commoner who imagined the Emperor ate a hundred meat pies every day would never imagine great nobles and the Emperor behaving with this kind of lack of restraint.

Then Li Fei thought of his father and the Prince of Jingnan.

By now... they should already have led the army out.

Perhaps they were already hiding somewhere near the Royal Court.

Looking again at the riotous scene before him... it felt as though a thin veil of mist had been draped over everything.

The noise.

The revelry.

All of it... was merely a dream.

A dream easily punctured.

Easily torn open.

Easily ripped apart until the fresh, bloody flesh hidden underneath spilled out.

The old scholar had once commented on works attributed to Marquis Pingxi.

He had said Marquis Pingxi was a great talent of the age.

Excellent at commanding troops and fighting wars.

And equally accomplished in literary matters.

Unfortunately...

Marquis Pingxi perhaps believed poetry and prose were only minor arts in an age of great struggle, and so was stingy with his writing.

Li Fei felt that if Marquis Pingxi were sitting in his place now... with the Marquis's talent... he could probably compose an excellent poem.

Perhaps even paint a great picture that would be passed down for centuries.

"What are you thinking about?"

Yiguxie came over holding a cup of wine.

Ever since the night of "who was Daddy," this young brother-in-law had not grown angry.

Instead... he had actually begun respecting this brother-in-law a little more.

The Barbarians worshiped the strong.

They despised cowardice.

If you had courage.

If you had guts.

Then here... you earned respect.

"Nothing. I was only thinking it's very lively."

"Of course it is. After today, the glory of my Royal Court will return to the desert."

"Congratulations. Congratulations."

"I just heard Father report to Grandfather. One formation of your Zhenbei Army has entered the desert."

Li Fei's heart jolted.

On his face, though... he forced himself to remain calm.

"Li Chenghui. You know him, don't you?"

"Would you forget your own brother's name?" Li Fei countered.

Li Chenghui had been one of the seven Garrison Commanders under the former Marquis Zhenbei.

He was skilled with the bow.

When he was young, he had once ridden alone into the desert and returned carrying a sack full of ears cut from Barbarian eagle-shooters.

"Father said he's probably come to look after you. Afraid we won't treat you properly. But Grandfather has already sent the Left Wise King with fifty thousand Golden Tent cavalry to deliver food and wine to him."

In other words... they had gone to confront him.

The Royal Court was holding the Golden Tent Grand Assembly.

Everyone could have expected their old neighbor to make some movement.

Even if Prince Zhenbei's Heir had come bearing a marriage proposal... the great club still had to be raised.

At a moment like this... on a day like this... the Royal Court could not show weakness.

"Oh."

Li Fei nodded.

He did not understand war.

No matter how talented the old Confucian scholar had been, the man could hardly have known everything.

But Li Fei understood one thing.

So long as the force containing his father and the Southern Prince had not been discovered... everything was fine.

"Can you ride?" Yiguxie asked.

"A little."

"Interesting. A son of the Li family only knows a little horsemanship."

"I've embarrassed myself."

"Enough. You gave me a dagger that day. Today I'll give you a Barbarian saber. Later I'll compete in the contest for the shooting prize. The first-place winner receives a Barbarian saber."

"You?"

"What? You look down on me?"

"You're still too young."

"I know. But my status is different. They won't dare seriously compete with me."

"Oh?"

He admitted it that openly?

"When the wolf king's cub wants meat, do the other wolves dare snatch it? This is a declaration. A declaration of my Golden Tent Royal Court's authority. They deliberately want a child like me to take first place, while everyone else is too intimidated by my status to fight for it."

"So that's how it is."

"Just wait."

"All right."

The Golden Tent Grand Assembly was not something that could be completed in a single day.

The first two days were devoted to feasting and celebration.

Because news of the Yan Emperor's death had also arrived... the festivities were extended by another day.

There was no helping it.

The death of the Yan Emperor had made Barbarian enthusiasm even greater.

And a saying had already begun spreading: the Golden Tent Royal Court was about to rise again, so the Barbarian God had taken away the powerful Emperor of their eastern neighbor.

It was an absurd claim.

But many Barbarians believed it.

The assembly itself had already been planned.

And on top of that, nobody minded adding a little more sacred destiny and divine color to the event.

At the very least... it made an excellent omen.

The fourth day was the great hunting contest.

Warriors from every tribe hunted and competed.

Then the Young Prince, standing in for the old Barbarian King, bestowed rewards upon those with the greatest harvests.

The hunt was divided into several events.

Yiguxie took first place in one.

He won easily.

The favoritism was blatant.

But no one dared object.

After the hunting contest ended...

Li Fei clearly sensed something changing in the seating arrangements.

The Royal Court's men and nobles from the various tribes began paying more attention to order.

The wild abandon of the previous days faded.

There was finally some sense of hierarchy.

Some sense of superior and inferior.

A loose pile of sand... was beginning to show signs of clumping together.

On the fifth day came the Golden Tent cavalry exercises.

It was the equivalent of a military review in the states of Xia.

A direct way to display martial strength.

Li Fei watched with his newlywed wife.

The Left Wise King had taken fifty thousand riders east to guard against Li Chenghui.

Even so... the Royal Court still managed to assemble eighty thousand cavalry here.

The men at the front were direct troops of the Golden Tent.

Armor complete.

Morale blazing.

Those farther back were far worse equipped.

Even so... the overall effect remained vast and imposing.

Charge.

Form ranks.

Answer signals.

Wheel into circles.

The Royal Court displayed its strength to the countless desert tribes.

Showed its muscles.

It was an excellent performance.

In truth... the Golden Tent Royal Court did not possess enough strength to pacify the entire desert.

Not even close.

Even at the height of Marquis Zhenbei Residence, when it commanded three hundred thousand iron cavalry, it had never attempted to pacify the entire desert.

Half the reason was that the desert was difficult to govern.

The other half was that it was simply too vast, with too many tribes.

Even if every Zhenbei soldier had been a butcher like Li Fusheng, cleansing the whole desert would still have been unrealistic.

But a wolf king did not need the strength to defeat every wolf alone.

He only needed enough power to smash whichever wolf dared raise its head and bare its teeth.

That... was the strength the Royal Court was displaying.

To make the exercises look more impressive... the Royal Court even called back several cavalry groups that had been roaming elsewhere.

They were used to fill the gap left by the fifty thousand riders taken by the Left Wise King.

A full day of military exercises took an enormous toll on the Golden Tent cavalry.

It was no less exhausting than fighting an all-day battle.

In some ways, the endless drills and displays wore down a man's temper even more than real killing.

The result, however... was excellent.

That night... came the central event of the entire Golden Tent Grand Assembly.

And when neither the old Barbarian King nor the Young Prince had yet appeared... every noble and tribal chief remained standing beside his seat.

Waiting for the true masters to arrive.

Li Fei stood too.

He did not sit.

Watching the changes among the Barbarian nobles over these past days gave Li Fei a feeling almost like testing theory against reality.

At first... he had simply believed the Barbarians did not understand ritual.

Now he understood.

The truest ritual in this world... was the size of one's fist.

They might lack the beauty of Hua dress.

They might lack the brilliance of literary refinement.

But fundamentally... they were no different from the states of Xia.

They submitted to strength.

These past few days had been an extraordinarily vivid lesson.

They had allowed this young Heir to truly taste the flavor of power and force.

Many principles the old Confucian scholar had once taught in the village had seemed too vague and airy at the time.

After everything Li Fei had now seen... after everything he had thought through... those principles finally settled into something real.

So... this was what they meant.

The old Barbarian King appeared.

Supported by the Young Prince, he walked out.

Then sat in the seat of honor.

Today... the gentleness of some kindly old grandfather next door was gone from his eyes.

Instead... the bearing of an old wolf king filled them completely.

The Young Prince stood beside him.

Below... the men who held real authority within the Royal Court and the noble chiefs of countless tribes stood in orderly ranks.

Heads slightly bowed.

Letting the old Barbarian King's gaze slowly wash over them.

At last... the old Barbarian King spoke.

"I... am old."

No one below answered.

They simply waited for him to continue.

This was another difference in ritual.

If one looked at the imperial court Marquis Pingxi had personally experienced... and the Emperor of Yan had said such a thing... then every Great Yan official below would immediately kneel in perfect unison and shout:

"Your Majesty is in the prime of life! May you live ten thousand years!"

No one would have arranged it beforehand.

Yet they would still perform it together with flawless coordination.

The Barbarian nobles... did not know how.

"My entire life has been a failure. From the day I took the seat of Barbarian King, what faced me was humiliation from the east and contempt from the west. The states of the west... even the little ones... no longer fear Barbarian warriors. And the Barbarian tribes left behind inside western lands have long since turned away from the Barbarian God and begun worshiping western deities. They no longer think of themselves as Barbarians. They no longer take pride in being Barbarian. Instead... they feel shame. They yearn for princesses from western states. They yearn to be recognized as westerners. Heh-heh. As for the east... we need not say much."

At this point... the old Barbarian King's gaze swept toward Li Fei, who stood lower down.

"When the previous Marquis Zhenbei lived, he would lead troops into the desert every few days simply because he had nothing better to do. This generation of Marquis Zhenbei... has been somewhat better. At least on the surface... we have lived in peace."

The old Barbarian King did not continue worrying about Li Fei's presence.

Because this was a Barbarian grand assembly.

There were words he had to say.

Even if Li Liangting himself had been standing here... he would still have said them.

All the concessions.

All the retreats.

All the humiliations endured.

Including the destruction of the maternal tribe of the Left Guli King, the man upon whom the Royal Court had once pinned enormous hopes.

The Royal Court had chosen submission.

In the end, the Left Guli King resigned his office, rode alone to Marquis Zhenbei Residence... and died there seeking an explanation.

All of it... the Royal Court had endured.

Had swallowed.

Had accepted.

For one reason.

For today.

To gather the Barbarian tribes beneath one banner again!

"But back then, no matter how badly things went, the three hundred thousand cavalry of Marquis Zhenbei Residence were always watching us. And now? Half of them have already ridden away. Gone to fight over their own eastern realm. We... have grown weaker every year. And I... have thought about it endlessly. I kept asking myself... has the Barbarian God abandoned us? I thought for a long time. I asked many people. And slowly... I understood. It was not the Barbarian God who abandoned us. It was us. We were unworthy. We had fallen. We were gradually losing the right to call ourselves descendants of the Barbarian God. So I believe with absolute certainty... that when we take up the glory of our ancestors again... when we gather once more beneath the Golden Tent... when the Barbarian people bind themselves together again as one... the Barbarian God... will turn his gaze back toward the people loyal to him! The Barbarian God is immortal! The Barbarian people shall endure forever!"

"The Barbarian God is immortal! The Barbarian people shall endure forever!"

"The Barbarian God is immortal! The Barbarian people shall endure forever!"

"I am old. I no longer possess the strength to lead you east and west. But I have raised a suitable leader for you. A suitable wolf king. Zhidu."

The Young Prince stepped forward.

"If we still do not rise... the Barbarian people will cease to exist. If we still do not rise... you and I will both have failed the Barbarian God. I hope... under Zhidu's leadership... under the leadership of the new Barbarian King... you will use your horses' hooves... your curved sabers... your bows and arrows... to restore the splendor of our ancestors!"

Zhidu raised his curved saber and roared:

"For the Barbarian people!"

Every noble knelt.

And shouted together:

"For the Barbarian people! For the Barbarian King!"

"Light the sacrificial fire! Swear the alliance! Let the firelight console the Barbarian God! Before the sacrificial flames, we swear: from this day onward, the Golden Tent and every tribe of the desert will advance and retreat together! We will resist humiliation from outside together! Barbarian warriors will use their valor to win more food, cloth, and tea for their tribes, their women, and their children! And we will raise a grander body for the image of our Barbarian God!"

"Awooooooo!"

"Awooooooo!"

"Awooooooo!"

Every Barbarian thrust both arms forward and sounded the call from deep in his throat.

This was atmosphere.

This was imitation of the wolf.

A declaration that, at this moment... they willingly submitted to the wolf king.

Then...

Zhidu pointed toward Li Fei.

"Hahaha! Let this Prince's son-in-law light the sacrificial fire for this Prince... for the Barbarian people!"

Every Barbarian eye turned toward Li Fei.

Having the Heir of Prince Zhenbei Residence light the alliance fire for the Barbarian people... was absolutely something the Barbarians could feel proud of.

Compared with that... the fact that the Li family's Heir had married Zhidu's daughter hardly mattered.

Barbarian customs did not treat marrying off a daughter as some humiliation of state sovereignty.

Of course... they did not regard it as particularly glorious either.

"Husband."

Yiguna looked worriedly toward her husband.

She was already Li Fei's woman.

Naturally, she now thought from Li Fei's side.

Yan people said that when a woman married a chicken she followed the chicken, and when she married a dog she followed the dog.

Barbarians were more direct.

Once a woman married... she naturally became responsible for the continuation and growth of her own small household and tribe.

Li Fei patted Yiguna's hand.

Then walked forward and accepted the torch from Zhidu.

"Father, let me do it instead. How can this kind of glory be given to a Yan man?"

Yiguxie spoke.

"Yiguxie, my young eagle. It is not yet time for you to spread your wings. Do not rush."

Zhidu refused his son's request.

With no other choice...

Yiguxie stepped back.

Li Fei raised the torch.

Then climbed the elevated platform built in front of him.

The Barbarians all around watched him with unconcealed hatred and anger.

And beneath those extreme emotions... there was a hidden delight.

Any adult Barbarian... especially any noble... carried an instinctive fear of Marquis Zhenbei Residence.

And now... the next generation of that very household was about to perform a ritual on their behalf.

Barbarian pride surged almost uncontrollably.

Below the sacrificial platform lay offerings made from various livestock.

There were even corpses of living slaves who had been killed for sacrifice.

Li Fei climbed step by step.

Slowly... onto the high platform.

There... stood an enormous brazier.

Above it... hung one purple horn.

A Pixiu horn.

A sacred Barbarian sacrificial relic.

Years ago, an Emperor of Yan had personally led a campaign and died in battle.

The horn of the Pixiu beneath him had been taken by the Barbarians and brought back as a trophy commemorating martial glory.

At this moment...

Li Fei stood there holding the torch.

And for one instant... he almost felt he could hear the cries of countless dead souls from across centuries.

He believed... after today... a new Royal Court would rise.

The balance of Barbarian power across the desert would be remade.

After suffering humiliation from both east and west for a hundred years... the Barbarians had no choice but to gather again.

To bind themselves together.

Of course... there was one condition.

They had to survive tonight.

Bang!

Li Fei tossed the torch into the brazier.

Flames surged upward.

They roasted the Pixiu horn hanging above.

The horn released a purple glow.

The Barbarians below exploded into cheers.

They shouted together.

Sang together.

Wave after wave of noise crashed over the platform so violently that the structure itself seemed to tremble.

Yes.

At first...

Li Fei thought that was what was making it shake.

But he stood at the highest point.

So he could see farthest.

And in the west beyond the royal city... he saw a curtain of blackness blotting out the starlight.

Li Fei smiled.

Then began waving his arms and dancing along with the Barbarians below.

A few days ago... the Barbarians had cheered and celebrated the death of Great Yan's great Emperor.

Little did they know... that before dying... the one thing the Emperor of Great Yan had been most unable to forget... the one thing he had been least willing to release... was the Barbarian people!

Somewhere in the unseen heights... it almost seemed as though an immense figure appeared against the firmament.

Not the Barbarian God.

Because the Barbarian God would never wear a black dragon robe.

His eyes... carried merciless cold.

"Wujing. Liangting. For Us. For Great Yan... break their spine... for another hundred years!"

Beneath the night sky...

Great Yan's two Princes began their charge atop their Pixiu.

Behind them... thirty thousand of the Zhenbei Army's finest veteran soldiers!

The thunder of iron hooves... somehow merged into a single unified rhythm.

Ahead... stood the brilliantly illuminated Barbarian royal city.

At this moment... as if they truly sensed something in their hearts... the two Princes lowered their face guards together.

Then... almost at the same time... they gave one low answer:

"This minister... obeys the decree!"

[End of Chapter 725]