Chapter 737: What Crime Does This Merit?

Outside the stockade, the battle had once again become completely one-sided.

Only this time, the side collapsing was the faction opposing Qu Peiluo.

The arrival of Yan cavalry had acted like an unmistakable catalyst. Liang Cheng, however, did not actually throw his riders into the melee. Instead, his force swept slowly around the edge of the main battlefield like a gust of wind, maintaining perfect order as it pressed straight toward the Chu formation advancing from the distance.

The Chu formation immediately changed shape.

With equal numbers, infantry facing cavalry was already at a disadvantage. Facing some of the finest elite cavalry in the world made the situation worse still. Unless the opposing commander had water in his head...

No.

Even if the opposing commander did have water in his head, the Chu force would still have difficulty winning.

Li Fusheng, for instance, used to charge at the front with the Assault Battalion whenever a major battle began, yet the other units beneath him still fought in perfect order. Once the quality of an army reached a certain point, commanding it truly became far easier.

The Chu rear became the front. The front became the rear.

They immediately began withdrawing from the battlefield.

Realistic.

Direct.

Decisive.

Liang Cheng's cavalry followed them at a fixed distance like old friends seeing one another off, matching every step.

Whenever the Chu troops slowed, a wave of mounted archery would arc down around them as an enthusiastic reminder not to linger.

Outside the stockade, the fighting had originally been nothing more than one disorderly mob split into two disorderly mobs and hacking at one another. Earlier, when one side's reinforcements arrived, the other side's morale collapsed. Now the Yan army had appeared, and the side that had lost heart immediately surged back on top.

Strictly speaking, Yan troops had beaten Chu beneath Zhennan Pass only a year ago and then burned the Chu capital. When it came to increasing allied morale, their effect was clearly several levels above that of ordinary Chu soldiers.

Before long, the fighting outside the stockade had been decided.

Men loyal to Qu Peiluo now had enough strength to push back into the stockade itself. After another period of bitter fighting, Qu Peiluo finally killed the "traitors" within his own organization.

At last, covered in blood, Qu Peiluo carried the rebel leader's severed head to the foot of the stockade wall.

He knelt before the Princess.

The scene looked strangely like a prince who had just fought a dragon to the death and returned to the Princess... asking for praise.

"General Qu, you've worked hard," the Princess said.

"Killing enemies for Your Highness is no hardship."

Qu Peiluo wiped the blood from his face and smiled, revealing a row of white teeth.

The Princess said nothing more.

She had come in person. Her husband had agreed that she could come, agreed that she could have some fun.

But there was truly no need to show Qu Peiluo too much warmth.

One Qu Peiluo could not compare with even a finger's length of tenderness from her own husband.

Gou Moli called down from the wall:

"General Qu, straighten this place out and clean it properly. Don't let the smell of blood disturb our Madam."

"Yes. This general understands!"

The stockade, which had only just finished killing, immediately began to clean itself.

The wounded were moved outside.

Yet there was no resentment on their faces.

Even the exhausted soldiers who had just fought for their lives showed no dissatisfaction as they picked up brooms and basins to scrub away the blood.

They were serving the Princess willingly.

To a certain extent, they had already made their choice today.

And that choice could bring them enormous protection, both in legal legitimacy and in practical support.

Because of that... the Princess's image rose even higher.

When she descended from the wall surrounded by attendants, everyone inside the stockade bowed respectfully.

The reverence was genuine.

There was no sense of coercion.

Years ago, when he had first begun commanding troops, the Prince of Jingnan had once taught Zheng Fan that the literary ideal of "treat soldiers like sons and you will be invincible" was largely wishful thinking.

After returning to her room, the Princess could not help asking:

"Mr. Gou, there is something I don't understand."

"Please ask, Madam."

"Those people outside truly fear and respect me. It doesn't look false. But I never went among them asking after their warmth or hunger. I even complained that the blood they left on the ground was filthy."

"Madam, there are people in this world who, the more you treat them like livestock, the more they worship you as a deity."

The Princess only half understood.

"The more noble you appear, the farther above them you stand, the more likely they believe their hopes will come true and their future will be protected."

"Continue. When you speak to me, there is no need to hide anything."

"Yes. The more aloof and refined you appear, the more it proves that your position inside Marquis Pingxi Residence is high. It proves Master, the entire Residence, even Great Yan itself places great value upon you. And by extension, that means greater value is being placed upon them. In truth, they have already abandoned the identity of Chu subjects and discarded the inheritance of their ancestors. In body and spirit alike, they are already dogs driven from their old home. The richer and more powerful their new master's household appears... the happier they become."

When it came to controlling subordinates, the Savage King had once brought the art to its absolute limit.

"Put that way, I understand."

"Madam is intelligent. There are simply some things one can only understand after rolling around at the bottom of society."

"You mean I was born too noble, so I cannot see such things clearly?"

"If one has never lived through something, one naturally cannot truly share the feeling. Without sharing the feeling, one cannot truly put oneself in another's place. Besides, Master protects you. There is no need for Madam to experience such things personally. If you have questions, this subordinate can simply answer them."

"True. Mr. Gou has suffered greatly. It wasn't easy."

"Thank you for understanding, Madam. Fortunately, this subordinate's bitter days are already behind him."

"That's good."

Gou Moli bowed slightly.

"Madam should rest here. This subordinate will go bestow favors on your behalf."

"I'll trouble you, Mr. Gou."

"This subordinate would not dare."

Gou Moli took sandalwood from his robes and lit it. Then he said to the two maidservants who had accompanied the Princess all the way:

"Sprinkle Spirit-Refreshing Dew in the corners."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Only after giving those instructions did Gou Moli leave the room.

By then, the medicinal herbs, valuables, wine, and meat escorted over by the Fan family had arrived as well, now that the fighting had ended.

The men who had only just survived the slaughter saw those supplies entering the stockade, and their eyes immediately lit up.

In truth, the supplies had arrived much earlier.

They had simply waited outside.

First drive away the wild dogs.

Then feed the dogs that belonged to your own household.

Besides... bones tasted best when a dog was hungry.

"These are gifts from the Princess."

"Many thanks to the Princess!"

"Long live the Princess!"

Cheers erupted.

The exhaustion left by the earlier fighting seemed to vanish at once.

Qu Peiluo came over, saluted Gou Moli, and asked:

"Do you need me to lead men out and support the force outside?"

"No. There won't be any problem."

Liang Cheng was personally commanding the troops.

How could he possibly capsize in a ditch like this?

And the facts were exactly so.

Liang Cheng's cavalry simply followed behind the withdrawing Chu troops and urged them to retreat faster.

This was no longer merely a matter of whether Chu soldiers feared Yan troops.

They were being hung from a hook by cavalry and herded along.

There was simply no way to fight properly.

The Chu commander was experienced. Several times, he tried to find a hillside or a riverbank that he could use to stabilize his formation.

Each time, however, the Yan general across from him seemed to predict the attempt in advance and forcibly drove the Chu formation away before it could settle.

After several rounds of probing, the Chu commander helplessly realized that the quality of the Yan cavalry opposite him was beyond imagination.

This was no secondary formation.

There were only three thousand riders, but they had to be a main-force elite.

Against ordinary cavalry, he could have forced his men into formation and retreated while fighting, shifted position in stages, or simply planted the formation where it stood and waited for reinforcements.

Against cavalry like this... all of those methods were pointless.

At most, he could hope to inflict a little damage before being crushed.

Worse, nearly every Yan rider had two horses. During the pursuit, they even rotated in layers.

They were taking turns herding him.

His own men would grow more and more exhausted while the Yan cavalry preserved excellent battle readiness from beginning to end.

It was exactly like herdsmen driving sheep while still having enough breath left to sing folk songs.

Bullying.

This was pure bullying.

At that moment, a Yan rider carrying a flag galloped out from the formation toward the Chu troops.

"Hold!"

The Chu commander immediately ordered his archers and crossbowmen to lower their weapons and forbade them from firing.

The envoy shouted:

"Chu commander opposite, listen! My general says he is willing to follow the old rites of the Chu nobility. Surrender one of your flags, and we will accept your defeat!"

Great Chu had once possessed the most elaborate aristocratic order in the world.

The rules governing warfare between nobles had been equally elaborate.

But beneath all of it lay one essential principle:

We are nobles.

Our lives are precious.

The most classic example was that if a noble were captured in battle, he had to be fed and housed properly. He could be ransomed.

But he could not be killed.

The custom of surrendering a flag meant that when one side believed victory impossible, it offered one of its banners to the other army.

If the opponent accepted... then the defeated army could withdraw without pursuit.

The Chu commander hesitated.

After the Yan Southern Prince burned Ying Capital and Marquis Pingxi dug up who knew how many noble ancestral graves, Great Chu's aristocratic order had already collapsed badly.

Some of those old customs were no longer trusted even by Chu people themselves.

How could they possibly expect Yan men to respect them?

But in the end... the Chu commander agreed.

He could only gamble that the Yan general across from him was like himself and did not want this small clash to trigger another full national war between Yan and Chu.

A centurion walked out from the Chu ranks and surrendered a banner.

He returned with another message.

The Yan commander had one additional demand.

The Chu force had to surrender the two small military stockades nearby.

The Chu commander agreed and sent men to notify them.

Only then... did the tense atmosphere finally relax.

The Yan cavalry stopped its pursuit game.

The Chu troops withdrew with far less pressure.

At last... the two armies broke contact.

Once Liang Cheng judged the distance sufficient, he left a unit of scouts behind to monitor the Chu troops and led the main force back.

Years ago, he had accompanied Master several times in taking small forces south into Qian.

Those campaigns had practically been textbook examples of defeating one's superiors from below.

Back then... if war needed to start, then war started.

Fight even if you don't want to fight.

Hurry up and fight for this lord!

At that time, Master had only been a minor garrison officer.

He needed military merit to rise.

What grand strategy?

What state policy?

All of that could fuck off to one side.

Now... things were different.

Only a year had passed since eastern Jin began its development.

War reserves were not ready.

Army quality was still being built.

Even the full re-equipment of the force had not been completed.

A major war now would not be worthwhile.

At the same time... the transition of imperial power in Yanjing had not been fully completed.

Different status.

Different identity.

Different needs.

Naturally... different choices.

After turning back, Liang Cheng led the cavalry to Qu Peiluo's stockade.

Qu Peiluo had already washed the blood from himself and had originally intended to seek another audience with the Princess.

Instead, Liang Cheng summoned him directly.

From Fan City southward, including a small portion of the territory once controlled by the Qu Clan, the best course for now was still to let forces led primarily by Chu men do the fighting and competing.

After Qu Peiluo demonstrated genuine ability, the decision of Marquis Pingxi Residence had been simple.

More precisely, it was the decision reached by the Blind Man and Liang Cheng while Master was away.

Let Qu Peiluo continue developing.

First, his force could keep widening the buffer zone around the Fan family. If Yan and Chu went to war again, so long as the Fan family was not destroyed in the first blow, it could help Yan open a second front around Mount Meng beyond the main line at Zhennan Pass.

Second, the Fan family had originally been servants of the Qu Clan.

Servants who betrayed their master and then became the new masters themselves.

If Qu Peiluo's force became powerful, it could also restrain the Fan family.

The art of checks and balances was never meant to be used on one's own people.

Use it beautifully at home and you might congratulate yourself, but in truth you were only encouraging internal exhaustion.

Its proper use... was using outsiders to restrain outsiders.

In the eyes of Marquis Pingxi Residence... both the Fan family and Qu Peiluo were still outsiders.

Liang Cheng gave Qu Peiluo several pointers, told him which villages and towns he needed to seize, which strongpoints he needed to establish, and clarified the direction his force should develop next.

Then...

Liang Cheng went to see the Princess.

Naturally, Qu Peiluo could not follow.

The Princess received Liang Cheng.

Some people looked like household retainers... but one truly could not treat them as ordinary retainers.

Even as Marquis Pingxi's woman, the Princess could clearly sense that within this Residence were several people whose actual status stood above her own.

"This general pays respects to Madam."

"General Liang has worked hard."

"No hardship."

Then... silence.

After the silence stretched on long enough that the Princess was preparing to say something merely to ease the awkwardness, Liang Cheng cupped his hands.

"This general takes his leave."

"..." Xiong Liqing.

He had come to see the Princess.

And he really had only come to see her.

As a zombie, Liang Cheng had spent the previous two years beside Master learning how to communicate, how not to be quite so cold.

He had genuinely improved.

But the improvement applied only to Master, the other Demon Kings, and a few people he personally respected.

For example...

Chief Yu of the Marquis Residence Security Department.

Everyone else?

He could not be bothered pretending warmth.

Before Liang Cheng departed, the Blind Man had told him to look after the Princess carefully. Whatever else could be said, she was Master's woman.

Liang Cheng obeyed.

Every day he came to "pay respects to Madam."

Then... "this general takes his leave."

Fortunately...

Xiong Liqing had grown used to it.

She understood.

He wasn't deliberately insulting her.

He simply... genuinely did not feel like speaking to her.

Mm.

Exactly.

The next morning, the Princess's carriage set out under military escort and returned toward Fan City.

The Fan Residence... no.

The entire city... was overflowing with celebration.

That joy had long since surpassed anything produced by a small victory in the south.

After entering the Fan Residence, Liu Ruqing hurried over to fuss over the Princess and ask whether she was tired or cold.

The Princess held Liu Ruqing's hand while watching Gou Moli enter.

"What happened?" the Princess asked. "Why is everyone in the whole city so excited?"

Gou Moli deliberately kept the suspense.

"Madam can guess."

He would never speak like this to Zheng Fan.

Master would immediately answer:

Speak human.

But with others, Gou Moli understood that most people of high status enjoyed showing their insight before subordinates.

At that moment, a Fan family maidservant came forward with tea.

The Princess accepted the cup and lightly brushed the lid across its surface.

"News came from Yanjing?"

"Madam is wise."

"The Emperor of Yan died, and the Sixth Prince succeeded him?"

"This subordinate admires Madam."

"Heh-heh-heh."

The Princess looked at Gou Moli and laughed.

News from Yanjing had reached the Fan family.

Reached Fan City.

Years earlier, Fan Zhengwen, with the forceful decisiveness of the head of his clan, had dragged the century-old Fan family onto Yan's ship without the slightest hesitation.

Many within the Fan family had complained bitterly about it.

What was wrong with being servants?

What was wrong with being dogs?

Safe, secure, wrapped in brocade and fed jade grain.

Wasn't that comfortable?

Even now, the Fan family had risen.

It had built its own city.

It had private troops of its own, just like the great Chu noble houses of old.

But it also sat directly on the fault line between Yan and Chu.

Whenever another national war began... the Fan family would be among the first to suffer.

Now, however... everything had changed.

The mistress of their house was the new Emperor of Great Yan's own maternal aunt.

Their young master was the reigning Yan Emperor's first cousin.

Those who had complained before now had no choice but to admire Fan Zhengwen's long vision.

The late Emperor of Great Yan had exterminated the Min Clan.

As a result... the Fan family had unexpectedly become the new sovereign's foremost maternal relatives.

Chickens and dogs rising to Heaven with their master.

Fortune had simply dropped into their laps.

How could they not celebrate?

How could they not be thrilled?

Those who truly understood Great Yan knew it was now an immensely exhausted beast.

But to outsiders... it still looked savage, terrifying, and overwhelmingly powerful.

"Mr. Gou, what should we do next?" Xiong Liqing asked. "I imagine Mr. Bei predicted some of this long ago?"

"Madam sees clearly. There should already be an idea."

"I have some idea. I simply do not know whether it is correct."

"Whatever Madam says will be correct."

Liu Ruqing sat nearby with a faint, restrained smile.

She was content to be a vase.

She had never dreamed of escaping the fate of being a vase either.

What she wanted was to become... a more exquisite vase.

One the man she loved would like even more.

In that respect, she and the Princess were different.

That did not mean Liu Ruqing was foolish.

"When I raised my spirit beast years ago, I understood one thing," the Princess said. "You cannot simply treat a beast well all the time. Every so often, you have to strike it a few times and clear its head so it remembers who its true master is."

Then she looked toward Liu Ruqing.

"Little Sister, don't you agree?"

"Elder Sister means we should knock the Fan family down a little now and remind them exactly who is truly protecting them?"

"Exactly."

"But what reason should we use?" Liu Ruqing asked.

Everyone in the Fan family had treated their group with great courtesy.

Their service had been meticulous.

"That part... is easy."

Xiong Liqing sat straighter.

She lowered her gaze toward the teacup she had been holding throughout the conversation.

Raised it.

Took one light sip.

Then frowned.

"The tea is cold."

The Princess hurled the cup directly onto the floor.

Crash!

The sound of shattered porcelain immediately brought maidservants hurrying inside.

The Princess remained perfectly calm.

Then she said:

"Deliberately serving cold tea. For the Fan Clan to neglect this Princess so openly means they hold Marquis Pingxi Residence in contempt. This crime... must be punished."

[End of Chapter 737]