Chapter 796: Bearing the Coffin

Yan soldiers really did come over carrying reward money.

They began distributing it among the captured Chu troops.

The Chu soldiers stared in astonishment.

What exactly was going on?

Huang Dingyuan was still the leader among them.

Summoning all his courage, he forced a smile and asked:

“M-Marquis... Imperial Son-in-Law... what happy occasion is this?”

Seated atop the Pixiu, Marquis Zheng answered:

“This Marquis’s wife is pregnant. I thought I’d celebrate together with all of you.”

“Congratulations, Imperial Son-in-Law! Congratulations!”

Huang Dingyuan immediately kowtowed three times.

Then he hurriedly called for his men to come over and kowtow as well.

“Congratulations, Imperial Son-in-Law! Congratulations!”

Everyone began offering auspicious words.

The scene was a little absurd.

But when someone else held the knife and you were the fish on the chopping block, what dignity did a prisoner have left to worry about?

Besides... years ago, when “Count Zheng” abducted a Princess from Chu, outrage had swept the entire state.

People had wanted to eat that Yan barbarian’s flesh and drink his blood.

Glorious Great Chu... humiliated in such a fashion by one Yan savage!

But then the Yan, relying on unmatched iron cavalry and Prince Jingnan, launched one campaign after another against Chu.

Zheng Fan climbed step by step into the position of Great Yan’s military Marquis while continuing to beat Chu down.

Chu lost multiple Pillars of State.

Lost Ying Capital.

Lost its Grand General.

How many great noble houses even had their ancestral graves dug open?

Under blow after blow like that... without anyone quite noticing when it happened... the Chu attitude toward “Marquis Pingxi” began to change.

At first:

Yan dog.

Then:

Yan bandit.

Then:

Marquis Pingxi of Yan.

Then:

Marquis.

And finally:

Imperial Son-in-Law.

Qu Peiluo was absolutely not some unique case.

When someone can knead you however he wishes... when you try to resist and fail again and again... if you are unwilling simply to die... then you can only cooperate.

Gradually reshape yourself into whatever form he wishes to knead.

Huang Dingyuan and these Chu men had simply misunderstood one thing.

They believed the pregnant woman was their own Princess.

Among the upper levels of Chu, the Princess’s pregnancy was no secret.

But to soldiers stationed in a remote border region who barely even counted as regular troops... this was completely fresh news.

Marquis Zheng scattered celebration money without the slightest stinginess.

Then he turned his horse around.

Leading the riders beside him, he returned to the ship.

But the next day... another group of Chu troops came following from behind.

The ship stopped again.

Several Yan soldiers came ashore carrying a large basket of copper coins and began tossing the money out.

The Chu troops grinned broadly as they scrambled for the rewards and shouted auspicious phrases at the top of their lungs.

It was not entirely because they coveted the money.

Ordinary soldiers naturally liked it.

Their commanders, however, did not really care about such a small amount.

Mostly... they wanted to imitate Huang Dingyuan and join the celebration.

Some of the habits created by centuries of aristocratic rule in Great Chu still lingered.

Two noble houses might fight each other to the death one day... then turn around the next and start discussing kinship again, becoming affectionate as though nothing had happened.

Eventually... the copper coins ran out.

The generous Marquis Zheng began distributing more expensive things like brocade and jade ornaments.

Naturally, not one piece per man.

One valuable item could be handed to an entire group.

Marquis Zheng wanted nothing in return.

He simply enjoyed hearing crowds of people on shore shouting auspicious words.

At one point... a local Chu magistrate even came early with his subordinates and set up an incense altar on the riverbank to pray for the blessing of Marquis Zheng and “the Princess’s” child.

Marquis Zheng went ashore.

After Siniang checked everything... he drank one cup of simple wine.

Everyone went away happy.

...

“Mr. Bei, do you think we Chu people look very sycophantic?”

Qu Peiluo stood on the deck.

He gazed out over the river scenery while asking the question.

“People beneath Heaven are mostly the same. Eight out of ten live muddled lives. Of the remaining two, nine out of ten notice only how muddled everyone else is and forget to look at themselves.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Thinking yourself clever.”

Qu Peiluo laughed.

“Yes.”

The men who were so eagerly currying favor right now... would probably be purged later.

They believed they were congratulating the Princess.

In reality... they were not.

“General Qu...”

“Mr. Bei should just call me Peiluo.”

“All right, Peiluo. We should leave Chu territory tomorrow. Chu truly is vast.”

“Yes. I have always felt that Yan has exhausted itself through fighting, while Qian and Chu sit atop mountains of treasure yet somehow keep getting beaten down.”

“Like the idiot son of a rich landlord. Heh-heh.”

The Blind Man took out an orange.

He had been in a good mood recently and had therefore been peeling quite a lot of them.

Unfortunately, Gou Moli had remained behind in Fan City.

So whenever the Blind Man saw someone nearby with an empty mouth... he peeled an orange for him.

Qu Peiluo accepted the orange and began eating.

“I heard that many affairs in Fengxin City are handled by Mr. Bei. Even the Marquis told me that I should come to you for the concrete handover of my future duties.”

“Mr. Feng handles the finances. As for the other affairs, I can oversee most of them. Truthfully, Marquis Pingxi Residence already has Barbarian troops and Savage troops. Yan and Jin forces go without saying. By rights, having you prepare and command a Chu force would be the most appropriate arrangement.”

The Blind Man paused.

“But the conditions are not mature yet. The troops you saw entering Chu this time already represented virtually every elite force and capable officer beneath the Residence. Fortunately, Chu did not have time to react. And in the end, it also lacked the resolve to go all the way. If Chu had truly been willing to pile up lives, imitating the determination with which Yan used scorched earth a century ago when Qian sent five hundred thousand troops north, and had swallowed this army whole... then more than half the sky over Marquis Pingxi Residence would have collapsed. Besides, the Residence’s foundation is still thin. Fight one war and we have to stop and catch our breath for a while. For now, you will command troops in Fengxin City and oversee the city defenses. Later, once we gradually deepen our dealings with Chu, we’ll try to turn one or two Chu generals and have them bring their troops over. We can also recruit Chu people. Then we can build you an entire Chu formation tailored to you.”

“Mr. Bei does not need to explain it in such detail. Whatever you say, whatever the Marquis says, I will simply do.”

The Blind Man shook his head.

“That won’t do. We need to draw out the full value of every person. Make everyone think proactively. Make everyone impatient to get to work. Only then does the whole picture truly become beautiful.”

Qu Peiluo nodded.

“Let me tell you a little about the Residence’s plans going forward.”

The Blind Man peeled another orange.

Qu Peiluo very much wanted to say:

If you’re going to talk, just talk. Stop peeling oranges every few sentences.

But when the Blind Man handed him the flesh again... he still accepted it and put it into his mouth.

“Eastern Jin is a treasure land. It needs to keep developing. Originally, we absorbed refugees from other parts of Jin. But our neighbor Xu Wenzu in Yingdu has been doing very well lately. Court authority has also begun focusing on resettlement and the people’s livelihood. With the policy of recuperation now in place, the happy days of receiving huge flows of refugees are probably over.”

“The Savages?” Qu Peiluo suggested. “The Barbarians are still too far away.”

“Yes and no. The Savages are one source. But we cannot absorb too many. The population ratio has to be controlled, otherwise problems emerge.”

“In truth, problems already exist,” Qu Peiluo said. “With the present structure of Marquis Pingxi Residence and eastern Jin, from what I understand, if Marquis Pingxi Residence ceased to exist, eastern Jin would descend directly into chaos. Even if the Yan court used official appointments and political pressure to force everyone into temporary stability, that stability would not last.”

The Blind Man nodded.

Qu Peiluo was right.

Bringing foreign peoples inside the passes and borrowing their labor and military strength looked simple and produced results quickly.

But the chaos of the Five Barbarians had arisen from exactly that sort of process.

“Then we simply make sure the Residence continues to exist.”

The Blind Man stretched lazily.

“After summer and autumn, I plan to begin absorbing refugees from Chu. In truth, the mountain region west of Zhennan Pass already contains many displaced Chu people.”

“Will they come?”

“You were born a noble. Even though you spent two years fallen from grace, you still won’t feel this as deeply. Noble houses care about birth, bloodline, and all sorts of higher things. Ordinary commoners want enough food and enough clothing. They will vote with their feet.”

The Blind Man thought for a moment.

“Mm. This will be one of the matters you handle later too. Use this period to think it through carefully. Between surrendered Chu troops, Chu refugees who come over voluntarily, and the Princess’s identity, we should be able to recruit quite a lot. Every person we can absorb is one person Chu loses.”

“I understand.”

“Good.”

The Blind Man turned toward the cabin.

He saw A’Ming carrying a small stool and preparing to go inside.

“A’Ming. Why aren’t you staying below deck? What are you doing up here?”

A’Ming answered:

“Getting some sun.”

The Blind Man shrugged.

When A’Ming entered the cabin... he discovered Fan Li already squatting in the corner.

Siniang sat at the table with one leg crossed over the other, continuing to work on plans and reports for the new quarter.

Seeing A’Ming come inside carrying a stool, she could not help laughing.

“You too?”

A’Ming nodded honestly.

“Came to look.”

Then he put the stool down beside Fan Li and sat.

Fan Li scratched his head.

With feeling, he murmured:

“A baby.”

A’Ming pulled out his wineskin and took a drink.

“It really doesn’t feel real.”

At that moment... the red stone lying on the table suddenly stood upright.

It rotated half a turn in place.

Siniang rolled her eyes at the lot of them and continued with her work.

A’Ming asked:

“Siniang, will your child inherit your bloodline?”

Fan Li said:

“Master drags it down.”

Then...

Fan Li raised his head.

Looking at the cabin beams above... he sighed.

A’Ming analyzed the matter seriously.

“It probably won’t drag things down *too* badly, right?”

Fan Li said nothing.

But the disappointment on his face was obvious.

If only there were no part of Master in the child.

Unfortunately, without Master...

Siniang could not produce a child in the first place.

Between two evils, one could only choose the lesser.

The Demon Kings possessed none of the Chu nobility’s obsession with bloodline and social identity.

They had bloodlines.

But they did not possess ordinary social identities.

An ordinary person might rely on wealth or political power and convince himself he stood above everyone else.

Cut open the flesh... and beneath it was the same stinking skin and meat.

The Demon Kings were different.

Their bloodlines were visibly, materially different.

After learning Siniang was pregnant, even A’Ming, who normally hated joining in commotion, could not resist coming over every so often to look.

To think.

They were lonely.

And now... they had a way to break that loneliness.

It was interesting.

Very interesting.

The Blind Man had been right.

Siniang’s child was completely different from the others.

Because this child represented a kind of inheritance belonging to all the Demon Kings.

“Good thing Third Master didn’t come this time,” A’Ming said. “Otherwise he’d probably be the most excited one.”

“All right, all right. You’ve looked enough. Don’t interfere with my work. Since I didn’t charge admission, at least have the self-awareness to stay quiet.”

A’Ming stopped talking and continued drinking.

Fan Li pulled out a piece of flatbread and began chewing slowly.

“Report!”

A messenger rushed over.

“Chu troops are blocking the eastern bank!”

Siniang raised her head and looked at the two fools sitting nearby.

“Aren’t you going to take a look?”

“What happened?”

Marquis Zheng had been taking an afternoon nap.

The instinctive shout of “Report!” had startled him awake.

Siniang answered:

“Master, they say Chu troops are blocking the eastern bank.”

“Heh. Did we give them celebration money?” Marquis Zheng asked.

The messenger answered:

“Reporting to the Marquis, the man leading them said he doesn’t want celebration money. He brought a coffin.”

“A coffin?”

Marquis Zheng had spent these last days immersed in an atmosphere of auspicious congratulations.

Hearing that word made him frown.

“How many troops?”

“Only around a hundred.”

“A hundred?”

“Come on. Let’s take a look.”

...

Because Marquis Zheng’s force was advancing by both land and water, they could easily have ignored the obstruction.

But the ship stopped anyway.

There really were not many people blocking the road.

They did not carry sabers or spears.

They had no bows or crossbows either.

Most held hoes and other farm tools.

In any sufficiently large state, there was inevitably a distinction between regular field armies and local garrison troops.

Sometimes the gap between the two was like an abyss.

Along the road, they had encountered plenty of local Chu garrison forces.

Their equipment and quality were far below the regular army.

But the group blocking the road now were not “soldiers” at all.

They did not even qualify as village militia.

They were simply laborers and peasants.

Behind them... a coffin had been set down.

Marquis Zheng sat atop his Pixiu at the front.

Beside him stood A’Ming, Fan Li, Qu Peiluo, and Fan Zhengwen.

Then... an old man in a long white robe emerged from the crowd opposite.

He walked with a cane.

As he approached, the Brocade-Clad personal guards around Marquis Zheng naturally raised bows and nocked arrows.

Marquis Zheng lifted one hand.

Wait.

The old man came to a stop in front of them.

“My surname is Yuan. My name is Shanliu. I pay respects to Marquis Pingxi of Yan.”

“You need something?”

Marquis Zheng had been in an unusually good mood these last few days.

“Marquis invaded Great Chu. You won and now return home. Great Chu has suffered another defeat.”

“Yes.”

Marquis Zheng nodded.

“During your return journey, quite a few local garrisons must have come asking Marquis for celebration money. I heard the Princess is pregnant. Marquis has been generous.”

“Yes.”

“Does Marquis now believe all Chu people are men who forget righteousness the moment they see profit?”

“No.”

“Then forgive me for making Marquis witness such ugliness.”

Yuan Shanliu bowed slightly.

“Deep inside, Marquis probably does think so.”

“What difference does it make whether this Marquis thinks so or not? Why are *you* here?”

“Does Marquis believe this old man also came to ask for reward money?”

Marquis Zheng’s patience began to run out.

He waved one hand.

“If you have something to say, say it. Don’t waste time.”

“This old man deliberately gathered villagers and hurried here for one reason. To prove one thing to Marquis.”

“What?”

“To prove that not everyone in Great Chu is some petty schemer crawling after profit. Great Chu possesses righteous spirit. Marquis and Prince Jingnan before you have defeated Great Chu’s armies again and again, seized Great Chu’s lands again and again. But Chu people still exist who do not fear death. This old man knows the late Emperor of Yan wished to swallow all Xia. This old man also knows the new sovereign of Yan intends to inherit his father’s work. The Yan wish to destroy Great Chu as they destroyed Jin. It will not be so easy. Marquis may defeat Great Chu’s armies on the battlefield. But Marquis, do not imagine that sabers, spears, and warhorses alone can crush the hearts of all Great Chu’s people!”

Yuan Shanliu’s voice rose with righteous passion.

Then... he pulled open his robe.

Spread both arms wide.

And shouted:

“I brought my coffin with me! Yuan Shanliu has led these villagers here to seek death. With my death and theirs, with our blood, we will awaken the Fire Phoenix spirit within the millions of Great Chu!”

The old man... had come seeking death.

And he had brought his coffin.

Behind him, the group of peasants in the distance raised their hoes and farm tools.

Their morale looked extraordinarily high.

“All right, all right.”

Marquis Zheng nodded.

He lifted one hand.

“This Marquis can grant your wish. Not bad. At least you’ve shown me some scenery different from what I’ve seen these past few days.”

“Many thanks for granting it, Marquis. And please understand this: there are many, many more men like this old man in Great Chu. Marquis should sharpen that horse saber of yours. In the future, I fear you will hack so many of us that the blade will chip.”

“Fine. This Marquis understands. I will grant you your wish.”

Marquis Zheng’s raised hand... began to descend.

Once it fell... the cavalry behind him would charge.

They would crush the old man in front.

And while they were at it... crush the villagers behind him too.

Yuan Shanliu had already closed his eyes.

Waiting for his end.

But then...

Marquis Zheng suddenly noticed something.

Yuan Shanliu wore beads around his wrist.

An ornament hung at his waist.

His hair was disheveled, yes... but it was still held with the kind of hair clip favored by Chu men.

Chu men liked leaving the hair at their temples long so it could flutter elegantly.

When they did not want that elegant effect, they used clips to hold the hair in place.

The rites of all Xia had developed into even more elaborate forms in Chu.

Yan, by contrast, had fought and mingled with the Barbarians for centuries.

Both sides had influenced each other deeply.

Officials and upper-class people naturally still observed Xia rites.

Among ordinary folk, however... custom had long since evolved into whatever felt most comfortable.

Marquis Zheng’s descending hand... suddenly stopped.

The cavalry behind him had just begun preparing to move.

Now they forcibly restrained their horses again.

Marquis Zheng suddenly found the matter interesting.

Then... he turned his head.

He looked toward Fan Zhengwen, who had come along to watch the excitement.

Fan Zhengwen’s eyes were already shifting.

When he noticed the Marquis looking at him... he clearly wanted to speak but hesitated.

“Say it.”

Fan Zhengwen immediately saluted.

“Marquis, if this official remembers correctly, there is an official of humble background whom the Regent of Chu personally raised and has used heavily over these past few years. His surname is also Yuan. His name is Yuan Heli. There is a story about him. Supposedly, his name and his father’s name form a matched pair.”

Shanliu.

Mountain Willow.

Heli.

River Carp.

The names did indeed answer each other neatly.

Ahead...

Yuan Shanliu, who had been standing there waiting to die, opened his eyes in confusion.

Marquis Zheng waved one hand forward.

He said to Chen Xianba:

“Go ask those villagers what they came here for.”

“Yes!”

Chen Xianba wheeled his horse around Yuan Shanliu and rode toward the villagers in the rear.

Yuan Shanliu’s expression changed instantly.

Not long afterward...

Chen Xianba returned at a gallop.

He reported:

“Marquis, the villagers say they heard Marquis was handing out celebration money here. This Old Mr. Yuan organized them and brought them over to ask for their share. As for that coffin... the villagers say Old Mr. Yuan suggested bringing it so they could use it to carry all the copper coins and valuables Marquis might reward them with.”

Yuan Shanliu pressed his lips together.

The corner of his eye began twitching.

Marquis Zheng laughed.

“You wanted to awaken the Chu people? Then why not simply die by yourself? Why deceive a crowd of villagers and drag them along to die with you?”

He paused.

“Oh. This Marquis understands now. If you die alone, the spectacle isn’t large enough. If you drag a whole village to die with you... then it also demonstrates how thoroughly your Yuan family has ‘educated and transformed’ the common people of this region. Ai. I say... You weren’t really planning to use your own life to prove something to this Marquis at all. What you actually wanted was to use your life *and* the lives of these villagers to build a reputation for your son at court and pave the road for his official career. I suppose that still counts as the pitiful heart of a parent beneath Heaven. This Marquis is deeply moved. Men.”

“Here!”

“Invite Old Mr. Yuan aboard the ship. Then go tell those villagers that Old Mr. Yuan told this Marquis he intends to swallow all the wealth and goods this Marquis planned to reward them with. He doesn’t want to share any of it. Then drive those villagers away. The old gentleman wants fame, doesn’t he? Fine. This Marquis will make him famous.”

“Mar... Marquis, you!”

Yuan Shanliu’s body shook with fury.

But several soldiers had already seized him and were carrying him away.

Qu Peiluo watched the scene.

Then he looked toward Marquis Zheng.

“Marquis sees through men like a torch. This general admires you.”

“This really doesn’t count as seeing through anyone.”

Marquis Zheng twisted his neck.

Then continued:

“Carrying a coffin into battle? Heh. That’s an old trick of mine.”

[End of Chapter 796]