Chapter 800: Transitional Chapter

The coffin lid floated upward.

A figure sat up from within.

Then... one hand reached out and settled atop Tian Tian’s head.

Tian Tian’s eyes closed.

His body swayed slightly.

Still hugging his pillow, he collapsed into sleep on the floor.

Sha Tuo Queshi swept his gaze across the fox and black cat.

The two creatures immediately sprang into motion.

The fox used its tail to lift Tian Tian.

The black cat helped from beside it.

Together, the two demon beasts carried Tian Tian out of the secret chamber and returned him to his bedroom.

After they left...

Sha Tuo Queshi faced the sealed stone door leading deeper underground.

He opened his mouth.

A low growl emerged.

Beyond the stone door, farther below... the iron chains trembled faintly.

A little while later... the sound disappeared.

Sha Tuo Queshi lay back down inside the coffin.

The lid flew back and settled firmly into place.

As though nothing at all had happened that night.

But not long afterward... a dwarf-like figure entered.

A lantern hung from his left hand.

His right hand spun a dagger.

On this campaign, nearly all the Demon Kings had gone out.

The exception was Xue San, who had still been recovering from his earlier injuries.

By now...

Third Master had recovered too.

Xue San passed the coffin and stopped before the sealed stone door.

He hesitated.

Then licked his lips.

“Damn it. I’m itching to get my hands on that thing.”

Xue San badly wanted to drag out the thing being suppressed below and slice off a few pieces for research.

But everyone else was away.

If he fiddled with it alone and something went wrong... he would have no way to explain himself.

In the end...

Xue San restrained the impulse.

On the way back, he passed the coffin again.

He reached out and tapped lightly on the lid.

“That thing below is wicked. I’ll trouble you to keep an eye on it a little longer. Once everyone comes back, we’ll deal with it properly.”

After saying that...

Xue San returned upstairs.

...

“Your Majesty, the envoy from Qian has already entered the palace.”

“We know.”

The Regent... no.

The Emperor of Chu nodded.

The Regent had finally ascended the throne formally.

This should originally have been a day of great celebration for the entire state.

Instead... his own brother-in-law had thoroughly spoiled it.

Dugu Mu had died in battle.

Nian Yao had been captured.

In pure troop losses, the campaign had not actually been unbearable for Chu.

But losing one Pillar of State and one Grand General in a single conflict inflicted a blow far more severe than the number of soldiers lost.

Then came the next piece of news.

Yan’s new sovereign had first sent the Crown Prince into eastern Jin.

After that... word spread that he intended to enfeoff his brother-in-law as Prince.

If the battlefield defeat had been the first cut... this news was the second.

It meant that whether the feeling was sincere or not, Yan’s new Emperor and his own brother-in-law were continuing along the same path established by the previous generation of Yan.

An Emperor.

A Prince holding massive military power.

The men had changed... but once again they were entering a cycle that looked “estranged in appearance” while remaining “inseparable in reality.”

The Emperors of Yan seemed never to fear rebellion from their Princes of different surnames.

And the Princes of different surnames in Yan seemed never to fear the Emperor would discard them once their usefulness ended.

How...

How could it be like this?

How could they do it once... and then somehow do it again?

Before the Emperor of Chu lay a memorial freshly delivered from Yingdu by the Phoenix Nest Internal Guard.

It described in detail the movements of Yan’s Crown Prince inside Yingdu.

One had to admit... whether Qian’s Silver-Armored Guard or Chu’s Phoenix Nest Internal Guard, their infiltration and intelligence-gathering ability genuinely surpassed Yan’s Secret Intelligence Department by a great deal.

At this moment... a sense of powerlessness rose inside the Emperor of Chu.

He had received extensive intelligence on Yan’s new Emperor back when the man was still merely an imperial prince.

Methods.

Ability.

A breadth of spirit no weaker than his father’s.

Without exaggeration... he was almost another copy of Yan’s late Emperor.

Heh.

He had managed to outlive Yan’s previous Emperor.

Now... was he supposed to keep living until he outlasted this one too?

And after that... would he have to outlast Yan’s Crown Prince as well?

Even with absolute confidence in his own lifespan... the thought of grinding through three generations of another house like this was exhausting!

More importantly... would the other side even give him the opportunity to outlast them?

The Yan intention to sharpen their blades had become impossible to hide.

And that brother-in-law of his... as though he had swallowed an iron weight and set his heart in stone... had planted himself completely on Yan’s side.

“Your Majesty...”

“We know.”

The Emperor of Chu waved one hand.

“Have the envoy wait in the side hall for a little while. We will go now.”

He remained seated alone for a while longer.

He needed time to digest his emotions.

He was a man who favored refinement.

He disliked displaying the emotional side of himself before others.

Fifteen minutes later... the Emperor of Chu rose.

Led by eunuchs, he entered the side hall.

Inside sat an old man drinking tea.

All guards, palace maids, eunuchs, and attendants had been dismissed from the hall.

The identity of Qian’s envoy this time was exceptionally unusual.

More importantly... he genuinely represented Qian’s true position.

It was no exaggeration to say that this man could directly make certain decisions on behalf of the Qian Emperor.

The Emperor of Chu entered.

The old man did not rise.

He continued drinking tea.

The Emperor of Chu sat in the chief seat and began drinking tea as well.

It was fine tea.

But not Daze Xiangshe, the tea most beloved by the new Prince in eastern Jin.

No one drank that sort of tea before discussing serious business.

The Emperor and envoy sat quietly for a long time.

At last... the envoy put down his teacup.

He rose.

And saluted solemnly.

The Emperor of Chu nodded.

“Ordinarily, I should congratulate Your Majesty on ascending the throne. But under the present circumstances, such words are no longer appropriate.”

Yao Zizhan went straight to the heart of the matter the moment he opened his mouth.

“Master Yao has always been free and easy. We like that temperament. In the situation before us now, further courtesies and empty politeness have indeed become meaningless.”

Yao Zizhan nodded.

“Your Majesty is correct. That is why this old man has come with extraordinary sincerity.”

“Then let Us hear Master Yao’s sincerity.”

Yao Zizhan, who had only just sat down, rose again.

“Your Majesty, ten years ago, all Xia stood divided among four great states: Qian, Chu, Jin, and Yan. Those smaller states lacked the strength to stir any true storm. Yet even while those four great states checked one another, each faced threats of its own. Qian had repeated chieftain rebellions in the southwest. Suppress one and another rose. The cycle never ended. Chu suffered unrest among the Shanyue. Yan faced the Barbarians. Jin faced the hidden danger of the snowfields. Now... the situation is completely different. Yan has swallowed the entirety of the Three Jin. The Barbarian Royal Court has been trampled flat. The Savages are now completely contained beyond Snow Sea Pass. As for Marquis Pingxi Residence’s policy of loose control over the Savages, even this old man cannot help applauding it. His Majesty of Qian has already begun applying that policy toward the southwestern chieftains. As for Yan... the Barbarian threat in the west has been settled. For the next sixty years, the Barbarians will find it difficult to threaten Yan again. The snowfields have been tamed by Marquis Pingxi Residence. With one order from Marquis Pingxi, tens of thousands of Savage soldiers can practically be raised from the snowfields for his own use. Yan proper is poor. Jin is not as rich as Qian or Chu either. But with Yan and Jin combined... the entire north is now controlled by Yan. The Yan are exhausted, yes. They need a few breaths. But their bones and sinews have already been tempered well. Once those few breaths are recovered... Qian and Chu will both be in danger.”

Yao Zizhan continued:

“This Yan attack on Chu was in truth another expression of their wolfish ambition. It also proves that at present, neither Qian nor Your Majesty’s Chu can confront Yan alone. The internal disorder in Yan that both our states hoped for never happened. The imbalance in Yan’s court that both our states expected after the old Emperor’s death also never happened. Marquis Pingxi... has been enfeoffed as Prince. Yan gave us no opportunity. And now there is no opportunity left. If either Qian or Chu still hopes to fish in muddy waters, then all we can do is wait. In a few years, ten at most, Yan will have accumulated enough national strength that unifying all Xia will no longer be some madman’s fantasy. There have been frictions between Qian and Chu. But before the reality that if the lips perish, the teeth grow cold... those frictions mean nothing. So this time, this old man comes carrying the will of His Majesty of Qian. We wish to conclude an alliance between our two states... and resist Yan together!”

No surprise appeared on the face of the Emperor of Chu.

If anything... he laughed.

“Last time Yan mobilized the entire state to attack Chu, did you Qian people seize the opportunity to launch a northern campaign in response?”

Embarrassment appeared on Yao Zizhan’s face.

Truthfully...

Qian had wanted to launch a northern campaign then.

But in the end, for all kinds of reasons... it had failed to do so.

Then after Chu suffered its great defeat... the Chu immediately launched a surprise attack along the Qian-Chu border.

A perfect demonstration of:

Maybe I can’t beat the Yan... but surely I can still beat you.

The Emperor of Chu spoke.

“We admit that Chu now lacks great commanders, while its elite armies have declined. If we attempt to confront Yan one against one again, we can only begin from a disadvantage. Once Yan fully digests the lands of the Three Jin, even Chu alone resisting Yan will carry far more danger than hope. But We sincerely feel... that forming an alliance with Qian would not be as simple as one plus one equals two.”

Yao Zizhan asked:

“Greater than two?”

“No. We die even faster.”

Yao Zizhan did not grow angry.

Instead... he nodded.

That surprised the Emperor of Chu.

“Qian’s armies are currently being reorganized,” Yao Zizhan said. “But training soldiers requires time.”

“So?”

“So His Majesty’s meaning is...” Yao Zizhan paused, then continued, “Qian is willing to exchange what it possesses with Chu in matters of money and grain.”

“We did not mishear?”

“Chu produces weapons and armor. Qian possesses abundant money and grain. Each side can supply what the other lacks.”

Qian could, in truth, manufacture weapons and armor itself.

Setting aside the problem of corruption, Qian’s metallurgy was not poor.

So the true meaning of Yao Zizhan’s words was obvious.

You may look down upon Qian’s armies.

That is fine.

Even Qian’s own ruler and ministers do not have much confidence in their military.

Eastern Sea Grand Commander Zu Zhuming has held office at the Three Frontiers for a long time now... and everyone is still uncertain how much can really be expected.

But Qian is rich.

We can send you money and grain.

We can help Chu hold on.

Because the Yan are tigers and wolves.

After several confrontations with Yan, if Chu had been beaten flat by Yan... then Qian had been frightened flat.

“Can the Qian Emperor truly go this far?” the Emperor of Chu asked.

“Your Majesty, this is the formal letter of state. In addition, there is a personal letter written by His Majesty himself. Under the present situation, if Qian and Chu still cannot cooperate with complete sincerity, then we can only wait to follow Jin’s path into destruction. Only by forming a true alliance, truly watching over and assisting one another, can Qian and Chu resist violent Yan and preserve our respective states!”

...

After the late Emperor of Yan died, his era name remained unchanged for the remainder of that year.

By custom... the new Emperor would adopt a new era name the following year.

The era name chosen was Longping.

At the beginning of the first year of Longping, two events shook Yanjing.

First...

Yan’s Crown Prince traveled to eastern Jin.

Second...

Marquis Pingxi was enfeoffed as Prince Pingxi.

Not long afterward...

Qian and Chu proclaimed to all beneath Heaven that the Emperor of Qian and the Emperor of Chu would travel together to Yunchi... sacrifice to Heaven... and conclude an alliance.

In the first year of Longping... the states of all Xia... or rather, the entire East... entered a new order.

To borrow the language of teahouse storytellers... the age of four states standing side by side had ended.

What remained... was a tripartite balance.

[End of Chapter 800]