Chapter 832: Face

“Why aren’t you dead yet?”

The Crown Prince’s childish voice sounded strangely clear in that moment.

Especially the word “you.”

Respectful.

Proper.

Carrying implication.

Spoken in an almost official tone.

Xu Qingshan froze where he stood.

He had not expected... this sentence to be waiting for him.

And he had certainly never imagined it would come from the mouth of the heir to the throne.

A Crown Prince was half a sovereign.

When the sovereign wanted a minister dead... the minister had no choice but to die.

And sometimes... when the Crown Prince wanted you dead, surviving could be even harder than if the sovereign himself had spoken.

An Emperor might rage and sentence someone to death, perhaps ordering execution after autumn.

Connections could still be activated.

Ministers could submit remonstrances.

The Emperor might only have intended a warning.

His mood might turn.

There was, at least, a real chance of preserving one’s head.

Politics was a game.

All the procedures and forms existed to make that game appear more solemn and sacred.

Everyone participated.

Everyone had his own way of playing.

One imperial decree questioning Xu Qingshan had followed another.

By rights, what should have awaited him was recall to Yanjing.

A period on the cold bench.

Then, sometime later, people would begin following vines from minor faults until they found enough to condemn him for a major crime.

After all, an imperial commissioner was chosen by the Emperor.

An imperial commissioner represented the Emperor’s will.

If the court openly issued a decree condemning and punishing him immediately, it would be equivalent to slapping the Emperor’s own face.

It would mean the Emperor publicly proving that he too could make mistakes.

Xu Qingshan had been following that process.

That was why he was still, for the moment, an imperial commissioner.

But once the Crown Prince spoke these words... he understood.

His political career was over.

No.

His life was over.

The Crown Prince possessed no actual power.

He controlled no yamen.

He had not even formally opened an Eastern Palace.

There was no so-called Crown Prince faction.

He was nothing like the present Emperor in the days before enthronement, when Little Sixth had controlled the Ministry of Revenue with one hand and the earliest batch of Great Yan’s Presented Scholar officials with the other.

Back then, if Little Sixth wished to ruin someone, plenty of people stood ready to charge forward for him or cover his tracks.

Yet the Crown Prince’s status itself was too heavy.

He had said you should die.

If you refused to die... where would the face of the foundation of the state go?

The Emperor would have to consider it.

The Crown Prince had told you to die, yet you remained alive.

When the Crown Prince inherited the throne one day... would you harbor resentment?

Or perhaps join some future succession struggle and help depose him?

All of that was for later.

In truth... you would never survive long enough to reach later.

Rejected politically.

Rejected bodily.

Xu Qingshan began trembling.

He knew he had botched his assignment.

He knew his official career was finished.

Whether his family could remain safe would depend on fortune.

But before today... he had still retained a measure of dignity.

That dignity had been granted by the Heavenly Family.

It was the halo of the throne.

It was what allowed him to meet Prince Pingxi without kneeling.

What allowed him to meet the Heir of Prince Jingnan without kneeling.

But when everything supporting you had merely been lent by someone else... you had already lost.

Only when they took it back did you discover just how bleak and powerless you truly were.

THUD!

Xu Qingshan dropped to his knees.

His soul seemed to have left him.

Absurd.

Truly absurd.

The heir of a state had openly asked a man in front of everyone, in front of all the officials of Suzhou:

Why have you not died yet?

You committed such an enormous crime.

How do you still have the face to remain alive?

You still want dignity?

Still want procedure?

How shameless must you be... to still stand here?

Anyone with even a shred of face should have ended himself long ago.

Shameless.

Shameless.

Shameless!

A child might speak without restraint.

But a sovereign... even half a sovereign... did not speak in jest.

Xu Qingshan looked as though his soul had been emptied.

White foam even began appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The State of Yan was not like Qian.

Its scholar-official culture was nowhere near as heavy.

In Yan, people could even move between civil and military tracks when circumstances demanded it.

But the state’s governing system had still descended from Great Xia.

For an orthodox official like Xu Qingshan, to have the sovereign completely deny his worth... no.

To have the very necessity of his continued existence denied... was enough to drive him mad.

Zhou Furui could no longer bear watching.

He glanced backward toward the Prefect of Suzhou.

The Prefect understood.

He stepped forward to help Xu Qingshan up.

Zhou Furui himself also moved forward, intending to smooth the situation over.

But at that moment... a powerful figure emerged from the commander’s carriage.

Zhou Furui and the Prefect of Suzhou immediately stopped.

Then both prostrated themselves.

“We pay respects to Prince Pingxi! May Your Highness enjoy health and fortune!”

Behind them, the Suzhou officials who had only just risen all dropped to their knees again.

“We pay respects to Prince Pingxi! Long live Your Highness for a thousand years!”

Their voices were neater than before.

Louder too.

The Crown Prince was still very young.

Yanjing was far away.

Prince Pingxi stood directly before them.

And the Prince’s army stood here as well.

However one compared the weights...

Prince Pingxi’s “identity” was unquestionably the heaviest thing present.

Zheng Fan’s gaze landed briefly on Xu Qingshan, collapsed on the ground.

Then moved away.

He gave Zhou Furui a slight nod.

Finally, he looked toward Wang Yan, Prefect of Suzhou.

And said:

“This Prince is hungry.”

...

Naturally, a reception banquet had been prepared.

The largest restaurant in Suzhou City had been reserved for the day.

A large force of yamen runners and armored soldiers from the City Patrol Office had been deployed in advance.

Idle people were forbidden from approaching.

Preparation was preparation.

But Wang Yan, Prefect of Suzhou, had genuinely never expected the Prince to enter the city and eat.

Since the man had asked to eat... food naturally had to be provided.

And officials naturally had to accompany him.

The commander’s carriage entered Suzhou City.

Prince Pingxi led the Crown Prince and the Heir inside the restaurant, accompanied by Zhou Furui, Wang Yan, and a group of Suzhou officials.

After taking their seats... the Crown Prince sat to Prince Pingxi’s left.

Tian Tian sat to his right.

Zhou Furui and Wang Yan accompanied them at the table.

Several locally prominent Suzhou figures, men resembling country worthies, were seated there as well.

Ren Juan stood to one side.

As a Count, he naturally had a place at the table.

But he firmly refused to sit.

That left every official who did sit feeling as though his chair were covered in needles.

Zhou Furui and Wang Yan tried desperately to revive the mood.

They asked whether the Prince had suffered on the journey.

They introduced local Suzhou specialties.

But from the moment he sat down... the Prince leaned sideways in his chair, one hand propping up his forehead and covering part of his face.

He never responded once.

He looked as though he had already fallen asleep.

“Little Brother, eat fish. It’s good.”

“Thank you, Elder Brother. Elder Brother, eat this pastry.”

“Mm. Good.”

“Hehe.”

The two children ate very happily.

During the march, Zheng Fan’s food had still been relatively refined.

He was not like Marquis Zhenbei Residence, where whatever ordinary soldiers ate, the commander above had to eat as well.

But conditions on campaign remained limited.

So this enormous table of dishes, with more still arriving continuously, delighted the two boys.

The suffering belonged entirely to the officials accompanying them.

They could help bring a plate closer.

Perhaps pick up some dish the boys’ arms could not reach.

Beyond that... what were they supposed to talk about?

Could they discuss moonlight and flowers with two children?

Could they exchange reflections on life?

Besides... the combat power the two boys had displayed outside earlier had genuinely frightened everyone.

Who could guarantee that halfway through some conversation, the Crown Prince or the Heir would not suddenly turn and ask:

“Hey, how are you still alive too?”

So the atmosphere inside the private room around the main table became oppressive to the extreme.

More than one great official unconsciously rubbed his toes against the soles of his boots just to give himself something else to focus on.

Many accompanying tables had been arranged outside.

The restaurant had four floors.

On the third floor, one table held the Blind Man and the others.

Fan Li ate with tremendous enthusiasm.

Xue San showed no restraint either.

Whatever looked good, he took.

A’Ming drank as usual and ignored the food.

The Blind Man ate slowly and neatly.

Halfway through, he did not forget to order He Chunlai and Chen Daole to wait near the front entrance.

“What are they waiting for?” Xue San asked while chewing a duck leg.

“News of someone’s death.”

“Whose?”

“The imperial commissioner’s.”

The Blind Man picked up a softshell turtle shell.

He brought it to his mouth and gently nibbled around the edges.

“Will he die?”

“He will.”

“Suicide?”

“Yes.”

“No one will stop him?”

The Blind Man smiled.

He set the shell in his bowl.

Picked up a cloth.

Wiped the corner of his mouth.

“Some people may even help.”

Xue San ate while squatting on his chair.

At those words, he leaned backward slightly and looked around at the officials above and below them.

The Blind Man continued:

“Do not be fooled by the fact that these men are eating happily now. Inside, they have long since begun counting down. Xu Qingshan’s political life ended with the defeat in Liang. In officialdom, a man without political life has lost all value. Even his physical body begins looking like an obstruction. Besides, an imperial commissioner only brings his own mission staff. If he does not rely on local cooperation, how can he possibly get anything done? Suzhou City lies very close to Sushan Camp. It also controls the lifeline of Sushan Camp’s provisions. Earlier, Xu Qingshan tried to force Chen Yang to submit by threatening to cut off that grain route. That was what finally enraged Chen Yang completely. The officials of Suzhou, from top to bottom, inevitably put considerable effort into helping that happen. So among all the people present, the men happiest to hear the Crown Prince’s words outside were not Chen Yang and his officers. They were these Suzhou officials. If Xu Qingshan ‘kills himself,’ it means the matter ends there. They will not be dragged into the later reckoning. So Xu Qingshan is absolutely going to ‘kill himself.’”

“So many damned twists and turns.” Xue San pursed his lips and picked up a shrimp.

“This is political language. Political exchange. Next, the army will gather at South Gate Pass, and future mobilization will still depend upon Suzhou City’s entire administrative structure. When Prince Jingnan took Yingdu, did he not leave the old Great Cheng bureaucracy there largely untouched too? Besides, this world has never truly distinguished between guilty and innocent. Only useful and useless. A useful person can commit monstrous crimes and still remain untouched. A useless person can tremble at every step and walk as though over thin ice, yet people will still find his existence irritating.”

The Blind Man poured himself a cup of tea.

He took a sip.

“We simply spent little time inside officialdom. We remained in the army, then gained our own territory and began building everything from nothing. We took a different road. By the time we looked back, our strength already stood above this system. We had no need to study it or learn it. But watching it... is rather interesting.”

The Blind Man had barely finished speaking when Chen Daole and He Chunlai hurried upstairs.

Behind them appeared a group of City Patrol Office soldiers, rushing frantically.

“Bad news! Imperial Commissioner Xu has hanged himself!”

“Bad news! Imperial Commissioner Xu has hanged himself!”

...

At the main table... when news arrived that Xu Qingshan had hanged himself at the commissioner’s temporary headquarters, every person present visibly relaxed.

Even Prince Pingxi, who had looked as though he were dozing the entire time, finally sat upright.

He raised his wine cup.

“A cup for Lord Xu. Let us mourn Lord Xu.”

Everyone’s expressions became somewhat awkward.

But they were all old hands in officialdom.

The awkwardness vanished immediately.

Everyone raised his cup.

Because nobody could quite read Prince Pingxi’s “taste,” no one dared seize the moment to perform wailing grief either.

Prince Pingxi pointed toward the City Patrol Office lieutenant kneeling on the ground.

“You said just now that Lord Xu left a final letter?”

The lieutenant froze.

He had said no such thing.

At that moment...

Zhou Furui spoke.

“Your Highness, this humble official will have the letter delivered shortly.”

Zheng Fan waved his hand.

“No need. Send it directly to His Majesty.”

Then...

Zheng Fan reached over and rubbed the Crown Prince’s head.

“Chuanye.”

The Crown Prince immediately set down his chopsticks and respectfully rose from the table.

“Godfather?”

“The Crown Prince is the heir of the state. The foundation of the realm.”

As he spoke, Prince Pingxi swept his gaze around the room.

He continued:

“Xu Qingshan’s crimes were exposed by the Crown Prince. Overcome by shame and anger, he killed himself. I imagine his final letter will naturally contain a confession of guilt.”

“Yes. Yes.”

“Naturally.”

“Your Highness is correct.”

Prince Pingxi nodded.

He lifted his empty wine cup.

Tian Tian immediately filled it for him.

“Gentlemen, drink another cup. You all understand why this Prince has come to southwestern Jin. For the rear support of the coming battle, this Prince will still need all of you to labor on my behalf. Once this Prince has crushed the Qian-Chu vermin and returned in triumph, I will personally request merit for every one of you before His Majesty!”

The meaning was clear.

The imperial commissioner’s affair was finished.

Turn the page.

Handle the coming war well... and afterward everyone could continue living in harmony just as before.

Every official at the table rose at once.

“We are willing to serve Your Highness!”

“We are willing to serve Your Highness!”

...

Prince Pingxi’s commander’s carriage remained in Suzhou City for three days.

On the first day, the troops remaining behind at Sushan Camp did not come out.

On the second day, they still did not come.

On the third... the two Assistant Generals left behind at the camp finally led the remaining troops out.

They reached the outskirts of Suzhou City and requested incorporation into the Prince’s army.

Prince Pingxi still did not appear personally.

The troops were accepted and settled according to the same procedure used for every other army that had joined him.

After that... the commander’s carriage left Suzhou City.

It turned south.

Toward South Gate Pass.

...

Rain had fallen all through the previous night.

Even now, it showed no intention of stopping.

Far away...

South Gate Pass towered in silence.

In grandeur, it could not compare with Snow Sea Pass.

In strategic importance, it could not compare with Zhennan Pass.

But at this moment... it had become the weakest link in Great Yan’s rule over the lands of the Three Jin.

The army’s encampments stretched endlessly behind them.

And now... beneath a grass shelter on a hillside, Liu Dahu was boiling tea.

The Sword Saint sat nearby.

For once, he was not habitually dozing.

Instead, he helped prepare the tea ware.

Under the shelter... there was only this father and son.

And the Prince sitting quietly beside them.

From the distance came the sound of hooves.

Ren Juan rode at the front.

Behind him came Chen Yang and several of his officers.

Ren Juan wore full armor.

Chen Yang wore plain clothing.

The generals behind him wore armor.

The Sword Saint accepted a freshly brewed cup of tea from his son with his left hand.

With his right... he picked up Longyuan.

When Ren Juan and the others were still some distance from the shelter, they all reined in.

Then dismounted and approached on foot.

At the same time, signal fire rose behind them.

A horn sounded.

That meant the gates of South Gate Pass had opened.

According to the arrangement already made, the moment the gates opened, the main army would enter directly and take control of the pass.

Chen Yang had made no demands.

He simply opened South Gate Pass.

That itself was an attitude.

The Sword Saint found the whole thing rather dull.

“The gates of South Gate Pass have opened again.”

“Heh.”

Zheng Fan laughed.

The last time South Gate Pass opened... the man who opened it personally had been Yu Ciming, then Emperor of Jin and now Prince of Jin living in Yanjing.

The Sword Saint sighed.

“I’ve always wondered. If the Emperor of Jin had not opened South Gate Pass himself and drawn Yan troops inside, what would Jin look like today?”

Zheng Fan answered without the slightest courtesy:

“You think the so-called coalition of the Helian and Wenren Clans back then could have defeated Old Tian and Li Liangting commanding the Zhenbei and Jingnan iron cavalry together? Even if they had not bypassed them through South Gate Pass... even if they had fought openly and directly along the Horsehoof Mountains line... do you think those two clans could have won?”

The Sword Saint was an honest man.

He shook his head.

The Jingnan Army of that era had been the product of Tian Wujing sharpening one sword for ten years.

Its fighting strength stood at its peak.

Over the following years of campaigning north and south, veterans died, new soldiers filled the gaps, and expansion diluted the original force.

Its actual fighting strength had declined somewhat.

And the Zhenbei Army of that era had only just arrived from the desert.

The sand in their beards might not even have been cleaned away yet.

Their combat power needed no explanation.

Most importantly... the two Marquises themselves had commanded the armies.

Looking back from the present day... that level of luxury was almost unimaginable.

Zheng Fan clapped his hands lightly.

“If Yu Ciming had not opened South Gate Pass himself, nothing more would have happened than more Yan soldiers dying. But far more Jin people would have died. Several times as many. Perhaps ten times as many. Western Jin would have become like eastern Jin. Almost completely reduced to empty land.”

“So I keep thinking,” the Sword Saint said, “if everything is ultimately about surviving, then what meaning does righteousness have?”

“Righteousness is something you can use as decoration only when your fist is large enough. When your fist is not hard enough, righteousness is only a fig leaf. Ten thousand affairs beneath Heaven always seem to carry some tender, sentimental appearance. But underneath... none can escape the iron law of the strong devouring the weak.”

Liu Dahu listened carefully to the Prince’s words.

He even repeated them silently inside his heart.

At that moment...

Ren Juan, Chen Yang, and the others reached the grass shelter.

Ren Juan had been sent to South Gate Pass by Zheng Fan.

One could call him a mediator.

After all, they all came from the old Jingnan Army system.

Old acquaintances.

Old comrades.

Now...

Ren Juan stepped aside.

Chen Yang led the five officers under him and prostrated themselves directly into the muddy ground.

“This general pays respects to Your Highness! Long live Your Highness for a thousand years!”

“This general pays respects to Your Highness! Long live Your Highness for a thousand years!”

Zheng Fan did not rise.

He did not even look toward them.

He sat there holding his tea.

Drinking slowly.

As though lost in thought.

The rain intensified again.

Drops struck armor with crisp sounds.

Chen Yang, wearing only plain clothes, had long since become soaked and smeared with mud.

The men kneeling... remained kneeling.

The man sitting... remained sitting.

About an hour passed.

At last...

Prince Pingxi stood.

He walked to the edge of the shelter.

Chen Yang lowered his head even farther.

He was not submitting from heartfelt conviction.

The situation had forced him here.

Unless he betrayed the state and defected to Qian and Chu, he had only one choice left: open the gates unconditionally and bow his head.

Every other path led to death.

Xu Qingshan’s death would erase most of the official blame.

That undoubtedly served as a calming pill for the officers beneath Chen Yang.

They did not believe themselves “completely clean.”

But even an opportunity to redeem themselves through merit was already excellent.

Zheng Fan looked at Chen Yang.

Then spoke:

“Li Fusheng is dead.”

Chen Yang raised his head slightly.

His mouth opened.

He drew in a breath.

“This general... did not know matters would become this way.”

“If you had known, do you think you would still have the chance to kneel here and speak?”

“Yes.”

“On the road here, I originally intended that on the day I beat the drum and assembled the generals, I would publicly execute you according to military law. I intended to take the saber myself and cut off your head!”

Chen Yang said:

“This general does not fear death.”

“I know you do not fear death. But I could pour filth over your name. After killing you, I could tell the world that you, Chen Yang, secretly colluded with Qian and Chu. That you sold out your comrades. That your betrayal caused Li Fusheng to die and nearly his entire army to be destroyed. Tell me. Would the people of Great Yan believe me... or believe you? And how would the shining annals of history write your name?”

Chen Yang raised his head.

He stared at Zheng Fan.

Disbelief filled his eyes.

“You don’t fear death? Heh. You say one sentence, ‘I do not fear death,’ and suddenly you think there is truly nothing beneath Heaven you need to fear? We all fucking crawled out of piles of corpses as rough soldiers. Now I’m a Prince. And you’re still only a Count. When I was still a commoner, you were already a Garrison Commander! I reached this position because of my own ability. Otherwise, why did Prince Jingnan support me instead of you? Was the Prince corrupt? Was he deliberately biased? When it comes to war... you, Chen Yang, cannot compare with me. When it comes to methods and schemes... before me, you are nothing but a fart!”

Zheng Fan lifted one foot and kicked Chen Yang directly in the shoulder.

Chen Yang toppled into the muddy water.

Then immediately crawled back and knelt again.

“Kick me. Beat me. I ask only one thing. This general asks only one thing of Your Highness!”

“To serve as vanguard?” Zheng Fan asked.

“Yes.”

“You really dream beautifully, don’t you?”

“Your Highness, please grant it!”

The officers behind Chen Yang shouted together:

“Your Highness, please grant it!”

Chen Yang clenched both fists.

He almost roared:

“If I have to die, then let me die properly! Give me this chance. Let me finish this battle. If I do not die before the enemy, then when the army returns in triumph, I will cut my own throat inside the military camp. I will never cling to life! As for these men under me... demote them, punish them, do whatever you wish. I ask only that Your Highness spare their lives. They are all good men of Great Yan who know how to kill. Even if they become mere auxiliary soldiers, they can still fight enemies for Great Yan in future battles. They did nothing wrong. They only followed an idiot like me!”

Zheng Fan asked:

“Do you know why I changed my mind and decided not to kill you here?”

Chen Yang remained silent.

Zheng Fan smiled.

Then continued:

“Xu Qingshan... I forced him to death. I could have kept my own hands clean. Given the temperament of His Majesty today, even if Xu Qingshan returned to Yanjing alive, he would never have received a good ending. And even if I add Xu Qingshan’s head to yours, Chen Yang... then add the heads of every man kneeling behind you... even if I cut off every last one of them... I still would not feel satisfied!”

Zheng Fan’s chest rose and fell.

His voice sounded especially oppressive beneath the curtain of rain.

“That old big brother of mine had one damned hobby in this life. He loved killing people! Your few heads... plus one imperial commissioner’s head... how could that possibly be enough for him to enjoy himself down there? This Prince... intends to send down an entire sea of heads this time. So many they cannot be counted. So that old big brother of mine... even down below... can still shout once more that he got his fill!”

Zheng Fan grabbed Chen Yang by the neck.

Chen Yang did not resist.

He allowed himself to be hauled to his feet.

“Do you know where you fall short of this Prince?”

Chen Yang opened his mouth.

“I...”

“Was fighting with an imperial commissioner fun? Heh. If you had simply chopped that dogshit commissioner down on the spot... if you had directly raised a rebel banner... this Prince might at least respect you as a real man! But what did you do? You copied that Qian civil-official routine and claimed illness at home. I feel ashamed for the old Prince. How did he ever raise a useless piece of trash like you under his command?”

Zheng Fan lifted his other hand.

He slapped Chen Yang lightly across the face.

Again.

Again.

It was an extremely humiliating gesture.

Yet for some reason... looking at Zheng Fan’s expression...

Chen Yang did not feel anger or humiliation.

Only shame.

“You already lost the face. From now on... open your eyes wide and watch carefully. Watch...”

Zheng Fan shoved Chen Yang away.

Chen Yang crashed into the mud and splashed filthy water in every direction.

“Watch this Prince... earn back... the face all of you threw away!”

[End of Chapter 832]