Chapter 856: Untitled

The rain kept falling, and the atmosphere was hardly harmonious.

Of course, harmony was never realistic to begin with. The situation lay plainly before them, and neither commander had any need to put on some hypocritical performance about how “all Xia are one family.”

Han Sui was already past eighty. He had lived through Heaven knew how much glory, wind, and rain. A man that old had spent the final stretch of his life becoming increasingly willing to do as he pleased.

As for Prince Pingxi, he was even more of an “old man” than the elder before him.

This was his second lifetime.

You disgust me once?

Fine.

I’ll disgust you right back.

After all, the ancestry behind your Qian Emperor’s throne was hardly clean. They could tug at that thread all day if they wanted.

Zhao Mugou, Heir of Prince Rui, showed no panic at this joke that had deliberately been elevated into a question of imperial legitimacy. Instead, a smile remained on his face, almost as though he were cooperating with Prince Pingxi’s teasing.

Only four people were present.

One was a Prince of Yan. One was the Sword Saint of Jin. Standing beside Zhao Mugou was an old Chancellor.

There was truly no need for him to pretend to be terrified and deferential.

First, he could not fool any of the men here.

Second, there was no need to go through that performance at all.

Chancellor Han did not continue dwelling on the matter. He merely snorted and said:

“Your Highness, Great Qian’s heavenly troops stand directly behind this old man even now.”

“Oh? Then this Prince is frightened to death.”

The Sword Saint, who had been standing to one side pretending to doze, noticed something.

Today’s Zheng Fan seemed to be carrying slightly more... baggage than usual.

Not the sort of baggage that meant maintaining some lofty bearing.

Rather, in speech and action, there was a faint trace of deliberate performance.

Even the matter of changing clothes earlier had revealed it.

Normally, this troublesome fellow reserved most of his fussiness for melodrama. When it came to food, clothing, shelter, and travel, when had he ever truly cared that much about refinement?

Chancellor Han continued:

“If Your Highness lays down your arms and surrenders now, this old man is willing to stake the reputation of my entire life upon guaranteeing that Your Highness’s standing in Great Qian will remain unchanged, and that your wealth and honor will endure forever.”

“I wonder whether Chancellor Han has forgotten that this Prince’s foundation lies in eastern Jin. When you say my standing will remain unchanged, does that mean the State of Qian is willing to carve out territory in Qian lands and enfeoff this Prince as a Prince there?”

“And why not? If Your Highness wishes to establish a princely administration and raise your own banners, choose whatever place you please. It is true that Great Qian won the battle in Liang, but for the moment Yan remains strong and Qian weak. So long as Your Highness is willing to come over, His Majesty and the court will naturally satisfy every condition you ask.”

“Excellent. Great Qian has fine mountains, fine waters, and fine scenery. This Prince has wanted to come take a look for a very long time. Years ago, I even considered traveling incognito through Jiangnan for a little fun. Unfortunately, I was genuinely worried your Silver-Armored Guard might come trouble me, so the journey never happened.”

“Heh-heh. Your Highness’s poetry and prose have earned even Yao Zizhan’s praise. With the splendor of Great Qian, our realm would surely harmonize perfectly with Your Highness’s literary path. When future histories record that Your Highness was both a grand master of warfare and a grand master of letters, unprecedented before and almost impossible to surpass afterward, would that not be marvelous?”

Zheng Fan pointed behind himself.

At present, Chancellor Han’s improvised army of throne-rescuing troops lay to the north, while the Yan army was actually farther south. So Zheng Fan’s gesture pointed southward.

South of Xishan Commandery lay Bianzhou Commandery.

“If the State of Qian is willing to cede Bianzhou Commandery to this Prince, then this Prince truly would be willing to submit to Great Qian. I could spend the rest of my life drunk amid this splendid country, indulging myself until I forgot all desire to return to Yan.”

Chancellor Han stood.

“Your Highness, if that is your attitude, then there is nothing left to discuss.”

“There was nothing to discuss from the beginning. To put it unpleasantly, you’re only an old man who retired from office. Instead of staying home, sucking candy and playing with your grandchildren while enjoying your final years, you just had to come back out and stir up trouble. Do you still think you’re the Chancellor you were back then? Perhaps even that so-called Emperor of yours has long since grown tired of hearing you talk, while you yourself still fail to realize it. Forget whether Great Qian could even offer terms tempting enough for this Prince. Looking only at the present situation, unless your Emperor himself comes here, who else in Qian is qualified to stand before this Prince and discuss such things?”

“In that case... this old man will experience Your Highness’s brilliant methods on the battlefield.”

“By tomorrow evening at the latest, this Prince will have you, old bastard, kneeling before me and begging for mercy!”

“This old man will not make Your Highness kneel. I’ll put on a performance of being exceptionally courteous to worthy men instead.”

Immediately afterward, Zhao Mugou raised the command banner. On the other side, the Sword Saint pulled the Black Dragon Banner from the ground.

The two parties crossed past one another and returned to their respective camps.

...

“Sorry to put you through that, Old Yu.”

On the way back, Zheng Fan offered the Sword Saint a word of consolation.

“So what exactly did the two of you discuss?”

As a bystander, the Sword Saint had discovered that nothing at all had been negotiated. The two men had simply traded insults for a while.

“What we discussed doesn’t actually matter. There was never any room for negotiation. You know how Yan treats me. Do you really believe Qian could offer the same?”

The Sword Saint shook his head.

“Even if Qian promised it, you would never genuinely put yourself in their hands and gamble on whether they intended to keep the promise.”

“Exactly. My price has already climbed too high. Anyone trying to poach me can’t even name a figure anymore.”

At Zheng Fan’s present position, another step forward...

No.

Even half a step... would be enough for him to establish himself independently.

So if anyone wanted to poach him, the only possible offer would be the Dragon Throne itself.

That was obviously impossible.

“Then why did he insist on holding this meeting?”

Zheng Fan smiled.

“Chat a little. Say a few things. Another day passes.”

“He wants to delay?”

“Not sure. Probably.”

“And you?”

“If I say I’m quietly watching for changes, would you believe me?”

“He’s waiting. You’re waiting on what he’s waiting for. But this is Qian territory, after all. That puts you at a disadvantage.”

Zheng Fan answered:

“I’m waiting for what he’s waiting for.”

“That’s a bit tangled.”

“Perhaps. I’m gambling too. By the way, Old Yu, do you believe in intuition?”

“Intuition?”

“For example, if a dream suddenly warned you about something, would you believe it?”

“You should ask Mr. Bei that question.”

“The Blind Man is in Zhao. I want to hear your answer.”

“What you think about during the day becomes what you dream about at night. A dream is nothing more than your own thoughts from waking hours.”

“True.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Still, it’s rather uncomfortable. Do you know that?”

“Oh?”

“He’s trying very hard to perform this image of someone who sees himself as lofty and pure. Basically the fixed impression Yan people... no, Yan, Jin, and Chu people all have of Qian civil officials. He’s acting toward that image. But I can feel that the performance is tiring him out. People always say he was the one who declared back then that ‘only good sons whose names are proclaimed at Donghua Gate count as true men.’ They also say he personally engineered the death of the Tattooed-Face Chancellor. Stupid. Shortsighted. Arrogant. That should have been his image. But I’ve known for a long time that it couldn’t really be that simple. From ancient times onward, setting aside the few people who rise through sheer favor, eunuchs and male favorites and the like, anyone who seriously claws his way upward through layer after layer of competition until he reaches the summit has already survived constant selection and elimination. Where would there be room for some lucky fool?”

“You’re acting too.”

“If even you can see through me, then in his eyes I probably look just as tired.”

Zheng Fan gave a self-mocking laugh.

“He once stood at the very peak of the court, a veteran minister of three reigns. I carved out my own territory and became a Prince. People like us lost the instinct to revere others a long time ago. And once reverence disappears, so does professional dedication. Even when we act, we can barely be bothered to throw our whole selves into the performance. Most importantly, both sides know perfectly well that no matter how convincing the acting is, there’s a good chance the other man will still see through it. That makes it even harder to bother with the effort. Ai. If only we could just cut out our images and composite them into the scene, this Prince wouldn’t need to make the trip at all.”

“What is ‘cutting out and compositing’?”

“It comes from a supernatural tale called Painted Skin. I’ll tell it to you next time I get the chance.”

...

“He’s probably exhausted too. Heh. He actually went out of his way to wear the python robe of a Great Qian feudal prince before coming to see this old man, deliberately performing his arrogance, tyranny, and contempt in front of me.”

“Old Chancellor, do you mean that Prince of Yan was acting?”

“Who isn’t?”

Han Sui stroked his white beard.

“Has that Prince already noticed something unusual?”

“Hard to say.”

Zhao Mugou said:

“But I already think we’ve done extremely well.”

“There has never been a flawless deception since ancient times. That man studied beneath Prince Jingnan and has achieved brilliant military accomplishments of his own. As that old rascal Yao Zizhan once said: ‘Writing is born whole beneath Heaven; a master hand merely happens upon it.’ No matter how carefully we arrange this place, no matter how meticulous the preparation... perhaps all it takes is for the man to have a dream in the middle of the night and realize something is wrong.”

“Can anything truly be that mystical?”

“Nian Yao, Great Chu’s Grand General, was an extraordinary figure too. Once, he stood alongside that Prince Pingxi. And what became of him? When a person climbs high enough, accident disappears. Sometimes, he may even have the momentum of fate itself gathering around him.”

“Fate...”

Han Sui placed a hand on Zhao Mugou’s shoulder.

“You are a good child.”

“Old Chancellor...”

“If this old man still held office at court, and if the Yan had not invaded Great Qian, then after spending some time with you, I would certainly submit a secret memorial to His Majesty and order the Silver-Armored Guard to arrange some accident for you. Let you die young.”

“I...”

“Fortunately, I have already retired. And just as that Prince Pingxi said, His Majesty has long grown tired of hearing me talk. Of course, that isn’t the main reason.”

“Many thanks, Old Chancellor.”

“Don’t thank this old man. Thank yourself. I had always heard that the Heir of Prince Rui was a simple-minded, foolish boy. Yet after meeting this old man, you made no effort to conceal yourself. Just in terms of cultivating your state of mind... none of those imperial Princes in Shangjing can compare with you. You had already judged this old man’s thoughts accurately. Is that right?”

“Whatever Old Chancellor believes is so, then it is so. This junior would not dare argue.”

“Do you know something? Ever since Emperor Taizong, much of the suppression and pruning aimed at Emperor Taizu’s line was not actually the Emperor’s idea. More often, it came from veteran court ministers like this old man. To say something close to taboo, whether the descendants sitting on the throne came from Emperor Taizu or Emperor Taizong made little difference to men like us. This old man served three Emperors. Emperors are, in truth, not so different from ordinary men. Son of Heaven. Auspicious signs. Histories may describe all of it in dazzling colors. Unfortunately, this old man’s luck was poor. I never personally witnessed even one. What Great Qian’s scholars seek is the grand ambition of helping the sovereign become Yao and Shun. The best sage ruler is one who sits securely upon the throne, interferes with nothing, and concentrates on producing heirs. State affairs can be managed perfectly well by scholars like us on His Majesty’s behalf. So... which branch ultimately sits in that position, and how that branch obtained it, is not something we care much about.”

Zhao Mugou finally spoke.

“But Old Chancellor, is it not precisely because you scholars failed to govern the country well that Great Qian has ended up like this?”

Han Sui stopped walking and turned to look at Zhao Mugou.

The Qian troops coming to receive them still lay some distance ahead. For the moment, only the old man and the boy stood together.

Zhao Mugou met Han Sui’s eyes directly.

Han Sui did not become angry.

Instead, he asked:

“Is Yan truly so good?”

“Yan...”

“Do the people of Yan live such good lives?”

“But...”

“Good and bad depend on where you stand. There is no absolute good in this world, nor absolute evil. It is like the black and white of the Daoist taiji. These past few years, Yan has begun holding imperial examinations, giving poor scholars a path upward. Great Qian, however, has held examinations for a hundred years. These past few years, Yan has campaigned north and south without pause. Do you think the people of Yan, and the people of Jin, have lived well under that burden? The people of northern Qian live tightly, yes. But at least their burden preserves the prosperity and peace of Jiangnan. As for the north, without the weight of supporting the Three Frontiers, life there would be somewhat easier too. You think Qian troops are weak and Yan troops are strong. You think Great Qian’s policy of elevating civil officials and suppressing military men produced our present situation. But you forget that before Emperor Taizu established Great Qian, the fertile lands of all Xia were divided among competing warlords. Armies fought without end. Martial men dominated. Rites collapsed. The common people lived in fire and water. All one can say is that no method under Heaven is perfect. A hundred years ago, even ten years ago, elevating civil officials and restraining military power was not wrong. Who could have expected Yan to suddenly rise so violently? Great Qian was caught off guard. We did not react quickly enough to correct national policy. That is why we became this embarrassed today. The world says this old man personally caused the death of the Tattooed-Face Chancellor. But how many people remember that the entire Western Army once followed his command without question? His prestige was no lower than that of Yan’s Princes Jingnan and Zhenbei in their prime. You see only Old Chancellor Zhong in his final years, struggling bitterly to hold Great Qian’s situation together. You do not see that when he was young and followed the Tattooed-Face Chancellor, he once advocated marching all the way into Shangjing and overturning the realm! You saw that Prince Pingxi just now, arrogant and confident beyond measure. But you should also remember that in eastern Jin today, his territory has already become so sealed that neither needles nor water can penetrate. Yan’s late Emperor possessed immense talent and strategy, so he could suppress both Prince Zhenbei and Prince Jingnan. Yan’s current Emperor befriended Prince Pingxi when both men were still insignificant. And that new Emperor is capable in his own right, with much of his father’s style. Even so, he must probably handle this great Buddha Prince Pingxi with extraordinary care and caution. But what of Great Qian back then? Emperor Renzong won his name for ‘benevolence,’ but in truth he was weak and indecisive by nature. Though he sat upon the supreme throne, he was born looking ahead and behind at every step. How could such a cowardly sovereign ever tame the Tattooed-Face Chancellor? Use him? He no longer dared. Placate him? He lacked the confidence. Wait? He feared a second story of a yellow robe being draped over someone’s shoulders. Demote him? He feared provoking resistance. Kill him? He feared staining the reputation for benevolence that was the only thing he had managed to accumulate across an otherwise useless lifetime.”

Han Sui paused.

Then continued:

“Whether civil officials suppress military men or not is not, in truth, decided by civil officials. It is decided by the Emperor. If the Emperor himself is useless, if he can barely even lift the saber, much less wield it, how could he ever dare trust military men? Civil officials are nothing more than cloth wrapped around the blade. His present Majesty is, fortunately, a rare enlightened ruler. He wishes to draw the blade again. Then let him draw it. It is time these things were done. The world says that after the Yan fought all the way to the walls of Shangjing, His Majesty flew into a rage and forced old men like us to retire. In truth, this old man submitted the memorial myself. If the blade was to be drawn again, then naturally the foulest, hardest strips of cloth wrapped around it had to be peeled away first. If several of us old things had not voluntarily stepped down, how could His Majesty have acted so freely afterward? I am not saying this to gild my own face. The national strength and condition of Great Qian are what they are. Men like us can never escape responsibility. Our mistake was failing to predict Yan’s sudden rise. Our mistake was failing to realize that after so many years of civil comfort and military idleness, Great Qian’s military preparedness had decayed this badly. Our mistake was that though we sat so high, we still failed to see far enough. Heh.”

Zhao Mugou listened with complete concentration.

Yet the final thing Han Sui said before the receiving troops reached them shocked the boy so profoundly that he stood frozen.

Han Sui said:

“So you must learn to stand on your toes.”

After the soldiers came forward to receive them, the old man and the boy stopped speaking.

The outer camp of the Qian army was a chaotic mess.

From time to time, deserters were dragged back and whipped.

But once they entered the inner camp, everything changed.

The inner defenses had been laid out rationally and in perfect order. Soldiers moved in files and ranks. Units drilling nearby carried a fierce killing aura.

Zu Xinyue, adopted son of the Grand Commander of Haidong, came personally to receive them.

“Old Chancellor. Your Highness. You have both worked hard.”

“Commander Zu has worked harder,” Zhao Mugou immediately answered politely.

As a descendant of Emperor Taizu’s line, at least for the moment he had no standing whatsoever to put on airs.

Han Sui asked:

“Are you confident?”

Zu Xinyue answered:

“Reporting to Old Chancellor, everything inside the inner camp has been arranged. With thirty thousand Zu Clan troops here, newly trained at the Three Frontiers, the Yan army...”

Zhao Mugou immediately pressed:

“The Yan army absolutely cannot break this camp?”

Zu Xinyue shook his head, then smiled.

“If that Prince Pingxi truly becomes ruthless and attacks this camp regardless of cost, then relying on these thirty thousand newly trained Zu Clan troops alone, I fear we still could not hold. But if Prince Pingxi is willing to trade pieces this way, if he is willing to chew our force apart with his own teeth, then after this battle his Yan army will no longer have strength left to do anything else inside Great Qian. In the end, we would still be the side gaining the advantage.”

...

The following day was the day both armies had agreed to deploy in the open and fight a decisive battle.

Unexpectedly, the Qian army remained behind its fortifications and never came out.

Even more unexpectedly... the Yan army opposite them did exactly the same.

It remained inside its own camp without the slightest intention of attacking.

The solemn written challenge both sides had sworn over was, with extraordinary mutual understanding, treated by everyone as a fart in the wind.

The rain that day fell even harder than it had the day before.

Inside the Yan commander’s tent...

Prince Pingxi sat cross-legged on the floor, telling the Sword Saint, Zhao Yuannian, Chen Xianba, and the others the story of Painted Skin.

He spent an especially extravagant number of adjectives describing the beauty of the female ghost after she changed skins.

Inside the Qian camp...

Chancellor Han warmed a pot of yellow wine by himself.

He poured two cups.

One he drank.

The other he poured onto the ground.

Old Chancellor Zhong had died of illness long ago.

So there were very few people left who still remembered that today... was the death anniversary of the Tattooed-Face Chancellor.

Even fewer knew that Han Sui and the Tattooed-Face Chancellor had once been true kindred spirits.

“Old Han. Handle me, would you? Those boys below are getting too hard to hold down. We only just managed to pacify the southwest and the Northern Qiang. Don’t let something even bigger erupt now.”

Han Sui’s aged hand reached beyond the tent flap.

He scooped up a handful of rainwater.

Then slowly let it spill between his fingers.

“They all envy Yan for having produced a Tian Wujing, a man who settled all his sovereign’s affairs beneath Heaven and cared nothing for his name before or after death. But Great Qian... once had you too.”

[End of Chapter 856]