Chapter 875: Answering the Throne

One bowl of pickled vegetables, two bowls of congee, three mantou, and four palace attendants.

Nian Yao, his hair grown ragged and uneven, silently picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began to eat. He ate quickly, yet with great care.

He finished the last two strips of pickled vegetables with the final mouthful of congee, then used the last half of a mantou to wipe up the faint traces of oil at the bottoms of both bowls. When he swallowed the final bite, he rubbed his fingers clean and wore an expression of utter satisfaction and happiness.

“That appetite of yours truly makes Us envious.”

A majestic voice came from behind the screen ahead.

All four palace attendants immediately dropped to their knees.

Nian Yao rose as well and performed the formal rites of Chu.

Ji Chengjue walked in. Behind him, Wei Zhonghe set down a cushion so the Emperor could sit.

“Rise.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Nian Yao stood.

“They say a man has gold beneath his knees. And you Chu people have always had the tradition of falsely accused ministers throwing themselves into the Mijiang to prove their innocence. Why is it that We have seen none of that spirit in you?”

Ever since Grand General Nian entered the imperial palace, he had knelt briskly whenever it was time to kneel and offered greetings enthusiastically whenever greetings were required.

And whenever it was time to eat, he ate more heartily than anyone.

In fact, every so often he would even make a fuss about wanting to bathe and fumigate himself with incense. He complained that he had only recently been castrated, and although Prince Pingxi’s blade had been fast, the craftsmanship had been crude. Ever since, whenever he relieved himself he suffered frequency, urgency, incomplete emptying, and even a split stream.

He personally did not mind all that much.

He simply worried that the smell might offend some noble person.

Now, faced with the Emperor of Yan’s question, Nian Yao smiled and answered:

“Does Your Majesty know who throws themselves into the Mijiang most often each year? Not officials or nobles, but ordinary commoners and slaves. Yet the world remembers only the lofty purity of those famous men and ignores the countless white bones lying beneath the river, hidden under their single celebrated corpse. This slave was not born a noble. Even when this slave once reached the position of Grand General of Chu, it was because this slave had the ability to do so and could relieve his sovereign’s burdens. Since I have always fed myself through my own ability, why make life difficult for myself at the very end?”

“So your meaning is that if We give you a mouthful of food, you will preserve your loyalty for Us?”

Nian Yao smiled.

“This slave is willing to work for Your Majesty, so long as Your Majesty is willing to use me.”

“Heh.” Ji Chengjue shook his head. “The man in Chu raised you for half your life, and in the end all he receives is that sentence?”

“Your Majesty, even the fiercest tiger becomes docile once locked in a cage. To beg for life, it can even learn the movements of cats and dogs.”

“Oh? Growing impatient?”

“This slave merely fears delaying Your Majesty’s proper affairs. Your Majesty handles ten thousand matters every day. How could you possibly have so much free time to toy with a prisoner like this slave?”

“Ai, then you don’t understand. Do you know why Zheng Fan sent you into the palace?”

“To secure his princely title?”

“Tch.”

The Emperor shook his head with open disdain.

“To him, did it truly matter that much whether he was Marquis of Pingxi or Prince Pingxi? He sent you here because he wanted Us to have someone to tease for amusement whenever We had free time.”

Nian Yao listened, then nodded with great seriousness.

“So that was it.”

“The military reports We had sent to you some time ago—you read them all?” Ji Chengjue asked.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, this slave read them all.”

“Carefully?”

“This slave read every one very carefully. I have been waiting for Your Majesty to come ask me about them. If I answer well, this slave still hopes the next meal might contain a little more meat. I was born a lowly slave. In this life, I truly have loved meat as though my life depended on it.”

“Then do you know why We deliberately came to ask you?”

“Because of the Emperor of Qian.”

“The Emperor of Qian?”

“Because years ago, Prince Pingxi once pointed at that Emperor and said he did not understand warfare. Once such a precedent is set, unless that Emperor eventually achieves something in war, this slave suspects the story will become a proverb in the future.”

“Heh-heh-heh.”

“And besides, though Your Majesty has a whole court full of civil and military officials, who among them could possibly be more... pure in perspective than a prisoner like this slave?”

“Speak.”

“This subject obeys.”

Nian Yao opened his mouth, then cautiously looked toward Ji Chengjue.

“May Your Majesty permit this subject to explain slowly?”

Ji Chengjue inclined his head.

Nian Yao began:

“The origin of this war lies in the enormous pressure Qian and Chu have exerted upon Great Yan these past years, pressure that has already become difficult to endure. Once military morale and popular sentiment, from top to bottom, grow accustomed to this balance through constant exposure, then Great Yan will remain strong while Qian and Chu remain weak. Given enough time, subduing the enemy without battle would no longer be an empty fantasy. That was why this subject took such a dangerous gamble at Fan City. Unfortunately, this subject failed. And after my failure, the strategic relationship between Qian and Chu inevitably tightened further. Their alliance grew more solid. Even if they could not defeat Yan across the whole board, they still needed to defeat Yan somewhere. Hence the ambush laid by the elite Qian-Chu coalition in Liang.”

Ji Chengjue listened with his eyes closed, his knuckles lightly tapping against his knee.

Nian Yao continued:

“Your Majesty gave Qian and Chu that opportunity.”

After saying this, Nian Yao carefully observed Ji Chengjue’s expression.

The Emperor’s lips merely curled into a faint smile, giving no indication whether he was pleased or angry.

“When the late Emperor of Great Yan was alive, he once allowed the First Prince to command troops, and the result was defeat. Your Majesty wished to gather military authority back toward the throne, which in practice meant dividing the authority Prince Pingxi held across Jin. But Your Majesty chose the wrong men. That produced the chaos at Sushan Camp, which in turn caused Count Huwei’s redeployment and, later, the complete destruction of his army in Liang. This subject can understand what Your Majesty wished to accomplish. But... Your Majesty, dividing military authority and truly gathering the hearts of soldiers are not things a single imperial decree, or coordination between court and province, can accomplish so simply, because Your Majesty cannot personally leave Yanjing, put on armor, and take the field.”

“We reflected on that afterward. We were indeed too impatient, and the method was wrong as well. As you said, We should not have sent someone to cut authority apart, because We cannot exactly proclaim Ourselves some Grand General. We should have treated it like doing business and promoted several more shopkeepers of Our own.”

“Your Majesty is wise. The people Your Majesty can command and win over are those generals and military households. Even if military authority ultimately returns to the court, it must still pass through other hands in between. Winning one man’s heart is easy. Winning ten thousand men’s hearts is difficult.”

“Leave that aside for now. We came today mainly because We want to hear your judgment of what happens next.”

“Your Majesty, Prince Pingxi’s expedition may look vast and imposing on the surface, but Yan should already lack the logistical strength to supply it properly. Prince Pingxi living off the enemy is not a choice but a necessity. Yet precisely because of that, the Yan army, which should have possessed the advantage in a frontal confrontation, cannot patiently sit and wait for openings. When experts exchange moves, the stronger side should possess the advantage of being able to answer whatever the weaker side produces. The Yan army does not have that luxury.”

“The state is exhausted. Nothing can be done about it.” Ji Chengjue waved one finger. “And then? What do you think of Prince Pingxi leading troops into Qian? What kind of move was that?”

Nian Yao swallowed.

Then answered:

“It was... a rotten move!”

Ji Chengjue opened his eyes and looked at him.

“Prince Pingxi could not break open the situation in Liang. Add the burden of his enormous reputation, and he was unwilling to tacitly play the game of ‘you withdraw, I advance’ with the Qian-Chu coalition. He did not want to mobilize such a grand army only to come away with an empty shell of a victory that existed solely for appearances. That is why Prince Pingxi led troops into Qian. He is gambling. He is acting willfully. At root, he simply does not want the prestige of his hundred victories to fall!”

“There are quite a few ministers at court whose opinion agrees with yours,” Ji Chengjue said. “They say Prince Pingxi placed his own empty reputation above the state and its altars, took an outrageous risk, and neglected his duty toward Great Yan’s realm.”

“Your Majesty, they are not wrong,” Nian Yao affirmed.

“But We do not want to hear that. We have already ordered laborers and supply trains from Yan proper to support Nanwang City as much as possible. We also had Our elder brother step forward to tie down Qian’s Three Frontiers.”

“Which is precisely why this subject believes Prince Pingxi has become obsessed to the point of losing himself. He clearly understands that Great Yan, in its present condition, can hardly mobilize the entire state for another great war. Even with Yan iron cavalry, if there are no auxiliary troops and no civilian laborers, forcing another war means doing nothing but launching gamble after gamble. And if Prince Pingxi fails—if he himself ends like Count Huwei—then Great Yan will immediately...”

Nian Yao drew a deep breath.

Then slowly let it out.

“Finished?” the Emperor asked.

“No.”

“Then hurry. We have to leave.”

“What frustrates this subject is this: even though I firmly believe—indeed, I am certain—that Prince Pingxi’s invasion of Qian was genuinely an impulsive advance born from a hot head, a sudden whim, disregard for the larger situation, and reckless haste... still... this subject thinks Prince Pingxi may very well succeed.”

“Oh?” Ji Chengjue looked genuinely surprised. “And what reasoning is that?”

“Because this subject lost to him.”

“You mean his luck is good?”

“No. This subject is not naive enough to believe I lost merely because my luck was poor. Rather, Prince Pingxi himself is at his best when using exactly this sort of method: thousand-li strikes, ignoring the larger board, and snatching chestnuts from the fire. When a deadlock cannot be opened, choosing the road one knows best may just pry a crack into the board. This subject once believed Prince Jingnan was the sort of man who could accomplish what others could not. In truth... Prince Pingxi is the same.”

“When We saw the memorials from the front, Our first thought was that the bastard surnamed Zheng had run beneath the walls of Shangjing again to swagger in front of the Qian Emperor. Once he returned, perhaps he would even personally submit a memorial telling Us that he had gone there on Our behalf to ask how the Qian Emperor was doing...”

Ji Chengjue leaned slightly forward.

Then continued:

“But We guarantee you this: he definitely would not mention Us even once. He would be too busy showing off by himself.”

Clearly, once Nian Yao began saying auspicious things, the Emperor of Great Yan’s mood improved enormously.

Grand General Nian smiled along with him.

“Perhaps Prince Pingxi will simply go all the way and break Shangjing itself for Your Majesty.”

“Nian Yao, are you mocking Us?”

“This subject would not dare.”

“Fine. We’ll borrow your auspicious words. If that bastard surnamed Zheng really can punch a hole straight through Shangjing for Us, then of the Nine Palace Directorates, We’ll let you choose one and become its Chief Eunuch. Hahahaha!”

“This slave respectfully sees Your Majesty off!”

With that, the Emperor rose and left the side hall.

Nian Yao stared gloomily at his own palm. He almost wanted to slap himself twice across the face. After hesitating, he lowered his hand again.

That Emperor of Yan possessed a boldness and spirit buried in his bones that were not one whit inferior to his old lord’s.

A pity.

He himself had still been a little too glib.

In the end, he had not even managed to secure some meat for dinner.

A loss.

“Sleep.”

Nian Yao began his afternoon nap.

Ever since entering the Yan imperial palace, he had essentially been a prisoner living inside the palace. Every day he ate and slept, then slept and ate. Only after the war began had reports from the front been sent to him to read.

He slept well.

After waking, Grand General Nian walked farther inside, positioned the chamber pot properly, untied the cord at his waist, removed his outer robe, spread his legs, squatted, and relieved himself.

The job had been done crudely.

If he did not want to suffocate in the stench of his own urine, he had to pay extraordinary attention every time he relieved himself.

Once he finished, there was no need for the old shake at the end.

Instead, he carefully wiped both inner thighs with coarse paper.

Only then did he sway back upright.

He reached out.

Hm?

Where were his clothes?

Grand General Nian had just prepared to call for someone when a group of young eunuchs suddenly rushed inside.

In their hands... were the red robes of a Chief Eunuch.

“This slave greets Grandfather Chief!”

“This slave greets Grandfather Chief!”

Nian Yao stared blankly.

Then he suddenly slapped himself hard on the forehead.

“Ah! Ah!”

He roared twice.

Then kicked over the chamber pot.

No longer caring about the filth, he dropped heavily onto the floor and pounded both hands against the tiles.

He cried.

[End of Chapter 875]