Chapter 905: Siniang Gives Birth

“All drowned.”

Nian Yao drew a deep breath.

A smile appeared on his face.

“That only means they lacked the good fortune to reach the capital and behold the majesty of His Majesty, Emperor of Great Yan.”

“Perhaps that is simply the impermanence of worldly affairs. Restrain your grief.”

“Yes. This slave understands.”

The Emperor left.

Eunuch Wei followed him out.

Chief Eunuch Nian sat back down, silently picked up his bowl and chopsticks, and continued eating. He simply ate a little less food and drank a little more wine.

Back in the imperial study, the Emperor accepted a cup of tea from Wei Zhonghe and took two sips.

Eunuch Huang had already been waiting outside for some time, but the Emperor did not immediately summon him.

Wei Zhonghe stood respectfully to one side.

The longer he served this new Emperor, the stronger the sense of returning to the past became.

In truth, quite a few people within the inner palace found the situation strange.

“A new sovereign brings new ministers” did not apply quite so directly to officials of the outer court. There had to be some transition, some conciliation, some regard for appearances.

For inner servants, however, reality was much harsher.

Officials of the outer court still had faces to preserve.

Inner servants were household slaves.

Between master and servant, the hierarchy was absolute.

By ordinary logic, even if Eunuch Wei had been retained temporarily during the transition to the new reign, he had already been retained for far too long.

Eunuch Zhang, who had followed the Emperor from his princely household, had instead been sent away on outside assignments.

Only Wei Zhonghe himself truly understood.

He and His Majesty had simply grown more and more compatible.

When the new Emperor first sat upon the dragon throne, he had resembled his father.

Now... there were times when Wei Zhonghe would fall into a daze and feel as though the late Emperor had never died at all, as though the old master were still sitting there reviewing memorials.

And Wei Zhonghe, who had served the late Emperor for most of his life, found himself increasingly comfortable serving the new one.

Both master and servant had grown accustomed to one another.

And once something became habit, there was no reason to replace it.

Yet Wei Zhonghe took no secret pride in being “favored still.”

Historically, palace eunuchs enjoyed their brightest days when the Emperor was weak, gullible, or easy to manipulate.

Unfortunately for him, both of his masters had possessed eyes sharp enough to pierce through men.

A servant could only remain a servant.

Even pouring a cup of water required care.

The Emperor put down the memorial in his hand and rubbed between his brows.

Wei Zhonghe immediately took out a bottle of Spirit-Refreshing Dew and presented it.

The Emperor looked at the Fengxin-produced medicine.

He did not use it.

Instead, he smiled.

“Your Majesty, what are you laughing about?”

An Emperor was lonely.

But an Emperor was still human.

An Emperor still needed someone to talk to.

A palace attendant had to know when his master wanted to speak and when to offer him an opening.

“I’m laughing because that bastard surnamed Zheng actually went out of his way to hand Nian Yao’s wife and children over to me. That fellow has never changed. He’s always been this petty. Truthfully, my Empress and Noble Consort are easier to serve than he is. At the very least, they do not dare throw a face at me. But that bastard Zheng does. And not once, not twice, not three times. The moment he catches an opportunity, the moment something makes him unhappy, he cannot even be bothered to hear my explanation. He simply grabs a filthy rag and smacks me across the face with it.”

Wei Zhonghe followed the Emperor’s mood and laughed.

“That only proves Prince Pingxi truly regards Your Majesty as one of the people closest to him.”

“Closer than a wife?”

“Uh...” Wei Zhonghe froze.

Jin lands had always possessed certain customs in that direction.

But this was Great Yan’s imperial palace.

Wei Zhonghe absolutely did not dare make that joke.

Mocking the Emperor and Prince Pingxi, the two most towering figures in Great Yan, as a pair of cut-sleeve lovers... that was like an old man swallowing arsenic because he thought he had lived too long.

There were certain jokes the Emperor himself could make.

Prince Pingxi could probably make them too.

Anyone else adding half a sentence was simply asking to die.

The Emperor shook his head.

“Qian scholars love wrapping everything in elegant language. When they talk about ruler and minister, the ruler is ruler, the minister becomes his concubine, and the concubine serves her lord. Heh. It sounds a little nauseating, but it does get at the essential nature of ruler and minister. But here with me... especially between me and Zheng Fan... I sometimes wonder which one of us is actually the wife in this household.”

“This...”

“He goes outside and fights wars. I stay home and prepare his grain and supplies. Once he finishes fighting, he comes back, lies down inside his princely residence, and rests. If something flashy comes along and he feels like showing off, then fine, he’ll go handle it and strut around a little. But all the exhausting piles of shitty, tedious work? He throws every damned bit of it at me. Son of a bitch. That Zheng bastard probably started treating me like the wife who keeps the household in order years ago.”

Wei Zhonghe’s face went blank.

He no longer dared add even a grunt of agreement.

“Eunuch Wei.”

“This slave is here.”

“I once asked you this: if Phoenix Nest Internal Guards tried to extract someone from the capital, what rank could they realistically take away? You told me anyone below Third Rank might be possible. Third Rank or above, absolutely impossible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Nian Yao is alive. He lives inside Great Yan’s imperial palace. That fact itself is no secret. So tell me. What kind of watch do you think Chu placed over Nian Yao’s family in Ying Capital?”

“Your Majesty is wise. When this slave first received the news, I was astonished as well.”

“And that is without even mentioning that our Secret Intelligence Department, outside our own borders, has nowhere near the foundation of the Silver-Armored Guard or Phoenix Nest Internal Guard. Of course, I understand why. In earlier years, imperial authority in Great Yan was weak, while hereditary clans dominated the localities. The Secret Intelligence Department only truly had room to stretch its limbs during Father’s reign. It is like doing business. If you want to build a network from nothing, there must be a process. It takes time. But...”

Cold sweat immediately appeared on Wei Zhonghe’s forehead.

He dropped to his knees.

“This slave failed to discipline those below me. This slave is guilty!”

“Tsk...”

The Emperor sighed.

“Wei Zhonghe, I haven’t even finished speaking. Get up.”

“Yes.”

Eunuch Wei stood again.

There was no helping it.

Master and servant had become too perfectly attuned.

Certain formal steps were not deliberately skipped.

They simply understood one another so well that the steps were unconsciously forgotten.

“That is why I can understand the Secret Intelligence Department being weaker than the Silver-Armored Guard and Phoenix Nest Internal Guard for now. I am not some impatient ruler. But one thing I cannot tolerate... is being sold like an idiot and then happily sitting there counting the silver for the seller. And what I absolutely cannot tolerate... is those fools feeling so proud of themselves that they write a memorial to me asking for credit!”

Thud.

Wei Zhonghe dropped to his knees again.

Once more he said:

“This slave failed to discipline those below me. This slave is guilty!”

“Wei Zhonghe, no wonder that bastard Zheng submitted a memorial saying the Secret Intelligence Department was useless. No wonder he openly excluded the Department from eastern Jin. When this bunch of trash can do something like this, what argument or excuse am I supposed to offer him?”

“Your Majesty... Your Majesty...”

“Nian Yao himself is already here with me. What possible value remains in keeping his widow and fatherless children nearby? Better to send them over and do someone a favor at no cost. Besides, Chu has already lost about as badly as it is possible to lose. At that point, I suppose one truly can say there is nothing left to lose.”

The Emperor lowered his head slightly.

He looked at Wei Zhonghe kneeling before him.

Then, in a quiet voice, he asked:

“Eunuch Wei.”

“This slave is here.”

“Was the order to rescue Nian Yao’s wife and children issued by you?”

“This slave would never dare! Your Majesty, this slave is wronged! This slave would never dare!”

The Emperor stared at Wei Zhonghe without speaking.

After finishing his cries of innocence, Wei Zhonghe continued:

“But this slave... this slave did discover what was happening. The people below had tried to divine Your Majesty’s intent and acted on their own. Once this slave learned of it... I did not stop them.”

“Divine my intent?”

The Emperor chewed over those four words.

Then... his gaze sharpened.

He cursed:

“They think they are worthy?”

“I merely toy with Nian Yao from time to time. So what? Those one-track-minded idiots concluded I wanted to raise this former Grand General of Chu back up and have him compete with Prince Pingxi? When Nian Yao was a proper Grand General of Chu, Zheng Fan still defeated him, captured him, and cut his balls off. And now... with no balls left... Nian Yao is somehow going to stand back up and become stronger? Did he suddenly achieve enlightenment? Did wisdom pour down through the crown of his head? Did he shed his mortal shell and ascend to immortality? If becoming a famous general were really that easy, every man could just take a knife to himself below the waist! Or should every imperial palace beneath Heaven be packed with legendary commanders? How fucking stupid do they think I am? They think I would raise an outsider... a defeated general... a eunuch... a Chu man... and have him challenge Prince Pingxi of Great Yan! Are they trying to flatter Nian Yao... or insult Zheng Fan!”

The Emperor’s fury blazed.

Wei Zhonghe remained kneeling.

Outside, every palace maid and eunuch had long since gone to their knees as well.

“The Chu Emperor sent you Nian Yao’s wife and children precisely so he could watch a joke. And somehow... he actually got his joke. What infuriates me most is that Zheng Fan knows perfectly well I could never be this stupid. And yet he still grandly handed the people over anyway. If he wanted them dead, he could have killed them in eastern Jin whenever he pleased. No. He didn’t kill them. First, because he could not be bothered. Second, because he is lazy. He simply threw them at me... so I would be the one to dirty my hands!”

Bang!

The Emperor slammed one palm onto the imperial desk.

“Wei Zhonghe, put aside your duties with the Secret Intelligence Department. Hand them to Lu Bing. I will give him three years. I want to see results. Tell him I want a written military pledge from him!”

“Your Majesty...”

Wei Zhonghe raised his head, visibly alarmed.

He was a household slave.

He should never oppose his master.

But Lu Bing already controlled one force of his own.

If the Secret Intelligence Department was handed over to him as well, then would the Emperor’s eyes and ears not be concentrated entirely in one man’s hands?

The Emperor lowered his eyelids.

He snorted.

“I am doing this precisely to tell everyone beneath Heaven that I stopped caring about neat little balancing games long ago. Checks and balances? Bullshit. I never intended to play that sort of self-satisfied cleverness.”

“Your Majesty is wise. This slave obeys. This slave will immediately inform Lu Bing and arrange the handover.”

“What about that matter with the Grand Secretariat? Are they still blocking it?”

The Emperor asked.

“Your Majesty, the Grand Secretaries’ response remains that the measures may cause unrest.”

The foundation-stage reforms had already begun.

Economic reforms.

Political reforms.

But the Emperor’s ambitions went far beyond that.

During his years as a Prince, one of the matters he had thought about most was how to build an even richer state and stronger army upon the foundation his father left behind.

Neither Yan lands nor Jin lands could compare with Qian’s wealth.

But so long as the court could gather more usable strength into its own hands, that would be enough to keep the enormous, fertile giant called Qian pressed down and gasping for breath.

The deeper reform went, however, the more inevitably it touched certain people’s interests.

And those people generally stood in high positions and possessed enormous influence.

Take only one example.

Even after all these years since cavalry trampled the hereditary clans, signs of those old clan forces reviving had already begun appearing both in the central court and the localities.

And because the late Emperor’s methods had been so violent, directly sweeping away the major powers rooted across the realm, weeds had quickly grown in the empty ground he left behind.

More than that... the policies once used to placate Jin lands had reached the point where they needed cleaning up.

There was no reason all the great hereditary lords of Yan lands should already be gone while the masters of Jin could keep lying comfortably inside the ledger marked “stability maintenance” and enjoy their lives.

Making trouble was supposed to earn a beating.

Giving candy only to the people who did not make trouble was backwards.

The reason those people had once received candy was simply that the court had not possessed a free hand to spank them.

After the Barbarian Royal Court collapsed, Great Yan’s influence began pushing deeper into Beifeng Commandery and along the desert frontier.

There, the court had begun a policy of replacing hereditary tribal rule with regular state administration.

First, relying upon Great Yan’s influence and what remained of Marquis Zhenbei Residence’s old power, Barbarian tribes were being reclassified and reorganized.

At the very least, every tribe close to Great Yan ought to bathe beneath the benevolent radiance of Great Yan.

At the same time, Barbarian populations were being absorbed and relocated inland.

But this time they would not be sent to eastern Jin.

Too far away, after all...

His eldest brother was, in any case, the son-in-law of the Barbarians.

Send them to Nanwang City instead and use them to strengthen that region.

The old order of Beifeng Commandery also had to be reformed.

The tangled local forces there needed to be plowed clean.

Great Yan’s western flank, once merely a strategic fortress region, would be built into a prosperous land beyond the passes.

These were all broad strategic plans.

But any one of them might trigger unrest.

Overly aggressive reform often produced violent backlash.

Yet the Emperor wanted Great Yan, five years from now, to possess the strength to launch a war capable of destroying at least one state.

So rather than lovingly protecting rotten flesh and hoping it healed itself... better to cut it all away in one clean motion.

Five years later, new flesh would grow stronger.

“Those Grand Secretaries love quoting, ‘Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish.’ The moment I try to push too hard, they start trembling that the realm will fall into chaos. Heh.”

The Emperor leaned back and draped both arms over the back of the dragon throne.

“Before I sat here, I only understood it hazily. It was not until I truly sat on this dragon throne that I began to feel what the essence of power actually is. Wei Zhonghe. Do you understand?”

“This slave... how could this slave possibly understand such things?”

“No. You do. You understand perfectly.”

“Your Majesty... this slave truly does not! I truly do not, Your Majesty!”

“Those godsons and god-grandsons under you. Do they dare refuse your orders?”

“Your Majesty, this slave deserves death! This slave will return and reprimand them at once! To think they dared use this slave’s name to—”

“All right, all right. Eunuchs taking godsons and god-grandsons is your custom. I cannot be bothered to care about that. I am asking you one thing. Do those people dare disobey you, their old ancestor?”

“Replying to Your Majesty... they do not.”

“Exactly. They do not. Because any one of them who refuses your orders can be beaten to death on your command.”

At the words “beaten to death,” Eunuch Wei’s shoulders trembled involuntarily.

“There are people in this world who are not afraid of death. I know that. But nobody is born eagerly hoping to die. Being Emperor is the same. Exactly the same. Among Qian’s Emperors, the current one is actually not bad. Father once said he was one of the rare Qian rulers in recent generations who could at least be brought onto the stage. We outsiders can all see Qian’s problems clearly. There is no reason that Emperor himself should somehow be a fool. But he can only move slowly. Like some old gourmand murmuring about cooking tiny fish, taking one bite and then another, grinding his way forward. Every single step requires endless calculation. To put it unpleasantly... before he does anything, he has to examine everyone’s face, beg this grandfather, plead with that grandmother. But here in Great Yan... my father never had to. Because Father had the two Princes of North and South. And I... do not have to either. Because I have Prince Pingxi. Pass word to the Grand Secretariat. Those policies of mine—push them through quickly. If chaos erupts in the provinces, I’ll send Prince Pingxi to suppress it. And if chaos breaks out here in the capital... I’ll open Yanjing’s gates myself... and invite Prince Pingxi into the capital to help me cleanse the Emperor’s side!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

The Emperor laughed with tremendous delight.

When he finished laughing, he waved one hand.

“Let him in.”

Eunuch Huang entered.

“Your Majesty, this slave was ordered to bring the household of Prince Fu Residence to offer thanks for imperial grace.”

“Enough. No need for thanks. Since Zheng already sent word, and the investiture ceremony has been completed, have the household pack up. You will escort them again. Send them to Fengxin.”

“This slave obeys.”

Eunuch Huang withdrew.

The Emperor shook his head.

“Wei Zhonghe. Did you go take a look?”

“Ah? This slave does not understand Your Majesty’s meaning.”

“That Princess Consort of Prince Fu.”

“Replying to Your Majesty, when the Prince Fu household was escorted into the capital, this slave received Your Majesty’s order to meet them outside the city gate. I did see her. If Your Majesty wishes to meet her, summon her. If Your Majesty feels it inconvenient, the Empress can issue an order and summon her instead.”

“Forget it. It would be inconvenient for me to summon her. In the end, she is a woman Zheng already reserved. But I am curious. That Princess Consort of Prince Fu... how does she look?”

“Your Majesty, now you truly make things difficult for this slave. How would this slave know whether a woman is beautiful or not?”

The Emperor gave Wei Zhonghe a meaningful glance.

Wei Zhonghe immediately lowered his head and corrected himself.

“A beauty capable of toppling a state. A beauty capable of toppling a state.”

“Heh-heh-heh.”

The Emperor toyed with the jade thumb-ring on his hand.

“That bastard Zheng really does live one damned carefree life. Beast.”

...

“Achoo!”

Inside the rear residence of Prince Pingxi Residence in Fengxin City, the Prince, who had just finished practicing with his saber, sneezed three times in succession.

“Damn it. Who the hell is thinking about me?”

“Master, who can say? Every girl in Fengxin City is thinking about Master.”

“If you don’t know how to flatter people, stop forcing it. Somehow that line sounds weird as hell coming out of your mouth. Didn’t the Blind Man just get back? Go learn properly from him.”

“...” Xue San.

At that moment, Madam Ke hurried over.

“Your Highness! First Madam ordered this servant to inform Your Highness that she believes she has about two hours before she gives birth.”

“Oh. I’ll go now.”

Madam Ke added:

“First Madam also said Your Highness should bathe before going over. She is afraid the smell of sweat during labor might make her uncomfortable.”

“Uh...”

Zheng Fan could only nod.

“Fine.”

When your wife was too capable, even predicting her own labor became this precise.

She had even issued requirements for the arrangement of the delivery room and the placement of the flowerpots.

Once Master went off to bathe, Xue San reached out and patted Fan Li’s knee.

“A’Li. Guess whether this one is a boy or girl.”

“Boy.”

“Why?”

“For the first birth, the Blind Man didn’t come back. For this one, he rushed home.”

Xue San did not understand immediately.

He stood there with his mouth open and thought for a moment.

Then realization struck.

What did the Blind Man love doing most?

Rebellion!

Just look at how he had raised Tian Tian.

But Tian Tian’s legitimacy was still somewhat lacking.

So as long as Master himself had not clearly expressed any intention to rebel, the Blind Man could only pin his hopes on the next generation.

And only a male heir... only a son... could become the figure everyone naturally rallied around.

That was why the Blind Man had stayed at South Gate Pass during the first birth, when Master’s first biological son might have been born, continuing to socialize and entertain people there.

But for this birth... he had ridden himself ragged and hurried home through the night, arriving only at dawn.

This certainly was not because the Blind Man somehow felt differently toward Siniang or this child.

Every Demon King cared enormously about this child.

Every Demon King valued Siniang’s child.

That went without saying.

But that did not mean he absolutely had to exhaust himself merely to witness the birth.

He could always see the child afterward.

Especially considering how particular the Blind Man was about comfort and the finer details of life.

Why would he insist on returning covered head to toe in road dust?

Because he was certain this child was a boy!

Nobody else could be certain.

But he could!

Xue San cursed:

“Fuck. The other day we were all sitting around trying to think up separate names for a boy and a girl. I even had several of my men help come up with some. And somehow we forgot... there’s been an ultrasound machine in this house the entire time.”

[End of Chapter 905]