Chapter 933: Hit

For a brief instant, awkwardness appeared on Li Fei’s face.

At that moment, he felt he should never have stood up from the bathing pool.

He should have been at the bottom of it, not merely in it.

Still, Li Fei licked his lips and ultimately cupped his hands.

“To share the state’s burdens is only right.”

He agreed.

As the current Prince Zhenbei, he agreed to the transfer.

Li Chenghui and Li Liangshen had once each brought their own command to guard the capital region, nominally part of the “dowry” the old Prince Zhenbei had sent to Yanjing.

During the previous three-state war, no major battle had erupted along Qian’s Three Frontiers, but the atmosphere there had already become visibly tense.

Li Liangshen therefore now served as one of the First Prince’s principal arms, the two of them together upholding Great Yan’s defenses in Yinlang Commandery.

Later, when the capital region underwent another round of reorganization and the Imperial Guards began being retrained, Li Chenghui left part of his elite troops behind and led the rest back to Beifeng Commandery. One purpose was precisely to support the new Prince Zhenbei, Li Fei, and give his own family’s position some backbone.

Prince Pingxi was not asking merely for Li Chenghui himself, even though Li Chenghui was one of the most famous master archers of the age.

What Zheng Fan wanted was Li Chenghui together with his original troops.

After subtracting the men dispersed into the Imperial Guards and those who absolutely had to remain in Beifeng Commandery, that command could still field at least thirty thousand men.

These were veterans of the old Zhenbei Army.

Li Bao had died in battle, and the troops beneath him had been divided between his son and son-in-law. His son-in-law Gongsun Zhi now served within Prince Pingxi’s military system in Jin.

Li Fusheng’s death had come together with the near-total destruction of his army. That command essentially no longer existed.

Then there was Li Liangshen’s command, which had been transferred to Yinlang Commandery.

On paper alone, half of the old Zhenbei Army’s three hundred thousand iron cavalry had already been lost permanently.

Add the attrition the Zhenbei Army had suffered through years of campaigning north and south, and its old foundation had become desperately thin. Its total troop count was still large, yes, but there was a real difference between what had once been called “elite troops” and what was now merely called “a great army.”

If Li Chenghui’s command was transferred out as well, then the century-old Prince Zhenbei Residence would truly go from Great Yan’s foremost military fief to possessing the “garrison” but no longer the “fief.”

To say Li Fei felt no pain as his ancestral foundation was dismantled would be a lie.

To say he accepted it gladly would be an even greater lie.

But the problem was simple.

When the Emperor and Prince Pingxi stood together and performed a two-man act right in front of you... did you really still possess the room to refuse?

To put it more realistically, the fact that they had bothered staging a performance and letting him stumble into it was already a form of consideration toward this “junior.” At least there was some artistry to it. Some smoothness.

If they truly wanted to take the troops by force, one imperial edict from the Emperor and one transfer order from the Ministry of War would be enough.

Did Prince Zhenbei Residence, as it existed now, still possess the capital to resist?

From the moment his father left this world upon his sickbed...

Prince Zhenbei Residence... was no longer the Prince Zhenbei Residence of old.

In fact, Li Fei understood that those remaining “adopted elder brothers” still in Beifeng Commandery would probably prefer to take their own troops elsewhere and earn military merit and achievement.

For the foreseeable future, the desert Barbarians could not possibly pose a serious threat to Great Yan.

Merely fighting among themselves until a new wolf rose above the rest would take a long time.

And once that wolf emerged, it would still need time to lick its wounds.

“Surnamed Zheng, look at yourself,” the Emperor said. “If you could be half as willing as Prince Zhenbei to share the state’s burdens, half as loyal and public-spirited, why would We have so many troubles? How could Great Yan possibly fail to flourish?”

“Yes, yes. I was wrong. Prince Zhenbei’s heart is broad and open. He makes the state his home. This Zheng admires him!”

The advantage was already in hand.

Once Li Fei had spoken those words, there was no need for signatures or fingerprints. The matter was settled.

Zheng Fan might as well cooperate with the Emperor and bring the performance to a proper close.

He received Li Chenghui’s veteran command.

Li Fei received a “fine reputation.”

Back then, Li Liangting had thrown his biological son outside the Residence. Perhaps his greatest purpose had been to sever the roots from which the next generation of the Li Clan might one day threaten Great Yan.

Li Fei had inherited the princely title, but he possessed no direct faction of his own inside Prince Zhenbei Residence. Those adopted sons and senior generals did not recognize him as their true leader either.

Once that connecting thread was lost, Prince Zhenbei Residence could no longer speak of possessing much cohesion.

As for whether Li Liangting had ever imagined that after cutting away his own family’s foundation, that rising fellow surnamed Zheng in the east might become another “Prince Zhenbei Residence”... he probably had.

Li Liangting had tried more than once to claim Zheng Fan for his own command on the grounds that Zheng Fan was originally from Beifeng Commandery.

That in itself had been a form of supervision.

One small reason it never happened was that Zheng Fan won victory after victory and gradually proved he possessed both the qualification and ability to guard a region of his own.

But the most important reason was that Tian Wujing stood in front of him and absorbed far too much pressure on Zheng Fan’s behalf.

Otherwise, with the late Emperor, Li Liangting, Zhao Jiulang...

No.

Even without them, one only had to look at how vigilant the present court remained toward Prince Pingxi Residence.

Even if they had not begun cutting him apart early, they would certainly have tried stuffing sand into his ranks wherever possible.

Even the people of Qian understood the need to restrain the rise of military fiefs.

How could Yan, a state that had suffered so bitterly beneath entrenched great clans, fail to understand the same principle?

Without Tian Wujing, there was no possibility Zheng Fan could have farmed and developed, fought a war, then farmed and developed again, fought another war, and rolled the snowball all the way into a situation where his power had become too great to remove.

Li Fei could understand why His Majesty and the court were dismantling Prince Zhenbei Residence.

The old Confucian scholar who had taught him in those years had instructed him in far more than the Four Books and Five Classics.

What Li Fei could not understand was this:

What kind of operation was it to dismantle one military fief in order to strengthen another?

Unfortunately, he did not dare ask that question.

He did not even dare mention it.

The bath ended.

Three men had soaked in the pool.

One of them left behind a very thick layer of “grime.”

If word of today ever spread, later generations might produce an allusion called “Relieving Military Command in the Bath.”

Li Fei asked permission to withdraw first.

His stated reason was that he needed to leave for a while to apply medicine and receive acupuncture for his leg.

In reality, he intended to write personally to Beifeng Commandery and send the letter ahead of the court’s formal transfer order.

Everyone understood that perfectly well.

After Li Fei left, the Emperor, already changed into fresh clothes, reached out and slapped Zheng Fan’s shoulder.

He said irritably:

“You just hauled another enormous haul back home. You owe Us another favor.”

Zheng Fan rolled his eyes.

“Bullshit. That’s your medical fee.”

“Surnamed Zheng, if you put it that way, We might as well go into the Rear Garden right now, find a tree, and hang Ourselves. Our life is precious, yes, but We still don’t think it’s worth thirty thousand iron cavalry!”

“When you hang yourself, remember to choose a crooked-neck tree.”

“Why?”

“It makes the ceremony feel more complete.”

...

There was still some time before the evening banquet, so the Emperor first took Prince Pingxi for a walk through the imperial garden.

The two adults walked in front.

Tian Tian and the Crown Prince followed behind.

Inside a pavilion not far away, Siniang and He Sisi sat together eating refreshments and chatting.

“Oh, right. There’s something I forgot to tell you. Li Qian is here too.”

The Emperor looked at Zheng Fan with obvious interest.

“So she’s here. It wasn’t me she almost killed back then.”

“...” the Emperor.

“Brother Tian Tian, later I’ll introduce you to a little brother. He’s a Barbarian. He’s really strong, but I still think you’re stronger.”

Among children, “strong” simply meant who was more formidable.

“Sure.”

Tian Tian nodded.

At that moment, two women and a young man wearing his hair in the Barbarian style entered from outside the imperial garden.

Zheng Fan knew the woman walking at the front.

Knew her very well, in fact.

She was Li Qian, the Commandery Princess of Prince Zhenbei Residence.

Today, however, Li Qian wore neither armor nor the dark everyday clothes she usually favored.

She wore splendid formal dress.

Exquisite.

Beautiful.

Li Qian had always been a beauty.

Back when Little Dog carried around one embroidered shoe, yes, part of the meaning had been to use an object to express his own melancholy.

But if the young Commandery Princess had looked like some hulking village girl, Gou Moli probably would not have chosen that shoe in the first place.

It was simply that her usual image made people forget her beauty very easily.

For a period several years ago, whenever Zheng Fan and Ji Old Sixth mentioned this woman in their letters, they had simply used “madwoman” as her code name.

But now... the scenery had changed.

As Li Qian approached with measured steps, the Emperor stood there with great reserve.

Zheng Fan stood there with equal reserve.

It was rather ridiculous.

Two grown men standing together like that, just a little too deliberately, looked almost as though they were waiting for a different sort of “coming-of-age ceremony.”

“This Qian pays respects to my Emperor. May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years!”

“This Qian greets Prince Pingxi. May Your Highness enjoy health and peace.”

The Emperor and Zheng Fan’s gazes met for an instant.

Satisfied now?

Satisfied.

The Emperor smiled.

“Elder Sister, please rise. There is no need for such ceremony.”

The Barbarian woman and young Barbarian man who had knelt behind Li Qian rose as well.

“Come. This is my younger brother’s Princess Consort.”

“Yiguna greets Your Majesty and Prince Pingxi.”

“This is her younger brother, Yigu Xie.”

“Yigu Xie greets His Majesty the Emperor and Prince Pingxi.”

The formal ruler-minister salute had already been performed.

There was no need for further kneeling below.

Now it was simply family meeting family.

Yiguna was Li Fei’s Princess Consort.

Yigu Xie, meanwhile, counted as a direct descendant of the Golden Tent Royal Court.

He was the old Barbarian King’s grandson and the son of the young Barbarian prince.

Truthfully, from the perspective of an uninvolved observer, Zheng Fan felt that those prominent men of Yan from the previous generation really did deserve to be called the supreme scumbags of the age.

The First Prince married a Barbarian Princess, the old Barbarian King’s favorite daughter, known as the Pearl of the Desert.

That Barbarian Princess even bore a son for the Ji Clan.

Li Fei made one trip to the Barbarian Royal Court, slept with the old Barbarian King’s granddaughter, and conveniently brought his young brother-in-law back with him as well.

None of that prevented the Yan Emperor from stamping one foot on a map and issuing the command:

“Break the Barbarians’ spine for the next hundred years!”

Nor did it prevent Prince Zhenbei and Prince Jingnan from leading elite cavalry on a thousand-li raid to the Barbarian Royal Court on the very night it held its great assembly... and bathing the entire royal city in blood.

They truly ate everything, wiped their mouths clean, and left not the slightest scrap of sentiment behind.

Scumbaggery beyond description.

But perhaps that was simply what irreconcilable conflict between states and peoples looked like.

The Barbarians had always wanted to leave the desert and invade richer grasslands with abundant water.

For centuries, they had therefore fought both east and west.

Yan had resisted the Barbarians for generations.

But in recent years, as Yan rose in strength, it urgently wanted to throw off the Barbarian burden for a time and free its hands to accomplish the great undertaking of unifying All Xia.

The old Barbarian King kept sending daughters and granddaughters.

The late Emperor accepted every one without hesitation.

Both sides understood perfectly well that the marriages were only surface work.

When news of the late Emperor’s death reached the desert, the entire Barbarian Royal Court had rejoiced that night.

Then Great Yan’s iron cavalry suddenly arrived.

Apparently, before leaving this world, the late Emperor had missed them and decided to take them along for the journey.

Against a tide that vast, whatever private love and attachment had been mixed into it... was not worth mentioning.

One household cries.

A hundred households cry.

Ten million households cry.

No matter how many rational and emotional arguments one could raise over the choice between them, the answer would always be the same.

At least... standing here now, Zheng Fan saw no hatred on Yiguna’s face.

Even the young man called Yigu Xie looked obedient and mild.

It was said the old Princess Dowager of Prince Zhenbei Residence had originally opposed Yiguna becoming her son’s Princess Consort.

Li Fei had insisted.

In the end, he made Yiguna his sole Princess Consort and took no secondary consort.

Li Fei was, after all, a comparatively simple and sincere child.

He had grown up in a fishing village.

Yiguna was his first woman.

He had barely taken her when his own father led an army over and slaughtered her entire family...

At least in this matter, the current Prince Zhenbei had shown some kindness.

“Brother Tian Tian, look! He’s here. Yigu Xie. I told you, his fists are really hard. Eunuch Wei says he has an excellent constitution for a Martial Artist.”

Prince Zhenbei’s group had reached the capital before Prince Pingxi’s.

They had already held their family banquet.

So the Crown Prince was familiar with them now and busily introduced Tian Tian to his new friend.

“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Yiguna and Yigu Xie saluted the Crown Prince.

Li Qian did not salute Ji Chuanye.

Giving face to those two grown men had been enough.

A junior’s face... there was no need to pursue etiquette that far.

When she had risen after kneeling earlier, she had clearly seen the satisfaction in both men’s eyes.

Li Qian had almost found it funny.

The Emperor of Great Yan.

Prince Pingxi, God of War of Great Yan.

Two grown men.

And both had insisted on extracting a little satisfaction from one woman.

The grudges of the past could, in truth, be considered erased now.

Li Liangting’s death had carried the old affairs away with him.

Li Qian understood that.

The Emperor understood it too.

Even though she had once nearly had Seventh Uncle kill the man who was then still a Prince, the Emperor would never use that matter against her again.

That was the understanding and agreement left behind by the three men of the previous generation.

Tian Tian first saw the Commandery Princess standing there and froze.

Then... he saw Yigu Xie, who had just finished saluting and risen.

This time, Tian Tian stopped dead.

“Yigu Xie, this is my Brother Tian Tian. He’s Heir Prince Jingnan, and Imperial Father also conferred... Huh? Brother Tian Tian, what’s wrong?”

The Crown Prince noticed that Tian Tian had practically turned into a statue.

Because the instant Tian Tian saw Yigu Xie, the images from that old dream surged back into his mind.

In that dream... a great army besieged Yanjing.

A bald man covered from head to toe in glowing runes appeared from the west.

He carried an oddly shaped flagstaff with two heads hanging from it.

One... was the head of that lame Prince.

The other... was the head of the woman now standing before him.

The Commandery Princess.

And the bald, rune-covered man from that dream... was none other than the boy who had just finished saluting and now wore an ingratiating, honest smile.

Yigu Xie.

Zheng Fan noticed Tian Tian’s strange reaction as well.

Ordinarily, Tian Tian never had any problem dealing with people.

Zheng Fan had always treasured this “eldest son” of his enormously.

He immediately walked over, stroked Tian Tian’s head, and asked:

“What is it?”

“Dream... in the dream.”

Tian Tian spoke those words, then shifted his gaze slightly toward Yigu Xie.

Zheng Fan’s eyes instantly sharpened.

Even so, he only reached out and patted Tian Tian’s shoulder.

Reassured, Tian Tian released a long breath.

A smile returned to his face.

Then he went forward with the Crown Prince to greet Yigu Xie.

“What happened?”

The Emperor walked up beside Zheng Fan and asked.

“I just thought something was interesting.”

“What?”

“The introductions.”

The Emperor slapped Zheng Fan’s shoulder.

“You really are something.”

Earlier, the Crown Prince had said:

Yigu Xie, this is my Brother Tian Tian. He is Heir Prince Jingnan.

If one wanted to add the unsaid meaning for amusement:

His father is Prince Jingnan.

Yes.

The same Prince who killed your grandfather and chased your biological father all the way west...

Zheng Fan turned it into a joke.

The Emperor did not press further.

“Oh, right. The banquet will start shortly. The civil and military officials should already be on their way into the palace. Surnamed Zheng, come somewhere with me.”

“For what?”

“Makeup.”

“You planning to perform a dance?”

“Fine. You beat the drum for me and I’ll dance. Whoever chickens out is the grandson.”

According to etiquette, Li Qian next brought her sister-in-law Yiguna to the pavilion.

At exactly that moment, the screens around the pavilion were lowered, blocking the outside view.

“This Qian pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years.”

“Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Li Qian led Yiguna in saluting the Empress.

“Greetings, Princess Consort Pingxi.”

“Greetings, Princess Consort Pingxi.”

“Sit.”

He Sisi smiled and gestured for them to do so.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Siniang was cracking melon seeds as she studied Li Qian carefully.

Li Qian wore splendid dress today, but it still could not hide the heroic spirit between her brows.

A little wild mare.

Inside Siniang’s own household, Xiong Liqing understood circumstances far too well.

Liu Ruqing had placed herself in the position of a concubine from the very beginning.

The Princess Consort of Prince Fu was another fallen soul at the ends of the earth and hardly spoke at all.

Siniang did not believe the rear residence remained this quiet merely because her own presence was too overwhelming for anyone else to raise a breeze.

She simply felt the household was too peaceful.

Too obedient.

No scheming.

No competing for favor.

Nobody putting on a show.

Could a place this harmonious really still call itself a princely Residence?

If everyone remained so proper and played their zithers in perfect harmony... what stories would later generations have left to read?

“The Commandery Princess has grown thinner,” Siniang said.

Li Qian smiled faintly.

“Perhaps a little.”

“Being thin isn’t good. You should eat more.”

Siniang stood as she spoke, picked up a pastry, and handed it to Li Qian.

Li Qian rose to accept it.

Siniang added:

“Our Prince likes women with a little more flesh on them.”

Hearing that, the Empress sitting beside them unconsciously shifted her backside on the stone stool.

Ever since giving birth to two imperial sons, she really had become much plumper than before marriage.

The Empress did not interpret the remark in any strange direction.

She had personally witnessed the relationship between the Emperor and Prince Pingxi.

When she chatted with Siniang, it was much like two ordinary village women chatting together, with very few taboos between them.

She treasured having someone with whom she could speak freely.

Li Qian, however, did not take the words that way.

She had changed.

She now knew how to lower her head first.

How to kowtow voluntarily.

How to give face to the two men who had been standing outside earlier.

But that did not mean she would simply swallow such teasing.

After all... of the four women present, one was an Empress and two were Princess Consorts.

She alone was unmarried.

At the end of the day... deep in her bones, Li Qian was still Li Qian.

“Princess Consort has an excellent figure. The Prince must like it very much. Princess Consort should eat more as well.”

As she accepted the pastry, Li Qian exerted a little force through her hand.

She intended to use the opportunity to shove Princess Consort Pingxi backward into her chair.

Better still if she stumbled slightly.

Let her suffer a small loss and embarrass herself.

Trying this sort of thing with this Commandery Princess?

This Commandery Princess knew martial arts.

Unfortunately... she had chosen the wrong opponent.

When it came to battlefields between women, if Siniang called herself second, nobody dared claim first.

It was a pity Xiong Liqing had not come to the capital this time.

Had she been standing nearby, she probably would have burst out laughing.

“Oh!”

Siniang gave a soft cry and leaned backward.

But in the same instant, two threads wrapped around Li Qian’s wrist.

An irresistible force jerked her forward as well.

Li Qian had assumed that knowing martial arts let her crush every trick with raw strength and stand above the petty battlefields of women.

What she did not know was that Siniang and Fan Li were the only two Demon Kings who had just advanced.

A Fourth Grade Demon King.

Which meant...

Li Qian had just challenged, face-to-face... an expert with the combat power of Third Grade.

There was no surprise in the result.

Li Qian lost her balance.

Siniang, meanwhile, settled smoothly back into her seat.

Then she deliberately reached out to catch the Commandery Princess.

Li Qian fell sideways into Siniang’s arms.

“Oh my. Little Sister, how could you be so careless?” Siniang asked with a smile.

The Empress, who did not know martial arts at all, spoke too.

“Exactly. Be careful.”

Li Qian tried to struggle upright.

Blood qi began gathering through her body.

But Siniang merely stroked one hand down her back.

The blood qi Li Qian had only just gathered instantly scattered.

A soft sound escaped the Commandery Princess.

She remained sprawled in Siniang’s arms.

Siniang flicked her fingertips.

A lifelike bee woven entirely from threads flew out.

It circled once through the Empress’s and Yiguna’s lines of sight... then landed on Li Qian’s backside.

“Careful!”

“Careful!”

The Empress and Yiguna cried out together.

Siniang called “Careful!” as well.

Then, without the slightest mercy, she slapped Li Qian directly across the backside.

Smack!

There was technique in this slap.

Of ten parts force, Siniang dispersed five along the way.

Only three landed directly on flesh.

The remaining two spread outward.

And when her fingertips lifted, they trembled rapidly, releasing the power she had withheld before in a series of faint vibrations.

For a moment...

Li Qian felt numb and tingling all over, as though countless tiny ants were circling and mischievously crawling across her body.

It hurt.

It genuinely hurt.

But there was also a strange rush of relief.

That too was real.

She could not even stop a long, broken little hum from slipping out of her throat.

Things changed.

People changed.

Time flowed.

Years ago, after Master took A’Cheng and Third Master into that laborer camp for the night, the Commandery Princess summoned him.

Master had knelt before her.

After refusing her proposal to recruit him as a household retainer, he might even have seen faint disdain on her face.

Back then... to Master and the Demon Kings, who had only just opened an inn in Hutou City... the Commandery Princess truly had been Heaven.

But now... even in front of the reigning Empress...

I just slapped your ass.

What are you going to do about it?

After that one slap, Li Qian’s face had already turned red.

Siniang flicked away the “bee” she had supposedly swatted dead and laughed.

“You really have gotten thin. There isn’t even enough flesh to make a proper wave.”

Then Siniang lowered her head, brought her mouth beside Li Qian’s neck, and rested her hand once more upon that rounded place, gently stroking it.

“You need to eat more. Understand?”

It was a threat.

The Commandery Princess whom Ji Old Sixth and Zheng Fan had once called a “madwoman”... had finally encountered the true king of this battlefield.

With no choice left, Li Qian bit her lower lip between her teeth and answered:

“Qian’er understands. Thank you, Elder Sis—”

Smack!

[End of Chapter 933]