Chapter 973: Tiger Roars, Dragon Sings

Yanjing City.

Today was the Shangxiao Festival.

By Yan tradition, on this day people released lotus lanterns onto the river, symbolizing the living sending their longing away on the wick so that the dead might find peace.

There were already many festivals after the beginning of winter, and several important ones besides. In truth, the Shangxiao Festival had never ranked especially high among them.

Its origins lay in the darkest years of Yan’s struggle against the Barbarians, when the realm had been forced into war almost every year. The festival had been created as a way to mourn the sons of Yan who died fighting for home and country.

Over the past century, however, the Zhenbei Marquis Residence had held the desert frontier and pushed the Barbarians back. Among ordinary people, the festival gradually became little more than a date people remembered existed.

That began changing more than ten years ago, when Great Yan once again entered an era of frequent foreign wars.

And this year, by imperial edict, the Ministry of Rites had been ordered to organize the festival formally. A commemoration dormant for a century had been raised back into prominence.

Court officials had even received an additional day of leave.

The banks of the Liujin River were packed with people releasing lotus lanterns. Across the water, countless points of fire drifted like stars.

Some of Yanjing’s great wards had erected high platforms where celebrated courtesans danced. But today they competed neither in splendor nor allure; every one of them wore plain mourning-white.

Young scholars gathered in twos and threes to sing poems of military service, their voices rising and falling with ringing force.

Scholars of Yan had always been looked down upon by those of other states, as though literature and education simply refused to take root in Great Yan’s soil.

But after year upon year of imperial examinations, the literary culture of Yan was visibly growing.

Even now, however, Yan scholars still preferred sabers at their waists over folding fans, and fierce horses beneath them over sedan chairs.

After all, Great Yan’s Regent Prince had not only written military texts that introduced the scholars of All Under Heaven to the art of war; he also possessed astonishing literary talent, to the point that Qian’s Literary Saint had cursed him for turning elegant things into cheap popular lyrics.

The Regent Prince himself did not much enjoy composing “poetry.”

He thought doing so lacked taste.

That was genuinely how he felt.

Once the remark spread, however, outsiders interpreted it as another deliberate thrust at Qian, mocking its scholars with the implication that scholars were useless.

There was more.

In recent years, letters exchanged between the Emperor and the Regent Prince had repeatedly found their way out of the imperial study.

The format of the correspondence was impeccably formal. One could practically print the letters directly into official histories. In them, His Majesty and the Prince appeared to exhaust themselves over Great Yan’s present and future, jointly planning the direction of the realm.

Yet what common people cared about most were the occasional masterpieces by the Regent Prince hidden among those letters.

Masterpieces they truly were.

Every single one seemed destined to endure for a thousand years.

Combined with the unmatched popularity of the Regent Prince’s stories in teahouses and taverns, each new poem spread through the country almost instantly.

So today, the Regent Prince was not merely the largest mountain in Great Yan’s military establishment.

He had also become... a model of conduct for Great Yan’s scholars.

On the upper floor of Spring-Gazing Tower beside the Liujin River, Ji Chengjue stood in plain clothes and lightly tapped the railing with one hand.

A cup of grape wine rested in the other.

He smiled toward Mao Mingcai, Chief Grand Secretary, standing beside him.

“We hope the scholars of Great Yan can compose poems, write essays, understand morality—and at the same time mount horses, carry sabers, and bring peace beneath Heaven. That is what a true scholar should look like. Not those sour, rotten Confucians in Qian, doing nothing but measuring how old a man was when ‘an old pear tree pressed upon crabapple blossoms.’”

“Your Majesty is wise. In truth, that is precisely what scholars should have been from the beginning.”

“A pity that fellow Zheng refuses to come serve at court. Otherwise...”

“If the Regent Prince entered the court, then this minister would have no choice but obediently hand him my seat as Chief Grand Secretary.”

“Hahahahaha. Enough of that. Enough.”

The Emperor turned and entered the private room.

Mao Mingcai followed.

There were few people inside.

Eunuch Wei was helping Eunuch Nian arrange the bowls and chopsticks.

The Emperor sat.

Mao Mingcai sat as well.

Eunuch Nian and Eunuch Wei remained standing nearby.

“Nian Yao.”

“This servant is here.”

“Sit.”

“This servant obeys.”

Nian Yao sat down.

“Right now, Great Yan and your State of Chu are fighting their second national war. What do you make of it?”

Nian Yao answered:

“Replying to Your Majesty, while a national war is being fought, officials in the capital can still take festival leave, common people can still release lanterns, and Your Majesty’s Great Yan is far more at ease than it was in former years—even than during the late Emperor’s reign.”

“We believe that is what you truly think.”

“Yes. In the contest of national strength, Great Yan already stands above Chu. More importantly, the battlefield itself is currently inside Chu. From the reports Your Majesty allowed this servant to read, the point of deadlock lies across those three commanderies. Chu’s wealthy lands are in the north, exactly opposite Qian. And this time, Great Yan’s army marched in openly with the full strength of a proper host. It is not some raid like those of the past, striking and withdrawing. The damage to Chu’s national strength will be enormous.”

“Continue. Eat while you speak.”

Ji Chengjue picked up a shrimp with his chopsticks.

Eunuch Wei moved to peel it for him, but Ji Chengjue shifted the plate away.

The Emperor peeled the shrimp himself.

He twisted off the head, dipped it in vinegar, sucked from it once, and set it aside.

Then he slowly peeled the body, removed the vein, dipped the meat in vinegar, and put it into his mouth.

“In truth, the method Chu is using now is exactly the one this servant used when I was Grand General of Chu and faced the armies of Yan. Delay if you can. Endure if you can.”

“Do you think they can endure?” The Emperor picked up another shrimp and began peeling it.

“This servant believes they can. It will consume Chu’s national strength greatly, but the price of taking the initiative is simply too high, and the odds of victory are too low.”

“Heh.”

The Emperor dipped the newly peeled shrimp in vinegar and tossed it into Mao Mingcai’s bowl.

Then he accepted a wet towel from Wei Zhonghe and wiped his hands.

“So why didn’t you hold?”

“This servant grew greedy.”

“Then how can you guarantee your successor won’t grow greedy too?”

“This servant... truly cannot.”

“In truth, We do not understand warfare. Nor do We have much interest in learning now. We are Emperor. As a prince, We never had the chance. After becoming Emperor, there are some things one truly should not study recklessly. The most dangerous thing is to learn half a bucket’s worth, think one understands, and end up ruining the state instead. Heh. Just like that Supreme Daoist Emperor in Qian.”

Two stories about the Qian Emperor were the most famous and widespread.

The first had occurred when today’s Regent Prince was still merely a garrison officer and entered Qian’s capital to receive an audience. He mocked the Qian Emperor to his face for knowing nothing of war.

The Qian Emperor then gave a “cold laugh,” believed he held every advantage, and ordered the troops of the Three Frontiers not to return in support.

The result was that fewer than seventy thousand Yan troops marched grandly into Qian’s northern territory, fought their way in, then withdrew just as grandly. At the same time, the Zhenbei Army and Jingnan Army were allowed to borrow the road through Qian and strike into Jin.

The second example came when the Qian Emperor personally led troops in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the Regent Prince, who was then still Prince Pingxi.

The Regent Prince not only broke out successfully, he detached a force that took Qian’s capital as well.

When the Qian Emperor finally returned to a Shangjing reduced almost to ruins, he discovered in shock that the Crown Prince, who had escaped during the chaos, had already ascended the throne—and had even prepared a posthumous title for his father.

Not even a flattering one.

There was actually the character “Li,” the Stern, inside it.

In both stories, the man standing on the other side had been the Regent Prince.

There was simply no hiding them.

Even if the Qian wanted to bury the stories, the Yan certainly would not permit it. They spread them with enormous enthusiasm.

And since Qian people had long irritated the rest of All Xia with their self-proclaimed cultural superiority, everyone else happily joined together in inventing fables at Qian’s expense.

Still, strictly speaking, the Qian Emperor had indeed made mistakes in both cases.

But to be fair... both were understandable.

The first time, he lost to Prince Jingnan Tian Wujing. Prince Jingnan saw straight through every one of his moves, calmly borrowed the road, and even created a supporting diversion along the way.

The second time, he encountered Prince Pingxi Zheng Fan, who at the time still believed he was barely hovering around the level of “knowing a little” about warfare and remained rather insecure about it.

For an Emperor who preferred cultivating the Dao and preserving his health, mastery of imperial checks and balances was already respectable.

Unfortunately, he had insisted on stepping personally into the arena against Great Yan’s two generations of Gods of War.

Losing... was hardly surprising.

Nian Yao nodded.

“Great Yan has produced two generations of sage sovereigns. Both understood how to recognize men, employ them, and trust them. That is the foundation upon which Great Yan grows ever stronger.”

The Emperor actually disliked being praised together with his father.

At court, there was no helping it. He had to pinch his nose and accept the political inheritance and influence left by his old man.

In private, though...

“If Our imperial father had truly known how to let go completely, there would never have been the first defeat at Wang River.”

How could Ji Chengjue possibly not know what had happened in that first defeat?

His father had wanted to cultivate a Ji-clan general and placed the man above his elder brother.

The result nearly destroyed his elder brother along with him.

“That is why We learned the lesson. If that fellow Zheng wants grain, give him grain. Laborers, give him laborers. Troops, give him troops. Whatever he asks for, give it to him and let him do as he pleases. A thousand pieces of gold cannot buy peace of mind.”

“Your Majesty’s breadth of heart is extraordinary. Few Emperors through the ages could compare.”

“Are you trying to say you never received treatment like that when you were in Chu?”

“This servant would not dare...”

“Our surname is Ji, not Xiong. What is there not to dare say? Truthfully, this matter really cannot be blamed on that Emperor of yours. Nian Yao... are you even worthy of being compared with that fellow Zheng?”

“This servant is not.”

“Not in talent. If We coax that fellow Zheng properly, if We dig out Our heart and hand it to him, then We can take the Crown Prince to his home and sleep soundly under his roof. You, Nian Yao, are a starving wolf. The kind that cannot be tamed.”

Nian Yao fell silent.

“Nian Yao, there is one thing We have always wanted to ask you. Deep in your heart, do you hate Us more... or do you hate that fellow Zheng more?”

Nian Yao seemed to think.

Then he shook his head.

“I cannot muster the hatred anymore.”

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

“We do not believe you.”

“Your Majesty, this servant has already become what I am now. What other thoughts could I possibly have?”

“We still do not believe you. You, Nian Yao, are not numb to that degree. That is one of the things We find most astonishing about you. Ai. Among the countless waves of living people, anyone capable of riding at the crest—even for only a brief while—could never have been an ordinary figure. Nian Yao, We actually find it a pity for you. We once asked that fellow Zheng whether he feared losing. He answered: terrified. Yes. The more a man wins, the less he can afford to lose. Heaven knows what sort of state one defeat might reduce him to.”

“Your Majesty, this servant truly feels nothing toward any of that anymore.”

The Emperor leaned back in his chair.

“But when you ate the shrimp just now, you still removed the vein.”

“...” Nian Yao.

“Good. You still remember to remove the vein before eating shrimp. That proves you still have standards. If you have standards, you still have thoughts.”

At that moment, attendants brought in a new dish.

Roast duck.

The Emperor smiled when he saw it and pointed toward the platter.

“We used to roast ducks personally. Quande Restaurant, the most famous place in the capital nowadays, used to be Our business. So sometimes We truly feel that being Emperor is not so different from being a cook. When you have excellent, precious ingredients, you steam them and scatter a little salt over the top. Simple, yet refined. You can even claim you are doing it to preserve the original flavor. When the ingredients are poor, however, you need heavy oil and strong seasoning just to suppress the fishiness or stench. And even then, the meal might still upset your stomach. Our imperial grandfather cultivated the relationship with the Zhenbei Marquis Residence. To clear the road for Our father without wasting time, and to avoid leaving Our father with the stain, he swallowed pills until he literally killed himself. Our father... was an old beast...”

Mao Mingcai’s chopsticks trembled.

He pretended not to hear anything.

“But that old beast, for all the hell he put Great Yan through, still remembered before dying to help Us destroy the Barbarian Royal Court. Heh. When We inherited the throne, there were worries within, but no great external threat. Even when Qian and Chu joined hands and tried to make some noise, We had that fellow Zheng to help shove them back. We had a difficult time as a prince. Exhausting, truly. But We still married and had children. After becoming Emperor, life actually became easier. To put it rather unpleasantly, if that Xiong Emperor of yours—or even that Supreme Emperor in Qian—switched places with Us, they might not necessarily perform any worse. The situation differs. The wind differs too. That fellow Zheng once said that when the wind rises, even a pig can be blown into the sky and start lecturing you on great principles. We... Our Great Yan... are standing in that wind right now.”

“Nian Yao. This time, We have decided to give you one more chance. We will send you to eastern Jin. You will report to that fellow Zheng. First, you know Chu. Second, you still have many old subordinates inside Chu with whom contact might be possible. That fellow Zheng never told Us his plan for this war, so We do not understand exactly how he intends to fight it. But We simply believe he can win. And that he certainly will. You understand as well as anyone what another defeat would mean for Chu under the present circumstances and balance of power. Chu... cannot afford another defeat. We will send you there. Help Us push one more time against this roof beam called Chu. We asked that fellow Zheng in a letter. He agreed. So... are you willing to go?”

Nian Yao immediately left his seat and prostrated himself.

His voice was utterly sincere.

“This minister is willing to relieve Your Majesty’s worries. I am willing to pledge loyalty to Great Yan!”

Six years earlier, Nian Yao had spoken almost the same words.

The news that followed was that his wife and children had drowned in the river.

Six years later...

Nian Yao spoke them again.

The Emperor rose and walked once more to the railing outside.

Below him lay the lights of the Liujin River.

The common people had begun shouting on their own:

“May the Prince win a great victory! May the Prince win a great victory!”

“Great Yan will triumph! Great Yan will triumph!”

The people of Yan had grown accustomed to victory in war.

They had long since lost that most primitive fear of warfare.

Ji Chengjue’s father had once proved something to him.

As long as victories kept coming, the people of Yan could endure hunger.

Could endure hardship.

Their capacity for suffering was terrifying.

In truth, what was frightening was not the State of Yan itself.

It was the temperament of old Yan.

That was the soil from which his father had grown.

From which Prince Jingnan and Prince Zhenbei had grown.

From which generations of good sons of Yan had risen, men willing to charge and kill to expand Great Yan’s frontiers.

The Emperor drew a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He enjoyed the atmosphere for a moment.

Then Nian Yao slowly approached.

He seemed hesitant.

But in the end, he still spoke.

“Your Majesty... can this minister truly go?”

“You think We are deceiving you? An Emperor does not speak in jest. That fellow Zheng has a great general under him who spent all these years stationed at Fan City—the former Savage King. That fellow Zheng killed Qu Peiluo’s father and indirectly caused nearly his entire clan to be exterminated. Yet he still dared employ Qu Peiluo to establish the Chu Battalion. You, Nian Yao... what makes you some especially remarkable onion? Other than the one below being cut off by him, of course. Before the magnificent tide of the age, if All Xia can be unified even one day earlier, the realm can find peace one day earlier. Compared with the unification of the entire realm... every personal matter becomes insignificant. We give you this chance. That fellow Zheng has also agreed to give you one chance. And you... only have this one.”

“Your Majesty’s breadth of spirit commands this minister’s admiration.”

“How does it compare with your Chu Emperor?”

“My old master is also a good Emperor. His heart was not narrow either. Just as Your Majesty said earlier, different ingredients require different methods of cooking.”

“Still honest.”

“This minister has one more question. Although Your Majesty already answered it just now, I still find this sudden trust... somewhat overwhelming. Does Your Majesty truly have no fear at all that this minister might...”

At that moment, a child began crying in the neighboring private room.

The Emperor frowned.

“Annoying.”

Wei Zhonghe gave a look.

Two Imperial Palace guards standing by the door went out and entered the neighboring room.

Before long, they returned carrying a swaddled infant.

The child was still crying.

“What a tiresome little thing. Irritating.”

The Emperor beckoned.

At the same time, he continued speaking to Nian Yao.

“We originally thought We would like children. Later We discovered We actually hate crying and trouble. Only the Crown Prince was obedient and sensible from the time he was little and knew how to ease his father’s burdens. Those brats below him annoy Us every time We see them.”

The Emperor reached out and grabbed the bundle.

Far too casually.

He was not a Martial Artist.

The child slipped straight downward.

Nian Yao instinctively reached out and caught the infant.

He lowered his head.

His entire expression froze.

It was a strange, indescribable feeling.

And when Nian Yao held the child... the crying stopped.

“Oh? Grandparents truly do dote on the generation below. My Crown Prince was the same. That old beast only knew how to spoil him.”

Nian Yao’s body trembled.

He turned toward the Emperor in shock.

“Your Majesty... what did you just say?”

The Emperor leaned closer and looked at the child in Nian Yao’s arms.

“His surname is Nian.”

“His name is Nian Fu.”

“He is your biological grandson.”

“I... he...”

Nian Yao’s eyes reddened.

He stared at the infant in disbelief.

Then looked back at the Emperor.

“Your Majesty... this...”

Wei Zhonghe spoke.

“Your wife fell seriously ill last year. After treatment by the imperial physicians, she recovered. Only her eyes cannot tolerate much light. Her hands, feet, and body are all still healthy. Your son married long ago. His wife came from a poor family, but she is a respectable-looking woman. They already have two sons. This is the younger one, newly born. His name is Nian Fu. Your elder grandson is called Nian Li. Your daughter is married too. She took a husband into the family and has one son, named Nian Kuan. And now your daughter has just conceived again. Eunuch Nian... this old eunuch is so jealous of you he could cry. We can only collect a crowd of adopted sons and adopted grandsons. You, though? You serve as a eunuch while collecting real grandsons and real maternal grandsons. Tsk, tsk.”

Nian Yao’s mouth remained open.

He kept breathing in.

Breathing out.

Tears gathered in his eyes.

The Emperor reached out and patted Nian Yao on the shoulder.

“You were just asking why We dare release you so easily, yes? Because We cannot lose. If you, Nian Yao, go away and never return... fine. One Eunuch Nian leaves the palace, and We can bring in an entire batch of... little Eunuchs Nian. We would actually come out ahead. Wouldn’t you agree... Grand General Nian?”

Nian Yao drew in a deep breath.

He carefully handed the child back to the guard.

Then he stepped back two paces, dropped onto one knee, and pressed his fist against the floor.

“This general is willing to destroy Chu for Your Majesty!”

The Emperor turned away.

He no longer looked at Nian Yao.

Wei Zhonghe stepped closer.

“Grand General Nian, go down and prepare. His Majesty has already ordered this old eunuch to select a residence for you in the capital. All it lacks now is a plaque reading ‘Nian Residence.’”

Nian Yao nodded and stood.

He gave the infant one final look.

Then, under the guidance of another guard, he left the private room.

From now until the moment he entered eastern Jin and met the Regent Prince, men from the Secret Intelligence Department would accompany him the entire way... as an escort.

Mao Mingcai also requested leave at that point.

He still needed to take his shift at the Grand Secretariat.

Officials might have festival leave, but they obviously could not all rest at once.

Soon, only the Emperor and Eunuch Wei remained in the room.

“Wei Zhonghe.”

“This servant is here.”

“Have Lu Bing accompany Nian Yao to eastern Jin. He has rested for several years. It is time he came out and moved around again.”

“This servant obeys.”

The Emperor stretched lazily while looking down at the Liujin River.

“So you see... Nian Yao is far inferior to that fellow Zheng.”

“Of course. Nian Yao was defeated by the Regent Prince, after all.”

The Emperor shook his head.

“That is not what We mean. We mean this matter.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Tell Us. What would happen if the child brought over just now had not been Nian Yao’s grandson... but one of that fellow Zheng’s children?”

“Hiss...”

Wei Zhonghe had served two generations of sovereigns.

His self-control was exceptional.

He was also a Qi Refiner himself.

Yet the moment that hypothetical was spoken aloud, every bit of composure shattered.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“Hahahahahaha!”

The Emperor saw his reaction and burst into laughter.

Pure, delighted laughter.

Wei Zhonghe laughed along.

“Heh... heh-heh... hehehe...”

Years earlier, when Zheng Fan killed former Chief Grand Secretary Zhao Jiulang on Xiping Street in the capital, Wei Zhonghe had “watched” the entire thing from afar.

A mighty Chief Grand Secretary of Great Yan... slaughtered by the Regent Prince as casually as killing a chicken.

Still, Wei Zhonghe knew perfectly well that his Emperor would never do such a thing.

Because of friendship?

No.

It had long surpassed mere friendship.

Precisely because of that, the relationship between His Majesty and the Regent Prince had been pressed so firmly into place that it had become... unshakable.

The Emperor raised his head toward the bright moon.

He sighed.

“Fortunately... there is only one Zheng Fan in this world.”

Wei Zhonghe was just about to agree.

Then the Emperor sighed again.

“Fortunately... there is a Zheng Fan in this world.”

[End of Chapter 973]