Chapter 974: This Mandate of Heaven—I Will Write It Myself!

“Xiong Tingshan sent me a traveling-song troupe?”

“Yes. They were delivered before the lines last night. This subordinate already had them brought over. Xue San checked them. They are not assassins, only an ordinary traveling-song troupe. Some of their instruments do seem to have been prepared in advance with minor Qi Refiner techniques, but nothing capable of posing a threat. Master may rest assured.”

“Is this some ritual custom of the Chu aristocracy in wartime?” Zheng Fan laughed. “No, that doesn’t sound right either. Xiong Tingshan himself married a Shanyue woman when he was in Wutong Commandery. He should look down on those old Chu aristocratic games.”

“Yes.”

“Forget it. We’re idle anyway. Watching a performance sounds fine. I remember when we disembarked at Jing City years ago, there was traveling-song being performed on the docks too, wasn’t there?”

“Master remembers correctly. But Chu traveling-song troupes are divided into those for commoners and those for nobles.”

“Mm.”

“Your Highness, the meat filling is mixed.”

Liu Dahu carried over a basin of minced meat.

Zheng Fan took it and walked to the large iron cage in front of him.

Many hawks and falcons were locked inside.

They were a special species from the Tianduan Mountains, somewhat different from ordinary birds of prey.

Their eyes were red.

Zheng Fan had never particularly enjoyed keeping such creatures.

Usually Xue San took care of them.

Zheng Fan pinched off a ball of meat and tossed it into the cage.

The hawks immediately fought over it.

He kept a steady rhythm, throwing in one piece after another.

The Pixiu sprawled nearby raised itself slightly at the sight and gave a dissatisfied snort.

Zheng Fan turned his head and glanced at it.

The Pixiu immediately lowered itself again.

At first, this beast had only feared the Demon Kings.

It had not feared Zheng Fan, its actual master.

It had even treated Zheng Fan as another servant kept by the Demon Kings, much like itself.

Over the years, however, its understanding of master and servant had slowly changed and solidified.

Now the Pixiu feared Zheng Fan more and more.

Perhaps the reason was simple.

Back then, Zheng Fan had not truly resembled someone who stood above others.

Now... without exaggeration, there was genuine kingly aura around him.

Demonic beasts were extraordinarily sensitive to that sort of presence.

Once the basin was empty, Liu Dahu brought hot water and soap so Zheng Fan could wash his hands.

After washing, Zheng Fan glanced at his sleeves.

He had not donned armor today.

“Will the Chu attack today?”

“Most likely. Fighting has already continued on both wings for two days. The Chu should be too impatient to wait for those wings to finish and will force an assault on Zhennan Pass itself to save time.”

“Fine. Then I won’t go up on the walls. Fan Li and Third Master are already watching things there. If the Chu really smash into the pass in a single wave, whether I’m wearing armor won’t make much difference anyway.”

“Master is correct.”

“Let’s watch the show.”

“This subordinate will make the arrangements.”

The Grand Commander’s residence inside Zhennan Pass was not especially large.

Prince Pingxi Residence in Fengxin City was hardly extravagant itself, so the residences of commanding generals elsewhere naturally did not dare exceed it.

Still, everything necessary was present.

Tables and chairs had already been arranged in the courtyard.

Zheng Fan walked over, sat down, casually grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the tea table, and began cracking them one by one.

Siniang sat beside him, peeling a frozen pear for him.

A’Ming, after going two days without blood, looked somewhat listless.

He leaned against the back of a chair with one hand.

“What, enjoying yourself?” Zheng Fan teased.

“Soon. Soon.”

A’Ming yawned faintly.

Then, almost unconsciously, he extended his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.

The moment when he could finally feast—not merely eat his fill, but choose freely from a banquet—was already close.

Outside, the Blind Man led in one old man and three young women.

The old man carried an erhu.

His hair and beard were completely white.

The three girls wore plain blue-green robes.

They were young and graceful.

One carried a small drum.

One a small gong.

The third carried bamboo clappers used to beat rhythm.

But they were Chu people.

They had been delivered into a city held by Yan.

And now they stood before a Prince whose name in Chu was almost synonymous with killing god and demon.

Every calf trembled as they walked.

After giving a few instructions, the Blind Man returned to Zheng Fan’s side and sat in a chair opposite Siniang.

The old man and the three girls prostrated themselves shakily.

They kowtowed.

“What are they performing?” Zheng Fan asked the Blind Man.

“This subordinate already asked. It is a newly arranged piece prepared especially for this occasion.”

“That doesn’t sound like Xiong Tingshan’s handiwork. That rough bastard isn’t nearly cultured enough for this.”

“This subordinate thinks the same.”

“No matter. We’ll watch first. Let us cultivate ourselves a little and appreciate the folk arts of Chu.”

Zheng Fan leaned back.

Crossed one leg over the other.

Spat out a melon-seed shell.

Then said:

“Begin.”

“This lowly one obeys.”

“This common woman obeys.”

The old man looked around.

Then he sat cross-legged on the ground with the erhu in his arms.

The three girls arranged themselves in a triangular formation.

The girl holding the small gong crossed her arms once and struck its two pieces together, announcing the opening sound.

“CLANG!”

...

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

Chu trebuchets hurled enormous stones toward Zhennan Pass.

Some slammed heavily into the city walls.

Many others sailed directly over and crashed inside the pass.

Zhennan Pass had already been a mighty fortress during the age of the Three Jins.

After Prince Pingxi Residence took control of eastern Jin, repairs and reinforcement of this vital strategic pass had never ceased.

Its walls were thick and strong.

At least for now, there was no danger of them simply being smashed apart.

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

Before long, the Chu launched a second volley.

This time, they stopped aiming at the face of the walls.

They increased the angle, trying instead to strike the soldiers on the battlements and the ground behind them.

At moments like this, flying fragments of stone could be even more terrifying than arrows.

Against arrows, if you wore armor and had not offended your ancestors too badly, the armor could usually stop them.

A fist-sized chunk of stone slamming into that armor, however, could still knock a man senseless.

Many defenders on the wall were killed or wounded.

Laborers began carrying the injured away while auxiliary troops immediately took their places.

Then came the Chu army’s third volley.

This one carried fire oil.

From the walls, they could clearly see burning masses streaking through the air like flowing fire before crashing down with thunderous force.

The actual killing power was not especially high.

The effect on morale, however, was significant.

Earlier, Xue San had been leaning against a battlement and peering outside through an arrow slit.

He held a charcoal pencil and marked positions on paper.

Then he tossed the sheet to an armored soldier beside him.

The soldier immediately went to the inner side of the wall and began signaling with flags.

Before long, the Yan trebuchets inside the city—silent until now—finally answered.

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

Their first synchronized volley concentrated directly on the position occupied by the Chu trebuchet crews.

In an instant, it inflicted enormous damage.

Trebuchets were never precision weapons.

If someone drew a circle in the distance and demanded every stone land inside it, that was practically impossible.

But with a massed volley... many impossible things became possible.

“Fuck me. You want to play with technique? Grandpa here is your ancestor.”

Third Master cursed under his breath.

Then he quickly wrote another set of positions on paper and tossed it to a second waiting soldier.

The second bombardment came down.

Compared with the Chu army’s broad, crude suppression fire, the Yan strikes were vastly more precise.

After two concentrated volleys, the effectiveness of the Chu trebuchets immediately fell by more than half.

At that point, Chu arrow towers began moving forward.

Behind them came a whole collection of siege equipment.

The Chu army had gained no battlefield advantage.

It had not even finished removing the Yan fortified camps stubbornly resisting on Zhennan Pass’s two wings.

Yet it had already begun forcing direct siege contact.

That meant the Chu would pay a tremendous price in lives.

And plainly... the commander across from them no longer cared.

He meant to ignore casualties and use human lives to fill this pass as quickly as possible.

Behind the city gate, Fan Li stood silently with his twin axes resting on his shoulders.

Behind him waited a group of huge soldiers in heavy armor holding sabers and axes.

Behind them stood auxiliaries carrying jars of fire oil.

A flag signal came down from above.

“General! The order has come!”

Fan Li nodded.

He raised both axes.

Then roared:

“OPEN THE GATE!”

...

“The Son of Heaven of Xia opened a gate beneath Heaven.”

“Outside the gate lay ignorance.”

“Behind the gate stood All Xia...”

“From that day onward, the radiance of Xia covered the four directions.”

“All people beneath Heaven became people of Xia.”

“All land beneath Heaven became land of Xia...”

The lyrics were somewhat blunt.

But combined with the unusual singing style and their physical movements, the performance did carry a certain magnificent grandeur.

It was just that the subject matter...

Zheng Fan had stopped cracking melon seeds.

But whenever Siniang offered him a piece of preserved fruit, he still opened his mouth and ate it.

At the same time, the roar of trebuchets continued without pause.

The teacups on the table trembled with each distant impact.

The sounds of slaughter from the walls were growing louder as well.

Beyond the Residence, armored soldiers and laborers hurried continuously through the streets.

Wounded men carried down from the front passed the outer courtyard wall, crying out in pain as they went.

Yet inside the courtyard...

Great Yan’s Regent Prince continued watching the performance.

Inside and outside were two entirely different worlds.

The only real effect was that the old man had to play the erhu louder, and the three girls had to sing with more force.

“Xiong Tingshan sent me a troupe just to sing praises of Great Xia?”

The Prince found it difficult to understand.

He continued:

“Surely that old Fifth Xiong isn’t laying groundwork for his own surrender?”

The Blind Man replied:

“There should be some intention behind it.”

The traveling-song troupe kept singing.

The content was essentially the same throughout: how great Great Xia had been; how difficult the founding Son of Heaven’s undertaking had been; how the things Great Xia left behind continued shining through the ages and influencing later generations.

The lyrics were neat.

The rhymes were polished.

But none of that could conceal the emptiness of the content.

Siniang smiled.

“Far worse than the village operas back in eastern Jin.”

At that moment... wisps of white smoke rose from the old man’s erhu.

They entered his nose and mouth.

His expression changed instantly.

The fear disappeared from his eyes.

His face became solemn.

He raised his head.

And looked straight at them.

The Blind Man stood and moved in front of Zheng Fan.

“Master... the real play is beginning.”

...

“The real play is beginning. Bed crossbows—fire!”

Xue San saw Fan Li lead the saber-and-axe troops charging out through the city gate.

They hacked into the Chu soldiers before them while setting fire to arrow towers and other siege equipment.

At Xue San’s order, bed crossbows and various other heavy crossbows that had remained unused until now were pushed forward by the Yan army.

Crossbow carts were rolled into position and assembled.

Some carried three enormous bolts, each thick and long.

Others won through sheer quantity, rows upon rows of bolts packed densely together.

“Ready...”

“FIRE!”

“Ready...”

“FIRE!”

The Chu soldiers below were completely stunned by the sudden, dense storm of terrifying bolts.

A heavy crossbow like this could punch straight through the protective aura of a Martial Artist if it struck cleanly.

Against ordinary soldiers... armor was meaningless.

Bodies were pierced through.

Sometimes more than one man at a time.

This crushing curtain of bolts instantly cut the battlefield apart.

The Chu soldiers behind could not advance quickly enough to reinforce the men at the front.

That gave Fan Li and his troops time to chop wildly, set the siege equipment ablaze, then withdraw calmly back through the gate.

The Chu offensive was forced into a temporary halt.

But the Chu preparations were clearly extensive.

Or perhaps... the Chu had simply spent all these years dreaming of retaking Zhennan Pass.

Their army had not been idle.

Before long, defenders on the wall could see another batch of siege equipment being pushed forward.

A new round of attack and defense began.

Below the walls, Chu corpses already lay in layer after layer.

At last, scaling ladders were fixed against the walls.

Chu troops began swarming upward like ants.

Arrow towers were pushed close again.

Both sides exchanged volleys at short range.

Qin Dayong cut down a Chu soldier trying to climb over the battlement.

Before he could even turn his body... an arrow shot upward from below and struck him in the face.

More precisely... it pierced through the flesh around his mouth.

Qin Dayong endured the agony and pulled the arrow free.

A comrade beside him immediately stepped into his position and continued fighting.

Qin Dayong crouched with his back against the battlement.

It hurt.

Badly.

He felt as though half his face had been torn apart.

But he could not even scream to vent the pain.

Opening his mouth only made it worse.

“Go down and find a military physician! Get it bandaged!”

His Squad Leader shouted at him.

Qin Dayong shook his head.

The Squad Leader kicked him in the stomach.

“Get the fuck down there! The Chu slaves aren’t going to climb up just because we’re missing one of you. Go!”

Qin Dayong had no choice but to nod.

Keeping low, he moved toward the rear of the wall.

Laborers were waiting there.

One immediately helped him down.

When they reached the medical tents below, the laborer shouted out a number.

A clerk beside him recorded it.

Then the laborer immediately turned and ran back toward the walls to find more wounded men.

Eastern Jin’s soldiers and civilians rejoiced at the sound of war.

At moments like this, one could see it vividly.

Regular soldiers.

Auxiliaries.

Laborers.

Everyone was working toward his own military merit.

More importantly, eastern Jin’s battlefield medical system had been established personally by Siniang.

Back at Cuiliu Fort, after every battle it had been Siniang herself who treated wounds and stitched flesh.

Every army had always possessed some form of military physician.

But eastern Jin’s system was the most professional.

Adequate medical and logistical support cost an enormous amount of money.

But it was worth it.

More than worth it.

“This will hurt a little. Endure it.”

The military physician examined Qin Dayong’s wound.

Qin Dayong nodded and gestured with his eyes that he could take it.

Then...

“AAAH!”

The scream pulled at the wound.

Which made it hurt even worse.

“AAAAAAAH!”

At last, the disinfection was finished.

The physician bandaged the torn flesh on Qin Dayong’s face.

“Nothing serious. Relax. Medical rest!”

Qin Dayong was drenched in sweat.

At that moment, he felt the Chu slaves were far more lovable than the physician in front of him.

Another soldier with a saber wound was carried in.

The same physician who had just treated Qin Dayong walked over.

Then... before Qin Dayong’s eyes, that brother also screamed:

“AAAAAAAH!”

Disinfection.

Stopping the bleeding.

Applying medicine.

That simple process could save many soldiers who would otherwise die from infection.

It could also give men who would have been crippled a much greater chance to return to the battlefield.

But there was no possibility of the procedure being gentle.

This was not a quiet visit to a doctor at home.

In truth, many military physicians were ordinary doctors conscripted during wartime.

Some possessed Standard-Household status themselves, but in peacetime they still worked in clinics.

And perhaps because these ordinarily soft-spoken healers suddenly had an outlet for some hidden impulse, several actually wore faint smiles while listening to soldiers scream.

Qin Dayong held one hand over his bandaged face.

He had been placed on medical rest.

That meant the physician believed he should recover for now and preferably stay away from the front.

If the fighting became desperate enough, these “medical rest” wounded would receive orders to return to battle.

As long as no order came... the men above were still holding.

Qin Dayong found a place covered with white cloth and sat down.

He was not thinking about how a tiny shift in the arrow’s path could have sent it straight through the center of his face.

Instead... he found himself strangely grateful that he had already married a wife.

He wondered where his two younger brothers were now.

Were they all right?

Not far away, another wounded soldier was being treated.

He clearly was not going to make it.

The wound was simply too large.

The bleeding could not be stopped.

“Anything you want to say?”

The military physician leaned his ear closer, hoping to hear the man’s final words.

The wounded soldier’s lips trembled.

His mouth opened...

...

The old man holding the erhu opened his mouth.

At first, his voice was so hoarse no words came.

Gradually... sound emerged.

“Does the Regent Prince know the Mandate of Great Xia?”

Zheng Fan smiled without speaking.

“Your Highness, according to the Mandate, Great Xia shall rise again, and All Under Heaven shall be recast in a new tripod. Do you understand that you are already moving against the great momentum?”

Zheng Fan looked at the old man.

“What was the original momentum supposed to be?”

“Yan, Jin, Chu, and Qian were all destined to be overturned. A new Great Xia would rise once more. Those who violated Great Xia’s ancient oath would suffer Heaven’s punishment. If Your Highness turns back before reaching the far shore and follows Heaven’s will, Heaven will shelter your wealth and glory, your descendants will flourish, and peace and blessings will endure through your line. But if you persist in your own course... Heaven and Earth alike will cast you aside!”

What he spoke... was prophecy.

“Who exactly are you?” Zheng Fan asked.

“We are those who follow the Dao of Heaven. We came through this opportunity to offer Your Highness counsel. Heaven’s will cannot be defied. Even if one dominates for a time, how can one dominate forever? Your Highness has already acted against Heaven. The pattern beneath Heaven has been thrown into disorder by your hand. You should stop while there is still time. Give the Mandate of Heaven its dignity, and the Mandate of Heaven will grant Your Highness dignity in return.”

“Ai...”

Zheng Fan sighed.

“Your Highness has already been trapped inside the jar. The Mandate sent me here to help Your Highness escape and to grant you an opportunity to follow Heaven’s Mandate and perform a righteous deed. Your Highness should treasure it.”

“But this so-called Mandate of Heaven you keep talking about... in my eyes, it is exactly like the script you were singing before. Hollow. Boring. Not the slightest bit interesting. This script is absolute garbage. I truly cannot keep listening.”

“Your Highness means...?”

“Dahu! Pass the order!”

“Yes!”

Liu Dahu swung his saber and cut through the chain securing the great iron cage.

The cage opened.

A flock of hawks and falcons burst outward and shot straight into the sky before scattering in every direction.

They flew with astonishing speed.

Other hawks were already circling farther out.

Once they began calling and responding across the distance... the message traveled faster still.

From the eyes of the hawks soaring overhead... across the vast land below... one black torrent after another resembled enormous dragons quietly awakening from sleep.

With thunderous speed, they were rushing toward the princely banner flying above Zhennan Pass.

Inside the courtyard... the Prince stood with both hands behind his back.

He no longer looked at the old man.

His gaze lifted toward the vault of Heaven.

“The brush is in my hand. So why should I sit obediently and listen while you sing me your play? This script... no. This Mandate of Heaven... why can’t I write it myself? Perfect. I’ll start by using these five hundred thousand elite soldiers of Great Chu... to moisten my brush.”

[End of Chapter 974]