Chapter 987: A Warning from Great Yan

From a petty business deal among common folk to the struggle for All Under Heaven, sometimes having family and so-called relatives entangled too deeply in matters only made things less straightforward.

The difference was that ordinary people saw each other every day. Weddings, funerals, celebrations—sooner or later they had to meet. Their stakes were small, but precisely because of that, truly tearing relations apart could cost them relatively more.

Those fighting over the realm, by contrast, could often afford to be much more ruthless.

That was why, throughout history, for the sake of that chair, for the sake of the so-called “All Under Heaven,” fathers and sons had turned against one another and brothers had slaughtered brothers more times than anyone could count.

Great Yan’s Regent Prince had always been cold in matters of human feeling.

And the Emperor of Great Chu, both physically and psychologically, had long since departed from the category of ordinary men.

One great fire in Ying Capital had burned most of his brothers to death. He could even send Phoenix Pills into the hands of his own younger sister.

So when the two women had spent all that time earlier talking about “family this” and “family that,” they had not really been building a way down for the two men.

The women both understood perfectly well what kind of men these two were at heart.

They were building a way down for the two powers standing behind them.

Eastern Jin was, in name, Great Yan’s eastern Jin.

In reality, it was the Residence’s eastern Jin.

After this great victory, the Residence had swallowed yet another enormous stretch of territory that had once belonged to Chu. And the soldiers and people of eastern Jin had always recognized the Prince, not the Emperor.

True rulers did not need to exchange too many tender glances.

But they did need to consider the emotions of those below them.

Many times, for the sake of the greater situation and tangible benefit, you could calmly wipe spit from your own face and pretend nothing had happened.

The people beneath you, however... would keep shouting that they wanted face.

The marital tie between the two families already existed.

Family was family. Even after beating each other black and blue, family remained family.

Moreover, the Chu court had begun laying groundwork in this direction long ago. It had officially acknowledged Zheng Fan’s status as Great Chu’s Imperial Son-in-Law from the beginning. Every New Year and festival, officials from Chu’s Ministry of Rites brought gifts to eastern Jin for the sake of maintaining relations, and eastern Jin had never neglected the return courtesies.

At the same time, the fact that Prince Pingxi Residence’s little Princess was a Fire Phoenix spirit child had never been much of a secret inside Great Chu.

The Fire Phoenix was the totem of the Chu people.

Its symbolic meaning had, to a certain extent, already transcended the legal authority of the imperial court.

The Regent Prince had once joked that the true orthodoxy of Great Chu was in his own house.

It was not really a joke.

So-called orthodoxy could sometimes feel too rough even to wipe your ass with.

At other times, however, it was incredibly useful.

It was difficult to make people throw down their weapons and surrender purely because you possessed orthodoxy. But after they had already lost, it could greatly reduce their willingness to continue resisting and make it easier for them to accept your rule.

For now, Prince Pingxi Residence still needed Xiong Liqing, Princess of Great Chu, to appear personally, and still needed Chu traitors like Qu Peiluo and Nian Yao to serve as intermediaries.

But once Zheng Lanxin grew up... the Sword Saint’s direct disciple, a female Sword Immortal bearing the Fire Phoenix Bloodline, would descend before the world.

She would directly seize legitimacy within the inheritance of belief itself.

If the Regent Prince became even more shameless, he could simply change his daughter’s surname.

Zheng Lanxin could become Xiong Lanxin.

Or, if he decided to be more shameless still, he could simply add a prefix or suffix:

Zheng-Xiong Lanxin.

Or Xiong Lanxin-Zheng.

By loudly emphasizing the blood of the Xiong imperial clan within her body, she would also gain legitimacy among the ruling class.

Most importantly... behind Big Girl stood eastern Jin’s iron cavalry.

They could cheer for her, proclaim their support, and make that support absolute.

That was the iron fist.

The situation now was already close to exactly that.

The catastrophic defeat in the latest Yan-Chu national war had caused a fundamental imbalance.

Once that became the foundation... everything else could be discussed.

Even so... for his wife’s sake, and because his mother-in-law was still sitting there, the Prince gave the Chu Emperor plenty of face and continued using respectful forms of address.

Then *Your Majesty* could bow his head first.

The meaning of that sentence was essentially:

Trouble yourself to kowtow to me once.

Now that the conversation had reached the real subject... the Empress Dowager said:

“This Dowager is somewhat tired.”

“Imperial Mother, this daughter will help you go rest.”

Xiong Liqing helped her mother up and out of the sitting room.

The Blind Man pulled out yet another orange and waved it lightly in his hand.

Xie Yu’an smiled faintly and started walking out with him.

“Wait.”

Zheng Fan stopped them.

Then he turned toward his elder brother-in-law.

“I’ll call Yu Huaping in. Your Majesty can suffer a little disadvantage. All right?”

The Chu Emperor nodded.

The Blind Man and Xie Yu’an still left.

Immediately afterward... a figure in white stepped into the hall.

On this point... the Regent Prince had been suppressed by the Chu Emperor.

At least in bearing and presence, he had lost.

But the Regent Prince did not care about such petty matters of face.

He already held the real substance tightly in his hands.

As for scraps like soapberries and jujube pits... he truly could not be bothered.

The Sword Saint said:

“Dugu came as well.”

The Prince answered immediately:

“Have him wait outside.”

The Chu Emperor showed no reaction.

But no reaction meant the Swordsmith could not enter.

It was tacit acknowledgment that within this sitting room and the space around it, the Chu Emperor had accepted the weaker position.

Inside the hall... two men sat.

One man stood.

The arrangement was fixed.

The Chu Emperor asked:

“What is Brother-in-Law thinking about?”

The Prince answered:

“I’m wondering whether Old Yu is confident he can send my elder brother-in-law to Heaven within three breaths.”

With the women of the household gone, conversation among the men instantly became unscrupulous.

“Hahahaha.”

The Chu Emperor laughed.

Then he turned toward the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint said:

“Difficult.”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“What a pity. Still no guarantee.”

There was no need to doubt it.

Zheng Fan believed that with the Sword Saint’s current strength, suppressing his elder brother-in-law was certainly possible.

But killing him in a short period of time was almost impossible.

Defeating someone and killing someone had never been the same concept.

And the Fire Phoenix spirit inside his elder brother-in-law was itself particularly skilled at defense.

“With Chu as it is today, what difference does it make to you whether I live or die?” the Chu Emperor asked. “At worst, you choose another of my imperial sons and let him drag out Chu’s final days instead. On the other hand, if you let me kill...”

The situation in Chu was already terrible.

There was only so much worse it could become.

But if something happened to Zheng Fan, then first and foremost, the bond between eastern Jin and the Yan court would be severed.

Great Yan’s march toward unifying All Xia would be forced to stop immediately.

Instead, it would turn inward toward civil war.

Because eastern Jin’s military and political structure had always, with unwavering determination, traveled along a path prepared for rebellion.

It was no exaggeration to say that the only reason its internal contradictions had never exploded was because Zheng Fan himself kept forcing them outward.

Zheng Fan rubbed his neck.

Then mocked himself:

“I never imagined my life would become this important. More important than Your Majesty’s.”

“There has always been a saying inside Chu that back when we rode in the same carriage, I should have strangled you to death.”

“That Qian Emperor... oh, no, the Retired Emperor... hiss, not that either. In any case, the previous Qian Emperor thought the same way. Back then Baili Xianglan’s sword was practically resting against my neck already.”

The Chu Emperor shook his head.

“You would not have borne to do it.”

Zheng Fan smiled.

“Let’s discuss proper business.”

“Good.”

“Brother-in-law, lower Chu’s state status and declare yourself a vassal of my Residence.”

“If I lower the state’s status, I am still a Ruler. A Ruler declaring himself the vassal of a Prince?”

The Chu Emperor paused.

Then continued:

“That does not seem proper by principle.”

“In Yan, that means nothing. Back when I was only a Marquis, I could still kick an imperial Prince flat onto the ground.”

“If you declare independence now and establish your own state, I am willing to lead Chu in submitting to you.”

The Chu Emperor had given his condition.

If Zheng Fan founded a state now...

Chu would immediately submit a memorial of vassalage and become his subordinate state.

“Now is not the time,” Zheng Fan said.

“When will the time be?”

“That depends on the direction of the wind. Only when the wind grows strong can the fire burn properly. So, Brother-in-Law, why not throw in some fuel first and help it burn?”

“And if you truly intend with all your heart to remain a loyal minister of Great Yan, what am I supposed to do?”

“Hehehehehe...”

Zheng Fan laughed.

It was an exaggerated laugh.

Not restrained in the slightest.

He even had to cover his mouth.

Only after laughing for a long while did he finally stop.

Then he said:

“What are you supposed to do? No, Brother-in-Law... what *can* you do?”

The Chu Emperor’s gaze darkened.

“My plans were already discussed in advance between my people and yours. I did not ask Chu to submit to Yan directly because we are family. I wanted to leave Your Majesty some face, leave Chu some face, leave the Chu people some face. I intend to strike while the iron is hot and turn around immediately to attack Qian. So I need Chu to open the road for me now. No. Not merely open the road. I need Chu to assist me. Help maintain my logistics. Help clear the route. Even send some troops to fight alongside me. I want Nian Yao to lead the way for me now just as he once led an army into Qian!”

“You still want me to actively help you attack Qian?” the Chu Emperor asked. “Do you think I do not understand the principle that when the lips perish, the teeth grow cold?”

“But the lips are already gone. Who still cares about the damned teeth?”

Zheng Fan stretched lazily.

“The great momentum is mine. The advantage is mine. Heaven’s Mandate? Hehehe. Whether it exists or not no longer matters. What can it do to me anyway? Brother-in-Law, there is one thing we need to understand clearly. I am not standing here begging you. I am giving you an opportunity. If you refuse, fine. No problem.”

Zheng Fan lightly tapped the arm of his chair.

“Then I simply won’t leave. I’ll withdraw part of the army and leave the rest to garrison the newly conquered territory. As for me, I’ll go home. Back to Prince Pingxi Residence in Fengxin City. I’ll spend time with the children, tend some flowers, practice my saber, soak in the bath. I’ll rest for two years. We’ll digest what we’ve swallowed and replenish what we’ve spent. Then these old bones of mine will be ready to move again. Fine. We’ll simply fight another Yan-Chu national war. I’ll attack. Brother-in-Law can keep defending. We can do this once every two years. Even if I only take a few small cities every time, that is still enough. Five years from now, ten years from now, Brother-in-Law can look again and see exactly how much territory and how many people remain under you. Oh, and surely Your Majesty does not believe that after several more national wars, I would still be unable to take the present Ying Capital? By then, Brother-in-Law will probably be sitting in some mountain stockade in southern Chu, surrounded by Shanyue men hopping around and swearing absolute loyalty to you. At that point, are you still Emperor of Great Chu... or merely King of the Shanyue?”

The Chu Emperor fell silent.

Zheng Fan’s words were ugly.

But unfortunately... they were true.

Chu had lost the Battle of the Shaman Gods far too completely.

From this point onward, the Yan no longer even needed to take risks.

They could simply rely on national strength, grind Chu down slowly, and eventually kill it through attrition.

If Zheng Fan did not go attack Qian and instead continued sitting in eastern Jin, the forces beneath him would inevitably keep chewing away at Chu.

And submitting to the Residence had one obvious benefit that was practically written out in plain sight: division.

The hidden benefit was that both sides could enter a period of peace.

The Chu Emperor would gain time to continue reorganizing southern Chu, accumulating strength, and waiting for an opportunity.

That opportunity would be the day Zheng Fan and the Yan Emperor turned against one another.

Even if Zheng Fan and the Yan Emperor never fell out... the Chu Emperor could still place his hopes in the next generation.

He knew perfectly well that Zheng Fan’s son, the Heir Prince of the Residence, had a temperament that was... not pleasant.

Even if Zheng Fan himself was determined to be a loyal minister of Great Yan... what about the next generation?

If the Chu Emperor possessed one particularly outstanding talent, perhaps it was simply this: he lived a long time.

“Be more specific,” the Chu Emperor said.

“Submit a memorial declaring vassalage. Then both sides formally delimit their territories.”

“You will return some land?” the Chu Emperor asked.

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“I ride a Pixiu. It only goes in, never out. Anything I swallow, don’t even dream of making me spit it back up. In fact, in several ambiguous zones, I’ll scrape off a little more. Chu garrisons will need to retreat farther.”

The condition was humiliating.

Yet the Chu Emperor did not become angry.

Instead, he asked:

“And the sweet date?”

Zheng Fan leaned forward.

He looked at his elder brother-in-law.

“Qian’s Jiangnan is wealthy. Yan wants Qian’s Three Frontiers. As for the waters of Jiangnan, Brother-in-Law and I can share the rain and dew equally. You can use it to recover some blood.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Zheng Fan stood.

The Chu Emperor stood as well.

“One more matter,” the Chu Emperor said.

“Go ahead.”

“Lanxin can marry my Crown Prince.”

In this age, marriage between maternal cousins was not taboo.

Quite a few romantic stories even revolved around a male cousin and female cousin.

Zheng Fan said nothing.

The Chu Emperor continued:

“After Big Girl becomes Crown Princess, I can abdicate early and become Retired Emperor.”

Zheng Fan remained silent.

“Then the new sovereign can die young.”

Zheng Fan still said nothing.

“Big Girl can let the hen crow at dawn. In other words, I am willing to give Chu’s imperial throne to your daughter.”

Zheng Fan looked at the Chu Emperor.

Then spoke one word at a time:

“If she truly wants it, I, her father, can conquer it with my own hands and give it to her. Why would I need to trouble her maternal uncle to spend anything? Whatever her uncle can afford to give her, her own father can give more. And one more thing. Ji Chengjue does not even dare mention a marriage alliance to me because he is afraid I will turn hostile on the spot. As for Your Majesty... rest. And another thing. There will not be a next time.”

The Chu Emperor was genuinely somewhat surprised.

He was surprised that the man before him could switch so instantly between rational and emotional modes.

A moment earlier, Zheng Fan had been an old, seasoned politician.

In the next instant, he became a father willing to pay any price to protect his daughter.

“Liqing has a good husband. Big Girl has a good father. Fine. I will retreat one step. I will choose one imperial son and send him to your Residence as a hostage.”

“Why not the Crown Prince?” Zheng Fan asked.

“The Crown Prince is older. He would not be able to play together with Big Girl and the others.”

“That is no problem. Any imperial prince sent to me, so long as he behaves himself, can become Crown Prince in the future.”

“You do quite smoothly what you forbid me to do.”

Zheng Fan clapped his hands.

“Good. Then the two of us are agreed. We’ll leave the detailed articles to the people below us.”

“There is still one thing I want to ask you.”

“Go ahead.”

“You intend to borrow passage through Chu to attack Qian. Are you not afraid that I will betray you midway and join Qian in attacking you from both sides?”

Zheng Fan smiled dismissively.

“I will take only fifty thousand eastern Jin iron cavalry. To put it bluntly, if those fifty thousand eastern Jin cavalry are lost, it will be a loss to eastern Jin and a loss to Great Yan. But even if the sky falls, the destruction of fifty thousand cavalry would amount to no more than another defeat like Li Fusheng’s. As for me, if I fail to escape and Brother-in-Law smothers me to death... then rest assured. The arrogant generals I leave behind, including my son, will have only one thing left to do: at any cost, fight Chu without end until one side dies. Great Yan may no longer be able to unify All Xia. But Chu must perish! The Xiong Clan must be exterminated!”

Zheng Fan turned his head and looked at the Chu Emperor.

This was a threat.

An open and explicit threat.

A statement of fact built upon strength.

“Do you remember years ago, when we sat in the same carriage and you disguised yourself as that Young Master Su? You recited that *Full River Red*. To preserve yourself, you even changed the line to ‘eat the flesh of Yan barbarians.’ Now... Zheng Fan, why were you not born in Chu instead of Yan?”

The Prince sighed.

“I used to think Heaven would know.”

“You used to?”

“But now I’ve discovered... Heaven itself is confused.”

...

Yanjing.

The imperial palace.

The imperial study.

Eunuch Huang knelt on the floor.

Several Grand Secretaries sat nearby.

The Emperor sat upon the Dragon Throne, reading the letter Eunuch Huang had brought.

Only after finishing did the Emperor finally notice that Eunuch Huang was still kneeling there.

He immediately cursed:

“Wei Zhonghe, where are your eyes?”

“This servant deserves death! This servant deserves death!”

Eunuch Wei immediately carried over a chair and placed it beside Eunuch Huang.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Eunuch Huang climbed to his feet and sat down.

The Emperor asked:

“Did the Regent Prince have anything else for you to convey?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, when the Regent Prince gave this servant the letter, he also said... said...”

“What did he say?” the Emperor urged.

“He said that when Eunuch Wei told him years ago that he knew how to speak pleasantly, Eunuch Wei truly did have good eyes.”

“...” Wei Zhonghe.

The Emperor looked at Eunuch Huang.

Eunuch Huang was howling with delight inside, but wore an expression of extreme embarrassment.

“Your Majesty, this servant would never dare deceive the sovereign. The Regent Prince truly said exactly that at the time. He also instructed this servant to help him vent some anger on Eunuch Wei.”

“...” Wei Zhonghe.

At that moment, ten thousand Mr. Horns seemed to gallop through Wei Zhonghe’s heart.

How could that bastard surnamed Zheng be this petty?

A grudge from those years... and he had actually remembered it for a full ten years!

But there was nothing he could do.

Wei Zhonghe could only drop to his knees.

Then slap himself once on each cheek.

“Your Majesty, this servant is guilty.”

“Hehehe.”

The Emperor laughed.

“Fine. Our Regent Prince has won a great victory and asks for nothing else. His only request is to vent a little anger on Eunuch Wei. Wei Zhonghe, sacrifice yourself for the state for once. Go serve in the Laundry Office for one month. Companion Zhang will temporarily assume your duties.”

“This servant obeys the decree!”

The Emperor set the letter down.

Then he looked at the gathered Grand Secretaries.

“Chu is going to bow its head.”

Every Grand Secretary, together with Eunuch Huang and Eunuch Wei, immediately knelt.

“This minister congratulates Your Majesty and Great Yan!”

“This servant congratulates Your Majesty and Great Yan!”

Ji Chengjue nodded.

Then said:

“Mao Mingcai.”

“This minister is here.”

“Draft a decree for Us: ‘The petty traitors of Qian have rebelled against their superior, imprisoned and murdered their sovereign, overturned the proper order of ruler and minister, and provoked the shared fury of men and gods!’ Oh, right. What was the previous Qian Emperor’s era name again?”

Mao Mingcai immediately answered:

“Zhengxi.”

“Oh.”

The Emperor nodded.

Then instructed:

“Write the beginning yourself.”

“This minister understands.”

The Emperor only needed to give the general direction.

Mao Mingcai would turn it into polished prose.

At the same time, the final decree needed to make the Emperor look highly educated.

“But at the end, remember to add one sentence for Us.”

Mao Mingcai held his brush and looked toward the Emperor.

The other Grand Secretaries all turned their eyes toward him as well.

Qian had changed Emperors twice within a very short period.

By old custom, notices had been sent to the other states to seek recognition.

Yan, however, had yet to reply to either.

“Yan and Qian have enjoyed friendship for generations. Both are states of All Xia. Their rulers, ministers, and subjects are as brothers, bound in harmony and neighborly amity...”

Mao Mingcai recorded each phrase while nodding slightly.

The gathered Grand Secretaries also nodded gravely.

Clearly... they deeply agreed with their Emperor’s definition of relations between Yan and Qian.

Then the Emperor changed direction.

“When We were still an imperial prince, the late Emperor once held Qian’s Emperor Zhengxi up as an example for Us and instructed Us to learn from him, even telling Us from afar to regard him as an uncle.”

Every minister inside the imperial study immediately nodded.

Yes.

Absolutely.

That had definitely happened.

It was almost as though they had been the tables and chairs present when the late Emperor said those words.

“The Qian rebels have committed acts that defy the Way. If they do not correct the disorder themselves, then...”

The Emperor stood.

He slapped one palm against the imperial desk.

His voice sank.

“Then We will raise Great Yan’s iron cavalry and avenge Our Uncle, Emperor Zhengxi!”

[End of Chapter 987]