Chapter 1008: I Have Come!

The Three Frontiers.

Beneath the great standard of the Son of Heaven of Great Yan, the Emperor sat in his imperial carriage and watched the siege ahead.

Farther off to either side, wounded soldiers and corpses could clearly be seen being carried down from the front.

And still the assault on the walls raged without pause.

Standing around the Emperor were Eunuch Wei, Eunuch Zhang, Chief Grand Secretary Mao Mingcai... and one slightly reduced mountain of flesh.

Xu Wenzu.

Fatty Xu truly was one of Great Yan’s bricks.

Wherever he was needed, he was moved there.

During the previous Yan-Chu national war, Xu Wenzu had been dispatched to Ying Capital as an Imperial Commissioner and placed in overall charge of logistics.

When that war finally ended after more than half a year, another imperial decree transferred him to Yinlang Commandery.

He had returned to the place where his dream had begun.

In truth... it was also the place where Garrison Commander Zheng’s dream had begun.

For more than ten years, Qian’s Three Frontiers had existed in a peculiar gray zone.

The Qian knew their Three Frontiers were extremely solid.

The Yan knew it too.

So although the Yan had shouted again and again over the years that they would smash the Three Frontiers, they had mostly only shouted.

They had never truly tried.

The purpose was usually mutual convenience—manufacturing a tense border atmosphere in order to pin forces and support fighting elsewhere.

This time... was different.

The Yan army had come.

The Emperor of Yan had come.

And the Yan army was genuinely attacking the Three Frontiers.

This was no feint.

No performance.

They were paying real and extremely heavy losses to gnaw at these tamped-earth walls.

And the fighting had proved that the Three Frontiers truly were difficult to attack.

This was only one of the main fortified cities.

Other relief armies had already been driven back.

Even so, there was still no sign that the walls could be broken quickly.

“Hss... hss... hss...”

The Emperor watched the brutal deadlock with his own eyes.

Wounded men.

Dead soldiers.

His face tightened painfully.

“Every day this consumes so much of Our grain. And then We have to pay so much silver in death compensation afterward. We... truly feel the pain.”

Mao Mingcai had no choice but to advise him.

“Your Majesty, please speak cautiously.”

The soldiers were throwing away their lives attacking the walls.

How could the Emperor stand behind them talking about how much the silver hurt?

If those words spread... they would badly stain the sacred reputation of the throne.

Xu Wenzu laughed.

“Lord Mao, I think you’re wrong. Think about it. If the soldiers dying out there possess awareness beneath the Nine Springs, would they rather His Majesty shed a few tears for them—or sit here calculating exactly how much compensation their wives and children will receive?”

Mao Mingcai paused.

“The logic may be so, but His Majesty is still His Majesty. He should not...”

“Enough, enough. Everyone here is one of Our own. What is there to worry about?”

The Emperor stood from the imperial carriage.

“Lanyang City still hasn’t moved?”

Xu Wenzu answered:

“No.”

“Heh. Good thing We brought only the two of you close to the imperial presence this time. If We had dragged all those people from court along, they would probably have exploded already. They’d be shouting that the bastard surnamed Zheng deliberately made the court army bleed while he watched from across the river and preserved his own strength.”

“Your Majesty is sagacious. In warfare, this subject and the others fall far short of the Regent Prince.”

“Include Us in that. We don’t understand warfare either. Fortunately, when We don’t understand something, We know how to obey. Whatever cooperation that bastard surnamed Zheng wants from Us, We cooperate. And how far into this are we, really? Even if We lose the entire family fortune, We won’t blink once. Imperial Father’s generation gambled the fate of the state at every turn. Compared with that, what does this little thing count for?”

Xu Wenzu said:

“It is fortunate that Your Majesty came in person.”

The Emperor sighed.

“We didn’t actually want to come. But We were afraid Our elder brother and Li Liangshen wouldn’t bear to spend this family foundation. So this time... We came to act as overseer. Even We think the bastard surnamed Zheng is playing too big and taking too great a risk this time. But since he has already climbed onto the gambling table... then We can only put the family fortune down beside his.”

...

The Three Frontiers had long since become an endless battlefield.

Lanyang City, however... remained strangely peaceful.

Outside the city, Yan troops and Yan encampments stretched densely beyond sight.

Flying above them was the standard of Great Yan’s Regent Prince.

Behind Lanyang City, the Qian camps were just as dense and equally impossible to see through at a glance.

Above them flew standards bearing the surnames Meng, Zhong, and Han.

The two great armies faced one another with Lanyang City standing between them.

The Yan did not attack.

The Qian did not move out.

Both sides seemed to have reached a tacit agreement to continue this... peaceful serenity.

Inside the Yan commander’s tent, Gou Moli sat issuing one military order after another, directing the daily movements of the entire army.

On the walls of Lanyang City...

Hero Chen stood with the defenders, hugging a sword that the Sword Maid had bought for him from a blacksmith’s shop at South Gate Pass.

His brows... were drawing tighter by the day.

Hero Chen knew Zheng Fan regarded him as a friend.

But Hero Chen also knew his own face was nowhere near important enough for that bastard Zheng to refrain from ordering an assault merely because he was standing here.

Especially yesterday... when Lanyang City’s Military Commissioner had toured the walls with a group of generals.

All of them had worn unmistakable smiles.

As though something joyous had already happened.

Or was about to happen.

Hero Chen did not know why.

But the moment he saw those smiles... his heart tightened further.

He had once spent a very long time beside Zheng Fan.

Sometimes when Zheng Fan campaigned against places other than Qian, Hero Chen would remain inside the command tent and protect that bastard surnamed Zheng.

So... he had seen far too many of Zheng Fan’s former opponents smile happily... right before things went wrong.

Hero Chen was a rough man.

A Martial Artist.

He did not understand military affairs.

He did not understand the grand situation beneath Heaven.

In fact... he was not especially educated.

So he could not analyze this feeling.

He could not write it down on paper.

But instinct told him to speak.

To warn the Military Commissioner about the unease in his heart.

Yet when Hero Chen approached and asked for an audience... the Military Commissioner’s personal guards stopped him from far away.

He had Yao Zizhan’s protection and endorsement.

He possessed the name of a great hero.

So he could enter Lanyang City.

He could climb the walls.

He could help defend them.

If he wished to serve the state in the name of a jianghu man, no one could stop him.

But everyone also knew that although Hero Chen was a Qian man... he was intimately acquainted with the Regent Prince.

So the Military Commissioner did not dare let him come close.

And yet... when Hero Chen had first entered Lanyang City to report military intelligence that was already hopelessly late, that same Military Commissioner had received him warmly.

Asked after his health.

Treated him with great cordiality.

Hero Chen finally understood something.

Perhaps that audience had never been granted because of Master Yao’s face.

Because on that day, the Military Commissioner had gone out of his way to ask him one particular question.

He had asked:

“How is the Regent Prince’s health these days?”

...

Shangjing.

The imperial palace.

After the day’s council in the imperial study ended, Zhao Mugou returned to his sleeping palace.

Once again, he dismissed the eunuchs and palace maids.

Alone... he faced the painting of the female Sword Immortal.

Zhao Mugou had always possessed the habit of speaking to the painting every so often.

Over the last two months, however... the frequency had increased.

Nearly every day.

That meant the Emperor’s heart was becoming increasingly tense.

“We asked Li Xundao whether this would succeed. Li Xundao told Us that Great Qian has already done everything it can do. Arranged everything it can arrange. Now... all that remains is to wait for the result from Jiangnan. It should be soon. Even if the Yan have discovered something is wrong... it is already too late for them to do anything. But so long as one day passes without a confirmed military report reaching Us—no. So long as one day passes without the Regent Prince’s head being placed on Our imperial desk—Our heart cannot settle for even one day. Would you think... that We are a cowardly and useless Emperor? So where exactly are you? If you were beside Us now, accompanying Us, then Our heart would not be so unsettled. Because only if you are at Our side... can that prove Our dream was real. Only then would it mean... that We truly are the one upon whom the Mandate of Heaven has fallen.”

...

The Qian army sounded the gongs for withdrawal.

Xie Yu’an loosened the leather armor on his body and leaned back tiredly against the steps.

Ever since the Qian began attacking the city, Xie Yu’an had personally taken charge of one entire stretch of wall.

It was exhausting.

Far from easy.

When he lowered his head... one could see that the two long locks at his temples—the locks that had symbolized the elegance of Great Chu’s nobility—had long since been cut away.

The Swordsmith walked over.

He had no wounds.

But clear scorched marks covered his clothes and face.

Compared with his former fastidiousness, when even walking in the wind required him to control how every lock of hair moved... he looked extraordinarily miserable.

A-Da offered a water skin.

The Swordsmith shook his head.

A-Da handed it to Xie Yu’an instead.

Xie Yu’an took it and drank.

A-Er brought over a basin of clean water.

The Swordsmith began washing his face.

When he finished, A-Er was about to pour the water away.

Xie Yu’an reached out and stopped him.

He took the basin.

Then used the same water to wash himself.

“Ever since you personally watched that Xie Clan light cavalry detachment get annihilated in front of the city, you’ve been... working even harder.”

That same day...

Xie Yu’an, who originally could have stood in the rear with a feather fan and scholar’s headcloth while issuing orders, had instead put on leather armor and cut off the long locks at his temples.

“Wasn’t I working hard before?” Xie Yu’an asked.

“Oh, you were. That was working hard. What you’re doing now... is staking your life.”

Xie Yu’an accepted the cloth the Swordsmith had just used on his own face and wiped himself with it.

He sighed.

“I have a good father.”

“That’s what I don’t understand. What exactly happened?” the Swordsmith asked.

He genuinely did not understand.

“Many people call me the Xie Clan’s Thousand-Li Colt. For a long time, I thought the same way. I always believed that old man of mine must have accumulated some enormous fortune to end up with a son like me. Only now do I understand how fortunate *I* had to be... to have a father like him.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to.”

Xie Yu’an reached out and placed a hand on the Swordsmith’s shoulder.

Then said very seriously:

“I’ll look after the Dugu Clan.”

“What gives you the right?” The Swordsmith narrowed his eyes slightly. “I understand some of this. Not all. I’m missing the key link.”

“Everyone beneath Heaven says Great Yan’s Regent Prince values loyalty and keeps his promises. My father is in Tongyan City right now. And I am the only one of his family at the Prince’s side. Just wait. The Prince will...”

The Swordsmith coughed lightly.

Xie Yu’an stopped talking.

Not long afterward... a figure in a black python robe appeared at the corner of the street ahead.

The moment he appeared, soldiers and wounded men nearby instinctively stood.

They had defended the city for so long.

At last... they saw their Prince.

No one complained.

No one grumbled inwardly.

When this army faced its Prince, there was nothing except loyalty.

The Prince walked directly toward them.

At his side were His Highness the Heir Prince and the Sword Saint.

The Swordsmith looked down at his own filthy appearance.

Then looked at the Sword Saint’s immaculate white clothes.

He spread both hands in disbelief.

The Sword Saint... very seriously looked the Swordsmith over from head to toe.

Then... looked away.

The gesture nearly made the Swordsmith vomit blood from anger.

If he had not known how much strength he had already spent defending the walls... if he had not known that he could not defeat the Sword Saint in a direct duel... the Swordsmith truly wanted to slap open the sword case and argue with steel!

*Why am I half killing myself defending your city while you stroll around perfectly clean?*

The same problem applied to the Prince.

His python robe had obviously just been changed before coming out.

Xie Yu’an looked like this.

So what exactly were the Qian outside fighting so desperately for?

To capture the Xie Clan’s Thousand-Li Colt?

Or Great Yan’s Regent Prince?

The Prince reached out and placed a hand on Zheng Lin’s head.

Zheng Lin’s expression was rather grim.

Clearly, he had resisted not long ago.

And equally clearly... the resistance had been suppressed.

If someone pulled up the sleeve of the Heir Prince’s python robe, a whole string of tiny needle holes could be seen underneath.

Those came from an argument with his biological father earlier.

His biological mother had nearly sewn him into a “straw man.”

Zheng Lin stepped forward.

He bowed to the Swordsmith.

Then said:

“I want a sword.”

The Swordsmith froze.

Then joy exploded across his face.

This was not a formal apprenticeship ceremony.

But at least... it counted as half of one.

It was rare enough for the Heir Prince to voluntarily speak to him like this.

Even rarer...

Yu Huaping said nothing.

“Easy. Easy,” the Swordsmith answered quickly.

He had been entangled too deeply with worldly matters.

And he loved forging swords too much.

At this stage, it was already difficult for him to keep climbing the Sword Dao and chase Yu Huaping’s back.

That was why he cared even more about inheritance than the Sword Saint did.

More importantly... if the Heir Prince asked him for a sword, and this half-master’s courtesy existed between them, then the Dugu Clan behind him had also established a thread of incense and affection with the Heir Prince of Prince Pingxi Residence.

His clan had provided him resources.

That was what had allowed him to forge swords year after year and live freely.

As a son of the clan... he naturally carried responsibility for its continuation.

This... was enough.

From now on, the Swordsmith could truly wander the jianghu without carrying the clan on his back.

Mm.

Of course, all of this depended on Jinghai City not falling.

On this father and son returning safely to eastern Jin.

Otherwise... everything was empty talk.

But after looking at Xie Yu’an... then looking at the Prince... the Swordsmith, despite understanding almost nothing, somehow felt calm.

Immediately afterward... the Prince sat beside Xie Yu’an.

Xie Yu’an shifted a little farther aside and lowered himself slightly.

“You have a good father.”

The Prince repeated the same words Xie Yu’an had just spoken.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Xie Yu’an replied.

“I’m curious. Did your father guess all of this early?”

“This subordinate... does not know.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“One of the Four Pillars of State indeed.”

Xie Yu’an did not know whether to laugh or cry.

And he deliberately let that expression show.

“Your Highness... those words sound somewhat inappropriate coming from you.”

*One of the Four Pillars of State indeed.*

From someone else, it would sound like praise.

But coming from a Prince who had the heads of three Pillars of State on his account... the sentence sounded strange no matter how one heard it.

“Recently, this Prince has been thinking about something. If one judges victory and defeat solely by who lives and who dies, that may be too arbitrary. Take the three men once ranked beside this Prince. That young Barbarian prince... truthfully, this Prince never paid much attention to what he did in the desert and knows little about it. But I imagine he was no ordinary man. Otherwise the old Barbarian King would never have done everything possible to push him into position. Unfortunately, before he could truly spread his wings... he ran directly into Prince Jingnan.”

No matter how proud the eagle... facing Old Tian, there was only one outcome.

Broken wings.

“And then there was Nian Yao...”

When he spoke Nian Yao’s name, the Prince’s gaze clearly shifted toward the city wall.

There were Chu soldiers among the Qian forces outside.

That had long since ceased to be a secret.

The allies who had accompanied them into Qian... had transformed instantly into auxiliaries of the Qian army.

“Nian Yao ran into Old Tian again and again and got suppressed until he had no temper left. Even that enormous flanking maneuver of his... if this Prince hadn’t gone all-in back then, perhaps he really would have succeeded. If so, his ending would never have been this miserable. Much less this ridiculous. And finally there is Zhong Tianlang. He was constrained by Qian’s military weakness, so he never received much opportunity to display himself properly. He too was suppressed all these years. On the surface, those three no longer deserve to stand beside this Prince. But perhaps... this Prince was simply luckier.”

“Your Highness is being far too modest.”

“Your father is the same,” Zheng Fan said. “That old dog of yours...”

Calling another man’s father an old dog to his son’s face... was not especially proper.

But it depended very much on who was speaking.

If anyone else used that title, Xie Yu’an would hardly deserve to call himself a son if he failed to react.

But now... so long as Jinghai City remained unbroken, the Regent Prince’s standing towered far above that of a downfallen Pillar of State from a declining country.

Besides, Xie Zhuyang was already the Prince’s defeated opponent.

Worse... he had nearly been chased to death by two younger members of the Prince’s household.

*Old dog.*

There was mockery in it.

But also recognition.

Even... a trace of admiration.

Xie Yu’an knew that if his father were standing here personally and the Regent Prince called out, *You old dog...* his father might well feel honored.

Position.

Reputation.

Strength.

Class.

In the end... all of it was beaten into existence.

“Sometimes, this Prince keeps warning himself too. I’m afraid I may truly start floating and end up looking down on the heroes beneath Heaven.”

“Your Highness...”

Xie Yu’an genuinely did not know how to flatter him here.

He could hear that the Prince was speaking from real feeling.

Yet the words themselves... were enough to make every so-called hero beneath Heaven sweat.

Back then, soldiers in every state had admired Prince Jingnan most.

But this was no longer Prince Jingnan’s era.

It was the era of Prince Pingxi.

The era of the Regent Prince.

Even Yan people themselves increasingly believed the Regent Prince had surpassed his teacher and become a God of War greater than Prince Jingnan.

The Prince fell silent for a while.

Everyone in the small circle around him fell silent as well.

The Swordsmith still remained in the state of *I don’t understand, but it sounds impressive*.

Yet he knew what followed silence.

Reward.

Xie Yu’an had mentioned this to him earlier.

And his own reward—or rather, the Dugu Clan’s reward—had already been given.

So... what about the Xie Clan?

The Prince spoke.

“Take half of southern Chu. Xie Clan... found a state.”

The Swordsmith’s eyes widened.

Xie Yu’an froze briefly.

Then immediately dropped to his knees.

“Your Highness. The Xie Clan will not found a state.”

“The seat of Ruler of Chu held by this Prince’s elder brother-in-law... once this Prince returns, he will no longer be allowed to keep it.”

That stab from the elder brother-in-law had crossed a line.

In ordinary circumstances, perhaps there would still have been room to discuss matters.

But this time...

Zheng Fan had brought his son on campaign.

The Prince might be a daughter slave.

His son might not be the flesh of his heart in quite the same way.

But no father would allow someone to genuinely endanger his child.

Xie Yu’an swallowed.

Then immediately said:

“The Ruler of Chu has betrayed Your Highness and should naturally be punished! My Xie Clan has already received immense fortune merely through Your Highness’s recognition and protection. We dare not greedily seek greater heavenly favor.”

The Prince smiled.

“There still has to be a reward.”

The Xie Clan’s influence in southern Chu was enormous.

Nearly one-third of southern Chu could be described as its private backyard.

Why had Zheng Fan not continued pushing deeper into Chu after the great victory in Shanggu Commandery?

There were many reasons.

One major reason was fear that his elder brother-in-law might move the capital and court south.

Then eastern Jin and Great Yan’s iron cavalry would be forced to soak themselves in swamps and face an endless, festering battlefield.

But if the great local snake of southern Chu—the Xie Clan—decided to sever itself completely from old Chu... where could that elder brother-in-law possibly run?

Xie Yu’an’s earlier words had already accepted the task of settling accounts with the Ruler of Chu later.

But... he refused to found a state.

“Your Highness has not founded a state. How could my Xie Clan—how could my father and I—dare overstep Your Highness? If Your Highness truly wishes to raise the Xie Clan... then what the Xie Clan seeks... is only Prince Cheng Residence in Yingdu.”

“Prince Cheng Residence has nothing left now but the princely household itself,” Zheng Fan reminded him.

The man who had cut away all its wings... was Zheng Fan himself.

“Replying to Your Highness: wealth and honor continuing through the generations is already an enormous blessing.”

“Fine, fine. A princely house it is. On behalf of the Emperor of Yan, this Prince grants the Xie Clan a hereditary substantive princely fief in perpetuity. From now on, your Xie Clan will inherit the Xiong Clan’s ancient responsibility passed down from Great Xia: suppress the Shanyue and gradually bring them into All Xia.”

“This subject thanks Your Highness for the grace!”

Xie Yu’an kowtowed.

At that moment... gongs, drums, and signal arrows sounded again.

The Qian were going to launch another assault before dusk.

The Prince laughed.

“If we’re eating hot pot, the Qian have already stoked the fire as high as it can go. Most of the vegetables and meat are already in. The pot... is boiling. It is time... to reach in with the chopsticks.”

“Your Highness is wise. Your Highness is divine in war. This subordinate bows in complete admiration.”

The last time...

Xie Yu’an had been commander of the Chu army and Zheng Fan personally defeated him in Shanggu Commandery.

This time...

Xie Yu’an had stood beside Zheng Fan from beginning to end.

He had watched everything with his own eyes.

And once again... he had been conquered.

Zheng Fan waved one hand.

“This really was not some hidden move this Prince left behind. Do you know why I haven’t shown myself these past few days? Because I couldn’t be bothered pretending in front of all of you. Pretending to understand when I don’t is actually exhausting.”

“Your Highness, you’re being too—”

“I truly am not being modest. If your father had not sent that signal, I would not have known where the opening for breaking this situation was.”

“This... how could that be possible?”

“Hehehe.”

The Prince reached out and patted Xie Yu’an’s shoulder.

“That is why you must never look down on the heroes beneath Heaven. Think back to those years. This Prince led a lone army a thousand li deep behind the allied Savage-Chu forces, seized Snow Sea Pass, then gritted his teeth and defended it to the death. It should have been a situation with nine deaths and one life. But strangely enough... this Prince was not especially afraid. I actually felt very secure.”

Because he knew someone was behind him.

Someone who would understand the situation.

Someone who would break it.

Xie Yu’an said:

“That was because Prince Jingnan was there.”

“Exactly.”

“But now Prince Jingnan is no longer here...”

“Yet beside this Prince, from the very beginning, there has always been one person... who is not inferior to Prince Jingnan.”

...

Along the winding mountain road... dense ranks of cavalrymen led their horses forward.

Behind them stretched columns of local Shanyue people who had clearly been organized to transport military supplies.

Jin Shuke removed his helmet and stared around in astonishment.

“Grand General, I originally thought these mountain roads would be terribly difficult and cost us several more days. Who would have imagined they had already been repaired this smoothly? Even every temporary camp has been built in exactly the right place, with plenty of space. Most importantly, grain, medicine, and other military supplies were stocked in every camp. Xie Zhuyang opened the road ahead of our Prince before. I truly never expected him to build it this carefully and solidly. Thanks to him, our army hasn’t been delayed here at all.”

“Jin Shuke.”

“This general is here.”

“Did it never occur to you that Xie Zhuyang may have anticipated this in advance and therefore prepared accordingly?”

“But Grand General, you clearly said His Highness only sent you toward Lanyang City. He gave you no other instructions. If even His Highness never ordered this, then how could Xie Zhuyang possibly...”

“When you, Jin Shuke, stood watching a city gate all those years ago, who could have imagined you would someday become one of Great Yan’s Regent Prince’s most trusted arms? Never underestimate the heroes beneath Heaven. As for the arrangements His Highness made for me... it was not because he forgot. Nor because he overlooked anything. It was because His Highness understood... there was never any need to make too many arrangements for me.”

“Grand General’s loyalty toward His Highness is something this general admires.”

Liang Cheng shook his head.

“Changing a princely order without authorization. Redeploying troops on one’s own. In another man’s eyes, those are grave taboos. Even if the result earns merit, the act itself is still a serious offense and rarely ends well. But our Prince understands something. You, Jin Shuke... might perhaps rebel someday. But I... would never rebel against him.”

As they spoke... the two great generals of eastern Jin climbed to the mountain summit.

Beyond this mountain... lay the great plains of Qian east of the Qian River.

Liang Cheng stood there.

He looked toward the fog-shrouded land ahead.

Then closed his eyes.

The great zombie, habitually cold and expressionless... showed rare emotion.

He could not stop himself from sighing.

“I have waited so long. At last... it is my turn.”

[End of Chapter 1008]