Chapter 388: My dignity is the overall situation

A game of chess? Gongsun Chi gave a cold snort, casually handing the letter to the attendant Wu Luo standing nearby.

His arrow wound had scabbed over into a scar that hadn't yet fallen off, like an ugly centipede lying on his face.

「This Prince Ning certainly has refined taste. 」

Wu Luo took it, glanced at it, and his brows furrowed.

He placed the letter back on the table: "Your Majesty, this is Xiao Yuanhang's tactic of goading, meant to disturb your mind."

"Xiao Yuanhang is usually steady in his use of troops; how could he suddenly resort to such child's play? There must be a trick."

"When the two armies face off, the commander's safety concerns the whole situation; Your Majesty's priceless person, how can you lightly venture into danger? In my humble opinion, we need not pay attention."

"Not pay attention?" Gongsun Chi slowly repeated those four words, then suddenly laughed.

The laughter started softly, but quickly took on a hint of madness, finally becoming a loud guffaw that shook dust from the tent's ceiling.

How did Your Majesty lose his temper again?

The personal soldiers in the tent wished they could bury their heads in the ground, fearing that if the emperor laughed too happily he'd order everyone executed.

After laughing for a while, Gongsun Chi gradually stopped.

He raised his hand, fingertips lightly brushing the raised scab on his left cheek.

"The National Preceptor is right; it's a goading tactic."

He spoke softly: "But if I don't respond, tomorrow—no, I fear tonight—there will be new rumors."

"They say I took an arrow to the face and now no one dares see me! They say this scar‑faced emperor doesn't even want the remaining half of his face!"

"Your Majesty!" Wu Luo said anxiously, "What are rumors compared to the big picture?"

"The big picture?" Gongsun Chi sprang up, flicked his sleeve, sending the tea cup on the table flying—it crashed to the floor with a clang.

"My dignity is the big picture!" He turned to Wu Luo, glaring at him, "Xiao Yuanhang shot this arrow at me in front of countless soldiers!"

"Now he again, before the whole world, asks me 'Do you dare?'"

He slowly approached Wu Luo, looking down at this National Preceptor whose frame had visibly stooped.

"National Preceptor, tell me." He paused between each word, "If I dare not even respond to this, how can I fight this war? Afterwards, how will the official histories record me?"

Wu Luo opened his mouth, wanting to say more, but upon meeting Gongsun Chi's eyes surging with violence and obsession, he swallowed all his admonitions.

He knew, the emperor's dignity had been utterly nailed to the pillar of shame by that arrow.

At this moment, if he were to advise again, he feared it would only be seen as another trampling of the emperor's dignity.

Gongsun Chi no longer looked at him, turned his gaze toward the Fierce State Main Camp outside the tent: "Very well. Xiao Yuanhang, in a few days will be your death day."

"I will play this final game of chess with you."

"National Preceptor, you will accompany me tonight."

Wu Luo sighed and replied, "As you command."

The following evening, the moon shone as bright as day.

A silver‑disk‑like full moon hung high in the sky, bathing the ground in frosty white.

The armies of the two states formed up respectively before their camps on either side.

Weapons gleamed orderly, spears stood like a forest, and the long dragon of torches swayed in the night wind, reflecting rows of silent, tense faces.

On a battlefield of hundreds of thousands, now only the crackle of burning torches and the howl of the night wind could be heard.

Between the two armies, at the center of a flat expanse, a stone chessboard and two wooden chairs had already been set up.

Nothing else was present.

Suddenly, the Fierce State army parted like a tide to both sides.

Xiao Yuanhang, wearing a cyan arrow‑sleeved martial robe with a dark black cloak, slowly walked to the front of the formation.

Behind him followed Xiao Ningxun, Zhang Wu'an, and Fang Qing, hands on their sword hilts.

Having advanced about fifty paces before the formation, Xiao Yuanhang raised his hand to halt the troops, stood with his hands behind his back, and gazed toward the opposite side.

At the same time, the Da Xia army also split to both sides, and Gongsun Chi stepped forward.

He wore a dark‑blue robe embroidered with gold‑thread dragons, covered by a black greatcoat; a deep brown hard scab on his left cheek lay like an unhealable crack.

Wu Luo and several fully armored commanders followed closely behind.

Gongsun Chi walked to the front of the formation and silently gazed toward the opposite side.

Their eyes met.

Xiao Yuanhang gave a slight smile, pointed at the empty chessboard, and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty, I have not prepared tea."

"I suspect the tea I would have prepared would not be drunk by Your Majesty anyway."

"Let's each drink our own."

The scar on Gongsun Chi's face twitched slightly in the moonlight.

Immediately, he too smiled, the smile tugging at the scar and looking somewhat ferocious:

"Prince Ning, you mean well."

Having said that, he stepped forward slowly to the chair nearer him: "Then it's good."

Xiao Yuanhang stepped forward at the same moment, and the two almost simultaneously took their seats.

The stone board was cold, the pieces already divided into two containers and placed at the side of the board.

Xiao Yuanhang took black, Gongsun Chi took white.

Xiao Yuanhang said, "Please."

"Please," Gongsun Chi replied.

The first black stone landed on the central point.

The clear clack of jade stones echoed across the vast plain, faintly resembling the sound of metal striking metal.

At the same moment, behind a thicket of shrubs hugging the forest on the flank of the Da Xia camp,

Li Lao San lay on the ground, his ears pressed tight against the ground.

Besides the intermittent chirping of night insects, there was also a coarse, heavy panting sound.

He quietly pushed aside the grass in front of him.

About seven or eight strong wild boars were crowded together in a depression, their huge tusks gleaming a ghastly white in the moonlight.

They lowered their heads to root and eat the bait on the ground that gave off a rich, sweet aroma of fermented grain, making contented noises as their short, thick tails wagged back and forth happily.

Especially the lead boar, its bristles raised, it ate while occasionally lifting its head, alertly looking around.

Its eyes glowed with an abnormal, excited red light.

Li Lao San licked his lips and made a hand signal to the two subordinates lying beside him.

"They've all eaten it, see? The biggest one's hooves have already started digging—soon the drug will take full effect."

A soldier nervously swallowed his saliva: "Third Brother, don't worry!"

"We've dug trenches in all other directions; once the drug takes full effect, this is the only road they can escape by when they come—we'll just wait and watch the show!"

"That's right, hehe."

Li Lao San reached for the pouch at his waist, which held three specially made "fire Arrows."

The arrowheads were bound with oil-soaked hemp balls; when shot they became small fire meteors.

"When the time is about right, we'll light them."

Outside the Da Xia military camp nearest the direction of the imperial tent, Xiao Er half-crouched in an abandoned earthen ditch, his whole body smeared with charcoal black, perfectly blending into the surrounding night.

Tuan Tuan lay on his back, tightly clasping his neck, her small face buried in his shoulder, her face likewise smeared with charcoal black, only a pair of bright, shining eyes visible.

Lu Qi lay on the edge of the ditch, motionless like a stone, only the occasional movement of his eyeballs revealing he was alive.

He gripped several iron lotus seeds in his hand, staring fixedly at the patrolling soldiers coming and going ahead.

Every quarter hour, a squad of six soldiers would pass by.

The squad that had just passed, their footsteps had only just faded away.

Xiao Er's voice was lowered to a whisper: "After you go in, miss, you must absolutely not make a sound."

Tuan Tuan nodded firmly, her small hand tightening its grip around his neck even more.

Lu Qi silently counted his heartbeats, calculating when the next squad of soldiers would arrive.

In the distance, a faint, clear sound of jade striking could be heard.