Chapter 120: The Chess Piece Left Behind by the Old Emperor

At this moment, the wine was warmed, and after adding two pinches of ginger strips, the rich fragrance was intoxicating. He Chunhua’s cook cut a piece of meat weighing about five catties from the fish, rubbed it with various seasonings, and placed it over the fire to roast. Soon, the aroma of the fats and peppercorns was forced out by the flames.

Lu Yao laughed: "I was wondering what special way Master He had of eating, so it turns out to be fire-roasted as well."

"The tools aren't handy, so I have to make up for it with the sauce." The cook flipped the meat while brushing it with sauce; he brushed it once every ten flips. By the time the fish was thoroughly cooked, it had turned a beautiful reddish-brown.

The fish was brought before the two bigwigs. Lu Yao took a taste and found it was actually two flavors in one roast. A piece of fish the size of his fist was divided in two; one half had fish skin that was charred, fragrant, and crispy, melting in the mouth, and the thick fat under the skin seeped into the meat, relieving the astringency of the large chunks of fish; the other half seemed to be coated in an unknown savory sauce, salty and fragrant with a hint of fruit sweetness, and even a touch of acidity, which was exceptionally good at cutting the greasiness.

"Not bad, not bad." Lu Yao took a bite of fish and a sip of wine, giving a thumbs up in praise, "Truly worthy of a family that once lived in luxury!"

"You flatter me." He Chunhua also picked up a piece of fish to eat, "Even at my family's most prosperous time, we were never ranked among the Nine Ministers, so it’s hardly worth calling it living in luxury."

"When the Holy Master took stock of the Great Yuan officialdom, he once mentioned Master He's name." Lu Yao chuckled, "He said you were a talent."

He Chunhua raised an eyebrow. The "Holy Master" the other party spoke of naturally referred to the rebel leader Hong Xiangqian. It was said that this man had vast supernatural powers, could even bring the dead back to life, and had displayed all sorts of wonders on the battlefield—

This last point was extremely unusual. It was common knowledge that when the Royal Court's armies fought, they could mobilize primordial power, thereby exerting a powerful suppressive effect on supernatural arts. Throughout history, countless supernatural beings had been surrounded and killed by government troops.

But Hong Xiangqian could use supernatural powers on the battlefield, and their effectiveness was not diminished. This was because he had established his own regime and could also grasp and deploy primordial power.

This was likely the reason the Yuan Royal Court was in such a hurry to exterminate the rebels: if this scourge were not removed, a second regime within Great Yuan would grow and strengthen.

Hong Xiangqian was already dead, yet Lu Yao, a man who feared nothing and would dare to stir up even the halls of the underworld, still maintained respect for him in his speech; just seeing this, He Chunhua knew that Hong Xiangqian was no simple man, and certainly not just the villain and fraud the Royal Court declared him to be, but as a loyal official of the Royal Court, he did not wish to show any admiration for him.

"I heard that the He family suffered a tragedy of total annihilation, and you were the only one to survive, yet you were demoted by the old senile Emperor to Qiansong County. You were only ten-something then, right? Hmm, you went to Qiansong County and just became a courier; an ordinary person would probably have lived out their life like that. You, however, were able to seize the opportunity of a foreign invasion, taking advantage of that desert behind... what was that desert called again?"

"Panlong."

"Oh, oh, right, the Panlong Desert, where the wind blows and sand rises, making it impassable for months. At that time, the city was still ruled by the Andong people, and you gathered a crowd and killed the Andong special envoy in the street; that must have scared the people in the city quite a bit, right? Why didn't they kill you?"

"The Andong people had occupied Heishuicheng for many years, and the Yuan Kingdom had never fought to take it back, so the Andong people assumed our country was weak and only propped up a few compradors to manage Heishuicheng." He Chunhua said indifferently, "I killed those compradors together, then used the sandstorm season to deal with the remaining Andong people in the city. By the time the sandstorm season ended, Heishuicheng had been successfully recovered."

Lu Yao slapped the table and laughed: "Good, satisfying. Did the Jinzhou Inspector reward you heavily?"

"No." He Chunhua ate a piece of fish, "I was arrested and thrown into prison, and as soon as I entered the cell, I received thirty lashes, with the charge of assassinating a friendly nation's personnel and inciting border warfare. Fortunately, the jailer sympathized with me, hit me lightly, and sent a lot of medicine. The next day, half the city's commoners came to petition, and the officials were afraid of trouble, so they let me go."

"I told the Jinzhou Inspector that the Andong people would not take the opportunity to retaliate, but he didn't believe me. But Heishuicheng was peaceful for two years, until the third year when the Andong people came back. The Jinzhou Inspector was unable to cope, and someone advised him that whoever caused the trouble should be the one to solve it, so they pushed me out."

Lu Yao nodded: "You drove back the Andong people."

"Three times. After that, they didn't invade again." He Chunhua said, "The Jinzhou Inspector took the credit for himself, but my deeds had already spread to the capital, and the King knew of it, so he promoted me exceptionally."

Lu Yao asked curiously: "How did you know the Andong people would swallow their pride after you killed the envoy?"

"In my last year as a courier station master, I heard merchants on the Red Cliff Road say that the King of Andong had passed away, and the country was in constant turmoil."

"Just like that? That's not enough evidence, is it?"

He Chunhua gave a slight sneer: "The King of Andong's eldest son died young, and the second and fourth sons had been fighting for power. The second son was ruthless, and the fourth son was cunning; for a short time, neither had finished off the other, so the country was in constant turmoil. Since that was the case, their struggle would likely be prolonged, and they would temporarily have no energy to manage insignificant places like Red Cliff Road and Heishuicheng."

Lu Yao stroked his chin and said: "How did you win later on?"

"The Andong royal family fought a chaotic war, and in the end, the fourth son won, but the country had been weak for many years and was even more decadent by then; sending people to seize Heishuicheng was just to save face. After attacking three times and failing to take it back, they stopped fighting." He Chunhua smiled slightly, "Now, the Andong Kingdom and we have very close diplomatic relations."

"No wonder the Holy Master said that if someone like you were sitting in the Yuan interior, the rebel army's march north would not have been so smooth."

He Chunhua was slightly moved.

This was high praise, and at the same time, it was looking down too much on the civil and military officials of Great Yuan.

"Your family suffered a grave injustice, and you have repeatedly made achievements in the borderlands, demonstrating your talent; why has the Royal Court never truly utilized you?"

He Chunhua gave a bitter smile. This question was hard to answer.

"The Holy Master mentioned it at the time; you are a chess piece left by the old Emperor for his successor, a useful chess piece." Lu Yao laughed, "On one hand, they kept you suppressed in Qiansong County to continue honing your edge, and on the other hand, they saved you for the next Emperor to utilize, so that you would be grateful to the monarch who promoted you and could work yourself to the bone for him. After all, it was his old man who killed your whole family, and it was he who let you turn your life around. It's a pity, the current Emperor is a big fool who wasted the great gift the old man left him before he died."

"Hmm, does what the Holy Master said make sense?"

He Chunhua lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long while before saying: "General Lu feels injustice for me, and I am grateful."

"With an Emperor like this, why are you still selling your life for him?" Lu Yao gave a huff, "Even Dong Haoming, who sold his life for his family for many years, has rebelled; are you still going to eagerly go and fill the ranks?"

"It is not that there has been no opportunity to set things right." He Chunhua did not wait for Lu Yao to refute and asked, "The Grand Marshal failed in his rebellion in the capital and has now retreated to Wuzhou. The city there is strong and the grain is plentiful, and the people only know the Donglai Prefecture and not the Yuan Son of Heaven, which shows the Grand Marshal was well-prepared. If you were in General Lu's position, how would you attack?"

(End of chapter)