Chapter 192: Hou Yi

This chapter is filler; feel free to skip it.

In the southern part of the Eastern Capital, an old horse pulled a carriage, swaying as it passed through narrow alleys. After several twists and turns, it stopped before a residence. The gate was not small, yet it gave off an air of disorder.

The driver was a rough, burly man armed with weapons—clearly a seasoned veteran of many battles. He leaped down from the carriage and said respectfully toward the interior: "Master, we have arrived at the gate."

The carriage curtain was lifted, and an old man with graying hair and beard poked his head out. Hunched over, he stepped down with the groom's help. His face was full of exhaustion as he sighed: "The roads of the Eastern Capital are still this congested and hard to traverse!"

"Go announce our arrival!"

"Yes!"

This old man was none other than Hou Yi, the former Military Governor of Fengxiang. Ever since being "escorted" to the capital, Hou Yi had been left in his residence, ignored by all. He had proactively submitted requests for an audience with the emperor, but received no reply.

The Son of Heaven and the court's cold response filled the old man with dread. Thinking of his vacillating actions in Fengxiang, he found it even harder to feel at ease. Then came news of the great victory at Jifeng Mountain, which left Hou Yi unable to eat or sleep in peace, feeling as though mortal danger was right before his eyes. Over this period, Hou Yi had spent his entire fortune, carrying lavish gifts to call upon the powerful figures of the Great Han—especially the chancellors—hoping they would put in a good word for him. Unfortunately, the results were meager.

Sighing mournfully, he stepped into the residence, greeted by his household retainers at the gate. Supporting his waist—after all, he was over sixty now—the days of frantic running around had taken their toll even on his usually sturdy constitution. Most of all, the psychological pressure was weighing heavily on him.

The Hou household totaled over seventy people. Besides Hou Yi's relatives, there were several dozen retainers who followed him, all fiercely loyal. After briefly reassuring the soldiers who came up to greet him, Hou Yi asked the steward: "Where is Sanlang?"

A flicker of unease crossed the steward's face. He stammered and gave a low-voiced explanation.

"That unfilial brat!"

With an angry roar, Hou Yi showed he was still vigorous in old age. Grabbing a wooden staff, he strode quickly into a side courtyard in the rear garden of the Hou residence. In the hall, a man in his thirties with a small mustache was flirting with a maidservant, his face flushed with drunkenness—he had clearly drunk quite a bit.

Seeing Hou Yi burst in wielding a wooden staff, the man jolted, shoved the maidservant aside, and staggered to his feet, trying to flee.

"Father, don't hit me!" After a few cries of pain, the man begged for mercy with a slurred tongue.

"You unfilial brat! I'm out there running around, groveling and humbling myself, and you're here living it up in the residence, eh?" Hou Yi glared with bulging eyes and bristling beard, raging: "Indulging in pleasure and losing all ambition!"

The man was named Hou Renbao, Hou Yi's third son. He had never harbored grand ambitions, only a love for comfort. However, he wasn't the arrogant, domineering type of second-generation rich kid—rather, he was the typical "lying flat like a salted fish" sort. He neither joined the military nor entered politics, only enjoying himself with games and amusements. After muddling through for over thirty years, he still depended on his old father to support him.

Seeing his father's expression soften somewhat, Hou Renbao rubbed his beaten arm, mustered his courage, bared his teeth in a grin, stepped forward to support Hou Yi, and casually tossed the staff far away, saying: "Father, I wanted to go out with you too—it's just that I was afraid of embarrassing you!"

"You still have the nerve to say that?" Seeing Hou Renbao's salted-fish expression, Hou Yi immediately scolded him.

Smelling the reek of alcohol on his breath, his anger flared anew: "The Son of Heaven has issued an explicit edict banning alcohol! The Hou family is already in peril, and you still dare to carry on in the residence? Are you afraid you won't attract the attention of the Kaifeng government and the Patrol Inspector's office?"

"Uh. Everyone in the residence is family—no one will spread it." Hou Renbao gave an awkward smile: "Since entering the Eastern Capital, I've followed your instructions and stayed put in the residence. I haven't even stepped out the door..."

"Are you expecting me to praise you for that?" Hou Yi retorted.

Hou Renbao hung his head, playing dead. Seeing him like this, Hou Yi couldn't help but sigh. He had given up on this son. Fortunately, his other sons were somewhat more accomplished.

Seeing Hou Yi's expression ease, Hou Renbao belched, leaned in, and with a slightly more serious look, asked: "Father, since seeing those chancellors is useless, why not go directly to seek an audience with the Son of Heaven?"

Hearing this, Hou Yi nearly had a cerebral thrombosis from rage. His eyes bulged: "If I could see the Son of Heaven, would I still need to beg them?"

"They all fobbed me off. Especially that Su Fengji—he took my gifts, didn't say a word for me, and even had the audacity to ask for more! That man's face is thicker than city walls. How can such a person be a chancellor? If you ask me, this Great Han dynasty isn't much better either!" Hou Yi complained.

Hearing this, Hou Renbao seemed startled. He waved his hands: "Father, you can't say such things carelessly. The Hou family is in peril. If word got out, things would get even worse."

"Get lost!" Hou Yi gave a curt reply.

Hou Renbao didn't budge an inch. Instead, he shamelessly pressed on: "Father, your son thinks the Son of Heaven probably won't kill our family."

"Why?"

"Just a feeling."

He had thought this son might say something insightful. As it turned out, he certainly didn't "disappoint."

"Get lost!"

"Your son takes his leave!"

"If you dare drink heavily again, I'll break your legs! I mean what I say!" Hou Yi said coldly.

Hearing this, Hou Renbao shrank his neck, his legs trembling slightly, and hastily withdrew.

Returning to the study, Hou Yi sat alone, brooding over his experiences of being rebuffed everywhere these past days. After a long while, he sighed: "A misstep!"

"Back then, why did I lose my wits and fall for Wang Chuhui's temptation? So many people accepted the Khitan's bogus appointments, and aside from Du Chongwei, the court pardoned them all. How I regret it now, how I regret it..."

Hou Yi muttered to himself: "Still, that unfilial brat isn't entirely wrong. The Son of Heaven probably won't kill me—otherwise, he wouldn't be reacting this way. Besides, I never truly rebelled. In the end, I handed over my military command and helped the court resist the Shu army. That counts as a meritorious deed."

"Looking at the situation here in the Eastern Capital, these chancellors haven't actually taken control of the court. Everything still depends on the Son of Heaven's attitude..."

Though Hou Yi had started as a poor farmer and served in the military for over forty years—from the Liang-Jin struggle for supremacy through the successive falls of the Tang and Jin—he had first submitted to the Khitan, then pledged allegiance to the Great Han. Climbing from the bottom to his current position, what he relied on, besides his martial prowess, was his fairly keen political instincts.

This man, though lacking in formal education, had remarkably sharp insight and was very articulate, with keen eyes. Through decades of chaos and war, he had always managed to pick the right side and sit on the correct stool.

This time, however, was an exception. At the founding of the Great Han, one could hardly see any signs of a rising new dynasty—just like the Later Tang in Li Cunxu's era. Originally, Hou Yi hadn't truly rebelled; his secret dealings with the Meng Shu were merely a ploy to increase his own bargaining power. He just hadn't expected the Han court to be so resolute, Wang Jun to be so formidable in battle, and the newly ascended Son of Heaven to be so unprovokable...

Fortunately, at the final moment, Hou Yi decisively sat back on the correct stool, mending the fold after the sheep were lost.

As for Hou Yi's situation in the Eastern Capital, Liu Chengyou naturally had his understanding of it. Leaving him to stew for so long was, on one hand, to suppress him, and on the other, because he hadn't yet decided how to deal with him.

As for killing him—that was never the plan. After Feng Dao became chancellor, he had introduced Hou Yi to Liu Chengyou. The sentence that left the deepest impression on Liu Chengyou was: "When it comes to assessing the times and seizing the moment, I am no match for Hou Yi."

For even Feng Dao to concede defeat in this regard, the man was clearly no ordinary fellow.

After dragging things out for over half a month, once Hou Yi's mentality had been "calmed down," Liu Chengyou finally remembered this man and summoned him.

"Your guilty subject pays respects to Your Majesty!" Upon meeting, Hou Yi immediately prostrated himself in a kowtow, adopting an extremely low posture.

Liu Chengyou sized up Hou Yi. His impression was that the man looked like nothing more than an old village farmer.

"Rise."

"Your guilty subject dares not!" Hou Yi remained prostrate on the ground. This man truly knew how to lower himself. His performance made it seem as though Liu Chengyou were bullying an old man.

"You call yourself a guilty subject—what crime have you committed?" Liu Chengyou glanced at him and asked.

"When the Great Han was established, your guilty subject delayed in coming to the capital for an audience and never had the chance to see the late emperor's countenance!" Hou Yi replied in a loud, clear voice, looking perfectly natural.

Seeing him dodge the heavy and dwell on the light, Liu Chengyou played along with the idle talk. He covered a memorial on the imperial desk and said in a cold, clear voice: "Do you know how the late emperor evaluated you?"

Hou Yi was taken aback. His eyes, fixed on the floor of the hall, darted around for a moment before he asked: "Your old subject does not know."

"Obedient in appearance to the court, but harboring duplicity in his heart."

Those eight words struck his ears like daggers to the heart. Even for a wily old fox like him, Hou Yi's heart clenched. He immediately pressed his head to the ground: "What does the late emperor mean by this? Your guilty subject is but a simple, foolish man and truly does not understand."

"Do you want me to explain it to you?" Liu Chengyou said flatly: "Have you forgotten so quickly the matter of secretly colluding with the false Shu and covertly communicating with an enemy state?"

"Secret letters exchanged with Wang Chuhui, the false Shu's Commissioner of Military Affairs; sending troop rosters and grain registers to the enemy commander Zhang Qianzhao—are these matters baseless rumors? Hm?" Liu Chengyou pressed with a barrage of accusations.

Feeling the severity in Liu Chengyou's tone, the old Hou Yi's body tensed, cold sweat seeping from his brow, his mind racing. After a moment's deliberation, he finally answered in a trembling voice: "Your subject did not secretly communicate with the false Shu—I merely wished to lure them northward to annihilate them."

Nonsense!

"So saying, the great victory at Jifeng Mountain was also Governor Hou's strategic achievement?" Liu Chengyou asked flatly.

"Your subject would not dare!"

"Hou Yi, you are a veteran general of many reigns. What do you think—how should I deal with you?"

At this question, Hou Yi's heart grew thoroughly tense. He secretly tried to gauge Liu Chengyou's mindset, but his thoughts were momentarily in disarray. Suddenly, Hou Yi straightened his body and clasped his hands toward Liu Chengyou: "Your Majesty, your subject has a secret matter to report!"

"Speak!"

"When I was at Fengxiang, I received a secret letter from Li Shouzhen of Hezhong, inviting me to raise troops and rebel alongside him. Your Majesty, Li Shouzhen harbors treacherous intentions—the court must guard against him carefully." Hou Yi decided to use Li Shouzhen as a shield, and incidentally serve as a "tainted witness," to seek redemption for his crimes.

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou was somewhat amused, and said in an unreadable tone: "It seems this Li Shouzhen has quite a lot of people he's contacted!"

This left Hou Yi momentarily stunned, surprised by Liu Chengyou's calm.

"How did you reply to Li Shouzhen?" Liu Chengyou asked.

Hou Yi's face was full of solemnity as he said gravely: "This old subject flatly refused!"

"Why did you not report it earlier?"

"Er... the matter was of great importance; to avoid any leak, this old subject wished to report it to Your Majesty in person."