Chapter 501: Another Day of Peace

The baleful aura of the military surged up to the vault of heaven, nearly stirring strange portents to appear over the territory of Chen; some sighed and lamented—this was the truth that when a state was about to perish, omens must appear.

But whenever anyone dared to speak such words, they would be pulled aside by those nearby.

Stare wide-eyed and curse once.

"Have you got a death wish?!"

On this very day, Qin Wang led his great army, following the intelligence Chen Tianyi had vomited up, and along the foundations upon which Chen had been founded, raced at high speed toward the direction of Chen's capital; along the way they saw supply depots and beacon-tower strongholds.

In those days, full of spirit and vigor, Chen Wu's ten thousand horsemen passed through here.

The very methods Chen Wu Di had used to carve out Chen's hegemony had now become the path leading to Chen's destruction. Originally there had still been some second-line garrisons stationed here for upkeep, but because of the upheaval at the front, even the troops here had been pulled forward to reinforce the line.

Qin Wang's iron cavalry galloped through this world of swirling wind and snow.

Duan Qingyu raised his eyes and saw the heavens and earth sunk in gloom; the hoofbeats of the warhorses seemed to be swallowed by this strange great snow, and did not form the thunderous, wave-like momentum of days past.

General Yue Qianfeng was right beside him.

The King of the Southwest drew a deep breath, and even after feeling that cold, chill-laden air pour into his lungs, he still had a dazed, unable-to-believe feeling.

This was the heartland of Chen, not far from Chen's capital.

Looking out in every direction, all was Chen; and they were like a sharp blade thrust into Chen's vital point, galloping back and forth here without the slightest obstruction.

The auspicious eagle in the sky spread its wings, sweeping across the vast heavens at a speed second only to that of a primordial crimson dragon; aided by the auspicious bird acting as scout, this heavy cavalry moved like a ghost, drifting across Chen's territory.

Even when they encountered small patrols along the way—those dozen-odd light cavalrymen—upon seeing this surging, flood-like host stretching as far as the eye could see, they had not a shred of fighting spirit.

Moreover, these light cavalry never even caught sight of Qin Wang's main camp.

Before they could, they had already been taken down by the vanguard screening formation of this cavalry corps.

No matter how familiar one was with the roads here, no matter how empty the rear was, it should have been impossible for such a large corps to advance at high speed like this—but it didn't matter. With a country this vast, with territory this broad, the transmission of intelligence was a problem.

As long as everyone who spotted their tracks was killed or captured.

That would be a flawless infiltration and strike!

One had to seize the key point.

The key was not that no sound or movement was made, but that the intelligence here was not transmitted out, not learned of by people elsewhere.

The strange bird responsible for transmitting all of Chen's important intelligence beat its wings in the air; its tail and feathers were painted crimson, signifying intelligence of the most urgent military nature—whoever dared to intercept it would directly draw state-level retaliation.

This strange bird flew extremely fast; ordinary martial artists simply could not catch up. Even the most elite cavalry, riding thousand-li horses, galloping day and night without rest, could not overtake this bird's feathers, could not glimpse its brilliant tail plumes.

This bird turned into a blur of motion, evading Duan Qingyu's arrow.

But the next instant, beyond the reach of naked eyes—

Only the sound of tearing air was heard, and the strange bird carrying the intelligence of "a large cavalry force striking" had suddenly nose-dived, crashing into the ground, a great deal of fresh blood pouring out; on closer look, the strange bird's head was already gone.

The cavalry scout's eyes were filled with despair.

The movements of the large cavalry force, Qin Wang's raid had been discovered, and before they could even clash, they had swiftly made a judgment, written the intelligence, and immediately transmitted it—but before the bird could fly out, it had already been torn apart.

Ahead, a dark mass, in a silence thick with killing intent, were the Xuanjia Army, the Wudang Flying Army, and parts of the Fire Qilin Army mixed into a heavy cavalry formation; this great host silently spread out, and the monarch astride his dragon-steed rode forth unhurried.

Accompanied by a long cry, a colossal divine eagle descended, the strange bird's head clamped in its beak—it had just now, at a speed beyond the reach of naked eyes, nearly beheaded that strange bird in a high-speed decapitation.

Right in front of the scouts, it ate down that precious strange bird's head.

Its golden eyes held a wild, untamed, vast indifference.

Yet it submissively landed on the arm of one man, who wore ink-dark armor, his great cloak lifting slightly in the wind and snow; behind him, a thousand armies and ten thousand horsemen stood in array.

That terrifying, crushing pressure was nearly enough to drive one to despair.

Chen's cavalry scouts still gripped their weapons, standing back to back, forming a five-man combat formation—two sword-and-shield men, one main squad leader, one crossbowman, one spearman. This was the configuration tested and proven through three hundred years of troubled times.

But this tempered, elite five-man team—

Was facing the world's second-ranked divine general, half a step into legend, leading a heavy cavalry corps.

So desperate it nearly robbed one even of the courage to kill oneself.

A dark, pressing mass—whether it was the wind and clouds stirred up by billowing cloaks, or ink-colored cloud qi descending from the heavens—Qin Wang looked at them and said: "To have detected our tracks in advance, not bad."

The scout drew a deep breath and replied, neither servile nor overbearing:

"Learned from our Chen's General Lu."

He did not say which General Lu.

But in such circumstances, there would not be a second General Lu worth singling out.

Qin Wang gazed at this scout whose face bore the marks of wind and frost, saw the stubble on his face and the bloodshot eyes, and sighed with feeling: "Lu Youxian—such a city-defending general, though an opponent, is a thorny one."

"Disarm them, and carry their weapons on the spare horses."

Qin Wang did not kill them, which left these scouts with a dazed, unable-to-believe feeling. Only when the ink-armored Qin Wang pulled the reins and urged his eight-foot-tall dragon-horse forward did the scout Captain sit there in a daze, hearing a calm, greeting voice:

"Long time no see—how have you been, soldier?"

That elite, seasoned scout Captain was stunned; he raised his head and saw Qin Wang, his hair bound with a jade hairpin, smiling and nodding, his gaze mild, yet in a daze he seemed to recognize that profile.

That was nearly seven years ago.

At that time General Yue Qianfeng was besieging the city; General Lu Youxian ordered the gates sealed on all four sides. There were still commoners outside, and some criminals. Inside the city, the scholar Wang Tong, who had come from Zhongzhou on a study tour, was taking disciples, hence there was a literary-military gathering.

Many young masters of noble houses gathered there, discussing their aspirations; graceful young ladies smiled behind feather fans, using them to veil their faces, merely smiling as they watched these scenes unfold.

And at the same time—

General Yue Qianfeng had swept up a band of fugitives to crash against the city. All the young noblemen were heading inside; only one youth of thirteen or fourteen, mounted on a horse, dared charge outward, declaring himself a ninth-rank Wu Sanguan of Chen, demanding the gates be opened.

At that time he was merely a garrison soldier, and had mistaken the purpose of this young Wu Sanguan; he was still young then too, full of hot blood, and shouted loudly:

"Is my lord going out to intercept them?"

"Heavy cavalry blades are ill-suited for mounted combat."

"Please take a spear!"

At that time he raised his hand and hurled his spear; the youth charging out raised his hand and caught that standard-issue Chen spear, and with the momentum of his horse's charge, raised his hand and threw it—the spear, trailing wind, pierced through a criminal with a scar on his cheek.

That criminal had been about to lay hands on a gentle old man.

The gentle and refined old man raised his eyes with a smile, as if he had glanced at him.

Dao Sect's Zu Wenyuan.

The story seemed to begin turning once more.

The city-defending soldiers whose blood had not yet cooled back then were now stubble-bearded guerrilla scouts pushed to the margins; how cruel time was. The Captain scout parted his lips, the weapon in his hand dropping to the ground—he did not know how to address the person before him.

He did not know what to say, did not know with what heart to look upon that young Wu Sanguan who had once charged out past the city's defenses, now returning after seven years in such a manner. Only after a long, long while did he close his eyes and say:

"The world is ever-changing, my lord."

"It's only that I've been trying hard to stay alive."

Qin Wang replied: "Yes."

"The world is ever-changing."

These four words already spoke the measure of so many feelings in these chaotic times.

This great army set out from the Taigu Chilong Mystical Realm and reached a road for rest and resupply. After all, with an army of this size, they were spotted several times—and those who discovered their trail were almost all Captains who had once served under Lu Youxian.

But unfortunately, all of them were taken down.

Looking from afar, it seemed one could already make out the shadow of Chen's cities in the sky of that hour. Qin Wang smiled and said: "These roads, I know them far too well."

Duan Qingyu said: "Did you conduct an investigation and make preparations beforehand?"

Qin Wang raised his brows and answered: "If you want to put it that way, there's nothing wrong with it either. But my investigation and preparations were made far too early—about six years ago, when I committed a great offense in Chen."

"I broke into the Chen imperial palace, killed the Chen Prime Minister, raided the prison and took Marshal Yue and the Fire Qilin away…"

"Back then, a small detachment from Chen's second-line corps was pursuing me."

"I crossed back and forth through rivers within Chen, shook them off, headed straight north, and reached Zhenbei City. That year, I spent quite a long time as a wandering knight-errant."

While they rested and recuperated, the heavy cavalry changed horses, sharpened blades, and ate, Qin Wang grabbed a handful of Bai Xue and stuffed it into his mount's mouth. His gaze was calm, and speaking of the past, he merely smiled and said: "It was rather interesting, I suppose."

"Who would have thought that the experience of being hunted in my youth would become, at this moment, the confidence to enter Chen's territory with precision? Ha ha ha, the affairs of this world—cause and effect, every sip and every peck—are sometimes exquisitely subtle."

Qin Wang gazed at the distant sky.

At a garrisoned canyon outpost near Guanyi City and Jiangzhou City, they lay low for now, preparing to wait until the sun set and everyone was asleep—when every person's vigilance had dropped to its absolute lowest.

A short, direct charge to break through the city.

……………………

At this time, there were still five days until Qin Wang's capping ceremony.

Inside Chen's Ducheng, Jiangzhou City, Right Prime Minister Feng Yuning's orders were issued. Three million taels of silver were taken from the Right Prime Minister's treasury and handed over to the Right Prime Minister's trusted chief steward, who received the Right Prime Minister's command.

Looking at the silver that had been counted out and stacked neatly, a look of struggle surfaced on his face.

He took out one-third of the silver inside. This sight startled his wife, who went pale, tugged at his sleeve, and said: "Master, what are you doing? This was given by Prime Minister my lord, you, you…"

Chief steward Lao Ruying's face was torn as he said: "Yes, but this is also our lives!"

His wife froze in fear: "Wh-what?!"

Lao Ruying said: "Now the world is in great upheaval, Marshal Yue's army is surging forward. Our Prime Minister, clever and decisive, sent the money for buying loyalty over early on—several million taels. Even if he can no longer serve as Prime Minister under Qin Wang, he'll still be rich and honored for life!"

"But what about us? What about us!"

Lao Ruying's face grew somewhat savage: "Since I was young, I've slaved away for him. I've always served the Prime Minister well, but at this moment the Prime Minister only looks after his own affairs—he's never once considered us."

"If he goes over, he'll have every glory and wealth."

"But what about us?"

"We may not even survive."

"Wh-what? Master, don't scare me!"

Madam Liu's face went white. Lao Ruying said: "I'm not trying to frighten you. If the Prime Minister is to go over, he naturally must go over cleanly and safely, go over as a famed scholar of the realm, with all the bearing that entails."

"I've handled too many errands for the Prime Minister."

"I know too many of the Prime Minister's secrets that cannot be known. If the Prime Minister is to have his glory and wealth, we cannot live."

"At this point, we can't afford to care about any Prime Minister, any master and servant!"

"If a man does not look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him!"

Lao Ruying's expression twisted: "If we don't take the money now, when will we?!"

Madam Liu said: "Are you going to take one million taels of silver?!"

Lao Ruying said: "No."

He said: "That one million taels is what's being given out!"

"With these two million taels, the world is so vast—where couldn't we go? We can leave this place far behind, find a quiet spot. Then we'll hire some people of our own, and then we'll be lords too!"

One million taels were handed over.

Lao Ruying went to arrange the Prime Minister's remaining two matters.

One matter was to dismiss the estate's long-term laborers and maidservants. The Right Prime Minister's maternal clan took out all the family's land deeds and IOUs.

Looking at this thick stack of land deeds and IOUs—

Right Prime Minister Feng Yuning's nephew's face wore a look of heartache. His palm brushed over them as he said: "Has Uncle gone mad? So much gold and silver, so many land deeds—all fine things. How can he plan to just give them all away?"

"Distributing them, giving them to these lowly mud-legged wretches—what a waste!"

His wife said: "But, after all, this is Uncle's order."

Feng Yuning's nephew said: "Uncle wants to gain a clean reputation, but we don't need to give it all away."

The woman was surprised: "What does my husband mean?"

Feng Yuning's nephew put his arm around his wife's waist and said smugly: "A clean reputation? Easy. Uncle has given so much, and once it passes through our hands, how could we give it all to those mud-legged wretches?"

"As the saying goes, when fat meat passes through one's hands, one's hands come away greasy."

"To let it pass by in vain—Great Chen has stood for three hundred years; there is no such logic."

"Mud-legged wretches are easy to fool, you see. We just need to give them a little sweet treat, and won't they have to kneel on the ground and kowtow? Besides, no matter what, Uncle won't come to check on this matter himself."

"The Great Chen is probably done for; these land deeds are hard currency."

The man just laughed and said:

"The Great Chen is about to perish, a clean reputation is useless. These land deeds alone are enough to pass down through generations. Gather up the indentures too. In the end, the two of us will sit on ten thousand mu of fine farmland with a thousand households under us — wouldn't that be delightful?!"

"Being an official, being an official — where is there a noble house as carefree as this?"

"Besides, there's still the clean reputation!"

"As for this money…"

He looked at the money, divided it up — gave a portion to the steward, gave a portion to the other brothers, and with the remaining several thousand taels of silver, they all went to drink and make merry together at the most luxurious tavern in the entire Jiangzhou city.

As for those tenants, those common folk, he gave them ten wen.

Just a token gesture.

He also sent people to buy colored satin and silk, but the buyer pinched the silk, felt the material was too fine, and thought it really wasn't suitable for embroidering characters on, so the buyer lowered the grade, step by step, and in the end only bought back ordinary colored cloth.

Bought seven-tenths' worth of coarse cloth, but reported the price as thirteen-tenths' worth of colored silk.

Went to ask the womenfolk to embroider the characters, but those delicate, beautiful women, looking at this colored cloth, knit their brows, so angered by such rough, cheap fabric that their eyes reddened and tears fell, saying:

"To actually make us embroider characters ourselves — how can there be such reasoning?"

"You bring us something like this — isn't this meant to humiliate me? Humiliate my family?!"

"Take it away, take it all away!"

The Ladies and Young Ladies grew angry, and these things were carried out.

But this was after all an order personally given by the Right Prime Minister; when the time came, the colored silk still had to be handed over. So these Ladies and womenfolk handed the matter off to their personal maids.

But these maids were no ordinary maids.

Top-grade maids had their own flower names, their own little courtyards, and lower-grade maids to attend them. They were lovely in appearance, traveled in sedan chairs when going out, and had over ten taels of silver a month for their own expenses — no different from the daughters of modest households.

Besides, the Ladies and Young Ladies still had to drink tea. They had bought fine agarwood from the Western Regions, and used Bai Yu, gold and silver vessels to make incense tallies — quite particular, you see. They had no time for such needlework.

So the work was handed down to the lower-grade maids. The lower-grade maids respectfully agreed, then frowned, pinched the cloth between their fingers, and said: "Such rough fabric. Serving our elder sisters is already tiring enough — embroidering characters, how boring."

So they carried these things off again to the hired old women, the rough-handed old wives. These wives, who came from ordinary commoner households, were a bit ill at ease. The maids tossed the things down, lifted their sleeves to cover their noses, as if disliking the smell here.

This made the rough-handed old wives even more uneasy and anxious.

The maids briefly gave their instructions and left.

Then one evening, the servants of the Right Prime Minister's residence gathered there. The man who should have received his own land, land deed, and indenture was holding ten big coins in his hands, and seemed to have a kind of incredulous, unexpected joy.

The Right Prime Minister is merciful — he's giving money!

The old wife had brought back some colored cloth, saying they needed to embroider characters. This wasn't a difficult task — the work in the past had been far harder than this. But today, after all, she'd received ten wen.

The man saved up five wen, planning to send it all back together next year, saving money to redeem his own land — then there would be good days ahead.

With the remaining five wen he bought two flatbreads, some vegetables, and a little bit of meat scraps, and went back happily.

He intended to let the old wife who had endured hardship with him have something good to eat.

Such good things!

There's meat, there's vegetables, and soft flatbreads too.

But when he went out through the side courtyard gate, heading toward his lodging, he saw several people in fine clothes — the real Retainers of the Right Prime Minister's residence — and the man's heart gave a lurch.

The Right Prime Minister was a man of reputation. Though he had to maintain a scholar's lifestyle and grandeur, and had a mansion, he was very frugal. Inside the mansion there were only some twenty-odd Retainers, and the world praised his virtue, saying he lived simply.

But beneath the Retainers, there were plenty of those with no status, no reputation, who didn't need good treatment, didn't need food and lodging provided — just mud-legged folk bound by debt and indentured.

People like this didn't need food and lodging provided, didn't need their lives looked after — even if they fell ill and died, it had nothing to do with the master household.

Just give them a little money each month.

These Retainers were also lords.

One of them raised his eyes and smiled.

The man saw that this Retainer's waist pouch was bulging with copper coins.

The Retainer laughed and cursed: "I hear you've come into wealth today — give me seventy percent, how about it?"

The man stammered: "I — ten wen, I spent it all…"

The Retainer raised his brow and cursed: "Ten wen — you cheap-boned wretches, how could you bear to spend it on yourselves? How dare you play tricks with your daddy here — looking for a beating!" He gave him a thorough beating, leaving his face bruised and swollen. The man staggered back with his things.

The money was robbed away, and of his things only some flatbreads remained. The flatbreads fell to the ground and were trampled to mush by the Retainer. He watched, heartbroken, but in the end couldn't bear to waste them, so he squatted there and scrabbled for a long while, scraped them out, and carried them back in his hands.

The Retainers over there burst into loud laughter.

"Dogs scrabbling for scraps."

The man laughed obsequiously, knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and barked like a dog several times.

The Retainers over there clapped their hands and laughed: "Good dog, good dog!"

Far off by the rockery, in the pavilions and waterside halls, the Young Ladies frowned, and the top-grade maids laughed: "So ill-mannered, teasing those people again."

"Still, they owe our Prime Minister so much in debts — it's not really excessive."

Those Young Ladies were truly as beautiful as flowers and the moon, as pure as Bai Xue.

Each of their top-grade maids was also a first-rate charmer.

The maids below were diligent and reliable, the Retainers were kind and obedient — truly a gentle, peaceful life. It was just that today's wind and snow were a bit heavier, and the petals of the flowers the Young Ladies liked had fallen, which was unpleasant.

The man went back with the ruined flatbreads.

The husband and wife looked at the ruined flatbreads mixed with dirt. The old wife asked: "Where's the money?"

The man's lips trembled, and he couldn't say anything.

That woman understood everything at once. She said nothing, just brushed the dirt off the ruined flatbreads, then put them in a pot, stirred them with water. She didn't use firewood — firewood comes from the mountains, and the mountains belong to the noble houses, so firewood costs money.

Stir it a bit, mix it around, and in the end it became a watery mush.

The rough-handed old wife took a bite and said happily: "Tastes good."

"There's a meaty flavor!"

She handed the chipped bowl over to the man: "You have some too."

The man took a bite, his nose stinging a little, his eyes reddening. He felt he had worked very hard, been very diligent, but why did life still refuse to get better? Under the moonlight, the woman stared wide-eyed as she embroidered that colored cloth.

She had many demands. She found a piece of crimson fabric, ran her palm over it, and even nuzzled it with her cheek.

Such fine cloth—if she could keep just a little, she could make some new clothes for the children at home. But she didn't dare. Someone had done such a thing before and been beaten to death.

Because that was stealing money from the master's house.

But where did the master's money come from?

She didn't know. She only embroidered. On the crimson colored cloth, she embroidered cloud patterns. High-end handiwork like Fire Qilin patterns wasn't something just anyone could do, but cloud patterns—more or less—she could manage.

The world was not only Chen Kingdom; Chen Kingdom was not only Jiangzhou; Jiangzhou City was so very, very big.

So many noble families, so many high officials.

Those lords, dressed in red robes, purple robes—not only the Right Chancellor.

Their affairs were nothing unusual. Yue Pengwu, a thousand li away from here, could not affect the Ladys' and Young Ladies' elegant pleasure of viewing flowers in the snow, and no one cared about the embroiderers.

In the glaring, star-like sparks of the oil lamp's firelight, more than one person was embroidering such things. They couldn't read the characters, simply following the 'pictures' to embroider. Among the cloud patterns, a crimson banner seemed to take shape.

It read—Joyfully Welcome the Royal Army.

In this cramped, narrow little room, it blazed, like fire.

The night watchman walked past tapping his wooden clapper, calling out loudly:

"The heavens are dry and things are parched—be careful of fire!"

The wind and snow were heavy; the flowers were broken.

A beauty like jade, a scholar of romantic elegance.

Another day of peace.

?? Begging for monthly tickets, friends~