Chapter 560: A World in Turmoil, The Deep Bonds of Love

"Hey, hey, did you hear?"

Song Changgeng, a new disciple of the Mohist school, sat there, drinking a bowl of duck-blood vermicelli soup, when he heard the big fellow at the next table lower his voice and say: "Do you know? This is a big secret, you mustn't tell anyone else."

The big man had a smug smile at the corners of his eyes and brows, lowered his voice, and said:

"I heard that Your Majesty is coming back!"

Song Changgeng sighed.

Although this fellow called it a secret, his voice was so loud that he could probably be heard clearly from a li away; Song Changgeng just held his duck-blood vermicelli soup, kept slurping his noodles, and nodded instinctively.

It wasn't his fault.

This was the eighteenth time today he had heard this secret.

The previous times had been from the Mohist teacher, a passing farmer, senior brothers, senior sisters, and the Motian Sect instructor who taught him martial Wu Gong, among others.

Honestly, what kind of secret is this?

The whole of Jiangnan knows.

Nowadays this land of Jiangnan was even more bustling than before; even the common folk wore smiles on their faces, and when chatting and laughing, they could not avoid one topic—

Qin Huang, who had gone to intercept the enemy nation's military god Jiang Su at the front, was returning to court in triumph.

What wonderful news!

The people of Qin had gone a full four years without war, with light levies and taxes, and even the weather had been favorable; when occasional great storms came, it seemed one could glimpse the figure of a nine-colored divine deer.

They had also heard that a few years ago, when a flood dragon ran the Dajiang, the commotion seemed as if it would swallow up all the houses and fields of the common folk along both banks; those fifty- and sixty-year-old elders were panic-stricken, their faces went white, but in the end nothing happened.

The surging waters of the flood dragon happened to be handled by the waterworks the Mohist teachers had built; although some farmland was still damaged, almost no common folk were hurt—only one child who hadn't made it back in time was swept away.

Afterward people searched for several days, and found the wailing child in a field ridge; when they asked him what had happened, he couldn't answer, only saying that on that day, after being swept into the water and falling into a deep faint, he seemed to have seen a streak of crimson-gold flowing light.

Strong and powerful.

Strong and powerful!

Even the surging river current pouring down from on high had been torn apart.

It grabbed him and hauled him out—though it saved him, the force was so great that he simply fainted.

People thought it was the water god of the Jianghe, so they built a temple to enshrine and worship him.

They also said that in the past there had never been such things, and it must be because of Qin Huang, who had received the Mandate of Heaven; thus the people's hearts turned to one, every household had surplus grain each year, and this was also because of the Western Regions and the grassland trade caravans.

Beef and lamb were not lacking either, and the common folk's lives were far better than before.

Only the children wanted to go out and play, but were stuffed into the elementary school by the adults.

Every day they practiced martial arts, learned to read, and took exams.

When they wailed and protested, the older generation would grit their teeth, frustrated that iron wouldn't become steel, and curse: "Back in our day we never had a ruler like Qin Huang; you little brats, with such an opportunity, why aren't you hurrying to learn!"

"Whether it's Wu Gong or anything else, once you've learned a bit, don't you have a foundation to stand on?"

"Heh, what do you call hardship?"

"If we had had your chance back then, setting aside everything else, not to mention entering the realm and projecting inner Qi outward, at the very least we'd have continuous Qi flow, all the orifices opened, and be skilled with blade and spear!"

So these children went back to report to the teacher, layer upon layer reporting upward.

Somehow it reached Qin Huang.

At that time Qin Huang had just finished a bout with Jiang Su; upon seeing this message he laughed, then with a flourish of his brush, established schools for the elderly, so that those of the older generation and more advanced years could also go learn martial arts and literacy.

"Live and learn till you're old—go study."

With just this one move, the elders no longer harshly scolded the younger generation.

Because they knew that learning martial arts and literacy was also exhausting work.

The children had nothing to say either.

Your own father and mother have to practice martial arts in the farming off-season—will you not do it?

The whole atmosphere of Qin was excellent; people were well-fed and warmly clothed, customs were harmonious, no disasters had been encountered, and life was solid and comfortable, free from calamities and invasions from outside—especially when set against the neighboring State of Ying, this seemed all the more so.

Precisely because of the long years of war that had gone before.

Now the common folk of the realm longed for peace, not for chaos.

All were yearning for a long-lasting, peaceful, and stable life.

Yet beneath such peace and stability, they also worried about the neighboring State of Ying, worried that if Qin Huang were to fail, and a tyrant like that of the enemy nation came to rule the realm, their present lives would likely vanish completely like a bubble in a dream.

And so, because of this, the degree of support among the people of Qin for Qin Huang, the direction of the people's hearts, had almost surpassed any era in history.

Under such circumstances, the news of Qin Huang's return from the distant campaign was an event as great as the New Year festival itself!

Song Changgeng understood everyone's feelings, and he too was very happy.

It was just that being bombarded with this news a dozen or so times a day had made his little head go a bit dizzy; he was just slurping his noodles when he suddenly noticed an indignant gaze, looked up, and saw across from him a little Miss, eating duck-blood vermicelli soup following the exact same steps as he did.

The two of them stared wide-eyed at each other.

But just at this moment, the sound of hoofbeats came from outside.

Under Qin Huang's rule, on the main roads, one could not gallop horses, yet this situation had not been stopped; almost everyone realized something, as if in that instant a heavenly might pressed down, and all the sounds of the human world were stripped away.

Quiet—talking sounds, footsteps, laughter.

All sound seemed to freeze in an instant.

No one knew how long this sudden silence lasted.

In perception, it seemed a very long time.

Yet it also seemed like only a brief instant.

The scout on horseback drew a deep breath and shouted: "Qin Huang returns to court in triumph!!!"

His voice was like a sharp sword, piercing this silent atmosphere; in an instant, cheers and laughter all exploded forth together. Song Changgeng thought that, as he was already a disciple of the Mohist school, he would not be moved one way or another by a sovereign's return.

But then, he had already been swept up in the fervent, roaring tide of voices.

He found that he had stood up, and was looking outside along with the other common folk; he found that he had opened his mouth and was shouting, his heart pounding hard; he noticed that everyone was the same as him—that instant was the body's own excitement.

Then he saw the crimson battle banners of the Fire Qilin Army in the distance.

His mind went blank, leaving only joy.

Perhaps, before, and after.

There will never again be a monarch of such renown.

In the lands south of the river, the air rang with the clamor of voices. The people were overjoyed at the return of the Imperial Sovereign after years of personally leading the campaign. Xue Changqing, now nineteen, stood on a small hillock outside the city holding a battle-halberd, gazing down below, and could only sigh in admiration:

"Ah, His Majesty Qin Huang's popularity is truly too high."

"A true man should be just so."

The young lady Shi Guan beside him said: "When Your Majesty was young, he stepped onto the battlefield, braving arrows and blades in person, fought through a hundred battles, and only thus won this realm. Yet he also governs diligently and loves his people; the common folk are clothed and fed. Since ancient times, there has never been a monarch who stood with the people as he does."

"Is it not only natural that he should win such hearts?"

Xue Changqing laughed and said: "That is so as well."

"But…"

He gazed into the distance, watching Qin Huang ride his warhorse into the city, the crimson Fire Qilin-patterned battle banners unfurling. He was already at the Fourth Heaven realm, his eyesight extremely keen, and he could make out the bearing and dignity, the bearing of an Imperial Sovereign—Qin Huang still wore that same archaic jade hairpin.

He seemed both relieved and as if letting out a long breath of ease.

Yet he still said softly: "But… Sister has waited for him for so very, very long."

"His Majesty Qin Huang, Big Brother Li."

"When he was thirteen or fourteen, he got to know Sister, and they could be considered childhood companions, two little ones with no suspicion between them, sharing life and death together. All these years, although Sister's Changfeng Tower could not accompany Big Brother Li on the battlefield as the Duke of Li did, it still helped a great deal."

"Why are they still not together?"

"Could it really be as the storytellers say—falling flowers have intent, flowing water has none—simply Sister's unrequited love?"

"Now Big Brother Li has won fame and success, the great enterprise of an emperor. Is he to let Sister's black hair turn white? So-called emperors are heartless, ah, that hurts."

Xue Changqing cried out in pain, and when he looked up, he saw the young lady Shi Guan Sa Atandi raise the scroll in her hand and smack him with it.

Sa Atandi said: "You and that Xue Shen Jiang really did learn to wag your tongues."

Xue Changqing scratched his head.

"But he is my ancestor!"

"I resemble my ancestor—is that not a perfectly normal thing?"

"I resemble my ancestor—is that not something to be proud of!"

Xue Changqing's reasoning was crooked, but his spirit was bold.

The young lady sighed: "You cannot learn Xue Shen Jiang's Wu Gong and military strategy—why must you learn his mouth?"

"The relationship between His Majesty Qin Huang and the Changfeng Lady—do not make wild guesses about it."

When the young lady Shi Guan was in the Western Regions, she had a very good relationship with the Qin Wu Hou of that time. When Qin Wu used the name Ti Ge Er, they campaigned and roamed together across those vast Western Regions. She knew the 【Young Lady】 that Qin Huang had mentioned back then, and only said:

"Having gone through an era of peace, an era of chaos, an era of founding, and now the great settling of the four directions, the realm divided in two—the weight of their bond is something you and I cannot imagine."

Xue Changqing sighed and scratched his head: "But why…"

The young lady Shi Guan said: "In Your Majesty's eyes lies the realm."

"The realm is divided in two; the common folk and the war generals alike are holding back a breath of spirit—this breath is fierce courage and bold valor. If Your Majesty were to hold a grand wedding at this moment, even without saying a word, it would send a signal through the act itself: that Your Majesty has begun to enjoy himself."

"And it would diminish that fierce spirit."

"Strike while the iron is hot, then it wanes—such matters seem hard to grasp, as if they were mere words of ordinary men, but scanning the green annals of history, every dynasty and generation has seen similar things happen; one cannot refuse to believe it."

"Great matters unfinished, yet greedy for enjoyment—this is the conduct of a foolish ruler."

Xue Changqing said indignantly: "Is merely enjoying oneself enough to make one a foolish ruler?"

The Shi Guan replied: "Enjoyment is only the surface."

"Of a hundred li, ninety is but half—when matters stand thus, such things…"

"This is tantamount to betraying the comrades and brothers-in-arms who have come all this way."

"The green annals stretch long, the iron brush pronounces judgment—regarding such conduct, there are only eight characters."

"They say: the hero's spirit runs short, the ties of love run long."

These eight characters, like the title borne by those rats who squat on a corner of land, left Xue Changqing unable to retort, with no temper left either. He could only sigh, cup his cheeks in both hands, and murmur: "Four years, four years."

"You and I were bickering back then, and now we're both to be betrothed…"

"My family is far too particular about propriety."

"If Big Brother Li and Sister's matter comes to nothing, how can I marry?"

Sa Atandi's face flushed red.

She swung the history book up and smashed it down toward him.

Xue Changqing blocked the blow with one hand, then seized the girl's wrist, and burst out laughing aloud before sighing again: "A monarch who steadied the chaos and opened a new era—such an identity and station is truly lonely, and after all is not something people like us can fully understand."

The laughter mingled into the wind; the wind went from the mountaintop down toward the city, brushing past the bells on the towers, brushing past the orderly streets and banners, brushing past the common folk, brushing past Qin Huang as he dismounted and led his horse on foot, and then brushing past Changfeng Tower.

In Changfeng Tower, a woman leaned by the window, watching that heroic and spirited man walk through the mortal world.

Common folk crowded around.

Over these past few years, Xue Shuangtao's Wu Gong had never been good enough to fight in a place like the front lines; she could only stay in the rear. Now, after several years, a meeting was rare. Seeing Qin Huang's splendor and bearing, she felt a breath of relief in her heart, yet carried with it a sense of loneliness.

After Qin Huang returned to Jiangnan, he first went to handle military affairs, then proceeded to Tiance Prefecture, where he discussed matters with the generals and strategists of Tiance Prefecture, and laid out plans to later summon all his ministers. The great trends of the realm, wind and cloud, all rested upon him.

Father and mother, teachers, tutors, uncles, comrades-in-arms, brothers-in-arms, great-great-grandfather…

He, like Jiang Gao, could not look back, could not stop.

This heart was like iron—until the long-cherished wish and great vow were fulfilled, he swore he would not rest!

The summer days were longer than those of autumn and winter. Xue Shuangtao had prepared some wine and meat, but no one came. Suddenly she realized that the person of today was no longer that little guest retainer of years past, nor that shabby, poor little pharmacist.

Not the spirited youth, but because of that youthful spirit—the young Jin Wuwei who had broken into the Ghost Market at night and been confined for it. Back then she had slipped out from her aunt's place, wearing the palace attire of a Commandery Princess, lifting her skirts as she tiptoed quietly to the place where the Jin Wuwei was confined.

She piled up some bricks and stones there, stepped on them, stood on tiptoe to look in through the window, and tossed small pieces of gold onto the ground. The youth followed the gold over.

The many affairs of those years are still as they were back then.

That young man of the Golden Guard raised his weapon and let out a roar of his own against this chaotic age; he led a thousand armies and ten thousand horses, galloped across such a world, and established one after another feat worthy of being recorded in history; he had already become the direction of the hearts of all the people, the so-called hero of his era.

He still had many things to do.

He was very busy.

The hearts of old friends had not changed, but the winds and clouds of this world could no longer be as they were back then.

Xue Shuangtao was twirling her wine cup, just about to drink by herself, when she heard footsteps coming from outside; when the door was opened, the woman raised her eyes and saw that it was the female steward of Changfeng Tower; her gaze lowered slightly as she said: "Is there something…"

The female steward was breathing heavily, as if she had run all the way back, her tone somewhat stammering: "Hah, Tower Lord, it's, it's yours, no, it's…"

A hand reached out and pressed on the female steward's shoulder.

A calm voice came: "It's the Xue family's Grand Guest Minister, Li Guanyi."

Xue Shuangtao froze, almost instinctively rising and stepping forward a few paces.

The female steward stepped aside; a young man still in his armor, his battle robe draped over him, raised his brow and smiled: "Not waiting for me before you start eating? Young Lady, that's not proper of you."

The female steward retreated respectfully.

As she left, she closed the door behind her.

Going downstairs, she kept her mouth tightly shut, waving her hands vigorously to signal the others to withdraw quickly, not to approach, not to disturb the people above.

Li Guanyi said: "Young Lady, drinking by yourself."

Xue Shuangtao merely laughed lightly: "After all, you're so busy; I was wondering whether you'd gone to Tiance Prefecture."

Li Guanyi looked at the woman before him; Xue Shuangtao was a little more than half a year older than Li Guanyi, and now her bearing was composed and graceful; because she had taken the ageless medicine refined from Hou Zhongyu's item, her face still looked like that of someone just past twenty, and her temperament had moved beyond the innocent romance of her younger days and the decisiveness of her seventeen or eighteen years, arriving now at a gentle steadfastness.

Li Guanyi said: "Just back from Tiance Prefecture; there are still many matters to handle. When I was seventeen or eighteen, I hated dealing with Juan Sect the most, always sneaking off outside; but now I understand that within a single sentence lie the waves of the world."

"Not a single sentence, not half a sentence, can be overlooked."

"Afterward, I still need to go and confirm the next strategy with Mr. Pojun and the others."

Xue Shuangtao reached out and undid Li Guanyi's battle robe.

Casually placing it on the rack, Qin Huang very much at ease undid his helmet, wearing only the round-collared robe beneath the armor, changed into a jade belt, stretched his limbs, and laughed: "Now this counts as relaxing!"

Xue Shuangtao said: "Lucky you're a martial arts legend; otherwise, I'd be afraid you'd reek of sweat."

Li Guanyi laughed dryly: "Grandmaster will do just fine."

He sat down to drink; the Young Lady also clinked cups with him. The two were childhood friends, having grown up together without suspicion, having gone through many partings and hardships; the depth of their bond was extraordinary. Xue Shuangtao also took the opportunity to fetch the Juan Sect records from Changfeng Tower.

Even in the State of Ying, Changfeng Tower still had activities.

Or rather, precisely because of Jiang Yuan's reckless behavior within the State of Ying, Changfeng Tower was given enough time and opportunity to operate. In such a vast region, Jiang Yuan's problems caused grain to become expensive in many places and military forces to fall out of balance in many areas.

A country is like a person's body.

A sovereign's misdeeds cannot be fully summed up by a single judgment in the Juan Sect records; what they represent is the loss of population in a region, the failure of the harvest in that area, the boiling resentment of a generation, the displacement of the common folk in that region, and the defensive gaps left by troops being redeployed.

This is holistic; it is dynamic.

Li Guanyi and Xue Shuangtao simply used the intelligence brought by Changfeng Tower as a drinking accompaniment, discussing the state of the world. Li Guanyi was out on campaign, facing off against the God of War; even he could not, under such circumstances, have every change in the world's situation perfectly clear in his heart.

And Xue Shuangtao understood these things; as the two talked, she would answer some of what Li Guanyi needed. Gradually, Li Guanyi's eyes grew bright; drinking and chatting casually, after an hour, Qin Huang saw that the sky outside was darkening, rose, and said:

"Young Lady, I must go to Tiance Prefecture."

"Having now seen Changfeng Tower's intelligence, the strategy still needs to be further confirmed."

Xue Shuangtao looked at him and said: "Is it time for the final battle?"

Li Guanyi's footsteps paused; he answered solemnly: "Yes, the final battle, the true final battle, the last great war that will lay the foundation for the era of peace."

"This battle—eight hundred years of the Red Emperor's lineage, three hundred years of chaos, all the winds and storms surging together, the State of Chen, the State of Ying, Tuyuhun, the Tanguts, the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, the eighteen tribes of the grasslands, how many sovereigns, how many heroes, how much blood of innocent commoners—have all converged into me and the State of Ying."

"This battle must be fought!"

"And it must be won!"

"The previous campaigns dragged on because of the checks and balances among all sides; but now, in this final battle, each side has no worries at home, and so it will actually be much faster."

Qin Huang looked at the woman before him; he let out a breath, extended his arms, and as a sovereign bearing the burden of the world's peace, he laid bare his own emotions and feelings, drawing the woman into his embrace, and said softly: "Before the world is at peace, I cannot be myself."

"And I am also not just myself."

Xue Shuangtao laughed softly in his arms.

"I know. Having come all this way, if you could forget the sacrifices of those people and, at such a moment, simply do what you yourself want to do, then you wouldn't be you."

She reached out and pressed on Qin Huang, tidying his sleeves for him, and said:

"Then go."

"Go do what you ought to do, go do what Qin Huang must do."

"Go win it all."

Xue Shuangtao looked at him; Li Guanyi nodded, picked up the dark-gold, heavy broadsword resting beside him, and was about to walk out. Xue Shuangtao clasped her hands together, holding them before her, and suddenly said: "Guanyi."

"Mm?"

Qin Huang turned around and saw the woman standing there, pretty and lively.

Sunlight poured in through the window, falling upon her; Xue Shuangtao suddenly smiled, then reached out her hand and said: "Here!"

She opened her palm, and on it lay a small golden bean.

Under the sunlight, it reflected a brilliant gleam.

Qin Huang froze.

He suddenly recalled that when he was fourteen, after leaving Yicheng, riding out to roam the world to search for his aunt, he had passed by the Xue family's merchant guild and written a letter to the Xue family's old patriarch and the Young Lady to report his safety; the Xue family's Shopkeeper had given him a piece of gold.

"The Young Lady sent word before: if you see the Young Master come to deliver a letter, you must give him a golden bean."

"One each time."

This was nothing more than a simple meaning.

You must come see me often.

Qin Huang looked at this golden bean, his gaze softening.

He walked over, stretched out his palm to take this golden bean, and in a daze, it was not the twenty-five-year-old, vast and grand, majestic and spirited Qin Huang who had swallowed the world whole, not the young and decisive Changfeng Lady who controlled Changfeng and held the world's number one intelligence network.

It was the boy and girl back in the academy days, strolling along, giving each other hairpins.

It was the Jinwu Guard who sat in disgrace in the confinement room back then, and the little princess who lay on the windowsill tossing down golden beans to fish for him.

It was the eldest young lady, the blue-robed guest retainer.

It was the little pharmacist waiting in the private school for arithmetic problems.

It was that quiet, chin-in-hand, serene eldest young lady.

So the boy of those days reached out and picked up that golden bean; Xue Shuangtao took a deep breath, then exhaled, and the moment Li Guanyi's palm caught the golden bean, she let go.

Then her hand seized his wrist.

A woman who was only at the Third Heaven could not possibly move the contemporary Qin Huang, who was a match for the very best, so she drifted close like a butterfly, grabbed Li Guanyi's sleeve, and rose on her tiptoes.

Xue Shuangtao's lips pressed against Li Guanyi's.

That golden bean fell to the ground.

Clang—it rang out.

Just like the years of youth.

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