Chapter 569: Chaos

The Tian clan's history says: "The phoenixes soar in pairs, their harmonious cries ring out clear and bright."

The Book of Odes says: "Jade pendants chime clear and bright, the nobleman is like jade."

But today, that purple jade phoenix pendant that marked Tian An's identity was not hanging at his waist as it had been ten years ago, nor was it hidden against his chest as it had been through more than three thousand days and nights over these seven years.

Instead, it was gripped in his hand and raised high, proclaiming one thing to the people of Linzi: "The descendants of the King of Qi still remain!"

Tian An was the grandson of King Jian of Qi and the son of the base-born Prince Tian Sheng. Seven years ago, when the Qin army entered Qi and his grandfather and father both bared their flesh and surrendered, the young Tian An, with the help of a gallant knight named Hua Wushang, hid and survived.

Linzi was too vast, its population immense — three hundred wards packed densely together, enough to shelter a prince of the Tian Qi line.

After that, Tian An concealed his name and identity. He shed his vermilion robes, removed his cap and sash, and wore the clothes of a commoner, serving as a retainer in the household of a minor physician who could not forget Qi. He used the identity of a "Confucian scholar" to mask his origins — this way, his tender skin and soft hands, his lack of physical labor, could be explained away.

At first, the Qin still pursued him according to the genealogical records of the Qi royal house, but gradually, Tian An was forgotten...

Yet unlike his cowardly grand-uncle Tian Jia, though Tian An had lost power, wealth, and rank and fallen to the status of a common scholar, he always remembered his former identity and yearned for the day when he could restore the rule of Tian Qi.

"Back then, when Yan, Qin, Zhao, Wei, and Han — five states — attacked Qi, Chu also seized the chance to plunder, leading to King Min's death and Qi nearly ceasing to exist. Yet Prince Fazhang changed his name and clan, worked as a servant in the Grand Historian's house in Ju City, and thus survived. After a long time, he dared to say of himself, 'I am King Min's son.' Then the people of Ju jointly enthroned Prince Fazhang — he became our late ruler King Xiang — and thereby held Ju City, and Qi was preserved... The deeds of King Xiang of Qi can be repeated today!"

Tian An had always felt that his own experience was practically a replica of King Xiang of Qi's story! And the final result would be exactly the same.

That history — of Qi on the brink of annihilation yet ultimately restored — inspired the descendants of the King of Qi and the disempowered men within and outside the court to keep operating in secret, but they suffered from a lack of opportunity.

At last, when Confucian scholars used the past to criticize the present and the Qin court tightened control over public discourse, causing the scholars' resentment against the court to surge and people to exchange only glances on the roads, Tian An and the knight Hua Wushang felt the moment was nearly at hand!

After the furor of the Book-Confiscation Edict passed, they once again made contact with freelance knights and gathered companions. The underworld forces of Linzi's markets had practically become the vanguard of the Qi restoration — after all, they were the group hit hardest by the Qin authorities.

When word came of Qin Shi Huang's "assassination and death" and the uprising in Di County, Tian An was overjoyed and declared: "The Tian Dan brothers are the Lord of Anping of our era!"

Though he felt some dissatisfaction that the Tian Dan brothers had sought out his notoriously cowardly grand-uncle Tian Jia instead of him, Tian An could not bother with that now. Qi was already in chaos, and all the troops of Linzi Commandery had been dispatched to suppress the bandits in Di County — this was the perfect chance for them to rise up inside the city!

The Confucian robe and cap he had worn for seven years were at last cast aside. Today, Tian An donned the full set of armor that the knights had prepared for him. On his feet were leather boots studded with bronze nails. A suit of lacquered leather-and-bronze armor, its fish-scale plates bound into a whole with red hemp cords, a bronze chest-guard bearing a taotie beast-face fastened tight with bronze buckles. At his waist was a leather belt, and a longsword hung from a bronze metal hook.

He put on the heavy helmet, and a great purple cloak was draped behind him. This was Tian An's full regalia. Today, as the banner of the uprising in Linzi, he had to be conspicuous!

"My Prince!"

Just as Tian An was scrutinizing his reflection in the bronze mirror, checking whether he still had the bearing of a prince and a general, Hua Wushang walked in, sword bloodied, and bowed to Tian An:

"In Linzi, thirty wards have risen together in revolt and set great fires. The Qin officials and soldiers were caught off guard and are already in chaos. I have seized the armory and distributed weapons to everyone. It is time to go seize the city gates and the royal palace!"

"I am indebted to you, Sir Hua."

Tian An nodded and gave a promise that even he himself could not guarantee.

"If Qi is restored, I will certainly report to my grand-uncle... ahem, report to the King of Qi, and have your deeds honored, Sir Knight."

Though Tian An held Tian Jia in contempt, he understood that now was the moment for all the Tian branches to pull together. Seizing power and position could wait until the great matter was settled. Recovering Linzi would be political capital no less than King Xiang of Qi holding Ju, and the tens of thousands of households in the city would be enough to make him a decisive force in the new Qi!

"At the very least, they must make me Left Chancellor and let me stand equal to the Tian brothers..."

And so, a crowd of freelance knights clustered around Tian An and strode out onto the streets of Linzi, arriving at the area between Zhuang and Yue.

This was a six-lane thoroughfare spanning the outer city district, the liveliest place in Linzi, called "Zhuang." The busiest market near this street was called "Yue," located inside the north gate, where shops and craftsmen were concentrated. Besides year-round trading, a large trade fair was held every five days. On market-opening day, the drums had to be struck a full three hundred times to summon all the merchants under heaven.

Today was also a market-opening day, but what resounded through the streets and alleys was no longer drumbeats and haggling, but the clash of metal and the shouts of slaughter.

The broad avenue became a battleground between the knights and the Qin soldiers. Fallen corpses lay everywhere — Qin soldiers, knights, and many more commoners and merchants, all innocent fish caught in the net.

The bustling market was no more. Stalls too late to evacuate were looted clean by rioting knights and townsfolk. Gone was the prosperity of hubcaps striking, shoulders rubbing, sleeves linked into walls, raised sleeves forming curtains, and sweat falling like rain. Everywhere was chaos and melee, chickens flying and dogs leaping.

The common folk had all retreated into their homes and barred their doors. The scene of all Linzi baring their right shoulders, clutching farm tools, and pouring out to follow Prince Tian An did not materialize...

Tian An was somewhat disappointed, but the people are like sheep, the ruler like a man — could one expect a flock of sheep to butt wolves with their horns? The ruler must step forward, exterminate the vicious wolves, and only then can he continue to shepherd the people.

"The chaos will continue for some time yet."

Hua Wushang looked toward the government offices already ablaze, pointed at the dense smoke billowing from them, and said to Tian An: "Right now, our lads have pressed to the government compound and are locked in a death-struggle with the Qin soldiers. I will go kill that dog of a Commandery Governor. You, my Prince, take men and seize the east gate. The knights from Dong'anping will come to reinforce us — this was arranged beforehand..."

Tian An nodded, then parted ways with Hua Wushang and led several hundred men straight for the east gate.

Along the way, street fighting and chaos were everywhere. Ruffians and wandering swordsmen seized the chance to loot, and the innocent who met disaster were not few.

But Tian An looked upon it all with indifference. He felt that chaos was not such a bad thing — were chaos, coups, and street fighting not a familiar sight to this city?

He had received an excellent education and knew his family's history. Their Tian clan had, all along, used one upheaval after another to climb step by step to the top and steal a state to become feudal lords.

In the third year of Duke Jing of Qi (the twenty-eighth year of Duke Xiang of Lu, 545 BC), in the tenth month, Tian Wuyu (Tian Huanzi), as the most trusted confidant of Qing Feng, the chief minister of Qi, used masterful acting during a hunt, pretending that his mother had died of illness and wailing bitterly, completely deceiving the Qing clan. In secret, however, he raced back to Linzi and, together with the Bao, Gao, and Luan clans, launched a coup and expelled the Qing clan. For his deeds, the Tian clan was enfeoffed as Upper Grand Master, and their power greatly increased.

Ten years later, Tian Wuyu allied again with Bao Guo and launched another coup, making a sudden attack on the Luan and Gao clans, and received the fief of Gaotang. The Tian clan's power expanded further.

But at that time, compared to the Guo and Gao clans, the Tian clan was still a minor house.

One generation later, seizing the moment after Duke Jing of Qi died, Tian Qi (Tian Xizi) played the Guo and Gao clans against each other. After defeating the forces of the Guo and Gao chief ministers, he sent men to Lu to welcome Prince Yangsheng and enthroned him as Duke Jian of Qi. Through the merit of this enthronement, he formally entered the ranks of the ministerial clans.

A few years after that, Tian Chang (Tian Chengzi) launched a coup, killed Kan Zhi and Duke Jian of Qi, and installed Duke Jian's younger brother as ruler — that was Duke Ping of Qi. Afterward, Tian Heng monopolized the power of Qi and exterminated the Bao, Yan, and other clans. Tian Chengzi's fief was larger than the territory directly ruled by Duke Ping of Qi.

From that point on, their family became the de facto rulers of Qi!

In short, within fifty years, four upheavals in Linzi had forged the glory of the Tian clan.

"And this fifth one will make the Tian clan rise again!"

Prince Tian An was brimming with spirit and vigor. The sacrifices were only temporary. The chaos in Linzi might kill thousands or tens of thousands and burn down a third of the wards, but as long as they fanned the flames in coordination with Di County, restored Qi, and returned the Tian clan to its rightful station, everything would be worth it!

"Our Tian clan has nurtured scholars and nurtured the people for two hundred years, lightening corvée and reducing taxes — it is time for them to make some sacrifices for Tian Qi!" he thought, as a matter of course.

Tian An directed the knights and heroes in their assault on the panicked guards of the east gate. Though the men following him in rebellion were not many, they still numbered hundreds, even a thousand swords. Though they had no order whatsoever, dealing with the scant Qin officials and soldiers was a trivial matter.

The commandery troops in Linzi were mostly men from Dong Commandery, not worth dying for the Qin. Faced with attacks from knights and rioters ten times their number, most put up a token resistance and then gave up. But Tian An did not accept surrender. The Qi knights had endured seven years of grievances and needed an outlet. The captives were bound, and the knights set them alight, burning them to ashes...

Similar flames and black smoke dotted the city of Linzi, everywhere.

Tian An's sword was never stained with blood, but his noble bloodline alone, his purple jade pendant-tally alone, was enough for knights to sell their lives for him. Swords rose and fell, blood splattered the ground, and at last, the outer city's east gate of Linzi changed hands!

"Cut down the Qin banners on the gate tower and raise the flags of Qi! Tell the knights of Dong'anping they can enter the city and lend aid!" Tian An issued his commands.

The flags had been sewn under duress by a group of embroideresses from Zhuang and Yue in Linzi. The needlework was somewhat crude, but the great seal-script characters of Qi alone were enough to stir men's hearts.

"Di County and Linzi are only the beginning. All seventy-two cities of Qi will surely change their banners!"

Turning back, looking at the still-unsettled chaos within Linzi, the brutal slaughter, and the dozen or more wards caught in the great fire, scorched black, their people weeping without end, Tian An once more comforted himself...

"The chaos is only temporary..."

When Tang and Wu put down the chaos of Jie and Zhou, did blood not float shields? Did you think the only ones who died were soldiers, the only ones who bled were nobles?

The common folk will shed ten times, a hundred times more blood than them!

And that blood will become the crimson upon the new sovereign.

Thinking thus, Tian An turned his head once more, wanting to catch a glimpse of the long-missed sight of Qi banners fluttering in the wind — only to find that the gallant who had gone to hang the flag stood motionless, staring blankly down below the city walls…

The city was in such chaos and uproar that Tian An had not even noticed when, at some unknown point, an army had appeared outside the walls.

It was not the Dong'anping gallants he and Hua Wushang had been hoping for, but a black-clad Qin army!

Thousands-strong Qin troops were arriving in succession from the east, assembling and standing firm outside the city, while their commander's banner slowly moved through the ranks, finally planting itself at the very front line.

The flag held aloft by that big-bearded Qin soldier clearly read: "Jiaodong Commandant"!

One who relished turmoil as if it were sweet syrup — yet at this very moment, Tian An's face went pale in an instant.

"It's the Jiaodong troops…"

This man who also left his name in history, the King of Jibei who would distinguish himself at the Battle of Julu, felt the hand braced against the city wall tremble faintly.

"It's the Qin Emperor's hound, Heifu!"

……

Heifu was also gazing toward Linzi, but his eyes passed over Tian An in his eye-catching attire atop the wall and looked beyond him, to the great, illustrious city behind — a city that had endured countless upheavals.

He murmured:

"This game of restorationists… is over!"

PS: Good morning, the second chapter will be in the evening.

(End of chapter)