Chapter 663: Submission

Chen Qiyu's family was on the verge of losing their minds.

The weak-willed wept and wailed; even the strong felt as if they had been struck by lightning.

They could never have dreamed it — and not just them; even Zhang Xianzhong, the Prince of Han, and Zhou Qing, who personally carried it out, never dreamed it either.

Liu Chengzong had expended tremendous effort, sending men across the Yellow River into Baode Prefecture to abduct Chen Qiyu's family — not to demand surrender, nor to vent his rage, but solely to shove them into the great stronghold of Xi'an.

Even more dumbfounded, of course, was Chen Qiyu atop the city wall.

Ever since Xi'an Prefecture began letting people out of the city, he had been eating and sleeping in the gate tower these past few days, keeping men posted at all times to watch the Marshal's Army's movements.

Though truth be told, he himself did not know what he was hoping for or dreading.

Whether Liu Chengzong took in the commoners or refused them, he did not know whether to be glad or distressed.

Whether Liu Chengzong furiously stormed the city or calmly accepted the situation, he did not know whether to wish for it or fear it.

The officials and officers inside Xi'an were, for the most part, just like him.

In short, they had all been worn to exhaustion by the siege.

But he truly had not expected Liu Chengzong to march people out from the encampment.

So the moment he heard the news, he hurriedly climbed the wall, raised his telescope for a look — how strange!

Though the people leaving the camp were too far away to make out clearly, Chen Qiyu felt those figures were all very familiar; he just could not place them.

On the one hand, as the most illustrious junior of the Chen clan, he had been serving in official posts between Xi'an Prefecture and Yansui ever since the Shaanxi uprising, and had not returned home for many years.

On the other hand, that possibility never even crossed his mind; he merely assumed they were fellow officials who had surrendered to Liu Chengzong.

But there seemed to be women and children among them — whose family had Liu Chengzong brought here?

No idea. Better keep watching.

As the large crowd drew nearer and nearer to the trench, Chen Qiyu suddenly froze atop the wall as if struck by lightning.

Good heavens!

Isn't that my younger brother?

He's supposed to be back in our hometown — what's he doing in Shaanxi?

Oh no — and Mother, and Aunt Bai, Fourth Uncle and Chen Qiying... and is that little one Chen Qizhang? He's grown into an adult in the few years I haven't seen him.

Nine years.

Counting from the sixth year of Tianqi, when he took up the post of Vice Commissioner of the Guannei Circuit in Shaanxi, he had returned home only twice.

The first time was in the first year of Chongzhen, when he assumed the post of Administration Vice Commissioner of Henan; believing the Guo family's scoundrel of a son unworthy of his youngest sister, he went home to break off the engagement.

The second was in the second year of Chongzhen, when he returned home to mourn his youngest sister after she took her own life, then hurriedly took up the post of Surveillance Commissioner of Shaanxi. After that, he never went back to his hometown of Baode Prefecture.

So that's whose family Liu Chengzong had brought over — turns out it's my own family!

Chen Qiyu stood rooted to the spot. Blood roared into his head with a buzzing rush; his hair bristled with fury, and his eyes instantly reddened.

He had never, ever imagined that Liu Chengzong would bring his family here.

Because Chen Qiyu was not the sort of traditional official, like Duan Fuxing, who believed that when one man finds the Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

He had been steadily cutting ties with his clan.

To be precise, he had been deliberately restraining his clan's advancement.

When fellow villagers and kinsmen wrote to him, hoping to come serve as officials by his side, he flatly refused every single one.

As a senior official from another province who had toiled deep in Shaanxi for years during the Chongzhen reign, Chen Qiyu had watched high officials and dignitaries like Wu Zhiwang drop dead one after another in miserable succession, and he felt a profound unease.

At the same time, because of his younger sister Chen Jing's suicide by hanging, he also felt deep guilt toward his family and could not bear to see anyone else die an unnatural death over external things like power, wealth, or rank.

Therefore, once he rose to prominence, he advised the brothers of his generation: those without examination credentials should go earn the licentiate degree, and those who already had the licentiate degree should settle down and study in peace, no longer pursuing the higher degrees of provincial graduate or metropolitan graduate.

In any case, the Chen clan was a scholarly family of Baode Prefecture, a local magnate lineage with considerable wealth.

In the sixth year of Tianqi alone, when Baode was struck by disaster, Chen Qiyu, who had just taken up the post of Vice Commissioner of the Guannei Circuit in Shaanxi, contributed three thousand taels of silver from his family to relieve the victims and paid that year's taxes and levies on behalf of his hometown.

Even if no one held office, their livelihood would not be affected.

After all, the realm was already in chaos; going out to take office after earning examination credentials at a time like this brought no benefit.

Better to stay in the hometown and study. I am already in Shaanxi anyway; if I handle matters well, once the calamities are quelled, it will not be too late for you to take office then.

If I handle matters poorly, then I alone will die, and that can count as the Baode Chen clan having done its loyal duty to the court.

Precisely because of this, the brothers of his generation in the family all bore the titles of licentiate or tribute student, without a single provincial graduate among them.

Chen Qiyu simply did not believe in chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.

He knew how dangerous this path was, and he gave his brothers, sons, and nephews no chance whatsoever to ascend to heaven alongside him.

In an environment like this, even the chickens and dogs could find no peace — to say nothing of the fact that one careless misstep could send the entire family to the Western Paradise together.

Protecting his family had, for a very long time, been what Chen Qiyu considered the most correct decision he had ever made.

Yet despite all his evasions and all his obstructions, Liu Chengzong had still delivered his family right beneath the walls of Xi'an Prefecture.

Chen Qiyu felt as if his sky were about to collapse.

The officials atop the wall exchanged bewildered glances; the soldiers guarding the city whispered among themselves. No one knew why the Marshal's Army was driving those innocent civilians forward; all they could see was those people crossing the outer trench and drawing closer and closer to the moat.

Only Chen Qiyu knew what was happening.

His eyes practically blazed fire as he glared deathly down from the wall, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

Chen Qiyu burned with hatred, so much that he wished he could grind his teeth to dust. His heart was in utter turmoil.

His mind was filled with a single question: Had Liu Chengzong gone mad?

This is pointless!

Placing one's family and kin beneath the wall to demand surrender — the true kin below would sooner die than urge surrender, and the man atop the wall would sooner see his kin dead than ever surrender!

The times have changed, Grand Marshal.

This is not the end of the Han dynasty. I, Chen Qiyu, am no regional lord like a provincial governor, nor a frontline commander of the Three Kingdoms era. Even in this present age, I am not a prefect or county magistrate with direct administrative authority over the locality.

Moral coercion will not work. You try to morally coerce me from outside the city with my family, and the officials behind me inside the city will use the morality of loyalty and righteousness to coerce me all the more.

In times like ours, persuading surrender can only be done in private, secretly opening the city gates.

But damn it, the gates of Xi'an were opened for you ages ago, and you bastard wouldn't even go in!

Now you bring my family to the foot of the wall — what... what is this!

Just then, a fierce general with two men, holding two banners, galloped across the planked-over trench and raced toward the city wall.

Two yellow banners — the left one yellow with a coiled dragon pattern, the right one yellow with black characters, the words clear and sharp: Kinsmen Camp.

Once they crossed the trench and drew near, people saw that what the fierce general rode was no warhorse, but a tall, sturdy black donkey.

The man carried no weapon. He rode straight to the far side of the moat drawbridge, raised a hand toward the wall, and shouted himself hoarse: "I am Golden Cicada Zhu Danyu, Colonel of the Kinsmen Camp under the Grand Marshal's Office! Is Army Commander Chen on the wall?"

Truth be told, when the defenders on the wall saw a general charging over, many thought their chance for merit had come — the arquebusiers even lit their match cords.

But hearing that self-introduction, one after another they scowled in disgust and crushed the match cords out on the parapet.

Kinsmen Camp — and the unkillable Golden Cicada at that. That bastard's been reincarnated how many times already? Why mess with him?

Truth be told, the soldiers weren't afraid of the Kinsmen Camp. These men, unlike the Prince of Han, held no noble rank — they were mere commoners who'd thrown in with the rebels, and famous bandits at that. Killing them brought merit, no blame.

The only trouble was the imperial clan might file a complaint, but when the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up — no real problem.

Fortune favors the bold, after all.

But Golden Cicada was different.

That bandit alias had been killed off by government troops too many times, reincarnated too many times — the court and the Shaanxi authorities had long stopped recognizing it as a famous bandit name.

Kill Golden Cicada, and you'd get no reward.

Of course, the second-generation Golden Cicada, Zhu Danyu, down below the wall had no idea about this. He only thought the name Golden Cicada was mighty impressive — that the moment people heard it was him, they'd all drop their weapons.

On the wall, Chen Qiyu was about to answer, but was stopped by Administration Commissioner and Education Intendant Wang Qiaonian beside him. Then they saw Wang step to the battlements and call out: "The Army Commander is not here! If you have business, say it!"

"Not here? Even better, haha!"

Zhu Danyu reined in his black donkey and wheeled a circle on the far side of the drawbridge, then shouted up at the wall: "Army Commander Chen is kind-hearted, sending out the city's people who have no food or clothing. Our Grand Marshal is deeply grateful and sent men specially to bring the Army Commander's family from Shanxi. We're delivering them into the city so you can be reunited. Open the gates and lower the drawbridge!"

Golden Cicada finished speaking, slapped his donkey, and rode back to camp.

On the wall, Wang Qiaonian and the other officials looked at each other, not yet grasping what was happening.

Even Chen Qiyu's mind hadn't turned the corner. He'd thought his family and clansmen were all about to die at the foot of the wall, and now suddenly hearing they'd be let into the city, he was overcome with joy for a moment.

Liu Chengzong's siege had trained the city's officials and military officers very well.

By now, no one suspected he would use the gate-opening as a chance to attack.

The thought didn't even cross their minds.

Then those on the wall saw, from the siege camp, groups of people — old and young — being herded toward the city by soldiers.

Even now, Wang Qiaonian was still puzzled. Why did Army Commander Chen's family all look... unhappy? They seemed reluctant to come this way, and some were even weeping.

But Chen Qiyu had already understood. Gritting his teeth, he stared deathly at the siege camp beyond the wall, wanting to curse out loud, yet unable to speak.

The stifled rage nearly made him vomit blood.

Damn it, Liu Chengzong, what a vicious, merciless heart!

What state was Xi'an Prefecture in right now? Letting his family into the city — wasn't this just making his whole household die and be buried here?

In truth, he was mistaken.

Because very soon, Golden Cicada came riding back on his donkey and shouted up at the wall: "Please inform Army Commander Chen — these are his close kin, sixty-four in all, delivered into the city first."

"There are still four hundred and seven clansmen within the five degrees of mourning, already on their way. The Army Commander may rest assured. The Grand Marshal said, for the elderly who have trouble getting around, we'll carry them over in sedan chairs. We guarantee not a single one will be missed — all will be delivered into the city!"

"The Grand Marshal also said, our Great Ming rules all under Heaven by filial piety. If any of you gentlemen on the wall miss your kin and have such a need, just send word — the Grand Marshal will handle it for you!"

Chen Qiyu felt a wave of dizziness and nearly lost his footing — damn it, not his household, his entire clan.

Meanwhile, outside the city.

Watching Golden Cicada's retreating figure, Liu Chengzong lowered his telescope, clapped his hands in satisfaction, and said to Zhang Xianzhong and the others: "Well then, Old Chen's whole family is reunited. We'll count that as the Grand Marshal's Office doing one good deed for the day."

With that, he waved a hand: "Come, let's go see how the famine refugees are being settled."

Zhang Xianzhong followed at his heels. Staying close to the Living King of Hell, every day he learned something new.

The Eighth Great King's heart now held both utter admiration for Liu Chengzong and bone-chilling dread.

Ever since discovering that Liu Chengzong had decided to deliver Chen Qiyu's family into the city, he had hardly dared to look at him.

Truly — never mind a hardened leader like Zhang Xianzhong who'd rolled through seas of blood, even in Shaanxi's current state, pick any ten men at random, and if they weren't exactly mass murderers, they at least regarded life and death with utter indifference.

It was very common.

But this... Zhang Xianzhong didn't even dare imagine, if he and Chen Qiyu swapped places, what he would be thinking in his heart right now, or what he would say.

Zhang Xianzhong felt there would be so much in his heart, yet nothing he could utter — just a breath stuck beneath his throat, unable to come out.

How could he say it?

Say Liu Chengzong's mind was vicious and merciless?

That couldn't be said.

With so many eyes watching from behind — oh, someone delivers your family into the city, and that's a vicious, merciless mind?

Then what about us, who followed your orders and stayed inside the city all along — what does that make us?

Zhang Xianzhong thought to himself, if he were in the city right now, even if he ground his teeth to dust and swallowed them, he'd still have to stand on the wall acting as if nothing was wrong, and write a letter to the outside.

Thanking Grand Marshal Liu for looking after his family.

Not a single other fart of a word could he let out.

Stifled to death!

They had walked a long way before Zhang Xianzhong finally exhaled and said: "The Grand Marshal's wisdom and cunning surpass all. If Old Zhang here had handled this, even hacking his whole family to pieces at the foot of the wall wouldn't match the grand stroke of delivering them into the city."

"Heh, Brother Bingzhong flatters me. What wisdom and cunning — it's only a great fool seeming wise, and you've misread it."

Liu the Lion sighed and slowly shook his head.

In truth, he harbored no vicious, merciless intent — he was simply sick to death of this whole surrender business.

The most tormenting thing in this world is unrequited longing. How did Cao Cao feel when he looked at Guan Yu? Exactly that — wanting what he could not have.

But then again, if Guan Yu had truly abandoned Liu Bei and gone over to Cao Cao just because Cao Cao was powerful, then he would no longer be the Guan Yunchang that Cao Cao so desperately longed for.

The same thing applied to Liu Chengzong.

Those loyal ministers and good generals he held in high regard would rather hang themselves from a beam, throw themselves from a city wall, or walk through fire and water than surrender to him.

Chen Qiyu held a broken city, out of ammunition and provisions, at his wits' end — yet still refused to surrender.

Fine, if he won't surrender. Liu the Lion had no taste for forcing people against their will.

Dragging their families beneath the city walls and making them urge Chen Qiyu to surrender would only backfire.

Liu Chengzong was already weary of such things. Why bother? Other people's lives — naturally, other people should decide them.

He respected others' thoughts and actions.

"Everything has a price. Every person can do whatever they wish, so long as they can bear the cost."

"This city — I have done nothing to them."

Liu Chengzong turned his head and glanced toward the distant Xi'an Prefecture seat. "Everything they have done, they did because they wanted to. Soldiers with no grain came down from the walls to buy food. Officials wanted to hold the city — I did not force them to surrender either."

"Chen Qiyu wants to be a loyal minister. A loyal minister of the Great Ming naturally cannot be used by me. Let him have his heart's desire — I will grant it."

"I can accept losing, but I must be thoroughly convinced."

Zhang Xianzhong was utterly baffled by these words. "Lose? How could the Grand Marshal possibly lose?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head. This kind of thinking was probably very hard for Zhang Xianzhong to understand.

He wanted to help Chen Qiyu cast aside every excuse, to leave the Great Ming with absolutely nothing that could prevent him from surrendering.

The city was in his hands, Chen Qiyu's family and clansmen were by his side. Whether to surrender to the Marshal's Headquarters and become a turncoat official, or to die in Xi'an as a loyal minister — it all rested entirely on Chen Qiyu's own thoughts.

If, even so, he still chose death — then he was a true hero.

Liu Chengzong would, of course, have lost to Chen Qiyu.

But he would accept it, thoroughly convinced.