730. Fear

Late at night, Sitianjian.

Song Qing lay slumped over his desk, fast asleep. All kinds of alchemical apparatus were scattered across the table, and the charcoal fire in the pill furnace still radiated a lingering warmth.

At a certain moment, Song Qing suddenly jolted awake. He opened his eyes and saw a figure in white standing beside him.

Looking closely, he realised it was Senior Brother Sun. His face was weary and sallow, his eyes dull as he silently stared at Song Qing.

Beside him stood a white ape.

“Senior Brother Sun, why have you come back?”

Song Qing yawned and said,

“Weren’t you fighting in Qingzhou? Don’t tell me you’ve come for more equipment again? Spare me, I beg you. Didn’t I just give you a batch of equipment recently? Junior brother I sleep only an hour a day, even an iron man needs to rest.”

He grumbled incessantly.

Sun Xuanji remained silent. The white ape beside him hesitated, then said in a low voice,

“Teacher Jianzheng may have fallen.”

Song Qing’s complaints were cut short. He was left stunned.

At that moment, Sun Xuanji suddenly collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from his seven orifices, with his life rapidly ebbing away.

Song Qing felt a chill in his heart, as he hastily rummaged through his storage pouch for medicinal pills, he stammered,

“W-what happened, Senior Brother Sun…”

Protector Yuan stood on the side, looking at Sun Xuanji, and said softly,

“To uncover the truth behind the Jianzheng’s fall, he went to the battlefield personally.”

After checking the pulse, Song Qing’s heart sank to the depths of despair.

Sun Xuanji had suffered damage to his very foundation. His meridians were severed, his organs had failed, and even his soul was on the verge of collapse.

Such wounds were fatal for an arcanist.

The only reason he was able to return to Sitianjian with the white ape was probably due to some deep-seated obsession.

Protector Yuan noticed Song Qing’s thoughts and said quietly,

“It was the wildfire of vengeance that supported him until he returned to Sitianjian.”

…

Underground in the Star Observation Tower.

Zhong Li stared blankly at Song Qing. Beneath her dishevelled black hair, her eyes were bright, seeming wet with unshed tears.

“Teacher Jianzheng… has died?”

She murmured.

Song Qing replied with a low grunt. There was no anguish on his face, but his numb expression was even more sorrowful than grief.

“Xu Pingfeng, the Daoist Leader of Earth Sect, Agaruka Bodhisattva, and Baidi, that Baidi in Yunzhou.” Song Qing said in a hushed voice,

“Senior Brother Sun saw them. They were the ones who killed the Jianzheng.”

Seeing Zhong Li stay silent for a long time, Song Qing said,

“I’m going to the palace to inform the young emperor.”

He turned and left. The underground chamber once again became eternally silent.

After a long time, Zhong Li picked up the wooden box beside her, gently caressed its surface, and tears poured down her face:

“You must take revenge. You must avenge the Jianzheng…”

…

As dawn broke, atop the city walls of the capital, torches flared in the depths of winter, yet failed to dispel the bone-chilling cold.

Dew soaked the surface of the walls, freezing into ice in the cold night, making them as hard as steel.

The soldiers on duty atop the walls gripped their spears, hands covered with frostbite. From time to time, they breathed warm air into their palms, or stretched out their hands towards the torches, trying to warm themselves in the bitter cold.

“Clatter clatter!”

The sound of hooves grew from distant to near, reaching the ears of the sentries atop the wall.

In the frigid night, a single rider galloped up to the city gate, abruptly reined in his horse, and shouted hoarsely under the gaze of the sentries:

“Open the gate, eight hundred li urgent dispatch…”

In the sleeping palace chambers, Emperor Yongxing was awoken by Zhao Xuanzhen. Rubbing his tired brow, he suppressed his temper and said in a low voice,

“What matter brings you to wake us at this hour?”

Normally, to interrupt the emperor’s rest at such a time either meant the sky was falling or one no longer valued their life.

Emperor Yongxing did not think this running dog was tired of living, so the answer should be the former. Thus his tone was low and his expression grave.

Zhao Xuanzhen’s face was as white as a sheet:

“Your Majesty, there has been an urgent report from the cabinet, Qingzhou has fallen…”

Emperor Yongxing sat dazed on the bedside, his pupils dilated in shock, his expression frozen.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty.”

Zhao Xuanzhen called out twice before Emperor Yongxing, as if waking from a dream, finally uttered an “Ah”.

“The memorial is in the imperial study…”

Before he could finish, Emperor Yongxing lifted the quilt, pushed Zhao Xuanzhen aside, and dashed towards the imperial study barefoot, clad only in white underclothes.

The imperial study and the bedchamber were connected, with one inside and one out. He quickly dashed out of the bedchamber and arrived at the study.

He strode straight to the desk, picked up the memorial lying there, and with an ugly expression, began to read.

The memorial comprised three parts:

First was the casualties among Qingzhou’s defenders: out of thirty garrisons in Qingzhou, plus reinforcements from the capital and other provinces, making a total of ninety thousand troops, sixty percent of were lost. The remaining thirty thousand or so had retreated to Yongzhou.

The second part concerned the Jianzheng. Yang Gong believed the Jianzheng might have met with an accident and hoped the court could confirm his situation as soon as possible.

The third was Yang Gong’s own statement, essentially expressing shame to the sovereign and the country, pleading for death as atonement.

By the time Emperor Yongxing finished reading, his hands had begun to tremble.

“Nonsense! The Jianzheng is the Guardian of the Great Feng and is of the first rank. Who in our realm is his match? This Yang Gong is spreading rumours, we should have his head for it, to let him reap what he has sown!”

Emperor Yongxing’s face turned ashen as he slammed the table in anger.

Now, if anyone spoke to him of something happening to the Jianzheng, he would show them what it meant for the Son of Heaven to be enraged.

At that moment, the commander of the imperial guards hurried in from outside to report:

“Your Majesty, Song Qing from Sitianjian requests an audience outside the palace.”

Song Qing’s come, he must have news of the Jianzheng, the Jianzheng must have sent a message… Emperor Yongxing’s spirits soared, and he called out loudly,

“Quick, quick, let him in!”

He immediately ordered an eunuch to issue the imperial pass.

A quarter of an hour later, the commander of the guards returned with Song Qing. The commander remained outside the imperial study, while Song Qing crossed the threshold and entered, stepping onto the crimson carpet.

“Lord Song, is there news of the Jianzheng?” Emperor Yongxing took a step forward and blurted out.

He fixed Song Qing with an eager, hopeful gaze.

By contrast, Song Qing looked like a stray dog, his face deathly pale, with dark circles under his eyes.

“Your Majesty, Teacher Jianzheng has… fallen…”

Emperor Yongxing slumped into his chair as though his bones had been removed.

Some time passed before he leapt up in frustration, pointed at Song Qing, and bellowed:

“Nonsense! Song Qing, do you know what you are saying? The Jianzheng is your teacher, how dare you curse him?”

He stood up, waving his sleeves furiously as he roared,

“Who in the Great Feng can stand against the Jianzheng? Who?”

Song Qing spoke dully,

“Senior Brother Sun has already made a preliminary investigation. The Jianzheng may indeed have fallen. That day, anomalous phenomena occurred in Yunzhou, the fortune was lost, and after the Jianzheng’s aura disappeared, it was never seen again.”

Emperor Yongxing slowly collapsed back into his chair and muttered to himself,

“The Jianzheng… how could this be… Who could possibly kill him…”

Song Qing said numbly,

“The number of beyond-mortal experts among the rebel forces in Yunzhou is far beyond our imagination.”

Emperor Yongxing sat in utter silence for a long time. As if unable to withstand even the wind and cold, his body began to tremble slightly.

A great terror enveloped him.

…

The next day, the news of Qingzhou’s fall and the Jianzheng’s death swept through the entire officialdom of the capital, causing a huge uproar.

The officials gathered at the Meridian Gate to request an audience with the Emperor, but were kept outside.

Emperor Yongxing had fallen ill, sick from fear.

It was not until dusk that the officials finally saw him in the imperial study. Overnight, Emperor Yongxing seemed to have been drained of all energy, his gaze was vacant, and his face ghostly pale.

The officials were shocked. Prime Minister Qian Qingshu said sorrowfully,

“Your Majesty, you must take care of your dragon body.”

Emperor Yongxing gave a bitter laugh:

“Dragon body? At this moment, does it matter to us what happens to this mere body of flesh and blood?

“My Lords, the Jianzheng is dead. What should we do? Qingzhou has fallen, the rebels are confronting Yang Gong on the Yongzhou border. Once they stabilise Qingzhou, they are bound to come again, and sooner or later the fighting will reach the capital.”

The Jianzheng had been the last backbone of the Great Feng.

Left Censor Liu Hong said,

“Your Majesty, the Great Feng still has Silver Gong Xu. We are not entirely without the ability to fight.”

Emperor Yongxing shook his head slightly,

“Though our cultivation is shallow, we know this much: what can a third rank warrior do? There is little he can achieve.

“If the Jianzheng could fall to the rebels, what could Silver Gong Xu possibly do?”

Liu Hong had nothing to say at this.

A heavy, silent atmosphere hung over the imperial study.

After a long while, the Minister of the High Court spoke softly,

“Your Majesty, perhaps we should seek peace.”

Seek peace… Emperor Yongxing’s eyes lit up for a moment, but then he shook his head with a bitter smile,

“The rebels have come with overwhelming force, wanting to seize the Great Feng’s mountains and rivers and take our place. How could they possibly agree to peace?”

“Your Majesty, how can we know if we do not try?” someone said.

“We are tired,” Emperor Yongxing said wearily.

“Allow us time to consider.”

…

Imperial city, Huaiqing Manor.

A plain and unadorned carriage stopped outside the residence. Liu Hong, who had succeeded Wei Yuan and become the new leader of the former Wei Clique, got out of the carriage and went straight inside.

He passed through the front courtyard and entered the reception hall.

In the spacious and elegant hall, Princess Huaiqing, dressed in a plum-blossom palace gown and exuding a cold grace, sat by the desk, having waited for quite some time.

“We have already been to the Sitianjian and met Song Qing and Sun Xuanji. As for the Jianzheng, we fear that his prospects are truly grim.”

The princess’s expression was unusually grave as she gazed at Liu Hong entering the hall and said,

“What is His Majesty’s and the ministers’ attitude?”

Liu Hong sighed,

“With the Jianzheng gone, His Majesty and the ministers have lost their backbone, and their courage is gone as well. The Minister of the High Court suggested negotiating peace. His Majesty did not agree, but did not oppose it either, he just said he would consider it.”

“Negotiate peace…” Huaiqing murmured to herself and, after a moment, shook her head:

“The rebels have their sights on the Central Plains and the throne, how could they agree to peace talks? Even if they agree, they will make exorbitant demands, first asking for benefits and then granting a brief peace. It would only be a slow death by a blunt sabre.”

Liu Hong gave a bitter smile,

“Your Highness, you are clear-headed as an observer.

“His Majesty did not hold court this morning, he is ill, a sickness out of fear. At this very moment, if the rebels took the initiative to propose peace, he would agree regardless of the consequences, just like a drowning man clutching a life-saving straw.”

As he spoke, Liu Hong looked deeply troubled,

“But His Majesty has reason to be afraid. The Jianzheng is dead, who can still stand against Yunzhou?

“Silver Gong Xu, after all, is only a third-rank martial artist. The National Teacher may be second rank, but is she truly willing to die for the Great Feng? Even if she is, I fear her heart is willing but her strength is lacking.

“Your Highness, you have always been intelligent and resourceful. Tell me, how can we break this deadlock…?”

When the ministers debated in the imperial study, he had not opposed peace talks, because he too did not know what to do.

Huaiqing was silent for a long time, then spoke slowly,

“Better to die as Broken Jade than live as tile.”

…

Qingzhou.

The office of the Provincial Administrator. Qi Guangbo sat behind the desk that once belonged to Yang Gong, with a group of generals seated below; Ji Xuan sat in the seat of honour to the left, Ge Wenxuan to the right.

The former had made outstanding achievements taking cities and pursuing deserters of Qingzhou all along the way.

The latter followed Qi Guangbo in conquering Wan Commandery and earned great merit. With his status as Xu Pingfeng’s disciple, he held a very high rank in the army, ranking only slightly below Ji Xuan.

As for the Black Warrior Iron Cavalry and the Vermilion Bird Flying Cavalry, they were subordinate to Xu Pingfeng and did not appear.

“This is not a military consultation, no need to be too formal,” Qi Guangbo said with a smile. “We owe taking Qingzhou to all the brothers here. Tonight, the whole army will be rewarded, fine wine, good food and women, all provided.”

The generals laughed and cried out,

“Thank you, General!”

Qi Guangbo nodded,

“However, from today onward, you must restrain the soldiers under you, no more looting the people. Qingzhou will be our territory from now on. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

All answered.

Zhuo Haoran, full of pride, asked,

“General, when will you lead us north? It’s said the capital is the finest city in the Central Plains, the most prosperous. The brothers have been itching to go for ages.”

Someone else chuckled,

“Once we take the capital, don’t you dare act up. The wealth is real, but the women are even more tempting than gold or silver. It would be a real pity if any of such beauties were hurt or killed. I damn well want to have a taste of what it’s like to lie with the ladies of the high officials.”

Instantly, someone cursed with laughter,

“You have no ambition, if you want to sleep with someone, go for the real nobility: princesses, imperial concubines! Aren’t they more alluring than the so-called noble families’ daughters?”

Roars of laughter broke out all around.

After capturing Qingzhou, the morale of the Yunzhou army soared. From generals to ordinary soldiers, all were eager and ready to march north, wishing they could take the capital in one swoop.

But wishing was one thing; warfare had its own ways. Now that the rebels had taken Qingzhou, they needed to consolidate their hold, appease the people and local gentry, repair the walls, gather provisions, and so forth.

All this took time. This was not like the foreign tribes, who would simply seize what they wanted and leave in a hurry.

Ge Wenxuan tapped his finger on the table.

The noise quieted a little, and he said,

“General, I think the period of rest should not be idle either.

“We can send men to infiltrate various provinces of the Great Feng, spreading the news that the Jianzheng is dead. First, this will spread chaos. Second, it will boost the reputation of our Yunzhou army.”

Qi Guangbo nodded in approval. “This is a very good plan.”

Ji Xuan said,

“Our forces have suffered considerable casualties in this battle. We need to replenish our ranks by recruiting refugees. But refugees have limited combat value; supplementing our mid-level combatants is the real problem.”

Qi Guangbo already had this in mind but still asked,

“What do you suggest, Zisu?”

Ji Xuan replied, “We can recruit martial artists from the Jianghu.”

This was a tradition of Qianlong City. More than half the generals present were originally wandering martial artists, who had drifted to Yunzhou and later joined Qianlong City.

Qi Guangbo nodded, scanning the crowd, then suddenly asked,

“What do you all think, how will the Great Feng court react with the Jianzheng gone?”

Zhuo Haoran burst out laughing,

“The little emperor has probably wet his trousers in fear!”

The generals all chimed in,

“Losing the Jianzheng, their guardian spirit, the Great Feng has become a paper tiger, looking fierce but utterly useless.”

“It’s only Xu Qi’an who can hold his own now.”

“Pah! What’s he got? Third-rank martial artists are impressive, sure, but before the National Teacher, he isn’t worth mentioning.”

At this, Ji Xuan sneered,

“He’s no longer a threat. The sealing nails the National Teacher planted in his body will pin him at third rank and no further.”

Ge Wenxuan followed with a laugh,

“The National Teacher is truly a master of schemes!”

Seeing the topic drifting, Qi Guangbo raised his hand for silence and said,

“You’re right. From the monarch down to every minister, all at the Great Feng court are surely anxious and unsteady right now. So, what if we take the initiative in proposing peace talks?”

All were stunned.

730. Fear

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