NOVPUB# 474. Return to the Capital
Li Miaozhen knew that this third senior brother was obsessed with imitating Xu Qi’an. According to him, Xu Qi’an was the ultimate master of stealing the limelight and always one step ahead, snatching opportunities that should have been his.
It wasn’t as if Yang Qianhuan was being unreasonable; he had grounds for his grievances. For example, during the Buddhist contest, the Jianzheng had deliberately locked him beneath the Stargazing Tower and pushed Xu Qi’an forward to represent the Sitianjian.
Another example was the conflict of heaven and man between Li Miaozhen and Chu Yuanzhen, in which Yang Qianhuan had “coincidentally” been confined beneath the tower again.
*If he finds out what Xu Ningyan had done now, he’d definitely beat his chest in frustration…* Li Miaozhen didn’t intend to tell him just yet, not until Xu Qi’an’s condition was stabilised.
She withdrew her smile, clasped her hands in a respectful gesture, and sincerely said, “I’ll trouble you with Xu Qi’an, Senior Brother Yang.”
Yang Qianhuan nodded. He was quite pleased by the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Sect putting on such a humble attitude before him.
He immediately took out jars and bottles and some needles and thread from his storage pouch. Then, prising open Xu Qi’an’s mouth, he popped off the stoppers of four or five porcelain bottles with a pop, stuffed the bottle mouths into Xu Qi’an’s mouth, and began pouring.
The method of administering the medicine was nothing short of violent. Within moments, the unconscious Xu Qi’an’s face turned purple-red, looking as though he was about to suffocate.
“What are you doing?” Li Miaozhen’s brows arched sharply.
“He’s gravely wounded. For deep illness, one must use strong medicine!”
Yang Qianhuan replied righteously, giving Xu Qi’an’s jaw a smack to make him swallow the medicine.
_Is that what you mean by strong medicine for deep illness? Are you sure you’re not just getting revenge?_ Lady Flying Swallow gave him a sideways glance.
After finishing with the medicine, Yang Qianhuan stitched up the wounds to stem the bleeding, then said:
“I can only stabilise his condition. To save him, my teacher will have to act personally.”
“Even you can’t?” Li Miaozhen was taken aback.
In her eyes, Yang Qianhuan was the top practitioner in the Sitianjian. Aside from the Jianzheng, she hadn’t seen any arcanist there higher in rank.
Yang Qianhuan was silent for a long moment before slowly saying, “He brought this on himself. It’s not a matter of my abilities.”
To Yang Qianhuan, whose motto was _“If Heaven had not birthed I, Yang Qianhuan, the Great Feng would be a night that never ends”_, Li Miaozhen’s earlier phrasing had been a blatant provocation.
After a pause, he continued:
“He must have used the Confucian magic of laws follow commandments. Heh, he doesn't have any righteous qi to protect him, and yet he still dared to use Confucian arts. Judging from the severity of his wounds, what did he gain in this trade?”
Li Miaozhen pondered for a while and said, “Maybe something related to combat strength or physical condition.”
“Forcibly boosting his power… really not afraid of death, are you.” Yang Qianhuan clicked his tongue.
“Even Confucians at the fourth rank wouldn’t dare play with that.”
“Really?” Li Miaozhen asked.
“Of course!”
Yang Qianhuan curled his lip.
“Those fourth-ranks at Cloud Deer Academy, when fighting, only dare chant things like ‘your trousers have fallen off’ or ‘retreat a hundred li’, things that are powerful but won’t cause too much actual harm.
“That’s because righteous qi can only absorb so much backlash. Otherwise, wouldn’t Confucians be invincible?”
Li Miaozhen said, “Weren’t they invincible during their golden age?”
Yang Qianhuan decided he didn’t want to talk to this woman any more. He gave a cough and said, “Once he’s absorbed the medicine and the pain’s eased, we’ll take him back. Hmph, don’t underestimate pain, it might very well kill him.”
He strode out. “I’m going to have a look around.”
Master Yang Qianhuan of the Sitianjian had arrived, how could he keep his accomplishments hidden? He absolutely had to show off for a bit.
_Creaaak…_
He opened the door of the gatehouse, stepping into view of the guards outside.
The soldiers, suddenly seeing a figure in white, looked momentarily dazed.
Yang Qianhuan, gaze concealed beneath his veiled hat, swept his eyes slowly across the confused faces. His tone was calm, carrying the poise of a reclusive master, as he declared:
“This one is Yang Qianhuan of the Sitianjian, third disciple of the Jianzheng.”
*An arcanist of the Sitianjian… the Jianzheng’s third disciple…*
After a brief moment of silence, the guards outside the gatehouse suddenly burst into loud cheers.
_Eh? Such a warm welcome? That’s… not quite right… No, it’s perfectly reasonable!_ Yang Qianhuan instinctively straightened his back, then turned around and stubbornly presented the back of his head to the crowd.
Even if it was hidden beneath the veiled hat.
Just then, he heard a distant soldier asking amid the cheers, “What’s going on? Why’s everyone so worked up?”
Someone replied, “That guy’s from the Sitianjian, he’s the Jianzheng’s third disciple.”
“What? That’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic…”
“Yes, yes! Silver Gong Xu is saved, he’s finally saved!”
Some were crying tears of joy.
As citizens of the Great Feng, who didn’t know that the Sitianjian arcanists could bring the dead back to life and reattach flesh to bone?
*So their cheers were because… Xu Qi’an was saved, and not because of me?!*
Yang Qianhuan’s heart sank. Still facing away from the crowd, he slowly raised a hand and pressed it down.
Seeing his gesture, the soldiers gradually quieted.
Yang Qianhuan said gravely, “What has Xu Qi’an… done this time?”
He knew Xu Qi’an had a stellar reputation in the Great Feng (stealing all of his opportunities), but for these roughneck soldiers who only acknowledged martial merit to react like this, it was still too much.
He had a bad feeling.
“Silver Gong Xu is honourable and loyal. To relieve pressure on us, he went down alone to break the enemy formation,” a soldier said.
_Hah, just like when he executed the Dukes at the market square. He still knows how to win people over!_ Yang Qianhuan thought, though he didn’t feel envious, he’d seen through Xu Qi’an’s tricks long ago.
“Silver Gong Xu fought alone, twice routing enemy forces, killing nearly ten thousand.”
*Ten thousand enemies, two routs…* Yang Qianhuan listened, slowly growing dazed, his eyes losing focus.
“Silver Gong Xu, with just his own strength, charged into an army and personally beheaded the Yan King, Nurhaci.”
“Silver Gong Xu is invincible.”
“This life, I’ll follow only Silver Gong Xu.”
As they spoke, the soldiers began shouting in unison, eyes red with emotion.
Yang Qianhuan silently shut the gatehouse door.
Li Miaozhen heard the sound and stepped out, only to see Yang Qianhuan slumped against the door, slowly sliding down to the ground, his hat askew…
“You alright?”
Li Miaozhen wore an expression that said, “I’m a professionally trained Holy Maiden and I won’t laugh no matter how funny it is.”
“I was wrong. I still underestimated Xu Qi’an. I thought the execution of the Dukes at the marketplace was the peak of his life, but I didn’t expect this time he’d do something even more… even more…”
He was so upset he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“He clearly feared I would steal his limelight, so he deliberately came to the frontier to avoid me. What a despicable man… Defeating the enemy twice, slaying nearly ten thousand foes, taking the enemy general’s head amidst an army of ten thousand, why doesn’t he just ride the wind and soar ninety thousand miles into the sky?”
His envious voice trembled.
Li Miaozhen nearly covered her face and let out a pig-like squeal.
After venting for a while, Yang Qianhuan’s eyes burned with fervent resolve. “Tell me, where is the capital of Yan?”
Li Miaozhen pressed her lips together, suppressing her laughter. “You want to go to Yan? But Xu Qi’an repelled the enemy in front of over ten thousand defenders. What use would it be for you to go there alone?”
“What about the headquarters of the Church of the Warlock God?”
“That’s already been taken by Wei Yuan.”
“…Do I still have a chance?”
“Nope.”
Li Miaozhen ruthlessly dashed his hopes, then said, “Xu Qi’an seems to be doing much better. Let’s return to the capital and ask the Jianzheng to save him.”
From within the veiled hat came Yang Qianhuan’s despairing, exhausted reply:
“He’s beyond saving. Let him die!”
…
In the military camp, Zhang Kaitai was startled awake by the cheers. He leapt onto the city wall and, upon learning that Yang Qianhuan had arrived, joyfully entered the gatehouse.
“Where’s Yang Qianhuan?”
He looked around, but saw no trace of him.
Li Miaozhen pointed to a corner. Following her gesture, Zhang Kaitai saw Yang Qianhuan squatting in the corner of the wall, back turned to them, as quiet as a statue.
“What’s wrong with him?” Zhang Kaitai asked through voice transmission.
“He just learned what Xu Qi’an did,” Li Miaozhen replied in kind.
…Looking at Yang Qianhuan’s back again, Zhang Kaitai’s gaze was filled with pity.
“I’ll arrange for my deputy general to return to the capital with you and report what happened here to the court. Even with an eight hundred li express dispatch, it’ll take several days to reach the capital.
“Though the allied forces of Yan and Kang have retreated and suffered heavy losses, we mustn’t let down our guard. They could regroup at any time. Hopefully, the court will prepare accordingly.”
Zhang Kaitai said.
Moreover, the fallen soldiers had to be reported to the court, and Xu Qi’an’s feat of holding off eighty thousand enemies alone must also be relayed.
Li Miaozhen nodded. “Alright.”
…
Just past nine, in the Cabinet.
In the council chamber, Prime Minister Wang Zhenwen held a steaming cup of health-preserving tea, listening to the intense debate among the various senior scholars.
“What is His Majesty playing at? Why hasn’t he made a statement after two days of discussion?” said Zhao Tingfang, Grand Scholar of the Eastern Pavilion, with a frown.
For two days, the court had been discussing post-war affairs, but when it came to characterising the battle and preparing for potential reprisals from the Church of the Warlock God, Emperor Yuanjing remained utterly passive.
He went on at length about trivial matters, but said nothing of importance. No matter how earnestly the ministers remonstrated, he ignored them. In the past two days, the Censors had been up in arms, yesterday submitting memorials, today openly berating the Emperor in court.
Then they were all dragged out for a public beating.
“His Majesty seems unwilling to bestow a posthumous honour on Duke Wei. As for the matter of troop movements in the three northeastern provinces…”
At this point, Qian Qingshu, Grand Scholar of the Wuying Pavilion, paused and said no more.
Were it anyone else behaving this way, they could easily be charged with treason.
But the Emperor was the sovereign, beyond reproach, one could only say he had become muddle-headed of late.
Tap tap!
Prime Minister Wang knocked on the table. Once the scholars turned to him, he exhaled slowly, his voice low and calm:
“After lunch, I’ll visit the Stargazing Tower and speak with the Jianzheng.”
His instincts were keener than the others’. Ever since Wei Yuan’s death, Wang Zhenwen had reviewed the reports and reconstructed the chain of events.
He sensed that this matter went beyond a conflict between nations. It touched upon secrets at the peak of cultivation ranks, matters that civil officials like them had no access to.
But the Jianzheng surely knew.
The scholars nodded in agreement. Chen Qi, Grand Scholar of the Jianji Hall, said softly, “Perhaps we could ask the Jianzheng to pressure His Majesty.”
If word of this got out, it would give their political enemies ample cause for attack, perhaps even costing them their positions. But he said it anyway, hoping Emperor Yuanjing would swiftly take action.
It showed how dire the situation had become.
Just then, a Cabinet official appeared at the chamber entrance and reported, “My lords, a man claiming to be Deputy General to Zhang Kaitai requests an audience with the Prime Minister.”
“Zhang Kaitai’s deputy? Why would he come to the Inner Cabinet instead of the Ministry of War?” Qian Qingshu frowned.
Zhao Tingfang said, “Perhaps he’s already been there and now seeks a separate audience with the Prime Minister.”
Wang Zhenwen pondered a moment and said, “Let him in.”
The official withdrew and soon returned, leading in a middle-aged officer caked in dust, his armour marred with blade marks and bloodstains.
*This... how did someone dressed like that get into the palace?*
The scholars were all taken aback.
“Subordinate Li Yi, Deputy to Commander Zhang, greets you, my lords.” Li Yi cupped his fists.
The Prime Minister nodded and asked, “Why aren’t you still with the frontier forces? Why have you returned? When did you arrive?”
Li Yi replied, “I was still at Yuyang Pass in Xiangzhou yesterday. I returned to the capital this morning, brought by Yang Qianhuan of the Sitianjian.”
The scholars exchanged looks, all confused. Wang Zhenwen asked, “Is the intelligence from the express dispatch accurate?”
Li Yi’s expression was grim as he nodded.
In that instant, the last shred of hope in Wang Zhenwen’s eyes vanished. He was silent for a long time before saying, “What did you come to see me about?”
Li Yi said, “The day before yesterday, an allied force of eighty thousand from Yan and Kang attacked Yuyang Pass.”
“What?!”
The scholars were stunned.
Wang Zhenwen’s hand jerked violently, spilling scalding tea onto the back of his hand, yet he didn’t even notice.
