Translator: DragonRider
In the Wan capital.
A rider on a fast horse entered the city in a great hurry, galloping towards the royal palace.
“Dispatch delivery!”
“Sire, an urgent letter from our scouts in the Great Wen has just been delivered here.”
On hearing that it was an urgent letter from his scouts in the Great Wen, Shan Congli, worrying that something unexpected had happened, hastened to have his henchman bring him the letter. After reading the secret letter, however, he burst into laughter, “What a godsend!”
The courtiers, unaware of what it was about, were all confused as to why their emperor was laughing heartily.
“Yuwen Tong suffered a severe waist injury and has to lie in bed for two months. He’s not even attending court meetings. What else would you call this, if not ‘a godsend’?” explained Shan Congli, smugness and determination glinting in his eyes.
“In that case, there’s no way Yuwen Tong could lead the army himself. Without Yuwen Tong being in charge, Jiang Ke, Jiang Xi and Shao Feng don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of withstanding our and the Luohai Kingdom’s concerted attack,” croaked Shan Congyi, whose face was terribly disfigured in the explosion five years ago and was now covered with a mask.
“Our chance of defeating the Great Wen is now fifty percent higher,” commented Xue Chi who would be leading the Wan army as commander-in-chief in the upcoming war against the Great Wen, a relaxed look appearing on his face.
“Fifty percent? Yuwen Tong is only human. Don’t you think you’re giving him too much more credit than he deserves, General Xue?” sniffed Shan Congyi, displeased at Xue Chi putting it so dramatically as though their chance of winning would be halved if Yuwen Tong would be leading the Great Wen’s army. He was just one man, thought Shan Congyi.
Xue Chi shook his head. “I’ve long since come to know what Yuwen Tong is capable of when he has an army under his command, but no matter what, now that he’s injured, we’ve been offered an opportunity that is nothing short of a godsend. Sire, I suggest we attack immediately instead of continuing to wait for the Luohai Kingdom. It would be such a shame if we let this opportunity slip away!”
Naturally, Shan Congli was fully aware of the importance of seizing the opportunity, so he agreed on the spot, “Okay, General Xue. How soon can you get our troops ready to depart?”
Xue Chi answered, “Everything’s in readiness already, Sire. The provisions and fodder have also been delivered there in advance. Our men are ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”
Shan Congli said, “In that case, they shall set off first light tomorrow morning. I’ll be seeing them off personally.”
Xue Chi said, “Yes, Sire.”
None of the courtiers dared raise any objections. It was now a foregone conclusion that the Wan Kingdom would attack the Great Wen, and their monarch had paid a heavy price to convince the Luohai monarch to join hands with him. On top of that, right now the emperor of the enemy country was injured and unable to lead his army, which meant this was a perfect opportunity. Anybody who dared oppose the operation at this point in time would be making an enemy of the monarch and might well be beheaded.
Shan Congyi glanced around him and then said to Shan Congli, “Sire, I petition you to grant me the permission to go with the army.”
Shan Congli looked at him, a fairly disapproving expression on his face. “You’ve just recovered from your injuries. Staying in an encampment will take its toll on your health.”
Shan Congyi said, “All my curable injuries have been healed. The rest of them are not going to be any different no matter how much rest I take, so I might as well go with the army. I swear I’ll take the capital city of the Great Wen with General Xue and kill Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong to avenge my sufferings and the deaths of the countless men we lost.”
Shan Congli was still hesitating, but Shan Congyi was very intransigent, desire for revenge glinting in his eyes. Eventually, Shan Congli gave a nod of consent. “Take care of yourself. I don’t want to hear any news about you getting hurt again.”
“Thank you for your concern, Sire. I promise I’ll take good care of myself,” said Shan Congyi.
Xue Chi inwardly furrowed his brows, not because he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having a royal family member in his army, but because ever since Shan Congyi had returned after surviving the explosion, he had changed dramatically. He was now snaky, ruthless, unpredictable and unapproachable. Xue Chi was worried that Shan Congyi might lose control of himself. When they were at the border, without the monarch’s authority being a deterrent, there was no telling what kind of trouble Shan Congyi might get them into. However, Shan Congli had given the order, and Xue Chi had no alternative but to obey it and accept the fact that Shan Congyi would be going with the army.
“Sire, I have another suggestion – please send a message to Mu Hengtian and urge him to send his army as soon as possible. Only by joining hands with him would we be able to occupy the north of the Great Wen in the shortest possible amount of time and then move south to take their capital. If we fail to achieve the goal before Yuwen Tong recovers from his injury, we’ll lose the most precious opportunity we’ve ever had,” said Xue Chi.
Shan Congli took his advice and immediately had someone set off to send a letter to Mu Hengtian the Luohai monarch.
The next morning, Shan Congli drank a farewell toast to the troops and then the Wan army departed advancing towards Shengzhou Pass.
…
The moment the Wan army set off, scouts of the Great Wen sent a message back. Yuwen Tong, who had stayed in his bedchamber for almost ten days, curled his lip and said, “I specially lowered the security level, but it still took Shan Congli such a long time to find out. What a good-for-nothing.”
Ling Zhang was not as composed as him. The departure of the Wan army meant that Yuwen Tong would soon set off to the south, that they wouldn’t be able to see each other until they were both in the Wan Kingdom.
“It takes a couple of days for a message to be delivered here from the Wan Kingdom. Given that the Wan Kingdom wants to attack as soon as possible, the enemy may well arrive in Shengzhou Pass in six days,” observed Ling Zhang.
After the message was delivered back to the capital city, Yuwen Tong would put in an appearance in front of the courtiers once again, make some arrangements and then set off to the south without more ado.
Yuwen Tong said, “That old bastard Xue Chi thinks he could get through Shengzhou Pass while I’m absent. What a daydreamer.”
Xue Chi was a famous general of the Wan Kingdom. During the first few battles between Xue Chi and Yuwen Tong, the former had got one over on the latter, but the period when the former had had the upper hand had been very short. Yuwen Tong had soon inflicted several defeats on Xue Chi in succession. He knew Xue Chi very well, and so did his lieutenants, Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi. In the last few years of the former emperor’s reign, Yuwen Tong had been unwilling to help the then emperor expand his territory, and it had been Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi who were defending the border against Xue Chi, but Xue Chi was unaware of it.
“Still, we shouldn’t take him lightly. Once word gets out that you’ve occupied the south of the Wan Kingdom, Xue Chi would no doubt launch an all-out attack to force you into retreating and save the situation. Shengzhou Pass must be held,” said Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Tong looked at him. “You must be careful when you’re in Shengzhou.”
Ling Zhang said, “I will. You need to be cautious as well.”
The mood in the room became somewhat subdued. If everything went as planned, they would be reunited in the Wan capital in half a year. However, anything could happen on the battlefield. No matter how much the odds were in their favor, there would always be risks. Neither of them would be able to stop worrying about the other until the war was over.
“My father has already returned. He’ll be taking care of the children for us, and my maternal grandfather will be here as well. Even if anything goes awry, I’m sure they’ll be able to put things back under control before the situation gets any worse. In addition, I’ve instructed the chamber of commerce to give your plan their full support. They’ll be working at full stretch to ship medicines, provisions and weapons for the South-western Army. I can guarantee you even if the supply line in the charge of the court is crippled, your army won’t be short of supplies, so don’t worry about the capital city. Just give it your best shot,” said Ling Zhang, looking at Yuwen Tong earnestly.
Only if Yuwen Tong gave it his best shot would he be able to keep himself safe.
Yuwen Tong, gazing fixedly at him with intense affection gleaming in the depths of his eyes, said, “I will.”
Ling Zhang exhaled lightly and said, “I’ll cooperate with Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi and do our level best to hold Shengzhou Pass.”
This time Yuwen Tong made no reply. Instead, he drew Ling Zhang into his embrace and the next moment they were hugging each other tightly.
…
In the following few days, Yuwen Tong frequently summoned the two prime ministers, the heads of the six major departments and some generals to his bedchamber.
A couple of days later, a message was delivered back to the capital city, which said that a large army of the Wan Kingdom was advancing towards Shengzhou Pass. All courtiers inwardly muttered “About time” at the news and then started bustling around.
In Ling Zhang’s company, Yuwen Tong ‘managed to’ settle himself in the high seat in the outer hall of the imperial bedchamber and had a meeting with his whole court, at which he made the detailed arrangements that he had long since finalized.
“It’s been five years since the end of the last war. The semblance of peace between the Wan Kingdom and us has now been shattered. Their army is large and strong and closing in on us as we speak, but we have made preparations some time ago as well. The Shengzhou garrison and the Youzhou garrison are both on full alert and combat-ready, and I have no doubt they will make sure the enemies never make it back home if they dare attack. Our victory is certain, as long as everybody sticks to the plan I made, but if anybody chickens out of performing his sworn duty during the war, under no circumstance will I let him off lightly.”
“We will not let the Great Wen fall as long as we still draw breath. If the enemy attacks, we will fight back with all we got. On no account will any of us shrink from confrontation.” The courtiers stated their stand clearly.
“Good. The Wan Kingdom’s army will soon arrive in Shengzhou Pass. Now go and do what you are supposed to be doing. Get ready for the war.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After the meeting, Yuwen Tong had the couple of courtiers who were privy to the plan concerning the South-western Army stay, had the guards shut the doors and consulted with them covertly. Two hours later, the doors were reopened, and the couple of courtiers took their leave, and with that the imperial bedchamber fell silent again.
Yuwen Tong returned to the inner hall, took off his imperial robes and changed into a common skintight outfit.
Ling Zhang silently helped him change clothes. There’s a lot he wanted to say, but eventually he said nothing, feeling that he had said all he needed to say, that all he could do next was pray everything would go as Yuwen Tong planned.
Yuwen Tong waited until Ling Zhang finished helping him change clothes to take Ling Zhang’s hand. “It’s been five years, and we still have so many years ahead of us, so I’ll come back in one piece. You must stay safe, because everything I did would be meaningless without you by my side.”
The lines around Ling Zhang’s mouth tightened, an apprehensive look in his eyes. What Yuwen Tong had just said was exactly what he wanted to say.
“Wait for my message. I know you’ve deployed a large-scale Formation outside Shengzhou Pass. I’ll take all cities in southern Wan Kingdom before Xue Chi’s men break out of the Formation.”
Ling Zhang was not surprised that what he had done outside Shengzhou Pass had come to Yuwen Tong’s knowledge. In fact, it was Jiang Ke and Jiang Xi who had helped him deploy the Formation. At that time, apart from bring his aunt back to the capital city, confirming the completion of the Formation was also part of the reason why he had detoured to Shengzhou.
“Okay,” said Ling Zhang in a deep voice.
The two of them were hugging each other before they knew it, and the hug lasted quite a while.
Yuwen Tong and Yuwen Jin would leave the city together immediately after dark, and nightfall was drawing near.
The two of them had had lunch with their children in the bedchamber at noon. In order not to raise any doubts in the children’s minds, Yuwen Tong had been leaning against the headboard when eating.
With the moment of parting approaching, Yuwen Tong kept from thinking how his children would feel after coming to know about his departure, because he would be burdened with worries if he thought too much about it. Ling Zhang told him not to let anything weigh on his mind, saying that he needed to exert himself, that he must stay safe.
The two of them were in a cuddle, both unwilling to let go. However, time always seemed to quicken its pace when people wished it would slow down. As the sun set behind the mountains, the night closed in, cloaking the capital city in darkness. Palace lanterns were lit one after another, including those outside the imperial bedchamber. Nobody would enter to disturb the two of them.
Ling Zhang was uncertain as to what he was feeling exactly, and he didn’t dare think deeply about it, fearing that he might not be able to bring himself to let go of his lover if he gave it too much thought.
After his hands moved slightly, Ling Zhang freed himself from Yuwen Tong’s hug. Yuwen Tong edged his arms forward with the intention to pull Ling Zhang back but soon paused and forbore from doing so in the knowledge that the two of them wouldn’t be able to part unless they hardened their hearts a little. Now that the parting was unavoidable…
Yuwen Tong decisively rose to his feet, spun around and made towards the door in a determined manner.
Ling Zhang followed in his wake, watching him heading for the front gates of the imperial bedchamber. Outside the gates were dozens of personal bodyguards led by Yao Yi. At ordinary times they wore palace guard’s uniform, but now they had all changed into common black skintight outfits, standing motionlessly in the gateway as though having merged into the dark night.
“Let’s go.”
Yao Yi and the others inclined their heads, quietly followed Yuwen Tong out of the Infinite Fortune Palace and then disappeared from view.
Standing on the stairs in front of the doors, watching them ride out of sight, Ling Zhang balled his hands into fists at the back, a feeling of constriction in his chest, having difficulty breathing, his eyes gazing fixedly into space as though he were seeing through the high palace ramparts at the group of people leaving the city.
