“Your Highness, Yuwen Tong cannot even ensure his own safety now. It’s too risky to co-opt him. I suggest we give up.”
“I agree. Since Yuwen Tong refuses to serve anybody and His Majesty might eliminate him at any moment, there’s no need for us to put any more efforts into roping Yuwen Tong in.”
Such had been the magnitude of the influence of this farce that everybody had come to understand the emperor’s intentions. The King Duan’s aides had begun trying to dissuade him from his plan to draw Yuwen Tong over to his side. In their opinion, Yuwen Tong and the emperor had fallen out, and although Yuwen Tong had ceded half of his power in an effort to keep his family safe, the emperor was still wary of him and would not hesitate to kill him if the occasion arose. In other words, Yuwen Tong was now in the emperor’s cross hairs and wasn’t even able to protect himself, which meant that it was totally pointless trying to co-opt him.
“That’s not true.” The King Duan, however, didn’t think so. “Now Yuwen Tong must hate the Crown Prince’s guts, and it’s impossible for him to remain neutral, not wanting anything from any prince, as he used to do. He harbors grudges, so he will make a choice. Think about it – what would be lying in store for Yuwen Tong if the Crown Prince accedes to the throne? As long as Yuwen Tong is not stupid and doesn’t want to die, he would undoubtedly try to find himself an escape route, which makes this the perfect time to draw him over to our side.”
His aides lapsed into silence. Actually they still didn’t quite agree with him, because the risk involved in roping in Yuwen Tong was too high. Besides, Yuwen Tong had only half of the troops at his command now.
“Half of the troops are more than enough. Don’t forget that there are martyrs among every generation of members of the Yuwen family, and a lot of military officers in the imperial court owe the Yuwen family a debt of gratitude. Although branches of the Yuwen family have separated, and Yuwen Tong barely has dealings with any courtiers, he can still unite these people and have them work for him if he wants to.”
“What we should be concerned about is that people see things differently now, Your Highness. His Majesty has made his intentions so clear. When it comes to a choice between the return of the favor and their lives, those who still have their senses will no doubt choose the latter.”
“That’s right, Your Highness. It’s too risky to ally with Yuwen Tong. Our top target is the Crown Prince, and our top priority is to bring him down and help you get his title. His Majesty is still in good health, his rule steady and solid, while Yuwen Tong’s doom is foreseeable. If you take Yuwen Tong into your group, I’m afraid he not only wouldn’t be able to offer you any help but also might become a burden to you.”
All aides disagreed with the King Duan about his plan to rope Yuwen Tong in, suggesting that he stand by and see what Yuwen Tong would do next. The King Duan’s countenance, however, had changed several times. His ambition had been growing as he got closer to the throne. The Sixth Prince and the King Hui had been knocked out of the game in succession, leaving him, the King Yu and the Crown Prince being the only three princes who had reached adulthood and were eligible to participate in political affairs. All other princes were still young, and none of the forces at their back was powerful enough to emerge as a new rival for the throne in the current political landscape, which meant that a situation of tripartite confrontation was now something of inevitability. And these three forces were not evenly matched. The King Yu was the least powerful of the three of them, which was why the King Duan had always been holding the King Yu in disregard. His target was the Crown Prince, but recently the Gu family had racked up one score after another, sending even a man like Wang Cai to a high position, quickly expanding the Crown Prince’s faction. What had made the King Duan more anxious was a fact he’d come to realize after this farce in the Yuwen family – the Crown Prince was different from them, for he had the emperor at his back.
When the two of them had been considering roping in Yuwen Tong, the Crown Prince had gained the emperor’s confidence and aligned his interests with the emperor’s. This was like a chasm, which was telling him explicitly that the Crown Prince was the Crown Prince, the future emperor of this country, while he, however hard he tried, would be no more than a King, a servant. Although the Crown Prince had been an invalid and hadn’t made any achievements for many years, in his father’s eyes he was still the Crown Prince. It was not difficult but impossible to bring down the Crown Prince. Since this was the case, why didn’t he just destroy them all? After destroying them all, he would get everything.
As a result, his aides’ advice no longer held appeal for the King Duan, for he had begun to see the situation from a different perspective now, but he needed to find an opportunity to disclose it for his aides to know.
However, when the King Duan was trying to find time to confide his thoughts to his aides and have them figure out a way to co-opt Yuwen Tong, someone else had taken action.
Yuwen Tong received a secret letter from the King Yu, who invited him to have a meeting with him.
At this time, the second branch of the Yuwen family had just moved out, and the residential compound was undergoing a huge revamp project. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong had temporarily moved into the Ling Mansion. Yuwen You’s branch of the family had also provisionally returned to their own home, leaving the residential compound of the Yuwen family almost empty.
“The King Yu actually dared invite you to a meeting in these circumstances. He’s got balls, I’ll give him that.”
Ling Zhang flicked a glance at the secret letter and was somewhat surprised. He had thought that after that incident, these people in the capital city would stay away from Yuwen Tong and other members of the Yuwen family, but unexpectedly, the aftermath of the disturbance had just died away when the King Yu had covertly stated his stand. Compared with other princes, the King Yu was the one he’d met the least times and had the least dealings with, so he didn’t know the King Yu very well, but even so, he could feel that the King Yu’s words didn’t carry as much weight as the King Duan’s did in the imperial court, that he was at a disadvantage.
“Are you going to accept the invitation?”
Yuwen Tong burned the letter and replied, “Yeah.”
Ling Zhang was surprised once again. “You’re going to meet him? I thought you’d never participate in–”
“Things are different now. I used to be wavering, sitting on the fence. Now I’ve already made a resolution, so I’ve got to stop shying away.”
The moment Yuwen Tong finished the last remark, Ling Zhang came to understand what he meant. He remembered vividly what Yuwen Tong had previously said about “reign over a country.”
“Then you need to be careful not to let the emperor find out about your meeting. And… why do you think the King Yu is doing this?”
Considering the risks involved in a meeting with Yuwen Tong under these circumstances, it was definitely about something big. If the situation were still how it’d been a couple of days ago, Ling Zhang would’ve come to the conclusion that the King Yu intended to rope Yuwen Tong in, but now he wasn’t so sure.
“No matter what the reason is, I’ll find out when I get there.” Yuwen Tong appeared composed, as though he had got a shrewd idea of why the King Yu wanted a meeting with him.
Ling Zhang stared at him. Recently he’d begun to have the feeling that sometimes – now, for example – he had difficulty gauging Yuwen Tong’s thoughts.
“You know why he wants to meet you, don’t you?”
His gaze rendered Yuwen Tong powerless to keep it from him. Besides, he always had trouble maintaining his dignity as a marshal in the presence of Ling Zhang, so he replied, “I have a theory, but I’m going to have to meet him before I could confirm whether or not it’s the truth. At any rate this meeting is unavoidable.”
Yuwen Tong had someone deliver his reply to the King Yu, agreeing to meet him in two days.
Ling Zhang had originally planned to go with him, but unexpectedly, Tao Yi paid him a visit, bringing him a message from Ji Feng and Zhao Jiusi.
“Ji Feng’s grandfather has made a remarkable recovery. He invited you, me and the others to the summer house of the Ji family,” said Tao Yi, a serious look on his face.
That farce had happened so suddenly in the residential compound of the Yuwen family that many people had been suffering a delayed reaction to the shock, and when they’d realized what it might actually be about, Yuwen Tong had already ceded half of his military power. Everybody in the capital city had their own opinion about this matter.
Tao Yi was very indignant. Although sometimes he wasn’t very perceptive, he’d been learning from an exceptionally sagacious teacher, and over time, owing to his teacher’s influence on him, his inclination to analyze many sorts of matters had become instinctive, so naturally he’d come to realize what kind of intrigues might’ve been involved this time. He’d been outraged by the injustice done to Yuwen Tong, but his teacher had kept silent.
“My teacher loathes this method of His Majesty’s and is very angry, believing that His Majesty made the worst decision, but he thinks the Marshal did the right thing by ceding half of his military power. I was pissed, by I couldn’t outdebate him,” said Tao Yi, still looking somewhat unconvinced and upset.
Ling Zhang said, “You’re my friend, and you believe Yuwen Tong’s a righteous man, so of course you’re on our side, but your teacher is different. He sees things from the perspective of His Majesty, and it’s a natural thing that his opinions diverge from yours, so stop being angry about it.”
But in fact Ling Zhang was indignant as well. Yuwen Tong had done so much for the people in this country, and the Yuwen family had sacrificed so much for the Great Yue over the generations, but all those pompous courtiers were capable of was empty rhetoric, and none of them had ever considered what Yuwen Tong wanted!
“Recently I haven’t been in the mood for studying in the academy anyway. I’ve taken a leave of absence and I plan to go to the summer house of the Ji family and spend a couple of days there,” said Tao Yi.
Ling Zhang knew he was doing this because he was at odds with his teacher and felt frustrated.
“This is a crucial moment, and if I go to the summer house with you guys, I might get you in trouble, so I think I’ll just stay here keeping Yuwen Tong company. You guys may go without me,” observed Ling Zhang.
“Ji Feng has some time ago taken a dislike to those matters in the imperial court. He wouldn’t care about it at all. Actually he would’ve come here with me had his father not summoned him before we set off,” said Tao Yi.
Ling Zhang asked him, “Did Ji Feng’s father know he was coming to my place?”
Tao Yi gave it some thought and replied, “I think he did.”
After saying this, Tao Yi lapsed into silence, coming to understand what that meant, knitting his eyebrows.
Ling Zhang didn’t want to put any of his friends in an awkward position. He was very happy to see that even in this kind of circumstances they still wanted to invite him over, but he couldn’t afford to bring them any trouble.
“This is why you guys should go without me. Just tell them I’ve been in a foul mood and suffering from canker sore lately and it’s inconvenient for me to hang out with them.”
Tao Yi’s lips clamped together. He wanted very much to have Ling Zhang join them, but at the thought of the others, he reluctantly kept silent in the knowledge that he couldn’t make decisions for them.
In the final analysis, the one in the palace was to blame for all this. Tao Yi went even angrier. “The residential compound of the Yuwen family has become such a mess during the search. What are you going to do about your wedding? Will it be put off? The way I see it, you and the Marshal might as well just go back to the north-west. Nobody would be able to stop you. You may hold your wedding there, and all of us will be present.”
Ling Zhang chucked, “I’ll tell Yuwen Tong your suggestion.”
But it was only a suggestion, for as things stood, returning to the north-west was not an option for them, what with the sheer impossibility of the emperor giving consent to it.
Ling Zhang asked Tao Yi to send his apologies to Ji Feng and the others and tell them he was not going to the summer house of the Ji family, and then saw him off.
Yuwen Tong should’ve met the King Yu by now, so he summoned one of Yuwen Tong’s bodyguard and asked him about the renovation of the residential compound of the Yuwen family. After receiving the compensations from the emperor, Yuwen Tong had ordered a revamp of the exterior of all houses in the compound, so it’d take more time.
