CH 41

Once the Yan army broke through the city gate, there was no suspense about the outcome of this battle. Liu Xian’an stood on the cliff, watching the army flood into the city like a dark tide. After that, it divided into tributaries and continued to scour through streets and alleys in all directions. The sky was overcast, and faint claps of thunder could be heard from time to time. The soldiers on the sidelines said: “Second Young Master Liu, it is about to rain heavily here. Let’s return quickly.”

Liu Xian’an agreed with his mouth, but his body peerlessly dawdled, and he stretched his neck to watch for a long time. It wasn’t until the billowing black clouds practically brushed his head that he took the soldiers and A-Ning to jog all the way down the mountain.

He couldn’t wait to go to Qingyang City, so he rejected the proposal to “find a cave to shelter from the rain,” and ran down the mountain under the pattering raindrops, getting into the carriage in no time. Presently, it was raining heavily in the mountains, and the deafening thunder nearly pierced through the roof of the carriage. The coachman wore a bamboo hat and a coir raincoat. He raised his hand and whipped the horse, taking them into the torrential downpour.

He didn’t even bring A-Ning with him, because the small carriage couldn’t hold two people.

By the time he arrived, the entire battle was drawing to a close.

The Dayan garrison guarded both sides of the city gate. Liu Xian’an stuck his head out of the carriage and asked them: “Where is the prince?”

“Right over there.” After pointing out the way, the soldier warned him carefully in a low voice, “But the prince seems to be…..in a bad mood. If Second Young Master Liu doesn’t have a problem, how about talking to him tomorrow?”

Liu Xian’an was puzzled. Why would he be in a bad mood after winning the battle? After giving his thanks, he asked the coachman to continue driving into the city. It was still raining heavily at this time. The thick, enveloping smoke had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with the pungent scent of oil, giving him an inexplicable spine-chilling sensation. Turning another street corner, the driving horse suddenly neighed in fright. It raised its hooves high and then lowered them, pacing anxiously in place.

The coachman hurriedly tightened the horse’s reins. Liu Xian’an lifted the curtain and found that the long street was strewn with dead bodies, men and women, young and old, all stacked together with their eyes wide open. Their wounds were still bleeding continuously, painting the whole city bright red.

Liu Xian’an suddenly understood where the strange chill just now came from. It was too quiet. The city was too quiet, and there was no sound of people, not even crying or pleas for mercy.

Standing on the other side of the long street, Liang Shu saw the carriage. He frowned slightly and wanted to have guards take him out of the city first, but Liu Xian’an had already jumped to the ground. The carriage couldn’t pass through, so he stepped over the corpses and walked forward. The snow-like hem of his robes dragged through bloodstains, and soon turned different shades of red. Liang Shu’s pupils shrank. Gao Lin was also horrified at the sight, and hastily rushed over to offer him an umbrella, asking in a low voice: “Why is Second Young Master Liu here?”

After asking, he lowered his voice further, gritted his teeth, and said: “These grandsons didn’t fight us head-on at all.”

After being stirred up by the Mute Condors from the sky, the rebel leader knew that it was hopeless to defend the city, so he turned around and returned to the city with his troops. During the time when the Yan army had not completely invaded, he did two things —

Burn the food and fodder.

And kill the common people.

Under extreme hatred, anger, and fear, human nature was truly fragile. When the fire was ignited, when the butcher’s knife was held high, the innocent common people of the city were just tools for the rebels to make a statement to the Yan army. What was even more absurd was that they may even be full of passion and energy after because of this slaughter, taking pride in the successful expression of a sense of self-defense. Summer insects cannot speak of ice.[1] When narrow-mindedness, ignorance, and cruelty collided with so-called “righteousness,” the resulting evils could not even be washed away by a torrential rainstorm.

Liu Xian’an walked in front of Liang Shu. His entire body was drenched, his hair sticking to his face indiscriminately, and his skin looked increasingly pale. Liang Shu pulled his wrist and led him to an empty temple, which was originally the most dilapidated and empty place in the whole city. Because no one lived there, it had now become the cleanest place. The guards lit a campfire and Liang Shu wrapped him in a cloak with a frown, asking: “Why did you come here?”

“……I wanted to take a look.” Liu Xian’an didn’t know how to answer. Standing on the mountain, he witnessed a battle for the first time. Originally, he was still shocked by the silver Mute Condors all over the sky, the black armor all over the ground, and the grand momentum of the ensemble of war drums, thunder, and lightning. He couldn’t wait to share it with Liang Shu, but now he was covered in blood.

War was far more cruel than he had imagined. Even with such a quick, small-scale siege, the casualties caused were enough to make the entire Dayan Dynasty mourn. Life and death and the heavenly dao were no different. It was the spiritual pursuit of complete freedom. A poet could be buried beneath a peach blossom tree, or never return from a drunken outing, but he could not die by the sword in despair.

Liu Xian’an wrapped the cloak tightly around him and reached out, wiping a bit of blood from Liang Shu’s face.

The fire dispelled the chill, and the soldiers bustling to and fro outside added a bit of noise to the place. Liang Shu’s brain continued to pulse with pain, but he pulled himself together and said: “Rest here for a while, and I’ll send you out of town.”

Liu Xian’an looked at him: “There will definitely be such a day in the future.”

Liang Shu asked: “Really?”

Liu Xian’an nodded.

Liang Shu sighed: “You are forty-eight thousand years old, don’t lie to others.”

“Not lying. Everyone will have a full stomach, and everyone will be able to study.”

Food and clothing, literacy and courtesy, civilization would eventually defeat barbarism and then people would have more time to think. Liu Xian’an didn’t know if he could fly forty-eight thousand zhang, but he felt that one day in the future, someone would be able to reach the moon and the stars.

Liang Shu was suffering from a splitting headache and had no energy to do any thinking, but listening to him say a few words, the depression in his heart was able to dissipate a little, so he made a sound of acknowledgement. Liu Xian’an tested the temperature of his forehead with the backs of his fingers. Liang Shu turned his head away and only asked: “Is there a cure for headaches?”

“Yes, but only in an emergency.” Liu Xian’an took out a bag of silver needles. “Sit still and don’t talk.”

Liang Shu leaned against a pillar and closed his eyes.

As soon as Gao Lin entered, he saw Second Young Master Liu hugging his prince’s head, so he turned around and walked out without saying a word. Staying calm in times of trouble. Very tactful. Liang Shu had already heard the movement and called: “Get back here!”

Liu Xian’an also stood up straight and turned around.

Only then did Gao Lin see clearly. Oh, it was acupuncture.

The acupuncture couldn’t even be mentioned, otherwise wouldn’t it exacerbate the illness? He wanted to say a few words casually, but Liang Shu asked him: “Where is Lu Xiang?”

“……He shut himself away and secretly wrote an account.” Gao Lin had no choice but to say, “It’s probably not worth a fart.”

Although Qingyang city had been captured, the battle was too brutal. Even if the Imperial court did not condemn it, they would certainly not praise it. Lu Xiang feared that he would be the one held responsible for this grievance, so he acted preemptively. In the account, it was described in detail that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang refused to be dissuaded and insisted on changing the initial attack on Sanshui City to Qingyang City. As a result, he single-handedly caused the scene of the massacre. After he finished writing, he added a few impassioned statements at the end. He read through it several times and felt that everything was safe, so he placed it in his sleeve and walked out as if nothing had happened.

Gao Lin was leading people to guard the door with swords.

Lu Xiang’s complexion changed: “What does Lieutenant General Gao mean by this?”

Gao Lin said: “The prince wants Commander Liu to come over.”

Lu Xiang looked at the glinting swords all over the courtyard and stood still. After a long while, he choked out sentence with a livid face: “Does the prince want to take this official as a scapegoat? Although the people of Qingyang City could not be saved, it was done by the rebels, and the emperor may not be dissatisfied with it. If the prince found a scapegoat so early, people would laugh if it spread.”

Gao Lin shook his head: “Why couldn’t the people of Qingyang City be saved? Since Huang Wangxiang raised the banner on Gaoliang Mountain, Commander Lu probably asked the Imperial court for a lot of money, right? A mere villager could develop and grow under the eyes of tens of thousands of troops. Was it through his own exceptional skills, or was Commander Lu unwilling to suppress this god of wealth from heaven? If the rebels had been suppressed from the very beginning, how could there be chaos in the three cities now, and how could the common people have died!”

Lu Xiang gritted his teeth and said: “Lieutenant General Gao, don’t slander people!”

Gao Lin lifted his hand and threw a thick stack of account books in front of him: “Commander Lu thinks he got ahead, but the prince has really put up with you all the way. If not for the time it took to find these things, Commander Lu wouldn’t have had to lock himself up in a room and deliberately make up stories for the court. Come, seize him!”

“Presumptuous!” Commander Lu drew out his sword. “I was personally appointed by the emperor —”

Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked back into the room by Gao Lin. Both were military leaders, but one was lazy and focused on making money, while the other spent all day long rolling about in the northwest wind and sand. Although Lu Xiang knew that he was not Gao Lin’s opponent, he didn’t expect the other party to be so savage and not pay heed to the Imperial court at all. He became dizzy for a moment, and shouted threats: “Could it be that Xiao Wang wants to rebel!”

“You dare.” Gao Lin crouched in front of him. “Let’s be honest, the evidence of corruption was found by the emperor’s people. They’ve already sent copies back to Wangcheng. Commander Lu, after your crimes were exposed, not only did you not want to repent, but you also tried to muddle the brotherhood between His Majesty and the prince. This is really asking for death.”

Lu Xiang paled: “His Majesty?”

“It’s fine if you can’t figure it out now. You can go to prison and think about it slowly in the future.” Gao Lin stood up and ordered for him to be restrained and taken into custody.

However, even if Lu Xiang sobered up in prison, he still might not be able to figure it out. Why did the emperor’s people suddenly appear in Qingyang City, and they were also used by Xiao Wang? Could it be that he already had doubts about him?

Relying on his poor imagination, he likely wouldn’t understand until his death that those strong men from the Imperial court were originally only here to watch two marriage partners meet.

Lieutenant Li, who had cut wood all the way here, was also tied up in front of Gao Lin. He was less fearful than Lu Xiang, and readily confessed that he had filled his own pockets in the name of collecting rations. He also named a bunch of accomplices. This group of silverfish was gathered in an open space in the city and knelt there for three days in front of a pitch dark object, through two days of torrential rain and one of sun exposure, until their lips chapped and they lost consciousness. They didn’t even know what they were kowtowing to.

A-Ning also asked: “What is it?”

Liu Xian’an said: “It’s the dog in Xiaozhao Village that was killed by soldiers.”

Unknowingly, A-Ning had torn off a piece of roasted meat to feed to the starving young man who was chained up, and it was only later that he found out that it was his dog. Afterwards, the meat was taken away by Liang Shu. After drying, it looked like a black stone, and still didn’t rot after being exposed to the sun and the rain. It had been placed on a high platform until those men who preyed on the common people knelt for three days and their heads hit the ground. Only then did Gao Lin wrap it up in cloth, dig a hole, and bury it properly.

Liang Shu didn’t want Lu Xian’an to see these things, but Second Young Master Liu didn’t say “that’s also fine” this time.

He stayed in the city, hands in his sleeves, and refused to go.

*

T/N: Can I just say how beautiful that scene was with Liu Xian’an walking toward Liang Shu down the bloody street? Liang Shu wants to keep him pure and unblemished, but that isn’t what the dao is about. The dao encompasses the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, and Liu Xian’an doesn’t shy away from any of it.

[1] “Summer insects cannot speak of ice” because their life cycles only last a few summer months, and they cannot imagine what ice is because they will never see it. This is a metaphor for time limiting people’s knowledge, as well as people’s short-sightedness and lack of understanding of major principles. ⮐