Fish Meat – Chapter 109
by Little PandaThe Tenth Year of Shenchu
Iron horses and golden spears (11)
“Close the door!”
At Wei Tingxu’s command, the shadow guards immediately withdrew, and the door was closed, leaving only Zhen Wenjun, Lingbi, and Xiaohua in the room.
“Dispose of… Li Ju’s corpse, leaving no trace behind.” Wei Tingxu stood for a moment, her legs weakening and her waist aching, struggling to support herself. Zhen Wenjun quickly pushed the four-wheeled cart over, carefully helping Wei Tingxu sit down, and whispered in her ear:
“Leave Li Ju’s body to my sister. Bu Jie has developed a corpse-dissolving liquid that can turn the body into a puddle of water. No one will ever be able to find him.”
Wei Tingxu nodded: “Thank you for your trouble, sister. Xiaohua, Lingbi, remove all the Huben Army uniforms from the remaining corpses and dress them in the assassins’ clothes. They will be beheaded for the crime of ‘attempting to assassinate the emperor,’ and their heads will be displayed in the marketplace of Xie County for all to see.”
“Yes!” Lingbi and Xiaohua responded in unison.
Zhen Wenjun thought that Wei Tingxu would immediately announce Li Ju’s death and swiftly promote Li Yanyi to the throne to prevent future troubles. As long as Li Yanyi ascended the throne, Wei Jing’an could be appointed as the Grand General, stripping the military power from the Grand Marshal Xie Fuchen, and thoroughly crushing the Xie faction. Wei Tingxu, who usually employed swift and decisive “lightning” tactics, displayed absolute calmness and control of the big picture when she finally killed the emperor of a generation.
For Wei Tingxu, Li Ju’s death might have been sealed the moment he insisted on personally leading the northern expedition. Wei Tingxu viewed him as nothing more than a corpse, albeit one with value to be exploited, and his death needed to be silent and unnoticed.
Previously, when Mengliang was fighting desperately, the Wei family’s army didn’t come to support, only intervening when Ha’erci attacked Xie County. This wasn’t a coincidence. Zhen Wenjun began to seriously ponder Wei Tingxu’s actions, knowing that all her behaviors had strong purposes and couldn’t be random, especially the timing of rescuing Xie County.
Perhaps when Wei Tingxu learned that Li Ju had retreated to Xie County to avoid the war, she had already anticipated that Ha’erci would launch a surprise attack on Xie County to capture Li Ju. In fact, any general with some battlefield experience would do the same, as Li Ju himself was a brightly lit living target, inviting others’ attention.
No matter how small, Xie County was still a proper city, and among all military operations, siege warfare was the most difficult and manpower-consuming. Launching a surprise attack on Xie County would require troop deployment, which would disperse the Chongjin forces. The sudden appearance of the Wei family’s army to support Xie County had a high probability of completely annihilating the Chongjin raiding forces. With Wei Jing’an’s abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult to seize the opportunity to advance to Mengliang and achieve another military feat. Once Wei Jing’an set out for Mengliang, Ah Xin would certainly be concerned about reclaiming Mengliang, which had been occupied again by Ha’erci. Even if she was mindful of the Wei family’s threat to Li Ju, her thoughts would be wavering.
Ah Xin was not a complex person. Zhen Wenjun had only interacted with her for a few months but already understood much about her character, knowing what she liked and cared about, let alone Wei Tingxu. Ah Xin was inherently bellicose; for her, protecting the emperor’s life was undoubtedly important. As long as the emperor was alive, she had a crucial foundation for an undefeatable position. This was the essence of military strategy and what she valued most.
Therefore, to successfully recapture Mengliang or even kill the Chongjin leader, Ah Xin was very likely to leave Xie County and march towards Mengliang, leaving Li Ju behind. She knew Wei Tingxu was unpredictable and difficult to fathom, so she left behind some of her personal troops, and there were still Huben Army guards present. This disabled woman with limited mobility would need to think twice before making a move. Most importantly, Ah Xin knew Wei Tingxu was intelligent, and intelligent people would understand that as long as the Chongjin army didn’t retreat, Li Ju couldn’t die. Otherwise, it would be a case of when the nest is overturned, no eggs remain intact. The fall of Da Yu would bring no benefit to the Wei family.
So, even if Li Yanyi had ambitions for the central government and wanted Li Ju to die on the frontlines, she wouldn’t take Li Ju’s life at such a crucial moment—this was Ah Xin’s reasoning.
Any normal person would think this way, and Wei Tingxu would let things unfold like this. She would allow the Yu army to safely repel the barbarians.
However, allowing the Yu army to feel at ease and taking Li Ju’s life were not contradictory.
After Ah Xin left, the Huben Army was nothing more than a thin layer of window paper to Wei Tingxu. If she wanted to take the “weapon” inside the room, she could pierce through the paper at any time.
Before coming to the northern frontier, Wei Tingxu certainly wasn’t just planting flowers in the courtyard. During this period, she had Xiaohua use large sums of money to recruit several skilled wandering warriors from the jianghu, and trained the shadow guards day and night to achieve formidable strength, capable of fighting ten opponents at once.
The Huben Army in the Forbidden Garden was originally composed of one-in-a-million experts. However, in recent years, due to internal strife and external threats, more than half of the strong fighters had retired. Many of the remaining ones were transferred to Li Yanyi’s side, while those still willingly serving Li Ju were mostly less capable. Even the Huben Lang Xia Jing was just a minor Jinwu Guard patrolling Runing a year ago. Li Ju promoted him exceptionally only because there was no one else to use.
As long as Ah Xin wasn’t by Li Ju’s side watching, Wei Tingxu could make her move at any time.
If it weren’t for his jealousy of talent and the fact that he had set his mind on assassinating her second brother, she might have actually given him some more time.
Li Ju was exactly like the previous emperor, truly worthy of the Li family’s blood.
With Ah Xin gone, Wei Tingxu swiftly closed her net. Emperor Shenchu had already passed away, but the subjects of Da Yu would still see him. He had become a handy weapon in Wei Tingxu’s hands.
After nurturing his troops for several months in Quhua Prefecture, Ha’erci took advantage of the brief northern summer to fatten his horses and men. He also gathered the armies of three other Hu tribes and even persuaded three small Hu tribes that had been lingering in the northwest between Suichuan and Dongchun. Attacking Da Yu from other directions was difficult due to the steep mountains and long supply lines. Instead, it was better to use the existing three prefectures of Quhua, Mingsha, and Xinyu as strongholds, concentrating firepower to take Mengliang. After killing the city’s defender Wei Jing’an, the Da Yu emperor could also be captured.
Ha’erci already had considerable prestige among the Hu tribes surrounding Da Yu. This time, he personally visited various chiefs and clan leaders, showing great sincerity and making promises. He vowed that after breaking through Runing’s city gates, he would give half of Da Yu’s forty-eight prefectures to the various tribes. These six Hu tribes were originally small, and even combined, they weren’t as numerous as the Chongjin. They dared to harass the outskirts of Da Yu only to take advantage of the intense fighting between Chongjin and Da Yu, hoping to reap some small benefits like the proverbial fisherman. If they relied solely on their own strength to swallow Da Yu’s territory, they wouldn’t even dare to dream of it.
Now that their interests were tied to Chongjin’s, most already intended to submit. When Ha’erci generously promised to give them half of Da Yu’s territory, they immediately agreed. The remaining two small tribes were originally thinking, “Better to be the beak of a chicken than the rear of an ox,” knowing that once merged, it would be difficult to escape Ha’erci’s rule. However, now that the other four tribes had agreed, if they continued to stubbornly resist, it would be effortless for Ha’erci to deal with them.
Ha’erci smoothly doubled his forces without losing a single soldier. He planned to wait for winter to come and, taking advantage of the cold-fearing Central Plains people’s reluctance to fight, to utterly defeat them. Ha’erci looked at the still-painful wound on his wrist, clearly remembering the face of the man who had killed his son.
Ha’erci wanted revenge, to personally slay that arrogant man from the Central Plains!
The winter of the tenth year of Shenchu was exceptionally cold. Even Li Yanyi, in Runing, witnessed several heavy snowfalls. The rivers froze under the assault of snow and wind, forcing them to suspend plans to transport more provisions to the northern front via waterways.
They had to think of another way.
When Li Yanyi received Wei Tingxu’s secret letter informing her of Li Ju’s death, she felt no sense of relief. She understood that after Li Ju’s death, more significant events would follow in quick succession. She needed to concentrate all her energy, leaving no room for negligence.
This was the most critical moment, just one step away from her grand, millennial ambition.
As she was about to take this step, countless jackals and fierce beasts would struggle in their death throes, concentrating all their strength for a final resistance, fighting to the bitter end. If she wasn’t careful, not only would all her efforts be in vain, but she might also end up leaving no trace behind.
The most important thing for her to do now was to fully support Situ Wei Lun in implementing reforms, concentrating the nation’s financial power in her hands to use for warfare.
In the past, the state of Qin was located in the remote northwest, even more remote than today’s Suichuan, yet it managed to unify the entire country. One of the important reasons for this was that the Grand Chancellor transformed the entire country into a sharp blade specifically for war, with all the wealth squeezed from the people invested in warfare. Although various reasons later led to the fall of the Qin Empire after two generations, Li Yanyi believed that the flow of wealth would inevitably affect the nation’s destiny.
Wei Lun advocated for increasing land taxes, collecting poll taxes, and suggested that Li Yanyi openly sell noble titles, maximizing the extraction of resources from wealthy clans and noble families who still had money and grain. The noble titles were merely symbols of status, without real power or military authority, and thus not to be feared.
Li Yanyi immediately supported Wei Lun’s reforms in Li Ju’s name. Xie Fuchen, along with a group of senior officials, wanted to submit a memorial in opposition, but once the memorial was written, they didn’t know where to submit it. The Shangshu Tai was empty, and the emperor was only heard but not seen. Li Yanyi had already assumed the role of emperor, presiding over the morning court in the Taiji Hall, discussing state affairs with the officials. The only difference from Li Ju was that she paced in front of the crowd instead of sitting on the dragon throne.
From this point on, Xie Fuchen and his forty-two comrades stopped attending the morning court. Li Yanyi was completely unconcerned; it was even better that Xie Fuchen didn’t come. She and Wei Lun could gather and extract wealth more quickly, expand the production of military supplies, and immediately send them to the front lines.
Xie Fuchen knew in his heart that Li Ju was already dead.
He needed to go to the Prince Huai’an’s Mansion, not daring to leave the Empress and Crown Prince in the Forbidden Garden. He had all the servants and guards from the Xie Mansion accompany the carriages to protect the safety of the Empress and Crown Prince.
“Marshal Xie… if we leave Runing at this time, won’t Li Yanyi gain even more power?” The Empress Liu asked Xie Fuchen indignantly while cradling the Crown Prince, who was crying incessantly due to the jolting of the carriage, and trying to comfort him.
“If we don’t leave now, I’m afraid we won’t be able to leave later,” Xie Fuchen’s words made Empress Liu hold her breath.
“Where… where is the Emperor?” Liu now only wanted to see the Emperor once. Since being favored by the Emperor for a few nights over a year ago, she hadn’t seen him again. This sovereign was supposed to be her support for the rest of her life, but now he was lost somewhere in the vast north. She and the infant Crown Prince were pulled close by some one day and pushed away by others the next, feeling as if everyone wanted to harm them. Now they couldn’t even stay in the palace. This unfamiliar Marshal Xie had put her in a carriage, intending to send her to the Prince Huai’an’s Mansion – the Emperor’s brother – which was a grave taboo.
She didn’t want to go, but she wasn’t allowed to say any word of refusal.
Although Liu held the title of Empress, she had none of the power. She and the Crown Prince were like an ill-fated mother and child, weary from fleeing the ravages of war.
“The Emperor…” Xie Fuchen looked up at the sky and said no more.
His gesture frightened Liu, draining the color from her face. “Could it be that the Emperor has already…”
Xie Fuchen said, “Now, perhaps only Prince Huai’an can protect you and the Crown Prince.”
Zhangsun Yao, along with Zhangsun Wu, went south to recruit soldiers and achieved considerable success.
The south had been experiencing bountiful harvests for years, but after last year’s rainstorm and flood, the good fields and houses in Sudu were instantly destroyed. Countless people were suddenly left homeless.
This situation played into Zhangsun Yao’s hands.
Joining the army not only provided military pay but was also a great opportunity for advancement. Zhangsun Yao recruited twenty-six thousand men from Sudu. On the return journey, they happened to encounter the Huangtu Righteous Army at a narrow pass. With Zhangsun Wu’s assistance, they captured over six thousand more men, all of whom were incorporated into the army.
The imminent invasion by the seven united Hu tribes allowed no time for delay. The number of troops to be sent to the front lines, including the remnants in the north, totaled less than fifty thousand. Driven by the strategy of selling noble titles, provisions and weapons were quickly sent to the north. However, the large shipment of weapons and armor couldn’t be fully claimed, with weapons far outnumbering soldiers.
With a shortage of troops, weak forces, and a lack of capable generals, it would be difficult to withstand Chongjin’s all-out attack.
Li Yanyi conveyed her concerns to Wei Tingxu, who had been stationed in Mengliang. Wei Tingxu’s reply informed her of an even more troubling matter.
There are no walls that don’t let wind through. Someone had spread the news of Li Ju’s death among the troops. She suspected that Hu spies might have noticed something unusual and wanted to disrupt Da Yu’s military morale before the great battle. Some people had already started to flee, and she had caught and dealt with them using military law. This handling of deserters caused further ripples. Neither she nor Wei Jing’an actually had the authority to use military law on anyone, as they didn’t hold the corresponding official positions. In Mengliang, the only person with this authority was General Guo Xiao of An Yuan, who was Ah Xin’s man. Although Ah Xin could set aside old grudges to fight a common enemy, he was also ruthless when it came to checks and balances. Guo Xiao certainly wouldn’t accommodate the Wei family and wouldn’t give them any opportunity to establish authority.
So although Mengliang could be said to be in the Wei family’s hands, apart from the Wei family’s troops, the Xie family still had a say in military matters.
In her moment of distress, Li Yanyi had a sudden inspiration—this was a golden opportunity!
With the Imperial Seal in hand and the deceased Li Ju unable to speak, Li Yanyi sent a forged imperial edict to Mengliang, appointing Wei Tingxu as the military governor of Mengliang, and Wei Jing’an as the Great General of the Northern Garrison.
This move instantly shook the court and the country. Even without Xie Fuchen taking action, many neutral parties submitted memorials to the Empress Dowager, urging her and the “Emperor” to retract the edict. They argued that women should not be given official titles, lest it disrupt the natural order and corrupt morality. Moreover, it would be a great disrespect to the late emperor and the ancestral temple!
Empress Dowager Geng refused to see any of them, so these officials knelt outside her palace for an entire night, howling like wild dogs, greatly annoying her. Of course, Empress Dowager Geng supported Li Yanyi, but she also felt that Li Yanyi had acted too hastily this time. Appointing a female official so early, especially one with military power, was indeed breaking a major taboo of Da Yu.
This was merely a test for Li Yanyi, to gauge these old fellows’ acceptance of female officials, and from that, to glimpse how much they might accept a female emperor.
“From today’s reaction, we can see how they will respond when I ascend the throne.” After all, Li Yanyi’s true goal was only to have Wei Jing’an outrank Guo Xiao. If Wei Tingxu’s official position was retracted, so be it—it wouldn’t affect the current big picture. However, Li Yanyi also made a list. She wrote down the names of all the officials who submitted memorials to the Empress Dowager, listing them one by one in black and white.
When the day comes for this widow to ascend the throne, it will be the day you follow Li Ju into the nine springs.
Wei Jing’an’s appointment as general marked the second general from the Wei family.
With an official title, all his troops were formally incorporated into the army. To avoid a power struggle with him, Ah Xin withdrew the Xie family’s private troops back to Xie County.
“My lady, have you… read Lord Xie’s letter?” Guo Xiao couldn’t help but remind her, seeing that she still didn’t want to return to Runing.
Ah Xin continued to polish her long sword, ignoring Guo Xiao.
In his letter, Father said that jackals and wolves now block the way, and Li Yanyi shows a strong tendency to ascend the throne against heaven’s will. She is in great danger in the northern frontier and could be assassinated at any time. Xie Fuchen also gently reminded her that although she and Li Yanyi had a romantic relationship, Li Yanyi wouldn’t spare her because of it. No matter what, she still bears the surname “Xie,” and even if Li Yanyi were willing to show mercy, Wei Tingxu wouldn’t. Wei Tingxu is a person to be wary of.
Ah Xin replied to Xie Fuchen, saying she had long since severed ties with Li Yanyi, and there was no need to mention it again. The victor becomes the king, the loser becomes the bandit; what is there to fear? Whoever wants to kill her can come and try. She, Xie Ah Xin, will guard Da Yu’s frontier in the north and won’t retreat half a step for any reason.
No one could persuade Ah Xin to change her mind about retreating to the south, because Ah Xin knew the importance of this battle.
According to the news released by Ha’erci himself, he already commands an army of three hundred thousand troops ready to march south. This time, he will surely bathe Mengliang in blood, crush Da Yu, and make Wei Jing’an wash his neck clean and wait for death.
Wei Jing’an has conscripted able-bodied men to the point of “dislocation,” even including twelve-year-old children, but altogether they still number less than sixty thousand. With such a vast disparity in numbers, someone asked if he was afraid. He should be afraid, but he isn’t.
He had once been on the battlefield as a common soldier, accumulating considerable experience, and later bided his time while serving as the Sikang Lieutenant. He is an experienced soldier and also a young commander. He doesn’t want to know when he should be afraid or when he should retreat; he only knows that behind him lies Da Yu’s fragile landscape and the women and children at home. If he were afraid, who would protect these people?
He sent a letter of challenge to Ha’erci, delivered directly to the Chongjin camp.
“Next time we meet, I’ll send you to see your ancestors, boy!”
Ha’erci was furious and immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for departure, attacking Mengliang in fifteen days!
With the great battle imminent, the fate of the entire Da Yu hangs in the balance. The last bit of Da Yu’s meager military strength from across the country has been sent to the northern front. The Huangtu Righteous Army has suddenly become more aggressive within the borders. Li Yanyi can only temporarily ignore them, mobilizing civilian forces to engage in a circuitous battle with the Huangtu Righteous Army.
The anger-filled iron hooves of the Chongjin people come from the north. Li Yanyi and the officials go to Wangjun Mountain to offer sacrifices to heaven, earth, and the ancestral temple, hoping that the spirits of their ancestors will protect Da Yu and help them overcome this crisis.
Standing on the highest peak of Runing, Li Yanyi looks north, her heart filled with worry.
She seems to hear the earth-shaking sound of Chongjin’s troops and horses trampling on Da Yu’s soil.
Da Yu is about to face a national crisis. If the front lines cannot withstand the attack, the myriad lights of households below the mountain will be destroyed in an instant.
Zilian, Zizhuo, Wenjun, and Ah Xin… you must all come back alive.
Just before the battle began, rumors about the Emperor’s death continued to circulate among the troops defending Mengliang, even directly pointing to Wei Tingxu, the younger sister of the Great General of the Northern Garrison, as the main culprit in the regicide. The soldiers, already outnumbered, were filled with doubt and panic, with a sense of impending national doom lingering in their hearts, which was very unfavorable for battle.
At this critical moment, Li Ju appeared.
Guarded by a group of Huben soldiers, Li Ju stood atop the newly repaired city walls of Mengliang. Dressed in flowing, wide-sleeved dragon robes, he appeared like a deity descending from heaven. With a loud shout, he commanded all the soldiers to kneel before the city walls.
After Li Ju’s spirited and inspiring speech, the morale of the three armies soared. They vowed to fight the barbarian bandits to the death and protect their homeland.
Standing in the shadows, Zhen Wenjun and Wei Tingxu had been observing the commotion below. Seeing that no one had noticed anything amiss and truly believed the man on the city wall to be Li Ju, worshipping him like the Emperor, they felt both pleased and amused.
“Sister, has the Crane Road been set up already?” Wei Tingxu asked.
The Crane Road was the only route from the three northern counties to Mengliang. No matter how Ha’erci arranged his troops, the majority of Chongjin’s 300,000-strong army would have to pass through the Crane Road.
“Don’t worry, sister! Bu Jie, Ah Xi, and I have already set everything up!”
“Good. Now let’s see how the Chongjin army will rush to their deaths one after another.”
Zhen Wenjun had long been eager to wait for the Chongjin people to come and kill, to test the combat effectiveness of this huge trap she had set. If successful, it could quickly reduce the numbers of Chongjin’s 300,000-strong army. Then when the Northern Garrison General takes the field, how could they not defeat this formidable enemy?
At dawn, the expedition horn sounded. Zhen Wenjun put on the chain mail and war boots that Wei Tingxu had brought from far away in Runing. Her long hair was tied high at the back of her head, resembling a spirited swimming dragon. In her hand, she still held that rusty long spear. By now, she had polished the spear until it gleamed coldly, and had retied a red tassel to it, making it no less impressive than the other newly arrived weapons on the northern front. She felt this long spear was deeply connected to her fate and would surely bring her luck, so she never parted with it.
Lingbi and Xiaohua didn’t join the war effort; someone always needed to take care of Wei Tingxu. Zhen Wenjun, however, had a heavier mission on her shoulders.
Lingbi woke up early to make her a bowl of soup dumplings, adding two thick slices of pork. Knowing Zhen Wenjun’s taste, she specially added Sichuan peppercorns to balance the flavor, making it extremely satisfying for her.
“Why do I always feel like I’m sending you away, here and there, always worrying about your life…” Lingbi said wistfully as she cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks. “When do you think we can just stay together, doing nothing, like drinking cool tea and enjoying the breeze as we did at Nanya?”
Zhen Wenjun knew Lingbi was concerned for her, but she didn’t want the atmosphere to be too heavy or awkward: “Like at Nanya? I was quite busy at Nanya, only you were idle, Sister Lingbi.”
Lingbi: “…”
“Besides, if everyone just thinks about comfort, who will defend the land and people of Da Yu? Who will protect my sisters?”
“I understand everything you’re saying.”
“I will return safely. Look at all these times, when have I not come back?” Zhen Wenjun twirled the long spear in her hand, looking valiant and spirited. “Watch me return in triumph!”
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