CH 80

Ch80 - Coldness and Warmth

“What did you say? The palace is at risk?!” Sima Yue barked, his face ashen gray.

“Zhang Fang caused a ruckus outside the Jianchun Gate yesterday, trying to trespass into the imperial city. His wanton looting incited a revolt. The captain of the center has already lost control of the army. A lot of officers are saying they’re going to fight their way into Jinyong City and rescue the Prince of Changsha…..”

His subordinate’s report both shocked and angered Sima Yue. Ever since Zhang Fang’s forces entered Luoyang ten days ago, they’d begun to rape and loot with reckless abandon to vent all the rage and hatred they’d pent up over the months-long siege. Countless families were torn apart, wives bereaved of husbands, children bereft of parents. The food and water shortages hadn’t resolved in the least; on the contrary, the riotous soldiers’ wanton rampage turned the city into hell on earth. The Central Secretariat’s desks were buried from all the impeachment papers it’d received over the last few days. All the bureaucrats were looking to them to restrain Zhang Fang. But Sima Yue had no one else to use; what could he do? All he could do was pacify the masses, say that Zhang Fang would soon leave to help the Prince of Hejian deal with the unrest in Chang’an, and promise them that everything would settle down when the Prince of Chengdu entered the city.

Originally, it’d been a tripping wire that Sima Yue had set for Sima Ying, but who could’ve thought that, before he’d even scooched out of Ye City, Zhang Fang would give in to the urge to attack the imperial city? How could the palace guard stand to bear this ignominy? Opening the city gates had been a clandestine agreement between his younger brother and the defender general of the left; many within the six armies disagreed with the decision – especially Sima Ai’s former subordinates. They hadn’t the ability to suppress them!

“Brother, I’m afraid the Prince of Changsha can no longer be allowed to live!” Sima Teng exclaimed.

“Shut up!” Sima Yue snapped annoyedly. Of course he knew that! But if he killed Sima Ai himself, he’d lose the trust of the soldiers in the city. Then how would he goad them into rebellion?

“He who hesitates has lost. Brother, we are playing with fire right now. If they rescue Changsha, then both sides will be pressing us for answers!” Sima Teng pressed.

How would Sima Yue not know? Not to mention how dangerous it was to release the tiger back to the mountains, Sima Ying wouldn’t let them off that easily. There was nothing in it for him if things were to devolve into chaos! He was truly trapped between a rock and a hard place, not knowing how to decide.

“Minister of Works,” an emperor’s valet at the side suddenly stepped up and said lowly, “Since Zhang Fang is already attacking the imperial city, why not send him a secret missive informing him of this matter? Surely General Zhang wouldn’t miss an opportunity like this…”

Sima Yue’s eyes brightened as he pondered, then said, “But Jinyong City is easily defendable and difficult to attack. Simply knowing the news might not be enough…”

Jinyong City was a fortified military stronghold through and through, built by Emperor Wu. It was made up of three small adjacent cities; its walls were ten meters tall and thirty meters wide. With Mt. Mang at its back, it overlooked the entire city of Luoyang. And it was heavily guarded, as it was a secluded castle used to imprison members of the Sima imperial clan. Even an army of a hundred thousand couldn’t conquer such an impenetrable city, let alone a band of rebel soldiers.

The valet chortled, “There might be people within willing to open the city for General Zhang.”

“Very well!” His worries dispelled, Sima Yue ordered, “Gather what people you need and begin at once. If this endeavor is successful, you will be richly rewarded!”

He then turned to Sima Teng, “Yuanmai, it has been some time since you left Bing Province. You should take this chance to return. Once the time is ripe, deploy armies to Bai Pass and cut off Ye City’s means of escape. You will be key in the coming battle!”

Sima Teng was only a young man in his early twenties, still in that hotheaded and vainglorious phase. He jumped to his feet and declared, “Rest assured, brother! The armies of Bing Province stand ready to march at your word. Emperor Wu’s line is already incompetent. Only you, brother, can restore order to the court!”

Pleased by his flattery, Sima Yue clapped, “Right you are, Yuanmai. So long as the agitators perish, peace will be restored to all under heaven…”

※

Snowflakes drifted down outside the window; the snowstorm had persisted for two days already. If it were a tranquil night, then in the utter silence, one could hear the soft susurrus of falling snow. Enjoying a pot of warm wine with a pocket heater in hand as he sat by the window and appreciated the snowy night used to be Jiang Da’s favorite activity. But now, wrapped in winter clothes, he sat listlessly by the window, quietly listening to the sound of slaughter coming from the street.

This was the medical department of the Court of Attendants. It sat within the imperial city, protected by palace walls and thirty thousand imperial guards. It should’ve been impossible for the clamor of war to be heard within, lest the dynasty was on the brink of collapse.

But that sound had already lasted throughout the night. An entire night.

From sunset till long after midnight, it seemed as if countless troops had surged into the city. The sound of horses’ hooves, clashing blades, and wretched screaming funneled into his ears. His colleagues, who’d hoped every day for the city gates to open, were now silent as cicadas in winter. Even the Court of Attendants’ doors were tightly shut.

Could this door really stop those marauding soldiers?

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Jiang Da didn’t know.

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Of course they could leave. However crazed the plunderers were, they belonged to the Prince of Hejian. The Prince of Hejian could hardly afford to offend all these preeminent families, so they turned a blind eye, sparing the noble scions from the sea of flames. But what about everyone else? What about the commoners and ordinary bureaucrats of Luoyang? Were their lives not lives?!

But too bad, the Prince of Changsha had lost. Lost at the hands of the imperial guards within the palace, lost to those deplorable little people. If he were still here, would he have defended the city and prevented this merciless massacre?

His eyes pointlessly opened, Jiang Da listened to the killing until the morning dawned.

The second day, the sound of fighting stopped. The third day, a certain piece of information spread rapidly as if it’d grown wings.

Zhang Fang and his forces had broken into Jinyong city; the Prince of Changsha had been burned to death by these wretched evildoers!

Upon hearing the news, Jiang Da felt his heart freeze. Did it make any difference whether Sima Ying came or not? But the next day, he finally learned what the difference was. After burning the Prince of Changsha to death, Zhang Fang brought his soldiers into the palace and started abducting the women within. Every day, they heard agonized shrieking coming from outside the walls.

No one dared to guess how many people they had kidnapped! How would these women be treated? That was even more unthinkable.

The pandamonium lasted three days until it gradually subsided. Still, in the Court of Attendants, no one dared open the doors. Jiang Da didn’t know what had become of the world outside. But even if there were no more marauding soldiers, he was almost at the end of his tether. The lack of food and water, and the abiding sickness, had nearly drained the life out of him. A few days later, and the ruffians wouldn’t even have to lift a finger.

Just as Jiang Da was becoming numb from despair, a group of people suddenly appeared before him.

“Doctor Jiang! Thank goodness you’re still at the Court of Attendants!” The leading soldier handed him a waterskin and said quietly, “We’re militiamen of the Liang Estate, here on the master’s orders to bring you back to the estate!”

“!” Jiang Da got up with difficulty, “You’re… I remember you…. Zixi, he….”

He didn’t manage to finish his sentence. Tears were already running down his face. Who could’ve thought that in his darkest hour, he would be the one to rescue him?

The private soldier’s eyes reddened as well, “Back then, after the battle at the Liang Estate, you were the one who cured my wounded leg. Doctor Jiang, don’t weep; hurry and drink some water. We’ll leave right now! Also, Doctor Jiang, the master said that you can leave a note saying that you’re resigning from your post due to the passing of your grandfather. That way, you wont’ get in trouble with the court….”

“What?! My grandfather, he’s passed?!” Jiang Da dropped the waterskin and clutched the soldier’s arm, “When was this?!”

“In the tenth month.” The soldier paused for a brief moment, “Although, the medical book that Imperial Physician Jiang left behind, the master’s had it printed.”

Jiang Da wasn’t too sure what printing meant. But in that moment, all of his anger and all of his anguish coalesced into pure hatred. If it wasn’t for Sima Teng, if it wasn’t for Sima Ying, if it wasn’t for all these power-hungry Sima descendants, his grandfather wouldn’t have met with such a tragic end!

He pushed the soldier aside, went over to the table, hurriedly scribbled down a letter of resignation, and said, “How are we going to leave?”

Seeing that Jiang Da had at last recovered his spirit, the soldier sighed in relief, “We’ll rendezvous with others outside the wall. We just need to get out of the imperial city, and we can leave Luoyang!”

Jiang Da nodded, then grabbed a few medical texts off a nearby bookshelf, shouldered his medicine case, and said, “Let’s go.”

In the dark of night, a stealthy band hurdled over the walls, passed through the city gates, and departed from the emperor’s shattered capital.

※

“Controller Wang has sent news that Sima Teng has returned to Jinyang!” Liang Feng threw down the letter and sighed. It seemed the events in Luoyang hadn’t affected Sima Teng in the least. On the contrary, it might have even benefited him, or else the twit wouldn’t have brazenly swaggered back to Bing Province.

But that was fine too. Without him sitting in the way, no one would notice Jiang Da’s escape. Later, he’d stuff him in the estate, saying he was treating his illness; no one could fault him then.

Liang Feng thought for a second, then asked, “Are the people you sent to Luoyang dependable?”

Yiyan answered, “They’re all proficient in siege warfare and infiltration. A few of them owe debts of gratitude to Doctor Jiang. The one leading the mission is Zhang He. There won’t be any mishaps.”

Liang Feng had always intended to create a corps of special forces. That was why the most elite of the Bravesage Battalion had gone through modern special forces training. Ordinary tens-of-meters-high walls couldn’t stop them at all. Zhang He, in particular, had even been specially promoted to the position of reserve battalion commander. He was astute and had a solid understanding of tactics. Liang Feng had met him before, of course, and was satisfied with his ability.

Liang Feng nodded and said, “Remember to send a reminder to Wu Ling. We can hardly lose the mountain passes after going through all that effort to get him out of the city.”

“Understood,” Yiyan replied.

“Also, I want you to pick a few of the brighter soldiers to undergo basic medical instruction with Doctor Jiang. Every combat unit will be assigned a medic. They’ll be able to save a lot of lives on the battlefield,” Liang Feng said solemnly.

If the seriously wounded had received immediate medical attention in the last battle, the combat mortality rate might have been reduced by several percentage points. It was only too bad that the militia hadn’t had any qualified medics then. Once Jiang Da came back, he’d have to start fostering these kinds of personnel.

Yiyan knew now what function the women nurses served in the sickrooms. They would indeed be useful during battle.

“As for the latest batch of new officers, they’ll need to learn some math and achieve basic literacy in the future. At the very least, they must be able to read military orders and calculate the amount of supplies they require. It’ll be a hindrance if they lack such rudimentary knowledge,” Liang Feng said, after another pause.

“My lord, they’re all uncouth boors. Learning all this might set back their martial skills,” Yiyan frowned.

“Did learning all this set back your martial skills?” Liang Feng laughed and shook his head, “If they don’t possess the desire to better themselves, then they won’t make good officers. These things must be incorporated into the officer evaluation and promotion system. ‘An inept soldier affects one, an inept officer affects many.’ I don’t want the troops I worked so hard to build to be squandered by an imbecile.”

Yiyan had never, not even for a single day, neglected his studies in the last half of a year. He could read letters now and had deepened his understanding of his lord’s military treatises. He understood, of course, how important education was, but he still thought that imposing such requirements on every officer seemed impracticable.

But those were his lord’s orders. He could go and ask around. What if there really were people who wanted to learn? At any rate, they weren’t going to be taught personally by his lord.

Just as he was about to nod, Yiyan’s razor-sharp eyes caught sight of a woman walking into the study. Yiyan’s gaze was full of the cold malice he’d brought back from the bloody killing fields. Yet the woman walked up to the desk expressionlessly as if she hadn’t noticed a thing, “Master, the registry of the four workshop’s craftsmen and apprentices is complete. The bonuses and holiday gifts received by the head craftsmen have also been recorded.”

Liang Feng briefly flipped through the booklet and nodded, “Not bad. You’ll have to give some careful consideration to the four workshop’s rules and regulations. They’re due for an overhaul now, given the estate’s increased population. There mustn’t be any oversights.”

“Understood.” The woman nodded sharply, still stony-faced. She was actually quite pretty, and she was tall. But her stern mien and drab attire made her seem like a piece of wood, somewhat of an eyesore, really.

Still, Liang Feng rather approved of this new secretary. Zhaoyu had selected two women; one was tall and inexpressive, the other was small and had a scar on her face. Of the two, one was cold, the other was withdrawn, but their maths and calligraphy skills were respectable. The taller one had a strong command of logic, an exacting attention to detail, and a particular knack for personnel management. The short one had a broad range of knowledge and an excellent memory. Whether it was numbers or Liang Feng’s instructions, she only ever needed to hear it once. Even rarer was that the two of them had absolutely no intention of unearthing their pasts. Thus, Liang Feng had given them new names – one was called Cang Lan, the other was called Cai Wei – and employed them in his study.

But the new arrangement agitated the people close to him. Lüzhu didn’t even need to be mentioned, but even Yiyan seemed to have taken it to heart. He never had a pleasant countenance to show them. It was only because the two women had crawled out of hell that they hadn’t been scared off by Yiyan’s death stare, as a weaker person might have been.

Liang Feng issued a few more orders and sent Cang Lan away. He looked at Yiyan, who’d just withdrawn his glare, and said, “What, you don’t like the two newcomers.”

Yiyan was silent for a moment, then replied, “Their background is unclear; they’re not fit to stay by your side, my lord!”

“Let the events of yesterday die yesterday. They’re just unfortunate souls; they have their own reasons.” Liang Feng sighed, “Yiyan, lend me an arm. I’m going to take a stroll.”

After a moment of hesitation, Yiyan stepped forth and helped him up. His arm wasn’t as bony as it was half a year ago, and he wasn’t floaty as if a strong gust would whisk him away anymore. But he was still fragile as ever, and pale. Upon nearing him, he could smell the ever-present scent of medicine that hovered about him.

Now that he could move under his own power, Liang Feng didn’t put all his body weight on his human crutch anymore. Ambling sedately from the study, he headed towards his favorite peripheral courtyard. It wasn’t lush with exotic flora, dotted with rockwork and pavilions, or winding and enchanting like the other courtyards were. It had only a very tall watchtower, and it was crude, but it was refreshingly invigorating for the spirit.

Liang Feng slowly ascended the steps, then paused for breath, standing at the railing of the third floor. The farmlands were buried beneath several days’ worth of accumulated snow. This blanket of snow could preserve the soil’s moisture, kill the parasites burrowed in the dirt, and keep the winter wheat safe from frost damage. It was a sure sign of a bountiful harvest year.

Now that it had snowed, the farmers started huddling up in their homes to tide over the winter. But the estate hadn’t gone into complete hibernation. Off in the distance, rows and rows of soldiers harried about, as they always had. The militia had started training once again when their holiday break ended. The former auxiliary forces had merged into the primary forces, and the newly arrived refugees were undergoing auxiliary forces training. Even though the air was frigid and the ground was frozen, they kept at it. It’d take more time to fill in the gaps in his forces.

As he watched them diligently run practice drills from afar, Liang Feng suddenly asked, “Yiyan, what is it that’s been bothering you as of late?”

The wounds on his hands had already scabbed over, but Yiyan still lapsed into absent-mindedness. He was obviously bottling something up inside. Liang Feng couldn’t just sit back and watch his most important subordinate worry himself sick. Of course he had to ask.

Yiyan froze like a deer caught in headlights. He hadn’t anticipated that his lord would ask him so directly. And he didn’t know how he should answer.

A while later, he finally said lowly, “You need capable people, my lord, and there will be an increasing number of them on the estate as time goes on. I simply don’t know whether I can continue to stand beside you, my lord.”

His words were genuine. Whether it was the troops sent to rescue Jiang Da, the children who were chosen to learn math, or the two unfamiliar women in his study, his lord had always needed more than just the militia. He needed even more talented people. And he would only ever be one among the masses.

He was afraid those eyes would catch a glimpse of his impropriety, and he was also afraid they would never look at him again. It was a predicament with no solution, disturbing Yiyan’s peace of mind.

Liang Feng raised a brow in surprise. He hadn’t imagined that that was what the kid was worried about. A smile tugging at his lips, Liang Feng lightly shook his head, “You’re not the same as them.”

Yiyan’s throat constricted, “But what if there was another commander just like me…”

“You are different from any other person,” Liang Feng interrupted. “Yiyan, I taught you personally. No one can replace you.”

Liang Feng really meant what he’d said. His arrival in this time period was an absurd accident. And just when he’d been about to give up his will to live, he’d met the person standing before him. Yiyan was unlike his other personal attendants. He was a Jie who didn’t know what normal people were expected to know, and he didn’t know the original owner of this body. In this entirely foreign world, this child, who looked up to him as a little duckling, was the only one he could occasionally unwind in front of and reveal something of his true self to.

In truth, whether it was the militia’s training methods or the tactics he’d taught, they were all remnants of his previous life that he couldn’t bear to let go of. If it weren’t for Yiyan, he might have buried it in the depths of his heart, hoping that he could find someone trustworthy enough to pass it on to before it faded from memory entirely. Or he might’ve slowly integrated into this world and chosen to meld into the ranks of those pompous and pretentious literati.

But luckily, he’d met him early.

He was to him as a pair of wings were to a cripple choking on his last breath. Would anyone abandon this rare chance to explore the blue skies?

Of course Yiyan was important to him.

That pair of hands, that could pull a three-stone bow and hold it steady, started trembling. Yiyan had received praise from his lord many times. But never had he been so touched before!

A knot in his heart seemed to have unwound. It felt like a sweet and sour ache, an irrepressible joy, and an indescribable terror. Yiyan gritted his teeth and, struggling to keep his voice steady, declared, “So long as you need me, my lord, I will forever stay by your side.”

The hands that were steadying him were already shaking like a leaf. Liang Feng simply smiled and didn’t draw attention to it.

“It’s a promise then.”