____
“The old man on the opposite side thinks he’s very good at fighting along the sea? I’ll show him the difference between a general and a marshal.”
____
Cao Chun Hua did not dare to delay after receiving the Lin Yuan wooden bird, he handed over the unfinished matters at hand, and soon left for Liangjiang station.
As soon as he approached the station, Cao Chun Hua felt a kind of murderous aura coming from the humid and cold air, with a faint scent of gunsmoke. He couldn’t help but straighten his back, no longer humming his song or sending flirtatious looks, trying to appear proper. Only strict guarding could be seen in this area, all the officers and soldiers on duty did not talk to one another, all sides engulfed in silence, only the sounds of shouting coming from the place where the soldiers were training regularly nearby could be heard.
Cao Chun Hua rubbed his eyes and thought he saw another Black Iron Camp.
As soon as he was near the station, a guard on duty stopped him. Cao Chun Hua did not dare to play around under Gu Yun’s military authority. He hurriedly took out the passing order issued by the Grand Council. The average age of the guard in that row was no more than 18 or 19 years old. After checking and confirming there was nothing out of order with the pass, he neither flattered nor shown disrespect, another stepped out from the line, leading him to the Marshal’s tent. Cao Chun Hua looked back and saw that in the blink of an eye, the team filled up the vacancy for one person, there was no gap at all.
The guard who led the way was a little shy at first. Later, hearing that Cao Chun Hua once followed Gu Yun to clean up the Northern Barbarians, he finally opened the chatterbox: “The Westerners can’t get any scrap from Marshal, they couldn’t win in direct battlefield either, these days, they have been lingering around several ports of Liangjiang and come to harass us. I heard from the captain, maybe they want to measure their strength with us. Master, don’t they all say that our Great Liang has a large amount of land and wealth? Why do foreigners also have so much money?”
“Don’t call me ‘master’, I’m also a servant running errands,” Cao Chun Hua waved and said again. “I actually don’t understand much about these things either, but I’ve heard a few words from Master Du. You can see that their warships were specially designed for going out to sea and fighting naval battles. Did our Jiangnan Port and Dagu port not get destroyed in one move that year? Even our army is like this, let alone those small countries on the sea. Whenever they razed down one place, they will completely ‘devour’ that place, plunder local materials, open factories that cannot be opened within their country, and force the prisoners to work for them, wring out their blood. Over time, there will be money.”
The guard was silent for a moment and led Cao Chun Hua all the way to Gu Yun’s tent.
The guard at the gate went in to report back. The young guard took the time to tell Cao Chun Hua, “Sir, before, I heard the old soldiers talk about the Liangjiang garrison of the past, saying that when they were under General Zhao, salaries were high and work was little, the daily training was also lighter than garrisons of other areas, and when there is no mission, they can even cross the strait and enjoy the apricot blossoms and the misty rain. At that time, I felt that I was born in the wrong era, if it was peacetime, perhaps I can even climb onto the ‘military master’ position.”
Cao Chun Hua looked back at him, and the little guard smiled a little sheepishly. “Today, hearing this from you, I felt that I was short-sighted. Those who can hold swords are still luckier than those who can only wait to be driven away by others.”
Just then, a personal guard of the Marshal tent came out and said, “Master Cao, please, Marshal invited you to come in.”
Cao Chun Hua came back to his senses and walked into the Marshal tent. At a glance, he saw Gu Yun wearing a particularly coquettish liuli glass on the bridge of his nose. The carved patterns behind the mirror outshone the wearer, almost covering his face from the bridge of his nose all the way to his temple. It did not appear like a liuli glass, but more like a mask.
Cao Chun Hua was stunned, and the first reaction in his mind was “What happened to Marshal’s eyes?”.
But there was official business being discussed in the Marshal tent, Cao Chun Hua did not dare to disturb.
Shen Yi and Yao Zhen were both here. Yao Zhen was reading a letter from the Westerners: “Those foreigners said that they came to inquire in good faith in the spirit of friendship and harmony, asking if they could divide the four counties in Jiangnan into trading areas, allowing the garrison to exercise self-government, protect the interests of foreign businessmen, and in the future, this place can become the link of shipping and commerce between the two sides…Oh, they also say that they love this land deeply and don’t want to let the good fertile land be poisoned by war any longer.”
Shen Yi: “Yesterday, there were three counties. How come there is another one added today?”
Yao Zhen sent him a helpless look: “Maybe it’s because of their ‘deep love’.”
“Fuck them.” Gu Yun’s face was wearing an elegant liuli glass, but his words did not resemble those of a good-natured person, “Love my ass, is it their turn to love?”
Shen Yi: “…”
No one was able to answer.
Cao Chun Hua couldn’t help it for a moment, laughing aloud.
Shen Yi hurriedly waved at him and said, “Xiao Cao is here! We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Come here and tell us, when will our ‘iron snake’ be built?”
“Ah, Master Shen, that name is a bit hard to hear… It will be soon,” Cao Chun Hua replied briskly, “The thing we have in abundance is the workers. The northern part has been basically completed, and the southern part is even better. In winter, there is no need to stop the construction either. When the parts are connected, the steam car can run from the capital to the riverside. I’ve heard from Master Du that if it goes well, it will be finished before the end of the year as soon as possible — by the way, how come Marshal is wearing liuli glass?”
“Is it pretty?” Gu Yun smiled at him, the corners of his peach blossom eye was as if they were about to fly. He said shamelessly, “I dropped one the other day. This time I found someone to change the frame, asking a famous artisan of Yangzhou to carve it in person. I really don’t have the heart to hide something this beautiful, thus I must wear it every day for everyone to see.”
Shen Yi felt his stomach ache, “Oh my Marshal, you’d better put it away. The eyes of us mortals are not worthy of such beauty.”
Gu Yun ignored him and turned to let Cao Chun Hua have a full look at it, spilling nonsense: “If it does not work out, I will go out and play a beauty trick myself. I’m afraid it won’t be able to deal with a million soldiers, but thirty or twenty thousand are easy, isn’t that right, Xiao Cao?”
Cao Chun Hua’s face blushed red in an instant.
Shen Yi and Yao Zhen each turned their face in a different direction, unable to look straight at him.
“You came just in time,” Gu Yun jumped up, wrapping his arm around Cao Chun Hua’s shoulders, who was blushing all the way to his ears, and pushed him to the sand table. “I have something that cannot be done by anyone but you, I wanted to ask you to run somewhere for me, help me?”
There was no telling if Marshal Gu’s ingenious ‘beauty trick’ was effective towards the Westerners or not, but it is very effective to Cao Chun Hua. His face suddenly turned red again, his neck was burning hot, sweating excessively. He felt that no matter what Gu Yun said to him, he could reply ‘yes yes yes’ to everything.
When Cao Chun Hua came out of the Marshal tent in a daze, he finally startled. Wait a minute, didn’t Yan Wang send him here to take care of Marshal?
How come as he just settled down, he was immediately tricked to the southwest border by Marshal in just a few words?
Just now, Gu Yun even told him that this was a top-class secret, as he exits the tent, he must digest it in his stomach, it could not be reported even to the Grand Council.+
How was he supposed to explain this after returning!
Shen Yi personally arranged for Cao Chun Hua who had lost his soul, then turned back to find Gu Yun. Yao Zhen has already left. The light in the tent was very dim. Gu Yun put his two long legs on a bench next to him and folded his arms in front of his chest. He didn’t know what he was thinking. Since he could no longer hear, he was rid of the many disturbances of being able to see and hear all four sides and could easily focus on his own thoughts.
The cold wind that surged in when Shen Yi opened the door startled him, Gu Yun looked up at him: “Is the preparation done?”
Shen Yi nodded and asked, “Do you actually want to make use Xiao Cao, or are you afraid that he will inform His Royal Highness Yan Wang?”
“Am I one to mix up private and official affairs?” Gu Yun lifted his eyebrows, but without waiting for Shen Yi to apologize, he said again, “Both.”
Shen Yi: “…”
He had never seen a person who was so divided between public and private.
“When we start the war, there will be changes in the court. Chang Geng should not overly exert himself mentally, this situation is also inevitable. Let him not be distracted by my little mistake here. In addition, Xiao Cao’s matter needs someone flexible and trustworthy to deal with,” said Gu Yun. “The old man on the opposite side thinks he’s very good at fighting along the sea? I’ll show him the difference between a general and a marshal.“
Shen Yi was divided into two parts by his words: the left half was the old soldier of the Black Iron Camp, wishing that he could follow his commander with all heart and soul, the right half was nauseous from Gu Yun’s sincere boasting, his goosebumps rising. Once again, he was speechless and had to beg: “Zi Xi, even if you’re blind, can you at least change to a normal liuli glass?”
Gu Yun dressed in armor and readied to go out for camp patrol — the Marshal making daily patrolling in person without missing a day was also a distinguishing feature of Liangjiang camp, even if he was blind.
“No,” he replied solemnly with an utmost serious expression, “I want to follow the example of Lan Ling Wang*.”
Shen Yi thought that this bastard might not have transferred him here to share his worries, but to be his entertainment!
*Lan Ling Wang, Gao Chang Gong, was a Northern Qi general and a renowned beautiful man with feminine physical appearance thus always wore a horrifying mask when fighting in battles.
Cao Chun Hua only had time to write one letter to Chang Geng since arriving in Jiangnan, saying that Marshal Gu was busy with military affairs and bullying Teacher Shen every day, everything is alright. After that, there was no news. He didn’t know whether Gu Yun had put him to work or whether he was simply forgetting the country due to entertainment. It’s impossible for Chang Geng to not be envious when remembering his obsession for men, but he also felt relieved at the same time —— no news was good news. If Cao Chun Hua could obsess over men all day, then perhaps it was as Liao Ran had said, Gu Yun had plenty of strength to handle this situation.
At the same time, Chen Qing Xu also arrived at the capital around Chongyang* Festival.
*September Ninth in lunar calendar.
Chang Geng spent more than a month in the Grand Council, finally asking for a rare leave of half a day to return home and welcome her.
The first time Gu Yun sent a message to him informing that he had found a copy of ‘the secret art of the goddess’ with Jia Lai Ying Huo, Chang Geng was very much looking forward to it for a while, like an old demon who had been hiding from the world finally hearing that he could become a regular human. However, after returning to the capital, he made preparations like a storm, dealt with all kinds of political enemies like walking on a tightrope, he truly did not have the mind to worry about anything else. Only until he met Chen Qing Xu here did he pick up this old thought.
Chen Qing Xu never liked to conceal anything or stalling. When she met Chang Geng, before any greetings, she instantly said, “It can be cured.”
In these words, Chang Geng was nailed to the spot for a long time, until the breath held in his chest was used to the bottom, he slowly breathed out, and calmly prodded, “Can the deep-rooted disease contracted not long after being born be cured?”
Chen Qing Xu nodded: “Yes.”
Chang Geng’s hand in the broad sleeve of his side imperial uniform jerked violently, but his voice was still calm and pressing: “People say that the evil god is the combination of two people’s flesh and blood, I am two people since birth, how could… Miss Chen be able to separate it?”
Chen Qing Xu rarely showed a smile: “It will take time, I’m afraid Your Highness will have to suffer a bit.”
Chang Geng’s heart hung in his throat: “Then Zi Xi…”
Chen Qing Xu: “There are related records in the secret arts of the goddess, but the medication system is not the same as ours. I still have a lot of things to confirm on my side, you need to wait until I have sorted them out properly.”
Chang Geng took a deep breath. His heart beat so fast that it almost broke out of his chest. For a moment, he forgot what day it is, turning around and wanted to go out, wishing he could let Gu Yun know immediately. After two steps, he stopped abruptly. He slapped himself on his forehead and thought to himself, “Am I confused, I can’t let him know. The sword in the battlefield has no eyes, the moment he let his guard down, what are we to do if something happens?”
But with no place to share, His Highness Yan Wang secretly did something that could make people blush. After helping Miss Chen settled down, he walked back to the Marquis’ Manor at night, wrote a letter in Gu Yun’s room, after drying the ink, he did not send it out but placed it under Gu Yun’s pillow.
But this was not enough to satiate his craving, he brought out all the letters that Gu Yun had written for him that he had secretly stored like a treasure. Lying in bed, he recalled all kinds of words that person had said before in his mind, entertaining himself and put together a ‘reply letter’ from Gu Yun, finding joy in playing his role.
For the next few days, Chang Geng was able to feel more comfortable meeting Fang Qin in the daytime.
Unfortunately, Fang Qin’s life was not very easy.
These days, the plea for Yan Wang‘s impeachment stacked up to about two feet high on Li Feng’s desk. If one read through carefully, they would feel that Yan Wang was very easy to blame. Even if he coughed on the road, someone would accuse him of how his coughing posture deceived the ruler. However, in sharp contrast, starting from the Grand Council, no one could tell whether all the new officials were drowning by the mountain of affairs, or simply dormant, they began to change their aggressiveness in rebuttal from before, each individual began to concede.
Li Feng’s attitude was that he had no attitude, especially when he came across some characters that relied on their old age to always mention the former emperor or even Emperor Wu.
In this case, the one who was most anxious was not the Grand Council, but Fang Qin.
In fact, Fang Qin was extremely opposed to this kind of banding together behavior: “The emperor’s mind is like a mirror. Aggressively oppressing the other side like this, are you gentlemen not afraid of losing the emperor’s favor?”
As he said this, someone instantly replied: “Lord Fang, you always brought up the emperor’s favor and this and that, your vision has become somewhat shallow. Remember that year, the former emperor was only the son of a Jun Wang belonging to a sub-branch of the Li that does not stand out at all, what did he rely on to easily become the owner of the Forbidden Palace? In support of the former emperor that year, our ancestors had cast aside the opinion of the majority, becoming the spearhead, their merits were incredibly grand. The Red Imperial Edict and Iron Plaque* are still in my family’s altar, what, now that their children had a steady seat on this nation, are you going to put away the bow as there is no more bird?”
*A type of certificate to display exclusive rights that emperors granted for very important officials.
Another one cut in: “If we are truly forced to the absolute limit, why don’t we just ask for the memorial tablet of the first emperor? Can the Son of Heaven dare to commit this great crime and ignore the ancestral legislation?”
Fang Qin took a deep breath and shouted, “Gentlemen, please be careful of your words!”
Out of respect for him, they no longer said anything more, but their expressions were neither pleased or convinced.
Great Liang’s aristocrats and ministers, regardless of the official position of the head of the family, could all dazzle one another when bringing out their family tree. There were many connected in-laws in the family. Each generation had close involvement with the royal family’s many fights for power. If the family could flourish to this day, at least the previous generations had chosen the right person to support. Over time, they all had the illusion that ‘it was thanks to the support of my family that the emperor was able to ascend the throne’.
On regular days, due to the Fang family’s honor, people were willing to listen to him, but when it came to large argument, although Fang’s family could be seen to be the head of all noble families, it’s difficult to really and effectively suppress or control anyone — everyone here was related, and no one was nobler than the other. What did the Fang’s family have to rely on to take charge of things involving everyone heads and vital interests?
Fang Qin had no choice but to use logic to reason and advice: “His Majesty favors grand merits, the thing he despised the most was others challenging his authority. This time, the Westerner’s invasion reminds him of the siege of the capital that year. If he hesitated before, then he must be determined to fight this war now. Why should we charge into this mess and bear the reputation of disaster to the country and the people at this time? I ask you all to think about it at a different angle!”
He sighed, then slowed down his voice: “If we can endure through this period, when the war is over, with no battle, the Grand Council will inevitably face reorganization or abolition. Those people may not be willing to accept it, they will certainly do something. At that time, the emperor would see that their arms are reaching too far. When you think about the Drumming Order and the Rong Jin Law in those days, you will know what is the real intention of His Majesty. At this time, making use of those lowly merchants was only a temporary solution. When they have nothing left to be used, would His Majesty still protect them then? I’m afraid when the time comes, even Gu Yun would have to return the Black Tiger Emblem, It’s impossible for the Grand Council to single-handedly cover up the sky all the time.”
Fang Qin thought that he had said analyzed it carefully, advising to the best of his ability.
However, among the crowd of nobles packed in this room, not everyone knew how to look forward — the man who just now spilled nonsense about how his family had a Red Imperial Edict and Iron Plaque opened his mouth and asked: “Lord Fang’s words have its reason, but it is too ideal. You say when the war is over? I ask you, when is it going to be over? A year or two can be counted as ‘over’, and a decade or two also can be counted as ‘over’. Do we have to endure until dirt covered our heads?”
In fact, Fang Qin despised these mobs very much. A large number of these people were the country’s giant rats with no achievements, each of them was pretentious, alluding that they were extraordinary. Getting their weak point caught by someone else was also very deserving of them — but unfortunately, he could not express these words, because the fundamental thing that helped him bring these people together was profits. Without profits, even if he howled the great ideal of ‘for the country and the people’ loudly every day, no one would care.
“Let us not speak of such angry words here, if the war truly did drag on for ten or twenty years, and any national strength will be exhausted, not mentioning anyone else, the emperor won’t allow it, and it can never be that long.” Fang Qin had to change his view and said, “Allow me to say something from the bottom of my heart: with Yan Wang‘s status, as long as he doesn’t rebel, no one can kill him. However, the same can be said about you gentlemen, with your family background, as long as the emperor was in power for a day, as long as we don’t mess things up ourselves, who can shake our foundation?”
This was more pleasant than the line ‘if you do not seek death yourself, no one can kill you’. Although it’s the same meaning, it also scratched the itch the ministers presented. Fang Qin truly was worthy of being the head of Great Liang’s noble families, he has been around with these people for decades and has excessive experience.
Sure enough, under his efforts, the imperial court had become considerably more peaceful. The two factions seemed to temporarily retract their weapons, all contradictions were swept under the table, and the internal force of Great Liang ushered in a few months of temporary peace.
For more than three months——
Then an accident happened that caused all of Fang Qin’s previous efforts to be for naught.