Chapter 138

A coffin lay in the main hall of the County Prince Mansion, and inside it lay the body of the former County Prince Xiping, Yuwen Shouren.

After the defeat, he was unwilling to follow Li Yan into Xifan to avoid disaster, and grew furious when his own son defected along with Li Dalu. Driven nearly mad with rage, he retreated westward with the last remnants of his broken army, occupying Songcheng—known as the gateway to Jiannan—with the intent of regrouping and making a comeback. Unexpectedly, he was captured by locals who intended to turn him over to the imperial suppression army commander, Xue Mian. Unwilling to face such humiliation, Yuwen Shouren took his own life by slitting his throat. When Xue Mian heard of it, he ordered that the body not be dishonored, had it properly placed in a coffin, and sent it back to the County Prince Mansion, returning it to Yuwen Zhi.

Yuwen Zhi wore a mourning band on his forehead and knelt in front of the coffin. The cold candles in front of the coffin flickered, but after a long while, his back remained motionless.

His grief and mood at the moment could be imagined. However, the military situation was urgent, and any further delay would increase the danger to Dache City.

The envoy who was ordered to bring the coffin back with the imperial order had been waiting outside for a long time. Seeing that it was getting dark, but there was still no response, he finally couldn’t hold back and went in to carefully persuade: “May County Prince restrain your grief. As for the late County Prince’s posthumous title, once the rebellion is quelled, the court will make proper arrangements in accordance with County Prince’s merits—there’s no need for concern on that matter. Now that He Du has reached Songzhou, we are only waiting on County Prince to take action and dispatch troops together to attack the Xifan’s Zhongdu. So long as Songzhou sends out forces under He Du’s banner, He Lituo will surely grow wary of instability in his rear and be forced to withdraw troops. In that case, the crisis at Dache City can be alleviated, and General Pei will be able to break free and proceed north to rendezvous with General Commander Linghu.”

After he finished speaking, a long while passed before Yuwen Zhi’s back finally moved. He slowly turned around and said, “People come, take the envoy away and let him have a good rest.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen armored guards rushed into the hall, immediately surrounded the envoy, and “invited” him to withdraw.

“What does County Prince mean by this?” The envoy didn’t know what this meant and was shocked.

“Jiannan’s military strength is limited, and they have just experienced a civil strife. Everyone is eager to rest. I have taken note of the court’s urgency. After the rest is complete, I will naturally send troops to Zhongdu!” Yuwen Zhi said coldly with bloodshot eyes, and then waved his hands. His wolf-like guards immediately took the envoy out.

“County Prince! County Prince Xiping! This is the Princess’s order! How dare you disobey—”

The envoy was pushed and forced to go outside. He grabbed the door and refused to retreat, shouting loudly.

It would have been better if he hadn’t said anything. When he mentioned the princess, Yuwen Zhi’s eye muscles twitched slightly, his face was gloomy, and he suddenly shouted in a stern voice: “Take him away! Lock him up!”

Li Dalu who was nearby was surprised and shocked by his nephew’s sudden action.

The envoy was dragged away by force, and the shouting gradually disappeared. Li Dalu hurried forward and said, “What do you mean? This is an imperial decree! Back then, who knows how your father’s plot for rebellion was discovered by the court. You were imprisoned in Chang’an, and yet he cared not whether you lived or died. He was swayed by others, and taking advantage of the emperor’s grief over the death of his son, presumed the court to be vulnerable and rashly raised an army. According to the proposals of some ministers in Chang’an, you were to be sacrificed before the army marched. I swore to the princess that I would be loyal to the court, and the princess believed me. Without hesitation, she personally released you and sent you back! Now, do you now intend to rebel against the court as well?”

Jiannan relied on its treacherous terrain, making it difficult for outsiders to attack; since ancient times, it had always been a place well-suited to founding a kingdom. If not for Li Dalu’s sudden defection and assistance, it’s likely the court wouldn’t have been able to so easily defeat the long-prepared forces of Yuwen Shouren. If Yuwen Zhi really had such a plan, Li Dalu would not be too surprised. After all, the rift between father and son had already formed—if one’s heart were cruel enough, seizing the opportunity to use the court’s power to kill his father and then take his place could almost be seen as a logical course.

However, on second thought, Li Dalu felt that it was not the case. His nephew had been under house arrest for several months. Upon returning, Li Dalu noticed that he was constantly gloomy, his temperament growing ever more violent—not just toward others, but toward himself as well. He was completely reckless in every battle and charged forward without armor many times. While such reckless bravery could indeed rally morale and win the loyalty of the troops under his command, Li Dalu couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t an intentional attempt to win hearts—but rather, that he simply no longer cared about his own safety or survival.

Seeing him act like this again today, Li Dalu was even more suspicious. That’s why he asked this question.

Yuwen Zhi said nothing and turned away.

Because of his fierce courage in combat, his unique status, and the powerful backing of his maternal family, he had quickly won over a large number of the region’s young and able soldiers soon after returning from Chang’an. Seeing his nephew’s behavior, Li Dalu couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, and didn’t dare to confront him rashly. He was thinking about how to secretly inform Xue Mian to discuss countermeasures, but unexpectedly, another group of people rushed in from outside the hall, followed the same method, seized him, and locked him up.

Li Dalu was imprisoned by his nephew and could not walk out half a step. He was extremely anxious and helpless. On the other hand, Xue Mian, the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Rebellion Suppression Army, soon received the news that Yuwen Zhi was keeping his troops in place.

Not only that, he was also told that Yuwen Zhi had sent a large number of troops to seal off Songcheng.

This was an important border town, a place where troops have been deployed since ancient times. It straddled the Min Mountains and controls the source of the Yangtze River, adjacent to Helong on the left and reached Fandu on the right. The closure of Songcheng means that the army’s shortcut to Xifan’s Zhongdu had been blocked.

With his many years of military experience, if he still couldn’t see Yuwen Zhi’s intention, then he would have lived in vain. Obviously, Yuwen Zhi had a rift with his father. But after he seized power with the help of the imperial army, he turned his face and followed his father’s old path, intending to establish himself as king and escape from the control of the imperial court.

Pei Xiaoyuan led his troops deep into the plateau and encountered an accident. Now, he and twenty thousand soldiers were stranded like an isolated island—his situation as precarious as eggs stacked in a basket. And now, yet another upheaval had erupted on this side.

Having gained the princess’s trust and been given such a rare opportunity, he naturally intended to devote himself wholeheartedly to serving the court.

Not only that, he could not completely trust the ambitious traitor family like Yuwen. He had been on guard from the beginning. Though the general tide had seemingly turned in their favor, he dared not withdraw his main force too hastily. Instead, he had kept them stationed within a day or two’s march of the area, choosing to waste rations if need be, all for the sake of observing how the situation would unfold before making any definitive move.

Now that this had happened, he immediately summoned troops from all over the place, assembled them as quickly as possible, and marched to the city, determined to capture Yuwen Zhi and then force his way through Songzhou.

In just a few days, he arrived with an army. The city gates were closed, and on the top of the city walls, archers were ready for battle.

Yet no matter how furiously Xue Mian raged at the city gates—calling Yuwen Zhi a madman, accusing him of acting without reason, of charging headlong into the gates of hell—Yuwen Zhi remained calm and ignored him, never showing his face. On that day, Xue Mian tried to attack the city several times, but was forced back by relentless rain of arrows every time.

The main force had not arrived yet. Seeing that it was getting dark, Xue Mian could only hold back his anger and wait until the next day. Unexpectedly, at dusk, an uninvited guest arrived from Chang’an. It was Lan Tai.

He was travel-worn and dust-covered, clearly having ridden hard without rest. And yet, upon arrival, he asked for no respite. Without delay, he informed Xue Mian that he had been sent by the princess herself to see Yuwen Zhi—he carried a message that must be delivered in person.

Xue Mian was very surprised. The journey from Chang’an to here was long and dangerous. Sometimes one could only walk a few dozen miles a day. It would be impossible to arrive in less than a month or two. And it was obvious that Lan Tai came here for Yuwen Zhi. It was just a little strange that the princess knew that Yuwen Zhi would do such a crazy thing so early that she sent someone to meet him on her behalf.

He knew that this Tanhua was quite trusted by the princess. Although he was young, he was often summoned to participate in small court meetings and wrote various court policies and documents. Because of his paintings, he seemed to have a good personal relationship with the princess. Coincidentally, Lan Tai and Yuwen Zhi had served as imperial guards in the Sixteen Guards before. Sending him here was indeed a suitable choice.

Xue Mian hurriedly sent someone to the city to report, and specifically pointed out that it was sent by the princess.

Sure enough, Yuwen Zhi did not turn a deaf ear this time and soon opened a small city gate. Lan Tai went in calmly and met Yuwen Zhi in the main hall of the County Prince Mansion.

Yuwen Zhi sat high on the high seat of the county prince, showing not the slightest hint of courtesy. He went straight to the point and asked coldly, “What brings you here?”

Lan Tai bowed, respectfully addressed him as County Prince, and said with a smile, “Is your current course of action driven by the resentment in your heart—that the court imprisoned you for so long, and even meant to sacrifice you as an offering to rally the troops? And now, you seek revenge?”

Previous     TOC     Next