Art of War
The last thing Ming Feizhen expected back then was that their duel would turn him into Lord San Shen and the former Lord San Shen into Zero. No matter how one sliced it, Ximen Chuideng was the biggest winner in the deal. Thinking back on his sworn brother made Ming Feizhen have an urge to be frank.
“There have been too many surprises this year. I was lucky you were around in Nanjiang.”
Gewu came knocking after Ming Feizhen exhausted himself sending Pangu back to its slumber. Had Zero not arrived in time, Shen Yiren and Ming Feizhen would’ve been done in. Ming Feizhen summoned Zero over before taking on Pangu because he expected to spent afterwards, except it all started earlier than he expected. If he had Zero’s help against Pangu, perhaps he wouldn’t have been in such a pathetic state.
Ming Feizhen took a hundred days to return to his peak after his fight against Zero, while Zero took half a year to recover. The duel was informative in the sense that Ming Feizhen learnt what the consequence of exhausting himself using Spring Wind Rainy Night Art would be. For all he knew, Zero might’ve just been a fossilised Tianhu against Pangu, which would’ve only became extra dead weight.
Ming Feizhen shook his head with a smile. “Thanks to you putting on a show with me for His Majesty, I’m saved of suspicion in the future.”
“Your subject deserves death!”
“Huh?”
“Your subject laid his hands on you and never had the opportunity to apologise. He has been living with anxiety. Sadly, ordinary weapons cannot hurt your subordinate. Baima’s spear is a bit useful, but it had to be returned. Your subject has been searching for a weapon you could use to hack your subordinate with.”
“No, no, no, I ordered you to do that. There’s no need to punish you,” Ming Feizhen responded as he wagged his hand.
“That will not do! Your subject hurt you badly. How can th-”
“Zero.” Ming Feizhen switched to a serious expression. “I said no punishment. Are you questioning me?”
“Your subject is grateful for your magnanimity.”
Ming Feizhen had to speak in a serious tone because he knew that Zero was always serious about this sort of stuff. If he wasn’t stern, Zero might’ve gone somewhere secluded and cut himself, not that it would’ve been anything serious considering Zero’s abilities. Moreover, he was in need of a combatant, so it was a stupid to diminish Zero’s capacity.
“Didn’t you come for the jade…?” queried Gongsun Chu, finally spotting an apt moment to speak.
Zero took out the broken jade from his shirt. “Why should I care about it? I came back for Master. This is just for fooling the moron.”
Aforementioned moron was none other than Li Jingan.
“Why does Jingan want to kill me? I can’t figure her out.”
“Well said, Master. If you cannot figure it out, how about we not waste our energy on trying to figure it out?”
Knowing Zero was clever, Ming Feizhen questioned, “You have a plan?‘
Zero held his hands up in salute. “How about we kill her first?”
“Stop!” Ming Feizhen nearly fell out of his chair for a second. “I have enough on my plate. If you kill a Princess, I’ll retire if His Majesty doesn’t have wanted posters for me and a bounty available internationally.”
Zero stopped to think, nodded and then suggested, “That is true. Your subject has been studying the imperial city’s defence protocol in the last few years. How about we take out His Maj-”
“Stop! Stop! Stop! How many people do you want coming after me! Hey, Gongsun Guy, don’t listen to him! What are you looking disappointed for?!”
“Does that not mean you will have suffered for nothing, Master?”
“A little bit of suffering is nothing. If we follow your suggestion, we’ll be so busy running that we’ll have no time to enjoy pork shoulders or women. Don’t kill them, okay?”
Gongsun Chu was no longer sure how to feel as he knew that the suggestion was actually doable for the duo.
“Okay, so, Mr. Gongsun,” called Ming Feizhen. “We made a bet, right?”
Gongsun Chu simpered. “Yes. So?”
“I just want to discuss the art of war with a veteran rebel.”
“I’m all ears.”
“As mentioned in Sun Tzu’s Art of, ‘The highest form of generalship is to baulk the enemy’s plans; the next is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.’.”
Gongsun Chu responded, “The section from Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ – Attack by Strategem states, ‘The highest form of generalship is to baulk the enemy’s plans; the next is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.’ You missed one.”
Zero narrowed his eyes.
Ming Feizhen laughed heartily. “We brutes aren’t educated. If I missed one, so be it. Neither of us are in top form today, so how about we have a strategy contest instead?”
Gongsun Chu just smiled. It was stereotypical for Ming Feizhen to try to push for more gains when he had the upper hand, so it was clear he was after something, except it wasn’t clear what it was.
“If you have no objections, let’s start with ‘baulk the enemy’s plans’.”
“Sure. Please go ahead.”
“Would you believe me if I told you I predicted we would meet tonight?”
“Why not? Your hobbies certainly are special, like sitting in a chair with a trap installed, trying to win against someone dangerous when you have no access to your internal energy, and trying to control the board without lifting a finger?”
“The board? Mm, you speak to highly of me. The board has nothing to do with me, really. I never controlled anything. Plus, while it is a clever strategy, it is far from being extraordinary.”
“What makes it ordinary? Could you enlighten me, Duke Ming?”
Ming Feizhen held his hands up in salute. “There were two aims behind the strategy: craftily steal Nine Dragons Fire Jade and lure everyone away to assassinate His Majesty. Liaoliao had a good plan, had the skills and the brains, but he lacked judgement. He couldn’t beat Shang Bieshi, yet he approached you. I bet he genuinely believed he’d be able to kill you after he got his hands on Nine Dragons Fire Jade, never realising he was set up from the get-go. He thought he was clever, but he was no match for you.”
“Me? You flatter me. I am no match for him. I was relying solely on Shitou; however, Shitou doesn’t obey all my instructions. If he truly turned against me, there would be nothing I could do.”
“That is the contradiction, and he didn’t even get it.” Ming Feizhen shook his head. “You don’t benefit directly from His Majesty’s death. You want to destroy Li Dynasty. Killing one Emperor will just open up space for another Emperor, but you’re the only person alive who wants to restore the previous dynasty. How stupid would you have to be to risk your life with him, not to mention he had his intention to kill you afterwards on his sleeve? You just worked with him to release Shitou. Shitou was free to run once he was free. While Fiends’ Genesis is history, the Seven Stars are still alive for the most part. The moron used all of Cold Mountain Temple as his bargaining chip, yet he thought he was getting a deal. He probably thought he was a genius for the idea, too. Uncle Jiyi really needs Buddha.”
Gongsun Chu laughed and then clapped. “You truly don’t give yourself enough credit. That’s an amazingly unscrupulous strategy you came up with.”
“I am just reciting your strategy.”
“True, true. In that case, would the plan have worked without you?”
“Of course not. A convoluted plan to steal a valuable item and assassinate an Emperor, where the two masterminds are each harbouring their own agenda, succeeding would take a miracle and a half. He went wrong from the moment he decided to count on you. Coveting the Nine Dragons Fire Jade on top of that was another mistake. If he wanted to succeed, he needed to give up on one, which was either giving you the jade and taking His Majesty’s head. That might’ve worked out if you, Shitou, him and Silver Crow worked together. Obviously, that’s a moot point if you ran into Zero.”
“To sum up, Tianhu is the reason for the plan’s failure, no?” Gongsun Chu stole a glance in Zero’s direction. “That does not qualify as strategy, does it?”
“Zero bodying you lot was pure coincidence. I knew you’d be back after we went our own ways at the underground palace. That was why I had Zero return from Beiping right away. Jingan wanted to provoke Tianhu into killing me, and you thought it was ingenious. He was never far from me. He only went to confirm that my allies were safe and sound. Your encounter with him was bound to happen as long as you came after me. The fact that you didn’t know who Zero was is proof that I’m smarter than you.”
The defeated gentleman shrugged it off. “I have nothing to say. It is my loss.”
Ming Feizhen didn’t mind the insincere surrender. “Since we’ve concluded our ‘baulk the enemy’s plans’ contest, let’s move on to ‘prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces’.”
Gongsun Chu bobbed his head with a smile. “That is even more interesting. What say you?”
“Remember we made a bet?“
“I do. I do. I did not say what would happen if I lost in the last bet, did I?”
Ignoring the shameless comment, Ming Feizhen, wearing a small smile, demanded, “Gongsun Chu, come serve me.”
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