A Prince and Three Men
Li Chengzhi hadn’t had a free moment in days. In just a few days’ time, he had befriended numerous outlaws and discussed big business with them. Needless to say, he was in great spirits. He never felt any fatigue despite repeating the same speech and convincing the outlaws to join his cause over twenty times each day. To the contrary, he felt himself edging closer to his old peak. He could never get bored of acting mystical at a banquet and ordering people around while they addressed him as “Your Highness“. Whenever they listened to his speeches, he felt his old self again.
All the officers involved in the base’s riot were executed. Though the upper echelon gave a strict order to not overdo it, over a dozen more soldiers were executed, as well, so while it wasn’t a major acute problem, it did bring about a harmful consequence.
Whether or not the turmoil in Jiangnan would’ve been settled in one battle or a prolonged catastrophe likely hinged on the might of the imperial court’s forces. The base outside the capital was meant to be part of the vanguard in the future war against the Seven Champion White Princes, and nobody expected one of the most important units to face a problem so soon. Putting aside the bad luck it suggested for a newly formed unit to be in trouble so soon, there was also the fact that their problems put a dent in the supporters’ confidence. Perhaps the best way to describe the impact of the riot was that it was a dark cloud that nobody knew when it’d leave.
Secretary Lie, who was in charge of troop training, made a wise decision to start from the barrack outside the capital. Notwithstanding his appearance, he was truly competent at managing soldiers. As a former soldier and part of the war for the throne, he had also participated in battles in Beijiang and the Western Regions. Not only was he adept at strategy, but he was also a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Even though battles were rare ever since Emperor Yuansheng ascended, he was part of every battle.
Among the survivors who fought alongside Secretary Lie – Lie Jingchan – back then, only two remained in service. One of them had disabled legs, so he continued serving the imperial court in the capacity of an intelligence handler. The other oversaw Jinyong, but his boy-toy appearance ruined his career prospects. Among the three of them, Secretary Lie was the stalwart in training soldiers.
Due to Secretary Lie’s accomplishments on the battlefield thirty years ago, he was granted an exception and promoted to vice-general. It was during his time in the post that he learnt how to train troops. After the fall of his leader and prior to Baima being stationed at Jinyong, it was Secretary Lie who defeated the enemies at the border. Before he entered the capital, he was hailed as the last star of the former monarch.
Everybody knew that the secretary post didn’t mesh with Lie Jingchan’s personality, so it wasn’t surprising that being granted the post was one of the most frustrating things in his life. He liked the empty view of nature, not the presence of shrewd men. He accepted the role, though, because he wanted to serve, so he accepted it in case it made His Majesty look bad.
It was suffocating to argue in court and only be able to clobber a few people whilst patrolling barracks, so being able to enter the capital’s barrack was a great beginning for Secretary Lie. Without His Majesty having to say a word, nobody in the barrack dared to mention the riot the moment Secretary Lie entered.
Usually, none of Lie Jingchan’s opponents in court welcomed him, yet not a soul in court celebrated when he didn’t show up. Instead, the atmosphere was even tenser than when he was present. The mere fact that he had returned to an army barrack was enough to raise stress levels.
Growing up in the capital, Li Chengzhi was familiar with Lie Jingchan’s abilities. As a military-book fan, Li Chengzhi didn’t pass up the opportunity to ask Lie Jingchan about military administration in the past, only to be utterly destroyed, prompting him to restart his learning journey. Although he hated Lie Jingchan, he respected the man for his skills. He knew that Lie Jingchan losing his temper was no joking matter, so he opted to become a legitimate deserter rather than stay and take risks. He didn’t hold any citizenship and only managed to enter the barrack thanks to someone pulling some strings. He agreed to the arrangement in order to experience the life of a soldier, never expecting to learn as much as he did.
Li Chengzhi had done plenty of persuading soldiers to revolt, and he improved his speech every time he convinced another, which was something he took pride in. However, it was unfair to blame him for the riot in the barrack outside the capital. Yes, the riot was a notch severer due his intervention, but he wasn’t the trigger. Someone had already bribed members of the barrack. Alas, he had no choice but to flee back to the capital and hang with his new lapdogs.
The wealthy bearded merchant sitting opposite Li Chengzhi was a horse raiser from Beijiang who spent the majority of his time in the capital. “You need not fret. You can leave it to Big Beard. Should he do an unsatisfactory job, he shall down three drinks and entertain you with a dance.”
In better circumstances, Li Chengzhi would’ve heartily laughed and applauded.
“This is bad. This is bad,” muttered Li Chengzhi, probably for the fiftieth time. “This is bad.”
Big Beard grabbed his beard and jovially queried, “What is bad, Young Master?”
“Everything,” shakily replied Li Chengzhi. “My gut is telling me this is really bad.”
“Young Master,” called Big Beard, in his deep voice. “It is but just one life. Even though Ming Feizhen is someone His Majesty personally conferred a rank to, he is still as mortal as anyone else. All of us are not working together for this. Why are you starting to have cold feet?”
“It’s no big deal to kill a constable, but he’s no ordinary man. The warriors who’ve agreed to join our cause have been disabled one after another. How long has it been? We’ve already lost a third of our forces. An acquaintance of Ming Feizhen must’ve found out about our plan somehow and taken pre-emptive action. If this continues, you’ll likely be a victim soon.”
“We could not ask for more.” Big Beard flashed his fist. “Once he shows up, Big Beard will personally apprehend him on your watch. You can do as you wish with him.”
“Hmph.”
Moron, you think you can just do whatever you please with a key figure of the capital’s Liu Shan Men? Why would I recruit so many people if it was so simple?
Caught in an awkward situation, Big Beard had two drinks as self-imposed punished and then showed himself out. Li Chengzhi didn’t care for a side character’s feelings, so he let Big Beard leave.
Li Chengzhi had a suspicion that something was off from the moment he was persuaded to personally incite the revolt. After all, who would be conspicuous about a rebellion? Personally moving in the barrack was basically announcing his involvement to the imperial court; not even the most foolish person would’ve brushed it off. He agreed to the suggestion as the person who advised it promised his safety. Based off his personal analysis, there wouldn’t be any evidence pointing to him; only then did he agree. The chief reason for his agreement was to get revenge against his father. It was his way of saying to his father, “I know you know I was responsible for it, but what can you do about it?” His naivety proved to be his own undoing.
Vanity and arrogance blinded Li Chengzhi’s judgement. Despite having witnessed an insurrection in the flesh once already, he still blindly believed he was safe a second time. However, pretending there were no holes in a boat that had to weather a storm didn’t magically help it weather the storm or keep it from sinking. When reality smashed him in the face, he wanted to slap himself twenty times for his foolishness.
Li Chengzhi made the decision whilst barely knowing anything. Had he calmly analysed the situation, he would’ve realised that the plan had plenty of flaws. Ignoring the evidence or lack thereof, he was stupid to risk his life siding with rebels when he barely got away with his life for his own attempt at rebellion. Just the fact that he was mentioned in the involved parties would’ve been enough ammunition for the historian to go after him. It was a miracle he was still alive after being set up.
Li Chengzhi’s self-evaluation was so high that he was picky even when qualifying his servants. Why, then, would he have been interested in talking to a bunch of stinky men? Whenever he needed to form relationships with outlaws, he had his lackeys handle it. Yes, he took issue with Liu Shan Men’s attitude towards him, but he had no deep-seated hatred towards Ming Feizhen. Why would he have held a grudge against Ming Feizhen when Fu Xiang dropped him before the revolt even officially commenced? He certainly wasn’t on friendly terms with Ming Feizhen, but it didn’t warrant forming a group to assassinate Ming Feizhen. Why was he even chosen as the head of the assassination operation when he couldn’t fight, wasn’t trained for assassinations, and his life was hanging by a thread? As the former creator of a huge mutiny plot, his experience told him that he had bitten off more than he could chew.
The misfortunes of the outlaws suddenly sparked a thought for Li Chengzhi.
Even if Ming Feizhen can ward them off, why has he not touched me? It’s easier to deal with me compared to a bunch of dangerous outlaws, isn’t it? It doesn’t make sense even if he’s worried about me having guards since only Big Beard is protecting me. Who could it be if not Ming Feizhen?
“Wait, wait, wait… This is an inside job.”
Were it not an inside job, there was no way not even a dozen groups working together couldn’t create as much as a ripple. Plus, Li Chengzhi had to also be framed in order to prove themselves innocent. In other words, they admitted to colluding with him without carrying any severer crimes. He had done the same thing plenty of times in the past, so he knew what was happening. What was the severer crime? Killing a Prince.
I can’t stay here.
Someone dressed in black and covering their face suddenly showed up in front of Li Chengzhi with a broadsword.
“You’re here to silence me?”
“What rebel deserves mercy?”
Li Chengzhi bobbed his head. “You plan to kill me. Why?” He asked in a calm tone.
The assassin swung for Li Chengzhi’s head.
“I’m speaking to you, you nimrod!” cried Li Chengzhi, dodging the swing that cleaved the table in two. Knowing that all the shouting wouldn’t have achieved anything against an assassin who calmly watched him as if he was a bug, Li Chengzhi cooled his head and offered, “I’ll promise you benefits if you spare me.”
“…”
“I’ll make sure you rich and famous.”
“… Only an idiot like you would drive off everyone His Majesty sends to you.”
“… Long Zaitian? Father sent him here for me…?”
“The moment you started contacting the criminals, you sealed your fate. We only need your corpse. Why do you think we’ve needed to keep you alive until now?”
Never in his twenty-six years of life did Li Chengzhi imagine the person he’d miss most in his situation would be the brash man with the ugly smile. He laughed aloud as he uncontrollably discharged sorrow from his eyes, then charged at the assassin.
“Fool.” The assassin sent Li Chengzhi to the ground with a stiff kick to the ribs.
In spite of the immobilising pain, Li Chengzhi, staring at the blade, questioned from the ground, “Why… don’t you just finish me?”
Li Chengzhi followed the assassin’s line of sight to see someone who shouldn’t have shown up.
“Because of me.”
The despicable smile made Li Chengzhi forget about the pain he was suffering from. “Big Beard?” After a few coughs, he said in a low voice, “You’re working together.”
All the pieces fell into place faster than Li Chengzhi imagined possible. “I should’ve foreseen this. Who’d brown nose me…?”
Big Beard’s cheeks jiggled as he cackled.
“You think I want to dance for you? You think I enjoy having you laugh at me? Why do you think a real man would wait on the joke that you are?”
Li Chengzhi questioned why he ever even thought Big Beard would’ve treated him as an ally.
“I asked them to keep you alive so that I could personally kill you.”
Following a brief silence, Li Chengzhi leapt at the assassin with his last ounce of strength to snatch the weapon. “I’m not just going to roll over and die.”
A kick landed flush on the side of Li Chengzhi’s face, making him spurt blood as he went reeling out of the window. Even though he was bleeding profusely, he continued crawling for dear life.
The assassin closed in without any urgency.
“Offer up your life to him.”
Splat!
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