Kim Yusin, caged in a prisoner’s cart, curled up in a corner, staring blankly at his deputy general’s head swaying on the prison cart. This general who hadn’t died at the Tang people’s hands had died under his own people’s blades.
His left hand was already oozing yellow fluid. This arm probably couldn’t be saved. The emperor, disregarding the blow to the army’s morale, disregarding the soldiers’ objections, had forcibly locked him in a cage. His deputy general, covered in wounds, had only said one thing: “If you want to cage the Great General, please kill me first.”
Then the deputy general’s head had been chopped off. His countless military achievements received no respect whatsoever.
The sky was blindingly blue. At this moment, there weren’t even flying birds in the sky. The sky was deathly silent, showing no signs of living things. The deputy general’s head hanging above his own always obstructed his view of the sky. Kim Yusin reached out his arm and tore off his outer garment to cover the deputy general’s head. This way, he couldn’t see those grieving and indignant eyes.
Immediate interests were always more important than the nation’s future fate. Zhang Liang’s strike this time was very accurate. Seondeok and Pidham were a united interest group. The lower pass was their fundamental territory and couldn’t be damaged. Thinking of these things, Kim Yusin found it laughable—could the entire Silla really not compare to a small lower pass?
“General Kim, you’re guilty today not because you were rude to me, nor because you were rude to Her Majesty, but because of this letter!” The Grand Sangdaedeung Pidham unfolded a letter before Kim Yusin’s eyes.
After Kim Yusin finished reading this letter, he began laughing loudly, laughing until tears and mucus flowed, his whole body trembling. With his intact right hand, he pointed at his superior, then turned his head and, embracing the deputy general’s head in his arms, wept loudly: “Rongyuan, you died so fucking unjustly.”
Seeing that Kim Yusin seemed to already know his error, Pidham said gently: “Rongyuan was just a household slave of yours. It was you who promoted him from obscurity. Dying for you, he died as he should. I could have told you these things early on, but if I hadn’t let you try, you definitely wouldn’t have been willing to give up. Now it’s good—you’ve given up hope too. No matter what, the Great Tang has some incense affection with Silla. The endorsement of the Great Tang’s Prime Minister Fang Xuanling should be trustworthy. I’ve been to Chang’an and met him. He’s an extremely refined person. Moreover, you know the Great Tang’s rules—as long as we bow our heads and submit, they’ll let us go. It’s just a bit more tribute, that’s all.”
“You endure for a few days. After returning home, naturally you’ll be released. You’ll still be Silla’s Great General.”
Pidham walked away triumphantly. Kim Yusin held Rongyuan’s head tightly in his arms and said to Rongyuan word by word: “They’re all afraid of death, you know? They’re deceiving themselves, you know? Rongyuan.”
“We fought side by side with the Tang people. We witnessed how those Tang people treated traitors. The Mohe people had several thousand buried alive. The Great Tang’s emperor even had his own Crown Prince and most trusted ministers tied to chairs to watch the entire process.”
“Do you know what this was about? Haha, I forgot you’re a single-minded fellow. Thinking about these things is too difficult for you. I’ll mercifully tell you. This was the Great Tang’s emperor training his successor and future important ministers, requiring them to be absolutely ruthless and show no mercy toward enemies.”
“This is the Great Tang emperor’s method of education. Hoping that such an emperor would have mercy and abandon hatred? This is a joke. Fang Xuanling is advanced in years and about to withdraw from the Great Tang’s political stage, so his guarantee can’t possibly count, nor will it count.”
“Our Majesty, ah, she’s already so terrified she can’t hold her urine. Seeing a life-saving straw, she’ll immediately grasp it tightly. What dominates her body at this time is fear, not wisdom. The Grand Sangdaedeung is the same!”
“Zhang Liang, Zhang Jian, Niu Jinda—all three are important ministers. They’ve gathered in Silla and will certainly tear Silla to shreds. Or perhaps after they’ve finished dealing with Silla, Fang Xuanling’s guarantee will take effect. Rongyuan, ah, at that time, if there are still living members of the Silla royal family and important ministers, when we get underground, I’ll be your slave to repay you for your hard work over these years.”
“Goguryeo is finished. Silla is finished. Baekje is also doomed. This is our fate. When the Great Tang campaigned against Goguryeo, we helped the Great Tang. When the Great Tang campaigns against us, no one will come to help us. This is called befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones!”
“We were wrong from the very beginning. When the Great Tang campaigned against Goguryeo, we should have fully helped Goguryeo—that would have been the most correct action. Since we had already submitted to the Great Tang, we shouldn’t have rebelled. This is the second thing we did wrong. When we betrayed the Great Tang, we should have resolutely betrayed to the end—that would have been correct.”
“It’s very unfortunate that we didn’t do anything right, so now we’re terminally ill, incurable. Since we’re destined to die, Rongyuan, I’ll come down to accompany you! I’m too tired.”
Kim Yusin’s left arm still had many armor scales embedded in it. These were all made of silver. He laughed hoarsely as he tore from his arm those armor scales connected to flesh and skin, feeding them one by one into his mouth…
When dawn came, the guards discovered that the solitary Kim Yusin, embracing his deputy general’s head in his arms, had long since died. He had vomited much blood. Fresh blood had dyed the deputy general’s head red, just like a Nuo dance mask…
Queen Seondeok wept for three days. The Grand Sangdaedeung Pidham was said to have been wildly drunk for three days—not grieving Kim Yusin’s death, but because after Kim Yusin’s stomach pouch was torn open by the silver, in unbearable pain, he had used his fingernails on the prison cart to forcibly scratch out four characters—I await you all.
These four characters completely shattered Seondeok’s fantasy. But the army’s morale had already scattered. She could only lead the army back to the homeland. Silla’s army withdrew, and King Uija of Baekje also led his army back to Baekje. Before he had even returned to Baekje, he sent his most trusted minister racing back to the country at night, carrying the Crown Prince across Tsushima Island, sailing all the way toward the Wa state.
Zhang Liang slowly retreated back to the sea. Niu Jinda completely merged with Zhang Jian. The situation of violent uprisings throughout Goguryeo also improved. The entire peninsula was so peaceful it was as if no rebellion had ever occurred.
“The north wind sweeps the earth, white grass breaks; in the Hu sky, snow flies in the eighth month. Suddenly like a spring wind coming overnight, thousands and thousands of trees burst with pear blossoms!” Yun Ye stood with his hands behind his back atop the camel city, facing the first snow of autumn, shamelessly plagiarizing poetry from later generations, winning countless praises.
After these years of tempering in the political arena, his face no longer reddened from plagiarizing a poem. Not reciting it in full already counted as leaving a way out for later generation disciples. He just didn’t know whether, without the first four lines, Cen Can would have other excellent lines to connect when sending Military Judge Wu back to the capital.
“Marquis Yun composes poetry as if plucking words from thin air. Most rare is that not one isn’t an excellent line. This makes this old man, who has been immersed in poetic circles for many years, ashamed beyond measure.” Du Ruhui had thought for a long time but still hadn’t composed a suitable poem, and couldn’t help feeling somewhat discouraged.
“My husband has always been like this—composing poetry and writing songs, none of which he isn’t skilled at. You, old sir, still can’t compare to my husband. Even Her Majesty praises my husband’s poetic talent as unrivaled under heaven. It’s just unclear why His Majesty always doesn’t say good things.”
Na Rimu, holding a child, joked between Yun Ye and Du Ruhui. Although she was already the mother of two children, she still hadn’t changed her charming and innocent nature. When she spoke, she could anger people to death. Du Ruhui rolled his eyes and said nothing more.
Wu She was brewing tea on a small brazier, brewing it very attentively. He was preparing a pot of tea to welcome his old friend Liu Fang. Now they were already just thirty li away. Not having seen his old friend for years, meeting again in this desolate foreign land filled his heart with anticipation.
This was a great joyous occasion. The triumphant heroes returning naturally needed proper rewards. The camel city had made camp early in the wilderness. Soldiers were slaughtering cattle and sheep in the camel city’s open spaces. Huge cooking stoves had been set up in the open ground. Steam rose. Entire sheep, divided into four pieces, were thrown into the large pots to boil. Women wearing cotton caps harvested the last crop of spinach from the camel city’s bamboo baskets. Much green garlic had also been collected. According to the Yun family’s rules, returning home always required eating a meal of dumplings. Although they should eat noodles, the Yun family’s rule was dumplings—they had persisted for several years now.
Pork couldn’t be found. In the Arab people’s territory, not a single one of those blackish creatures could be found, so they could only reluctantly eat dumplings with mutton and radish filling. In the snowy weather, the cook was bare-chested, wielding two cleavers, vigorously chopping meat filling on a huge wooden block. Snowflakes fell on his back and turned into sweat sliding down his spine.
Liu Jinbao kept threatening the cook: “Be careful. If you let your own fat drip into the filling, watch out or this old man will chop you up for dumpling filling. After all, we can’t find pork here.”
“Master Liu, please move farther away. The Marquis loves cleanliness—I know this. Having cooked for the Marquis for so many years, when have I ever made a mistake? You wait to eat dumplings. It’s not time yet—the guests are still thirty li away.”
Encountering a cook even more stubborn than himself, Liu Jinbao could only lick his lips and leave the cook. They were all family people—he had no way to deal with him. But how long had it been since he’d eaten dumplings? Speaking of it brought tears—a full year and more! Whenever he saw dumplings, he would think of his wife at home. Although she was somewhat ugly, he could never look enough at that smiling face.
“Marquis, Mister Liu Fang will arrive soon, won’t he?” Seeing Yun Ye leaning on the railing looking down below, Liu Jinbao called out asking.
“Soon—just the time it takes to burn one incense stick. Cheng Chumo is providing them rear guard. As long as he repels the Turks, it’s fine. The Arab people can only get here three days later. The City of Living Path has already been broken—Cheng Chumo broke through it. However, according to scout reports, Mister Liu Fang and they are in a bad situation. Go find the medical soldiers and have them prepare.”
Liu Jinbao acknowledged and quickly climbed up the camel city, heading to the northwest corner to find the military doctor and arrange medicine and personnel.
Seeing Du Ruhui and Wu She drinking tea together, ignoring her, Na Rimu handed the child to Huan Niang. She herself put on a red fox fur cloak, walked to Yun Ye’s side, and said softly: “Xiao Miao has also come.”
Yun Ye casually slapped Na Rimu’s bottom. Seeing Na Rimu giggle and run away, he couldn’t help but smile and shake his head. At this time, he could only welcome Xiao Miao. After learning of all Xiao Miao’s deeds from Liu Fang’s letter, Yun Ye was filled with respect for this young woman. Regardless of whether he had romantic feelings for Xiao Miao, he would treat her well for this lifetime.