Liangzhou City.

Li Chi stood atop the city wall gazing out over the landscape beyond Liangzhou, and couldn’t help but let out a long, slow breath. The scenery of the Western Frontier was truly something that opened up the heart — before him stretched a vastness with no visible end, and his spirit expanded right along with it.

“I hear that for a hundred years, it has been successive generations of the Dantai family who have governed this desert. Without their efforts, Liangzhou City might already have been swallowed by the sands.”

Dantai Yajing bowed and said, “I thank Your Majesty for the praise, but this is truly what we should have done.”

Li Chi glanced at him. “I wasn’t praising you. Liangzhou being managed so well probably doesn’t have much to do with you.”

Dantai Yajing gave a sheepish laugh.

Li Chi looked toward Dantai Qi and said, “Old General, you have guarded the Western Frontier for so many years. I want to thank you on behalf of every common person in the Central Plains.”

The old general quickly bowed. “This subject is unworthy of such gratitude.”

Li Chi smiled. “Old General, you are worthy. Those throughout all the land who deserve the gratitude of every common person — there are precious few. Old General counts among them.”

From the moment they arrived in Liangzhou, Li Chi and Tang Pidi had not yet exchanged two words. When Tang Pidi bowed to greet him, Li Chi had also ignored him.

Old Tang took it without feeling awkward in the least. Everyone else just found it entertaining.

Once they ascended the city wall to take in the view beyond the frontier, Tang Pidi had tried twice to speak with Li Chi. Both times, Li Chi ignored him.

But when Shen Shanhu spoke to Li Chi, he turned immediately to respond. And Gao Xining had been holding Shen Shanhu’s hand and chatting with her the whole time.

And so, in this kind of situation, old Tang could only stand there like a silently enduring, long-suffering spouse.

They talked on like this for quite some time, and Li Chi suddenly seemed to remember there was someone called Tang Pidi.

“How is the Northwestern Camp?”

Li Chi suddenly asked this question, startling Tang Pidi out of his reverie — he had been so thoroughly absorbed in letting his mind wander to the far corners of the sky that he hastily reeled his thoughts back in.

“In reply to Your Majesty…”

He had only said three words when Li Chi cut him off. “The Northwestern Camp can wait — no rush. I’m also hungry. Old General, has the meal been prepared? I’ve been looking forward to tasting this northwestern cuisine for a long time.”

Dantai Qi smiled and said, “In reply to Your Majesty — all is prepared. If Your Majesty is hungry, we can descend from the wall and dine now.”

Li Chi made a sound of approval, then set off toward the exit.

Tang Pidi fell in behind him, and as he walked, his mind began drifting back out to the far corners of the sky once more — since His Majesty wasn’t paying attention to him anyway.

Li Chi walked along, chatting casually with the old general and the others. Tang Pidi followed along at the back, saying nothing, not inserting himself.

Every few steps, Li Chi would look back at him. And every time Li Chi did, Tang Pidi would tilt his head up to gaze at the sky above — but the roof eaves were in the way, so he stared at the eaves instead.

This infuriated Li Chi to the point where he simply stopped acknowledging him again. All the way down the wall and to Dantai Yajing’s Grand Marshal’s residence, Li Chi did not say a single word to Tang Pidi.

But in Gao Xining’s eyes, watching all of this was like watching two children playing house.

One was a Grand Marshal without equal across the ages, victorious in every battle, peerless under heaven. The other was an Emperor without precedent, whose vision spanned ten thousand li and whose gifts were heaven-sent. And yet when these two became childish, even actual children found them laughable.

Old General Dantai Qi watched it all and laughed inwardly — his heart full of warmth. To witness such an emperor and such a grand marshal was itself a stroke of luck.

The old general’s first half of life had been spent as a subject of Dachu, where all he ever saw was scheming and intrigue, plots within plots. He could never have imagined that one day he would have a colleague like the Grand Marshal, and an emperor like His Majesty.

Dachu’s court had been saturated with that kind of atmosphere, and it had wounded this old general’s heart deeply. Now, seeing His Majesty and the Grand Marshal behaving like children — it was like medicine, warming the old general’s heart.

Is this not the finest way for sovereign and subject to be? Is this not the truest path of ruler and minister — no suspicion between them?

When Li Chi reached the entrance to the reception hall, he suddenly looked down at his feet, then asked, “What is this?”

Everyone curiously looked down — but there was absolutely nothing at His Majesty’s feet.

Li Chi pressed his foot against the step and tested it. “Could this be a stepping stone?”

Gao Xining burst out laughing at once. And though apparently the fog of new motherhood had settled more visibly on Xiahou Yili, she still took a moment before she caught on to what His Majesty meant.

Gao Xining laughed and said, “Your Majesty sees clearly — this is indeed a stepping stone. And quite a large one at that.”

She said this while looking over at Tang Pidi. Tang Pidi tilted his head back to look at the sky — but the roof eaves were in the way, so he stared at the eaves.

Li Chi sighed. “What a shame. Some people can’t even recognize something as obvious as a stepping stone.”

Yu Jiuling nodded and said, “Your Majesty is right — not recognizing a stepping stone that big, they must be pretending.”

Tang Pidi lightly tapped Yu Jiuling on the backside with his foot.

Yu Jiuling let the momentum take him and went “ouch,” toppling and sitting down on the step above, then deliberately sliding down to the one below. Rubbing his backside all the while, he said, “Aiyo — good thing there was a step here for me to land on. Otherwise I might have bruised my backside badly.”

He looked up at Tang Pidi. “Grand Marshal, see? What a fine stepping stone this is.”

Tang Pidi sighed. “This subject has also seen that very large stepping stone. Moreover, this subject did show it to His Majesty before. But His Majesty refused to step down. So this subject did not step down either.”

Li Chi turned to look at him. “What you showed me wasn’t a step — it was a pit.”

Tang Pidi: “And what Your Majesty is showing this subject is also not a step. It is also a pit.”

Li Chi: “You’re the pit!”

Tang Pidi hit back at once: “If Your Majesty persists in this stubbornness, Your Majesty will also be a pit for Great Ning!”

Li Chi’s face went a shade paler with fury. He stared at Tang Pidi, and Tang Pidi did not yield in the slightest — staring right back at His Majesty.

These two then stood there glaring at each other for a good long while, both having turned into stone statues, neither willing to give an inch.

Yu Jiuling let out a sigh and looked over at Gao Xining. Gao Xining also let out a sigh and looked over at the crowd. The crowd all turned their heads and looked elsewhere.

There was nothing to be said in a situation like this. Not only was there nothing to say to persuade the Grand Marshal — there was also nothing to say to persuade His Majesty.

Two enormous stubborn mules had locked horns. Who could possibly break it?

If both of them had been acting out of self-interest, at least everyone else might have found some angle to work with, some argument to make.

But both of them were acting entirely for the sake of the other, and neither would yield — each convinced they had offered the other a perfectly good stepping stone, each convinced the other had given them a pit.

Tang Pidi’s thinking: His Majesty ought not to be this irrational. What benefit was there in keeping a prince of a foreign surname?

Li Chi’s thinking: Tang Pidi ought not to be this stubborn. This prince of a foreign surname carried no harm for Great Ning whatsoever.

No one knew how much time passed before Old General Dantai Qi carefully said to Li Chi, “Your Majesty — shall we go in and eat? This subject fears if we delay much longer, the food will go cold.”

Li Chi nodded. “Let us listen to the old general. We eat.”

With that, he stepped into the reception hall. Tang Pidi watched Li Chi’s retreating figure, and a flash of something tender passed through his eyes.

He also stepped inside, and the rest of the party followed behind.

Once seated, Li Chi looked over at Dantai Yajing, who was about to pour the wine for him. “Hold off on pouring. I’ll do it.”

He said this, then reached out and took the wine jar for himself, walked straight over to Tang Pidi and set it down in front of him. “Let’s be even more childish about this — drink with me.”

Tang Pidi: “Your Majesty has never won a single drinking contest against this subject.”

Li Chi said, “I was only letting you win. Just say whether you dare.”

Tang Pidi: “This subject will accompany His Majesty — but Your Majesty must not cheat. If you lose the drinking contest, then you’ve lost.”

Li Chi nodded. “Then that’s how it is.”

And so the entire table of people sat there and watched, wide-eyed, as this sovereign and subject drank facing each other — one bowl for you, one bowl for me.

Neither of them ate anything. They simply drank at a startling pace, faster than most people could drink water. And most people couldn’t even drink this much water without their stomach bursting with discomfort long before now.

One wine jar held five to six catties — and within no time at all, the two of them had emptied it.

“Another.”

Li Chi beckoned. Dantai Yajing, though worried about His Majesty drinking too much, did not dare go against His Majesty’s wishes in this moment, and had no choice but to send for another jar.

The second jar arrived. The two drank on — still one bowl for you, one bowl for me. Everyone watched, eyes wide open, as that jar drained at a startling speed.

When the second jar was nearly finished, Tang Pidi’s body began to look slightly unsteady — his shoulders visibly swaying.

But His Majesty showed no reaction at all, still standing perfectly steady, though his complexion had turned quite red.

The second jar finished. Li Chi beckoned. “Another.”

Between the two of them, one jar apiece had gone down — five to six catties each. Whether drunk or not, how could that much poured into your body not cause discomfort?

“Your Majesty…”

Old General Dantai Qi wanted to say something, but the moment he called out, Li Chi shook his head to stop him.

Li Chi said, “Bring the wine.”

Dantai Yajing had no choice but to send for another jar. Li Chi took one palm and knocked the seal off, raised the jar to pour — then suddenly stopped.

“Bring another jar.”

Li Chi told Dantai Yajing. This frightened Dantai Yajing half to death.

He looked instinctively toward Gao Xining, silently pleading with his eyes for the Empress to persuade His Majesty. But Gao Xining only gave a slight shake of her head, signaling him to do as His Majesty said.

With no other option, Dantai Yajing retrieved another jar.

Li Chi took it and knocked off the seal with one palm as well, then held this jar out directly to Tang Pidi. “Drinking bowl by bowl really has no spirit to it. You and I — jar by jar.”

Tang Pidi took the jar offered to him. After a moment of silence, he raised it and poured it straight into his mouth.

Li Chi naturally could not fall behind, and raised his own jar to pour it in too. When each of them had poured down about half, Tang Pidi couldn’t hold on — he let out a sudden spurt and sprayed wine.

Li Chi set his jar down and looked at him. “When it comes to drinking, you truly cannot match me.”

With those words said, Li Chi grabbed Tang Pidi and walked outside. The crowd, not knowing where His Majesty intended to drag old Tang, hurried after them.

“Bring ten three-stone bows.”

The hands below did not dare delay. They quickly retrieved ten heavy bows and brought them over. Li Chi counted out five bows and tossed them at Tang Pidi’s feet.

“You and I compete in strength — let’s see who breaks all five bows first.”

Tang Pidi said nothing, bent down and picked up one bow, and looked at Li Chi. The meaning was clear: come on, then.

These two people, taking bows that most men would struggle to even draw, snapped them one by one.

The crowd stood watching, open-mouthed.

In the end, His Majesty was somewhat faster than old Tang. When Tang Pidi picked up his fifth bow, Li Chi had already snapped his fifth.

The entire assembly was stunned.

“You can’t drink, and you can’t match my strength.”

Li Chi looked over at Dantai Yajing. “Call up two standard battalions of border soldiers. I’ll compete with the Grand Marshal in breaking through formations.”

But Tang Pidi shook his head. “This subject is no match for Your Majesty.”

Li Chi said, “You can’t drink, you can’t match my strength, and you even say you can’t outfight me in battle tactics — then why do you think that in this matter, my judgment is inferior to yours?”

Everyone present thought: surely now, at last, the Grand Marshal must concede.

But no.

Tang Pidi, swaying slightly on his feet, said, “Your Majesty can outdrink this subject, Your Majesty is stronger than this subject, Your Majesty’s martial arts are actually also superior to this subject’s, and even in the use of troops this subject cannot compare to Your Majesty. But in this matter — it is Your Majesty who is wrong. This subject is not.”

And the crowd… every single one of them drew in a sharp, collective breath.