From the series: The Eighty-One Cases of Journey to the West · The Great Tang Dunhuang Upheaval

“Esteemed Secretary Cui has spent these past few days making a circuit of Guazhou’s four borders — I wonder what impressions you have gathered?”

In the second hall of the Guazhou Protectorate-General’s headquarters, musicians played the konghou harp and piba drums below the dais while several Hu dancing girls glided gracefully across the carpet. Yet the guests numbered only three. Li Yan sat in the seat of honor; Guazhou Prefect Dugu Da and Interpreter Secretary Cui Dunli sat on either side, a food table laden with wine and delicacies spread before them.

Guazhou was a vital stronghold on the Hexi Corridor. Particularly after the abandonment of the Great Sandy Route and the Spear-Shaft Road that once connected Dunhuang to the Western Regions, merchants travelling between the Central Plains and the Western Regions largely passed through Guazhou, crossed the Mohe Yan Desert, and arrived at the state of Yiwu before continuing on to Gaochang, Yanqi, and beyond.

At that time Yiwu and Gaochang were respectively under the control of the Eastern and Western Turks, whose spheres of influence converged just north of Guazhou. The court had therefore stationed a heavy garrison here — not only establishing the Guazhou Protectorate-General’s headquarters in this location, but even relocating the Jade Gate Pass to Guazhou itself. As the Guazhou Military Governor, Li Yan wielded formidable authority over the entire region.

Cui Dunli was thirty-three years of age that year, a scion of the second branch of the He Dong Cui clan — a member of the highest echelon of the great aristocratic families. His every movement and gesture carried the unhurried elegance and refined bearing of the old nobility.

Upon hearing Li Yan’s question, Cui Dunli clasped his hands respectfully and smiled. “In my years overseeing the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, rushing about on missions to various kingdoms and pacifying the surrounding peoples, I have visited no few places. I had assumed Guazhou to be a remote outpost, yet I never imagined its markets would be so bustling with merchants, so magnificent in appearance, so dense with inhabitants — not at all inferior to the great cities of the Central Plains.”

“And yet I imagine Secretary Cui must have also noticed,” Dugu Da interjected with a sigh, “that the signs of a Turk incursion grow ever more apparent. According to merchant caravans passing through, Yuguxue is massing troops at Yiwu, and his forces are converging in an unending stream. A beacon-fire urgent report arrived two days ago stating that Turk outriders had already been spotted at the Fifth Beacon.”

Cui Dunli nodded silently. “The pressure on the Turks at Dingxiang and Daizhou has grown too great. It appears they wish to break through at Hexi.”

Li Yan was startled. “Has His Majesty already issued an order to campaign?”

“Not at all,” Cui Dunli shook his head. “The season is now one of clear autumn skies and well-fed horses — not the ideal moment. A true deployment of troops would likely have to wait until the onset of winter. The Turks have fared poorly these past two years, suffering two consecutive years of frost and drought; their people are exhausted, their livestock emaciated, and many horses and oxen have frozen or starved to death. They clearly feel the pressure of Great Tang bearing down upon them.”

Li Yan cast a glance at Dugu Da. Dugu Da understood at once, and with a heavy expression of concern said, “That is precisely why this official finds it quite incomprehensible. Why would His Majesty summon Prince Linjiang back to the capital at this juncture? The Prince has been garrisoning Hexi for three years and is in the midst of arranging the frontier defense strategy. Should he return to court, there will be no one to oversee the Guazhou defenses. If Yuguxue leads troops to invade, I fear trouble will surely arise!”

Cui Dunli shook his head. “His Majesty’s chest harbors its own grand strategy — it is not for a subordinate official like myself to fathom. Perhaps it is simply to confuse the Turks — who can say?”

“How so?” Li Yan asked.

“At present, the court’s main armies and supply wagons are converging toward Dingxiang and Yunzhong. The Turks will inevitably be on guard, suspecting the court is about to launch a punitive campaign. If at this moment the court summons Your Highness back to the capital, demonstrating that Hexi faces no crisis, it should cause the Turks to miscalculate.”

Cui Dunli continued, “In truth, even if the Turks were to invade Guazhou, it would certainly be a secondary force — harassment more than anything. Given Hexi’s defensive arrangements, with Niu Jinda at Suzhou, Dugu the Prefect at Guazhou, and Wang Junke at West Shazhou, Hexi will surely remain safe.”

This answer did not satisfy Li Yan, yet he could not refute it, and his heart grew all the more apprehensive.

“I have heard that Li Daliang transferred five thousand troops to garrison Ganzhou?” Li Yan said slowly, smiling as he spoke, yet his eyes were ice-cold. “Whom is this meant to guard against — the Turks, or the Tuyuhun?”

Cui Dunli was inwardly shaken and stared blankly at Li Yan.

A lesser person might not have grasped the implication hidden in Li Yan’s words. But Cui Dunli oversaw the Bureau of Foreign Affairs and knew the frontiers and foreign peoples like the back of his hand; he immediately understood the deeper meaning — there was no shared road between Ganzhou and either the Turks or the Tuyuhun! So for what purpose had Li Daliang concentrated five thousand troops at Ganzhou, pressing right against Suzhou’s doorstep?

“This subordinate has heard nothing of this!” Cui Dunli answered flatly.

“You have heard nothing?” Li Yan was momentarily taken aback.

“That is correct.” Cui Dunli was utterly direct. He was perfectly clear that he must not allow Li Yan to misjudge the situation on this matter. “When this subordinate passed through Liangzhou, there was no military movement of any kind at the Liangzhou Protectorate-General’s headquarters. Afterwards, when I passed through Ganzhou, Zhang Bi’s situation there was also entirely as it should be — not a single soldier had been added.”

Li Yan and Dugu Da exchanged a glance and both found themselves in a quandary. The reinforcement of troops to Ganzhou was the foremost basis on which Li Yan had concluded the Emperor intended to move against him. After returning to Guazhou from Dunhuang, he had immediately dispatched men to Ganzhou to investigate — but Guazhou to Ganzhou was a thousand li apart, a round journey of ten-odd days, and the trusted personal retainers he had sent out had not yet returned.

If Cui Dunli had equivocated on this matter, Li Yan could have understood it. But Cui Dunli had denied it outright, and Li Yan could not well press him further. He found himself at an impasse, feeling as though the court’s true attitude toward him was shrouded in impenetrable fog, and his apprehension deepened further.

A heavy silence fell over the hall, sinking into an atmosphere that was both awkward and treacherous.

Just then, a servant came to announce that Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng, the Spells-Prohibition Doctor, requested an audience.

“The monk has returned to Guazhou? And why does he bring a Spells-Prohibition Doctor?” Li Yan could not help but be astonished. Yet Xuanzang’s arrival had the effect of easing the tension between all present.

Dugu Da was a devout Buddhist. When Xuanzang had previously been in Guazhou, Dugu Da had supported him for half a month. After the warrant from Liangzhou Military Governor Li Daliang for Xuanzang’s arrest arrived in Guazhou, it was Dugu Da who had secretly dispatched the Prefectural Official Li Chang to inform Xuanzang, allowing him to flee Guazhou under cover of night.

Dugu Da personally went out to receive them, inviting Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng into the hall.

Li Yan laughed heartily. “Did the Master travel to Guazhou together with Chaner? I just received word that Chaner will not arrive for another hour or two — I didn’t expect the Master would have already arrived.”

Xuanzang did not answer this. Seeing that Cui Dunli wore the robes of a sixth-rank official, he said, “Is this gentleman Secretary Cui?”

Cui Dunli had long been stationed in Chang’an and naturally knew Xuanzang’s reputation. He rose hurriedly and paid his respects. “This subordinate is Cui Dunli of He Dong — I pay my respects to the Master.”

“Since Secretary Cui is also present, there may yet be a chance to remedy matters.”

Xuanzang let out a breath of relief and looked toward Li Yan. “Your Highness, in Dunhuang this humble monk learned of a matter of the gravest consequence, and has journeyed day and night to Guazhou precisely to request Your Highness’s decision.”

Li Yan was startled, his expression growing solemn. “Master, please speak — what news?”

“West Shazhou Prefect Wang Junke is secretly plotting rebellion!”

Xuanzang spoke each word with deliberate weight.

Li Yan shuddered and nearly toppled backward from his seat. Dugu Da and Cui Dunli were both left utterly thunderstruck.

“Master, surely you are not joking with us…” Li Yan murmured. He and Dugu Da had been secretly plotting for many days and were nearly ready to raise the banner of revolt — and now, without warning, Xuanzang had announced it in broad daylight. He could not help but feel his whole body go limp.

“Master,” Cui Dunli said, his face also drained of color, “from where did you receive this intelligence? Can it be verified?”

“The information is beyond doubt.” Xuanzang answered with unwavering certainty. “Wang Junke’s six thousand troops have already advanced eastward; at this moment they should be nearing Fish Spring Station.”

Dugu Da forced a smile. “I see — the Master has misunderstood. Wang Junke leading his forces to Guazhou was ordered by His Highness. The Turks have been massing troops at Yiwu these past days, threatening to move south and invade; His Highness commanded him to come and assist in the defense.”

Cui Dunli’s expression, however, grew grave. “Master, do you have concrete evidence?”

“This humble monk obtained no documentary evidence — no correspondence or secret orders of that sort. Rather, this inference is drawn from a series of actions Wang Junke has taken.”

Xuanzang replied.

Li Yan slowly regained his composure and forced himself calm, displeased. “The Master is a man of caution — why has he grown confused today? Accusing a prefect of an entire state of treason is an affair of the utmost gravity. Without concrete evidence, relying solely on inference — how can you speak so rashly?”

“This humble monk does not speak rashly.” Xuanzang said. “Does Your Highness know that Wang Junke has now fully consolidated his grip on the military authority of West Shazhou?”

Cui Dunli also shook his head. “Master, he is the West Shazhou Prefect, holding the executive seal over all military affairs of West Shazhou — of course he possesses military authority.”

“No,” Xuanzang said patiently, “possessing military authority and controlling military authority are not the same thing. Does Secretary Cui know that the Salt Pond Garrison Commander Zhao Ping and the Longle Garrison Commander Ma Hongda were already his men — and that in recent days, Wang Junke has through a series of maneuvers removed the West Gate Garrison Commander Linghu Zhan, the Purple Gold Garrison Commander Song Kai, and the Ziting Garrison Commander Zhai Shu, replacing all of them with his own trusted lieutenants?”

“What?” Cui Dunli’s complexion changed.

“Ha ha!” Dugu Da laughed. “Master, you know well that in these days Dunhuang’s noble families and Wang Junke have been at daggers drawn over a marriage affair. His seizure of the noble families’ military posts may simply be retribution against them — how does that connect to treason?”

On this point, Cui Dunli, standing on the side of the court, found himself far more capable of following Xuanzang’s reasoning. Xuanzang was right — possessing military authority and controlling it were two different things entirely. For a frontier commander, the most strictly forbidden thing was completely consolidating local military power, especially for a prefect who already wielded civil administrative power. To combine civil and military authority entirely in one person’s hands was something the court would move to rectify, even if the man harbored no treasonous intent.

“If treason were conducted openly, it would not be treason. Let this monk add one more thing: Wang Junke has also removed the Adjutant for Military Affairs in West Shazhou and cut off the beacon-relay communication between West Shazhou and Guazhou.”

Xuanzang said, “All along the way this monk fled here, the beacon towers and relay stations were staffed entirely by men newly promoted by Wang Junke. Should any incident occur in West Shazhou, Guazhou and the court will receive no intelligence whatsoever.”

Cui Dunli exhaled slowly and fell into silent contemplation.

“What else has the Master discovered?” Li Yan also steeled himself, his gaze burning as he fixed his eyes on Xuanzang.

“Wang Junke held a secret meeting with Kui Mu Lang at He Cang Fortress and asked Kui Mu Lang to pass a message to both the Turks and the Tuyuhun. This monk witnessed this with his own eyes and has definitive proof. When this monk entered Guazhou, he saw outriders coming and going and a tense atmosphere — have the Turks made a move?”

Cui Dunli glanced at Li Yan. Li Yan could not help himself. “That is indeed the case… Does the Master believe this was Wang Junke’s doing — that he instigated the Turks?”

“Precisely,” Xuanzang said. “At the outset, Wang Junke used the pretext of suppressing Kui Mu Lang to request the court’s military tallies from the court, thus assembling the militia forces. He then had the Turks press against Guazhou, and Your Highness could not but seek his assistance. And Wang Junke’s purpose was to lead his troops into the territory under the name of relieving Guazhou — to catch you off guard and seize Guazhou in a single stroke.”

“But this still makes no sense!” Dugu Da struggled to hold his position. “How could he have known that Your Highness would necessarily seek his aid?”

Xuanzang’s heart stirred and a thought flashed past — vague, not yet caught — so he could only follow his original line of reasoning. “Prefect, does he know how many men Wang Junke has brought to Guazhou on this occasion?”

“How many?”

“Six thousand two hundred men!” Xuanzang said in a grave voice. “Apart from leaving a thousand at Yangguan and three hundred in Dunhuang city, West Shazhou’s militia troops, garrison forces, and cantonment soldiers have turned out in full force!”

Cui Dunli was utterly dumbfounded. Even a fool would understand that, however valid Li Yan’s orders may have been, the Turks had not yet invaded, their troop strength was unknown, their intentions unclear, and Guazhou faced no actual danger — how could Wang Junke possibly mobilize the entire force of West Shazhou to come to its aid? He was a prefect, bearing the responsibility of holding his territory — would he simply abandon his own West Shazhou?

“Furthermore, Wang Junke has taken the eight great noble family heads hostage within his army and extorted two wan shi of military grain and two wan bolts of silk from the Dunhuang noble families.”

Li Chunfeng spoke up.

“Crack—” Cui Dunli brought his hand down hard on the food table, and said darkly, “Your Highness, I fear we are on the verge of a military coup.”

Li Yan and Dugu Da were silent for a long moment. Even had they wished to conceal it, Xuanzang’s conclusions were utterly irrefutable. Privately raising military funds — twenty thousand shi of grain was enough to sustain a force of sixty thousand for half a year. Such conduct, wherever it occurred, could only be called outright treason.

“How can this be…” Whether it was acting or genuine dismay, Li Yan wore a dazed expression and murmured to himself.

“Your Highness,” Cui Dunli frowned. “Wang Junke’s movements have been of such scale — you have just returned from Dunhuang and knew nothing of this whatsoever?”

Li Yan shook his head with a grim expression. “This Prince had only just become his family’s relation through marriage — how could I have imagined that this man harbored such wolfish ambitions?”

Xuanzang suddenly recalled something, and cold sweat at once broke out on his brow.

He kept himself outwardly composed. “Your Highness, you just said that the heir’s wedding party will arrive at Guazhou City shortly — was this reported to you by Wang Lize?”

“Indeed!” Li Yan replied casually. “When I returned to Guazhou, I left Wang Lize behind in Dunhuang to coordinate the wedding arrangements—”

At this point he sensed something was amiss and hastily stopped himself.

Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng exchanged a glance and smiled. “I see. This monk has now conveyed all the news to all present. The heir should be entering the city — Li Doctor and I shall go to the city gates to receive him.”

“Yes, yes,” Li Chunfeng also smiled, “we parted ways with the heir on the relay road and came ahead to inform Your Highness. Let us go and tell the heir so he does not worry.”

In that very instant, Xuanzang had seized upon the thought that had flashed through his mind. He now clearly understood: the heir Li Chan had long since instructed Wang Lize to secretly report Wang Junke’s treasonous activities to Li Yan — yet Li Yan had put on a show of knowing nothing until now. If the relay road had been cut off by Wang Junke, killing his messenger, why had Li Yan been able to clearly track the movements of the wedding party? This meant that communications between Wang Lize and Li Yan remained unimpeded.

This could only mean one thing — Li Yan was also part of the rebellion!

Xuanzang’s heart surged with turbulent waves, but his face betrayed nothing. Without waiting for the others to react, he and Li Chunfeng simultaneously rose to their feet and moved to depart.

Li Yan and Cui Dunli were both taken somewhat aback and watched the two men in puzzlement.

Dugu Da’s complexion, however, changed violently. He let out a great shout. “Come — seize them!”

Armored soldiers at once came clattering in from the corridor. Seeing the situation was bad, Li Chunfeng abruptly formed a hand seal with a swift gesture of his fingers, and a crack of thunder split the air. A web of crisscrossing fire-lines appeared from nowhere in midair, blocking the soldiers’ path. The soldiers were terrified and scrambled back.

Li Yan also came to his senses, knowing he could not allow Xuanzang and the others to leave today, and launched himself toward the weapon rack at the side. Li Chunfeng let out a shout, shook his arm, and from his sleeve shot out a double-headed rope, sinuous as a darting serpent’s tongue as it coiled through the air and wrapped around Li Yan’s neck — the two heads snapping together with a click. Li Chunfeng gave a violent tug, and Li Yan tumbled to the ground.

Li Chunfeng threw himself on top of him and, seizing a melon-cutting dagger from the food table, pressed it against Li Yan’s throat. “Let anyone who dares make a move!”

The whole sequence — swift as a hare’s bolt and a hawk’s stoop — had unfolded in a single flash, and already Li Yan had fallen under Li Chunfeng’s control. By the time the fire-web in midair dissolved into sparks and gradually dispersed, Cui Dunli was still holding his wine cup, his face a mask of astonishment.

Dugu Da and the armored soldiers had the three men surrounded, yet did not dare act rashly.

The scene fell momentarily silent. Cui Dunli was also a man of keen intelligence. Though he had just arrived and was unacquainted with the various intrigues at play, by this point he understood the truth of the matter and murmured, “Your Highness — it is you who is plotting treason! Why?”

Li Yan’s expression was desolate. “Is it not because the court left me no choice?”

Cui Dunli erupted in fury. “How has the court forced your hand?”

“Secretary Cui, save your breath for when we have escaped.” Li Chunfeng said. “Master, lend a hand and bind him.”

Xuanzang hurried over and used the rope to bind Li Yan tightly. Only then did he discover that the rope’s two ends each had a magnetic clasp, designed with extraordinary ingenuity.

“Release His Highness, or be killed on the spot!”

Dugu Da was furious beyond measure.

“Prefect Dugu, this humble monk truly never imagined that you too would commit treason!” Xuanzang looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “You are a devout Buddhist — can you not see that once you unleash this warfare, how many living souls throughout Hexi will be consumed by blood and fire?”

Dugu Da felt some shame, yet set his face and said, “The Master is a monk and does not comprehend the vexations of statecraft. This disciple was elevated by His Highness with his own hand — should the court investigate His Highness, I will certainly be implicated along with him. I have fought my way up from a common foot soldier since the end of Sui — I am unwilling to accept this!”

Xuanzang shook his head repeatedly. “You have spent these many years in the study of Buddhism and have still not broken free of this clinging attachment.”

Dugu Da said with mild indifference, “I have received the Master’s instruction for many days. Had the Master simply left Great Tang when the opportunity arose, how could today’s calamity have come to pass? Since the Master insisted on entangling himself in these matters, it is a karmic bond between you and me. Master, release His Highness — this disciple can give his word that your lives will be spared.”

“Master, what is our next step?” Li Chunfeng murmured.

“What else can we do? Run!” Xuanzang said helplessly. “Secretary Cui, will you come with us?”

“Of — of course!” Cui Dunli retained a certain bookish quality, and looked at Li Yan. “Your Highness, the court truly harbored no suspicion of you. Why take this path of certain destruction?”

“Did it not?” Li Yan said coldly. “His Majesty sent you here — was it not to take me back to the capital under escort?”

“Heaven bear witness!” Cui Dunli swore solemnly. “This subordinate’s sole purpose in coming was a summons! His Majesty, seeing that you have garrisoned Guazhou for three years with great merit and toil, merely transferred you back to court for recognition and reassignment elsewhere.”

“Such talk deceives only ghosts!”

Li Yan laughed coldly.

“Your Highness is truly confused!” Cui Dunli said anxiously. “Have you never thought — if you were to rebel and entrench yourself in Guazhou, how could you possibly succeed? In the end it would not only bring devastation to the common people, but the entire bloodline of Prince Liangye would be implicated as well! Your Highness, since no great catastrophe has yet occurred, if you swiftly stand down and abandon this scheme, you may yet preserve your safety!”

“No great catastrophe yet?” Li Yan let out a bitter, desolate laugh. “Do you think that if I stand down now, His Majesty will let me go? It is too late! Six thousand troops in Guazhou City have been fully mobilized — at my single command they will march east. Secretary Cui, you were merely following your orders; there is no enmity between us. Submit peaceably, and I swear to spare your lives.”

Cui Dunli stared at him, and finally heaved a long sigh. “For a traitor and rebel of your ilk, this official has nothing further to say. Li Doctor, keep a firm hold on him — let us leave Guazhou at once.”

“They may leave — but you may not!” Dugu Da bellowed, and suddenly swung his blade at Cui Dunli.

No one had anticipated that Dugu Da would dare strike at this moment. Cui Dunli was caught completely off guard, a slash landing on his head. He felt a violent pain in his skull, his vision went dark and dizzy, and with a thud he collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

It turned out Dugu Da had reversed the blade at the last moment, striking him with the flat.

“Dugu…” Li Yan too was startled.

Dugu Da had his men bind Cui Dunli, and then explained. “Cui Dunli is an imperial envoy — he absolutely cannot be allowed to leave the Protectorate-General. As for the two Masters, without Cui Dunli, how do you intend to flee Guazhou? Master, simply release His Highness — you are a monk, I truly do not believe you would lay hands on a man’s life.”

Li Chunfeng laughed coldly. “The Master is a monk — I am not. Do you wish to test me?”

Dugu Da looked at him at length. From the lightning-swift manner in which Li Chunfeng had acted earlier, he knew this man was also a decisive type, and he truly dared not gamble.

Each side harboring its own misgivings, Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng escorted Li Yan, step by step, out of the Protectorate-General.

Dugu Da had already mobilized his troops. Three hundred armored soldiers had assembled in the street outside the Protectorate-General, spears and lances canted at angles, bows and crossbows drawn taut, surrounding the three of them and moving slowly along with them.

“Prefect Dugu,” Xuanzang surveyed the scene around him, knowing it would be nigh impossible to leave Guazhou, “let it be this way then: provide us with four horses. We will take His Highness to a point ten li outside the city and release him there. You may pursue us or not — each side relying on its own abilities. How does that suit you?”

“How am I to know whether you will truly release His Highness?” Dugu Da laughed coldly.

“You follow alone — unarmed, on foot.”

Xuanzang said.

Dugu Da hesitated briefly, but Li Yan answered decisively: “Agreed — this Prince consents!”

Li Chunfeng murmured, “Master, ten li — we may not be able to escape their cavalry pursuit.”

“Do you have a better plan?” Xuanzang asked.

Li Chunfeng fell silent. He understood perfectly well that Dugu Da would not permit them to take Li Yan away — once the man was driven to desperation and secretly ordered archers to loose, even Li Yan serving as a human shield would be no use.

Since Li Yan had agreed, Dugu Da had nothing more to say. He at once ordered four horses brought out. Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng escorted Li Yan onto the horses, leading a fifth riderless mount, and slowly rode out through the north gate.

Guazhou City was an irregularly shaped settlement divided into inner and outer precincts. The outer city had a circuit of walls built to the north and west of the inner city, housing markets, residences for ordinary inhabitants, and merchants. The inner city occupied the southeastern corner of the greater city and had rammed-earth walls a zhang and a half wide and three zhang high, with dense rows of parapet-bays and enemy platforms built on all four sides. In the center of the inner city, slightly to the east, a north-south wall divided it into two sections — the western half being larger, home to wealthy households, granaries, and garrisons; the eastern half being smaller, housing the government offices, the Guazhou Protectorate-General occupying the very center of the eastern section.

The eastern section was narrow from north to south; the north gate was the most direct route out. Passing through the north city gate, there was an outer enclosure formed by a sheep-and-horse wall — the narrowest point being ten zhang wide, and widening toward the west, the broadest stretch reaching thirty zhang. The enclosure was densely packed with encampments, with cavalry moving to and fro — this was where Guazhou’s troops were primarily stationed.

Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng escorted Li Yan, their hearts in their mouths at every step, passing through the outer enclosure while innumerable soldiers looked on. Dugu Da was true to his word: the soldiers all remained within the city walls, and he himself followed on foot without carrying any weapon whatsoever.

The two men rode slowly ahead on horseback; Dugu Da walked behind them just so.

Upon reaching the Ten-Li Pavilion, Dugu Da called out from a distance behind them. “Master, it has already been ten li — release His Highness at once!”

“We cannot release him!” Li Chunfeng murmured. “Let us simply escort him all the way to Suzhou — once we reach Niu Jinda there, we will be safe.”

Li Yan laughed coldly. “Master, it is five hundred li to Suzhou. Even with me in your custody, do you think you can survive the cavalry’s pursuit?”

Xuanzang pondered briefly, then took the dagger from Li Chunfeng and cut Li Yan’s bonds. “Your Highness, we cannot escape your pursuit — and you cannot escape the court’s retribution. This monk knows he cannot persuade you to step back from the brink. But please, for the sake of the people of the land, spare the killing as much as you can.”

Li Yan said not a word, jumped down from his horse, turned, and walked away. Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng each leading a horse, spurred their mounts and galloped off.

Dugu Da came running up and shielded Li Yan. At once he pulled a horn from inside his lapels and blew it in a long, wailing call. Moments later, a troop of more than ten cavalrymen came galloping out from the distant grove. They brought two riderless horses; Dugu Da and Li Yan mounted, took up bows and arrows, and led the cavalry in pursuit.

Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng had barely galloped two li when they heard the thunder of hoofbeats behind them.

Li Chunfeng looked back, and couldn’t help but give a wry smile. “Master — in the end we have still walked into their trap!”

Xuanzang did not look back. “You cannot call it a trap. Not one of these people is easy to deal with. My original plan was simply to leave Guazhou City first, then figure out the rest.”

Li Chunfeng was speechless. “And then?”

Xuanzang: “Run for our lives.”

Li Chunfeng had no recourse but to follow Xuanzang in a mad gallop — yet Xuanzang did not head east, but instead turned westward.

“Master, are we not going to Suzhou?” Li Chunfeng asked.

“Dugu Da knows we intend to go to Suzhou, and has likely already laid an ambush to the east.” Xuanzang said.

Li Chunfeng found himself agreeing with Xuanzang’s judgment. “Then heading west — where can we run to?”

“Nowhere,” Xuanzang said. “However far we can run, that’s how far we’ll go. At the very least we have one more horse than them. As long as we can cross the Shule River, it will be a matter of nine deaths and one survival.”

“Nine deaths and one survival…” Li Chunfeng heaved a long, sorrowful sigh. “Isn’t it nine deaths and one survival now as well?”

“Now?” Xuanzang gave it a thought. “Ten deaths, no survival, I would say!”

In the blink of an eye the two had galloped more than ten li further. By now the advantage of the extra horse was making itself felt, and they had gradually pulled ahead of Li Yan and his party behind them. But just as they were galloping forward, they suddenly saw great clouds of dust rising ahead — as if an army were sweeping toward them.

“This is bad!” Li Chunfeng’s face changed. “Dugu Da has deployed an ambush to the west as well!”

Xuanzang’s heart also sank, but in the desert wasteland there was only this single road, and there was no way around it. In the time it took to blink, the two of them had collided head-on with that party of riders.

Drawing close, Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng found that the arrivals were actually Li Chan’s wedding procession!

Li Chan and Wang Lize were riding in the center, escorting the bridal carriage in the middle of the convoy. From a distance Li Chan spotted Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng, and at once a look of delighted surprise crossed his face. He put his horse to a faster pace and rode to meet them.

“Master! Li Doctor!” Li Chan called out loudly. “What brings you here? Did you come especially to welcome me?”

Yu Zao, dressed in festive attire, also poked her head out from the bridal carriage and watched from afar.

Xuanzang and Li Chunfeng looked at each other, and could only slow their horses. Both parties halted on the ancient desert road.

“Your Highness the Heir…” Xuanzang smiled bitterly for a long while, at a loss for how to explain, and after a long moment finally said, “We have been chased here, pursued all the way by someone who wants to kill us.”

“Pursued?” Li Chan was furious. “Who in this jurisdiction of Guazhou dares pursue and kill my Master? Wang Lize, bring men to see which bandits dare—”

Wang Lize was also somewhat taken aback and agreed, already preparing to lead men to charge forward.

Li Chunfeng sighed. “Your Highness, the one who wants to kill us is your father.”

Li Chan, Yu Zao, and Wang Lize were all dumbfounded. They looked up blankly at the distant clouds of dust rising, and at the “boom-boom-boom” of hoofbeats growing ever closer. Li Yan’s silhouette came bursting through the dust clouds, his face a mask of ferocity, like the god of death himself.

Li Chan had never seen his father look this way.

Li Yan had not anticipated encountering his son midway. He reined in his horse and came to a halt. The men behind him, including Dugu Da, all pulled up their mounts at once.

Li Yan’s expression shifted through several changes. Slowly he lowered his bow and arrows and urged his horse forward.

“Father!” Li Chan bowed respectfully from horseback.

The personal retainers and servants of the Li family dismounted and knelt in obeisance on the ancient road.

“Chaner, was the journey smooth? Is the new bride well?” Li Yan asked.

“She is well.” Li Chan answered simply and directly. “Father, you came to pursue and kill my Master? Why?”

Li Yan was silent for a long moment, looking at the son he had cherished and raised, a great sorrow welling up in his heart.

“Your Highness, we were all wrong!” Li Chunfeng sighed. “The rebel is not only Wang Junke — your father is the mastermind!”

Li Chan was struck as if by lightning and was stunned for a long while before he cried out involuntarily, “Impossible! Do not speak such wild nonsense!”

Xuanzang said nothing, but looked at Li Chan with compassionate eyes. Li Chan saw this expression and his body began to tremble.

“Your Highness may ask Wang Lize,” Xuanzang said, “you ordered him to report news of Wang Junke’s rebellion to His Highness — did the message get through?”

Yu Zao suddenly threw open the carriage curtain, grabbed a broadsword from one of the retainers, leapt from the carriage platform, and kicked Wang Lize from his horse. Wang Lize hit the ground, dazed and confused, struggling to rise. Yu Zao strode up to him, placed the broadsword against his throat, and said in a sharp voice, “Answer truthfully!”

Wang Lize laughed coldly, closed his eyes, and said not a word.

“It has nothing to do with Lize,” Li Yan finally spoke. “The Master speaks correctly. This father has made up his mind to rebel!”

Li Chan’s body went limp and he tumbled from his horse, his brand-new ceremonial wedding robes stained with dust.

“Why? Why rebel?” Li Chan raged and cried out, “You are a Tang Prince of the Second Rank, a member of the imperial Li family — you are raising your blade against your own kinsmen!”

“There are some things you will not understand.” Li Yan looked at his son with grief. “In the ninth year of Wude, the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi died. In the first year of Zhenguan, Prince Changle and Prince Lujiang died — all cases of kinsmen slaughtering one another, of family members killing each other. From that time on I lived in terror day and night. I am a Prince of the Second Rank, yet in truth I am like an ant, looking up at the sky day and night, not knowing when the cleaver hanging over my head will fall. These past three years I have imagined ten thousand ways of dying — white silk cord, poisoned wine, beheading, imprisonment, smothering… I thought about it so long that I grew less afraid of death, only unwilling to die in degradation and disgrace. So I decided — my end would be to rise up and fight, to die on the field of battle. We of the Li clan, since rising from Longxi, this is the most glorious death for a Li man!”

Li Chan was streaming with tears. “Father, if you rebel, what becomes of Mother? What becomes of my brothers?”

“I have already secretly sent men to Chang’an, using an ancestral rites ceremony as a pretext to get your mother and brothers out of the capital.”

Li Yan said with grief. “Three thousand li away — my reach is too short. I can only hope they are fated to survive.”

“Ha ha ha—” Li Chan laughed bitterly. “Abandoning your wife and children to their fate, severing the ancestral incense and sacrificial rites — this is what you call your most glorious death?”

Li Yan heaved a sigh, his eyes reddening. “Chaner, it may not necessarily come to that. If I could successfully hold Hexi as an independent domain, I would establish a new ancestral hall in Guazhou.”

“And if you cannot?”

Li Chan said.

“A hundred battles leave body and name in ruins.” Li Yan murmured. “At that point I can only ensure your safety and send you into the Western Regions — never to return as long as you live.”

Li Chan sobbed and wept aloud. Yu Zao could not contain her fury, strode over, and gave him a hard blow with the flat of her blade on his body. “You are a man — what are you crying for?”

“Yu Zao—” Li Chan wept. “We have no future left!”

“If there is none, there is none!” Yu Zao bit her lip. “I despise this life of mine to the very marrow!”

“But I want you to be happy!” Li Chan cried out.

Yu Zao was momentarily dazed, and looked at him silently. She reached out and slowly wiped the dirt from his face. “Fool. We are husband and wife now. Husband and wife share the same fate — what happiness or unhappiness of it, we live together and die together.”

Li Chan held her as if holding onto a hope he refused to let go — yet his expression was filled with despair.

Yu Zao raised the broadsword and pointed it at Li Yan. “I am now a woman of the Li family — I should, by rights, address you as Father-in-Law. But you and my father conspire in treason, and I, Wang Yu Zao, refuse to acknowledge a traitor as a parent.”

“That you, the daughter of Wang Junke, can show such loyalty and righteous integrity is a blessing for the Wang clan — and for my Li clan as well.” Li Yan was not offended in the slightest, and nodded. “But you must understand: my rebellion and your father’s rebellion leave you with no retreat in Great Tang. Your loyalty is worthless to Great Tang.”

Yu Zao was momentarily thrown into uncertainty, yet answered with resolution. “Perhaps so — but between heaven and earth, one must always be faithful to the belief in one’s heart! My belief is the homeland that gave birth to me and the Great Tang that raised me. I would rather die here than betray Great Tang and follow in the path of the rebels!”

“There is no need to go to such extremes!” Li Yan said. “That you are loyal to Great Tang, I can only be gratified. Twelfth-Born, you and Chaner have both done nothing wrong — nor can either of you change anything. Why not simply walk the life you were originally meant to live?”

“The life we were meant to live was destroyed by you!” Yu Zao shouted.

Li Yan sighed. “Indeed it was! Great Tang — none of us can go back. Twelfth-Born, Chaner — our rebellion has nothing to do with you two. Since you are unwilling to follow, I will not force you, but this wedding ceremony must be held.”

“Does this wedding still hold any meaning whatsoever?” Yu Zao murmured.

Li Yan dismounted and came before the two of them, casting his bow and arrows to the ground.

“This wedding is the vow between the two of you, and it is also the vow between Wang Junke and me — therefore it must be held.”

Li Yan said, “Wang Junke’s great army is right behind you. The two of us fathers stand before you. If you wish to be loyal subjects of Great Tang, raise your blades against us. A single stroke will end this rebellion.”

Yu Zao and Li Chan stood rooted to the spot. The masterminds of the rebellion were right before their eyes, yet they could change nothing.

Xuanzang quietly heaved a sigh. Li Yan glanced at him. “Chaner, this is the Master you have acknowledged. Yet now he holds evidence of my treason — he cannot be allowed to escape. Seize him, and I promise not to harm his life.”

Li Chunfeng murmured, “What are you sighing about…”

Li Chan looked at Xuanzang, his expression somewhere between laughing and weeping. “No. This is my Master. Father, do you know? During those days following the Master, I truly felt for the first time that I was a living creature in heaven and earth.”

“Make your decision promptly,” Li Yan said. “Once Wang Junke arrives, whether I can protect his life will be uncertain.”

Li Chan looked at Xuanzang, torn and conflicted.

“Is there any need for this?” Xuanzang said placidly. “Your Highness the Prince, the heir’s heart is as pure as a child’s. Even if you deliberately tempt him into defilement, he will not become your accomplice.”

Li Yan’s gaze flickered — he had not expected Xuanzang to see through his intentions.

“Master, what should I do?” Li Chan pleaded, looking at him with anguish.

Xuanzang did not answer. He looked at Li Chunfeng with an apologetic expression and extended his hand.

Li Chunfeng smiled with resignation as he handed him the dagger. “Master, following you — there is never an end to ill fortune.”

“I am sorry.” Xuanzang took the dagger and threw it to the ground. “Your Highness the Heir, do not make a choice. Every choice would cause your heart to collapse. You were born with the heart of an innocent child — simply follow wherever your heart leads you. What this humble monk hopes to always see is a Li Chan who is clean and untainted. Prince Linjiang, this humble monk surrenders himself voluntarily into custody.”

“Master—!” Li Chan wept and knelt on the ground, crying inconsolably.