Prince Xiping’s father, Prince Xiping, along with his two younger brothers and his wives, all died in this war. Wave after wave of sorrowful wailing echoed from Prince Xiping’s mansion. Princess Xiping had fainted from crying several times, and the Crown Prince of Xiping had been constantly guarding Princess Xiping’s side, his entire body weighed down with exhaustion.
Above the grand entrance of Prince Xiping’s mansion hung two white lanterns inscribed with the character for “mourning,” while white silk and plain hemp decorated the azure tile ridges of the roof… hanging down from the carved eaves adorned with auspicious beasts, fluttering wildly in the wind.
Having finally settled the three children, the Crown Prince of Xiping had just knelt before the memorial hall with its six doors thrown wide open when the wind grew increasingly fierce. The light suddenly flickered, and the window lattice slammed shut with a heavy sound, frightening the servants keeping vigil into kneeling with heads bowed, not daring to make a sound. The Crown Prince of Xiping slowly clenched his fists, gazing at his father’s memorial tablet, feeling as if the sound of wind and crane cries filled every corner.
In a daze, the Crown Prince of Xiping seemed to hear war drums sounding from the direction of the eastern gate.
The weary-faced Crown Prince of Xiping suddenly stood up, his scalp tight with tension.
Since returning yesterday, he had been constantly worried that the Great Zhou Emperor would come for revenge after going back, especially considering how decisively and efficiently the Great Zhou Emperor had fought in the Nan Jiang campaign without any hesitation.
After a day of trembling anxiety with no sign of the Great Zhou Emperor, he had finally let down his guard, wanting to properly conduct funeral rites for his father, two younger brothers, and his wife. But now the Great Zhou Emperor had suddenly arrived with troops in the middle of the night.
“Report!” A soldier guarding the eastern gate leaped down from his horse and rushed into Prince Xiping’s mansion, kneeling outside the memorial hall and shouting, “Crown Prince, the Great Zhou Emperor has brought troops to attack the city!”
The Crown Prince of Xiping untied his mourning clothes and shouted, “Bring this Crown Prince’s battle armor! Send orders to the soldiers… defend the city gates to the death, and send someone to request Prince Jiujiang’s reinforcements!”
Just as the soldier was about to relay the orders, the Crown Prince of Xiping suddenly grabbed the soldier and whispered in his ear, “Tell Prince Jiujiang that if he doesn’t come… this Crown Prince will no longer hide the matter of the private mines and will present it to the Great Zhou Emperor to save his own life.”
On the first day of the second month in the third year of Yuanhe, Prince Xiping of Yan led fifty thousand troops to set an ambush at Yuntai Mountain, intending to kill the Great Zhou Emperor. Prince Xiping died in battle. Prince Gaoyi and the Regent Prince of Yan rushed to the rescue, using Prince Xiping’s family members as hostages to force the Xiping army to retreat.
On the second day of the second month in the third year of Yuanhe, Prince Zhongguo led troops to Shequ. The Great Zhou Emperor led his army out and fought fiercely for two days, completely breaking through Xiping City and capturing the Crown Prince of Xiping alive. Thus, the flames of war ignited between Yan and Zhou, and the national wager agreement came to an end.
The heavy, weathered city gates were battered down, and Great Zhou soldiers trampled over the gates as they entered… On the city walls, some defending soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered, some screamed in despair, while others with unyielding bones… ultimately died under the Great Zhou blades.
The common people closed their doors and stayed inside, hugging their children and hiding in their homes, barricading their doors, fearing that the Great Zhou army would kill them as well after entering the city.
The main entrance of Prince Xiping’s mansion was burned black, the white silk in the courtyard was stained red with splattered blood, debris scattered everywhere, yet the memorial hall alone remained intact, untouched by destruction.
In the puddles formed by blood and firefighting water, the morning sky reflected with growing brightness.
Xiping City, bathed in golden morning sunlight, seemed like it would be reborn after baptism by fire.
Bai Qingyan sat in the main hall while Princess Xiping knelt on the ground, holding several of her grandsons in her arms, begging Bai Qingyan to spare their family. The Crown Prince of Xiping, however, seemed resigned to his fate, pressed down and kneeling on the ground in silence, his entire body covered in blood.
She held strong tea in her hands, looking at the Crown Prince of Xiping, and spoke slowly, “Whether the people of Prince Xiping’s mansion can live depends entirely on whether the Crown Prince of Xiping can honestly answer my questions.”
The Crown Prince of Xiping raised his head to look at Bai Qingyan, his gaze seemingly filled with confusion.
“I wonder what benefits Prince Xiping’s mansion promised to Sa’er Khan, the ruler of Tianfeng Country, that made Sa’er Khan contribute the ink powder unique to their Tianfeng Country and hand it over to Prince Xiping to forge weapons…”
The Crown Prince of Xiping’s pupils trembled, his face unable to hide his shock, not understanding how Bai Qingyan could know this.
“Perhaps… you were preparing for contingencies, making preparations in case the wagering country lost to our Great Zhou! If the wagering country lost, you, feudal princes, would refuse to acknowledge the result and fight another battle with our Great Zhou! Since the Great Zhou has already reduced feudal power, if Yan Country were incorporated into the Great Zhou… whether Prince Xiping or Prince Jiujiang! I’m afraid you couldn’t escape the reduction of feudal power! Moreover… after Yan Country lost the wager, you would rebel against Yan… not only could you avoid the reduction of feudal power, but you could also restore the old governance, even if the territory would be somewhat smaller.” Bai Qingyan used the cup lid to press down the floating tea leaves in her white porcelain teacup, raising her eyes to look at the Crown Prince of Xiping. “Is this not so?”
What Tianfeng Country most hoped to see was that both Yan Country and Great Zhou would be drawn into the flames of war. Only when the Great Zhou and Yan countries were caught up in warfare could Tianfeng Country survive in the gap between them.
But Sa’er Khan also knew that Yan Country was no match for Great Zhou in terms of military strength, so… he gave something like ink powder to Yan Country, making their weapons superior to Great Zhou’s, at least giving them a chance to compete with Great Zhou.
Bai Qingyan’s inclusion of Prince Jiujiang in her words was merely to test the waters…
The Crown Prince of Xiping was first very surprised at how the Great Zhou Emperor knew about their cooperation with Tianfeng Country, then he thought of those arrows!
But how did the Great Zhou Emperor discover this?
Could it be that the Great Zhou also had ink powder, and by such coincidence… the Great Zhou Emperor had sent people to examine the arrows used by their Xiping army?
Shen Tianzhi, who had already regrouped with Bai Qingyan and was similarly dressed in armor, glanced at Bai Qingyan and spoke slowly, “Since Prince Xiping was preparing for the future, he naturally couldn’t let the Yan Emperor and court know. It seems… Prince Xiping’s mansion must have some mines… and weapon workshops that weren’t recorded on the books and unknown to the Emperor and Yan Country’s court!”
Shen Tianzhi knew… when Bai Qingyan was still Princess Zhenguo, she had secretly maintained mines in Niujiao Mountain without the court’s knowledge.
This approach was all too familiar to both Shen Tianzhi and Bai Qingyan. Back then, Xiao Rongyan had purchased mines near Niujiao Mountain and had even cooperated with Bai Qingyan. Nearly half of the Shouyang army’s weapons came from there.
Bai Qingyan covered her teacup with the lid and raised her eyes to look at the Crown Prince of Xiping, “Whether the people of Prince Xiping’s mansion can live depends entirely on whether the Crown Prince of Xiping is willing to reveal… where these mines and weapon workshops are located?”
Although Princess Xiping was only a woman of the inner quarters, as Prince Xiping’s pillow companion, she still knew something about Prince Xiping’s mansion affairs. However, she couldn’t understand how the Great Zhou Emperor could know about such important matters when even she, Princess Xiping, was kept in the dark, and even Prince Xiping’s advisors knew little of the truth.
Princess Xiping looked at her son, seeing fine sweat on his forehead, and called to her son in a low voice, “Your two younger brothers and wife are already dead! Do you want your mother to take these children to their deaths as well?! Speak quickly!”