When Xu Lingyi saw that Shiyiniang had suddenly teared up mid-conversation, he was momentarily stunned, then broke into a quiet laugh.
“Silly girl!” He pulled her into his arms with indulgent affection. “For Jin Ge’er to go to war, there’d have to be a war to fight in the first place!”
Shiyiniang paused, slightly dazed.
Xu Lingyi laughed. “His Majesty possesses both civil and military brilliance, his might extending far and wide. Compared to the Jianwu era, the realm is far more peaceful now. Even in Fujian, though the court has suffered losses over the years, it hasn’t come to the point of enemies pressing at the city gates the way they did a decade ago. As for the northwest and the Miao frontier, there are occasional raids and skirmishes, but the local garrisons handle them with scattered forces — there’s no need for the court to issue an edict mobilizing the commanders of the Five Military Commanderies. Where is there still a war to be fought?” He sighed softly, half in contentment, half in wistfulness.
The contentment was for the common people, who no longer had to suffer the ravages of war. The wistfulness was for those passionate, blood-stirring years that could never return.
Shiyiniang’s expression eased slightly. She struggled to sit up straight. “I wouldn’t know about other places. But the northwest has been quiet for over a decade. That land is poor and barren, life is hard there. To them, everything inside Jiayuguan Pass is like a piece of fat dangling before their mouths — they can’t possibly just watch forever without taking a bite. One year of stillness, two years of stillness — but ten years? Twenty years?” She did the arithmetic in her head, and Jin Ge’er would be in his prime right around then. Her voice took on an edge of displeasure. “My Lord is a high official of the court. Something even a woman confined to the inner quarters like me knows — you couldn’t possibly be unaware of it.”
Xu Lingyi was genuinely surprised. He looked at Shiyiniang with an amused expression. “Tsk, tsk,” he said, “I wouldn’t have guessed it. You actually have insights like these. You’re far sharper than I am.” His tone was teasing, trying to ease the tension in her mood.
Under ordinary circumstances, Shiyiniang might have bantered back. But this concerned Jin Ge’er’s future. She fixed Xu Lingyi with a glare. “My Lord, stop trying to dodge the subject!”
Xu Lingyi looked at her — stern-faced yet without the slightest trace of real ferocity — and burst into laughter.
Shiyiniang’s brow furrowed slightly.
Seeing the added displeasure on her face, Xu Lingyi knew she was serious now. He gradually collected himself, weighed his words, and said quietly, “His Majesty is in the prime of his years. I can still eat and sleep well. But if another twenty years pass… or a new emperor ascends the throne… you need not worry about that!”
Shiyiniang understood immediately.
Thirteen years ago, Xu Lingyi’s campaign in the northwest had left a deep impression there. As long as the Emperor and he were still alive — the former as the decision-maker, who having secured authority over northwestern affairs would be even less likely to tolerate any encroachment, and the latter as the executor still capable of taking the field and commanding armies — those people would only dare to cause minor border trouble.
But everything had a time limit. Years from now, a new generation would have risen, and Xu Lingyi would be old. The legendary battle would no longer inspire the same fear. Or the Emperor might have passed away, and a new emperor would not yet have the confident grip to command his ministers at will. That would be when the northwest chose to strike.
Looking at things now, the Emperor had not so much as suffered a cold, and no one knew when a crown prince might be named. Twenty years — still a long way off.
Even so, she heard something else beneath his words.
In the military camp, the strong were paramount — whether through strategy or sheer strength, as long as you were powerful enough.
All the training Xu Lingyi had given Jin Ge’er was pointing toward exactly that.
“Has my Lord already decided to let Jin Ge’er enter by way of hereditary privilege?” she asked. “But have you considered — the northwest will be in chaos one day, and even if he’s stationed at the West Mountain Camp, should His Majesty ever lead a personal imperial campaign, Jin Ge’er would have to go along.” At this, she pressed her lips together. “A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Whatever my Lord may think, I will absolutely not agree!”
Her resolve was something Xu Lingyi had never seen in her before.
“Shiyiniang!” He laughed, reaching out to hold her. “Don’t be like this!”
Shiyiniang pushed him away. “My Lord, say no more. Tomorrow I’ll go find Elder Brother and ask him to find a private tutor for Jin Ge’er. From now on, Jin Ge’er will study under a new teacher. With his intelligence, who knows — he might even pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations.” She then turned her back to him and burrowed under the covers.
“Shiyiniang!” Xu Lingyi pressed close. “Let’s talk this through properly, hmm?” He gently shook her shoulder.
“What is there to talk about?” Shiyiniang’s heart was full of grievance. “When two people disagree, there’s nothing to plan together.”
“Shiyiniang!” Xu Lingyi gently smoothed the dark strands of hair spread across the pillow. “I know you’re worried about Jin Ge’er. Do you think I’m not? Everything you’ve said — I’ve thought about it carefully. If Jin Ge’er has no talent for military command, and I were to send him to the camp out of wishful thinking, that wouldn’t be caring for him — it would be harming him.” His voice grew animated, rising slightly with excitement. “Shiyiniang, you have no idea how capable our Jin Ge’er is. When he was six years old, I casually said a few words, and he could already read military maps. In all my years of commanding troops, I’d never seen anything like it. At six, I got lost going with my mother to the palace to pay respects to the Empress… And Master Pang told him to practice internal martial arts — others took half a day just figuring out where the core energy center was, but he understood it after hearing it once. Shiyiniang, our Jin Ge’er has real talent…”
Shiyiniang suddenly flipped over.
Xu Lingyi couldn’t dodge in time and nearly caught her on the chin.
“Before Zhao Kuo ever went to war, everyone said he had talent!” Shiyiniang stared coldly at Xu Lingyi. “Before Huo Qubing ever set foot on the battlefield, everyone said he had talent too!”
The former was a general who died because he only knew theory; the latter, a brilliant star extinguished too soon.
“Shiyiniang!” Xu Lingyi smiled ruefully.
Shiyiniang gave a cold “hmph” and turned back over, once again presenting him with her back.
Xu Lingyi gazed at her graceful silhouette and shook his head with a helpless smile.
After a while, estimating her temper had cooled somewhat, he gently leaned close and called her name softly.
“Moyan, Moyan!”
Shiyiniang did not respond.
Xu Lingyi’s hand rested gently on her shoulder.
Shiyiniang did not move.
Xu Lingyi let out a quiet breath of relief.
“Moyan!” he said softly in her ear. “I’ve fought battles in the south and north, and I’ve seen more tragedy than I can count. Who would understand the cruelty of war better than I do? Back then, I didn’t have to lead troops south — I could have lived a decent enough life. But I chose to put my life on the line to carve out a future, simply wanting to make things easier for my family, so my children wouldn’t have to work as hard as I did, could rest on their forebears’ accomplishments and live comfortably. Jin Ge’er is the son we wished upon the stars and the moon, the son I’ve watched grow up from nothing. When he’s unhappy, it troubles me more than my own unhappiness. When he’s happy, I’m more glad than when I myself am happy. How could I bear to put him through the hardships I’ve endured?”
As he spoke, Xu Lingyi felt the rigid tension in Shiyiniang’s shoulders gradually ease.
His spirits lifted.
“Didn’t you once say — our path is longer than our parents’, and our children’s path is longer than ours. When they are small, we are in our prime, able to shelter them from wind and rain. When we grow old, even if we want to protect them, we’ll no longer have the strength or capacity to do so. So while we are still young, we must teach them the skills to survive. That way, when we are old, they won’t end up destitute and adrift just because they lost their protectors.
“That, I agree with wholeheartedly.
“So when you said Jie Ge’er wanted to sit the imperial examinations and needed a private tutor, I engaged Master Chang at the same stipend as Master Zhao.
“From the time he was small, Jin Ge’er has always been lively and active. After you scolded him severely, he suddenly became timid and hesitant, growing listless. At the time, I just wanted to let him clear his head. I used the excuse of business at the Baoding horse farm and took him out for a while.” He paused. “You have no idea — the farther we traveled from Yanjing, the more he was like a wilted seedling that had finally been rained upon, coming back to life a little more each day. In my heart…” He couldn’t find the words, and fell silent.
Shiyiniang said nothing, but the shoulders that had just eased grew stiff again.
“Moyan!” Xu Lingyi’s large, warm hand rustled beneath the covers and found hers. “He’s our son…” His voice grew slightly thick. “I don’t want to see him hanging his head in dejection… I want him to live with his chest held high — free-spirited and bold, bright and unbounded… Even without my protection, able to weather storms, unafraid of frost, standing tall and unyielding!”
Shiyiniang’s body trembled slightly.
Xu Lingyi wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing tender kisses to her temples as if she were something precious and irreplaceable.
“Moyan, trust me. I won’t act recklessly. Jin Ge’er is still young — we’ll build his foundation first. When he’s older, I’ll send him to a military camp. If he does well, we’ll go from there. If he doesn’t take to it…” His voice dropped suddenly, barely above a whisper. “When the new emperor ascends, he will certainly bestow noble titles on his maternal relatives… Moyan, when that time comes, I will fight to secure a noble rank for Jin Ge’er… Trust me!”
A soft, quiet weeping sounded in the room.
“Moyan, Moyan.” Xu Lingyi’s voice grew panicked. “Don’t cry, please don’t cry.” He turned her toward him. “Trust me. I have plans for everything.”
Trust him?
It was precisely because she trusted Xu Lingyi that she was so afraid.
His endurance, his tenacity, his decisiveness, his composure, his deep and far-reaching scheming — all were the sure ingredients of success in any endeavor.
If he had made up his mind, the odds were eight or nine in ten that he would succeed.
But she could not bear for Jin Ge’er to face even the slightest danger.
“I don’t want Jin Ge’er to enter by hereditary privilege. I don’t want it.” She knew this was unreasonable of her, but she wanted to be unreasonable just this once. “Why does Jin Ge’er have to take that path? Why can’t he just do whatever he wants…”
“All right, all right, all right.” Xu Lingyi soothed her like one soothing a child. “Our Jin Ge’er can do whatever he wants. Stop crying, hmm — you’ll hurt your eyes.”
That only made it worse. At his words, Shiyiniang felt even more wronged, and burst into open sobs.
The next morning, Jin Ge’er and Shen Ge’er went cheerfully to pay their respects to Shiyiniang and Xu Lingyi. They sensed something odd in the room. Their mother wouldn’t give their father a single glance, and though she smiled as she spoke to them, there was a faint strain to it. Their father sat to one side, occasionally stealing a look at their mother as though he had something to say but couldn’t find the moment to say it.
Shen Ge’er quietly tugged at Jin Ge’er’s sleeve. “Fourth Auntie and Fourth Uncle must have had a quarrel.”
“Impossible!” Jin Ge’er’s phoenix eyes went wide. “My father and mother never quarrel!”
“Heh heh heh!” Shen Ge’er smiled with an air of absolute certainty. “That’s because you don’t know. When my father and mother quarrel, it’s exactly like this.”
A flicker of confusion crossed Jin Ge’er’s eyes. “Really?”
“Really!” Shen Ge’er declared with full confidence. “Though usually it’s my father smiling and talking to us, while my mother watches my father’s expression from the side.”
—