The next day, early in the morning, the horn blowers sounded their massive horns, followed by the beating of war drums. Each beat made people’s hearts tighten. Yun Ye wrapped his head in a blanket, wanting to turn a deaf ear, but was forcibly pulled up by his roommate Tang Jian.
“Old Tang, can you give me a break? Yesterday I treated so many soldiers’ injuries—I’m exhausted. Can you just let me sleep a bit more?” Yun Ye was almost pleading. The weather outside was dry and cold. Even breathing in air felt like torture. On a morning like this, he didn’t know what madness had seized Li Jing.
“Hehe, boy, this is a rare scene. Since the Great Tang was founded, it’s only been held three times. That you have the fortune to witness it is a tremendous blessing. How can you still laze in bed? You’re at least a proper marquis—how can you set an example? Get up quickly. Put on your armor today. A military marquis must look like a military marquis.”
Unable to resist Tang Jian, he had to get up. By the time he finished putting on his armor, the drums had long since stopped.
Tang Jian showed no mercy at all, rolling his eyes at Yun Ye and saying: “The drums stopped long ago. If you were really a military general, your head would have been hung on a flagpole several times already. It’s fortunate you’re just a fraud. Otherwise, you’d have completely lost face for Great Tang military men.”
“Old Tang, whether I lose face or not is none of your damn business. When we get back to Chang’an, I’ll get nice and cozy with your Court of State Ceremonial. Who knows what big business deals we might do.” Yun Ye’s face had long been hardened by training. This small blow couldn’t faze him.
“In this whole world, there’s probably only one marquis like you who opens and closes his mouth with talk of business deals. The Court of State Ceremonial is a department with little profit—it can’t withstand your extortion.” Tang Jian didn’t care. This time he had achieved great merit. It was likely he would receive a promotion. In the Great Tang, military merit was the most difficult to obtain. If you wanted to be enfeoffed and provide for your wife and children, without military merit that was pure fantasy. The achievement he had fought for with his life this time could not be denied by anyone, so in conversing with Yun Ye he was more casual and less guarded.
The two men stood at the doorway with the greatest determination yet still did not want to lift that door curtain. Tang Jian had been frightened by the cold—he was truly frightened by it. When lying in that earth pit at the foot of Yinshan, he felt he was no different from a corpse. If possible, he even wanted to immediately run to the empire’s southernmost poor and desolate lands, simply because it was warm there.
Yun Ye gathered his courage, lifted the door curtain, held his breath and stepped out of the snow house. Tang Jian behind him also gritted his teeth and walked out. As soon as they emerged, both shivered in unison. Yun Ye even wanted to run back inside.
Apart from Yun Ye and Tang Jian, the remaining soldiers all stood together in the snow, not saying a word. Even He Shao and Xu Jingzong, who were watching the excitement from the side, unconsciously stood a bit straighter. Sun Simiao and Gongshu Jia tucked their hands into their sleeves, facing the slowly rising morning sun, seemingly in a daze.
A prison cart was dragged over. Inside was a woman whose neck was tightly locked by a large cangue, forcing her to maintain a posture of looking skyward.
“Who is this woman?” Yun Ye quietly asked Tang Jian.
“Princess Yicheng, daughter of the previous Sui Emperor Wendi. This woman is sexually promiscuous by nature. She married four generations of Turkish khagans in total. She’s a mortal enemy of our Great Tang. Xie Li’s several border raids all have her shadow behind them. Without her instigation from behind, Xie Li wouldn’t have been so crazed.” Tang Jian’s eyes were full of hatred.
“Wolves don’t eat people? Old Tang, what kind of perverse taste is this? It’s only because of this woman that Xie Li attacked the Great Tang? Do you even believe what you’re saying?” Yun Ye was most annoyed by using women as scapegoats. When emperors were confused, there was always a demonic consort. When great generals were confused, there was always a femme fatale. What kind of logic was this?
“Well… anyway, this woman deserves to die. You don’t know—when our army had already broken through the Turkish main camp, she was still resisting, even rallying scattered Turks to surround Su Dingfang. If the Grand Commander hadn’t followed up in time, Su Dingfang might have died in the chaos of soldiers.” Tang Jian was somewhat embarrassed.
Yun Ye stopped talking to Tang Jian and craned his neck to look at Princess Yicheng in the prison cart. He saw her graying hair scattered messily over her face, making it impossible to see her features clearly. How could such an old woman be a beautiful femme fatale?
A huge platform was right before them. Several soldiers opened the prison cart, dragged Princess Yicheng out, and threw her on the platform. She struggled to stand up, her head still facing skyward. White mist from her mouth came out in disorderly puffs. She wore only thin furs. It was clear she was trying hard to maintain her dignity.
“Why does she keep her head up? Hasn’t the cangue been removed?” Yun Ye felt her posture was somewhat strange.
“This old man has worked in the Ministry of Justice. Is a fifteen-jin heavy cangue so easy to wear? It’s not that she doesn’t want to lower her head—she can’t lower it. Her neck bones have probably been dislocated. It would be strange if she could lower her head.” Tang Jian was somewhat gleeful at her misfortune.
Wrapped entirely in thick furs, Li Jing looked like a huge bear as he came to the platform. With his hands behind his back, he said to Princess Yicheng: “Four thousand of this old man’s sons perished by your hand. Even now when I think of it, my heart still aches unbearably. Being a Han person, not only did you not help your own kinfolk, you instead colluded with Xie Li, constantly raiding our borders. How many sons of the Han died by your hand? Now this old man will execute you according to law to offer sacrifice to our dead Great Tang soldiers and civilians. Evil woman, today is the day your head falls.”
As soon as Li Jing’s words left his mouth, the soldiers below the platform shouted in unison: “Kill, kill, kill!” The atmosphere was extremely heated.
Chinese people love to spectate. From watching arguments to watching executions, they always place themselves at an observer’s angle and can find reasons from it that excite or please them.
Li Jing had ample reason to kill the woman before him. She was an enemy, and because of her, many more lives were lost. You only needed to state this reason—that was enough. There was no need to drag in so much else. Placing such enormous crimes on a woman’s shoulders was truly wasteful.
Princess Yicheng tilted her head to stare at Li Jing and slowly said: “Li Jing, you too were a subject of the Great Sui. Now seeing me, you don’t kneel? The blood flowing through my body is the most noble. Fighting against a traitor like you, where did I go wrong? Committing offenses against one’s superiors is a capital crime. You’re aware of this, aren’t you?”
“The Sui Dynasty long ago perished due to your brother’s cruel tyranny. Now it is the Great Tang’s world. You are not my princess either. You committed evil deeds, so naturally you must be punished. Come! Prepare for the execution.” Li Jing seemed unwilling to engage in a war of words with her. Today was a great sacrifice, and Princess Yicheng was the most honored sacrificial offering.
“Li Jing, I’m very cold. Light me a large fire. Before I die, I want to warm up. Otherwise, in the underworld I’ll never know what warmth is again.” Princess Yicheng no longer opposed Li Jing. She only made her final request before death.
In the Great Tang, reasonable requests from condemned prisoners were basically all granted, let alone that this was a princess of the former Sui. Although Li Jing grieved over his subordinates’ deaths and injuries, he did not refuse this request of hers.
A huge bonfire was lit—it had been prepared to celebrate today’s victory. There were dozens of such bonfires. Princess Yicheng came to the bonfire’s side and stretched out both hands to warm herself. Only her neck remained dislocated, which made her very uncomfortable.
Sun Simiao walked forward, gently pressed her neck, pulled upward, then twisted to one side. Princess Yicheng’s head could now move freely. She smiled at Sun Simiao and bowed to him: “Divine Immortal Sun, truly excellent skills.”
Sun Simiao sighed and left. His retreating figure seemed somewhat desolate. His usually solid spine was somewhat hunched. They knew each other before? Yun Ye became interested. If there was some relationship between them that couldn’t be told to others, causing Old Sun to want to raid the execution ground, should he help or not?
“Old Tang, Daoist Sun and this Princess Yicheng seem to be old acquaintances. If Old Sun wants to raid the execution ground, will you help?” One sentence nearly choked Tang Jian to death. He coughed several times before calming down, glared fiercely at Yun Ye, and said: “As early as the former Sui period, Daoist Sun frequently entered the imperial palace. What does knowing Princess Yicheng amount to? Don’t apply your ugly thoughts to Daoist Sun.”
As long as they had no affair, that was fine. Otherwise, if Old Sun really did something, Yun Ye would have to risk his life to accompany him. With so many soldiers, two people definitely couldn’t win. The most likely outcome would be that instead of one person being beheaded, there would be three.
Princess Yicheng warmed herself by the bonfire for a long time, then said to Li Jing: “So warm. This reminds me of my days in the imperial palace. I was only twelve years old then. Father Emperor told me the Turkish people hoped to marry a true royal daughter. If we didn’t agree, they would run to Guanzhong and seize ten thousand women. To prevent them from doing bad things in Guanzhong, I told Father Emperor I was willing to marry the Turkish khagan. At that time, I always thought the Turkish khagan was also a great hero. Perhaps I could make him stop coming to the Central Plains, because I was Father Emperor’s most beautiful daughter. Only when I reached the grasslands did I learn that the Turkish khagan was an old man whose teeth had all fallen out. I wanted to go home, but I couldn’t return. I could only stay in the Turks’ dirty, stinking felt tents. I very much wanted to bathe, but the khagan wouldn’t allow it. He said women without the smell of mutton weren’t wives of Turks, so I didn’t bathe for a very long time. Later I married the khagan’s brother, the khagan’s son, and finally married Xie Li. Li Jing, I’m very dirty now. I want to go meet my Father Emperor clean. Is that possible?” Princess Yicheng looked at Li Jing full of hope.
“If you want to take a bath, in consideration of your voluntarily coming to the Turks for a marriage alliance, this commander agrees.” Li Jing was about to have auxiliary soldiers prepare bathwater.
“Thank you, General. The filth on my body cannot be washed away with water. I want to use fire to wash myself.” She smiled and bowed gracefully to Li Jing, then turned and threw herself into the blazing bonfire. After struggling twice, she stopped moving…
The soldiers let out tremendous cheers. Only Li Jing’s face turned green then white, as if changing masks. He had seen what Princess Yicheng wanted to do, but hadn’t anticipated she would immolate herself so decisively. Princess Yicheng was still smiling at him from within the bonfire. Clearly she didn’t fear death—she had long since lived enough, long since wanted to die.