Yan Sanhe knew Wu Guanyue and his son’s outcome, but didn’t know the twists and turns involved. Her curiosity deepened.
“How was it discovered later?”
“When the Late Emperor died and the new Emperor ascended, by custom, after a new emperor’s enthronement the vassal state’s king would send envoys to offer congratulations.”
Xie Zhifei glanced toward the capital’s direction, his tone still very somber.
“Only then did Ministry of Rites officials discover in the congratulatory documents that Great Qi’s king no longer had the surname Chen but had changed to Wu.
At the document’s end was written: Wu Guanyue was elevated to kingship by the people and hoped to receive appointment from the Hua Emperor.”
Yan Sanhe picked up the thread. “The mountain is high and roads far—His Majesty didn’t know what happened in Great Qi. He would certainly send people to investigate.”
“Exactly.”
Xie Zhifei: “His Majesty sent the Right Vice Minister of Rites to Great Qi to investigate the truth. The Vice Minister returned memorializing that the situation was as stated, so His Majesty issued the appointment document.”
Pei Xiao snorted coldly. “That Vice Minister most likely took a bribe—and not a small amount either.”
“What happened next?” This time it was Li Buyan urging.
Li Buyan listened without blinking, thinking what a wonderful story—if only a proper storyteller were telling it.
Third Master Xie used the same tone throughout.
“In the second year of Yonghe, Great Qi’s old minister Sun Bin suddenly arrived at Nanning Prefecture, saying he had urgent matters to report to His Majesty. The Nanning Prefect sensed something wrong and immediately dispatched troops to escort him to the capital.”
Xie Zhifei continued in the same monotone.
“Upon seeing the Emperor, Sun Bin wept while bitterly denouncing Wu Guanyue’s despicable acts—massacring the Chen imperial clan, massacring the court, usurping power through treachery.”
In two brief sentences, everyone’s hearts pounded.
Yan Sanhe remained quite calm. “His Majesty was thunderously enraged and sent troops to war.”
“This time you guessed wrong.”
Xie Zhifei’s gaze shifted, looking down at Yan Sanhe.
“His Majesty sits upon the dragon throne—how could he act on one-sided testimony, especially with the previous Ministry of Revenue Vice Minister’s testimony?
However, before His Majesty could send people to Great Qi to investigate, another person rushed to the capital. Guess who?”
What kind of temperament was Pei Xiao’s? “Xie Fifty, if you keep playing games, I’ll strangle you.”
Xie Zhifei glanced at Pei Xiao. “The Chen clan king’s concubine-born younger brother.”
Yan Sanhe frowned. “He survived the massacre?”
Xie Zhifei nodded. “Barely escaped with his life.”
Yan Sanhe: “This proves old minister Sun Bin’s words were true. Now His Majesty should dispatch troops, right?”
Xie Zhifei shook his head. “The appointment document had been proclaimed throughout the realm. The sovereign’s word cannot be taken lightly—that’s the first reason. Warfare depletes national strength and financial resources—that’s the second.”
“Could there be an even better solution?”
Yan Sanhe pondered briefly, then looked directly into Xie Zhifei’s eyes.
“Yes—make that Wu Guanyue voluntarily abdicate. First, it preserves His Majesty’s dignity. Second, it costs not a single soldier.”
Xie Zhifei looked at her and smiled gently, his eyes extraordinarily bright.
Why is he smiling?
Yan Sanhe quietly averted her gaze.
“So His Majesty issued an edict to Great Qi, using both grace and威 威 authority with Wu Guanyue.”
Xie Zhifei continued looking at her. “Yan Sanhe, if you were Wu Guanyue, what would you do?”
Yan Sanhe was stumped.
Wu Guanyue’s outcome was clan extermination followed by exile, which meant…
“He’d rather die than submit?”
“This time you’re wrong again. He sent envoys to the capital with a memorial stating his willingness to yield the throne and sincerely accept any punishment from Hua.”
Yan Sanhe blurted out, “A delaying tactic?”
Xie Zhifei neither confirmed nor denied, instead softening his tone.
“His Majesty was delighted. He summoned his ministers to deliberate and decided to exempt Wu Guanyue from all responsibility, granting him fief lands as appeasement.”
Pei Xiao shook his head. “His Majesty’s gesture was truly magnanimous—so magnanimous it borders on a woman’s kindness. Yan Sanhe, what do you think?”
Yan Sanhe said nothing, quietly waiting for Xie Zhifei to continue.
“His Majesty sent envoys and five thousand elite troops to escort the Chen clan king’s concubine-born brother back to Great Qi, preparing to receive the throne from Wu Guanyue. But who knew…”
Xie Zhifei’s sword brows lifted, his tone suddenly exceptionally furious.
“Who knew that just after crossing the Beicang River, they were ambushed by Wu Guanyue. The envoy and Chen clan brother were beheaded on the spot. Of five thousand troops, three hundred died, one thousand were wounded, and the rest fled back across the Beicang River into Hua.”
As the final word fell, everyone’s faces changed.
When two nations war, they still don’t kill envoys…
Pei Xiao erupted in rage. “A tiny vassal state daring such insolence—I wonder what that bastard surnamed Wu ate to make his guts so fat.”
“Third Master Xie.”
Li Buyan’s forehead veins bulged. “Hurry up—what happened next?”
“In the third year of Yonghe, His Majesty sent General Zheng Yu to campaign against Great Qi. The battle was a great victory. The Wu clan was massacred, but Wu Guanyue and his son managed to escape.”
“Yan Sanhe, how did you know?” Pei Xiao’s eyes nearly popped out in shock.
“Right! Miss, how did you know?”
“I also know that in the eighth year of Yonghe, Wu Guanyue and his son sent assassins to infiltrate the capital and massacre General Zheng Yu’s household.”
Yan Sanhe said lightly, “All one hundred eighty people in General Zheng’s household—not one survived.”
“You, you, you…”
Pei Xiao was so shocked he couldn’t speak. Could the spirit medium also divine by calculation?
“Yan Sanhe.”
Xie Zhifei looked at her pale face, suppressing all the surging emotions within.
“My father told you Wu Guanyue and his son’s outcome but didn’t tell you the twists and turns in between. Do you understand it all now?”
“Thank you for resolving my confusion.”
Yan Sanhe met Xie Zhifei’s deep eyes. “Actually, I’ve already let this matter go.”
“Good that you can let it go.”
Perhaps the easiest thing in this world is letting go; but the hardest thing…
Is also letting go!
Xie Zhifei turned his face away, gazing at the distant, endlessly winding Beicang River, saying nothing more.
Yan Sanhe stared at him fixedly.
She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but the current Xie Zhifei seemed somewhat different from before.
As if…
Too profound.
“Amitabha!”
Monk Zhitong pressed his palms together. “Since Third Master’s story has finished, let us descend the mountain now.”
“Down, down—important business matters.”
Pei Xiao stood with Huang Qi’s support. “Xie Fifty, come help me.”
“Don’t you have Huang Qi?”
“I want you to help me, understand?”
Not knowing what had gotten into him, Xie Zhifei had no choice but to walk over and extend his hand to support him, quietly asking:
“Why did you call me over?”
Pei Xiao’s voice came almost from his nasal cavity. “What was wrong with you just now?”
“What do you mean ‘what was wrong’?”
“Stop playing dumb.”
Pei Xiao ground his back molars.
“Don’t forget we two grew up wearing the same split-pants. When you stick your ass out, I know exactly what shit you’re going to take.”
Xie Zhifei was amused. “Then tell me—what shit am I taking?”
“You’re troubled.”
“What am I troubled about?”
Pei Xiao curled his lip in a cold smile, pointing at Yan Sanhe’s back.
“You investigated eight-hundred-year-old events thoroughly for her sake—and you say you have no such intentions?”
Xie Zhifei: “…”
“Come on!”
Pei Xiao’s lips curled with slight smugness. “Confess thoroughly to your brother.”
Xie Zhifei remained utterly motionless. “Which imperial physician at the Imperial Medical Bureau is the best healer?”
“That must be my father!”
“After we return, have your father check your pulse.”
“What illness do I have?”
“Mental illness!”