Su Zhe’s cheeks flushed with excited color — results had been achieved, and this made her very happy!
She asked: “Grandfather, shall we press our advantage and pursue? What a perfect opportunity!”
But Zhù Ying shook her head: “Hold the position and stand guard — be prepared for the unexpected!”
“What?” Su Zhe’s fine brows knitted together. “I know the saying is ‘don’t pursue a desperate enemy,’ but they haven’t quite reached their last extremity yet, have they? With their morale unsettled right now — wouldn’t this be a fine moment?”
Zhù Ying said: “Send word to Marquis Leng, and ask him to be careful as well.”
She issued the order first, then turned to explain to Su Zhe: “If I were in that position, faced with such a momentous situation and forced to withdraw, I would certainly make arrangements to ensure no enemy could exploit the retreat, setting ambushes along the road — once, twice, even three times — until all thought of pursuit had been thoroughly crushed, allowing me to head north in peace and support my chosen candidate to the throne. Leili Atu is no fool. The fact that he was able to withdraw without a sound means he could equally have laid traps along the road.”
Zhao Su said: “Quite right. Barbarian troops are battle-hardened veterans who move with great speed. Our official soldiers are capable of holding cities now, but pursuit? We’re still not quite there. Qingjun’s forces are swift enough, but not in sufficient numbers to make a truly decisive blow — and if something went wrong along the way, the losses would be too painful to bear.”
Cavalry, especially heavily equipped cavalry, could only be built up through sustained investment of money. Without money it was impossible — but money alone was not enough; time was also needed, and the “building up” was itself a process. At this moment, for Zhù Ying and her people, the money was there, but the “building up” was not yet complete.
To pursue would mean sending the best troops. Victory was not guaranteed, and if those troops were lost, the heartache would be acute.
The finest among Zhù Qingjun’s people were of the sort where one lost was one fewer. And behind them was Zhù Qingjun’s own personal skill and ability — in reality, their numbers were not sufficient for a single sweeping, decisive counteroffensive. Going too deep into enemy territory, supply lines could not keep up.
Chen Fang, who had started drafting documents the moment Zhù Ying issued her order, finished as Zhao Su finished speaking. He blew lightly on the draft, lifted it, and handed it to Zhù Ying for review.
Zhù Ying said: “More or less good. Send it to Marquis Leng. You two should not let up either — keep gathering intelligence. Whatever the outcome on their end, there will still be work for you going forward.”
Su Zhe quickly composed herself: “Yes! Then — if the barbarian Chancellor and their Crown Prince win, what do we do?”
Zhù Ying said: “Don’t let them win too easily.”
The uncle and niece exchanged a glance: “Yes!”
Zhù Ying issued further orders to General Ye, Wen Yue, and others, commanding heightened vigilance, and at the same time urged on the spring planting.
Jing Gang said: “With the military situation still unclear, if spring planting goes ahead at the border and fighting resumes, the seeds will be wasted.”
Zhù Ying said: “Worst case, we lose some seeds. But if we hold back on the chance of it? Then this entire year is lost. Do it.”
“Yes.”
Zhù Ying also called in northern scholars and Xiang Yu and others, telling them: “Begin compiling statistics on available resources in preparation for the bereaved families and the wounded!”
Clerk Bao’s nephew, his voice carrying a note of uncertainty, asked: “Commissioner, the fighting hasn’t ended yet — should we not be tallying casualties first?”
Xiang An, standing nearby, answered on her behalf: “Tally it all up and report it to the court, then wait for those above to wrangle it through and send it back down — there’s no telling when that will be. People’s families at home don’t know what they’d have to go through in the meantime.”
Zhù Ying said: “These people also fought and died for the Northern Territories, and the dead and wounded include sons of the Northern Territories.”
Wen Yue’s new recruits had been tempered and thinned through battle after battle.
Zhù Ying said: “Very well. All of you get to work. Have the Royal Consort come to me.”
After Luo Sheng arrived, he too was not jumping up and down in excitement, but he was very concerned about the barbarian overlord — this news had to be communicated to him. If negotiations for peace were to come later, he would need to step to the front as a visible representative.
After learning that the barbarian Chancellor had retreated north, Luo Sheng began making preparations for peace negotiations. He recalled the interpreters, put himself in order, and began to do what he could to anticipate what conditions the Emperor would wish to raise.
Though he trusted Zhù Ying and Zhao Su, he could not simply wait for everything to be handed to him on a platter. At the very least, he had to demonstrate that he was willing to do his part.
At the same time, Marquis Leng also received Zhù Ying’s dispatch.
He did not immediately order a pursuit. Instead he issued two commands: first, send scouts to confirm; second — he came to the same decision as Zhù Ying: hold position and stand guard!
Half of the officers in his tent could not understand it: “My lord, why do we not pursue?! That girl from the western route has already claimed the first glory — we can’t fall behind a girl!”
“My lord, the western route’s Commissioner Zhù is a civil official by background, and cautious is as cautious does, but he also holds other commissioner posts — his whole stake is not in military achievements. The northern people say he is good, and that is enough for him to answer to His Majesty. Our situation is quite different!”
Each one of them made a compelling argument.
But Leng Pinghui remained very calm, and said: “Best not to walk into a trap.”
The fall he had taken before had been a severe one, and having once been bitten by the snake, even when the enemy was fleeing and all was going well, he suspected the enemy of plotting to harm him. The young Marquis Leng beside him also did not mock his elder brother, and his own brow was slightly furrowed: “It’s not as though we have come away with nothing.”
“Then what are the kill counts?”
The young Marquis Leng looked at the colleague still eager to press forward and asked: “And your casualties? Once a battle is over, people will inevitably come to check whether any positions in the rolls are fictitious.”
When the forces were divided, Marquis Leng had inherited mostly old-style regular army troops — no new recruits, all of them registered by name. Before they had been put in order, they had been egregiously padding the rolls, and their credibility with the court was not high. The court would certainly be watchful.
A review would show that this many able-bodied young men had been killed in action — the Emperor might stay silent, but the court officials would not let them off.
Marquis Leng scanned the tent and said: “Dispatch the scouts.”
……
Thanks to Zhù Ying’s and Marquis Leng’s caution, the main forces did not act rashly. Three days later, another group of scouts came back to report: “There are traces of ambushes set along Leili Atu’s retreat route — all of them abandoned now.”
Leili Atu had set his ambushes precisely in order to buy time. With Zhù Ying and Marquis Leng not giving chase, he had naturally withdrawn his troops and headed back north to contest for the throne.
At that point, Marquis Leng came in person to Zhù Ying’s command yamen to discuss how to handle what came next.
Zhù Ying politely asked Marquis Leng: “What is your view?”
Marquis Leng said with painful frankness: “My inclination would naturally be to chase them down and fight until they surrender. But that, I fear, cannot be as I would wish. What do you think?”
Zhù Ying said: “I don’t understand military matters — I defer to your judgment.”
Marquis Leng said: “It is no longer a military question at this point — it is time to think about how to settle affairs afterwards.”
“What do you mean?”
“The meaning is: advance one to two hundred li and then withdraw!”
Marquis Leng’s thinking was simple: if the forces under him now were what he had commanded forty years ago at their peak, there would be nothing to think about — straight into the attack! Right now it was not that he himself was inadequate — it was that his soldiers were a notch below.
Marquis Leng said slowly: “Once we pass the mountain passes and head further north, the land opens up without end. There are towns, but they are difficult to hold. It takes not only infantry but cavalry.”
In short, it was not worth the cost — unless they went in to loot and retreat, in which case it would be worthwhile.
Beyond that, Marquis Leng also had another matter to discuss with Zhù Ying — reporting merit.
Though they had been split into two routes, Marquis Leng’s meaning was: “You and I have been through this together, and I have been much in your debt these days. I cannot go back and be laughed at.”
He was of military aristocratic origin; Zhù Ying, although she was close to the Zheng family, had a civil official’s foundation, and would still be a civil official once the commissioner post was set aside. Keeping their relationship cordial was, all in all, better than a performative falling-out that would put everyone’s minds at ease — and reporting their military achievements while coordinating with each other and communicating ahead of time meant fewer complications, which also made things easier to push through at the court.
Zhù Ying said: “Good. Only, I would like to stay on a few more days to handle the aftermath. You know how it is — I came north originally to pacify the Northern Territories, and after so great a battle I cannot simply leave. I need you to depart first. Let us first submit a memorial and see how the court intends to settle the border forces. I’ll stay behind, properly settle all the soldiers you brought through, and then follow. What do you think?”
Marquis Leng said: “Good! And the Royal Consort?”
Zhù Ying gave a slight smile and pointed northward — letting Luo Sheng stay to oversee the peace negotiations? She did not have that confidence in him.
Marquis Leng said: “This too is part of the aftermath — you cannot simply wash your hands of it.”
“Agreed.”
The two of them worked things out, and Marquis Leng stayed on at the command yamen for two more days. He tried cautiously to ask Zhù Ying: “That little Qingjun girl — what are your plans for her? Using women in military service has never been a long-term arrangement.”
Zhù Ying said: “She has earned her merit — I cannot just make use of her and discard her.”
“You want to keep her in the Northern Territories?”
Zhù Ying said: “The court will probably not agree to that. Leave the post open, first return to the capital and see how the wind blows. The war is over — there is not much left for her to do in the Northern Territories.”
Especially a female official like her — without someone powerful above her, she could only curl up and wait. It would be better for her to follow along back to the capital, where at least Zhù Ying could find opportunities for Zhù Qingjun. Once Zhù Qingjun had more experience and had grown more seasoned, it would not be too late to let her go then.
Marquis Leng said regretfully: “What a pity — if only she were a boy, by now she would…”
Zhù Ying said: “She is still alive — that alone is cause for gratitude. Why ask for more?”
Marquis Leng, not knowing what she truly meant by that, joined in a sigh. The two of them having reached agreement, they began laying the groundwork for the final arrangements.
Marquis Leng was about to depart, and Zhù Ying had to arrange for General Ye, Wen Yue, Lin Feng, and others to also advance northward, to stage the drama of “two routes of the great army advancing, meeting at a point two hundred li out.”
General Ye was even more cautious than Leng Pinghui. He was the man who had fallen twice to Leili Atu’s tricks. When Leili Atu withdrew and word came that something had gone wrong in the barbarian rear, he still refused to believe it lightly. Keeping the main army at a deliberately slowed pace, continuously sending out scouts in every direction, terrified of someone laying an ambush for him.
On Marquis Leng’s side, he personally led the pursuit a hundred li, with the remaining hundred left to the Leng brothers.
One Leng Pinghui who had suffered one terrible defeat, one General Ye who had suffered two — each thinking “it’s fine if the eastern/western route reaches the meeting point one step ahead of us” — these two hapless kindred spirits arrived at the rendezvous point at almost exactly the same time.
When they came face to face, they stared at each other, and then both burst out laughing: “Ha ha ha ha!”
The two routes swept through the territory, also relocating several hundred pastoral households to “submit to the court’s civilization” — which also counted as a form of achievement.
……
While Zhù Ying and Marquis Leng were having a relatively easy time of things, Leili Atu was racing along at breakneck speed.
Of the barbarian overlord’s four grown sons, not all of them had been brought to the front lines at the same time. The third son had been back home with some of the younger brothers. Of the three princes who were at the front, two had fled after the barbarian overlord’s death! Now only the “Crown Prince” and the fourth prince were traveling with him.
The “Crown Prince” said with furious hatred: “I knew it — that woman is no good! Second Brother must have colluded with her to murder our father!”
The fourth prince looked at his elder brother, then looked at Leili Atu, and said nothing.
The so-called “prince” beside them said: “I have already sent word to my father, asking him to hold things steady at home and wait for you to return and take the throne.”
The “Crown Prince” said with reddened eyes: “I want to slaughter every last member of her clan to avenge our father!”
Leili Atu felt the urge to advise against casting the net too wide, but what came out of his mouth was: “Our custom is not to kill women and children below the height of a cart axle.”
“You have all been far too lenient with those people! I could kill her right now!”
Leili Atu said: “Contain your anger. She is still useful.”
The “Crown Prince” went quiet, then said: “Let her live a few more days, then. But — she and Second Brother conspired together. Will she really point the finger at Second Brother?”
Leili Atu said: “I will persuade her. Whoever you wish her to implicate, I will have her implicate.”
“As long as she cooperates, I’ll grant her an intact corpse.”
Leili Atu gave a word of assent.
That same day, when they made camp, Leili Atu came to a closely guarded tent. The soldiers on guard bowed to him: “Chancellor.”
“What is the situation?”
“She says, if she is to speak, the Chancellor must come to see her in person.”
Leili Atu walked in at a measured pace. His heart burned with fury. The barbarian overlord had been the wise ruler he had served with devotion, and now — that ruler had been assassinated by the woman in this tent!
Leili Atu bowed his head slightly: “Madam.”
The young woman sitting in the folding chair lifted her face. She was young, and somewhat haggard; on either side of her sat two maidservants who watched her night and day without ceasing, to prevent her from taking her own life.
She said coldly: “I am not your ‘Madam’ of anything!”
Leili Atu said: “The Second Prince has fled. He has left you behind.”
The young woman gave him a cool look: “He is nothing to me — what is there to speak of in terms of abandonment?”
“Was Madam not acting on his behalf? These past days, your close dealings with him — what were they for, if not for him? Madam has her own kin — does she not know that acting as she has done will bring harm to them?”
The young woman gave him a contemptuous look.
Leili Atu forced down the boundless rage surging within him, and said in a measured voice: “The Great Khan was an unparalleled ruler. A great enterprise was within reach. He treated Madam with deep affection. Madam could have lived well. To carry out this assassination so abruptly — for what reason? Was it some kind of madness? Was it someone’s instigation? Was it the Second Prince? Perhaps the Third Prince as well?”
The young woman let out a short, cold laugh. Her gaze was like two swords aimed straight at Leili Atu. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
A silence fell over the tent. Then the young woman suddenly spoke: “What are you trying to do? And what do you want me to do?”
“Implicate the Second Prince.”
“What about the Third Prince?” the young woman asked mockingly.
Leili Atu said: “I will tell you what to say.”
The young woman stared at him with cold, shadowed eyes. Leili Atu said: “I will return Madam’s tent, her servants, her cattle and horses. Madam may take them all.”
“Are they still willing to follow your orders?”
“Of course.”
“Very well.”
Leili Atu said: “Since Madam has agreed, please first tell me — what truly happened.”
“Do you still care about the truth?”
Leili Atu gave a serious nod. The young woman tilted her face sideways in a strange look, her head swaying left and right, and at last she nodded: “Very well. The Second Prince came to me and told me that the Crown Prince greatly disliked the young women at his father’s side, because young women would keep bearing the Khan new sons. The Crown Prince said that once he became Khan, he would give us all to slaves as rewards.
He was different, he said — if he became Khan, he would treat us well. All I had to do was kill the Khan and leave the Crown Prince’s belt ornament behind, to make it look as though the Crown Prince had done it. He would take care of the rest.”
Leili Atu said: “The Crown Prince never had any such intention. Madam was caught on the spot, and the Second Prince also fled — abandoning Madam to face the Crown Prince’s wrath alone. Is Madam willing to let him escape, to go on enjoying a comfortable life? He will have many beautiful women, countless children. And you, Madam — what will you have?”
The young woman closed her eyes: “What you promised me — don’t forget.”
“I won’t.”
Leili Atu came out of the tent and ordered: “Guard this tent well. Let no one approach!”
“Yes.”
Leili Atu went to report to the “Crown Prince.” The “Crown Prince” said: “I should have had her killed long ago!”
Leili Atu said: “Be calm!”
“I understand.” said the “Crown Prince.”
The party pressed urgently back toward the royal court. The barbarian people, by the nature of their way of life, had a royal court that was spread over a fairly broad area, with two or three permanent encampments within that range, shifting once or sometimes two or three times a year according to the season and the climate. It being summer now, the place they were making for was the spring-summer encampment.
The Second Prince and the Third Prince had already met with the nobles and other powerful figures at the encampment, and had been acclaimed by them — the Second Prince was put forward as the new Khan. The forces loyal to the “Crown Prince” within the encampment would not accept this, and although leaderless, they were more resolute than their opponents. The two sides were at a standstill.
It was at this moment that Leili Atu arrived.
The moment he appeared, the balance of the situation shifted entirely. The Second Prince and the Third Prince had no choice but to stake everything on a single throw — their maternal families had no choice but to continue standing behind them.
Leili Atu first organized the funeral rites, then held a formal inquest before the barbarian overlord’s bier, summoning the young woman to testify.
The young woman appeared poised and composed, moving freely of her own accord, giving no appearance of having been coerced. The Second Prince’s face fell as he said to Leili Atu: “She’s a witness you brought — how can you guarantee everything she says is true?”
The young woman said: “I know what you are afraid of. Rest easy — I will tell only the truth.”
The “Crown Prince” said in a low voice: “Speak quickly!”
The young woman gave him a light sidelong glance, and spoke: “The Khan told me that this Crown Prince was useless and he intended to replace him. The Crown Prince found out and was terrified, and asked me to kill the Khan, then come back and tell everyone it was the Second Prince’s doing. He would handle the rest.”
Leili Atu’s gaze locked with that of the young woman, and he knew at once that things were going wrong. He was about to order her taken away. The Fourth Prince stepped forward on behalf of his brother and demanded: “Our father has always favored our elder brother and made him Crown Prince — why would he want to replace him?”
“The Chancellor and the Crown Prince lost battles, and the Khan was very angry — he thought them useless, which is why he came to the front lines himself. Changing things over and over, sacrificing so many tribal nobles — and in the end, they still couldn’t beat the southern people. They deceived the Khan; the Khan was weary of them.”
The “Crown Prince” was trembling with rage: “You! You wretched woman! When did our father ever say…”
“When he was with me in his bedchamber,” the young woman said lightly, leaving the “Crown Prince” thoroughly choked and speechless!
The scene erupted into chaos. The “Crown Prince” genuinely could not have said how this farcical scene finally came to an end. Fortunately, Leili Atu, seeing how things were going, quickly had the young woman escorted away again. By that point, the princes had already come to blows, and then the tribal nobles and the newly established officeholders behind them also joined the fray.
These people fought with far more directness than those at the southern court — fists and real force, thud and thwack.
After quite some time, they finally separated, each retreating to their own quarters to scheme in private.
The “Crown Prince,” unable to contain his fury, was about to go and kill his stepmother. Leili Atu said: “She has already spoken as she has. If she dies now, we might as well have admitted we killed her to silence a witness.”
“You promised she would implicate my second brother.”
“It was my oversight. I’ll go and speak with her again right now.”
“I’m going with you.”
The young woman was being held in her original quarters. Her original maidservants had been replaced by several strong, powerfully built female slaves who stared at her without blinking.
When the “Crown Prince” entered the room and saw that this stepmother showed not the slightest remorse or unease — sitting perfectly composed before her dressing mirror — a nameless fury surged up within him: “You poisonous snake!”
Leili Atu held him back. He began now to deal seriously with this young woman, and asked her: “Why? I have already promised you wealth, and freedom to live as you please. You can have a good life.”
“A good life?” The Madam laughed.
Leili Atu unsentimentally laid bare her situation: “You are not a noblewoman of your tribe. The Khan always knew — you were the most ordinary of women, offered up as a tribute. The Khan’s favor was what gave you your current life. You did not originally possess much in the way of wealth. What I have promised you in servants and cattle and horses is by no means a small gift. Compared to your original life, it would certainly be better in every way.”
“None of that is what I want. I have my own beloved.” The young woman’s hand rested against her chest. Her head sat perfectly upright on her neck, no longer swaying from side to side, and she looked at Leili Atu without a trace of fear.
The “Crown Prince” laughed: “The Second Prince?”
The young woman looked at him coldly: “He is worth that? My beloved is the finest warrior.”
“Your own tribe gave you up as a tribute! Who would want you?” the “Crown Prince” said with fury. Marriage alliances between the tribes were the most ordinary of things — so now, all of a sudden, she was talking about love? Why had she not said so earlier?
“My beloved is dead. Your father — that worn-out old man — killed him.”
Leili Atu said in outrage: “That was the Khan! A great hero! The hope of all the tribes! The Khan took wives from every tribe, giving them children, intertwining his bloodline with theirs — this has always been so.”
“Then he should have gone and been a hero with his whole heart, rather than trying to be a young girl’s husband!” The young woman’s eyes fixed directly on Leili Atu. “You are also a worn-out old man. All of you ancient, decrepit things — you are sickening to look at! No young girl truly welcomes your attentions!
We have no choice.
In your presence, there is nothing but fear of the blades you carry! Not a single thing about any of you is actually likeable!
Do you see those clothes over there? Fine clothes, aren’t they? What do they have to do with the coatrack? The throne is a fine thing — what does it have to do with the man sitting on it? Killing him was no different from killing a dog. A dog run through with a blade will die. The Khan, run through with a blade, will also die. The Khan and a dog — there is no difference.”
Leili Atu was so consumed with rage his vision went dark: “You foolish woman! The Khan’s great enterprise would have brought benefits to every tribe! What you have done — have you thought of your own people?!”
“The first mouthful went to him. The second mouthful to his family. You, his dog, get only the third mouthful. Those who wag their tails behind you get the fourth. And us? By the time it reaches us there are only the bones you have already gnawed. Not even that — you gnaw our bones first, then go after the southern people’s. When you have gnawed us clean, you can’t gnaw through the southern people, so you crawl back, and go on gnawing us? You have never, not for a single moment, regarded us as ‘your own’!”
“How could Madam have come to think this way…”
“Think of my people? Where are my people, then? Was it not you who used them as kindling to douse the southern people’s anger? Was it not you who positioned them as walls of flesh and blood to absorb the southern people’s sharp blades and arrows?” The young woman looked with contempt at this man whom everyone called the sage of the steppe — the one who would help the Khan create glory.
Such glory, indeed!
In that radiance — was there not a thread of it kindled from her bones and the bones of her people as fuel?
Burning my bones to cook your meal? Then let us all starve together!
The “Crown Prince” drew his belt knife in fury: “I’ll kill you!”
The young woman gently lowered her hands. A long hairpin was plunged into her heart. The clothing that had covered it fell away, revealing an expanse of blood before everyone’s eyes: “Your second brother found me and asked me to carry out the assassination. I agreed. The Chancellor also found me and asked me to testify. I agreed too. I have done exactly as each of you instructed. Are you satisfied?”
……
“A death notice, is it?” said Luo Sheng.
By now it was already the fifth month. Everyone was sitting together eating rice dumplings.
Marquis Leng, feeling his age, found them difficult to digest. After three he stopped, and said: “It looks as though I can go home.”
Zhù Ying said: “The memorial has already been submitted. Let’s wait for their reply to come down before setting out — saves unnecessary back-and-forth.”
Marquis Leng smiled: “Good.”
By not telling the court yet, the court would assume there was still a possibility of further fighting, and the memorial reporting merit would be processed faster than it would after news of the war’s end. But once the reply came down, Marquis Leng did indeed need to return to the capital. The army’s expenditures had been enormous, and if they lingered too long, the court was going to call them to account.
Zhù Ying could afford to stay a few more months longer; she had also prepared a memorial, with the justification being “pacification” — was this not exactly when the great battle had finally, only now, come to its conclusion? Then the settling of aftermath would also begin from now.
Zhù Ying had intended to hold out until after the autumn harvest before returning. There was now also the peace negotiation to attend to — after the harvest, there should be no difficulty.
The so-called “peace negotiation” also traced back to this “death notice.” Though the barbarian succession was not determined by the court, the two nations were after all neighbors — when a neighbor’s family loses someone, sending a death notice was perfectly reasonable.
With that opening, the talking could begin.
Zhù Ying also said: “This has to be reported to the court.”
Zhao Su said: “I’ll send the official communication to the Office of Foreign Reception right away.”
“Good.”
Marquis Leng was in good spirits: “Then I’ll be waiting for you all back in the capital! When you return, the crabs will be in their finest season.”
Zhù Ying smiled and asked: “Your treat?”
“My treat!”
“Excellent! Everyone heard that? When we go back, we’ll go eat crabs at the Marquis’s expense — eat him to the bone!”
Marquis Leng laughed: “Crabs alone won’t bankrupt me.”
None of them knew what had happened at the royal court. But they knew this: they could breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
Ten days later, Marquis Leng set out on the return journey. A portion of the official forces were withdrawn with him, leaving a smaller number stationed behind. Zhù Ying and Zhao Su were plunged back into busyness — Zhù Ying’s earlier plan for the settling of aftermath could now begin to be executed.
If it was civil administration, it was entirely within her sphere of control. She submitted the plan to the Council of State, laid out a schedule, and the timing worked out to returning south with the whole party just after the autumn harvest.
On Zhao Su’s side, progress was also going smoothly. Leng Yun sent an official document: divide and rule to the best of our ability.
The next day, an imperial edict came down — also “divide and rule to the best of our ability,” followed by a more detailed set of guidelines from the Council of State.
Su Zhe had a strong suspicion that Leng Yun’s document had been copied from the Council of State’s homework, with only minor modifications. The Office of Foreign Reception was under his authority, so there were fewer procedures to go through, which was why his version arrived first.
By the end of the eighth month, Zhao Su had finally reached an agreement with both parties. The court simultaneously conferred the title of Khan upon both the “Crown Prince” and the “Second Prince” — Leili Atu had been the one to send the death notice, while the Second Prince had long since been exchanging meaningful glances with Zhao Su.
The court also added a performatively pious passage in the edicts urging them to cherish peace and harmony, telling both parties not to fight anymore.
Looking at the two edicts side by side, even Zhù Ying was almost tempted to believe the court was populated entirely by kind souls and pitiful old men trying to make peace between quarreling parties.
Tsk!
“Once the envoys from both sides arrive, we’ll set out — let’s move quickly. This year has mercifully been free of major disasters, and bringing in the autumn harvest is paramount. When the two envoys arrive, put them in the same relay station, but not in adjacent rooms. Close enough to see each other, but not close enough to lay a hand on each other. Oh — and make sure to protect their safety. Here in the Northern Territories, there are many people who have a blood debt with them.”
Zhao Su smiled: “Yes.”