BEGW C49

Chapter 49

What Jiang Yuxun wanted to say was cut off by a violent fit of coughing.

Seeing Eunuch Sang’s face magnified to a hundred times its size, and never having felt so mortified, Jiang Yuxun simply closed his eyes and played dead.

In the instant his eyes shut, Jiang Yuxun caught in the corner of his vision… the Son of Heaven’s brows suddenly knitting tightly together.

It was the first time he had seen such obvious puzzlement and astonishment on Ying Changchuan’s face.

This time he really was socially dead.

“Cough, cough…”

Jiang Yuxun’s hand lost strength and fell heavily to his side, and the coughing finally ceased.

What on earth was happening to Lord Jiang!

Why did it look… like he meant to end it all here?

At the sight, Eunuch Sang’s cry grew ever sharper.

It almost made Jiang Yuxun feel the illusion that he was going to meet his end right there.

Worse than death—nothing more than this.

…

In the side hall of the Liuyun Hall, the imperial physician slowly removed his fingers from Jiang Yuxun’s wrist.

“…There is no serious trouble with Lord Jiang’s body. The fainting is perhaps because his previous injuries have not yet fully healed.”

Thinking as he spoke, he said to the man lying on the couch, “As for today… it should be a wind-cold attacking the lungs, the lung qi failing to diffuse, resulting in choking cough. In a moment this subject will have someone deliver a decoction to dispel wind and open the lungs.”

After hearing this, Eunuch Sang, who was standing nearby, hurried forward to ask, “What must be taken care of in daily life?”

The physician stroked his beard and answered, “Do not be quick to anger; avoid cold air and strange odors as much as possible.”

As he spoke, the little eunuch waiting at the side removed the incense burner from the room.

Eunuch Sang nodded repeatedly, then said with sudden understanding, “Just now, Lord Jiang was practicing sword outside the Xuan Yin Directorate on the open ground—surely the chill entered his lungs, which is why he suddenly coughed!”

The physician rose and nodded repeatedly as well: “It should be so.”

With that, he carefully lifted his medicine chest and left together with Eunuch Sang.

Their footsteps receded, and the hall returned to silence.

…This chapter could be considered turned, right?

On the bed, still feigning sleep, the breath Jiang Yuxun had not yet let out was interrupted by a cry of “Long live!”

Ying Changchuan had arrived!

Jiang Yuxun promptly clamped his eyes shut tight.

In the darkness, footsteps grew clearer and clearer.

The faint sound of soles on the floorboards traveled through the thick planks to his ears.

The man on the bed couldn’t help holding his breath, motionless like a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Beneath the brocade quilt, Jiang Yuxun clenched his palm.

The corridor lights fell like gauze onto his cheek.

Thinking he was feigning very well, he did not know that his eyelashes were trembling lightly with each breath, beyond his control.

The footsteps stopped, and Ying Changchuan finally stood before the bed.

Although his eyes were shut, Jiang Yuxun could practically imagine the way Ying Changchuan lowered his gaze to look at him.

Never had he felt so awkward as he did lying there now.

One second, two seconds, three…

Holding his breath, Jiang Yuxun counted silently.

But after only a few counts, his heartbeat threw the numbers into disarray.

His mind wandered off in all directions.

…Why was Ying Changchuan still not speaking?

He did not know how much time had passed; the side hall remained quiet as before.

Feigning sleep before the emperor, Jiang Yuxun felt his psychological pressure balloon by the ton.

“Turn oneself in and be treated leniently”—these eight characters circled his mind again and again.

Could it be that Ying Changchuan wanted him to get up and confess?

His neatly trimmed nails were already biting faintly into his palm.

He plunged into a struggle between two minds.

Who knew how long Ying Changchuan had been watching—just as Jiang Yuxun was about to give up and prepare to get up, salute, and confess, his vision darkened again.

In the next breath, footsteps once more echoed in the hall.

Before long they faded away outside.

…Had Ying Changchuan left?

Only when he heard the slow closing of the hall door did Jiang Yuxun finally still his breathing and carefully open his eyes.

All around was pitch black; the heavy curtains were still swaying faintly from inertia.

The bed-curtain the physician had lifted and forgotten to put back had been gently lowered by Ying Changchuan; aside from that, everything was as usual.

Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help reaching out to touch the curtain.

Strange… Had Ying Changchuan come all this way just to do such a small thing?

That silence had gone on too long; Jiang Yuxun was quite certain Ying Changchuan had absolutely seen through his feigned faint.

…But since the Son of Heaven did not expose him, Jiang Yuxun could only keep up the act.

For several days after the New Year’s festival, Jiang Yuxun did not step outside his own threshold.

He holed up in the side hall reading for four days and finally “recovered” on the day the holiday ended.

On that day, the people of Shoulin Commandery arrived in Zhaodu with bricks of finished black tea.

These tea bricks included those to be sent to Kehan, and one prepared specially by the tea-farmers for Jiang Yuxun.

…

A eunuch carefully pried a tea brick with a silver needle.

The broken black tea was gently gathered into a small pot and set over the fire to brew.

Accompanied by bubbling sounds—

Before long, a rich tea fragrance filled the Liuyun Hall.

“Lord Jiang, your tea.” Eunuch Sang set the cup lightly on the small table before Jiang Yuxun, then withdrew.

Once again, only Jiang Yuxun and Ying Changchuan remained in the hall.

Seated on the fifth dais, the Son of Heaven took a light sip of the hot tea: “The envoys to Kehan will set out after the Beginning of Spring; are the gifts they carry prepared?”

With a face now thoroughly trained thick, Jiang Yuxun snapped instantly into work mode:

“In answer to Your Majesty, they are prepared. They broadly follow the gift list prepared for Princess Lianyi, and additionally include some easy-to-plant vegetable and fruit seeds.”

As he spoke, he presented the gift list with both hands at the imperial table.

Silk, medicine, seeds, and black tea.

This was the Great Zhou’s first gift to Kehan.

Ying Changchuan smiled, glanced at the list, then, as he lightly inhaled the tea’s aroma, said offhandedly, “Also prepare some pearls, shells, and coral to present to the King of Kehan.”

The Great Zhou bordered the sea, and pearls and shells were not rare.

But in inland Kehan it was entirely different.

Kehan’s social hierarchy was even stricter than the Great Zhou’s.

In addition to medicine, seeds, and tea—benefits for all Kehan people—they must also give the Kehan king objects that could display his status.

As a native-born ancient noble, Ying Changchuan had mentioned something Jiang Yuxun indeed had not thought of in advance.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Jiang Yuxun nodded at once and noted these items on the copy of the gift list.

The envoys to Kehan had been chosen by Zhuang Yue and Fei Jinyuan; after a brief review, Ying Changchuan nodded approval.

This matter was not complicated, and could be laid aside for the moment.

Having completed all the steps, Jiang Yuxun was just about to breathe a sigh of relief and take his leave.

When he saw the Son of Heaven on the fifth dais set down his tea cup gently, and say, as if casually, “My beloved minister’s health is recovering well.”

“…Thank Your Majesty for the concern,” said Jiang Yuxun.

The sealed memory was activated by Ying Changchuan’s words… Recalling that day’s affair, Jiang Yuxun could not stop the embarrassment.

Just as he was preparing to find some excuse to slip away from the imperial presence—

Ying Changchuan unexpectedly raised the very pot he should have left closed: “That day’s question—my beloved minister has not yet had time to answer it.”

?!

No way—he still remembered that?

Jiang Yuxun instantly felt a pang of guilt.

The ultimate move could not be used twice in a row.

Afraid that Ying Changchuan would ask again what should not be asked, and having made dangerous remarks countless times, Jiang Yuxun simply steeled himself: “…In answer to Your Majesty, may this minister decline to answer?”

He started out righteous, but the more he spoke, the softer his voice grew.

Propping his brow with a hand and leaning lazily against the jade table, Ying Changchuan said, interested, “Why?”

…Knew it.

In despair, Jiang Yuxun bit his lip and said, “Publicly, a minister naturally must not conceal things before the emperor. But privately… this minister would still like to keep some personal space.”

The Liuyun Hall was too quiet; though Jiang Yuxun’s voice was not loud, it echoed faintly in Ying Changchuan’s ears.

Feeling guilty, Jiang Yuxun dared not raise his head.

Therefore he did not notice that, for a moment, the smile on the Son of Heaven’s face vanished.

Silence lay over the hall.

When Ying Changchuan still did not speak, Jiang Yuxun finally lifted his eyes, somewhat ill at ease, to steal a look.

At the same time he tossed out a bit of flimflam: “…Besides, this minister has not sorted out this question. Better to wait until this minister has thought it through, and then answer Your Majesty?”

Ying Changchuan finally picked up his cup again and, slowly: “Very well.”

Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help being stunned: “Hm?”

Why wasn’t Ying Changchuan pressing him?

In the next second, he hurriedly hid his puzzled expression.

Forget it, who cared.

The Son of Heaven handled ten thousand affairs daily; in a few days he would forget this to the ninth heaven.

Get through today and all would be well!

A few days later, in the suburbs of Zhaodu.

The wind was fierce and the snow ravenous; dripping water turned to ice.

The wastelands near the Fulin Army camps had all been turned into farmland.

Only a sealed-off mountain hollow remained in its original state.

The cold wind funneled through the mountain pass into the hollow, making it colder than elsewhere.

Even in leeward spots the chill could hardly be resisted.

In less than half a stick of incense, any skin left exposed was totally numb; even facial expressions froze.

Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help loosening his reins and breathing warmth into his palms.

Even before the New Year’s festival had ended, the alchemists had determined the most powerful gunpowder proportions.

After that, the Court of the Imperial Treasury rushed production and made the first batch of firearms weapons.

Today was the day to test the power of these weapons.

At the thought, Jiang Yuxun could not help growing tense.

Also mounted not far away, Xue Kejin took a look at him and hesitated before saying, “It’s truly too cold today. Lord Jiang, why not rest a while in the tent first?”

He could not say when exactly it had begun, but the Xue Kejin who had liked to call Jiang Yuxun “Young Lord Jiang” had gradually begun to address him as “Lord Jiang.”

“Thank you for your concern, General Xue,” Jiang Yuxun shook his head with a smile, “I’m alright. It won’t be too late to go warm up once we’ve seen the effects of each weapon.”

“…Very well,” Xue Kejin hesitated, then drew back his gaze. “If Lord Jiang feels unwell, be sure to tell those around immediately.”

As a former subordinate of the Grand General of Pacifying the South, Xue Kejin had always been concerned for Jiang Yuxun’s health.

“I will. Rest assured.”

No sooner had Jiang Yuxun spoken than the wind and snow in the hollow abated somewhat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xue Kejin’s expression suddenly tighten.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuxun—tense himself—could not help offering reassurance: “Today is the first firearms test; whether we succeed or not is… normal. There’s no need for General Xue to be so nervous.”

“Not nervous,” Xue Kejin, unwilling to show fear before a junior, was still putting on a brave face, “I’m only… overdressed today, feeling overheated, that’s all.”

He had not finished speaking when the silhouettes of dozens of horses appeared not far away.

The soldiers’ voices were carried on the cold wind to everyone’s ears: “Reporting to Your Majesty, the trebuchet is ready—”

Xue Kejin fell silent at once.

Jiang Yuxun worked to steady his breathing and narrowed his eyes toward the far side of the hollow.

In the distance, soldiers used a red-hot iron awl to pierce the shell of a ball wrapped around gunpowder.

In a lull in the wind and snow, Ying Changchuan, mounted beneath the trebuchet, slowly lifted his hand.

In the next instant, the soldiers withdrew the awl and, with all their strength, chopped through the rope on the trebuchet.

In the saddle, Jiang Yuxun clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the reins.

At the same time, fine beads of sweat broke out on Xue Kejin’s brow despite the cold.

“Bang—”

With an ear-splitting hiss through the air, a great iron ball, glowing red-hot, flew into the sky; the oiled paper covering it burned in a blaze, melting snow and ice in an instant.

Jiang Yuxun’s heart rose with the iron ball and hung high.

He held his breath, not daring even to blink as he watched.

The iron ball smashed into the ground and, at the instant of impact, gave off a tremendous bang.

“Boom—” a fire broke out.

Even with its ears covered in advance, Jiang Yuxun’s warhorse still pawed uneasily at the ground, letting out a piercing neigh.

The flames roared over the open ground; with the violent explosion, iron caltrops full of vicious spikes burst from the fireball.

In an instant they shot into the feet and legs of dozens of horses around.

“We did it, we did it!!!” Xue Kejin couldn’t help crying out loud.

The development of “firearms” was highly classified.

Even in the army few knew of it, and at this moment they were all gathered in this small hollow.

“Long live!!!”

“In days to come, Zherou will surely be utterly routed by the Great Zhou’s firearms!”

Xue Kejin and the Fulin Army officers and men had eyes suddenly flushed red.

The Fulin Army had followed Ying Changchuan in campaigns north and south; who knew how many times they had clashed with Zherou.

Every man there had friends who had died beneath Zherou’s iron cavalry.

Seeing the test succeed, a great cheer burst out in the hollow.

Even the wind and snow seemed to grow heavier under the force of the roar.

Yet Jiang Yuxun, who had been tense to the extreme, had a moment of blankness in his mind.

A “buzz” rang in his ears; the cheers around him grew indistinct.

…Had firearms truly succeeded?

The cold wind, laden with gritty snowflakes, blew at Jiang Yuxun, stripping away his body heat in an instant.

Others could not help lifting hands to shield themselves, but he sat frozen in place as if unaware.

Jiang Yuxun’s breathing grew rapid in an instant.

Over more than half a year, the Great Zhou had already begun walking a road different from history.

But the “war between Zhou and Rou” had always hung over Jiang Yuxun’s head like a suspended sword.

It often made him uneasy and anxious.

Only now, with the cold wind swirling the scent of gunpowder around him, did the shadow that had shrouded his heart for months finally ease a little.

That brutal battle which had directly dragged the Great Zhou into collapse seemed not so perilous anymore…

“Lord Jiang! I’m going to check on the horses—”

Only when Xue Kejin turned and shouted to him, then spurred his horse into the hollow, did Jiang Yuxun finally come back to himself.

“Alright, General Xue.”

With that said, he hastily bent to stroke his warhorse’s neck, soothing it.

“Lord Jiang! The power of this ‘caltrop fireball’ is indeed astonishing!” As he spoke, the soldiers had already carried over the “horses” that had been placed in the hollow.

—These were not real horses, but false ones made of wooden frames and straw.

Jiang Yuxun dismounted to take a look and, at the same time, could not help asking at once, “How great is the effect specifically?”

“Look!” The soldier spoke while lifting the straw to show the wounds on the “horse’s” legs to Jiang Yuxun. “The wooden bone at the shin has been completely severed by the iron caltrops! The caltrops at the thigh have also sunk more than halfway in. The force generated by the explosion of that fireball is indeed beyond human strength.”

His tone had shifted from excitement.

Since their crushing defeat at Ying Changchuan’s hands years ago, Zherou had been resting and building strength.

Anyone could see that a brutal fight to the death awaited the Great Zhou in the future.

Yet the appearance of firearms allowed them to glimpse another possibility.

As he finished, Ying Changchuan—clad in black short battle robes and draped in a black fox-fur cloak—walked over from the other side of the hollow.

He bore a heady scent of gunpowder, mingled with ambergris; surprisingly harmonious.

He did not dismount, merely cast his gaze down upon the false horse at the center of the crowd.

After a few breaths, he shifted his gaze to Jiang Yuxun and narrowed his eyes: “Aside from firearms, what more does my beloved minister think needs doing to attack Zherou?”

Jiang Yuxun turned toward Ying Changchuan.

At the Son of Heaven’s question, everyone fell silent, straining to think.

What else was needed…

He couldn’t help stroking the warhorse beside him, then bowed solemnly: “In answer to Your Majesty, this minister believes our own warhorses must be trained ahead of time to desensitize them as much as possible.”

Ying Changchuan raised a brow: “How so?”

“Horses are easily frightened. Before the test today, this minister used cloth to cover the horse’s ears, and still it showed agitation and unease. If a single explosion is like this, then on the battlefield, with explosions and loud reports one after another, the condition of the horses will certainly be worse.”

As soon as he finished, the people around all showed expressions of sudden understanding.

Let alone firearms—“stirrups” had been invented not long before. Cavalry in this era was still very immature.

The generals who had previously mainly commanded infantry had not clearly realized how serious this problem was until Jiang Yuxun brought it up.

Ying Changchuan nodded slowly and cast his gaze down at the newly appointed Grand Equerry: “Has Lord Han noted this?”

Called by name, the Grand Equerry hurriedly rose to bow: “This minister has noted it! Once we return to Zhaodu today, this minister will immediately begin to work on this matter.”

Within the “caltrop fireball,” apart from the caltrops, there were things like pitch, dried lacquer, and hemp.

After the fireball exploded, these burned fiercely on the ground.

The wind and snow in the hollow abated further; as they spoke, the blaze finally subsided.

Once the Grand Equerry had finished, Ying Changchuan nodded and again urged his horse forward into the hollow.

Jiang Yuxun drew his collar up against the cold, hesitated, then followed alongside.

…One look at his expression made it clear that Ying Changchuan had absolutely thought of desensitizing the horses already.

But he had not brought it up himself—he had prompted Jiang Yuxun to say it publicly.

At that, a strange thought rose in Jiang Yuxun’s heart.

—Ying Changchuan’s actions looked very much like helping him establish authority in the army.

They toiled in the hollow for most of the day.

By the time they left and headed back to the Fulin Army camp, it was already dusk.

The snow was falling thicker now.

But Ying Changchuan was in no hurry to return. He continued at a slow walk on horseback, guiding everyone to carefully inspect the fields around the camp.

This year the snow had fallen deep, like a thick quilt over the fields.

A timely snow augured a good harvest; the wheat in the newly settled fields would surely not yield poorly.

At the sight, Jiang Yuxun could not help brightening in mood.

But happiness could not fend off the cold.

As he watched, he suddenly let out a great sneeze.

Hearing the sound behind him, Ying Changchuan turned and said lightly, “The wind and snow in Zherou are far greater than in Zhaodu. Is my beloved minister sure about going?”

Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help being taken aback.

…For Ying Changchuan suddenly to bring this up—was he testing him?

A few days earlier, the Court of the Imperial Treasury had delivered to the imperial table the list of envoys to Zherou—and Jiang Yuxun’s name was on it.

At the time, Ying Changchuan had only glanced at it and neither approved nor disapproved.

Jiang Yuxun had thought he had forgotten it; he had not expected him to raise it today.

The young Director, dressed in a gray-white fox-fur cloak, answered at once: “This minister has made up his mind—this trip must be made… Besides, there is no rush to set out for Zherou in the next few days. When spring comes, the north will gradually warm, and the climate will be much the same as in Zhaodu.”

Smiling, Ying Changchuan looked northward; his eyes seemed, in an instant, to pierce the thick clouds and gaze upon Zherou a thousand li away.

Seeing that the Son of Heaven still had not nodded, Jiang Yuxun grew anxious: “Didn’t Your Majesty also go to Zherou in spring? You should know the climate there.”

—Ying Changchuan’s great victory over Zherou had occurred a few years earlier in spring; the histories recorded this clearly.

At this, Ying Changchuan lifted his brows a fraction and said, offhandedly, “Spring in Zherou is still harshly cold; the cold wind splitting the skin so that it sticks to the armor is a common thing.”

“Tss…” At his words, Jiang Yuxun’s skin flinched with phantom pain.

The histories recorded only when the war began and when it ended; they did not relate these details.

As he slowly urged his horse forward, Ying Changchuan continued, “In such cases, one must use a silver blade to gouge the flesh in order to remove the armor. To strip the armor directly would only tear more flesh.”

Jiang Yuxun: …?

Was it really that exaggerated?

Though he had never been to Zherou, in modern times he had at least watched weather forecasts.

If all this Ying Changchuan said had occurred in winter, perhaps.

But that war had clearly broken out in spring…

At that, Jiang Yuxun instinctively wished to question him.

But before he could speak… he recalled how, the last time he had boldly questioned the accounts of Ying Changchuan taking an enemy’s head by night, he had been ruthlessly slapped down by the man’s former subordinates.

Such a thing absolutely could not happen a second time!

“I see…” Jiang Yuxun murmured with a nod.

If he remembered right, the Great Zhou’s era was at the tail end of a little ice age; a bit colder might well be normal?

Besides, as the emperor, why would Ying Changchuan lie to him about this?

He certainly couldn’t be that bored.

After hearing Ying Changchuan’s words, Jiang Yuxun nodded heavily: “The officers and men of the army have always borne hardship; they absolutely must not be mistreated.”

As he spoke, his expression grew solemn.

In the next moment, Ying Changchuan suddenly tugged the reins and halted midway.

“Your Majesty?” At that, Jiang Yuxun turned in puzzlement to look at him.

The cold wind brushed his cheeks; he blinked instinctively.

After a brief pause, Ying Changchuan shifted his gaze aside: “Does my beloved minister believe everything I say?”

“Of course,” Jiang Yuxun nodded with utmost seriousness, “Your Majesty couldn’t lie to this minister about such matters, could you?”

In the gray-white wind and snow, those eyes were all the blacker for it—so clear, without any impurity.

That look seemed to gaze straight into the depths of Ying Changchuan’s heart.

Before the words were finished, a snowflake drifted down to rest lightly on his long, fan-like lashes.

The cold wind howled past his ear.

Ying Changchuan smiled lightly, then once more gently tugged the reins and rode on.

His movements were no different than usual.

But somehow, Jiang Yuxun caught a rare hint of guilt from him…

…Strange—why had Ying Changchuan not answered, “Of course,” this time?

Looking at that dark figure ahead,

A sudden sense of foreboding rose in Jiang Yuxun’s heart.

He couldn’t help tightening his grip on the reins.

Hold on—surely Ying Changchuan wasn’t really that bored?!

Author’s Note:

Lord Jiang: His Majesty has far too many little schemes—unlike this minister, who only ever tells the plain truth.

Footnotes:

1. Black tea bricks: Compressed bricks of fermented tea used for storage and trade; often brewed by prying and simmering.

2. Kehan: A powerful inland polity to the northwest in this setting; gifts target both populace welfare (seeds, tea, medicine) and royal prestige (pearls, shells, coral).

3. Fulin Army: A field army in this narrative; here conducting firearms trials and agricultural settlement around the camp.

4. Caltrop fireball: An early gunpowder bomb launched by trebuchet, bursting into flame and scattering iron caltrops to maim cavalry mounts.

5. Grand Equerry (Taipu): The imperial official in charge of horses, pastures, and related logistics; responsible for warhorse training and desensitization.