Chapter 690: Leaving Yang and Losing Its Deer (Part 2)

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Chapter 117: Liyang Loses Its Deer (Part 2)

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Zhang Bianguan slowly raised his head, tears streaming down his face, and said in a trembling voice, "Father, you always look far into the distance, speak the loudest words in the world, and do the most courageous deeds. But have you forgotten to turn back and glance at us, your children?"

Zhang Julu did not turn his head to look at his youngest son. He scoffed, "What, are you afraid? Yes, who in this world isn't afraid of death? Even those upright officials who constantly prepare their families for their heroic deaths are afraid of death. It reminds me of an amusing anecdote: some nobles thrown into imperial prisons, perhaps genuinely unafraid of death, were more afraid of dying an unclear death. Almost every one of them wrote a final testament on the prison wall with charcoal. The public might not know that a single piece of charcoal inside an imperial prison could cost several hundred taels of silver. For those who were poorer, it didn't stop them; they would dip their fingers in blood and still write moving, tear-jerking blood letters. Your eldest brother is too rigid to do such things that would accumulate the most prestige. Your second brother is a little more clever; if he were lucky enough to become an esteemed official, he might want to, but wouldn't dare. As for you, Zhang Bianguan, you probably disdain to do it?"

Zhang Bianguan stood up, snatched the small brazier from Zhang Julu's hand, and violently smashed it onto the snowy ground below the steps. The burning charcoal that spilled out quickly extinguished.

Zhang Julu did not dwell on his son's "disobedient" act.

Forget paternal affection; he was even prepared to personally serve his sons their last meals. Even if his sons wanted to punch him, their father and Grand Tutor, it seemed to be nothing worth considering.

Zhang Julu slowly turned his head, looking at his youngest son's ashen face, and asked, "Do you truly believe your elder brothers are completely unaware of the political situation? Do you truly believe they don't know the fate awaiting the Zhang family? Is it only you, Zhang Bianguan, who is allowed to be clever your whole life, and they aren't even allowed to be clever once?"

Zhang Julu withdrew his gaze and sneered, "Then you are too self-important. Among my sons, Zhang Bianguan, you are the most introspective, but your two elder brothers, for all their pedantry, are hardly fools. Having been immersed in the political climate for so many years, even the simplest minds would have awakened long ago."

Zhang Bianguan crouched down and murmured, "When you insisted that all three of us sons marry into minor households, you were waiting for this day, weren't you? If we had married women from powerful aristocratic families, many more people would have been implicated and harmed. The emperor, when he started killing, would have been hesitant. You truly are a Grand Tutor with a conscience rarely seen through the ages, not wanting to embarrass the monarch even at the very end. Both my elder brothers' wives are good at managing their households. Their families have also benefited greatly from the Zhang family's influence over the years, profiting significantly, both openly and discreetly, subtly becoming influential local clans. You even turned a blind eye to this exception, huh? You were thinking of easing your own conscience, weren't you?"

Zhang Julu remained silent.

Zhang Bianguan rubbed his cheeks, looking at the small brazier left by his grandfather in the snow. He softly said, "Father, to be a good official, you stopped being a good son to my grandparents from the very beginning. Then you weren't a good husband, and when it came to us, you weren't a good father. In the end, you won't even be a good grandfather. Is it truly worth it?"

Zhang Julu raised his hands, breathed out a puff of mist, and chuckled, "A good official?"

Zhang Julu gazed blankly, lost in thought. He remembered some drunken words from his close friend, Old Man Tantang. For himself, being a loyal minister or a treacherous one was easy, being an upright official or a corrupt one was easy. Only being a good official, caught between the monarch and the common people, was the most difficult to achieve, impossible to explain in a few words. To accomplish the king's affairs of state was already very difficult; to gain fame during one's lifetime and after death was even harder.

Zhang Julu suddenly said, "When I was young, I read an anonymous frontier poem that contained the line, 'Riding west, desiring to reach the heavens; further west across the desert, sensing the low sky.' I was particularly fascinated by it and always thought that if my official career wasn't going well one day, I could always abandon the pen for the sword, go and see the vast, low-sky scenery of the frontier with my own eyes, and not live this life in vain. But later, my official career became stable, and after your mother gave birth to you, I named you 'Bianguan' (frontier pass)."

For some reason, Zhang Bianguan felt much calmer. He forced a smile and self-mockingly said, "Because of this misleading name, I've been teased and mocked by those second-generation nobles in the capital for years. They say it would have been better for you, Grand Tutor, to have named me Zhang Tai'an or Zhang Capital."

Zhang Julu smiled as he walked down the steps, bent down, picked up the small brazier, and, taking the tongs, put some charcoal into it. He handed it back to his youngest son, and softly said, "I know your hearts have been cold for many years, and there's nothing I can do."

Zhang Bianguan was stunned, speechless.

Zhang Julu beckoned, asking the steward to bring another small stool. After sitting down, he asked, "Is the reason you came here that Man'er asked you for a divorce letter? Do you feel an unvented frustration? You've been married for so many years, like a chicken married to a chicken, a dog to a dog, yet she's abandoning you at this crucial moment? Do you feel that suffocating sense of 'husband and wife are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways'?"

Zhang Bianguan, having been asked several questions in a row, shook his head and said, "I don't mind her doing that."

Zhang Julu hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back, finally just saying, "Don't be angry with her. Among the three Zhang family daughters-in-law, she has had it the hardest. It's difficult for her to play the villain. Such an intelligent and kind-hearted woman; our Zhang family has wronged her."

Zhang Bianguan stared directly at his father, who counter-asked, "Do you understand now?"

Zhang Bianguan suddenly remembered something and choked up.

When a woman is heartless, she can be most cruel.When a woman is deeply devoted, she is most moving.

Zhang Bianguan seemed to have untangled his emotional knot and nodded vigorously.

Zhang Julu chuckled and asked, "Old Man Tantang always said that even if one has eternal fame after death, it's not as good as a cup of wine in one's lifetime. I never believed that before. How about we two, father and son, have a few drinks today?"

Zhang Bianguan naturally wouldn't refuse.

Thus, the most powerful official in the capital and the most aimless fop in Tai'an City, this peculiar father-son pair, sat facing each other on small stools across the brazier, slowly drinking wine, with the wine pot resting on the edge of the stove.

Zhang Bianguan said, "Father, no one actually resents you."

Zhang Julu took a sip of wine, remaining silent.

Cup after cup, the father and son drank on.

The steward tiptoed in with a second pot of wine and, while there, brought a thick fur cloak for the Grand Tutor to wear.

Zhang Bianguan finally staggered away, drunk. Zhang Julu saw him to the mansion gate, and finally gave the fur cloak to his son to wear.

Zhang Julu stood on the steps, extended his hand, caught some snowflakes, and held them in his palm.

The world is helpless, and so are people. When one could speak, one chose not to; when one wants to speak, it is already too late.

Perhaps six months ago, no one would have believed that the Western Chu navy could confront the Guangling navy downstream with such overwhelming might, like a lion poised to strike a rabbit.

Like an arrow on a bowstring, it awaited only to flow downstream and charge straight towards Chunxuelou.

Even in the darkness of night, illuminated only by the lanterns, the majestic tower ships and massive warships exuded a ferocious aura of war. Surely, every elderly Western Chu survivor who witnessed this scene would be overcome with mixed emotions of sorrow and joy. For twenty years, the world had only heard of Beiliang's unparalleled iron cavalry, but did they still remember the grand spectacle of the former Great Chu navy? In recent months, elderly survivors constantly traveled on foot or by carriage to distant riverbanks to gaze upon this sight. They would kneel or bow, invariably shedding tears of grief, then depart with a wild, mad laughter, returning home to tell their old friends and fellow villagers.

Cao Changqing personally oversaw the navy's deployment!

The flagship, Divine Phoenix, was named after the Great Chu capital. A middle-aged scholar in green robes, who had been studying a map by lamplight, looked up, gently extinguished the lamp, and walked out of the top-floor cabin. He looked towards the right bank of the Guangling River and saw a cavalry unit, dressed differently from the navy, suddenly appear. Then, the leading knight and several attendants calmly crossed the river in a small boat. At the bow of the small boat stood a proud figure, tall and slender—perhaps what women would call a 'jade tree in the wind.' As the boat drew closer, the knight's face became clearer in the lamplight: resolute yet conceited, full of heroic spirit, though lacking a gentleman's gentle refinement. However, nothing more could truly be demanded of this young man; he had managed to utterly trample a territory that Prince Zhao Yi had meticulously developed for over ten years, all within three months, by force. It would be strange if he were merely a kind and gentle scholar.

Song Yuanhang, one of the Great Chu Navy's deputy commanders, stood beside the green-robed scholar. Upon seeing the uninvited guest, he made no attempt to hide his displeasure. It wasn't just him; naval generals emerging from the cabins on the lower decks of the Divine Phoenix felt no fondness for this young man. While it wasn't bad for a young man to be sharp and assertive, being so arrogant as to disregard all rules was quite irritating. As a top-tier noble scion of Great Chu, how humble and frugal was Pei Sui, who had achieved great merits earlier? If it weren't for the commander-in-chief here constantly covering for you, Kou Jianghuai, you would have been long gone, packed up, and sent back to Shangyin Academy to read your military treatises amidst a storm of criticism. Not to mention disrupting plans multiple times and unilaterally deploying troops earlier, but tonight, visiting the navy, you didn't even bother to announce yourself? Do you really believe that the mighty Great Chu cannot accomplish great things without you, Kou Jianghuai?

The scene that followed further enraged the naval commanders on the ship.

Kou Jianghuai did not board the tower ship to pay respects to Cao Changqing, the commander of Great Chu's three armies. Instead, he stood at the bow of the small boat, hand on his sword, looked up at the green-robed figure, and called out his name, asking in a deep voice, "Cao Changqing, why won't you let me swallow Song Li's six thousand troops that have fallen into our trap?!"

Cao Changqing, with frost-white temples, remained silent, gazing back at the young man.

The tall Kou Jianghuai had no realization that he was speaking to the Great Chu's second 'pillar of the sea' after Ye Baikui. His words were filled with indignation and dissatisfaction, almost bordering on censure and reproach: "Opportunities are fleeting. Song Li is not a fool ignorant of military affairs. Once he establishes a foothold on the eastern front and sorts out the internal strife at Chunxuelou, if I then want to launch a full-scale attack—"

"Kou Jianghuai, you are now General Kou. As for the imperial decree stripping you of your office and command, you will receive it in a few days. But whether it arrives early or late, it makes no difference."

"Cao Changqing!"

"I, Kou Jianghuai, originally thought that Great Chu at least had two and a half people who understood warfare, enough to contend for supremacy under heaven. Since tonight there's only half left, the restoration of the kingdom is a foregone conclusion, and whether I serve as an official or not makes no difference! I will watch with wide eyes to see if that half can help you capture Chunxuelou!"

Kou Jianghuai, in a fit of rage, threw his sword into the Guangling River.

The small boat turned and departed.

Song Yuanhang quietly asked, "Your Excellency, has that young man lost his mind?"

Cao Changqing smiled faintly, "He hasn't lost his mind. Kou Jianghuai is very clear-headed, and his view on the eastern front's battle situation is correct."

"This..."

"What Kou Jianghuai doesn't know is that he's been blinded by a single leaf."

"Your Excellency, what do you mean by that?"

"The commander for the eastern front whom I, Cao Changqing, desire, should not focus merely on Chunxuelou and Zhao Yi. If he stops there, then Xie Xichui, the 'half' he spoke of, can accomplish that."

The high official in green robes lowered his head, staring blankly at the rolling waters of the Guangling River flowing eastward.

You, Kou Jianghuai, should look further. Your gaze should be on Tai'an City.

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