The Uninvited Guest
By the time all the formalities of the funeral for Lord Pingyuan had been completed and his rites concluded, the envoy who had gone to Qin—Lord Jianshen—finally returned to Zhao. Contrary to everyone’s worries, he was perfectly unharmed. And it wasn’t just him; every envoy sent by the Six States to offer condolences had been returned safely.
Unlike the time when they had imprisoned and killed the King of Chu, or when they had forcibly summoned and detained Lord Pingyuan and Lord Mengchang, the state of Qin had treated the envoys with consistent courtesy from beginning to end, escorting them home without incident. No matter how obsessed Qin was with territorial expansion and displays of power, in the face of the death of a great king who had ruled for decades, such things became meaningless. Not a single atrocity resembling what they had shown before occurred.
It seemed Qin intended to focus solely on the succession—at least until the funeral of the previous king, now posthumously titled King Zhaoxiang of Qin, was over and Lord Anguo could formally ascend the throne. That made sense. Unlike Lord Pingyuan’s funeral, which was nearing its end after a simple ceremony in accordance with his dying wish to keep things frugal given the kingdom’s dire circumstances, King Zhaoxiang of Qin’s funeral was scheduled to last more than a full year. So Qin had likely chosen to treat the envoys from the other states generously during that period to avoid any unpleasant incidents.
‘Even if one or two countries try something, Qin’s overwhelming national strength means it wouldn’t be a problem. But if the Grand Coalition of the Six States forms, Qin will have no choice but to set aside the funeral and throw everything into the fight.’
It was a brief peace born from the death of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Both Qin and Zhao—the two that had fought most fiercely—had each lost one of their pillars. There was no one in a position to stir up major trouble.
In any case, once Lord Jianshen returned, the King of Zhao kept his word and appointed him as Chancellor. Although the position of Prime Minister was vacant, Lord Jianshen was not enfeoffed with that title. From the King of Zhao’s perspective, with the mourning for Lord Pingyuan not yet over, there was no reason to invite unnecessary backlash by appointing Lord Jianshen as Prime Minister. Moreover, the previous appointment of Lord Jianshen as Prime Minister had been partly to check Lord Pingyuan. Now that Lord Pingyuan was dead and gone, Lord Jianshen naturally became the single strongest faction in Zhao’s political circles.
‘Giving him the Prime Minister’s seat and allowing his power to grow even further… the original sin of Zhao is too frightening for that.’
Zhao was a state born from the Partition of Jin, the rebellion in which the powerful Jin clans of Wei, Zhao, and Han had united to overthrow their own ruler. There was no guarantee that history would not repeat itself. Knowing this, the King of Zhao appointed Lord Jianshen as Left Chancellor while naming a member of the royal family—Lord Pingyang, Zhao Biao—as Right Chancellor to maintain balance.
Lord Pingyang, Zhao Biao, had proven his insight by arguing against accepting the territory of Shangdang, which had become the spark for the Battle of Changping. Considering that Lord Pingyuan had argued the opposite and thereby brought about that catastrophe, one could say his strategic vision surpassed even Lord Pingyuan’s.
And with Lord Jianshen becoming Left Chancellor, the now-vacant position of Chief Minister of State was filled by the king’s own younger brother, Lord Yuling. It was clearly an attempt to carry on the royal faction once represented by Lord Pingyuan through Lord Pingyang and Lord Yuling. Besides, neither of them possessed the same level of prestige as Lord Pingyuan, so they would not make the king feel threatened. They would serve as useful pieces to keep Lord Jianshen in check.
Everyone now believed that Zhao had truly entered a period of stability and recovery. I, who had been watching the situation, thought the same. Even Lord Xinling believed that if things continued this way, the Zhao-Wei-Chu coalition army would have a full year’s grace period to properly establish itself and build a solid defensive line.
At least until my homeland, Yan, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“I never expected our own country to latch onto Lord Yuling like this.”
Han Jing shook his head, seemingly unsure whether he should rebuke the rudeness of this internal interference or take his homeland’s side. I felt the same. Yan had never once cared how its hostage was living, yet now it suddenly decided to involve itself in Zhao’s appointment of officials?
‘The more I think about it, the more infuriating it becomes. Are they saying that some insignificant Zhao Chief Minister position is more important than us?’
At this point, it truly felt like I had been abandoned. Even though I had never strongly felt that Yan was my mother country to begin with, now it felt even more like a completely foreign nation than Zhao did.
“However, my lord, this is not something we can simply overlook.”
“You’re right. The fact that our homeland is turning its eyes outward means they must have finished cleaning up their internal affairs.”
My father would never have intervened so openly unless he had already suppressed all opposing factions within Yan and eliminated any possibility of internal conflict. Originally, Yan had been among the weaker states. Of course, that was only when speaking among the Seven Warring States. Simply belonging to the Seven Warring States meant it was incomparably stronger than the minor states.
The relative strength among the Seven States had shifted over the eras, but excluding the rapid changes during King Zhaoxiang of Qin’s reign, it could roughly be seen as two strong, three medium, and two weak. The two strong were the traditional powerhouse Qi and the rapidly expanding Qin. The three medium were Zhao, Wei, and Chu—among which Chu was actually strong enough to have once challenged the top two. The remaining Han and Yan were the two weak states, the weakest among the Seven.
But such rankings no longer held any meaning.
The ascension of my great-grandfather, King Zhaoyang of Yan, to the throne had led to the shocking event of driving the once-mighty Qi to the brink of destruction—a mere thirty years ago. Chu, which had once claimed to be one of the three strong, had suffered repeated crushing defeats against Qin, losing Hanzhong and Ba-Shu before even their capital was taken, forcing them to flee to the old lands of Wu and Yue. Conversely, Zhao had halted Qin’s seemingly unstoppable advance.
Zhao’s dramatic rise had been thanks to the perfect harmony between an enlightened ruler and brilliant ministers. The King of Zhao at the time—King Huiwen—had introduced the cavalry tactics of the northern nomads, reforming the military by creating the Hu Fu Qi She: mounted archers dressed in barbarian-style clothing. With the support of this enlightened monarch, renowned ministers and generals such as Lian Po, Lin Xiangru, and Zhao She had shone brightly, allowing Zhao to emerge as a new superpower.
‘All of which was thrown away at the Battle of Changping.’
Therefore, discussing the relative strength of the states was now meaningless. If one had to categorize, there was only one absolute hegemon, five others, and one that was little more than a corpse. Even among those five, however, there were clear differences in power.
As the saying goes, even a ruined family lasts three generations. Qi and Chu, though half-destroyed, had managed some degree of recovery. But Zhao, whose losses had been even greater despite having a similar foundation to Qi and Chu, had still not overcome the wounds of Changping. To Yan, which had continued to grow steadily—though not to the extent of its golden age under King Zhaowu—Zhao now looked like a very appetizing target.
Especially after passing through Zhao on the way to Qin, Yan must have gained confidence. The mistaken belief that they could defeat Zhao whenever they wished.
“Rumors are spreading that the King of Zhao will dismiss Lord Yuling from office and send him back to his fief.”
“Just when the defensive line against Qin was finally starting to take shape… I fear Yan’s interference will cause us to miss our timing.”
“My lord, what will you do? These days, even Zhao no longer looks at you with contempt. You even paid your respects at Lord Pingyuan’s tomb recently.”
The shock of Yan’s intervention had been so great that it had gone unnoticed, but with Lord Pingyuan’s death, his tacit protection had vanished. Ironically, that was also the moment all the restrictions placed upon me disappeared. It wasn’t that Lord Pingyuan had been protecting me with a black heart while pretending otherwise. My position had simply risen to the point where his protection was no longer necessary.
‘So Ying Zichu really has become Crown Prince.’
When Lord Jianshen returned and announced that Ying Zichu had been named Crown Prince, Zhao immediately ceased all discrimination and oppression toward me. The same went for Zhao Ji. They feared that provoking Qin’s wrath might lead to war before the funeral could even conclude. There were even absurd voices in some corners suggesting that since Ying Zichu had become Crown Prince through Zhao Ji and me, perhaps they should form a peace treaty through us. No matter how much perpetrators tend to forget their own crimes, this level of shamelessness was almost laughable.
When I first heard it, for a brief moment I even wavered, wondering if I should truly keep my promise to Lord Pingyuan.
“Well… while it’s true I no longer need to watch my every move, if even Lord Xinling is staying quiet, I doubt stepping forward myself would produce any good reaction. If it were Qin, that would be one thing—but the one causing this mess is Yan.”
“But if things continue like this, our homeland will demand even more from Zhao. And there is a limit to what Zhao can accept. If it crosses that line…”
“It will mean war.”
A war between Zhao and Yan. That would mean our lives, which had finally entered a period of stability, would once again be thrown into chaos. In the worst case, they might even try to kill us the way they had once tried to kill Ying Zichu when he was a hostage in Qin.
“For now, we don’t need to worry about this particular matter.”
“Does that mean my lord has already taken separate measures?”
“It wasn’t me. Lord Fengqi has stepped forward, so this matter should be resolved somehow.”
“Ah, if it’s Lord Fengqi, then yes, he can be trusted.”
After Lord Pingyuan’s death, Feng Qi had accepted an official guest minister position in Zhao and entered the bureaucracy properly. In contrast, Mao Sui had refused any post and disappeared, saying he would observe the full three-year mourning period for Lord Pingyuan in his own way.
“The real problem is that if our homeland truly intends to go to war with Zhao, they won’t stop here.”
And while this current issue was being handled, the groundwork to create the next justification was already in progress.
“When did they say the condolence delegation sent by our homeland to mourn Lord Pingyuan would arrive?”