Old Friends and New Allies
The air in Yan was cold. A biting wind swept across my cheeks, the kind that made you instantly aware you had traveled into the northern latitudes.
“So this is Ji,” Yeo Hong-seong murmured beside me, her voice laced with quiet admiration.
Ji felt different from Handan. It wasn’t as large, and its floating population didn’t even reach half of the Zhao capital’s. The reason lay in Yan’s distinctive capital system. While Zhao’s capital, Handan, had grown into a vast metropolis by merging three walled districts—the Northern, Eastern, and Western Cities—Yan had maintained multiple capitals from the beginning. Ji, which had long served as the seat of power, was designated the Upper Capital. For the campaign against Qi, they had constructed Wuyang as both a forward base and the residence of King Zhaoyang, naming it the Lower Capital, with the Middle Capital linking the two. This created a tri-capital system: Upper, Middle, and Lower.
The arrangement had taken firm root during King Zhaoyang’s reign, when Yan’s territory had nearly tripled, and it persisted to this day. The Middle Capital was little more than a connector, but Wuyang was a sizable planned city. Combined, the three might well rival Handan in scale.
We joined the line for inspection at Ji’s gates. Yeo Hong-seong nudged my ribs with her elbow and teased, “Do we really have to go through all this? You’re a prince, aren’t you?”
“…Stop teasing me. We both hid our identities. It was the same for each of us.”
“Well~ Sure, but mine’s just an empty title now. No one even knows it. It’s different for you, isn’t it?”
With that mischievous grin, she kept prodding me—“Right? Right?”—her former solemn demeanor nowhere in sight. It was proof of how close we had grown, yet today her playfulness felt particularly irritating.
We had begun speaking this way after I revealed my identity as Prince of Yan, around the time we crossed from Qi into Yan territory. I could not keep hiding it forever if I wished to maintain our connection. After traveling together and building genuine rapport, I judged that my status would no longer endanger her and told the truth. Her own origins proved equally remarkable.
“If I revealed that I am the direct granddaughter of King Wujiang of Yue, wouldn’t Chu at least grant me some noble title?”
Wujiang had been the final king of Yue before its destruction and absorption by Chu. Seeking alliance with Qi, he had resisted Chu fiercely, but he lacked the strength to oppose King Wei of Chu and died in defeat. Yet Yue had not been swallowed immediately. Members of the royal line with real power proclaimed themselves kings of Yue and rose in revolt, while lesser figures called themselves lords and took up arms. Chu crushed every one of those restoration movements and fully subjugated the state. It had happened only a few decades ago.
Among those forces was Wujiang’s son, who rose under the title of Changhaegun. That man was Yeo Hong-seong’s father. When I asked whether Yeo Hong-seong was an alias, she replied that her true clan name was indeed Mi, the royal surname of Yue, but since the kingdom had fallen, the distinction between real name and alias held little meaning.
“Who knows? Yue’s original rank was viscount—perhaps I should claim that.”
At this time a viscount was not a true feudal lord under the five-rank system, but a title granted to vassals of actual lords. Still, Yue’s most famous ruler, Goujian—the hero of the perseverance tale of sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall—had been powerful enough to rank among the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn era. Why, then, a mere viscount? Because Yue had always been a remote frontier, far from the central plains. Regional prejudice existed even now. With Yue truly subjugated by Chu, the title of viscount had become perfectly fitting.
What is this, some Greek oracle? How tragic that the prophecy should be fulfilled this way…
“So have you considered the offer I made last time?”
“You mean becoming your retainer?”
“Yes.”
When I first revealed my identity as Prince of Yan, I had cautiously sounded her out about joining me as a guest retainer. We had not been as close then, and Yeo Hong-seong still seemed more interested in seeing the wider world, so it had been only a tentative suggestion. Yet as Ji drew nearer and the moment of parting loomed, the discussion had grown serious. Even Yeo Hong-seong—who usually acted without hesitation and spoke impulsively—had become cautious on this matter. She had readily disclosed her own background the moment I revealed mine, yet now she pondered the question at length.
It means she is taking my proposal seriously. In that case, I should be glad.
Lost in our separate thoughts, we passed inspection without incident and entered Ji. Even if trouble had arisen, revealing my identity would have resolved everything, but I wanted to gauge the city’s atmosphere and internal situation before entering the royal palace. It was for the best.
“Think it over carefully. Even if you choose not to become my retainer, I can at least provide lodging while you remain in Ji.”
That lodging would not be in the palace but in a separate wing of a mansion owned by the merchant guild—the very place we were now approaching. We had sent word ahead from the last city, so I expected someone might meet us. Sure enough, as our destination came into view, a familiar woman with vivid green hair stood waving, her refreshing smile as bright as ever.
“Hey there.”
I wanted to break into a run but settled for quickening my steps, mindful of Yeo Hong-seong beside me. She, perceptive as always, gently pushed my back and discreetly fell behind. I thanked her with a glance and continued forward until I stood before Jing Ke, meeting her eyes.
After the passage of years, I had grown nearly to her eye level.
“You’ve grown quite tall, Prince of Yan.”
“Mm. On the other hand, it seems Jing Ke has become a little shorter.”
“What? Hahaha! You impudent rascal. Instead of becoming an adult, you’ve only grown more sly.”
Perhaps the regular letters we had exchanged about the merchant guild’s affairs had kept us familiar. Though it had been a long time, our conversation flowed as naturally as if we had parted only yesterday.
Yet once this woman dove into talk, she showed no sign of stopping—perhaps because so much had accumulated over the years. She truly embodied the phrase “acting as though no one else existed.” Her complete disregard for her surroundings remained unchanged.
I gently cut the flow of conversation and introduced Yeo Hong-seong, who had been standing behind us, watching in silence.
“Ah, I should have introduced her sooner. This is the traveling companion I mentioned in my letters.”
“…Ah! So you’re Yeo Hong-seong.”
She must have been daydreaming; her response came a beat late. Only then did Jing Ke realize she had been ignoring the other woman. She offered a slightly apologetic smile and proper courtesy.
“My, I’ve kept a guest standing all this time. Forgive me. This Jing Ke has never been very good at noticing those around her.”
“Hahaha, when old acquaintances meet, such things are bound to happen, aren’t they?”
“Oh? I thought you were only big in stature, but your tolerance is equally large. I’ll make up for my rudeness with some of my treasured wine.”
“Treasured wine… now that is an apology I can accept. I’ll gladly take a cup!”
What a pair of heroes. They had only just met, yet they spoke to each other without reservation and smoothed over the slightly rude first impression with a casual promise of drinks. It was a manner of conversation I found difficult to match.
As Jing Ke led us inside, she and Yeo Hong-seong immediately hit it off, now treating me as though I were the stranger. Just how well did they already get along…?
Ah, the two of them really do seem well-matched.
If Yeo Hong-seong truly was the person I suspected, then she and Jing Ke would originally have been comrades sharing a single purpose. Of course, neither knew anything about the other.
The assassination of Qin Shi Huang. The girl named Zheng, whom I took in after she had been abandoned by her parents and persecuted by the world. And Ying Zheng, who rose to become King of Qin, waged a war of unification against all the states, and achieved dominion over the world. I raised her with my own hands, yet I have also gathered around me those who would seek to kill that child. What irony this is.
My role is to ensure such a thing never comes to pass.
The road ahead remained long and uncertain, but the light marking the final destination shone clearer than anything else. And now that path no longer seemed quite so frightening. Because I knew there were people who would walk it with me.
“Come, let me make the introductions!”
And today I would gain new traveling companions for that journey.
As we stepped inside, Jing Ke spread her arms wide and gestured toward those waiting for us. A man standing at the threshold of middle age, a youth who appeared to be around Jing Ke’s age, and an elderly man whose hair was more than half white. Facing the three pairs of eyes turned toward me, I smiled and clasped my hands together.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ji Dan, Crown Prince of Yan.”