Return to Yan
I now stood before the royal palace of Yan. The hazy memories of the landscape I had left five years ago overlapped with the scene before me.
This was the place of my birth. The place that had sent me away. And the place to which I must return.
Under the watchful eyes of the guards, I stepped forward.
"Halt!"
"Do you know where you are? Withdraw at once, or we shall strike!"
The soldiers' presence was formidable. As gatekeepers of the king's own castle, they were surely the elite among common soldiers. Their threatening words rained down on me, yet they sounded almost pleasant to my ears.
If the Yan-Zhao war had truly dealt Yan a heavy blow, how many of these men would have perished? I faced them with a smile.
"Inform His Majesty that Prince Dan has returned from Zhao."
§
Step by step, I walked along the corridor.
Though the place was entirely different, memories of walking with Lord Pingyuan inexplicably surfaced. Yet now there was no one walking shoulder to shoulder with me.
Except for the eunuch guiding the way, everyone followed two steps behind, treading carefully.
The sole legitimate son of the King of Yan. During my five years in Zhao, my father had reportedly made every effort to sire another heir, but without success.
Still, I could not simply smile at that.
Even though I was his only legitimate son, the King of Yan had permitted my travels abroad. In other words, he had allowed his sole heir to journey to the capital of the enemy state of Qi.
'He has no intention of smoothly installing me as crown prince.'
If he truly regarded me as his successor, he would have secured my safety by any means and brought me to Ji, then seated me as crown prince with the royal seal stamped firmly in place, warning me against rash actions.
I did not know the depths of the king's heart, but at least it seemed he believed there was no need to decide the succession just yet.
I recalled what Jeon Gwang had told me the previous day.
'The faction arguing that Your Highness must be made crown prince has gathered around the Grand Tutor.'
Grand Tutor Guo Mu was the only high official in Yan who had met me face to face. After concluding negotiations with Lian Po, he had significantly expanded his influence within the court. Conversely, the once-dominant Prime Minister Lü Fu had fallen from power, leaving the court a miniature version of the Warring States era, rife with competing factions.
Yet even that had largely settled, consolidating into three main groups.
One was Grand Tutor Guo Mu's faction, which could be called the pro-prince faction. Another was the neutral faction led by Zhang Ju, newly appointed as Prime Minister under the terms of the Yan-Zhao armistice. The last was the faction supporting the son of Lady Su, led by Su Dai.
Su Dai, the younger brother of the famed diplomat Su Qin, held the position of guest minister in Yan. His reputation stemmed not only from his brother's fame but also from his own skill as an eloquent orator and strategist. Though he had not achieved the monumental feat of uniting the six states like his brother, Su Dai had delivered a speech that would echo for millennia.
It happened some thirty years ago.
While my great-grandfather, King Zhao of Yan, grew too frail to lead personally, a famine struck Yan. Zhao seized the opportunity to plan an invasion. At the time, King Huiwen of Zhao ruled after the reign of the revitalizing King Wuling; this was before the Battle of Changping, when Zhao was still a formidable power.
With the war against Qi not yet fully concluded, King Zhao hastily dispatched Su Dai to Zhao.
And Su Dai left behind a legendary exchange with King Huiwen of Zhao.
"As I crossed the Yi River, I saw a clam basking on the shore with its shell open to the sun. A snipe swooped down to peck at its flesh, but the clam snapped its shell shut. Startled, the snipe warned that if it did not rain by tomorrow, the clam would dry up and die. The clam retorted that if it did not release the snipe, the bird would die just the same. As they remained locked in stalemate, a fisherman passing by caught them both in his net."
A familiar tale, is it not?
This was the origin of the famous "fisherman's profit" parable. Su Dai's meaning was clear: if Yan and Zhao, two evenly matched powers, fought each other, only Qin—the third member of the tripartite balance—would benefit.
Convinced, King Huiwen abandoned his invasion plans, and Su Dai was rewarded with the rank of Upper Minister.
No one could have predicted that he, who had retired citing old age, would return to court because of this war.
'If I had not intervened and Yan had been utterly crushed by Zhao, relations between the two states would have collapsed completely, and Su Dai would never have returned.'
Zhang Ju, Guo Mu, and Su Dai—all pursued the same goal: maintaining peace through reconciliation with Zhao.
Yet the methods they advocated differed. Zhang Ju favored non-interference. Guo Mu sought to improve long-term relations with Zhao by elevating me, who had connections there, to crown prince. Su Dai's approach resembled Guo Mu's, except he placed his hopes in a blood alliance by supporting Lady Su's brother, the king's uncle, rather than me.
Recalling the court situation I had heard, Jeon Gwang's voice echoed once more in my ears.
'Therefore, if Your Highness wishes to become crown prince, you must persuade Su Dai. Zhang Ju will not move. He is loyal only to the king and seeks to maintain neutrality. Attempting to draw him in would be a grave mistake.'
So this was why rulers strove so desperately to secure capable strategists.
Jeon Gwang had laid out a clear blueprint for how I could become crown prince, without hesitation or obstruction. Until now, I had been forced to devise every solution alone. Han Jing had been there, but while knowledgeable, he lacked talent for weaving intricate schemes.
'This sort of thing was Zheng's specialty.'
Zheng, who could read the currents of power and pierce to the heart of any situation. She had wielded that talent to sideline her half-brother Ying Chengjiao early and claim the position of crown princess of Qin. Already, she was far ahead.
'I cannot afford to stand still either.'
Tap.
My steps halted before the grand main hall.
Inside, my father, the King of Yan, and his ministers would be gathered.
"Announce me."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The eunuch hurried inside with quick steps.
Soon, the doors opened.
"His Highness Prince Dan requests an audience!"
With the eunuch's cry announcing my return to the court, I stepped into the heart of my homeland.
As the doors opened and I was revealed, the first thing that met me was a pair of eyes gazing down from the jade throne on the central dais.
Though it was our first meeting in five years, there was not a trace of paternal longing or affection in that dry stare directed at his own child.
The owner of that gaze was none other than King Xi of Yan, the father of this body.
I bowed respectfully and approached with measured steps until I stood before him. Then, eyes fixed on the steps of the dais, I clasped my hands and raised them.
"Your son Dan greets Your Majesty. Have you been in good health all this time?"
"Indeed. You have returned sooner than you said."
The king's tone was calm, yet oddly irritable. Perhaps the reality that things were not going as he wished had pricked his pride.
He had launched an ambitious war only to gain nothing of note, then suffered the humiliation of having his northern territories raided by the Xiongnu—whom he had not even considered a threat—before being forced into a hasty armistice with Zhao, losing face. The only child he had sent as a hostage now defied his order to return, insisting on visiting the Jixia Academy in the enemy state of Qi.
From his perspective, nothing was going his way.
"So, did you see your fill of the Jixia Academy you so desperately wished to visit?"
"No, Your Majesty. Along the way, I came to realize my own shortcomings. I could not bear to trouble you further, so I returned."
The king seemed a rather simple man; my self-deprecating words that elevated him softened his tone slightly.
"Haha, so you have finally come to your senses. Yes, that must be what the ancient sages meant when they said one must see the world. If that is what you felt, then your journey was not entirely in vain."
"All of this is thanks to Your Majesty's grace."
"Yes, yes. I worried you might have been tainted by bad influences in Zhao, but it seems my fears were unfounded. More importantly, they say you grew quite close with Qin's crown princess?"
My relationship with Zheng was no longer a matter of mere personal acquaintance. The crown princess of Qin and the legitimate heir of Yan—our statuses were too grand to be bound by ordinary ties.
Thinking of Zheng, who had left my side, a bitter taste lingered on my tongue. The past, present, and future bonds I would face for the rest of my life.
The king seemed intrigued by it.
"I do not know if we were particularly close, but it is true we share some acquaintance."
"Is that so? That alone is enough. How many in the world can claim friendship with Qin's crown princess? In any case, since you have returned after so long, I must grant you a residence. Let me see…"
The king's initial displeasure had vanished. He pondered where I should live, then spoke as if he had just thought of a suitable place.
"You were a hostage in Zhao, and you share a connection with Qin's crown princess. It would be absurd to treat our only royal as an ordinary prince. Do you all not agree?"
The king was staging a performance of seeking his ministers' counsel, though he had likely decided my treatment before I even arrived.
'Then why not simply make me crown prince to match my station?'
I grumbled inwardly and listened to the king's decision.
"Therefore, I bestow upon Prince Dan the fief of Changseong and the title Lord of Changseong. Remain there, survey your lands, rest, and await my future summons."
My brows furrowed involuntarily.
Not crown prince, but a mere lord? It was an understandable measure, one I had anticipated.
But the latter part of his statement was the problem.
'He means to keep me out of the capital at Ji.'
The King of Yan must have found it deeply distasteful to watch me quietly build power in the capital and eye the crown prince's position.
