The Alliance Army Gathers
The Alliance Army had finally arrived.
"Lord Xinling!"
The rallying point chosen for the coalition forces was Ji. Upon arriving there, I spotted Lord Xinling waiting all the way outside the city gates and immediately leaped down from my carriage, running toward her. She, too, dismounted from her horse and walked to meet me.
She spread her arms wide as if intending to embrace me in reunion, but with so many eyes watching, I had no intention of doing anything so forward. I stopped at a respectful distance and offered her a proper bow.
"From Yan, I—"
But Lord Xinling was different. Paying no mind to the surrounding gazes, she simply pulled me into her arms.
"L-Lord Xinling, people are watching…."
"No need to be shy. You're late, aren't you? This is your punishment."
Since she wore no armor, the soft silk of her robes brushed against my cheek while her hand roughly tousled my hair. After venting her frustration by subjecting me to this public humiliation for my tardiness, she finally released me.
"Now, let's head inside."
"I came with my troops, so I should join them."
"The Chu forces are stationed at Gong and have some breathing room. Besides, the commanders need to gather for a meeting. You said you came with Juzi, didn't you?"
Lord Xinling used the respectful title Juzi when referring to Ge Xin. Noticing that her gaze wasn't on me, I followed it and turned around. There stood Ge Xin, who had approached without my noticing.
"That is correct. I am General Ge Xin, here to assist the Crown Prince of our state."
"Your reputation precedes you. I am Lord Xinling, Wei Wuqi."
"How could I not know that name?"
Unlike the warm welcome she had given me, Lord Xinling treated Ge Xin with impeccable courtesy. It was true that Ge Xin was older than both of us combined, but still—I was no longer a mere hostage prince but the Crown Prince of Yan. This was hardly helping my dignity in front of others.
"Hm? Now that you're Crown Prince, you've grown quite bold. I see you even know how to glare properly. Fine, fine. From now on, I'll treat you like the honored guest a crown prince deserves."
She spoke half in jest and half in earnest, but the sudden distance in her tone left me uneasy. Over the past few years in Handan, I had spent a great deal of time with her—whether on merchant guild matters or otherwise. During the Zhao-Yan war, she had taught me what needed to be done, showing me like a true mentor how to move the world.
Feeling that I had been overly sensitive because of the onlookers, I quickly shook my head.
"It wasn't that at all. I simply hoped you might consider the time and place a little more…."
"Hehe, you're still the same. I was simply too happy to see you, so please understand. I'll be more careful from now on."
"This time, let's really go inside. Many people are waiting."
With those words, Lord Xinling turned on her heel and strode away. Did I still look like a child from my days as a Zhao hostage in her eyes?
While I stood there with a slightly sour expression, tidying the hair she had mussed, Ge Xin approached and whispered.
"It seems you two share a good relationship. I'm relieved."
"Relieved? After being hugged and treated like a child in public, I'm worried about morale."
"Not at all. On the contrary, it's a good thing."
I frowned, unable to understand how being openly embraced and babied could possibly be advantageous. Ge Xin smiled faintly and gave the all-purpose answer.
"Because the other party is Lord Xinling."
He seemed about to elaborate further, but Lord Xinling, seeing us standing still, called out impatiently for us to hurry.
"Let's talk while we walk."
"I'll brief the deputy generals."
"I'd appreciate that."
Leaving the Yan forces in Ge Xin's care, I quickened my steps to catch up with Lord Xinling. Setting aside our old bond, I was ultimately responsible for the Yan army, and she was the supreme commander of this coalition. Coordination between the leadership was essential.
As I caught up and we passed through the gates of Ji City, Lord Xinling spoke in a voice tinged with slight apology.
"About what happened earlier. Were you very displeased? I'm sorry. It's true I was happy to see you, but… it was also somewhat intentional."
"Pardon? I wasn't displeased. But what do you mean by intentional?"
Both what Ge Xin had been about to say and Lord Xinling's own words suggested there had been some benefit to that action. After passing through the gate and the scenery of Ji City's interior unfolding before us, she placed a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me closer as she spoke.
"Look over there. Can you see the citizens?"
"Yes."
The people of Wei inside the city were watching us. Just as we observed them, they observed us in return.
"What the common people desire is not as grand as one might think. It's actually very simple. To survive today safely and go out to the fields tomorrow to see the sun rise once more."
Lord Xinling paused for a moment, then turned to look directly at me.
"Protecting that wish is precisely the duty of us rulers."
"…I understand."
Yet I still couldn't see what that had to do with the embrace from earlier. Noticing that I remained unconvinced on some level, she gave a small chuckle and resumed walking.
"Where are we walking right now?"
"Inside Ji City."
"Speak louder."
"We are in Wei."
"That's right. Wei. To the people of Yan, how distant and foreign must Wei seem? They must have been anxious. Coming to a faraway land with no connections, forced to lay down their lives fighting for people they have no ties to. And in such a situation, the supreme commander turns out to be a princess of this very state?"
Only then did I finally realize why Ge Xin had said it was fine because it was Lord Xinling. It wasn't because she was one of the Four Lords of the Warring States. It was because she was the supreme commander of the Alliance Army.
Stepping for the first time onto foreign soil, the soldiers must have felt a seed of anxiety in their hearts. What if these people betray us? Are the soldiers of Yan nothing more than disposable pawns for Wei's sake? Such fears would erode morale and eventually lead to desertion.
But the behavior Lord Xinling had shown in front of the troops had largely dispelled that anxiety. Seeing that their own crown prince and commander shared such close ties with the supreme commander, they could at least believe they wouldn't be sent to meaningless deaths. The soldiers must have drawn comfort from watching me.
"Remember this well. The Alliance Army is formed by the people of many nations coming together. If you prioritize only your own citizens and forget those of other states, the coalition will never rise again."
The commander of the Alliance Army must remain neutral. She must not favor any single nation but raise the banner of a cause for all under Heaven. Easy to say, yet Lord Xinling had worked tirelessly, even wearing out her own feet, to make it reality. This must be the true value of the woman who had twice united the world as supreme commander of the coalition.
And from now on, it is something I must follow as well.
Ge Xin had been right. Even by my own assessment, I had grown tremendously. From a powerless eight-year-old hostage sent to Zhao, I had become a sixteen-year-old crown prince who held sway over Yan—one of the Seven Warring States. Along the way, I had met many people, learned from them, and come this far.
But I was still far from enough. Compared to the Qin Emperor who would swallow the world and unify this vast Hua, I was pathetically weak. Therefore, I needed to learn even more. I needed to gather even more people by my side. Just as my great-grandfather, King Zhaoyang of Yan, had done, I must build a golden terrace to invite talents from across the states. I must receive instruction from both Ge Xin and Lord Xinling, striving to become a vessel capable of containing all under Heaven.
"I'm sorry, Lord Xinling."
Honestly, I had become intoxicated by my rise to the position of crown prince. Sending Chu Yan to Ge Xin, creating a connection to Yue Sheng through Sima Shang to persuade Yue Jian, and personally meeting and recruiting Jin Kai. The entire process of drawing in the military faction had been carried out under my own initiative. They were the fruits of my efforts, schemes I had conceived and succeeded at entirely alone. So I had grown arrogant. Perhaps I was an extraordinarily capable person after all. All without having faced any true trials yet.
Lord Xinling patted my back soundly, then spoke in her usual refreshing manner.
"You've only just passed the age of learning—how can you already expect perfection! Don't be discouraged. Just keep learning without end. Is it not a pleasure to learn and practice what one has learned in due time? Do not grieve over what you lack in study, but rejoice that there is still more to learn."
Is it not a pleasure to learn and practice what one has learned in due time?
It was the very first line of Confucius's Analects—a passage famous beyond measure. I thought I understood why Lord Xinling had chosen those particular words to comfort me. Two more lines followed it:
Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?
Is one not a gentleman if one does not become resentful when others do not recognize one's worth?
At a time when Confucianism had not yet established itself as a particularly powerful school of thought, the fact that she comforted me with Confucius's words must have been to include those two sentences as well. They carried her true feelings—that she was happy and glad simply that I had come. And at the same time, the heart of a senior teaching her junior the path of the gentleman that I should pursue from now on.