Chapter 358
Chapter 358
*Crack!*
A loud noise echoed as the chair split in two. The scene reminded everyone present of something they had forgotten: King Ning Yuanxian had also trained in martial arts and was, in fact, quite a formidable practitioner.
“I have already resolved to lead the troops myself and face the King of Wu in a decisive battle! Anyone who tries to stop me will end up like this chair. No money? Then we shall borrow! Hasn't the Hidden Yuan Society been desperate to lend us money all this time?”
After his resolute declaration, King Ning Yuanxian departed, still clad in his armor. The remaining ministers, trembling with fear and anxiety, began to discuss the situation among themselves. Just then, Zhu Hongzhu, the Left Chancellor of the Grand Secretariat, slowly raised his head and spoke.
“What is all this clamor about? His Majesty has already made his decision. As his subjects, should we not simply carry out our duties with peace of mind?”
The hall fell silent at once. Zhu Hongzhu also held the position of the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor. He was the king's father-in-law and the father of Zhu Rong and Zhu Lin. As King Ning Yuanxian's former teacher, he was another pillar of the State of Yue. Already seventy-three this year, he had rarely attended court, having been recuperating at home from an illness. But today, he had finally dragged his ailing body to the palace. Zhang Chong gazed at the old man, a sense of reverence rising within him. This was the man he aspired to be.
* * *
In the study.
The king was playing Go with Shen Lang.
“Shen Lang, your house burned down. I hear it’s almost completely gone.”
At those words, Shen Lang’s face and hands trembled.
“Over a dozen of your household warriors died, but your family is safe. That Big Dummy of yours is quite something!”
Shen Lang’s hands steadied.
“You have committed a crime. Big Dummy is destined to become the greatest martial artist in the world, a symbol of hope that our State of Yue’s martial arts can be the best under heaven. Why did you force him into the open so soon? Did you mean to use him as a shield?”
“I did not wish to.”
The two continued their game.
“Your prediction was correct. Su Nan was hiding a great ambition. He not only wants to create a new Yan Province Massacre, but he also intends to crown himself king and merge the Su Clan with the State of Jiang. The scoundrel has quite a grasp of the human heart.”
“Because I must have my revenge, I am always scheming to kill Su Nan, so I ponder his thoughts every day. For that reason, I understand his mind better than others.”
“Then do you ponder my thoughts every day as well?”
“Your Majesty is not going to become this humble subject’s father-in-law, so what use would there be in pondering your thoughts?”
For a moment, the king wanted to throw the Go stone in his hand at Shen Lang’s face.
“Before leaving the capital, Su Nan set a great fire to burn the city and brazenly escaped through the Vermilion Bird Gate. He even tried to kill your entire family in the capital. Did you know he would be so audacious?”
Shen Lang shook his head.
“No. I thought he would flee in secret.”
“I, too, never imagined it. That old man was always too good an actor.”
The king then frowned.
“You are so terrible at Go. What fun is there in playing with you?”
“I have not lost yet.”
“You are already cornered. Didn’t you claim to see three or four steps ahead for every one you take?”
“Go is simply tedious. I do not like to waste my mind on it.”
Hearing this, the king wanted to flip the board over, but since he was about to win, he couldn’t be bothered.
“Shen Lang, do you still intend to kill Su Nan and annihilate the Su Clan?”
“Ah, I suppose I do?”
* * *
Ninety miles west of Lang County.
As Su Nan neared his home base, he finally began to relax. The Su Clan's domain was not vast, spanning just over a thousand square miles, but the profits it generated exceeded those of half of Tianxi Province. Once he entered his sphere of influence, he would be like a flood dragon in the sea, fearing nothing. As it happened, a nearby post station had prepared several hundred fine horses. Su Nan's party planned to switch mounts as soon as they arrived and continue toward their family fiefdom.
“Quickly, quickly, chop the fodder and feed the horses! Stop dawdling. Make sure every warhorse is well-fed. Some important people will be using them shortly. If even one horse is unfed and lacks the strength to run, I’ll hold you responsible!”
An old man, looking like a cross between a stable hand and a farmer, meticulously chopped hay with a fodder knife.
“Sigh! Shen Lang, repaying the debt I owe you is truly difficult! Asking me to kill Su Nan… I really have no confidence I can do it. I come from a humble family of farmers, generations of them. My heart trembles whenever I see a person of high station. You said His Majesty the King gave his permission to kill Su Nan, but I am an uneducated man. You must not deceive me!”
The grandmaster, Sword King Li Qianqiu, continued to chop the fodder with a troubled expression, quietly awaiting Su Nan’s arrival.
* * *
The king won this game of Go so easily that it was utterly unfulfilling. While not the greatest master of the game, he was certainly a skilled player. Of course, if Shen Lang had used a computer, he could have beaten Ning Yuanxian, but relying on his own skill, he was bound to lose.
“Shen Lang, how do you think the King of Wu defeated me?”
“Your Majesty’s style has been known to the world for many years and has been thoroughly studied by all, whereas he is a complete unknown.”
Ning Yuanxian nodded at his words.
“True.”
Then, the king glanced at the move Shen Lang had just made and waved his hand in dismissal, unable to continue.
“I’m done. You’re too terrible.”
Shen Lang had considered playing Gomoku with the king but decided against it. Gomoku was too simple, and they would end up playing endlessly. Playing Go with Shen Lang had likely exhausted all of the king’s patience.
“What do you think of the King of Wu?”
“He is young, brashly confident, and eager to display his talents. He avoids risky moves, preferring to crush his opponents with overwhelming force. And he is not one to follow conventional strategies.”
“Are those not all strengths?”
“However, in my opinion, he has a flaw: he is rather impatient.”
“Oh?”
“He tried to win over my father-in-law several times. When he failed, he immediately used his own power to sow discord and block the Jin Clan’s path to being enfeoffed as a marquisate. He even tried to pressure my father-in-law into rebelling against the State of Yue.”
The king asked coolly, “Is it not good to handle matters with overwhelming strength?”
“That depends on the timing. Of course, if faced with a great crisis, it is better to fight with all one’s might than to sit and wait for death. But his situation had not yet reached that point.”
The king nodded and said, “Continue.”
“I believe such a person has a weakness. He tends to focus on one thing and neglect the bigger picture. When his mind is fixed on a single goal, he is prone to revealing flaws he has never shown to others.”
The king frowned, looking surprised, and rebuked Shen Lang.
“You see the world from the bottom of a well and discuss military strategy from behind a desk. Such bold claims, and you’re not even ashamed.”
*Damn it. You were the one who asked me to speak. I give my opinion, and that’s all the credit I get?*
But the king had not sought out Shen Lang today for idle chatter; he had come to discuss a matter of great importance.
“Shen Lang, what are your views on the New Policies?”
Though startled inwardly by the king’s question, Shen Lang asked nonchalantly, “Your Majesty, may I speak my true mind?”
The king rose from his seat and moved to a higher one farther away. If he remained close, the scoundrel’s tone would only grow more impudent; some distance was necessary. Seeing this, Shen Lang silently criticized him.
*This king is truly difficult to serve. I don't even have a proper seat. I nearly died from having to half-crouch while playing Go with you just now. And after all that, you still dislike me for not being deferential enough.*
“To speak frankly, if the blade of the New Policies were to fall upon my clan’s head, we would resist with all our might. The Jin Clan’s foundation was built through the desperate struggles of our ancestors, not bestowed upon us by the former king.”
The words were, in a way, treasonous. The king frowned but let it pass. Honesty was better than feigned obedience while harboring dissent. The Jin Clan had always been straightforward—what was theirs was theirs, and they wouldn’t take what wasn’t. They were not insatiably greedy like the Su Clan.
Shen Lang continued, “However, if the blade of the New Policies does not fall on our heads, then this humble subject would welcome them with open arms. What’s not to like about the New Policies? They sweep away all obstacles and concentrate power solely in the hands of the monarch. The state treasury will grow fuller, more soldiers can be raised, and the State of Yue can distinguish itself in the war for supremacy among the southern nations.”
“Your words are unbearably vulgar.”
The king chided him. The New Policies were clearly a good thing for the country and its people, yet Shen Lang spoke of them as if they were a mere tool for the monarch’s personal gain.
“Then what if I were to order you to implement the New Policies? What would you do?”
“Without a second thought, I would uproot the old, established noble families and wipe them clean.”
*Ugh! Isn’t your family also one of the old, established nobles? You’d betray your own kind even more decisively than Su Nan.*
“Currently, the old noble families of Yue are uniting. They intend to push your Jin Clan forward as the new head of the noble alliance and form a new league of established aristocracy.”
“They are dreaming. When our Jin Clan was in crisis, did a single one of those bastards step up to help? They all threw stones, trying to finish us off. To pay off the family’s debts, my mother-in-law went to no fewer than ten families seeking loans, yet she managed to borrow only a thousand gold coins. I remember that grudge clearly. So if Your Majesty asks if I will support the New Policies, I will most certainly support them. In fact, my only regret would be not being able to become the very sword of the New Policies myself, to strike them down one by one and avenge those wrongs.”
The king wanted to lean back further, but his head was already against the wall. They were supposed to be discussing matters of state, yet on Shen Lang’s glib tongue, the grand undertaking of the New Policies had been reduced to a tool for personal revenge and settling old scores. Just conversing with such a person felt beneath his dignity. The king’s expression grew a little more solemn as he asked.
“Shen Lang, if I truly ordered you to implement the New Policies, would you do it?”
“If it is simply a matter of implementing the policies, I would not want to. I have never even read the . But if you are asking me to harm people under the pretext of the New Policies, then this humble subject is willing.”