Chapter 542
Chapter 542
Throughout history, talented individuals have emerged in every generation, each dazzling or dominating the world for a few years. In the north, the King of Wu was coming into his own, while in the south, King Ning was rising like a brilliant star, poised to illuminate the skies of the Eastern world. At present, the court of the State of Yue was in great turmoil. With King Ning Yuanxian having fallen ill, the struggle for the throne between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, Ning Qi, grew ever more intense. A prime opportunity for a power struggle arose between the two sides over the position of Central Commandant of Tianshu Province.
Originally, Zhang Zixu of the Crown Prince's faction was a shoo-in for the position, merely awaiting the imperial decree. But then, a corruption scandal involving the private resale of military grain erupted, and soon, the brilliant Zhang Zixu found himself implicated. Dozens of civil officials from the Crown Prince's faction were embroiled in the affair. Soon after, an even more shocking case of embezzling military funds came to light, ensnaring dozens of military officers. As these scandals grew, the appointment of the Central Commandant of Tianshu Province once again stalled, with no progress in sight.
Amid this clamor, the birth of a daughter in Shen Lang's household was an event so trivial that no one should have cared. And yet, quite a few people paid it close attention. They wondered if the King, who had once favored Shen Lang so greatly, would show him some kindness now that he had a daughter.
But in the end, nothing of the sort happened. Not only did the King bestow no gifts, but Consort Bian also acted as if she knew nothing of it. Rumor had it that Consort Zhong had intended to send a gift, but the King had loudly forbidden it. This gesture made it abundantly clear that Shen Lang had lost the King's favor. The King was resolute in his decision to sacrifice Shen Lang and Ning Zheng. The moment the outcome of the battle on the border was decided, the two of them would be completely finished.
* * *
It had already been twenty days since Shen Lang's precious first daughter was born into the world. He doted on her so much that he could hardly bear to put her down. He found it a great pity that the baby spent most of her day sleeping—eating, then sleeping, then waking to eat again. Whenever she was awake, Shen Lang would hold her in his arms.
This child, who had been such a little troublemaker in her mother's womb, turned out to be remarkably calm and quiet after birth. Most of the time, she would stare intently at Shen Lang with her big, dark, clear eyes, her delicate face looking so serious. She rarely cried, only letting out a couple of soft grunts when she needed a change.
Everyone noticed that Shen Lang spent his days at home holding his daughter, never setting foot in the Northern Plains Hunting Ground and completely ignoring the training of his soldiers. This only further convinced them that Shen Lang held no hope for the decisive battle and had resigned himself to his fate. Why else would he recruit two thousand useless men, abandon them in the barracks of the Northern Plains Hunting Ground, and neither ask nor hear anything about them?
On this day, Shen Lang had waited a very long time for the baby to wake. He couldn't wait any longer and picked her up to show her off. Grand Eunuch Yu Jun arrived in secret, like a thief in the night. Because the King was currently in the process of "sacrificing" Shen Lang, Yu Jun, as His Majesty's confidant, naturally had to maintain a cold and distant demeanor toward him.
"Oh, my sweet girl. The adults' play-acting has wronged you."
Grand Eunuch Yu Jun held the baby with a posture even more precise than Shen Lang's. The baby, who had looked as serious as if facing a great enemy in Shen Lang's arms, seemed to relax and grow drowsy in Yu Jun's embrace. Perhaps his hold was more comfortable.
*This heartless daughter of mine. After all the love your father has shown you.*
"His Majesty spent several hours contemplating a name for this child. It is Shen Mi!"
Shen Lang was speechless.
*Your Majesty! I wanted to name my own daughter, so why did you have to interfere? This is Xiao Bing's child, not Ning Yan's, so she isn't your granddaughter. Did you spend days poring over ancient texts just to come up with a name?*
Shen Lang knew that Ning Yuanxian hadn't spent just a few hours, but several days thinking of the name. Whether he had the time or not, Ning Yuanxian had scoured ancient books to find a good name—one that would make Shen Lang feel ashamed of any name he might have come up with himself. What had Ning Yuanxian said back when he ennobled Zhang Chong as a Viscount? He had told Yu Jun to think of a nice-sounding title. It meant he couldn't be bothered to wrack his brain for such a thing. He couldn't be bothered to think of a title for a noble, yet he spent days pondering a name for Shen Lang's daughter.
As it turned out, the name His Majesty had chosen was indeed a good one. The moment Shen Lang heard it, he was reminded of Zhen Mi. Of course, Ning Yuanxian had no knowledge of such a figure; the name was surely one he had devised himself.
Grand Eunuch Yu Jun said, "Is the character 'Mi' not wonderful? It means peaceful and sweet, and it also carries a hidden meaning of nobility. If read as 'Fu,' it shares the same meaning as the 'Fu' in Fuxi of antiquity. Fuxi was one of the Three Sovereigns of ancient times, a person of utmost dignity."
Shen Lang nodded perfunctorily.
"Yes, it's fine. It's fine!"
Yu Jun was at a loss for words. Of course, when he reported back to His Majesty, he would never say that Shen Lang had been unenthusiastic. He would report that Shen Lang was so thrilled with the name that he shouted with joy, saying he could never have come up with such a fine name himself. Then, Grand Eunuch Yu Jun took out a piece of jade and placed it around the baby's neck.
"This is a gift from Her Highness, Consort Bian."
He never mentioned the origin of the jade piece. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary piece of jade, but it was an artifact from an ancient civilization. It was said that this piece of jade was once a bead from the ceremonial crown of an ancient monarch. It was something the Bian Clan had given to Consort Bian as part of her dowry, and she had always kept it with her, originally intending to pass it down to her own daughter. However, Consort Bian was always modest and not one to show off, so most people were unaware she possessed such a rare treasure.
"His Majesty said that after the decisive battle, our little girl will be about three months old, which is when babies are at their most adorable. He said you are to bring her to the palace then to show her to Her Highness, Consort Bian."
Yu Jun was supposed to stay for only half a shichen, but holding the baby, he unknowingly stayed a quarter of an hour longer, still reluctant to leave. Yu Jun had also prepared a gift, but he did not say it was from him. He simply tied a small bracelet woven from red string with a coin onto the baby's wrist. Yu Jun didn't mention that the coin was the only thing his birth mother had left him.
Yu Jun was an orphan, raised in the Grand Eunuch's Residence. Later, Eunuch Yu Mu adopted him, but he never knew who his parents were from a young age. In fact, for as long as he could remember, he had always worn that coin bracelet on his wrist. When he grew up and his wrist became too thick for it, he stopped wearing it and kept it tucked away in his robes. Now, he was giving that coin bracelet to Shen Lang's daughter, Shen Mi. Though it wasn't a valuable item, it held all his love and blessings.
Jin Mucong, standing beside them, looked as if he wanted to hold the baby too. He said, "Brother-in-law, aren't you going to the Northern Plains Hunting Ground to oversee the troop training? The decisive battle on the border is a matter of great importance. Not only your fate and His Highness Ning Zheng's, but also His Majesty the King's, hang in the balance."
What he said was absolutely right; there was no flaw in his reasoning. The King had likely recovered by now and had no trouble moving, yet he remained in his sickbed every day. His collapse this time had led to severe consequences. Everyone had come to believe that the tiger-like Ning Yuanxian had grown weak, which could lead to a very dangerous situation.
For this reason, even though Ning Yuanxian was almost fully recovered, he continued to feign weakness, pretending he was unable to leave his bed. The decisive border battle would officially begin while he was at his weakest. Then, once victory was secured, he would reappear before everyone, full of vigor and authority, having accomplished something astonishing alongside Shen Lang. Shen Lang's two thousand new troops would create a miracle, the King would once again strike fear into all, and his reputation would reach its zenith.
At that time, the world would unanimously declare that King Ning Yuanxian's illness had been a sham, that it was all an act, and they would hold him in even greater awe. Thus, the fates of the King, Ning Zheng, and Shen Lang were now bound together. The King had said that even if he didn't trust Ning Zheng, he trusted Shen Lang. And this time, his trust was a gamble with his own political honor on the line. What firm belief that was.
* * *
Everyone believed that Shen Lang and Ning Zheng were doomed to fail in the upcoming border battle, that they had no chance at all. They also thought that Shen Lang had completely given up on the matter, not even setting foot in the Northern Plains Hunting Ground since his daughter's birth. The area around the hunting ground had been staged to look like an epidemic was spreading, with animal carcasses and viscera strewn everywhere. But no matter how they staged the scene, they couldn't stop the countless spies from the Crown Prince's faction, the Third Prince's faction, the Zhong Clan, and even the State of Chu from snooping around. The Northern Plains Hunting Ground was simply too large to prevent infiltration. These spies observed Gao Duhuan training the soldiers and ended up laughing until their sides hurt.
*Oh, heavens. This is too funny. What kind of training is this? Is there any need to keep this secret? This is a dung-heap of a training regimen!*
This was because Shen Lang's two thousand new soldiers practiced only one move every day: a slashing motion. One clean cut, two pieces! One clean cut, two pieces! They did it thousands, tens of thousands of times. For two days, ten days, half a month, a whole month! Every day, they practiced nothing but that single sword swing, and they did it with wooden swords, not real ones.
*You call yourselves an army, yet you don't practice formations or train for strength and speed, only slashing? Even if you're practicing slashing, you should at least vary your stances. Why do you keep practicing that same downward chop? It's not just you; watching you is making me sick to my stomach. How stupid are your soldiers that they have to practice such a simple slashing motion for a month? And it looks like you're going to keep practicing only this move? You still haven't mastered it?*
*Shen Lang, I know you've already given up on this battle, but you should at least put on a convincing show. Shouldn't you teach your new troops some sword techniques, some archery? And you won't even let them touch real swords? Right! These guys don't even have the strength to wring a chicken's neck, so they probably can't even lift a real sword.*
As the days went by, the spies could no longer bear it. Not only were they on the verge of vomiting from watching two thousand fools practice slashing every day, but they also felt like they were becoming idiots themselves. Eventually, the spies all left.
*Spying, my foot. Just watching such a dung-heap of an army is a waste of my life force. They get drenched in sweat just from swinging wooden swords so strenuously. There's no killing intent in them at all. An army this useless is worse than a children's corps made up of seven- and eight-year-olds.*