Chapter 27 Part1 (1/2)
This chapter is the nail-biting kind of exciting, with duels all around and hundreds of spectators watching. Readers get a glimpse of Liu Bing Yi finally standing up, taking the limelight and commanding respect. It is very interesting how the foreshadowing works here in this pa.s.sage, with Liu Bing Yi and Liu Fu Ling on the highest point, overlooking the crowd, defeating Ke'er Dada as allies.
Ignoring the fact Liu Bing Yi will be evil later on in the novel, he is really quite likeable here as he shares a comfortable camerederie with Yun Ge, able to tease her and know she wouldn't get p.i.s.sed off. I really enjoyed reading this moment he shared with Yun Ge, all gruff and manly 'no-I-certainly-do-not-care' facade on, I found it really adorable.
Like everyone, I feel really bad for Liu Fu Ling, but he's so understanding, so perfect that I totally get why people would prefer Meng Jue just because he is so complex, so dark, yet so loving. The problem with Meng Jue is that I find him too deep, too hard to understand in terms of husband material, whereas Liu Fu Ling shares this immediate connection with Yun Ge, they just totally and completely 'get' each other, which would make him my choice for Yun Ge.
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After Wei Qing and Huo Qu Bing thoroughly defeated the Xiong Nu tribe, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Xiong Nu tribe was never again a pressing threat to the Hans; but following the weakening of the Han Dynasty, the Xiong Nus gathered strength again, repeatedly hara.s.sing the borders of Han. Besides the threat from the Xiong Nus, the second largest threat to the Han Dynasty came from a nomadic tribe slowly gaining strength – Qiang. The people of Western Qiang once allied themselves with the Xiong Nu, gathered a force of 10,000 to attack Han during the last days of Emperor Wu of Han. Although the attack was quelled, the Han people suffered heavy losses too, causing Emperor Wu of Han to die with hatred in his heart, reminding the four officials he entrusted his orphaned son to, to be wary of the Qiang people.
After the late emperor’s death, the Qiang people saw the Han becoming weaker with frequent internal strife and started to l.u.s.t after the He Xi land which Wei Qing and Huo Qu Bing s.n.a.t.c.hed from the Xiong Nu. The land at He Xi was filled with vast green gra.s.slands and water, the dream heaven of nomads, the sacred place the Heavens bestowed upon them. For that piece of land, the Qiangs lobbied with the Xiong Nu in Xi Yu, often setting up tentative attacks against the Han, and even plotted for the rebellion of the Qiang, Xiong Nu and other Xi Yu people who have settled in the He Xi area after pledging allegiance to Han. An intense struggle for the land erupted, especially at the military pa.s.s in He Huang, where many small skirmishes erupted frequently. The Qiang tribe often ma.s.sacred whole villages to silence them, hoping to gain strength through numbers, maintaining the absolute majority of the Qiang people at He Huang. As the Qiang was a nomadic tribe who wors.h.i.+p freedom, Western Qiang, Northern Qiang, Southern Qiang, Central Qiang did not have a central royal family, but they were slowly coming together with the common goal of conquering the He Xi. If the Qiang unite, then allied themselves with Xiong Nu, together with the tens of thousands of Xiong Nu and Qiang descendents who have settled in Guan Zhong, if war were to erupt, it might sweep across the whole north-eastern border of the Han.
Therefore, today, when the Prince of Central Qiang – Ke’er Dada and his princess Aliya represented the whole Qiang tribe to pay their respects and celebrate the Han New Year, a sudden silence descended on the officials, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at Ke'er Dada. The silence affected the female guests too, no one knew what had transpired, but didn’t dare to speak, everyone fixing their eyes on the Emperor’s throne, contemplating the foreign prince Ke’er Dada. Yun Ge though, attracted by Aliya’s attire, made a slight exclamation of surprise before moving her gaze to Ke’er Dada.
Ke’er Dada wasn’t tall, but his shoulders were broad and muscular, his brows thick, his gait powerful, looking very impressive. He paid his respected to Liu Fu Ling, saying loudly. “They say that Han is vast and rich in natural resources. After what I’ve witnessed today, I’d say they weren’t wrong. Today, the brightness of the jewels rendered me blind, the sweet delicacies presented rendered me speechless, and the maidens like fairies made me blush and my heart race….”
Xu Ping Jun laughed. “This king might speak crudely, but it is very amusing. He speaks like he is singing.”
Yun Ge laughed too. “To those who live on horses, songs are their language. Jie Jie! Although they might not speak as gracefully as the Han, but they share the same heart.” Under Ke’er Dada’s influence, Yun Ge’s speech took on a sing-song lilt. Xu Ping Jun knew Yun Ge was from Xi Yu, and possessed a different perspective when it came to the Hu, and other foreign people, so she only smiled, not replying.
At Ke’er Dada’s words, everyone laughed proudly and scornfully, despising his crudeness and proud of everything he just praised.
Liu Fu Ling remained expressionless, patiently waiting for the ‘but’ in his words.
“………But, the vast blue skies have the eagles soaring, the endless gra.s.sland have strong horses galloping. My Han brothers, where are your eagles and horses?” He waved his hand as he spoke, and four huge men like iron paG.o.das stepped forth bearing presents. With each step they took, the tables shook slightly. Yu An dodged to guard Liu Fu Ling, while wanting to shout for them to retreat. The nomads had indomitable spirit, their tribe full of heroes and warriors, even the head of their tribe – Chanyu, Khagan, Emir, must be heroes to command respect. When Ke’er Dada saw how the Emperor of this great Han must be protected by a eunuch, his eyes couldn’t conceal his derision. He was about to command his four guards to retreat when unexpectedly, Liu Fu Ling shot Yu An a sharp look. Yu An could only retreat silently. The four huge warriors closed in on Liu Fu Ling, but he acted as if nothing was happening; only smiling slightly at Ke’er Dada. The four warriors only stopped when they were right in front of his table. Liu Fu Ling looked calm, smiling at the warriors in front of him, said unhurriedly. “The eagles in the heavens won’t unleash their claws unless they see a poisonous snake, the strong horses on the field wouldn’t kick up their metal-shoed hooves unless they see a threatening wolf. My brothers on the gra.s.sland, do you think an eagle that has folded its wings is then a wild goose? Or mistake a resting strong horse for a deer?”
Liu Fu Ling used the short tune of the gra.s.slands [1] to reply Ke’er Dada’s question, showing him due respect, but his words acting as a warning for those who would try to cross the Hans. Liu Fu Ling displayed both grace and power, rendering Ke’er Dada mute for the moment.
For him to shoot him questions so quickly using the short tune of the gra.s.slands showed this Emperor’s familiarity with their local customs and values. Just this point was enough to stop him from looking down on this gentle Han Emperor. Ke’er Dada stood in stunned silence for a while, then commanded his four guards to stand to the side.
He bowed to Liu Fu Ling. “Emperor sent from heaven, our warriors have travelled a long way, not for jewels, nor for good wine, and definitely not for beauties; just like how powerful eagles will only soar with powerful eagles, strong horses will only run with strong horses, warriors would only want to spar with warriors. We have sought for brothers worthy of presenting our curved knife, but why is it I only see wild geese wagging their tongues, and suckling baby deer? “
The scheming, faction-forming scholars and civil officials so used to fighting with their sharp tongues were so angry their faces turned red in an instant. The young military officers so used to being protected by their fathers, led by Huo Yu and Huo Yun almost flipped their tables.
Liu Fu Ling might have remained expressionless, but his heart sunk. To think, in the past, the great Han’s court had Sima Qian, Sima Xiangru, Dongfang Shuo, Zhufu Yan for civil officials…..Wei Qing, Huo Qu Bing, Lee Guang, Zhao Po Nu as military officers.
There were stars that excelled in the arts; stars that excelled in the military s.h.i.+ning at court, any one of them would have rendered the borders speechless. But now…….. Wild geese with wagging tongues? Suckling baby deer? As the saying goes, the person who best understands your weakness is your energy, and how right that was!
Liu Fu Ling’s gaze slowly scanned across his civil and military officials: Grand Marshal Huo Guang sat expressionlessly on his seat. Every single detail of the banquet today will be known across Chang An and the rest of the world by tomorrow. Huo Guang seemed to be waiting to see how Liu Fu Ling dealt with this provocation in front of the world, waiting for Liu Fu Ling to make a mistake, then he will enter the battlefield with a smile, letting the world know how wise he was as he took care of Ke'er Dada.
‘Puppet Chancellor’ Tian Qian Qiu, as usual, was following Huo Guang – if Huo Guang remained silent, so did he; if Huo Guang wasn’t moving, then so wasn’t he. His eyes closed, his breath held, like he was in a trance.
First ranked Leader of the Gentlemen of the Palace: Huo Yu, Huo Yun
Liu Fu Ling smiled as he turned his gaze to Liu Bing Yi, seated at the very end of the officials. Liu Bing Yi hesitated, but when he saw Ke'er Dada looking down at the Han court with his chin up, and a sneer on his face, the last of his hesitation disappeared. This was no time to weigh his personal gains or losses. With a nod at Liu Fu Ling, he rose and walked towards the front, singing:
“With pleased sounds the deer call to one another,
Eating the celery of the fields.
I have here admirable guests ;
The lutes are struck, and the organ is blown [for them] ; –
The organ is blown till its tongues are all moving.
The baskets of offerings [also] are presented to them.
The men love me,
And will show me the perfect path.
With pleased sounds the deer call to one another,
Eating the southernwood of the fields.
I have here admirable guests ;
Whose virtuous fame is grandly brilliant.
They show the people not to be mean ;
The officers have in them a pattern and model.
I have good wine,
Which my admirable guests drink, enjoying themselves.
With pleased sounds the deer call to one another,
Eating the salsola of the fields.
I have here admirable guests ;
For whom are struck the lutes, large and small.
The lutes, large and small, are struck,
And our harmonious joy is long-continued.
I have good wine,
To feast and make glad the hearts of my admirable guests.” [2]
Liu Bing Yi walked as he sang, his sleeves billowing, walking with an easy grace. The wide, empty front hall, with over a hundred officials seated woodenly, all stared at him coldly. Huo Yu, Huo Shan, and more even had lips curled with derision. His voice only managed a small echo in the wide hall, lone and weak; but his robust bearing, rich voice, and grace made him seem like a crane standing among chickens. His imposing appearance made it seem like he alone could mend the sky, commanding respect and drawing praise from those who saw him.
‘Cry of the deer’ from the ‘Cla.s.sics of Poetry’ was a celebratory song the n.o.blemen of Central Plains sang when they received their friends cordially. Among the musicians seated, one or two sharp ones had already realized Liu Bing Yi was trying to use a solemn Han song of generosity as a reply to the provocative song of the Qiang. The angry musicians took in the Qiang Prince’s arrogance and Liu Bing Yi’s magnanimity, then a few brave souls started to play in accompaniment. At first it was just a scattered two or three, but soon all the musicians picked up on Liu Bing Yi’s intention, united against a common enemy, they started playing for Liu Bing Yi, singing as they played, without a single command being issued.
The singers started to sing along with the zithers. The dancers started to sing along with the zithers.
One, two, three of them….. All the musicians, all the singers, all the dancers….
They forgot that they were only supposed to be the entertainment, the backdrop of this banquet, forgot that the responsibility of protecting their country fell to the generals, forgot the punishment they would face for singing without command; this was the first time they sang without a care for their status or their duties.
‘Cry of the deer’ was the first song of ‘Minor Odes of the Kingdom’, the point of the song was its large power. There was solemnity in the lively tune, power and authority despite the gentleness. What moved everyone were these singing people. They might not know the proper language for which to write a formal declaration to their enemies, or martial arts for which to defend their country from the frontline, but they were defending the power of Han in their own way, refusing to let others belittle them. Although they might be born lowly, their will to defend their country was much more n.o.ble compared to those high ranking officials and n.o.blemen not doing a stroke of work. They were singing for the dignity of the people, conveying their determination to defend their land.
In the end, Liu Bing Yi was only smiling, standing still beside Ke’er Dada, with his hands behind his back. The whole hall was filled with the stately, glorious song – ‘Cry of the Deer’. Hundreds of musicians, singers, dancers sang gravely from every corner of the great hall. Their voices moving across the great hall like a roar, stunning everyone into respect. Although Liu Bing Yi was standing alone in front of Ke’er Dada, but there were tens of thousands of the Han people behind him.
The song ended.
Ke’er Dada’s proud smile faded completely, his eyes filled with shock. Will it be easy attacking such Han people? Even the lowly, weak dancing maidens stared at him in the eye, singing loudly, and inspiring awe despite their smiles! Liu Bing Yi saluted Ke’er Dada with his hands clasped over each other. “This dynasty is a country of music and ceremony, we use fine wine to soothe the bodies of our weary guests, our voices to lighten their homesick hearts, and we will only show our weaponry to our enemies. If our guests from afar would like to cement our friends.h.i.+p in their own way, we are willing to comply.”
Ke’er Dada hesitated, but refused to concede defeat. Before he came, he had pledged to all the tribal leaders of Qiang that he will definitely imprint the heroism of the Qiang on the hearts of the people in Chang An. The four he brought along were specially chosen warriors among all the warriors in the tribe, according to the command of his father; he wanted to use this opportunity to cement the other tribal leaders’ faith in him, merging all tribes as one, expanding their military strength. Liu Bing Yi knew that although the wind had been knocked out of Ke’er Dada’s sails, he still hadn’t conceded defeat.
‘Your highness, I am the last of the hundred officials in Han. I’d be really honoured if your warriors are willing to duel with me.”
The warrior behind Ke’er Dada- Zhe Chi’er was already angling for a battle. When he heard Liu Bing Yi taking the initiative to issue a challenge, he couldn’t temp his feelings down any longer, turned to Ke’er Dada saying “My king, I am willing to fight.”
Ke’er Dada looked towards Liu Fu Ling, who said “Exchange blows as friends, but only to a point.”
Yu An quickly ordered for the arena to be cleared, and secretly summoned the best physicians over.
Xu Ping Jun didn’t even dare to breathe when she saw Liu Bing Yi walking out of the crowd. Now that she heard that he was going to spar with their warriors, a confusing mix of emotions a.s.sailed her. As a Han, the anger she felt at the Qiang prince’s provocation and insult was no less than any other, so when she saw her husband stepping out to sing, exuding a n.o.ble aura, treating the foreign king with magnanimity, she felt proud and excited.
That man is her husband!
She could die without regrets now that she had married such a man.
On the other hand, because that man is her husband, besides pride and excitement, she was gripped with worry and fear too. Yun Ge reached for Xu Ping Jun’s hand. “Don’t worry! Da Ge was once the head of the youxia in Chang An, his martial arts must be a cut above the rest; how else would the youxia bow to him?”
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Ke’er Dada smiled, then said. “Respectable Emperor of Heaven, since we are duelling, why not make it a round of three to determine the winner? Let this be proof of our friends.h.i.+p once this spreads around the world in song.”
Liu Fu Ling returned his smile, having already prepared for that. “As you wish. Advisory Chancellor Meng Jue, step forward to receive this edict. I command you to spar with the Qiang warrior as a representative of Han.”
This effectively rendered the whole hall speechless. What is his majesty thinking, sending forth a civil official?
It would be understandable if it were Huo Guang’s command, but his majesty? Even if Meng Jue offended his majesty in some way, and his majesty wished to use other people to kill him, he wouldn’t have chosen such an important occasion to fool around right?
Surprise didn’t even register on Meng Jue’s face; he already knew that during the strange ma.s.sacre that night outside Chang An, he had sparred with Yu An, Qi Xi and the rest, so it wasn’t strange at all that his majesty would know he knew martial arts. He smiled as he rose, moved forward, kowtowed and received the edict.
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The third representative?
Liu Fu Ling looked at Hup Guang coldly. Huo Guang knew in this round of his secret battle with Liu Fu Ling, he had made the wrong move.
That year, all the guards Crown Prince Ju chose to protect Liu Bing Yi were the cream of the crop. Liu Bing Yi was always tricking Death; in order to survive, naturally he had to have a good set of martial arts skills. Later, he mixed with the youxia of the land, and learnt an even wider mix of martial arts. His ‘Da Ge’ name was not for nothing, so both Huo Guang and Liu Fu Ling knew that Liu Bing Yi was a safe bet.
Although he wasn’t sure of Meng Jue’s martial arts skills, he knew Liu Fu Ling wouldn’t treat this lightly, so Liu Fu Ling must have already had confidence in Meng Jue winning, and he wouldn’t doubt Liu Fu Ling’s choice. Liu Fu Ling was employing an extraordinary method to not only defuse the escalating tension, but also to use today’s show of bravery to promote Liu Bing Yi and Meng Jue; and Huo Guang would be unable argue against it.
Backed into a corner, Huo Guang didn’t dare to dally any longer, and was about to nominate a Huo to be a representative.
Princess Aliya, by Ke’er Dada’s side had remained silent till now, suddenly stepped forth and bowed. “Respectable majesty, Aliya requests to fight the third duel.” Ke’er Dada already had someone else in mind, so now that his sister had volunteered herself, he was a little unhappy, but then he thought: this sister of mine is good with whips, second, she is a woman. I only know that the females of the gra.s.slands are no weaker than the males, but I’ve never heard a woman of the Central Plains being good at martial arts, if the Han chose a male representative, even if they win, they win without dignity, it would be good to see how they deal with this.
Liu Fu Ling already had this duel bagged and didn’t really care who won the third round. If the Qiang chose a male, he would allow Huo Guang to nominate any Huo to spar. All the sons of Huo, though arrogant, were not weak. Naturally it’d be good to win, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing if they lost either! But now, a woman has stepped forth. It would be hard to deal with this indeed. He thought that the few palace maids Yu An personally trained would be good, but today only Mo Cha was serving in the hall. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be good for the officials to know his palace maids knew martial arts; it would only be a recipe for disaster. Maybe he should just let Aliya pick her opponent among the female guests present, pa.s.sing this off as entertainment for the females, a topic to be discussed over tea.
Just when he was still deep in thought, a clear voice penetrated through his thoughts. “Your majesty, your servant is willing to spar with the princess.”
Yun Ge saw Liu Fu Ling’s hesitation, and made the decision to fight this duel. Xu Ping Jun wanted to pull her back but to no avail. Yun Ge had already left her seat and was already kneeling at the throne to make her request.
When Liu Fu Ling saw Yun Ge kneeling on the floor, his heart filled with the agony of having to make this decision, but also, warmth. In this vast hall, he wasn’t alone in this high seat. How good was Yun Ge at martial arts? Although he didn’t know, and after spending so much time with Yun Ge, he knew she read books on cooking, poetry, history, but he never once saw her flip through the martial arts manuals in the palace. Based on her personality, would she ever force herself to do something she wasn’t interested in?
He wanted to refuse with an excuse, but he looked into her eyes, and saw that she was begging him with her eyes “Accede to my request! Accede to my request! I promise I’ll be fine”, and Ke’er Dada and all the foreign amba.s.sadors were like wolves waiting to pounce, their eyes coldly judging his every move. Liu Fu Ling could only mention for Yun Ge to stand, acceding to her request with a raise of his hand.
Liu Fu Ling shot Qi Xi a look and Qi Xi quickly took the opportunity when asking Yun Ge what her weapon of choice would be to remind her “His majesty already has a plan, just admit defeat if you can’t fight, you mustn’t get hurt.” Yun Ge’s face wreathed in smiles, nodded vigorously. “Of course, of course. I wouldn’t treat my puny life as a joke.” Qi Xi asked “What weapon would missy like?” Yun Ge scratched her head, her face one of confusion. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll tell you when I’ve done so.” Qi Xi felt like a flock of crows just flew past his head, and left with cold sweat running down his back.
Even the despondent Huo Cheng Jun, who looked disinterested at the ongoing proceedings thus far, set aside her wine cup, and looked at Yun Ge with mixed emotion. Not to mention Xu Ping Jun, at this moment, the three on stage were all the people closest to her. She wished she could fly on stage too, to fight beside them, but she couldn’t be of any help at all, only praying fervently in her heart, praying to all the G.o.ds and Heavens, for everything to go smoothly, for it to really be ‘up to a point’.
Yun Ge acted like Meng Jue didn’t exist, only bowed to Liu Bing Yi with a smile, sat herself beside him, then started staring Aliya up and down, left and right, treating the whole thing lightly, like it was fun. Liu Bing Yi and Meng Jue stared at Yun Ge wordlessly. How could she dare to embarra.s.s herself with her lousy set of skills? [3] If it wasn’t for the gravity of this function, they would have grabbed her by her neck and thrown her back to where she came from!
The first round was Liu Bing Yi against Zhe Chi’er. Just before Liu Bing Yi stepped into the arena, Meng Jue smiled and murmured a few words to him. Liu Bing Yi smiled, nodded and went in calmly. Zhe Chi’er boomed. “When I kill on horseback, I use a spiked club. When I’m off my horse, I’m best at wrestling and close combat, fighting without weapons, but you may choose a weapon.”