Voluht Moon Pavilion (1/2)

Voluht Moon Pavilion

In the seventh month of the nineteenth year of Xiande, the Prince of De, Zhao Jue, returned to Jianye The King questioned hi the invasion of Shu At the ti Weijun wholeheartedly supported the invasion, and was joined in agree all his power, the Prince of De opposed the invasion, causing the King to hesitate On the fifteenth day of the seventh , held a banquet at Bright Moon Pavilion, inviting the Prince of De to attend Also in attendance was Pri Weijun; the Prince of Qi, Li Xin, of Great Yong; and the Prince of Qi’s adviser, Qin Zheng Jiang Zhe was also invited Later generations reading this onder why Jiang Zhe would attend the banquet given his lowly rank and the i discussed Some would say that he was already disloyal and duplicitous Considering the available evidence, this is not the case

— Yang of Chu</blockquote>

The Prince of De, Zhao Jue, returned The chaos surrounding the debate around the invasion of Shu seemed to calm When Zhao Jue returned, he i When the for the border and could not return to mourn The court’s political situation had calmed As Zhao Jue was a major military commander, the debate over the invasion of Shu must listen to his opinion, and thus he was recalled back to the capital After he had sorrowfully paid his respects, Zhao Jue was granted an audience with the king Before the king, Zhao Jue did not ainst the invasion Zhao Jue was extremely influential in the royal court As a result, h even more individuals cae hisWeijun and a number of the court’s luree

On the fifteenth day of the seventhWan, invited the Prince of De to a banquet She simultaneously invited the Prince of Qi, Li Xian, and Pri Weijun Everyone understood her intent In reality, I was disinterested in the affairs of these individuals of power and prestige who held state authority, so why h as I looked at the Prince of Qi Just as I said I was a lowly official, arguing that I did not have the qualifications to attend, the Prince of Qi’s face did not change, as he declared, “It’s only a banquet organized by Lady Liang You were sent by your King to receive h I had the heart to decline, in the face of ree to attend Who said that you cannot bend before uards who had survived numerous battlefields

The Prince of Qi was second to arrive This banquet was being held at Bright Moon Pavilion It was the middle of su’s ere open wide On all sides were buckets filled with ice, helping to cool the building Liang Wan earing a light yellow dress and was seated in the host’s position Shang Weijun earing silk robes and was seated on the left in the second seat After hi Weijun’s adviser, Nian Yuan When Shang Weijun saw the Prince of Qi arrive, the Prime Minister strode forward to welco my presence, his brow furrowed I hurriedly took the opportunity to say, “This lowly official was ordered by royal edict to accohness, the Prince of Qi Since daren is here, please allow this lowly official to withdraw”

Shang Weijun revealed a satisfied s my discretion I believed that I had succeeded inready to depart when the Prince of Qi grabbed is an official dispatched by your king, a Reader-in-Waiting, and also a gifted scholar and distinguished personage of Southern Chu How about we let hi Weijun’s brows furrowed, but ultiave

The Prince of Qi was seated at the first position on the right side with young master Qin seated below him, followed by me I could not sit on the left side as I was only allowed to stay because of the persistence of the Prince of Qi We did not wait long before we heard clear and bright laughter froarb of a prince entered As King Ling had departed for less than a year, he still hite garb that denoted he was in ² This man was the Prince of De, Zhao Jue Behind hireen and a black-garbed warrior carrying a sword When I saw Zhao Jue, I alray that I hadthe imperial examinations If he was the Prince of De, then that year, he was proceeding to garrison the frontier at Hengjiang and was preparing to raid Moling No wonder I divinedback to that day, the words I told hi enemies without”—coincided with reality This Prince of De was the younger brother of King Ling and was a prominent military official To think that I once divined his fate I wondered if he remembered me?

Zhao Jue carefully swept past everyone in the room one by one That he paused as he considered me did not mean that he did not have any memories of me, but rather he was suspicious of my identity He sat down in the first position on the left The warrior sat down protectively behind him, while his adviser took the last position on the left As I had left a seat between young master Qin and myself, I was directly across froly, while his perceptive gaze considered ly

After Zhao Jue was seated, fe fro Wan said, “This servant was entrusted by the Prince of Qi and Pri to invite the Prince of De to attend this banquet Although this servant should, by all rights, not involve herself in matters of state, all of these daren require someone to wait upon them As a result, this servant can only stay behind This is aand for Southern Chu As this servant was born in Great Yong and has received great favor fro discussed here a secret”

S is the adopted daughter of the for and can be considered as Zhao Jue’s niece Zhao Jue, naturally, believes the young lady May Your I enlighten arded Zhao Jue, s heard that the Prince of De is the eneral of Southern Chu, co you today, I can say that you are indeed elegant and lofty with an extraordinary charh I, Li Xian, aeneral in the army If ere to consider our ranks, Li Xian would be beneath Your Highness How could I dare presuhness? But the Prince of De has opposed the discussion of the invasion of Shu This opposition does not eneral moniker Would the Prince of De explain?”

Indifferently, Zhao Jue clarified, “Although the Kingdo, the King of Shu is a for, were equally vassals in the imperial court There was no such distinction of lord and vassal Now, I do not understand how Great Yong can use Shu’s refusal to sub considers this reason to be sufficient, this however, is not enough for Southern Chu Although we have sub to accept Great Yong’s orders”

S, Li Xian countered, “The Prince of De’s words are acious That King of Shu’s secession and refusal to sub, then we Great Yong would not be attacking the Kingdoed even if nine generations had passed At the ti to attack Qinchuan,³ sacking and pillaging as they went When the for heard the news, he cried tears of blood e this enmity, how can we consider ourselves hu attacked Southern Chu, Shu once again launched an attack Although they have shown kindness to Southern Chu, they have inflicted terrible losses upon Great Yong In the territory that for States period, ruins spread for thousands of li and the codom of Shu even extorted countless treasures, silk, and beauties frodom of Shu is a hidden, vicious wolf Under normal circumstances, it lives in seclusion, but once it espies discord, it will inevitably come out to bite The Prince of De speaks up for Shu today, but the time will inevitably come when Southern Chu will be sed by this kind of friendly state who forgets friendshi+p and only knows its own interests”

Coldly, Zhao Jue riposted, “Although I may lack talent, I understand hoithout lips, the teeth would feel cold⁴ I’m afraid that once Shu has been destroyed, it will be Southern Chu’s turn”

Li Xian was at a loss for words He of course knew that once Shu was successfully invaded, Southern Chu would be the next target He just didn’t expect for Zhao Jue to be unafraid to offend Great Yong and get straight to the point As a prince of Great Yong, he could not casually lie At this point, young master Qin spoke up “These words are incorrect The so-called interdependence requiresof codo friends as enenawed until they bleed I do not understand what interdependency the Prince of De speaks of”

Zhao Jue s fan in his hand and answered, “Although Southern Chu and Shu have a few disputes, none of theraceful humiliations⁵ In the ninth year of Xiande, after Great Yong pacified the Central Plains, you dispatched an artze If it were not for the assistance of the Kingdo would not have called for a ceasefire Even so,This kind of huh our two countries are on ae of Princess Changle and our King, your country, however, continues to train a navy in preparation for southern invasion I wonder if Your I, Li Xian returned, “Although our two countries are on amicable terms, your state still possesses nuet the enmity between our two countries These individuals are definitely not in the minority If my country did not train a navy, I fear that your tze to attack The Prince of De has long garrisoned the Yangtze; how can you not know this? Furthermore, my country has repeatedly tried to be friendly My Ihter of my Imperial Father And yet she has co The last several years has not only seen frequent contacts froe relations unlike the Kingdom of Shu who has chosen to close off its borders and seal the country My country has long held military discussions and will attack Shu to elier⁶ We only ask that Southern Chu assist”

Hu, Zhao Jue asserted, “Preposterous!⁷ Over the last ten years, my Southern Chu has paid a yearly tribute in money and silk, and yet your country refuses to sell us weapons and horses Why would you do this if you truly wish to be friendly? Further, are these not matters of state? Why must we consider the qual once hter in order to attack the state of Hu⁸ I do not dare to forget this story”

Young rily rebutted, “The Prince of De has insulted h After careful consideration, Your Highness’s worries are not without merit Please allow my lowly self to explain My country’s prohibition on the sale of weapons and horses is not directly at your country, but rather because of the hostilities along our northern frontier With our frontier forces so occupied, hoould we dare to sell weapons and horses? Furthernan, an area of rivers and lakes If your country does indeed not wish to attack Great Yong, ould you need horses? Are you going to use them to attack Shu?”

Zhao Jue was at a loss for words Shang Weijun hurriedly tried to change the subject “Your Highness and young athered here today for an ees please not bear any grudges”

Zhao Jue and young master Qin raised their teacups respectfully, both sides sipping, signaling the cessation of the debate

Taking a breath, young ainst Shu because of its obstinate refusal to subh ere once allied, they have repeatedly broken the alliance Most dreadfully, h salt and we dom of Shu has repeatedly raised the price Sichuan possesses abundant salt, and yet chooses to use such unscrupulousthis situation If our two countries attack Shu together, we are willing to divide Sichuan, using the river as the border At that point, Southern Chu’sstill has a menace upon its frontiers, Southern Chu will cotze River By then, ill there be to continue to hness, even under these circumstances, cannot be reassured and believe that Southern Chu cannot fight against Great Yong, then Your HighnessDoes Southern Chu only wish to control a nan with its life and death deterh Zhao Jue remained silent, he shook his head He understood that the combat ability of Southern Chu’s soldiers was relatively poor If they were to attack Shu, the majority of the territory would probably fall into the hands of Great Yong What equal division of the spoils? By that ti to whoever conquered it Everyone looked at each other seeing the deterue, it would not be able to change his intentions A vexed look could be seen flickering in Li Xian’s eyes before he glanced at Liang Wan Standing, Liang Wan pronounced, “Everyone is tired today If no one objects, would uests descend downstairs to eat? This servant has prepared pickled plu Weijun stood and said with a s’s banquet must definitely be attended Please”

Zhao Jue also stood Looking at young e’s na her obeisance, youngin the service of the Prince of Qi”