Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Chapter 21 (Part 2)

“My injuries aren’t fully healed yet. You drink your wine, I’ll drink my medicine,” Wu Du says inattentively and raises his medicine bowl towards Zheng Yan in a token gesture.

Zheng Yan doesn’t even know what to say. He mumbles to himself, “That’s the second time I heard that lately.”

Of course Wu Du knows where Zheng Yan just came from and who he’s talked to, so he’s not about to start asking questions, but he doesn’t introduce Duan Ling to him either — he just pretends there’s no need for such a thing. Zheng Yan waits for ages, checking Duan Ling out, until eventually the corner of his mouth tips up in a smile. He raises an eyebrow at Wu Du. Are you going to introduce me or what?

Wu Du says impatiently, “What’s there to talk about? What on earth did you come here for?”

“My name is Wang Shan,” Duan Ling introduces himself without prompting instead. “Nice to meet you, Zhengxiong.”

Zheng Yan looks Duan Ling up and down, leaning against the table set on the floor. “You remind me of someone.”

Without looking at the other, Wu Du and Duan Ling both pause for a beat.

“Seems he does bear a striking resemblance to your future mother-in-law, somewhat.” And Zheng Yan suddenly breaks out into riotous laughter.

Wu Du flies into a rage, shouting, “Get outta here!”

“Who’s your mother-in-law?” Duan Ling asks.

“Bring me the Heartbreak Grass,” Wu Du says in a chilly tone.2

Zheng Yan waves in surrender to let him know he won’t joke around about that anymore. He explains to Duan Ling, “The Marquess of Huaiyin’s wife, Princess Duanping.”

An idea turns over in Duan Ling’s head, and he says smilingly, “Which part?”

Zheng Yan raises a hand and flicks a finger upwards at the corner of his mouth. Duan Ling understands him to mean the corner of his mouth resembles Princess Duanping’s.

Wu Du replies coldly, “I can’t even tell you how much I can’t stand that Yao Zheng. Don’t even bring her up in front of me.”

“When are you going to join the Eastern Palace?” Zheng Yan says indolently, “The crown prince was just talking about you today.”

When they hear this, Wu Du squeezes Duan Ling’s hand lightly with his fingers to let him know he need not worry.

“Easy come, easy go,” Wu Du replies. “Of course he’s going to think of me since Wuluohou Mu’s run off. Looks like you haven’t been serving him well enough, Zheng Yan.”

“Didn’t run off. He’s come back already. Came back the day before we set off for Jiangzhou.”

Though Wu Du is a bit surprised, if he thinks about it, it’s only to be expected.

“Is he out of favour?” Wu Du asks.

Zheng Yan shakes his head. “Not sure. Doesn’t look like it.”

“What sort of background does that knave even have?” Wu Du says, “I’ve never been able to figure out why the late emperor would tolerate someone like that trailing him at his side.”

Duan Ling’s heart thumps in his chest; he knows Wu Du has asked this question on his behalf. Zheng Yan and the Marquess of Huaiyin are on good terms, so he may have insider information that the imperial court has yet no inkling of.

And indeed, Zheng Yan answers. “Wuluohou Mu has a Xianbei surname — on top of that, it’s the imperial kin surname.”

Wu Du remains silent, playing with a cup in his hand.

“I heard about some of the Nameless One’s past from the Marquess of Huaiyin. After the Xianbei Wuluohou empire was defeated by Great Chen a century ago in three successive wars, they relocated to the Xianbei Mountains, mostly concealing their identities, changing their names and becoming hunters. About twenty years ago, Chen and Yuan had a small-scale war in the Xianbei Mountains.”

“The War of Chang Forest,” says Duan Ling.

“Correct. The War of Chang Forest, precisely.” Zheng Yan is a bit curious that Duan Ling actually knows about this, but he doesn’t ask.

Instead, it is Duan Ling who offers, “I read about that war in the chancellor estate’s storage of memorials.”

He didn’t make that one up on the spot; during his studies in the chancellor’s estate before he left for Tongguan, the teacher had him and Mu Qing write an analysis essay about the War of Chang Forest. It was a particularly bitter battle.

“He’s Mu Qing’s study partner.” Wu Du says offhandedly, “Don’t pick on the literati, Zheng Yan. Literatis are always up to something.”

“Mmhmm,” Zheng Yan agrees. “That is quite true — literati are not to be trifled with. Offend one by accident and they may just write an essay to cuss you out for all time.”

Duan Ling laughs.

Zheng Yan continues, “During the The Battle of Chang Forest, Chen and Yuan used the Xianbei Mountains as a battlefield. In between the Mongols fighting their way in and the Han retreating, and then the Han counterattacking and the Mongols retreating, the repeated guerrilla warfare killed too many of what little was left of the Xianbei people. It seems like Wuluohou Mu was only eight that year.”3

“Was his village destroyed?” Duan Ling asks.

“Perhaps. A master martial artist by the name of Li Xin, working under the General of Pacification Qin Zhao, saved Wuluohou Mu once the troops were withdrawn, took him in as a disciple, and brought him to Shandong. General Qin wrote a letter to the Marquess of Huaiyin to inform him of this, but he only mentioned a child and never brought up his name. That’s why throughout all these years, no one knew what Wuluohou Mu’s real name was.”

“I only knew he was called the Nameless one,” Wu Du says.

“That’s right.” Zheng Yan pours himself a cup of wine before he continues, “After that, Qin Zhao died in the Battle of Shangzi. Years pass, and one night there was a massacre at Li Xin’s Tempered Sword Terrace. Everyone there was murdered in one night, and one of the disciples left with the Qingfengjian. The White Tiger Hall dispatched someone to hunt him down, you know that. This knave was a fugitive on the run until he gained the late emperor’s protection and was made his subordinate. The late emperor possessed the Zhenshanhe, and any assassin that came from the White Tiger Hall could not disobey the holder of the Zhenshanhe. That’s a rule passed down by our forebears.”

“With Wuluohou Mu around,” Wu Du says, “I’m not going to join the Eastern Palace as a retainer. And for another thing, they look down on me.”

Zheng Yan suddenly breaks into a smile. “It’s been a few days, but now I see you seem to be a changed man. Could it be that now that you’re married and in possession of a new house, you know it’s time to settle down and not always be flying off the handle anymore?”

“Zheng Yan, even though I can’t poison you to death, it shan’t be hard to make sure you can’t speak for three months.”

Zheng Yan pushes down on one knee and rises to his feet lazily. “Boring — when are you coming over to the palace?”

“I’m injured. Can’t move around. Won’t be seeing you out.” Wu Du says coolly, “Time will tell. Don’t come over so often if it’s not important. Don’t want you to drag me into the quagmire with you.“

Zheng Yan says sympathetically, “You can’t hold out for long, you know. Why bother?”

Wu Du says solemnly, “As I said. I won’t be seeing you out.”

Zheng Yan can only nod, smile, and leave the house. Duan Ling gives Wu Du a look, and Wu Du nods at him in reply, and so Duan Ling gets up to walk Zheng Yan outside where he gets on his horse and departs. Benxiao, however, is waiting outside their gates, obviously brought back by Zheng Yan. And so Duan Ling leads it into their stable in the back courtyard, finding it a place to live, and giving it a pat on the head.

“He came on behalf of the crown prince to find out what you intend,” Duan Ling says to Wu Du.

“You knew?” Wu Du says, astonished.

Duan Ling nods. “It’s probably the crown prince who told him to bring Benxiao while he’s over.”

Wu Du falls into a long silence, leaning back in the daybed at one side of the room. He looks calm and composed, but there’s a slight furrow between his brows.

There are some things that Duan Ling just can’t figure out, and he hasn’t asked Wu Du about it on the way either. Now that Zheng Yan has brought up Lang Junxia, it’s turned up some of the past for him as well. For instance, those orders his father left behind, the Lang Junxia who disguised himself as a coachman in Shangjing, who brought back a fake crown prince when the country was facing disaster, thus messing up Mu Kuangda’s plans … The poison he’d put in the food that day, after which he tossed him into the river, but then he’d let Duan Ling live for some reason when they ran into each other in Tongguan. He even fought against Helan Jie to the death in order to ensure his safety.

“I remember that when you just saved me and brought me back, you mentioned that I was poisoned with Tranquil Death. What is that?”

“A poison that makes a person ‘fade away’. The one who’s been poisoned will not be able to speak, will not be able to think, their mind will become muddled like a zombie, as if in false death. If the antidote is not given within twenty-four hours, they will spend the rest of their life as a walking corpse.”

Duan Ling feels a sudden, gripping pain in his chest. “Then he may not have wanted to kill me.”

Wu Du gives Duan Ling a look. “Perhaps. But quite possibly he wanted to turn you into a corpse without a thought of its own that only obeyed his orders. Maybe you’d be useful to him if he kept you around.”

“Where did this poison come from?” Duan Ling can’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“In ancient times, some used this poison to control the emperor or major functionaries. For instance, if a certain important official of the frontier with great influence were to become too powerful, so much so that they couldn’t simply be allowed to die, this official would have been temporarily kept in check with Tranquil Death, and only once the poisoner’s goal had been accomplished would the body be disposed of.”

If there’s a chance to use an antidote, that would confirm that Lang Junxia wasn’t really trying to get rid of everything that proves the crown prince is an imposter. Or at least, he wasn’t trying to do it then. This isn’t the first time Duan Ling is trying to figure out the reasoning of those events — could it be that Lang Junxia only poisoned him in order to protect him, and he’d tossed him into the river so he could come save him the next day? But this idea truly borders on wishful thinking. If he keeps believing in Lang Junxia, then the only proper way to describe him would be stupid; that’s why he’s never questioned Wu Du about the poison all this time.

This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

“When he was in Tongguan, he didn’t want to kill me,” Duan Ling adds.

“If he’d killed you, then Tongguan would have doubtlessly fallen into chaos. Ever since he saw us together he’s been keeping an eye on you. It was pretty obvious that you and I went to Tongguan to carry out a mission, and if he didn’t determine what we were up to before trying to kill you, not only would it arouse suspicion, it would also likely ruin Chancellor Mu’s plans. Sometimes their side needs to go with the Mus’ plans.”

“He had two chances to kill me,” Duan Ling says with a frown, “but both times he’d let me go. Once on the peak in Qinling, and the second time on the wall in Tongguan.”

Wu Du is starting to feel displeased, but he doesn’t dare throw his temper at Duan Ling, so he just gives him a rather perfunctory hm in response.

Duan Ling has got to be the most tactful crown prince Great Chen has … no, the most tactful crown prince the world has ever seen; by observing Wu Du he knows that he doesn’t like the absolving analysis Duan Ling is giving Lang Junxia, so he’s not going to linger on the subject. He gets the ointment and applies it to Wu Du’s ankle. His ankle injury is almost fully healed. Give it a bit more time and it won’t get in the way of his walking any longer. But if he wants to go free running across the roofs he’s going to have to rest a while longer.

“Are you angry?”

“What? No—no I’m not,” Wu Du replies uneasily.

Duan Ling tickles the bottom of Wu Du’s foot while he applies ointment. Wu Du says, “Stop that!”

Duan Ling is still trying to mess with him; Wu Du’s cheeks start to blush, but he can do nothing to Duan Ling — he really doesn’t dare hit him, so all he can do is lean back on the daybed and shout. At last, when he finally can take it no more, he flips them over, grabbing Duan Ling and holding him down, taking both of Duan Ling’s wrists in one hand. They both break out in laughter.

Duan Ling immediately says, “No more! No more!”

"You dare do that again?’ Wu Du holds Duan Ling’s wrists in place and says quietly next to his ear, “Don’t force Master Wu to teach you a lesson.”

Duan Ling is looking at Wu Du; there’s a faint blush across both their faces, and Duan Ling’s eyes are smiling, hearts all a flutter like a ripple across a pond. Wu Du lets go of Duan Ling then and helps him sit up properly, and both of them feel a bit embarrassed, not sure what to say. Fortunately, someone starts knocking at the door. Wu Du says, “Who’s there?”

Duan Ling rushes off to open the door, but Mu Qing has already barged in, loudly calling out, “Wang Shan! I’ve been waiting for you for ages! Where on earth have you been?!”

It’s been a while, so upon seeing Mu Qing again, Duan Ling is rather glad, and so he runs up to give him a quick hug. Suddenly remembering how Wu Du spoke of his heartlessness, Duan Ling can’t help glancing over at Wu Du — only to find out that Wu Du is watching him as well. To have his expression caught unaware, he feels a bit awkward.

"We went to Tongguan,” Duan Ling says.

He looks over at Wu Du questioningly before Wu Du says, “Come on in.”

They may be living in the chancellor’s estate, but the master of this particular courtyard house is Wu Du. Only after getting Wu Du’s permission does Mu Qing take off his shoes and come in.

Duan Ling sets up a table to put Mu Qing’s tea things, and boils water for tea. But as before, he serves Wu Du first. Mu Qing doesn’t seem to mind, however, and he says to Duan Ling smilingly, “They told me Wu Du’s wounded, so they’re not sure if you’re coming over to have school tomorrow, and told me to wait. I couldn’t sit still and decided to come over to see you.”

“How have you been?” Duan Ling asks.

“Don’t even mention it —” Mu Qing has nothing but complaints. “I’ve been bored to tears.”

Duan Ling looks at Wu Du.

“Wang Shan will go study with you starting tomorrow. Everything will be the same as before.”

“Are you coming over to see my dad tonight? Dad told me to come ask you. It’s just a family banquet. There won’t be many people there, and there’s no drinking.”

Duan Ling watches Wu Du, knowing they won’t be able to avoid it. They have to make a clear report to Mu Kuangda now that they’re back.

Wu Du replies, “We should have gone to see him when we arrived. The Grand Chancellor did not blame us for today’s delay, so of course we’ll have to go tonight.”

Mu Qing suddenly finds this quite strange — it feels like Wu Du has become so much more polite after this trip. He no longer looks like he has eyes growing out of the top of his head, always looking down his nose at people, answering everything with grunts out of his nose the way he used to.

“Then I’ll go let him know.” Mu Qing says, “I’ll wait for you at the pavilion at the boundary of the estate at dusk.”

Duan Ling tries to get up to see him out, but Mu Qing waves at him to let him know there’s no need for that, and leaves the house on his own.

“I’m guessing Chancellor Mu will be asking me about a lot of stuff,” Duan Ling says. “I’m just worried that I’ll end up giving the game away if he asks too many questions.”

Wu Du waves. “Don’t worry. You can count on me. I’ll answer for you.”

Wu Du puts a hand down on the daybed and gets up, so Duan Ling leaves to find clothes for him to change into. The chancellor’s estate had gone out of their way to prepare premium clothes for them. As the saying goes, clothes make the man. Wu Du is in good shape and he’s tall as well; clad in a robe tailored out of high-grade Central Shu brocade with his martial artist sleeves tied, he feels like a whole different person. Duan Ling, in the meantime, has put on a robe made of dark blue silk, looking as radiant as a polished piece of fine jade.

He still lacks a belt pendant. Duan Ling looks at Wu Du’s waist, then he turns his gaze up at his face. Someday, when I get the jade arc back, I should attach the “glorious empire” half to him.

“What is it?” Wu Du stares at Duan Ling, unable to take his eyes off of him.

“Nothing.” Duan Ling says with a smile, “Let’s go.”

I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎

Gelsemium elegans, commonly known as heartbreak grass. It’s a real poison, but in mythology it was the plant that eventually killed Shennong in his experiments, where he tasted every plant to see what they did. ↩︎

Lang Junxia is 19 years older (according to himself) than Duan Ling, so that makes him 34. By this account from Zheng Yan it makes him 28. My assumption is that Zheng Yan doesn’t have the right information, because if he had the right information, Lang Junxia would have been 12 when he escorted Duan Xiaowan to Runan, and that makes no sense. Another assumption may be that Fei Tian was trying to make “Lang Junxia losing his family at 8” and “Duan Ling gaining Lang Junxia at 8” as contrasts and didn’t worry about the math. So by my math he was around 14 at the Battle of Chang Forest. Another way to interpret this would be to put the Battle of Chang Forest 26 years ago instead of 20. ↩︎