Chapter Thirty-Seven: Have You Had Enough of This Yet?

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Xue Ju was dead, and Weiweiqing, the chief strategist of Western Qin, Hao Yuan, had been stripped of his official position by Xue Renguo and demoted to commoner. At this moment, Western Qin was like a fully ripe fruit, ready to be taken at hand. Li Yuan issued an order appointing Prince of Qin, Li Shimin, as Marshal, entrusting him with sixty thousand troops to campaign against Western Qin.

It was precisely at this critical juncture that Liu Wenjing unveiled a deadly stratagem.

King Yongle, Guo Zi-he, surrendered to Tang.

As for King Yongle, Guo Zi-he, he was also one of the thirty-six rebel kings at the end of the Sui dynasty. Originally, he served as Zuoyi Guard Wuya Captain in the Sui court. In the eighth year of Daye, he followed General Lai Huer, Commander of Zuoyi Guard, on a campaign against Goguryeo. Because Lai Huer underestimated the enemy and was careless, he fell into the trap of the Goguryeo king, Gao Yuan, who feigned surrender. Lai Huer led forty thousand Sui troops, completely unprepared, into Pyongyang. That night, General Mo Lichi, Yuan Taizuo, of Goguryeo, divided and annihilated the Sui forces. Lai Huer barely escaped Pyongyang with less than three thousand men.

By rights, Captain Guo Zi-he neither surrendered to the enemy nor shirked from the fight; the defeat could hardly be blamed on him. However, Yang Guang still exiled Guo Zi-he to Yulin.

At the end of the Daye era, famine struck his commandery. Guo Zi-he, with eighteen death-defying followers, seized the commandery magistrate Wang Cai, enumerated his crimes for neglecting the people, executed him, and opened the granaries to relieve the poor. He proclaimed himself King Yongle, established the era title Chouping, honored his father as Grand Duke, appointed his brother Guo Zizheng as Secretary General, Guo Ziduan and Guo Zisheng as Left and Right Ministers, and commanded two thousand cavalry. To the south, he allied with Liang Shidu; to the north, he served the Turks, sending his brother Guo Zisheng as a hostage. Shibi Khan of the Turks initially enfeoffed Guo Zi-he as Emperor of Pingyang, but Guo dared not accept and was instead granted the title of Wuli She.

In the first year of Wude, July, Guo Zi-he, seeing the Tang dynasty’s rising power, sent envoys to surrender. However, Liu Wenjing suppressed his memorial of surrender until now.

Revealing Guo Zi-he’s surrender at this moment carried a different significance. Firstly, Yulin was directly north of Great Tang, and to the north of the formidable Liang Shidu. With Guo Zi-he tying up the enemy, Liang Shidu would be unable to attack Tang. Thus, a vast strategic space opened up for Tang.

At the very least, when Li Shimin led the army on campaign, the morale was high, sweeping away previous discouragement.

Returning from court, Li Jiancheng’s brow furrowed even more tightly. If Li Shimin returned victorious, and Liu Wenjing advocated in court for the Prince of Qin to be made Crown Prince, he would be even more passive.

“Merit—I must achieve merit!” Li Jiancheng became anxious at once.

But as for how to gain merit, Li Jiancheng was at a loss. At that moment, he suddenly thought of the different Chen Ying. Now, as Chen Ying was intensifying military training, could it be he had seen an opportunity for merit?

The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

Li Jiancheng decided to send for Chen Ying to come to the Eastern Palace for a detailed discussion.

“Attend me!”

A palace guard entered, bowing low. “Your Highness, what are your orders?”

“Go and summon General Chen of the Right Rate Guard and the Merit Two Bureaus!”

“Yes!”

The guard turned and left.

“Wait!” Li Jiancheng suddenly felt something was amiss. With nothing else pressing, it would be better to invite Chen Ying personally, which would also give Chen Ying the impression that he was being honored and thus be more willing to serve.

“Prepare my carriage, we’re going to General Chen’s residence!”

The guard stood motionless, stunned.

Li Jiancheng was taken aback, displeasure rising in his heart.

The guard, seeing Li Jiancheng’s displeasure, hastened to explain, “Your Highness, I do not know the address of General Chen’s residence.”

“If you don’t know, go and find out! His address will certainly be on the Right Rate Guard’s roster!”

The guard rushed off to enquire about Chen Ying’s residence. After more than half an hour’s delay, the prince’s carriage finally set out, heading slowly towards the Chen residence.

…

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In the Princess of Pingyang’s mansion, inside her bedchamber.

Li Xiuning sat upright before a bronze mirror, clad in a green robe with a round collar, quietly gazing at her own reflection, her face tinged with deep helplessness. In the eyes of the world, she was the Princess of Pingyang, adored by all, with a heroic young consort, Chai Shao, and boundless riches and honors.

Yet, no one knew the sorrow in her heart.

To others, her husband Chai Shao seemed the epitome of a young and talented scholar—handsome, graceful, cultured, polite, well-bred, and wealthy. As the saying goes, only the wearer knows if the shoe fits. Only she could know whether her husband was truly good. In the thirteenth year of the Daye era, when Li Yuan raised his army, he sent Li Xiuning and Chai Shao to marry in Chang’an as a ruse to lull the court. But when news of Li Yuan’s rebellion reached Chang’an, her new husband Chai Shao abandoned her, fleeing alone. To his credit, he left a letter, telling her, “Your father is about to rise to sweep away chaos. I intend to join his righteous banner. If we try to leave together, it will attract too much attention. You, as a woman, can more easily hide if danger arises.”

So be it. To be left alone in the bridal chamber on her wedding night was not the most tragic fate; worse was to be abandoned by her husband.

Chai Shao’s desertion was a thorn in Li Xiuning’s heart, one she could never remove. She would never forgive Chai Shao, not in this life.

Suddenly.

Li Xiuning saw, in the bronze mirror, the face of Chen Ying, almost flawless, and recalled his gentle care for her atop the walls of Jingyang.

Perhaps even Chen Ying did not realize that his unintentional gestures had touched the softest part of the Princess of Pingyang’s heart.

In a fleeting daze, Li Xiuning stared, only to realize it was still herself in the mirror—the vision had been but an illusion.

A sigh escaped her lips, filled with unspeakable loneliness and emptiness.

Li Xiuning could not say why, but she found herself thinking of Chen Ying’s face time and again.

Thinking of him, a flush rose to her cheeks.

“What a pity, such a face,” she murmured, not knowing whether she pitied herself or Chen Ying.

At that moment, her personal maid rushed in.

“Princess! Princess!”

“Cui’er, do you want to die, shrieking like a ghost?” Li Xiuning glared at her, threatening, “If you do that again, I’ll find you the ugliest husband and marry you off!”

“Ah! Princess, please, I won’t dare again!” Cui’er pleaded tearfully.

Li Xiuning pinched Cui’er’s nose, laughing, “I’m teasing. Now, what is it?”

Cui’er brightened, “General Ma has come with urgent news!”

“Let him in!”

Li Xiuning paid no mind to her own captivating beauty at that moment.

Ma Sanbao entered and immediately knelt before Li Xiuning.

She was taken aback.

Ma Sanbao had been one of her earliest followers when she raised her own army. When Chai Shao fled and news of Li Yuan’s uprising reached Chang’an, the Sui governor Yin Shishi hunted down Li Yuan’s family. Li Xiuning was the prime target. Her maids and guards either scattered or were killed; with only Cui’er, the three escaped into the southern Zhongnan Mountains. There, they encountered a pack of wolves. If not for Ma Sanbao slashing his own arm to draw the wolves away with the scent of blood, Li Xiuning and Cui’er would have perished, their bones left in the wild.

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After Li Xiuning raised her banner, Ma Sanbao led from the front, taking city after city with unwavering courage. In name master and servant, in truth they were as close as family. Li Xiuning allowed Ma Sanbao free access to her wealth, trusting him completely.

Seeing Ma Sanbao kneeling so solemnly, Li Xiuning’s heart filled with displeasure. “Sanbao, what are you doing?”

Ma Sanbao pleaded, “Princess, please save Chen Ying! If Your Highness will not help him, I’ll kneel here until I die!”

It was a long moment before Li Xiuning recovered. “What? What’s happened to Chen Ying?”

“He’s in grave trouble. He’s offended someone he shouldn’t have.”

“Tell me as we go,” Li Xiuning said.

Ma Sanbao mounted up with Li Xiuning. As they galloped toward the Chen residence, he recounted the entire conflict between Chen Ying and Li Xiaoguang.

Hearing the story, Li Xiuning fell silent.

The trouble Chen Ying had caused was no ordinary matter. Li Xiaoguang was royal kin—a clan brother to Li Yuan, her own great-uncle. The imperial family’s dignity could not be slighted; if Li Xiaoguang pressed the matter, there was little she could do.

…

In the courtyard of the Chen residence, County Constable Gao Wanqing had been tortured nearly to death by the Marquis of Changguang’s guards.

Chen Ying was also pondering how to resolve the situation.

To ask the Princess of Pingyang for help—could she wield such influence? After all, she was a princess, not the emperor.

Li Yuan was not a magnanimous man. Years ago, the Chang’an governor Yin Shishi had desecrated Li Yuan’s ancestral tombs, and Li Yuan had wiped out every male in Yin’s family. One could say Yin Shishi was a mortal enemy, but Li Yuan had shown no mercy to Dou Jiande either. Though Dou’s reputation was excellent and his rule in Hebei just, Li Yuan, fearing a threat to his throne, hadn’t even left him the chance to become a wealthy commoner.

Now that he had crossed Li Xiaoguang, striking Li Xiaoguang was tantamount to slapping Li Yuan himself. Would Li Yuan let him live?

As Chen Ying’s thoughts raced, the county magistrate, Su Hu, arrived.

Su Hu had no choice but to appear; things had escalated too far for him to feign ignorance. Helpless, he asked his brother-in-law, General Dou Xi of the Imperial Guard, to intervene.

Though Dou Xi was a general, within Chang’an, he could only mobilize his personal guard without an imperial token. Fifty elite Imperial Guards now surrounded the Chen residence.

These were not mere militia like those led by Gao Wanqing, but seasoned soldiers.

“Chen Ying, release the Marquis of Changguang. Don’t bring disaster upon your neighbors.”

Enemies met with burning hatred. If not for Su Hu, Chen Ying would not have ended up in this predicament.

Chen Ying’s eyes reddened. “Su Hu, you wretch, you dare show your face!”

“If it comes to it, I’ll die!” Chen Ying thought. If he killed Li Xiaoguang, Su Hu would surely be punished as well.

At that moment, a loud voice rang out: “Her Highness, the Princess of Pingyang, has arrived!”

The crowd and the Imperial Guards were brusquely pushed aside by the princess’s own female guards. At the sight of these guards, the Imperial Guards fell silent, heads down.

Li Xiuning stepped forward, faced Chen Ying, and rebuked him sternly, “Chen Ying, have you made enough trouble yet?”