Chapter 42

Chapter 42

He Sulong’s cavalry soon took the strongest cities Northern Qian had to offer. From that point on, Xia Wan’s army reversed its decline and fought all the way to the strategic pass. If this city fell, the forces already under He Sulong’s command could join together and encircle Nancheng. Even Chen Dong’s genius for war would no longer be enough to save the situation.

The city was called Songzhi, and its governor was Jingtun, one of Northern Qian’s eighteen nobles. I had dealt with him years ago. He was a dull but honest and steadfast man, which was precisely why Danchi had trusted him to guard the pass.

He was no great commander, but Songzhi City stood amid steep mountain terrain and was exceptionally easy to defend. More troublesome still was Jingtun’s obstinate courage. He was prepared to die holding that isolated city. Even after its water and provisions ran out, he refused to yield an inch.

“He’s trying to delay us,” one man said. “Chen Dong is tied down on the eastern front, but if Jingtun can hold out until he returns with reinforcements, the course of the war may change. We must end this quickly.”

“But Songzhi’s terrain makes it nearly impossible to assault. We can’t get inside for now.”

He Sulong placed a small stone on the map. “Use the cannons.”

“To blast open the gates? They’re too heavily guarded. They would never let us wheel the cannons close enough.”

“Not the gates. The city itself.”

He circled several points on the map as he explained. “Songzhi is so difficult to take because it was built on high ground, with the gates slightly lower. If we construct batteries here, here, and here, our cannonballs can be fired straight into the city. Ten rounds will cause devastating losses. Then our cavalry can storm the walls with half the effort.”

Excitement swept through the tent. Zheng Long in particular rubbed his hands together. “That’s why we still have so much to learn from the old general! Isn’t that right, Helan? Helan?”

“I disagree,” I said abruptly.

My voice was not quiet, yet no one heard me over their delight. Only Xia Wan looked silently my way. “What did you say, Xihe?”

It was the first time I had spoken at such a council. Every face turned toward me.

“Cannons were used in the assault on Nancheng, and that battle was lost. Do you know why? They are cumbersome and take too long to reload. If the first shot misses, the enemy will quickly locate them, and they will cease to be effective. That is the first objection.”

I held He Sulong’s gaze. “And what I hated most about Northern Qian was its slaughter of civilians. Songzhi is densely populated. General, have you considered how many ordinary people will die beneath those ten rounds?”

He Sulong merely shook his head and smiled, as though listening to a petulant child. Around us, men muttered, “They’re only northern dogs. Don’t northern dogs deserve to die?”

“How many northern towns have surrendered to us along the way? If they see how we treat Northern Qian’s civilians, will they still submit? You have all witnessed Northern Qian’s strength. Slaughtering its people will only drive soldiers and civilians alike to fight us to the death – because they will know that once we found our realm, we intend to treat them as less than animals. Then history will repeat itself.”

The whispers gradually died. At last, He Sulong raised his eyes to me. “My lady, you have a gift for governance. Northern Qian’s peace and prosperity all these years must have been entirely your doing.”

My identity was no secret, but no one had ever dared allude to it so openly.

“At court, one must concern oneself with balance. But I am a soldier, and a soldier concerns himself only with how to win a war as swiftly as possible. We must found a realm before we can govern it, must we not?” He laughed, and the men around him joined in, as though he had said something terribly amusing.

Standing amid their laughter, I did not find it amusing at all. I merely thought coldly that in Northern Qian, anyone who dared speak to me that way would have died without a place for burial.

Back then, I had been an empress whose power dominated the court.

Now I was merely an unrecognized commander’s wife.

“I agree with my lady,” Helan suddenly declared. “Heaven does not favor an unjust war. If our lord is to become the Heavenly Venerable, he cannot stain his name by treating human lives as weeds. Moreover, the followers of the Primordial Origin Faith are common people. If our lord acts this way, how can he command their loyalty?”

Helan still carried considerable prestige in the army. The jeering gradually stopped. He Sulong gave a cold laugh, turned to Xia Wan, and asked, “Wan’er, what do you say?”

I doubt I will ever forget that afternoon. Sunlight filtered through the heavy fabric of the command tent, and every gaze rested upon Xia Wan. He took a sip of tea and said with perfect nonchalance, “Xihe’s view is mine as well.”
An uproar broke out. Even I froze. Through the commotion, I could faintly hear mutters of “a seductress who has bewitched her lord” and “a demon who will ruin the realm.”

He Sulong shot to his feet. At last he was taking the matter seriously, and he was furious. “If we lose this battle, morale will suffer a devastating blow! We stand one step from our great undertaking. How can you treat it as a game?”

Xia Wan watched him, one knuckle tapping lightly against the table. Only after everyone had fallen silent did he ask softly, “Why would we lose?”

He Sulong faltered.

“Would we lose because we did not use cannons – or because we did not obey you?” Xia Wan asked quietly.

The entire tent went still.

We were not northerners. However exalted a man’s birth, he was expected to honor Heaven and Earth, his sovereign, his parents, and his teacher. He Sulong had created the cavalry force with his own hands and had just rendered incomparable service. Every commander deferred to him, while Xia Wan himself treated him with the utmost respect. Within the army, he seemed to stand below one man and above all others. No one had imagined that Xia Wan would challenge him now.

In the deathly silence, Qin Liuyuan, who had said nothing until then, spoke. “Building the batteries will take both time and resources. At such a distance from the city, there is no guarantee our shots will land. Furthermore, numerous unforeseen incidents occurred during the previous battle. In my judgment, an accidental discharge could harm our own soldiers. This plan should be used only as a last resort.”

He had always been shrewd and exceptionally good at reading a room. Once he took the lead, others immediately changed course and voiced agreement. Whatever they thought of the general, they were even less willing to offend their own lord. A different group remained silent, their faces livid.

Sorrow entered He Sulong’s eyes. “I taught you history when you were young. Since ancient times, whenever a weak sovereign allowed a woman to meddle in affairs of state, calamity followed! Look at what became of Danchi – ”

Xia Wan smiled faintly. “Women are forbidden to involve themselves in affairs of state, yet they must bear the consequences of defeat alongside men. How innocent they are. How innocent Xihe has been all these years.”

He Sulong tried to speak again, but Xia Wan rose. “Building the batteries would take five days. Within three, this city will be ours.”

Then he took my hand and swept out of the tent.

I remember dusk closing over the wilderness that day as I followed close behind him, my heart full of unease. Finally, I said, “You did that for me. Perhaps I should not have spoken, but… this truly is not the time to offend He Sulong.”

“I promised I would always stand beside you. I did not say it to win you, but because I am certain I can keep that promise.” He stroked my hair and smiled. “Don’t worry.”

I looked at him. The last thin light of sunset streamed from behind him, outlining the graceful features of a grown man. Without my noticing, he had matured yet again.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped my cheeks. Only then did I realize my face was wet with tears. It must have been because the sunset was too bright.

“Let’s go home, Xihe. I’ll make fresh lily-bulb chicken soup tonight. Would you like that?”

“Yes.”

Holding my hand, he led me into the gathering dusk.

On the day He Sulong arrived, Helan and I had spoken privately.

“We obtained such fine horses today. Why do you show no pleasure, my lord?”

Helan did not answer. He still hated me, though I had long since stopped hating him. At least he had always remained loyal to Southern Xu. During that celebration of a loving father reunited with a devoted son, only he and I had sensed the absurdity of it all.

Southern Xu placed great importance on ritual. The authority of the throne had always stood above family ties. Although Helan was Xia Wan’s own maternal uncle, he unfailingly addressed himself as a subject, for ritual could not be discarded without inviting disorder.

Yet He Sulong called Xia Wan “Wan’er” and did not bow. Everything he did, intentionally or otherwise, suggested to the others that he was not Xia Wan’s subject, but his elder.

A sovereign – particularly in such precarious times – had to possess supreme and unrivaled authority. Whether He Sulong was motivated solely by paternal affection or concealed some other design remained to be seen.

After a long silence, Helan said, “Breeding superior warhorses has been our lord’s strategy for five years.”

I stared. Everything He Sulong had done made it seem as though breeding those horses had been his own plan, and he had descended like a divine army to break the deadlock.

“We are in dire need of capable men, so I have no wish to say more. But Your Highness may wish to consider this with our lord: if He Sulong was truly devoted to him, why did he surrender to Northern Qian in the first place?”

With that, he swept away.