Main Text, Chapter 83: Contest of Strength (Seventeen)

Zhang Wansui sat cross-legged inside the royal tent, feeling utterly ill at ease. The two Turkic nobles, Zhibi Luoluo and Zhibi Sili, were at least courteous enough to him, an envoy of Wang Rengong. While waiting there, he was even brought milk-wine by the Blue Wolf Riders of the Zhibi clan. Zhibi Sili also chatted idly with him, asking after the sights and customs of Shanyang.

Zhang Wansui gave perfunctory replies, his only wish being to leave this place as soon as possible.

The milk-wine naturally came from the tent’s hosts, the Qianyue clan. In their present straitened and anxious circumstances, it could be nothing good; it gave off only a foul, sour stench.

Though Zhang Wansui had suffered hardships in the River-Guard Army, after he had attached himself to Wang Rengong, Wang Rengong had always been generous to his men, spending the resources of an entire prefecture to support them. As one of the foremost generals under Wang Rengong, Zhang Wansui lived in luxury and abundance.

Since the Great Sui had unified north and south, the refined way of life once associated with the great clans of the Southern Dynasties had spread into the northern lands as well. The military aristocracy and powerful gentry of the north, tempered by centuries of foreign customs and barbarous ways, embraced those southern aristocratic pleasures with near-ecstatic enthusiasm.

The fermented mare’s drink that had endured for centuries had quickly become an antiquated thing, merely sour, rustic, and foul to the taste. In its place came tea cakes brewed with all manner of spices. Much less need be said of the fact that the drinks supplied by the Qianyue clan were poor besides.

Watching Zhibi Sili, the young khan of the Zhibi clan, adorned with many Han ornaments and imitating Han etiquette as he savored the milk-wine in his hand, Zhang Wansui wore a polite smile on his face, but inwardly he was cursing him bitterly.

“Barbarians are barbarians. No matter how they learn, they’re still nothing but dogs of the steppe.”

Zhang Wansui scarcely touched his own drink to his lips before setting it down. His exchanges with Zhibi Sili were likewise little more than idle responses. All his thoughts were fixed in nervous calculation on the agreement the Turks had settled upon today.

An alliance with the Turks was, for both sides, only a temporary expedient. How far this agreement would actually be carried out depended entirely on the balance of strength between them.

If, after dealing with Liu Wuzhou, they could smoothly swallow the elite troops of the Heng’an Eagle-Soaring Garrison, would they then be able to turn on the Turks and deny them even the promised spoils?

What the Zhibi clan was doing now was also a demonstration of strength. Whether the Shibi Khagan had truly sent twenty thousand tents in support of the Zhibi clan could be left aside for the moment, but the heads of the noble houses of the Nine Clans would soon be on display, and the fact that the Zhibi clan had annexed the Nine Clans was real enough.

To hand over half of Mayi Commandery to the Turkic Zhibi clan was something Zhang Wansui found deeply hard to accept. Men of his generation had been born at the very end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when the northern barbarians still rode roughshod over the Han. They had grown to manhood during the age when the Great Sui unified north and south and its might shook the world, in those decades when, after centuries of humiliation, the Han at last struck back and rekindled the glory of their forebears.

Could that glorious age last only a few short decades? Would the Han still, generation after generation, remain beasts of burden for the foreign tribes?

In the end, however, Zhang Wansui could only smile bitterly in his heart. What was this matter to be decided by him? How it would finally be settled was for Wang Rengong to determine. And Wang Rengong’s determination was already quite clear, or else why would he have sent Zhang Wansui here at such risk? For Wang Rengong, after all, the most important thing had always been to move south and seize the greatest authority in all the realm.

So be it. Once he had seen the heads of the noble houses of the Nine Clans, he would turn on his heel and leave. After following Wang Rengong to finish off Liu Wuzhou, he would head south into the Central Plains. Success or failure could wait; in this borderland, he had truly had enough.

Then, suddenly, noise came from outside the tent, faint at first, then violent. Beyond the curtain, the sky itself seemed to brighten at once.

Zhibi Luoluo sprang to his feet, and Zhibi Sili also looked toward the entrance with a frown. Zhang Wansui was startled, and his hand went at once to the saber at his waist, only to close on empty air. Then he remembered that before entering the tent, he had already surrendered his blade. As a seasoned veteran, he immediately began searching the tent with his eyes, looking for anything that might serve as a weapon if worst came to worst.

Zhibi Luoluo barked an order: “Go at once and see what has happened!”

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The Blue Wolf Riders of the Zhibi clan who guarded the tent moved at once, drawing their blades and rushing toward the exit. But before they could go, guards of the Qianyue clan had already thrown aside the curtain and stormed in, reporting in panic, “Enemy infiltrators have set fire to the camp!”

Zhang Wansui was horrified. His first thought was that Liu Wuzhou must have learned he was here and, to prevent Wang Rengong and the Turks from joining forces, simply led his army in to wipe them out in one stroke.

Zhibi Luoluo’s cold gaze swept over Zhang Wansui, and with a slight motion of his hand, several Turkic Blue Wolf Riders immediately drew their sabers and pointed them at him.

Zhang Wansui stared at Zhibi Luoluo, his expression savage. “As a nobleman of the steppe, what is the meaning of this?”

Zhibi Luoluo said coldly, “When one stands in a place of danger, caution is unavoidable.”

Beside Zhibi Luoluo, Zhibi Sili shed his languid manner, drew the straight sword at his waist, and gave the order, “Come with me and see!”

Several Turkic Blue Wolf Riders immediately followed the young khan of the Zhibi clan as he strode out of the tent.

Zhang Wansui also realized at once that he was worrying about Liu Wuzhou annihilating him, while Zhibi Luoluo and Zhibi Sili, having ventured here at risk, were equally afraid that Wang Rengong or Liu Wuzhou might seize the chance to deal with them. At such a station in life, no suspicion was excessive.

Zhibi Luoluo ordered the remaining Blue Wolf Riders, “Take General Zhang with you and go out. If anything seems wrong, leave at once. Be sure to protect the young khan!”

As he spoke, he had already taken from a Blue Wolf Rider a long spear used in the Great Sui army and stepped out first. The riders followed closely, while several Blue Wolf Riders who had surrounded Zhang Wansui pressed him forward at sword point, and Zhang Wansui had no choice but to follow.

With Zhang Wansui’s strength, he did not fear the straight swords in those riders’ hands. But with events turning so abruptly, he did not know what to do. If it truly was Liu Wuzhou leading Heng’an troops to attack, then staying with the men of the Zhibi clan seemed safer.

Zhibi Sili burst out of the tent, and the heat washing over him was fierce. Outside, cries and screams were surging like a tide. Everyone seemed to be running, everyone seemed to be shouting, and no one seemed to know what to do.

The fire had started at the stables, and by now it was roaring half a sky high. Sparks danced everywhere, drifting down in a glittering rain and igniting new blazes across the camp, where many men were desperately beating at them.

More terrible than that were the horses already set alight; they were now crashing wildly through the camp. Whenever they slammed into a tent, fresh flames would leap up. These roaming fireheads could not be stopped, could not be dealt with, and the chaos in the camp immediately reached its peak.

The Qianyue clan warriors stationed outside the royal tent had already fallen into complete disorder and could no longer be controlled. As for the Turkic Blue Wolf Riders, they could only cluster tightly around Zhibi Sili and were powerless before the blaze in the camp.

Zhibi Luoluo came out right behind them, with Zhang Wansui forced along at the point of a blade. Several of the men Zhang Wansui had brought, seeing their commander restrained amid the panic, instinctively surged forward. The Turkic Blue Wolf Riders promptly drew blades and leveled spears, ready to fight.

Zhang Wansui hurriedly shouted, “Do not strike!”

Zhibi Luoluo gave the campfire a quick glance and snorted. “What utter uselessness from Geda’s family. We’re leaving!”

The Blue Wolf Riders immediately took the order. The Zhibi mounts had not been left in the stables, but tied near the royal tent. At Zhibi Luoluo’s command, they prepared to mount and depart at once.

Zhibi Luoluo’s resolve was crisp and decisive. With flames raging through the camp at night and danger all around, anything else was superfluous. Leaving now was the only sensible course. Whether the Qianyue clan lived or died had nothing to do with the Zhibi family. If Geda Wutouhe died, it would actually make it easier for the Zhibi clan to control the Nine Clans.

So long as they could get away from here safely!

Zhibi Sili, however, still kept looking toward the towering fire, his face full of eagerness, as though he meant to lead his men in stabilizing the camp and putting out the blaze, to turn the tide when all seemed lost.

Having come out with Zhibi Luoluo this time, everything had been decided by that nobleman of the Zhibi clan, and Zhibi Sili had long since grown stifled. Now that the camp had suddenly fallen into upheaval, he instead felt that this was his chance to shine.

But Zhibi Luoluo’s sharp cry immediately doused that little scheme: “Why are you still not moving? Do you want to go back and be beaten by the old khan?”

Zhibi Sili rolled his eyes in unwillingness and, reluctantly, turned to follow Zhibi Luoluo away.

And just then, amid the shouting figures and blind, panicked running, two riders came charging straight toward the royal tent!

The rider in front was mounted on the magnificent white horse once belonging to Geda Heiguo. On its back sat a youth, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, a long spear tucked beneath his arm. Zhibi Sili, quick-eyed, recognized at once that it was the Han youth from the day of the cloud disturbance, the young hero who had fought the Heng’an Army’s foremost general to a standstill and even forced Liu Wuzhou himself to appear.

How could it be him?

The youth on horseback was none other than Xu Le. In the confusion, he had found a mount for Buli as well, and the two rode separately. He had also seized a long spear at hand; on horseback, one more span of weapon length meant ten times the imposing presence.

Xu Le’s aim was very clear: he was charging straight for the royal tent to find Uncle Luodun.

The camp had already fallen into utter chaos, and as the two riders galloped through, no one actually tried to stop them. Everyone’s attention was fixed on the raging fire, while also guarding against the possibility that an ambushing army outside the camp might seize the chance to attack.

In an instant, the royal tent was before him.

In front of it stood a group of men, rigid and motionless. Many wore fur caps with wolf tails trailing from behind. In this borderland, even without having seen them personally, Xu Le had long since heard enough to know what such figures meant.

Turkic wolf riders!

The Turkic wolf riders were clearly guarding three people, two of whom Xu Le did not recognize. But the third, the one being forced at sword point by the wolf riders, Xu Le knew at once.

It was Zhang Wansui, the great general of Mayi Commandery and a subordinate of Wang Rengong!