Chapter Eighty-Four: How to Deceive the Emperor

In Guo Jing’s telling, the defeat at Yanghe Pass was entirely the result of Lord Song Ying of Xining underestimating the enemy and rashly advancing too far. As for Guo Jing himself, serving only as the eunuch supervisor attached to the army, he had merely been charged with watching over the generals and had possessed no real authority to command the host. Thus the disaster at Yanghe Pass, he claimed, had nothing to do with him.

Of course, Guo Jing said this because the dead could no longer answer for themselves. Lord Song Ying of Xining and Lord Zhu Mian of Wujin had both perished in battle; by now he could speak all the way to heaven itself and need not fear exposure. Moreover, it was true that during the great battle he had not interfered in the army’s command. If he had any fault at all, it was only that he had failed to dissuade Song Ying from his reckless advance in time.

After hearing him out, Wang Zhen said nothing, only motioning for Guo Jing to continue.

By his side, Chen Guan was muttering inwardly: so Guo Jing is trying to wash his hands completely of this. Yet the urgent memorial you sent to the palace before the battle did not say this at all. At the time, you were the one who strongly supported Song Ying’s sortie to Yanghe Pass, not someone who had already known of his rashness and failed to restrain him in time.

Naturally, being fellow palace eunuchs, Chen Guan would never openly oppose Guo Jing or question him. On the contrary, if anyone asked later, he would answer just as Guo Jing had said. Unless Wang Zhen gave the word, Guo Jing was one of their own for the moment, and one did not undermine one’s own side.

Seeing that Wang Zhen did not probe further into the battle at Yanghe Pass, Guo Jing secretly let out a breath. Knowing that the matter had a chance of being salvaged, he then vividly recounted how, in utter despair, he had intended to take his own life to repay the emperor’s grace, only to be rescued by a young soldier from his personal guard and later hidden in a reed marsh, where he escaped with his life.

Wang Zhen was not interested in the name of the young soldier who had saved him. What mattered to him was why Guo Jing, having already escaped, had not immediately returned to Datong to take charge there, but had instead vanished without a trace.

Guo Jing hastily replied that when the Eastern Horde had launched its massive southward invasion, he had feared Datong would be encircled. The roads for relaying military dispatches had been blocked, and the imperial carriage had not yet learned that Esen had already breached the frontier. If he had rushed forward recklessly, he would have suffered a great loss. So, disregarding his own age and frailty, he had leaned on the young soldier’s support and made his way eastward all the way, intending to bring news to the imperial camp.

He spoke with great sincerity and was indeed highly plausible. Every word brimmed with concern for the emperor’s and Wang Zhen’s safety. Hearing this, Wang Zhen’s brow gradually smoothed; he nodded repeatedly. If Guo Jing had truly been hurrying to the imperial camp to deliver a warning, then the reason he had not returned to Datong became easy to explain. At the very least, he was not a fugitive fleeing guilt; and in that case, the charge of abandoning his post could not be pinned on him.

Yet with a sudden turn of thought, Wang Zhen recalled the key point and darkened his face again. “Since you decided to bring word, why did you delay so long in arriving?”

“It was all because of that Yang Jun!” Thinking of the humiliation Yang Jun had inflicted on him that day, and how he had nearly lost his life afterward, Guo Jing ground his teeth with hatred.

“Yang Jun?”

Wang Zhen did not know who this man was, so Chen Guan hurriedly explained. He was the eldest son of Yang Hong of Xuanfu, and currently served as a military commissioner in Wanquan.

“So he is Yang Hong’s son.” Wang Zhen nodded, somewhat puzzled. “What does this have to do with Yang Jun?”

“Master Wang knows as well. After I arrived in Datong, I had some disputes with the Yang family over money, and so Yang Jun bore me ill will. Seeing that I had come east alone, he used my supposed abandonment of my post as a pretext to hold me under guard. On the surface he acted in the name of justice, but in truth he was settling old scores under cover of public duty!”

After taking up his post, Guo Jing had meddled in private frontier trade. Wang Zhen knew about this, and it was precisely with his strong support that Guo Jing had succeeded in carving flesh from Yang Hong. Still, he did not quite believe Yang Jun would take action against Guo Jing over this matter. After all, whether or not Guo Jing had done wrong, so long as the emperor had not issued an edict of punishment, he remained the eunuch in charge of Datong. Yang Jun would hardly dare seize him merely over money. As for claiming it was done out of justice, that seemed unlikely as well. Guo Jing was the eunuch stationed at a frontier stronghold; Yang Jun’s own clan likewise belonged to the military families entrusted with guarding the frontier. If today the Yang family dared casually detain a eunuch, would they not have to fear that eunuchs might one day casually detain frontier generals in return? Xuanfu and Datong were also independent of one another; on what grounds would Yang Jun dare commit such an overreach?

Seeing that Wang Zhen did not seem to believe him, Guo Jing grew anxious. Yang Jun had indeed detained him as soon as he learned of the defeat at Yanghe Pass—who knew what madness had possessed him to do such a thing?

What Guo Jing feared most was not that Wang Zhen would seek out witnesses to verify his words, but that Wang Zhen would simply not believe him. If Wang Zhen doubted even one point of what he said, then everything would come under suspicion, and that would truly cost him his life.

In his alarm, a flash of inspiration struck him, and almost as if possessed by spirits, he added, “I should let Master Wang know that when I saw Yang Jun that day, he was together with Shi Tai from the Residence of the Prince of Cheng.”

“Shi Tai from the Residence of the Prince of Cheng?”

At the mention of that name, Wang Zhen’s face instantly darkened, and Chen Guan’s expression also changed.

Guo Jing feared that neither of them yet believed him, so he said again, “At first, Yang Jun had no intention of detaining me. But after Shi Tai came out, I do not know what he said to Yang Jun, and Yang Jun suddenly turned on me and had me taken.”

That was a falsehood. On that day, it was plainly Guo Jing who first saw Shi Tai and only afterward met Yang Jun, yet for some reason he reversed the order.

Still, this inversion had a powerful effect. Both Wang Zhen and Chen Guan were visibly moved.

“After Yang Jun detained me, he did not send me to the emperor for an audience. Instead, he ordered his men to escort me to Stone Fortress. Who would have thought that that very night the Tatars under Yang Jun suddenly rose in rebellion, while the Aru tribe beyond the border attacked Stone Fortress with all their might. Yang Jun and Zhao Mei, the commander of Kaiping Guard, actually abandoned the several thousand men under them and fled, leaving the strategic stronghold of Stone Fortress to the Aru. By now the Aru have already broken into Xuanfu!”

Guo Jing assumed that Yang Hong had already lost Stone Fortress and that the military report of the Aru’s incursion had reached the imperial court, but that the deeds of his two sons would certainly have been concealed. So he decided to strike while the iron was hot and lay bare all the shameful things Yang Jun and Zhao Mei had done, hoping to use Wang Zhen’s hand to avenge his old grudge.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this news, Wang Zhen and Chen Guan both sprang to their feet in alarm.

“What? There is such a thing?”

Wang Zhen, more agitated still, seized Guo Jing and demanded, “When did this happen?”

Guo Jing was startled by Wang Zhen’s reaction and stammered, “It... it has been about five... five or six days... Does Master Wang not yet know of this?”

Wang Zhen did not answer him. Instead, he turned sharply to Chen Guan and ordered, “Go at once to Cao Nai and fetch every memorial sent recently from Xuanfu. Bring me every single one, without exception!”

Chen Guan agreed at once and was about to leave, but after a step he stopped and, looking back at Wang Zhen, said hesitantly, “Cao Nai has never been on good terms with me. I fear he may not hand over the memorials willingly.”

Wang Zhen snorted. “Tell him it is my request. If he refuses, then I shall ask the emperor for them myself!”

“All right, I’ll go at once!”

Chen Guan no longer hesitated and hurried out of the tent to find Cao Nai. After he left, Wang Zhen sat down in a daze and murmured to himself, “Why would Yang Hong deceive the emperor?”