Chapter Four: The So-Called Celestial Empire, Part Two

Nearly a year had flashed by, and Zheng Yanqing seemed to have grown taller since the last time—now standing about half a head above Zheng Hongyi.

Perhaps because he had practiced martial arts since childhood, his build was lean and elongated.

A white robe only heightened the faintly transcendent grace about him. With his black hair tied in a topknot, his arched brows like drawn swords, and eyes bright as morning stars, he was still so young, and yet he already carried himself with a steadiness beyond his years. What would he become when fully grown?

Zheng Renji could not help feeling a trace of emotion. Zheng Shian truly was a man blessed by fate.

His own son had been taught by Yan Ju, but compared with Yanqing, there was simply no comparison at all.

Whether Zheng Renji was willing to admit it or not, if not for the notoriety of this extraordinary Yanqing, shielding the Zheng family from some of the storm, it was doubtful whether he could have held his post as clerical officer so securely. For that reason, he was quite courteous to Yanqing.

“Yanqing, what brings you here today?”

Zheng Renji invited him into the house, sat down first, and then gestured for Yanqing to sit as well. This was all about bearing. No matter how famous Yanqing had become, Zheng Renji was still a direct branch of the Anyuan Hall and, moreover, Yanqing’s elder. He could not afford to be too yielding.

Yanqing had come with a request, so he bowed respectfully before taking a seat at one side.

It was rare for him to visit the Zheng residence, and Zheng Hongyi was naturally not about to miss the chance. He even forgot to call Xu Shiji, and hurriedly took his place behind Zheng Renji.

“Uncle, I came today because I have a favor to ask.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Does Uncle remember the old soldiers from Tianjin Bridge, and the Tiger Guards of old?”

Zheng Renji was momentarily taken aback, then nodded. “How could I forget? But hadn’t those old soldiers already started working with the Zhang family of Wu County? I heard their business is doing very well. The Hengji shop is practically earning money by the cartload. Could something have gone wrong?”

Thinking back, Zheng Renji could not help but regret it.

If he had sent someone to make contact with Zheng Shian earlier, would not that flourishing business have belonged to the Zheng family instead? At the time, he had not thought much of it, but three years later Zheng Renji realized he had let slip a copper mine.

Fortunately, he did not know that the secret recipe for the sugar had also come from Zheng Yanqing, or he would surely have spat blood.

Yanqing said, “To tell the truth, Uncle, the old soldiers have indeed run into some trouble.

The grandfather of the shopkeeper at Hengji, Xiong Dachui, has a great-nephew named Xiong Dahai. Somehow or other, he killed a man in the market today.”

“Killed a man?”

At this, Zheng Renji’s brow furrowed.

Had this been in the reign of Renshou, Xiong Dahai killing someone would have been a capital crime. But after the beginning of the Daye era, Yang Guang, having seen how the laws of the later years of Emperor Wen of Sui had grown confused and harsh, had labored since taking the throne to revise them, and many things had been eased.

“Who did Xiong Dahai kill?”

Yanqing hesitated for a moment before speaking softly. “I heard that when an embassy entered the city, some conflict broke out. I do not know which embassy it was, but the Court of Heralds had Xiong Dahai taken into custody. I came only to ask whether Uncle knows anything about it.”

“An embassy has come?”

Zheng Renji shook his head in confusion. He was only a clerical officer in charge of granaries, grain, and funds; matters concerning embassies were not really within his knowledge. After some thought, he said, “I can help you ask around. But if Xiong Dahai really killed a man from an embassy, this may not be easy to handle... Wait here a moment. I will send someone to inquire.”

Seeing that he had achieved his purpose, Zheng Yanqing quickly bowed and withdrew from the study with Zheng Hongyi.

“Hongyi, why have we not seen Shiji?”

“Brother Shiji is probably at the practice ground right now. Why don’t we go over together and have a look?”

As they spoke, the two of them came to the martial courtyard in the rear garden.

There they saw Xu Shiji, mounted on a mottled blue horse, swinging an eighteen-foot horse lance in his hands as he circled around the field.

The shape of the horse lance was like a long spear.

The head was about a meter in length, shaped like a long sword. Broadly speaking, it was somewhat similar to the so-called three-pointed, double-edged blade of later ages, though much narrower. The spearhead was about three fingers wide and had a peculiar diamond-like form. Even the shaft was made with great care. According to the Treatise on the Horse Lance, an exceptional lance required at least three or four years from preparation to completion.

To wield a horse lance well required not only great strength, but also considerable skill. Xu Shiji was swinging it about, but he was clearly finding it a bit difficult. Riding in circles, he made several turns before beginning to lose control.

“Brother Shiji, look who’s here!”

At Zheng Hongyi’s cheerful shout, Xu Shiji reined in his attack and looked over. He was instantly overjoyed. “Yanqing, what are you doing here?”

“Ha, why should I not come?”

Zheng Yanqing laughed. “I suppose I also bear the surname Zheng, and am a part of Anyuan Hall.”

Only then did Xu Shiji realize that his question had perhaps been a little too abrupt. So he leaped down from the horse and handed the lance to Yanqing.

“My father had someone have this lance forged in the south of the Yangtze River. Do you want to try it?”

To train with the horse lance, one had first to learn its fundamental techniques. The Manual of the Horse Lance explained these basics in detail, but when it came to using it in actual combat, every school had its own subtleties. Some excelled at seizing the lance, others at evading it, and so on. Yanqing knew the basic techniques as well. He took the lance from Xu Shiji and weighed it lightly in his hands.

It weighed about forty catties, somewhat heavy for Xu Shiji.

He shook his head. “I once heard someone say that without first strengthening the sinews, one cannot properly use a lance. We are not yet at that stage. Forcing ourselves to practice will do the body no good. One must remember that haste does not bring success. And I noticed while you were using it just now that there may be a problem. In lance work, there are three things to avoid: brute force, strained breathing, and puffing out the chest while lifting the belly. This lance is not light, and for you it may be somewhat too heavy. Once you begin using it, your force becomes clumsy, your blood and breath stagnate; this is the first of the three dangers, brute force.”

Xu Shiji could not help but stare.

“If you had not pointed it out, Yanqing, I might already have made a grave mistake.”

“The second issue is that, because your strength is still limited and the lance too heavy, it is easy to fall into the error of straining your breath, so that your chest fills too full and you may drive your qi upward and burst your lungs.

Brother Xu, I know you work hard, but if your method is wrong, not only will your efforts be twice as great for half the result, you may even injure your own body.”

Xu Shiji’s expression changed, and he nodded gravely.

The three of them chatted for a while on the practice ground, until Zheng Hongyi tugged at Yanqing and said he wanted to play with a seven-piece puzzle.

So the three of them began fooling around under the corridor eaves. After a little over an hour, Zheng Weishan came hurrying over to say that Zheng Renji wanted to see Yanqing. Yanqing promptly followed Zheng Weishan back to Zheng Renji’s study, where he happened to find Yan Shigu there as well.

“Yanqing, I have already looked into the matter of Xiong Dahai.”

Zheng Renji’s brow was faintly drawn as he spoke in a low voice. “This matter is a little troublesome. Today, there really did arrive in Luoyang an embassy from the overseas kingdom of Wa. This is not quite the same as an embassy from the Western Regions. The Wa mission came here of its own accord. The man Xiong Dahai killed was that envoy’s attendant, apparently named Umayado something or other, and he seemed to be a relative of the female sovereign of Wa.”

Wa? Japanese?

Zheng Yanqing’s mouth fell open in surprise.

He knew that during the Tang dynasty, Wa had repeatedly sent so-called tribute missions, and that some of them seemed even to have held important posts at court. But this was the Sui dynasty—had the Japanese already come over? White faces, no eyebrows, blackened teeth... that did indeed seem to have been a kind of official appearance among the early Japanese. But what age was Japan in now? How could there already be a female emperor?

“This Wa mission came here on its own initiative, and His Majesty has already heard the news.

I inquired at the Court of Heralds. They said the Wa envoy, whose name is Ono no Imoko, had no special demand; he only said he was willing for the matter to be handled according to the laws of our empire.”

Yan Shigu suddenly said, “It is Ono no Imoko!”

“Oh, so it is Ono no Imoko. He has entrusted the Court of Heralds entirely with submitting the complaint to the Henan Prefect. The Court of Heralds could hardly show favoritism, so they have already drawn up the petition and plan to send it to the Henan Prefect first thing tomorrow morning... Xiong Dahai is in grave danger.”

Damn it, so this really had turned into a diplomatic dispute.

Zheng Yanqing knew that once the petition reached the Henan Prefect, Xiong Dahai would have no escape from death.

Could he really stand by and watch Xiong Dahai lose his life over some Wa barbarian? No. Absolutely not.

I recommend a book: In a world where magic and battle qi have vanished, curse souls and martial souls emerge instead. After the protagonist crosses into this other world, how does he seize the spotlight and stand alone above all others? Everything is found in The Kingdom of Warriors. I invite all readers to take a look.

Book number: 1489068.