SEHE Chapter 148

Imperial Academy

Peng Chulang chimed in. “Pei Daren’s proposal is excellent. This subject is willing to lead troops out of the city to engage and resist the enemy forces.”

Cui Ya immediately stepped forward, declaring solemnly, “Your Majesty, the Cui family’s fourth son is currently still in the capital. He only just came down from the battlefield last year, and right now we need someone with extensive command experience who hasn’t yet grown rusty.”

“Your Majesty, as for what kind of character the Southern and Northern Yamen Imperial Guards are, no one understands them better than this subject.” Peng Chulang furrowed his brows.

“The imperial forces are well-trained. Whether one understands them or not, as long as they’re commanded properly, they can utterly annihilate those hundred thousand enemy troops. Peng Daren, we’ve already reached a critical moment of life and death – let’s not think about fighting over such trivial gains.”

Peng Chulang’s chest heaved with anger. There was good reason why military generals disliked civil officials – still fighting for power at a time like this?

“Cui Daren, this bit of ‘trivial gain’ concerns the survival of Great Yu’s realm, concerns Your Majesty’s life and the lives of all the princes and subjects. Whether it should be me or the Cui family members leading troops out to resist the enemy – this matter should also be decided by Your Majesty.” Peng Chulang tossed the matter to the Emperor for decision.

Repelling the enemy forces before the Emperor – if done well, the future prospects were great, but the risks were also great. If they lost, heads would roll directly. Since it wasn’t Cui Ya himself going to the battlefield, naturally he could speak without any concern.

These matters used to all be reported to him by Tangxi Zhui. Now he looked around at everyone and asked, “Huo Cun, what is your opinion?”

“This subject will follow Your Majesty’s instructions completely.” Huo Cun was as respectful as could be.

The Emperor’s expression darkened somewhat.

Huo Cun didn’t understand why, and lowered his posture even more.

Just as the Emperor was about to lose his temper, Pei Yanci stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, every military general in the court is talented. What we need to consider right now is who is more familiar with the capital’s troops and terrain, who can better protect Your Majesty’s safety.”

“What Pei Daren says is not wrong. Peng Daren, your abilities are clear for all to see. Immediately take the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards and prepare to resist the enemy.” The Emperor said.

“Yes. This subject will go to the city gates to set up defenses now.” Peng Chulang cupped his fists and responded resoundingly, then strode away.

Just as he was leaving through the palace doors, he happened to see the two Gu brothers coming in.

“Father Emperor.” Gu Wanchong said, “The enemy army is at the city gates. This son is willing to lead troops to resist them.”

Cui Ya said, “Your Highness’s body is worth ten thousand gold. How could Your Majesty bear to send Your Highness to such a dangerous place? General Peng has already been ordered to resist the enemy. If Your Highness wishes to protect Your Majesty’s complete safety, you can lead the Northern Yamen Imperial Guards to guard the imperial city.”

After hearing his words, the Emperor also felt this arrangement was good, saying, “Chong’er, with Peng Daren going out of the city, you shall temporarily take his position.”

Zhang Dongqin said, “Then how shall the Cui family be arranged? Just now the Prime Minister didn’t mention it, and the rest of us forgot. A whole family of civil and military generals – at this critical moment they should step forward no matter what, or else they’ll disgrace the name of the privileged class. Your Majesty, when you have capable subjects at hand, you shouldn’t let the princes charge to the front first.”

Cui Ya had originally wanted the Cui family to take the lead, but having just recommended them once, recommending his own people again wasn’t quite appropriate. Now that Zhang Dongqin had brought it up for him, he was delighted and was just about to speak when Pei Yanci spoke first.

“At this moment, if the Gu family’s sons charge to the front, it would better inspire the people. In this subject’s view, Prince Qi should not only lead troops, but should also appear atop the imperial city walls to stabilize the hearts of Anjing City’s citizens.”

Zhang Dongqin frowned. “If it were the Crown Prince doing this…”

Pei Yanci directly cut him off. “The Crown Prince has no experience leading troops. If the city truly falls and we switch to Prince Qi to command in the midst of battle, I fear it would damage the Crown Prince’s reputation.”

Zhang Dongqin looked toward Gu Jiuqing, wanting him to say something, but the latter seemed distracted, clearly not in the right state. The Emperor found Pei Yanci’s words very agreeable, then looked at Gu Jiuqing, a flash of disgust passing through his eyes.

The attack hadn’t even begun, yet the Crown Prince was already frightened into such a state – any of the officials present appeared more composed than him.

“Your Highness, the two thousand guards that the Elu Bureau left in the capital can be incorporated into the Northern Yamen Imperial Guards, to be uniformly commanded and deployed by Prince Qi.” Having received Pei Yanci’s look, Huo Cun immediately cupped his hands.

“This is excellent.” The Emperor felt somewhat more confident.

Gu Yueqian watched this scene and raised her hand to beckon the old nanny beside her.

The lights of Ganchen Palace burned bright until dawn, when the gray misty mountain ranges and silvery white clouds at the edge of the sky were dyed with a layer of fiery golden edges.

Daoist Yimiao stood at the edge of the Immortal Ascension Platform. Seeing this scene, his brows locked even tighter.

“Master, what’s wrong?” the young daoist asked.

“The trapped dragon obtains water, all methods spring to life.” Yimiao shook his whisk, watching as a group of officials successively emerged from Ganchen Palace. One person’s head emitted golden-purple auspicious energy, and that momentum already showed faint signs of breaking through toward the heavens.

Pei Yanci walked at the front and was just about to board his carriage when someone behind called out to him.

He had barely turned around when a hand locked onto his arm, fingers digging into his flesh painfully.

“Your Highness!”

“You’ve pledged allegiance to Gu Wanchong?” Gu Jiuqing demanded harshly.

“Your Highness, this subject only works for Your Majesty. I have never pledged allegiance to anyone.”

“Then why did you speak up for Gu Wanchong just now?!”

This person’s madness also needed to have limits. Didn’t he see that several officials who hadn’t yet left were all looking over?!

Pei Yanci was about to speak when a hand interjected, gripping Gu Jiuqing’s wrist even faster than him.

“Crown Prince, this is not a place for you to act wild and make a scene.” Under Gu Wanchong’s thick black vigorous brows, his deep eyes looked at him, bloody energy surging darkly.

Military generals’ strength was naturally great, let alone someone with Gu Wanchong’s heaven-sent divine strength.

Gu Jiuqing’s hand couldn’t stop trembling, yet his fingertips still persistently hooked onto Pei Yanci’s sleeve, unwilling to let go.

“Pei Yanci, I truly underestimated you. What did you use to buy him over?” His expression was mocking. “Your body?”

Gu Wanchong gripped his hand, raised his other hand, about to smash it down toward his face.

“Shuangchong, don’t.” Pei Yanci urgently called out.

Gu Wanchong’s movement froze in midair. All three of them paused for a moment.

Gu Jiuqing asked strangely, “What did you call him?”

“His courtesy name.” Pei Yanci lied without changing expression.

Gu Wanchong released the person, his wheat-colored skin flashing with embarrassment, then nodded at these words.

“You called him by his courtesy name?” Gu Jiuqing looked at the two with suspicion and shock. After a few breaths, he resumed his distant, cold appearance. “A mere Northern Yamen Imperial Guards commander – in the current situation, who will be the final victor is still unknown. Pei Yanci, remember your choice today. Don’t regret it later.”

Father Emperor had never thought well of him, treating him as a whetstone for Gu Wanchong. Now even Pei Yanci had abandoned him. He would show all these people who would win in the end!

Gu Jiuqing flicked his sleeves and left. Pei Yanci saw not far away that Cui Ya was being quietly invited away by an old nanny from Gu Yueqian’s side. He was just about to go find Huo Cun when Gu Wanchong instinctively blocked him.

“That was just a reflexive reaction in my urgency earlier.” Pei Yanci calmly clarified. “If Your Highness is afraid of exposing your secret, you can change your courtesy name to this in the future.”

“Mm, good.” Gu Wanchong’s face grew even redder, his heroically imposing face showing a flash of helplessness. His sharply defined lips moved slightly. “In the past, you always called this subject thus.”

Pei Yanci hadn’t heard him refer to himself as “this subject” in a very long time. He looked at him strangely. “It was just a slip of the tongue in my urgency, it doesn’t mean anything.”

Just because he called him that happily in the past didn’t mean he still felt the same way now.

“Were you worried this subject would land that punch on the Crown Prince’s face?”

“No.” Pei Yanci looked at his clumsy attempt to curry favor, paused, then said, “Rest assured, I’ve already had Huo Cun treat your mother consort’s clan well. Right now, outside the prison is actually less safe than inside. If we get through this crisis safely, I’ll speak to Huo Cun on their behalf and have them released.”

“Really?” Gu Wanchong said joyfully, then immediately wanted to explain that Pei Yanci might have misunderstood – he hadn’t chosen to stand on Pei Yanci’s side because of his maternal grandfather’s family’s situation.

Their imprisonment was due to involvement in court political affairs and the Emperor’s thoughts. Huo Cun had already explained this to him privately. Those twists and turns of the court truly weren’t suited for him.

He had wrongly blamed Pei Yanci before and now wanted to make some amends.

But when he tried to speak again, Pei Yanci had already left.

****

By the time he returned to the residence it was already the end of the hour of Chen. Wushu was hastily stuffing food into his mouth. From the corner of his eye, he keenly glimpsed a dusty figure and called out, “Big Brother, you’re back.”

Pei Yanci, who was preparing to return to his room, saw him and took a detour into the dining hall. “The Jinwu Guards should have left the city by now, right?”

“Mm, Brother Wuli couldn’t wait for you and just left a quarter hour ago, crying. Though I know I should be worried about him, his face all scrunched up looked exactly like a big white flour ball decorated with black sesame seeds and cherries – truly comical.”

“Where’s your sister-in-law?” Without realizing it, Pei Yanci had grown accustomed to this form of address.

“In the room.” Wushu blinked and asked, “Do we at the Imperial Academy also have to go to the battlefield?”

Pei Yanci hadn’t thought of this and asked, “Why do you ask?”

“Xu Du keeps saying how brilliant and mighty his father is, and wants to fool us into being his muscle. Yesterday he even told me to skip class and go with him to a brothel to hold some girls.”

“Cough cough cough cough…” Pei Yanci nearly choked on the congee in his mouth.

“Did you go?”

“Didn’t I just leave with Big Brother right after school?” Wushu said. “Today he’s definitely going to lose his temper, but Big Brother can rest assured – I can handle him. A grown man acting all coy every time, has he no shame?”

“I’m going to find your sister-in-law.” After eating a few casual bites, Pei Yanci put down his bowl. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to instruct, “Don’t get too close to Xu Du, understand!”

“Why is that?” Though Wushu didn’t understand, he still said, “Okay okay okay, I know, Big Brother. I dislike him too.”

Tangxi Zhui had just gotten up and was wearing loose casual robes, washing his face.

Pei Yanci approached, suddenly reached out to grip his chin, and turned that gorgeous, brilliant face toward himself.

“How could Great Xi’s army smoothly break through the border passes, advance rapidly, and reach Anjing directly?”

“You should ask that Great Xi bastard that question.” Tangxi Zhui looked completely innocent.

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head, his upturned eye corners lowering, his thin pale eyelids tinged with a faint red, looking pitiful.

Pei Yanci looked at him suspiciously but ultimately released his hand.

The news from the palace was that Xu Xiangqian had rashly provoked Qi Lan, leading to the collapse of the front lines. Apart from the hundreds of thousands of troops manning the northern border passes, there were no heavy forces along the route to Anjing. The Military Commandery’s forces had all been transferred to the front lines, making Qi Lan’s advance ridiculously easy.

A major characteristic of the Grand General’s warfare was steadiness – not seeking merit, but avoiding mistakes. Having confronted Great Xi for over twenty years, knowing the enemy and himself, he understood that Great Yu was currently in a transition period and couldn’t possibly do such a thing.

But Tangxi Zhui wouldn’t lie to him.

He might hide things from him beforehand, but as long as he asked directly, he would definitely tell.

If Tangxi Zhui said he didn’t know, then he truly didn’t know.

When he had parted from Gu Wanchong earlier, he’d found Huo Cun to question him. That person also knew nothing.

Qi Lan really had some capability.

“Go eat.”

Pei Yanci walked into the inner hall to wash and change clothes.

Tangxi Zhui looked at the water in the copper basin. After a long while, he threw the face cloth into the water. His reflection in the water immediately shattered and twisted.

On the twenty-fifth day of the third month in the sixth year of Qingning, Anjing City’s three million people spent the entire day on edge. Even after nightfall, not a single result came from outside.

The Elu Bureau had already sent messages out through secret passages. Right now, everyone’s only hope was that the Military Commandery Offices from various regions could dispatch troops to rescue the Emperor.

That evening, someone from the Imperial Academy came to report that Fang Qingdu was looking for him.

Pei Yanci took Tangxi Zhui to the Imperial Academy and saw the brilliantly lit dormitories and a group of dejected-looking students.

“Why aren’t you all sleeping?” After the Imperial Academy’s expansion, at least a third of the three thousand-plus students were from other regions and normally lived in the Academy’s dormitories.

“Daren, will we survive?” asked the person at the front, looking unfamiliar.

“Is the city about to fall?” someone choked out.

“I think I heard wailing sounds from the attackers.”

The crowd grew agitated, everyone talking at once. Some were excited, some had deathly pale faces. The one thing they all had in common was the thick confusion and fear in their eyes facing this situation.

“Silence! Don’t scare yourselves.” Fang Qingdu’s emotionless voice rang out.

His words calmed them for a moment.

“Pei Daren, in this subordinate’s view, you’d best rest in the dormitories tonight.” After meticulously completing his salute, he said, “If they see you’re also here, they’ll feel more at ease.”

“Rest assured, I’m here.”

They didn’t trust Pei Yanci the person, but the position of Imperial Academy Chancellor.

The highest-ranking official these inexperienced youths had seen was the Imperial Academy Chancellor. If he left now, they would definitely think the city had fallen and he’d abandoned them to save himself alone.

“Go back and rest first. You still have lessons tomorrow. Everyone take care of your health.”

Buzzing discussion arose again in the crowd.

“With the city’s fall imminent at any moment, even if they attend classes they won’t be able to learn anything.” The Erudite Scholar Wang wore a bitter expression.

“If we give them vacation, what could three thousand-plus people do?” Pei Yanci questioned coldly and sharply. “So many hot-blooded young men – let them out to loot and burn? Think the capital is too peaceful, do you?”

Fang Qingdu chimed in. “It’s not really holding classes, it’s giving them something to do.”

Erudite Scholar Wang and the other scholars awkwardly organized the students back to their dormitories.

“Stop right there! Where did you all come from?!”

Several students were standing obtrusively in a corner, bundles on their backs, covered in dust and mud, looking like they’d just crawled through a dog hole.

“This student originally planned to… this student discovered a crack elite force sneaking toward the western part of the city, seemingly about to break through!”

“You look like you were fleeing, yet you’re still here spouting nonsense and disturbing people’s hearts! Not an ounce of scholarly integrity! Quickly go to the Three Departments’ Disciplinary Hall to reflect and receive punishment!”

“Wait.” Pei Yanci pushed aside the interrogating scholar and walked over.

Seeing him approach, those students immediately raised their voices. “Chancellor Daren, the enemy army is attacking! At the western part of the city – there are no defenses there at all. The city will definitely fall tonight!”

As soon as these words came out, the several hundred students present immediately panicked like a pot of boiling porridge.

“Silence! Silence!” Fang Qingdu shouted from his elevated position, his voice completely drowned out.

Tangxi Zhui was pushed aside. The black bone fan in his hand struck out, and a tree large enough for two people to embrace snapped at the waist, blocking the necessary exit path.

The scene immediately quieted down.

“Before the situation is clear, none of you should think about stepping one foot outside the Imperial Academy.” Using his internal energy, Pei Yanci’s voice boomed tremendously.

He brought the several people aside and carefully inquired about the details, his face inevitably showing some gravity.

“Fang Daren, take my token and go to the Southern Yamen to find General Peng. Erudite Scholar Wang, go to the Northern Yamen to find Prince Qi and inform him of this matter as well. Erudite Scholar Xu, take fifteen nimble-handed teachers, ride horses into the city to find the remaining students. Go house by house calling for them. Have the students who come follow you to call for others. Anyone who doesn’t come tonight will have their enrollment revoked tomorrow. Erudite Scholar Liu, count up the remaining teachers – one person responsible for how many students each, divide them up. Make sure they don’t cause a commotion.”

Erudite Scholar Xu was utterly flustered. “Are we leaving the city?”

Pei Yanci’s gaze was cold and sharp. “Do you think you can escape?”

Shocked by his intimidation, Erudite Scholar Xu’s thoughts actually became clear.

An hour later, Pei Yanci received the worst possible news.

Peng Chulang’s Southern Yamen Imperial Guards were currently engaged in battle with enemy forces at the southern and northern parts of the city – they couldn’t spare any extra people. Gu Wanchong had already taken half the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards to the western part of the city, but it wasn’t enough.

These students had estimated incorrectly. What looked to them like a mass of people – about a thousand – was actually, based on their description, probably ten thousand.

Ten thousand against ten thousand might have even odds, but those weak-legged shrimps of the Northern Yamen Imperial Guards – even if all of them went, they’d just be sending themselves to their deaths.

“What about the eastern part?”

“No movement, but some of Great Xi’s forces from the south and north have also spread there. We haven’t prepared an attack.”

“Has everyone arrived?”

After Erudite Scholar Liu finished counting, he answered, “Except for a dozen or so students who refuse to leave home no matter what, everyone else has come.”

Pei Yanci mounted the fallen tree.

“Silence!” Fang Qingdu roared.

Three thousand-plus pairs of eyes looked over in unison.

“Only a small portion of you know me. Here, let me formally introduce myself. Your humble servant, Imperial Academy Chancellor, Pei Yanci, age seventeen, not yet past my eighteenth birthday, a fourth-rank civil official of the current court, the same age as you all, the same education level, and equally… frail and delicate.”

Everyone was puzzled, but in this atmosphere, no one said a word.

“Great Xi’s hundred thousand troops have already reached the city gates. General Peng is leading the Southern Yamen Imperial Guards in a life-and-death struggle with them! The Northern Yamen Imperial Guards have already gone to the western part of the city to meet the enemy. The hundreds of thousands of heavy forces in the south are still on the road, but I dare say – before this night is over, Anjing will fall!”

The scene remained deathly silent. Gradually, low sobbing sounds spread through the crowd.

“We’ve already been surrounded on all sides by Great Xi’s army. Going out is certain death. But we cannot let Great Xi look down upon Great Yu’s sons like this! Even if we die, we must die standing with iron bones, not let them hold butcher’s knives and casually slit our throats!” Pei Yanci’s words echoed through every corner of the scene.

“Having learned civil and martial arts, to sell them to the imperial family – you study hard, and like those soldiers fighting and killing outside right now, all for His Majesty, for the common people under heaven. Now, temporarily set aside your books and show the hot-bloodedness that you young men in your teens should have! His Majesty is waiting for us in the imperial city, the citizens of Anjing need us, this Great Yu needs us!”

“Defend the imperial city! Defend Anjing!” Pei Yanci raised his arm and shouted.

Fang Qingdu was first to respond. “Defend the imperial city! Defend Anjing!”

The scholars and students’ blood stirred. “Defend the imperial city! Defend Anjing!”

The entire Imperial Academy erupted. “Defend the imperial city! Defend Anjing!”

“Defend the imperial city! Defend Anjing!”

“Defend the imperial city! Defend Anjing!”