Yu Qiaoting nodded. Fu Shen: “Qing Heng, wake up. If the Qi Prince ultimately ascends the throne, I will become a royal in-law.
How many royal in-laws have had a good ending throughout history?
“Don’t look at how he’s still courteous to me now. Once he sits on that throne, he might be completely different,” he said. “We are military commanders and still have many concerns. He will be the ruler of ten thousand, and his thoughts will be far more complex than ours. Even when the Emperor and my late father were said to be ‘mutually compatible’, he still harmed his own son without mercy.”
Yu Qiaoting became increasingly worried, his hair almost turning white: “According to you, the Qi Prince won’t work either. Who else is suitable within the legitimate line?” Suddenly remembering something, he shuddered: “Jing Yuan! You can’t be thinking of the King of Ying…”
Fu Shen frankly admitted: “I’ve thought about it.”
Yu Qiaoting: “General, you really dare to imagine.”
“But it’s impossible,” Fu Shen said, “His background alone is a big problem.”
Yu Qiaoting: “Then you…”
Fu Shen: “I often think, whether it’s the Emperor, the Crown Prince, or the Qi Prince, whoever sits on the dragon throne, whether a wise or foolish ruler, why does the North Yan cavalry always become a fishbone stuck in one’s throat? To be honest, I’ve even wavered, thinking perhaps the problem isn’t with the Emperor, but with the very existence of the North Yan cavalry.”
Yu Qiaoting empathized and sighed.
“But the North Yan cavalry has guarded the northern frontier diligently for years, protecting the country. What’s wrong with that?
Fu Shen said, “The North Yan cavalry is the nation’s sharp blade. The knife is not at fault; the fault lies with those who wield it. As long as the hilt is in someone else’s hand, we will forever live in suspicion.”
Yu Qiaoting was shocked by the general’s treasonous words and trembled: “Jing Yuan, you… you’re planning a rebellion…”
“Don’t panic, I haven’t done anything yet,” Fu Shen laughed lightly. “Besides, I’m about to get married. Why would I want to become a lonely rebel when I could live a good life?”
Yu Qiaoting couldn’t help but mock: “General, stop bragging. Don’t make this chance encounter sound like a heaven-sent marriage.”
After much discussion, the conclusion was that they couldn’t rebel, couldn’t stage a coup, and the unsolvable problems remained unsolvable. Fu Shen had a vague idea, but it was too shocking. If he said it, Yu Qiaoting might call Dr. Du to check his brain, so he wisely kept quiet.
Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan exchanged glances but in the end, Xiao Chun was the unlucky one. Little General Xiao was unwilling to go down without a fight, so he dragged the troublemaker Yu Qiaoting along with him.
Fu Shen finally found some peace, slowly exhaling a hot breath from his throat, feeling like his internal organs were being burned by the alcohol.
He leaned down to look at another box and indeed discovered another gift under the tanned fur: a pair of hand-sewn fur knee pads.
A pair of wild geese, a pair of knee pads, worth only a few taels of silver, with the rest of the two large boxes serving as accompaniments to these two gifts.
Fu Shen didn’t know whether to sigh at his thoughtfulness or curse him for being wasteful. Yan Xiaohan had always been like this, lavishing generosity like spending money, giving sweets without restraint, but his true heart was tiny, not very sweet, hidden in a deep and dark corner.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Yan Xiaohan received a return gift from Yanzhou, with the real gift also mixed among a pile of northern specialties: two deerskins and a… Linghao flower jade pendant.
Fu Shen’s ingenious gift nearly scared Yan Daren sleepless, nervously examining the jade pendant. Sometimes suspecting he knew something, sometimes thinking Fu Shen might be expressing a desire to “restore old friendship.” Then he would recall Fu Shen’s resolute expression when he broke the jade years ago – was he planning to sever ties again?
Yan Xiaohan reached back to the bedside cabinet, finding a small sandalwood box. Opening it, a deep red satin wrapped an old jade pendant. The original pendant had shattered completely; even the best craftsman couldn’t repair it with gold.
The pendant looked pitted and chipped, far inferior to the new one Fu Shen sent, yet Yan Xiaohan had treasured it like a precious item.
He could still remember crouching on the ground, picking up the shards, the despair of realizing the pieces could never be reassembled. If not for the repairer’s exceptional memory, Yan Xiaohan might have regretted it for life.
Seven years ago, shortly after joining the Flying Dragon Guard, he wanted to kill all the corrupt scholars. The Flying Dragon Guard always acted ruthlessly, and Yan Xiaohan followed suit. Whether fortunate or not, his first case was the Jin Yunfeng case.
His first “unscrupulous” act had him running into Fu Shen, an immovable obstacle.
For seven years, the past was like a shackle on his foot, or a lifeline, drawing a clear, deep line that prevented Yan Xiaohan from completely sinking into the mire.
This nearly shattered and barely reassembled jade pendant seemed to carry his deeply buried, unspeakable humble wish. It was his apology to Fu Shen.
I’m sorry. I don’t want… to be completely severed.
The two jade pendants lay side by side in the box. Whether broken or intact, they looked exceptionally lustrous and beautiful in the lamplight, like a silent comfort from the distant north.
Fortunately, he was about to return.
But in fact, he was more afraid in his heart than anyone else. Because this “cold chest, backstab” scenario had also happened between him and Fu Shen seven years ago.
Just as Yan Xiaohan was constantly drifting and struggling in self-intimidation and self-comfort, a small black dot suddenly appeared in the distance, with one person and one horse galloping closer. The newcomer was a dark-skinned youth who did not dismount even when approaching the crowd, but shouted, “Master Yan, please come with me, the general is about to arrive!”
Yan Xiaohan’s breath instantly relaxed, a big stone falling from his heart, and he rushed out first following that youth.
Before others could react, the two had already darted far away. The Northern Yan cavalry horses were incomparable to ordinary horses, and only Yan Xiaohan could barely keep up. In the end, the formation was no longer a formation, with the two leading and a long “tail” of people and horses tumbling behind.
The youth led them westward, and when Yan Xiaohan saw the blurry outline of buildings in the distance, he understood why Fu Shen would propose a seemingly unreasonable request on such an important day.
The high platform rose from the flat ground, with majestic halls, the setting sun casting oblique light on the glazed tiles, creating layers of brilliant golden radiance. From afar, it seemed built of gold, hence the name “Golden Terrace”.
The “Golden Terrace” was ancient. In the past, King Yan of Yan honored Guo Wei, built a palace and studied under him, placing a thousand gold pieces on the terrace to attract scholars from all over, thus gaining its name. At the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Founding Emperor wanted to emulate King Yan’s deed, raising a high terrace in the capital’s suburbs, building a palace, naming the terrace “Golden” and the hall “Qilin”. The main hall displayed eighteen portraits of founding meritorious officials to commemorate their achievements.
Subsequent emperors followed this practice, and generations of civil and military officials considered having their portrait in the Golden Terrace Qilin Hall an honor.
