Chapter 88: A Façade of Harmony
Wei Wanlan headed towards the Hanyuan Hall.
This hall was different from all the other pavilions in the Luoyang Imperial Villa.
The lights in the Hanyuan Hall were extinguished. Outside, only a modest number of guards patrolled the perimeter of the magnificent palace. Their defense didn’t seem lax, nor was it ostentatiously tight.
The Hanyuan Hall had not suffered from Yuan Xizai’s, or rather the late emperor’s, drastic modifications.
It remained a solemn and majestic hall.
Walking beneath the base of the Hanyuan Hall and looking up along the Dragon Tail Path, one would feel a sense of insignificance, like gazing up at a lofty mountain. To use a literary phrase, the hall sat like a coiled dragon and a crouching tiger.
Wei Wanlan followed Fu Jun to the area just beyond the base of the Hanyuan Hall.
They were fifty or sixty paces away from the guards.
Fu Jun strained his eyes, trying to pierce through the warm haze of the lantern light, but he couldn’t clearly see the faces of the guards, which should have been visible.
He shifted his gaze to Wei Wanlan. Somehow, in just a few days of shared adventure, Wei Wanlan and Fu Jun had developed an unimaginably strong tacit understanding.
Wei Wanlan said, “There’s something odd about them. They’re younger than the patrol guards at the Zichen Palace. They look a bit like the group that chased us.”
That group who spoke strange words he couldn’t understand.
Fu Jun gave a small nod.
“Mm.”
At this point, it became clear: “There are actually two military forces in the Luoyang Imperial Villa.”
Wei Wanlan could accept this explanation. Through their encounters, he had formed a rough understanding of these two groups.
The first force was the one that had been stationed at the Luoyang Imperial Villa with the late emperor years ago. Due to the villa’s absurd extravagance, they lacked significant combat power and served only as a superficial daily guard for the villa. This was the group they had encountered in the study of the Zichen Palace.
The other force was Yuan Xizai’s most formidable current armed strength.
That group possessed crossbows, armored soldiers… strict discipline, younger members, and a more volatile temperament. Even though they wore Great Wei armor, they occasionally blurted out one or two words Wei Wanlan vaguely couldn’t understand.
Wei Wanlan couldn’t figure out their origin.
Staring at the formidable soldiers guarding the Hanyuan Hall, Wei Wanlan muttered to himself:
“Where do these troops come from? Can a Great Wei Prefect mobilize the army?”
He should have known he would face this question. He should have studied harder back in the Zhongshu Province.
Or asked the big villain for guidance earlier during their private lessons in the Zichen Palace.
But now, with neither an advisor nor Xiao Ji by his side, he didn’t expect Fu Jun, a hero of the martial world, to know much about court affairs.
This was where Fu Jun’s skillful hint-dropping came into play.
Fu Jun made a natural analogy: “One mountain cannot hold two tigers. Even if the Heaven Sword Manor has many branch altars handling mundane affairs, the number of disciples they can command is limited. Therefore, major matters still rely on the Heaven Sword Manor’s main altar.” This was to avoid diluting power.
Wei Wanlan astutely guessed: “So… if the Luoyang Prefect wants to mobilize troops, he must get approval from the Chang’an court, passing through levels of authorization.”
“Perhaps,” Fu Jun said.
“Then,” Wei Wanlan said, feeling a little guilty, “Yuan Xizai might truly have an excellent relationship with the Regent King, and the Regent King allows him to use troops!”
Fu Jun took a sharp, quiet breath.
Wei Wanlan continued guessing: “There’s another possibility. Maybe the Regent King doesn’t know, and Yuan Xizai secretly deployed a unit without telling him, keeping them at the villa for his own protection.”
Fu Jun slowly exhaled the breath he had held and asked:
“Could he mobilize the Regent King’s army?”
Wei Wanlan was stumped. He asked in a small voice, “What prefectures are nearby?”
“Shangzhou. Luozhou. Luoyang City. All three have garrisons,” Fu Jun replied.
“Then that’s unlikely.”
Wei Wanlan cautiously put a question mark next to his earlier guess.
Just recently, during the mutiny on Vermilion Bird Street—
Because Qin Zhen had forged a command and used the military tally to gather troops from all over the realm, those deceived generals ultimately pledged their loyalty to the Regent King. They were all old subordinates of the Regent King’s family, owing the Su family either gratitude for recognition or for saving their lives.
In short, the connections were deeply intertwined.
Especially those fierce generals in the east.
Wei Wanlan didn’t believe they would dare to secretly disobey the Regent King, collude with Yuan Xizai, and give him troops.
Moreover, with the protagonist halo of the book The Regent King of Great Wei, Su Jingzhi’s biggest trump card was his control over the military. He surely used people Yuan Xizai couldn’t corrupt, so no one could move the army behind his back.
After turning it over in his mind, Wei Wanlan circled back to his original thought.
He said dejectedly, “We’re done for. It seems the Regent King and Yuan Xizai really are in cahoots. Thinking about it this way, only the Regent King could give him troops. QAQ”
It doesn’t fit his character profile! Wei Wanlan fretted.
Fu Jun, meanwhile, bumped his head against the stone wall of the palace base with a thud.
Somehow, that action made the large man look comical and completely out of character for a great hero. It seemed like he was sulking.
“Oh dear.” Wei Wanlan was frightened and quickly rubbed the hero’s head, standing on his tiptoes. This was a precious hero right next to him, a close companion; nothing could be allowed to happen to him:
“It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. Did your eye trouble flare up again? Let’s be careful. Good boy, good boy.”
But the hero, who was supposed to be a “good boy,” just grunted muffledly, letting Wei Wanlan rub his head without actually behaving.
Just then, two eunuchs carrying palace lanterns passed by the base on night patrol.
Fu Jun pulled Wei Wanlan into the shadows of the palace wall.
The palace lanterns cast a patch of warm light.
The shadows of the two eunuchs stretched long. They were merely passing the Hanyuan Hall, with no intention of entering.
Their figures and gaits showed a bit of the sluggishness that comes with age; they were definitely old hands of the Luoyang Imperial Villa. Their voices were raspy and cloying, making one’s skin crawl—unpleasant to the ear:
“It seemed like a fight broke out on the north side of the villa just now… I heard some commotion.”
“Psh. With Lord Yuan presiding here now, how could a fight break out so easily?”
“True enough. By the way, did you enjoy that venison sent from the south?”
“Enjoy it or not, we don’t lack for food or clothing here now. It’s just that compared to the grandeur of the villa when the late emperor was here, now it’s just an empty shell. Look at the wretched lot we serve now. It’s nothing like the days when this place was crowded with dignitaries and wealth rained down like water.”
“Back then, following the late emperor on his travels across the four seas… I haven’t been out of the villa to see the world in years.”
“Who’s to blame for all this?”
“Of course, we have to blame—”
The eunuch’s voice suddenly dropped.
Wei Wanlan heard the tail end of their conversation. His doe-like eyes widened slightly, and he tugged on Fu Jun’s sleeve: “Fu Jun, can you help me stop them? I have a few questions to ask…”
“Blame who?”
“Blame that Regent King, Su Yan, for his many evil deeds. Three years ago, with a single decree, he cut off all the villa’s expenses, apportioning the villa’s costs from the court to the local regions.”
“Are there really so many wars to fight?”
“That Su Yan must be extremely greedy, even better at amassing wealth than Lord Yuan. Otherwise, how could he justify the constant warfare since he took office? He must have squeezed the last bit of silver out of the national treasury, sucking the marrow from the bones.”
“So insatiably greedy.”
“The man probably has flesh rippling all over his body, looking like a fierce demon, weighing three or four hundred catties!”
“And he must be good at dancing the Huxuan.”
“Hah, hahahaha…”
Wei Wanlan’s brow twitched.
It was hard to imagine the Regent King himself weighing three or four hundred catties and spinning around dancing.
He knew these young eunuchs hadn’t left the villa for years and were ill-informed, perhaps still living in the past. But they had some interaction with Yuan Xizai, and living in this villa year-round, they must possess inside information he didn’t know, however limited.
Thud! Thud!
Despite his eye trouble, Fu Jun handled the two lackeys with ease, dragging them into the shadows beside the hall.
Both eunuchs had their mute acupoints sealed. Unable even to whimper, they could only bow repeatedly with clasped hands, terrified that Fu Jun’s hand might slip and snap their necks.
Wei Wanlan squatted down and leaned in, whispering very softly: “Can you write?”
The two eunuchs nodded.
Having been influenced by Yuan Xizai day and night, not only could they write, but they could probably even show off a bit of calligraphy.
Wei Wanlan nodded and said, “I’ll ask, you answer. No lying. Afterwards, I’ll knock you out and spare your lives.”
The two eunuchs were even more grateful. As long as they didn’t die, they bowed even more earnestly.
Wei Wanlan whispered the first question:
“What is the relationship between your Master and the Regent King?”
The two eunuchs looked at each other. Both opened their mouths, then realized they couldn’t speak, meeting Fu Jun’s glaring eyes.
So they gestured and wrote on the ground:
“The Master has told many people that he is trusted by the Regent King.”
Said so. But not certain.
Somehow, Wei Wanlan felt his chest loosen a bit. He bit his lower lip and asked the second question:
“Where do the soldiers come from?”
Answer:
“Not sure. We don’t communicate much with them. They are distinct from the old villa staff, a system of their own.”
Third question, Wei Wanlan asked:
“Since your Master is protected by the Regent King and has enjoyed wealth until now, why is your reaction to mentioning the Regent King one of dislike?”
Unexpectedly, this last topic was the one the Luoyang inner officials answered most decisively.
The two eunuchs wrote on the ground simultaneously.
The answer was laughable, yet revealed the lingering style of the late emperor’s era, giving a sense of endless absurdity:
“—Because he doesn’t like to play.”
“People say he once accepted the Master’s tribute, but he never comes here to play with us. If you can’t play together, you’re not on the same path.”
Wei Wanlan asked in a daze, “What if he’s too busy? He’s very busy, so he has no time to come to the Luoyang Imperial Villa to play with you.”
“His generals don’t come here to play either. From the nearby prefectures, no one has ever been willing to come.”
“No Great Wei general has ever come?”
“Correct. The guests here are all literati. And also…” The eunuch paused, then wrote, “Also some civil officials and minor clerks.”
So the soldiers here aren’t the Great Wei army!
No military officers have come! Not Su Jingzhi’s soldiers!
At this moment, Wei Wanlan actually put himself in Yuan Xizai’s shoes.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back:
…The Regent King had to accept his ten thousand gold for some reason.
…But he had no intention of colluding with him or acting as his umbrella. Instead, the Regent King controlled the troops around the Eastern Capital even more strictly, giving Yuan Xizai absolutely no chance to obtain armed forces.
…This wasn’t a façade of harmony; it was worse than that.
It was…
Su Jingzhi’s habitually arrogant expression suddenly appeared before Wei Wanlan’s eyes. Along with his tone of a great villain that could anger someone to death:
“Your head hangs in Luoyang; this Prince can take it whenever he pleases.”
The Regent King in his memory, who could sweep away tens of thousands of mighty troops just with his face, Su Jingzhi, came alive again.
Even Wei Wanlan trembled at the thought.
Let alone Yuan Xizai himself. All his attempts to curry favor must have been useless: those letters of greeting, that exquisitely painted hunting map… all proved that Yuan Xizai had once tried his best to become a favored new official again.
Only to helplessly discover.
The other party didn’t buy it at all.
Accepting and replying to letters were done at his whim because he held absolute power.
This must have intensified Yuan Xizai’s insecurity.
And from Yuan Mingyue’s fate, it was clear that Yuan Xizai was not one to sit and wait for death.
So when Yuan Xizai realized he could never gain the favor of the ruling Regent King, what would he do next?
Find. Another. Backer. To. Survive.
Then these soldiers stationed in the Luoyang Imperial Villa were very likely…
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