Chapter 42: In an Instant

  There is a peach forest on Qingyue Mountain, and it's the season when the mountain peaches are in full bloom. From afar, the half-mountain waist is covered with a pink hue that's so beautiful it makes you not want to shift your gaze. The lush greenery of the forest and the vibrant peach blossoms make for a scenery that even a master painter with decades of experience might struggle to capture on canvas.

  Yi Qi Guan is located in the midst of this mountain peach forest, faintly visible.

  Because the master of the former day's one-yuan observation, Xiao Zhenren, set out for the imperial capital, there were fewer officials and nobles who came to see him on the mountain. It was rare that the 2,999 stone steps had few tourists, which made the mountain much cleaner, the view much cleaner, and the peach forest even more serene.

  Every year when the peach blossoms in the mountain forest bloom, tourists are not allowed to enter the peach forest. It is unknown whether it is because the Taoist people of Yiqiguan are afraid that tourists will destroy this naturally beautiful scenery, or if there is some secret in the peach forest that cannot be shown to people every time the peach blossoms bloom. The status of Yiqiguan is noble, let alone ordinary tourists, even the governor-general of Jianghuai would not easily violate the rules of Yiqiguan.

  In the peach forest there is a pavilion, nameless.

  This pavilion was originally a place for tourists to rest, but since a certain person moved into the Yiqi Guan, it has almost become her private property. Even the Taoist priests from the Yiqi Guan have to consider the mood of this young lady if they want to come here. If she gets annoyed, they might even invite a scolding from the master of the Yiqi Guan.

  This young lady's appearance is more delicate than a flower, but her personality is somewhat willful and arrogant.

  This young lady is none other than Wu Yidao, the first rich man of the Great Sui Dynasty, who spent 15,000 taels of gold to get her into the Palm of the First Rank.

  Wu Yin Yu

  This young lady is only fifteen years old, but she has grown into a lovely and charming person. However, perhaps because Wu Yidao spoiled her too much, her personality is somewhat wild and leaves people speechless. On the first day at Yi Qi Guan, this young lady pinched her waist and asked Yi Qi Guan's eldest disciple, He Ming Dao Ren, where his residence was. He Ming Dao Ren pointed to a separate courtyard and said it was there. Wu Xiaojie didn't even turn her head, pointing to the peach forest and saying: "I want to live there."

  From then on, the pavilion in the peach forest became her private property.

  The thatched cottage in the deepest part of Taolin where Xiao Zhenren would retreat every year when the peach blossoms bloomed also became her private property.

  The good weather made everyone feel refreshed, but Wu Jia's young mistress, who was still not fully grown but already a beautiful maiden with a reserved elegance, was in a bad mood. The priceless qin lay on the stone table in the pavilion, but Wu Yinyin, who usually loved to play it, had no interest today.

  Her slender fingers, like spring onions, kept stroking the tail of the guitar, her mind elsewhere.

  The personal maid Dujuan looked at the young lady unhappily, holding a freshly brewed lotus heart and placing it beside her, asking softly: "What's wrong with you today, Miss? You don't even have the mood to play the zither."

  A goose-egg-faced girl, if her eyebrows and eyes are delicate and refined, always makes people feel lovely and endearing. Even when she slightly frowns, there's no sense of sadness, still being lively and refreshing as ever.

  Wu Yin Yu stroked the strings of his zither, let out a soft sigh and said: "In the Imperial Capital, the leader of the Imperial Guard, Luo Wei Ran personally examined me. Out of 128 acupoints, I opened 122 of them. Even he said that I am a rare talent, not to mention Chang'an City, but in the entire Great Sui, you can't find another person like me."

  She looked at Du Juan and asked: "At that time, Luo Weiyan said so, right?"

  "Right"

  Camellia smiled complacently and said, "General Luo also said that if the young lady is willing, he would like to take her as his closed-door disciple. I don't know how high General Luo's cultivation is, but I'm sure there are many people who want to become his apprentice."

  Wu Yinyin nodded slightly, but her eyebrows didn't relax one bit: "But why, after arriving at this temple, I'm not taken seriously?"

  "No, miss, you have arrived at Yi Qi Guan and moved into the small courtyard where Xiao Zhenren only stays when he is in seclusion. This pavilion is also off-limits to others. Before leaving, Xiao Zhenren specifically instructed He Diao Daozhang that whatever you want, he will provide; whatever you want to do, he will allow it. This shows that Xiao Zhenren holds you in high esteem."

  "That's because my father had 15,000 taels of gold."

  Wu Yinyin sighed and said: "If you really valued me, why didn't you take me to Chang'an to participate in the Imperial Military Academy's examination, but instead took that woman?"

  "Miss, is that... whipped cream?"

  "Who else but her?"

  Wu Yinyin raised her head and looked at the peach forest, sighing: "At home, I was just a little bird raised by my father, afraid that I would get hurt, so nothing was allowed to touch. The courtyard of the mansion is big and scary, but it's still a big cage? When I arrived at Yiqi Pavilion, this peach forest was occupied by me, but what I got was just a bigger birdcage."

  She suddenly stood up, clenched her fists and said: "I want to go back to Chang'an."

  "But miss, we just escaped from Chang'an!"

  "I'm not afraid!"

  Wu Yinyin said, "I've already given Xiang Zhenren 15,000 taels of gold. Can't he just protect me for a little while? If he can't even do that when we get to Chang'an, I'll have Father ask for the gold back! Others may not know, but I do - that old man is greedy to the extreme!"

  ……

  ……

  Chang'an

  Taiji Gongbao and Dianyu Shufang

  The Great Emperor Yang Yi of the Sui Dynasty glanced at the minister standing in front of him, slapped the memorial shut and tossed it under the minister's feet. He leaned back, shaking his sore neck, and said with a hint of anger: "Is this the so-called winning strategy concocted by the elite of the Ministry of War after several days and nights? I'm embarrassed for them just looking at it! The Sui Dynasty was founded on military power, our army has never lacked capable and victorious generals, nor brave and seasoned soldiers! But take a look at the strategy written in this memorial, are they trying to deceive me because I've never led troops in battle?"

  "Say what with elite troops bypassing Nirvana City to launch a surprise attack on the Mongolian and Manchu flags stationed there, burning and killing for a while before retreating, then setting up an ambush halfway, annihilating the pursuing troops hastily organized by the Manchu flag!"

  The emperor's voice suddenly rose as he stared at the minister in front of him: "Do you think these war affairs, handled by your subordinates, are child's play?! The Great Sui has indeed not had a war for nearly twenty years, since the previous emperor destroyed the Shang State. I have been on the throne for eleven years, and for over a decade, we have not mobilized troops. Have the people in the Ministry of War forgotten how to fight?!"

  "I know I am guilty!"

  The Minister of War, Yu Donglai, fell to the ground with a thud and did not dare to pick up the memorial that the Emperor had thrown on the ground.

  "The Emperor turned around and pointed to the large map of the Sui Dynasty's territory hanging on the wall, saying: "Is the map in the Ministry of War different from the one I have here in the East Warming Pavilion? If they are the same, can't those bookworms see what kind of terrain is west of the Wolf's Milk Mountain, which stretches for thousands of miles from north to south? What sudden attack... Even if my Sui Dynasty's infantry runs as fast as possible, can they outrun the Mongol cavalry after crossing the Wolf's Milk Mountain? And then burn and kill before retreating, setting up an ambush halfway... West of the Wolf's Milk Mountain is a vast grassland, where can you set up an ambush?"

  The Emperor pointed at the map and asked: "Yu Donglai, this memorial was submitted by you. Come tell me, where exactly is the ambush set?"

  Yu Dong came deeply bowed his head, did not dare speak.

  Emperor Yang Yi came down from the kang, and the eunuch Su Buwei hastily knelt on the ground to help the emperor put on his boots. After the emperor stood up, he also knelt and straightened the hem of the emperor's long gown before standing up and retreating. The emperor glanced at Yu Dong and said, "Not as good as a slave doing things with all one's heart!"

  Su Buwei hastily bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty... Yu Daren is in charge of the Ministry of War, and there are really too many things to worry about every day. The soldiers and horses all over the country need to be dispatched by the Ministry of War, and there are other trivial matters. I only need to serve Your Majesty well, and different people have different tasks."

  The emperor nodded and said: "You can say that these four words 'have a special skill' are not common."

  Even Yu Donglai couldn't help but secretly cast a grateful glance at Su Buwei, thinking that this Su Buwei was much stronger than the original Wu Peisheng. Wu Peisheng was a selfish and petty person, who would do things if there were benefits to be gained, but would naturally kick someone when they were down if there weren't.

  He had just thought of Wu Peisheng when he heard the emperor ask about this dead man.

  "Wu Peisheng died at Fan Gu, the military report from the Ministry of War said he died in battle. He wasn't a perfect man, but to be able to do something so heroic is not unworthy of my trust all these days. I was thinking of giving his nephew back home an easy job and rewarding him with a big mansion... But last night, I suddenly thought that none of the people who went to the capital came back alive... This matter is unusual, Yu Donglai, send someone to investigate again. I also asked Hou Wenji's emotional officials to investigate, the Ministry of War can't just sit still. If it's really as the war report says, not only will I reward Wu Peisheng, but I'll also greatly reward the military and civilians of Fan Gu!"

  "If... things were hidden..."

  The emperor glanced at Yu Dong and stopped talking.

  "Your Majesty, the military report from the Ministry of War is absolutely true. Moreover, the first to report was Right Vanguard General Li Yuanshan. Your Majesty also knows that Li Yuanshan is a just and humble person, who would never dare deceive you."

  "Li Yuanshan is still trustworthy."

  The emperor nodded, kicked the memorial on the ground with his foot and ordered: "Take this thing back, all officials in the Ministry of War will be deducted one year's salary. If those advisors at the war department are only doing things to deceive me, then it is useless for me to keep them. If they cannot give me a feasible strategy within three days, I will hand over this matter to the Imperial Guards."

  "I obey your orders, I am filled with fear and trepidation."

  "It's all right, get up."

  The Emperor picked up his tea and took a sip, then said in a calm tone: "I have been on the throne for eleven years, and not moving troops is not because I don't want to or dare not to, but if we are going to move, we must do so like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami! Moreover, the Mongols we are fighting are not the Southern Yan or Eastern Chu. This war will determine the fate of our dynasty, you understand that too. If we win, all of you ministers will be remembered in history as heroes. But if we lose... you'll just have to wait for me to take the blame with you! However, rest assured that I will never take the fall for someone else. If this war goes badly, I still have the power to investigate and punish everyone in the Ministry of War."

  "I will go back and redraft it myself."

  "Go ahead"

  The emperor waved his hand, and because he had been sitting cross-legged on the kang for too long, his legs were a bit numb. He strolled back and forth in the Dongnuan Pavilion several times, suddenly thought of something, turned around and asked Su Buwei: "Su Buwei, you tell me... if I use a group of new people from the Performing Martial Arts Academy to serve in the Western Expedition Army, how would it be?"

  Su Buwei bowed his head and said: "I dare not discuss state affairs, and..."

  The Emperor asked: "And what else?"

  "And besides... Director Zhou's hurdle is probably hard to pass."

  The emperor was taken aback, and then said with some regret: "I've always said that even the best students who enter the Imperial Academy are not my people within three years! I thought of using him, but it depends on Zhou Banqian's face... Forget it, let's just consider this as me thinking about it to pass the time."

  ……

  ……

  Fan Gu

  The imperial capital has already bloomed, but the accumulated snow in Fan'er City has not yet melted. The border troops on the city wall are no longer the original 800 old soldiers, but have been replaced by the cavalry of the Right Guard. Although these soldiers are still nominally under Li Xiang's command, he also knows that they cannot be mobilized at all.

  There are also ordinary people inside Fanggu Castle, and even in several landmark buildings inside Fanggu Castle, it is still bustling. However, these ordinary people are not the original people of Fanggu.

  On another day when the market opened, a dozen or so people appeared on the edge of the forest outside the west gate of Fan Gucheng. A dozen or so rare people in Great Sui... bald heads, gray cloth shirts, Buddhist beads hanging from their chests, and demon-subduing clubs in their hands.

  Among these people, the most special one was a young monk with eyebrows and eyes like a painting, so beautiful that he resembled a stunning woman. He had a slender figure and elegant manners.

  Arched eyebrows, almond eyes, whether it's the nose or mouth, all are exquisitely crafted to evoke envy.

  He wore a red monk's robe and stood out even more among a dozen or so people.

  "Your Excellency... the one ahead is Fan Gong, but it seems that he has already departed for Chang'an, the capital of Great Sui. It's said that he's going to participate in an examination at the Imperial Martial Arts Academy."

  A grey-robed monk respectfully said to the red-robed young monk: "If you enter the martial arts hall, it will be hard to back down."

  "Enbuin..."

  The red-robed monk with a jade-like complexion murmured the three words repeatedly, then said calmly: "Then I'll go to the Martial Arts Institute to find him."

  "We can't enter the Da Wei border, let alone the Martial Arts Institute..."

  A monk said with some indignation.

  "Is it because of this bald head?"

  The young monk in red robes pointed to his own head and smiled, saying: "It's just a shell of skin, after all. Not keeping hair is to get rid of worldly roots. But Master Ming also said that no matter how the physical body is, as long as one's heart is towards Buddhism, it's enough. So whether or not to shave one's head is still just a thought away?"

  He finished speaking, and hair began to grow on his bald head at a speed visible to the naked eye, growing rapidly. After a moment, he had shoulder-length hair.

  He took off the Buddhist beads from his wrist and then used this string of Buddhist beads to casually tie up his hair at the back of his head.

  What a fine young man!