Chu Dingjiang sat in the grand study of the Hua residence, casually flipping through the imperial memorials Prime Minister Hua had left on the desk.
Before long, footsteps echoed from outside.
The door opened, but Chu Dingjiang made no move to hide. Calmly, he lifted his head to gaze at the white-haired elder before him.
Prime Minister Hua was still clad in his official robes, having not yet changed, and he had no attendants by his side.
Chu Dingjiang knew his habits well.
"Who are you?" Prime Minister Hua barked.
"It's me," Chu Dingjiang replied. Previously, he had only ever spoken to him through his voice—this was the first time he had appeared in person.
Hurried footsteps approached from outside, though they had not yet arrived. Prime Minister Hua turned and stepped out. "Stand down."
"Is everything alright, my lord?" the lead guard asked anxiously.
"All is well. Stand down," Prime Minister Hua said.
Only after dismissing everyone did he return to the study.
The setting sun streamed through the latticed windows, casting golden-red plum blossoms upon the floor.
"Why have you come?" Prime Minister Hua asked as he took a seat nearby.
This son of his, who had been unfathomably strange since childhood, had nearly become a sickness of his heart. Why had he been capable of such schemes at such a young age? Why had he gone to such lengths to leave the Hua Clan? These were questions Prime Minister Hua had pondered for nearly twenty years without a single clue.
Chu Dingjiang's face was hidden beneath the shadow of a large hood, his voice low, his words chilling. "Of your three sons, which one do you wish to save?"
Prime Minister Hua glared at him coldly. "The Hua Clan needs no saving from you, nor does it have an unfilial descendant like you!"
A crushing pressure suddenly erupted from Chu Dingjiang. To Prime Minister Hua, it was as though a thunderclap had exploded beside his ear, and his face paled involuntarily. After decades in the political arena, even the emperor's reprimands might not have shaken him so.
When he regained his composure, Prime Minister Hua was overcome with shame and fury—he had actually been cowed by his own son!
Yet the figure seated behind the desk truly exuded an aura beyond ordinary men, one that silenced all dissent.
"If not for the bond I once shared with the Hua Clan, I would never have bothered with this," Chu Dingjiang said, flipping through the memorials before him. He selected one and slid it toward Prime Minister Hua. "You are pushing the Hua Clan toward a cliff—though what you're doing is a good deed."
It was a memorial Prime Minister Hua had drafted pleading for leniency toward Ling Ziyue. He was well aware that even if Ling Ziyue escaped punishment this time, the emperor would only grow more wary once their connection was exposed. A prime minister and a general commanding vast armies—if they joined forces, the Great Song dynasty would surely collapse.
Prime Minister Hua wanted to speak up for Ling Ziyue, but his concerns weighed heavily on him. Thus, though the memorial had been written three days prior, he had yet to submit it.
He quickly steadied himself from shock and anger, regaining his usual calm and wisdom. "You've repeatedly urged me to retire—your goal isn't truly to protect the Hua Clan, is it?"
Even if he retired, the Hua Clan's influence would not vanish overnight, and the emperor might still not spare him. Still, doing so would at least preserve some of the clan's bloodline and power.
But once Prime Minister Hua stepped down, the Great Song's precarious state would become glaringly obvious after Ling Ziyue's death.
Chu Dingjiang's actions were not in the dynasty's best interest.
Prime Minister Hua had no choice but to consider the deeper implications.
"I suppose you feel you're now riding a tiger and finding it hard to dismount?" Chu Dingjiang tapped the memorial lightly with his fingers, his tone composed. "The Great Song lacks nothing—except a good emperor."
Prime Minister Hua's brow twitched, and he instinctively glanced toward the window.After a moment of silence, Prime Minister Hua frowned. "What do you mean?"
He truly felt caught in a dilemma. Withdrawing abruptly now would harm the nation, yet persisting stubbornly would eventually lead him to the same fate as Ling Ziyue. He had thought he would die first, never expecting Ling Ziyue to fall before him.
How could the ever-composed and restrained Ling Ziyue suddenly act so recklessly?
Prime Minister Hua cast a heavy glance at Chu Dingjiang.
Understanding his doubts, Chu Dingjiang swiftly changed the subject. "Do you think the scholars of the Great Song lack backbone?"
After some thought, Prime Minister Hua replied, "What scholars lack is not backbone but bloodlust."
"Scholars lack neither backbone nor bloodlust," Chu Dingjiang said, having studied the works of contemporary Confucian scholars to understand their current state. "Their apparent cowardice stems from the fact that the slap hasn't yet landed squarely on their faces! Nurtured by Confucian ideals, they are destined to retreat step by step, only revealing their unyielding defiance when pushed to the brink."
Hence their saying, "This can be tolerated, but what cannot?"
"My words end here," Chu Dingjiang paused, then stood up. "I hope you will think twice."
Seeing him about to leave, Prime Minister Hua spoke urgently, "I want to know why you left the Hua Clan back then."
"Because I no longer wished to bind this lifetime to the Hua Clan." With that, Chu Dingjiang vanished from the room.
Prime Minister Hua noted his use of "no longer," a fleeting thought crossing his mind before he dismissed it.
Confucians do not speak of uncanny forces or spiritual matters, and Prime Minister Hua was a Confucian.
He carefully pondered Chu Dingjiang's words and put himself in the shoes of an ordinary scholar. Indeed, if armored cavalry sought to trample him into the mud, he would surely rise in rebellion. But until the fire singed his eyebrows, he would believe there was time to calmly devise a response.
To make the Song people feel genuine crisis and fury, his sudden voluntary withdrawal alone wouldn't suffice. It would require... Ling Ziyue's blood and the Great Song's crushing defeat.
While Ling Ziyue lived, he might safeguard the borders. But if he died unjustly, given the Song people's mindset, most wouldn't dare blame the emperor outright. Instead, their rage would pour toward the Liao, though resentment toward the emperor would simmer beneath.
The Great Song's urgent task was to ignite its people's bloodlust, followed by enthroning a new emperor.
Prime Minister Hua merely needed to fan the flames at the right moment—pleading for Ling Ziyue in a memorial, then being implicated and dismissed to avoid the storm. When the Great Song desperately needed someone to shoulder the burden, he would reemerge...
Without destruction and rebirth, even if Ling Ziyue captured Xijin Prefecture today and defended it tightly, once he died, the Liao would surely counterattack fiercely.
Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone a mad wolf!
To hinge a nation's safety on a single man was deeply unsettling.
Better to slay the divine turtle propping up the sky and splash its blood on the Song people's faces, forcing them to watch the heavens collapse. If they didn't rise in rebellion, only death awaited...
"What a perilous and ruthless scheme!" Prime Minister Hua exhaled sharply.Installing a new emperor was not something Prime Minister Hua hadn't considered, but the Zhao imperial family simply lacked suitable candidates. The Crown Prince was out of the question—Prime Minister Hua had been collecting evidence against him, waiting for the right moment to submit an Imperial memorial. The prince's countless faults were truly unbearable. Then there was the Second Prince, who was martial in nature with a rigid, military temperament, but neglected his studies and acted too impulsively. The Third Prince was too young; if he ascended the throne, the Great Song would descend into chaos, making him unreliable for the time being.
Choosing the best of a bad lot, the Second Prince would have to do...
Prime Minister Hua had never imagined that his predicament would be effortlessly resolved by Chu Dingjiang.
No, what Chu had unraveled wasn't just the Hua Clan's deadlock—it was the Great Song's as well!
Rumors had it that the King of the Northern Court of Liao had captured Ling Ziyue's woman, continuously humiliating her to provoke him. Ling Ziyue's misstep must have been orchestrated by Liao.
In this game, whether it was Liao, the Great Song, Ling Ziyue, or even himself—all were mere chess pieces in Chu Dingjiang's hands.
And the mastermind behind Liao was no less formidable.
Prime Minister Hua sensed the clash of two master strategists.
After mulling it over, he paced to his desk and picked up the Imperial memorial, running his fingers over it lightly.
Was it truly necessary to scheme against a righteous and courageous general like this...
Night had just fallen.
Some shops along the streets still maintained the festive atmosphere from the emperor's decree for nationwide celebration, with rows of lanterns illuminating the streets as bright as day.
Chu Dingjiang spotted a peony lantern at a stall not far ahead. He walked over, lifted it in his hand, and was reminded of that day by the river when An Jiu and Hua Rongjian had been playfully bantering.
"Fish is what I desire, bear's paw is also what I desire. What then?" Hua Rongjian murmured as he lit the lantern, tossed down a silver coin, and set it afloat by the riverside.
Once this scheme was set in motion, the world might be turned upside down. He felt his long-dormant blood begin to boil once more, finally rediscovering the relentless drive of his youth.
That day, when he saw An Jiu with Hua Rongjian, though displeased, he hadn't considered it a serious matter.
"Fight!" Chu Dingjiang's voice was not loud, but it carried an unyielding determination, a resolve that would not retreat even if the heavens collapsed and the earth split open. (To be continued...)
PS: Sleeve Paper has been busy traveling these past couple of days, and some matters delayed updates. I didn’t even get to post a notice, so I only managed to get online today. My apologies.
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