"A Fen! A Fen! Listen to me, listen carefully!"
"Speak then! It's not like I've gagged you!"
In front of the guest chamber's side room at Purple Void Monastery's annex, Li Yuangui urgently pleaded while pounding on the wooden door. But the tearful female voice from behind the tightly shut door left him dumbstruck, gaping wordlessly before slowly kneeling down before the entrance.
What could he say? That as a royal prince and brother to the Son of Heaven, he must devote himself to serving the nation? That while the Xiongnu remain unvanquished, how could he establish a household? That after recent upheavals, the people's strength is exhausted—commoners suffer hunger and cold, unable to endure continuous warfare? That he couldn't in good conscience curry imperial favor just for marital bliss? Did Wei Zheng's daughter need him to lecture her about such things?
Sobs echoed from behind the wooden partition. Wei Shufen hadn't actually reproached him with a single word. Upon hearing the outcome of his morning audience at Wanchun Hall, she'd simply turned deathly pale, risen, and walked out. In desperation, Li Yuangui had grabbed her arm, only for her to wrench free and retreat into this side chamber, slamming the door shut.
She had neither reason nor inclination to scold him—she simply needed to weep.
Li Yuangui sighed deeply, bracing himself on the ground. He too had wept recently—right in Wanchun Hall, before the Emperor and all the chief ministers.
Unlike Imperial Secretary Wei Zheng who could quote classics and expound sage teachings effortlessly, all Li Yuangui could muster were images: the dockworkers of Wei River mutilating their own "lucky hands," old Zhang Zhuangtou straining his last breath managing farmwork at the northern estate, the deserted vegetable garden tended only by two elderly women, the gaunt-faced refugees stretching thousands of miles along the northwest road, the Qinzhou matron Yang Xinzhi had found to guide them, her face streaming with tears...
"The Western Sea campaign is over—your sons will return soon." Those words still rang in his ears. Would that old woman's two sons now be marched toward even more distant and perilous western frontiers? True, one household's suffering meant little, but hadn't the Qinzhou granary official said, "This year's harvest barely staved off starvation thanks to the public granary—if next year's farming fails again, famine will return"? And Qinzhou wasn't even among the poorest regions—other prefectures fared worse beyond imagination.
"We too know the people suffer exhaustion from conscription," the Emperor had said with furrowed brow. "But are those Tang citizens captured and enslaved by Gaochang not our people? As ruler of All Under Heaven, can I ignore my subjects' cries for help? Qu Wentai of Gaochang has firmly allied with Yehu Qaghan against us—this war must come sooner or later! Better short agony than prolonged suffering! Better fight now than delay! If we miss this opportunity, when we eventually mobilize again, provisions and labor will cost two or three times more! With Gaochang fortified, how many more soldiers would bleed needlessly? This makes no strategic sense!"
Li Yuangui had no rebuttal—when it came to military strategy, few in this world could debate Emperor Li Shimin. The one who stepped forward to counter this offensive was Imperial Secretary Wei Zheng:"I dare to speak frankly at the risk of ten thousand deaths—Your Majesty is the ruler of the realm and should prioritize the peace of the state and the well-being of the common people. Deploying troops for battle, strategizing attacks, or planning retreats are the duties of generals and marshals, not the concerns of the sovereign! If the Ministry of War believes swift and continuous warfare is necessary, they may submit a memorial. We officials will deliberate upon receiving Your Majesty’s decree, while Your Majesty assesses the people’s strength and makes the final decision. Now, the sovereign is usurping the duties of generals and marshals, showing partiality. This may not only fail to win the hearts of the masses but could also incite civil unrest and calamity!"
Your stance is skewed—though Wei Zheng’s words were elegantly phrased and respectful, their meaning was unsparing. You are the Emperor, not the Minister of War or the commander-in-chief. You should be considering how to govern the country, not how to wage war!
If one only thinks about warfare, then of course a swift and decisive campaign is the most efficient and least costly. But broaden the perspective, look at the ruins and scorched earth after the great upheaval, at the Li-Tang Dynasty barely two decades old, and even Li Yuangui knows this truth: the common people might not even survive this winter and the coming spring.
With the victory in the Tuyuhun campaign, the expeditionary forces must return to the capital. Soldiers should return to their garrisons, go back to farming, and recuperate the people’s strength. It will take three to five years, perhaps even a decade, until granaries across the land are filled with surplus grain again, and a new generation of men grows up willing to fight for fame and merit. Only then can another foreign expedition be considered.
"As for the Tang subjects detained by Qu Wentai," Li Yuangui forced himself to suppress his emotions and offered his counsel, "after arriving in Gaochang, I will immediately begin investigating the truth, secretly making contact, and gathering evidence. Then, whether it’s confronting the Qu clan at the Gaochang court with reason, reporting back to Chang’an for Your Majesty to dispatch an envoy to demand their return, or leading these thousands of detained people to overthrow Qu’s rule—I will act according to the circumstances."
He could accomplish something significant, he thought. With the Tang Empire backing him externally and merchants like Kang Su-mi providing manpower and funds internally, he feared neither hardship nor death. He could surely make a difference in Gaochang, except...
"It seems you’re quite eager to become the son-in-law of a great Western Region kingdom," the Son of Heaven mocked his younger brother irritably. "No wonder—they say the women there, mixed Han and Hu, are all fair and beautiful. You’re in for quite the romantic fortune."
Then Li Yuangui burst into loud sobs in the court.
This utterly spineless behavior took even himself by surprise. When that wave of indescribable grievance, sour and pungent, surged straight into his nose and eyes, he had no power to suppress it. He collapsed to the ground, weeping uncontrollably—
To remain blameless before heaven and earth, sovereign and kin, the state and its people, he would have to betray the deepest love of his life...
The Emperor fell silent, as if sighing at his younger half-brother. Chief ministers like Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and Zhangsun Wu-ji merely watched in silence as the young prince wept disgracefully in court—a scene so mortifying that recalling it later made him wish he could vanish into the ground.
Two palace attendants were ordered to escort Prince Wu out of Wanchun Hall, and the court session soon adjourned. After regaining his composure, he left the palace on his own. Outside, he encountered Yang Xinzhi, who immediately grabbed him and said, "I’ve heard troubling news. We must hurry to the Purple Void Monastery to seek the High Truth Master."
What troubling news? Before entering the palace, Li Yuangui had asked Yang Xinzhi to visit the garrison camp to find Zhou Shi-er and inquire about the fake Tuyuhun prince. Yang Xinzhi didn’t find Zhou himself but heard that the Son of Heaven had summoned him a few days prior and was less than pleased. Li Yuangui had entrusted his third brother-in-law, Chai Shao, with handling the fake prince affair, so they should go to the Duke of Qiao’s residence for details."It's already past noon. We got up so early at the posthouse today, and neither Fourteenth Young Master nor Xinzhi have eaten anything. Our stomachs are about to cave in," Yang Rou-ta complained. "Prince Consort Chai's residence is too far. Why don't we go to the Purple Void Monastery first to seek advice from the High Truth Master and grab some lunch while we're at it..."
I knew it... Li Yuangui was fuming inside. He wanted to scold Yang Rou-ta, but then reconsidered—he really should go see Chai Yingluo. Not just to inquire about the fake royal descendant matter, but also to ask the Master of the Purple Void Monastery to put in a good word for him with Wei Shufen.
Earlier that day at the Wanchun Hall, he had "volunteered before the emperor" to proceed with the original arrangement to become the Prince Consort of Gaochang, rejecting the opportunity to break off the engagement and marry Wei Shufen instead—and he'd done so right in front of her father. Wei Zheng already disliked him; he would undoubtedly waste no time telling his wife and daughter all about it when he got home, elaborating on how heartless and ungrateful Li Yuangui was to completely crush his daughter's foolish hopes, before promptly finding her a new high-born son-in-law from one of the five great clans and seven noble families... The only one who could speak up for him now was Chai Yingluo.
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