Chapter 28: What About Me?

The standoff before Shanglin Garden gradually began to calm, and Shangguan Hong started pondering how to slowly defuse the conflict. After all, from the very beginning, his side had been in the wrong for tearing down the gates. If they could just withdraw unscathed today, there was still a chance to remedy the situation...

But the increasingly close sound of hooves on Chang’an Street shattered Shangguan Hong’s plans.

Several contingents of armored cavalry converged from different directions, their target obvious.

A middle-aged man, his face bearing a sickly pallor, appeared at the gates of Shanglin Garden.

With a glance at the scene, he immediately understood what had transpired. Looking at Shangguan Qi, he frowned and said, “Go back.”

Shangguan Qi, his expression cold, merely glanced at him without reply, instead pointing at his own right arm, clearly unwilling to leave just like that.

This middle-aged man was none other than Shangguan Qi’s second uncle, Shangguan Ning, commander of the left wing of the Divine Strategy Army, responsible for the defense of the Eastern Capital. Behind him stood a squad of Divine Strategy cavalry.

Another arriving force was the Dragon Guard, defenders of the Eastern Capital, led at the front by His Highness Prince Jingwu, the current emperor’s brother.

After the Lantern Festival’s imperial examinations the previous night, nearly every noble household in the Eastern Capital had come to understand: Li Fu was the protégé of the Grand Preceptor!

Judging by Li Fu’s age, the Grand Preceptor had left the capital right around the time Li Fu was born. Coupled with years of persistent rumors surrounding the royal family—not just involving the Grand Preceptor, but implicating the Celestial Strategy Palace above all—the situation was fraught with tension.

At this moment, the cavalry outside Shanglin Garden’s gates were not the only ones present. Along Chang’an Street, a black banner had appeared. This sight filled Prince Jingwu with dread, for the three great generals of the Celestial Strategy Palace stood not far away, with three thousand elite soldiers at their backs!

Did Lord Diwu really hold views opposed to His Majesty? Was he truly preparing to overturn the verdict of that fateful event all those years ago? Was he ready to stand in open opposition to the emperor?

Prince Jingwu gazed at those three thousand elite troops, a chill settling in his heart. Many in the Eastern Capital still remembered that night two hundred years ago. But few understood the secrets behind it. The founding of the Human Emperor’s reign was not due solely to the emperor’s command of the Divine Strategy Army, but rather to the combined efforts of the Wine Toast, Lord Diwu, Lord Zhangsun, and others who had left their contingencies in place!

But now, the gates of Shanglin Garden had been destroyed, and by members of the Divine Strategy Army no less. It was a stinging slap to the face of the Celestial Strategy Palace in the eyes of all the Eastern Capital. If this could not be resolved perfectly, tranquility in both the court and the military would be shattered!

All Prince Jingwu could do now was strive to maintain order, lest the Eastern Capital once more witness the horrors of that night two centuries ago.

To break down the gates of Shanglin Garden was to trample the dignity of the Celestial Strategy Palace! In the current Great Tang, only the Celestial Strategy Army could hold off enemies on all sides. The Shangguan family was playing with fire.

Prince Jingwu, unconcerned for the Shangguan family’s honor, berated them sharply.

Shangguan Qi’s face grew ever paler, his anger mounting.

The arrival of Prince Jingwu and the Dragon Guard not only robbed him of any chance to retaliate, but what infuriated him most was that Prince Jingwu, in full view of the public on Chang’an Street, utterly disregarded the Shangguan family’s reputation and reprimanded him openly.

No matter how furious he was, Shangguan Qi could do nothing. Prince Jingwu stood right at the threshold of the Celestial Strategy Academy.

Most crucially, in the distance stood the three great generals of the Celestial Strategy, flanked by three thousand elite soldiers, their eyes fixed on everything before Shanglin Garden with predatory intent.

He looked at Li Fu and the others, raised his brows slightly, then took the reins handed to him by a personal guard, and barked, “Let’s go!”

“Go?”

The same word, uttered with a different tone, bore an utterly different meaning.

Yang Zixu, spear in hand, looked at him and asked, “You think you can just leave?”

Today’s skirmish had seen Yang Zixu and Chu Ge gravely injure four of Shangguan Qi’s personal guards. Li Fu’s sword had left Shangguan Qi badly hurt; if not for Shangguan Hong’s intervention, Shangguan Qi might have already perished beneath their spears.

Yet it was Shangguan Qi who had shattered the gates of Shanglin Garden.

Prince Jingwu frowned slightly, glancing at the scion of the Tianyu General’s family, recalling the rumors that had long circulated the streets and alleys of the Eastern Capital about this young man. Displeased by his tone and actions, Prince Jingwu felt he paid no heed to the bigger picture.

“You think you can smash the gates of my Shanglin Garden and just walk away? Do you really believe the world is so forgiving? Did your dead old father never teach you how to apologize?”

Yang Zixu strode forward a couple of paces, pointing at the ruined gates behind him as he spoke.

Why had Shangguan Qi come to break down the gates of Shanglin Garden? Because Li Fu was inside. Why seek out Li Fu? To avenge his father. Though Li Fu was not the one who had killed his father, he was the Grand Preceptor’s heir. Yet now, not only had he failed to gain any advantage, he had aggravated the conflict between the Celestial and Divine Strategy factions.

But even for revenge, he should have sought out the Grand Preceptor, not Li Fu. Even if he wished to kill Li Fu, it was hardly justified to vent his wrath on Shanglin Garden. Though Shanglin Garden had been founded by the Grand Preceptor and Lord Diwu, Li Fu belonged neither to the Celestial Strategy nor the garden itself. If one pursued the reasoning to its roots, it simply did not hold water.

Of course, there was a deeper motive at work here, one that could not be spoken aloud.

“If I remember correctly, you aren’t a member of the Celestial Strategy Palace yet. When did your Yang family become their watchdog?”

Shangguan Qi took the horsewhip handed to him by his guard, gently caressing the jade bead on it.

“And what about me?”

Before Yang Zixu could reply, a middle-aged man—gentle as warm jade—strolled over from not far away and spoke.

Shangguan Qi was taken aback at the sight, not recognizing the newcomer.

“Marquis Shengwu!? You... you... what are you doing in the Eastern Capital?!”

Prince Jingwu stared at the middle-aged man before him in astonishment.

The man merely smiled and asked, “And why shouldn’t I be in the capital?”

Prince Jingwu frowned slightly, his voice cold: “What are you saying? You know very well! On his deathbed, our father left a final decree that you were to guard Tong Pass for life, never to set foot in the capital again! As his subject, do you dare defy his dying command today?”

“The emperor’s command... I ceased obeying it centuries ago. As I recall, you were there at the time—have you forgotten?”

Marquis Shengwu’s smile vanished, his face now expressionless. “That’s right. The decree issued at Tong Pass was that the Marquis Shengwu of Great Tang should forever guard the pass. But I am no longer that marquis. The command was for the Marquis Shengwu; what has that to do with me? The only reason I remained at Tong Pass all these years was because he was my father. But don’t forget, in his final decree, our father stripped me of the marquisate. I am no longer Marquis Shengwu, but Prince Ji. It is as Prince Ji that I have come to the Eastern Capital today.”

“I can say that I was both the guardian of Tong Pass—Marquis Shengwu—and the twelfth son of the Tang Middle Emperor—Prince Ji.”

“The Marquis must forever guard Tong Pass; the prince need not. As for where Prince Ji may or may not go, our father left no instructions.”

“Is there a problem?”

Prince Jingwu looked at him, his feelings complicated. He knew both decrees Marquis Shengwu spoke of. The first was issued after the marquis abandoned his post at Tong Pass, allowing Northern Yan to seize the opportunity and invade Tang territory, requiring the late emperor himself to lead a campaign to reclaim it. Before leaving Tong Pass, the late emperor commanded that the marquis was never to set foot outside its walls again.

It was in that campaign that the late emperor contracted a fatal illness. Not long after his return to the capital, he passed away. On his deathbed, he stripped all princes of their prior titles, leaving them only the ranks they had been granted upon reaching adulthood.

He sighed. “Centuries have passed, but you’re still as stubborn and forceful as ever. You haven’t changed at all.”

Marquis Shengwu’s face was stone. “Yes, I lost Tong Pass back then. But why did our father not punish me? Why? Because I was not at fault. That year, the pass was utterly untenable. Our father knew this, but he refused to believe it, stubbornly convinced that Tong Pass could hold back Northern Yan for generations. And what was the outcome? He was proven wrong. I held out at Tong Pass for three months and still could not repel Northern Yan’s onslaught. Given that, why should I not stand firm? Why should I not be forceful?”

Chang’an Street fell silent, the only sound the north wind scattering fallen plum blossoms.

Whether the dozen or so people before Shanglin Garden or the many more hidden deep along Chang’an Street, none spoke.

The words of Marquis Shengwu had revealed long-buried secrets of the past.