Chapter Thirty: Settled
On Chang’an Avenue, Shangguan Hong lay in a pool of blood, cold plum blossoms drifting down to cover his body.
Shangguan Yu, who arrived later, could not withstand the blade of the Marquis Shengwu. Not only that—the Marquis Shengwu and the man who had blocked the King of Jingwu both turned their eyes on him. This conflict was far from over; the storm was only beginning.
“Third Brother, Ninth Brother! Why?” The King of Jingwu looked at the lifeless Shangguan Hong, his expression desolate.
“This has nothing to do with you. You are a prince, not a member of the Shangguan clan,” the Marquis Shengwu cast a sideways glance at the King of Jingwu, clearly displeased at his earlier interference.
“Third Brother, must you disrupt this balance the moment you return to the Eastern Capital?” The King of Jingwu’s eyes grew cold.
“I’ll say it again, remember this: you, Li Chengyu, are the thirteenth prince of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. You are the highest commander of the Dragon Martial Guard of Tang. You are the King of Jingwu, not a dog of the Shangguan family! Don’t forget your status. I don’t wish to teach you a lesson today. Take your men and leave!” The Marquis Shengwu’s patience snapped. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, his gaze brimming with murderous intent toward the King of Jingwu. From his right sleeve, a flash of blue light appeared; should the King of Jingwu say another word, the blade would fall upon him.
This was not a negotiation—it was an order. Of the surviving princes, the Marquis Shengwu was the eldest; when they were young, his useless brothers had often suffered at his fists. It was so then, and so now.
“You—!” The King of Jingwu was furious but dared not provoke the Marquis Shengwu at this moment. He knew the temperament of the Marquis Shengwu; if he showed bias toward the Shangguan family, the blade would indeed fall upon him.
...
The death of Shangguan Hong did not quell the standoff on Chang’an Avenue; it only worsened. Shangguan Hong died before Shangguan Yu’s eyes, pushing him to his limit. “Marquis Shengwu, you’re courting death!”
With a stomp, Shangguan Yu released a wild, blazing aura—a force as fierce as a thousand bolts of lightning. Instantly, Chang’an Avenue felt like a furnace, the temperature soaring.
“Shangguan Yu, your official authority is impressive. But I don’t believe you dare lay a finger on me,” the Marquis Shengwu replied coldly, not in the least afraid. He stepped forward three paces, pressing in.
“Impudent! Shangguan Yu, what are you intending?” The middle-aged man abruptly snapped the King of Jingwu’s spear, spinning around to confront him, his voice icy. A tide-like aura radiated from him, countering Shangguan Yu’s terrifying rage.
Triggered by this aura, Shangguan Yu regained his senses, suppressed his energy, and swept his sleeve—the Iron Cavalry of the Divine Strategy Bureau in the distance slowly edged toward Shanglin Court.
“Marquis Yongwu, I don’t care if you’re the head of the Shangguan family or the current imperial uncle. The defense of the Eastern Capital falls under my Dragon Martial Guard—not a place for your Divine Strategy Bureau to run rampant! If your troops dare approach within ten paces of Shanglin Court, don’t blame me for what happens next.” The King of Jingwu’s voice thundered, redirecting his fury at the Shangguan family. He knew well the shadow behind today’s events. If not for his tacit approval, Shangguan Qi would never have dared to cause trouble at Shanglin Court.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Chang’an Avenue, three thousand elite warriors of the Tianze Bureau, led by their three great generals, were growing restless. If the Divine Strategy Bureau dared approach Tianze Academy, the conflict would escalate into a bloody massacre.
“I need an explanation,” Shangguan Yu stepped forward, pointing at the corpse of Shangguan Hong, his attitude unyielding.
Why had Shangguan Qi destroyed the gates of Shanglin Court and attempted to kill Li Fu? Was it only vengeance for his father? But he and Li Fu were strangers. The events at Shanglin Court today could not have happened without the Shangguan family’s tacit approval; even if Shangguan Qi were bold, he would never dare destroy the gates so recklessly.
Shangguan Yu’s true purpose was to confirm whether the Grand Tutor had come to the Eastern Capital with Li Fu, and to probe Tianze Bureau’s current stance.
If Shangguan Qi’s initial intent was to seek revenge on Li Fu, what justification did he have? Even so, he should have sought the Grand Tutor. His display of vengeance at Shanglin Court was flimsy at best.
There was a deeper motive: to further probe and suppress Tianze Bureau. The battle in the Northern Frontier had not only failed to inflict heavy losses on Tianze, but had instead elevated their prestige—a development the Divine Strategy Bureau did not wish to see. The Tang Dynasty was not what it once was; the urge of the Divine Strategy Bureau to suppress Tianze was not easily explained.
What Shangguan Yu had not anticipated was the appearance of the Marquis Shengwu in the Eastern Capital, crossing thousands of miles from Tongguan.
For the Divine Strategy Bureau and its supporters, this was unwelcome news. A prince forgotten for a century, defying the late emperor’s edict to leave Tongguan for the Eastern Capital, and with no prior warning—these details were alarming.
...
Now, Shangguan Yu demanded an explanation for Shangguan Hong’s death.
“Shangguan Hong was sparring with me in blade techniques. Unfortunately, he was old and frail, and with the cold of the Eastern Capital, his footing slipped. He met his end upon my blade. How’s that for an explanation?” The Marquis Shengwu caught a drifting plum blossom in his hand, squinting at Shangguan Yu.
To the Marquis Shengwu, Shangguan Hong’s death was as trivial as a stray dog dying on the street.
Shangguan Hong was indeed old, but he had been a formidable general beside the emperor, and no amount of snow and ice on the Northern Frontier could have made him slip and die on a blade.
The explanation was shameless; the Marquis Shengwu knew it. Both sides simply wanted a way out—he offered a step, but not to descend the stairs, rather to tumble down them. Whether they took it was their own affair.
“Marquis Shengwu, don’t push us too far!”
“I absolutely intend to,” the Marquis Shengwu replied.
Shangguan Yu shook his head slowly, discarding his broken sword. In his slender palm, silver light flickered, and waves of chilling true energy rippled forth...
As tensions reached their peak, a figure appeared unhurriedly from the distant Vermilion Bird Avenue.
The cavalry of both sides halted at his approach.
“The Wine Master summons Li Fu, Yang Zixu, and Chu Ge to the Imperial Ancestral Temple,” the newcomer said calmly, seemingly indifferent to the tense atmosphere, addressing the three young men.
It was none other than the Grand Protector, one of the Three Dukes.
The Grand Protector had no intention of resolving the standoff, but his words were clear to everyone present. The Wine Master had specifically summoned these three to the temple, indicating he was aware of the events on Chang’an Avenue—it had begun as a dispute among the younger generation. Though he did not explicitly mention the Shangguan family or Tianze Bureau, his meaning was clear: today’s matter ends here.
“Marquis Shengwu, my Shangguan family will deal with you another day,” Shangguan Yu said, knowing that today’s events could only end thus. The Wine Master had called these three, omitting Shangguan Qi, signaling his displeasure with the Shangguan family’s actions. No matter his personal reluctance, he dared not defy the Wine Master. Swallowing his anger, he glared at the Marquis Shengwu.
The Marquis Shengwu’s earlier explanation was as if Shangguan Yu had offered his own face for a slap.
The Marquis Shengwu thought for a moment, then said, “Let me know when your family has the means.”
Shangguan Yu laughed bitterly in his rage, said nothing more, and led the Divine Strategy cavalry away from Chang’an Avenue.
The middle-aged man looked at the King of Jingwu and shook his head. “You are not Lord Changsun; you cannot change anything. Let go, Chengyu.”
The King of Jingwu glanced at him without responding, then left with the Dragon Martial Guard.
The wind blew, flowers fell, and the crowds on Chang’an Avenue gradually dispersed.
Only the Grand Protector and the Tianze Bureau remained at the gates of Shanglin Court.
From noon until now, the events on Chang’an Avenue and before Shanglin Court had been witnessed by many in the Eastern Capital.
On the surface, it was a conflict between Shangguan Qi and Li Fu; in reality, everyone knew it was a struggle between the new imperial faction and the old royal clan—a confrontation between the current emperor and the old nobility. The two sides were not yet ready for open war. For the elders of the Eastern Capital, such things were hardly surprising.
But this time was different—the heads of both great bureaus were involved, no longer the minor scuffles of the past. Even the Marquis Shengwu, forbidden to leave Tongguan, had returned to the Eastern Capital after many years.
“Are they about to tear the sky apart?” In the noble houses and marquisates of the Eastern Capital, an uneasy mood was spreading.
The people of Shanglin Court saluted the middle-aged man, the Marquis Shengwu, and the Grand Protector.
...
Yang Zixu bowed deeply to the Marquis Shengwu. “When I was young, I often heard tales of your deeds and greatly admired you. If my family hadn’t kept me on a tight leash, I might have run off to Tongguan to serve under you long ago.”
“Oh? I didn’t expect my deeds still circulate in the Eastern Capital,” the Marquis Shengwu smiled at Yang Zixu. “But… you must grow up quickly. I hear that several commanders from the Divine Strategy Bureau performed well in the recent Northern Frontier campaign. Moreover, after this great battle, the Feathered Spirit Army will likely undergo a complete purge; all six division commanders will be dismissed. That prize is eyed not only by the Divine Strategy Bureau.”
The people of Shanglin Court fell silent, recalling the situation of the Feathered Spirit Army during the recent war.
In recent years, the Feathered Spirit Army had declined, but its structure remained unchanged, still one of the four major armies of Tang. The upcoming reshuffle would greatly affect the imperial court.
Many hoped Tianze Bureau would not be entangled with the Feathered Spirit Army’s reorganization. The Divine Strategy Bureau felt the same.
Perhaps today’s events were partly due to this.
“Work hard. The future of Tang depends on your vigilance.”
With those words, the Marquis Shengwu departed calmly.
The middle-aged man exchanged a few words with the Grand Protector and the three great generals, then left with the Marquis Shengwu.
“What about the gate?” someone in Shanglin Court asked.
The Grand Protector walked over, looked at the ruined gate, and shook his head. “Do not repair it.”
Yang Zixu was baffled. “Don’t repair it? Who are we waiting for to fix it—the Shangguan family?”
The Grand Protector replied, “Correct. The Wine Master said the Shangguan clan will repair it in the future.”
Yang Zixu and Chu Ge exchanged glances, surveying the rubble-strewn street, thinking it impossible.
“I understand,” Li Fu patted Yang Zixu’s shoulder, smiling. “Just wait—the Shangguan family will come to repair it.”
“All right, tidy up, and follow me to the Imperial Ancestral Temple,” the Grand Protector said, glancing meaningfully at Li Fu.
“Tidy up? Tidy what?” Yang Zixu asked, puzzled.
...
Deep within Tianze Bureau, the middle-aged man and the Marquis Shengwu sat across from each other.
A teapot lay between them, its steam gone, faint smoke curling from the brazier.
The middle-aged man was silent for a while, then said, “You shouldn’t have come back.”
“I didn’t want to return either,” the Marquis Shengwu said, fiddling with the jade pendant at his waist.
“But what can you do? There are always some bastards in the world who force your hand; you have no choice but to return.” The Marquis Shengwu smiled wryly, gazing toward Shanglin Court as if looking at an old friend he hadn’t seen in years.
“Does he know?” The middle-aged man placed the teapot on the brazier, holding a bronze poker to stir the fire.
“It was the Wine Master who summoned me back; he has no authority to intervene. But, Old Nine, Tianze’s situation in Tang has been dire these past years. I fear you won’t hold the post of Marquis Diwu for long.” The Marquis Shengwu gripped his jade pendant, raising his eyes to meet the middle-aged man’s gaze.