"Don't go doing anything crazy."
Li Bai
thought.
Before him, the private soldiers of Zi Chang's faction scrambled in disarray, unable to cope with the sudden intruders. They hurriedly raised their spears, but they were no match for Li Bai's men, who had come fully prepared.
Li Bai was here to capture the rebels—the Zi clan. Five hundred li north of the capital, a fortress that should have been abandoned had been restored and garrisoned with troops. That could only mean one thing: they were plotting against their lord.
The fortress was reasonably large, but to attempt a rebellion with just this was truly foolish. From what Li Bai had heard, a schism had erupted among those plotting the revolt, and the only faction that had pushed through to the hardline position was the Zi clan.
The head of the Zi clan, Zi Chang, had been a figure of considerable influence at court. He was the sort of man the emperor could not cross—one who had driven out the previous Senior Consort and installed his own daughter in her place.
Li Bai tilted his head as he swung his staff.
Whether it was greed clouding his judgment or outright madness, he could not say.
Still, however desperate things had become, to vanish from the capital and hole up in a place like this—they might as well have been begging to be branded rebels.
A man they called the old fox of the court doing something this foolish? Hard to believe.
But Li Bai was a military man. Let others worry about reading between the lines—he was here to get the job done.
He hooked an enemy soldier's leg with his staff and swept him to the ground. Behind Li Bai, subordinates clad in white overcoats moved in to bind the fallen. Li Bai himself had been wearing the same white overcoat, but he had just tossed it aside—it was in the way.
A white overcoat showed every splash of blood. It was never meant for battle—
But it was the perfect color to melt into a blanket of snow. Ideal for slipping in undetected. And on a moonless night, it was all the more inconspicuous.
Li Bai's forces advanced without even torches. The unit split into two groups en route to the fortress: an advance infantry detachment made up of men accustomed to snow and eager to show off their skills, and the remainder of the force. The two groups operated dozens of li apart.
The result: come nightfall, the fortress sentries became preoccupied with the lights carried by the rear detachment and failed to notice the advance force drawing near, mistakenly believing the enemy was still far off.
That, however, posed one problem for Li Bai's side as well.
They had to march dozens of li across a featureless plain. If the stars had been out, it would have been one thing—but with even the moon hidden behind clouds, one's sense of direction was bound to go haywire.
Li Bai exhaled softly once the last of the enemy had been secured. Something fell from his collar.
"Now there's something you don't see every day."
Li Bai picked up the small wooden carving, shaped like a fish, that had fallen onto the snow.
It was with this that Li Bai's forces had been able to pinpoint the fortress's location.
Inside the carving,
Magnets
They were inside. By floating them in a bucket of water, one could determine direction. A tool used by sailors.
The surface had been rubbed with a strangely luminous powder, making it possible to read direction even in complete darkness. Apparently the raw material was a glow-in-the-dark mushroom.
And that surprise attack, too, had one more bonus attached to it.
Li Bai stared down at the snow cascading from the clifftop with a look of exasperation.
"What kind of mind does someone need to come up with a plan like this?"
One of the reasons this fortress had been abandoned was as follows.
He had heard that areas near hot springs were prone to earthquakes. Several decades ago, a major earthquake had struck, and the surrounding terrain had been reshaped.
The mountainside had collapsed, and from then on, avalanches came every winter. The scale was small and they didn't occur often, but the location was terrible.
Because they fell directly onto the buildings above, the structures deteriorated, and it happened to coincide with efforts to scale back the military garrison.
This time, they had triggered it artificially, taking into account that this year was colder than usual and the snow was deeper.
Several members of the advance unit who were accustomed to snowy mountains had been taken along. They carried large quantities of fire-spears — and if you wondered where they were headed, this was why.
Looking around, fresh blood was splattered everywhere. The red stains stood out vividly against the white snow. One of the subordinates who had been trying to restrain a captive drove his blade into the chest of an enemy soldier who kept thrashing about. The man had feigned collapse to lower their guard, then started swinging a short sword wildly — and that was the end of his luck.
Frothy blood gushed from the man's mouth, and then his movements grew sluggish before stopping entirely.
He had been told that those who surrendered would not be killed.
If only he had simply done as he was told. Perhaps there had been no room for that. Seeing this, the surrounding men grew docile.
As long as there was a chance of losing one's life, one had to be ruthless. Li Bai had been taught that, and he had taught it in turn.
Crunching through the trampled, filthy snow, he spotted a figure entering the fortress.
White outer robes set off strikingly by long black hair. Li Bai hadn't expected such words to come to mind, and he managed a wry smile despite the circumstances.
He was a man who had no business being on a battlefield. His refined features — despite being the gardener of a flower garden known as the Inner Palace, he himself was counted among the flowers.
But in truth, he was no mere "flower" — he was "splendor" itself.
Half his hair hung loose while the rest was tied up, a silver hairpin piercing through it. One could not look upon such elegance without bowing in reverence.
In the kingdom of Li, "Hua" was the title that sat above the Three Swords. In this entire country, only two people bore a name inscribed with the mark of "Hua."
He was one of them.
He had no business being here. A night march — and one conducted without making a sound over dozens of li. The unit had been assembled from those with stamina, but the signs of fatigue were plain to see.
However, the one sporting those ethereal, maiden-like features was gripping a willow-leaf blade that suited him not at all. Clad in indigo-purple armor, he made his presence known to all around him.
The eunuch Jinshi — that was supposed to be his station. A young eunuch riding high in the emperor's favor, so handsome that scandalous rumors occasionally circulated about him.
When he took command and stepped to the forefront, how many men were left standing with their mouths agape? Some officials went visibly pale. The man who was desired by both men and women alike had, on occasion, even been propositioned by other men.
Li Bai was one of them. In the days leading up to this, he had been asked all manner of favors by a man named Gaoshun, one of Jinshi's close retainers. This time, too, he had been told to round up subordinates and colleagues who could endure the cold and had stamina — and now he understood why.
Though the name was no longer "Jinshi," Li Bai could not bring himself to call the man "Hua." Even in written documents, no one but the emperor was permitted to address him by that name directly.
Jinshi entered the fortress, and Li Bai followed close behind to keep from falling behind. Gaoshun was not at his side; instead, a young military officer followed firmly at the rear.
Li Bai trailed along after them.
A foul stench permeated the inside of the fortress. The smell of rotten eggs assaulted his nostrils. Wondering what had happened, he saw men carting chunks of snow down into the underground passages.
Could there have been a fire or something underground? Li Bai grabbed one of the men hurriedly transporting snow and pressed him for answers — and sure enough, that was exactly what had happened. An explosion, the man said.
"P-please, if we don't clean this up quickly, the lady will..."
The man's voice trembling, he averted his gaze from Li Bai.
Li Bai let the man go.
Whether the man's pallor was from smoke inhalation or from fear of this so-called "lady," he couldn't tell.
Still, the fact that the fortress was garrisoned with far fewer soldiers than expected — perhaps this explained the discrepancy.
Covering his mouth with his sleeve, Li Bai dropped to one knee behind Jinshi, who stood at the head of the group.
"You have a suggestion?"
It would be nice if you'd speak first for once, Li Bai thought to himself.
"Permission granted."
"Then, if you'll allow me..."
He always regretted, at times like these, that he hadn't bothered to learn proper speech.
"With all this smoke, I don't think we should linger. The people inside should evacuate at once."
"I'm aware."
Had he just stated the obvious? Li Bai caught himself.
"However, there may be some inside who cannot escape on their own."
"In that case, have everyone search for them. Outside — now."
"That's not something I can just agree to."
Jinshi's words nearly made Li Bai's face contort. He was glad his head was bowed.
As far as Li Bai was concerned, the last thing he wanted was for Jinshi to get hurt. He wanted him to get outside quickly and at least observe from somewhere safe.
However, as the commander of the Imperial Guard in name, it was necessary for Jinshi to take a visible position at the front. Since they had carried out what amounted to a surprise attack, perhaps this was one point where he couldn't yield.
By showing his face openly like this, Jinshi was declaring that he was casting off his identity as the eunuch. Not as the useless, reclusive imperial brother, but as someone who intended to go on living.
If that happened, the delicate balance of the court would collapse overnight. The Zi clan, already one of its pillars, was already in this state. Among the captured enemy soldiers, some of them were probably mixed in. They had been captured, yes, but their guilt was certain. Anyone who plotted against the Emperor meant the execution of the entire clan and all their retainers, as a matter of course. Moreover,
the current Emperor's
mercy — how much of it would apply was anyone's guess, but hopes were slim.
"The Commandant's daughter is being held here."
"That's..."
The Commandant Han — meaning that eccentric military strategist. Li Bai had been told before the assault. That the man even had a daughter was surprising enough, and why she had been captured was still a mystery, but of this much he was certain.
"Can you abandon her?"
He couldn't.
"A new political enemy will be born, then."
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
He thought he saw something faintly seeping through Jinshi's rigid expression.
"Yeah. That's right."
A pained expression that looked like it might tear something apart flickered across Jinshi's face as he pressed forward.
Li Bai stood up and scratched his head roughly. If that was how it was, then what he needed to do was simply finish his job as quickly as possible.
The Palace Arc 2 is scheduled to end in about four more chapters.