Chapter 50: Martial practice
Jiang Changbai's back immediately became a wash of cold sweat, and she nearly unconsciously retreated, but the solid corner of the table pressed against her. But she wasn't someone whose character, on encountering a problem, was only to retreat; when she came out of her daze, she extended a hand and grabbed for the fan, but Song Juguang had already moved before she could, and before Jiang Changbai could touch it, the folding fan in Song Juguang's hand once more changed positions.
By the time Song Juguang had put the fan back at her waist, a few strands of hair at Jiang Changbai's forehead had already come free, her eyes staring at Song Juguang. But in this wretched situation, unexpectedly, a bit of a sovereign's awe-ful aura showed in her eyes.
"Bixia, please don't worry," Song Juguang said in a soft appeasement, "this minister would never injure you."
The abilities of the two of them in this moment were truly vastly different; even if Jiang Changbai had some other arguments in her mind, she could only go along with her desires and adopt a relaxed appearance. But even if it were moreso, after violent activity, the harsh rise and fall of her chest couldn't be hidden.
Some disappointment flickered in Song Juguang's gaze, but she still continued what she'd been saying just before. "Even if the precautions in the Imperial Palace were even higher, if someone who harboured ill intentions at close range, you would still be in danger."
Jiang Changbai scoffed. "You suspect that two people who had to take cover in the mountain forests and rely on begging to make the journey to the capital are uniquely skilled in martial arts?"
Song Juguang choked, startled, but still said, "Bixia, one must be guarded to those who would harm oneself. Now, the people by your side are all those carefully selected by this minister, and they're therefore a deal more safe than people whose origins are dubious."
Jiang Changbai didn't reply, making her way around Song Juguang to the doorway, and with a "peng", pushed the door open. The sunlight streamed in through the widely-opened door; smoke rose languidly from the censer in the middle of the hall, the hall itself deserted, only Xun Zhu, her expression worried, looking towards the side chamber. Seeing Jiang Changbai had pushed the door open, she was first startled, and then immediately made obeisance. "Bixia, just now, you had this servant retreat outside the hall…"
Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Changbai cut her off. "We know." Having finished speaking, she turned around, walking back, but the door that had been pushed open moments before still remained wide.
Jiang Changbai sat before the desk once more, her gaze unconsciously sweeping over Song Juguang's figure. She still stood where she'd been standing just before; the sunlight fell on Song Juguang's sleeves, the ordinarily invisible needlework giving off a bit of a golden glow. Though she was a lone figure, she had an aura of prowess about her.[1] Their surroundings were incredibly still, not the slightest sound within or without the room, only the graceful curl of the smoke from the censer. Jiang Changbai suddenly felt that, out of the two of them, between herself and Song Juguang, it was Song Juguang who had the higher position. So, the question which had been covered in dust from the length of time rose in her mind, and Jiang Changbai sighed. "Why choose me to be the Emperor?"
Song Juguang's answer was the same as before, as well. "Bixia, it wasn't this minister who chose you; it was the heavens."
The heavens chose you; this sentence again. Jiang Changbai, hearing it, was somewhat disappointed; she didn't understand why Song Juguang would only ever use these words to appease her. If she were truly the woman with the Mandate of Heaven, then why would Song Juguang need to lead soldiers to endorse her ascending the throne as a nominal Emperor without even the authority to let anyone into the Palace!
So, she scoffed, and asked, "Then if the heavens were to have chosen someone else, what would you do? Don't tell me you'd go to assist them?"
But Song Juguang, hearing this, only fell silent. Jiang Changbai waited for her to reply, but she didn't make a sound. Only after a long while passed, to the point where the incense in the censer had almost burnt itself out, did she speak. "If I were to know of it before, then I probably would; but if it were now, then this minister would go fight with them."
Such a short sentence, yet Song Juguang bit each word out incredibly distinctly, as if she'd gone through an incredibly serious ponderance. Yet Jiang Changbai had the posture of someone who would get to the bottom of it all, and she continued asking, "And what divides 'before' and 'now'? When counts as 'before'?"
Yet this time, Song Juguang didn't ponder it, and before Jiang Changbai had finished speaking, she replied resolutely, "Before this minister met you. This minister counts the time before entering the Prince's residence with you as 'before', and the time after entering the residence is all counted as 'now'."
Song Juguang spoke respectfully, yet Jiang Changbai heard the hint of fawning within it; she didn't look at Song Juguang, the nameless flame rising in her heart prompting her to snatch up the teacup, about to smash it against the tabletop. But she'd just raised her hand when she remembered the situation from just before, and could only adjust her posture and bring the cup to her lips, using it to conceal her own impulsivity from the moment before.
Having set the cup down gently, Jiang Changbai, without thinking about it, raised her head, and by chance, met Song Juguang's gaze. Song Juguang's eyes had no hint of a hunger for power, only clear and bright—just as before.
Some past matters, when raised, would clatter open before one's eyes like a scroll, and no matter what one did, they couldn't close it again. Jiang Changbai involuntarily remembered the scene of her first meeting with Song Juguang, and remembered how, after she'd asked that "would you like to come home with me?", Song Juguang had nodded without the slightest hesitation. At that time, though Song Juguang's clothes were tattered, her cheeks smeared with dust and dirt, her eyes had been clear and distinct.
Jiang Changbai blinked, and the slim, young figure overlaid itself with the spirited figure before her. And so, the nameless flame that had been burning in her heart just before, in this moment, died.
Even if Jiang Changbai still had questions in the depths of her heart, at this moment, she wasn't willing to keep asking. She cleared her throat, and spoke, but said, "Then, if some day, my martial arts are comparable to yours, would A Guang be at ease?"
Song Juguang had actually not expected Jiang Changbai would draw the topic back like this; the mental outline that she'd just prepared no longer had any usefulness; she could only smile, and reply to Jiang Changbai's words. "Of course; it's just, do you have someone in mind for a teacher?"
"Since I'll need to be comparable to you, then I'll have to trouble you to be the teacher."
"This minister wouldn't dare," Song Juguang said, shaking her head in refusal on hearing these words; all of her skills were internal, not external, and the art of internal cultivation wasn't like other paths. What could be taken out and taught to others was too torturous, too. And with Jiang Changbai as the Emperor, with her at her side to guard her, there truly wasn't any need to experience this hardship.
"How could you not dare? So many of the soldiers were taught by you; with me added on top, you couldn't teach?"
At nightfall, the moonlight scattered about the Yangxin Hall's courtyard like fine sand; within the courtyard, the two of Jiang Changbai and Song Juguang stood facing each other; besides them, there was only a single, portable lantern set off to the side, still giving off a faint light. Jiang Changbai had to attend morning court in the early morning, and all the time within the day had long since been filled; searching about, the only free time was half shichen in the night, and as a result, what for others was morning exercise had, for Jiang Changbai, become night exercise.
Even far more respected persons practising martial arts would have to start with horse stance;[2] even though Jiang Changbai had had some training in childhood, these past few years, she'd gradually slacked, and even these fundamental motions were somewhat unfamiliar. Before even an incense' time, the beads of sweat on her forehead were rolling down like raindrops, following along her cheeks and falling onto the ground.
Song Juguang, shoulders crossed, stood off to the side, watching Jiang Changbai's gradually changing movements, and could only smile and shake her head. She padded over to her side, using her fan to lightly push upwards from beneath her wrist. "Bixia, lackadaisicalness won't have results."
"I know," Jiang Changbai said, practically gritting the two words out from the seam between her teeth, cursing inwardly; how was it that now her physical strength had become like this?
But Song Juguang naturally wasn't about to let her off, and took a few steps to Jiang Changbai's back, the fan in her hand falling on her shoulder. The tip of the fan followed the path of her spine, skating languidly downward. Immediately after that, she suddenly knocked against her waist. "Loosen up."
Song Juguang hadn't used force, but Jiang Changbai's body still swayed. Her physical abilities had eroded far too much, and naturally, paying attention in one place, she couldn't pay attention in the others; once she'd painstakingly adjusted her posture, her arm had unconsciously bent a bit. Song Juguang blinked, and extended a hand from behind Jiang Changbai to raise her elbow.
By now, the summer's night had already gained a hint of autumn; when the breeze brushed by one, there was a bit of a nip to it. Jiang Changbai only felt a source of heat suddenly draw near to her, and in a daze, she heard the other's heart, separated by the fabric of clothing and skeleton, beat. Her cheeks unconsciously washed with a bit of red, but her highness could only place the blame for it on her own, far too depleted physical abilities.
By chance, the incense in the corner burnt out just then, and the faint breeze dispersed the last of the ash. Jiang Changbai, in the end, could finally rest a bit, and only on making a sound to call for Xun Zhu, waiting outside the door, to bring water in, did she realise that her throat had already grown somewhat hoarse. Yet Song Juguang was incredibly tranquil, and languidly walked over to the steps to pick up the portable lantern's wooden handle, and then unhurriedly raised the lantern, coming back to Jiang Changbai's side. Jiang Changbai, drinking a few mouthfuls of water, recovered some strength, and, seeing Song Juguang was coming over, said to Xun Zhu, "A Guang herself has such skills, yet only taught Us horse stance; tell me, what sort of shifu is there like this in this world?"
Xun Zhu looked at Jiang Changbai, and then looked at Song Juguang, and only once her gaze had shifted back and forth did she said, "I'd guess that Wangjun still hasn't thought of which most mighty moves to teach to you, Bixia."
Song Juguang laughed as well. "Bixia, this minister daren't hide her abilities. It's merely that, as far as this minister can see, ten thousand gaudy sword tricks are no match for the skills one comes to understand through one's own exertions. But if Bixia truly wants to learn then, this minister has a few sword tricks that I can teach Bixia." Having finished speaking, she set the lantern down, and retreated a few steps. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, radiating light, and she drew the fan at her waist, substituting it for a jian. Song Juguang's figure could only be seen suddenly moving, her fan becoming cold light that thrust into the emptiness before her. Her wrist turned, and the fan thrust and chopped, each of the motions making sounds that broke the air, as if they could cut apart the dark of the night. It was only sitting by her side that one could experience the bursts of killing intent hidden within her sword tricks.
Shortly thereafter, her figure shifted, and in a flash, countless figures appeared in the courtyard. The candle burning within the lantern swayed under the breeze that she'd created, and, the candle's flame, wavering and swaying, finally went out in the split second of the sound of the emptiness being broken.
With the extinguishing of the lantern, Song Juguang's motions stopped as well. Now, the courtyard only had the distant figure of the moon in the skies; Song Juguang stood beneath the moon, her figure even more obviously straight. Jiang Changbai, coming back to herself, called out a number of "good!"'s, only praise within the expression looking at Song Juguang. Xun Zhu came back to herself as well, and hurriedly went to light the lantern once more; but she'd only just come close, when the previously-extinguished candle unexpectedly lit itself once more.
But Song Juguang's gaze was cast towards the outside of the gates. "Someone's come."
Translator's notes:
[1]: 气吞山河 (qi tun shanhe), literally "a spirit which swallows mountains and rivers".
[2]: 扎马步 (zha ma bu), a martial arts pose with legs spread wide, as if riding a horse.
I LOVE Song Juguang teaching Jiang Changbai martial arts! Thank you for translating this!
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