Chapter 108: Poison

The sunlight spilled through the window lattice, casting floral patterns across the tiles. Spirals of dark smoke rose from the censer, but they weren't able to conceal the heavy atmosphere in the imperial study. The hem of Song Juguang's crow-black official's robes were dirtied with dust, and it was clear that she'd taken the journey at haste.

“Bixia." Song Juguang intentionally turned slightly to the side, just happening to place herself between Sheng Yunxing and Jiang Changbai.

Hearing this, Jiang Changbai raised her head, her gaze flitting rapidly across the confession that Song Juguang had brought her. Her long, slender fingers tapped against the surface of the desk, her thumb ring making a dull sound as it struck the tabletop.

"Shejin," she muttered, the final syllable becoming a sneer.

As one matter was settled, another rose; it was as if, as soon as something was related to Shejin, it became far more trouble. In the past, Shejin had caused trouble for years on end at the Great Li's border, disturbing the common people and giving them no peace. Now, though it had bowed its head and capitulated, even a single Envoy had caused this much trouble.

"Perhaps We have been involved in matters that don't concern Us," Jiang Changbai said with a scoff, placing the memorial that Sheng Yunxing had just given to her before Song Juguang as she did so. "Take a look at this."

Looking at it, Song Juguang smiled as well. "And I'd assumed it was the prince being replaced with a palm civet^[1]—who could have imagined that all roads lead to the same destination. If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered with such a show and simply granted her wish; that would have saved our time."

Suddenly, a xuanya flitted by outside the window, and Sheng Yunxing blinked. "Wouldn't it be better to beat them at their own game?"

"Preposterous!" Jiang Changbai's words were loud and resonating, the expression between her brows flickering and unclear. "The Prince of Shejin put on such an involved play for us—if we simply send her back like this, how could it not make them look down on us? No matter what, she absolutely can't return."

"Your majesty is sage." Catching a glimpse of the vein jumping on the side of the Emperor's neck, Song Juguang calmly obstructed Sheng Yunxing even more firmly, intentionally lowering her voice as she said, "This minister still has a matter to report."

"All of you, leave," Jiang Changbai said suddenly, waving her hand all of a sudden. Sheng Yunxing left obediently, but just as she was about to step over the threshold of the imperial study, she heard Jiang Changbai add, "Regent, remain."

When Sheng Yunxing's figure had disappeared outside of the imperial study, Jiang Changbai raised her gaze to look at Song Juguang. "You can speak now, can't you?"

Song Juguang's entire body, as if having been freed of shackles, relaxed a few degrees. "Responding to Bixia, this minister received an urgent report from the Western border. Three days ago, Shejin's Eldest Prince entered the depths of the main camp, saying that he wanted to make a deal with you."

"Second Prince, Seventh Prince—and now there's an Eldest Prince." Jiang Changbai's fingers unconsciously stroked the ornamental ring on her thumb, and she said, "There's soon to be chaos in the West."

Song Juguang smiled. "If the sun can't rise, of course there will be chaos. The Eldest Prince said, if Bixia will support him seizing the throne, after he succeeds, he's willing to portion a quarter of Shejin's territory to the Great Li."

As she spoke, she withdrew an envelope from her breast, deferentially placing it on the desk before Jiang Changbai. "Your majesty, please look it over."

Once the excellently-sealed envelope was opened, a territory map slid out from within. The area drawn in vermilion occupied precisely one quarter of Shejin's territory. Jiang Changbai looked at this territory map, yet her face lacked an expression of joy. On the opposite, a sense of rumination was visible.

"You've looked it over?" Jiang Changbai raised her head, looking at Song Juguang.

Without even thinking, Song Juguang shook her head. Wei Xiren written her own letter; she had had no need to face the risk of Jiang Changbai's suspicion by opening the letter. But when Jiang Changbai looked at the drawing, a degree of suspicion rose in her regardless; but even if she'd been more suspicious, she could only bury it in her heart.

"This Eldest Prince truly is shrewd," Jiang Changbai said, her gaze sweeping over the map once more, and then she ordered, "Xun Zhu, bring that territorial map of Ours over."

"Understood."

The entire layout of the imperial study seemed to have been impressed into Xun Zhu's mind; she went directly to the bookshelf, and in an instant, took out a folded map from within. In comparison to the one that had fallen from within the envelope, this one was significantly more refined.

Not only had the state's territory been drawn clearly, different colours had been used to indicate the various terrains. When the two maps were place on top of each other, the region that had been marked in vermilion was, infuriatingly, an expanse of desert.

"Exchanging desert for the Great Li's aid," Jiang Changbai sneered, and pushed that map to the side. "He's not willing to give up even the slightest amount."

As it turned out, the bit that had been demarcated was a piece of desert, full of whirling sands, lacking any source of water—not even a single blade of grass could grow. Practically no one lived there—it was a barren land. Not only that, but on the side that abutted the Great Li, there were countless ravines.

This was the reason that the Great Li hadn't included this area in its own territory.

What they hadn't wanted had been taken by someone else, and now it was being presented as a bargaining chip with the Great Li. Jiang Changbai found it comedic, and the impression she had of this Eldest Prince grew more disgusted. She'd heard about the unrest that the Royal Family had caused at Shejin's border with the Great Li recently.

As she lamented that the King of Shejin didn't enjoy popular support, she felt at the same time that these Princes of Shejin were cruel and unscrupulous scoundrels.

"So, Bixia, what do you intend?" Song Juguang asked hesitantly. After all, as she saw it, if they could include this territory within their borders, if, in the future, they wished to attack Shejin, then they'd have the advantage.

"As we take it, they'd be able to retake it." Her expression cold, Jiang Changbai crumpled that map into a ball, and said, "Ask him, if We wished to take a piece of the steppes, would he be willing?"

Song Juguang pressed, "If he agrees, then would Bixia help the Eldest Prince of Shejin?"

A faint smile rose on Jiang Changbai's face. "He won't agree. The steppes are the resource Shejin relies on to live; if it was given to the Great Li, it would be no different than giving the entirety of the state to the Great Li."

"Then what if—"

"If he really does agree," Jiang Changbai paused a moment, "then that would indicate that he'd never intended to give this piece of desert to the Great Li—merely that it was a pretence used to deceive us."

As she spoke, Jiang Changbai folded up that refined map, her gaze falling on Xun Zhu. "Put it away carefully."

Having finished speaking, she raised her head to look at Song Juguang, her voice unconsciously lowering a degree. "Those diversionary tactics, how long will they last for?"

The solemnity on Song Juguang's face increased. "At the most, a month; after a moth, that medicine must be given to the King of Shejin."

"En," Jiang Changbai nodded, "tell Sheng Yunxing that Su Ya can't remain in the Great Li. Have her pack up, and leave within three days.

"Bixia, the King of Shejin is already a candle guttering in the wind—he probably can't survive much longer," she said, suddenly raising her head to look directly at Jiang Changbai. "Even if we didn't send this poison, he wouldn't be able to survive past this year. Why should you dirty your hands?"

Jiang Changbai suddenly laughed lightly, the expression she looked at Song Juguang with growing more searching. "Oh? A Guang has a suggestion?"

Their gazes met each other in the air like this; Song Juguang saw her own figure reflected in Jiang Changbai's eyes. Naturally she didn't want to tell everything she'd thought to Jiang Changbai, so she could only insinuate, "If Bixia truly wishes to take the King of Shejin's life, this minister will simply kill him for you. Now the Great Li has a well-trained army with sturdy horses, and the state treasury is rich and full; if you wished to level Shejin, this minister would only need half a year's time."

"You think Our actions are insidious, don't you?" Jiang Changbai rose from the chair, coming over to Song Juguang's side. Jiang Changbai was a bit shorter than Song Juguang, but now, standing on the stairs, she was a bit taller than her. Looking down at her from on high, though Song Juguang was accustomed to bloodbaths and battlefields, even she felt a bit of an oppressive force.

Song Juguang shook her head. "This minister merely feels that there's no need to make such effort."

Jiang Changbai reached out, brushing away the nonexistent dust on Song Juguang's shoulder, her gaze sweeping over that tiny scar on the outside of her ear.

"Right now, the Great Li cannot go to war," Jiang Changbai said, and then drew a bit closer. "How long has it been since there was fighting? The common people ought to be allowed to live in peace for a few years."

"But…" Song Juguang felt her throat stopper up, unable to speak no matter how she tried. She could only stand in place, neither advancing nor retreating.

"But you think that Shejin's strength in comparison to the Great Li isn't worth mentioning, is it?" Without waiting for Song Juguang to finish speaking, Jiang Changbai interrupted her. "Then would you dare to give the order to give the order to fight? To guarantee that not a single of the Great Li's commoners would die because the military campaign?"

When she spoke, Jiang Changbai was incredibly grave, neither her words nor her actions had any margin for discussion. Song Juguang fell silent as well; she knew full well that, regardless of what profound strategies high-ranking generals had, in battle people would die; it was only a matter of how many.

When she finished speaking, Jiang Changbai paced over to the window, looking outside, but from the corner of her eye, she still faintly shot a glance at Song Juguang. Even if she'd always maintained vigilance towards Song Juguang, at this moment, she had to admit that what Song Juguang had said was precisely what she wanted to see as well.

From time immemorial, Shejin had been a major source of disaster at the Great Li's borders; countless corpses of commoners had been buried att the border, and countless princesses, carrying the so-called flags of peace, had grown old in a foreign country for this reason.

If she could eliminate Shejin, then that would be a matter of great celebration. But she couldn't do that; she couldn't cause a war—or, rather to say, the Great Li of now couldn't go through another war.

The foundation that Emperor Tai had left her was far too fragile. Merely the capital, the core of power, had been broken into twice in the past decade. To say nothing of the distant regions, where some commoners had, perhaps from the moment they'd been born, been fleeing calamity.

But from the time she'd ascended the throne, reorganising the government and reducing the taxes, the commoners had been living a bit better than before, but they couldn't endure another war. Jiang Changbai knew clearly that, with a single wave of her hand from where she sat, she could take possibly hundreds of commoners' lives.

She didn't dare.

Song Juguang, head bowed, stood in place, silent; only after hesitating for a long while did Jiang Changbai say, "Have everyone in Shejin maintain that it's a life-saving medicine, and then have them fight for the King of Shejin's life with it. The King of Shejin must die, but it must be done by Shejinese hand. They were already fighting and scheming; as soon as the King of Shejin dies, it will most certainly be chaos.

"When the time comes, as long as the border is well-protected, my Great Li's commoners can live in peace for a few more years."

"But if they discover…"

"So what if they discover it," Jiang Changbai smiled, "you know that the Great Li has the might to flatten Shejin, and Shejin knows it as well. There's no one who would suspect that it's our actions, only that someone exchanged the Lingzhi. Even if there was someone who said that it was the Great Li who gave them a poison, no one would believe it."

What Jiang Changbai didn't say was, no matter what, Su Ya, who had brought this "Lingzhi" back to Shejin, would lose her life. She knew clearly that Song Juguang knew it as well. But for the Great Li's commoners, sacrificing a foreigner wasn't much.

Song Juguang sensed the severity of this subject, and, wanting to say something to change the topic, said, "Then, who does Bixia think will be the next King of Shejin?"

"That's precisely what I wanted to discuss with you." Jiang Changbai's expression was still serious, and she said, "Regardless of if it's the Eldest Prince, the Second Prince, or the Seventh Prince, none of them can be the next King of Shejin."

"Then, what do you plan?"

"I'll arrange for someone trustworthy to return with Su Ya," Jiang Changbai said, coldly, "using Batur's identity. When the time comes, whoever she chooses will be the next King of Shejin. I know that A Guang's martial skills are outstanding, and as long as you wish to teach, then in a short period, you can impart on someone a not-insignificant amount of survival skills."

But before she'd finished speaking, she heard Qing Huai call loudly from the doorway, "Bixia, it's no good—that Su Ya insists on seeing Liang Jiwen, but she can't be found, and she's attempted suicide in the relay station."

"Where could Liang Jiwen go?" Jiang Changbai, hearing this, was somewhat shocked; after all, if Liang Jiwen weren't in the Palace, then she would be in the capital, and if she was in the capital, she'd had to have reported where she was going to the imperial guard. "Get control of Su Ya first, and then send someone to look for Liang Jiwen. You needn't bother Us with such a trifling matter in the future."

"But her highness isn't in the Palace, and the imperial guard there doesn't have record of her leaving the Palace—"

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Translator's notes:

[1]: From a story in the novel Three Heroes and Five Gallants, where the newborn prince is replaced with a palm civet; metaphorically, replacing something of great value with something else, usually something of significantly less value.