This Old Man Is Not Leaving

Cao Huachun and Luo Yangxing took their leave. Only after stepping outside the hall did they feel the pressure lift from their bodies. They straightened up and, as if on cue, wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads and let out long sighs of relief.

"Director, where did His Majesty learn all that? Could he have another source of information?" Walking half a step behind Cao Huachun, Luo Yangxing voiced the question troubling him.

How would Cao Huachun know? By the time he passed through the gates of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, his expression had already soured. The reprimand he had received today was truly undeserved. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard had not stretched its hands too far and meddled in the affairs of the Five City Military Command, why would His Majesty have given him such a dressing-down?

His tone was therefore sharp. "Tired of living? Don't ask what you shouldn't!"

Having run into a nail, Luo Yangxing felt disgruntled too. Had he been the only one pocketing the silver?

Angry though he was, Luo Yangxing still kept a faint smile on his face. "Then are we really going to Nanjing to arrest Qian Qianyi?"

Last year, Wen Tiren had dragged Qian Qianyi out and put him through the wringer. Had Cao Huachun not lent a hand, grass would probably have been growing over his grave by now.

Just how much did His Majesty despise the man, to go after him yet again?

Cao Huachun shook his head. "Arrest him! His Majesty even knows exactly how much silver they paid in bribes. I have no wish to drag myself into this. And another thing..." He cast Luo Yangxing a sidelong glance. "Keep your hands pulled back for a while. Don't touch another coin you have no business touching!"

Luo Yangxing's heart clenched, and he hurriedly replied, "How would I dare? I almost wish I could... spit some of it back out, just for peace of mind!"

"There's no need to spit it back out. His Majesty didn't seem to mean that. What matters now is doing our duties properly and regaining his trust!"

Cao Huachun glanced back at the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The setting sun shone on its imperial-yellow glazed tiles, bathing the entire palace in a majestic golden glow. The ridge beasts stood solemnly at the corners of the eaves, while the golden dragons painted on the brackets beneath looked ready to fly free, dazzling in their brilliance.

A sudden feeling came over Cao Huachun: His Majesty had changed, and Great Ming... would change as well!

Inside the hall, Zhu Youjian leaned wearily against the imperial throne. Everyone in this palace, high or low, inside or out, had eight hundred schemes running through their heads. It was exhausting beyond words.

From last night until dusk closed in, he had met officials and handled affairs of state without a moment's pause. Even an emperor was flesh and blood. A machine running nonstop still needed a little oil.

A corporate drudge working nine to nine, six days a week, transmigrates into an emperor and still gets stuck doing overtime. I'd better not drop dead again. What a bloody loss that would be!

Zhu Youjian rubbed the space between his brows and instructed Wang Cheng'en, "I will see no one tonight!"

Wang Cheng'en quickly bowed his head and answered, "Yes." Even without that command, he would not have dared let anyone else in tonight. Quite apart from whether His Majesty's body could bear it, had the warning delivered to Luo Yangxing not also been meant for his ears? News from the Palace of Heavenly Purity must not leak out again.

Zhu Youjian returned to the Eastern Warm Pavilion to rest, and within moments, snores rose from him. Gazing at the emperor's exhausted face, Wang Cheng'en tenderly tucked in the corners of his quilt. When he looked up, however, he saw a slight smile on His Majesty's lips. For once, the emperor had relaxed his mind in sleep.

Zhu Youjian had a wonderful dream. He dreamed that Lu Xiangsheng led his troops in slaughtering enemies on every side, that Huang Taiji knelt at his feet begging pitifully for mercy, and that peace reigned across the four seas of Great Ming while all nations came to pay homage...

While Zhu Youjian enjoyed his pleasant dream, Gaoyang County in Baoding Prefecture was anything but peaceful.

The Sun Family residence remained brightly lit late into the night. Sun Chengzong gathered his entire family in the main hall and said, "The Jurchens have invaded again!"

The Jurchen invasion had been no secret these past few days. Panic gripped everyone in town, and many had packed their belongings and fled south.

"I hear that Wu Aheng, the Governor-General of Ji-Liao, was defeated and killed. The Jurchen army has already marched south. Gaoyang lies in the heartland between the capital, Baoding, and Cangzhou. If the Jurchens push south, they are bound to attack us. We must prepare early."

After speaking, Sun Chengzong swept his gaze around the hall. His sons, grandsons, nephews, and grandnephews exchanged looks, worry showing in their eyes.

"If our army cannot stop the Jurchens and they truly reach Gaoyang, this battle will be terribly fierce. Anyone who wishes to leave should go and pack. There is still time!"

"Father, what about you? Aren't you leaving?" asked Sun Yue, Sun Chengzong's second son.

"Gaoyang is where our ancestral roots lie. Besides, when in my life have I ever fled without a fight?"

Sun Chengzong had once been the tutor of Ming Xizong, Zhu Youxiao. Later, he replaced Wang Zaijin as Commander of Ji-Liao, built the two-hundred-li Ningjin defensive line, and commanded an army of one hundred and ten thousand. His achievements had been outstanding, but Wei Zhongxian's jealousy drove him to resign and return home.

In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, when Huang Taiji surrounded the capital, Zhu Youjian urgently summoned Sun Chengzong. Directing the campaign from behind the lines, he repelled the Jurchens. Before long, however, court officials impeached him, and he once again resigned and returned home, where he had remained ever since.

Now Sun Chengzong was already seventy-six. What reason did he have to flee?

They were only Jurchens. It was not as though he had never fought them before!

"Since Father isn't leaving, neither am I!" Sun Yue declared loudly, his head held high and his chest thrust out. Then he turned and asked, "What about you?"

Sun Qian, Sun Chengzong's third son, stepped forward and said with a smile, "They say loyalty and filial duty are hard to fulfill together. This time, we can fulfill both!"

Resisting the enemy was loyalty; protecting the family was filial duty. Since the Sun Family patriarch would not leave, staying in Gaoyang meant both serving their country loyally and fulfilling their duty as sons!

"Grandfather, I'm not leaving either! I'll fight the bad men with you!"