Futile Devices Scans

Li Si was not able to meet His Majesty alone.

Because of the defeat, His Majesty had a headache and fever, and his heart palpitations and fainting had flared up again. He had no mind at all to listen to such “nonsense” from some minor figure whose name he could not even remember. The moment he heard that Li Si wanted to follow Li Gang to war, he waved his hand and gave permission, telling Administrator Li to make the arrangements himself—hurry and drive all these pro-war faction people, who clamored about fighting yet could not win, out of the capital.

Li Si waited outside the room. Seeing Administrator Li come out and nod to him, then shake his head, he could only take a step back and swallow all the words he had prepared for His Majesty back into his stomach—he had never expected this Emperor to listen to anything anyway.

–

It happened that Qiao Shen was hurrying over with True Master Shen Xiao at this moment, his head lowered without a word. When he came close and saw that Li Si was there too, he barely forced a smile at him, then hurried into the room after True Master Shen Xiao.

Before long, incense smoke curled inside again, and the sharp, grating sound of ritual chanting began once more. Li Si frowned and endured it quietly, treating it as the last time he would have to hear this disturbing demonic wailing.

–

After the ritual ended, Li Si asked Administrator Li for a convenience and requested the assignment of escorting Qiao Shen back to rest, wanting to say goodbye to Little Brother before he left.

Ever since Qiao Shen had moved into the palace, perhaps because he was unused to the water and soil there, his body had grown weaker and weaker. A few days earlier, he had fallen while walking, knocking open a small wound on his forehead, and had fallen seriously ill.

His Majesty pitied his young brother and bestowed many rewards on him, even specially granting him a sedan chair so that he could travel through the palace seated in it, to be carefully pampered and nursed.

Li Si originally followed beside the sedan chair, walking silently with his head lowered. Suddenly, he caught a faint scent of blood in the wind.

He had fought and killed on battlefields and was extremely sensitive to this smell. He immediately lifted his head warily and looked toward Qiao Shen.

The noon sun was blazing, and this small sedan carried by four men had no cover to shield it. Qiao Shen sat beneath the fierce sun, his face deathly pale, and suddenly his body tilted to one side—

Li Si shot out like an arrow, supporting him just in time, and shouted for the sedan bearers to stop at once.

The whole party fell into chaos. The little palace maid accompanying them said she would go call an imperial physician, but Qiao Shen stopped her, insisting that he only needed to go back and rest.

Seeing Qiao Shen covering his arm in complete panic, Li Si grew alert. He grabbed Qiao Shen’s wrist in one hand and was about to pull up the gold-threaded sleeve of his robe.

Qiao Shen pressed down on his hand and cried miserably, “Brother Sisi!”

Weakly, he said in urgency, “Not here… let’s go back first…”

–

Li Si brought him back to his sleeping quarters and helped him sit down on a chair, then looked straight at him.

Seeing that he could not hide it from him, Qiao Shen lowered his eyes and hesitated for a while, then raised his voice and summoned a young eunuch. “My head hurts and I feel dizzy. Go brew me a bowl of sour plum soup to relieve the summer heat.”

That young eunuch’s expression turned strange, and he hesitated. Qiao Shen suddenly slapped the table and said furiously, “I am the dignified Duke Protector of the State. Am I unable to order you around? Do you want this duke to report you to His Majesty tomorrow and have you punished for disrespect, or do you want this duke to have you whipped to death right now?”

Li Si had never seen such a violent expression on Little Brother’s face—although he had seen Chief Commander Wang “angrily behead” Brother Xiao and could vaguely guess that this too was an act, that unprecedented viciousness still startled his heart.

The young eunuch kowtowed again and again, begging for mercy, then hurried away.

Seeing him go far, Qiao Shen found this and that errand to send away the remaining palace maids as well. Only then did he put away the hostility on his face, lower his eyes numbly, and silently lift the sleeve of his robe.

Li Si’s heart was startled again.

Aside from the deep, serious wound cut open during the sacrifice that day, there were more than ten small wounds crisscrossing Qiao Shen’s arm, some deep, some shallow, some new, some old. Qiao Shen lifted a newly wrapped medicinal cloth from his forearm, and Li Si’s pupils shrank at what he saw—the wound was still bleeding, the flesh turned up, clearly having just been made.

Li Si asked in a trembling voice, “What is going on?”

Qiao Shen lowered his eyes and said numbly, “The illness-curing ‘immortal medicine’ True Master Shen Xiao gives His Majesty after performing rituals requires human blood as a catalyst. Since I bear the ‘State-Protecting Fire Vein,’ my blood is naturally the best.”

Li Si shook his head in disbelief, pain written all over his face.

They had gone through countless hardships to reach Kuiyuan, and after so many twists and turns, had finally found Little Brother. Elder Sister and Brother-in-law had sent him off with tears in their eyes, reluctant to part, all thinking they were sending Little Brother onto a ladder to the clouds, onto a road to the heavens, to become imperial kin, to rise to glory and success. But in reality, they had only sent him into a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, into Avici Hell.

Elio’s Notes: Avici Hell refers to 无间地狱, the lowest and most dreadful hell in Buddhist belief. Literally meaning “hell without intervals,” it describes endless suffering with no pause or relief. Here, it emphasizes that Qiao Shen was not being sent to honor and fortune, but into a place of continuous torment.

What dignified Duke Protector of the State? He was clearly a two-legged sheep being penned up so his flesh could be eaten and his blood drunk.

Qiao Shen suddenly pressed down on Li Si’s sleeve and called in a trembling voice, “Fourth Brother…”

Qiao Shen’s eyes were lifeless. He was not looking at Li Si, but staring fixedly at the corner of the wall, as if looking into a patch of emptiness that did not exist.

“Fourth Brother, have you heard? The venerable Commissioner Zuo fell ill, young Commissioner Zuo was defeated and died in battle, and the several forces sent to aid Kuiyuan were almost entirely wiped out… His Majesty was furious and said young Commissioner Zuo was incompetent at leading troops, and also said the Bureau of Military Affairs had made errors in command… Fourth Brother, to me, the most incompetent person is someone else…

When his imperial father passed the throne to him and abandoned him by running away, he was pushed onto the throne while crying, and fainted from fright right there on the dragon throne. From then on, he suffered from fainting spells… When the Xiao bandits surrounded the capital, Defense Commander Li defended the city properly, and reinforcements from all sides arrived very quickly too. Originally, the three towns did not need to be ceded. It was only that he had been scared out of his wits, so he immediately agreed to the Xiao bandits’ demands, giving away both cities and gold and silver, only begging the Xiao bandits to leave quickly…

When the reinforcements went to Kuiyuan, he was unwilling to let go of military authority and still had the Bureau of Military Affairs direct them. Young Commissioner Zuo had originally wanted to advance steadily and fight carefully, but the Bureau of Military Affairs forced him to make haste. Supplies were insufficient, and military pay was lacking too, triggering a mutiny, which then led to young Commissioner Zuo being surrounded and killed…

The entire court of civil and military officials is still arguing endlessly and shoving blame onto one another… and now they are saying again that they should never have gone to aid Kuiyuan in the first place… The moment he heard that, he started wavering again. He wants to cede the three towns and sue for peace again… He wants to cede the three towns and sue for peace again!”

Qiao Shen gripped Li Si’s sleeve tightly, raised his head to look at him, and said in a trembling voice, “If he and his imperial father had managed to scrape together even the tiniest speck of courage between them, Great Xuan would never have come to this! Those brothers and uncles of his, those so-called princes and marquises, are only more cowardly and more useless than father and son! With two Emperors as timid as mice, with such a clan of weak and incompetent imperial kin, with a whole court of scheming ministers, how can Kuiyuan be saved? I do not believe it. I do not believe it at all!”

Li Si did not believe it either. That was why he was going to Kuiyuan himself.

He lowered his head and looked into Qiao Shen’s eyes, his own gaze full of calm and resolve. In a deep voice, he said, “I am going north with Defense Commander Li to save Kuiyuan myself. Before I leave, I will have Zheng Jiu lure True Master Shen Xiao to the military camp and find a chance to kill him. He will never be able to harm you again.”

Qiao Shen trembled all over.

After a moment of blankness, as though infected by him, Qiao Shen’s gaze suddenly darkened. He gripped him even tighter and shook his head. “No! Keep his dog life for now! He deserves to die, but not now!”

In Qiao Shen’s murky, chaotic eyes, a trace of certain killing intent also surged up. “Fourth Brother, you do not understand. The one who deserves to die is someone else… You are going to Kuiyuan. That is very good. You have what you ought to do, and I also have what I ought to do…”

–

Li Si could not understand Qiao Shen’s eyes, nor did he understand what Little Brother was going to do. But Little Brother was smarter and more alert than him, and Brother Xiao had also told him that after he returned to the capital, if there was anything he thought about but did not understand, he could go to Little Brother for advice. Presumably, Little Brother had his reasons for what he was doing.

So he would leave True Master Shen Xiao’s rotten life for Little Brother for now.

Qiao Shen asked him a few more questions, asking why Administrator Li of the Imperial City Directorate always helped him. After understanding the matter of the Commander, he also asked about Zheng Jiu, the Strongman.

Qiao Shen’s emotions gradually steadied, and a tiny bit of light slowly gathered again in his eyes. “Fourth Brother, go without worry. I know you are worried about Grandma and Godmother, and I will have people look after them as well. As for your reward silver and the reward silver of the other elder brothers, if Administrator Li encounters any obstruction, I will go speak to His Majesty personally and make sure it is issued to you as quickly as possible. When the time comes, have Tao Shi help Grandma and Godmother buy a residence, so they can settle down completely.”

Li Si nodded, then somewhat awkwardly opened his arms and finally hugged Little Brother once, patting Little Brother’s thin, bony arm.

“Thank you, Little Brother. You must take care of yourself too.”

Qiao Shen tugged at the corners of his mouth and forced a smile. “Do not worry. I will not die. I was originally a fallen prince’s descendant, and in this life, I should never have amounted to anything. Who would have thought I would become this damned ‘Duke Protector of the State’? Since I did not die in the earthen fortress’s tunnel, I suppose Heaven has arranged another path for me.”

–

Li Si felt that Little Brother had become mystical and secretive, as if he had been infected by True Master Shen Xiao. Little Brother was, after all, a “Fire Vein.” It seemed that anyone touched by the word “fire” always had some mysterious tricks about them.

He bid farewell to Little Brother and returned to the duty room of the Imperial City Directorate, where he also said goodbye to Administrator Li and completed all the necessary transfer procedures. His Majesty had not granted him any military post, so Administrator Li could only make certain arrangements in the paperwork. He still gave him an “Imperial City Directorate Envoy” token, and counted it as the Imperial City Directorate temporarily lending him out to supervise the army on His Majesty’s behalf.

Li Si held that token in his hand and looked at it, touching a faint, dried patch of blood on it—it was still the same token the Commander had left behind.

He raised his head and looked gratefully at Administrator Li, opening his mouth as if to say something. Administrator Li shook his head, signaling that there were superiors and subordinates all around, with too many eyes and ears, and only said in a low voice, “Go.”

Li Si bowed deeply, then also bowed to Tao Shi beside him, and resolutely turned to leave.

–

At dusk, he returned home and told Grandma and Godmother that he was going to aid Kuiyuan.

The moment Godmother heard it, she began wiping her tears, unable to understand. “Son, must you go? Kuiyuan is so dangerous now, and you barely managed to come back safely! If anything happens to you once you go, how are your grandma and I supposed to live…”

When she cried, Li Si was also terribly saddened. He lowered his head and choked up, unable to speak.

He knew that going to Kuiyuan was not only for the sake of seeing Brother Xiao. It was to save Kuiyuan, to save Hedong, and also to save all of Great Xuan. For the great righteousness of family and country, even his own life and death had to be set aside, and naturally, reunion with his family had to be set aside as well.

But when he asked his own heart, was it not because his heart had been hurting all this time as though it were being torn apart? Was it not because the desire to see Brother Xiao—even the willingness to die together with Brother Xiao—had held the upper hand above all else?

He was no great, upright hero filled with righteous awe. Clearly, he was just such an ordinary mortal, full of tender attachments and selfish thoughts.

He knelt beside Grandma’s bed, and tears of self-reproach dripped onto the bedding, only to be wiped away by a wrinkled, aged hand.

The old woman’s cool hand felt over the slightly damp bedding, groped along his arm, then stroked his temples and hair.

“Good grandson,” the old woman said, her cloudy, gray eyes looking in his direction as she stroked him with pity and reluctance. “You’ve grown up. You have your own mind now. Since you’ve made up your mind, then just go and do it. Don’t worry about this old woman. This old woman’s life is tough. I can endure anything. Our family has been a military household for generations, and we have never produced a coward afraid of death. Your Second Uncle was the most timid one, but even he earned merit on the battlefield.”

“Grandma,” Li Si rubbed his face against her rough palm and cried chokingly, “Second Uncle, he… he…”

How unjustly he had died, how inexplicably, how absurdly and insignificantly. Li Si did not dare tell Grandma.

The corners of Grandma’s eyes were also wet, yet she said, “My second son was timid and useless his whole life and never amounted to much, but didn’t he still raise you? You are his greatest achievement. Stand up properly now. Don’t cry anymore.”

Li Si stood up and held back his tears. The old woman gripped his hand and patted it. “You say you’re going to save Kuiyuan. Grandma believes you can save it. Grandma and Godmother will wait here for you. Go safely, and come back safely.”

Li Si sniffed and nodded heavily.

–

Early the next morning, after Li Si had arranged everything at home, packed a simple bundle, and said farewell to Godmother and Grandma, he went to report under Defense Commander Li—no, now it was Pacification Commissioner Li.

A few days earlier in court, Pacification Commissioner Li had had a great black pot of blame dumped onto his head. He and the venerable Commissioner Zuo had always advocated war, but before the venerable Commissioner Zuo could achieve victory, illness had struck him down first, and his younger brother, young Commissioner Zuo, had died a tragic death. The peace faction now held the upper hand in court, all saying that they should have obediently ceded the three towns back then; now they had failed to catch the chicken and lost the rice instead, not only failing to save Kuiyuan, but also offending Xiao again. Li Gang had originally wanted to argue with reason, but the pro-war faction dumped a black pot onto him—since you’re still shouting about saving the three towns, then go save them yourself.

His Majesty immediately issued an edict. And so, as a civil official who had only fought a three-day city-defense battle, he became the new commander of the army.

This “army” only had twenty thousand men, and most of them were newly recruited soldiers.

Moreover, this “army” had almost no horses. Great Xuan had always lacked horses to begin with, and when the Xiao bandits besieged the capital and demanded gold and silver, they had also extorted away the army horses in the city. The remaining civilian horses had also been taken away by young Commissioner Zuo, and all had perished along with the previous great defeat.

Even worse, there was not much military pay either. They were so poor their pockets jingled.

Li Gang, this poor, shabby, down-on-his-luck pacification commissioner, led twenty thousand bare-handed new recruits and stationed them in the outskirts beyond the capital’s northern gate, worrying so much that he was tugging at his beard.

When he heard his subordinate report that an “Envoy Li” from the Imperial City Directorate had come to “inspect” them, he was extremely suspicious, thinking that the peace faction must find him not dying quickly enough and had planted a nail beside him specifically to cause trouble.

–

Li Gang was in the main military tent, looking over the military maps on his own, when that Envoy Li came in from behind him, saluted respectfully, and called out, “Pacification Commissioner Li.” Without even turning his head, Li Gang merely shook his beard in anger and gave a soft laugh.

Li Si did not urge him either, only quietly waiting at the entrance of the tent. After he had waited for a long while, that upright and unyielding Pacification Commissioner Li finally turned back to look at him, as though he had only just seen him, and said coldly, “Military affairs are busy. I truly did not know an honored envoy had arrived. Please come in.”

This young envoy wore the Imperial City Directorate uniform of black futou and red robe. His features were handsome, and he stood straight as a green pine. On his back was an ordinary bow and arrows, at his side hung a shriveled bundle, and the sword at his waist was not in the standard style of the Imperial City Directorate’s imperial swords; it looked even slimmer and longer.

He carefully held a thick stack of oil-paper packets in both hands. After entering, he saluted again, then took one packet from the stack and presented it on the desk.

Li Gang frowned. “What is this?”

Li Si said honestly, “My mother asked me to bring some capital specialties to Commander Zhang of Ant County, so I bought peanut cakes. The shop was offering buy two, get one free, and gave me too many. It’s inconvenient to carry them on the march, so I’m giving one packet to the Pacification Commissioner. They were freshly made. Pacification Commissioner, please eat them while they’re hot.”

Pacification Commissioner Li: “…”

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