Chapter 74
WU DU WAS THE ONLY suitable man for the job, but what excuse could they give Bian Lingbai for his departure? It wouldn’t make sense for Wu Du to leave so suddenly without a good reason. In the end, Wu Du was the one to hit upon a solution; he told Duan Ling not to worry about it, and to focus on writing his letter.
Focus was what he sorely needed, because composing the letter took practically everything Duan Ling had learned in his life. He scraped every inch of his brain attempting to mimic the style Mu Kuangda used in his own memorials to the throne—which unfortunately gave his own writing the comical air of a young man trying to act old and mature. He drafted and tore up the letter, then drafted and tore it up again, over and over. Nothing sounded right, no matter how he phrased it. He needed to inform Mu Kuangda of the situation at Tong Pass and caution him adequately without sounding alarmist; he needed to put forward his sincere suggestions without Mu Kuangda detecting his tiny pinch of selfishness nor guessing that he shared a secret friendship with Helian Bo; and finally, he needed to provide a clear analysis of the relationships between Yao Fu, Bian Lingbai, and Helian Da.
Duan Ling organized his thoughts through his writing: Presently, Yao Fu and Bian Lingbai were in the same camp. Yao Fu had sent his niece Yao Jing to Bian Lingbai so she could be married into Helian Bo’s branch of the Western Liang royal family. However, Bian Lingbai and Helian Bo’s uncle had brokered a second agreement behind their backs—not only had Bian Lingbai betrayed Yao Fu, he also planned to have Helian Bo killed on the border between the two nations.
Should he mention Helan Jie’s murder of the late emperor? Duan Ling weighed the idea but ultimately decided against adding another complication. Next, he proposed his suggestion: Use this situation as an opportunity to forge an alliance with Helian Bo that would offer both sides significant benefits, including shared control of the Silk Road and the elimination of the rebellious Bian Lingbai. In this deal, management of the northern stretch of the Silk Road would be in Helian Bo’s hands, while the southern stretch would belong to Mu Kuangda and the Chen imperial court. Helian Da’s machinations would be exposed, Yao Fu’s plans would be foiled, and Bian Lingbai would die.
However, the instant Bian Lingbai died, the loan note Helian Da held for thousands of taels would become bad debt, which would likely trigger an immediate assault on Tong Pass. Helian Da would attempt to seize control of the border city and march his men south, or, at the very least, sack the city before retreating. Unless a plan to safely hand off military control was established in advance, Bian Lingbai could not be killed—but as the man intended to revolt, he nonetheless should be removed with all haste.
By the end of his letter, Duan Ling had resigned himself to Mu Kuangda tearing his memorial to shreds, or flipping his table with a furious shout upon reading it. What in the world was he suggesting?! Surely it would be impossible for any competent military commander to take charge of the entirety of Tong Pass in just seven days.
Then, as if from the heavens, a brilliant idea struck him: Was he not the ideal candidate for this last endeavor? Bian Lingbai had told everyone Duan Ling was his nephew, Bian Rong. Given this, should his “uncle” meet with an untimely demise, Duan Ling would be in an ideal position to wield Bian Lingbai’s military token and rally the troops to avenge him. Though this might be a strategy of last resort, Duan Ling nonetheless included it in his letter for Mu Kuangda’s assessment. Once he finished, he handed the letter to Wu Du, who barely glanced at it. He merely skimmed through the ledger and shooed Duan Ling out the door to join him as he bade Bian Lingbai farewell.
Bian Lingbai had already had quite a night. Dragged out of bed yet again by Wu Du, he regarded them both with a look of pure misery.
“I have some business to take care of,” Wu Du informed him.
Bleary-eyed, Bian Lingbai stared at them without speaking.
Wu Du added, “I’m leaving Zhao Rong in your care. If anything happens to him, I’ll take your thrice-damned life.”
With that, he darted out of the room.
Bian Lingbai sat with a blank look as he took a second to fully process Wu Du’s words, then jolted in surprise. He turned to the sour-looking Duan Ling.
“…Where’s he going?”
“He said he’s searching for something called the Guardian of the Realm,” Duan Ling answered.
Bian Lingbai stared at Duan Ling in sleepy confusion for another moment before understanding dawned on him. “Where’s he even going to look? It’s been lost for a year now.”
“It might be…because of the assassin from last night?” Duan Ling ventured.
Bian Lingbai paced the length of the hall, shaking his head. “No, that can’t be.”
“What’s the Guardian of the Realm?” Duan Ling asked.
“The late emperor’s sword,” Bian Lingbai answered. “Ever since his death in the Mongols’ invasion of Shangjing—”
Though Duan Ling had heard it before, he felt a pang in his chest when Bian Lingbai said it aloud.
“—the Guardian has been lost,” Bian Lingbai finished. “Unless last night’s assassin was from Yuan? Hm…”
“How did the late emperor die? Who killed him?” Duan Ling asked.
“You don’t know?” Bian Lingbai gave him a perplexed look.
Since he was already up and awake, Bian Lingbai ordered breakfast to be served. Seated together at the table, he and Duan Ling ate their rice porridge. Bian Lingbai had formed a good impression of this fake nephew of his. After all, the boy had traveled all the way to Tong Pass to meet him and resolved his debt crisis in one fell swoop. He’d bristled at the constant presence of Wu Du, but now that that eyesore was gone, he could have a genuine chat with the boy.
“The late emperor was a real man,” Bian Lingbai said. “To save Yelü Dashi, he marched his forces all the way to Shangjing, only to fall into Helan Jie’s ambush and ultimately perish from exhaustion. In all my life, I’ve feared nothing and no one—except for him.”
“Helan Jie is the one who…?”
“Mm-hmm.” Bian Lingbai scanned the courtyard, somewhat forlorn. “It’ll be the seventh day of the seventh month in seven days. Do you see? I took in that assassin because I’ve got no other way out at this point. If I don’t strike the Mu family first, they’ll come for me sooner or later.”
The Mu family is coming for you as we speak, Duan Ling thought. This guy is too slow on the uptake. Despite his internal musings, he said, “You don’t need to fear the prime minister, Uncle. Unearth the treasure and we’ll have plenty of money. We won’t need the court’s salaries.”
Bian Lingbai shook his head with a wry smile and chuckled quietly as he sipped his porridge.
“Why did Helan Jie kill the late emperor?” Duan Ling asked.
“Now that, I don’t know. That guy is…”
Duan Ling tensed with anticipation.