Since the night of their argument, the relationship between the two seemed to have shifted.
Sheng Yuli appeared much busier than before, constantly rushing about. He would depart in a hurry the moment court adjourned, and during the sessions, he seemed perpetually distracted.
“Minister Sheng? Minister Sheng?” Emperor Li Yi called out several times without receiving a response, eventually forced to raise his voice.
Having caught his counterpart spacing out for the tenth time, Shi Hanshang could not help but knit his brows in disapproval.
“Ahem, cough. Zhige! He is calling you!” Qin Zhen, avoiding the curious whispers of the gathered officials, gave Sheng Yuli a sharp poke in the back. Sheng Yuli finally snapped back to reality and hurried to the front of the steps, dropping to one knee.
“Reporting, Your Majesty!”
“Ahem,” Li Yi cleared his throat into his fist to mask the awkwardness and spoke up. “Minister Sheng, regarding the matter of the Kingdom of Xuyi sending an envoy to our court, what are your thoughts?”
Seeing that the Son of Heaven intended to gloss over the lapse, the officials in the hall followed suit, stifling their murmurs.
The Kingdom of Xuyi was a small nomadic state on the western border. By all rights, Li Yi should not have paid them much mind. However, an event from many years ago remained a thorn in the hearts of the people of Jinling, one that had proven impossible to pluck out.
Forty-five years ago, the founding Emperor, Li Qi, through years of diligent governance, established the Jinling Prosperity. After his passing, during the height of this golden age, his son, the Late Emperor Li Shi, took the throne.
Emperor Shi was kind and benevolent, loving his people as his own children. He focused entirely on ensuring his subjects lived in peace and never extorted them. Furthermore, he possessed a deep passion for both literature and martial arts. Since his days as Crown Prince, he had been a renowned polymath. After ascending the throne, he never slackened, recruiting talented scholars and warriors far and wide through both civil and military imperial examinations, as well as through direct appointments.
It was through such an appointment that Shi Hanshang’s father, Shi Mingzhi, entered officialdom.
Shi Mingzhi was born in a small village in the southern reaches of Jinling, near the border. Having studied under his scholar father since childhood, he was known throughout the surrounding countryside as a book fanatic. He was obsessed with scrolls and ancient texts, showing no interest in fame or wealth. No matter how his family pleaded, he refused to take the imperial examinations. His infatuation with knowledge reached such a degree that he approached his thirties without ever marrying or fathering children.
This drove the elderly Shi parents to despair. They feared the family line would end with their son, leaving them to face the wrath of eighteen generations of ancestors in the afterlife. Their hair turned white from worry.
Fortunately, heaven showed mercy. A few months later, a foreign caravan arrived seeking lodging. The elderly parents hosted them warmly, and Shi Mingzhi fell in love at first sight with a young woman from the exotic tribe.
The dull scholar was finally moved by passion. He wrote countless poems of beauty until, finally, he moved the beautiful lady before the caravan departed. She chose to stay in Jinling, and the two wed and raised a family. On their wedding night, the Shi family held a grand banquet. Shi Mingzhi, who usually never touched a drop of wine, drank until he was unconscious, nearly falling into a well on his way to the bridal chamber, which was a story that remained a laughingstock for years.
When their first son was born, the book fanatic finally understood the weight of providing for a household. He no longer studied behind closed doors but entered the mortal world, finding work at a small local school. Though their life was poor and simple, it was warm and peaceful.
However, good times do not last. War suddenly broke out on the western border as Jinling clashed with a great power. The conflict left countless dead, with bodies piling up along the southwestern frontier. To make matters worse, a sudden violent wind rose, carrying viruses and plague into the southern regions.
By then, the elder Shi parents had passed away. Shi Mingzhi took his young son and his pregnant wife, gathered their meager belongings, and headed north. He thought they could escape the disaster, but fate is a cruel jester. His wife fell ill during the journey. Exhausted by the travel, she could not hold on. After giving birth to a purple skinned baby boy, she passed away.
The hair of Shi Mingzhi turned white overnight. He held his wife’s body and wept for a day and a night, his heart so ashen that he wished to follow her in death. But even death offered no escape. His eldest son held the wailing infant, who was so hungry he could no longer even cry. The newborn, having contracted his mother’s illness, had a breath so faint it was barely audible. Without immediate help, he too would perish.
Left with no choice, Shi Mingzhi suppressed his grief and wiped his tears. He wrapped the infant in his only warm garment, carrying one child in a basket on his back and holding the other to his chest, and set out once more.
The fallen scholar struggled immensely to raise two children, with one at the age to start school and the other sickly and in need of expensive medicine. Life was as hard as it could be. Several times he considered throwing himself and the children into a well to find peace in the next life, but in the end, he could not harden his heart.
Later, the foreign caravan from years prior happened to travel to the capital. They turned the beautiful tale of the book fanatic into a play that spread throughout the land. It became a favorite among the citizens and eventually reached the ears of the Emperor, Li Shi. Greatly intrigued, the Emperor issued a decree summoning Shi Mingzhi to the palace.
Thus, the book fanatic entered the sea of officialdom, taking charge of the imperial archives. He finally achieved a balance between his dreams and his survival.
At the same time, in the northern reaches, another man had been born, one whose fame as a martial fanatic equaled that of the book fanatic.
The martial fanatic, Sheng Changfeng, was born into a family of hunters in the north. They had hunted for generations and possessed excellent martial skills. His greatest wish was to challenge every undefeated master under heaven. While still young, he packed his bags and traveled far and wide to issue challenges.
But as the saying goes, one who walks by the river often gets their shoes wet.
Sheng Changfeng’s fame was too great, drawing the jealousy of others. He was eventually ambushed by enemies, heavily wounded, and fell into a river, nearly losing his life. Fortunately, he was saved by a woman washing clothes downstream.
Having walked past the gates of hell and endured a fever for three days and nights, the first thing Sheng Changfeng saw upon opening his eyes was the laundress gently wiping his sweat. That single glimpse felt like a goddess descending to earth.
Thus, a thousand beauties could not rival this modest girl. The rough man’s heart was captured, and he could no longer bear to leave. He settled there, using the excuse of repaying his life saving debt to chop wood and cook for her, easing her burdens.
Living together day and night, they eventually fell in love. This mismatched pair became a local legend and had two children, a son and a daughter, becoming the envy of all.
But heaven does not always grant human wishes. War erupted, and enemy troops broke through the border, burning, killing, and looting. Sheng Changfeng hid his wife and children under a haystack, intending to die fighting the bandits outside. As long as he could protect his family, his death would be worthwhile.
Yet, after a bloody battle, when Sheng Changfeng dragged his wounded body back to the village and lifted the haystack, he saw only his two children, who had cried themselves unconscious. His wife was nowhere to be found.
The martial fanatic was struck with terror. He searched through the fields of corpses and dug through the blood soaked earth until he found his wife, covered in blood, beneath a pile of severed limbs.
His soul shattered. A deep, bloody vendetta surged in his heart. He swore on the spot: if he did not crush the invaders, he was no man!
From then on, he entrusted his young children and his meager savings to an elderly neighbor. He resolutely enlisted in the army and began his journey of conquest.
His promotions were forged in a sea of blood. Sheng Changfeng had no desire to merely survive. In every battle, his eyes turned red with fury. Several times he nearly lost his life in the fray. When the war finally subsided, he was granted the rank of General, and his status continued to rise.
Only then did the war weary General bring his children back to his side. However, he lived as a man with a dead heart, spending his days guarding a small tombstone.
Though that war was a victory, Jinling was exhausted. The national strength was severely damaged, and the entire country fell into a state of fear and weariness.
Unexpectedly, before one wave could settle, another rose. Two years later, a strange small nation called Xuyi appeared in the south. Upon its debut, it declared war on the globally renowned Jinling, shocking the entire court.
The shock was not because the declaration was sudden, but because the Kingdom of Xuyi had never been heard of before.
What was their national strength? Their size? Their number of troops? Everything was unknown. Furthermore, the cultures were different and the scripts were incompatible. The declaration of war was only deciphered because its characters slightly resembled those from Shi Mingzhi’s hometown. Faced with such total confusion, who dared to take up the challenge?
If Xuyi was as powerful as the great nations of the past, what would happen?
Immediately, the civil and military officials fell silent. Not a single person dared to take charge.
However, if one did not respond, they would be looked down upon. If that happened, where would the dignity of the great Jinling lie?
The court remained silent for a long time. Just as the Late Emperor was sighing in despair, a man clad in silver armor stepped forward resolutely. He clasped his hands and knelt, pleading to lead the troops against Xuyi!
That man was Sheng Changfeng.
The Late Emperor was deeply moved but remained worried. “Even if you are willing to lead the army, you are unlettered and lack a strategist’s maneuvers. How can you win?”
After the court session, Sheng Changfeng rushed directly to the residence of the Imperial Archivist, having a long discussion through the night with Shi Mingzhi, who was then a mere tutor. It was said that General Changfeng even went so far as to kneel and plead for Shi Mingzhi to assist his campaign.
Shi Mingzhi already shared this sentiment, and the two found common ground immediately. The next day, in front of all the officials and nobles, they petitioned the Emperor together!
The Late Emperor pondered for a long time, let out a long sigh, and finally nodded.
The war with Xuyi went smoothly at first. Xuyi had relied on Jinling’s fear, not expecting Sheng Changfeng to be so decisive and ruthless, nor that he would have Shi Mingzhi, who understood a bit of their language, by his side to devise strategies. They captured several cities in a row, throwing the Xuyi generals into a panic!
But no matter how many books he had read, Shi Mingzhi could only rely on his meager experience to make deductions. The situation eventually reached a stalemate.
At that time, an unprecedented, massive blizzard struck. The Sheng army was surrounded and trapped in the snow. Their supply lines were cut, and they could only wait desperately for reinforcements.
It was then that the situation underwent a world shaking change.
Shi Mingzhi was a scholar and was not physically robust to begin with. Years ago, he had nearly cried himself blind missing his late wife. Now, spending days and nights exhausted by military planning, travel worn and unable to eat or sleep, he suddenly vomited black blood during a meeting!
Military conditions were harsh, and Shi Mingzhi could not receive timely medical treatment. He became bedridden. Even in his final, gasping moments, he was still analyzing the battle. Exhausting his last bit of strength, he died tragically on the journey.
With the strategist dead and the General illiterate, the army’s morale collapsed. The entire situation crumbled like a landslide. All was lost.
Sheng Changfeng was willing but powerless. He defended the battlefield, fighting to his last breath, but could not reverse the inevitable defeat. Finally, his blood soaked the frontier, and he died for his country.
Thus, Jinling lost all face. When news of the defeat reached home, the Late Emperor coughed up blood and nearly fainted. Jinling could never regain its former glory and remains in a state of decline to this day.
A virtuous scholar died of physical weakness, and a lifelong hero died of ignorance.
Now that over a decade has passed, whenever the people of Jinling mention this matter, they all shake their heads and sigh in grief: “How tragic! How lamentable!”