Chapter 44: The Northern Yan Master

Chapter 44: The Northern Yan Master

The famed swordsmanship of Tuoba is truly sharp as the winds of the desert, and powerful as the waves of the sea, Meng Zhi paid the compliment solemnly, but his tone grew cold again as he said, But General Tuoba must still answer the question I raised before why have you come here to the capital of our nation?

Tuoba Haos cold gaze fell onto Mei Changsu, as he replied, My countrys embassy came with the good intent of a marriage request, but now one of our strongest warriors has gone missing, when has your noble nation given us an explanation?

You mean that Baili Qi? Although Meng Zhi knew the truth behind Baili Qis disappearance, his face betrayed no sign of it. He walks on his own two feet, how could we know where he has gone? If General Tuoba feels he has the right to demand an explanation from our country, why not come with the credentials of a diplomat and ask openly?

Hmph, you people of Da Liang have always been skilled orators, no good would come of such questions. I only wanted to come to see what kind of person could make Baili Qi ashamed to return to his own country.

The corner of Mei Changsus mouth curled as he said, And has General Tuobas method of seeing people always involved baseless accusations and cracking open the roofs of palanquins?

Tuoba Hao said proudly, I never regret the things I have done, and since I have offended Mister Su, say what you want me to do, but say it openly.

Of course we Meng Zhi was about to say that of course they would first have to arrest him and go from there, but suddenly feeling Mei Changsu pinch his waist, he reacted quickly and continued, Of course we should let Mister Su, whom you attacked, decide what to do.

Hearing these strange words, Tuoba Hao couldnt help being surprised, and his gaze turned again to Mei Changsu. Whether by rank or by age, the person with the right to make the decisions should have been Meng Zhi, could it be that this Su Zhes position in Da Liang was so unusual that even the commander of the imperial guard would listen to him?

The commander has given me another difficult task. Mei Changsu took in Tuoba Haos expression at a glance and understood why he was surprised, and couldnt help smiling, but continued lightly, General Tuobas sword only fractured the roof of the palanquin and did not hurt anyone, and he did his best not to harm the servants and guards, choosing not to use any of his killing strokes, which shows that he had no intention to cause any real trouble. But as for the matter of Baili Qi, I truly know nothing, and if he decided on his own to leave, how could the General have so easily found this out in so short a time?

Tuoba Hao was not unintelligent, and immediately understood the meaning behind Mei Changsus words. He had come to find Su Zhe for the sake of Northern Yans reputation, and not because he wanted to get to the bottom of Baili Qis disappearance, and so he took his cue from him and replied, Since Mister Su says he knows nothing, I have no reason not to believe him. Please do not worry, I will immediately leave Jinling, and will be back in my country within ten days, and will not stop anywhere on my way.

Good! Meng Zhi said in a deep voice. I believe General Tuoba is a man of his word. As such, we will part here, and meet again in the future!

Although Mei Changsu had already expressed his intention to let him go, Tuoba Hao had not expected Meng Zhi to agree so readily, and his preparation to undergo an intense battle in order to leave was in vain, and he stood stunned for a moment. But he knew that, since his identity had been exposed, he could not stay in Jinling a moment longer than necessary, so he quickly regained his composure, clasped his fist in farewell, and did not waste any more words, but turned and disappeared from view.

When he felt from the air that this Northern Yan master had really gone away, Meng Zhi bent to examine the wounded on the ground and discovered that they had only fainted, and had not come to any great harm, and then finally, he turned and pulled Mei Changsu to one side, asking quietly, Why did you let him go?

Mei Changsu gave him a look. Is the commander confident that you could have captured him alive?

Wellit would probably have come to a difficult fightbut as he said, this is my territory, and it is not a jianghu duel, so I would not have needed to go against him on my own.

And after you have captured him, what then? Mei Changsu spoke indifferently. Kill him, or imprison him indefinitely?

Meng Zhi had not thought about how to handle the situation, and hesitated.

He is one of the great generals of Northern Yan, a beloved minister of the Yan Emperor, and whether you kill him or imprison him, neither the Yan Emperor nor the head of the Tuoba clan would sit by and do nothing. And then, for the sake of one Tuoba Hao, if the two nations came to war and the border comes under threat, who will be sent to defend it? Mei Changsu sighed. It wouldnt be the Crown Prince or Prince Yu, would it?

Mei Changsu looked at him, a little amused, and said quietly, Commander, do you really think you are the only protection I have in Jinling? Dont worry, nothing will happen to me.

Meng Zhi stared blankly for a moment, then laughed, embarrassed. He had never been a person to make a great fuss, and so, after hearing Mei Changsus words, he didnt delay any longer, but said, see you later, and flew away.

Mei Changsu took Fei Liu with him as he inspected the people lying on the ground, ordering the youth to press a few of their vital meridian points. Tuoba Hao had not wanted to truly hurt anyone in Da Liang, and he had been careful with his attacks, and so soon, they had all regained consciousness. It was not far to the Xie residence, and so Mei Changsu did not let them bear him again on the palanquin, but leaned on Fei Liu and walked by himself to the gate of the manor, where he turned and dismissed all of Meng Zhis guards.

It had left in good shape but returned like this, and Xie Bi stared at the roof-less palanquin for a long while in a daze before thinking to ask Mei Changsu what had happened.

As for the people who had lured Meng Zhi away to strike against himself, Mei Changsu did not even need to investigate to know that they were connected with the Crown Prince. After all, since he had arrived in Jinling, the only ones he had truly offended were the Crown Princes people; since Prince Yu still dreamed of acquiring the qilin prodigy, it was unlikely that he would resort to murder at this point in time. He supposed the Crown Prince had finally discovered his role in the Princess rescue, and had given up any hope of recruiting him to the Eastern Palace, and so had succumbed to this if I cant have him then Ill destroy him mentality.

And if this was the Crown Princes brushstroke, then it must be related to Xie Yu, and perhaps the route the palanquin-bearers of the Xie residence had taken had also been planned in advance, or the false imperial messenger would not have so easily found Meng Zhi among the vast, numerous streets of Jinling. But faced with Xie Bis worried inquiries and seeing his reaction to his own simple explanation, the young man truly seemed to have no idea of the plot and trap behind the days events. And from his observations of Xie Bi so far, Mei Changsu could be almost certain, given Prince Yus intelligence, the reason that Prince Yu had never once doubted Xie Bis loyalty was because this heir of the Marquis of Ning truly believed that his father wanted him to support Prince Yu, and so his speech and his actions were all genuine. In other words, Xie Bi didnt know that his father was using him to keep a foot in both boats in order to secure a good future no matter what the outcome.

Thinking of the depth of Xie Yus cunning, that he would so callously use even the son he loved most, a chill grew in Mei Changsus heart, and now, faced with Xie Bis questions, he grew warm with sympathy.

Is there really no hint we can pursue to find out who did these things? Xie Bi could not know the thoughts passing through Brother Sus mind, but was thinking very seriously. Not even a single person was caught?

When Commander Meng appeared, who dared to linger? Naturally, they were all scared away. Mei Changsu smiled wearily. Let him investigate, I wont bother.

But the attack was aimed at you, Xie Bi continued hurriedly, How about I go tell His Highness Prince Yu, and ask him.

No need. Mei Changsus firm gaze fell onto Xie Bi, stopping him. A case like this with no lead, no good will come of investigating it, and we will not catch the true masterminds anyway. I will be more careful in the future, thats all.

Xie Bi thought dazedly for a long moment, then blurted out, Could it be.

Mei Changsu cut him off, and said, closing his eyes, Xie Bi, Im a bit tired, and want to rest for awhile. When Jingrui comes back and finds out about this, please help me tell him what happened, I dont want to repeat it all again.

Xie Bi looked at his pale skin and withered appearance, and knew that he was not lying about being tired, and so did not bother him any further, but said quietly, Brother Su, rest well, and slowly left Snow Cottage.

Chapter 44 Translators Notes:

I dont have much to say about this chapter, but Ive been reading ahead in the Chinese, and justso much crying. There are a few chapter milestones that I keep in my head as sort of rewards for translating to that point, because those chapters are so beautiful and heartbreaking and are basically the reason why I started this whole project, just for the sake of being able to put those chapters into as beautiful English as I can manage. I already reached one of them, Chapter 36 (Wounds of the Past). The next one is Chapter 57. And the ones Ive been reading lately are Chapters 99 and 100. (And of course, the final chapter is a whole symphony of grief. But Im getting ahead of myself.) So, guys, if we ever get that faryoure gonna be crying with me.

(And often, because I dont read in a lot of detail until I read for translation, I discover tidbits of heartbreak buried into chapters I totally did not expect, like the last part of Chapter 31. Those are fun too.)

(Also, this is the last chapter of Book 2! We are starting Book 3 :D)