Death Scripture

Prime Minister Shi’s pre-emptive warning came as a great boon for Fang Wenshi. Upon arriving at the main hall, he started to identify his key opponents from the rows of officials.

The King of Shu-lik was over forty and sat with a perfect upright posture, looking quite authoritative. He did not speak throughout the entire court session, preferring the eunuch at his side to moderate the entire debate.

Fang Wenshi presented his strategy to the king as the messenger of the Great Snowmountain, representing the ‘Leader of the Dragons, and the Master of the Five Peaks”. He had strategically replaced Gu Shenwei’s title of ‘King’ to ‘Master’, following the Prime Minister’s advice, to avoid belittling the King of Shu-lik. Naturally, Gu Shenwei had no use for mere titles and did not hesitate to agree with the change.

It took a while for the ceremony of greeting the king to end, and the eunuch invited the messenger from the Great Snowmountain to speak once the officials were done taking turns to pay their respects and everyone were all seated.

Fang Wenshi had specially brought along a duster shaped like a feathered-fan for this occasion. It was all the rage in the Central Plain, and was used during debates. One would hold it to signify that one was about to speak, or place it down on a table to show that one was going to listen carefully to the esteemed opinion of the other speaker.

First, he bowed to the king as a sign of respect, duster in his hand. He then turned towards the twenty or so officials and swept his gaze across each of them, finally coming to one of them who had a great white beard. This man was Moyang, the chief minister of Shu-lik, and he was known as ‘the Master’. He was Prime Minister Shi’s biggest rival, and had originally not approved of Shu-lik cosying up to the Golden Roc Fort. However, after one of his sons was killed by a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain, he became eager to exterminate the entire faction.

Moyang was a big influence on the King of Shu-lik, and as he was never close to the Golden Roc Fort, his views carried even more weight in the current debate. It was for this reason that he was also the person Prime Minister Shi was most wary of.

Fang Wenshi began his speech. “I’ve come here today to talk about a matter concerning the survival of Shu-lik. In times like this, warnings often fall on deaf ears…”

He had wanted to use his old strategy of scaring his audience into his corner by warning them about an impending disaster. He did not expect that officials in Shu-lik did not follow the usual debate protocols of the Central Plain. He had only begun to speak, and was still holding onto duster, when a dark-faced official interrupted him. The official could not contain himself and issued his rebuke to Fang Wenshi, “Nonsense, you’re a messenger from the Great Snowmountain, what right do you have to interfere in the matters of our country? I think you’ve come here bearing ill will.”

Fang Wenshi shook his head and smiled slightly. When the official lost momentum and returned to his seat, Fang Wenshi began speaking again, “The Great Snowmountain and Shu-lik are heavily reliant on each other to prosper. Should any one of us be attacked, it’ll be detrimental to survival of the other as well. As such, how can I not be worried about the security of your country?”

“What a joke this is. You just joined the ranks of the Great Snowmountain only a month ago, and cannot even be considered as one of them. You have no right to speak for them. What rights do you have to talk about the reliance of both countries on each other?” Another pale-faced official rebutted. They were taking turns to debate with Fang Wenshi. All this while, Moyang sat still and remained silent.

“The joke is on you. Shu-lik has always opened its borders. Haven’t Shu-lik traded for silk from the Central Plains, fine iron from Wushan and horses from Norland? Haven’t this country welcomed merchants from all over the world to conduct business in its land? Why then do you expect that a counselor has to be a native of the country he or she represents? I’m only here to perform my duty as a messenger and counselor. If you should wish to debate with a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain instead, I have five of them waiting outside the hall. I can summon them in if you should wish.”

The officials knew that men from the mountains were not keen to talk, and would not hesitate to attack if they could not win in a debate. None of them wished to involve the swordsmen.

As the other officials remained silent, Moyang gave off two coughs and began to defuse the situation. “There’s no need for verbosity. Since you’ve come here prepared, speak your mind.”

Fang Wenshi absent-mindedly swished his duster before realising that it had not served its intended purpose. He decided that he should keep his arms behind his back instead. He continued his speech. “Shu-lik, Norland and the Central Plain are the three dominant powers in Western Region. Each has maintained its foothold peacefully for decades. Now, imagine that each country is a leg of a tripod, which represents the current balance. If one leg is broken, the entire tripod would collapse. Now, Norland is pre-occupied with its own chaotic situation, and the Central Plain is growing increasingly ambitious, with plans to bring the entire Western Region under its control. Shu-lik is in an increasingly precarious situation, and I’m afraid that all of you Sirs would be unable to enjoy peace for long.”

The officials had expected the messenger from the Great Snowmountain to come with an offer of peace, and had not foreseen that he would have started his speech with a message of Shu-lik’s impending doom. Moyang replied without getting up from his seat, “You’ve indeed come with a ‘prophecy of doom’, and I’m truly ‘absorbed’ by it. However, even though Norland is embroiled in civil war, it’ll be quelled in a few years’ time; its state can therefore not be considered as a ‘broken leg of the tripod.’ Moving on, even though the Central Plain is indeed ambitious, it’s far away from us, and separated from us by a desert. The troops they’ve stationed in the Western Region amount to only 20 or 30 thousand soldiers. Even though Shu-lik cannot be compared to other big nations, we do have our own crack troops which are 50 thousand strong. We do not fear their army.”

Fang Wenshi knew that there could not be so many elite troops in Shu-lik, but he did not call Moyang’s bluff. “You’re not correct, Master. Even though the Central Plain hasn’t stationed many of its soldiers in Western Region, it has maintained a presence here for centuries. Each country in Western Region has people from the Central Plain. Take Shu-lik for example, there must be at least 10 thousand of them here. Furthermore, as a major power, the Central Plain enjoys the support of many other countries in the east, supporting it with supplies and troops for every military campaign it enters. With a decree, the Emperor of the Central Plain could summon retainers from Western Region which could amount to ten times its stationed troops and at least hundred times of that of its own citizens living in the region. May I ask if your ’50 thousand’ crack troops are able to withstand such an attack?”

The other officials remained silent as Moyang smirked. “From what I hear, you’re saying that neither Shu-lik nor Norland can withstand the ambition of the Central Plain. Would you care to explain to me again your concept of the ‘tripod representing the balance’ between the three countries?”

The debate was heading in the direction Fang Wenshi expected. He began growing confident. He could not help himself and began swishing his duster again, before continuing. “You’re mistaken. You’re referring to the Central Plain’s ‘power’ and not its ‘strength’. I consider its 30 thousand troops stationed in the Western Regin as its strength, as they belong solely to the Central Plain. The other countries in the east can be classified as minor powers which can be utilized by the Central Plain at a price. Now, the millions of its citizens in Western Region are a major power, and how each country uses them should be scrutinized. With proper handling, they would be willing to serve any country in a war.”

Upon hearing this, the dark-faced official spoke up angrily again “You might as well not have spoken, everything you say hinges on some other possibility.”

Fang Wenshi waited for the official to return to his seat again before replying, “The future of Shu-lik is still up for debate, while that of the Central Plain and Norland has already been decided. This is what I meant previously about survival.”

The dark-faced official was about to get up again before Moyang signalled for him to remain still. Moyang replied, “What you mean by the fate of Norland and the Central Plain’s future refers to the civil unrest in the former and the ambition of the latter, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have proof then, or are they just empty words?”

“The proof is Jade City.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s said that three years ago, when the Supreme King was extremely ill, the Central Plain took the opportunity to eradicate the Iron Mountain Gang. This was a minor incident but of prime importance to Western Region. It’s a pity that none of the countries in the region have properly analysed it. The Iron Mountain Gang’s camp was situated at the north of Tian Shan, close to the border of Jade City. It was the same place where Norland grazed its horses. The 5,000 elite soldiers sent by the Central Plain never left after they completed their mission and have been stockpiling supplies ever since. Now, they’ve already become a deep-seated problem. Norland chose to not react, and it’s exactly this act of allowing its enemy to set up a camp so close to its heart shows that its civil unrest has still not been quelled. After the Supreme King recovered from his illness, not only did he not counter-attack, instead he chose to belittle himself and work with the enemy, in the name of ‘eradicating bandits in unison’. As such, the balance in Western Region has shifted. The Central Plain has yet to act because it’s storing up its might. Once it has enough manpower and resources, the first step it takes will be taking over Jade City, then making Shu-lik submit to its will. Once it has Shu-lik, the entire Western Region would be controlled by the Central Plain. Norland is already out of the picture, what with its ongoing civil war. Its millions of mounted troops would have no say in maintaining its foothold in Western Region. When that time comes, it’ll be a long while before Shu-lik can have any real hope of restoring the balance of three powers in the region again.”

After they had listened to Fang Wenshi’s long discourse, the officials could be seen either nodding or shaking their heads. All of them, however, had a question in their minds, and it was the pale-faced official who spoke on their behalf. “You have made a good speech, but the thing is this. Even though the Golden Roc Fort does represent an obstacle to the future progress of Shu-lik, and your description of ‘inter-reliance’ is indeed apt, but you’re a messenger of the Great Snowmountain, are you not? This…”

Fang Wenshi was just about to use the official’s question as a reason to start talking about the Golden Roc Fort, when the eunuch moderating the debate interrupted. “This court session is adjourned for a lunch break. We invite our guest, who has come all the way over from the Snowmountain, to have a meal with us.”

Fang Wenshi was already on track to win the debate before he was interrupted by the eunuch. This had made him extremely unhappy. However, as the eunuch was representing the King of Shu-lik, he could not protest. Besides, after growing accustomed to eating jerky for the past month at the Great Snowmountain, his usual love of good food was greatly diminished.

In the past, he would have been overjoyed to be invited to eat food cooked by royal chefs, but now he barely touched the food in front of him, still pre-occupied with plotting the fall of the Golden Roc Fort and making an alliance between Shu-lik and the Great Snowmountain.

When Prime Minister Shi arrived to visit him, he saw Fang Wenshi pacing to and fro, deep in thought. He congratulated the counselor on the good start in the earlier debate, and told him that the second court session would not be held in the hall, but rather the royal study room. Also, there would only be two participants – Fang Wenshi and Moyang.

Fang Wenshi kept himself up to date on the affairs of the world, but was not familiar with customs of the court. Fearing something was amiss, he hurriedly asked, “What does his Majesty mean by making this change of venue?” Prime Minister Shi did not directly answer his question, but rather he smiled and told the counselor to not worry.

Both of them chatted idly before the Prime Minister took his leave.

Gu Shenwei believed that the safest place for him to be in Shu-lik City was its royal palace, and had disguised himself as one of the five swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain accompanying Fang Wenshi.

Just as the Prime Minister was about to make his move, Gu Shenwei approached him and whispered, “It’s a pleasure to be able to meet you, Prime Minister. I’m Yang Huan.”

Prime Minister Shi was extremely surprised. His sole motive for the visit was to pass the King’s message to Fang Wenshi, and had not anticipated that he would meet the Dragon King. He recovered quickly and grasped the killer’s elbow as he said, “A real master knows how to conceal his true identity. You’ve indeed hid yourself well.”

Gu Shenwei gave a nod to his military counselor, signalling for Fang Wenshi to leave with the other four swordsmen. The counselor understood what he meant and left the Dragon King and the Prime Minister in privacy. He stood guard outside the room with the swordsmen while pretending to admire the great view of the palace.

The Prime Minister was not prepared to speak to Gu Shenwei under such circumstances, but he knew he could not allow such a rare opportunity to slip away. He started off with the usual pleasantries, while Gu Shenwei remained mostly silent. He was waiting for the Prime Minister to broach the main subject.

“Did you hear about what happened during the court session just now, Dragon King?”

“Briefly.”

“What do you think about Mr. Fang’s chances of winning the debate?”

“It’s still too early to say, as the session has yet to be concluded.”

“Hey, you still have doubts, and are not telling me what you really think.”

Gu Shenwei paused for a moment while he thought about how to best reply the Prime Minister. “Master Moyang was just questioning Counselor Fang just now, and didn’t make his stand clear. I fear that the momentum of the debate would swing away from us at the imperial study.”

Prime Minister Shi nodded, expression turning serious. He seemed to be gauging how trustworthy the Dragon King was, as he stood looking at Gu Shenwei. “I’m certain that would happen later. I’ve already received information that Moyang plans to give it all he’s got later. He plans on getting the king to reject the offer of peace, and would even chase your messenger away. What’s worse is that he wants the king to order an attack on the Great Snowmountain with 50 thousand troops.”

There were only a thousand swordsmen in the Great Snowmountain, and even if Shu-lik came at them with half their men, it would be impossible for the swordsmen to prevail.

“We really need your assistance now, Prime Minister. If you could lend us a helping hand, we from the Great Snowmountain will never forget your kindness.”

“You could say we started off as rivals but ended up mutually respecting each other,” the Prime Minister said as he shifted his gaze away from Gu Shenwei. His attitude had become a little indifferent as he continued. “The Golden Roc Fort lacks real leadership, as Shangguan Tian is cowardly and incompetent. I’m now on your side, but the political situation in Shu-lik is extremely complex and I’m on my own here. Our path is fraught with obstacles, and you have to put in the effort as well to help us navigate safely to the exit.”

“Could you point me in the right direction, Prime Minister?”

“We shall talk again after the second debate, where you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”

Prime Minister Shi did not want to be staying at the Great Snowmountain camp for too long, and took his leave again.

Gu Shenwei could already guess what Prime Minister Shi wanted. He was only not sure which target the Prime Minister would give him: His nemesis Moyang, or his own brother, the King of Shu-lik.