The imperial palace of Great Yan featured copper gates gilded with gold and beast-head knockers clutching heavy rings. A pair of Heaven-facing Hou stood at the entrance, their presence an undeniable display of celestial majesty. Zuo Canglang could not help but peer around in wonder.
"Lower your head," Murong Yan whispered.
She hurriedly obeyed. Nearby, Wen Qi heard the exchange and turned to look.
"The servant does not know the rules," Murong Yan said smoothly. "I hope General Wen will not take offense."
Wen Qi glanced at Zuo Canglang. Seeing she was indeed just a half-grown child, he gave a slight nod and a faint smile. Though he was a man of war and slaughter, he possessed a refined, scholarly air. Despite being a first-rank military official, he carried no overbearing arrogance.
Following the officials into the palace, they reached Changding Hall, where the King of Yan had prepared a banquet to welcome the envoys of West Jing. Civil and military officials were all in attendance to mark the gravity of the occasion. Murong Yan’s seat was far from the King. The Queen sat upon the Phoenix Throne, with Crown Prince Murong Ruo to the King’s right and Wen Qi accompanying them on the left.
The distance was too great for Zuo Canglang to see the Queen’s face clearly; she could only see the magnificent jewels and emeralds in her hair, which cast a brilliant radiance throughout the bright hall. Palace maids in white tops and pink skirts flitted about like butterflies to serve the dishes. Musicians played, and dancers draped in floral silks twirled gracefully. Within the harmonious palace walls, it was a scene of peace and prosperity.
The King of Yan rose and shared a cup of wine with the West Jing envoy, Lord Zhu. "The envoy has traveled far, like a messenger bird bearing tidings. With this cup, I wish the Emperor of West Jing eternal peace. May Great Yan and West Jing be of one heart and mind, and may this flourishing age endure forever."
Lord Zhu drained the cup, his face flushed and his spirit high. "The Emperor has heard that Yan is a land of many beauties. Before I departed, he specifically commanded me to bring five hundred beauties back to Jing. Surely the King of Yan would not be loath to part with them?"
The King of Yan was over fifty, his features still bearing the faint, handsome traces of his youth, which Murong Yan had inherited. Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment before forcing a smile. "To receive the Emperor’s favor is the fortune of Yan. How could I possibly refuse?"
Lord Zhu tapped along to the music. "It is good that the King understands. With the Emperor’s mercy and the King’s wisdom, West Jing and Yan can be as close as flesh and bone, enjoying peace for generations."
The King smiled and drank with him, but the veins on his forehead throbbed—another five hundred women of Yan. Every year, the women sent to West Jing were treated like cattle or sheep, rewarded to others at the Emperor's whim, their lives as cheap as ants. He glanced at the officials; every one of them had their heads down, focused on their wine. *Gods preserve us,* they thought, *let the task of conscripting tribute women—a job that will surely get one cursed like a dog—not fall upon my head.*
The King and Lord Zhu shared another cup as the music changed to a different tune. Lord Zhu tilted his head to listen, then suddenly sneered. "What is the name of this piece?"
The musician did not stop plucking the strings, answering coldly, "The eighth movement of the Music of the Ge Tian Clan: The Ultimate Gathering of Beasts!"
Lord Zhu flew into a rage, slamming his cup down as he stood. "King of Yan! I come by the Emperor’s command for the sake of long-term peace between Jing and Yan. Yet you dare send someone to insult me so? Do you intend to go to war with my West Jing?!"
"The Music of the Ge Tian Clan is originally a song praising the heavens, the earth, and a bountiful harvest..." The King of Yan began to explain patiently, but the musician cut him off with a cold laugh.
"The people of West Jing use the might of a superior state to enjoy the offerings of our Great Yan, yet they repeatedly send troops to violate our borders, slaughtering our people like pigs and dogs! If you did not act like beasts, why would you think yourselves the same as the beasts in the song?"
Silence fell over the hall. Zhu Wenqing was so angry he began to laugh. "King of Yan, is this how your state treats a superior nation?"
The King hesitated, then said in a heavy voice, "Audacious madman! Drag him out and beat him to death!"
The musician showed no fear, standing tall and defiant. "What have I to fear from death? I only pity that in this hall full of high officials, not one possesses a backbone! The autumn cicada is not yet frozen, yet it still chirps loudly. With slavish faces, they call themselves subjects to feign peace!"
Zhu Wenqing smiled. "Though this man’s words are crude, he certainly has the look of a righteous soul. His skin is loyal and heroic; I wonder if his bones are just as stiff. King of Yan, why not carry out the execution right here in the hall, so that we may observe the 'backbone' of the Yan people?"
The King scanned the officials. Nearby, a man stood up, his eyes burning with fury. Lord Zhu happened to recognize him. "So it is General Wen Qi. Does General Wen perhaps have an objection?"
The King wavered in indecision. Lord Zhu’s smile grew cold. "What is this? Someone slanders and insults the superior state, yet the King of Yan is so hesitant. Do you believe his words are justified? Or was this perhaps orchestrated by someone? King of Yan, if my Emperor learns of this and sees your indulgence, I fear he will be displeased."
The King glanced at Wen Qi and said in a low voice, "Sit down."
Wen Qi clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, but slowly sat back down. The King signaled for the execution to proceed in the hall.
The wooden staves struck the man’s body with heavy, dull thuds. It is not an easy thing for a person to be beaten to death. The sound of splashing flesh and snapping bones was chilling. The musician held out at first, but eventually began to scream in agony, rolling across the floor. Amidst Lord Zhu’s raucous laughter, General Wen Qi rose and left the hall.
Zuo Canglang clenched her hands tight. She wanted to leave as well. It wasn't that she hadn't seen killing before, but watching a loyal and noble man scream in such misery was by no means a pleasant experience.
But Murong Yan could not leave, so she could only watch. The musician’s blood and flesh splattered across the hall. Zuo Canglang felt as though all the blood in her body had retreated to her heart, leaving her limbs ice-cold.
The civil and military officials had long since lost their appetites; the faint-hearted among them had already begun to vomit.
The death of the man in the hall was a form of torture for everyone present. When the mass of bloody flesh finally stopped moving, the King’s expression shifted between dark and pale. "Drag him away."
Zhu Wenqing stood up with a beaming smile. "Wait, King of Yan. I have come from afar; let me see the backbone of a Yan man."
Before the King could understand, Zhu Wenqing drew a guard’s sword and publicly sliced open the clothes on the musician’s corpse. He plunged the blade into the belly and ripped downward with force. Blood flooded the floor as entrails were exposed.
The entire hall gasped in horror. Zhu Wenqing laughed loudly, using the blade to puncture the bladder, causing blood and urine to flow together. "I see no backbone, but this heart and liver might go well with wine."
Silence reigned. The faces of many ministers turned ghastly. Guards eventually came forward, wrapped the corpse in a straw mat, and dragged it out. Servants washed the hall with water and sprinkled fragrant dew to mask the scent of blood.
After the banquet, Murong Yan emerged from the hall with Zuo Canglang following behind. Her stomach and lungs felt frozen. General Wen Qi stood beneath a plum tree. Beside him sat the corpse wrapped in the straw mat; as it had been carried out, the intestines had been dragging on the ground.
Murong Yan walked over and pulled back the mat. He said to Zuo Canglang, "Look at him. This... is the nation beneath the embroidery."
Zuo Canglang truly looked. That gory mess of flesh was like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, jolting her awake from a dream.
This was the true Great Yan—the hideous truth beneath the opulence. Oppressed by powerful neighbors, the people displaced, families broken, and the country failing.
If the country were wealthy and the people strong, her father would not have died for lack of money to see a doctor. She would not have been sacrificed to a mountain god for a single tael of silver, becoming a wild creature in the woods. She did not even know how her mother was faring now. She had once thought that as long as her father didn't die, she wouldn't be an orphan.
But now, the borders of the nation were being trampled by iron hooves. Everyone inside would become an orphan.
Thinking of this for the first time, she felt a sudden, sharp pang of grief.
Murong Yan reached out and closed the musician’s eyes. He stood and looked at Wen Qi. "The Great General has not protected Great Yan well."
Wen Qi, the warrior of over a decade, lowered his head in silence.
Someone nearby said, "Second Highness, your sleeve is stained with blood."
Murong Yan didn't even look. "It is the blood of a brave man. Let it stay; Great Yan has very little of it left."
With those words, he turned and left. Zuo Canglang looked back to see Wen Qi still standing by the corpse, his silhouette lonely and desolate.
The next day, the King of Yan ordered the Crown Prince to conscript five hundred beauties to accompany Zhu Wenqing’s party to West Jing. Upon hearing the news, the commoners scrambled to marry off their daughters. For a time, the demand for men in Great Yan far exceeded the supply. The five hundred beauties proved difficult to gather.
In desperation, Crown Prince Murong Ruo ordered that all women of age, regardless of marital status, be seized for selection. The entire city of Jin'yang was filled with the sound of weeping.
On the day Zhu Wenqing’s party left Jin'yang, the citizens gathered in silent crowds. Five hundred women of Yan had their arms bound with ropes, linked together in a long chain. They passed the Southern Colonel’s Camp, went by the Martial Temple, and exited through the Dry West Gate. Soldiers drove them with whips like cattle and sheep as they left Jin'yang.
Murong Yan rode his horse at the rear of the procession. An old man in his sixties grabbed his stirrup and wouldn't let go. "Officer, please, Officer, let my granddaughter go! My son died in the war years ago, and my daughter-in-law remarried. She’s all I have left..."
As he wailed, many behind him began to cry out as well. "Officer, my child is still nursing! He'll starve to death without his mother! Please, let her go!"
Leng Feiyan and Yang Lianting stood in the crowd but did not step forward. Zuo Canglang went to pull the old man away. He gripped the stirrup so tightly that his hands were cut, leaving a streak of blood on Murong Yan’s stirrup.
The tribute women left the city, gradually fading into the distance. The crying did not cease, echoing throughout Jin'yang. *A journey of a thousand miles to be wed away, never to see one's home again. From this day forth, no news across the horizon, a life like drifting duckweed.*
That night, Murong Yan took Zuo Canglang directly to a private villa in the city. Leng Feiyan and Yang Lianting were drinking; seeing him arrive, they hurriedly rose to greet him.
Murong Yan took the seat of honor and looked at the two youths kneeling on the floor. After a long silence, he said slowly, "Years ago, I gathered three hundred and seventy children from across Great Yan." The three of them were startled. He continued, "Except for A-Zuo, everyone else has experienced death. More than any of you, I wished for you to survive, for the saplings to become a forest and live a life of peace. But the Great Yan of today does not lack commoners; it lacks talents who can turn the tide and command the clouds and rain. Great Yan is terminally ill. I took you in not because I wanted to save people, but because I wanted to save a nation, a dynasty."
The three of them looked on in shock. Murong Yan said, "I have made myself clear. If you still harbor resentment over this matter tonight, you may leave."
No one stood. Leng Feiyan asked softly, "By saying this, does Master intend to strive for the throne?"
Murong Yan said, "Currently my power is weak; I should not harbor such thoughts. But since ancient times, whether one fights for the supreme seat is often not up to the individual. I can only say that if that day truly comes, I will grant you an era of peace and prosperity!"
*An era of peace and prosperity.*
The three children were all orphans, gathered by Murong Yan from various places when they were on the brink of death. Out of three hundred children, these three were chosen. If not for a Great Yan in such decline, who would choose to wander the streets?
A strange light flickered in the youths' eyes. Murong Yan smiled. "I give my word, as solemn as three cups of wine."
Leng Feiyan kowtowed. "Feiyan is willing to serve Master. Master will surely become a brilliant ruler of Great Yan."
Yang Lianting’s expression was solemn. "If not for corrupt officials, the Yang family would not have been executed to the last man. Lianting is incompetent, but I wish to reclaim our mountains and rivers and support a sage ruler."
The three youths bowed solemnly. *Reclaim the mountains and rivers, support a sage ruler. Wash the flowers and hone the sword, never forgetting the original intent.*
Murong Yan’s expression gradually turned solemn as well. He lightly stroked the tops of their heads, his touch gentle and full of compassion.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 贡女 | Tribute Women | Women sent as tribute to a suzerain state. |
| 朝天犼 | Heaven-facing Hou | Mythical creatures (Hou) placed on pillars, often associated with watching over the monarch. |
| 温帅 | Commander Wen | A respectful address for General Wen Qi. |
| 长定殿 | Changding Hall | "Hall of Eternal Stability," a banquet hall in the palace. |
| 葛天氏之乐 | Music of the Ge Tian Clan | Music attributed to the legendary ancient ruler Ge Tian. |
| 总禽兽之极 | The Ultimate Gathering of Beasts | A movement title used here as a double entendre to insult the envoys. |
| 朱炆清 | Zhu Wenqing | The full name of the West Jing envoy (Lord Zhu). |
| 碧血 | Jade Blood | A literary term for the blood of a martyr or a loyal person. |
| 南校尉营 | Southern Colonel’s Camp | A military location in Jin'yang. |
| 武庙 | Martial Temple | A temple dedicated to gods of war or famous generals. |
| 旱西门 | Dry West Gate | One of the city gates of Jin'yang. |
| 三杯吐然诺 | A promise given over three cups of wine | A reference to a poem by Li Bai, signifying a solemn and unbreakable vow. |
