Book 56 Chapter 2: History of Blood

Translator: Foxs' Wuxia

Song Que strode forward, he continued to advance in the boundless snowy night, as if he had no specific destination, even more, it was as if he had completely forgotten the life and death decisive battle against Ning Daoqi.

Talking like they were having a casual chat, he said, "If you are unwilling to let go of everything, your life will become an arduous and unrewarding undertaking where you have no rest until you die, because that is something that is beyond everyone's power to reach. Tell me, if you are unwilling to let Shang Xiufang go, what will be the consequences?"

Running after him by his side, Kou Zhong was taken aback, he said, "Naturally I will lose Zhizhi, but Fazhu's situation was different back then, you did not have to make a choice."

Smiling wryly, Song Que said, "What's the difference? I can only choose between the way of the saber and Fan Qinghui. Supposing she left Ci Hang Jing Zhai and came with me, I dare say that Ol' Song would not have this kind of achievement today. Apart from the saber, there is nothing else. To achieve this realm, there is a price to pay, and it is an extremely ruthless price. Her political view and mine are also running in the opposite direction. If we really walk together, one of us must change, but I definitely am unwilling to change my belief. Therefore, from the start, we know that there won't be any outcome."

Kou Zhong was speechless.

Song Que cast a glance at him, he spoke heavily, "These several decades, all along I did not dare to think about her. Do you understand that kind of feeling? Missing someone is indeed too painful, while I have to be free of distractions to focus on the way of the saber, in order to deal with the situation like the one before our eyes. I am not talking merely about Ning Daoqi, although he is one of the situations, but I am talking about the entire situation in the world. Training saber is refining the heart, do you understand? Without a touching past, how could you obtain a touching saber technique?"

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, "Is Fazhu in extreme pain right now?"

Song Que reached out to put his hand on Kou Zhong's shoulders, he sighed and said, "You, this kid's comprehension makes me, Song Que, cannot but cry, 'Marvelous!' Today is the first time in twenty years that I am thinking about her without any reservation, hence you feel strange that I sat alone in the Shao Shuai Mansion's inner hall."

Without waiting for Kou Zhong's answer, he removed his hand from Kou Zhong's shoulder and held both hands behind his back. Continuing to stroll, he raised his face to the wind and the snow descending to its final destination, and said with a smile, "When she was young, Fan Qinghui's beauty was hard to believe; even staring blankly at her, one would still find it hard to believe that there was such a character in the mortal world. In this respect, Shi Feixuan quite obtains her handed-down teachings. Indeed that is the current appearance of cultivating the 'Ci Hang Jian Dian' [sword canon] immortal transformation. If I am not mistaken, Shi Feixuan has ascended to the Heart of the Sword Brightly Lit realm, which is more spiritual than Qinghui's heart, she is one notch superior."

Kou Zhong clapped his hands and exclaimed, 'Wonderful!' He said, "Fazhu's description is really apt. Nothing is more apt in describing Shi Feixuan's unique personality traits than 'immortal transformation' two words.

Song Que met his gaze, tranquil and calm, he said, "Don't look at the 'immortal transformation', two words from the perspective of making idle remarks about a woman's appearance [idiom]. There is much mystery-within-a-mystery, profound meaning within it. The Taoist and Buddhist, two schools, whether to become immortal or to become a Buddha, there is no difference in purpose, which is the belief that life is not limited to this. 'Ci Hang Sword Canon' is the wonderful book created by the Buddhist in order cultivate the heavenly law [tian dao, lit. the way of the heaven] via the sword way [jian dao]. It gives me great inspiration. When the way of the saber reaches its peak, it should transcend life and death, even to reach becoming immortal and becoming a Buddha realm."

Severely shaken, Kou Zhong said, "I understand! In fact, what Fazhu pursues is no different from the goal of Qinghui Zhaizhu's cultivation. Fazhu gave up the opportunity to become immortal husband and wife with her, which is the same situation as she persevering in the cultivation."

Shaking his head, Song Que said, "There is a fundamental difference between us, which is I don't care about the transcendence of life and death. I just try to explore and forge ahead on the way of the saber with all my strength. I especially reminded you that Shi Feixuan has reached the Heart of the Sword Brightly Lit realm, it was so that you will be on guard, because she is one of the few people who has the qualification to defeat you."

Recalling Shi Feixuan's challenge to him in Chengdu, Kou Zhong could only smile bitterly with nothing to say.

Song Que's eyes were fixed straight ahead, his steps did not stop, apparently he was sinking into the depths of the distant memory of the past events, holding nothing back.

Clump after clump of spotlessly white, non-stop snowflakes was falling slowly, all around them the forest and the plain were a vast expanse of whiteness, which made people doubted whether it was fantasy or reality.

Kou Zhong still did not know the destination of this trip, everything seemed to be free, without any specific target, and he quite enjoyed this kind off fantastic atmosphere and feeling.

Suddenly he asked, "Fazhu has never fought against Ning Daoqi, so why do you have such confidence of certain victory?"

Laughing involuntarily, Song Que said, "When everyone who is as famous as you, one by one nurse a grievance under your sword, and it happened for several decades, you will also have complete confidence just like Ol' Song, how could Ning Daoqi be an exception? This is not underestimating the enemy at all, but the conviction that has been cultivated through hard work and numerous revisions [idiom: the vicissitudes of life]."

Kou Zhong sighed and said, "But I'm still a little worried. At least Fazhu's frame of mind has changed because of Fan Qinghui, I'm afraid it would be hard to face Ning Daoqi in optimum condition."

Song Que nodded his head in agreement; he said, "You have this thought, it is indeed not simple, you have reached the down-to-the-smallest-detail realm. Qinghui perseveres in her own beliefs, she does not hesitate to use Ning Daoqi to deal with Ol' Song, it indeed breaks my heart, but I don't blame her at all, on the contrary, it increased my respect for her, because when she made this decision, it might be more unbearable to her than to me."

Kou Zhong said, "Perhaps it was just Shi Feixuan's idea."

Song Que shook his head and said, "While Shi Feixuan knew the relationship between Qinghui and me clearly, if she did not have Qinghui's consent, she would never dare to use Ning Daoqi, this one last move."

After a short pause, he continued, "The barrier that prevented me and Qinghui from being together, apart from each of us have different beliefs and ideals, it was also because I had a marriage contract. This marriage contract was extremely important to the development of my Song Family in Lingnan, a bit like you and Yuzhi's situation. So, you should understand why I put my family and clan at the highest position. What I am waiting for is the opportunity to unify the world and promote our Han people's unification before our eyes. That is more important than any love between men and women. No matter who wins or loses in this battle, you must press on."

Kou Zhong said, "Since Fazhu takes persevering with Han people's unification as your responsibility, why doesn't Qinghui Zhaizhu support you?"

In the mood to chat, Song Que said, "This aspect is really hard to explain in a few words, are you interested in knowing?"

Kou Zhong nodded and said, "I am extremely curious!"

The wine shop waiter lighted the lanterns and candles on the walls inside the shop for them. Under the warmth of the flickering flames, the full-of-beard-and-whisker-across-his-face, his-appearance-imposing-and-strange Fu Qian swallowed a mouthful of wine, his gaze on the wine inside the cup, he spoke slowly, "Speaking about this matter, I must start forty years ago, when Yang Jian [first Sui Emperor (541-604), reigned 581-604] forced Jing Di [Emperor Jing] of the Zhou Dynasty [Northern Zhou, 557-581, one of the Northern Dynasties] to abdicate. The Northern Zhou had always had close relationship with the Tujue, the thousand-jin [or a thousand catties of gold, (honorific) daughter] princess of the Northern Zhou Dynasty married the Tujue Khan Shabalu, her hatred toward her dynasty being usurped by Yang Jian was running deep, therefore, she continuously incited Shabalu to avenge and restore her Northern Zhou Dynasty. And when Yang Jian changed his policy to appease the previous dynasty, he did not consider the Tujue to be worthy in his eyes. Therefore, driven by these internal and external factors, from time to time the Tujue invaded the borders, so Yang Jian had no choice but to reinforce the defense along the border, repair the Great Wall and build forts, as well as station massive military force and great generals in You and Bing, two prefectures. During these periods of tension, a key figure, Zhangsun Sheng, appeared."

Frowning, Xu Ziling repeated, "Zhangsun Sheng?"

Fu Qian nodded and said, "It was indeed Zhangsun Sheng. As far as I know, this person was most probably Zhao Deyan's Shifu. He received order from the Northern Zhou's Emperor to escort the thousand-jin princess to marry the Tujue. On the one hand, he fanned the flames in Tujue and colluded with Shabalu's younger brother, Chuluo; on the other hand, he returned to the Central Earth to gain Yang Jian's trust, offering a scheme to sow dissension and split apart the Tujue. Because he had been outside the Great Wall for a long time, he had deep knowledge of the situation between the various Tujue tribal chiefs; he was even able to draw a topographic map of the mountains and rivers outside the Great Wall. Greatly delighted, Yang Jian accepted the overall strategy, he separately contacted Tujue's two most powerful little Khan, Datou and Chuluo, which ultimately led to the split of the Tujue into the Eastern and Western, two khanates. Also, Shijue [sic, I suspect it's a typo, but I am not sure, since he was talking about so many foreign tribes] people continuously invaded your distinguished country, looting and killing, while the defense forces were unable to fight back, and thus hatred was planted, and now no one can change it, only if one side is extinguished would the flames of war be extinguished as well."

Xu Ziling said, "I'll have to ask for further direction from Fu Xiong, Kou Zhong and I did not know anything about what happened during Yang Jian's time, we never thought that there was this kind of shift in the trend of events within this matter, the demonic school people are really formidable; there was Zhangsun Sheng in the past, and then there are Shi Zhixuan and Zhao Deyan now, using crafty plots and machinations to manipulate the development of the situation. May I venture to ask Fu Xiong, what kind of situation is your distinguished country Tuyuhun is in now?"

The murderous intent in Fu Qian's pair of eyes flaring greatly, he spoke heavily, "The enemy posing the most direct threat to us is the Western Tujue; since Tongyehu succeeded the throne, the Western Tujue's national power is increasing greatly. Tongyehu has Yun Shuai's help, himself is adept in both civil and military, plus he is both brave and scheming, prevails in every battle, and he has great ambitions. Although temporarily he maintains a friendly relation with us, it is only because it is beneficial to his operation to annex Tiele, so much so that he is willing to secretly form an alliance with Li Jiancheng, in order to join hands with the Tang to launch pincer attack toward Xieli. If the Great Tang is able to unify the world, Xieli certainly has no crack that he could exploit. However, Kou Zhong rising abruptly has given Xieli an opportunity that he can exploit. If I am not guessing incorrectly, in the short term, Xieli will join hands with Tuli on a large-scale invasion to the south. The towns, counties, villages, and cities that have been trampled by the Wolf Army can forget about having one roof remain intact."

Recalling the war of attrition tactics that the Tujue Wolf Army was using, Xu Ziling's heart sank straight down to the bottom, he could not help asking, "Tongyehu is colluding with Li Jiancheng, but why did Fu Xiong spread the rumors that the Western Tujue are colluding with Li Shimin?"

Fu Qian stared fixedly at him for half a fay, he spoke in astonishment, "Isn't Li Shimin Ziling's enemy now? How come the tone of your voice unexpectedly imply blame?"

Xu Ziling said, "Maybe because I have never thought that Fu Qian Xiong would use this kind of trick."

Smiling wryly, Fu Qian said, "When you are surrounded by powerful enemies watching you, whether your country exist or perish is under threat, in order to struggle for survival, anyone would commit all manner of crimes [idiom: completely unscrupulous] to deal with the enemy. Supposing the collusion with the Western Tujue creates something from nothing, it would be absolutely useless. However, there is truth in rumors, it could produce subtle effect, it could both make Li Jiancheng suspicious of everybody, and make Xieli to be on his toes. Furthermore, it could split apart the Li Clan's internal unity; toward Shao Shuai Army, it would only bring benefit without any harm."

Xing Mofei added, "I wonder if Xu Ye have ever considered, if Xieli's grassland allied armies invade the Central Earth, what kind of situation it will lead to?"

"Please give directions," Xu Ziling said.

Xing Mofei said, "As long as Xieli can obtain a stronghold in the Central Plains, Tongyehu will have no choice but to come to the Central Plains to have a slice of the pie, in order to prevent Xieli from attacking Chang'an. His power will grow, and then from outside the Great Wall and west of the Pass, he will launch separate attack toward Xieli; at that time he will be in an inferior situation where he will take a beating from the enemy on both sides. This is precisely the reason why Li Jiancheng and Tongyehu are together from the first beat [idiom: hit it off]. Although Li Jiancheng has always had secret collusion with Xieli, on the one hand, he is afraid of Xieli's power, while on the other hand, he wanted to borrow his power to deal with Li Shimin, yet he is not unaware of Xieli's ambition of the wild wolves [idiom: rapacious designs], hence he is hoping to use Tongyehu to control Xieli, but this is akin to showing the wolf into the house. If Tongyehu, due to the convenience given by Li Jiancheng, succeeds in growing his roots in the Central Plains, our situation will be in grave danger even more."

Fu Qian joined in, "Taking a step back, if Xieli only loots and then returns to the northern frontier, when Li Jiancheng ascends to the throne, his relationship with Tongyehu will get closer, and Tongyehu will not have any worry about the eastern border, and then after exterminating the Tiele, he will use his full force against us. This is the situation that we don't want to see the most."

Yin Xianhe remained silent, he appeared not to have the slightest bit of interest toward the general trend of the world the three men were discussing.

Xu Ziling, however, was listening with big headache, he obtained further understanding of Shi Feixuan's determination to stop Kou Zhong's invasion of Bashu. Fu Qian understood the situation outside the Great Wall better than Xu Ziling or anyone else in the Central Earth. His anticipation that Xieli would invade the south in the near future surely was not empty words. Furthermore, the present time was indeed the best time for the coalition forces north of the border to invade southward. Internally the Li Tang was split up, although Li Shimin obtained Luoyang, he was caught in the situation where he was facing bitter battle on the two fronts. Li Yuan was simply powerless to resist the coalition forces from beyond the Great Wall led by the wolf army. Remembering the dreadful war of attrition of the Tujue people, coupled with the coveting-on-the-side Tongyehu, the future development was indeed chilling.

Fu Qian said solemnly, "I leaked this information out, maybe Xieli can suspend the invasion of the Central Plains and deal with Tongyehu instead. If Xieli believes that Li Shimin is the one colluding with Tongyehu, he will certainly, via Zhao Deyan, push his demonic school accomplices, who have been controlling Li Yuan, Jiancheng and Yuanji behind the scene - to speed up their efforts to deal with Li Shimin, so this is a strategy to kill two birds with one stone. I sincerely hope that it would be Shaoshuai, and not the Li family, who will unify the Central Plains, so that relying on our friendship, it will be Tongyehu's turn to worry about being exist or perish."

Inwardly Xu Ziling was shocked, but on the surface he did not reveal the emotion in his heart the slightest bit. After all, Fu Qian's ultimate goal was to revitalize the Tuyuhun, even to take the Tujue people' place to become the new hegemon outside the Great Wall. He came to the Central Plains precisely to seek opportunities for his own country. Although his words were beautiful and pleasant to the ear, he felt that Fu Qian was speaking without meaning it.

From Fu Qian's standpoint, the more chaotic the Central Plains the better; it would be best if the East and the West Tujue were trapped in the Central Plains at the same time, fighting endless bloody battles with Li Tang and Kou Zhong, and were unable to escape, so that Tuyuhun would have the opportunity that they could exploit. For Fu Qian, it was understandable that he was acting for his country's best interests, but for Xu Ziling, how could he bear to see such a situation? Hence, for the first time, Xu Ziling was suspicious of Fu Qian's sincerity. Fu Qian distorted the news and spread it out, it would only add fuel to the fire and increase the variables.

Fu Qian laughed and said, "Enough talking about these disturbing things, I haven't had the chance to ask Ziling why you came to Hanzhong? I wonder if you are going to go to Chang'an?"

What Xu Ziling had in mind was that if Fu Qian really leaked the information that Li Jiancheng was in collusion with Tongyehu of the Western Tujue, the effect might be even greater, because how could Xieli dare to neglect this? Maybe he would immediately invade the Central Plains on this side, while on the other side Tongyehu would also attack Bandujinshan's [no idea, perhaps transliteration of some foreign word] tent capital [of a nomadic people], then the danger Li Jiancheng was facing would surely be resolved. Although Li Jiancheng could not send troops to assist Tongyehu, he could give him strong support in weapons and food aspects.

Sighing inwardly, he spoke calmly, "We are going to Chang'an for a quick visit, when our business is done, we will leave immediately."

Fu Qian's pair of bronze bell-like, bright and full of expression - huge eyes flashed with complicated and incomprehensible expressions, but shortly afterwards showed cheerful look, he said happily, "We are just about to go to Chang'an for an official visit to Li Yuan; with my diplomatic group as the cover, Ziling can avoid unnecessary trouble."

In his heart, Xu Ziling pondered about the meaning of the expression showing in Fu Qian's eyes, but on the surface he remained calm and collected; smiling, he declined and said, "We have other things to do before entering Chang'an, it would be more convenient to enter the city separately."

Fu Qian laughed and said, "In that case when Ziling reach Chang'an, you will have to do your best to see Ol' Fu at least once. After our business in Chang'an is done, I hope to meet Shaoshuai to see where we all can cooperate. Come! Let's have a cup, I wish our two countries can coexist peacefully forever and grow into friendly nations."

Song Que led Kou Zhong to the top of a small hill, they swept their gaze far and near, the snow was getting denser and denser, they were like being sealed in a world of ice and snow, where there was nothing else.

Song Que's pair of eyes emitted a look of being intoxicated in the past emotions, he spoke softly, "Qinghui and I both saw from the Wei, Jin, the Southern and Northern Dynasties' long-term break-up moving towards the reunification under the Sui Dynasty's Yang Jian was actually another historical grand occasion following the Warring States toward the reunification under the Qin Dynasty, no other historical event can be compared with it. However, as for whether the world can achieve long-term peace and stability, Qinghui and I have completely different views. Before telling our differences, I must first explain clearly the scope of the differences in our views on why Yang Jian could unify the world."

Kou Zhong felt his vision has been enlarged. No matter from which angle he looked at it, both Song Que and Fan Qinghui were outstanding people worthy of the greatest admiration. Their vision vast, naturally their views and understanding of the past and present governments' chaos, prosperity and decline carried full weight behind it.

Highly interested, he said, "Is there any other reason to support the unification of the world? Whose fist is harder will be able to sweep away and put the other opponents in order."

Blurted out laughing, Song Que said, "Those are the requirements that a hegemon must have, only then will where the water flows, a canal is formed [idiom: when the conditions are right, success will follow naturally]. Just think, if all the people in the world oppose your governance, how are you going to unify the world? If purely based on strong soldiers and sturdy horses [idiom: well-trained and powerful army], no army in the world can surpass the Tujue's Wolf Army, yet you don't see them able to subdue the Central Plains? At most they could only kill and burn, ravage and loot for a while. This is precisely Qinghui's viewpoint, unity must come from the desire of the people, as long as there is someone that can fulfill the people's desire in this respect, he would obtain the support, where the water flows, a canal is formed, the world will be unified."

Kou Zhong nodded and said, "Qinghui Zhaizhu's view is not without any reason."

Song Que spoke indifferently, "Let me ask you a question then, during the final years of the Western Han Dynasty [206 BC - 8 AD], or during the Wei and Jin dynasties [220 - 265 and 265 - 420 AD, respectively], didn't the people at that time yearn for reunification and peace? Why did the two Han dynasties [Western and Eastern Han] evolve into the Three Kingdoms standing like the three legs of a tripod? The Wei and Jin dynasties split into the north and south standing opposite to each other for a long time ..."

Kou Zhong was dumbstruck and unable to reply; scratching his head, he said, "What Fazhu is talking about is an ironclad fact, how come it still cannot change Qinghui Zhaizhu's view?"

Song Que sighed and said, "Qinghui is having this view, there is another deep meaning behind it. Leaving that aside for now, let me tell you some of my personal opinions first."

Kou Zhong accepted willingly, "I'd like to hear the details!" he said.

Revealing a deep-in-thought expression, Song Que spoke slowly, "The reason why the Southern and Northern Dynasties were split for a long time, the problem lay in the 'Disaster of Yongjia' [if you are interested, (only one paragraph) on Wikipedia]. From then on, history has entered the stage of great chaotic warfare among the northern peoples. Xiongnu [people of the Eastern Steppe, around Qin and Han dynasties], Xianbei [or Xianbi, a group of northern nomadic peoples], Jie [ancient tribe of northern China, c. 4th century], Di [ancient tribe, on Wikipedia], Qiang [ethnic group, northwestern Sichuan], various groups permeated the Central Plains like ants attracted to honey, each group established its own territory and government, which, with the animosity among the people, no power could resolve, only the revitalization of one of the clans could solve all problems."

Kou Zhong was shaken, he said, "No wonder Fazhu perseveres with the Han unification, and you also said that the reason Yang Jian was able to obtain the world was the result of the revitalization of the Han dynasty. Now I finally understand what Fazhu was telling me back then."

But something was puzzling him, he asked, "In that case, what is the difference between Fazhu and Qinghui Zhaizhu?"

Song Que's pair of eyes shot a sentimental expression, he smiled bitterly and said, "It lies in the difference of views on the revitalization of Han unification. I look at the whole situation from the standpoint as a Han, but she looks at the situation from the perspective of the big integration of various ethnic groups. What she pursues is a dream, while I only look at the actual situation. This is the fundamental difference between me and her."

Although Kou Zhong was still unable to fully grasp the differences between Song Que and Fan Qinghui, the desolation in the tone of Song Que's voice evoked his longing for Song Yuzhi; from this, he recalled Song Yuzhi's opposition on the Song Family Army of Lingnan's entry into the vortex of contention for the world, which must have had a layer-deeper idea behind it, yet he has never tried to understand it. Precisely this kind of ideological differences that made him unable to obtain her fragrant heart, ever. Momentarily his thoughts in a whirl, he found that his emotions were difficult to bear.