Chapter 3: A Time of Chaos (III)

Life’s twists and turns are truly strange—sometimes, just a brief glance or moment can influence or even change a person’s entire life.

Li Kuo now stood at a crossroads in his life. Turning left or right, moving forward or backward, could all lead to many unexpected consequences. Months earlier, the incident involving the Luo Shu Jue had caused a huge uproar in Jiangdu. He and his friends disguised themselves as believers and infiltrated the Mahayana Buddhist organization. By following clues, they finally uncovered their secrets during the Ullambana Festival. But just as they were gathering evidence to expose the truth, Wu Jie took action first, orchestrating the tragic massacre at the Ullambana Festival.

Li Kuo vaguely remembered the clear Yu Dai River filled with bloody corpses, believers losing their minds and tearing each other apart, revealing bare bones. Fathers eating their sons, brothers killing each other, husbands and wives turning against one another—it was a veritable hell on earth.

This was undoubtedly a premeditated conspiracy. Perhaps it was the first step taken by the Tibetan monks to divide and weaken the Tang Dynasty. Countless innocent lives were lost that night, carrying various dreams.

What crime did they commit? Why did they have to become sacrifices for Wu Jie and others’ ambitions?

Perhaps the choice was never in their hands from the start…

Fortunately, Cui Yuanshan, the governor of Yangzhou, led troops to arrive in time, dispersing the evil monks and killing many of them, successfully bringing the situation under control. If the army hadn’t intervened, the consequences would have been unimaginable. He eventually obtained that document—a document capable of shaking the Tang Dynasty! It was all orchestrated by the Prince of Yong. Li Kuo never expected that a high-ranking prince of the Tang Dynasty would collude with the Tibetans to seize the throne, sacrificing the interests of the Tang Dynasty.

He intended to take this astonishing secret to Chang’an and report it to the emperor. Of course, it wasn’t for the crown prince. In fact, there was no longer any personal relationship between him and the crown prince. Unless they met in court, he wouldn’t even set foot in the Eastern Palace.

But the Prince of Yong had gone too far. Struggles for power had been common throughout history. Li Kuo wasn’t the kind of person who would cling stubbornly to rules about succession. In his view, the throne belonged to the most capable person, and it always had. But those who sought to seize the throne must possess a broad mind and upright principles.

He who rules over the land commands the four seas and overlooks the entire realm. If such a person is narrow-minded and cruel, wouldn’t it bring suffering to all the people? Moreover, the Prince of Yong, in his quest to seize the throne, didn’t hesitate to ally with foreign tribes and sell the interests of the Tang people to the Tibetans. In his eyes, the lives of the Tang people might as well be as worthless as those of insects. If such a person became emperor, how could the common people survive?

Therefore, no matter how weak the Prince of Yong appeared, he would not let this matter go. It was a matter of principle, and he had no choice.

Just as Li Kuo was about to set off, news of An Lushan’s rebellion arrived! This shock disrupted Li Kuo’s plans greatly and gave the Prince of Yong’s faction a chance to catch their breath.

An Lushan, commanding a large army, had recently captured several cities, showing great ambition to overturn the status quo. In such a critical moment, Li Kuo certainly didn’t want to add more trouble for the emperor. Of course, another important reason he didn’t return to Chang’an at that time was that the emperor already distrusted him. Now that An Lushan had risen in rebellion in Fanyang, returning to Chang’an without the emperor’s permission might provoke the emperor’s sensitive nerves!

He certainly had no intention of rebelling, but who could guarantee there wouldn’t be slanderers in the court comparing him to a second An Lushan? With war raging in Youyan, the emperor must be wary of every military governor along the borders.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one fears ropes for three years—let alone when that snake is An Lushan, whom the emperor himself had raised as a highly obedient subordinate!

Li Kuo’s mind once again flashed with Yang Guozhong’s face, always wearing a sly smile, leaving him filled with melancholy. Although Yang Guozhong had a personal grudge against him, Li Kuo still admired certain qualities of his. Without going into other details, just his repeated warnings to the emperor about An Lushan’s rebellion showed his courage.

Had anyone else the courage to confront the emperor’s most favored general, even if they knew the truth, they would likely pretend ignorance! Whether Yang Guozhong had a personal feud with An Lushan or wanted to use this opportunity to eliminate rivals and establish his absolute authority, at least he made a very important choice.

It was all because the emperor trusted An Lushan’s “loyalty” too much that things had gotten out of control.

“Sigh!”

Li Kuo let out a deep sigh and stood up to head outside.

It was still early; he shouldn’t disturb A Tian!

He had taken only a few steps outside when he bumped into his friend Zhang Yanji, who was rushing over unsteadily.

“Brother Kuo, something terrible has happened! Something terrible!” Zhang Yanji gasped for breath, supporting his waist as he shouted.

“What’s the matter? Speak slowly, don’t rush!” Li Kuo frowned slightly and said calmly. “It’s an eunuch. An eunuch has come to our mansion…” Zhang Yanji spoke between gasps, struggling greatly to finish his sentence: “A messenger from Chang’an has arrived, claiming to carry an imperial edict ordering you by name to go and receive it!” “Oh? It’s not a big deal. Look how worried you are.” Li Kuo thought it was some serious matter, but after hearing this, he merely smiled bitterly, adjusted his clothes, and stepped forward toward the front yard. “Hey, wait, Brother Kuo! Wait first!” Zhang Yanji grabbed Li Kuo and said, “Don’t you wonder why a messenger suddenly appeared at our mansion? Chang’an is at least a thousand miles away from Jiangdu!” Hearing this, Li Kuo also sensed something odd and lowered his voice, “Are you saying this has something to do with Prince Yong, Li Lin?” “You’re not completely stupid!” Zhang Yanji glared at Li Kuo and said, “A while back, you already had a feud with Prince Yong over investigating the salt transport in Jianghuai. Recently, you even openly clashed with him over the Mahayana Buddhism issue. If I were Prince Yong, I surely wouldn’t let you go so easily.” Zhang Yanji was right. Although Prince Yong held the position of Governor of Jingzhou, he lived in Chang’an. With such a stir caused by Li Kuo in the Yangzhou area, Prince Yong must have noticed. If he spread slander before the emperor, it was possible the Tang emperor might indeed punish him! “Now that An Lushan has rebelled, the emperor’s attention is probably focused on suppressing the rebellion. How would he have time to deal with me?” Li Kuo remained calm, smiled slightly, and tried to comfort his friend. “Besides, I’ve been dedicating myself to training troops these days and haven’t even left Yangzhou. Even if Prince Yong tries to slander me, what charge could he possibly bring?” Zhang Yanji shrugged and said, “Ah, Brother Kuo, you’re too naive. The people in the royal family are increasingly ruthless. They don’t need knives to kill. If you lose the emperor’s favor and he decides you’re guilty, even if you’re innocent, he can make you seem like the most vile criminal. But if the emperor has your back, no amount of slander from others can harm you at all!” “Prince Yong must be quite powerful in the court to have so many supporters. We’ve touched upon their core interests this time, so they surely won’t give up easily. With An Lushan just rebelling and the emperor still angry, what if he’s deceived into making some unreasonable decisions at this moment? What would you do, Brother Kuo?”

Li Kuo fell silent for a moment before forcing a wry smile and saying, “But what better option do I have now? Should I just refuse to accept the imperial edict?”
Zhang Yanji pondered for a while before suggesting, “How about I claim you’re seriously ill and not fit to see anyone, so I can send them away?”
“You!”
Li Kuo glared at him irritably. “Do you think this excuse will work no matter what? It’s an imperial edict—even if you have one last breath left, you still have to crawl forward to express your gratitude! Even if that eunuch is cunning enough not to demand I accept it right away, I can’t avoid it forever. What’s meant to happen will happen!”
“But, but what if, what if Prince Yong becomes ruthless…”
Zhang Yanji’s cheeks turned red with frustration as he didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, he remembered many folk tales about tyrannical emperors who listened to slander and sent eunuchs to generals’ residences to order their execution. If the emperor truly acted foolishly and issued such an edict, what could Brother Kuo do?
“Maybe we should send someone to investigate first?”
Zhang Yanji still hadn’t given up and whispered from the side.
“You, stop worrying about it!”
Li Kuo waved his hand. “How could the emperor be that foolish? Besides, is my headquarters really so accessible?”
These words finally calmed Zhang Yanji a bit. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Then I’ll go to the front hall and arrange for three hundred armed men to hide behind the screens. If that eunuch really intends to kill us, I’ll lead my men out and fight to the death!”
Zhang Yanji clenched his fists, speaking slowly and deliberately.
With no other choice, Li Kuo nodded and said, “For now, I’ll go with your plan. But I warn you—unless it’s absolutely necessary, don’t act rashly.”
Zhang Yanji nodded. “Brother Kuo, don’t worry. Don’t you know my character? I’m someone who seeks knowledge, examines carefully, thinks thoroughly, makes wise judgments, and acts with determination. As long as they don’t push me to the brink, we definitely won’t make the mistake of ‘leaving in the cold wind of Yi River, never to return.’” (Note 1)
Note 1: The first sentence is from The Doctrine of the Mean.