Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 737 (2): Painting His Canvas

At first, Tang Wanzhuang found it embarrassing to enter the palace so freely, feeling as if every guard she passed looked at her with peculiar eyes. But now, she was entirely accustomed to it. In fact, she even joked about it with Xia Chichi.

Tang Wanzhuang moved gracefully into the imperial study. Xia Chichi was hunched over her desk, meticulously reviewing documents, her small face scrunched in concentration. She was clearly exhausted.

Tang Wanzhuang sighed inwardly. If the previous emperor had shown even half this level of diligence, no matter how poorly he ruled, the empire would not have fallen into such disarray. Now, the Han dynasty was recovering at an astonishing pace, not just due to the natural course of chaos evolving into order, but also thanks to Xia Chichi’s tireless efforts. She slept no more than two or three hours a day, and sometimes skipped sleep altogether. In the beginning, she had been completely unfamiliar with state affairs, knowing little about governance. But now, she had grown into a highly competent ruler.

If nothing else, her presence alone was commanding. Her steady composure, the sharp glint in her eyes, an aura that sent shivers down the spines of court officials, it was a fusion of a jianghu witch’s killing intent, an icy swordswoman’s piercing coldness, and the majesty of a ruler. Gone was the wild and untamed aura of old; Xia Chichi now exuded the somber and mighty allure of a ruler, albeit with a hint of wickedness.

When Tang Wanzhuang entered, Xia Chichi glanced up briefly before returning to her work. “What brings you running all of a sudden? Here to serve in bed?”

Tang Wanzhuang sauntered forward, casually perching herself on the desk beside her, exuding the air of a seductive courtesan. She responded lazily, as if indifferent, “If it were him sitting here, then yes, I’d serve in bed. You? Get in line. Oh, wait, my mistake, you’ve already had your turn.”

The eunuchs and palace maids nearby averted their gazes, pretending not to hear. A sovereign and minister engaging in such conversation was something that had never been seen in history.

Xia Chichi huffed. “We’re all just his women in the story he writes. You think he wants us to take turns? No, he wants us together. I’m telling you, when it comes to debauchery, he’s an absolute tyrant. If you’re looking for a truly diligent ruler, that would be me, Xia Chichi. A wise minister chooses her sovereign, so shouldn’t you be pledging allegiance to me? Let’s revolt against him together!”

Tang Wanzhuang idly flipped through the neatly stacked documents on the desk, her fingers gliding over the pages as she smiled. “Sorry, but he sent me a private letter. I have no reason to rebel.”

Xia Chichi erupted in fury, “Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Let me see that letter!”

Still smiling, Tang Wanzhuang handed it over. Xia Chichi barely glanced at the heading before exhaling in relief. “A Demon Suppression Bureau carrier pigeon letter. Well, of course he’d send something like that directly to you. What’s the big deal? Besides, you’re not necessarily the only one opening it. To prevent others from reading, he wouldn’t dare write anything too personal about me inside. At most, he probably just fed you a few sweet words.”

Tang Wanzhuang’s expression remained blank.

Sure, that logic made perfect sense, but did she have to be this sharp about it? What was wrong with being a little jealous? Way to kill my good mood, Your Majesty.

Xia Chichi skimmed the letter, her brow knitting tightly together. “Chang’an... Chang’an. So you came to me because...?”

“I want you to reach out to your master. Your cult should have secret communication methods. What do you think about asking her to head to Chang’an? Also, how’s the situation in Jinzhong?”

“An urgent report came in two hours ago. 20,000 shi[1] of grain is currently en route to the capital, and nearly 10,000 shi has already been delivered to Yanmen. Oh, and several thousand warhorses as well.”

“Nearly 30,000 shi of grain and thousands of warhorses!” Tang Wanzhuang inhaled sharply. “From how many families?”

“The venerable butchered the Qiao Clan, and all of Jinbei[2] was thrown into shock. She declared that she expected everyone to submit immediately or she’d exterminate them. The region was thrown into terror, and over a dozen families surrendered, offering these supplies... willingly. Well, if they refused, they knew she would simply slaughter them one by one.”

Tang Wanzhuang opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.

This was indeed the so-called way of the jianghu—direct, effective, and exactly the kind of deterrence that came with having a top-tier expert at one’s disposal.

Jinzhong had no powerful figures of its own, nor had it formed any strong, centralized governance. It had previously been ruled by an alliance of merchant clans, but in essence, they had already pledged allegiance to the northern barbarians. This had left Yanmen Pass isolated and in grave danger.

Thus, the Great Han felt no need to show them any courtesy. In a world where top-tier experts did not abide by conventional rules, this kind of “submission to the barbarians” was meaningless. Vermillion Bird simply rode in alone and cut her way through the region, killing family after family until the entire territory was gripped by sheer terror, forcing them to surrender outright.

Ordinarily, this kind of rule-breaking was unacceptable. If it so came to be, then the enemy could just as easily send a powerful expert into the heart of the Great Han to do the same, and the game would be over for both sides. By that token, even Zhao Changhe’s single arrow across the river was a massive stretch. But Zhao Changhe was, after all, only on the Ranking of Earth. If the enemy had the means, they were welcome to send an expert of relatively the same ranking to retaliate. If they died on Han soil, well, they had been warned.

And as for the Wang Clan... they had been wiped out in an instant. There was no one left to summon a powerful avenger. The demon gods, such as Desolate Calamity, had no interest in avenging them.

But Vermillion Bird was on the Ranking of Heaven, equivalent to a Profound Control Realm demon god. Thus, her actions were a true violation of the unspoken rules. So what made her so confident that she could act like that without retaliation from the northern barbarians?

The answer was simple: the Jin merchants had never openly declared their allegiance to the northern barbarians. Their dealings had always been done in secret. Technically speaking, the Three Jins were still part of Great Xia’s original territory, and any internal conflict within the people of Great Xia fell under the jurisdiction of the Demon Suppression Bureau. What right did external forces have to interfere?

Forget the northern barbarians, even the Li Clan was left speechless. They might have wanted to lend a hand, but how? Were they to send an army? What army could match the terrifying mobility of a top-tier expert who could slaughter at will? Should they send their own experts into Han territory to do the same? But Vermillion Bird had a legitimate reason for her actions. The victims of her massacre had colluded with the barbarians, making her killings justified. What reason could the Li Clan or the northern barbarians use? If they simply chose a random family to massacre, how did they expect to maintain rule over the land afterward?

As for the idea of sending a northern powerhouse to the Central Plains?

It had to be acknowledged that the death of Batu’s uncle—He Lei, formerly ranked seventh on the Ranking of Earth—had left a lingering shadow over the northern barbarians. They were hesitant to send anyone carelessly, because if they lost another expert, it would be an irreparable blow. Not to mention He Lei had even died by Vermillion Bird’s hand, for having offended the Four Idols Cult by bullying the Fire Serpent of Yi...

So unless Bo’e or Timur personally made a move, there was no one who could handle the situation. But did either of them have the time for this? And even if they did, would they really lower themselves to infiltrating the Central Plains for a task so beneath their status? It would be utterly disgraceful.

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Thus, when faced with Vermillion Bird’s blatant jianghu-style rule-breaking, there was not a single effective countermeasure they could employ. In the end, all the Li Clan could do was commission a demon god to stop her.

That demon god was someone everyone knew by now—Hidden Wind.

And the result? A battle between those at the Profound Control Realm, flames blazing across the southern skies. Hidden Wind was even ultimately beaten back by Vermillion Bird, and from then on, she rampaged freely across the Three Jins, facing no further resistance.

Jinbei surrendered at the mere sight of her, Yanmen’s isolation somehow resolved itself, and in the process, they acquired vast stores of grain, alleviating Great Han’s immediate crisis.

Meanwhile, Jinnan[3] outright raised the Li Clan’s banner, aligning itself with Guanlong. Hidden Wind took up residence there, preventing Vermillion Bird from acting too recklessly. If she went too far, she could fall into a trap herself.

And with that, the situation finally settled.

This meant that Vermillion Bird was now very, very free.

The two women locked eyes, both sensing a shared relief. They had someone who could support Zhao Changhe. Yet, at the same time, the situation felt oddly unsettling. It was as if they had just personally arranged for a love rival to be sent straight to his side.

“Whatever.” Xia Chichi tossed the letter onto the desk with a sigh, muttering, “He’s been traveling with that rough, dirt-stained righteous heroine for so long I’m already dying of jealousy. Sending a witch his way to stir up some trouble for them doesn’t sound too bad.”

Tang Wanzhuang did not know how to respond to that and could only keep a straight face. “We’re talking about infiltrating an enemy stronghold here. Don’t talk about it as if it’s just some childish game.”

Xia Chichi rested her chin on her hand. “Well, aside from worrying, what else can we do? Should we sit here brooding and glaring at each other? What’s the point in that? You know, a lot of your past anxieties were self-inflicted. Maybe that look of yours was what made you so attractive to men.”

Tang Wanzhuang shot back, “...And were you thinking of fighting that by disguising yourself as a man?”

Xia Chichi: “?”

The two stared at each other in silence for a long moment before Xia Chichi finally sighed. “If we really want to put his mind at ease, we should focus on what he mentioned in the letter. We should start on improving paper-making and printing techniques, as well as refining Bashu’s land redistribution policies. We need to figure out how to implement these reforms on our side. It all seems pretty complicated. That said, I don’t have any objections to these things, but your Tang Clan...”

Tang Wanzhuang said calmly, “At the founding of a new dynasty, the world is a blank canvas. This is the easiest time to reshape it. We cannot let a handful of old families hinder progress. He used to say that this jianghu, this world, disappointed him, and I am willing to stand by him as he shatters the past and paints the future in his own vision.”

1. The 石 (stone) is a volume unit last standardized to 100L or 26.4 gallons, but we think this refers to the shi unit used during the Tang dynasty, when it was equivalent to about 60L or about 16 gallons. ☜

2. This is simply the northern part of the Three Jins or the state of Jin. ☜

3. [ref]This is the southern part of the Three Jins. ☜