Volume 5, Chapter 12 – Ripples (Two-in-One)

After amusing herself, the woman took up her sword and went into the small courtyard, lowering herself into the hot spring pool.

A soft sound came through the drifting white mist.

The woman frowned. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother me—”

“And yet, under the dignity of a Regent, you go and do something so furtive.” But a soft, sweet female voice came from above. “My dear Highness, how much of a stir do you think it would cause if word of this got out?”

“You…” Startled, the woman in the water looked up and caught sight of a graceful female official in dark robes standing by the poolside. Delight immediately appeared on her face.

“Fang Wenya?”

“If you’re supposed to be at home with your father working on the Xia Profundities, how did you find time to come here?”

“Because Old Master Bai gave the order, of course.” Fang Wenya curled her lip, a trace of grievance finally showing in her tone.

“Oh?” Bai Zhuqing, the woman in the water, narrowed her eyes. “So you’re here on someone else’s orders, to keep watch over me?”

“Not at all.” Fang Wenya lowered her brows and did not take the bait. “With Master Xiang absent, in this enormous Xiajing, who could possibly keep Your Highness in line?”

“You’ve come at just the right time.” Using the water mist for cover, Bai Zhuqing rose to her feet. Before Fang Wenya could get a full look at her, she had already thrown her phoenix robe over herself again. “I’ve got quite a pile of trivial matters stacked up. Xiao Tao can’t handle them alone. You can go help her.”

So I came here of my own accord to do odd jobs, did I?

The skin at Fang Wenya’s cheek twitched.

Still, she was not unwilling. On the contrary, one might say this was making the best use of what she had. The entire Fang family was practically relying on this job of hers doing odd work.

After ten years of turmoil, Fang Wenya had matured a great deal as well.

In her early years, her wish had been to study hard, come to the capital, and become an official. She had thought that if others could do it, then so could she, and she had dreamed of becoming a great Confucian scholar who would assist in governing the state.

Later, Fang Xiaochun had told her the truth. He said she simply was not cut out for it. No matter how well she buried herself in books, without any backing to protect her, once she entered court, no one would give her any face at all.

At the time, Fang Wenya had not understood the true meaning of those words. She had taken them to mean only that she had not practiced martial arts or swordsmanship.

It was not until she was recruited into Zhengyuan Palace through old connections to serve as a female official, and had become experienced in handling affairs, that she came to truly understand what her father had meant.

To put it bluntly, no matter how great her ability or ambition, could the rewards from realizing them possibly compare to the Fang family’s merit in backing the rise of the ruling house in this wave of change?

Impossible. Not even close.

So Fang Wenya had come to terms with it.

Ambition was unnecessary.

She would simply be the head of the female officials.

So long as she could keep doing this sort of odd work in Zhengyuan Palace for even one more day, Fang Xiaochun could remain safely at home working on his Xia Profundities.

And the hundreds of officials in the capital would have to pay him visits every so often, sincerely cup their hands, and address him respectfully as Lord Fang.

The two of them went back inside. On the way, Bai Zhuqing described the various matters Xiao Tao had reported earlier. At the end, she glanced at Fang Wenya’s profile and asked, “It has been quite a while since I saw Old Master Fang. Is he still in good health?”

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From her expression to her tone, Bai Zhuqing seemed perfectly casual.

But in Fang Wenya’s eyes, it placed immense pressure on her. She had to take a breath and roll every word around in her mind before daring to answer. “Reporting to Your Highness, my father is still fairly healthy.”

“And how is his work on the Xia Profundities coming along?” Bai Zhuqing showed a trace of curiosity. “I heard more than a year ago that Old Master Fang had entered seclusion to devote himself to scholarship, but I only heard the name Xia Profundities recently. Judging by the title, is he revising the classics and establishing a new doctrine?”

To devote oneself to scholarship meant the study of learning. To “work on” such-and-such generally meant annotating and interpreting the Confucian classics handed down from earlier ages, in other words, what was called the authority to interpret the classics.

As Regent of the Imperial Court, wielding imperial power by proxy for nearly ten years, Bai Zhuqing had naturally accumulated an air of majesty and nobility, but she also understood the importance of the authority to interpret the classics. She was faintly surprised by how tactful Fang Xiaochun had been.

Why was the authority to interpret the classics so important?

Because the very same canon, read according to different schools of thought, could produce conclusions that pointed in completely opposite directions.

That was precisely why every dynasty, in essence, would reinterpret the ancient classics in accordance with the wishes of the ruling class.

Only by using compliant readings of the classics to explain the new changes clearly could one minimize ideological friction and more easily win people over.

Put simply, it meant making the legitimacy of your rule over the realm hold together from a logical point of view.

Given his sensitive identity as an official of the previous dynasty, Fang Xiaochun, even though the Fang family had earned the merit of backing the dragon, still did not dare remain in the halls of the new regime for fear of suspicion. In his early years he had found an excuse to retire home, pushing only his daughter Fang Wenya forward to work.

That alone had already shown considerable political wisdom, yet a few years later he had begun constructing an entirely new interpretation to shore up Eastern Xia’s legitimacy.

The title Xia Profundities already said everything.

The old man really knew what he was doing.

Bai Zhuqing sighed inwardly.

Then she sighed for real.

If only every important minister at court were like Fang Xiaochun.

In the past, Bai Zhuqing had never understood why she always saw such a dense air of loneliness on Bai Xiang.

Only after taking over the post of Regent, which was practically that of an acting emperor, and finding that every detail of the fourteen provinces of Eastern Great Xia, great and small alike, had to pass through her hands, did she finally understand that decision-making required not only calculation, but the courage to bear responsibility.

Military affairs, administration, livelihoods, legislation… among all those messy branches of governance, people always had different opinions, and someone could always raise a suggestion that seemed better.

So how was she to tell them apart?

How was she to judge which were sincere and which were mere performance?

And even after she judged them, how was she to express her own view? How was she to refute the opinions below in such a way that, once the plan was carried forward, most people would still be satisfied?

It was a profound art.

Fortunately, Xiang Xian had taught her at the beginning, and she herself had been eager to learn. Through the Jade Spirit Mingxin Method, she constantly simulated “What choice would Elder Sister make at a time like this?” and at last she had acquired a bit of mastery.

If one were to ask what Bai Zhuqing most admired about Bai Xiang now, the first thing would naturally be Bai Xiang’s unparalleled and nearly timeless talent in qi methods.

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But immediately after that came Bai Xiang’s way of thinking.

Bai Zhuqing especially envied her elder sister’s ability to judge the currents of an age. Looking back over the trail of bloodshed Bai Xiang had carved in her rise, she found that in many cases, one’s first reaction was that Bai Xiang had gone mad, that “wasn’t this a little too much?”

But on closer analysis, the subtlety within became clear. It was as though she had deliberately chosen a certain moment and pushed right up to the red line, venting her own will to the utmost while leaving the other side unable to fully turn hostile.

She had not thought so back then, but looking at it now, that too was an unprecedented kind of political wisdom…

“Your Highness, at tomorrow morning’s court session, Chancellor Zhang is proposing that we invoke the Sacred Cicada.”

Just as Bai Zhuqing was lost in thought, Fang Wenya, who was sorting documents at the desk nearby, suddenly looked up and reported the news.

“Is he the only one?”

Bai Zhuqing lifted a teabowl and took a sip of water. Hearing that, she did not even raise an eyebrow.

“There is also Lord Tao Ran and Lord Liu Fanghe.”

“Is that so.”

Bai Zhuqing’s brows drew together slightly.

The Eastern Xia Imperial Court had indeed been established. But if one were to ask whether its internal systems and hierarchies had become particularly meticulous, then in truth they still fell short of the previous Yao Yu dynasty.

The reason was simple: there had not been enough time.

As always, the same thing held true. For an individual, ten years was long. For a nation, ten years was far too short.

Beyond the borders lay demonic disasters and a Federation casting covetous eyes over them.

Within the realm were traitors and schemers, who outwardly submitted but inwardly gave their hearts to Northern Yu.

Once the Bai family came to power, they purged much of the old dynasty’s remaining strength. At the same time, in order to correct the collapse of ritual and music in the final years of Yao Yu, they revised the laws and ritual codes as well.

With a single Shenming Sword, Bai Zhuqing could directly grant court officials qi-method power beyond their own cultivation. The Bai family used this to strengthen central authority, and naturally that struck at the core interests of the local great clans that had entrenched themselves in the final years of Yao Yu.

These people had never stopped causing her trouble over the past few years, and those same great clans had often sat entrenched in their localities for many years. Even after purging one batch with a heavy hand, their poisonous influence still remained.

It could only be said that luckily there was the Shenming Sword.

Only with the Shenming Sword was there the invoking of the Sacred Cicada.

Only with the Imperial Court Jade Order could the entire Eastern Xia Imperial Court even begin to function in its earliest days.

At first, Bai Zhuqing had actually consulted Aurora and tried to govern the country using the methods of managing a giant corporation.

The initial building of the governing team had been extremely crude. First, she transferred Monk Zhuye, Zhu Canghai, He Xian, and others to guard the palace precincts. Next, she selected people from among her trusted followers, ordering Yu He, Cao Chuan, and the like to rebuild the Demon-Suppressing Directorate and the Military Affairs Directorate. As for the remaining vacancies, she filled them directly by selecting from the various peaks within the circuits. Over these years, those inner disciples had risen meteorically, each gaining the chance to put their ambitions into practice.

But Bai Zhuqing soon realized she could not keep running things like that.

A corporation and a state were different. The former needed only to meet stage-by-stage profit targets. The latter was far more complex.

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She needed enough people, perhaps not as capable as her elder sister, but at the very least somewhat close, who possessed political wisdom and could manage affairs. Yet that missing group could not be provided by any of the groups above.

So she turned to scholarship and education.

She sent Li Sheng and Wang Ran out.

She sent Tao Muyun, Tao Shuohua, and all the rest out as well.

Why were the Nine Prefectures once called the Nine Prefectures, rather than the Nine Circuits?

The most important reason was that, besides the main body of their mountains-and-rivers-ranked dojo, they had also been wrapped in an enormous outer organization called the university.

The chaos of Year One had destroyed a great number of urban structures, and many schools had been ruined or abandoned. People like Liu Yong had even gone close to a full year without being able to return to school and resume their studies. That situation was not normal.

Bai Zhuqing rebuilt those universities.

They could be centered around the peaks within a circuit, and authority could also be delegated to establish new institutions under separate plaques.

She believed that once the foundation of scholarship was properly laid, later selection would come naturally.

It was only that things were still too early. The policy of scholarship had only just begun to show results, and she still had no choice but to rely on certain “meritorious ministers” and “worthy ministers” who had thrown their support behind the new regime after its founding. With every move she made, she had to consider what they were thinking.

There was no helping it, because they too were qi-method subjects.

In Year One, three hundred million qi-method subjects had emerged. It was true that these people revered the Path of Qi, but what they revered was High Emperor Ancestor Xia. What they revered was the Shenming Sword. They did not, from the bottom of their hearts, revere her, this so-called Imperial Court Regent.

Strictly speaking, Bai Zhuqing and those people were of the same status. They were all qi-method subjects.

Her authority and majesty came only from the Shenming Sword and her position. It was only because of her kinship with High Emperor Ancestor Xia that some of them were willing to honor her and respect her.

But what if that claim were to disappear?

It was hard to say whether some people would start entertaining crooked thoughts.

From that angle, this latest proposal centered around the Shenming Sword was, in essence, an attempt to dismantle the sacredness and legitimacy of her position as Imperial Court Regent.

Once there was a first time, there would be countless times after that.

If in the future they could use this method again and again to pressure the Imperial Court Regent into employing the Shenming Sword, to use this method to invoke the Sacred Cicada and bestow martial honors, then what need would there be for the Imperial Court Regent at all?

Zhang Yu… he was the worthy man put forward by the Zhang family of Hebei. Because he handled affairs with steadiness and his thinking was meticulous, he had been elevated and appointed chancellor. Now he oversaw the many offices of the central Privy Council and could indeed be said to direct the court and government.

If it were only him, that would be one thing. But Tao Ran and Liu Fanghe, one was the current Grand Inspector, and the other was the Grand Commandant of the Military Affairs Directorate. Under Yao Yu, they would have stood alongside Zhang Yu as the Three Excellencies.

What sort of weight did it carry in ancient times when the Three Excellencies proposed the same matter at court?

Except for a very few special cases, most emperors would probably have dared not slight it. They would have had to examine it carefully, and in all likelihood would have nodded and approved it.

Bai Zhuqing’s gaze gradually turned cold.

Earlier, pressed hard by certain people, she had been forced to confer a posthumous title upon her elder sister.

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Though she had later used the influence of that matter to lure those people into revealing themselves, and with the help of her senior master had cleaned them all out in one sweep, she had not expected that way of thinking to be like spring grass: after cutting down one batch, another would rise.

Very well.

She took the document Fang Wenya handed her.

I’ll just see what they are really up to.

…

At the same time, in an estate residence in the southern outskirts of Xiajing, two officials around forty years old were strolling through a courtyard while they talked.

One of them, a graying man, said, “The voidfiend army is showing signs of moving south. It is hard to say whether Northern Yu is secretly manipulating this.”

“Lord Zhang.” The other official, who was also beginning to show his age but looked somewhat younger overall, asked, “Since Year One, many of the great clans have gone north with the Yao family. I heard they enthroned Northern King Yao Sheng as emperor, but wasn’t he back then… How could he have the ability to direct the movements of the voidfiends?”

“A few years ago, the voidfiends absorbed the remnants of Blood Soul Heaven. Do not treat them as mindless beasts lacking intelligence,” said the white-haired man.

“To understand this matter, you have to trace it back to before Year One. At that time, the members of the Yao family were contending among themselves, and no one thought much of Yao Sheng’s prospects.”

“But he received the recognition of Jiuli.”

The white-haired man’s expression turned grave as he said this.

“That is to say… the very thing Blood Soul Heaven searched half the western desert for back then and still failed to find.”

“I take this as a sign. It means that the ravaging of the voidfiends may only be the beginning.”

What did that mean?

If the ravaging of the voidfiends was only the beginning… then what came after would…

The official beside him was deeply shaken after hearing this. He truly had not expected that such an inner layer of the matter lay hidden beneath the surface.

“It is still too early for us to be thinking about such things now.”

The white-haired man shook his head lightly.

“Eastern Xia is a good place. What makes it good is precisely what makes it too idealistic. It is destined not to endure for long.”

“Yes.” Hearing that, the other official immediately nodded.

“So we too must make our plans early, and not let the flourishing age of qi methods go to waste.”

“Enough of that.” The white-haired man smiled.

“Tomorrow, remember what I said. Fix the southern advance of the voidfiends as a certainty.”

“First bring the Sacred Cicada out.”

“As for what comes after, we can plan it slowly.”