Nirvana In Fire

Perhaps it was irony. As the smell of blood pressed towards them, the weather was bright and clear, the trees were green with new growth, and rays of golden sunlight bounced off them, evoking a feeling of comfort and warmth.

Meng Zhi stood at the front of the imperial guard’s defensive line with his sword, still as a mountain. Born on the battlefield, he knew that when an enemy ten times the number of one’s own is pressing down in throngs, the sense of oppressiveness would be astonishing. Once the soldiers can no longer bear it and succumb to cowardice, they could disperse for a thousand miles anytime, so he had to take the lead in the front, stir up their courage and not lose contact with them for even a split second from the moment they engaged in battle.

Because the mountain was tall and the forests were dense, the roads were narrow and winding. The imperial guards were well-outfitted, their armour and shields strong. The Qingli army could neither use cavalry nor crossbows to clear the way, so their infantry led the way with spears, pointed tips dazzling as they surged forward like a dense forest. A battlecry soared from their ranks, and as they approached, they could hear an officer crying in a loud voice, “Charge! Three taels of gold for every head!”

There were only three thousand troops on the mountain, 9,000 taels of gold to remove their barrier. Prince Yu certainly knew how to strike a deal. But for the soldiers, it was different. Most of them had only used copper in their lifetime, never having received even silver. With this reward, they could return home to buy a small plot of land. Whether or not this was a rebellion, they wouldn’t think too much about it. Anyway, their superiors had issued their orders. Coupled with the promise of such reward, how could they not rush forward desperately?

Faced with an offensive that surged like a huge wave, the imperial guards remained firm as a rock. The frontline bore thick and heavy shields, covering the archers with their crossbows in the second row. Once the rebel army rushed into range, the whooshing sound of feathered arrows could be heard as they were released, not dense, but extremely accurate. As soon as the enemy frontline fell, more surged from the back, and men kept falling to the ground. In this way, the momentum the enemy gained from their large numbers was suddenly broken in several places.

Someone dressed in a general’s attire screamed, “Charge! Charge forward and fight!” He was right. As long as they had numbers on their side, they could pass beyond the range of the arrows to engage in a full contact fight and leverage their military advantage. But as soon as he shouted these words, he had no further opportunity to lead the command, because a black cloaked figure suddenly swept down like a great winged bird, stepped on the heads of the rebel army towards him and with one slashing movement, sent his head flying as his blood gushed out. The mysterious cloaked figure then leapt back to where he came from, his sword carried horizontally against his chest, his visage proud.

In an instance, Da Liang’s top ranking martial arts master had suppressed those present with the force of his blow. The imperial army’s applause was like thunder, as the Qingli army’s frontline was broken and they were unable to advance.

But only for a brief moment. Another general immediately took over, this time standing farther away, working hard to drive the army forward, adding incessantly to their numbers. At the same time, they also replaced them with heavily armoured soldiers. This was very effective in dealing with the rain of arrows, for ew archers were skilled enough to penetrate through the gaps in metal armour. Almost no one fell in the front section, while only a small number fell in the rear section. However, the majority of them continued to rush towards the shield bearers. At this moment, the shield bearers suddenly pulled back and retreated to the rear as the archers turned to one side. A row of swordsmen suddenly appeared from behind them, men highly skilled in martial arts. Their armour was light but sturdy, and their swords thin as ice. Dealing with the heavy armoured soldiers was like cutting through melons. They sliced through unprotected joints, and when they faced the enemy’s occasional counterattack, they easily dodged the slow advance.

In the face of this massacre, the armored soldiers were immediately followed by the light-footed infantry behind them. They were originally appointed as the main attack after the heavily armoured soldiers had dispersed the archers. Although the bloody massacre ahead was terrifying, the archers had already withdrawn, so they began to surge violently forward. Suddenly, the unexpected swishing sound of arrows released were heard again. Meng Zhi had arranged for archers to be hidden in the surrounding trees. After this rapid round of arrows, the Qingli army suffered even greater casualties than earlier.

Just as the rebel army began to panic and retreat, someone shouted, “Don’t be afraid! Charge! They don’t have many arrows!”

Meng Zhi frowned and looked around. After shouting, the man retreated back into the crowd and disappeared under the cover of the forest. At that moment, apart from those in the rear who retreated backwards, the armoured soldiers had been taken care of. The imperial guard withdrew and once again replenished their arrows.

This tug-of-war continued for four hours. The Qingli army’s general eventually decided to cease the attack and wait for nightfall when the arrow attack wouldn’t be as effective. The imperial guard also took the opportunity for a little rest and meal, so it was a stalemate.

When the black wings of night covered the line of sight, the sound of killing could be heard again. The imperial guard’s defense line wasn’t as firm as during the day. The more they fought, the more they retreated. The Qingli army was like a mighty earthquake, and one could say that victory was almost theirs. In the end, apart from Meng Zhi and a few brave individuals still fighting hard, the rest of the guards had more or less run away. To the rebel army, this was like gold walking away. How could they let them go? So they followed close on the heels of the retreating shadows, and as soon as they crossed the ridge, the soldiers in front felt the ground fall from beneath their feet. Before they could react, they fell into a deep trench. The men immediately behind came quickly to a halt, but the rebel army kept surging forward, causing them to fall and roll down one after the other, screaming. The more that came, the more that fell. When they finally stabilized, all they could see ahead of them was inky darkness. Just as they lit a flare intending to have a look, they became targets for the surrounding archers waiting in ambush and had no choice but to retreat until they were out of range, and remained there.

Once the sky turned bright, the commander of the Qingli army couldn’t help but get angry. Although the trench wasn’t narrow, it was definitely not wide. Any normal and healthy man could leap over it with a little momentum. Furthermore, the actual mountain road in this area had a sharp bend. It was piled up with branches and weeds, and in the dark, nobody noticed that turn in the road.

And so the fierce battle began to repeat itself in the day. This time, the Qingli army mobilized 30,000 men. With its overwhelming advantage in numbers, they could deploy their troops in batches, while the imperial guard had no choice but to fight continuously in spite of their fatigue, sometimes not even having the time to drink or eat. Even though they were brave and fierce, they had no choice but to withdraw bit by bit, relying completely on pre-laid traps and changing tactics to resist them.

In the early morning of the third day, the imperial guard had almost withdrawn to the edge of the forest. At this moment, despite their fatigue, they initiated an unexpected counterattack. Caught by surprise, the Qingli army hastily pulled back, temporarily retreating. As soon as this happened, the imperial guard also retreated with great speed, evacuating the forest. When it was clear, a team of archers fired flaming arrows, setting on fire the kindle that they had earlier arranged around the forest. The mountain wind was strong, and it didn’t take long to form a ring of fire that spread rapidly.

Outside the forest was a mountain stream about 50 (chinese) feet wide. It had a strong flow of water and formed a natural divider against the wall of fire, so they weren’t afraid that the fire would spread upwards to the hunting palace.

Mei Changsu stood on the high platform outside the hunting palace, staring at the thick smoke and increasingly fierce fire rising from the forest, his pale face calm and expressionless.

“Mister Su,” Lie Zhanying rushed over, panting for breath, his face covered with ash, “The imperial guards now number 1,300. Including the guards from the various households, that will be a total of approximately 2,000 men. The Commander General would like to suggest that everyone retreats into the hunting palace and has instructed me to seek Sir’s opinion.”

Mei Changsu nodded. “That’s the right move. The hunting palace is surrounded by open and grassy slopes, impossible to defend, so there is no need to set up defences. Retreating into the hunting palace is our best option.

“Yes.” Lie Zhanying replied as he stretched out his neck to look at the fire in the distance. “Although it’s spring time, look at the fire. As long as it doesn’t rain, it’ll burn for two nights and a day. It’s too bad that these are royal gardens and have been well-kept, so there is no accumulation of leaves to set the whole forest on fire and can only set on fire the parts that are easily accessed. But even if that group of rebel army managed to retreat in time and avoided being burnt alive, there is no clear path for them. There are steep slopes on both the north and south sides. Some rolling logs can crush them to death. On the east is another mountain top. They can only wait till the fire abates before going round to climb up. The earliest they would be able to get to the stream is tomorrow night.”

“I’m afraid if His Highness doesn’t make it back tomorrow….” Mei Changsu said faintly, “The imperial guard is already worn out, while the Qingli army is still at least 10,000 strong. We cannot possibly continue to wage war in the forest. Take advantage of the respite tonight. Apart from the sentries, everyone should make full use of this time to rest.”

“The Commander General has already made arrangements for the rest shift,” said Lie Zhanying when he suddenly remembered something. “Oh, that’s right, when I was making my way over, I happened upon Concubine Jing’s maid. She was delivering a medicinal soup for restoring qi to Mister Su’s room.”

“Ng.” Mei Changsu acknowledged softly, then wrapped his cloak tightly around him and turned around to walk off the platform. At this time, almost everyone had moved into the hunting palace. It was very crowded for a while, but under the circumstances, nobody was in the frame of mind to grumble about the living conditions. Everyone’s face was drawn taut, their complexions as sallow as clay.

During this time, Concubine Jing demonstrated her calmness and penchant for order. There was no sign of chaos in the hunting palace thus far due to her arrangements and mediation. The princes were summoned into the Emperor’s Qin Hall to accompany him, firstly to make space for the other members of the imperial clan and accompanying court officials, and secondly, so that they can keep the Emperor calm by engaging him in conversation. Because Prince Jing wasn’t around, the men from his household stood in the battle. After Concubine Jing received permission from the Liang Emperor, Mei Changsu was also summoned in, with Foya following on his heels, but Fei Liu was sent to Meng Zhi’s side.

After what seemed like a suffocating day and night had passed, the rebel army was once again sighted from the hunting palace at dusk on the fourth day. The fierce battle this time was different from the previous few days, because they were too close now, so close that those in the palace could almost smell the blood. Against wave after wave of the rebel army’s attacks, the imperial guard, which had run out of arrows, tightened their frontline, defending each door by door, each step by step. Because these were the most elite troops of the most elite team personally trained by Da Liang’s number one martial arts master, and because the courage to fight to the last man ran in their veins, they fought on till late night, and the rebel army was only able to penetrate to the outermost auxiliary pavilion.

“Haven’t reinforcements from the capital arrived yet?” The Liang Emperor muttered these words as he listened to the battle cries outside. It was unclear if he was speaking to someone or to himself.

Actually, by this time he already understood that although he had sent his most trusted personal bodyguard to the capital to gather reinforcements, although he had received a message that the bodyguard had successfully concealed himself from the rebel army and made his way out, reinforcements will not arrive from the west.

“Your Majesty, please rest assured. Jingyan will be back in time.” Concubine Jing comforted him with a soft voice, holding on to the old emperor’s trembling hand. To avoid calling themselves out as targets, only a few dim lamps were lit in the room, the dim light making the faces look even more pale. Prince Huai, who was the most timid by nature, could no longer withstand it and was curled into a ball, his voice trembling as he said, “If they break through, would they really dare to…..touch us?”

“Shut up!” The Liang Emperor shouted angrily, trying his best to maintain his royal composure, not willing to reveal his nervousness in front of the rest. “How is the rebel army going to break through? I have faith in Meng Zhi and I have faith in Jingyan!”

In the wake of this outburst, the room was silent, making the battle cries coming from outside even more piercing, and the smell of blood more pronounced.

Foya suddenly raised his head in a long howl, causing the people in the hall, whose nerves were already stretched taut, to jump in fright.

The Liang Emperor shouted in anger, “What kind of beast is this? How did it get in?”

Mei Changsu gently stroked Foya to calm down the wildness aroused by the smell of blood as Concubine Jing smiled and said, “Your Majesty, be at ease. This is Jingyan’s battle wolf. Even though he’s not here, he has left this wolf behind to guard Your Majesty in his stead.”

“Oh?” The Liang Emperor’s anger immediately changed to delight. “Can this wolf kill the enemy?”

“Yes. With it standing in front of Your Majesty, who would dare to approach?” Concubine Jing’s quiet and calm smile relieved the tension in the hall at just the right moment. Under Mei Changsu’s hand, Foya gradually calmed down, only his ears remained standing alertly upright.

However, as the night descended, it became less and less calm. Even though the imperial guard’s retreat was slow, they were still retreating step by step. Everyone in the hall was well aware of this.

“Haven’t the reinforcements arrived yet?” This time it was Prince Ji who couldn’t help asking. “The hunting palace is the last line of defence!”

“No, it’s not.” Mei Changsu’s calm, ice-cold voice rang through the hall at this moment. “If they break through the palace gates, there’s still the door to this hall. If they break through that, there’s still our own bodies. As long as there’s still breath in our bodies, we will not fall.”

His manner of speaking was so cold that Prince Ji was struck with terror, and the Liang Emperor’s gaze leapt towards him.

Mei Changsu turned around and faced the Emperor. “Your Majesty also has a sword by your side, right?”

His penetrating gaze aroused in the Emperor the tumultuous feelings of his youth. His fingers tightened, and he grabbed the sword by the side of the throne, but even though he stared at it for a long time, he couldn’t unsheath it. Concubine Jing slowly got up. With a stretch of her hand, she brought the point of the sword to her eyes, and a chill reflected in those autumn waters.

“Your Majesty, please give this sword to your concubine. Your concubine is willing to be Your Majesty’s last line of defence.”

Afterthoughts:

Wow! Fight scenes are really difficult to translate! There’s so much visual detail that I’m afraid there were some descriptions that I had inadvertently either translated wrongly or left out, and so for this, I apologize! But I really enjoyed reading this and the previous chapter. Even though the drama was visually stunning in its battle scene, they could only include so much. I don’t recall the night scene in the drama nor the forest fire (I probably need to watch it again!), so reading about it here was like another insight into Xiao Shu’s amazing defence planning – because I’m absolutely certain he had a major role to play in it!And Concubine Jing’s being the Emperor’s last line of defence, I can’t recall if it happened in the drama, but wow! I admit I’m not sure if I translated it correctly, but if she could unsheath the sword when the Emperor couldn’t (or maybe it was just the point of the sheathed sword), it’s a clear demonstration of how strong a woman she was indeed!!