Beauty, Power and Intrigue Chapter 85

Ying Si showed no change in expression. It was impossible to tell whether he was pleased or displeased. He merely changed the subject, asking mildly, “What is your full name, and whose tutelage have you received?”

“My name is Song Chuyi, courtesy name Huaijin. My original courtesy name was Yinyue.” Song Chuyi hesitated before continuing, “As for my teacher… I beg your forgiveness, but I have my reasons for keeping that a secret.”

Ying Si gave an ambiguous hum, then pushed the document he had been working on towards her, gesturing for her to look at it.

Song Chuyi rose and accepted the silk document with both hands, lowering her head to skim through it. It was an official letter from the King of Qi to Ying Si, and it clearly stated that the two states would discuss launching an attack on Wei on a certain date in a certain month.

She looked up in surprise. “A letter from the State of Qi?”

Ying Si folded his hands into his sleeves. “What do you think?”

“Lord Qin, you are truly talented,” Song Chuyi remarked with a sigh.

To think he would stoop so low as to forge an official letter. How shameless.

Ying Si seemed to see right through her thoughts, but he did not expose her. Instead, he merely asked, “Did you make note of the date?”

Song Chuyi returned the silk document to the desk and nodded repeatedly. “I did. And from what I can see, this silk appears indistinguishable from the silk used in Qi, except that it lacks a seal.”

That morning, Ying Si had retrieved the old official letters exchanged between Qi and Qin and studied them carefully. After the morning court session, he had begun working on a forgery.

Official letters were difficult to counterfeit, primarily because of the distinctive silk used to make them. Each state had its own specialized workshops for weaving silk documents, and even the slightest differences in weave and texture could distinguish one state’s silk from another’s. The other distinguishing feature was the seal.

Hearing this, Ying Si rose and rummaged through a chest at the back of the room. After a while, he found a small case and took out a seal. He pressed it into the red sealing paste and stamped it onto the document.

Song Chuyi leaned forward for a closer look. To her surprise, it was indeed the seal of Qi. Although it was made of inferior jade and would be immediately recognizable as a fake upon close inspection, the carving was so lifelike that the impression it left was indistinguishable from the real thing.

As it happened, Ying Si had a little-known hobby: seal carving. During his exile, he had once studied under a craftsman, and back then, he had carved the state seals and chancellor’s seals of various kingdoms. When he returned to Xianyang, these were practically the only things he possessed besides the tattered clothes on his back.

“The On Destroying States presented by you – who wrote it, and to which school does the author belong?” Ying Si left the silk document aside and turned to the matter that interested him most.

Song Chuyi gathered her thoughts and cupped her hands in salute. “I am the author.”

Ying Si’s face betrayed his surprise. He had genuinely never expected that the young man before him, who was barely fifteen or sixteen, could possess such ambition and vision.

Had Song Chuyi claimed she could offer a strategy for conquering and annexing the Six States before he had read the On Destroying States, anyone would probably have dismissed her words as sheer arrogance. But Ying Si had read the essay the previous night. Its arguments were calm and perceptive, and the entire piece was imbued with a sweeping grandeur. He had assumed its author must be at least thirty years old.

Seeing that Ying Si seemed so interested, Song Chuyi seized the opportunity to continue.

“In this age of great rivalry, who does not harbor grand ambitions? Every state is vying to proclaim its ruler king. After centuries of turmoil, the realm is now showing signs of eventual unification, and it remains to be seen which of the Seven Warring States will rise to dominate the world. The On Destroying States expresses precisely the ideas and principles that I wish to travel far and wide to advocate.”

During the Spring and Autumn period, the realm was certainly in turmoil, but the Zhou dynasty still largely retained its original structure. Although the feudal lords had long since slipped beyond the Zhou royal court’s control, they were still constrained by ritual propriety and moral principles. At most, they would take the Son of Heaven hostage to command the other lords, while continuing to pay nominal respect to the Zhou royal house.

By the Warring States period, however, the great edifice of the Zhou dynasty had all but collapsed. When the various states began proclaiming their rulers as kings, they were declaring their separation from the Zhou royal house. They were no longer feudal states under its rule, but independent kingdoms in their own right.

This was an age of blood and fire, in which the prevailing principles were stratagems, deception, and violence. The Seven Warring States were all intent on destroying rival regimes and seizing their people and territory. Their ambitions were plain for all to see; they simply stopped short of openly declaring, “I shall rule supreme over all under Heaven.” Song Chuyi’s On Destroying States was undoubtedly well suited to the times.

Ying Si understood all this perfectly. He also knew that since Song Chuyi had presented this On Destroying States to him, claiming it was the only copy in existence, she would not actually travel from state to state spreading its ideas, as she had claimed.

Besides, although the essay was relevant to the current political climate, the ambitions it expressed were something the rulers of the various states understood perfectly well without ever needing to say aloud. None of them would publicize such intentions, for doing so could easily provoke the other states into joining forces against them.

“Would you be willing to enter Qin’s service, Master?”

Ying Si was as direct as ever. By addressing her as “Master” rather than “Envoy,” he made it clear that he was setting aside the diplomatic relationship between their two states to discuss the matter personally.

Song Chuyi broke into a radiant smile, liking his straightforwardness more and more. Her own intentions in coming here had hardly been subtle either, so there was no need for either of them to beat around the bush.

“Lord Qin, you see things clearly. I came here intending to seek service in Qin. However, I have been entrusted with a task and must honor that trust. I promised the ruler and ministers of Wey that I would see this matter through, and I shall do everything in my power to fulfil that promise.”

“Master, you certainly know how to play your cards.”

Ying Si’s remark carried no discernible emotion, making it impossible to tell whether he meant it as praise or criticism.

Song Chuyi was using diplomatic relations to pursue her own private aims, effectively stepping on the State of Wey to advance towards her goal. It was a far more effective approach than Zhang Yi’s, who had travelled to Qin alone. Yet without knowing the truth, others might well assume that Song Chuyi had betrayed the ruler she had once served.

Whatever the case, it was best to clarify anything that might cause misunderstanding. “Ever since I began my career as a strategist, I have been optimistic about Qin’s prospects and have long wished to enter its service. However, I owed someone a favor and agreed to remain in Wey for three years. Once those three years are up, I shall certainly come to Qin.”

Three years would also be enough time for Ying Si to settle Qin’s internal affairs.

Ying Si gave a slight nod and said nothing more. He tapped his fingers against the table, and moments later, a maid entered carrying a tray of warm rice wine.

Ying Si picked up his cup and gestured to Song Chuyi before taking a sip himself.

Song Chuyi picked up her cup and took a sip as well.

The two sat in silence, neither saying a word. Song Chuyi secretly wiped away her sweat.

If you have nothing more to say, why not just let me go? Why keep me here drinking in awkward silence? It’s not as though there’s any music or dancing to entertain us.

“Have you ever been afraid?” Song Chuyi suddenly asked, setting down her cup.

He was a young ruler of just nineteen, facing a group of powerful ministers who wielded real authority, had weathered countless political storms, and were seasoned masters of cunning and manipulation. Did he ever feel intimidated, even if only occasionally?

It was a rather personal question, and Ying Si was perfectly entitled to refuse to answer. But after a moment’s thought, he replied, “When it comes down to life and death, what is there to fear?”

Perhaps there had been a fleeting moment of fear once or twice. But time had passed, and he would never admit to it now.

“Master, are you familiar with the affairs of Qin?” Ying Si leaned back against the armrest, adopting a relaxed posture.

His black robes draped to the floor, and some of the chill had softened in his handsome features. His sharply contrasting black-and-white eyes reflected the snowlight streaming in through the window, resembling a still pool hidden deep in a valley. His thin lips glistened faintly with moisture from the wine.

Staring at this sight, Song Chuyi completely forgot that she still had wine in her mouth. A thin trickle of the pale rice wine slipped from the corner of her lips.

Ying Si had just settled into a comfortable position when he raised his eyes and caught sight of Song Chuyi looking utterly foolish. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.

“Cough!”

The wine suddenly shot out through her nose, making her eyes water painfully.

Without Ying Si’s order, the maids outside did not dare enter.

After coughing for quite some time, Song Chuyi took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth. Only after straightening her clothes did she cup her hands in salute and say, “I have behaved improperly in your presence. I deserve punishment.”

“Why did you behave improperly, Master?” Ying Si asked, puzzled. Song Chuyi had clearly lost her composure while staring at him. Was there something wrong with his appearance?

“Please forgive my impertinence.”

An idea suddenly struck Song Chuyi. She scrambled to her feet, leaned towards Ying Si, and lightly touched the corner of his lips with her finger. Then, with an apologetic expression, she said, “It is nothing serious. I was simply making a fuss over nothing. I beg your forgiveness.”

What she was implying was that Ying Si had been the one to behave improperly first, and she had merely lost her composure after witnessing it. It was a classic case of taking advantage of someone and then pretending to be the aggrieved party. In truth, had the other person not been the ruler of a state, she could have been even more shameless.

From what Song Chuyi knew of Ying Si, he was not someone who fussed over trivial matters. He certainly would not lose his temper out of embarrassment over something so insignificant.

Sure enough, Ying Si paid it no mind at all. He called for a maid and instructed her to take Song Chuyi to change her clothes.

The moment she stepped outside, a brilliant smile spread across Song Chuyi’s face.

What a promising start!

Unfortunately, she had been so distracted by her own thoughts at the time, and her touch had been so fleeting, that she could barely remember what it had felt like.

Inside the room, Ying Si sat quietly. Song Chuyi’s actions had genuinely caught him off guard. A young man wiping his mouth for him? The whole experience had been rather strange…

He raised his long, slender fingers and brushed them over the spot Song Chuyi had touched. Lowering his eyes, he examined his fingertips. There was nothing there, so he gave the matter no further thought. He tucked the forged silk letter from Qi into a metal tube, rose, and headed towards his study.

When he reached the doorway, he paused and instructed the maid, “See the envoy from Wey out of the palace later.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” the maid replied, bending her knees in acknowledgement.

After changing her clothes, Song Chuyi was escorted by a maid to meet up with Ji Yu, and the two then left the palace together.

She was in a rather good mood that day, though it was not simply because she had gotten the better of Lord of Qin.

The topics she had raised during their conversation might have seemed like aimless small talk, but in reality, they had allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of him.

Her first question had been simply, “Have you ever been afraid?” She had not specified what he might be afraid of, yet Ying Si had answered in terms of the conflict between ruler and ministers. Clearly, he regarded this as an urgent problem that needed to be resolved.

Moreover, the way she had phrased the question made it unmistakably personal. As the ruler of a state, Ying Si had no reason to discuss such matters with a subordinate, much less a foreign envoy. Yet he had answered her. Perhaps this meant that her words had touched upon something he had already been thinking about.

Ying Si’s execution of Shang Yang had been inevitable, the product of the prevailing political circumstances. Apart from the threat posed by a minister whose achievements overshadowed his ruler’s, there was another, more important reason: Shang Yang and Duke Xiao of Qin had shared a common goal. Together, ruler and minister had worked to strengthen Qin. But by the time Ying Si inherited this strengthened state, its objectives had quietly shifted. As a result, the minister who had once been his predecessor’s most trusted right-hand man no longer served the same purpose.

Song Chuyi surmised that, deep down, Ying Si hoped to find another “Shang Yang”: someone who shared his ambitions and possessed the ability to help him contend for supremacy over the other states.

And, as luck would have it, she had been fortunate enough to make the list of candidates he was keeping an eye on.

Back at the post station, Song Chuyi called for Ning Ya to fetch her a change of clothes, then went to enjoy a long, relaxing hot bath.

When she returned to her bedchamber, she found Longgu Buwang sitting beside the brazier with a face as dark as thunder. A small patch of the fur on White Blade’s head had been singed into curls.

Song Chuyi grinned and asked, “What happened? Did you get into a fight with White Blade?”

White Blade raised its little black-bean eyes at her in a pitiful look and let out a series of plaintive whines.

Longgu Buwang’s expression darkened even further. Like master, like pet! The creature had clearly caused a whole heap of trouble and managed to singe the fur on its own head, yet now it was acting as though someone else had bullied it. He couldn’t help remarking coldly, “You’re a wolf, not a dog. Have you no dignity as a wolf?”

“Let me have a look.” Song Chuyi ruffled the fur on its head.

White Blade had been bouncing around all day, driving practically everyone at the post house to their wits’ end. Now, however, it was being exceptionally well-behaved.