Half a Spoiler Chapter 68

Indeed, there is not much distance between Dan Province and Tai Province, and the Western Tribes maintain many light cavalry, able to travel back and forth between the two places in just a few days. News reached Tai Province as early as the third day after the Jianping army arrived at Shangxing Pass.

With a massive army pressing at the border and the threat looming, marriage arrangements among the sons and daughters of various families and clans were naturally postponed. Leaders of prominent clans such as the Li, Lao, and Fuhe families, who held military titles like generals and colonels and bore the responsibility of commanding troops, reacted swiftly. They returned to their respective homes and began gathering their private militias.

As for Wang You, the de facto highest authority in Tai Province, she remained unusually silent.

While the Wang clan sought to hold their ground and bide their time, others could no longer contain their urgency. In recent days, the Inspector’s residence had been bustling with visitors. Even if they could not meet Wang You in person, they sought out younger members of the Wang family within the residence, urging them to relay the situation and persuade her to step forward promptly and take charge of the overall strategy.

The local forces in Tai Province harbored complex feelings toward Jianping. They looked down upon the court officials yet felt an innate fear of the imperial authority. While they believed most of the contemporary scholar-officials were incompetent and shortsighted, they did not think that Tai Province alone had the manpower to overthrow the Great Zhou dynasty.

In the inner chamber.

Wang Tian, the eldest daughter of Wang You, sat below her mother, her face etched with urgency. Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, she dropped to one knee, clasped her fists in a formal salute. “My lord…”

Wang You opened her eyes, her tone stern. “What exactly are you so anxious about?”

Wang Tian kowtowed repeatedly. “It is not that I lack patience, but the situation truly has reached a critical juncture. The Li, Lao, Fuhe, and even the Du clans have all sent envoys to our residence seeking answers. I implore you to make a swift decision.”

It was no wonder she was anxious. No sooner had Jianping sent an envoy to Tai Province to confer the title of colonel upon Wang Tian than the Sovereign personally arrived at Shangxing Pass. Naturally, the Western forces in the region suspected a connection between the two events. Rumors had even begun to spread, suggesting that Wang You had already secretly surrendered to Jianping and was now planning to coordinate with the young emperor to trap and annihilate the Western forces from within.

Although Wang Tian knew her mother would never truly defect to the court – at most she had merely made use of some influence within it – the rumors circulating outside were already more than enough to bring disaster upon the Wang clan. Unable to help herself, she muttered in complaint, “You should never have trusted Jianping in the first place…”

Wang You gave a cold laugh. “Whether I trusted Jianping or not is beside the point. From the moment Cui Xinjing set foot in Tai Province – no, from the moment I grew old and no longer had the strength – this matter was beyond any possibility of reversal.”

The Li clan and the other great families were not fools. Did anyone truly believe that the Wang clan had certainly surrendered to Jianping? They were merely seizing the opportunity to wrest power for themselves.

Wang Tian had already been kneeling; now she collapsed fully to the ground, prostrating herself, her face ashen.

Wang You went on, “Since they have come to question us, the Wang clan must of course provide an explanation. Have a banquet arranged at one of the pavilions outside the city, and invite them to attend.”

She glanced at her daughter kneeling on the ground and added, “I will write the letters myself. You and your younger brother will deliver them separately.”

There had long been fissures among the various clans, and Wang You had also previously held a public meeting with Jianping’s envoy. The Li clan and the others would certainly feel uneasy about entering the city where the inspector’s seat lay, while Wang You herself could not leave the family’s ancestral territory. It was therefore better to set the banquet outside the city, so that both sides could put their minds at ease.

Wang Tian accepted the order and withdrew. The clan leaders who received Wang You’s handwritten letters did not, as they had last time, send junior members of their families in their stead. Although the Emperor’s arrival at Shangxing Pass gave them a pretext to move against the Wang clan, it also placed enormous pressure upon them. For the moment, they could not act rashly and had to quickly confer and work out a concrete course of action.

Early on the morning of the appointed day, Fuhe Fang, the head of the Fuhe clan, was the first to arrive. He held a low official rank, was young, and had little seniority, and in any matter he always attended to things personally. His clan, being native White Tribe, was the smallest in number and the weakest in power in the region, and for that reason had never been willing to make an enemy of either side lightly.

When Fuhe Fang arrived, the Wang clan’s servants at the pavilion were already slaughtering cattle and sheep, with dozens of jars of strong liquor set out nearby. Fuhe Fang waited patiently for an hour as the attendees gradually assembled, and only then did Wang You herself finally make an appearance.

The Inspector of Tai Province spoke bluntly. Once she saw that everyone had arrived, she first toasted the guests with three cups of wine, then went straight to the point. “Since the court can rely on a mere letter as evidence and demand that Tai Province give an explanation for supposedly amassing troops and provisions with treasonous intent, then we too can say that someone has made false accusations out of thin air, and raise troops in the name of cleansing the ruler’s side…”

Before she could finish speaking, a junior member of the Li clan slammed the table and sprang to his feet, shouting angrily, “At a moment like this, are you still unwilling to openly break with Jianping?”

And if one spoke of cleansing the ruler’s side, one was still, by that very claim, acknowledging oneself as a subject of Great Zhou.

As soon as the young man finished speaking, the pavilion fell into dead silence.

Wang You’s expression darkened to the extreme. She stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly rose to her feet and strode forward. In a split second, she drew the saber at her waist and brought it down in a single stroke, severing the Li clansman’s head.

After all, Wang You had risen to power amid rebellion; there was an innate ruthlessness to her movements. Her actions were exceptionally swift – before anyone else could even react, blood was already spraying across the ground from the severed neck.

“Inspector Wang!”

“Your Excellency!”

The guests cried out in alarm. Some, recalling Wang You’s past deeds, felt their legs go weak with fear and even thought of mounting their horses and fleeing at once. Yet Wang You’s expression instead softened; she even instructed her eldest daughter to personally pour wine for the guests.

“This is not discourtesy on my part,” she said calmly. “But when the four great families gather to deliberate together, how can we allow some brat to behave so outrageously in public?”

In truth, those present today were not only from the Wang, Li, Lao, and Fuhe clans. However, Tai Province had always been led by these four families, and though the others harbored dissatisfaction, they could only suppress it for the time being

Wang You first drained a cup of wine in apology, then spoke with a rare note of sincerity, “You all hope that I will openly stand in opposition to the court. How could I fail to understand your good intentions? Yet at present, even if the court’s authority and virtue can scarcely be enforced in Tai Province, have we ourselves, over these past years, truly possessed such authority and virtue?”

The Central Plains despised the borderlands, which led to rebellions among the Western Tribes; yet when the Western Tribes themselves took power, they were no different – still levying exorbitant taxes and oppressing the common people.

“Moreover, Great Zhou has been established for a long time and naturally carries its own prestige. Even here, we cannot guarantee that among the people under our rule there is no one who harbors loyalty toward Jianping…”

The core of Wang You’s argument was that, since the substance of their actions would be the same regardless, they might as well choose a more palatable pretext – one that would allow their conduct to stand on firmer legal and moral ground.

The head of the Lao clan, long regarded as a loyal and benevolent elder, finally offered a rare comment upon hearing this. “If we proceed according to the Inspector’s plan, then even should it fail, there would still be room for explanation and maneuver…”

He appeared to be speaking in Wang You’s defense, yet when the other guests heard the words failure and room for maneuver, they could not help but grow restless and noisy.

Wang You fell silent for a moment, then said gravely, “And what, then, are your thoughts?”

An elder of the Li clan rose to his feet and said, “Since matters have come to this, we might as well follow the example of the Wuliu tribe and carve out our own domain here, proclaiming ourselves kings.”

Wang You remained silent and did not respond. Seeing this, the dissatisfaction on the others’ faces only deepened. At her side, Wang Tian was at once agitated and terrified, utterly unsure of what ought to be done.

Fuhe Fang smiled and smoothed things over. “Whether to carve out our own kingdoms can be discussed later. For now, with the army already at Shangxing Pass, what we must concern ourselves with most is how to fight this battle well.”

Because the Fuhe clan never made enemies lightly, both the Li and Lao clans showed him courtesy and asked, “May we hear what you have in mind?”

Fuhe Fang replied, “Tai Province has always been led by the Inspector. Naturally, in this battle, the Inspector should take the lead.”

His reasoning was sound, yet few of the guests were willing to speak up in agreement.

Wang You inwardly sneered. In truth, matters had arisen so suddenly that Tai Province had no time to select a new commander; in the end, by past custom, she would naturally lead. Their hesitation to respond was nothing more than an attempt to elevate their own status and profit from the situation.

Sure enough, after Fuhe Fang’s earnest persuasion, the other clan leaders reluctantly agreed. They did, however, set conditions: though they were willing to provide provisions and troops, each clan would also lead a contingent of their own. In this way, even if there were any ambiguities between Wang You and Jianping, they could maintain some measure of control.

Once the matter was settled, the Li clan leader rose first, abandoning the untouched wine and dishes on the table. With a simple bow, he took his leave. Following him, the heads of the Lao and Du clans also offered their farewells. Only Fuhe Fang remained until the very end.

Fuhe Fang bowed slightly, speaking with polite deference, “I have a word I wish to say to the Inspector.”

Wang You’s gaze swept over him. “Please speak, Captain Fuhe.”

Fuhe Fang said, “Jianping has long been scheming. If we are to win this battle, unity is essential. The outcome rests largely on the Inspector alone, so I hope Your Excellency can consider the greater picture and exercise some restraint for the time being.”

At this, Wang You’s expression softened. Among the Western Tribes leaders of Tai Province, Fuhe Fang was the one who most resembled someone from the Central Plains. He had always conducted himself with humility and courtesy, seldom quarreling with others, and now only sought to supervise logistics from the rear rather than personally lead troops forward for glory.