The Grandmaster Strategist

Volume 6, Chapter 27: Still But a Dream¹

Before opening his eyes, Dingming could already sense that something was unusual. When he passed out, he had still been on the pleasure boat, but now he was freezing and felt the gentle breeze of the lake. He could hear the crashing of waves on the lake. He also felt like he was bobbing up and down, so he didn’t dare move recklessly. He first adjusted his body so he could attack at any moment before using his six senses minus one to probe his surroundings. But outside of the sound of the lake, he heard only the slow and steady breathing of someone nearby. Determining no danger was close to him, he slowly opened his eyes. He saw he was back on his skiff. Across from him, curled up at the stern of the skiff and sleeping soundly was Priest Bitter Bamboo. The bamboo pole used for sculling was still in his grip. Meanwhile, he was lying at the bow, his pipa next to him, his sword still tied on his back. An indescribable feeling arose within Dingming, as if nobody had invited the two of them onto a pleasure boat to drink tea or even debated and talked with them. The two of them had merely spent a night on the lake. None of the zither music that resembled nature, the aroma of newly plucked tea that filled the cabin, or the elegant, wise, and mysterious young master Yun had existed. It seemed to be a confusing dream of wealth and glory.

He rolled over and sat up. He couldn’t prevent himself from licking his dry lips and felt a stab of pain. He had accidentally touched the tip of his tongue he’d bitten off. Although the blood had long since scabbed over, he still felt the sensation of pain. Only now did he finally believe that everything that’d happened yesterday was not a dream. Circulating his internal energy, he directed it to flow through his entire body. He didn’t sense any abnormalities in his body. His internal energy was pearl-like and flowed free and easy without the slightest obstructions. In addition, he didn’t have any of the dizziness that came as a consequence of being drugged. Instead, he felt refreshed and at ease. If not for suffering a night of frigid wind and sleeping in a terrible position, prostrate on the boat, he probably wouldn’t even be feeling back pain. He stretched his somewhat numb and distended limbs and went to wake Priest Bitter Bamboo up, but an object fell onto the deck, clinking as it hit. Looking closely, he determined it was a sparkling and sleek white jade pendant.

Dingming instinctively picked up the jade pendant to examine it. The front was engraved with an exquisite image, depicting the Pavilion of the Immortals’ Mountain peeking out of the boundless sea of clouds. On the back of the jade pendant were two lines of small words written with refined calligraphy:

Heavenly secrets are difficult to understand.A good plan considers the distant future.

The words jolted Dingming, and he remembered the two lines Yun Wuzong recited when he was falling asleep. Chanting them dozens of times over, realization dawned upon Dingming and his eyes glowed. How could a personage like Yun Wuzong be obscure? He never expected he would actually have the honor of meeting the most mysterious person in Jiangnan’s wulin, the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.

The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had spanned all of Jiangnan for over a decade now, but their influence was just the tip of the iceberg. It was forever difficult for people to speculate about the depth of their power. Only someone like Yun Wuzong deserved to be the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, and Dingming had actually had the honor of meeting the mysterious manager and chatting with him over tea and had even gotten a promise of aid from him. Dingming couldn’t restrain his excitement and felt like the world had been righted. He didn’t even have any complaints about Yun Wuzong using sleeping medicine to knock him out. He would do the exact same if he were the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. Even if he revealed his identity, he would never leave his own safety to others.

By this point, Priest Bitter Bamboo had also woken up, but he didn’t notice Dingming forming the wrong impression. He displayed the strengths of his former life as a secret agent by astonishingly saying the moment he opened his eyes, “We were tricked, brother Ding.”

Dingming said with a smile, “Just tricked? We were utterly dancing in the palm of the man’s hand.”

Priest Bitter Bamboo was stunned. Dingming spoke with a grin from ear to ear, not showing any signs of anger. He too was a shrewd person, and his eyes flicked over, falling upon the jade pendant Dingming was clutching to his chest. Dingming handed the pendant over. Priest Bitter Bamboo’s eyes darted over the pendant, and before long, he asked in a slightly tentative voice, “Could it be someone from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets?”

Dingming rather admired Priest Bitter Bamboo’s quick thinking and replied, “I believe so. That Yun Wuzong is most likely the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.”

Priest Bitter Bamboo thought for a while, feeling that all the mysteries of Yun Wuzong were easily solved² if he were the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. In that case, it was only natural for him to luxuriate so. He was a self-proclaimed non aristocrat yet had all the trappings of one, and he had well-trained, loyal servants attending to him as well as forbidding experts guarding him. Proprietor Zhou of the Xiexiu Workshop treated him as a distinguished guest, and he’d seen the crystal glass disc with dragon designs and knew its whereabouts off the top of his head. All these facts made it difficult to appraise his status. But if Priest Bitter Bamboo acknowledged the man to be the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, everything would flow naturally. In addition, the man’s bearing and insight were rarely matched in the present age, making it impossible for him to be a nobody. If he were the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets but didn’t have this skill, then people would instead suspect his identity. Most important of all, Yun Wuzong knew the current events like the back of his hand during their conversation, but he showed zero interest in the war between the two countries. He was impartial. This also conformed with the image of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. They had never cared much for national disputes. Although they inclined toward Southern Chu on the surface, they didn’t try to overtly exclude Great Yong either.

After coming around to the idea, Priest Bitter Bamboo declared, “We should tell the Grand General about this event.” He made this declaration because, when he was still a secret agent early in his life, he obeyed orders to investigate the secrets of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. After all, whether it be the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets’ transcendent schemes and concealed weapons or their sophisticated and wondrous concepts and plans, they were all mouthwatering. Not even the Southern Chu and Great Yong militaries were exceptions to the craving.

But in the past dozen years, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets still appeared only intermittently. Even if somebody else gained the upper hand and they lost some strength, the grievous revenge that followed was enough to terrify anyone and put them on guard. As a result, even when someone discovered clues to the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets’ whereabouts, they were either afraid of being punished as a warning to others or scared their actions would bring harm to innocents, so none would act at will. And the clues would often be destroyed within an extremely short period of time. In fact, no major powers would dare act against the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets when they had no way of eliminating the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets in one fell swoop. Moreover, although the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had tremendous strength, they weren’t imperious, nor did they have ambitions of monopolization. Working together with them gave one an opportunity to develop and grow, while making an enemy of them ended in ruination, death, and destruction. Few people could muster the courage to make an enemy of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets under these circumstances. Such was the unique existence of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets in Southern Chu.

However, now that the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets who never made an appearance showed his true face, they had a chance to take control of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. Others might not have the ability to deal with him, but Lu Can, the general with the most power and influence over the Southern Chu military, did have the strength to deal with the no longer mysterious man.

However, Dingming cut Priest Bitter Bamboo off instantly. “That’s absolutely impossible. Once this gets out, mightn’t something disastrous happen?”

Priest Bitter Bamboo displayed an uncertain expression. Dingming sighed at the sight. “Priest Bitter Bamboo, you come from aristocracy. Although you’ve become part of jianghu, you still can’t read some situations. For someone like the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, his own safety and well-being is paramount. Since he requested we not speak of his affairs, I’m afraid he’ll become our greatest foe if we go against his wishes. You should’ve also been able to see that he didn’t have any ill will for Great Yong. If he sides with Great Yong in a fit of rage, I fear it will only make Southern Chu’s already bad situation worse.”

“But the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has never paid heed to status or background. Agents of Great Yong bought several important weapon designs in the past. Rather than keeping a hard to control and powerful middleman, it’s better to firmly control it in our hands,” rebutted Priest Bitter Bamboo.

Dingming shook his head. “Priest Bitter Bamboo, this younger brother is going to ask you a presumptuous question. Have past events impacted you so strongly that you cannot recognize the situation before you with a clear mind?”

Priest Bitter Bamboo acted like he had been caned, and his face grew terrifying, fury burning in his eyes. Dingming sternly said, “Priest Bitter Bamboo, you escaped by the skin of your teeth back then, but afterwards, you were expelled from the army by Rong Yuan for this very reason. After all these years, this matter has never stopped gnawing at your Daoist heart. Our friends weren’t willing to hurt you, but this younger brother must ask the Daoist priest a question today. If the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets could make the two of us fall unconscious without batting an eyelid, wouldn’t the two of us have lost our lives long ago if he had given us a potent poison? If the manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets were so easy to oppose, how could he have spanned all of Jiangnan for all these years? If my supposition is correct, I’m afraid he’s already flown far away and hidden, as well as changed his name and identity. His appearance might not even be the same either. How else has he maintained the secrecy of his identity all these years. If he weren’t on guard for you and me feeling malice toward him, he wouldn’t have drugged us to sleep.”

Priest Bitter Bamboo’s face gradually grew stiff. Memories of bygone years flashed before his eyes, and at the end of it all, the snow-white face of the young man in the moonlight appeared before him. He slumped onto the deck of the skiff. A long time later, he raised his head in exhaustion and said, “Little Ding, thank you for pointing that out for me. I was truly troubled by my inner demons. And it’s true. What with the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets power and influence, trying to oppose them at this time would be getting our priorities wrong and digging our own grave. If nothing else, Wuyue might lose all coastal defenses to speak of if Great Yong gets the support of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. And a majority of the aristocracy of Wuyue probably has business dealings with the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.”

Seeing Priest Bitter Bamboo had realized his error and hearing him use the same tone he used when he first met Dingming, Dingming was relieved. “Let’s go to Wu Commandery then. I do believe Proprietor Zhou of the Xiexiu Workshop has already gotten ready,” he said with a smile.

Priest Bitter Bamboo gave a hearty laugh and cast aside the frustration in his heart. He picked up the bamboo pole to scull the skiff, about to head to Wu Commandery, but then he screamed. Dingming was surprised. He lifted his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Priest Bitter Bamboo pulled a long face and replied, “Those inconsiderate fellows! Leaving us on the boat was fine, but why didn’t they moor our skiff? Just where has the lake current washed us to now? I don’t even know myself.”

Dingming was first taken aback by the words, then burst into laughter. His laughs were filled with pleasure. He thought, Most probably that manager of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets did this on purpose, maybe even to punish Priest Bitter Bamboo for speaking rudely. Gazing up at the clouds in the pale blue sky, the image of the graceful and kindly Yun Wuzong appeared before his eyes again. “Heavenly secrets are difficult to understand. /A good plan considers the distant future.” This may have been the Pavilion of Heavenly Secret’s reason, but in Yun Wuzong’s eyes, the true meaning was probably still “The Mandate of Heaven has always been difficult to understand when compared to the happiness of being free of all worldly concerns.”

“Achoo!” I sneezed hard and rubbed my nose. Was somebody cursing me behind my back? I wondered whether it was Jiang Haitao or Huo Cong. Both of them cursing me was a matter of course, especially Huo Cong. While he was still in his teens, I dropped him on a battlefield. Now that I thought of it, I felt bad. Or maybe it was Huyan Shou. He had a sour expression on his face ever since last night, but it was no wonder. Unless I returned to the Yong barracks, his expression would surely be ugly. Or Xiaoshunzi was mentally criticizing me. After I didn’t let him silence the witnesses last night, he kept staring at me with an ice-cold gaze. If I hadn’t made him solemnly swear to not hide his actions from me, the lives of those two people would probably have ended already. Now he just glared at me, which was already quite courteous of him.

Currently, I was sitting in a skiff and sailing toward Wuxi. Last night, all my subordinates in Southern Chu had congregated in the middle of Zhenze Lake and held a secret meeting. This was also the only time after I had departed Southern Chu that Chen Zhen and Han Wuji were naturally present and that the operatives of the Secret Camp, with the exception of Yulun, were all present. Way back at the beginning of this year, I had dispatched orders to Chen Zhen and Han Wuji to have them arrange this meeting, and I specifically made clear that I’d be there. Of course, I left the time and location deliberately ambiguous, taking the opportunity to test the loyalty of all the operatives. They were already well-versed in these sorts of affairs, so none of them needed me to waste time reminding them. The result also pleased me. Although it had been difficult over the years to meet face to face, their loyalty hadn’t wavered one bit.

After meeting everyone, I gave a clear-cut explanation of the objective and strategy for the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets in the coming years. This was the reason I had to stay on Zhenze Lake for many days. Although I single-handedly founded the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, the Secret Camp was my most reliable force. But out of sight was out of mind. And war was near at hand. I couldn’t ignore any subtle factors. I had to ascertain their intentions with my own two eyes. Only by persuading them in person to accept my decision could I ensure I could control them with perfect command, which would help me without damaging the foundation of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. For the next few years, the two countries would be locking horns, and exchanging messages would become extremely difficult. For security reasons, I’d be unable to send detailed orders like before. So during this meeting, I had to make them understand my motive, and these matters could not be made clear using letters alone. As such, I had to personally come.

At my decision, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets would remain neutral while Great Yong and Southern Chu warred and could even side a slight bit with Southern Chu. They didn’t need to provide Great Yong with any intelligence reports, nor did they even need to collude with Great Yong as a mole. Even their task they’d been about to perform of enticing the Wuyue aristocracy into supporting Lu Can forming volunteer armies had been handed off to another. They needed only to fan the flames. Once Great Yong was driving forward step by step, they simply needed to take a proactive approach to cooperation.

This decision flabbergasted Chen Zhen, Baiyi, and the others. After Baiyi hesitated, he tactfully explained they didn’t mind the problem of being Southern Chu citizens. They were only loyal to me. But although their good will touched me, it didn’t change my decision.

I didn’t make this decision because I suspected their loyalty. Although almost all of them were Southern Chu citizens, they had never really received kind treatment from the court or their hometowns. I had selected the operatives of the Secret Camp from among orphans specifically because I didn’t want them to have too many ties to others. Over the years, they hadn’t grown displeased in any way because I’d submitted to Great Yong. They had faithfully and loyally served me throughout, so I didn’t believe they would get ideas of rebellion due to their homeland being attacked. However, even if the operatives didn’t get any ideas, I couldn’t ignore the limitations of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets.

No matter what, the foundation of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets resided in Southern Chu. If they did business with an enemy nation, or did things detrimental to the court, it was completely normal for a mysterious organization. Even if they fostered close ties with Great Yong, it was nothing special for merchants to put their own interests first. However, if I wanted the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets to collaborate wholly with the Yong military, this would cause the foundation of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets to drift away. The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had been able to stay as slippery as an eel because they owned a lot of properties and had allies spread all over Jiangnan. However, most of the shopkeepers and servants working in the businesses were Southern Chu citizens. And so were most of the allies. The disciples of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets could ignore that their homeland was Southern Chu, but the other Southern Chu citizens couldn’t ignore that. They might bend the knee before the Yong military, but they’d steel their hearts against submitting to the enemy country. Rather than making those people cause internal conflict within the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, it was better to keep them under the thumb of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. This also made it easier to encourage them to accept the rule of Great Yong. I couldn’t bear it if they made the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets vanish into thin air and fall into disrepute, like the Embroidered Union. The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets’ properties were for my subordinates and disciples to lead a quiet life. Their unnecessary loss would make my heart ache.

But the most important step was to not overstep their bounds. Gathering intelligence and bribing the enemy nation’s important ministers and generals were all the duties of the Intelligence Management Section. If I intervened, wouldn’t I be acting beyond my authority? I didn’t have any plans to compete with the Intelligence Management Section for glory. Now that I thought about the whole Embroidered Union affair, I really did meddle too much. Monitoring officials was the task of the Bright Inspection Department, but I let the Embroidered Union interfere. Although the result wasn’t bad, if this had caused Li Zhi displeasure, the losses would’ve outweighed the gains. In addition, Xiahou Yuanfeng footed the blame for the events around the Embroidered Union in my stead. If the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets turned into a target of public criticism, wouldn’t the Intelligence Management Section become my scapegoat? Thoughts ran through my mind. It’d be best for the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets to remain steady for a bit. The real winner would come from keeping a low profile.

While my mind roamed, a young man in a blue robe entered my cabin and respectfully reported, “Young master, pigeon post from Wuxi has arrived. All preparations are complete. Once young master arrives, they can set off.”

I returned to reality and smiled. “Shanzi, your accomplishments in scheming and concealed weapons are no longer inferior to mine. And since you’re personally acting this time, I can rest easy. You definitely won’t delay my journey, nor will you show any cracks. However, you must still make arrangements when you board the ship to avoid others’ spies and to not arouse suspicion.”

Pleasant surprise flashed through the eyes of the young man in a blue robe. He was very excited by my praise. However, his past teachings allowed him to tamp down on and control the rush of emotion. He gave his word and withdrew. Before leaving, his gaze swept across Huyan Shou.

Huyan Shou had watched from the side without saying a word this entire time and gave a mental sigh. The young man in a blue robe had a gentle and indifferent appearance, so clearly his martial arts weren’t weak. Judging from his bearing and tone, he was also outstanding. And hearing how the marquis addressed him, he was likely one of the eight elite operatives. Last night’s convention of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets still felt like a dream even today to Huyan Shou. Although he wasn’t qualified to attend, he sat on the sidelines and watched the operatives of the Secret Camp enter. As he thought about it today, he still sighed with admiration on end. The region of Jiangnan was truly a remarkable place that produced great people, assembling heroes all in one place. If the sovereign of Southern Chu were a wise ruler capable of identifying talents and appointing them appropriately, Great Yong would never have had the possibility of gaining victory.

The skiff traveled for two days before finally reaching a hidden dock in Wuxi. Walking out of the cabin, I gazed at the purpose-built cargo ship packed full with grains. A melancholic feeling hit me. Boarding this ship meant that my short time of freedom had elapsed. It was so easy to wake up from nice dreams, alas!

Footnotes:

1. Possibly a reference to a poem by the last ruler of the Southern Tang, Li Yu, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period entitled “How Can Life’s Woes Be Avoided” that was written in the style of the Midnight Songs and expresses his sorrow and longing for the past
2. 迎刃而解, yingren-erjie – idiom, lit. split as soon as it touches the blade; fig. easily or smoothly solved