Chapter 458: Why, How

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The imperial capital, Jinchang.

Within this place that Huan Hou had proclaimed an eternal capital, praise for recent military merits was unceasing.

-Our General Bai subdued Bong-ram, the famous vanguard general under the monarch who ruled the northwest region of the Yellow River, in about twenty exchanges, they say.

-Not only Bong-ram but also the Northern Sky Twin Bears, whom that monarch especially cherished, he slew.

-When the final siege battle became prolonged and the emperor was at a loss, General Bai climbed the castle wall with his bare hands and cut down the enemy general, rendering great merit.

-The decisive victory factor in that difficult battle should rightly be said to be occupied by General Bai’s valiant and fearless performance to five or six tenths.

-Without General Bai, there would be no empire today. Probably all the common people think the same.

-General Bai is an undefeated divine general who will remain long in history, a sagely hero.

Thus the name Bai Chu was greatly shaking the realm.

As the night gradually deepened, two people had a modest drinking gathering at a separate hall of the imperial palace.

They were Huan Hou and Bai Chu.

JJOREUREUK, JJOREUREUK……

Huan Hou, having filled two cups with wine, spoke with a smile.

“Congratulations. You’ve completely annihilated the enemy line.”

Thereupon Bai Chu, in the seat across, also wore a smile and quietly nodded.

Huan Hou pushed the cup sloshing with wine toward his front and offered it.

“Now, accept my cup. Let’s get pleasantly drunk today.”

But Bai Chu politely shook his head.

“I’ll decline. I have to go see her.”

Huan Hou briefly showed a somewhat mysterious look in his eyes, then withdrew it back to his side.

Then he drained both wine cups in succession.

Right then, Bai Chu turned his head to gaze at the scenery outside the wide-open window and murmured.

“In any case…… The day our dream is realized isn’t far off.”

“Yes. Already Five countries have knelt, and now only one remains. It was possible because of you. It would be fitting to call you a General bestowed by Heaven.”

Huan Hou’s words were meaningful.

It somehow felt as if he was conscious of the talk that had been circulating recently.

“Hut, nonsense……”

Bai Chu, having smiled quietly, lightly waved his hand.

Huan Hou’s voice, filling his cup again, continued.

“I said it once, didn’t I? That the seeds of Kings, Lords, Generals, and ministers are not separate. Whoever appears with Great ambition, a new country is established. The protagonists of this era…… Are us.”

Bai Chu, responding with a nod, frankly shared his thoughts.

“When this war ends, I…… want to go to a quiet place with her and spend the rest of my days. Some might call it a small dream, but for me, it’s the biggest dream.”

For Huan Hou, who had shared joys and sorrows together for a long time, it could be words to feel hurt about, but rather he opened his mouth with an expression of fully understanding his close friend’s heart as if not minding at all.

“Of course! Put in just a bit more effort. For the Arrival of a true peaceful Prosperous era.”

Bai Chu firmly said, meaning not to mind the excessive praise about himself.

“I am your Sword.”

“……”

“Until the wars of these Six countries that have plunged the powerless common people into misery are completely ended, grip and wield me to your heart’s content.”

“……”

Such two men silently exchanged gazes for a while.

Huan Hou soon took a sip of wine, straightened his posture, and let out a spirited voice.

“Thank you. Just hearing those words gives me strength. I will surely become a Sage ruler, no…… An existence recorded in history as the greatest Sage Emperor!”

His words, shouted out at the end, carried an unnecessarily serious weight.

Sensing that, Bai Chu tossed out a joke they always exchanged, trying to soften the mood.

“You should. Otherwise, I might personally cut you down. Hu-hut.”

“How brutal, brutal. Would you do that to your one and only close friend? Hahaha!”

Huan Hou, gripping the wine bottle, laughed heartily and then soon filled his cup as he let out a quiet voice.

“But those words, I’ll engrave them deep in my bones.”

At that, Bai Chu was about to say something.

SAK.

A faint presence arose from beyond the window.

Had someone been hiding out there to eavesdrop?

But Bai Chu and Huan Hou merely reacted composedly.

As if both already knew who it was.

Huan Hou spoke jokingly while tilting the wine bottle to fill his cup.

“Hu, it seems there are many stray cats around the Palace these days.”

Bai Chu, having smiled gently, joined in.

“I heard it’s a stray cat as big as a person and rather beautiful.”

Right then, Cho-hui popped her head through the open window.

“Ah…… I’m, I’m sorry. I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping. I brought snacks to have with wine, But a serious conversation was going on so I couldn’t disturb and just……”

Immediately after, Bai Chu received the snack basket Cho-hui had prepared through the window and moved it to the table.

“Hui. I was just about to go out.”

Thereupon Cho-hui brightened up.

“Ah! Really?”

Huan Hou, watching those two, picked up a sweet and grumbled.

“Haah, this is just…… It’s pitiful living without a lover. So what if I sit on the Emperor’s Throne? When there’s not one woman to Embrace my shoulder.”

Bai Chu, having chuckled, soon prepared to leave and asked.

“Hu, shouldn’t you too take an Empress (??) now? Marriage proposals have been pouring in from all circles for several years now. If you just decide……”

“Tcha, tcha, don’t speak so lightly of a friend’s marriage. I’ll get married when a woman I like appears. Ahem, like you, my standards are very high too.”

Such Huan Hou glanced at Cho-hui standing outside the window and threw a joke.

“The standard for the woman I’m thinking of is Miss Cho over there. Any beauty below that just won’t satisfy me. Miss Cho, am I being too presumptuous?”

Right then, Cho-hui spoke with a flustered expression.

“My, even if you tell me to speak casually……”

“Hahhat. Nonsense. It’s not proper for me, as a close friend, to treat the woman Cho loves like someone beneath me.”

“Still……”

“If your heart is really troubled, perhaps look into whether there’s a good young Lady somewhere. Ah, of course, using Miss’s beauty as the standard.”

Bai Chu shook his head side to side as he stepped out the door.

“Unifying the realm will be faster than finding a beautiful woman who’ll become Empress. Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Chu, wait a moment. Actually, I called you because there’s something to give you.”

“Hmmm?”

“Here, take it. It’s a gift to commemorate your merits.”

What Huan Hou offered was one slim sword.

Bai Chu’s two pupils created small, transparent ripples as he received it unexpectedly.

“This is……”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the Gan Jiang(liver-burial) Sword I obtained while toppling the enemy nation.”

“But how can you give this precious sword to me……”

“If not you, who can have this sword? The Mo Ye Sword is mine, the liver-burial sword is yours. This will become another token of our friendship. Well, it’s also a bribe meaning put in some effort from now on.”

At those words, not only Bai Chu but even Cho-hui was moved.

KWAK!

Bai Chu, gripping the Gan Jiang tightly, showed the proper courtesy of a minister to Sovereign toward Huan Hou and let out a heavy voice.

“Thank you. From today onwards…… I’ll carry this liver-burial Sword and accomplish our Great undertaking! Definitely……”

Huan Hou, having nodded, approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes. I believe firmly. You are…… My Sword, after all.”

Along with those words, a quiet smile formed on his lips.

For an instant, Cho-hui sensed an inexplicable feeling of dissonance upon seeing that smile.

* * *

One year later.

At last, Huan Hou’s empire made even the monarch of the last remaining country submit and achieved the unification of the realm.

Thus the war that had swept the continent was ended, and all people were brimming with hope that a new world would open.

But.

From around the time of achieving the unification of the realm, Emperor Huan Hou’s attitude began to subtly change day by day.

-The borders of the unified nation must be reorganized to defend against foreign invasion. Now the time has come to subjugate the barbarian tribes to the south beyond the borders. They must be restrained in advance to avoid future troubles. This will be our last battle.

Huan Hou’s decree.

Thus the first expedition of the large-scale military force organized around Grand Marshal Bai Chu began, and after battles that surpassed three or four months, they obtained the surrender oath and loyalty pledge of the southern barbarian tribe king.

In the meanwhile, half of the court’s high and low officials were replaced with new persons, and also some eunuchs were given important positions, pouring out radical policies one after another.

Those were matters that placed more emphasis on establishing palace regulations, order, and strengthening the power structure than on the people’s livelihood.

Bai Chu, who returned to the imperial palace, sensed the strange currents inside that had changed while he was away.

Still, he firmly maintained his trust in his childhood friend Huan Hou.

But.

A fortnight later, he received Huan Hou’s earnest request to subjugate the barbarian king to the north beyond the borders.

Bai Chu organized an expedition force again and departed for the north, and just like before, after a protracted war, he returned bearing tidings of victory.

But not long after returning, he received a request… No, essentially a coercive order… To go on another expedition.

That night, Cho-hui lay in bed and talked with Bai Chu.

“Do you…… Trust him?”

Her two pupils had a light of worry swirling in them.

Bai Chu, stroking her hair, opened his mouth with a heavy expression.

“I trust him. Because he’s my childhood friend.”

“But…… His majesty’s attitude recently……”

“I know. I do too……”

“This is already the second time…… That he said it would be the last battle. When this Third fight ends, I think it would be good to clearly speak to him.”

“Yes, I’m a bit tired now too. It can’t be postponed further. The dream of you and me……”

Thus when night passed and day broke, Bai Chu equipped himself with military gear along with his subordinate generals and departed for the faraway road.

While he was away fighting outside, Cho-hui left alone in the palace watched with worry and anxiety as the internal currents kept changing.

Several months later, Bai Chu, as he had always done, won and returned.

And Huan Hou held a grand banquet to celebrate his and the expedition force’s merits.

Right then.

Bai Chu declared before everyone’s eyes.

That it seemed the time had come for him to leave the palace and live with the person he loved.

But Huan Hou pleaded, relying on their deep friendship as close friends, for him to stay just half a year more, and Bai Chu reluctantly continued his life as before while gradually preparing for retirement.

About two months passed from then, and the imperial palace side received intelligence that a great army of a barbarian tribe was planning to attack this country.

As expected, Huan Hou called Bai Chu aside to urgently request him.

-You’ll have to handle this matter. As you see, I can’t easily leave my position…… You’re the only one I can trust, so what can be done? If you win and return this time, I won’t hold onto your ankles anymore. If I do it again, I’ll hand over the throne to you in front of all the ministers in the palace. Keep this in mind. This is an imperial command.

Beneath the darkened sky, Bai Chu, bearing a heavy heart, opened the door to his quarters and entered, and Cho-hui came flying and threw herself into his arms.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet…… It’s gotten late.”

“How could I? I’d already heard the news.”

“I see. News travels fast.”

“Are you heading north?”

“That’s been finished long ago. No need to go again. This time it’s west.”

“Ah……!”

Cho-hui’s dark brown pupils rippled like waves.

Bai Chu, having read her heart, spoke with a bitter look in his eyes.

“Yes, it’s a perilous place.”

“My heart isn’t at ease. For you to go out again after just two months……”

“Hmmm…… I’m sorry.”

“Do you really have to go?”

“Because it’s a command.”

“But……”

“Don’t worry too much. I promise. I’ll finish quickly and return.”

“Then before you leave, hold me. So that the anxiety in my heart will subside a little.”

Thus the man and woman engaged in more passionate lovemaking than any time before and fell asleep.

The next day at noon, the expedition force led by Bai Chu exited the gates of the capital Jinchang and headed west to the distant continental border.

And around the time several months had passed.

Cho-hui received devastating news like the sky and earth collapsing.

-The entire expedition force has fallen in battle.