Jackal Among Snakes - Chapter 511

After Argrave had done a dressing-down on the imprisoned emperor, a fair bit passed before either party again spoke. The emperor had been kneeling at the low-lying table politely, but he stretched his legs out and sat more comfortably. His indignance at being called a feeble-minded warrior had faded from his face so subtly Argrave wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Legacy... is a fickle thing,” Ji Meng said. His gaze wandered to the ceiling. “The last of the Zhu dynasty... as a baby, they said he was a tiny monster that pulled the wings from flies and then ate them. They claimed that as an infant his mother offered her milk, yet he tore apart her skin and gnawed on her insides instead. And as emperor, he was a man of size, barrel-chested. Any who opposed him would be ashes scattered to the grass.”

Ji Meng looked back at Argrave. “People still remember him like that. But he was a deluded man kept ignorant by his court. The emperor propped upright barely knew of my uprising before I burst into his room and slammed his head upon the wall. He died in less than a second. When I exited the cheers of my army grew loud, and despite the ease he died I raised his body to please the crowd.”

The emperor tapped the table. “That’s as much metaphor as it is a recounting. I raised his body to show those people the dead emperor, and I’ve allowed his legacy to persist because it suited me better than the truth. And until the oceans conquer the land, the surviving imperial court will not allow a single whisper of this conspiracy to leave the palace. Through changing wind and rain, the pigeons of the court fly only with each other.” He pointed a single finger at Argrave. “And you are no pigeon. How is it you, then, claim to know any of how my name will echo, how my court conspires, barbarian emperor?”

Though the question was for Argrave, Anneliese answered first. “I suspect you know Argrave speaks truly. The ignorant emperor in your story—you see yourself in him, now. Perhaps it is why you came here.”

“She’s right. If the imperial court is your country’s heart, it’s strangled tightly by an enemy of mine. And by consequence, you come here—the vanguard for an invasion.” Argrave looked at Anneliese. “You probably came here to verify for yourself what your pigeons were reporting, rather than die ignorant like the one before you. But what I don’t think you anticipated is that your nation had become a proxy for something greater. Something grander.”

“No. I came to ensure no general of mine would emerge victorious, and then return to my empire hesitant to relinquish their armies. Too many great generals have been ousted by the feeble-minded warrior you would decry. Most usurpers are former leaders, and—"

“Yet Admiral Tan Shu was your leader for this expedition,” Argrave interrupted. “You chose her for this task precisely because she doesn’t pose such a threat. A woman can’t challenge your authority the same way a man might.”

“Given that one saved your life and defeated me at the same time, that’s evidently an opinion I need to revise.” He looked at Anneliese. “Not to mention that your favored concubine accompanies you, sitting at equal footing and speaking without deference. Ours are a much different people.”

“She is at equal footing with me,” Argrave explained succinctly. “But I’m glad you admit the reason you came. You didn’t fear being usurped—you feared that you had already been blinded by your court. Am I wrong?”

Ji Meng remained silent, staring out at the windows, then looked at Argrave. “You truly live in this cold land? Then it is no wonder we lost.”

Argrave thought it was an attempt to divert the conversation, so he repeated, “Am I wrong?”

Ji Meng smiled at Argrave’s insistence. “Yes. I sought to totally restructure my court by gaining control of an army, earning their loyalty, and enforcing my decree upon my return. I sought to, once again, take the imperial court from whoever was holding it—and this time, rebuild it precisely as suits me. The eunuchs, the officials, the governor families... I intended to wash them away with my might as I had before until I had a clean slate. When I was done it would be like sand smoothed over with the back of a rake. From there... I might write my own story.” He leaned into the table. “Instead, they sent word of my coming to you. They told you the totality of my forces. Am I wrong?” he repeated back to Argrave.

“Not quite,” Argrave shook his head, glad the emperor was coming clean.The original source of this content is n0ve1bin★

“There’s a lie there, somewhere. You knew me and my forces very well. My blade has not been used frequently. Few in the court even know what it does. Tan Shu’s bident, too, was a well-kept secret. You blocked her ably. You expected my attack, and knew its strength. I’ve fought enough to know these things. And I know that you knew.” He planted his fist on the table and leaned in closer. “Tan Shu tells me your ships knew how to ward our liquid fire. They even knew from whence it poured. Your strategy, from the beginning, knew of the Sea Dragon’s shield. Even once inside, you handled our force in a way that suggests prior knowledge. Someone betrayed the Great Chu.”

Argrave was taken aback by the complete insight into the battle the emperor possessed. The man was not considered a master general for no reason. It wasn’t exactly unsubtle, but few enough that Argrave interacted with had ever called his prior knowledge out so blatantly.

“I suspect that whoever’s leaking this information intends to use me for something.” Ji Meng leaned backward and sat politely on his pillow once more. “You have me here. You’ve isolated me from my power, physically and socially. Now, you have a request to make of me. Perhaps our leak intends to use me to restructure the court precisely as I intended to. They wish to use me as a cudgel for their own ascent.” Ji Meng laughed. “It would be a fitting thing.”

“I won’t take your enchanted weapons.” Ji Meng looked confused—he didn’t view lesser weapons as ‘enchanted,’ even if they used magic. He rephrased, saying, “I don’t need your mundane arms.”

“Without divine armaments, we would still be an army of peasants before elite soldiers. And that’s if we survived the voyage home.” Ji Meng was uncompromising.

“Army of peasants, is it? Fortunately, you led a peasant rebellion.” Argrave smiled.

Ji Meng adamantly continued, “That means I have experience enough to know this one would fail.”

Argrave looked to Anneliese, seeking her counsel. She gestured to him, pointing outside. Argrave looked at Ji Meng and commanded, “Wait here.”

Argrave and Anneliese walked outside, shutting the sliding door behind them. Despite the door between them, she still conjured a ward.

“I have an idea. Let me say it all before you cut in.”

“Go ahead,” Argrave gestured at her.

Anneliese took a few moments to gather her thoughts. Finally, she looked at him firmly. “Alright. To preface this, I believe he is sincere when he says he would fail without divine armaments. To that end... perhaps we ought to have the Veidimen accompany him,” Anneliese suggested. “Not as invaders, but as his allies. Then, this invasion they seem so hellbent on committing... rather than have them as foreign occupiers, they have a pathway to peacefully cut off the head of the empire, and then take its place.”

Argrave was taken aback, but brightened to the idea at once. Still, he didn’t agree right away. “Ji Meng is sharp—you just heard that conversation, right? And the Veidimen aren’t inclined to lying.”

“Ji Meng has no choice in the matter,” Anneliese insisted. “Despite his composure, I can tell that he desperately wishes to return to his empire. I never saw him happier as when he suggested restructuring the imperial court with his army. He will take any path, even one he knows to be poisoned.”

Argrave looked at the door, then back at her. “The man is every bit as fierce and ruthless as Patriarch Dras. If the Veidimen do go along with this idea—which sounds somewhat dubious—he may have a trap ready and waiting for them. And I’m fairly confident the full might of the Great Chu is superior to that of the Veidimen. Once they arrive not as invaders but as allies, they’ll be thrust into the politics of the imperial court. And if Ji Meng, smart bastard that he is, does something... the whole might of that nation could fall upon them if they cannot muster competition to his intrigue.”

“With Sataistador in the Great Chu... I think that this is something we can genuinely orchestrate,” Anneliese said in a low voice. “For now, I say we take him to meet the Blackgard Union. They’ll be arriving soon as reinforcements—and then, we’ll explain what we know about the Qircassian Coalition. The true assault will be coming soon, if Sataistador wasn’t wrong. And we cannot deal with it alone. Let him see his true enemies.”

“Right,” Argrave nodded. “I do like the idea, Anne. But if Ji Meng actually manages to take control of the Great Chu again, well... you’ve just spoken to the man.”

“I did. Without an ambush, I suspect we would not have beat him. And at the helm of such a great nation, without something like the imperial court to check him... it would not be good.” She looked back at the door. “So long as we stay one step ahead, however... I believe there is definitely a way forward in this tangled mess.”

Argrave nodded in quiet agreement. “But we’re planning months ahead. Right now, we’ve only seen the gods Sataistador fought—three lesser ones, of no consequence. We’ll have to wait longer.”

Anneliese crossed her arms and sighed, as though to dispel her hope. “You’re right. Troubled times approach... and it’s simply too early to tell. But, Argrave. You forget something. We have Ji Meng. And it will matter, one way or another.”