Remnant song

Author: Tianping / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: On the morning of the 17th day of the 4th month in the fifth year of Bei Jing, Yun Xing Tian stood on the city wall of West Jing, gazing into the distance. The sky had shifted from pure black to deep blue, and the horizon was gradually tinged with a faint, desolate white. Below, the fires of the barbarian camp had died down, and in the deep, resonant sound of horns, the camp stirred as the barbarian soldiers began to form ranks. Another day had begun. A young vice general rushed up to the city. Yun Xing Tian recognized him as Yang Fang, a trusted young general who had followed him since childhood. Knowing this general was usually steady, he couldn’t help but feel a chill when he saw his uncertain expression. Yang Fang bowed and said, “General, please go to the palace.” Yun Xing Tian didn’t ask for an explanation and said to the generals beside him, “You all prepare yourselves, I’ll be back shortly.” The two hurried down the city and Yun Xing Tian whispered, “What’s happened?” “There were assassins in the palace this morning. The Emperor was assassinated!” “What?” Yun Xing Tian gasped. “How is he?” The young general didn’t know. Yang Fang’s face was filled with worry as he replied, “The Emperor was severely injured. He’s likely…” He glanced at Yun Xing Tian, who remained silent. They had barely descended the city when soldiers were already ready with horses. The two leaped onto their mounts and galloped off. When Yun Xing Tian arrived at Cheng Tai Hall, he saw the bodies of over ten guards sprawled on the ground, bloodstains everywhere, and countless objects broken. A faint sound of women weeping could be heard from within the hall, and Yun Xing Tian’s heart sank. Entering the hall, he found several concubines gathered around the dragon bed, mourning. On the bed lay the thirty-second Emperor of the Xing Dynasty, Li Yu Ming, his eyes closed and his breath gone. Two eunuchs were pulling a white silk cloth over his face. A scholar in his forties, with elegant eyebrows and a handsome face, stepped out of the hall and bowed deeply to Yun Xing Tian, saying, “General, you entrusted me with the defense of the palace city. I was incompetent and deserve your punishment.” Yun Xing Tian waved his hand. “I didn’t expect the barbarians to resort to such tactics as assassination. The palace city’s defenses were left empty after all the elite troops were deployed. This isn’t entirely the strategist’s fault—besides, this isn’t the time to assign blame. Where are the assassins now?” The scholar replied, “The assassins were extremely fierce and could not be captured alive. They were executed on the spot.” Yun Xing Tian walked back and forth a few steps and said decisively, “Then, quickly go to the secret prince’s residence and proclaim him as the new emperor.” “General.” The scholar gave a bitter smile. “The secret prince passed away a month ago!” “What? How didn’t I know?” Yun Xing Tian was shaken to the core. “According to the secret prince’s wishes, he didn’t want a grand funeral. It also coincided with the barbarian siege, so it wasn’t considered urgent, and I didn’t have a chance to report it.” A bone-chilling morning breeze swept into the room, the curtains fluttered wildly, and everyone in the hall trembled involuntarily. The women also stopped crying as if startled. Yun Xing Tian’s mind was in turmoil: had the great Xing Dynasty, which had lasted for four hundred years, come to an end? Since records began, the Central Plains had been the most civilized and prosperous land in the world. At least, that was the firm belief of the Central Plains people before the thirty-seventh year of Qing Chun. The land of the Central Plains was rich in gold, silver, copper, and iron, and its fields produced abundant grains. The scholars of the Central Plains composed magnificent poetry, prose, and songs, while the craftsmen forged exquisite vessels and treasures. All foreigners who came here became lost in its charm. The Central Plains people believed it was a paradise bestowed upon them by heaven, the essence of the world. In the three thousand years of the Central Plains’ history, there had been years of famine and chaos, as well as tyrannical rule and war. But all the Central Plains people firmly believed that these were only temporary setbacks. As long as they held on tight, everything would pass, and the Central Plains would remain a heavenly land on earth. Four hundred years ago, Emperor Li Luo Ji, the high ancestor, ascended the throne, establishing Tian Xing as the era name of the Xing Dynasty, marking the first year of Tian Xing. The people of the Central Plains celebrated in peace, believing that the Central Plains had entered a new cycle of prosperity. No one noticed that in that same year, a small group of refugees migrated from the desolate Bai He Grasslands far to the north, defeated and drove away the original inhabitants, the Jue Te people, and called themselves Mo Zhen. The people of the Central Plains, like all others outside the Central Plains, referred to them as barbarians. Three hundred and fifty years later, in the first year of Qing Chun, Emperor Li Hui Chang, the thirtieth of the Xing Dynasty, ascended the throne. That same year, the great ruler of the Mo Zhen, Geter Dan Khan Temurji, who was only twenty years old, unified all the Mo Zhen tribes. The Central Plains continued to live as they had for the past three thousand years, while Geter Dan Khan’s iron hooves never ceased to advance. Every ethnic group west of the Feng Ya Mountains fell under his mighty rod. The third day of the eighth month of Qing Chun was the most tragic day in the history of the Central Plains. On that day, the Mo Zhen cavalry crossed the Yan Ji Pass of the Feng Ya Mountains. Tragically, because they had never faced external threats, this impenetrable pass, which was a bottleneck for all who dared to enter, was not guarded by a single Central Plains soldier. Not even the name “Yan Ji Pass” was known to them—it was later translated from the Mo Zhen language. Geter Dan Khan led his hundred thousand cavalry straight into the Central Plains. In just half a year, he captured West Pass, crossed the thick Yao Mountain Plateau, and even the vast, boundless Yuan River and the raging Nu River, which could not hold a single feather, could not stop the water-unskilled grassland warriors. P1-P3