51: Chapter 51: The Scope is Too Small, Monk

Jiang Wan lowered his head even further and said in a deep voice, "Replying to Your Highness, Yao Guangxiao just entered Yingtian Prefecture yesterday and is currently staying in the backyard of Jiming Temple."

Ah, the monk Yao Guangxiao. The famous Black-Clad Prime Minister in the history of the Great Ming, the mastermind of the Jingnan Campaign, a ruthless character who forcefully pushed the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, onto the throne.

Beside him, Duke of Cao closed the gold-painted folding fan in his hand with a "snap," a flash of astonishment appearing in his peach-blossom eyes. "That Yao Guangxiao from the Prince of Yans Mansion? What is he doing coming to Yingtian Prefecture at a time like this?"

"Probing for information." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong gave a light hum and said, "Now that Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen is waning and I have been enfeoffed as the Prince of Wu, he can no longer sit still in Beiping."

"Your Highness, I will take men to seize him right now and throw him into the Imperial Prison for a good interrogation!" Jiang Wan looked up, the xiuchun blade at his waist ready to be drawn.

In the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison, let alone a monk, even a true Buddha would have to leave behind a few sarira relics before leaving.

"Why would you want to arrest him?" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong chuckled, stood up, and smoothed out the wrinkles on his black brocade robe. "He hasn't committed any offense..."

"Prepare the carriage." A cold glint flashed in the depths of Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's eyes. "I will be heading south in a few days. Before I leave, I will go and meet this eminent monk from Beiping."

Half an hour later, in a secluded meditation room in the backyard of Jiming Temple. Sandalwood incense curled in the air. Yao Guangxiao, dressed in a wide, black monk's robe, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, fingering a string of sandalwood prayer beads. He had a pair of triangular eyes and the face of a sick tiger, his entire being exuding a cold, sinister aura.

On the small table in front of him sat an unfinished game of Go, black and white pieces intermingled, with murderous intent hidden within.

With a "creak," the wooden door of the meditation room was gently pushed open. Yao Guangxiao's fingers, which had been turning the prayer beads, paused slightly, and he slowly looked up.

He saw a youth in black robes standing in the doorway against the light, his sword-like eyebrows slanting into his hairline, his eyes deep and dark. Behind him followed a noble young man waving a folding fan. At just one glance, Yao Guangxiao recognized that this was none other than the Prince of Wu, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong, who had recently stirred up the winds and clouds in Yingtian.

He suppressed the astonishment in his heart, pressed his palms together, and spoke in a voice like a booming bell: "Amitabha. The sundial is at high noon, and a distinguished guest has arrived with the clouds. My quiet room is fortunate to be filled with such radiant light."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong did not reply. He walked straight to the table, sat down on the opposite meditation cushion in a relaxed, imposing manner, and immediately called out his birth name: "Yao Tianxi."

Upon hearing this, the corner of Yao Guangxiao's eye twitched slightly. Before he could respond, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong continued on his own: "You became a monk in the eighth year of Hongwu, with the dharma name Yao Guangxiao. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, after the Empress passed away, you served the feudal princes by chanting sutras. You then took the initiative to seek out the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, and went to Beiping."

As Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong spoke, he casually picked up a black piece from the Go bowl, twirled it between his fingertips, and teased, "What is it? Did you have a falling out with my Fourth Uncle, and you've run to Yingtian Prefecture to catch your breath?"

Yao Guangxiao felt baffled, but he kept a smile on his face. "Your Highness is joking. I am merely traveling through famous mountains and great rivers, visiting fellow eminent monks."

"Traveling?" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong flipped his wrist, and with a "snap," dropped the black piece onto the center point of the Go board. "The first stop on your journey was to see me, wasn't it?" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong smiled at Yao Guangxiao. "You want to see if I will end up battered and bruised by the soft knives of those gentry when I go to Jiangnan, don't you?"

"This poor monk is untalented, but I do know a little about the great trends of the world." Yao Guangxiao glanced at the chessboard, his tone calm. "The gentry in Jiangnan are deeply entrenched, and eight or nine out of every ten fertile fields in the world are in their hands. For Your Highness to go and clear the fields is no different from carrying firewood to extinguish a fire. Once Jiangnan falls into chaos, tax revenue will be cut off, and refugees will rise up everywhere..."

Yao Guangxiao gave two dry laughs and did not continue. Duke of Cao frowned as he listened from the side, not knowing why His Highness was arguing about these things with this monk.

"Great trends of the world?" Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong laughed heartily, stood up, and walked to the dilapidated window of the meditation room, looking with his hands behind his back at the withered, hundred-year-old locust tree in the courtyard.

"The great trends of the world in the eyes of you, Yao Guangxiao, are nothing but instigating a feudal prince holding heavy troops to rebel against his own nephew. To change the emperor sitting in Fengtian Hall, and continue playing the imperial balancing act with that group of civil officials who are full of benevolence and morality? To continue playing hide-and-seek with the Mongols inside the Great Wall?"

Yao Guangxiao was stunned. How could he speak so transparently right from the start? Duke of Cao, on the other hand, felt a shock in his heart. Holy crap, is my cousin-uncle going to rebel?!

"Your perspective is too small, monk." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong turned around, his deep eyes seeming to contain swirling stars. "What I intend to do is to reshape the very marrow of this Great Ming!"

"If the Jiangnan gentry dare to resist taxes, I will slaughter them until their lines are extinguished! If the civil officials dare to force the palace, I will massacre every one of those disciples of Confucius and Mencius! Do you really think I am going to Jiangnan just to clarify those few acres of land in the account books?"

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong walked back to the table, step by step, looking down at Yao Guangxiao from a commanding position. "I am going there to kill."

"I will use the family assets of the hundred great clans of Jiangnan to fill the national treasury of the Great Ming; I will use their blood to pave a new path. Whatever laws of the ancestors, whatever ways of the sages—in front of my xiuchun blade, it is all bullshit!"

Yao Guangxiao's fingers, which had been turning the prayer beads, suddenly tightened. He lowered his eyes to hide the raging waves in his gaze, unable to speak for a long while. No, what is wrong with him?

"You... are you not afraid that the world will fall into chaos and the Great Ming will collapse?!" Yao Guangxiao was somewhat unsettled. He had spent his whole life fearing that the world would not be in chaos, but he would never dare to play like this.

"If we do not cut away these rotting, blood-sucking pieces of flesh, even if the Great Ming had a million troops, it would eventually rot through." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's words were heavy and resonant. "I want to build a new army, I want to build great ships, and I want to plant the battle flags of the Great Ming on lands whose names you have never even heard of! What I want is for every place the sun and moon shine, and every place the rivers flow, to be the territory of the Great Ming!"

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong leaned forward slightly, staring fixedly into Yao Guangxiao's eyes. "You want to give Zhu Di a white hat."

"I am telling you, not only will I wear this hat, but I will also poke a hole in this sky!"

Duke of Cao stood to the side, having long forgotten to wave his folding fan, his mouth slightly agape, his breathing rapid.

"Amitabha..." Yao Guangxiao closed his eyes and pressed his palms together, but his voice was no longer calm. He finally understood why he had felt such strong unease in Beiping.

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong sat back down on the meditation cushion and said indifferently, "Go back and tell Fourth Uncle."

"I don't even have my eyes on that little bit of military force in Beiping. Tell him to honestly guard the national gates for me, to fatten up the horses of the Three Uriankhai Guards, and to sharpen the blades of the soldiers."

"Once I have swept through Jiangnan and sorted out the national treasury, I will lead the troops north myself. I will take him to Mobei, to Lake Buyur, and to see the territories that even Genghis Khan did not conquer."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's eyes were like knives, enunciating every word: "If he dares to cast a glance toward the south before I have freed up my hands, I guarantee that everyone in the Prince of Yans Mansion, down to the last dog, will not survive. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, the prayer bead between Yao Guangxiao's fingertips snapped with a "click," and he remained silent for a long while. "This poor monk... has noted it." Yao Guangxiao slowly lowered his head, his eyes fierce, not knowing what he was thinking.

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong stood up and casually straightened his sleeves. "The waters of Jiangnan run deep. If you are bored, Master, you are welcome to stay in Yingtian Prefecture and watch the show."

Having said this, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong turned and walked toward the door. "Your Highness!" Yao Guangxiao suddenly called out. Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong paused slightly, without turning back.

"If Your Highness goes to Jiangnan and truly, as you have said, kills until rivers of blood flow and the entire world becomes your enemy..." Yao Guangxiao stared fixedly at the youth's back. "What will Your Highness rely on?"

He did not believe that one person could rely on violence to oppose the entire deeply entrenched gentry class. Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong turned his head slightly and calmly spat out eight words: "Wherever the blade reaches, there is truth."

"Bang!" The door of the meditation room was slammed shut by Jiang Wan, cutting off the light from outside. The footsteps of Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong, Duke of Cao, and Jiang Wan gradually faded away.

Yao Guangxiao sat on the meditation cushion, looking at the black piece that Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong had slammed into the center point, which had perfectly broken the game. His brows were deeply furrowed, and he pressed his palms together, muttering to himself: "The dragon has left the shallows, the winds and clouds are about to rise..."