Chapter 536: The Jade Wine
Deep in the quiet of the night, in the Son of Heaven's private chambers, the Son of Heaven lay on his bed while four or five maids massaged him all over.
Beside him stood the newly appointed great general.
The Son of Heaven asked the great general:
"We march tomorrow. What's Hei up to?"
The great general watched the Son of Heaven's expression carefully and said:
"Lord Minamoto is currently cultivating friendships among the ministers."
The Son of Heaven frowned.
"Cultivating friendships among the ministers? What ministers!
"He's leading troops out tomorrow to destroy the demon army on Peach Blossom Mountain, and it's the middle of the night. What's he doing wandering around?"
He snorted coldly and asked about the condition of the three thousand samurai marching out tomorrow.
"The three thousand samurai are fully armoured and equipped, horses and all. At sunrise tomorrow they can sweep away the demon army on the mountain and restore peace to All Under Heaven! Only..."
Here he deliberately put on a troubled look.
The Son of Heaven, lying face down on the bed enjoying the massage, turned his head to look at him.
"Only what? Out with it!"
The great general came to his point. "Only, Lord Minamoto already earned great prestige among the troops when he slew the demon general.
"Then he spoke up to demand compensation for the fallen, which has made the soldiers devoted to him body and soul.
"These past few days, Lord Minamoto has claimed to be recovering, but in fact he's been very close with the ministers.
"After this battle, I fear Lord Minamoto will be puffed up with his achievements and endanger the very foundations of the state!"
The Son of Heaven's brows knitted tightly, and his eyes burned into the great general.
"HOW DARE YOU! You're trying to drive a wedge between Us and Our ministers!!"
The new great general dropped to his knees with a thud and cried out with the face of a loyal minister:
"Son of Heaven! Your subject thinks only of the realm!!
"What the Son of Heaven may not know is that Lord Minamoto's ancestor once rose to great general, but later failed to put down a rebellion, was suspected of colluding with the rebels, and spoke on their behalf in court. For that, the Son of Heaven of the time ordered him to commit seppuku!
"Like father, like son, as they say. With a precedent like that in his family, what kind of loyal subject could Hei possibly be?
"Tomorrow morning, once Hei leads the troops up the mountain and slays the Big Yōkai, his prestige in the army will be enormous. If we don't do something, I fear... I fear..."
The room went quiet. Even the maids massaging the Son of Heaven stopped moving.
The Son of Heaven frowned and was silent for a long while. Then he waved the maids out.
He sat up and stared straight at the great general.
"You think We don't know everything you just said?
"That Hei. He dared to refuse wine We bestowed on him, and then he put on a show of looking after the samurai.
"Compensation for the fallen. You think We don't know how to handle that? He needs to teach Us? Isn't that just buying the soldiers' loyalty?
"The problem is, We need him to kill the Giant Yōkai. What are We supposed to do!"
Seeing the worry on the Son of Heaven's face, the great general's eyes flicked. He knew the moment had come, so he knelt and cried out:
"Do not worry, Son of Heaven! Your subject will lead troops up Peach Blossom Mountain, slay the Giant Yōkai, and rid the Son of Heaven of this scourge!"
The Son of Heaven eyed the great general.
"Heh heh. All that talk, and it turns out you just want to steal Hei's glory. But do you have Hei's skill?"
The great general said quickly:
"Son of Heaven, your subject doesn't want to steal anyone's glory. Your subject wants to share the Son of Heaven's burden!
"Consider this: the Giant Yōkai was badly wounded. His hand, his leg, and his neck were cut, and he bled like a river. Any ordinary man would have died long ago.
"Wounds like that, even on a Giant Yōkai, probably can't heal within five days.
"The Giant Yōkai has been hiding on Peach Blossom Mountain and hasn't come down to eat anyone in five days.
"This is a Giant Yōkai who claimed he'd eat a hundred people a day. If he hasn't eaten in five days, he must be gravely ill.
"Let your subject lead the samurai up the mountain, and I'll surely kill him with ease!
"Besides, at this moment, it's still hard to say which is the greater threat to the realm, the Giant Yōkai or Hei..."
That last line struck home with the Son of Heaven. In his mind he saw the samurai kneeling before Hei after he'd slain the demon general.
Samurai followed strength, and Hei was undeniably strong.
If Hei killed the Giant Yōkai too, his prestige would reach a point not even the Son of Heaven could control!
And then, if Hei had treason in his heart, all he'd need to do was give the word, and wouldn't it be "the enemy is at the castle keep"?
At that thought, the Son of Heaven asked the general one last question in a low voice:
"Are you certain you can lead the troops and destroy the Giant Yōkai and his demon army?"
The great general nodded eagerly.
"The Giant Yōkai is badly wounded now and can't command the demons. They're bound to be in chaos, a scattered mess!
"If our soldiers form a killing formation and charge up the mountain with pikes, bows, and crossbows, we can surely wipe them all out!
"If your subject fails, I'll commit seppuku to atone!!"
The Son of Heaven muttered that the general's seppuku wouldn't be worth a damn. But as the political animal he was, he had already decided that Hei was a greater threat than the Big Yōkai.
And so, as the great general watched in delight, he gave his orders.
"Tomorrow morning, you lead all the samurai. Take every strong bow and heavy crossbow in Kyoto, command every samurai, and go up the mountain to slay the Giant Yōkai.
"As for Hei..."
A cold light flashed in his eyes.
"Send someone to bestow the jade wine on him!"
...
That night, heavy snow suddenly began to fall on Kyoto, and in moments the mountains, rivers, and stones all around were blanketed in silver.
Hei left the old noble's house and walked back through the heavy snow to his home in the Son of Heaven's palace.
He pushed open the door. Waiting for him was not his wife or son, but an old eunuch.
Hei was taken aback, then quickly bowed.
"Sir, does the Son of Heaven have orders for me?"
The old eunuch's face was thick with white powder. Smiling, he took a tray from the young eunuch beside him. On it sat a wine flask.
"Lord Minamoto, this is jade wine bestowed by the Son of Heaven.
"You march tomorrow. Please drink this wine as a send-off for your campaign!"
Hearing that he was supposed to drink, Hei was about to decline when the old eunuch said:
"This wine is bestowed by the Son of Heaven. A subject can only accept it.
"I know you march tomorrow, my lord, and you fear drink might spoil things. But how much wine is this, really? With a build as strong as yours, what harm could this one flask do?"
With that, the old eunuch picked up a cup, poured it full from the flask, and held it out in front of Hei.
"My lord, please drink the Son of Heaven's jade wine, and tomorrow's campaign will surely end in victory!"
Since things had gone this far, and a single small cup wouldn't spoil anything, Hei couldn't refuse again. He took the cup and drank it in one gulp.
The old eunuch was very satisfied. He handed Hei the whole flask of imperial wine, said, "May fortune favour your arms, General," and walked out of Hei's house into the heavy snow.
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