Chapter 5: Crown Prince Part 2

When Jin overran Shangjing, Xiao Kun had been on a mission abroad. At the Xiao Family’s request, he rushed back to the Imperial Palace and rescued only Sa Luan, flying with him to Western Xia to preserve the last bloodline of the Yelu Family.

Though Liao was lost, the boy naively believed that as long as Xiao Kun remained, they had a chance to restore the kingdom. Xiao Kun had no choice but to shelter him temporarily with the Hong family while spending the past half-year seeking allies for Sa Luan’s restoration.

Dawn approached. Xiao Kun drank a little wine; the servants dispersed. He leaned on the hall couch, half his body dangling off, overcome by exhaustion, and soon fell asleep, dreaming strangely.

In the dream, Xiang Xian, whom he had met only once, appeared. They stood in a vast desert, a horde of War Dead Corpse Ghosts at their backs—like an army of a thousand!

The black tide surged toward them like a tsunami.

Xiao Kun felt his chest and abdomen roil with qi and blood, his entire body burning as if to reduce him to ashes. Xiang Xian carried him, leaving footprints in the moonlight across the flat desert.

“Hold on,” Xiang Xian, covered in blood, staggered as a gale blew. “You’ll be fine. Don’t give up!”

Xiao Kun leaned on Xiang Xian’s back, his eyes filled with silver light. Xiang Xian swayed, walking toward the horizon in the desert.

“Don’t bother with me anymore. Go,” Xiao Kun said lowly. “From the moment I was born, misfortune has befallen everyone around me.”

“Don’t say that.” Xiang Xian seemed to comfort him—or himself. “You’re not, Xiao Kun.”

A gentle light bloomed from Xiang Xian’s chest—the Heart Lamp’s glow, illuminating the long night and echoing the bright moon on the horizon. Two radiant orbs appeared, one in the sky, one on earth. The Heart Lamp’s fierce light held the pursuers at bay ten li away.

“Even if it is,” Xiang Xian turned his head, “I don’t care.”

“You truly don’t care?”

“Yes… I don’t care…”

The light around them grew blindingly intense, forcing Xiao Kun nearly to shut his eyes.

Cold water splashed his face, jolting him awake. Daylight flooded in.

“You still know to come back!” Sa Luan fumed, hair disheveled from just waking. He shouted at Xiao Kun, “Where have you been?”

Xiao Kun, roused after two hours’ sleep, felt his head buzz. He pressed his fist to his forehead and replied, “I went to find your kin.”

“You said three days!” Sa Luan’s anger peaked. “How long has it been? Say it! Leaving me alone at home! Do you still have the Yelu clan in your eyes?!!”

“Sorry.” Xiao Kun endured the discomfort, forced himself up, and said, “It was urgent, and I got news of General Dashi…”

“Do you know how I’ve been these days?!” Sa Luan bellowed heedlessly at Xiao Kun, sweeping cups and plates from the side and smashing them on his head. “Kneel!”

Xiao Kun, in black tunic and trousers, rose from the couch and knelt on one knee before Sa Luan.

“Have you no semblance of a retainer?” Sa Luan panted, trembling with rage.

“It was my fault, Sa Luan. I shouldn’t have left without a word.”

“Go, then. Don’t come back.”

Sa Luan stormed inside, rattling the beaded curtain. Xiao Kun remained kneeling on one knee, wiped his face, and gradually cleared his head. He had just dreamed of Xiang Xian.

A quarter-hour later, Sa Luan called from the room, “Where are my boots?!”

Xiao Kun rose, picked up the boots Sa Luan had kicked out, entered, and put them on for him. Sa Luan shoved him aside roughly and went out for breakfast.

Xiao Kun knew Sa Luan’s anger had mostly subsided. He washed up; when breakfast arrived, he dried his hands and sat beside Sa Luan to serve him personally.

“Lord Xiao, you’re back.” The Hong Mansion steward arrived outside the room, evidently informed early, beaming as he came to gather news.

Xiao Kun said nothing, only stared into his eyes, blue light flickering in his pupils.

[How much news from the east has this fellow brought? Is Yelu Dashi still alive? How much longer must Yelu Yari stay here?]

Reading the steward’s thoughts, Xiao Kun simply said, “I made a trip to Datong Prefecture.”

“Oh?” the steward asked. “How is Datong?”

“Still under Jin control.” Xiao Kun did not hide it; such intelligence was findable with effort. “Word is, it’ll be handed to Song in a month.”

Jin withheld Shanxi, delaying return to Song per the alliance, all because of Buddha Palace Temple. Now the Heaven’s Mandate Box was gone, Datong held no value for the Wanyan Clan; handover loomed.

But Xiao Kun offered no explanation to the steward, who sighed with a troubled face.

“The Master grows thinner by the day, sleepless with worry for our country…”

“General Dashi lives,” Xiao Kun said. “Reports say he’s leading his army, stationed and regrouping at Kedun City.”

The steward’s face lit up. He laughed, “Good news!! Great Liao’s restoration is hopeful!”

Sa Luan glanced at Xiao Kun; he signaled with his eyes not to ask more.

All Liao remnants pinned their hopes on Protector General Yelu Dashi, awaiting him to drive out Jin troops and reclaim their homeland.

But Xiao Kun was certain the master here, Hong Cheng, cared little for Liao’s restoration—only his business and properties.

“Mmm.” The steward, armed with vital intelligence, prepared to report to his master. Xiao Kun added, “I’ll find a way to send a letter to contact Dashi. We may impose on your household for months yet.”

The steward hurried, “It’s our duty.”

The steward departed. Sa Luan ate breakfast, then slammed his chopsticks down, fuming, “Do you know?”

Xiao Kun looked at his little master, Sa Luan.

“I don’t,” Xiao Kun replied. “What is it?”

“When you’re here or not, they wear two faces!”

Xiao Kun frowned, about to signal Sa Luan to hold his tongue—servants lurked outside, and such words in another’s home would reach the master’s ears.

But Sa Luan had always been hot-tempered; no minister could handle him. With Xiao Kun gone without word and tardy in return, Hong Cheng suspected even this last loyalist had abandoned the Yelu. He mocked coldly, hoping to drive Sa Luan away and avoid trouble.

At this thought, Xiao Kun felt a twinge of guilt.

“Once I contact Dashi,” he comforted, “I’ll take you to him. Pay no mind to what these people say or do. Great undertakings demand enduring humiliation. This is just the beginning.”

“Have you met General Dashi?” Sa Luan asked.

“No, but I found scouts, passed word. Knowing his location makes it easy.”

“Wasn’t it Kedun? Fly me there.”

“It’s not that simple, Sa Luan. I must ensure your safety. What if he’s not there?”

Sa Luan bristled. “An army of fifty thousand marching from Shangjing to Kedun City—we’d spot them from the sky, wouldn’t we?”