Chapter 28: A Rainstorm Traps Me Here

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As he spoke, Lu Ge looked toward the Palace of Zhao once more.

“But everything has two sides, and every matter has its yin and yang.”

“If they dare to stubbornly hold out, then we need only flood this palace.”

“Afterward, Yin Wenzi can spread the story far and wide.”

“He can say that the King of Zhao treated me with disrespect and subjected me to humiliation, so I punished him with wind and rain.”

“Yet he refused to repent, preferring to let Handan drown rather than admit his mistake.”

“In the end, it was I who pitied the people of Handan. To keep them from being caught up in the affair, I had no choice but to swallow my humiliation and withdraw.”

Shen Dao listened, utterly stunned.

If things truly unfolded that way, the reputation of the Zhao royal house would be ruined beyond repair.

They might not even have to wait for Qin to attack before Zhao descended into civil strife on its own.

The Ancestor’s stratagem of attacking the heart was truly formidable.

Either they submitted and apologized, or their reputation would be utterly destroyed.

As the two were speaking, a group of people emerged from within the palace gates.

At their head was a man beneath an enormous ceremonial canopy, impervious to the wind and rain.

The attendants around him could only follow with small umbrellas.

But the storm was so fierce that the umbrellas were of little use, and the attendants were soaked through regardless.

Only after he had passed beyond the palace gates did the man approach the carriage, bend at the waist, and offer a deep salute with clasped hands.

“Zhao Zhu pays his respects to Master Lu and Master Shen.”

Shen Dao said in a low voice, “He is the King of Zhao’s younger brother—the Marquis of Luling.”

“Then it seems they have yielded.”

Lu Ge nodded and looked at the Marquis of Luling. “Why have you come?”

The marquis forced a smile. “I have come by His Majesty’s command to invite Master Lu and Master Shen into the palace for a banquet.”

“Please, both of you, come with me.”

Lu Ge shook his head. “My lord.”

“I have already said that as long as the wind and rain continue, I will not enter the palace.”

“Judging by what I can observe, this rain may well continue for another three to five years.”

Though the Marquis of Luling was the King of Zhao’s own brother, he was not favored by the king.

His standing in Zhao was hardly among the highest.

A mere Marquis of Luling was not enough to deal with Lu Ge.

The marquis was no fool. How could he fail to understand Lu Ge’s meaning?

“In that case, please wait here, Master Lu.”

Without bothering with any superficial pleasantries, the marquis turned and walked back into the palace.

Within the palace.

“Three to five years?”

“Outrageous! Outrageous!”

“He is threatening me outright!”

After hearing the marquis’s report, the King of Zhao flew into a rage and began sweeping everything off the table.

“Your Majesty, why not let me go?”

Lord Pingyuan rose to his feet.

One of the Four Young Lords of the age, Lord Pingyuan was famous throughout the realm. In Zhao, his status placed him below only the king himself and above all others.

The King of Zhao wore a sorrowful expression. He descended from the throne, came before Lord Pingyuan, and seized his hands.

“It is my own incompetence. I have caused you to suffer humiliation, Lord Pingyuan.”

But Lord Pingyuan shook his head. “Master Lu is close to Qin. When Your Majesty first wished to make things difficult for him, all of us approved.”

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“This matter is not Your Majesty’s fault.”

“Please remain here in comfort, Your Majesty. I shall return shortly.”

The King of Zhao nodded emphatically, tears glistening in his eyes as he watched Lord Pingyuan depart.

“Lord Pingyuan truly is a pillar of our state.”

With a group of attendants and a great umbrella overhead, Lord Pingyuan made his way to the palace gates.

From afar, he saw the two figures seated atop the carriage.

Lord Pingyuan came from the military tradition and was highly skilled in the art of reading a person’s aura.

The instant he glanced at Lu Ge, an intense pain shot through his head, as though his skull were about to split open.

When he closed his eyes and recalled what he had just seen, he could remember only that above Lu Ge’s head, amid the shifting signs of his aura, there seemed to loom things of unimaginable terror.

There was a sage preaching the Way to the four corners of the world, a vast and boundless constellation of stars, a divine dragon soaring across the seas…

Any one of these omens marked its bearer as an unparalleled hero of the realm.

Yet now, all of them had gathered in a single person.

Regret filled Lord Pingyuan’s heart. When the King of Zhao had first heard that Master Lu was close to Qin and wished to make things difficult for him, he should have spoken up and tried to stop it.

Now look at what had happened. They had already offended him.

Making amends would be exceedingly difficult.

Lord Pingyuan then looked toward Master Shen.

This time, his head did not hurt.

Above Shen Dao’s head, amid his aura, there was only the illusory figure of someone seated in meditation, seemingly the very embodiment of justice and impartiality.

Lord Pingyuan drew a deep breath. Without slowing his steps, he soon arrived outside the palace gates.

“Zhao Sheng pays his respects to Master Lu.”

“Master Shen, I trust you are well?”

Shen Dao nodded in return but said nothing.

Lu Ge looked at Lord Pingyuan, and his eyes brightened slightly.

“I have long heard of Lord Pingyuan’s great name. Meeting you today has made this journey worthwhile.”

Lord Pingyuan was truly a man whose name had been carved into the annals of history.

Xunzi had praised him for his ability to resolve the greatest troubles of a state and remove its gravest dangers.

Later generations, too, saw him as an elegant and outstanding young lord amid a corrupt age.

“Have you also come to invite me into the palace?”

Lu Ge asked with a smile.

Lord Pingyuan nodded. “Precisely.”

“It is our great fortune that Master Lu has personally come to attend the banquet.”

“Our earlier arrangements were careless, and we treated you with negligence.”

“I hope you will not take offense.”

Lu Ge laughed heartily. “No offense, no offense.”

“I am not the sort of person who holds grudges.”

“It is only that I cannot enter the palace just yet.”

“After all, the rain is falling so heavily. If I were drenched and caught a chill, how would that affect my reading?”

Lord Pingyuan’s pupils contracted slightly as he looked at Master Lu.

He had never imagined that even after coming out personally to receive him, Master Lu would still refuse to show him the slightest consideration.

“I have heard that Master Lu’s learning reaches the heavens and that you are skilled in observing the celestial signs.”

“May I ask when you believe this rain will stop?”

Though anger rose within him, Lord Pingyuan allowed none of it to show on his face.

Lu Ge looked up at the sky, then pretended to count on his fingers as though making a calculation.

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“Hmm. I estimate it will continue for another three or five months.”

“Perhaps Lord Pingyuan should return and report this to the King of Zhao.”

“How about postponing the banquet?”

Lord Pingyuan drew a deep breath.

Three or five months?

That would be enough time to drown Handan eight times over.

“The banquet has already been arranged. How could it be postponed?”

“Please wait a moment, Master Lu. I shall go report to His Majesty and discuss the matter with him.”

“We shall see whether there is some way to make this rain stop.”

Lu Ge looked at Lord Pingyuan for a moment before saying, “Very well. I shall give you that much consideration.”

“Go, then.”

“If you cannot think of a solution, I shall leave.”

“In that case, you will have to wait several months and come again once the rain has stopped before you can host your banquet.”

Lord Pingyuan saluted with clasped hands, then turned and departed.

Back inside the palace, the King of Zhao wore a dark expression.

“Your Majesty.”

Lord Pingyuan’s face was grim as well.

“It appears that Master Lu’s meaning is perfectly clear.”

“When the Marquis of Luling went to invite him, he said three to five years.”

“When I went, he changed it to three or five months.”

“He wants Your Majesty to go and receive him personally.”

The King of Zhao spoke in a low voice. “I saw that much as well.”

“He still resents us. Now he means to take his revenge—to trample my dignity beneath his feet as he enters the palace.”

Lord Pingyuan was speechless for a moment, and none of the other ministers dared to speak.

What could they say?

Were they to suggest that His Majesty endure the humiliation and go invite him personally?

Only someone utterly lacking in tact would dare say such a thing.

The king could lose face, certainly—but they could not be the ones to advise him to do so.

Yet if they told their sovereign to stand firm and never bow his head, lest his crown fall off, how were they supposed to deal with the torrential rain?

For a time, the entire great hall fell into utter silence.

…

“One rainstorm has trapped me here.”

“Your cold expression will make me sad.”

“The rain in June is just as heartless as you.”

“Each drop strikes my heart with pain.”

“Oh, I don’t believe you didn’t do it on purpose…”

Shen Dao listened to Lu Ge humming his strange little tune, his fingers unconsciously tapping out the rhythm.

“Ancestor, this tune of yours is certainly peculiar, but it is quite pleasant to hear.”

“The lyrics are remarkably fitting as well.”

“It sounds exactly like what the King of Zhao must be thinking at this moment.”