Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Zhang Que’s brow creased as he suddenly asked, “Old Sir, you said that this was a tribute offering, but there don’t seem to have been any such tributes of Gaochang Blood Jade in this government.”
“Hahaha, of course not!”
The old jade artisan couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Gaochang is a small and weak country, and Gaochang Blood Jade is its most unique export. Although the Gaochang Jade is of extremely high quality, it is extremely rare, and due to its physical properties, the majority of Blood Jade is only about the size of a thumb; those larger than this are few and far between. This is primarily because it’s more fragile, making it difficult to form large slabs. Any piece of Blood Jade more than three inches long is of the highest grade, and those eight inches or longer are known as Royal Grade Jade. I only heard about this kind of jade from a few old jade artisans when I was five or six years old.
“It’s said that there are only three pieces of Royal Grade Jade, and they were all offered up by Gaochang to Emperor Taizong during his reign. Ever since then, as Gaochang’s jade mines were exhausted, Gaochang Blood Jade has basically become extinct, and not even those thumb-sized pieces of jade can be found, let alone Royal Grade Jade.”
This man was in his eighties and was already getting rather decrepit, his voice rather unclear. But when he spoke of Gaochang Jade, his entire body teemed with energy.
“Old Sir, do you know where those three pieces of Royal Grade Gaochang Jade ended up? Or are they still all with the imperial household?” Wang Chong asked, frowning slightly.
“Logically speaking, all three pieces should still be in the imperial household’s treasury, but this old man recalled a certain matter from the past.
“During Taizong’s reign, there was a Great General who excelled in battle and conquest, and who rendered many great achievements. Moreover, back then, when the Central Plains had not had any relations with the Western Regions for nearly one hundred years, he was the first to invade the Western Regions and subjugate Gaochang. Emperor Taizong was delighted by this, so when Gaochang made its first tribute, he awarded one of the three pieces of jade to that Great General. This is probably the only piece of Royal Grade Gaochang Jade outside of the imperial household.”
The old artisan stroked his beard and smiled.
“Great General!”
On the other side, Wang Chong was nothing like as happy, and his brow had only furrowed further. The only part of the old man’s words that stood out to him was ‘Great General’. His eyes blinked as countless thoughts ran through his mind.
“Old Sir, do you still remember the name of the Great General who was awarded that piece of jade?” Wang Chong suddenly asked.
The mood in the hall suddenly changed, and Zhang Que raised his head and stared at the old artisan.
Although he didn’t know why his lord had asked this question, he had followed Wang Chong for long enough to know that he never asked questions without reason.
“This… It’s been quite some time, and this old man can’t remember too well, but this person seems to have been one of the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion1.”
The old artisan’s brow furrowed in strenuous thought, but his words had already left Wang Chong reeling. He sensed that he was extremely close to the truth now.
“Right, this old man remembers that he was called Hou… right, Hou Junji! The illustrious Army-Shattering War God of Taizong’s era!”
Wang Chong fell into a long silence.
The old jade artisan soon took his leave, having brought Wang Chong the most progress he had made in quite some time.
“Your Highness, given the jade artisan’s words, Hou Junji should be someone from one hundred years ago. He shouldn’t be the man we’re after, right? Is there a chance that the other two Royal Grade Gaochang Jades managed to get out of the palace?” Zhang Que asked.
“Let’s not rush to any conclusions yet. There are portraits of all twenty-four meritorious officials in Lingyan Pavilion, all of them hung up within so that those who came after could view them. Zhang Que, take my order to the Imperial Academy and ask them for several copies of those twenty-four portraits. In addition, try and get in touch with Chamberlain of Palace Revenues Yang Zhao. He administers the treasury of the inner court, so he should know if the two Royal Grade Jades are still present,” Wang Chong pensively said.
It was difficult to find any useful clues from a drawing of a jade token, but now that he knew that this was a tribute offering from the kingdom of Gaochang and there were only three such pieces in the world, things were completely different. He just needed to see what Yang Zhao said and the truth would be revealed.
There was probably no one more familiar with such precious tribute objects than Yang Zhao.
The results came very quickly. The first to arrive was the reply from Yang Zhao. Less than an hour after Wang Chong had sent his men to ask the question, Yang Zhao had sent back his reply.
The jade Wang Chong was asking about truly was Royal Grade Gaochang Jade. One piece was missing, but the other two remained in the secret treasury of the Imperial Palace and were ranked as the highest class of tribute offering, which were rarely used as rewards. Yang Zhao had gathered that those two pieces of Royal Grade Gaochang Jade had been untouched since Taizong’s era.
Not long after he received this reply, he received the copies of the portraits in Lingyan Pavilion. The other portraits were nothing special, but when Wang Chong saw the portrait of Army-Shattering War God Hou Junji, he was struck dumb.
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At first glance, the man seemed extremely strange and not at all related to the man he was investigating. But when he saw the scar across the eyelid of that young face, Wang Chong’s mind exploded.
“It really is him!”
Wang Chong’s mind was tossing and turning with great waves. This portrait of the Army-Shattering War God was much younger than the Ghost King he had seen, but the scars they had were in the same location and the same size.
Moreover, even though the faces were different ages, their appearances were seventy to eighty percent similar.
Although it seemed unbelievable, this was still the most likely explanation.
“Impossible! This can’t be! How could someone live for so long?! Shouldn’t he already be dead?”
Zhang Que turned to Wang Chong in disbelief.
Their investigation had revealed that Hou Junji was a master of commanding soldiers, and he had experienced several hundred campaigns of various sizes in his life, rarely encountering defeat. In almost every case, he had defeated his foe.
And the investigation had also revealed that the Army-Shattering War God had never been picky with his methods. He cared about the results, not the process, making him one of the thorniest foes to deal with.
But for some reason, some information about Hou Junji was limited, important matters passed over with little detail. There was a large blank in the middle of his life, and even some of the records that all officials should have possessed were vague and ambiguous. It was as if they had been intentionally hidden.
By knowing oneself and knowing one’s enemy, one could win one hundred out of one hundred battles, but Wang Chong needed even more information than this.
Wang Chong suddenly thought of a person. Perhaps I should go and see Master!
Although the information he had obtained was fragmentary, intentionally concealed, Wang Chong had found a surprising clue.
Army-Shattering War God Hou Junji had existed in the same generation as Great Tang War God Su Zhengchen. Both of them had been valued officials under Taizong, and Hou Junji had only been second to Su Zhengchen. Thus, the two of them had probably met before, perhaps were even very close to each other.
In the Rebellion of the Three Princes, the Ghost King at the First Prince’s side had played an extremely important role. He was undoubtedly the First Prince’s overall strategist, perhaps even connected to the attempt on King Song’s life.
To understand his flaws and understand his style, Wang Chong would have to see his master, Su Zhengchen.
……
In the night, the Su Residence was quiet.
In the same old place, a red teapot had been placed on the table, with fragrant steam rising from it and washing over the garden.
After hearing Wang Chong’s words, Su Zhengchen took a pensive sip of tea.
Wang Chong’s visit was extremely surprising. He had lived for many, many years and through the reigns of several sovereigns. Even the wise and powerful Emperor Taizong was now dust, let alone anyone else. Those acquaintances who had worked alongside him had ceased to exist long ago.
Thus, when Wang Chong mentioned the name ‘Hou Junji’, Su Zhengchen was clearly taken aback, even rather moved.
In addition, when Wang Chong asked about Hou Junji, he had seen a flicker in Su Zhengchen’s eyes.
“Can I take another look at that drawing of the jade token?” Su Zhengchen suddenly asked.
Wang Chong immediately passed it over. Su Zhengchen stared at it in silence, his brow furrowed.
“To think that it really is him!”
Finally, Su Zhengchen gave a long sigh.
“It can’t be wrong. This Gaochang Jade was granted to Hou Junji by Emperor Taizong. The image of the Xuan Bird is carved upon the jade, none other than the symbol on Hou Junji’s war banner!”
Su Zhengchen pointed at the black Xuan Birds emblazoned on the jade token. There was no one in the world that understood the matters of Emperor Taizong’s era more than Su Zhengchen.
“Hou Junji was born in a noble lineage, and he was one of Emperor Taizong’s earliest followers, joining him when he was still the Grand General of Heavenly Tactics2. Emperor Taizong deeply trusted him, even giving him the nickname of ‘Little White Ape’. The Xuan Bird was originally taboo, a symbol that could only be used by members of the imperial household, but Emperor Taizong made an exception for Hou Junji. The favor Hou Junji enjoyed was simply unprecedented!
“And Hou Junji did not let Taizong down. He followed Taizong on his campaigns and offered up brilliant plans again and again, contributing immensely to the war effort. But Hou Junji’s greatest abilities were his grasp of military strategy and his astonishing learning capability.”
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1. Lingyan Pavilion was a pavilion Emperor Taizong erected to commemorate twenty-four officials for their service to the empire, containing twenty-four life-sized portraits of these officials.↩
2. The title of Grand General of Heavenly Tactics was granted to Li Shimin, the future Emperor Taizong, by Emperor Gaozu in 621. In terms of rank, it was only nominally second to the court ranks of the Grand Preceptor, Grand Tutor, and Grand Protector. When Li Shimin became the Emperor in 629, the post was dissolved.↩