Both of you were picked out by dad as promising young men. His rank rises higher by the day, and it won’t be another five years before he receives his title and land. Xiao Chi’ye was silent for a while, then said, “These past few years, Zhao Hui has been on the battlefront at the borders with da-ge. “I recognise my wrongdoing, Master.” The sweat on his brow trickled by his eyes as he spoke. “Whence comes punishment, if no wrong has been done?” When no one else remained in the room, he turned slightly to look at Chen Yang. Xiao Chi’ye lifted a hand to gesture all the servants out. He spoke from deep within his heart now.Īnd Xiao Chi’ye did pause on his way out, but did not turn his head.Ĭhen Yang kowtowed again, and said, “Please grant me my punishment, Master.” “Governor” was how he usually addressed Xiao Chi’ye. He placed his hands on the ground and kowtowed, his voice bleak as he pled, “Master…” Have a break.”Ĭhen Yang’s legs were numb from kneeling. When he was dressed, he told Chen Yang, “You don’t have to come with me today. In the morning, Xiao Chi’ye got ready for Court. There were many words which, left unspoken, struck a deeper chord than when said aloud. Xiao Chi’ye did not speak a word that night, and so Chen Yang spent the whole night on his knees.
When the pot was full again, he went back to kneeling.
When Xiao Chi’ye rapped a knuckle on his desk, he got up immediately to refill Xiao Chi’ye’s pot.
Xiao Chi’ye needed a chance to take the Imperial Guard down a peg, and today, Tantai Hu had given it to him.Ĭhen Yang did not lift his head. These men, who had been stifled for years within the Capital, who used to feign meekness before Eight Battalion soldiers, were now finding the cheek to go about hollering orders at them. The Autumn Hunt had given the Imperial Guard their moment in the sun at last, and for a time their celebrity outstripped that of the Eight Battalions’. With his subordinates, he was ungrudgingly open-handed, but the great-cloak he used today remained the same one his da-sao had sent him three years ago. In the five years since, he had been fair and frank with both penalty and praise, withholding not one cent of the silver that the Imperial Guard was due- in fact, supplementing it quite a bit. It is written, “The commander whose authority is not yet established, must first compel soldiers with his might.” Five years ago, when Xiao Chi’ye took over the Imperial Guard, he had wasted no time in pulling the rug out from under them, precisely so that he would gain an absolute authority over these formidable men. Beyond the room’s curtained doorway, every Imperial Guard officer remained in attendance on their knees. Xiao Chi’ye sat in the central chair, reading a book on military tactics. A charcoal fire toasted in the main room.Ĭhen Yang had been kneeling for a little under an hour by this point.