"Lone smoke rises, suddenly straight;
distant trees seem round from afar…"
Gazing at the former capital of Jinling as it slowly receded into the distance, Li Yu felt restless. He had no real interest in polishing verses. He merely murmured a couple of lines from the Tang poet Bai Juyi out of habit.
It was already June.
Both banks of the river were lush and green, and against such vitality, the great chunk missing from Jinling's walls made the city seem far less menacing than before.
Some were uneasy.
Others, perfectly calm.
Before the man even appeared, his flat voice arrived first.
"Your Majesty still finds room for refined interests, I see."
A middle-aged man stepped out of the cabin. He wore brocade robes, a sword at his waist, and carried himself with the steady stride of someone used to command. He walked to the rail and looked back as well, toward the ever-shrinking city of Jinling, where the banners bearing the character "Song" could still be faintly seen.
Li Yu did not bother with politeness.
"I am nothing but a prisoner beneath the steps. General Cao, why mock me?"
The man before him was Cao Bin. He drew his gaze back and studied Li Yu directly.
"The ruler truly does match the rumors. A broad brow, paired teeth. A face destined for greatness."
A full forehead, evenly paired teeth showing slightly when he spoke.
No wonder people once whispered that Li Yu's appearance alone invited suspicion.
The ancient tales said Emperor Ku was born with paired teeth, and Emperor Shun with double pupils. Both were considered signs of imperial destiny.
Seeing that Cao Bin ignored his earlier remark entirely, Li Yu turned away and focused on the distant city instead. In his heart, he could only sigh. The past half-year truly felt like a dream.
When the Song army first surrounded Jinling, most ministers inside the city had not been worried.
First, Jinling was a strong fortress and the Song forces were not large.
Second, outside the city, the hastily appointed Huangfu Jixun led recruited troops against the Song, while Zhu Lingyun, the military governor of Hongzhou, held heavy forces to resist them.
Even with help from that short-sighted man Qian Chu, who clearly did not understand the meaning of "when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold," the Song army was still campaigning far from home. Surely they could not hold out forever.
Thus the court believed:
Hold Jinling, fight outside the walls, and perhaps the Song would retreat. The state might yet survive.
But…
Starting in late March, the Song troops began openly testing a new siege weapon beneath the walls.
Li Yu, who had little to do inside the city, had even climbed high to observe it. He discussed it with his ministers, yet none could guess what it was.
Soon, they did not need the walls to understand.
Stones weighing hundreds of jin, and clay balls the size of a man, were hurled into the air by that machine. Some smashed into the walls. Others sailed clean over them and crashed inside the city, killing countless people.
After only four days of such bombardment, and with the Song army freely chiseling at the wall while defenders could do nothing, Jinling's northern wall collapsed into exactly the broken shape now visible behind them.
In such circumstances, submitting was the only choice Li Yu had left.
Once the wall fell, Southern Tang morale collapsed like an avalanche.
Huangfu Jixun's army disintegrated. He killed his own hard-line lieutenant and surrendered.
Zhu Lingyun made a desperate final stand, was surrounded on three sides, defeated, and killed.
As for the ministers inside Jinling, they now eagerly welcomed the royal army, each presenting memorials accusing their former ruler of being a seductive calamity who had brought ruin upon Jiangnan.
So when Li Yu now heard himself called "Your Majesty," it sounded almost comical.
Cao Bin, however, was clearly in high spirits after victory. He ignored Li Yu's hostility and even spoke with patient advice.
"If Your Majesty arrives in Bianjing under that title and properly honors the Son of Heaven, wealth and comfort will not be lacking. You may live as a peaceful marquis, compose books and paintings with your brother, dwell long in the capital, and enjoy life without end."
Li Yu answered with a cold laugh.
"Thirteen years ago I entered Bianjing seeking friendship with Song, and was refused."
"Two years later, the Later Shu ruler who surrendered became the Prince of Chu there."
"Endless joy? Hah. Better that my brother simply offer more wine at my grave."
After the sarcasm, however, Li Yu sighed.
He understood perfectly what Cao Bin meant.
Even if he hated it, he needed the title of "ruler."
Surrendering as a king meant he might follow Meng Chang and still have a chance to live.
Without that title, the fall of Tang would be labeled suppression of rebellion, and he himself would certainly be executed.
Which meant that his earlier sharp reply had already betrayed the truth. He did not want to die.
Sure enough, Cao Bin's face remained expressionless, but his tone carried a hint of amusement.
"So Your Majesty does wish to live."
As for Meng Chang's death, Cao Bin pretended not to hear. Though he suspected it had much to do with the chaos in Shu caused by Wang Quanbin, he would never say so aloud.
At that moment, another man emerged from the cabin, laughing loudly.
"If one can live, who would choose death?"
The moment Li Yu saw him, his calm shattered into fury.
"Qian Chu!"
The fall of Tang was now inevitable. If one spoke of the key to this war, of course the new siege engine that smashed Jinling's walls mattered most.
But if one traced things back to the beginning, had the King of Wuyue shown even a shred of understanding that the fall of Tang would endanger himself, and joined Tang against Song, would things have come to this?
Even neutrality would have helped. Had he simply stayed out, the Song crossing of the river would never have been so easy.
Instead, Qian Chu had thrown himself fully behind Song's campaign.
So Li Yu felt little toward Song itself. His resentment was reserved entirely for Wuyue. He almost wanted to devour the man alive.
Qian Chu stopped when he saw that murderous expression, then laughed.
"Why not recognize Heaven's will, Your Majesty?"
"The Song emperor has already pacified the southern states. Once he leads troops north, destroys the Northern Han, and subdues the Khitans, all under Heaven will belong to Song, inheriting Tang's mandate."
"Why persist in the foolish act of a mantis trying to block a chariot?"
Li Yu roared back.
"If Tang falls, how can Wuyue stand?"
"If I am the mantis, are you not the ruler of Yu, waiting to be swallowed next?"
Qian Chu answered easily.
"My state never expected to stand forever anyway."
"…What?"
Seeing Li Yu stunned, Qian Chu sighed.
"Jinling's mighty walls fell in five days. My Qiantang's defenses are far weaker."
"And since Zhu Wen usurped Tang, the world has been ruled by warlords. Tell me, how many of those who relied on arms alone have truly survived?"
"Now the Song emperor sweeps both south and north. The world is clearly moving toward unity again. Even if I helped you, what difference would it make to the outcome?"
Li Yu fell silent.
He knew the truth himself. Had Song attacked Wuyue first, he would certainly have sent troops to aid them. But in the end, he still could not have saved them.
And once Song took Qiantang, the southern advance would have been inevitable…
"General Cao," Qian Chu said lightly, "if I had joined forces with the Tang ruler, could Song truly not defeat us one by one?"
Cao Bin pressed his lips together in a smile and said nothing.
He certainly was not going to admit he himself barely understood that new siege engine.
Without it, subduing the two states separately might have taken three to five years.
His silence only made both rulers assume it was confidence.
Thus Li Yu grew more despondent.
Qian Chu, on the other hand, seemed almost relieved.
"To live as a peaceful marquis of Great Song," he said, "is my good fortune."