Side Story Chapter 2: Third Son Xuan!
In the second year of the Shengli Era, internal strife broke out in Ü-Tsang to the northwest. Tridu Songtsen took the throne as Tsenpo and began a series of ambitious reforms to strengthen the country, promoting young up-and-comers. Ü-Tsang flourished in power.
At the same time, the Tang battled with Ü-Tsang in Longxi, and the Tang were defeated by an obscure young Tibetan general called Dalon Trinling.
Longxi was repeatedly devastated by raids.
In the same year, in the north, the army of the Turkic Empire advanced, and the Tang were defeated again, suffering losses of more than two hundred thousand men.
Great General Zhao Xiang was also slain in battle!
To the northeast, the lurking tiger that was Goguryeo began to invade from the north.
The Great Tang was surrounded by danger on all sides, and reform was urgently needed!
In the second year of the Shengli Era, Wei Yuanzhong was sent to Bingzhou, and in the first year of the Jiushi Era, he was sent to Xiao Pass. In the fifth month of the first year of Dazu, the Tang Emperor appointed Yuanzhong as the General Commander of the Lingwu Circuit Army, and he was constantly moving around, always defending and never attacking. In the eighth month of the same year, the Tang Emperor was enraged to hear that the Turks were raiding the border, so he appointed the King of Xiang as both Anbei Protector-General and Grand Marshal of the Circuit Armies to lead the armies of Yan, Zhao, Qin, and Long to deal the Turks a vicious blow.
(TN: Shengli, Jiushi, and Dazu are all era names Wu Zetian used during her rule, specifically during the time period where she ruled as Emperor herself rather than controlling the Emperor from the background, though it seems that she does not exist in this timeline and has been replaced by a male Emperor. Wei Yuanzhong was a chancellor under Wu Zetian, and during this period of time, he was placed in command of the Tang armies of the north to ward off Turkic invasion. The King of Xiang, also known as Li Dan, later became Emperor Ruizong, who would ultimately abdicate the throne to Li Longji, the Sage Emperor.)
The Turks knew that the Middle Kingdom was ready, so its army hastily retreated before it had even set out.
Hearing this, the Tang Emperor had no means by which to vent his rage. Not long after that, in the first month of the second year, the first imperial military examination was held in Chang’an…
In order to widen the influence of the imperial military examination, the Tang Emperor ordered that all the descendants of the imperial household, including the Princes, were required to participate, and that they would be punished or rewarded based on their performance.
In this way, they could serve as models for all the people of the realm…
Time slowly passed, and in the third month of the twenty-first year in the reign of the Tang Emperor, spring returned, and the yellow forsythia that had been beaten down by the frost of winter regained their vigor, brilliantly blooming and adorning the imperial horse track in the western suburbs of the capital with a golden sea.
At this moment, energetic and impressive-looking youths in silver robes were galloping back and forth across the horse track. To the side was a spacious training ground, where groups of brightly-clothed youths holding bows were loosing arrows in various ways.
And in the middle of the horse track and the spacious training ground was a resplendent and tall platform. Two flags were flying from it, decorated with an impressive motif of dragons amidst clouds.
Atop the high platform, two officials in violet robes stood on the edge, their sharp eyes observing the youths on the horse track and the training ground.
Robes of violet were reserved for officials at rank three and above.
“Lord Wei, after seeing today’s archery exhibitions, I now understand why, despite the number of examinees, none of them have met the standard.”
On the left side, a middle-aged man with a scholarly air about him scanned the training ground, slightly frowning as he spoke.
Although everyone on the training ground was a member of the imperial family, their archery taught to them by masters with a great deal of experience in martial arts, their grades were so awful as to not bear mentioning. At a distance past fifty paces, almost every arrow would miss the targets, and this wasn’t even considering the horse archery taking place on the horse track on the other side.
Wei Yuanzhong drew his gaze back from the youths on the training ground and spoke to the man next to him, Secretariat Director Zhou Sheng. “If Lord Zhou understands, I can rest easy. On the battlefield, weapons have no eyes, and the army is no playground. No one will show you mercy because of your noble status. Moreover, soldiers only heed the words of the strong. Even noble status will have little use on them!”
As the Lingwu Circuit Army General Commander, Wei Yuanzhong exuded the awe-inspiring aura of a battlefield veteran, forming a stark contrast with Zhou Sheng.
“Lord Wei will not need to worry about His Majesty’s end. Once I bring the news back to the palace, I am sure that the military examinations will begin amongst the common people, and Lord Wei will no longer need to keep watch on these imperial youths,” Zhou Sheng said.
Originally, the military examinations were intended to select candidates from amongst the common people, but later, the Emperor had decreed that the examinations would first be run with the imperial kin and noble scions. The Tang Emperor had even summoned Lingwu Circuit Army General Commander Wei Yuanzhong to oversee the examination. But after several rounds of assessment, Wei Yuanzhong sent a memorial declaring that the imperial household and noble clans were bereft of talent. The Emperor had been furious, and so he had sent Zhou Sheng to personally oversee the examination.
The military examination consisted of archery—covering horse archery, foot archery, straight-shot archery, and bamboo archery—spear work, door bolt lifting, and weight lifting. The posture and language of the examinees was also inspected. In terms of points, there were three possible grades.
Purely by watching the archery exam, Zhou Sheng understood that none of the imperial kin or noble scions present could meet the standard. Only one of them had any hope of being a general.
Rather than wasting more time with a few more rounds of testing, it was better to more vigorously pursue the recruitment of talents from the people so that they might be trained earlier into outstanding commanders to fend off the Turkic raiders on the border.
“Then I will leave it to Lord Zhou.”
Wei Yuanzhong saluted Zhou Sheng.
Soon after, Wei Yuanzhong summoned an armored soldier and ordered, “Tell them all that none of them pass.”
“Yes!”
Recognizing that Wei Yuanzhong had no intention of continuing the examination, Zhou Sheng tactfully began to pack up his things and prepare to leave. But at this moment, a tumult broke out on the horse track, drawing their attention.
“Isn’t that Prince Xuan? Haha, this is the first time I’m seeing someone sleep through an examination!”
“After causing all that trouble, he still dares to come to the horse track!”
“Hmph, if not for the fact that Imperial Father favored Empress Dou, he would have already been beaten to death.”
“Not just that! From what I heard from my mother, Virtuous Empress Dou was demoted to consort because of that incident. Unable to take the blow, she became seriously ill for a time.”
“Truly unfilial!”
At the center of the commotion was a thin and haggard youth with a white fur coat draped around his shoulders. He was seated at the small rest station set up on the horse track, his eyes closed and his head slightly drooping. He appeared to be sleeping.
Though it was spring, there was still a slight chill in the air. Many of the imperial kin and noble scions were wearing fur coats, but none of them were wrapped up so tightly as this haggard youth.
Moreover, the youth had a pale complexion. It was clear that he had been ill for some time.
Cough, cough!
The chilly dew brought by the spring wind sprinkled the youth, and he couldn’t help but cough twice.
But a moment later, the youth straightened up and opened his eyes. Light seemed to burst out from his eyes, and the surrounding onlookers couldn’t help but be dazed for a moment.
However, the light rapidly dimmed, his eyes going back to normal.
This was the unfilial person everyone was speaking of, Prince Xuan.
But at this time, it was more appropriate to call him by another name: Li Taiyi!
One month ago, Li Taiyi had awoken in this world, in this Tang Empire before its decline.
He did not know what exactly had happened, only that some powerful energy had dragged him here.
He recalled that his love, Qing Luo, had also been brought to this place, but though he had searched for some time, he had not found Qing Luo.
Li Taiyi had spent some time understanding this world, and gradually grown accustomed to this identity.
He was the Third Prince that was feared due to his hedonistic and ruthless nature. Moreover, everyone knew that because he had killed the son of the King of Shan, he had become the trash Third Prince that was hated by his father.
Even so… he finally had a chance to change the fate of this world!
Li Taiyi’s eyes flashed as he suddenly developed an unprecedented aspiration.
“Prince Xuan, your bow and arrows.”
A guard came up and offered a bow and arrows with both hands.
For some reason, Prince Xuan felt different today.
Li Taiyi came to his senses, lightly grunted, and took the bow and arrows.
Li Taiyi should have had mediocre talent, and the Imperial Palace had never given him good treatment. Moreover, he had been punished by the Imperial Clan Court after killing the son of the King of Shan. He was being supervised by the personal guards of the Emperor, and though he was weak and should have had nothing to do with the military examination, through the ‘requests’ of several of his brothers, his father had permitted him to ‘participate’.
But though he was allowed to participate, Li Taiyi knew that these good brothers simply wanted to humiliate him.
Li Taiyi looked around at the jeering looks, his face unperturbed. Tightening the white fur coat around him, he walked through the crowd toward the archery area.
“Prince Xuan is about to loose arrows!”
“Oh, look at that posture! The archery god must have possessed him!”
“Hahaha, Prince Xuan spends his entire day engrossed in sensual pleasures. His entire body must have been emptied out already. It would be good enough if he can launch the arrow thirty feet!”
A bold and brazen conversation began to take place.
Li Taiyi turned to look and saw a group of people looking at him with mocking looks.
Nearby, a familiar figure came into view.
This was a young man of twenty years, his appearance majestic and imposing, his eyes like two bright stars. Although he was not chatting with the others, the curve on his lips was mocking to the extreme.
This one was none other than Li Taiyi’s– or rather, Prince Xuan’s former good friend, the son of the King of Xiang, Huoyuan!
(TN: Amusingly, the King of Xiang, Li Dan, was actually Emperor Xuanzong’s father, which would make the two of them brothers. But this is clearly not the case in this timeline where Wu Zetian does not exist.)
Yes, ‘former’.
Before the incident, Huoyuan had called him a good brother, but after the incident, the Emperor had beaten Prince Xuan half-dead, and Huoyuan had been the quickest to turn his back on him. It would be enough to simply join the Fourth Prince’s camp, but he had hit him while he was down, revealing all of Prince Xuan’s dark history.
It was these dark deeds that had worsened his mother’s weak constitution, causing her to fall unconscious and seriously ill.
Huoyuan was extremely shrewd. Although he had already joined the Fourth Prince, he showed nothing to Li Taiyi, continuing to follow his orders as before.
Besides that, Li Taiyi also knew that more than half of the people jeering at him had been invited by Huoyuan.
Huoyuan thought that he had fooled ‘Brother Xuan’, but he could not fool ‘Li Taiyi’.
“Your Highness, it’s your turn!”
Seeing that Li Taiyi was watching, Huoyuan put away his mocking smile and rode over, appearing diligent and attentive.
“Hmph!”
Li Taiyi grunted and ignored Huoyuan, his eyes gradually turning cold.
The former Prince Xuan was hedonistic and brutal, causing everyone to look down on him. Even the son of a vassal would dare to mock him. But now, he was Li Taiyi, and he would make all of them view him in a new light.
Li Taiyi’s face hardened with resolve. He nocked an arrow, focused, and took aim.
As Li Taiyi pulled back the bowstring, his body radiated an aura that seemed to come from a completely different person, as sharp as a blade.
Whoosh!
The arrow howled out, creating ripples in the air as it punched straight into the center of the target.
Everyone was left slack-jawed by the sight, unable to speak.
But this wasn’t even the end of it!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
While everyone’s eyes were still fixed on the first arrow, two arrows swiftly followed, whistling through the air and striking the target.
No one had imagined that Li Taiyi could move so quickly. The first arrow had just been loosed when the second had been nocked, the entire process clean and concise.
The entire training ground fell silent.
Everyone stared in a daze at the distant target, not daring to believe their eyes.
“His Highness Xuan, thirty points in the straight shot!” the soldier keeping score suddenly called out, instantly unleashing a storm of commentary from the spectators.
“So… so good!”
“Is this still Prince Xuan?”
“How did he manage to do it?”
The other examinees came to their senses and began to murmur in disbelief.
Li Taiyi’s three arrows had all hit the center of the target. Not a single one had missed!