005—I’m Not Your Younger Brother (2)
Xuan Cheng asked again, “Who are you?”
He had already guessed the rough ident.i.ty of the person in front of him. The man called him younger brother, and that previous attendant had addressed Xuan Cheng as the Duke of Yangping. If this wasn’t Fu Jian, who was?
“Are you Fu Jian?”
That person stared blankly, than bent down and grabbed his hand. “Younger brother, what’s wrong? How come you don’t even remember me? I’m your older brother, the sovereign of the Qin Kingdom.”
“You really are Fu Jian.” Xuan Cheng felt his heart rate increase, practically thumping against his chest until it felt like it could escape at any moment.
The man felt Xuan Cheng’s forehead, then pulled Xuan Cheng’s hand into his arms. A warm feeling filled him.
“I am Fu Rong, your younger brother and the Yangping Duke of the Qin Kingdom, is that correct?” he asked.
The man smiled. “Younger brother, so you still remember. I was afraid you’d forget.”
Warmly, he continued, “Last night I besieged one of the nearby towns. I thought that knocking down the crumbled walls surrounding it would be a simple matter, though it turned out to be more secure than I had antic.i.p.ated. At that time you were directing troops when you suddenly fell off your horse. When I asked what happened, the doctor told me that you had exhausted yourself past your limits. I was so terrified, younger brother, do you know that? I was very confident when I attacked their city, but my heart was filled with doubts because you weren’t by my side.”
Xuan Cheng curled his lips. Of course your heart felt doubtful. I’m not your younger brother.
Of course, he didn’t dare to say this out loud. Instead, he asked, “How many times have you attacked the Yan Kingdom?”
“Younger brother, why are you asking me this?”
“How many times, all you have to do is tell me,” Xuan Cheng impatiently said.
“Jinglue¹ said to start from Luoyang first.”
Xuan Cheng nodded his head. “So it’s like that.” He tried to remember the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms again. Fu Jian had dispatched troops against the Yan Kingdom two times before. The first was in the eleventh lunar month of 369 CE, when he had ordered w.a.n.g Meng to attack Luoyang. The second time was in 370 CE, when he had in one swoop captured Yecheng, destroying Former Ye and unifying the North.
Suddenly, someone was calling his name again, but he didn’t know where. He could only faintly hear someone calling out, “Xuan Cheng, Xuan Cheng, come back! Come back!”
Forgetting the previous life, dreaming of Chang’an intoxicated.
He snapped back to his current reality, and cursed. Forge it. Since he was already here, then he would have to properly stay here. There would definitely be a way to go back, Xuan Cheng thought to himself.
“Older brother.” After a while, he spoke again.
The other man stared blankly for a second, before smiling again. “Younger brother.” He tightened his grip on Xuan Cheng’s hand, closing his eyes as he sighed. “Younger brother, you have to behave yourself. Mother says that she misses you dearly.”
“Mother?” Fu Jian’s mother should be the Empress Dowager Gou. Now, it seemed, she was also his own mother.
The history books said that Empress Dowager Gou was extremely fierce and vicious. She had ordered the death her husband’s son Fu Fa, and unjustly killed several important ministers and generals. Was this kind of woman really Xuan Cheng’s mother in this world?”
Xuan Cheng asked, “Are you talking about Empress Dowager Gou?”
“Younger brother, can you not call her that? She is the one who gave life to both of us. When we, the Di people, entered Chang’an and took over the Central Plains, forming an name for ourselves outside of that small tribe, she was extremely gratified. She always talks about how much she misses you.”
“Am I not always by her side?” Xuan Cheng gloomily said.
“The year I ascended the throne, you moved out of the palace. Whenever she wanted to see you, you always had an excuse to avoid her. I know that you hate her for making me kill Fu Fa, and that you and Fu Fa were exceptionally close, and I am sorry for it. But I cannot go against her desires. Mother, after all, wishes only the best for me.”
Xuan Cheng of course knew this part of history. The Empress Dowager Gou, realizing that Fu Fa was wise beyond his years and charismatic, possessing many capable people by his side, had feared that he would try to launch a coup d’etat. As a result, she had ordered Fu Jian to kill Fu Fa. Fu Jian was a benevolent person by nature, and could not bear to kill his brother; however, after Empress Dowager Gou’s bitter insistence, he had finally bid farewell to Fu Fa in the palace’s east wing, bereaved to the point of vomiting out blood.
However, Fu Fa had not been spared his life.
According to what Fu Jian had just said, Fu Fa, Fu Jian and Fu Rong, the three brothers, should have had the best relationship out of all of Fu Xiong’s children. When Fu Jian ascended to the throne, the relationship between Fu Fa and Fu Rong had only grown. When Empress Dowager Gou ordered Fu Fa’s death, Fu Rong had become extremely furious but was helpless to do anything to change the situation. As a result, he had purposefully refused an audience with his mother ever since.
“Let’s return to the palace. Why don’t you just see her again this time?” Fu Jian asked.
¹Jinglue is w.a.n.g Meng’s courtesy name. Ancient Chinese figures tended to have a personal name, a courtesy name, and a formal name. w.a.n.g Meng formally is Marquess Wu of Qinghe. Similarly, Fu Rong (the person Xuan Cheng reincarnated in) is formally named Boxue but is referred as to the Duke of Yangping.