Chapter Five: Crisis

“Do you mean Changsun Chong is coming back?”

Li Chengqian found himself a chair as well, sat down, took a sip of tea, and nodded. “The exact date is one month from now.”

Su Chen scratched his head, unable to see what Changsun Chong’s return had to do with him, or why Li Chengqian had come all this way to tell him.

But in an instant, it seemed he grasped the key point. He let out a curse under his breath, then looked at Li Chengqian in astonishment.

“You mean he’s coming back for me?”

Li Chengqian grinned and clapped his hands with evident approval. “Not so stupid after all!”

“What you did on Baji Bridge that day, somehow it got out to Changsun Chong. He wrote home to Changsun’s uncle and said he wanted to marry as soon as possible. Uncle presented a memorial to Father Emperor, asking that Changsun Chong’s term of garrison duty be shortened. Father Emperor has already agreed.”

Su Chen frowned, rubbing his chin as he thought for a while. “Seems this one’s going to be hard to explain.”

Li Chengqian looked at him with a smile, then rose to his feet. “Yes. I tried talking him out of it, too. Useless. You know Changsun Chong’s temper. Once he’s decided on something, ten oxen couldn’t pull him back. He’s already convinced that you insulted Chang Le. When he returns, he’ll surely come looking for you. As for Chang Le, you needn’t pin any hopes on her either. Father Emperor has already confined her to her quarters, so before you and Changsun Chong settle this, she probably won’t be able to get out.”

Su Chen drummed his fingers on the table, his mind racing as he considered the situation he might face once Changsun Chong returned.

After a long while, he finally asked, “How do you think he’ll act? This concerns the Changsun family’s honor.”

Li Chengqian snorted. “Now you’re afraid? Why didn’t you think it through back then? You climbed onto Chang Le’s carriage in front of everybody. Chang Le herself has no sense for these things, but you’ve been muddling about in the capital for so long—how have you not learned to keep your wits about you?”

As he spoke, Li Chengqian walked to Su Chen’s table, picked up a brush, and wrote two words upon it: open conflict.

Seeing those words, Su Chen’s heart sank.

This message had been delivered to him by Li Chengqian, which meant the Emperor had already tacitly allowed Changsun Chong to proceed this way.

In truth, the historical Li Er had always liked to handle matters like this. So long as it was a dispute among nobles, he preferred to sit back and watch, letting events unfold on their own—while the final beneficiary was often only Li Er himself.

Thinking more deeply, Li Er was probably already displeased with the Changsun family.

But to the Changsun clan, the Su family was no more than an ant. Surely Li Er understood that?

“Since Your Majesty has pushed the Su family forward, you must already have some arrangements, or perhaps you have your own plans. Otherwise, how would you explain it to my sister?”

Su Chen’s question left Li Chengqian stunned for a long time.

When he came back to himself, the mockery on his face was gone.

“Su Chen, I underestimated you. To see through the matter this far!”

“You’re right. This time the imperial household will make preparations, but the help it can offer you will be limited. Whether you can weather it or not will depend on your own fortune. After all, to the Great Tang, the Su family still matters too little.”

Too little? So little that it could be sacrificed at will?

A surge of anger rose in Su Chen’s chest, but he was not foolish enough to argue with Li Chengqian. For the imperial house, balance and stability mattered most; the rise and fall of a single family counted for nothing. When necessary, one or two families could be sacrificed to achieve a goal—that was the craft of an emperor.

Clearly, Li Er had perfected that craft to the utmost.

Su Chen did not know imperial statecraft. He only knew that if he did not resist, he would become the sharpening stone on which the Emperor tested his blade to weaken the Changsun family.

But the Su family’s strength was too small, so small that even any duke or marquis could step on it without hesitation.

To contend with a towering tree like the Changsun clan, he would need not only to strengthen himself, but also to seek outside help.

Li Er had already agreed to be that outside help, but the aid he promised was limited, and that made Su Chen’s heart grow cold.

Su Chen sat alone in the room from morning until afternoon. Only when Zhou Taifu and the others came by to make their report did he realize that dusk had already fallen.

After returning home, Su Chen did not tell his father about the news Li Chengqian had brought that day. If that good-natured man learned danger was closing in, he would likely run to the Emperor in tears, or even beg Changsun Wuji for mercy.

But doing so would only strip the Su family of all dignity without changing anything.

That night, Su Chen thought over many things. It was only when daylight broke that he made up his mind.

Since no one believed in the Su family, he would make everyone stare in disbelief. He would make the Emperor understand that the Su family was not some ant to be sacrificed at random.

That day, Su Chen shed his usual laziness and set out early.

He did not go to the clinic to see patients. Instead, he went straight to the Cheng residence, where he met Cheng Chumo, who had returned from the Left Martial Guard.

Seeing his old roving companion arrive unannounced, Cheng Chumo ought to have been pleased, but since the visitor was Su Chen, he became somewhat wary.

Cheng Yaojin had gone into the palace to see the Emperor, and Cheng Chumo did not want anyone else to entertain Su Chen, so he invited him into the front hall for tea.

Though Cheng Chumo was usually rough in his manner, he was still a man with a fine grain beneath the surface. After chatting idly with Su Chen for a while and seeing that he still refused to state his purpose directly, Cheng Chumo could not help but ask, “You came so early in the morning—surely not just for tea, right?”

Su Chen chuckled, set down his cup, and said, “Chumo, you really do know your brother well. I do indeed have a favor to ask!”

Cheng Chumo’s nerves tightened again. The night before, he had heard from his father about the events that had recently shaken the capital, and he knew that the Emperor intended to let the Su family and the Changsun family face off.

Although his stepmother came from the Qinghe Cui clan, a lineage whose power was no less formidable than the Changsun family’s, that was still a maternal clan; the Cheng family would avoid offending them if at all possible.

Su Chen had come looking for him first thing in the morning. Whatever he wanted was surely related to the Changsun family.

After pondering it for a long while, Cheng Chumo finally said with some difficulty, “Xiao Chen, I’ve heard a little about your matter. But you know my temper, Brother—I’ve never liked this sort of open and hidden scheming. Your business with Changsun Chong, I really can’t interfere in.”

Su Chen had already anticipated that his conflict with Changsun Chong would have spread among the nobility, and he also guessed that Cheng Chumo would be on guard against him, so from the beginning his target had not been the Cheng family.

“Chumo, you’re joking. How could I ever drag you into a pit of fire? I came to ask you to take me to the Niu residence.”

Hearing that Su Chen wanted to visit the Duke of Langya’s household, Cheng Chumo was quite taken aback.

Niu Jinda of Duke of Langya and his own father had once been spoken of together as a pair, as close as life-and-death comrades. But Niu Jinda had always preferred to keep to himself. So long as he was in the capital, he would decline all visits from former subordinates in the army. Because he had long served as a military executioner, he was not especially popular among the troops.

That Su Chen had set his sights on Niu Jinda was something Cheng Chumo had never expected.

Though it would not require much effort from him, the Cheng and Niu families were old family friends. Facing the storm that was about to descend upon the capital, Cheng Chumo absolutely would not let the Niu family get dragged into it.

Thus, he refused Su Chen sternly. “Xiao Chen, forgive me, but this time Brother cannot help you. The Cheng and Niu families have long stood together; if the Cheng family won’t step into this, then the Niu family can’t step into it either.”

Su Chen nodded, showing he understood Cheng Chumo’s concern. But in the next moment, he asked in a firm voice, “What if I can cure Young Lord Niu’s foot injury?”

“What did you say?” Cheng Chumo shot to his feet, his shout loud enough for everyone in the courtyard to hear.

Cheng Chumo widened his eyes and looked at Su Chen in disbelief. “Although your medical skill has already been verified by the physicians of the Imperial Medical Office, Niu Jianhu’s foot injury has been there for eight or nine years. Even back then, Daoist Sun Simiao himself was helpless. Are you sure you’re not joking?”

Su Chen had long since looked into Niu Jianhu’s condition. Though he had never seen the injury with his own eyes, if he was going to withstand the Changsun family’s assault this time, he had to try.

“I’m only going to take a look. If it doesn’t work, Young Lord Niu won’t lose anything by it, will he? But if I truly can cure him, then the Niu family...”

Hearing this, Cheng Chumo seemed to understand why Su Chen had suddenly brought up treating Niu Jianhu’s foot injury.

As he said, if Su Chen truly could cure Niu Jianhu, he would become the Niu family’s great benefactor.

With Old Master Niu’s temperament, how could he possibly stand by and let his family’s benefactor fall into a tight spot? And by the same token, the Cheng family would naturally stand on Su Chen’s side.

Thinking of this, Cheng Chumo let the astonishment on his face fade. He frowned and stared at Su Chen for a long while before saying with utmost seriousness, “Su Chen, it seems you’re the smartest one among the lot of us!”