Note: Takes place after the final episode of "Nirvana in Fire/琅琊榜", and after the battle with Da Yu. Various perspectives of different characters as they deal with the aftermath of the war.
Can be read after "The ending of a long journey" story or standalone.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Nirvana in Fire/琅琊榜"
Chapter 1 – Nie Feng
Nie Feng
Nie Feng sat alone in his tent, his heart in deep grief as he held a Chiyan bracelet. It was not his. As his fingers pressed over the engraved name on it, Nie Feng could no longer hold his tears back and he wept openly for the loss of his friend, his student, the young marshal of the Chiyan army, Lin Shu.
Thirteen years had passed since the bloody battle at Meiling. The case was finally resolved. The 70,000 Chiyan soldiers who died finally received the honour and justice they deserved. Prince Qi's name was cleared, and the Lin Family name restored. To bring this justice to light, a sacrifice was made, and that was Lin Shu.
Xiao Shu, the boy Nie Feng trained and mentored in the Chiyan army. What a spirit the child had, the potential in him that had only grew after year. Until it was untimely cut short. While anyone may have been worried to send an eighteen year old boy to battlegrounds, Nie Feng knew better. With Xiao Shu there, it was an asset to be used. The boy as a prodigy in martial arts as well as strategic planning. He was wise beyond his years, with a cool head in all situations.
Nie Feng remembered when he first started training Lin Shu, he was only 11 at the time. His expectations for him in martial arts was high since Xiao Shu had started learning since he was 5, but what he had been surprised by was his prowess and aptitude for military strategies. It had set him dumbstruck many times. General Lin Xie had raised a very bright son, but all intelligence, needed guidance. The boy was confident, but not foolish, and took easily to others teaching him things he did not know. Most importantly was he held great respect for his elders, and listened to Nie Feng tutelage.
Nie Feng had taught him, along with General Lin Xie and many others within the Chiyan army. Lin Shu learned quickly. And even surpassed them in many respects. Nie Feng was proud of his student. So proud of him.
It was difficult to accept that Xiao Shu was gone now. He had thought he was gone 13 years ago. But then he survived. Now however, there was no denying it. He had seen his body. Had seen the peace upon his face. The peace that Nie Feng understood. The Xiao Shu they knew, the one that blazed in the battlefield, he returned to it, he ended it as he wanted. Xia Dong had told him about what Lin Shu said for Xia Dong to do for Nihuang once he was gone. If there was only one regret, Nie Feng knew that it was Xiao Shu could never be with Nihuang, his betrothed, his love. There was nothing else that Xiao Shu would live for, if not for her. But Xiao Shu had known long before he arrived in the Capital, that he would not live long after the case was reopened and Prince Jing sat on the throne. Had it been Nie Feng himself, he did not know if he could have done that. He would give his life to have his brothers' names cleared, but that was not enough. Not with an emperor that was so cold like him, Nie Feng would be dead before he could utter the words of innocence.
Nie Feng swallowed the bitterness down as he thought of the emperor. The Lin House, Lin Xie had always given unconditional loyalty to his Majesty. And in return, he betrayed by the man he trusted. Based on one letter, the blood ran red with the emperor's choice to massacre an entire army and even his own son, Prince Qi. His paranoia, jealousy, and his pride. He killed his friend, the very one that had supported him to the throne, that had fought all his battles for him. Left his body there on Meiling Cliff, along with 70,000 men who had time and time again served the Da Liang empire.
Nie Feng remembered a time when their emperor was good, the time when he was not yet the emperor, but a low ranking prince in the royal family. How he had shown the face of a future benevolent emperor. Promises for changes. Inciting the help for the weak, the commoners. Morals and justice. Hatred for corruption. He had played the role so well that he managed to deceive everyone. They did not see his true face until he sat on that throne. Nie Feng remembered his general, Lin Xie, how unsettled and more wary he became of the person he once called friend and brother once he sat on that golden throne chair.
Nie Feng knew that Lin Xie saw something was wrong the moment that Xiao Jingyun requested for Lin Yueyao, Lin Xie's sister to enter the palace. It was known that Lin Yueyao and the marquis Yan Que were in love. Yan Que's sister was already his Majesty's empress. It was deeply wrong. But Yan Que had no choice. He could only watch as the love of his life was forced into a marriage with the emperor. It was only the start. In order to ensure that Yan Que knew his place, the emperor imposed his rights as a ruler and had Yan Que marry someone he selected for him.
It was an unhappy union of what should have been a festive occasion. The wedding was cold and Yan Que barely casted a glance at his new wife, as his heart was still with Yueyao, who was now a consort in the palace. The emperor broke the friendship between them, and he played innocent to it. It was around that time that Yan Que began to grow less interested in the matters of the court and started to learn more of the Taoist way of life. Nie Feng did not foresee any deterioration of the country's powers, but it did in fact begin to crumble bit by bit as each year passed. The emperor was self indulgent, and spent more time making political power plays with his ministers than having them do actual work. These workings Nie Feng did not truly understand, but Lin Xie often spoke of it unhappily when they travelled long distances to survey the country's borders.
It seemed things would continue on a slow path to destruction…until Prince Qi was borne. How things changed suddenly. The boy was the bright light in the darkness that was consuming Da Liang. Nie Feng had trained with the Xiao Jingyu, and he was indeed a prodigy of sorts. And as the child grew into adulthood, he was everything that his father the emperor was not: kind, generous, good to the people, and thought of the empire as a whole, not the empire being his personal playground for power play. Flanking not far behind him was Lin Shu and Xiao Jingyan, full supporters of their older brother. The there were a trio that was the next generation of how Lin Xie, Marquis Yan and the emperor once were.
Prince Qi would change everything. He was the hope in everyone's hearts. And then that hope was shattered, crushed by the emperor himself.
Nie Feng's thoughts travelled back to the battle at Meiling. Still it chilled him to think of what had happened to the Chiyan army. He had not been there, he had gone back to get reinforcements from the Capital. The pain and regret in his heart having left them, it had burned even after he had reawaken in his poisoned condition. He had, even in his weakened state, made his way back to the Meiling Cliff, his heart hoping that the Chiyan army had survived. But once he had reached there, he could not move. There were thousands of bodies, left forgotten in the open plains, buried beneath light sheathes of ash and snow. He had screamed in rage, in pain and loss for his friend and comrades. And in shame for not having returned in time to warn them of Xie Yu's betrayal.
Nie Feng remembered the last happy memory was at the camp where they had celebrated Xiao Shu's 19th birthday. An asset he was, but he was also still a boy. Nie Feng wished he did not have to face such a terrible battle, but the boy was ready. They celebrated there in General Lin Xie's tent, cups of wine and laughter, not knowing if this would be their last time seeing each other. But still, it was to die protecting their country and their people. It was their duty and honor. It was at this time, that Lin Xie gifted Lin Shu his Chiyan bracelet. The proud smile on the boy, Nie Feng remembered well.
Nie Feng could not control the tears when that memory came to him. Xiao Shu, his da-ge Lin Xie, and the Chiyan army had not died in the enemies hands. They had died in the hands of their own comrades, based on a death edict given by their own emperor. They did not even have a chance to fight a proper battle with them, because they had thought the imperial army was their calvary, not the ones sent to massacre them. There were so many bodies there, left unburied, unmourned. Nie Feng remembered he had wanted to die there. He had wanted to die there with his comrades. But he couldn't. He couldn't die, he had to go back, return to the Capital, tell them, tell them the truth of what had happened.
But how. Nie Feng had looked at his hands, the white fur on his hands and face. He was a monster. But Nie Feng at that time had not realized how precarious his condition was. It was on his journey back to the Capital that he started to feel the thirst. It was so painful. It burned his insides. He went into an agony that could not be described. He discovered what he had to do to alleviate the pain; drink blood. Nie Feng had been disgusted with himself. But he knew not what else he could do. So he drank blood from animals that he found in the woods. He had hoped that drinking blood would cure him, cure his inability to speak. But it did not. The condition became so bad sometimes he would be in that fevered state for hours in a day. Nie Feng found himself a place to hide in the mountain side. When he discovered that Xia Dong had also placed his grave in that same area, Nie Feng had made it his routine to see her each year she came there. The dream of telling her or telling anyone what happened diminished day by day as his condition worsened. Nie Feng was only a shadow of himself. He lived in a living hell.
It was like this for the next 13 years. Until the day he was caught by that General Qimeng. And then he was suddenly reunited with the past, a person he thought had perished with the Chiyan army; Lin Shu.
Yet he had not recognized him at first. He only saw a man, pale and scholarly, with sorrowful brown eyes that looked at him through the cage. The man had repeatedly assured him that everything would be okay, that he would take care of everything. And then the man had him bathed, given him not only medicine, but blood to drink.
Nie Feng had at the time for some reason trusted this man. The stranger who seemed to know him, but Nie Feng could not place him. It was not until in the evening, when the man and another woman were by his bedside, that he found out who he was. Xiao Shu. The boy Nie Feng had watched grow up, the boy he had thought died among the thousands of unclaimed bodies at the Meiling Cliff.
Nie Feng had wept then and he now wept again. When he had learned of what happened to Xiao Shu after the battle of Meiling from Lin Chen, it had shaken him deeply. Xiao Shu had suffered unimaginable pain, essentially trading his life for the justice of Prince Qi, the Lin House, and 70,000 Chiyan soldiers. Because of his sacrifice, Nie Feng had his rights to live as his own name, and so did all the survivors of the Chiyan soldiers. There were not many, but with their family names restored, their children were able to have their names back as well. Li Gang and Zhen Ping were examples of the orphans left behind from the war. They now had a name to return to.
Except Lin Shu. Lin Shu never took back his name. Even when he joined them in the battle against Da Yu, he joined as Mei Changsu. There were many soldiers that looked at him strangely, why a weak and pale strategist was doing there in the field. Yet one look from Commander General Meng shut them up. The soldiers knew not of the legacy of the Lin House. Just as there would never be another Prince Qi, there would never be another Lin Shu.
Nie Feng and Xia Dong had been sent to Northern Yan to deal with enemy breach there. They had heard the news of the fall of Da Yu shortly after their own victory. The reports said it had been an extraordinary battle, one that the 400 soldiers that survived would tell their children in the years to come. It had been 500 against 50,000 men. The men that had followed Mei Changsu and Commander General Meng had not expected to return. But they had, most of them came back, with glorious tales of how this tactician was able to pinpoint the weaknesses of the enemy, dividing their army of 500 into 5 smaller armies. Each had their target of a specific area and then had been tasked to merge with another army at certain points. With the constant regrouping and also understanding of what tactics Da Yu would use to fight them, gave them a great advantage. Within 6 days, the Da Yu army formations were shattered, their leader killed, and they were forced to surrender. 500 men were able to do this.
In the report they also listed those who had perished in the battle. The name Mei Changsu was listed.
Nie Feng remembered feeling numb. Xia Dong could do all but hold back her tears. They had several items that needed to be handled before they could head back to the camp where Commander General Meng stayed. The moment everything was done, they set out. They travelled in silence. Nothing could be said. In their minds, there was hope, hope that the name on the report was a mistake or misprint of some sort.
When they arrived at the camp, it was evening already, there was song and victory celebrations. Tables had been set up outside, food prepared and laughter of soldiers that had survived the Da Yu battle. Nie Feng and Xia Dong tried not to feel repelled by the joy of their fellow comrades. This was a victory. They had a right to be happy. But the cost. The cost was their friend's life.
When a bearded man, knocked his glass with his metal spoon and called all the comrades at the table to attention, Nie Feng and Xia Dong could not help but look over.
The man started with saying that he, Long Hai, had never seen such a victory in his years in the army service. And that Mei Changsu, the man he himself had held reservations about being to coordinate such a complicated and suicidal strategy, had taken the lead role of the division heading the most dangerous target area. Long Hai said he was on that division, along with Commander General Meng and several of the stronger fighters. Yet no matter how strong of a group they had, they were going to face Tobuo Hao's main division.
Long Hai said that it was only on the battlefield that he was awestruck at the skill of Mei Changsu, for never had he seen any scholar be able to fight like he did. In fact, he could have been on par with Commander General Meng Zhi, and he was known to be the strongest warrior in all of Da Liang. In the haze of the battle, for those who could afford a glance at, was the glorious fight with Mei Changsu, Commander General Meng, and the leader of the 50,000 troops, Tuoba Hao.
Long Hai said, he was one of the few who had seen the final battle between the leaders of the division and the enemy. Tuoba Hao had two of his fiercest generals fighting beside him, making it nearly impossible to get to him. But Long Hai saw an exchange that had happened between Commander General Meng and Mei Changsu. Long Hai could tell even without words, there was a fear on Commander General Meng's face as Mei Changsu had him handle the subordinates while he took on Tuoba Hao himself. Long Hai too had thought that was mad, Mei Changsu may know martial arts, but he would be no match for a seasoned fighter like Tuoba Hao. And that fight, said Long Hai, was what brought him to the realization that Mei Changsu was one of the best fighters he had seen in a long time. He was fierce in his attacks, no hesitation. He was like a seasoned warrior, fearless and full of fire. There was also something oddly familiar with his fighting, like he had seen it before in the past. Long Hai could not shake it off. He continued fighting his way to get to them, to help them.
Yet no matter what, Tuoba Hao was superior. His skill may not have been matched by Mei Changsu, but he had greater strength. Mei Changsu had sustained many wounds from Tuoba Hao, but he continued to fight. Mei Changsu though was not only fighting, but he was saying something, Long Hai was too far away to hear, but it was agitating the enemy leader. There was a moment, a moment when for some reason Tuoba Hao lost all reason and let his guard down, and it was then that Mei Changsu buried his blade in the enemy's abdomen, through his armour.
Long Hai had been shocked.
Tuoba Hao was still for a moment and then his lifeless body fell. Someone cheered. One of their own. Long Hai said he too cheered at that moment, realizing that they had defeated the undefeatable leader of Da Yu. They had won!
Mei Changsu had then fallen to one knee, blood trickled down the side of his mouth. Long Hai said he had raced to reach his side, but Commander General Meng was there first, and thankfully was able to catch him before he collapsed. There were words exchanged between them, brothers in arms, and that was when Mei Changsu passed. Commander General Meng had shed tears and grief for the man. Long Hai said then, to all his comrades, that he too, though he did not know Mei Changsu well, shed tears. For the man was a hero, not only did he slay the enemy of Da Yu, Tuoba Hao and forced the surrender of Da Yu, but because of his military strategies, it saved all of their lives so that they could all go home to their families. To Mei Changsu! There had been a loud cheer, and again, to Mei Changsu! Was shouted.
Although there was cheering and laughter and drinks, the night seemed cold for two people.
Nie Feng and Xia Dong had stood there, hands knotted together, unable, unwilling to move. Xia Dong said what Nie Feng wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to say it, in a voice barely a whisper:
"To Lin Shu. To our young marshal, Lin Shu of the Chiyan army."
