“You’ve missed the best chance to do so,” Cai Yan says. “Going to Ye right now isn’t any sort of wise move either. The reason I came today is to remind you of something. You wouldn’t be so stupid as to really think that Borjigin Batu is going to go easy on you just because of the personal friendship between you two, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. Even though I don’t want you to go on living, I don’t want you to end up in the Borjigins’ hands either, and become a hostage to threaten the imperial court with.”
Duan Ling knows that Cai Yan’s fears are not unfounded. Batu knows who he really is, and he’s aware of the political situation in the Chen imperial court. Truth is, if Batu wants to stir up trouble, it’ll be difficult for anyone who’ll have to deal with him. But he hasn’t done anything since the Mongolian envoy’s departure, so perhaps Batu is also worried about his safety, or he may want to hold onto this secret, for now, planning to strike them when it counts.
“Do you know why my heart is so set on going to Ye?” Duan Ling asks.
“Don’t think your old flame will help you.” Cai Yan raises an eyebrow. “You’ll just end up getting in more trouble.”
“No,” Duan Ling replies. “It’s not because of him, but because the Commandery of Hebei is my dad’s fief. That’s why uncle was so insistent.”
A tremor runs through Cai Yan’s body; in life, Li Jianhong was given the title “Prince of Beiliang” and Beiliang is what the Commandery of Hebei used to be called — what he inherited was the title passed down through previous dynasties.
Duan Ling merely smiles. “Farewell.”
Cai Yan feels as though he’s just taken a slap in the face.
Duan Ling takes one step back, as though they’ve returned to the Illustrious Hall of yore, and raises his hands to the level of his brows. Holding one hand with the other, he bows at Cai Yan, then quickly passes by him, leaving.
“I know someone,” Wu Du says, “who may be useful to you.”
Once they leave the palace, Duan Ling takes one look at the sky and realises it’s already a bit late in the day, but he’s made plans to have dinner with Huang Jian and his acquaintances. Wu Du continues, “I can get a letter to him. His name is Yan Di, used to work for Zhao Kui as a Maintenance Manager of the Main Forces. He’s an expert of troop discipline, marching, and setting up camp — a professional.”
“We’ll go together,” Duan Ling says. “Someone so important mustn’t be slighted.”
After Zhao Kui’s downfall, Yan Di was sacked and placed under investigation. But ultimately he’s no trusted aide, so no matter how much they try to investigate him, they’re not going to find anything, let alone charge him with anything. Since Zhao Kui’s treason failed, Li Jianhong left instructions to go lenient on his people, so much so that those who used to follow Zhao Kui are still alive today.
But it’s already been a long time since the government started withholding any important appointments from them, and it’s not going to allow them to leave their homes either, so all Yan Di can do to scrape together a living is some woodworking he can do from home. And after they moved from Xichuan to Jiangzhou, as a stranger in a strange land, earning his keep has become even more difficult. Duan Ling gets some money together and goes with Wu Du to visit Yan Di. Yan Di is dressed in peasant’s rough cloth robes, clearly poverty-stricken, and he has four kids to feed as well; when they mention going to Ye, Yan Di naturally accepts when the opportunity is presented to him.
They have one more person to get, who used to bookkeep for Zhao Kui’s army, but he’s still in jail. Duan Ling heads over to make inquiries and gets him out of jail. The man is only in his twenties, a bachelor, and his name is Shi Qi, but they can’t actually use him right away. Duan Ling can only make a note to let Mu Kuangda know — give it ten days to a fortnight, and let Shi Qi head to Ye in the name of working off his time.
After travelling all over the city for ages, it’s already late at night. Duan Ling stretches.
“Are you still going to see your fellow students?” Wu Du asks.
Right, there’s that too. Duan Ling’s not sure what to do; he really has been too busy for the past few days. He doesn’t even have time to stop and take a breath.
“Let’s do that tomorrow.” Duan Ling says, “I want to go home.”
“We’ll be setting off tomorrow. You’ll get plenty of time to rest.”
Come to think of it, that’s true. Duan Ling can only pull himself together and head over to the Best Noodles In the Realm with Wu Du.
Though it’s already quite late, the Best Noodles In the Realm is still as rowdy as ever, not closing for another two hours yet. Huang Jian, Qin Xuguang, and Zeng Yongnuo are in the main dining room drinking and having some snacks as they wait for Duan Ling.
“I was only mentioning it in passing,” Qin Xuguang says with a smile, “but I see you’re someone who keeps your word, my friend. Thank you so much for coming.”
“You’re most welcome,” Duan Ling smiles back, “I’m so sorry for keeping everyone waiting for so long.”
That was close, Duan Ling thinks. If Wu Du hasn’t said anything, he may have just gone back home to get some sleep. Once he’s gone back on his word, it’ll be much harder for him to make these friends. He must be stricter with himself from now on.
“This is …” Zeng Yongnuo recognises Wu Du as one of the proctors, so he’s just waiting for Duan Ling to introduce them.
And so Duan Ling says, “This is my sworn brother, Wu Du …”
Wu Du walks over to the proprietor of the noodle shop and they exchange a few words. The customers on the second floor left just a short while ago, and they were planning to clean up and not serve any more guests, but the proprietor is on good terms with Zheng Yan so he agrees to move them to the second floor.
“Take a seat upstairs,” Wu Du says, “I’ll stay downstairs for a bit.”
The three of them nod at Wu Du then and go upstairs with Duan Ling to the private dining room. Not long after they sit down, four bowls of noodles are brought upstairs. Duan Ling is starving, so he apologises and begins to eat; the rest of them have been drinking all night, so they also take this chance to get some food in as well.
“I could never have imagined that your sworn brother would be Wu Du,” Zeng Yongnuo says, “Even back when I was still living at home, I’d already heard about Huaiyin’s Zheng Yan. There are also three more assassins in Great Chen.”
“Yeah,” Duan Ling laughs. “It’s really just circumstances of fate that brought about our meeting — everything is in the stars. He took me in, gave me a place to stay, and recommended me to Chancellor Mu. He’s both like a father and a brother to me.”
This is something they’re only just learning about. Even Huang Jian didn’t know about Duan Ling’s background before, so when he hears this now he nods again and again.
“Our plans tonight were made in a bit of a hurry,” Qin Xuguang says, “if I only knew, I’d have set up a banquet and entertained everyone properly. It’s getting late, so once we finish our noodles we should head home. We can go somewhere else tomorrow and get some good drinking in.”
After a pause to think, Duan Ling says with a smile, “I’ll have to leave Jiangzhou tomorrow.”
“What?” Everyone is rather surprised.
Well, if I have something to tell them, I best tell them now, Duan Ling thinks. He suspects that out of these three, Huang Jian is definitely going to become an official. He’s an orphan of a Salt Control Censor, and though Duan Ling cannot guess as to how talented he may be, even if out of consideration, Li Yanqiu isn’t going to stint him. And besides, someone highly regarded by Mu Kuangda must have some substance to him.
And since Huang Jian has chosen to be friends with Qin and Zeng, there can’t be that much difference in their abilities. In other words, none of these three is likely to be inept.
“I need to go to Ye,” Duan Ling replies.
All three seem visibly moved, and Duan Ling gives them a brief explanation of the circumstances. Huang Jian has always thought this shidi of his remarkable, but he never thought he’d end up leaving for work the day after the palace exam. And since he’s already heard a vague account of what happened in Tongguan, he says, “Since it was taking so long for you to come, I was guessing whether you were in discussion with our teacher regarding how to resolve Ye’s predicament, but I never imagined that they would go as far as to ask you to make the trip yourself.”
“There’s no one else who can go otherwise,” Duan Ling says.
Qin Xuguang says, “Hejian never recovered after the battle of Shangzi, and it’s been years since the government worried about whether it prospered or declined. Now that I think about it, this may just be the will of heaven. But have you made a detailed plan yet?”
Duan Ling has a general idea of what to do first and what has to come afterwards and now happens to be a good time for him to lay it all out, and ask the other three to give him some ideas. So they begin to hash out the details of how best to use their limited resources. Beset by war for years on end, the three cities are barely hanging on; one mistake and the whole thing will come tumbling down — it really is a most precarious position to be in.
“Don’t be too harsh with the law when you first get there,” Huang Jian says, “though they say newly appointed officials must be vigorous at least in the beginning, when it’s all said and done, you have to be careful.”
“You’re quite right,” Duan Ling nods.
Zeng Yongnuo adds, “I heard from my dad that there’s money to be made in Ye, actually. After all, it used to be a major trading hub between Chen and Liao, way back when. But after the war began merchants seldom took the eastern road anymore, so they had no choice but to move to Hejian. There’s just too much unrest in the area, and you either run into the Mongols or bandits. Gradually, trade and commerce declined, and that’s how it became the way it is now.”
“Anything else?” Duan Ling had gone downstairs to get writing utensils, and he’s writing all of this down.
Qin Xuguang ponders for a moment before he says, “How do you plan to settle the refugees so they can get through this winter? Don’t worry, our lips are most definitely sealed. If you can’t make ends meet, we can help you come up with something here in Jiangzhou.”
Duan Ling knows that he can trust them right now — though he has no idea if there will be faction disputes in their future. At least for now, there is no conflict of interest between them. It’s not worthwhile for them to sell him out either.
“I’m going to borrow from the Khitans. I know Master Fei Hongde, and right now he’s likely by the Liao emperor’s side. Move him with empathy and convince him with reason, as they say; if Ye can’t hold off an invasion, Liao will have to face a full-on Mongolian invasion. We’re all smart people here, so they should know the reasoning behind it. When the time comes I’ll write a letter and ask Master Fei for help.”
“That’s feasible,” Huang Jian says to the other two. Qin Xuguang gives this a slow nod.
“Or you can ask the Marquess of Huaiyin,” Qin Xuguang says.
“That’s another way to solve the problem.” Huang Jian says, “After all, if refugees rush in from the north when winter comes, Ye can’t feed all that many people. Then if they keep moving south, they’ll hit Huaiyin in another two hundred miles — even if the Yaos didn’t want to feed them, they’re going to have to.”
Duan Ling always feels like asking outsiders is more reliable than asking one of their own — lord only knows what strange condition Yao Fu may attach to his help.
“Liao is separated into the southern and northern administrations.” Huan Jian continues, “I’m sure you know that since Yelü Dashi’s death the Han family has been steadily gaining power. If you want to borrow grain, who are you going to ask?”
Duan Ling has already considered this problem. “Yelü Zongzhen.”
And so the three begin analysing the political situation of Liao; the key thing is how they’re going to secure this coming winter’s grain.
I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
“You’ve missed the best chance to do so,” Cai Yan says. “Going to Ye right now isn’t any sort of wise move either. The reason I came today is to remind you of something. You wouldn’t be so stupid as to really think that Borjigin Batu is going to go easy on you just because of the personal friendship between you two, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. Even though I don’t want you to go on living, I don’t want you to end up in the Borjigins’ hands either, and become a hostage to threaten the imperial court with.”
Duan Ling knows that Cai Yan’s fears are not unfounded. Batu knows who he really is, and he’s aware of the political situation in the Chen imperial court. Truth is, if Batu wants to stir up trouble, it’ll be difficult for anyone who’ll have to deal with him. But he hasn’t done anything since the Mongolian envoy’s departure, so perhaps Batu is also worried about his safety, or he may want to hold onto this secret, for now, planning to strike them when it counts.
“Do you know why my heart is so set on going to Ye?” Duan Ling asks.
“Don’t think your old flame will help you.” Cai Yan raises an eyebrow. “You’ll just end up getting in more trouble.”
“No,” Duan Ling replies. “It’s not because of him, but because the Commandery of Hebei is my dad’s fief. That’s why uncle was so insistent.”
A tremor runs through Cai Yan’s body; in life, Li Jianhong was given the title “Prince of Beiliang” and Beiliang is what the Commandery of Hebei used to be called — what he inherited was the title passed down through previous dynasties.
Duan Ling merely smiles. “Farewell.”
Cai Yan feels as though he’s just taken a slap in the face.
Duan Ling takes one step back, as though they’ve returned to the Illustrious Hall of yore, and raises his hands to the level of his brows. Holding one hand with the other, he bows at Cai Yan, then quickly passes by him, leaving.
“I know someone,” Wu Du says, “who may be useful to you.”
Once they leave the palace, Duan Ling takes one look at the sky and realises it’s already a bit late in the day, but he’s made plans to have dinner with Huang Jian and his acquaintances. Wu Du continues, “I can get a letter to him. His name is Yan Di, used to work for Zhao Kui as a Maintenance Manager of the Main Forces. He’s an expert of troop discipline, marching, and setting up camp — a professional.”
“We’ll go together,” Duan Ling says. “Someone so important mustn’t be slighted.”
After Zhao Kui’s downfall, Yan Di was sacked and placed under investigation. But ultimately he’s no trusted aide, so no matter how much they try to investigate him, they’re not going to find anything, let alone charge him with anything. Since Zhao Kui’s treason failed, Li Jianhong left instructions to go lenient on his people, so much so that those who used to follow Zhao Kui are still alive today.
But it’s already been a long time since the government started withholding any important appointments from them, and it’s not going to allow them to leave their homes either, so all Yan Di can do to scrape together a living is some woodworking he can do from home. And after they moved from Xichuan to Jiangzhou, as a stranger in a strange land, earning his keep has become even more difficult. Duan Ling gets some money together and goes with Wu Du to visit Yan Di. Yan Di is dressed in peasant’s rough cloth robes, clearly poverty-stricken, and he has four kids to feed as well; when they mention going to Ye, Yan Di naturally accepts when the opportunity is presented to him.
They have one more person to get, who used to bookkeep for Zhao Kui’s army, but he’s still in jail. Duan Ling heads over to make inquiries and gets him out of jail. The man is only in his twenties, a bachelor, and his name is Shi Qi, but they can’t actually use him right away. Duan Ling can only make a note to let Mu Kuangda know — give it ten days to a fortnight, and let Shi Qi head to Ye in the name of working off his time.
After travelling all over the city for ages, it’s already late at night. Duan Ling stretches.
“Are you still going to see your fellow students?” Wu Du asks.
Right, there’s that too. Duan Ling’s not sure what to do; he really has been too busy for the past few days. He doesn’t even have time to stop and take a breath.
“Let’s do that tomorrow.” Duan Ling says, “I want to go home.”
“We’ll be setting off tomorrow. You’ll get plenty of time to rest.”
Come to think of it, that’s true. Duan Ling can only pull himself together and head over to the Best Noodles In the Realm with Wu Du.
Though it’s already quite late, the Best Noodles In the Realm is still as rowdy as ever, not closing for another two hours yet. Huang Jian, Qin Xuguang, and Zeng Yongnuo are in the main dining room drinking and having some snacks as they wait for Duan Ling.
“I was only mentioning it in passing,” Qin Xuguang says with a smile, “but I see you’re someone who keeps your word, my friend. Thank you so much for coming.”
“You’re most welcome,” Duan Ling smiles back, “I’m so sorry for keeping everyone waiting for so long.”
That was close, Duan Ling thinks. If Wu Du hasn’t said anything, he may have just gone back home to get some sleep. Once he’s gone back on his word, it’ll be much harder for him to make these friends. He must be stricter with himself from now on.
“This is …” Zeng Yongnuo recognises Wu Du as one of the proctors, so he’s just waiting for Duan Ling to introduce them.
And so Duan Ling says, “This is my sworn brother, Wu Du …”
Wu Du walks over to the proprietor of the noodle shop and they exchange a few words. The customers on the second floor left just a short while ago, and they were planning to clean up and not serve any more guests, but the proprietor is on good terms with Zheng Yan so he agrees to move them to the second floor.
“Take a seat upstairs,” Wu Du says, “I’ll stay downstairs for a bit.”
The three of them nod at Wu Du then and go upstairs with Duan Ling to the private dining room. Not long after they sit down, four bowls of noodles are brought upstairs. Duan Ling is starving, so he apologises and begins to eat; the rest of them have been drinking all night, so they also take this chance to get some food in as well.
“I could never have imagined that your sworn brother would be Wu Du,” Zeng Yongnuo says, “Even back when I was still living at home, I’d already heard about Huaiyin’s Zheng Yan. There are also three more assassins in Great Chen.”
“Yeah,” Duan Ling laughs. “It’s really just circumstances of fate that brought about our meeting — everything is in the stars. He took me in, gave me a place to stay, and recommended me to Chancellor Mu. He’s both like a father and a brother to me.”
This is something they’re only just learning about. Even Huang Jian didn’t know about Duan Ling’s background before, so when he hears this now he nods again and again.
“Our plans tonight were made in a bit of a hurry,” Qin Xuguang says, “if I only knew, I’d have set up a banquet and entertained everyone properly. It’s getting late, so once we finish our noodles we should head home. We can go somewhere else tomorrow and get some good drinking in.”
After a pause to think, Duan Ling says with a smile, “I’ll have to leave Jiangzhou tomorrow.”
“What?” Everyone is rather surprised.
Well, if I have something to tell them, I best tell them now, Duan Ling thinks. He suspects that out of these three, Huang Jian is definitely going to become an official. He’s an orphan of a Salt Control Censor, and though Duan Ling cannot guess as to how talented he may be, even if out of consideration, Li Yanqiu isn’t going to stint him. And besides, someone highly regarded by Mu Kuangda must have some substance to him.
And since Huang Jian has chosen to be friends with Qin and Zeng, there can’t be that much difference in their abilities. In other words, none of these three is likely to be inept.
“I need to go to Ye,” Duan Ling replies.
All three seem visibly moved, and Duan Ling gives them a brief explanation of the circumstances. Huang Jian has always thought this shidi of his remarkable, but he never thought he’d end up leaving for work the day after the palace exam. And since he’s already heard a vague account of what happened in Tongguan, he says, “Since it was taking so long for you to come, I was guessing whether you were in discussion with our teacher regarding how to resolve Ye’s predicament, but I never imagined that they would go as far as to ask you to make the trip yourself.”
“There’s no one else who can go otherwise,” Duan Ling says.
Qin Xuguang says, “Hejian never recovered after the battle of Shangzi, and it’s been years since the government worried about whether it prospered or declined. Now that I think about it, this may just be the will of heaven. But have you made a detailed plan yet?”
Duan Ling has a general idea of what to do first and what has to come afterwards and now happens to be a good time for him to lay it all out, and ask the other three to give him some ideas. So they begin to hash out the details of how best to use their limited resources. Beset by war for years on end, the three cities are barely hanging on; one mistake and the whole thing will come tumbling down — it really is a most precarious position to be in.
“Don’t be too harsh with the law when you first get there,” Huang Jian says, “though they say newly appointed officials must be vigorous at least in the beginning, when it’s all said and done, you have to be careful.”
“You’re quite right,” Duan Ling nods.
Zeng Yongnuo adds, “I heard from my dad that there’s money to be made in Ye, actually. After all, it used to be a major trading hub between Chen and Liao, way back when. But after the war began merchants seldom took the eastern road anymore, so they had no choice but to move to Hejian. There’s just too much unrest in the area, and you either run into the Mongols or bandits. Gradually, trade and commerce declined, and that’s how it became the way it is now.”
“Anything else?” Duan Ling had gone downstairs to get writing utensils, and he’s writing all of this down.
Qin Xuguang ponders for a moment before he says, “How do you plan to settle the refugees so they can get through this winter? Don’t worry, our lips are most definitely sealed. If you can’t make ends meet, we can help you come up with something here in Jiangzhou.”
Duan Ling knows that he can trust them right now — though he has no idea if there will be faction disputes in their future. At least for now, there is no conflict of interest between them. It’s not worthwhile for them to sell him out either.
“I’m going to borrow from the Khitans. I know Master Fei Hongde, and right now he’s likely by the Liao emperor’s side. Move him with empathy and convince him with reason, as they say; if Ye can’t hold off an invasion, Liao will have to face a full-on Mongolian invasion. We’re all smart people here, so they should know the reasoning behind it. When the time comes I’ll write a letter and ask Master Fei for help.”
“That’s feasible,” Huang Jian says to the other two. Qin Xuguang gives this a slow nod.
“Or you can ask the Marquess of Huaiyin,” Qin Xuguang says.
“That’s another way to solve the problem.” Huang Jian says, “After all, if refugees rush in from the north when winter comes, Ye can’t feed all that many people. Then if they keep moving south, they’ll hit Huaiyin in another two hundred miles — even if the Yaos didn’t want to feed them, they’re going to have to.”
Duan Ling always feels like asking outsiders is more reliable than asking one of their own — lord only knows what strange condition Yao Fu may attach to his help.
“Liao is separated into the southern and northern administrations.” Huan Jian continues, “I’m sure you know that since Yelü Dashi’s death the Han family has been steadily gaining power. If you want to borrow grain, who are you going to ask?”
Duan Ling has already considered this problem. “Yelü Zongzhen.”
And so the three begin analysing the political situation of Liao; the key thing is how they’re going to secure this coming winter’s grain.
I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
