Duan Ling uses up an entire day to get through the lesser half of his itinerary with Wu Du. When evening comes, and all the soldiers have come back, Duan Ling chews on his dry rations and stares at the map by the fire.
“Got any ideas?” Duan Ling says to Wu Du.
“Not for now.” Wu Du has already decided to abandon trying to rid them of the Shadow Guard, for now. He says to Duan Ling, “Did you find anything?”
Duan Ling shows Wu Du the map. On it is marked sentry towers found by Sun Ting’s subordinates, and altogether there are twelve of them between the two cities situated where villages used to be located, far from enough to make a chain of smoke signals.
“Not enough.” Wu Du says, “Some of these are too far from each other.”
“If there isn’t enough of them we can build more. Here, and here; all these positions are on the mountains. We can build pavilions on each of these places, and use them as beacons. They can send signals to each other between sentry points in the mountains by hitting gongs — we’ll have both smoke and gong signals.”
Mongolian horses are unsuited to travel on the mountain paths, and the south side of Xunshui is full of barren hills which actually makes it advantageous for building sentry platforms. This way, by a combination of sound and smoke signals they can largely determine where the Mongols are invading from.
And so he really has solved the one big problem weighing on his heart.
Duan Ling decides to draw up sentry areas as soon as he gets back, settling on thirty sentries with five soldiers assigned to each. The posts situated on the plains can even farm some food themselves to supplement their rations.
The next day, he and Wu Du arrive in Hejian. He can tell that Wu Du is overly tense, watching out for the slightest hint of trouble, constantly on edge.
“Lord Wang.” Lieutenant Qin’s name is Qin Long, and he bows to Duan Ling.
The other day, Qin Long had already been reprimanded once by Wu Du. Qin Long has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he looks presentable enough. He’s brought his subordinates with him to apologise to Duan Ling personally, and even had food and hot water ready so that Duan Ling and Wu Du can rest up after their journey.
Hejian is busier than Ye. It used to be the Liao-facing strategic town of Hebei, and the commandant’s estate is in the centre of the city — which would be Wu Du’s official residence. In order to fight against the Khitans and to expedite the manoeuvring of troops, the commandant’s estate is based permanently in Hejian. But no one could have expected that with the borders moving back and forth over the years, Ye has somehow become the frontline.
“Actually, you’ve been doing a rather good job in your defence of Hejian,” Duan Ling says, wiping his hands with a hot towel.
Qin Long is nearby waiting on him personally. “You flatter me, My Lord. That’s only because the Mongols don’t often go by way of Hejian.”
Hejian isn’t like Ye; before the last Commandant General died in battle, the two cities were essentially autonomous of each other. Nominally the city’s military defers to the Commandant of Hejian, but in reality, they’re Qin Long’s private army. The moment Duan Ling meets Qin Long he’d already noticed that he’s a calculating man, and he’s bound to pay lip service to them while working against them behind their backs. Who knows, maybe he saw Duan Ling and Wu Du from the top of the city wall much earlier that night and simply chose to bide his time on purpose.
When Ögedei invaded this spring, the last Commandant led his army into battle, but in the end, he didn’t manage to hold out until his reinforcements’ arrival and ended up dying in the enemy’s hands.
If Wu Du hadn’t come, the one most qualified for a promotion to Commandant General would have been Qin Long.
“Where’s the county magistrate?” Wu Du asks suddenly.
Duan Ling knows that Wu Du has sensed it too; though Qin Long is the lieutenant, in practical terms he’s essentially the ruler of Hejian. When he came out to greet the governor and commandant general, the county magistrate did not show himself, and the only person receiving them is Qin Long. This county magistrate has most likely been sent off on some task by Qin Long so that he wouldn’t get in the way.
He’ll have to get rid of Qin Long sooner or later, but he can’t simply pull out a sabre and cut him down right now — he must find out what countermeasures Qin Long has against them. Even though getting rid of him would be easy, both himself and Wu Du are too busy and there’s no way for them to spare any time for Hejian.
As they expect he would, Qin Long replies, “Lord Lin has left the city to inspect the villages. He didn’t know that you and the general were coming, so I’ve already sent a messenger to get him.”
Fine, I’ll let you hold on to power for a while longer. Once I’m done cleaning up over here, I’ll come back to take care of you. Duan Ling thinks.
The other lieutenant isn’t feeling well and stayed home. Wu Du doesn’t press him about that either, and all he does is interrogate Qin Long in regards to the organisation of his army, the soldiers’ salary, supplies, the transfer of personnel and so on. Unlike those in Ye, Qin Long does not complain about being poor, and when they bring up army provisions he only tells them that he can take care of it himself.
“Do you have enough?” Duan Ling asks.
“Oh, we’ve enough.” Qin Long says with a smile. “I can’t exactly ask you to make up the army’s provisions out of your own pocket, My Lord. We haven’t had to fight much over the past several years in Hejian, so we can just barely squeak by on what we have.”
“If you don’t have enough you’ll have to ask,” Duan Ling says, “General Qin, don’t ever find it too embarrassing to ask.”
“Lord Wang, you dote on the people as you would your own children, which is good fortune for Hebei indeed. And now all we can hope for is for you to move here to Hejian as soon as possible and spread your policies so they can benefit the people. That would be what everyone wants.”
Duan Ling replies, “Relocating the governor’s estate was the former Lord Lu’s intention. Now that I’m governor, naturally I have no intention to relocate.”
The former governor had complained multiple times that Ye’s location is too disadvantageous and the sandstorms too harsh, so he was hoping to relocate to Hejian. But the paperwork travelling back and forth took too much time, and the governor also wanted to transfer back to the capital, and that’s why the matter dragged on without ever coming to pass.
There’s no way Qin Long would want Duan Ling to move the office of Hebei from Ye to Hejian, he’s only saying this to see what Duan Ling thinks, and Duan Ling doesn’t want to relocate either. However, he really isn’t overly fond of the kind of subordinate who goes around showing off his smarts in such a way. It’s one thing to show off his cunning if he was Duan Ling’s superior or if they were peers, but he’s a lieutenant commanding two thousand men guarding the remote frontier, defending a city in the middle of nowhere. What’s the point of playing games?
“Do you want to be transferred back to the capital, Lord Qin?” Duan Ling is thinking that maybe it’s just as well for him to write a letter come spring and send this one back to the capital. He can just transfer one of the lieutenants out of Ye for Hejian.
But to his surprise, not only did Qin Long not answer his question, he even turns the question on Duan Ling. “Do you want to be transferred back to the capital, Lord Wang?”
Duan Ling thinks on this quietly; he suddenly gets the feeling that Qin Long is hiding meaning between his words. Perhaps this guy isn’t as easy to deal with as he’d imagined.
“A capital official’s service period lasts three years.” Duan Ling says, “I will have to leave sooner or later.”
“But you can choose not to go back.” Qin Long picks up a cup of tea with both hands, setting it down before Duan Ling courteously. “The idea of a three-year post for a capital official is a mere scrap of paper. Everyone wants to go where it’s prosperous and rich; no one wants to go to the remote, poverty-stricken countryside. And besides, Ye is part of the border, and border towns have always been flexible — it’s not limited by the three years set for the appointment rotation.”
Duan Ling cannot but admit that he has no way to refute what Qin Long had just said.
“When Lord Lu was governor, he pined to return to the capital every day. He had no intention to settle down here either. Now that you’re here, Lord Wang, if you’re willing to stay here long-term, that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. The moment I saw you, My Lord, I could tell that you are a pragmatic man.”
Duan Ling knows what Qin Long is trying to tell him — you’ll have to leave sooner or later as well. Everyone comes here to take up government posts while thinking about how they can go back. And sooner or later, they have to go back.
They can’t even promise to stay here for better or for worse, and only treat this place as a springboard for further promotion and wealth, so how can they ever do a good job as governor?
“You’re quite right.” Duan Ling clasps his hands together and bows at the waist graciously. “I will always remember these words of yours.”
And now it is Qin Long’s turn to be quite surprised; after all, he is subordinate to Duan Ling, and he had said what he said as nothing more than cliche and meaningless formal remarks that only serve to also flatter the other party a little. Even if you’re only going to do this for three years, we’re all hoping for you to stay. The one who says it doesn’t mean anything by it, and the one listening won’t take it seriously. It’s all taken with a smile and quickly forgotten. He never thought that their youngest governor in history would manage to glean some different meaning from them.
“You’re still quite young, My Lord.” Qin Long smiles. “I’m sure you have a bright future ahead of you.”
Wu Du rises and tells him, “Since Lord Lin hasn’t returned yet, then do pass on our words to him. We’ll be leaving now. Otherwise, just continue as you have done. In a few days the Mongols will come to besiege us, and I’ll have plans for dealing with that when I get back. We’ll speak again after we pull together and work as one to get through this crisis.”
Qin Long says, surprised, “The Mongols will be attacking the city? How did you know that?”
Wu Du has heard Duan Ling talk about Batu making a boast to take Ye within ten days, and he has also interrogated Duan Ling in detail about Batu’s personality. From him, Wu Du has learned that Bau always keeps his word, and he’s always been like that. Four days have already passed. They still have five days and a half left.
“A letter will come tomorrow.” Wu Du doesn’t explain further. “We’ll have to speed things up.”
Qin Liong would like Duan Ling to stay at least one night in the city, but Wu Du waves the idea off to tell him no need. Qin Long adds, “There’s a hot spring in the mountains behind the city of Hejian, and it is just the thing for washing away one’s fatigue.”
Wu Du seems moved by this idea, but Duan Ling is as busy as a spinning top so he really shouldn’t stay. He drags Wu Du away, saying with a smile, “We’ll come again some other time.”
Duan Ling is beginning to feel some fondness for this smart person now, but as for how he’ll feel in the future is still up in the air.
“Do you not like him?” Duan Ling and Wu Du ride on Benxiao together ahead of the men.
“Not really, no.” Wu Du replies, “Too cunning. When he’s talking he’s constantly insinuating something else.”
Wu Du’s eyes are wandering, always glancing to check each side of the road to Hejian, observing the people nearby. Hejian sees better upkeep than Ye, but the commoners seem even poorer by comparison. One after another is dressed in rags watching them from where they perch on the side of the road.
Occasionally he even sees some men sitting by the roadside leisurely enjoying the breeze. Even though they’re men in the prime of their lives in their thirties and forties, they’re not out there working the fields.
“Too lazy.” Duan Ling says, “Did you notice anything?”
“I smell banditry. Look inside that pub over there.”
They pass by a pub. The men inside are sturdily built, not like soldiers, and not like commoners who never get enough to eat either, and they sit in a circle drinking together. Duan Ling can sense that Qin Long is the one who really holds the power in Hejian, and through these years while he’s been in charge, he’s been keeping a lot of layabouts in the city. There’s a high possibility that he’s colluding with the local bandits — or one may even say that Qin Long himself is the chief of the bandits in the area.
“We’ll take care of them some other day.” Wu Du says, “Let’s go see Yan Di when we go back. Come on!”
Benxiao races on ahead, leaving Duan Ling’s personal guards in the dust. They pass through fields of undulating grass, and detour ‘round paths covered in brambles. It barely takes them half a day to reach Ye by dusk.
“Call Yan Di over here.” Wu Du says, “We begin construction work on the beacon towers immediately.”
Wu Du circles the points on the map one by one and gives Yan Di instructions. Yan Di laughs out loud as soon as he glances at the map, giving Wu Du a thumbs up. “You understand, My Lord.”
Yan Di still smells like alcohol. He says, “But we don’t have enough people.”
“Send soldiers. Can you get all of it done within three days?”
Yan Di says, “How’s that possible?”
“We only need a rough foundation.” Wu Du replies, “The Mongols will be coming in a few days. They just have to be able to pass on a signal.”
“Then that’s easy,” Yan Di says.
“I’ll assign you some people. Start now. Make sure all of your workers are from Ye. Send a letter to Hejian and tell Qin Long to keep an eye on the very last beacon in the chain.”
Wu Du writes down a list of names and tells Sun Ting to go with Yan Di to transfer personnel. Duan Ling says, “You have to go personally.”
Wu Du points at the sky outside to indicate that it’s too late, and they can’t move about alone.
“I can’t leave your side,” Wu Du says.
“It’s only for a little while. It’ll be alright. Is the city more important or this little while more important?”
“Of course your safety is more important,” Wu Du replies.
Duan Ling is at his wits’ end; he’ll have to figure out some other way to deal with this, he thinks, because if Wu Du keeps staying with him, not straying an inch from his side, he won’t be able to get anything done. Once they take care of this they’ll have to go on the offence to get rid of the Shadow Guard’s assassins, otherwise they really can’t work under these conditions.
“Since you believe he’ll come, then he definitely will come,” Wu Du says to Duan Ling, “The flaming bulls may have looked like a huge deal the other day, but in reality they only managed to break down the Mongolian encampment and didn’t really kill all that many people. Those five thousand men are going to charge over here eventually.”
Wu Du looks up at the map hanging on the wall. “The Ye army has already gone scouting in that area once. They’ve evacuated from their temporary encampment, so we have no idea where they’re hiding right now. We wouldn’t have to deal with all these problems if only we could attack them ahead of time.”
“Splitting our forces isn’t a good idea right now.” Duan Ling says, “Waiting for the enemy to strike is a better option.”
It is a clear, cloudless night. Breathing in Ye’s fresh air, Duan Ling climbs to the second floor to watch the lights shining from all the windows in the city below. He’s beginning to think of this place as his home.
He’s seldom had this feeling before; seclusion in the wilderness is too lonely, and seclusion in the city is too noisy. Now that he’s travelled all the way to this place with Wu Du, driven by nothing but ardour, he’s surprised to find himself embracing the feeling that this city belongs to the two of them.
“What if Qin Long doesn’t come to save us when the Mongols attack Ye?” Sometimes, even Duan Ling thinks their plan hangs by a thread.
“He’ll come.” Wu Du says, “I gave him a good beating the other day. This knave is smart — he knows that even if the city falls, the two of us will be able to get away. And if Ye is ever lost, his days will become quite difficult.”
Standing in Qin Long’s shoes, he wouldn’t want Duan Ling to meddle overmuch in his affairs, but he wouldn’t want to lose Ye either; after all, once Ye falls, he would be the next to go. And besides, he’s already killed one official of the imperial court. If this new one dies too, Jiangzhou is never going to let him get away with it.
“Sleep,” Wu Du says. “Once we win this battle, I’ll take you to the hot springs.”
Duan Ling smiles, and heads downstairs with Wu Du, returning to his room.
There have been too many things to do for days on end now: the day of the autumn harvest is soon arriving, he hasn’t heard anything from the messenger he’s sent to Liao yet, the grain stored in Ye is only enough to last them ‘til the Eleventh Month, they don’t even have two hundred thousand catty of coal — how they’re going to get through winter has become their most pressing concern.
“Why is there always a furrow between your brows.”
In the night, Wu Du is on top of Duan Ling, holding onto him. A worried furrow sits between Duan Ling’s brows, and Wu Du is also frowning. Their eyes meet, and Wu Du rubs his nose against him, kisses his lips.
“Too many problems weigh on my mind,” Duan Ling whispers as he reaches up to untie the knot holding Wu Du’s undershirt closed.
“Your lord and master can afford to keep you fed,” Wu Du embraces Duan Ling, attentively kissing him. He looks into Duan Ling’s eyes and adds, “And your commoners too.”
Duan Ling smiles; the days ahead of them may be very difficult, but at least in this very moment, giving into his scorching body heat for a time makes him feel incomparably at ease.
The next morning, they’re still in deep sleep, not wearing anything; Duan Ling has his head pillowed on Wu Du’s shoulder, while Wu Du’s chest is moving up and down with his every breath, his hand wrapped over Duan Ling’s shoulder.
Suddenly, their door is kicked open with a loud boom. Wu Du immediately rolls out of bed, draws his sword and looks out the door. Meanwhile, Duan Ling hasn’t woken up yet. He rolls over and keeps on sleeping.
“They do say that each second in a night of passion is worth a thousand taels in gold,” a voice is saying, “but you’ll have to forgive me for reminding you that the Mongols are just about at your gates.”
“Zheng Yan?!” Duan Ling’s eyes open abruptly as soon as he hears this voice. He sits up, and hiding behind Wu Du he peeks out to look at Zheng Yan, his eyes full of joy.
Wu Du grabs his robe and tells Duan Ling to put it on as he says to Zheng Yan impatiently, “Out, out, out — hurry it up already.”
Zheng Yan has been travelling for almost a month and a half, and he’s dirty from head to toe. Holding a machete over one shoulder and a sword in his hand, he swaggers off to the front hall.
The two get out of bed and wash up. Duan Ling is radiant with happiness — Zheng Yan’s actually here! Now everything is taken care of!
Zheng Yan is sitting in the front hall scratching himself. The peasant clothes he’s wearing is already soiled beyond recognition, and there’s another person sitting next to him, looking equally miserable.
“Aiyoh,” Zhang Yan says, “You’re this happy to see me? Would you like a change of flavours?”
“Get outta here!” Laughing, Duan Ling goes up to him and gives him a kick.
“Greetings, Lord Wang,” the other person salutes Duan Ling.
Duan Ling nods, and noting that it’s someone Zheng Yan brought with him, he asks, “Will you introduce us?”
“Don’t you two know each other?” Zheng Yan says, flabbergasted. “I spotted him on the road when he was nearly captured by bandits, and figured I’d save him. He said he was coming here to take on a job. What’s your surname again?”
“My … my surname is Shi.” The man is extremely young, and judging by his features he seems even younger than Zheng Yan and Wu Du, barely older than Duan Ling.
“Shi Qi!” Duan Ling remembers now, and apologises at once, stepping forward to grab his hand and to get familiar. “You’re finally here. It must have been a difficult journey. Was it uneventful along the way at least?”
Zheng Yan says, “If I hadn’t saved him, he would have been taken away from the mountain bandits to become one of their wives.”
“Um …” Shi Qi is highly embarrassed.
Sometimes Duan Ling really can’t stand Zheng Yan, and waving off that conversation he says, “This is all my fault. Good thing you’re in possession of such good fortune.”
Shi Qi says hurriedly, “The Grand Chancellor said that you’ve left instructions for guards to escort me here, but I thought since I was a criminal to begin with, it would be inappropriate for me to inconvenience you, My Lord. So considering that, I decided to leave on my own.”
Duan Ling nods. The crime Shi Qi committed isn’t exactly a big deal, but it’s no small thing either; it’s just that after Zhao Kui’s fall from grace, the judicial system began to investigate every level of his organisation and discovered that Shi Qi embezzled a bit of silver, so he’s been detained in jail to await his death sentence. A crime like that can be wiped away by Li Yanqiu with a simple word, so there’s no problem at all in asking the imperial court for him.
But for this delicate young man, it’s basically saved his life — a favour tantamount to giving him a new lease on life.
This translation is by foxghost, on tumblr and kofi. 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, it was reposted without permission. Do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
Duan Ling uses up an entire day to get through the lesser half of his itinerary with Wu Du. When evening comes, and all the soldiers have come back, Duan Ling chews on his dry rations and stares at the map by the fire.
“Got any ideas?” Duan Ling says to Wu Du.
“Not for now.” Wu Du has already decided to abandon trying to rid them of the Shadow Guard, for now. He says to Duan Ling, “Did you find anything?”
Duan Ling shows Wu Du the map. On it is marked sentry towers found by Sun Ting’s subordinates, and altogether there are twelve of them between the two cities situated where villages used to be located, far from enough to make a chain of smoke signals.
“Not enough.” Wu Du says, “Some of these are too far from each other.”
“If there isn’t enough of them we can build more. Here, and here; all these positions are on the mountains. We can build pavilions on each of these places, and use them as beacons. They can send signals to each other between sentry points in the mountains by hitting gongs — we’ll have both smoke and gong signals.”
Mongolian horses are unsuited to travel on the mountain paths, and the south side of Xunshui is full of barren hills which actually makes it advantageous for building sentry platforms. This way, by a combination of sound and smoke signals they can largely determine where the Mongols are invading from.
And so he really has solved the one big problem weighing on his heart.
Duan Ling decides to draw up sentry areas as soon as he gets back, settling on thirty sentries with five soldiers assigned to each. The posts situated on the plains can even farm some food themselves to supplement their rations.
The next day, he and Wu Du arrive in Hejian. He can tell that Wu Du is overly tense, watching out for the slightest hint of trouble, constantly on edge.
“Lord Wang.” Lieutenant Qin’s name is Qin Long, and he bows to Duan Ling.
The other day, Qin Long had already been reprimanded once by Wu Du. Qin Long has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he looks presentable enough. He’s brought his subordinates with him to apologise to Duan Ling personally, and even had food and hot water ready so that Duan Ling and Wu Du can rest up after their journey.
Hejian is busier than Ye. It used to be the Liao-facing strategic town of Hebei, and the commandant’s estate is in the centre of the city — which would be Wu Du’s official residence. In order to fight against the Khitans and to expedite the manoeuvring of troops, the commandant’s estate is based permanently in Hejian. But no one could have expected that with the borders moving back and forth over the years, Ye has somehow become the frontline.
“Actually, you’ve been doing a rather good job in your defence of Hejian,” Duan Ling says, wiping his hands with a hot towel.
Qin Long is nearby waiting on him personally. “You flatter me, My Lord. That’s only because the Mongols don’t often go by way of Hejian.”
Hejian isn’t like Ye; before the last Commandant General died in battle, the two cities were essentially autonomous of each other. Nominally the city’s military defers to the Commandant of Hejian, but in reality, they’re Qin Long’s private army. The moment Duan Ling meets Qin Long he’d already noticed that he’s a calculating man, and he’s bound to pay lip service to them while working against them behind their backs. Who knows, maybe he saw Duan Ling and Wu Du from the top of the city wall much earlier that night and simply chose to bide his time on purpose.
When Ögedei invaded this spring, the last Commandant led his army into battle, but in the end, he didn’t manage to hold out until his reinforcements’ arrival and ended up dying in the enemy’s hands.
If Wu Du hadn’t come, the one most qualified for a promotion to Commandant General would have been Qin Long.
“Where’s the county magistrate?” Wu Du asks suddenly.
Duan Ling knows that Wu Du has sensed it too; though Qin Long is the lieutenant, in practical terms he’s essentially the ruler of Hejian. When he came out to greet the governor and commandant general, the county magistrate did not show himself, and the only person receiving them is Qin Long. This county magistrate has most likely been sent off on some task by Qin Long so that he wouldn’t get in the way.
He’ll have to get rid of Qin Long sooner or later, but he can’t simply pull out a sabre and cut him down right now — he must find out what countermeasures Qin Long has against them. Even though getting rid of him would be easy, both himself and Wu Du are too busy and there’s no way for them to spare any time for Hejian.
As they expect he would, Qin Long replies, “Lord Lin has left the city to inspect the villages. He didn’t know that you and the general were coming, so I’ve already sent a messenger to get him.”
Fine, I’ll let you hold on to power for a while longer. Once I’m done cleaning up over here, I’ll come back to take care of you. Duan Ling thinks.
The other lieutenant isn’t feeling well and stayed home. Wu Du doesn’t press him about that either, and all he does is interrogate Qin Long in regards to the organisation of his army, the soldiers’ salary, supplies, the transfer of personnel and so on. Unlike those in Ye, Qin Long does not complain about being poor, and when they bring up army provisions he only tells them that he can take care of it himself.
“Do you have enough?” Duan Ling asks.
“Oh, we’ve enough.” Qin Long says with a smile. “I can’t exactly ask you to make up the army’s provisions out of your own pocket, My Lord. We haven’t had to fight much over the past several years in Hejian, so we can just barely squeak by on what we have.”
“If you don’t have enough you’ll have to ask,” Duan Ling says, “General Qin, don’t ever find it too embarrassing to ask.”
“Lord Wang, you dote on the people as you would your own children, which is good fortune for Hebei indeed. And now all we can hope for is for you to move here to Hejian as soon as possible and spread your policies so they can benefit the people. That would be what everyone wants.”
Duan Ling replies, “Relocating the governor’s estate was the former Lord Lu’s intention. Now that I’m governor, naturally I have no intention to relocate.”
The former governor had complained multiple times that Ye’s location is too disadvantageous and the sandstorms too harsh, so he was hoping to relocate to Hejian. But the paperwork travelling back and forth took too much time, and the governor also wanted to transfer back to the capital, and that’s why the matter dragged on without ever coming to pass.
There’s no way Qin Long would want Duan Ling to move the office of Hebei from Ye to Hejian, he’s only saying this to see what Duan Ling thinks, and Duan Ling doesn’t want to relocate either. However, he really isn’t overly fond of the kind of subordinate who goes around showing off his smarts in such a way. It’s one thing to show off his cunning if he was Duan Ling’s superior or if they were peers, but he’s a lieutenant commanding two thousand men guarding the remote frontier, defending a city in the middle of nowhere. What’s the point of playing games?
“Do you want to be transferred back to the capital, Lord Qin?” Duan Ling is thinking that maybe it’s just as well for him to write a letter come spring and send this one back to the capital. He can just transfer one of the lieutenants out of Ye for Hejian.
But to his surprise, not only did Qin Long not answer his question, he even turns the question on Duan Ling. “Do you want to be transferred back to the capital, Lord Wang?”
Duan Ling thinks on this quietly; he suddenly gets the feeling that Qin Long is hiding meaning between his words. Perhaps this guy isn’t as easy to deal with as he’d imagined.
“A capital official’s service period lasts three years.” Duan Ling says, “I will have to leave sooner or later.”
“But you can choose not to go back.” Qin Long picks up a cup of tea with both hands, setting it down before Duan Ling courteously. “The idea of a three-year post for a capital official is a mere scrap of paper. Everyone wants to go where it’s prosperous and rich; no one wants to go to the remote, poverty-stricken countryside. And besides, Ye is part of the border, and border towns have always been flexible — it’s not limited by the three years set for the appointment rotation.”
Duan Ling cannot but admit that he has no way to refute what Qin Long had just said.
“When Lord Lu was governor, he pined to return to the capital every day. He had no intention to settle down here either. Now that you’re here, Lord Wang, if you’re willing to stay here long-term, that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. The moment I saw you, My Lord, I could tell that you are a pragmatic man.”
Duan Ling knows what Qin Long is trying to tell him — you’ll have to leave sooner or later as well. Everyone comes here to take up government posts while thinking about how they can go back. And sooner or later, they have to go back.
They can’t even promise to stay here for better or for worse, and only treat this place as a springboard for further promotion and wealth, so how can they ever do a good job as governor?
“You’re quite right.” Duan Ling clasps his hands together and bows at the waist graciously. “I will always remember these words of yours.”
And now it is Qin Long’s turn to be quite surprised; after all, he is subordinate to Duan Ling, and he had said what he said as nothing more than cliche and meaningless formal remarks that only serve to also flatter the other party a little. Even if you’re only going to do this for three years, we’re all hoping for you to stay. The one who says it doesn’t mean anything by it, and the one listening won’t take it seriously. It’s all taken with a smile and quickly forgotten. He never thought that their youngest governor in history would manage to glean some different meaning from them.
“You’re still quite young, My Lord.” Qin Long smiles. “I’m sure you have a bright future ahead of you.”
Wu Du rises and tells him, “Since Lord Lin hasn’t returned yet, then do pass on our words to him. We’ll be leaving now. Otherwise, just continue as you have done. In a few days the Mongols will come to besiege us, and I’ll have plans for dealing with that when I get back. We’ll speak again after we pull together and work as one to get through this crisis.”
Qin Long says, surprised, “The Mongols will be attacking the city? How did you know that?”
Wu Du has heard Duan Ling talk about Batu making a boast to take Ye within ten days, and he has also interrogated Duan Ling in detail about Batu’s personality. From him, Wu Du has learned that Bau always keeps his word, and he’s always been like that. Four days have already passed. They still have five days and a half left.
“A letter will come tomorrow.” Wu Du doesn’t explain further. “We’ll have to speed things up.”
Qin Liong would like Duan Ling to stay at least one night in the city, but Wu Du waves the idea off to tell him no need. Qin Long adds, “There’s a hot spring in the mountains behind the city of Hejian, and it is just the thing for washing away one’s fatigue.”
Wu Du seems moved by this idea, but Duan Ling is as busy as a spinning top so he really shouldn’t stay. He drags Wu Du away, saying with a smile, “We’ll come again some other time.”
Duan Ling is beginning to feel some fondness for this smart person now, but as for how he’ll feel in the future is still up in the air.
“Do you not like him?” Duan Ling and Wu Du ride on Benxiao together ahead of the men.
“Not really, no.” Wu Du replies, “Too cunning. When he’s talking he’s constantly insinuating something else.”
Wu Du’s eyes are wandering, always glancing to check each side of the road to Hejian, observing the people nearby. Hejian sees better upkeep than Ye, but the commoners seem even poorer by comparison. One after another is dressed in rags watching them from where they perch on the side of the road.
Occasionally he even sees some men sitting by the roadside leisurely enjoying the breeze. Even though they’re men in the prime of their lives in their thirties and forties, they’re not out there working the fields.
“Too lazy.” Duan Ling says, “Did you notice anything?”
“I smell banditry. Look inside that pub over there.”
They pass by a pub. The men inside are sturdily built, not like soldiers, and not like commoners who never get enough to eat either, and they sit in a circle drinking together. Duan Ling can sense that Qin Long is the one who really holds the power in Hejian, and through these years while he’s been in charge, he’s been keeping a lot of layabouts in the city. There’s a high possibility that he’s colluding with the local bandits — or one may even say that Qin Long himself is the chief of the bandits in the area.
“We’ll take care of them some other day.” Wu Du says, “Let’s go see Yan Di when we go back. Come on!”
Benxiao races on ahead, leaving Duan Ling’s personal guards in the dust. They pass through fields of undulating grass, and detour ‘round paths covered in brambles. It barely takes them half a day to reach Ye by dusk.
“Call Yan Di over here.” Wu Du says, “We begin construction work on the beacon towers immediately.”
Wu Du circles the points on the map one by one and gives Yan Di instructions. Yan Di laughs out loud as soon as he glances at the map, giving Wu Du a thumbs up. “You understand, My Lord.”
Yan Di still smells like alcohol. He says, “But we don’t have enough people.”
“Send soldiers. Can you get all of it done within three days?”
Yan Di says, “How’s that possible?”
“We only need a rough foundation.” Wu Du replies, “The Mongols will be coming in a few days. They just have to be able to pass on a signal.”
“Then that’s easy,” Yan Di says.
“I’ll assign you some people. Start now. Make sure all of your workers are from Ye. Send a letter to Hejian and tell Qin Long to keep an eye on the very last beacon in the chain.”
Wu Du writes down a list of names and tells Sun Ting to go with Yan Di to transfer personnel. Duan Ling says, “You have to go personally.”
Wu Du points at the sky outside to indicate that it’s too late, and they can’t move about alone.
“I can’t leave your side,” Wu Du says.
“It’s only for a little while. It’ll be alright. Is the city more important or this little while more important?”
“Of course your safety is more important,” Wu Du replies.
Duan Ling is at his wits’ end; he’ll have to figure out some other way to deal with this, he thinks, because if Wu Du keeps staying with him, not straying an inch from his side, he won’t be able to get anything done. Once they take care of this they’ll have to go on the offence to get rid of the Shadow Guard’s assassins, otherwise they really can’t work under these conditions.
“Since you believe he’ll come, then he definitely will come,” Wu Du says to Duan Ling, “The flaming bulls may have looked like a huge deal the other day, but in reality they only managed to break down the Mongolian encampment and didn’t really kill all that many people. Those five thousand men are going to charge over here eventually.”
Wu Du looks up at the map hanging on the wall. “The Ye army has already gone scouting in that area once. They’ve evacuated from their temporary encampment, so we have no idea where they’re hiding right now. We wouldn’t have to deal with all these problems if only we could attack them ahead of time.”
“Splitting our forces isn’t a good idea right now.” Duan Ling says, “Waiting for the enemy to strike is a better option.”
It is a clear, cloudless night. Breathing in Ye’s fresh air, Duan Ling climbs to the second floor to watch the lights shining from all the windows in the city below. He’s beginning to think of this place as his home.
He’s seldom had this feeling before; seclusion in the wilderness is too lonely, and seclusion in the city is too noisy. Now that he’s travelled all the way to this place with Wu Du, driven by nothing but ardour, he’s surprised to find himself embracing the feeling that this city belongs to the two of them.
“What if Qin Long doesn’t come to save us when the Mongols attack Ye?” Sometimes, even Duan Ling thinks their plan hangs by a thread.
“He’ll come.” Wu Du says, “I gave him a good beating the other day. This knave is smart — he knows that even if the city falls, the two of us will be able to get away. And if Ye is ever lost, his days will become quite difficult.”
Standing in Qin Long’s shoes, he wouldn’t want Duan Ling to meddle overmuch in his affairs, but he wouldn’t want to lose Ye either; after all, once Ye falls, he would be the next to go. And besides, he’s already killed one official of the imperial court. If this new one dies too, Jiangzhou is never going to let him get away with it.
“Sleep,” Wu Du says. “Once we win this battle, I’ll take you to the hot springs.”
Duan Ling smiles, and heads downstairs with Wu Du, returning to his room.
There have been too many things to do for days on end now: the day of the autumn harvest is soon arriving, he hasn’t heard anything from the messenger he’s sent to Liao yet, the grain stored in Ye is only enough to last them ‘til the Eleventh Month, they don’t even have two hundred thousand catty of coal — how they’re going to get through winter has become their most pressing concern.
“Why is there always a furrow between your brows.”
In the night, Wu Du is on top of Duan Ling, holding onto him. A worried furrow sits between Duan Ling’s brows, and Wu Du is also frowning. Their eyes meet, and Wu Du rubs his nose against him, kisses his lips.
“Too many problems weigh on my mind,” Duan Ling whispers as he reaches up to untie the knot holding Wu Du’s undershirt closed.
“Your lord and master can afford to keep you fed,” Wu Du embraces Duan Ling, attentively kissing him. He looks into Duan Ling’s eyes and adds, “And your commoners too.”
Duan Ling smiles; the days ahead of them may be very difficult, but at least in this very moment, giving into his scorching body heat for a time makes him feel incomparably at ease.
The next morning, they’re still in deep sleep, not wearing anything; Duan Ling has his head pillowed on Wu Du’s shoulder, while Wu Du’s chest is moving up and down with his every breath, his hand wrapped over Duan Ling’s shoulder.
Suddenly, their door is kicked open with a loud boom. Wu Du immediately rolls out of bed, draws his sword and looks out the door. Meanwhile, Duan Ling hasn’t woken up yet. He rolls over and keeps on sleeping.
“They do say that each second in a night of passion is worth a thousand taels in gold,” a voice is saying, “but you’ll have to forgive me for reminding you that the Mongols are just about at your gates.”
“Zheng Yan?!” Duan Ling’s eyes open abruptly as soon as he hears this voice. He sits up, and hiding behind Wu Du he peeks out to look at Zheng Yan, his eyes full of joy.
Wu Du grabs his robe and tells Duan Ling to put it on as he says to Zheng Yan impatiently, “Out, out, out — hurry it up already.”
Zheng Yan has been travelling for almost a month and a half, and he’s dirty from head to toe. Holding a machete over one shoulder and a sword in his hand, he swaggers off to the front hall.
The two get out of bed and wash up. Duan Ling is radiant with happiness — Zheng Yan’s actually here! Now everything is taken care of!
Zheng Yan is sitting in the front hall scratching himself. The peasant clothes he’s wearing is already soiled beyond recognition, and there’s another person sitting next to him, looking equally miserable.
“Aiyoh,” Zhang Yan says, “You’re this happy to see me? Would you like a change of flavours?”
“Get outta here!” Laughing, Duan Ling goes up to him and gives him a kick.
“Greetings, Lord Wang,” the other person salutes Duan Ling.
Duan Ling nods, and noting that it’s someone Zheng Yan brought with him, he asks, “Will you introduce us?”
“Don’t you two know each other?” Zheng Yan says, flabbergasted. “I spotted him on the road when he was nearly captured by bandits, and figured I’d save him. He said he was coming here to take on a job. What’s your surname again?”
“My … my surname is Shi.” The man is extremely young, and judging by his features he seems even younger than Zheng Yan and Wu Du, barely older than Duan Ling.
“Shi Qi!” Duan Ling remembers now, and apologises at once, stepping forward to grab his hand and to get familiar. “You’re finally here. It must have been a difficult journey. Was it uneventful along the way at least?”
Zheng Yan says, “If I hadn’t saved him, he would have been taken away from the mountain bandits to become one of their wives.”
“Um …” Shi Qi is highly embarrassed.
Sometimes Duan Ling really can’t stand Zheng Yan, and waving off that conversation he says, “This is all my fault. Good thing you’re in possession of such good fortune.”
Shi Qi says hurriedly, “The Grand Chancellor said that you’ve left instructions for guards to escort me here, but I thought since I was a criminal to begin with, it would be inappropriate for me to inconvenience you, My Lord. So considering that, I decided to leave on my own.”
Duan Ling nods. The crime Shi Qi committed isn’t exactly a big deal, but it’s no small thing either; it’s just that after Zhao Kui’s fall from grace, the judicial system began to investigate every level of his organisation and discovered that Shi Qi embezzled a bit of silver, so he’s been detained in jail to await his death sentence. A crime like that can be wiped away by Li Yanqiu with a simple word, so there’s no problem at all in asking the imperial court for him.
But for this delicate young man, it’s basically saved his life — a favour tantamount to giving him a new lease on life.
This translation is by foxghost, on tumblr and kofi. 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, it was reposted without permission. Do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
