Duan Ling and Fei Hongde agree upon taking turns for the night watch, with Fei Hongde on the first watch, and Duan Ling returns to his room. He feels as though these seven days have truly been the longest seven days of his life.
Wu Du is lying on the bed, reading the secret manual Lang Junxia returned to them. Duan Ling lies down next to him, and before long he’s asleep. His dreams are filled with close quarters combat, with soldiers fighting through the streets. A year ago today, he was in the city of Shangjing safeguarding what last hope they had; cavalry dressed in iron and weaponry held high through a sea of flames are drawn in scenes that seem to be slowly replaying by his ear.
At the fifth of the night watch, Duan Ling wakes up. The city lies silent in the still of the night, with a river of stars shining above.
“Wu Du?” By the time Duan Ling turns over, there’s no longer anyone next to him.
Duan Ling gets off the bed and walks outside on silent feet.
Wu Du is in the courtyard practising the Palm of the Realm from the manual. Fist forward, turn to palm, right palm press, left palm follows, each move flowing with poise and perfect composure, foot up, step forward.
Duan Ling can’t help but remember Li Jianhong’s silhouette while teaching him; beneath the stars Li Jianhong is a phantom-like silhouette cloaked in stardust, moving like a shadow behind Wu Du, moving through identical motions.
In that moment, Wu Du’s figure seems to take on most of Li Jianhong’s presence, seemingly exhibiting the dignity of an emperor surveying his land.
“The Sword of the Realm can be transformed to use as a hand-to-hand style through fist, palm, and feet.” Wu Du turns around, palms pushing down. Then his left hand makes a gesture of separation while his right hand lifts, he puts one leg to cross over the other, and he pushes both palms forward. He says in a solemn tone, “It uses motion to train the self for stillness, with the flow of qi in the body moving in the opposite direction as the fist and palm.”
Duan Ling watches him for a while, then he walks up to go through the entire set once with him. Previously, he had hastily learned the movements without trying to get a deeper understanding, but this time, with Wu Du, he has managed to understand a bit more. After they get through the full set, they’re both covered in sweat, but Duan Ling feels very refreshed.
The sky is starting to brighten, but dark clouds have come to cloak the sky. It is an exceedingly stuffy and hot morning, the air sticky with humidity, and Tongguan is always foggy and moist, so everyone inside is covered in a sheen of sweat. Duan Ling puts on fresh clothes and says to Wu Du, “I’m going to send Yao Jing off to her groom. Come on, come with me.”
Wu Du nods. They both get into formal clothes and head to one of the wings in the Bian estate. Yao Jing is keeping watch over Bian Lingbai’s sickbed, in a conversation with Fei Hongde. Duan LIng gives Fei Hongde a nod and says to Bian Lingbai, “Uncle, I’m sending Jing’er off to be married.”
Bian Lingbai lies there motionless like a corpse, so Duan Ling turns away from him and brings Yao Jing out of the room. The steward has already had her dowry organised, and they wait in the main hall as one must, in accordance with the rites. Shang Leguan comes in first to seek permission; since Bian Lingbai has no children and he’s bedridden besides, his only “nephew” is left to preside over the ceremony. Duan Ling first must decline, but then he’s saying, “Shang Leguan, you’re not following the correct etiquette. What groom comes to ask permission in person?”
Everyone finds this funny. Yao Jing sticks her head out from behind the screen to sneak a glance, and she can’t help but smile either.
Shang Leguan is tall and handsome, and though he’s just been made fun of he doesn’t seem to mind. He smiles softly and withdraws from the room.
Soon enough, Shang Leguan enters the room to state his request again; Duan Ling once more refuses.
“After the third ask,” Wu Du says to Yao Jing, “you’ll be leaving for Xiliang to be wed.”
Outside of Duan Ling, Wu Du seldom speaks with anyone. In the eyes of outsiders, this assassin who seems to exude danger from every pore of his body is mysterious beyond comprehension, but from Yao Jing’s perspective, Wu Du has saved her life once. As she’s Yao Zheng’s cousin as well, it gives them yet another layer of familiarity.
“Thank you, General Wu, for saving my life,” Yao Jing says quietly from behind the screen.
Wu Du adds, “Be sure to take good care of yourself once away from home. Xiliang isn’t like Great Chen. It’ll take time, but you’ll get used to it.”
“Yes,” Yao Jing whispers.
Listening to what Wu Du is saying to her, Duan Ling feels a nameless sort of sadness. He remembers not having a thing to his name when he arrived in Xichuan and how equally lost he was.
But he believes that Helian Bo will take good care of her.
For the third ask, Helian Bo comes personally. He doesn’t say anything at all; wordlessly he performs a special set of rites facing Duan Ling, and Duan Ling replies with the same.
It’s the third ask where the fiance himself comes personally to greet his bride. All at once, everyone in the room seems rather surprised, but Duan Ling has known about this for a while.
“Make sure you take good care of my younger sister,” Duan Ling says in Tangut, then he repeats it to everyone else in Han.
“You have my word,” Helian Bo replies.
Thus Duan Ling takes Yao Jing’s hand and guides her out from behind the screen, and places her hand in Helian Bo’s. Yao Jing had thought she was going to marry Shang Leguan, so on finding out that her fiance is actually “He Mo”, she looks entirely shocked.
The middle-aged steward speaks up, “Mister Bian, hasn’t there … hasn’t there been some mistake?”
“There’s no mistake,” Duan Ling explains to them. “This is the prince of Xiliang, His Highness Helian Bo.”
Yao Jing finally regains her composure, realising that the position waiting for her is actually going to be Princess-consort!
Wu Du’s face has also taken on an extremely strange expression as he studies Duan Ling. Duan Ling nods at him and says, “There’s no problem.”
With this confirmation, Wu Du says, “Let’s go.”
Helian Bo helps Yao Jing into her carriage, and her dowry is carried onto it one box after another. Everyone else gets on horseback and they canter along with the Xiliang wedding party, all the way to the gates of Tongguan. When he says goodbye to Helian Bo, Duan Ling feels a bit ashamed; he recalls how Wu Du had told him he was “heartless”, and suddenly he does think he seems rather heartless.
“Take care, Helian,” Duan Ling whispers next to his ear, “I’ll come visit you.”
Helian Bo gives Duan Ling’s arm a pat, “Letter … will come soon.”
Duan Ling nods. Helian Bo is trying to say something else, but Duan Ling is signing with one hand like a brush going across a page, letting him know that if there’s anything important, Helian Bo should write to him.
“Go on.” Even now, there’s still a great weight on Duan Ling’s heart — after all, Helian Bo isn’t out of danger yet. He’ll only be safe after he returns to Xiliang.
Brokenhearted at the thought of their separation, Helian Bo stares at Duan Ling from afar. Duan Ling waves at him; he can see Helian Bo stopping his horse in the middle of the plains as if there’s something else he’d like to say, so all Duan Ling can do is turn his back on Helian Bo, and pretend that he’s leaving.
Wu Du finds this quite funny all of a sudden, and ridicules him. “A Tangut barbarian, and a stammerer who’s hardly known you for long at all at that … But he does seem to have a lot of feelings when it comes to you.”
Sometimes when Wu Du speaks he seems rather too willing to catch people in the raw, leaving no room for argument. It makes Duan Ling really want to punch him.
“Is he gone yet?”
“Not yet,” Wu Du replies absentmindedly.
Duan Ling waits a little while longer, and Wu Du tells him, “He’s gone.”
Duan Ling only turns around then, staring off distantly in Helian Bo’s direction. The wedding party has already turned into a tiny little black dot.
Mountain peaks gather, turbulent waves billow; Tongguan road winds through mountains and rivers inside and out.
Like waves the dark clouds tumble as they roll in, with lightning flickering between the cloud layers.
“I forgot to pack them umbrellas,” Duan Ling says.
Wu Du starts to laugh, and Fei Hongde’s voice suddenly rings out from beneath the gate tower.
“Young master!” Fei Hongde is climbing the tower, and Duan Ling hurries down to help him up the stone steps. Fei Hongde is huffing and puffing, and as soon as they see each other Duan Ling knows that it’s most likely bad news.
“The scout’s come back with a report,” Fei Hongde says briskly. “According to their surveillance, all of the mounted bandits in Qinling have withdrawn.”
“What scout?” Duan Ling doesn’t remember giving these orders. He sounds surprised.
“I sent them to keep an eye on things,” Wu Du explains. “Which way did they go?”
“The mounted bandits are gathering in the easternmost section of the Qlnling.” Fei Hongde says solemnly, “I’m afraid they already got word that General Bian is immobile, and they’re planning to come attack Tongguan!”
This news is no surprise. All of Duan Ling’s previous plans were made to prevent the other side from starting a fight abruptly. Yet what’s meant to happen will happen anyway. Fortunately, the governor sent by the imperial court is already on his way — even though Tongguan isn’t safe, it has a fighting chance.
Duan Ling meets Wu Du’s eyes. Wu Du says, “How long do you think we can hold out for?”
“Killing was your mission. Don’t worry, what comes after that is my responsibility. However, you’ll have to follow my orders.”
Wu Du looks like he just heard the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “What can you do about it?”
Duan Ling looks into Wu Du’s eyes. “Do you trust me?”
Wu Du frowns. He studies Duan Ling again, feeling as though it’s the first time he’s ever seen him.
“I’ll go make the arrangements now,” Duan Ling says. “As long as all goes as planned, we can definitely last until the governor gets here. But he won’t be taking all that many people with him, so even if he arrives we’ll still have to rely on ourselves.”
It’s the most rigorous challenge Duan Ling has ever faced. He will finally have to go on the battlefield. No matter when the new governor arrives, this is a battle he must fight.
“Tell me.” Wu Du says, “Tell me what you’re going to do. I can follow your orders.”
“My Lord—” Another soldier is coming up the gate tower. He says to Duan Ling, “General Wang and General Xie have returned. They would like to meet with you at the estate.”
Duan Ling gives Fei Hongde a nod, and the three of them return to the general’s estate.
Two giant cases of gold bars are sitting in the main hall.
“It’s all gold.”
As soon as Duan Ling enters the hall, Vice General Wang reports, “There was a full fifty-thousand taels of gold there!”
With a single glance, Duan Ling could tell that the two of them had already taken a pretty big cut — several thousand taels, at least. He doesn’t expose them though. He says to Fei Hongde, “Please pass along a message to summon every soldier ranked Major and above.”
While he’s waiting, Duan Ling unrolls a map on the table. He sends Wu Du a glance, then he asks the two Vice Generals to come closer.
“How many men do we have left?” Duan Ling asks.
“Minus the ones on patrol outside of Tongguan,” Vice General Wang has just taken some gold so he’s obviously in a good mood. He says to Duan Ling, “we have a force of twenty-seven thousand men in total.”
“Twenty-seven thousand …”
“What’s this?” The Vice General with the surname Xie asks him.
“These are the places where the Tangut mounted bandits are lying in ambush, and their force is twenty-thousand men.” Duan Ling points at the Great Wall and moves his finger to the east, landing in Tongguan. “Both these markings outside and inside the Great Wall mark their troops.”
As he finishes speaking, Duan Ling observes the look on their faces, thinking to himself that there’s no way these two don’t know that there are mounted bandits moving about within Tongguan’s jurisdiction. It must have been one of the transactions between Helian Da and Bian Lingai; Helian Da is selling his horses to Bian Lingbai, so Bian Lingbai has been looking the other way about the bandits Helian Da has sent over. Otherwise there’s no way he’d have dropped that investigation against those who robbed Yao Jing’s caravan.
As he expected, both Vice Generals looked a bit uneasy, turning to glance at each other. Duan Ling doesn’t expose them this time either. “News of my uncle’s bedridden state and immobility has probably already reached the other side. I worry that the Tangut are going to work with the men they’re keeping inside the city walls, and attack Tongguan.”
Even if Bian Lingbai hasn’t told his subordinates what he’s been up to, there are traces to be found, ultimately; these two would be able to at least take a vague guess at what he’s done. If Bian Lingbai is severely ill and this illness is incurable, Helian Da won’t be able to get back the money he’s owed. While there’s no commander at Tongguan, the enemy will most likely fight their way in here.
“Master Fei Hongde has already dispatched a messenger to Xichuan with an order not to stop along the way, in order to inform the imperial court of our situation. I have invited the two of you here to ask your opinion — are we going to give up on Tongguan’s defences and run off with the money? Or will we hold the city until the court sends a governor to come reinforce us?”
“You jest, young master.” Vice General Xie’s name is Xie Hao, from Yingchuan.2 He used to lead the garrisoned troops beneath Mount Jiangjun in its defence of the border, and once fought at Li Jianhong’s side. Even if Duan Ling isn’t trying to goad them into action, there’s no way he’d desert.
“If Tongguan ever comes under Tangut control,” Xie Hao says, “the central plain will lose its defensive barrier. Let’s not even speak of whether we should run for now — even if we do run, where could we ever run to?”
Duan Ling turns to Vice General Wang, but he’s not as firm as Xie Hao. He smiles as he says to Duan Ling, “There’s no need to try to goad us, young master. Our loyalty is with you, as it is with the General. Just let us know what you need.”
That’s all Duan Ling needed to hear. “Naturally, the bandits are rallying because they’re going to mount an attack on Tongguan, but a regular army is surely heading here from outside Tongguan as well. We must split our forces into two — one force will have to eliminate the bandits from Qinling as soon as possible, and attack them by surprise.”
Duan Ling draws the bandits’ route on the map and says to them, “Whichever one of you is willing to stop the bandits from advancing on Tongguan, take Wu Du with you.”
Wu Du stands apart quietly, watching all this without a word.
“I’ll go,” Vice General Wang replies.
Duan Ling produces Bian Lingbai’s tally and hands it to Vice General Wang. “You must end the battle as quickly as you can. Total annihilation is not our goal, what we want instead is for them to lose their bearings — use an ambush to defeat them.”
Vice General Wang takes the command tally. Duan Ling turns to Xie Hao. “From today onwards, we must strengthen Tongguan’s defences. Hide troops inside and outside the gates. As for the rest, listen to Master Fei’s instructions.”
Xie Hao nods, “Yes sir.”
Those people Fei Hongde summoned earlier have also arrived.
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. ↩︎
Yingchuan, located in present central Henan. ↩︎
Duan Ling and Fei Hongde agree upon taking turns for the night watch, with Fei Hongde on the first watch, and Duan Ling returns to his room. He feels as though these seven days have truly been the longest seven days of his life.
Wu Du is lying on the bed, reading the secret manual Lang Junxia returned to them. Duan Ling lies down next to him, and before long he’s asleep. His dreams are filled with close quarters combat, with soldiers fighting through the streets. A year ago today, he was in the city of Shangjing safeguarding what last hope they had; cavalry dressed in iron and weaponry held high through a sea of flames are drawn in scenes that seem to be slowly replaying by his ear.
At the fifth of the night watch, Duan Ling wakes up. The city lies silent in the still of the night, with a river of stars shining above.
“Wu Du?” By the time Duan Ling turns over, there’s no longer anyone next to him.
Duan Ling gets off the bed and walks outside on silent feet.
Wu Du is in the courtyard practising the Palm of the Realm from the manual. Fist forward, turn to palm, right palm press, left palm follows, each move flowing with poise and perfect composure, foot up, step forward.
Duan Ling can’t help but remember Li Jianhong’s silhouette while teaching him; beneath the stars Li Jianhong is a phantom-like silhouette cloaked in stardust, moving like a shadow behind Wu Du, moving through identical motions.
In that moment, Wu Du’s figure seems to take on most of Li Jianhong’s presence, seemingly exhibiting the dignity of an emperor surveying his land.
“The Sword of the Realm can be transformed to use as a hand-to-hand style through fist, palm, and feet.” Wu Du turns around, palms pushing down. Then his left hand makes a gesture of separation while his right hand lifts, he puts one leg to cross over the other, and he pushes both palms forward. He says in a solemn tone, “It uses motion to train the self for stillness, with the flow of qi in the body moving in the opposite direction as the fist and palm.”
Duan Ling watches him for a while, then he walks up to go through the entire set once with him. Previously, he had hastily learned the movements without trying to get a deeper understanding, but this time, with Wu Du, he has managed to understand a bit more. After they get through the full set, they’re both covered in sweat, but Duan Ling feels very refreshed.
The sky is starting to brighten, but dark clouds have come to cloak the sky. It is an exceedingly stuffy and hot morning, the air sticky with humidity, and Tongguan is always foggy and moist, so everyone inside is covered in a sheen of sweat. Duan Ling puts on fresh clothes and says to Wu Du, “I’m going to send Yao Jing off to her groom. Come on, come with me.”
Wu Du nods. They both get into formal clothes and head to one of the wings in the Bian estate. Yao Jing is keeping watch over Bian Lingbai’s sickbed, in a conversation with Fei Hongde. Duan LIng gives Fei Hongde a nod and says to Bian Lingbai, “Uncle, I’m sending Jing’er off to be married.”
Bian Lingbai lies there motionless like a corpse, so Duan Ling turns away from him and brings Yao Jing out of the room. The steward has already had her dowry organised, and they wait in the main hall as one must, in accordance with the rites. Shang Leguan comes in first to seek permission; since Bian Lingbai has no children and he’s bedridden besides, his only “nephew” is left to preside over the ceremony. Duan Ling first must decline, but then he’s saying, “Shang Leguan, you’re not following the correct etiquette. What groom comes to ask permission in person?”
Everyone finds this funny. Yao Jing sticks her head out from behind the screen to sneak a glance, and she can’t help but smile either.
Shang Leguan is tall and handsome, and though he’s just been made fun of he doesn’t seem to mind. He smiles softly and withdraws from the room.
Soon enough, Shang Leguan enters the room to state his request again; Duan Ling once more refuses.
“After the third ask,” Wu Du says to Yao Jing, “you’ll be leaving for Xiliang to be wed.”
Outside of Duan Ling, Wu Du seldom speaks with anyone. In the eyes of outsiders, this assassin who seems to exude danger from every pore of his body is mysterious beyond comprehension, but from Yao Jing’s perspective, Wu Du has saved her life once. As she’s Yao Zheng’s cousin as well, it gives them yet another layer of familiarity.
“Thank you, General Wu, for saving my life,” Yao Jing says quietly from behind the screen.
Wu Du adds, “Be sure to take good care of yourself once away from home. Xiliang isn’t like Great Chen. It’ll take time, but you’ll get used to it.”
“Yes,” Yao Jing whispers.
Listening to what Wu Du is saying to her, Duan Ling feels a nameless sort of sadness. He remembers not having a thing to his name when he arrived in Xichuan and how equally lost he was.
But he believes that Helian Bo will take good care of her.
For the third ask, Helian Bo comes personally. He doesn’t say anything at all; wordlessly he performs a special set of rites facing Duan Ling, and Duan Ling replies with the same.
It’s the third ask where the fiance himself comes personally to greet his bride. All at once, everyone in the room seems rather surprised, but Duan Ling has known about this for a while.
“Make sure you take good care of my younger sister,” Duan Ling says in Tangut, then he repeats it to everyone else in Han.
“You have my word,” Helian Bo replies.
Thus Duan Ling takes Yao Jing’s hand and guides her out from behind the screen, and places her hand in Helian Bo’s. Yao Jing had thought she was going to marry Shang Leguan, so on finding out that her fiance is actually “He Mo”, she looks entirely shocked.
The middle-aged steward speaks up, “Mister Bian, hasn’t there … hasn’t there been some mistake?”
“There’s no mistake,” Duan Ling explains to them. “This is the prince of Xiliang, His Highness Helian Bo.”
Yao Jing finally regains her composure, realising that the position waiting for her is actually going to be Princess-consort!
Wu Du’s face has also taken on an extremely strange expression as he studies Duan Ling. Duan Ling nods at him and says, “There’s no problem.”
With this confirmation, Wu Du says, “Let’s go.”
Helian Bo helps Yao Jing into her carriage, and her dowry is carried onto it one box after another. Everyone else gets on horseback and they canter along with the Xiliang wedding party, all the way to the gates of Tongguan. When he says goodbye to Helian Bo, Duan Ling feels a bit ashamed; he recalls how Wu Du had told him he was “heartless”, and suddenly he does think he seems rather heartless.
“Take care, Helian,” Duan Ling whispers next to his ear, “I’ll come visit you.”
Helian Bo gives Duan Ling’s arm a pat, “Letter … will come soon.”
Duan Ling nods. Helian Bo is trying to say something else, but Duan Ling is signing with one hand like a brush going across a page, letting him know that if there’s anything important, Helian Bo should write to him.
“Go on.” Even now, there’s still a great weight on Duan Ling’s heart — after all, Helian Bo isn’t out of danger yet. He’ll only be safe after he returns to Xiliang.
Brokenhearted at the thought of their separation, Helian Bo stares at Duan Ling from afar. Duan Ling waves at him; he can see Helian Bo stopping his horse in the middle of the plains as if there’s something else he’d like to say, so all Duan Ling can do is turn his back on Helian Bo, and pretend that he’s leaving.
Wu Du finds this quite funny all of a sudden, and ridicules him. “A Tangut barbarian, and a stammerer who’s hardly known you for long at all at that … But he does seem to have a lot of feelings when it comes to you.”
Sometimes when Wu Du speaks he seems rather too willing to catch people in the raw, leaving no room for argument. It makes Duan Ling really want to punch him.
“Is he gone yet?”
“Not yet,” Wu Du replies absentmindedly.
Duan Ling waits a little while longer, and Wu Du tells him, “He’s gone.”
Duan Ling only turns around then, staring off distantly in Helian Bo’s direction. The wedding party has already turned into a tiny little black dot.
Mountain peaks gather, turbulent waves billow; Tongguan road winds through mountains and rivers inside and out.
Like waves the dark clouds tumble as they roll in, with lightning flickering between the cloud layers.
“I forgot to pack them umbrellas,” Duan Ling says.
Wu Du starts to laugh, and Fei Hongde’s voice suddenly rings out from beneath the gate tower.
“Young master!” Fei Hongde is climbing the tower, and Duan Ling hurries down to help him up the stone steps. Fei Hongde is huffing and puffing, and as soon as they see each other Duan Ling knows that it’s most likely bad news.
“The scout’s come back with a report,” Fei Hongde says briskly. “According to their surveillance, all of the mounted bandits in Qinling have withdrawn.”
“What scout?” Duan Ling doesn’t remember giving these orders. He sounds surprised.
“I sent them to keep an eye on things,” Wu Du explains. “Which way did they go?”
“The mounted bandits are gathering in the easternmost section of the Qlnling.” Fei Hongde says solemnly, “I’m afraid they already got word that General Bian is immobile, and they’re planning to come attack Tongguan!”
This news is no surprise. All of Duan Ling’s previous plans were made to prevent the other side from starting a fight abruptly. Yet what’s meant to happen will happen anyway. Fortunately, the governor sent by the imperial court is already on his way — even though Tongguan isn’t safe, it has a fighting chance.
Duan Ling meets Wu Du’s eyes. Wu Du says, “How long do you think we can hold out for?”
“Killing was your mission. Don’t worry, what comes after that is my responsibility. However, you’ll have to follow my orders.”
Wu Du looks like he just heard the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “What can you do about it?”
Duan Ling looks into Wu Du’s eyes. “Do you trust me?”
Wu Du frowns. He studies Duan Ling again, feeling as though it’s the first time he’s ever seen him.
“I’ll go make the arrangements now,” Duan Ling says. “As long as all goes as planned, we can definitely last until the governor gets here. But he won’t be taking all that many people with him, so even if he arrives we’ll still have to rely on ourselves.”
It’s the most rigorous challenge Duan Ling has ever faced. He will finally have to go on the battlefield. No matter when the new governor arrives, this is a battle he must fight.
“Tell me.” Wu Du says, “Tell me what you’re going to do. I can follow your orders.”
“My Lord—” Another soldier is coming up the gate tower. He says to Duan Ling, “General Wang and General Xie have returned. They would like to meet with you at the estate.”
Duan Ling gives Fei Hongde a nod, and the three of them return to the general’s estate.
Two giant cases of gold bars are sitting in the main hall.
“It’s all gold.”
As soon as Duan Ling enters the hall, Vice General Wang reports, “There was a full fifty-thousand taels of gold there!”
With a single glance, Duan Ling could tell that the two of them had already taken a pretty big cut — several thousand taels, at least. He doesn’t expose them though. He says to Fei Hongde, “Please pass along a message to summon every soldier ranked Major and above.”
While he’s waiting, Duan Ling unrolls a map on the table. He sends Wu Du a glance, then he asks the two Vice Generals to come closer.
“How many men do we have left?” Duan Ling asks.
“Minus the ones on patrol outside of Tongguan,” Vice General Wang has just taken some gold so he’s obviously in a good mood. He says to Duan Ling, “we have a force of twenty-seven thousand men in total.”
“Twenty-seven thousand …”
“What’s this?” The Vice General with the surname Xie asks him.
“These are the places where the Tangut mounted bandits are lying in ambush, and their force is twenty-thousand men.” Duan Ling points at the Great Wall and moves his finger to the east, landing in Tongguan. “Both these markings outside and inside the Great Wall mark their troops.”
As he finishes speaking, Duan Ling observes the look on their faces, thinking to himself that there’s no way these two don’t know that there are mounted bandits moving about within Tongguan’s jurisdiction. It must have been one of the transactions between Helian Da and Bian Lingai; Helian Da is selling his horses to Bian Lingbai, so Bian Lingbai has been looking the other way about the bandits Helian Da has sent over. Otherwise there’s no way he’d have dropped that investigation against those who robbed Yao Jing’s caravan.
As he expected, both Vice Generals looked a bit uneasy, turning to glance at each other. Duan Ling doesn’t expose them this time either. “News of my uncle’s bedridden state and immobility has probably already reached the other side. I worry that the Tangut are going to work with the men they’re keeping inside the city walls, and attack Tongguan.”
Even if Bian Lingbai hasn’t told his subordinates what he’s been up to, there are traces to be found, ultimately; these two would be able to at least take a vague guess at what he’s done. If Bian Lingbai is severely ill and this illness is incurable, Helian Da won’t be able to get back the money he’s owed. While there’s no commander at Tongguan, the enemy will most likely fight their way in here.
“Master Fei Hongde has already dispatched a messenger to Xichuan with an order not to stop along the way, in order to inform the imperial court of our situation. I have invited the two of you here to ask your opinion — are we going to give up on Tongguan’s defences and run off with the money? Or will we hold the city until the court sends a governor to come reinforce us?”
“You jest, young master.” Vice General Xie’s name is Xie Hao, from Yingchuan.2 He used to lead the garrisoned troops beneath Mount Jiangjun in its defence of the border, and once fought at Li Jianhong’s side. Even if Duan Ling isn’t trying to goad them into action, there’s no way he’d desert.
“If Tongguan ever comes under Tangut control,” Xie Hao says, “the central plain will lose its defensive barrier. Let’s not even speak of whether we should run for now — even if we do run, where could we ever run to?”
Duan Ling turns to Vice General Wang, but he’s not as firm as Xie Hao. He smiles as he says to Duan Ling, “There’s no need to try to goad us, young master. Our loyalty is with you, as it is with the General. Just let us know what you need.”
That’s all Duan Ling needed to hear. “Naturally, the bandits are rallying because they’re going to mount an attack on Tongguan, but a regular army is surely heading here from outside Tongguan as well. We must split our forces into two — one force will have to eliminate the bandits from Qinling as soon as possible, and attack them by surprise.”
Duan Ling draws the bandits’ route on the map and says to them, “Whichever one of you is willing to stop the bandits from advancing on Tongguan, take Wu Du with you.”
Wu Du stands apart quietly, watching all this without a word.
“I’ll go,” Vice General Wang replies.
Duan Ling produces Bian Lingbai’s tally and hands it to Vice General Wang. “You must end the battle as quickly as you can. Total annihilation is not our goal, what we want instead is for them to lose their bearings — use an ambush to defeat them.”
Vice General Wang takes the command tally. Duan Ling turns to Xie Hao. “From today onwards, we must strengthen Tongguan’s defences. Hide troops inside and outside the gates. As for the rest, listen to Master Fei’s instructions.”
Xie Hao nods, “Yes sir.”
Those people Fei Hongde summoned earlier have also arrived.
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Yingchuan, located in present central Henan. ↩︎
