Though Lishui City was far smaller in scale than Jinling—a city only three to four li deep that could only be considered a small city in Jiangdong’s prosperous region—it still inherited Jiangnan’s thousand years of splendor. White walls and black tiles, pavilions and courtyards stood in close array, while mud lanes and stone streets crisscrossed throughout the city like a spider’s web.

At the height of summer, willows grew green along the banks of the Mingshi River flowing through the city, flowers bloomed abundantly, and fifty to sixty wine shops and pleasure quarters had been built along both riverbanks. Daily, who knew how much rouge-tinted water flowed into the river, enticing fish and shrimp to compete for food.

A bright full moon’s reflection rippled on the undulating river water, shattered by a twin-hulled pleasure boat.

Military forces gradually approached Lishui, but this didn’t prevent young masters in the city from living in extravagant debauchery, intoxicated by wine and gold.

This should have been the season to leave the city and summer among mountains and waters. Now with military chaos outside the city walls, nowhere was safe enough. When a famous establishment like Wanhong House, renowned even in Jinling City, sent its top-class singing and dancing courtesans and beautiful prostitutes aboard pleasure boats to Lishui City to make money, how could it not cause a sensation? How could it not attract young masters whose pockets bulged with gold and silver but who had no way to vent their vigorous energy and desires?

The twin-hulled pleasure boat consisted of a four-story wooden flower tower built atop two seven or eight zhang long cabin hulls, with carved railings and painted beams. Moored in the Mingshi River, it resembled a fortress.

Beyond the twin lower cabins, the four-story flower tower’s bottom level housed boatmen and guards. Boardwalks led directly to the second level—a grand hall brightly illuminated by large candles. At this moment, a singing courtesan sat in one corner holding a pipa, plucking string sounds as clear and crisp as spring water splashing on stone that penetrated straight to the heart. Yet twenty or thirty young masters who had boarded the boat seeking pleasure had no mind for the music. A proclamation someone had brought in from outside the city drew everyone’s attention. Even the flower girls wearing thin garments around them, exposing jade-white arms and plump long legs, couldn’t hook their souls back.

“I always said the Han father and son must be treasonous rebels. Look, just look—what is he trying to do? Is he trying to uproot the foundations of aristocratic families great and small? The present dynasty inherited previous systems, establishing distinctions between good and base, noble and humble. That Han upstart disregards laws, not only seizing aristocratic families’ servants but also shamelessly promising to grant them land. Where will this land come from—won’t he still seize it from various families?” A thin-faced youth wearing silk robes with a sharp chin and monkey-like cheeks called out loudly in the crowd with an excited, shrill voice full of indignation. Rolling up his sleeves, he continued: “You all think this doesn’t concern you. Look, can you really dodge calamity falling from heaven?”

“In my view, every family should rally their household troops and retainers. Don’t wait until that Han upstart rides on our heads to shit and piss before regretting it too late!” someone chimed in, wishing they could pull out their young, strong servants right now, charge into Maoshan, and show Han Qian—who coveted aristocratic families’ slaves, servants, and land—what they were made of.

Lishui bordered Maoshan directly. If Han Qian conscripted slaves into military service, the aristocratic clans of Lishui would be the first affected with damaged interests.

These many youths on the flower boat were all aristocratic clan scions from nearby areas. At this moment, where was their mood for seeking pleasure?

They were completely unaware that at the hall’s rear end, a separate small cabin had opened a small window connecting to the main hall, and a pair of deep, worried eyes gazed over from inside the cabin.

Apart from extremely limited people, no one in Jinling City knew of Wanhong House’s connection to the previous dynasty’s Divine Mausoleum Bureau and to Yueyang. In fact, when Third Prince Yang Yuanpu was just enfeoffed as Prince of Linjiang, to avoid having Wanhong House’s involvement with the previous dynasty’s Divine Mausoleum Bureau discovered by people around Emperor Tianyou, Yao Xishui, Chun Shisanniang and others had already severed ties with Wanhong House.

Afterward, Yao Xishui and others, through Zhang Ping, had their identities whitewashed. Famous courtesans becoming adopted daughters of officials or directly marrying into official households as concubines was commonplace in Jinling City.

After Yao Xishui, Su Hongyu and other women left, Wanhong House remained a first-class pleasure venue inside and outside Jinling City.

During the Jinling incident, Marquis Xinchang Manor’s forces all withdrew, but Wanhong House, being deeply embedded, didn’t alert the snake by beating the grass. Naturally they could continue lurking in Jinling City’s depths, observing the city’s movements.

After the devastating defeat at Jingshan Hermitage and subsequent expulsion from Danyang, Li Pu worried that if they encountered more disasters, he wouldn’t even have a hiding place. So he transferred one of Wanhong House’s pleasure boats to Lishui City on standby.

After the Jinling incident, Zhang Ping showed grief over Han Daoxun’s tragic death. When discussing strategies regarding Xuzhou, he also became taciturn, not even advocating for too deep restrictions on Third Prince Yang Yuanpu.

No matter how one looked at it, Zhang Ping couldn’t continue to be trusted.

Therefore, Yao Xishui decided to act independently. Without accompanying Zhang Ping and Lin Haizheng, but only two days behind them, she entered Lishui City, made contact with Xu Jing—a supervisor secretly responsible for Wanhong House affairs in Divine Mausoleum Bureau—and went into hiding on the flower boat. No one in Maoshan knew her whereabouts.

Of course, Yao Xishui hadn’t expected that just after returning to Jinling, shocking news about Han Qian would arrive one after another.

First Han Qian raided and destroyed Danyang City, tearing up the alliance with Chuzhou. Then he led remnants to withdraw and defend Maoshan, formally establishing Chishan Rebellion-Suppressing Army, forming a three-way standoff with Zhao Mingting’s Southern Court Imperial Guards unit defending Jiangcheng City and Chuzhou forces that had entered Danyang, Jintan, and Liyang cities these past two days.

Jintan and Liyang cities east of Maoshan, on one hand as subordinate counties of Runzhou, had many people with sons and family businesses in the prefecture capital Dantu. At the same time, officials of these two counties and local aristocratic family forces were genuinely intimidated by the military prestige Prince Xin and Chuzhou Army displayed in the Jingshan Hermitage battle, choosing to pledge allegiance. Only previously Chuzhou Army had merely requisitioned grain from these two counties without ever stationing troops there.

After Han Qian led Chishan Army to withdraw and defend Maoshan, even if Chuzhou Army had no intention of storming Maoshan in the short term, dividing forces to enter Jintan and Liyang to contain Chishan Army’s activities on Maoshan’s eastern flank was a natural, inevitable move.

From Danyang through Jintan to Liyang at Jieling Mountain’s northern foothills formed roughly a straight line about one hundred twenty li long.

Although Chuzhou Army dispatching about six thousand cavalry and infantry to garrison the three cities in one day seemed somewhat weak, having cities to defend while maintaining sufficient vigilance, Han Qian wanting to replicate his surprise attack on Danyang City was no longer possible.

However, from Jieling Mountain southward and Tianmu Mountain northward, Langxi and Huaide counties belonging to Xuanzhou, as well as Anji and Changxing counties belonging to Huzhou—Chuzhou Army temporarily lacked the strength to extend their battle line too far and hadn’t yet divided forces to control them.

These counties, being farther from Dantu, didn’t urgently feel Chuzhou Army’s threat. They nominally maintained loyalty to the new emperor enthroned in Jinling, but officials and local powerful forces were also secretly recruiting soldiers and tightly defending city fortifications.

At this time, Han Qian at Maoshan could be said to face enemies on two fronts. Yao Xishui didn’t know how he intended to make more moves in such narrow territory leading three thousand old, weak remnants and nearly fifty thousand women and children. Who could have imagined that yesterday scouts sneaking outside Lishui City brought back Han Qian’s proclamation distributed to surrounding market towns?

Han Qian actually intended to conscript slaves from various families into military service!

After Han Qian led troops to withdraw and defend Maoshan, nearby Lishui City felt as if facing a great enemy. With only five to six hundred county troops, they could only close city gates and wait for Southern Court Imperial Guards to come to their aid. No one was bold enough to go out and gather intelligence.

These young masters in the city lived even more dissolutely in wine and dreams. Only on the third day after the proclamation was distributed from Maoshan did they learn of this matter.

That youth righteously indignant and calling for families to unite and show Chishan Army what they were made of was Shang Xi, a Shang clan member currently serving as a minor official in the city. Looking at the sword hanging at his waist, his thick knuckle bones, thick calluses at his tiger’s mouth, and upright bearing, he appeared to have practiced blade and bow with hard effort.

Yao Xishui stopped eavesdropping on these aristocratic young masters’ discussions in the main hall and quietly slipped back to the lower level cabin. Changing from spacious, magnificent skirts, in the blink of an eye she disguised herself as an ordinary-looking young man.

Yao Xishui carefully concealed a short sword on her person. When about to leave the flower boat, supervisor Xu Jing found her. Seeing her attire, he asked in alarm: “Where are you going?”

Xu Jing was a man in his early forties. If Han Qian or Feng Yi were present, they would recognize him as the extremely inconspicuous doorman at Wanhong House’s main entrance.

“I’m going to Maoshan to see the Marquis. Regardless of what Han Qian wants to do, the Marquis has Li Xiu, Li Qi, and the Prince’s Manor’s four hundred elite cavalry guards under his command. They cannot accomplish nothing…” Yao Xishui said.

The Prince’s Manor cavalry guards were elite forces Li Yu had cultivated over the years. Each one tempered their body and practiced good martial skills. In terms of individual combat effectiveness, they would be no less inferior than the silver halberd guards around Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan. Moreover, Li Xiu and Li Qi’s military tactics were transmitted by Li Yu.

With such an elite combat force nearby, if Li Pu couldn’t use them effectively, how could they escape the negative impact from successive setbacks at Jingshan Hermitage and Danyang City?

Han Qian dared to usurp military authority and act arbitrarily—frankly speaking, it was because Han Qian had established brilliant military achievements, while their side had elite combat power but hadn’t established sufficient achievements to shock hearts. Their voices weren’t loud, and troops wouldn’t listen to their words.

Could conspiracy and trickery alone make troops obey and hearts submit?

Beyond needing to take action to regain initiative, there was another deeper reason Yao Xishui couldn’t yet reveal plainly to Xu Jing—that Li Xiu and Li Qi should serve her elder brother.

“With all four cities tightly closed, sneaking out of the city so late would be too dangerous, wouldn’t it?” Xu Jing said.

“Traveling alone on the road during the day would be even more conspicuous,” Yao Xishui said. Ignoring Xu Jing’s dissuasion, she left the boat alone, walked a circuit along streets inside the city wall, finally finding a place with lax defenses. Her form climbed the city wall like a gecko, sneaking out of the city and concealing herself in the night…

……

……

After Yao Xishui left, the young men were still discussing indignantly on the flower boat about how to respond to Han Qian conscripting slaves into military service. But Shang Xi’s spirits flagged.

Through the Shang family’s connections, Shang Xi held a sinecure in Lishui County to accumulate credentials, but for young, vigorous him, this was torment.

Usually he enjoyed martial combat with blade, bow, and swordplay, loved reading military texts, and enjoyed befriending local heroes, but always suffered from lacking an opportunity to make a striking impression.

At this moment, though he hoarsely called out and surrounding young masters born of aristocratic families all appeared very angry, when it really came to rallying various families’ household troops and retainers to oppose Chishan Army, apart from Liu Zishu—a collateral Shang clan member who was close friends with him—others just shouted loudly while discussing other matters.

“All idiots. If they don’t commit troops and effort now, can they still expect the capital to send forces to protect their slaves and estates from being seized by that Han upstart?” Shang Xi grumbled indignantly to Liu Zishu. “Wealth and honor are taken from danger. Zishu, are you willing to leave the city with me?”

Though Shang Xi was the legitimate nephew of Ministry of Personnel Vice Minister Shang Wensheng, how much of the Shang family business could be divided to him? Not to mention hoping to inherit an official position through connections. If he wanted wealth and honor, he still had to strive for them himself. Liu Zishu, as a collateral Liu family member, was even worse off. Apart from having an old servant arranged by the clan to attend to daily needs in his residence, he didn’t even have a page boy to run errands. But both men equally refused to be mediocre.

In others’ eyes, the current military chaos caused panic and fear, but they felt inexplicably excited.

Immediately, the two men had no more interest remaining on Wanhong House’s flower boat seeking pleasure with those spineless young masters. They left the boat, and with the two page boys attending Shang Xi, found a riverside wine shop. Leaving the page boys outside, they went in to drink and discuss gathering troops.

This riverside wine shop was quite lively after nightfall. The ground floor was noisy and chaotic. Shang Xi and Liu Zishu climbed to the second floor and found a table by the window to sit. Just as they sat down, they heard rustling whispers drift in through the window:

“Chishan Pacification Army issued a proclamation conscripting slaves into military service. I heard that as long as people go, the whole family—old and young—will be freed from slave status. After the war, they’ll be granted grain ration fields. Those who establish military merit will receive even more generous rewards. Huzi, do you want to go to Maoshan to enlist?”

“How could it be that easy? Besides, our masters treat us well and said they’d help me find a wife in a couple years.”

“Even if you marry, she’ll be a slave. Even if you have sons, they’ll be slaves. Are you truly willing for your children and grandchildren, generation after generation, to be Shang family slaves forever?”

“I should at least tell Fifth Young Master, shouldn’t I? Fifth Young Master might agree to let us enlist under false names. In the future, after earning military merit, we can redeem our parents from slavery.”

Anger flashed in Shang Xi’s eyes. He hadn’t expected that his two page boys, instead of properly waiting outside, had circled around to the riverside back street to discuss such treasonous matters, their hearts set on betraying their master to join Chishan Army.

This truly made his heart and lungs tremble with rage.

Shang Xi considered himself to have treated these two page boys with deep affection and kindness. Thinking that even they harbored rebellious thoughts and wanted to join Chishan Army, what would the slaves remaining at the suburban manor estates stir up?

“Go downstairs and leave the city!” Shang Xi dipped his finger in wine and wrote four characters on the table, signaling Liu Zishu not to make noise alerting the two page boys outside the window, and to go downstairs with him first.

Shang Xi and Liu Zishu went downstairs and walked out of the wine shop onto the stone street, loudly calling those page boys over and asking them displeasedly where they’d wandered off mixing about.

The page boys were two sturdy youths around twenty years old, one called Shang Zhong and one called Shang Hu. Several generations had been slaves in the Shang family. These two grew extremely robust and had learned some fighting. Shang Xi liked showing off, so he’d requested them.

The two page boys had no idea their words had already been heard by Shang Xi and Liu Zishu. That youth called Shang Hu wanted to say something but was restrained by Shang Zhong tugging his sleeve. Shang Xi impatiently urged them to return to the residence to lead horses over, wanting to leave the city by night to return to the family fortress.

After Shang Zhong and Shang Hu brought the horses, Shang Xi and Liu Zishu walked to the east city gate. After greeting the junior officer on duty, taking advantage of the bright stars and moon, they secretly slipped out of the city.

Not far outside the city gate, Shang Xi claimed urgent need to urinate. He and Liu Zishu dismounted and walked to the roadside, unbuttoning to take a piss, then told Shang Zhong and Shang Hu: “You two also go to the roadside to relieve yourselves. It’ll take over an hour to reach the family fortress, and no one along the way will have patience to wait for you.”

Shang Zhong and Shang Hu, unsuspecting treachery, handed the reins to Liu Zishu and walked to the roadside, lifting their robes and untying the grass rope belts of their pants.

Shang Hu’s heart was still thinking about telling Fifth Young Master about enlisting. He looked back over his shoulder and saw that Shang Xi and Liu Zishu had already quietly drawn their blades.

His mind was also quick. In that instant he realized what was happening, but in that moment he froze in shock. Not until Liu Zishu thrust his blade at him did he instinctively reach out to grasp the blade’s spine—moving so fast it was startling, with tremendous strength—catching it so the blade tip only pierced half an inch into his left armpit before it couldn’t advance further. He begged Shang Xi for mercy: “Fifth Young Master, we wanted to enlist to earn military merit and redeem ourselves. We absolutely had no intention of betraying Fifth Young Master!”

On Shang Xi’s side, he had already stabbed his blade into Shang Zhong’s back. But Shang Xi used too much force, running Shang Zhong completely through. When he tried to pull the blade out, it was difficult.

Shang Hu didn’t dare waste time wrestling the blade from Liu Zishu. He suddenly released his grip, letting Liu Zishu fall flat on his back. He scrambled and rolled, jumped over the roadside ditch, pulled up his pants, and fled into the wheat fields beside the main road.

Shang Xi picked up the blade Liu Zishu had dropped on the ground and jumped down into the ditch to chase Shang Hu, but didn’t guard against stepping on a broken brick. His foot twisted and he nearly toppled over.

“On this dark and windy night, letting one slave dog escape won’t matter. We should hurry to Shang Family Fortress first to discuss important matters with your second brother,” Liu Zishu said. He pulled the blade from Shang Zhong’s body, knowing Shang Hu had tremendous strength. Worried they might have an accident chasing him out, he urged Shang Xi to go with him to the family fortress first.

“Bah!” Shang Xi spat viciously, then limped back to the official road. Seeing Shang Zhong still twitching slightly, not completely dead, he grabbed his hair topknot and drew the blade across his neck. A line of blood spurted out. “Slave dog, don’t even think whose grain you’ve eaten all these years to grow such good meat, yet you dare grow rebellious thoughts in your back-brain. Bah, raising dogs would be better than raising you base slaves!”

The two men tossed the corpse in the wilderness and, taking advantage of the bright stars and moon, rode toward Shang Family Fortress…

After a long time passed, Shang Hu groped his way in the dark to the roadside. Seeing Shang Zhong’s corpse lying by the road, bewildered why Fifth Young Master Shang Xi had suddenly become so vicious and murderous toward them, his heart felt empty. He sat on the mud ridge for quite a while before thinking of his and Shang Zhong’s family members remaining at Shang Family Fortress. He groped along in the dark following the official road toward Shang Family Fortress.

Shang Family Fortress was located at the northwestern foothills of Donglu Mountain. Going southeast from Lishui City required walking nearly thirty li.

As dawn gradually broke and the rising sun just showed half its face above the distant forest treetops on the horizon, the fleet-footed Shang Hu reached Shang Family Fortress.

He hid in wheat field furrows, both frightened and worried, hesitating for quite a while. In his heart he thought that though family head Shang Wensheng and young master Shang Geng served as officials at court, Second Young Master Shang Zhongjie, who managed affairs remaining at Shang Family Fortress, was learned and reasonable. He would surely uphold justice for Shang Zhong who died without cause and prevent Fifth Young Master from losing his mind and harming him.

Just as Shang Hu was about to emerge from the wheat field where he’d hidden, he saw several figures appear at the tall, sturdy fortress rampart crenellations, successively hanging out three bloody corpses. One person was precisely his nearly fifty-year-old father Shang Biao. Looking at his torn clothing exposing terrifying bloody welts, he appeared to have been whipped to death alive.

“This is the fate of those slaves who wanted to flee to Maoshan to enlist!”

At this moment someone walked past along the field ridge beside the wheat field, pointing at the fortress wall.

“Shang Biao was such an honest person. Having served Second Young Master since childhood without a single mistake, already so old—would he flee too?”

“Shang Biao is honest, but his son isn’t content. Didn’t they both receive thirty iron lashes and couldn’t endure it?”

Shang Hu clenched his fists, nails digging deep into his flesh. He understood what all this was about!

……

……

Yao Xishui had infiltrated Little Mao Peak before dawn, bypassing open and hidden sentries to find Marquis Xinchang Li Pu directly.

These past two days, Li Pu had been sulking because Zhang Ping wore the same pants as Han Qian, unwilling to openly take a clear stand with him in opposing Han Qian’s conscription of slaves into military service.

After Chuzhou Army divided forces to garrison Jintan and Liyang cities, they mainly limited Chishan Army’s activities emerging from Maoshan toward the eastern flank, showing absolutely no trace of wanting to attack Maoshan.

Li Pu, Li Xiu, and Li Qi leading four hundred elite cavalry guards defending Little Mao Peak had nothing to do and could accomplish little.

He had repeatedly sought out Han Qian, forcefully presenting pros and cons, but Han Qian ignored him. He only continuously sent scout cavalry to more distant market towns west of Maoshan distributing proclamations, announcing Chishan Army’s existence and calling on slaves to come with their families and pledge allegiance.

“Han Qian has created an atmosphere where everyone is nervous and endangered. The aristocratic families of Lishui and Pingling are all recruiting soldiers and defending fortress fortifications. He’s now made enemies with aristocratic families. Not only can he no longer requisition half a bit of grain, he might even stimulate aristocratic families to rally forces to come coordinate with Anning Palace troops in suppression,” Li Pu said with disappointment at failed expectations. “Ultimately we’ll certainly be dragged down by him.”

“Previously Han Qian dared usurp military authority from the Marquis, forcing Yueyang to tacitly accept this matter. I think even if the Marquis sends someone to Yueyang to complain, given Han Qian’s domineering nature, temporarily it certainly won’t change anything,” Yao Xishui said. “So in my view, better to go with the flow.”

“Go with the flow—how would that work?” Li Pu asked, slightly startled.

“Han Qian insists on conscripting slaves into military service. The Marquis has earnestly advised many times without effect. So the Marquis, considering the larger picture, is forced to cooperate with Han Qian in this matter. Even if troubles arise in the future, they shouldn’t be blamed on the Marquis, should they?” Yao Xishui said.

“…” Li Pu frowned with lowered head, pondering the meaning in Yao Xishui’s words.

“We should precisely act as Miss Yao suggests. Doesn’t Han Qian insist on conscripting slaves into military service? We’ve earnestly advised without success. Then obeying his orders is also compelled, serving the larger picture. However, if we step forward to conscript a portion of slaves, we can keep the able-bodied at Little Mao Peak to increase military strength, while throwing their family members—women and children—to Han Qian to settle. Always better than us defending Little Mao Peak doing nothing!” Li Xiu said. His father had told him about Divine Mausoleum Bureau’s old affairs. He hadn’t expected that Yao Xishui, a mere woman, would also have good insight. He immediately echoed these words.

Coming out this time, regardless of whether deep down he was optimistic about Han Qian defending Maoshan, Li Xiu wanted to accomplish something rather than, like his Second Uncle, defending Little Mao Peak doing nothing, only knowing how to complain.

Li Xiu naturally also didn’t agree with Han Qian making enemies with aristocratic families. But the problem was they currently couldn’t make Han Qian change his mind and didn’t want to directly lead troops to withdraw. So their best response method wasn’t precisely to go with the flow and also recruit a batch of able-bodied slaves to expand military strength? Even if defending Maoshan became difficult in the future, they could bring more troops out in retreat.

Now they had four hundred cavalry guards—though all elite chosen from hundreds, the numbers were too few and couldn’t withstand losses. Never mind storming cities and fortifications or charging into battle, even raiding enemy troops made them tremble with fear.

If they could gather three to four thousand able-bodied slaves to organize into battalions and seize Lishui City where Wanhong House had long laid groundwork to defend, it would be much more advantageous than now.