Li Chi looked at young lord Cao Lie’s expression of astonishment and smiled. “It’s precisely because I knew it would come to this—that I came.”

“From the very beginning,” Cao Lie said, “your intention in coming to Anyang was to serve as a hostage?”

Li Chi nodded. “No other choice.”

“Nothing has happened yet,” Cao Lie said. “Why assume there’s no other choice? That seems rather hasty.”

Li Chi smiled—as if the question of his own future held no anxiety for him whatsoever. Or perhaps because he had already staked everything on this.

He walked to the lotus pond in the courtyard and looked at the fish swimming about in their apparent freedom.

He bent down, picked up a small pebble, and tossed it in. The fish scattered instantly in fright.

Everyone looked at him, waiting for his answer.

The pond’s edge was lined with a low brick border. He sat down on it and watched the scattered fish slowly drift back together.

He sighed softly. “People and fish are not the same. A fish is frightened for a moment and then forgets. A person is frightened once and forgets for a very long time.”

After that, he turned to Meng Kedi. “Not long ago, wasn’t there a flood of officials and nobles from Jizhou making their way to Anyang to seek shelter?”

Meng Kedi’s brow furrowed slightly—he hadn’t expected this question. He considered for a moment and then nodded. “There was.”

“Luo Jing is marching against Yanzhou,” Li Chi said. “He has already sent out his troops. He has great ambitions, but three critical weaknesses—leaving his campaign riddled with vulnerabilities.”

Meng Kedi asked: “Name them.”

“First: he has not even fifty thousand troops, yet he seeks to mount a distant campaign against Yanzhou. He has taken Jizhou’s supplies with him but has no reinforcements and no resupply lines at the rear.”

“Second: the region around Yanzhou has a cold climate. The viable window for warfare is less than half the year. If he cannot take Yanzhou within half a year, defeat is certain.”

“Third: he has no capable officers. He needs to fight Yanzhou while having no soldiers to spare for holding Jizhou, and so he has been forced to rely on a gang of Yanshan bandits.”

Meng Kedi nodded. “Correct.”

“Now—those Yanshan bandits,” Li Chi continued, “are led by shortsighted men who see only the immediate gain. In their rush to seize wealth and supplies, they have stripped every wealthy household, every official and noble family in Jizhou bare.”

He turned to Meng Kedi. “When those people fled to Anyang seeking your protection—even without knowing anything of military strategy, I understand that you would have learned everything there is to know about Jizhou’s disposition.”

Meng Kedi nodded again. “Correct.”

“Where was I?” Li Chi said, and answered himself:

“People are not like fish. Fish are frightened for a moment and forget quickly.”

“But people are different. Jizhou has been at war year after year. The suffering has been relentless. What my Shen Medical Halls have endured to survive through this chaos—only I know.”

He let out a slow breath. “I am afraid.”

Cao Lie’s expression shifted.

Li Chi sat there in silence for a moment, then continued: “Jizhou will see more war. Whether I came here or not, General Meng will almost certainly attack Jizhou. Unless something goes wrong.”

He looked at Meng Kedi. “Would you say I’m right, General?”

Meng Kedi nodded for the third time. “Correct.”

“Though the Yanshan bandits are shortsighted,” Li Chi said, “Jizhou’s city defenses are solid. The general cannot afford a prolonged campaign. I estimate your army would campaign for six months at most before having to withdraw, even if Luo Jing has not yet returned, whether in victory or defeat.”

Meng Kedi gave a cold snort. “The world speaks of Luo Jing as the supreme warrior of the northern frontier—but in my eyes, he is no more than a brash young fool. Are you suggesting I fear Luo Jing, and that’s why I must withdraw in six months?”

Li Chi shook his head. “The general naturally fears no one—not even Luo Jing. Whether Luo Jing is truly undefeatable in the north matters little. What matters is that when he returns from Yanzhou, his troops will have traveled vast distances and will be weary from the road. They will be in no condition to face the general.”

“Then why do you say I must withdraw within six months?”

“Because of the Qingzhou rebel forces,” Li Chi said. “If the general campaigns too long without returning, they will come to harass your flanks.”

He continued looking at Meng Kedi. “Luo Jing is no threat. But if the Qingzhou army circles to cut off the general’s retreat, this campaign’s outcome remains entirely uncertain.”

Meng Kedi’s brow furrowed again.

This Li Duidui was a merchant, yet he saw the strategic situation with absolute clarity. What he had described was precisely what Meng Kedi feared.

He truly did have only six months.

March out—one month to reach Jizhou, just as the summer grain approached harvest, no need to worry about provisions.

The viable window for attacking Jizhou was three months. If three months brought no result, he must begin withdrawing quickly.

Six months at the outside—not a moment more, not a moment less. Li Chi was entirely right.

“If the general wins and takes Jizhou, would you hold it?” Li Chi asked.

Meng Kedi said nothing.

Li Chi shook his head. “Your forces simply cannot be divided to garrison Jizhou. This campaign is purely for plunder.”

Meng Kedi still said nothing.

“If the general comes only to plunder,” Li Chi pressed on, “the two targets are: summer grain, and wealth. But all the wealth of the officials and nobles has already been taken by the Yanshan bandits. Who would you then turn to?”

He raised a hand and pointed to his own nose. “Me. Me and merchants like me.”

Meng Kedi still did not speak.

Li Chi stood and walked to Cao Lie. “That is why I came. Why I came even though I had no need to.”

Cao Lie understood now.

He looked at Li Chi and said: “What you said earlier was still fairly tactful. Let me put it plainly.”

He glanced at Meng Kedi. Meng Kedi was looking back at him, his expression seemingly hoping Cao Lie would say nothing further.

But Cao Lie didn’t fear Meng Kedi. That was simply the kind of man he was—what was there to fear?

He had said to Meng Kedi before: *matters of the battlefield, I don’t interfere with and don’t understand—that’s for you to manage. Though it’s not impossible that I might accidentally play this Li fellow to death.*

Now the situation was precisely the reverse: he hadn’t played Li Chi to death. He was speaking up for him.

Cao Lie’s tone took on weight: “Whether General Meng’s forces take Jizhou in a great victory or fail to breach it—wherever they pass, they will strip it clean. Even if the Shen Medical Halls in Jizhou City are spared, those in the other towns and cities across the region cannot be protected.”

“That’s correct,” Li Chi said with a nod.

“So that’s why you came,” Cao Lie said. “Deliberately picking a quarrel with Xingsheng Trading in Jizhou, deliberately making yourself a thorn in their side—all of that was your plan.”

“Yes,” Li Chi confirmed.

“You needed a way to approach General Meng directly,” Cao Lie said. “Even if Meng Kedi never came looking for you, you would have found a way to reach him.”

Li Chi nodded again. “Yes.”

Cao Lie exhaled long and slow. “Your purpose in coming to Anyang is to offer yourself as a hostage in exchange for the safety of everyone in the Shen Medical Halls.”

“Men like the young lord can choose to play or not to play,” Li Chi said. “Men like me have no choice.”

“But General Meng might not keep his word,” Cao Lie said. “He could hold you here, coerce your Shen Medical Hall staff into helping him take Jizhou from within, and still strip them bare when all is done.”

This made Meng Kedi’s expression go ice cold.

“I said so already,” Li Chi replied. “No choice.”

“You truly have no choice,” Cao Lie said. “You’ve wagered your own life on a gamble—and this time, you can’t play it the way you played those three drummers. You’re the drummer now.”

“I gave them their silver back,” Li Chi said.

Cao Lie, at this, turned to look at Meng Kedi. Meng Kedi was already looking back at him, and his expression was clear: *please don’t say another word.*

Yet Cao Lie did not fear Meng Kedi. He never feared anything.

He had told Meng Kedi before: the business of battlefields—I neither understand nor interfere. It’s yours to handle. *Though I might not be incapable of accidentally getting that fellow Li killed.*

Now, it was the complete opposite—he hadn’t killed Li Chi. He was speaking on Li Chi’s behalf.

Meng Kedi stared back at him for a long moment, and finally could pretend no further.

He smiled and said: “Li Chi need not worry. I will say it plainly today: so long as the Shen Medical Halls throughout Jizhou cooperate with my Anyang army, whether or not Jizhou falls, I will guarantee the safety of the Shen Medical Halls.”

Those words were like Li Chi returning the silver to the drummers. The same in nature.

Li Chi bowed deeply. “Many thanks to the general for his grace.”

Cao Lie glanced at Li Chi and then said: “The compound where your people are staying belongs to the Cao family. Since you’re remaining in Anyang, you may as well live there. Few would dare trouble anyone in a Cao family property.”

Li Chi bowed to him as well. “Many thanks to the young lord.”

Cao Lie walked over to Meng Kedi and said, with real earnestness: “Can his family members leave Anyang?”

Meng Kedi was a general—he still had to answer for his campaign.

He shook his head. “Better they remain for now.”

“When can they go?” Cao Lie asked.

“Once I have led the army back from Jizhou, and the Shen Medical Halls have cooperated fully,” Meng Kedi said, “I will release Li Chi and his family.”

Li Chi said: “My wife came with me—that is both my resolve and my show of commitment. We will both remain in Anyang. But I need to send a few people back to arrange for the various Shen Medical Halls to cooperate with the general.”

Meng Kedi thought for a moment. He nodded. “Agreed.”

Li Chi smiled with what seemed like genuine relief.

Cao Lie looked at Li Chi and said: “While you are in Anyang, establish your Shen Medical Hall’s Anyang branch. I guarantee no one will bother a newcomer. The first transaction—Xingsheng Trading will do business with you.”

A flicker of guilt rose in Li Chi’s chest toward Cao Lie.

This young lord—he was a man of genuine feeling.

Li Chi was a trickster. Cao Lie was not.

Ding Shenjia, standing nearby, smiled. “Since everything has been laid out so plainly—and looking at the time, it is nearly noon again—why not find a place to sit down and continue over a meal?”

“I am quite hungry, as a matter of fact,” Li Chi said.

Ding Shenjia thought: *that many buns this morning, and they’re all gone already?*

“We’ll eat here at the manor,” Meng Kedi said with a smile. “My cook may not be at the level the young lord is accustomed to, but he should do reasonably well.”

“Then here it is,” Cao Lie agreed.

After the midday meal, with all matters more or less settled, Li Chi was escorted back to the large courtyard. At the gate, he turned and gave Cao Lie another deep bow.

This time it was from the heart.

Cao Lie was unbothered—he waved a hand and turned to leave.

Li Chi entered the courtyard. His entire group surged forward to meet him.

Li Chi signaled toward the building, and everyone followed him back to the main hall, with people posted to keep watch before they dared speak freely.

He recounted what had happened. As she sat listening to Li Chi describe his plan, Shen Rujian’s eyes gradually widened.

She had not expected his plan to involve staying in Anyang.

And since Li Chi was staying—as his wife in name—she would have to stay as well.

The look she gave Li Chi grew complicated.

“There’s no need to worry,” Li Chi said apologetically. “I’ll make arrangements for those who need to return.”

Shen Rujian instead furrowed her brow and asked with serious intent: “Why have you come back in a different set of clothes?”

Li Chi went still.

“Were you really locked up last night,” Shen Rujian said, “or did you sneak off with those men to some pleasure house?”

Now it was Li Chi’s eyes that went wide.

Of everyone present, only Shen Rujian had noticed he’d changed his clothes.