The origin of Shelu City’s name stretched back several hundred years.

After Dachu was founded, the founding emperor personally toured the northern frontier. Before returning to the capital, he received word that the Bohai Kingdom had raided the border, and so the Dachu emperor decided to lead the campaign himself.

The great army reached the borders of Yanzhou, where the Dachu forces engaged the Bohai Kingdom’s army in battle. Unsurprisingly, the Dachu forces won a decisive victory.

His Imperial Majesty the Dachu Emperor loosed an arrow that struck the Bohai King’s mount — a massive mountain deer. The Bohai King was thrown to the ground and had his leg crushed beneath the beast. Though he did not lose his life, he was left crippled from that day forward.

From that point on, the Bohai Kingdom dared not provoke Dachu for a full hundred years.

Several hundred years later, the very place where the Dachu emperor had displayed such divine might had fallen into the hands of the White Mountain Army as their den of bandits.

If the Dachu emperor could know this from beyond the grave, one could only wonder what he would think.

Shelu City was nothing particularly prosperous, but it was already the finest place along Dachu’s northeastern frontier. Yanzhou here was much like Jizhou — a land of constant, unending warfare year after year. Though it was nowhere near as large as Jizhou City, in terms of commerce, you could find almost anything you might think of here.

What struck even Tang Pidi as remarkable, however, was that in a place like this, the standard of the pleasure quarters was so extraordinarily high it would leave Jizhou’s establishments several streets behind.

From the moment they walked in, Tang Pidi felt that this place had practically been purpose-built for Yu Jiuling.

Due to the city’s geographic position, the pleasure houses here employed a great number of women from the Bohai Kingdom. Beyond those from the Bohai Kingdom, there were also women who had come from a place called the Mulberry Kingdom.

The moment they stepped through the door, they pressed a few taels of silver into the hands of a young attendant, who immediately launched into an enthusiastic introduction.

Which girl was the most beautiful. Which was the most gentle. Which had the finest figure.

The young attendant spoke with animated delight — especially about the women from the Mulberry Kingdom, who were simply not to be missed, he said.

Women aside, Tang Pidi was actually more curious about this Mulberry Kingdom itself.

It was purely out of curiosity about the Mulberry Kingdom that he sought out two of the women from there.

After speaking with them, he learned that the Mulberry Kingdom was separated from the Central Plains by ten thousand li of ocean, and that it had been no easy journey for them to come this far.

The Mulberry Kingdom was currently in a period of war, far more chaotic than the Central Plains.

They told him that the Mulberry Kingdom was now locked in a standoff between three great generals, with countless lesser lords aligned beneath those three.

They said the three great generals were called Dekula-maru, Naluoduo, and Sasi-ge.

His curiosity about the Mulberry Kingdom was genuine, and so Tang Pidi spent a very long time talking with them.

So long, in fact, that by the time he emerged, Borte Tengo had already been waiting in the private room long enough to drink two pots of tea.

When Borte Tengo finally saw Tang Pidi come out, he grinned.

“Brother Tangpi, you… that’s impressive. So, how was it?”

He asked.

Tang Pidi replied: “This is something worth importing.”

Borte Tengo blinked. “What?”

“Mmm… what I mean,” Tang Pidi said, “is that their language could be brought in — as a kind of cipher we might use in the future.”

Borte Tengo’s admiration for his Brother Tangpi truly knew no bounds. Even in a place like this, his Brother Tangpi’s thoughts were on matters of state and military affairs.

Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Borte Tengo felt genuinely humbled by comparison.

He asked Tang Pidi: “So — Brother Tangpi — you were in there that long just learning their language?”

Tang Pidi sighed. “It’s genuinely obscure and difficult. In such a short time I couldn’t really learn it well.”

He looked at Borte Tengo and said: “I communicated with them for quite a while, and from watching their expressions and reactions, I managed to roughly learn one word.”

Borte Tengo asked: “What word?”

Tang Pidi said evenly: “Sugoi.”

—

Half an hour later. A tavern.

This tavern sat directly across from the commander’s mansion in Shelu City, no more than a hundred paces away.

Dining on the second floor, one could clearly see the people coming and going from the commander’s mansion opposite.

Tang Pidi took a sip of wine and drew his gaze back from the window.

He waved at a young attendant, who hurried over immediately.

Tang Pidi produced a piece of broken silver and pressed it into the attendant’s hand. The young man’s eyes lit up at once.

An entire month’s wages wouldn’t earn him as much as this single small fragment of silver.

“Good sir, you’re looking to ask about something, aren’t you?” the attendant said. “Looking at you both, you don’t seem to be local to Shelu City — your accents sound like you’ve come from the Donghe area?”

Tang Pidi gave a faint nod.

“Then I already know where you’re trying to get to,” the attendant said. “Let me recommend you the absolute finest.”

He pointed toward the pleasure house they had just emerged from. “That place right there — the girls are beyond words. Not only do they have Bohai women and Mulberry Kingdom women, there are also some from up north who speak in some babbling tongue nobody can quite make out.”

Borte Tengo put on a displeased expression. “Why do you automatically assume we’re looking for pleasure houses?”

The attendant grinned cheerfully. “No need to be coy, good sirs — nothing shameful about it.”

He lowered his voice. “When you go over there, drop my name — say I sent you. I’ll get a little tip out of it.”

He looked at Borte Tengo and said: “Though, looking at this gentleman over here rubbing his lower back the whole time — must have been quite the hard journey to get here, am I right? That just won’t do. I happen to have Tiger Bone Restorative Pills right here… twenty wen each. Take one and I guarantee you’ll be able to…”

Tang Pidi shook his head. “We’re not going to a pleasure house.”

The attendant looked utterly unconvinced.

Tang Pidi sighed. “We’ve already been.”

The attendant glanced at Borte Tengo’s condition again, and believed him.

He smiled. “Then what else can I help the gentleman find out?”

“That place across the street,” Tang Pidi said, “with people constantly coming and going and soldiers standing guard — is that the commander’s mansion?”

“That’s right, it’s the White Mountain Army’s commander’s mansion. The one living there is Di Chun, the head chief.”

“Are you here to find a connection?” the attendant asked.

Tang Pidi smiled slightly. “We are indeed. Looking to arrange an introduction and find a position with the White Mountain Army.”

“Then you’ve found exactly the right person,” the attendant said. “I know everyone inside that commander’s mansion — people come to eat here every single day.”

He lowered his voice again. “And you two are in luck, good sirs. There are some people from the commander’s mansion in one of the private rooms downstairs right now.”

He gave a meaningful glance toward the lower floor.

Tang Pidi immediately understood, and produced another piece of broken silver for the attendant.

The attendant was delighted. He told Tang Pidi: “In a moment I’ll introduce you. If you have some silver on you, give them a little offering, if you understand my meaning. Without an offering, there’s no way you’re getting inside the commander’s mansion.”

“Understood!”

“This works out and I’ll come back to thank you properly,” Tang Pidi said.

“Then it’s settled. When they come up, you two just say you’re my cousins.”

Before long, the attendant returned with a cheerful smile. “The gentlemen from the commander’s mansion invite you both downstairs for a chat.”

Another half hour passed. Two jars of wine went down, along with a generous sum of silver pressed into the right hands.

The several guards were already calling them brothers and pledging lifelong friendship.

It was all arranged: the next day they would come to the commander’s mansion, the guards would introduce them to the steward, a further offering to the steward would be made, and getting a position inside would be no problem at all.

Tang Pidi and Borte Tengo exchanged a glance, both their eyes carrying an expression of mild disbelief.

As if to say — really, this easily?

After the two of them left, they found an inn to stay at.

“Tomorrow I’ll go to the commander’s mansion alone,” Tang Pidi said. “You leave the city at first light.”

Borte Tengo shook his head immediately. “That won’t do. It’s too dangerous for you to go alone.”

“If there’s an opportunity to kill Di Chun,” Tang Pidi said, “the White Mountain Army will surely fall into internal chaos fighting over the position of head chief.”

“With the White Mountain Army in chaos, the Bohai Kingdom will see their opportunity and may very well send troops to invade Yanzhou.”

“So Di Chun can die, but Shelu City cannot fall.”

“I told you before we came,” Tang Pidi said, “that among the many rebel armies in Yanzhou, only Shen Dongxia’s troops are worth using.”

“Leave the city at first light tomorrow and ride two hundred li to Tiger Head Mountain to find Shen Dongxia. Don’t bring any troops with you.”

Borte Tengo didn’t understand. “Shen Dongxia is Di Chun’s brother-in-law and the third chief of the White Mountain Army — and you want me to find him?”

“Go directly,” Tang Pidi said. “Pose as someone rushing from Shelu City to deliver urgent news. Tell Shen Dongxia that Di Chun is dead.”

Borte Tengo still didn’t understand.

Tang Pidi explained patiently: “We’ve already thoroughly investigated the entire White Mountain Army. Shen Dongxia alone harbors a bone-deep hatred for the Bohai people — that’s precisely why he refused to remain in Shelu City and instead took his troops to camp at Tiger Head Mountain.”

“He is the White Mountain Army’s third chief and Di Chun’s brother-in-law. After Di Chun is killed, with Shen Dongxia taking control of the White Mountain Army, there is no way the Bohai people will be able to fight their way in.”

“I always assumed,” Borte Tengo said, “that we were here to destroy the White Mountain Army.”

“The White Mountain Army has over a hundred thousand men,” Tang Pidi said. “Killing all of them would be rather tiring.”

He smiled slightly. “Set out at first light tomorrow. The roads are rough — getting to Tiger Head Mountain will take at least three days, and three more to return. That gives me six days to kill Di Chun.”

Borte Tengo shook his head. “Too dangerous.”

“And I also told you something else,” Tang Pidi said.

“What I intend to do — even though it isn’t done yet — is already done.”

—

The next morning, Tang Pidi tidied himself up, deliberately changing into fresh clothes and trimming his stubble as well.

He went alone to the commander’s mansion and asked to see the men they had drunk with the evening before.

Those men had truly not forgotten their word, and they brought him inside the commander’s mansion and went to find the steward on his behalf.

Whatever Tang Pidi meant to do, he had always prepared meticulously beforehand.

So the steward of this commander’s mansion he had also looked into — a man called Shan Hu. Though he was merely the steward of Di Chun’s household, he wielded considerable power.

This Shan Hu was also quite mysterious. A steward who kept out of public view — nobody in all of Shelu City could describe what the man actually looked like.

Tang Pidi asked the guards who had brought him in about the steward, but the men refused to say anything about Shan Hu.

They were clearly terrified of him, and only told Tang Pidi that the steward forbade them from speaking carelessly about him outside.

In the past, someone who had spoken out of turn had their tongue pulled out. The obedient ones had their ears cut off instead.

There were moments, however, that even Tang Pidi could never have anticipated.

The first unanticipated thing: Shan Hu had no intention of seeing him at all. The guards brought him to the entrance of the steward’s quarters and told him to wait.

The guards stood at the door and carefully conveyed the matter. A single word drifted out from the room inside.

Get lost.

This was the second thing Tang Pidi never could have anticipated: Shan Hu was a woman.

The guards didn’t even dare continue speaking. They grabbed Tang Pidi and dragged him out.

Tang Pidi sighed inwardly, thinking that the infiltration plan had likely failed and he would have to find another way to kill Di Chun.

Just as he was thinking this through, a group of people entered the courtyard from outside — a cluster of young women wearing military uniforms, chattering and laughing amongst themselves.

“Oh!”

One of the women clearly startled when she caught sight of Tang Pidi’s appearance. She immediately tugged at the sleeve of the woman beside her. “That one there.”

The others looked over. Then they all pressed their lips together and smiled.

Tang Pidi remained unmoved. This sort of thing was hardly anything remarkable.

Happened all the time.

But then the third unanticipated thing arrived.

Not long after the women had gone inside, one of them came back out and called toward Tang Pidi.

“You there — come back.”

Tang Pidi thought to himself: one task, three surprises. That was a situation he had never encountered before.

And so he was kept.

The reason was… his looks.

The formidable Tang Pidi had been retained on the strength of his face alone.

—