The Cao Family Estate.

Cao Lie stood in the center of the estate’s grand main hall, gazing at the memorial tablets of the Cao family ancestors enshrined against the north wall. He had been silent for a long time.

“Lie’er.”

The Princess Consort came in through the outer door, stepping with unhurried grace, and called his name softly.

The Princess Consort’s presence in the Cao family was, in a sense, a challenge to the supposedly unbreakable clan rules — yet no one in the Cao family regarded it as such. Or perhaps they did notice, and chose to look the other way.

To give one example: the ancestral shrine, where the memorial tablets were kept, was by clan rule forbidden to women. The rule was strict — any woman found entering the shrine was subject to severe punishment.

Yet she was the Princess Consort. She was Prince Wu’s wife. And so the rule carried no weight where she was concerned.

Rules, in many circumstances, were simply a joke in the face of rank and status.

“Aunt.”

Cao Lie quickly bowed in greeting.

“Tang Pidi wants to send you to Jizhou. Most likely he intends to keep you there as a guarantee that the Cao family won’t act against him.”

The Princess Consort looked at Cao Lie with something like sorrow — this young man whom the entire Cao household treated as a cherished heir and pride of the family.

“If you don’t want to go,” she said, “it’s fine to make an open break with Tang Pidi. However domineering he is, he wouldn’t truly dare do anything drastic to the Cao family.”

Cao Lie said, “Aunt, you’re right that he wouldn’t dare — but it’s not that he lacks the nerve. It’s that he doesn’t see the need.”

He paused, then continued, “He is someone who can bring himself to act. He and Li Chi are different that way.”

The Princess Consort asked, “How so?”

Cao Lie said, “Has Aunt ever considered — this southern campaign is the first step Li Chi has taken toward claiming dominion over the realm. The Ning Army is committed almost entirely to this campaign. Given what’s at stake, why would Li Chi not lead the campaign himself?”

The Princess Consort asked, “Why?”

Cao Lie said, “Because as a prince, there are too many considerations he must hold in mind.”

He glanced back at the ancestral tablets, something almost reluctant in his expression.

Turning back, he went on: “If he had come to Yuzhou himself and I had gone to him directly, there would be many things he couldn’t refuse outright. But with only Tang Pidi here, Tang Pidi has no such constraint when it comes to refusing me.”

“Whatever Tang Pidi does is therefore no concern of Li Chi’s. Whatever blame follows — whatever fierce reputation, whatever curses — all of it belongs to Tang Pidi.”

“I’m still not entirely convinced that this Li Chi truly came from poverty, truly grew up as a wanderer.”

Cao Lie said, “These methods and calculations — even someone like me needs considerable time to understand them — and yet he deploys them as casually as breathing.”

“Take this business of forcing me to Jizhou. Though it was Tang Pidi’s doing, it must have originated from Li Chi’s intent.”

“If Li Chi had been here in Yuzhou City and I had gone to him, if he had refused everything, taken every hard line — that would have been entirely counterproductive for stabilizing Yuzhou.”

“But instead he turns around and sends me to Jizhou. When I see him there and bring all of this up, he’ll offer kind words, offer reassurance, maybe complain about Tang Pidi alongside me for a bit — at that point, how could I still deny him face?”

The Princess Consort heard all of this, and something uncertain crossed her expression.

“Lie’er,” she said, “are you sure Li Chi actually thought of all this? Or is this you working it out yourself?”

She shook her head. “I still find it hard to believe that someone of that background could possess this kind of mind.”

Cao Lie looked at his aunt. “Aunt, precisely because so many people think this way — they’ve all lost to Li Chi.”

He said steadily, “Compared to Yuzhou, Jizhou may be somewhat diminished and worn down — but it is still vast and rich. How many heroes competed for it? Who else once held sway in Jizhou?”

Cao Lie listed them one by one: “Prince Yu was there. Military Commissioner Zeng Ling was there. Luo Geng, Luo Jing, and others too numerous to name. Setting all of them aside, how many great and established clans once called Jizhou home? And why did it fall to Li Chi?”

He said to the Princess Consort, “That is why I must still make this trip to Jizhou.”

The Princess Consort sighed softly. “But Aunt worries about you.”

“It will be fine. Li Chi and Tang Pidi share one virtue — when they give their word, they keep it.”

Cao Lie said, “Tang Pidi will dispatch ten thousand elite cavalry to escort Aunt back to Jingzhou. Aunt truly has nothing to fear.”

The Princess Consort said, “I’ve never once worried about myself.”

Cao Lie said, “Think about it, Aunt — Li Chi is summoning me to Jizhou precisely because he still doesn’t dare move against me.”

He paused before adding, “There’s another reason as well. By sending Aunt away and sending me away, Tang Pidi’s intent is also to pressure my father into returning to Yuzhou.”

“After all, with a family enterprise this vast, if there’s no one to manage it, the losses would be enormous. They assume Father will certainly come back.”

The Princess Consort let out a soft sound of derision. “Anyone who underestimates your father is the one who will truly come to regret it.”

Cao Lie laughed openly. “Aunt, you’re exactly right. Yuzhou may be handed over to Tang Pidi — but holding it securely won’t be so easy for him.”

He turned again to face the ancestral tablets.

“Sometimes,” he said, “the battlefield with no swords and no arrows can decide victory and defeat just the same.”

—

Several days later.

The Princess Consort was escorted by Dantai Qi himself, leading a great army, on her way to Jingzhou. Tang Pidi’s arrangements, of course, were never made with a single purpose in mind.

Wherever a great army passed, if it wished to enter a city — and the Princess Consort was in the procession — how could the cities along the route dare to refuse opening their gates?

Unless the Princess Consort was adamantly determined not to enter any city along the way. But otherwise, as the army passed through, how many cities might the Ning Army take without shedding a single drop of blood?

Whatever Tang Pidi planned, there was never only one objective.

On the same day the Princess Consort departed Yuzhou, another party set out, escorting Young Marquess Cao Lie northward toward Jizhou.

—

Youzhou.

Inside a teahouse, Li Chi and Yu Jiuling sat listening to music — though neither of them had come for the music.

In the most prosperous part of Youzhou, Li Chi gazed around at the people going about their lives, seemingly unaffected by the upheavals around them, their days continuing as usual. A weight lifted from his chest.

Driving so many people out of Youzhou had inevitably stirred considerable uproar — yet by using the recruitment of talent as his instrument, Li Chi had brought the most vocal critics around.

Just then, Yu Jiuling’s gaze had been fixed steadily on the doorway.

Li Chi grew curious. Following the line of Yu Jiuling’s gaze toward the entrance, he saw a group of young women standing out in the street, looking around in apparent bewilderment.

There were perhaps seven or eight of them. The one at the front appeared to be in her mid-twenties, windswept and dusty from travel, but with an undeniable air of bearing about her.

Li Chi raised his folded fan and rapped Yu Jiuling smartly on the head. “I’m going to report this to the Princess.”

Yu Jiuling said, “My lord, I just believe one shouldn’t be cold-hearted.”

Li Chi smiled. “What sort of twisted reasoning are you about to offer?”

Yu Jiuling said, “Look at those young ladies — they’ve clearly just arrived in Youzhou, unfamiliar with the place. They probably don’t even know where to find an inn. I should go help them.”

Li Chi narrowed his eyes slightly.

Before he could say anything else, Yu Jiuling had already sprinted out through the door.

At the entrance, Yu Jiuling coughed twice, then composed himself into what he considered an air of dignity, and stepped outside at a measured, unhurried pace.

“Ladies,” he said, “you look as though you’re trying to find somewhere. Is there anything I can help with?”

Yu Jiuling put on what he believed to be his most warm and approachable smile. He deliberately held off looking at the women at first, delivering his opening line with a casual air — then turned to look at them with a practiced sweep of the head.

The moment he turned, the young woman who appeared to be the leader frowned slightly.

Yu Jiuling continued, “If there’s anything you need help with, feel free to ask me.”

The young woman’s eyes narrowed. Yu Jiuling knew that look well enough.

Those eyes might as well have been grabbing him by the ear and shouting: get away from me, you disgusting old lecher.

Yu Jiuling harrumphed to himself and turned to walk away.

The young woman was actually taken aback. She thought: did this man just see through my unspoken insult?

“Excuse me… sir.”

She called after Yu Jiuling. “We really are new to Youzhou, and we don’t know where to find a place we’re looking for. We were hoping to ask someone for directions.”

Yu Jiuling turned back. “Where are you trying to go?”

The young woman asked, “Can you tell us how to get to the Youzhou General’s Residence? Is the Youzhou General Xiahou Zuo?”

Yu Jiuling nodded. “That’s General Xiahou’s residence. Walk in that direction.”

He pointed the way. “It’s about a quarter-hour’s walk — you should see it easily. Though I’m curious why you ladies wish to go there…”

He hadn’t even finished the sentence before they had already turned and were walking briskly in the direction he’d pointed.

Yu Jiuling turned around and walked back inside. The moment he entered the teahouse, he saw Li Chi already rising with an amused smile. The two of them looked at each other, and both smiled at the same moment.

Yu Jiuling said, “Those women don’t look like decent people.”

Li Chi said, “They probably feel the same about you.”

Yu Jiuling said, “They think I don’t look decent?”

Li Chi said, “No — they think you look like a woman.”

Yu Jiuling: “…”

The two of them headed off in another direction, moving quickly.

About an hour later, not far from the General’s Residence, the group of young women came to a halt.

One of them said, “Miss, we barely arrived in Youzhou and already ran into a rotten person. What kind of garbage was that creep — deliberately giving us the wrong directions.”

Another said, “Right, the General’s Residence is obviously over here. He pointed us completely the wrong way. Made us walk for over half an hour extra.”

The one at the front was the female general of the Yanzhou White Mountain Army — Shen Shanhu.

She clenched her teeth and muttered, “If I ever see that man again, I’ll tear his mouth off his face.”

Just then, they spotted the very same man who had misdirected them — walking out of the General’s Residence.

And the moment he stepped out through the door, the guards stationed outside immediately bowed at the waist. “General!”

The man waved a dismissive hand. “Carry on with your watch. I’m stepping out for a bit.”

Every single one of the young women was stunned.

“That man is actually Xiahou Zuo?”

“Can’t be. Xiahou Zuo doesn’t look like this. Maybe he got disfigured somehow?”

Shen Shanhu said, “Either this man deceived us, or the person back in Yanzhou deceived us.”

One of the girls said, “It definitely wasn’t the one back in Yanzhou. It must be this one.”

“Why?”

“Because that one was handsome. This one is ugly.”

“You make a fair point.”

“Miss, what do we do?”

Shen Shanhu made a sound of contempt. “What do we do? Everyone who deceived us answers for it.”

They watched as Yu Jiuling climbed unaccompanied into a carriage, and Shen Shanhu raised her hand. “Follow him.”

The group fell in behind Yu Jiuling’s carriage, which soon turned around the corner.

On the roadside teahouse ahead, Li Chi put a hand on Xiahou Zuo’s shoulder. “Recognize them?”

Xiahou Zuo shook his head. “Never seen them.”

Li Chi sighed. “I don’t believe you.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “I haven’t left Youzhou in a long time. I didn’t even make it back to Jizhou last year. How would I know women from elsewhere?”

Li Chi said, “I still don’t believe you. Look at the resentment on their faces when they mentioned your name. That expression — by any reading — means you wronged them. They’ve come to settle accounts.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Do I look like a man who deceives women?”

Li Chi said, “You don’t — but they’ve clearly come to make trouble for you.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Do you know something about this?”

Li Chi said, “This and that, roughly, perhaps, possibly… I happen to recall certain things, and those things are things you know about.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “I know what? I don’t know any— wait! I do know.”

He looked at Li Chi. “Something Old Tang got up to in Yanzhou?”

Li Chi sighed. “That’s about the size of it.”

—