When Tang Pidi returned, he bore a trace of faint color in his face — and this made Zhuang Wudi and the others most curious.

For the upstanding Grand General Tang to display such a slightly flustered, even bashful expression was enough to say that in the exchange that had just taken place, the Grand General had come off the worse.

“It’s already deep autumn.”

Tang Pidi said, urging his horse forward. “I would never have thought the weather would still be so stifling.”

A gust of wind swept past, and Zhuang Wudi himself shuddered, but said with his mouth, “Hot. Truly hot.”

Tang Pidi spurred his horse and charged ahead. Even a man of such bearing could fear being laughed at.

As he rode, Tang Pidi turned the young woman’s words over in his mind, and the more he thought, the more a strange and inexplicable longing grew in his heart.

Had he known, it would have been better not to have seen her at all. Before the encounter, managing the affairs of the army was the whole of his thoughts; now, after seeing her, something in his heart surged with a will of its own.

The column made no pause and continued advancing in the direction of Suzhou. Their route would bypass Jingzhou, traveling along the border between Yuzhou and Qingzhou. This was done to evade Yang Xuanji’s informants, and to maintain secrecy to the greatest possible extent.

From the southwestern corner of Qingzhou they would enter Suzhou, then press south along a continuous advance. By doing so, not only would Yang Xuanji have no time to respond, Li Xionghu would have even less time to respond.

—

Yuzhou. The great encampment on the north bank of the river.

Dantai Yaojing handed Li Chi a spyglass. “The troops on the south bank appear to be growing restless. The attack will come within the next few days.”

Li Chi took the spyglass and looked. On the opposite shore, large quantities of timber had been piled up on the open ground along the riverbank — it seemed they still intended to build bridges as the main approach.

At this time of year, there were too few boats; it seemed the only remaining method of crossing the river was to build bridges.

Dantai Yaojing said, “The water level has dropped considerably. I asked around — compared to the last attack, the water level has already dropped roughly three chi. After the rainy season ends, there will be almost no choppy currents on this stretch of the river.”

He had only just arrived, yet he had already gone and made inquiries of a great many people.

“They have felled such a vast amount of timber. It looks like a different approach from the floating bridges they built last time.”

Li Chi lowered the spyglass. “Last time they used small boats as a base, laying planks across them, which meant our catapults could damage the floating bridge. If they have changed their method, the catapults might still damage it, but to a much lesser degree.”

Dantai Yaojing said, “These past few days the movement of their troops has been very great. The visible trees along the riverbank have nearly all been felled clean.”

Li Chi handed the spyglass back to Dantai Yaojing, walked over to an open patch of ground, and crouched down. He thought for a moment, then began sketching with a stick on the earth.

Whenever something seemed wrong, he erased it and redrew it. After roughly a quarter of an hour, an enlarged diagram showing part of the construction of a floating bridge had appeared before everyone’s eyes.

“If slanted beams are added along both sides of the bridge, with crossbeams supporting the bridge deck below at intervals of roughly three chi, then even if a stone falls upon it, it will at most damage one or two crossbeams — the overwhelming probability being that only one will be struck. Calculating three crossbeams per zhang of distance, a stone of any size would have almost no chance of striking two simultaneously. With the further reinforcement of the slanted beams, it would be nearly impossible to cause the bridge to collapse — at most, a hole would be knocked in it.”

Li Chi tossed the stick aside.

He stood up and said, “They will build the bridge wider than before — at least double the width of the last one. The commander of this force appears rash and hot-tempered at first glance, but in something like bridge-building, you can see that this person’s thinking is careful and meticulous. He is by no means reckless.”

Xiahou Zuo nodded. “The strategy they have changed to is this: to create for us the impression that he is charging into the attack without preparation, when in truth he is advancing steadily and consolidating each step.”

Dantai Yaojing said, “Judging by the amount of timber they have prepared, they could build at least five or six crossing bridges simultaneously. In that case, the catapults will be unable to form any effective barrier against them.”

Li Chi looked out toward the south bank. “We still do not know who the newly arrived commander is. This person cannot be underestimated.”

—

South bank of the river.

Pei Chongzhi looked at Xie Di. “How confident are you?”

Xie Di lowered his voice to answer. “Fifty-fifty.”

Pei Chongzhi was visibly surprised — he had not expected Xie Di’s confidence to be so low.

“The enemy across the river is the Ning Army.”

Xie Di said, “Teacher, I have already been conducting detailed analysis of the Ning Army’s tactics beforehand, and have done everything possible to gather information about Tang Pidi.”

He looked at Pei Chongzhi. “Grand General Pei Fanglun’s defeat was no accident, and our lord’s previous inability to break into Yuzhou was entirely to be expected. No matter who faces an opponent like the Ning Army, there is no possibility of absolute confidence — not even if Prince Wu were to come in person.”

Pei Chongzhi nodded.

Xie Di continued. “For a long time before this, I had already begun to pay close attention to Prince Ning Li Chi, and to Tang Pidi. I dispatched people to the Yuzhou side to gather detailed accounts of every campaign the Ning Army has fought, compiled them into a record, and studied it carefully.”

He slowly exhaled. “The more I looked, the more alarmed I became. On the surface, what they use resembles the military training methods of the great Dachu prefecture armies — yet the improvements they have made are more rational in every respect. The most important thing is…”

He looked at Pei Chongzhi. “Li Chi and Tang Pidi have used some method, I do not know what, to instill extraordinary confidence in every Ning Army soldier. Every single one of them believes that the Ning Army is invincible.”

Xie Di turned to gaze at the north bank. “Some people would say this is arrogance, that they have not yet seen the wider world. But from the very beginning I knew that something was not right here. This is not arrogance. To boast of capability one does not possess — that is arrogance. They genuinely possess it, and yet they are neither restless nor boastful.”

Pei Chongzhi asked, “With only a fifty percent chance, this battle will truly be difficult.”

Xie Di said, “I mean no disrespect to Grand General Pei, but I cannot help thinking — the older generation of commanding generals, their way of fighting, their methods of planning, have already settled into habit. Compared to someone like Tang Pidi, what they lack is not only cutting-edge spirit, but also new tactical thinking.”

Pei Chongzhi said, “You too are a rising talent. You have great ability, you also—”

Xie Di interrupted him. “Teacher, I have never yet truly commanded troops against a formidable enemy.”

Pei Chongzhi’s words stopped abruptly.

Xie Di slowly exhaled again. “At this point, the only advantage on our side is sheer numbers — and so the only way to put this single advantage to use is to advance steadily and consolidate each step.”

He raised his hand and pointed toward the river. “I intend to build seven crossing bridges across this river channel and advance on all fronts simultaneously.”

Pei Chongzhi nodded. “Just proceed according to your own thinking. If there are any gaps, I will fill them in.”

He gave a soft sigh. “Grand General Pei fell in battle, and we must take firm hold of this army again — it cannot be handed to another. To take firm hold of it, we need military achievement. You must seize this opportunity well.”

Xie Di said, “A few days ago I observed signs of reinforcements arriving at the Ning Army camp across the river. I cannot tell how many were added — this is an unexpected development… I can only hope now that there will be no further unexpected developments.”

—

The Ning Army camp.

Yu Jiuling’s stomach was feeling somewhat unwell. He had gone to the camp physician to get some medicine, and on his way back happened to run into Li Chi and the others on their inspection of the camp, so he broke into a trot to follow along.

Yu Jiuling asked, “The physicians in the cloud encampment now — most of them are from Shen Medical Hall?”

Li Chi nodded. “The majority are.”

Yu Jiuling said, “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Dr. Shen in quite some time. I don’t know what she’s been busy with.”

Li Chi said, “Not long after we entered Yuzhou, she said she wanted to travel around and see the various parts of the region. Shen Medical Hall needs large quantities of medicinal herbs, and she needed to search Yuzhou for new source areas, or find a suitable location to establish her own medicine garden. She truly has not returned in quite some time.”

Yu Jiuling said, “That Dr. Shen is a person of celestial quality.”

Li Chi thought back to Shen Rujian’s bearing and demeanor, and indeed there was no ordinary person who could compare.

Only someone who had experienced tremendous rise and fall could carry that kind of composure. Li Chi knew the story between her and a certain general of the Western Frontier — that must have been the event that had transformed Shen Rujian’s state of heart.

She lived in this world, yet stood apart from it; it seemed she was busy all day with affairs of commercial gain, yet that was only the proof she left herself of once having been alive in this world.

In a certain sense, Gao Xining and she shared a few points of resemblance.

It suddenly occurred to Li Chi that if something unexpected were to happen to him one day, would Gao Xining also turn into someone like Shen Rujian.

Then Li Chi shook his head and told himself he was thinking nonsense.

As it happened, Shen Rujian was not in Yuzhou at all — she was in Jingzhou.

What made it even harder to believe was that at this very moment, she was a guest in the residence of Jingzhou Military Governor Xie Xiu.

“Elder Sister.”

Xie Xiu personally poured Shen Rujian a cup of tea. “Why have you suddenly come here? It seems we haven’t seen each other for more than ten years.”

Shen Rujian smiled. “I have been drifting through the world, and it was only when I passed through here that I learned you had become the esteemed Military Governor of Jingzhou. I had no intention of disturbing you, but felt that if I did not see you even once, there would be a measure of regret in my heart — so I came.”

Xie Xiu said quickly, “Elder Sister, you may come whenever you wish, at any time, and it would naturally be best if you stayed and never left.”

He sat down and let out a long breath. “Since we parted ways at the Western Frontier all those years ago, ever since the General…”

At this, Xie Xiu stopped. Remorse crept over his face. “Forgive me. I should not have brought up the General.”

Shen Rujian shook her head. “It’s fine. That was all so long ago.”

Xie Xiu lowered his head, stared at the tea in his hands, and his gaze grew distant.

He had been only a personal guard at the General’s side that year, barely in his teens. The Western Region people had launched a border incursion, and the General had led them in a bloody battle. By the end, only a dozen or so of them remained.

The General had been struck by more than ten arrows, and lay in Xie Xiu’s arms, his breath barely a thread.

What the General had been muttering at the time, over and over, was only that one phrase… *I may have broken my promise to her. What is to be done? What is to be done?*

Later, he returned from the Western Region to Daxing. Through the workings of the Xie family, he became the greatest hero of that battle.

The Emperor personally commended him. In addition, the Xie family had sent a generous sum to the Chief Eunuch Liu Chongxin, who had personally recommended Xie Xiu before the Emperor, and forged him a new identity.

And so Xie Xiu was promoted directly from a unit commander to a Fourth Rank General, assigned to the Left Garrison Guard stationed in Jingzhou.

At that time he had not even been a unit commander — he had only been a personal attendant in the General’s bodyguard corps. He had gone to the Western Frontier as nothing more than a formality, simply to add a line to his record.

And so a few more years passed. The former Left Garrison Guard Grand General grew old and retired, and the Xie family helped him manage the arrangements once more. He smoothly became the Left Garrison Guard Grand General, a position of Third Rank — the highest a military officer could reach.

Two years after that, the Xie family presented Liu Chongxin with a priceless Luanfeng jade, and Liu Chongxin was greatly pleased. Once again he recommended Xie Xiu before the Emperor, and Xie Xiu became the Military Governor of Jingzhou.

In the span of ten-odd years, he had risen from a frontier army unit commander to a First Rank high official governing an entire region.

He was very prosperous. Yet he was filled with guilt.

Because he knew that everything he had obtained had been plundered for him by the Xie family. The merit of that battle had belonged to his General.

“Elder Sister… I am sorry.”

Xie Xiu raised his head and looked at Shen Rujian. “I truly… I am sorry.”

Shen Rujian shook her head. “There is nothing to apologize for. In that battle, when I pulled you out, you had thirteen serious wounds on your body. If there is anyone in this world who deserves to be a Military Governor with full justification, it ought to have been you.”

Xie Xiu fell silent.

After a long while, he suddenly collapsed forward onto the table and began to sob, loudly and brokenly.

“I miss the General.”

He wept as if his heart were being torn open.

In the battle of that small Western Frontier city, those elder brothers who had looked after him as if he were their own younger sibling — one by one, they had fallen dead before his eyes.

The General, struck by more than ten arrows, had pushed him aside before those arrows found him, shielding him with his own body.

Blood, tears, the past.

Life, death, the future.

—