For the entire afternoon, Zhaoluan and Cainan refused to rest. They had to reach Mangdang Mountain and see the Wu Prince as fast as possible.

The Princess Consort had given them two days for a round trip — the faster they moved, the less could go wrong.

But the half-day that had been stolen from them was gone. By the time they finally reached the foot of Mangdang Mountain, it had been dark for quite a while.

As they rode through the Ning army camp at the mountain’s base, they heard the night watchman cry out the third watch of the hai hour. Both women stiffened.

They hadn’t realized it had grown so late. They weren’t sure if they could still go up into the mountain tonight.

Riding through the Ning army camp, both women raised their eyes toward Mangdang Mountain. In the depths of the forest, a lit band of orange fire was visible in the darkness — that must be the log palisade wall of the Left Wuwei. In the late night, only the glow of the torches was distinguishable.

“What now?”

Cainan murmured the question, her words carrying the faint catch of someone who had been riding hard.

A hundred-odd li of continuous riding would exhaust even a man at his best — to say nothing of two women who lived in comfort and ease.

“Let’s try.”

Zhaoluan gave the short answer, then turned to look at Yu Jiuling.

“General Yu. We must go up tonight, no matter the hour. It’s already the third watch, but we still intend to go.”

Yu Jiuling nodded without hesitation. “No problem. We’ve already sent word ahead to the Chu army in the mountain. Whether the Wu Prince has been waiting for you, I can’t say — let me send someone up to ask.”

Zhaoluan thought: This General Yu is finally being somewhat useful.

But Yu Jiuling shifted at once. “I should say clearly — the Prince of Ning’s intention is that you two do not enter the Chu army’s palisade. We’ve already sent word ahead to the Wu Prince. If he wishes to meet you, he’ll open the gates and receive you on the mountain path.”

“As a show of good faith, we won’t send anyone to follow you up, and we won’t approach within earshot. Whatever you say to each other — we won’t listen. We’ll wait below.”

Zhaoluan and Cainan exchanged a glance. Once we’re up there and you’re not following, whether we enter the palisade or not is hardly your call.

And so Zhaoluan nodded. “We’ll abide by the Prince of Ning’s terms and will not overstep.”

Yu Jiuling: “Good. I’ll send someone up now to let them know. If the Wu Prince hasn’t retired for the night, he should come out to see you.”

He left.

Zhaoluan lowered her voice. “This man looks foolish and guileless on the surface, but he’s the sly sort. Stay alert.”

Yu Jiuling, had he heard this, might have been startled for just a moment — thinking: First meeting and she sees me this clearly?

Cainan: “This one is the worst. All that stalling was his doing.”

Zhaoluan: “Those were likely the Prince of Ning’s orders. We still don’t know why they needed to stall — but be careful of everything.”

Cainan made a sound of agreement.

After a while, Yu Jiuling returned, reporting that someone had been dispatched up the mountain, and that they should wait a moment.

Both women prayed the Wu Prince hadn’t yet gone to sleep. If he had, they wouldn’t make it back tomorrow.

After roughly another half a shichen — by now it must be past the first quarter of the zi hour — they saw, from far away, a rider coming back on horseback, torch in hand. In the deep darkness, at a distance, the lone flame seemed to float of its own accord through the air like a ghost fire drifting.

“Report!”

The Ning soldier reached them and saluted Yu Jiuling. “General Yu — the Wu Prince’s people have replied. The Wu Prince will come one li outside the palisade and receive the two ladies on the mountain path.”

Yu Jiuling nodded, then looked at Zhaoluan and Cainan. “I’ll escort you two to the foot of the mountain. From there, you’ll go up on your own. The Prince of Ning said: what we have agreed, we will not take back, and we will not interfere. What is promised is kept openly.”

Open and upright, Zhaoluan thought. You kept us running around all day and now you talk about keeping things open and upright?

But there was no time to waste. She gave a word of assent and they started toward Mangdang Mountain.

In the darkness, nothing was visible at all. Were it not for the Ning soldiers up ahead with torches to light the way, they couldn’t even see the path at their feet.

They reached the foot of the mountain this way. Yu Jiuling handed them torches. “Go up without worry. You’ll be fine.”

Zhaoluan and Cainan thanked Yu Jiuling, took each other’s hand, and started up the mountain.

The path was indeed rough and difficult — feet stumbling over what felt like nothing but broken stones.

Both had considered, on the way here, that they couldn’t let the carriage go into the mountain. Now they understood: not just a carriage — even a horse couldn’t make it up this path.

They walked like this for about a quarter-hour, and then they saw the glow of torches ahead. They quickened their pace.

Drawing closer, they found a group of Left Wuwei soldiers in full battle-readiness, all holding torches. In the center of that group, the Wu Prince sat on a boulder, head bent, seemingly lost in thought.

When the torchlight drew near, several Left Wuwei soldiers came forward and blocked the path.

“Halt!”

An officer in a lieutenant colonel’s dress extended a hand to stop them. “Who are you?”

“We are the Princess Consort’s people. When the Wu Prince sees us, he’ll know who we are.”

The officer nodded. “Wait here.”

He turned and went to report.

Shortly after, the officer returned and invited them forward.

When they drew close enough, both women faltered for just a moment.

The Wu Prince had aged so — he looked so gaunt.

Beneath his iron helm, the hair visible at the edges had gone white. In the torchlight his complexion appeared slightly sallow. The only thing that still held any spark was his eyes.

“Why is it you two?”

The Wu Prince rose, his expression puzzled.

Zhaoluan and Cainan both dropped to their knees at once. “We pay our respects to the Prince.”

The Wu Prince said: “Rise… Yesterday the Ning army sent word that the Princess Consort had arrived. What I feared most was that she’d truly come. The moment I saw you two, I knew what I feared most had still come to pass.”

Zhaoluan: “Your Highness — the Princess Consort will find a way to bring you out.”

The Wu Prince shook his head. “Tell her to go back.”

Zhaoluan: “Your Highness surely knows that my lady will never leave. She… she has been thinking of you.”

As the words left her mouth, she remembered what she was carrying, and quickly opened her bundle. “These are pastries made by my lady with her own hands, and the Jinzhou cured ham Your Highness loves best.”

The Wu Prince reached out and took the items. It was visible, even from a distance, that his hands trembled slightly.

Cainan said: “My lady says that when Your Highness sees the Jinzhou ham, you will understand everything. There may be Ning army spies with ears nearby — Your Highness need not say more aloud.”

The Wu Prince paused slightly, looked at the ham for a long moment, then nodded. “I understand. Go back and tell the Princess Consort — I have grasped her meaning.”

Zhaoluan and Cainan both exhaled in relief.

Zhaoluan: “To avoid rousing Ning army suspicion, we will not accompany Your Highness back into the camp. We’ll go back down now, so as not to raise their doubts.”

The Wu Prince nodded. “Go… If — if there is any possibility — persuade the Princess Consort again. If you should choose to withdraw the army, light a single column of smoke at midday. If you do not withdraw, light two columns of smoke.”

Both women assented, rose, and left.

About another half-shichen later, they made it back down to the Ning army camp. By then there was no possibility of riding back tonight — they had no choice but to stay the night and set out first thing in the morning.

Yu Jiuling arranged quarters for them, then took his leave.

—

Another quarter-hour later, less than a li from where those two women had been lodged, inside the central command tent of the Ning army —

Li Chi sat there, and when he saw the man who had just entered, he couldn’t help but smile. “Truly does look rather like him.”

The man who came in sighed. “The resemblance holds — but I didn’t dare say much. I was afraid I’d give myself away. Though, as you calculated, those two have gone so long without seeing the real Wu Prince, and it was a night meeting by torchlight — whatever flaws there were, the darkness covered them.”

He settled into a seat. Li Chi reached over and began removing the disguise from his face.

Yu Jiuling came through the door, took one look at the scene, and grinned. “Grand Marshal’s disguise was excellent. If he’d managed to slip into the Chu army camp, he might have been able to command the Left Wuwei himself.”

This “Wu Prince” was Tang Pidi in disguise.

And not only was the Wu Prince a counterfeit — even the encampment had been fabricated.

The only genuine thing was that there was one mountain path into Mangdang Mountain. But what was difficult about cutting a new short path, as long as you didn’t go too far? Find a spot on the mountainside where the slope was gentle, clear the undergrowth, lay down stone — you’d have a path of less than two li in no time.

Tang Pidi had also dispatched over ten thousand men to climb the mountain in advance. When Zhaoluan and Cainan were nearly at the base, this force lit their torches deep in the forest.

The troops could only ascend so high — above that was sheer cliff face, impossible to go further.

But seen from far below on a dark night — how could anyone tell the difference?

This was why the stalling had been necessary. Li Chi’s plan from the very beginning: have the envoys sent by the Princess Consort meet a false Wu Prince.

There was nothing fantastical about it, nothing requiring extraordinary skill.

First — those two women hadn’t seen the Wu Prince in a very long time. In the dark, by torchlight, seeing through a skilled disguise would be extremely difficult.

Second — Tang Pidi, in preparation for winning this battle, had made a thorough study of the Wu Prince long before. As long as he said as little as possible, the odds of slipping up were slim.

Tang Pidi glanced at the objects on the table. “Though I came away with nothing of value. I truly don’t understand what the Jinzhou ham is supposed to mean.”

He looked at Li Chi. “And I hadn’t anticipated that the Princess Consort’s thinking would be so precise. The people she sent didn’t give the Wu Prince any explicit time or date — because she knew that the moment the Wu Prince saw the Jinzhou ham, he would understand everything.”

Li Chi looked at the ham, then rose and went closer, examining it carefully. He searched it thoroughly. Nothing hidden inside.

“Most likely it’s something only the Wu Prince and the Princess Consort know — some old memory between them. Perhaps they visited Jinzhou together once, ate this together, and it became their private signal for a time to break through.”

Tang Pidi nodded. “But it doesn’t matter, in the end.”

He turned to look at the two young women sitting somewhat apart, and smiled. “The Princess Consort gave no specific time — but the Wu Prince did.”

The two young women let out small, pleased laughs, both a little proud of themselves.

These two — were the ones who had truly gone to see the Wu Prince.

To ensure nothing would be exposed, Liu Yingyuan and Yuan Jiabei had entered the mountain just as darkness was falling, under Ning army protection. They had required the Wu Prince to come out of his log fortress to receive them — citing Li Chi’s refusal to allow them inside. The Wu Prince could never have restrained himself from that. And so he truly came out.

On the path outside the walls, almost identical lighting, almost identical setting. The Wu Prince had had no reason to suspect them.

Because this was nothing like any military stratagem he had ever encountered. This was a jianghu trick — a con man’s game.

After meeting with the Wu Prince, the two women had descended and reported back to Tang Pidi — every detail of how the Wu Prince had behaved, what he had said.

And so when Tang Pidi met the two real messengers, he had nothing left to give himself away.