In summer, the lotus-scented breeze carried its fragrance, and the dewdrops on bamboo fell with a clear, gentle sound. Compared to the capital city, the countryside estate was considerably cooler.
The Nanping Earl had been sending melons and fruits for some time now — nothing costly, but earnest and sincere. Combined with that chance encounter on the street the other day… with such unmistakable behavior, how could Zhu Jie’er fail to understand the hidden feelings the Nanping Earl harbored?
What Zhu Jie’er admired about Qiao Yunsheng was that when he expressed his admiration, his manner was humble and restrained, upright and proper — he did not overstep, was not overbearing, and did not put her in a difficult position. The fresh melons and fruits had been sent under the pretext of “the agreed-upon yield payment,” and even the chance encounter amounted to no more than a few glances — not a reckless approach or attempt at conversation.
Qiao Yunsheng respected her wishes.
Sincerity met with sincerity. And so, whether this matter came to anything or not, Zhu Jie’er felt she ought to meet with him in person and make her own position clear.
On this day, Zhu Jie’er went with Concubine Shen and Shaojin to the small estate to escape the summer heat. They savored simple farm-style dishes and spent half a day in cheerful leisure. After midday, the grey-blue carriage slowly rolled into the estate. Steward He came in to relay word that the Nanping Earl, upon learning that Young Master Shaojin was here, happened to be passing by and wished to pay a brief visit.
“The Nanping Earl?” Shaojin said with a puzzled look.
He did not seem to have had any dealings with this Earl.
Zhu Jie’er lightly fanned herself with a cattail fan and replied with a single remark: “The honeydew melons he sent over a few days ago — the ones you kept praising as crisp and sweet?”
With those words, both Concubine Shen and Shaojin seemed to understand something all at once. Their gazes turned toward Zhu Jie’er, filled with a mix of guesswork and delight. They had known the melons had come from the neighboring estate, but had not known that estate belonged to the Nanping Earl.
Zhu Jie’er offered no explanation — which was as good as tacitly confirming Concubine Shen and Shaojin’s conjecture.
Shaojin promptly called out: “Quickly, invite him into the main hall, bring tea, and I shall go over at once.”
Sunlight slanted in through the windowsill, falling across Qiao Yunsheng’s face. Today he wore a full-length robe in slate-blue, and the sunlight lent him a warmth, making him appear gentle and refined.
After Shaojin had exchanged pleasantries with Qiao Yunsheng, Zhu Jie’er entered from the side door. Shaojin, with tactful awareness, found a reason to slip away.
“Miss Zhu.”
“Please be seated, Nanping Earl.”
Qiao Yunsheng had been perfectly composed and at ease while exchanging pleasantries with Shaojin, yet the moment he saw Zhu Jie’er, it was as it had been a few days prior — the back of his neck flushed, and he became somewhat ill at ease.
Seeing this, Zhu Jie’er took the initiative: “Nanping Earl, you have come here specifically today — you must have something you wish to say to me?”
“Indeed.” Qiao Yunsheng had rehearsed the words in his mind before coming. He steeled himself and spoke them aloud: “The two estates are not far apart, and the crops here grow much better — which I imagine speaks to Miss Zhu’s skill in management… I am being presumptuous, but I wonder if Miss Zhu would be willing to take my estate in hand and manage it alongside this one?” The back of his ears grew even warmer.
He was clearly an Earl, yet in front of a young woman, his true nature had revealed itself. Zhu Jie’er found it amusing inwardly, and felt a measure of increased affection for him.
She said: “Nanping Earl is being modest. The melons from the melon field were crisp and sweet.”
“Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning at all…”
There were no others in the room, so Zhu Jie’er spoke somewhat more directly: “I wonder — what is it about me that the Nanping Earl finds appealing?”
Zhu Jie’er’s directness put Qiao Yunsheng considerably more at ease and freed him from his stiffness. He answered almost without pause, without concealment: “To acknowledge my admiration for Miss Zhu’s full array of abilities — that is what true respect for Miss Zhu looks like. For months now, the prominent households throughout the capital have all praised Miss Zhu for her foresight, her decisiveness, and the upright and distinguished conduct of the Pei family… I am the same as the others who have sought her hand in marriage — naturally, I could not be immune to the same inclination.”
Then he added: “And later, when I caught a distant glimpse of Miss Zhu’s beauty, I became even more inclined toward the ordinary… ” The words that followed, Qiao Yunsheng could not bring himself to say. He continued instead: “I have been reckless and my words have fallen short of what I mean to express. I hope Miss Zhu will not laugh at me.”
Qiao Yunsheng found it difficult to articulate what he felt toward Zhu Jie’er in that moment. He could only speak to the reasons that had first drawn his attention to her — her family background, her abilities, and her beauty.
By the time he had finished, he felt he had been too candid, and worried that Zhu Jie’er might think him shallow.
He had no words to defend himself.
Qiao Yunsheng added: “As for the Qiao family’s situation — I imagine Miss Zhu is already aware of it. The only thing I can present is the title of Lady of the Nanping Earl’s府.”
In the short span of a few words, Qiao Yunsheng’s face had cycled through far more expressions than his words could convey. As Zhu Jie’er listened, she paid close attention to the succession of expressions passing across his face — shyness, bashfulness, hope…
It seemed as though he had come on something of an impulse, and had gathered all his courage before coming here to say these things. Indeed, compared to the other suitors, Qiao Yunsheng’s circumstances were far from advantageous.
After a long moment, Zhu Jie’er spoke: “I understand the Nanping Earl’s feelings. I also ask the Nanping Earl to hear what I have to say.”
At this moment, Zhu Jie’er did have a favorable impression of Qiao Yunsheng — yet to say she was deeply taken with him and had firmly resolved to marry him, that was not the case. After all, she and Qiao Yunsheng had not been acquainted long, and this was their very first direct encounter.
Zhu Jie’er said: “The husband I want must either surpass me, or defer to me.” There was something of the bearing of a commanding woman about her as she said it.
She gave Qiao Yunsheng some time to consider her words. Seeing that no expression of shock appeared on his face, she then said: “Nanping Earl, why not go home and think it over further? There is still plenty of time ahead.”
Her favorable impression of Qiao Yunsheng had not overridden her reason — having spoken this far, whether she married or he took her as his wife, both should act only after careful and thorough deliberation.
At parting, as Zhu Jie’er moved to leave through the side door and Qiao Yunsheng rose to exit through the main door, each of them absorbed in their own thoughts, they failed to step aside for one another and very nearly collided.
To ease the awkwardness, Zhu Jie’er expressed her concern: “Nanping Earl is rather lean. Be mindful of the heat when sitting inside the carriage.” It was already past midday, the summer heat had not yet abated, and a carriage interior was the most stifling place of all.
Qiao Yunsheng was startled for a moment, flushed with embarrassment again, having caught only the words “rather lean.” He replied: “Yes, I’ll go home and eat more.”
Zhu Jie’er was caught off guard as well. After she had left the reception hall, she instructed Steward He to have a basin of ice added to Qiao Yunsheng’s carriage.
Qiao Yunsheng sat inside the carriage, and upon seeing the basin of ice, only then did it dawn on him — Zhu Jie’er had been reminding him to be careful not to suffer heatstroke inside the carriage, while he had answered something entirely off-topic, and had even let his imagination run away with him.
He tapped his folding fan against his palm. The more Qiao Yunsheng thought about it, the more foolish and dim-witted he felt he had been a moment ago — what kind of answer was that? “I’ll eat more”… How could he have so readily and obediently taken Miss Zhu’s words to heart like that?
She had only said he was “lean,” and he had decided to eat more — how had he managed to act so eagerly accommodating?
Qiao Yunsheng buried his face in his hands in mortification… then broke into a quiet, private smile.
……
……
Yan Chengzhao had lingered in Suzhou Prefecture for nearly ten days. He and his subordinates from the Southern Embroidered Uniform Guard had roamed through various teahouses, taverns, and opera houses day and night, appearing to be thoroughly immersed in the entertainment and pleasures that Commandant Lin had arranged for them.
In truth, they had uncovered a considerable amount of intelligence — the Zhenhai Guard had long maintained ties with Japanese pirates from overseas and island-based outlaws, deliberately keeping the threat alive to bolster their own indispensability.
The evidence of these ties was being uncovered piece by piece. However, there was still no lead as to who stood behind the Zhenhai Guard and served as their backer. That was the crux of the matter — the very root that needed to be addressed.
On this particular night, Yan Chengzhao returned to his lodgings, changed into a set of dark garments, took only one attendant with him, and arrived quietly and without fanfare at the Taicang Prefecture Office.
“Lord Pei.”
“General.”
Yan Chengzhao’s arrival seemed to have been anticipated by Pei Bingyuan, who showed no surprise. Faced with Yan Chengzhao’s questions, he was fully cooperative, saying: “General, please ask freely — anything this official knows, I will tell without holding back.”
At that moment, the two men had only official business between them.
Yan Chengzhao spoke plainly: “I have already confirmed the matter of the Zhenhai Guard’s collusion with the enemy.” With that, he set the tone of their conversation.
He then went on: “As for the bandits Lord Pei arrested last year — are any of them still alive in custody?”
“There are.”
Several of the minor ringleaders, whose mouths had been completely sealed, were still being held. After Yan Chengzhao took them away, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had their own methods for extracting information.
As Yan Chengzhao was about to leave, Pei Bingyuan hesitated, then added one more remark: “Commandant Lin’s term of office has been fulfilled, and he is short of a respectable military achievement this year.”
“I understand.”
In the days that followed, Pei Bingyuan saw no more of Yan Chengzhao, and had no way of knowing what he had gone off to do. One day, Yan Chengzhao dispatched a subordinate to deliver a sealed letter to Pei Bingyuan, which warned: “In the coming days, Japanese pirates may make a move and land ashore at Taicang Prefecture.”
Pei Bingyuan burned the letter after reading it, yet his mind was full of doubt — with such a massive fleet of warships and naval forces docked at Taicang Prefecture’s canal wharf, would the Japanese pirates really choose this moment to throw themselves onto the blade? To land and plunder at a time like this would be nothing short of seeking their own deaths.
But the intelligence uncovered by the Southern Embroidered Uniform Guard was not to be taken lightly. Though puzzled, Pei Bingyuan had no choice but to take it seriously. He made advance arrangements, ordering the constables and militia to intensify their patrols and defensive measures.
Three days later, deep in the night, a signal cannon fired from atop the city tower, and gong sounds erupted through the streets and alleyways, warning the townspeople within the city that bandits had come to attack. The constables and militia quickly assembled and, led by Pei Bingyuan and the various officials of the prefecture office, held firm at the city tower and the city gates.
Pei Shaohuai and Lin Shi remained at home, and could only learn of the outside situation through the constables left behind on watch.
The sound of fierce fighting beyond the city walls was all around them, and then came the thunder of cavalry — the trembling could be felt through the soles of their feet. The scale of this pirate assault was larger than anything that had come before. Pei Shaohuai’s heart leaped into his throat.
Lin Shi’s face was etched with worry as she prayed for Pei Bingyuan to return safely.
Within the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, a constable who had gone out to gather news came running back, breathless but with a joyful expression — he had come to report that all was well. He said: “Both sides are fighting outside the city. The city of Taicang is almost entirely unaffected. The few hundred or so Japanese pirates who came toward the city have already been pushed back by the militia… The Prefect has sent me back to report that all is safe.”
Pei Shaohuai and Lin Shi both let out a breath of relief.
The sounds of fighting beyond the city walls did not cease — it seemed as though it would not stop anytime soon. Pei Shaohuai asked the constable: “Where did the Japanese pirates land ashore? How many were there? Who is engaging them in battle?” The sounds of such fierce fighting could only be stopped by either the Zhenhai Guard or the southern-patrol naval force.
The constable answered each question in turn: “The Japanese pirates landed at Qiansha Slope. From the city tower, looking eastward, all one can see is a vast expanse of fire — none of us have ever seen such a sight before… At a rough estimate, there must be over ten thousand of them.”
“We had originally assumed it was the southern-patrol naval force engaging them in battle, but the advance scouts reported back that from the look of the armor, all the fighters are from the Zhenhai Guard. They also said that within less than a quarter of an hour of the Japanese pirates landing ashore, Commandant Lin had already led the Zhenhai Guard there, cutting the pirates off from the middle and attacking from both sides, even deploying cavalry.”
“It seems they were desperate to seize military achievements — with such a large group of Japanese pirates arriving at last, every man was scrambling to cut ears off the fallen enemies.”
The more Pei Shaohuai listened, the more wrong it felt. Japanese pirates were human beings, too — they were not fools. Why would they do something so suicidal?
Qiansha Slope was less than five Chinese miles from the southern-patrol naval force’s anchorage. The Japanese pirates seemed to have tired of living, choosing precisely this spot to come ashore — was it not throwing themselves straight onto the blade?
Then there was the matter of the fighting itself. Unless the southern-patrol naval force had stood by and watched the Japanese pirates land without intervening, how could it have been the Zhenhai Guard’s turn to send troops? The battlefield was right beside the anchorage, yet the southern-patrol naval force had not made a move — that made no sense.
The Zhenhai Guard had ties with the Japanese pirates, and now the two sides were fighting each other — was this a case of one criminal faction double-crossing another, or had it all been arranged in advance?
A tangle of doubts wove together in his mind. Pei Shaohuai paced back and forth, unable to make sense of it no matter how he thought. It was only when he heard the relentless cannon fire rolling in from the sea that sudden understanding broke over him — the Japanese pirates were creating a diversion!
The pirates’ aim was not to attack the city — it was to seize the warships docked at the canal wharf. The group that had landed ashore was simultaneously a gift of military achievement from the pirate leaders to Commandant Lin, and a means of drawing away the manpower and attention of the southern-patrol naval force… while another group of pirates seized the opportunity to go after the ships.