He was your father in your previous life. From the moment you came into this world, you carried the same blood as him in your veins. When you were small, he held you too, and promised you he would return home soon. You would listen, again and again, mistaking the sound of a passing stranger’s horse hooves before the gate for the sound of his homecoming, and you would pull your mother by the hand and run to the door to meet him, only to return disappointed. Yet years later, you — a young man by then — would not hesitate to repay him with a throat full of blood, severing all ties between father and son.
You refused to reconcile with this man, because he had once been everything to you and your mother, yet in the moment when the two of you needed him most, he cast you both into the boundless darkness behind him and walked alone toward the light.
Before Mu Fulan’s eyes, the image seemed to appear once more — that young man, blood spattering across the altar.
She closed her eyes and slowly tightened her arms, pulling the small person sitting in her lap even closer.
“Mother?”
A soft, urging voice sounded beside her ear.
She opened her eyes and looked down, meeting Xi’er’s upward gaze — that pair of eyes bright with curiosity — and was just about to speak when a voice called out from outside the cabin, “Princess! General Yuan has come!”
Mu Fulan gently patted Xi’er’s head in reassurance, then leaned out of the cabin to look.
The ferry was almost at the bank. She saw Yuan Handing riding toward them from the direction of the city walls. He reined in at the ferry crossing and dismounted, as though he had intended to board the boat to Mount Jun, but upon seeing the shadow of her boat, he stopped and stood waiting on the bank.
At the ferry landing, a row of planks had been laid out. As the boat came ashore, Xi’er got off and walked ahead on his own.
There was a plank in front of him that seemed to have come loose, one end slightly raised. Yuan Handing spotted it and immediately reached out to steady him. “Young Master, be careful!”
Xi’er had already stepped over the plank in a single stride. After coming to a stop, he turned and glanced at the hand Yuan Handing had reached out and not yet drawn back, then glanced at his mother. He hesitated, then slowly turned to face Yuan Handing and offered him a smile. “Thank you, General Yuan.”
Yuan Handing had grown up alongside the princess from childhood. Her face had long been deeply impressed upon his memory.
He still clearly remembered the subtle feeling that had come over him the first time he laid eyes on this child.
This child named Xi’er had brows and eyes so much like the princess’s that had anyone said he was her own flesh and blood, Yuan Handing would not have doubted it for a single moment.
How wondrous, the workings of fate. In this child’s face, he seemed to glimpse the shadow of the princess, and since the princess was so very fond of this adopted son she had taken in from outside, Xi’er had come to hold a place of unusual importance in Yuan Handing’s heart as well.
He had an instinctive longing for the young master to grow closer to him.
But from the very first day of his arrival, no matter how earnestly Yuan Handing had tried to show the boy goodwill, the young master’s manner toward him had always been polite — and distant.
It seemed the young master simply did not like him.
This left Yuan Handing feeling somewhat disheartened.
Yet today, something seemed suddenly different.
Just now, in that brief moment — though the young master had not let him take his arm — he had smiled at him.
It was the first time the young master had ever smiled at him.
He did not know what had brought about this change, but the shift in the young master’s manner gave him genuine, heartfelt pleasure.
Mu Fulan asked Yuan Handing what business had brought him.
Yuan Handing withdrew his gaze from Xi’er’s retreating back and turned to reply. “Envoys from the Sanmiao people have arrived. They say they were sent by their chieftains to seek aid from our Kingdom of Changsha. His Highness wishes to discuss the matter with the princess.”
Beyond the borders of Changsha, stretching to the southwest amid vast mountain ranges and raging rivers, there had lived since ancient times a multitude of tribal peoples. They dwelled in clan settlements — the largest holding tens of thousands of households, resembling fortified towns; the smaller, a thousand households, known as cave-settlements. These strongholds and cave-settlements were scattered in an unbroken chain, the whole of it called the Seventy-Two Strongholds and One Hundred and Eight Cave-Settlements.
They called themselves descendants of the ancient deity Yan Emperor, while in the official records of the imperial court, they were known by another name altogether — the southwestern barbarians.
After the Mu clan was enfeoffed with Changsha, for two hundred years since the first ancestor, the dynasty had coexisted peacefully with these Sanmiao neighbors to the south. At the height of their good relations, the Mu clan had even taught them to cultivate mulberry and hemp, raise silkworms, and reel silk, and had sent physicians to treat their sick. Many of the Sanmiao strongholds and cave-settlements regarded Changsha as an honored state and sent envoys bearing tribute, expressing their gratitude and submission to the Mu clan.
But since the Jiang-Rong tribe had risen to power, over the past decade or so, such exchanges had entirely ceased.
The Jiang-Rong had absorbed and swallowed up the other strongholds and cave-settlements, becoming the most powerful chieftain among all the Sanmiao. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Changsha fell under imperial suspicion and its national strength grew steadily weaker. The Jiang-Rong chieftain, brimming with ambition, set his sights on the fertile land around Lian City in Changsha’s southern territory, determined to seize it for himself. Exploiting the disorder of the Princely Rebellion as cover while Changsha was in turmoil, he repeatedly sent troops either to attack or to harass.
This state of affairs did not fully come to an end until Mu Fulan’s thirteenth year, when the Kingdom of Changsha concluded a marriage alliance with Xie Changgeng.
In the years since, the Jiang-Rong had not dared to invade Changsha again, but the other strongholds and cave-settlements, cowed by the Jiang-Rong’s might, had long since cut off their ties with Changsha.
“Which strongholds and cave-settlements are they from? What have they come to ask?” Mu Fulan inquired.
“They were sent jointly by the Ran, Xiang, and Tian clans. The envoys say that there was a drought in their lands last year, and this spring brought a lean season between harvests. By now, there is famine everywhere, and the people have been reduced to eating wild grass and tree bark. In recent days, pestilential miasma has also broken out, and many have fallen ill. Completely at their wits’ end, they have come to ask His Highness to help them through this crisis.”
These three clans had once been the most powerful of all the Sanmiao strongholds and cave-settlements, second only to the Jiang-Rong. Before the Jiang-Rong’s rise to power, though they had fought amongst themselves over territory, they had always maintained good relations with the Mu clan, and on more than one occasion, it had fallen to the Mu clan to mediate their disputes.
Word of famine among the Sanmiao had already reached Changsha at the start of the year. Just a few days ago, prompted by certain considerations, Mu Fulan had even sent someone down to Lian City to gather intelligence and had confirmed the situation was indeed dire.
At that time, she had already formed an idea. She had not expected that so soon — within just a few days — the three clans’ own people would come knocking at the door themselves.
By the time she returned to the royal palace, the envoy party had already been escorted to the government guesthouse to rest, and Mu Xuanqing was waiting for her.
Ever since he had been saved through his sister’s “prophetic dream” and come into possession of the iron ore mines at Ru, Mu Xuanqing had made a habit of consulting his royal sister before acting, even when he had already made up his own mind.
He recounted the circumstances of the meeting with the envoys, then said, “Chancellor Lu’s view is to find some pretext to send them away. Best not to get entangled in this.”
Lu Lin nodded. “Never mind that they come seeking help now with honeyed words. When the Jiang-Rong attacked our Lian territory back then, the late king also sent people over, hoping the three clans would join forces and fight alongside us. Had they been willing to stand with Changsha, the rest of the strongholds and cave-settlements would certainly have followed. Yet they feared the Jiang-Rong and not one of them agreed to send troops. Now that they’ve fallen on hard times, they think to come to us for rescue. Where in this world is there such a convenient arrangement? Moreover, our foremost task right now is to expand and train our forces. The affairs of the Sanmiao have nothing to do with our Kingdom of Changsha.”
“Little sister, what do you think?” Mu Xuanqing asked Mu Fulan.
If what she had witnessed in her previous life had not led her astray, she recalled that after Xie Changgeng became emperor, the Jiang-Rong had, aided by favorable terrain and timing, long since unified the Sanmiao. The Sanmiao territories had always been regarded as uncivilized outer lands — as long as they caused no trouble, the court would not interfere. At the time, newly enthroned, Xie Changgeng had too many pressing matters and initially turned a blind eye. But unexpectedly, the Jiang-Rong chieftain refused to submit to the new dynasty and declared himself emperor as well, then sent troops to attack territories that had originally belonged to Changsha. Xie Changgeng naturally could not tolerate this, and initially dispatched troops to suppress the rebellion. But the treacherous terrain, with its perilous waterways and fortified strongholds, made progress extremely difficult. After a year, he changed tactics — he turned the strongholds and cave-settlements that the Jiang-Rong had forcibly conquered against him, working from within and without, and it was only through this strategy that he broke through the strongholds and killed the Jiang-Rong chieftain. He then bestowed titles of varying ranks upon the original chieftains, large and small, allowing them to govern their own territories as before and report directly to the court in times of need, thereby pacifying and bringing the Sanmiao lands under control.
Mu Fulan then said, “Chancellor Lu’s reasoning is sound enough. But at a time like this, if we fail to support the three clans, the Sanmiao lands will sooner or later fall entirely to the Jiang-Rong. Once the Jiang-Rong has unified the Sanmiao, who would dare guarantee that he would not once again cast a covetous eye on our Changsha? I recall that when I was small, my father waged a protracted war against the Jiang-Rong. Should his power greatly increase, it will only become harder to deal with. Rather than being placed on the defensive at every turn when that time comes, it would be better to seize this opportunity now — support the three clans, help them through this crisis. At the very least, they will not be swallowed by the Jiang-Rong so quickly. With them restraining the Jiang-Rong, this is by no means a bad thing for our Changsha.”
Lu Lin hesitated, then shook his head.
“What the princess says has merit, but I fear the princess has forgotten that our late king once hoped the three clans would remember their old ties and fight alongside Changsha. They feared the Jiang-Rong and refused to send troops. If we help them now, who is to say they will not turn their backs on us once more in the future?”
Mu Fulan did not reply immediately. Instead, she turned to Yuan Handing and asked, “General Yuan, you men who command armies — aside from showing kindness, what else does one need in order to keep soldiers in line?”
Yuan Handing was taken aback, then replied, “Aside from kindness, there is strict law.”
Mu Fulan nodded and looked to Lu Lin. “General Yuan’s words just now — did you hear them, Chancellor? I have never commanded an army, yet even I have heard that a commander must use both reward and discipline to keep soldiers fully in check. The three clans are no different.”
“In the past, the three clans’ chieftains were afraid that Changsha might fail to defeat the Jiang-Rong, and that if we were beaten, we would barely be able to protect ourselves — let alone protect them. No amount of kindness would have been enough to make them risk their lives for our sake, and that, too, is simply human nature. Now that Changsha is forging weapons and expanding its army, what is the purpose? Is it merely for show, to give ourselves peace of mind? The expansion of the army cannot be concealed forever — sooner or later there will be a war. If we first win over the three clans, and when that day of battle arrives, they come to know that Changsha is a force to be reckoned with — what difficulty would there be in calling upon them?”
Yuan Handing immediately spoke up. “Your Highness, Princess! Both of you, rest assured! I, Yuan Handing, am willing to stake my life on this pledge — if within one year I cannot train an elite army that is fully loyal to Your Highness and the princess, I will offer my head as apology!”
His eyes blazed with unwavering resolve, and his voice was firm and vigorous, full of confidence.
Mu Xuanqing stepped forward and gripped Yuan Handing’s arm with both hands, then turned to Lu Lin and said, “Chancellor, you have heard what my royal sister and Handing have said. I have decided to adopt their counsel. The matter of lending grain to relieve the disaster — I must trouble the Chancellor to handle it.”
Lu Lin, now in his middle years, had grown increasingly averse to trouble. Long accustomed to keeping a low profile, he had become all the more cautious and conservative, and it was this habit of avoiding complications that had led him to oppose aiding the three clans. Seeing that all three of them were of one mind, he knew that further opposition would be futile. Moreover, thinking it over carefully, the princess’s reasoning was indeed not without merit. He had no choice but to nod.
“Your minister accepts the command, and will at once summon the Finance Official to handle the matter jointly.”
Once Lu Lin departed, Mu Fulan added, “Royal brother, Brother Yuan, now that Chancellor Lu has left, there is something I could not say openly before. In this current struggle for power, with the princes’ civil wars raging without end, the aim is simply to seize territory and build strength. We are situated in a remote corner, but in the days ahead, if circumstances allow — should we succeed in defeating the Jiang-Rong and bringing the vast Sanmiao territories to the south under our Mu clan’s control, that is by no means an impossible thing.”
“This is also the reason I just counseled royal brother to seize this chance to show kindness to the three clans. Use both reward and discipline — once they are won over, the rest of the strongholds and cave-settlements will naturally follow upon hearing the news.”
Mu Xuanqing gazed at Mu Fulan. He was silent for a moment. The light in his eyes flickered, and a look of mounting excitement gradually spread across his face.
“Little sister, you have opened my eyes with a single word! If our Mu clan truly manages to bring the southern lands under our fold, we would be tigers with wings — what need would there be to fear for our standing? What need to despair of revenge?”
Mu Fulan said, “Apart from building our strength, I have also been thinking — we do all we can, but Changsha, aside from its marshlands and waterways, is an isolated patch of land. In the future, should things take a turn for the worse and we find ourselves in an unfavorable position, the Sanmiao terrain would give us a place to fall back and hold our ground. This opportunity is heaven-sent — we cannot let it pass.”
Yuan Handing nodded approvingly and said to Mu Xuanqing, “The princess has thought this through very thoroughly. The strongholds and cave-settlements of the Sanmiao lands are mostly nestled against mountains and water, with treacherous terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Without a local guide, outsiders would have a very hard time breaking in. I experienced this firsthand when I followed the late king in the campaign against the Jiang-Rong.”
Mu Fulan said, “The matter of distributing grain falls to Chancellor Lu. As for the pestilential miasma, I will handle that myself. I will summon the physicians today and prepare the medicines to be sent to Lian City at once. I will go there myself.”
Mu Xuanqing refused to let her go, saying the place was remote and the pestilential miasma was dangerous, and that someone else could be sent instead.
Mu Fulan smiled. “In truth, royal brother, I had someone go investigate the situation just the other day. The pestilential miasma is not as severe as it might be — it has only broken out in a small number of strongholds and cave-settlements. If dealt with promptly, it should not be a major problem. But if handled poorly, once the weather grows hotter, it could become quite troublesome. Royal brother, rest assured — I know my limits.”
Hearing her speak with such resolve, Mu Xuanqing had no choice but to say to Yuan Handing, “Handing, then I must trouble you to accompany my royal sister. Remember — you must protect her at all costs. Nothing can happen to her.”
Yuan Handing answered with a solemn bow. “Your Highness, rest easy. I pledge it with my life!”
Only then did Mu Xuanqing set his mind at ease and give a nod. He then thought of Prince Qi’s young lord and asked about his condition.
Mu Fulan naturally said nothing of the deliberate feigning of illness, only that there was nothing seriously wrong, then relayed in full the proposal Zhao Xitai had put to her.
Mu Xuanqing frowned. “There is nothing good about Prince Qi. In earlier days, he and Father were old acquaintances. But when Changsha’s borders were in turmoil and we fell under the court’s suspicion, struggling through difficult times, if he had shown even a trace of regard for his old friendship with Father and offered some assistance, little sister, you most likely would not have had to marry someone like Xie Changgeng. Now he wants to fish in troubled waters and needs our Mu clan to send him provisions, no doubt.”
He paused for a moment. “Still, with the current situation in flux and things unsettled, now that Zhao Xitai has spoken as he has, why not play along for the time being — no need to make an enemy of him. I will send him a reply in a day or two.”
Royal brother’s decision was exactly what Mu Fulan had in mind as well. The discussion concluded, she went out and summoned all the physicians in the city into the royal palace. Together with several physician’s assistants, once the group had assembled, she announced that pestilential miasma had broken out in parts of the Sanmiao territory and that they were all to journey south with her — and left the preparations to each of them.
With the princess herself giving the order, and going herself, who dared refuse? All voiced their assent in unison and returned to make their individual preparations, which need not be detailed here.
In the remaining hours of that day, Mu Fulan was occupied with readying all the medicines that would be needed, ordering them loaded onto carts and dispatched to Lian City with all possible haste. She was kept thoroughly busy, and by the time she returned to her chambers, it was nearly the hour of Hai.
Nanny Mu was waiting for her. She came forward and said softly, “The young master has already fallen asleep. You must be exhausted too, princess. The bathwater is ready — wash up quickly and go rest.”
Mu Fulan thanked Nanny Mu and told her to go rest as well. After bathing, she tiptoed to Xi’er’s bedside, adjusted the corner of his quilt — and then suddenly noticed the small figure on the pillow’s eyelids flickering. He opened his eyes.
“Mother, you’re back?”
He reached out and took hold of one of her soft hands.
He had been feigning sleep to fool Nanny Mu.
Mu Fulan smiled, sat on the edge of the bed, and was just about to speak to him about her departure to the south in the next two days when Xi’er spoke first. “Mother, this evening I heard Sister Ru say you are about to go south to treat people. If you could bring me along and let me go with you — would that be all right?”
Mu Fulan had originally intended to leave him behind. After all, this trip was a medical mission, not something else. But at this moment, seeing his earnest pleading, and thinking that this journey — counting the travel back and forth — would take at least two months at the very fastest.
And that was the quickest estimate. Depending on the heat, it might well last even longer before it could be concluded.
The onset of pestilential miasma was linked to damp heat and miasmic vapors. In many parts of Sanmiao territory, the forests were dense and deep, the marshes heavy with toxic air, and once the weather grew hot, the miasmic poison spread rapidly. The people had been struck by famine and were physically weakened, which was why so many had fallen ill at once. The nature of this illness was fundamentally different from a plague that spread by contagion through crowds.
Lian City was the southernmost city in Changsha. The land there was open and safe. If she brought Xi’er along, keeping him in the city would not be unreasonable.
“Mother! I promise I’ll do as you say and won’t run off anywhere.” He continued his pleading.
Mu Fulan hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. “All right — Mother will take you. But you must stay in the city. You may not go out.”
“Yes! I’ll remember!”
Xi’er nodded with delight.
Mu Fulan said softly, “All right, now sleep. Mother will stay with you.”
Xi’er made a sound of assent and obediently closed his eyes.
Mu Fulan sat beside him for a while. Seeing that he seemed to have fallen asleep, she rose gently, about to extinguish the lamp and go to her own bed, when she noticed his eyelashes flutter slowly open once more.
“Mother…”
“When we came back today, you still didn’t tell me — who is that Xie Changgeng? Is he a terrible person?”
He looked at Mu Fulan and asked in a soft voice.
Mu Fulan was momentarily taken aback, not having expected him to still be thinking of that.
Her Xi’er had already forgotten all the people and events of his previous life.
And that was exactly what Mu Fulan desired.
In this life, she never wanted him to recall any of what had come before. Not even the smallest fragment.
She thought for a moment, sat back down, and said, “That man named Xie — he is not a good person. But he is not quite a terrible person either, at least not much worse than many others in this world. But Xi’er…”
She put weight into her words.
“Remember what Mother says: he is a very dangerous man. In the future, no matter when or where this person named Xie Changgeng appears before you, do not go near him. And do not speak to him.”
Xi’er seemed to half understand and gave a nod, then hesitated and shook his head.
“But I heard that Young Lord say that you were forced to marry him and suffered tremendous injustice. This person bullied you, didn’t he?”
“He bullied my mother — that makes him a terrible person!”
He said it word by word.
Mu Fulan saw him clench both small fists and noticed what seemed like sparks flickering behind his eyes. Startled, she took hold of his hands, pried open the little clenched fists, and tucked them back under the covers. She smiled and said, “That person did not bully Mother. Mother would not let anyone bully her. The things you overheard today are grown-up matters. You are still small — there is much you do not yet understand. Just remember Mother’s words and do not think too hard about it. All right?”
Xi’er was quiet for a moment, then said, “All right.”
Mu Fulan smiled, patted his small cheek, and coaxed him gently, “Sleep now.”
Xi’er closed his eyes.