The Suoning Cave Master came and went like the wind. The Yigan Cave Master felt a touch of awkwardness, and Su Mingluan’s gaze turned cold and sharp — cold enough that the Yigan Cave Master felt his heart give a lurch.

Zhù Ying remained perfectly at ease, smiling and chatting as she said to Su Mingluan and Lang Kunwu, “Will you come back to the prefectural city with me to collect the sugar, or shall you send someone in a couple of days? The autumn harvest is upon us — we ought to set the dates properly so as not to delay the important work.”

Su Mingluan said, “Just let Qingtian handle it. When does anything Godfather does require someone else to keep watch?”

Lang Kunwu also said, “Let Wolf handle everything.” The moment he thought about how Su Mingluan had been receiving her share for several more years than him, Lang Kunwu felt a little displeased.

Zhù Ying said, “Very well then. I’ll make camp over on that side tonight — what about the two of you?”

Seeing that the Suoning Cave Master had already left, the Yigan Cave Master quickly said, “Prefect, don’t take that joke from the Suoning family too seriously. My home can still house guests.”

Zhù Ying said, “There’s no reason to take back what I’ve already said. It won’t take long.”

Setting up camp and pitching a tent — how hard could that be? While they were talking, the craftsmen had already cut down many thick moso bamboo from the nearby mountains and were preparing to fell timber as well. Timber couldn’t be used for construction right away — it needed to be left to dry for a period. Bamboo, however, could be used immediately; it wasn’t prone to rot, and it grew so quickly that replacing it would be easy enough.

Zhù Ying set up camp a few hundred paces from the Yigan family’s stockade and spent that night in the tent. She had brought along a good number of tents, and all her attendants slept in them too. They split the felled giant bamboo and buried the pieces crosswise into the earth, forming a bamboo fence that enclosed a stretch of the campsite. Zhù Ying led her attendants and settled in with complete composure.

People like Gu Tong couldn’t help but worry. Before, when they had ventured deep into the mountains, their concerns had been things like illness, getting lost, or wild beasts. But after seeing the Suoning Cave Master, they truly realized that the “mountain people” were not merely the legends their mothers had used to frighten them into sleep as children — “If you keep crying, the mountain folk will come and take you away” — but a genuine threat.

Gu Tong followed Zhù Ying into the tent and said in a low voice, “Teacher, perhaps we ought to head back sooner rather than later. County Magistrate Su may be trustworthy, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is. That Suoning Cave Master…”

Zhù Ying said, “He’s quite adorable.”

“Eh?” Gu Tong made a sound of disbelief.

Zhù Ying smiled.

Gu Tong followed close behind her, trying hard to persuade her to change her mind. “We’ve gone too deep! Su and Lang are county magistrates, so yes, they can be trusted. Long Hair and White Face both have them as guarantors, so they’re reliable enough too. Going as far as the Yigan family’s home was already a risk. But that Suoning, he’s filled with deep hostility…”

Gu Tong had quite a reasonable point. When he caught Xiang Le’s eye and gave him a look, Xiang Le stopped pretending not to see it, frowning as he pondered whether he too ought to try persuading Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying said, “All right, it’s not as if I’m planning to go to the Suoning family’s home right now. What are you all so worried about? Rather than nagging at me here, you’d better start thinking about the Long Hair and White Face families’ affairs — and the Mountain Sparrow family, too. We haven’t spent much time with these three families at all!”

Gu Tong’s mind was nowhere near ready to think about that matter. He was about to say more when Zhù Ying raised a hand and pointed outside: “Someone’s coming.”

Elder Sister Hu had been standing quietly the whole time. At those words, she tilted her ear to one side and shot Zhù Ying a startled look — someone truly was approaching! Not the footsteps of the constables and white-uniformed attendants going back and forth as they busied themselves outside the tent, but the sound of several people drawing near from a distance, now within twenty paces.

Sure enough, a small soldier came to lift the tent flap: “My lord! Two county magistrates request an audience.”

Su Mingluan and Lang Kunwu had actually come together, each bringing their own maternal uncle; Lang Kunwu had also dragged along his father-in-law. The five of them entered the great tent. The Mountain Sparrow father-in-law looked around in all directions, thinking to himself: So this is what all those things they brought were for! This tent really is enormous.

Zhù Ying said, “Sit. Shall we roast some meat shortly?”

Su Mingluan said, “Godfather, the Suoning family are not gentle people.”

Lang Kunwu also said, “My lord, it would be best if you headed back first. Don’t use the mountain pass at the front — come through my home by way of my uncle’s territory. That route is safer.”

Xi Jin said, “Exactly! The way Yigan’s family has prospered, that front road has blocked quite a few troubles for them.”

Zhù Ying said, “I understand. It’s already dark; let’s all spend the night here. If you’re not in the mood for roasted meat, we can simply chat — there are still many things we haven’t settled.”

She pointed at Su Mingluan and Lang Kunwu and said, “You and I — one of whom I’ve known for nearly ten years, the other with whom I’ve dealt for a few months — we’re fairly acquainted. But these gentlemen and I have only just met a few days ago. Many things haven’t been made clear. Once we speak plainly, we’ll get along better going forward. Whatever can be settled, let’s settle. If we can’t reach the same mind, then we part on good terms, without causing each other trouble or harbouring grievances.”

Lu Guo looked as though he’d just had a bucket of cold water dumped over his head. “Didn’t you already agree? Are you going back on your word?”

Zhù Ying shook her head. “I’m not going back on my word. Little Sister receiving an imperial patent and having to submit grain and cloth is not merely an empty promise.” She turned to Xi Jin and said the same was true for Lang Kunwu’s case, then stated the amounts each of them would need to submit.

The Mountain Sparrow father-in-law said, “We can all afford it!”

Zhù Ying said, “Let me finish. Although the Suoning Cave Master’s words were rude, he did hit upon one thing. Not all officials are good people. If I were to abruptly bring you all under the court’s fold, you would only know that ‘people from beyond the mountains are no good,’ yet not understand in what ways they are no good, nor how to guard against them. The better I do my job, the more I am actually setting a trap for you. It’s like parents who only tell their children that there is danger outside the stockade, but never what kind of danger — whether it is tigers, leopards, jackals, or wolves; whether it is violent rain or a great wind. You need time to gradually come to understand the court — to learn how to deal with it. At the very least, you ought to know a little official speech and be able to write.”

“Hmph! That brat!” Su Mingluan frowned with distaste.

Zhù Ying said, “His tribespeople live here. It would be very troublesome if you wanted to wipe them out — you’ll still have to be neighbours, still have to live well alongside one another. As long as you stop fighting, stop hunting each other for human sacrifices, everyone will have peace. If he keeps at it while the rest of you don’t, no one will have any peace either. We can’t leave him out. He’s actually quite an interesting person.”

Quite an adorable person, just like Duan Zhi back then — who had once called her “a little child who knows nothing.”

The Suoning Cave Master had said she was “coming to seize our lands.” Though the words were unpleasant to hear, the fact they described was actually rather accurate. Zhù Ying did indeed plan to carve out a nest for herself in the mountains.

Before she had put down roots, it would not do to have the mountain tribes misunderstand what she was trying to do — thinking she intended to raid their strongholds — and unite against her, pushing her out.

She truly had to thank that adorable young man. His suspicion that she was “pretending to be kind only to harm people later” had given her a perfectly justifiable excuse: You suspect I have ulterior motives? Then I shall come and live right before your very eyes. You remember that your ancestors were burned to death, and you still hold wariness in your heart — fine. I’ll move in, and you can watch and see what kind of person I am.

With that beginning, things would be easier going forward.

Success and failure by the same hand — while the Suoning Cave Master had laid bare one side of her scheme, he had also helped her. When Zhù Ying looked at the Suoning Cave Master, she found him absolutely delightful.

To prevent stirring up the unpleasant association of “claiming territory,” even though she had already formed a preliminary idea of the sphere of influence she would one day define for herself, she restrained herself. For now, she only wanted a campsite — a place to live, a place to demonstrate herself. And not on the border, either, but deep in the interior.

She smiled and said, “So, what do you think?”

The Mountain Sparrow father-in-law and the other two listened to her sincere words, thought it over, and all said, “We want Little Sister/Precious Blade to help us write the documents first!” Everyone wanted to receive an imperial patent first.

Zhù Ying said, “There’s also the trading post, the roads, the planning, the boundary markers — all of that needs to be discussed, and then memorials must be submitted to the court. Back and forth, the whole affair will take several months at minimum, pushing it to next year.”

“Several months is fine!” Lu Guo was the first to say.

Xi Jin said, “If it gets done next year, that works too.”

They lived in the mountains; visiting the neighbouring stockade alone could take several days. Their sense of time was even more casual than those living beyond the mountains.

Zhù Ying said, “Very well. Will you be coming to the prefectural yamen in person to continue our discussions, or will you send someone you trust? Memorials will also need to be written.”

Neither Lu Guo nor Xi Jin knew how to write. Both said, “We’ll bring people.” They each wanted to borrow people from their nephew’s household, and the Mountain Sparrow father-in-law naturally couldn’t pass up Lang Kunwu either.

Zhù Ying said, “Good. Also, lend me a few people.”

Su Mingluan asked, “What sort of people does Godfather need?”

“People who can build. When I come back after the autumn harvest, I can’t be sleeping in tents again — I’d freeze to death, wouldn’t I?”

Over on that side, a bamboo building was already having its foundations laid. Zhù Ying had quite a knack for construction. She would first build a bamboo structure near the Yigan family’s home; that would be her lodgings whenever she came through in the future.

……

Zhù Ying spent two nights at the campsite and was in no hurry to leave the next day. She invited the Yigan Cave Master to her camp for a meal and entrusted to him the task of keeping an eye on her newly-laid foundation.

The Yigan Cave Master asked in surprise, “Is the Prefect truly going to come back?”

Zhù Ying nodded — as sincerely as she possibly could. She said, “I’ll bring farmers and seeds as well.”

The Yigan Cave Master asked with great interest, “To do what?”

Zhù Ying said, “The climate inside and outside the mountains differs slightly. I’d like to try growing grain. Once it succeeds, I’ll share the method with everyone.”

Lang Kunwu said, “Really?”

“Of course.”

Lang Kunwu said, “My stockade is surrounded by many mountains — come whenever you like.”

The Mountain Sparrow father-in-law said, “You’re young — you have many things on your hands. I’m different; I’m an old man with plenty of time on mine. My lord, come to my place.”

Zhù Ying said, “All the lands there belong to someone. I won’t take up space that’s already claimed. The mountains you have are still capable of many things.”

They all pricked up their ears, and then Zhù Ying smiled and said no more.

After two nights, Zhù Ying entrusted several families to watch over her building and guard her foundation, then led her people through Xi Jin’s territory and back to the prefectural yamen. This was two days more than her planned twenty. When she returned to the yamen, the autumn harvest had already been completed. Each county was busy drying grain and storing it in granaries, and the yamen had also grown busy — it was time to collect taxes.

This year, both Lang Kunwu and Su Mingluan would be submitting taxes. It was natural that they would hand their taxes directly to Zhù Ying. When they parted, Su Mingluan said, “My family’s rice has also been harvested, but it will take a few more days to dry. The cloth is already ready. Please wait a few days for me, Godfather.”

Zhù Ying asked, “How has the winter wheat yield been on your side these past two years? Can the land still sustain it?”

“We’ve been composting constantly and ploughing deeply. We don’t plant crops on steep slopes — only on the flatlands.”

Zhù Ying nodded. Lang Kunwu also owed grain this year. Zhù Ying said, “I’ll allocate seeds to you.”

Lang Kunwu was pleased. “Wonderful!”

Lu Guo and Xi Jin also looked at her with longing expressions. Zhù Ying said, “When they’ve learned, won’t you learn in turn?” Lu Guo immediately designated Su Deng to go with him to the prefectural city, and Xi Jin had Lang Kunwu send word to his side as well. Lang Kunwu felt a little awkward — Wolf Brother could speak the language of those below the mountains, but he couldn’t write. The one who wrote best was Chou Wen. He gave a vague reply, thinking to himself: I need to send someone down the mountain to learn writing, and quickly!

Zhù Ying brought Lu Guo and the others back to the prefectural city. Every person who saw her in the city relaxed with relief: “My lord is back!”

Zhù Ying first arranged for Lu Guo and Xi Jin to be housed at the post inn, and had Su Deng and Chou Wen stay there too. She instructed Chou Wen: “The Xi Jin family’s affairs are in your hands.”

Chou Wen quickly said, “Yes.”

Zhù Ying then returned to the yamen, first listening to a report of affairs that had occurred during her absence, then sending Xiang Le to notify Xiang Da-lang and Xiang An to come by. During her absence, Zhang Jiong had not been idle either — whether supervising the autumn harvest or preparing the granaries for storing grain, everything had been managed in perfect order. Little Wu had been left at the yamen, and with Little Wu’s self-proclaimed status as “the Prefect’s confidant,” he had tried to inspect his colleagues, but found no major fault with Zhang Jiong’s work.

Little Wu said, “He’s just slow and not very meticulous.”

Zhù Ying saw that Zhang Jiong’s work had no major problems and said, “That’s already quite good. You’ve also done well.”

Little Wu smiled smugly.

The others had also done well enough. During this period there had been no major cases, and the minor cases had all been handled impartially by Li Sifa. Zhù Ying also instructed Ding Gui: “We owe a great deal of thanks to Commandant Mei this time. Go collect some money and cloth, and load one cart with the mountain goods I brought back and send them to his home. For everyone who went out with me, five hundred cash each.”

While handling administrative affairs, she also had the mountain products brought back from the trip sent to the rear quarters.

In the rear quarters, Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da had been waiting for her two days longer than expected — they were already overdue for a scolding.

While Zhù Ying bathed and changed her clothes, Zhang Xiangu stood outside the screen and said, “Forgot about the time again, did you? I worry myself to death when you’re out there! Don’t push yourself so hard! Why do you have to go so deep into the mountains? I was nearly frantic enough to go into the mountains and look for you myself! If you keep this up, I’ll forbid you from going on any more long trips!”

Zhù Ying finished changing and came out wiping her hair. “Mother wants to go into the mountains? There’ll be plenty of chances for that in the future.”

“What?”

Zhù Ying grinned. “It’s cool in the mountains — good for escaping the summer heat. I’m building a retreat house in the mountains. When it gets hot, shall we go in?”

Zhang Xiangu said with great suspicion, “You’re not tricking me, are you? Who in their right mind would go into the mountains? There’s nothing there — it’s in the middle of nowhere! All there are is wolves that eat people! It’s not as if I’ve never seen mountains before — the mountains in Fulu are hot too.”

“Those are just little hillocks. The mountaintops are cool — you have to actually stay there.”

Zhang Xiangu was only half-convinced. “You wouldn’t be tricking me again, would you?”

“How could I? The mountain people are quite nice too — no one tried to attack me.”

Zhang Xiangu said with feigned reproach, “You’re just plain reckless! Come now, it’s time to eat.”

Zhù Ying said, “I asked Xiang Da-lang over for a talk. I’ll eat when that’s done.”

She went to the study, where Xiang An was already waiting, and Xiang Da-lang had come too. Xiang Da-lang had been at the prefectural city during the autumn harvest to oversee the sugar mill — and the sugar mill was turning an impressive profit. The pricing had been lowered quite a bit, but output was high and the goods sold well. The prefecture had no sugar mills of its own to speak of — or only small workshops that couldn’t compete with them at all. Xiang Da-lang was steadily recouping his investment.

He had lost a little weight and came trotting over with his account books in small, quick steps.

Zhù Ying said, “Things look good?”

Xiang Da-lang smiled. “Yes. There were a few troublemakers at the prefectural city — but those have all been settled. Here are the account books.”

Zhù Ying flipped through them casually and asked, “Has sugarcane been purchased?”

Xiang Da-lang said, “Yes. Ours is the largest sugar mill among all the counties in the prefecture. I’ve already bought up some of last autumn’s sugarcane, and this year’s crop will be coming in shortly — we can keep up the supply without a gap! If sugar mills are built in every county, sugarcane will be the most essential thing — better to reserve it in advance.” He also reported the price of sugarcane and other such matters.

Zhù Ying said, “When the time comes, take my card and go find Commandant Mei — see how much he has.”

“Understood. Shall I grade his supply at premium quality?” Xiang Da-lang hastily explained that when he purchased sugarcane he didn’t buy it all indiscriminately — he sorted it into three grades, superior, middle, and inferior, and set different prices for each.

Zhù Ying said, “Take a look at what he has and how much of it first.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying then asked Xiang An, “How much inventory does the official sugar mill have now?”

Xiang An said, “Unfortunately, Master Tang used up a lot of sugarcane earlier, so not much remains, and production has been low. We have one thousand catties of raw sugar, four hundred catties of white granulated sugar, plus three hundred catties of rock candy, two hundred catties of brown block sugar…”

Zhù Ying said, “Set those aside for me — I have a use for them. Take all the raw sugar and white granulated sugar and pack them in portions of one hundred and twenty catties each: one hundred catties of raw sugar paired with twenty catties of white granulated sugar.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying said, “Also take some white granulated sugar to the back. I’ll need it.”

“Yes.”

Merchants are professionals — procurement was something she didn’t need to trouble herself over. Zhù Ying was in excellent spirits. She also said that everyone had worked hard, telling them, “This is a fine moment — I’ll still need to rely on you.”

The brother and sister both said they wouldn’t dare claim otherwise. Xiang Da-lang was earning good money, and Xiang An felt that she herself had not been idle to no purpose — with the sugar mill profit shared among them all, everyone was in high spirits. Zhù Ying said with a smile to Xiang Da-lang, “In a little while we’ll head to the prefectural city — you’re coming too. The price of granulated sugar hasn’t gone up yet, so you must be feeling anxious, yes?”

“I am — no, no, I’m not anxious. My lord must have a plan in mind.”

Zhù Ying said, “What plan? I’m going to open another avenue for you. You two — pick out a few sharp craftsmen, bring them here. I’ll teach them how to make sugar.”

“Yes.”

The things Zhù Ying was going to teach were all fairly simple — just things others hadn’t thought of yet.

She switched the wheat straws for thin bamboo skewers and tied them into a little bundle shaped like a straw man, then stuck the bundle full of sugar pieces so they could be taken off one by one. This time she adopted Xiang Da-lang’s suggestion — she herself walked ahead as a living advertisement, with several people behind her carrying the bundles and parading through the streets. When she passed children on the road, she took a piece of sugar from a bundle and gave it to a child to eat as she went. She brought Zhù Lian and Su Zhe and the other children along to stroll through the streets, everyone holding sugar and eating as they walked.

Within half a day, everyone in the prefectural city knew that such a new kind of sugar had appeared. Zhù Ying was surrounded by many children. She smiled as she distributed sugar to them, then suddenly said to one of them, “You’ve already taken one just now.”

The child pulled a grievance-stricken face and slunk backward sheepishly. Zhù Ying said, “Wait till we’ve handed out everything — if there’s any left over, I’ll give you another one.”

The child cheered up again.

A young woman walked past, glanced over and then looked away. Zhù Ying said, “Hey — you’re not yet fifteen; you can take one too.”

The young woman was greatly surprised. Zhù Ying said, “Take it.” She knew at least some of the people in the prefectural city.

An old woman sitting and sunbathing at her doorway had a piece pressed into her hand as well. “It’s sweet,” Zhù Ying said. The old woman moved too slowly to get up and bow in return before the sugar was already in her hand, and she stood there dazed. Zhù Ying smiled, took Su Zhe’s hand, and walked on toward the market ahead.

No matter which tribe or family the child came from, no matter whether boy or girl, no matter rich or poor — if she encountered them, she gave them a piece. She handed out sugar and chatted with the children at the same time, asking whether they knew the character-learning song, and whether they knew how to use the literacy steles.

Some children knew; some didn’t. Zhù Ying said, “Let me tell you — you sing the song along with the characters on top of it, counting them one by one, so that when you reach a word in the song, that character looks like what’s carved on the stele. You read from top to bottom, right to left. Tomorrow I’ll come back. Whoever can sing it gets a piece of sugar — twenty pieces, first come first served.”

Before long, Zhù Ying had distributed all three hundred-odd pieces. The remaining few she gave as promised to the child who had already received one. A few more children were still clustered around her. One sharp-witted one opened his mouth and sang through a verse of the character-learning song on the spot. Zhù Ying smiled and gave him a piece too.

Very quickly, the sugar was all gone. Zhù Ying spread her hands. “Well, it’s all gone now. I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon.”  Then she took her own little children back to the yamen.

The next morning, everyone knew: this was the Prefect’s sugar — and the Xiang family sugar mill would be selling it!

A single piece of sugar costing a few copper coins — granted, that money could have bought more than ten catties of rice, or two liang of granulated sugar — but quite a few households in the city could still spare that amount to let their children try something novel. Snacks had always cost more than staple food.

The sugar mill simply handled output. Individual shops and peddlers came to buy wholesale — that was also quite good. In addition, to prevent price gouging, the sugar mill set up its own street stall to sell at a price higher than the wholesale price for shops and peddlers — adding a larger profit margin.

Within a few days, something new had appeared on the prefectural city’s streets.

……

The sugar distribution was just a sideline. She hadn’t forgotten the real business with the Hua Pa tribe either. Only now that Lu Guo and Xi Jin had arrived did they begin to understand how complicated the matter truly was. Lu Guo said, “We trust my lord. There’s no need to go to all this trouble.”

Zhù Ying said, “That won’t do. Everything we do going forward has to follow this procedure. If there’s something I fail to deliver, you can bring this agreement out and call me to account. Without spelling things out clearly, if you’re dissatisfied later, you won’t even have a basis to argue from.”

Su Deng had never written these kinds of documents before, but he had been studying characters and reading for longer and Asu County had already begun implementing some of the agreed-upon terms. Chou Wen had gone through this once before. The two of them adapted well. The mountains were gradually entering the time of harvest, but unlike the official yamen below the mountains, these chiefs did not take much personal charge of the harvest. Both, along with the Mountain Sparrow father-in-law, resided below the mountains.

Su Qingtian and Wolf Brother also came by separately to pay their respects. These two had come to collect the sugar; before departing, they came to ask if there were any messages to carry back.

The Mountain Sparrow father-in-law said, “You’re really delivering them?”

Chou Wen said, “My lord never deceives anyone.”

As he said this, Chou Wen had one worry at the back of his mind: What exactly am I? An official of the yamen? I have no status. A member of the stockade? I’m no longer one of them. A middleman? I’m not taking a commission either. He wanted to attach himself to Zhù Ying — but she hadn’t made any such offer.

A moment of melancholy.

……——

“Little Zhù.”

Zhù Ying opened her eyes and jumped off the swing. “What is it?”

Hua Jie glanced around and said, “There’s something.”

“Let’s walk.” It seemed Hua Jie had something private to say. Zhù Ying brought her to her own room — it was quiet there and nobody came by.

The two sat down by the window of the side room. Zhù Ying pushed the window open, glanced outside — no one was eavesdropping.

Hua Jie said, “The mountain people… have you made some new arrangement for them?”

Zhù Ying smiled and asked, “What makes you say that?”

“You told Godmother you wanted to go into the mountains to escape the summer heat. I always feel something isn’t quite right. If you have some plan, does the household need to prepare for anything?” Hua Jie slowly analysed it. “You never do anything purposeless, and you never speak idly. If you say you’re going into the mountains, it may not be for the heat, but into the mountains you will certainly go.”

Zhù Ying nodded. “I can’t hide it from you.”

“Is it to set up a new county? That would be a great achievement — but Godmother and Godfather are getting on in years. Unlike you, they can’t take the strain. If you want to do something grand, that’s a good thing, but they…”

Zhù Ying said, “I only want them to spend their old age in peace. How could I put them through any more hardship? Listen to me — what I truly want is to build a home for myself in the mountains.”

“Why? Is it to avoid disaster? In case your…”

Zhù Ying said, “Something like that.”

“You’ve rendered so many meritorious services to the court — surely the court can still tolerate you?”

Zhù Ying said, “Rely on their good conscience? I refuse to eke out my survival depending on someone else’s benevolence. Sister, neither of us is the type who waits for others to have a change of heart and treat us kindly. We must plan for the worst.”

Hua Jie steadied herself. “You’re right — you do need a way out. But in unfamiliar territory, with just the few of us, I’m afraid…”

“Mm, you’re right. That’s why I’ll build a city, claim a piece of land — mine, my own territory, not to be given to the court.”

Hua Jie thought she had guessed part of it, but was still startled. “Ah? Set yourself up as a ruler? Revolt?”

“How can you call it that? I’m expanding territory. There’s no way I could defeat the court in open rebellion! This miasma-ridden land is poor in soil and sparse in population.”

Hua Jie stumbled over her words. “So you really have thought about it… well, but — would you be suppressed?”

Zhù Ying said, “That’s why I’m choosing to be in the mountains. I’ve also had a good look at the terrain. There’s one stretch of natural obstacles — easy to defend, difficult to attack.”

“You’ve discussed this with the various tribes?”

“I haven’t discussed it with them at all.”

“Ah?” Hua Jie said, “Wait — let’s start from the beginning.”

Zhù Ying nodded. “Good. I’ll explain from the beginning. First, why do I want to find my own piece of land and manage it well? Right now I’m a court-appointed official. The people in the yamen and in the counties below answer to me because I am the Prefect. The ones who would follow me without asking any questions are only Xiang Le and Xiang An — because I avenged their father’s death. Even Little Wu and people like him — they appear to be my people, but in reality? They’re looking out for their own futures, not pledging loyalty to a… they’re not ‘my people.’ Even setting aside their futures, they still have their own lives and property to think about.

“Everything I’ve gained through my standing as a court official — one imperial decree and it all melts away like ice in sunlight, even if it’s all things I earned myself, things I deserved. By the time that happens, even if the court doesn’t openly pursue me, there will certainly be people who won’t let me off. After more than ten years as an official, how could I have made no enemies? What would I do then?”

Hua Jie listened in a daze as Zhù Ying laid out the realities of her situation, and her heart ached for her. She nodded. “You’re right. Even while you’re still an official, people are already trying to harm you.”

“Exactly. Think about how many years Gong Jie served as Chief Minister — his power was no small thing, and his supporters were no few. And how did he end up? You can see that his approach doesn’t work. You have to be strong on your own terms. And what is strongest of all? Soldiers, people, land, grain — you must have your own territory. At the very least, you need to be able to protect yourself. We haven’t yet reached the point where the people rise against the government — under heaven, there is no land that is not the Emperor’s territory. Wherever the court’s reach extends, it likely cannot accommodate me. Once people know what I am… many who follow me will surely waver. They won’t fight the court on my behalf. If I’m in trouble, some may rescue me — and that is the most they will do. But why should I resign myself to obscurity? I still have so many things I haven’t done!”

Having “one’s own power” wasn’t something you could rely on others to build for you. You had to cultivate a territory that was truly “your own.”

Hua Jie slowly nodded. “You’re better at being an official than all of them! I dare say you’re no worse than Chief Minister Wang. Why should you have to let it all go?”

“Since that’s the case, I need to choose the right location. This place is just right. If I hadn’t come here, I would never have thought of this path — at most I would have resigned before something happened, treating everything as a dream, and spent my savings restoring a broken-down temple or buying a Taoist pass, taking on a few disciples and continuing to tell fortunes for people. It’s different now. I came here! In the heart of these mountains — there is no better place, though the land is poor. It is also far from the court. Given the court as it is now, they won’t send a great army to suppress me. As long as they don’t move in great force, I can weather any other tactic they have.”

Zhù Ying continued: “Before, this wasn’t possible — I had nothing then; even my ‘status as a court official’ wasn’t solid enough. Now everything is in place. Though I can’t say the river will flow there on its own, I can no longer wait. I’ll dig the channel myself and divert the water — that too is something I can manage.”

“What do you plan to do? What should I do? I’ll take good care of Godfather and Godmother. What else? Give me something to do.”

“I’m already doing it,” Zhù Ying said. “My trip into the mountains serves both to bring the various tribes under the court’s indirect control on behalf of the court, and to serve my own purposes. I’ve already selected a site for a future city from the topographic maps that the three tribes and five families described and drew for me. First I’ll build a bamboo structure; then I’ll spend half of every month over there and half in the Southern Prefecture. I’ll stay there a while — partly to observe whether the site I’ve chosen is suitable for building a city, whether there are risks of landslides or flash floods, and partly to accumulate building materials on the spot. If no other complications arise, I’ll build a city there.”

Hua Jie said, “Wait — will they agree to this?”

Zhù Ying suddenly laughed. “Speaking of that, there’s quite a story! That person from the Suoning family…” She smiled as she told the story of the Suoning Cave Master.

Hua Jie said, “The sins of past generations, endured by those who come after! That previous Prefect — what a terrible person! Not only did he harm people’s lives, he also made things difficult for you. And that Suoning Cave Master too — hasn’t he heard of you?”

As she spoke, she poured Zhù Ying a bowl of tea and pushed it toward her.

Zhù Ying drained it in one go and said, “I truly have to thank him. I had been thinking about this for some time. The territory boundaries among the mountain tribes are unclear, and there are many places that are ‘unclaimed.’ Many families say that those are their lands — but in truth, only hunters from their families have passed through there; no one has lived there for generations. Deep in these mountains there are also many descendants of fled refugees. Some have joined various tribes, or been captured as slaves. Others depend on no one, forming small clusters of a few households that have reproduced for generations on their own. Some members of the tribes also don’t live in the main stockade. There are also escaped slaves and such.

“As long as I have a hundred-odd households to start with, I can get by — and the better things will get. In three to five years I can open up some thin strips of farmland. Without drawing on craftsmen from below the mountains — just teaching people carpentry, teaching people to farm — I can do it all myself. Small stockades and villages willing to join me, I’ll take them in too. I can gradually bring people together. The hard part is how to get started. The Suoning Cave Master’s words gave me a perfectly legitimate excuse.”

Hua Jie listened as she laid it all out so clearly and thoroughly, with her plans already in place, and laughed. “No one but you.”

“I’ll start by building a retreat. First a bamboo structure to stay in — then I’ll say the place is too crude and find a better spot to build something sturdier.”

A retreat was not simply one house — it was usually a large manor estate, as common knowledge dictated. A large estate should have land, people, workshops of all kinds, even a small marketplace; with all the various forms of management that entailed, it could even have its own able-bodied men serving as soldiers. It wasn’t so different from a large town. Expand it a little further and it would be a small county seat.

If the court could tolerate her, she would continue serving as an official. If they could not, she would take a mountain stronghold as her domain. She was an expert at ferreting out hidden households for the court — her skill at concealing her own encroachments was no lesser than others’. All the more so in the mountains.

Hua Jie said, “You’ve made up your mind — then let’s go do it!” She only wished they had started sooner. Hua Jie felt a deep sadness at heart. Zhù Ying was better than any other official in the court, yet she had to work this hard just to preserve her own life and property. She had already been fighting for more than ten years, and only now could it truly be said that they were “just getting started.”

Zhù Ying saw her grow unhappy again, thinking to herself: The private plans I have in my head are not something I can tell you!

She had never put herself on a moral pedestal where she’d have no way down but to hang there stiffly. Her reputation among the Southern Prefecture and the various tribes had nothing to do with “ritual law” — it came from “practical work,” “fairness,” and “care for the people.” These had no particular necessary connection to what the court advocated. Ask the tribes, and they would say, “This official is different.” Ask the common people, and they would say, “My lord is different from the others — she’s a true upright magistrate.” Mediocrity, exploitation, and lofty detachment were the norm for officials. Sometimes they combined all three qualities; sometimes only one. If an official was merely lofty and detached but did everything else well, that was still considered a rare good official — such as Chief Administrator Lu, who could already be counted among the difficult-to-find decent ones.

The trust built up through one’s own gradual accumulation — those who gathered around you for that reason were truly “your own people.” It was only because she had cultivated Fulu County and then the Southern Prefecture over all these years that she could now say with confidence, “People will come to me.”

From the very beginning, she had never been a “loyal” person — not loyal to the Emperor, not loyal to the court, and certainly not loyal to ritual law.

And then there was Su Mingluan. Her help to Su Mingluan also had a private motive behind it. Once her identity was exposed, her fate would directly touch upon Su Mingluan three thousand li away. Su Mingluan was absolutely not someone who would sit and wait to be destroyed. She was very likely to rouse the tribes. At that point, the court would face a difficult dilemma, and Zhù Ying might just gain a thread of a chance at survival.

She, Zhù Ying, had never considered herself a good person.

These things were not to be said to Hua Jie.

Zhù Ying said, “When the retreat is finished, help me with one thing. Come with me to see it, and memorise the route carefully. If something happens, bring them there with you!”

“All right.”

Zhù Ying said, “If you see anyone below the mountains who truly cannot stand their ground, we’ll take them in too.”

“Yes!”

“Good. Now you know everything, so there’s no need to worry anymore, right? As for Father and Mother — don’t say too much to them for now.”

“I understand. First say it’s a retreat estate.”

Zhù Ying stood up, patted herself on the behind, and said, “Goodness, I still have things to do.”

“What things?”

“Prepare some offerings for the gods.”

“Oh?” Hua Jie was surprised. Though Zhù Ying had once been something of a sham spiritualist, she was not a devout person.

Zhù Ying smiled cheerfully. “You’ll know when the time comes.”

—