The person said: “I was sent by County Magistrate Su of Asu County. My name is Wuxing, and I have come on orders to seek help.” As he spoke, he struggled to pull a token from his breast pocket.
Zhù Wen held his blade in one hand, and carefully extended his right leg to probe the space near Wuxing, crouching partway to the side. With his other hand, he took the token. The token bore the insignia of the Asu family — a token the Zhù household people had all seen before.
Zhù Wen sheathed his blade, made a hand signal into the compound, and two people came out to support the visitor. Zhù Wen himself stepped out of the gate and looked up and down the street, seeing no sign of anyone in pursuit. He gave another signal: “Bring him in.”
He drew his blade halfway, stood guard at the gatehouse, and told one of his companions: “Run and report to the honored official at once.”
Zhù Ying had just sent the name cards off and picked up the notes Zhang and Fan had filed, beginning to study Kun Da Chi’s case from the top. She had not gone through many pages when someone came to report: “Honored official — someone from Asu County has come to seek help.”
“Bring them in.” Zhù Ying said, unhurried. Su Mingluan had already given her advance notice some time earlier. Zhù Qingjun had fallen ill and was now recovering; the Asu County emissary arriving now was, if anything, rather late.
Very shortly, Wuxing was brought in. Zhù Qingjun glanced at him twice, then retreated to one side and slipped around a pillar, leaving the study to fetch a copper basin and water. She mixed a basin of warm water and carried it over. Wuxing was already handing Zhù Ying a thick, flat cloth package: “Everything is written in here. The County Magistrate says — please look it over first.”
Zhù Ying saw Zhù Qingjun carrying the basin over and said: “Wash your face first.”
Wuxing nodded. He bore no relation to Wuren — the surname Wu was his because he was a blood relative of the Asu family’s grand shaman. When the Asu family became Asu County and Su Mingluan took the surname “Su,” this branch of the grand shaman’s lineage took the surname “Wu.” “Xing” was his given name; his mother’s particular talent was reading the stars to divine auspicious and inauspicious fortunes — a trade she shared with the Zhù household.
Unrolling the coarse cloth wrapping revealed an official memorial along with several letters. Zhù Ying read the letters first. The thickest was in Su Mingluan’s own hand, and its gist was:
That wretched provincial governor is completely useless. We are done playing along with him. The five of us have come up with a plan. We have written five memorials of nearly identical content, each bearing the seals of all five of us, to be sent to the capital by five different routes. Please look over the memorials — if you find our writing lacking, please make corrections and have someone copy them out anew. Whatever we have not handled to your satisfaction, please adjust as you see fit. The mountain village family has also dispatched his son as one of the routes. I had originally planned to send my little sister to the capital, but the current situation is unstable, and I have only this one daughter — it is not convenient. Once the situation in Wuzhou settles down, I will send her to the capital to find you. If you feel this arrangement is unsuitable, please write back to me so I can make other arrangements for my little sister.
The estate is perfectly well. My aunt and the others have gone to stay at the estate, and by all appearances they are more at ease there than they were on the mountain below. Right — the commercial road below the mountain is obstructed, and many goods depend on the estate’s workshops for supply, so people’s daily lives have not been too drastically affected. Of course it cannot compare to before. But no matter — the one we all resent is the current useless provincial governor.
At the end, she wrote at length about certain realizations she had arrived at recently, as though returning to the days ten years ago when she would submit her assignments to Zhù Ying. “When you told me then that my eyes must hold the world within them, I thought at the time that your words were far too grand — I had not even sorted out my own household yet; what did the world have to do with me? Now at last I understand. The troubles we face today, had they come upon us in the past, the only thing we could have done would have been to clash with the people below the mountain — wound each other and each come to a stalemate, the mountains still closed and impoverished, the provincial governor below still suffering no consequences. Now it is different. I know how to write a memorial. We know the road to the capital. We can drive out those we dislike while minimizing our own losses. Whatever grievances I may hold against the imperial court, I will never forget the kindness you have shown me.”
Su Mingluan had left some things unsaid in the letter, but because of this affair, the five counties had grown more unified than ever before — not only that, but because her plan had proven so astute, the weight of her word among the five counties grew heavier still.
Beyond that were letters from Lang Kunwu and the others, each with more or less the same content and a uniformly aligned stance: we are entrusting this whole matter to our adoptive father. Whatever arrangement you make, we will follow. We want this provincial governor gone, and we want the next one not to meddle in our affairs.
Lang Kunwu and Su Mingluan had written their letters personally. Xiajin, Lu Guo, and Shanyue were all older and had learned more slowly — they could speak a fair amount but had not mastered writing, so their letters were written by their sons and nephews.
Among them, the letter from Shanyue’s father-in-law was in Lin Feng’s handwriting. The first half was written in the voice of Shanyue’s father-in-law; the second half had shifted to Lin Feng’s own voice. The gist: Adoptive Father, I am coming!
Zhù Ying then looked over the memorial. True to form, Su Mingluan — the person who had spent the longest time studying under her among all five counties — had written something that looked entirely proper. She opened with lavish praise for the Emperor’s glorious reign, then appealed for the Emperor to act on their behalf. She followed this with a detailed account of specific grievances, including but not limited to: bullying the various clans, seizing the clans’ ancestral lands and bondservants, driving the county’s nominated students in border studies out of the school, causing strange occurrences to arise throughout the mountains of Wuzhou — the roads leading out of the mountains had been cut off, wild animals had begun roaming about in broad daylight, white-feathered pheasants had all flown westward and could not even be chased, all the lingzhi mushrooms had withered overnight without a single one surviving.
In the middle, Su Mingluan inserted a passage of particularly aggrieved personal complaint: When the territories were first brought under tributary governance, was it not I who was the “pioneer” who first agreed to accept the arrangement? And for all these years since, not one coin’s worth of my taxes has been left unpaid, and I have caused no trouble for the people below the mountain. I even traveled to the capital and was received in audience by Your Majesty. And now — what is the meaning of this? Is it that as a woman I am no longer deemed worthy? Or is it that a female chieftain of a foreign tribe who turns her heart toward the imperial court is only seeking her own destruction? Your Majesty, please give me an answer.
Finally, she wrote that the new provincial governor was too ruthless and harsh, and they were all terrified. And so they dispatched five routes of messengers, hoping Heaven would take pity on them and allow at least one route to reach the capital. If Heaven would not take pity on them and had determined to sever their bond with His Majesty, then that was the will of Heaven. Yet they still remembered the generous rewards His Majesty had bestowed during their visit to the capital, and their children still remembered His Majesty’s warm and amiable kindness.
Oh, sob sob~
After reading through it all, Zhù Ying laughed and asked Wuxing: “And the others? When did the group of you set out?”
Wuxing had already washed his face. He still looked a little tired, but not the kind of person who could be dragged away and buried at any moment. He had already drunk a large bowl of milk tea and had quietly given Zhù Qingjun a thumbs-up. Zhù Qingjun gave a nod and took the basin out.
Wuxing said: “We set off not long after the Deputy Administrator departed. We did not dare to overtake them. We kept our outer-territory clothing on the whole way and posed as a group of merchants. It was only two hundred li from the capital that we changed back into our own clothes and entered the capital separately. Our County Magistrate said the group should go to different places. I was to come to this residence; the boy from the Shanyue family was to go first to the old residence and then come here; the Talang family’s man was to go to the guild hall; and as for the other two families’ people — they were to go out onto the main street and weep loudly a few times.”
Zhù Ying asked: “How far behind you are the others?”
Wuxing said: “Not too far behind. The boy from the Shanyue family is quick — he may be nearly at the old residence by now. The other few are a bit slower. It was deliberately staggered, so as not to all arrive on the same day, which would look suspicious.”
Zhù Ying said to her elder martial sister Hu: “Take two people and go to the old residence — go and welcome Lin Feng.”
Elder Martial Sister Hu was devoted in heart to the Wuzhou people, and immediately said: “Yes.”
Zhù Ying then arranged for the Xiang siblings to go to the city gates, the guild hall, and other such places to wait. They were to return when the curfew bell rang, and continue waiting again the next day. Then she said to Wuxing: “Get yourself cleaned up, and come with me.”
“Yes.”
Zhù Ying then said to Zhù Qingjun: “Wait here at home. Should a female official come and say that she was summoned by my name card, receive her for me. If she does not come today, then simply read your books.”
“Yes.”
Zhù Ying changed into a set of official robes, told Zhù Wen to prepare the horse carriage, and climbed into the carriage with Wuxing: “Go. To the Imperial City.”
……
At the gate of the Imperial City, Zhù Ying said to Wuxing: “Stay in the carriage and do not show yourself — wait for me to call you before emerging.”
Wuxing asked anxiously: “If we are going to make a formal complaint, I just washed my face and have eaten — and Qingjun even dusted my clothes for me. I’m afraid I don’t look much like someone who has traveled a great distance. Am I perhaps not disheveled enough?”
Zhù Ying looked him up and down and said: “Once you are inside, remove your cloak and let yourself look thinly dressed.”
“Understood!”
Zhù Ying took the memorial and strode into the Imperial City. Luo Sheng was not at the Court of Dependencies; Zhù Ying went directly to the Council of State with the memorial in hand. It was that time of day when the Emperor had withdrawn to rest in the inner palace and the two Chief Ministers had already handled most of the day’s affairs and were preparing to leave for home. Seeing Zhù Ying arrive, Minister Shi Kun exclaimed in surprise: “You? Has the agreement with the foreign envoys not already been signed? Has something changed?”
Wang Yunhe also set down his brush and looked at Zhù Ying’s rather unfavorable expression.
Zhù Ying said: “This official is ashamed — for a moment I was not watching carefully, and a small matter has arisen in Wuzhou.”
Shi Kun asked: “The Wuzhou Deputy Administrator… Zhang Yun, is that right? Did he not just come to report for duty? I just saw the Ministry of Personnel’s report saying that Wuzhou has been doing rather well this year. Why had you not mentioned this before?”
Zhù Ying said: “Please look, Chief Minister.” She handed up Su Mingluan’s memorial. Shi Kun grew more agitated with every line he read, and when finished, passed it to Wang Yunhe. After reading it, Wang Yunhe first asked Zhù Ying: “Where is the messenger?”
Zhù Ying said: “He arrived at my home just now. I did not dare delay, so I brought him along — he is just outside the palace gate.”
Wang Yunhe and Shi Kun exchanged a glance and dispatched a secretary, saying: “Go bring the person in.” He wrote a temporary pass; the secretary took it, and Zhù Ying said: “Let me go along with him — the person had quite a fright, and he may not trust someone he does not know.”
Wang Yunhe gave a grave and serious nod: “Go.”
Even if the five counties’ “tribal people” did not rebel — even if they merely refused to continue under tributary governance — that would be enough to give the court a severe headache. Zhù Ying and the secretary went out and brought Wuxing in. Once inside, Wuxing removed his cloak, revealing the garments beneath.
Zhù Ying said: “This is Chief Minister Shi. And this is Chief Minister Wang — those two volumes of collected essays were written by him.”
Wuxing greeted both men in his official tongue, with a noticeable regional accent. The two men studied him briefly and found no obvious incongruity — his features bore a southern cast, his accent matched, and his attire was entirely consistent. Both men told him to rise and sit.
Shi Kun asked: “You are from Wuzhou? Which family?”
Wuxing said: “I was sent by Asu County. I have not made up any of this. This is my first time in the capital — the people who knew the roads did not come? It seems they met with trouble on the way.”
Wang Yunhe asked: “The others?”
Zhù Ying said: “Apparently, there are five routes in total. I have encountered only this one so far. People have already been sent to the area around the city gates, the Wuzhou guild hall, and the old residence to wait. As long as Lin Feng has arrived, he will turn up at one of these places. Even if he goes to the Four Barbarians’ Hostel, that place will send word quickly.”
Shi Kun said: “And what matters are there at those various places?”
Zhù Ying said wearily: “When have any of them been to the capital? Only one of them — Lin Feng — previously had an audience with His Majesty. He is not yet twenty years old this year; whether he still remembers the roads is hard to say. If he has arrived safely, these are all places he might plausibly go.”
Wang Yunhe said gravely: “You know what the present moment calls for — this matter cannot be allowed to make a stir.”
“Yes.”
The two men exchanged a look, then questioned Wuxing: “What has happened in Wuzhou?”
Wuxing’s eyes grew moist: “He is terrible! He wants to seize our people and our land! The households of people who serve as officials down below the mountain get to keep their own land and don’t even pay taxes. Why should all of our County Magistrate’s people and land be handed over to him? When the three years were up, it should have been time for the rotation of the Chief Administrator and the Military Supervisor positions. He collected the official seals from the old Chief Administrator and Military Supervisor, and said nothing about who would take the new appointments. When asked, he acted like some kind of divine immortal, smiling and shaking his head — and his lackeys said our county had no merit. And if we wanted to earn merit? We would have to hand over our people and land in exchange for him petitioning the court on our behalf. It is outrageously unfair!” As he spoke, his face flushed darker and darker. He raised his hand and struck his own thigh in frustrated rage.
Wang Yunhe and Shi Kun needed only a moment’s thought to grasp seven or eight tenths of the picture. This kind of official thinking was entirely clear to them — it was about political achievements. Both men cursed inwardly. What this local official had done was something local officials were entirely capable of doing. They had themselves once put careful thought into this person’s appointment, reviewing his past record — whether in matters of education and civilization, population and household registration, or tax and revenue, all had been satisfactory. No complaints from the local gentry had been raised, no reputation for scandal, and no history of recklessness or reckless ambition.
But Wuzhou was a special case, and he had misjudged it. Or rather — upon arriving there and seeing that the groundwork had already been laid and that the conditions for further progress were ripe, most people would find it nearly impossible to resist the temptation to “take the next step.”
Looking at the memorial’s wording once more — the final passage made the meaning plain enough. If this were not handled properly, the minimum outcome would be a rupture, with more severe consequences also entirely possible. This matter needed to be reported to the Emperor.
Zhù Ying said: “As for the positions of Chief Administrator and Military Supervisor — that matter is actually not so bad. I thought of it a while back, and the Court of Dependencies sent a directive to the Ministry of Personnel; the Ministry of Personnel has already forwarded the relevant notice.”
Wang Yunhe said: “Even so, there is no room for further delay! These self-important fools who think they’re so clever…”
“Idiots,” Shi Kun said, not mincing words.
Wang Yunhe said: “The two of you wait here — Chief Minister Shi, this matter cannot be hidden from His Majesty.” Five routes, with four still outstanding — what if one of them ran out onto the main street and cried out that the imperial court was seizing the land and people of foreign tributaries? Easy to say, ugly to hear.
Shi Kun said: “You go.” He then kept Zhù Ying and Wuxing waiting in the Council of State for further word.
——…——
The Emperor was having dinner with the Crown Prince. Though the Crown Prince had been living under the shadow of aggrievement, things had slowly begun to improve. He had grown wiser, and now without fail performed his morning and evening greetings to his father — and beyond that, looked for opportunities to discuss one particular pressing matter with the Emperor: the marriage of his eldest son.
The dinner table had only just been set when Wang Yunhe arrived with the memorial. The Emperor said: “Is it your turn to stay on duty tonight?”
Wang Yunhe: “Yes.”
“What is the matter?”
Wang Yunhe explained the situation. The Emperor’s face fell, growing markedly dark and overcast. Lan Xing gestured at the musicians, and the music ceased. In the Crown Prince’s heart, small drums began to beat.
Wang Yunhe said: “According to this official’s conjecture, he acted too hastily. His intention was likely to have the tributary population formally registered as subjects under the household system, but he failed to properly pacify the various clans. He imposed the segregation of men and women in the Confucian manner, yet failed to grasp the actual circumstances of the territory under his jurisdiction.”
The Emperor then asked: “Five routes of messengers?”
“One has arrived. As for the others — Zhù Ying reports that she has already sent people to search for them. This official believes that the Capital Governor’s office must also be alerted, and that riders should be dispatched along the southern post roads to intercept further arrivals. The fewer who know of this matter, the better.”
“And Zhù Ying? How did she handle things? How did Wuzhou end up in disarray?”
Wang Yunhe said: “She had always been diligent and conscientious. When she was there, Wuzhou was still relatively stable.”
The Emperor said: “Where is she now? And where is the messenger?”
“Still at the Council of State.”
“Send her to me.”
Wuxing was not summoned, and had to wait anxiously in the Council of State, staring at Chief Minister Shi from across the room. Shi Kun was quite genial toward him and had servants bring food. The two of them ate while Shi Kun asked: “So you have actually read Chief Minister Wang’s collected essays?”
Wuxing did not dare eat freely. He picked up a savory roll, took a bite, then set it back down on the dish, and said carefully: “Books are scarce in our Wuzhou. Whatever our teacher brought back from the capital, that is what we read. Our teacher said that Chief Minister Wang’s writings are clear and easy to understand.”
“Oh. And you could understand them?”
“I understood some of it.”
“Which parts?”
The two of them fell into a back-and-forth. Wuxing had food to eat. Meanwhile, Zhù Ying stood before the Emperor and had not gotten a bite.
After entering the hall, she managed at least to be given a seat, but the Emperor’s tone was not entirely pleasant: “Exactly what is going on?”
He had remembered — his auspicious signs! And furthermore, his expanding frontiers! His four directions submitting in deference! His people embracing civilization and transformation!
Zhù Ying said: “According to this official’s conjecture, it appears that Wuzhou was attempting to register the population under the household system, and proceeded with too much haste. The five counties already harbor a degree of wariness toward the imperial court — like birds startled by the mere sound of a bowstring. Does Your Majesty still recall, two years ago during the five counties’ audience, the confrontation between County Magistrate Lin of Dun County and General Sun? Then there was the matter of using the appointments of the Chief Administrator and Military Supervisor as leverage — it was enough to conjure up memories of certain past events.”
“Chief Administrator and Military Supervisor?”
Zhù Ying offered a reminder of the situation in Wuzhou.
The Emperor then asked: “How does registering households become seizing their people?”
Zhù Ying said: “Those people and those lands have been their possessions for generations. It was only a few years ago that this official converted the ‘slaves’ in their keeping into ‘bondservants’ — and while they are bondservants, they remain their people.” She briefly explained the distinction between slaves and bondservants, since the memorials typically used a single character for both.
In this matter, the Emperor was far better informed than the provincial governor, and he scolded: “Outrageous! Who is the Wuzhou Provincial Governor? Is he in the capital?”
Wang Yunhe said: “This year, Wuzhou sent its Deputy Administrator to the capital for his report.”
The Emperor said: “Question him!”
“Yes.”
Zhù Ying took the opportunity to petition: “Your Majesty — Wuzhou must not be underestimated. The position of the five counties is advantageous.”
“Oh?”
Zhù Ying said: “Please permit this official to explain.” She again went over the positional relationship between the five counties and the Western Frontier. In the months she had spent at the Court of Dependencies, her preparation on such subjects had become increasingly thorough. She further described to the Emperor a strategic arrangement involving an “attack from two flanks.”
The strategic scale was rather large. Zhù Ying said: “This entire region is mostly high ground and mountain ranges — entry and exit are both difficult. At present it would be very difficult for the imperial court to route forces through here. But planting a foothold here can serve as a means of containment — far easier than the court mobilizing a great army for a full-scale offensive.”
The Emperor grew serious: “You have thought this through well.”
Zhù Ying added: “Does Your Majesty still recall the Western Frontier prince, Kun Da Chi? In addition to concluding the agreement, he has been exploring matters in the capital and has discovered the tea bricks from Asu County. When the Western Frontier envoys came two years ago, they stayed alongside Su Zhe at the Four Barbarians’ Hostel, and there they learned of the tea.”
The Crown Prince could not hold back: “But does that not benefit the Western Frontier? If the Western Frontier can obtain tea bricks from the tribal people, then…” He understood it in his belly but could not quite articulate it.
Zhù Ying caught his meaning — was it not simply that the Western Frontier would now have two sources and would no longer be entirely dependent on the imperial court?
Zhù Ying smiled: “And is that not precisely ideal? The five counties are also part of the imperial court’s domain. If he truly believes he has secured an alternative and decides to stir up trouble, his moment of reckoning will come later. Only — this kind of patient cultivation is not a matter of a day or a night, and now, to have this happen on top of everything else…”
Both the Emperor and the Crown Prince slowly nodded.
The Emperor said: “Go find the Seventh Prince and have him assist you. Quietly intercept the remaining messengers, and see to it that they are well settled and properly comforted.”
“Yes.”
The Emperor said to Wang Yunhe: “First question the Wuzhou Deputy Administrator; then dispatch a Censor to Wuzhou.”
Wang Yunhe said: “Yes.”
Seeing that the Emperor had no further instructions, the two men — Wang and Zhù — withdrew together.
On the way, Wang Yunhe said: “Be meticulous about this. It must not be allowed to come out into the open.”
Zhù Ying said: “Yes.”
Neither said more about Wuzhou — both had already formed a fairly complete picture. The provincial governor’s hand had been a little clumsy, but one could not say he was entirely wrong. Each of his original intentions was beyond reproach; one could even say his heart was good, that he was continuing and advancing the work Zhù Ying had begun. A merit of the present age, a benefit for a thousand generations to come.
The result, however, was plain for all to see — and that was where the test of governing ability came in. Wang Yunhe shared his own plan with Zhù Ying: “The Censor is going to investigate. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Censor will bring him back. Let Zhang Yun oversee Wuzhou in the interim. With this arrangement in place — who is eligible to come to the capital each year?”
“That…”
Wang Yunhe asked: “When you were in Wuzhou, were you able to use three counties as a counterbalancing force to bring the five counties in line? Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“That is no longer workable. Those currently there do not have that capability. You once spoke of matters of the core versus the peripheral details — the core and the peripheral are ultimately different. Your arrival in Fulu was an accident. Split Wuzhou apart.”
“What?”
“The five tributary counties will retain the name Wuzhou; they will take turns holding the governorship. The three southern counties of Fulu, Sicheng, and Nanping will be reconstituted as a prefecture, with officials appointed.”
Zhù Ying’s expression turned unfavorable.
Wang Yunhe said: “Reluctant to let it go?”
“Yes.”
“There is no other way. It was never a tidy arrangement to begin with. It held together because you were there. Now that you are no longer in Wuzhou and there is no one else who could fill your role, it has to be split.”
Once Wang Yunhe had made up his mind, he was not easily moved — and this was indeed the most workable solution at hand.
Zhù Ying quickly settled herself and began bargaining with Wang Yunhe: “Then the new prefecture cannot be handed to Bian Xing. He is a complete and utter waste. The reserves that Prefect Lu left behind are nearly all eaten through by him, along with bribes to Duan Lin on the side. I worked hard to develop those lands out of a miasma-ridden wilderness, and the imperial court cannot hand the three counties over to feed those two pigs. If you give it to him, I will be standing at the city gate waiting for him every single time he comes to the capital — I will not rest until both their families return every last penny with interest. Do not count on a single room in the Duan family having a roof left on it — I will tear off every last one.”
Wang Yunhe said: “Your temper is running far too hot.”
Zhù Ying said: “I am not angry. I am simply telling you my plans.”
This pack of “feudal lords” was rotten to the core! Wang Yunhe thought of Shi Kun’s famous saying. And the one before him now was among the most outstanding of the lot — she truly would not hesitate to act, and never spoke empty threats.
Wang Yunhe said with some irritation: “Then recommend me a suitable person! And go take your messenger to find the Seventh Prince.”
“Yes.”
——…——
Zhù Ying brought Wuxing along, left the Imperial City, and had Wuxing go first in her carriage back to the residence, while she herself rode on horseback to the Zheng residence.
Zheng Xi had just come home. With the new year approaching, the Capital Governor’s office was not a light posting, though ordinary official affairs were not enough to wear him out. Having already moved the Emperor with his pretext of “concern for the orphaned son of the late Crown Prince, preserving the bloodline of the late Crown Prince” and secured the marriage arrangement for Prince Chengyi, he at least had nothing particularly vexing to deal with for the moment.
Hearing that Zhù Ying had come to call, he smiled: “He’s come to eat off us again.”
Their household was in the middle of dinner, and a seat was immediately added for Zhù Ying. From the expressions on their faces, one could not at all detect any shadow of Zheng Xi’s failed attempt to position his second daughter as “future Empress.”
The Commandery Princess smiled: “Word has it that Third Elder Brother has been extremely busy these days. Has it finally eased up now?”
Zhù Ying said: “The major matters are more or less handled. There are still a few minor things, for which I will inevitably have to trouble the Capital Governor.”
The Commandery Princess said: “What is there to that? Tell him to deal with it.”
Zheng Xi said: “It seems I am getting old — A’Niang no longer worries for me, and the moment she sees a young person she is busy protecting them instead.”
This drew a round of laughter from everyone. Zhù Ying had come prepared with a topic — the negotiations with the northern tribal envoy. Kun Da Chi was genuinely excellent material for conversation. She then described certain aspects of the negotiations with the northern tribal envoy that could be spoken of openly — the products of the north and the like — and asked whether the household had need of any. She had given Kun Da Chi a kickback; Kun Da Chi would give her something in return as a token of appreciation.
Lady Yue gave a soft sigh: “At this point there is no need to be preparing things.” She had originally been gathering goods for her daughter’s sake — but there was indeed no longer any urgency now.
After dinner, Zheng Xi and Zhù Ying withdrew to the study to talk. Upon hearing about the Wuzhou messengers, Zheng Xi said: “This matter cannot be taken lightly. Come to the Capital Governor’s office tomorrow and I will assign some people to you.”
“All right.”
Zheng Xi asked with curiosity: “If you had another ten years, would you be able to share a border with the Western Frontier?”
Zhù Ying said: “No. The deeper you go into the mountains, the harder it becomes. Ten years is not enough. With my hands and no army… fifteen, maybe twenty years should more or less do it.”
Zheng Xi let out a sigh: “I’m afraid you won’t be allowed to stay in that place so long. It will have to be left for those who come after.” He asked more about Kun Da Chi, Kun Da Chi, and others; Zhù Ying shared her assessments with him.
Zheng Xi said: “There are some things — even when you can see the outcome, you can do nothing but accept it. I suppose that is what people call the workings of fate.”
Zhù Ying said: “People are also a product of those workings. And so how can people not be considered part of those workings themselves? In my view, people are quite capable of wresting creative power from fate’s hands.”
Zheng Xi pointed at her and said: “Arrogant!” Then added with feeling: “But after all — youth!” He sighed. “You have an edge to you.”
The two spoke a bit more. Zhù Ying said: “Can you write me a note? I need to head home.”
She returned home and dispatched Xiang An: “Tomorrow, ride fast back to Wuzhou and have everyone prepare to respond to the Censor’s investigation.” Xiang Le felt sorry for his sister and volunteered: “I will go.”
Zhù Ying shook her head: “That won’t do. You are frequently seen out with me — your disappearance would draw suspicion.”
Xiang An, for her part, was quite pleased: “I’ll go!”
“I will write a few letters.”
The next day, much happened. Xiang An slipped away quietly with several attendants. Zhù Ying borrowed some constables from the Capital Governor’s office, and the moment Lin Feng entered the capital, Xiang Le was there to intercept him and bring him back to the Zhù residence.