Zhù Qingye craned her neck to look at that piece of paper. It was an old bad habit from the early days among the attendants of Zhù County’s manor — a lack of formality — where the relationship between attendants and their superior was more like family. If Zhù Ying wanted to read the contents of something, the attendants still had to actually hand it over. The attendants — especially the girls who lived in the Zhù household — often caught glimpses of news this way.

Finally, under Elder Sister Hu’s permissive gaze, Zhù Qingye managed to see the letter.

Unfortunately, there was a great deal written on it. Zhao Su’s regular script was excellent, and the characters were written very densely; Zhù Qingye could only make out scattered words here and there and couldn’t quickly piece together the full picture, let alone predict what would happen next.

Zhù Ying, however, read through the document with complete clarity. She frowned slightly.

This had to do again with the logic of “raising troops” — which was always the same logic as “conscripting labor.” Whenever troops were raised, the court had to consider the farming calendar. Anyone who had even a little concern for the common people would try to avoid disrupting the spring planting and autumn harvest, so as not to damage livelihoods. Of course, if a war dragged on for years, everything would be thrown into disorder regardless — and there was nothing to be done about that. But at the outset of any campaign, no one wanted to cause unnecessary disruption.

It was the same for every household. Wuzhou’s westward push had begun before the spring planting was fully complete and had stretched over several months. There had been considerable progress, but it was now time to think about arrangements for the autumn harvest. The “migration” plan Zhù Ying had put in place earlier also needed to be coordinated with the farming calendar. Zhao Su therefore hoped Zhù Ying would consider coming back for a trip to make an overall adjustment of the plans.

After that, Zhao Su’s letter described the current circumstances of Gu Tong and the others — their official posts were gone, and they still bore the marks of dismissal, looking quite wretched. At the same time, Zhao Su didn’t hold back his own opinion in the letter: Wuzhou is not short of people — if you have the energy to invest in them, cultivating people loyal to our own side would be far better than cultivating Gu Tong and the others!

Zhao Su’s letter was quite long, and the central message was clear to Zhù Ying: could Wuzhou really afford to let people like them get involved?

Zhù Ying exhaled softly. Elder Sister Hu, whose nerves had been tightly wound of late, quickly asked, “My Lord, what is it?”

Zhù Ying said, “It seems I need to go back for a trip.”

The moment those words were spoken, Elder Sister Hu fell silent. Zhù Ying turned to look at her. “You think it’s not a good idea?”

A strange expression passed over Elder Sister Hu’s face. “Then… what about here? Everyone is counting on you.” She finished speaking, then looked at Zhù Ying again.

One look — and it sent a chill straight through Zhù Ying.

Everyone was counting on her?

What if she died? What would come next? Would it all just…

She had no desire to see the people of Wuzhou end up like Gu Tong and the others she had read about in the letter — losing their footing the moment she was gone, their careers and lives falling apart entirely. Gu Tong and the others came from gentry families and could still return home as “southern scholars.” But the girls — what would become of them in the future?

Zhù Ying gave herself a slight shake. Her voice, however, was soft when she spoke to Elder Sister Hu. “It’s fine. I’ve arranged everything.”

Elder Sister Hu grew reassured. Zhù Ying’s mind turned over several times more — yet when she gave her next order, she was the picture of unshakeable composure.

Zhao Su’s advice was sound; it was indeed time to plan the next stage of things. At the same time, the “southern scholars” had requested an audience, and it was necessary to meet with them.

Zhù Ying said, “I’ve been away for quite some time — it is about time to go home and have a look.”

She waited until Zhù Qingjun and the others sent word of another victory, timed it to the arrival of the autumn harvest, ordered Zhù Qingjun and the others to “pull back temporarily and await the harvest,” and then hurried back to the mountain city.

……

As Zhù Ying returned to the mountain city, people along the streets greeted her from time to time. Some bolder ones called out, “Grandma, when will my husband be coming back?”

That was something Zhù Ying couldn’t guarantee. She asked the woman her husband’s name and how long he had been serving, gave a rough estimate of “after the new year they’ll rotate back” — and that was the most she could offer.

In the mountain city, the residents seemed to have adjusted to the tense pace of life. There was far less resentment on their faces; some anxiety remained, but even that had eased under the arrangements for distributing more farmland. A spirit of contentment had gained the upper hand.

Before Zhù Ying had even returned to the manor, she had already received many greetings. People would say, “Thanks to heaven, Grandma is safe and well,” and then in the next breath murmur, “So what’s next?”

Zhù Ying said, “Things will be a bit better for everyone than they are now.”

Those on the street, trusting in Zhù Ying’s track record, all smiled and watched her return to the manor. Zhao Su, following behind her, silently shook his head.

At the manor, the officials led by Zhao Su came to pay their respects. Seeing everyone’s expressions, Zhù Ying could tell the situation was manageable. She listened to a brief report. Order was holding, but the reserves accumulated over the years were being steadily consumed. Trade with the lowlands was continuing, though less conveniently than before. The treasury hadn’t bottomed out, but outflows were clearly outpacing inflows.

Zhao Su said, “This year’s autumn harvest will provide some relief, but it can’t sustain things indefinitely.”

Xiang Le and Xiang An were more optimistic, saying, “The original plan was to hold out for three years; at the current rate, five years would be manageable.”

Wu Ren held a different view. “Not five years — truly three. The battles keep escalating, and the consumption grows faster.”

Zhù Ying heard all of their views, but what concerned her most was: “How are the students doing? The schools cannot be suspended.” She also dispatched Lin Feng and the others to Gan County to relieve Su Zhe and the group, and ordered preparations: she was going out of the mountains for a time, and when she returned, she would arrange the next stage of affairs. Everyone’s anxiety eased the moment she was back, and no one raised any objections.

At last she returned home. Zhang Xiangu had not come out to greet her; it was only when Zhù Ying went to pay her respects that Zhang Xiangu turned her head to one side and let out a harrumph. “So you still remembered to come back!”

Zhù Ying said with a smile, “If I didn’t come back, who would be here to get on your nerves?”

That nearly drove Zhang Xiangu to fury — she called out, “Don’t let her run off! Bring her back — I’m going to give her a proper beating!” She was furious to the core in her heart, but seeing the wound on Zhù Ying’s cheek, she swallowed all her worry down and refused to let any of it spill out onto her daughter’s face, or force any kind of promise from her.

Zhù Ying laughed and teased her right back. Zhang Xiangu was getting on in years, and after a little while the old woman had tired herself out. Zhù Ying simply let her wear herself out and rest — which left her with plenty of time to plan affairs inside and outside the mountains, and to make an additional trip to Fulu County when the opportunity arose.

When Zhù Ying set out, the one most nervous besides Zhang Xiangu was Zhao Su — because the destination was his family’s ancestral estate. It was chosen because it was closer to the mountains and was Zhao family territory, making it safer for Zhù Ying than anywhere else in Jiyuan Prefecture.

Zhao Su’s family was in Fulu County; his parents lived there too. Whatever small news circulated outside the mountains passed through him; whatever was being kept from him, he was the one being kept in the dark; and when people from the same county caught wind of things and came to request lodging, it was also him they came to. When Zhao Su had been an official in the capital, his family had seemed to blend seamlessly into the local gentry. Now a gulf had reappeared between them. Yet with his parents still in Fulu County and the ancestral graves there too, he couldn’t help but worry about matters like Gu Weng and the others.

After returning to Wuzhou, Zhao Su’s relationship with the Fulu County gentry had reverted to something like the “cordial distance” of twenty years ago.

The party arrived at the Zhao family estate at the foot of the mountain. Gu Tong and the others were already waiting in the road outside the estate. The moment they saw Zhù Ying arrive, they surged forward to kowtow before her. Zhù Ying looked down at them — she watched them bow to the ground, then look up, faces streaked with tears. “Teacher! To think we would live to see Teacher again in this lifetime! We have lived in fear day and night, terrified we would fall victim to those villains!”

Zhao Su had never much respected these “southern scholars” and showed his contempt openly. “When you chose to work alongside the villains at the beginning, you should have seen today coming.”

That attitude was far from pleasant. Gu Tong’s face flushed red — he already carried guilt in his heart, and had wanted to throw himself at Zhù Ying’s feet from the very start, but Zhao Su had been blocking the way all along, preventing him from showing his true feelings. Now, seeing Zhao Su making trouble again, his resentment and distress were easy enough to imagine.

He was on the verge of snapping back, but Zhù Ying had already dismounted and said, “Let’s talk inside.” She had already spotted Zhao Su’s parents standing to one side and went over to exchange greetings with “Elder Sister” and “Brother-in-law,” asking them to “show our guests somewhere to wash up and arrange a place for us to talk.”

Gu Tong and the others wore their haggard, dirty appearance as a partial performance — but the exhaustion on their faces was likely genuine.

Zhao Niangzi said, “Whatever A’Mei says, goes. You’ll stay in your usual room — is that all right?”

“Perfectly fine.”

Everything was arranged, and while Gu Tong and the others went to tidy themselves up, Zhù Ying sat with Zhao Niangzi, sharing the amusing story of Zhao Ji wanting to charge off to the western campaign with a long sword. Zhao Niangzi laughed. “Now that’s more like it! More spirit than his father!” She also mentioned that Zhao Su had been a quiet, unremarkable child. Zhao Su turned his head to one side.

Zhù Ying’s guest room was spacious and comfortable. Once Gu Tong and the others had washed up, they came again to request an audience. Zhao Niangzi looked them over with curiosity, handed Zhù Ying a bowl of tea, and said, “You all talk — I’ll go check on the meal.”

The moment Zhao Niangzi left, Gu Tong and the others launched into their grievances. “It wasn’t that we deliberately caused trouble for Teacher — we have simply been living without a shred of hope!”

Zhao Su said, “As long as you did your duty properly, what was there to fear? Grandma gave you the means to protect yourselves, and yet you went and stirred up trouble! Who is to blame for that?”

Zhù Ying had been away in Gan County during this time, and the affairs of the mountain city had all fallen on Zhao Su — with real power, and even more real pressure. The greatest headache of all was Jiang Zheng sealing off the mountains — and Jiang Zheng had been brought here precisely because of Gu Tong and the others.

Gu Tong ignored him, looking only at Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying asked, “You’ve been wronged?”

At that, Gu Tong dropped to his knees on the spot and wept openly. Zhao Su’s mouth twitched. They had been staying in his home for two days without a hint of theatrics — and now that Grandma had come down from the mountain, they burst into tears just like that!

Zhao Su was displeased. “If you have something to say, say it. All this weeping — you might as well go home and cry your fill before coming back.”

The words were cutting enough that his fellow students stopped crying. Gu Tong realized Zhao Su bore considerable resentment toward them all — but with nowhere left to retreat, he ignored Zhao Su for now and addressed Zhù Ying directly. “Teacher, it is not that we lack backbone — it is that this court has truly broken our hearts!”

Zhù Ying gave out a single sound. “Oh?”

Gu Tong and the others continued. “They treated us like dirt! Teacher gave us the means to protect ourselves, and we failed to use them well — that fault is ours. But we were only foolish; they were malicious!”

Through tears and a running nose, Gu Tong wept out the sorry tale of his misfortunes. “If they had simply treated us as if we were dead, that would have been one thing. But around the three seasonal festivals and five holidays, they never failed to shake us down. The moment we gave a little less, or something displeased them, they would make our lives difficult. Ever since you went south, Teacher, we’ve been fair game for anyone who wanted to trample us.”

Zhù Ying listened, at something of a loss for words. Zhao Su said tartly, “That’s how officialdom has always worked. Who answers to whom? Who outranks whom? No patron to back you up, and you expected smooth sailing? Don’t tell me you actually picked a fight with the Ministry of Personnel over something like this?”

Those last two sentences were pure mockery — but then Zhao Su caught Gu Tong’s expression and sat up straight. “You didn’t actually do something that foolish over this, did you?”

Gu Tong’s face went red. He shuffled forward on his knees toward Zhù Ying. “Teacher, they went too far! The work was all done by us — and whenever there was credit to be had, they wanted their share…”

Zhao Su made a derisive sound. Gu Tong’s face reddened further. “Yes, that kind of thing happens everywhere — but they couldn’t even write the commendation memorials themselves! They made us write them! I couldn’t hold back…”

Gu Tong’s luck had well and truly run out. He had never suffered a grievance in all his years as an official. With Zhù Ying as his teacher above him, every time she rose a rank, he rose with her. When Teacher had assignments — say, inspecting the northern territories — he could go along and accumulate experience. As long as he did real work, he would never go unrecognized. But the moment Zhù Ying went south, all of that ceased to be true. Work that he did had to be shared in credit with others; that was tolerable enough. What was unbearable was that people who had done nothing at all — benefiting only from their birth or their factions — were siphoning credit from him, and they couldn’t even draft a proper commendation memorial themselves, yet expected him to write the documents crediting them for his accomplishments while he still had his own unfinished duties!

Still juggling his own responsibilities, pressured by his superiors to write memorials giving away his own credit to others — of course Gu Tong couldn’t be happy about it! And so what followed was the ensuing entanglement.

Gu Tong, through tears and sniffles, cried on: “Teacher, from first to last, everything I did was for the court and for a better world — and yet they, and yet they… sob…”

Zhao Su, watching him like this, felt faintly nauseated, and said, “Now that the court won’t have you, what’s the point of coming here to cry?” As he spoke, he shot a glance sideways at Zhù Ying.

Zhù Ying gave a small nod. “I understand.”

Gu Tong did not rise, but remained kneeling. “Teacher, if you don’t stay on your guard, I fear they’ll come for you next! Jiang Zheng came south — what sort of person is he? Yet he was sent to this place of pestilence and miasma! He is aimed squarely at you, Teacher! And now with the western borderlands and northern territories both recuperating, the court treats its scholars this way — I fear the realm will not see many peaceful days ahead. You cannot stand by and do nothing!”

So now they were also concerned about the state of the realm? Zhao Su curled his lip, about to speak, when Zhù Ying opened her mouth first. “I understand what you’re all saying. But here is the truth — you used to put in effort and see results in equal measure, yet you never understood that the world has precious little fairness in it. If you remain this naive, even if I restored your posts, you would still be fodder for other people’s schemes. Your fate would be no better than it is now.

From today onward, each of you will take charge of one trade association branch. No fine clothing — plain cloth only. Start from the beginning, and go out and thoroughly survey the local conditions wherever you are posted. Report back to me.

How long has it been since you truly settled down and did actual work? Set aside the scheming. I have my own arrangements.”

At those words, a wave of relief washed over Zhao Su. Zhù Ying had not brought these men into Wuzhou for official posts — she had sent them well away instead. Wuzhou was not a place for outsiders to get their hands into! Gu Tong and the others were “outsiders”!

Zhao Su said with a smile, “Grandma’s arrangements have never been wasted. There’s no harm in starting over — good fortune is sure to follow.” He was quite pleased with himself.

Zhù Ying glanced at him. Zhao Su lowered his head, thinking: And yet, Wuzhou still needs talented people! What comes next?