Zhao Zhen hurried through the palace gates. The Imperial Guards on duty smiled and asked, “Why so early today?”

Zhao Zhen smiled back. “Not on duty today.”

Ever since Zhù Ying had departed, their days had not been particularly smooth. This “lack of smooth” didn’t necessarily show itself every moment of every day — Zhao Zhen got along well with people, and those who dealt with him ordinarily treated him with courtesy. But when it came to commendations for merit, promotions, and favorable performance evaluations, his turn never came. That was the greatest “lack of smooth.”

He knew the reason. It wasn’t because his patron Zhù Ying was a woman — it was because his patron Zhù Ying had fallen from favor.

But today, things seemed to have shifted a little. A familiar clerk had told him there was good news from the south, and after hearing it, Zhao Zhen grew alert. He thanked the man and rushed out of the palace to go arrange a meeting with people from his home region and close colleagues.

Few fellow locals remained in the capital, but there were still several colleagues he was on good terms with. As they gathered, someone inevitably said, “The official gazette has been sent through again, and the imperial enfeoffments for the new county magistrates have been issued — does the court have something else in mind here?”

Zhao Zhen gave a gentle shake of his head. “Hard to say, though obviously they can’t have our Lord return to the Grand Secretariat. They’ve just restored the gazette. We must not get carried away — the thing to do is keep our heads down and serve the state with diligence, same as always.”

This was endorsed by those with more experience. Dali Court had been where Zhù Ying had worked longest, and there were plenty of seasoned veterans there; hearing this, they nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. The Grand Secretariat isn’t doing something — they’re choosing not to do something. That’s also good for our Lord. No longer actively targeting her means they’ll stop deliberately targeting us either. Going forward — if the court makes no further moves, this hurdle can be considered cleared, and both sides can keep the peace and leave each other alone.”

“The court probably has no spare energy to deal with our Lord anyway.”

“Keep your voice down.”

The group chattered for a while, tempering the more excitable ones’ enthusiasm, and each parted with a pledge to keep their heads down and wait and see.

Within two days, sure enough, copies of the official gazette were being sent out with a share for Wuzhou. Zhao Zhen and the others gradually set their minds at rest. Beyond the relief, there was also a faint, hard-to-name longing — what if this was a signal that their Lord was going to come back?

They turned it over in their minds for a while, then decided it was probably not the case.

And so it went, back and forth.

At the Grand Secretariat there was far less unease — they simply wanted to be “left in peace.” But the heavens seemed determined not to grant them that peace. Just two days after the gazette was restored, the Grand Secretariat received an unwelcome piece of news: another popular uprising had broken out, temporarily blocking the roads. The gazette representing a “reconciliation” had ultimately never reached Zhù Ying’s hands.

Not only had Zhù Ying not received it — because the central routes were cut off, the gazettes for over a dozen prefectures in the south were all delayed. Although the surrounding local governments and garrisons had responded fairly quickly, swiftly organizing suppression and counterattacks, and the rebel forces had scattered and fled, they were still lingering in the vicinity, and the fighting was ongoing. The local authorities were simultaneously requesting that the court send regular troops to encircle and suppress them, while trying hard to restore the routes. In the meantime, a battle was still being fought.

The “road blockage” that had originally been a fabricated excuse had now become real — a true demonstration that the world’s affairs are unpredictable. The Grand Secretariat could only simultaneously work to quell the unrest while ordering the gazette to be rerouted by a longer path. The newly rerouted gazette included a passage informing all southern prefectures about the bandit situation. As he gave the order for the rerouted copies to be sent, Chen Meng found himself suddenly struck by the thought: she won’t think we made this all up as a pretext to go along with her excuse, will she?

Now that would truly be an injustice!

Chen Meng’s sense of injustice didn’t amount to much, really. On Jiang Zheng’s end, having received the gazette, he notified Shao Shuxin on one hand, and on the other issued the order permitting gazette couriers to pass through the checkpoint and enter the mountains. He also had the courier carry a letter to Zhù Ying — come out and meet me; I already know about your private trading.

In the mountain city, when Zhao Su heard that “the gazette has arrived,” he gave a knowing smile. Then, hearing that a courier wanted to see Zhù Ying, he was mildly surprised. “A courier? The gazette coming is one thing — what’s a courier needed for? Have him come and see me.”

But the courier himself could offer no real information, and merely handed over a letter. “Please pass this along to Prefect Zhù. I am waiting here for a reply.”

Zhao Su took the letter, had the courier lodged at the guest house, and quietly gave instructions: “No word of this gets out. Do not let him find out that Grandma is not at home.” The restoration of the gazette was something they had anticipated; Jiang Zheng’s follow-up request for a meeting was entirely unexpected. Zhao Su opened the gazette and saw another notice of civil unrest recorded in it, then immediately dispatched a fast rider to relay the news to Zhù Ying.

……

The gazette arrived at Zhù Ying’s field headquarters when she was watching a group of young women — of all sizes — training. The cost of training them was quite considerable by Wuzhou’s standards. For ordinary infantry, the requirements were simple enough: if you could carry a long spear and march in step, you were passable — and marching in step was itself something that needed training for many soldiers; being able to do it at all was already a decent showing.

If you wanted to train a soldier in actual combat skills — the kind of fighting arts that could kill an enemy on the battlefield — that required considerably more time. If you wanted to add more complex skills on top of that, such as archery, the cost of weapons and equipment alone was another large expenditure. And to build cavalry on top of all that — the money involved was simply beyond calculation.

When Zhù Ying trained her women soldiers, she also screened them layer by layer. Teaching students was honestly not her strongest suit, but setting a standard based on girls’ physical capabilities and training them to meet it — that was something she found extremely easy.

First came unified commands: the simplest verbal commands were assigned fixed meanings, and the soldiers memorized what each command signified. Only after that did physical training begin. Alongside the physical training, she enforced discipline. Based on performance, she assigned the soldiers to different roles: spear infantry, archers, cavalry — and of course, some were set aside to learn medicine or assigned to other duties.

Wu Ren spent her days watching the numbers move in the ledgers, and even someone as composed as she was came to find Zhù Ying every two or three days. “Grandma, a certain amount of cloth has been drawn out again, a certain amount of grain, and a certain amount of iron transferred from the stockroom…”

At this point, Zhù Ying had accumulated five hundred soldiers under her command — still three hundred short of her target.

Not far from the women’s regiment was the men’s regiment being trained by Lin Feng and the others. Their training methods were somewhat cruder than those used for the women’s regiment. This was because the girls who met Zhù Ying’s standards tended to be sharper and more tenacious — which meant a higher proportion of them were being invested in heavily. Yet the men’s regiment had a considerably larger appetite, and greater numbers.

Every day Wu Ren came before Zhù Ying looking as though she might faint at any moment. Zhù Ying said, “As long as nothing is being wasted, authorize the expenditure.”

She would drift away with that look of hopeless gloom, continuing to allocate and record for every department, then concurrently managing Gan County’s local storage and still overseeing the settlement of people being resettled from east and west — and there was nothing for it but to turn around and assign tasks to Jiang Zhen, Jiang Bao, Wu Shuang, and the others. Every day she looked like she was on the verge of death; the next day she appeared again, barely clinging to a last breath, precisely on time.

As long as someone could get things done, Zhù Ying was never particular. Wu Ren was shouldering this much pressure, and was it any wonder her expression was a bit gloomy? If she could still get the work done, that was what mattered. Every day when Zhù Ying saw Wu Ren she smiled with great warmth — and with great warmth kept adding to Wu Ren’s load, warmly watching Wu Ren survive yet another day.

Doing quite well.

Zhù Ying, in a cheerful mood, said to a small girl who came up to her chest, “Don’t rush — the more you rush the worse it gets. Plant your feet, keep your arm level…”

She was in the middle of giving instruction when Zhao Su’s dispatch arrived — the gazette along with news that the imperial enfeoffments had come through, and the matter of Jiang Zheng requesting a meeting. Zhù Ying scanned what was in her hand. The gazette matched what had been transcribed from Shao Shuxin’s copy without discrepancy — so the civil unrest was evidently real, and the court had suffered some genuinely bad luck.

Zhù Ying said to the girls, “Keep practicing. Qingye, watch over them.” Then she walked swiftly to the command tent; Elder Sister Hu followed a half-step behind without leaving her side.

Inside the tent, Zhù Ying wrote a reply to Zhao Su: you take the lead in dealing with Jiang Zheng — act as you see fit. Then she wrote a polite reply to Jiang Zheng, full of the usual pleasantries — long admired your name, looking forward to meeting, and so forth.

Once the replies were sent, Zhù Ying strolled over to the men’s regiment. Lin Feng was up on the raised platform overseeing the drills. When the soldiers caught sight of Zhù Ying, they all called out, “Grandma!”

Zhù Ying waved a hand. “Continue.”

Lin Feng jumped down from the platform and jogged over. “Grandma! You’re here again? They’re looking more like soldiers than yesterday.” He was always cheered up the moment he saw Zhù Ying — not only did she keep an eye on the men’s regiment and offer guidance here and there, but her attention to detail meant her arrangements were more thorough than his. Where Lin Feng felt the particular fear of “Teacher checking my homework,” he also felt the comfort of “Teacher’s here to help sort out the mess.”

Zhù Ying said, “Your elder brother’s imperial enfeoffment has come through. I can’t get away, so you take it back — and offer your congratulations.”

“What about here?”

“I’ll keep watch.”

Lin Feng was about to feel pleased, but then couldn’t help thinking about the disputes and troubles among his brothers at home. “Well, there’ll be arguing again! They stay home and guard the place — what’s so good about that? Nothing can compare to the wide world out here. Grandma, if my other brothers were willing to behave, could I bring them along?”

Zhù Ying said, “Would they truly behave?”

Lin Feng lowered his voice. “Father’s gone — if they don’t behave, what can they do about it? They’re still my brothers; I still have to look out for them. If it really doesn’t work out, I can say there’s no way around it then. Leaving them at home to bicker with Elder Brother — that won’t end well for anyone.”

“My, you’ve grown up.”

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head. “I’ve always been very clear-headed.”

“Off you go.”

“Yes!”

Elder Sister Hu had taken all of this in, and a question stirred in her heart — though she remained quietly composed and said nothing. She watched Zhù Ying continue to hold her steady position, training the troops without hurry. A thought drifted through Elder Sister Hu’s mind: What is happening at home right now?

……

Back at home, Zhao Su received the instructions, thought for a brief moment, and had the courier carry Zhù Ying’s reply back to Jiang Zheng, proposing a meeting in Jiyuan Prefecture.

The courier returned, bringing an affirmative answer: Jiang Zheng had agreed. The meeting was set for the sixth day of the second month.

At the end of the first month, Zhao Su entrusted the manor’s affairs to Xiang Le and the others and set off down the mountain. Xiang Le’s current position was somewhat peculiar — nominally posted to Gan County, yet unable to return there; nominally placed at the manor, yet holding no formal title there. The whole of Wuzhou — Xiang Le himself included — had no objections to this; whatever Zhù Ying arranged, that was what he did.

Zhao Su set out entirely at ease.

He first stopped in Fulu County to pay his respects to his parents, then continued on to Jiyuan Prefecture, arriving at the Jiyuan Prefecture courier station on the first day of the second month. At that point Jiang Zheng had not yet arrived. Zhao Su walked through the streets of Jiyuan Prefecture and paid calls on some old acquaintances from former days. Most of the local gentry recognized him; while they were not in a position to host a grand banquet for him, none turned him away either.

Households such as the Jing family even sent him gifts and asked him to pass along their regards to Zhù Ying. They also inquired somewhat carefully about Zhù Ying’s current situation and had him take her their greetings.

Zhao Su replied to them all that: “Grandma is doing very well and thinks of everyone fondly — it’s simply that the court has its regulations, and a local official cannot easily leave her territory, so she was unable to come in person. I have come on Grandma’s behalf to handle some matters, and can occasionally make these small trips.”

Out on the streets, people also greeted him from time to time, asking about him as a pretext for finding out about Zhù Ying. He answered them all with the same reason: “Not easy to leave one’s territory.”

He looked out at the streets of Jiyuan Prefecture — a bit less lively and vibrant than before, but not entirely forlorn either. Walking along, he caught sight of the sign for the “Wuzhou Guild Hall,” and found that the establishment was no longer openly selling goods, wearing only the appearance of an inn. Going further inside, he saw familiar faces, and in the back courtyard, he opened the cellar to find it half-full of coarse salt.

He made his way to what had been the old school for border peoples’ children and found some people there, though he couldn’t enter; he asked a street vendor and learned that the building now housed children of various border peoples who had settled in Jiyuan Prefecture.

By the time Zhao Su had toured all of Jiyuan Prefecture, Jiang Zheng had arrived.

When Jiang Zheng entered the Jiyuan Prefecture yamen, Zhao Su was standing among the crowd in a plain scholar’s robe, watching. Jiang Zheng was somewhat lean and wiry, and his height stood out noticeably in the south. In terms of age, he was not much older than Zhù Ying — but the silver threads in his hair were already quite evident; he wore a beard, and carried the distinguished air of a senior official.

Unlike Zhù Ying, who to this day remained energetic and nimble — still capable of nimbly dodging Zhang Xiangu’s broom.

Zhao Su took one look, then turned back to the courier station.

On the other side, Jiang Zheng, hearing that only a Zhao Su had come, felt somewhat surprised and a little displeased. “Zhù Zi Zhang did not come in person?”

Prefect Xu said, “No. Will you see Zhao Su?”

Jiang Zheng thought it over. “This person is Zhù Zi Zhang’s most devoted confidant — he will certainly have something to say. Have him come.”

“You have only just arrived, Your Excellency. The day is growing late — would it not be better to rest for the evening and then tomorrow…”

“Right now.”

“As you wish.”

Zhao Su changed his attire, and soon enough a runner from the magistrate’s yamen arrived bearing an official invitation. Prefect Xu, in his way of giving Zhao Su some face, arranged for a squad of yamen runners to accompany him. Zhao Su had also brought his own people; together, the party was quite a spectacle.

At the manor, Zhao Su paused briefly in the courtyard before stepping inside. Prefect Xu came out first to receive him; Zhao Su exchanged courtesies with him, and Prefect Xu said, “His Excellency is in the inner hall — please.”

Jiang Zheng sat at the head of the hall and likewise sized up Zhao Su. He had looked into all these people beforehand. He felt some sympathy for Zhao Su on the one hand, and some admiration for his steadfast loyalty to his “teacher,” on the other — and so he treated Zhao Su with a measure of civility, raising his hand to gesture Zhao Su to be seated.

Zhao Su opened first, conveying Zhù Ying’s regards. Jiang Zheng followed naturally with the question: “May I ask why the Prefect has not come in person?”

Zhao Su smiled. “Out of consideration for others — if Grandma were to leave the mountains in person, quite a few people would grow uneasy. Today I serve as her envoy; whatever Your Excellency wishes to say, I will ensure it is conveyed.”

The neutral expression on Jiang Zheng’s face suddenly vanished. “I know about the trading arrangement between your people — smuggling has always been difficult to fully prohibit. Salt brings large profits, yet the common people struggle to obtain it; going months without salt is pitiful enough. What I don’t know is why Wuzhou needs so much grain. With Zhù Zi Zhang’s ability, she would not let her people go hungry. All this accumulation — what is it for? Give me a satisfactory answer, or I will have to start making serious inquiries.”

The smile on Zhao Su’s face stiffened for a moment, then returned to composure. “To be frank with you — over these years, Wuzhou’s people have lived in peace and the population has grown considerably. Clearing new land in the mountains always takes a couple of years to show results. This is purely a temporary measure to tide things over.”

“My own grain reserves are not great. You are from Fulu — Fulu County, apart from selling locally, has also been purchasing grain from the surrounding areas to send into Wuzhou. How much money does she have to buy grain? And how much grain can Wuzhou consume? What exactly has happened in there?”

Zhao Su held his ground. “Temporary measures.”

“I could have just given you both orders without consulting you. But I know what Zhù Zi Zhang is capable of, and I have no wish to start trouble. Carry this word back: given the civil unrest, the court may need to requisition grain and supplies, and I must ensure my own territory’s people have enough to eat. Going without a bit of salt won’t kill anyone! I have been tolerating your grain purchases for quite some time now. From this point forward, I cannot sell you as much — not this much! Tell her to act accordingly!”

This was something Zhao Su genuinely could not make a decision on. He rose and gave a formal bow. “You have given me an ultimatum — I dare not accept that. Given that, I will return immediately to seek instructions!”

Jiang Zheng said, “I cannot wait too long.”

“Very quickly — a reply within five days!”

……

This time Zhao Su rode directly to Gan County himself — and found, to his surprise, that Zhù Ying was nowhere in Gan County. He found only the one left to hold things: Wu Ren!

The two stared at each other, large eyes meeting small eyes. Wu Ren, with her air of someone who had just crawled out of a coffin, was slightly more talkative in front of someone she knew — namely Zhao Su. “Grandma took a bunch of raw recruits and pressed westward.”

“What?!”

Wu Ren covered her ears. “Would she take raw recruits somewhere truly dangerous?!”

Ah, true enough. Zhao Su let out a slow breath. “Why did she go in person?”

“Grandma said: the further we go, the harder the opposition. The Ji Ma are fiercer than the Xi Ka. If we don’t start letting the soldiers see real battle now, and then later line them up directly against Pu Sheng’s people — that’s sending them to their deaths. And all our efforts would have been for nothing. Tough soldiers aren’t built just from grain and money — they’re built from iron and blood.”

Fair enough — built through casualties. Taking losses and learning hard lessons early means fewer deaths later. New recruits are always the most likely to die.

Zhao Su said, “In that case, give me a guide and I’ll go find Grandma. Oh — is Lian with Grandma?”

“They should be camped around the same area. I’ll have Little Shuang lead the way for you.”

Wu Shuang had not been in Gan County long, but she had adapted remarkably well. She had been quiet at first, but had quickly started talking more — her personality turned out to be quite unlike Wu Ren’s. She smiled brightly at Zhao Su. “My Lord, do you know Xi Ka?”

“A little.” Zhao Su said modestly.

“What about Ji Ma? I hear that the front lines have run into Ji Ma people.”

“A bit of that too.”

Wu Shuang said happily, “I’ve only met a very few Xi Ka people — what are they like?”

Zhao Su noticed she had switched to Xi Ka. He paused slightly, then said, “They don’t have three heads and six arms — they look pretty much like everyone else…”

“Don’t you know Xi Ka?”

Zhao Su had no choice but to switch to Xi Ka as well. “Why are you speaking in Xi Ka?”

Wu Shuang smiled sweetly. “So that if anyone overhears us, they’ll find us friendlier.”

Along the road she and Zhao Su alternated between Ji Ma and Xi Ka; Zhao Su kept feeling that something was slightly off about it all.

After two days of travel, Wu Shuang pointed ahead. “We’re here! Last time I came, Jiang Zhen and the others were still around. You might get to see them.”

At the camp gate, Zhù Qingye was heading out with a basket on her arm, a group of people carrying loads following behind her. She was somewhat surprised to see them. “Prefect Zhao? You’ve come? Is it urgent?”

“Yes.”

Wu Shuang called out, “Elder Sister! And me! I led the way — and my aunt told me to bring some documents that need Grandma’s approval.”

Zhù Qingye said, “Oh my, your Ji Ma has gotten better.”

“Heh heh.”

Zhù Qingye said to Zhao Su, “Grandma is inside. We just won a battle, and there were some losses — I’m taking medicine to the soldiers. Grandma has someone with her right now — send word ahead before going in.” She pulled a nearby attendant over and had him go in to announce them.

Zhao Su and Wu Shuang waited while the attendant announced their arrival. A voice from inside said, “Come in.”

Inside the tent, a short, dark-complexioned middle-aged man was being led out by Elder Sister Hu and handed off to an attendant. “Take him to get settled — the Lord will have him to dinner shortly.” The man had rough skin and roughened hands and feet; he was not pleasant to look at, and his clothing was rather worn.

Zhao Su noted this inwardly but continued inside. Zhù Ying’s expression was unchanged; she smiled and asked whether the journey had been tiring, gave Wu Shuang a piece of candy, took the documents Wu Shuang had brought, told Wu Shuang to go rest. Then she turned to Zhao Su. “How did it go?”

Zhao Su explained everything in full. Zhù Ying said, “You’ve done well, and he is being straightforward. Given that, you go and negotiate with him — whatever you can settle is good enough. Tell him that if there is ever anything we can be of help with, do not hesitate. The sooner this unrest is settled, the better things will be for the common people.”

“Help him?” Zhao Su was a bit puzzled — the puzzlement coming from the fact that they were already stretched too thin to lend a hand! And Jiang Zheng didn’t seem like a man who was easily deceived.

Zhù Ying smiled. “Did you see the man who just left? His name is Fei Yang Ge Xi.”

In the Ji Ma language, that name meant “iron born of fire” — or simply, cast iron. Zhao Su’s face lit up. “You’ve taken an iron mine?”

“Yes. Prepare your blacksmiths. The weapons shortage — this will ease it somewhat.”

“Excellent! I’ll head back right away.”