The Plum Garden.
After Li Chi finished speaking about the matter of procuring salt, Shen Ruzhan — sharp-minded as she was — immediately untangled the key thread running through it.
If Li Chi had not done things this way, how would the Xie family go about continuing to demonstrate their sincerity going forward?
And so she was truly filled with admiration for Li Chi — a man his age, yet it seemed as though the life experience of several other lifetimes had already been packed into his head.
No wonder so many people said that Li Chi seemed like an ancient demon who had already savored every flavor of life in a past existence.
She was still turning all this over in her mind when Li Chi had already walked over to the reception hall, where a very large map hung on the wall.
Every area the Ning Army had already seized was documented on this map in detail, Jingzhou included.
The map that Luan Tang had not presented when he came to Yuzhou had arrived in Li Chi’s hands after Xie Xiu’s defection.
“Yang Xuanji will not sit by and watch the Xie family come over to our side.”
After thinking carefully for a moment, Li Chi turned to look at Yu Jiuling. “Urgent dispatch — send word to Xiahou at the North River Camp. Have him shift three armies toward Xie Xiu’s position. Have Yuchi Guangming move his two armies toward the flank of the Tianming Army’s An Nuan forces. Have Dantai Yajing move his two armies to cut around behind An Nuan’s forces.”
Yu Jiuling was somewhat taken aback. “Why has it suddenly come to fighting?”
Li Chi said, “Go and pass the orders. Xiahou will understand.”
Shen Ruzhan did not understand military strategy, nor did she know how battles were fought. Back when she had been in the Western Frontier, the man she cared for had always lit up with such energy and spirit whenever he spoke of leading troops and waging war.
She had never truly understood it, but she could appreciate the pride and sense of accomplishment in the man.
What Li Chi was displaying now was a deeper confidence.
He was physically present in Yuzhou, yet his gaze had already stretched all the way into Jingzhou.
Yu Jiuling hurried to arrange for someone to carry a message to Xiahou Zuo at the North River Camp — though he himself still did not understand why troop movements were suddenly being ordered.
Had they not agreed earlier that there would be no fighting this winter?
But when had the matters of the battlefield ever stayed constant? What was true today could be entirely different tomorrow.
—
The day Li Chi dispatched orders to Xiahou Zuo was the third day of the new year. The entire city of Yuzhou was alive with festivity.
The number of people who had arrived in the days before had already exceeded a hundred thousand. After the new year, the number of commoners coming to Yuzhou to see the lantern festival had likely doubled.
Li Chi had been staying at the Tingwei Office for the past several days, waiting every night, often until very late, for Gao Xining to return.
He would have hot water ready for her, a warm meal prepared, and a quiet embrace waiting — one that had to stay out of sight of those three old masters.
Gao Xining would handle so much business over the course of a day that she would be exhausted — yet every single time she came back to find Li Chi waiting for her, the corners of her mouth would curve into that happy, contented smile.
The three young women who witnessed this found themselves liking Li Chi more and more every time they looked at him.
Where else in the world was there a man like this? A man who had already become one side’s dominant power, holding sway over half the Central Plains, yet who would every day have hot water and hot meals ready for a woman.
—
The next morning, Li Chi rose early and began practicing martial arts in the rear courtyard. Divine Eagle was there to pester him — Li Chi would be throwing punches, and Divine Eagle would circle around him making a nuisance of itself, more dog than dog itself.
Gao Xining rose a little later. After tidying herself at her dressing table, she stepped outside — only to discover that Li Chi seemed to have a double, for he had already brought over the breakfast that Auntie Wu had prepared early that morning.
A bowl of steaming noodles, glistening with two or three drops of oil, garnished with five or six scallion pieces, and topped with one round, flat, perfectly poached egg.
They had not yet finished eating when a Tingwei officer stepped quickly inside, bowed, and reported that a man called Xie Huainan had come requesting an audience with the Chief Tingwei.
Li Chi let out a snort of laughter.
In the days since he had declined to meet Xie Huainan, the Xie family’s second-in-command had been making his rounds in Yuzhou City, calling on and visiting quite a number of people.
Gao Xining asked, “Should we receive him?”
Li Chi said, “Let’s see him.”
Gao Xining made a sound of agreement. “Then I’ll go wait for him in the reception hall.”
She pointed at her own unfinished bowl of noodles. Li Chi picked it up and finished it in two or three bites, then tipped his head back and drained the last drop of broth.
Across from him, Daoist Master Changmei let out a sigh and glanced toward Chancellor Gao. Chancellor Gao, for no apparent reason, also let out a sigh.
The two of them did nothing but sigh. But Elder Zhenren muttered to himself, “Look at how that child craves something — searching the dregs of someone else’s leftover broth for flavor.”
That was rather undignified for an elder to say.
Li Chi shot the three old men a sideways glance. The grievance in his eyes could not have been more plain — its meaning: *And whose fault is that?*
—
Shortly after, in the reception hall.
The moment Xie Huainan entered, he bowed to Gao Xining. “Xie Huainan of Tingyang pays his respects to the Chief Tingwei.”
He carried titles and noble rank of his own. He was the ninth child by birth order in the Xie family, though in terms of the main line he was actually the third son of the principal wife. Even if he could not inherit the duke’s title, the Dachu Emperor would still have granted him a conspicuous marquisate.
But this was Prince Ning’s domain, not the imperial court’s domain. What the imperial court conferred seemed to carry rather little weight here with Prince Ning.
If Li Chi had not been particularly attached to the character *Ning*, he would not even have wanted the title of Prince Ning that the Dachu Emperor had bestowed.
“Please, Master Xie, be seated.”
Gao Xining rose to receive him.
After a few pleasantries, Xie Huainan immediately got to the point.
“I learned yesterday that the Tingwei Office is investigating a homicide. I had knowledge of this matter and failed to report it in a timely manner — that was truly remiss of me.”
Xie Huainan said, “Not long after I arrived in Yuzhou, Yang Xuanji’s spies began following me. When they made their move in the south of the city, my guards got into a fight with them. One man was killed. I did not have time to deal with the body, and the city patrol discovered it.”
Gao Xining said, “I see.”
She had indeed found the death somewhat suspicious — no identification documents of any kind had been found on the body. Judging by the man’s hands, he had been a martial practitioner, particularly his right hand, which bore the calluses of years of weapons practice.
Xie Huainan said, “I have brought all the men with me — they are waiting outside the gates of the Tingwei Office. The Chief Tingwei may arrange to have them escorted inside. Their number is not small, so more personnel will need to be deployed.”
Gao Xining looked toward the doorway. “Bei’er, come in.”
Yuan Jiabei, who had lately been keeping close to Gao Xining, stepped through the door. It had to be said that the black brocade uniform made all the young women look so strikingly gallant and formidable.
Yuan Jiabei was naturally the delicate and gentle type — even more soft-natured than Liu Yingyuan. Her complexion was fair, her features petite and sweet. Yet paired with this black brocade uniform, she truly carried a flavor all her own.
“Take some men and bring all the prisoners outside in through the interrogation room entrance. Ask the Deputy Chief Tingwei to come and conduct the questioning.”
Yuan Jiabei bowed immediately. “Understood.”
She turned and walked out, raised a hand in signal, and led her Tingwei officers toward the front gates.
Once things had been arranged, Xie Huainan rose and said, “It was a homicide after all, and I have caused the Chief Tingwei trouble. The deceased may have been one of Yang Xuanji’s spies, but I should have reported the matter promptly.”
He turned to look at his attendant. The attendant stepped inside at once, carrying a box with both hands.
Xie Huainan said, “When I was setting out from home, I mentioned to my wife that I would certainly be paying a visit to the Chief Tingwei. She prepared a gift.”
Xie Huainan received the box from his attendant’s hands and set it on Gao Xining’s desk, holding it respectfully with both hands.
“About thirteen or fourteen years ago, a female general emerged from within the Xie family — my aunt, who rose to the rank of a fourth-grade general, commanding troops in battle for ten years before returning home to live in retirement. This box contains something my father had crafted through great effort at that time for my aunt — a piece of armor called the Phoenix Scale Mail.”
Xie Huainan opened the box. Inside lay a soft suit of armor that gave off a faint metallic sheen.
It was so thin and light that it felt like a fitted garment — yet this same piece could not be pierced by sword or blade.
Sitting behind them, Li Chi listened to all of this and could not help but inwardly praise Xie Huainan.
This person’s conduct was truly watertight, and yet never unpleasant.
He knew what person to see, what words to say, what gift to give — all of it an art.
Presenting the Phoenix Scale Mail to Gao Xining — even if Gao Xining had wanted to decline, Li Chi would have accepted it on her behalf.
Li Chi had also made soft armor for Gao Xining. But without a master craftsman and without extraordinary materials, what had been produced was somewhat thick and heavy.
Girls cared about looking beautiful — she didn’t particularly like wearing it.
The jade armor discovered in the underground palace of the You Mountain Kingdom was also thin and light, but it was made of interlocking jade plates — not flattering to wear beneath one’s clothing.
Women’s fixation on looking beautiful was absolutely immovable.
This Phoenix Scale Mail looked so supple and thin — worn beneath an ordinary outer garment, it would be completely invisible.
Li Chi thought to himself: this Xie Huainan had truly elevated gift-giving to a certain art form.
After Xie Huainan had taken his leave and departed, Li Chi came out from behind the partition. Gao Xining, seeing the look on his face, immediately knew what he was thinking.
She took two steps back.
Li Chi walked to the doorway and took a horizontal blade from a Tingwei guard’s hands. He laid the Phoenix Scale Mail flat on the desk and brought the blade down in a clean strike.
A straight cut mark appeared at once on the Phoenix Scale Mail — yet when the mail was lifted and shaken, the mark vanished without a trace.
Something so exquisitely crafted was worthy of being called a true treasure.
“Excellent.”
Li Chi hung the Phoenix Scale Mail over the clothing stand, then obtained a repeating crossbow and fired a point-blank volley at it. All twelve bolts were spent, leaving the mail dimpled with small indentations — yet when it was taken down and shaken, every dent smoothed itself back out.
Gao Xining watched Li Chi, her lips pressed together in a smile.
—
Two days later, Xie Huainan received a message sent by someone from Prince Ning’s residence, saying that Prince Ning had returned and asking when he might have time to come and meet.
Upon hearing the news, Xie Huainan hastened to express his gratitude, personally seeing off the messenger all the way to the front gates.
He raised his head and looked up at the sky, slowly exhaling a long breath.
Xie Qixi asked, “Ninth Uncle — this time, can we say it’s done?”
Xie Huainan made a sound of agreement.
Xie Qixi asked, puzzled, “Ninth Uncle, why have you put so much personal effort into this? I know that when the family arranged to send someone to make contact with Yang Xuanji, you never even thought about going yourself. Yet this trip to Yuzhou City — Ninth Uncle has handled everything personally…”
Before she could finish, Xie Huainan smiled and asked her in return, “You have been in Yuzhou City a long time and have seen its changes more clearly than I have. So tell me: which was better, the Yuzhou of before, or the Yuzhou of now?”
Xie Qixi answered immediately, “The one of now, of course.”
Xie Huainan smiled.
He turned and walked back into the courtyard. “I like it too… Walking down the road, there are no mountain bandits or robbers to block your way. Walking down a street, no matter how dark, you don’t fear meeting criminals. Children with their satchels on their backs come home from school to find a hot meal already waiting on the table.”
“I like it too — the stories in the songs and plays are no longer all tragic and heroic. They make you feel that the world is truly beautiful. When the storyteller’s wooden block strikes the table, the opening line is: *Let it be known that for many years now, no foreign invaders have dared encroach upon our borders — yet our armies are now making ready to push outward.*”
“I like it too…”
He glanced at Xie Qixi. “The young cared for, and the old with somewhere to turn.”
—