Whether by Li Chi’s deliberate arrangement or Yan Qingzhi’s way of testing Xie Huainan, from the very first day he entered the Jiedushi yamen and found himself swept up in work, no one had ever told Xie Huainan what rank or official title he actually held — or whether he was simply Mr. Yan’s personal assistant.

Xie Huainan didn’t concern himself with any of that, because he never forgot the question Prince Ning had asked him.

*”Can you temporarily forget that you are a member of the Xie Family?”*

If he had forgotten he was a member of the Xie Family and was simply an ordinary man who had just come under Prince Ning’s service — on what grounds could he expect a high post and a generous stipend?

If he had not forgotten he was a member of the Xie Family and was now serving under Prince Ning — did he believe his noble birth entitled him to expect a high post and generous stipend?

What Li Chi wanted was a capable official, not a performer.

The word “capable” in capable official needed to be demonstrated through an enormous volume of work — and once demonstrated, would there even be any need to worry about rank or title?

Over the course of the following full month, Xie Huainan’s ability to get things done had been put fully on display.

Mr. Yan had said to Li Chi more than once: Xie Huainan’s talent was fit for a chief minister.

It was also one month later that Li Chi received the victory report sent by Xiahou Zuo.

Just as Li Chi had anticipated — the Destiny King Yang Xuanji had indeed deployed a force to pin down Xie Xiu’s one hundred fifty thousand Jingzhou troops and then strike at Tingyang, where the Xie Family was based.

Xiahou Zuo had driven into the flanks and rear of An Nuan’s forces with two crushing blows, and Xie Xiu had seized the opening to launch a full frontal assault. In a battle that lasted only two days and two nights, the Destiny Army suffered a crushing defeat: the Ning Army killed over forty thousand of the enemy, while the remainder either scattered or surrendered.

Immediately after, Xie Xiu and Xiahou Zuo led their forces in a rapid southward march, hemming another Destiny Army unit within an area of several dozen li.

Li Chi handed the victory report to Yu Jiuling. “Have someone deliver this to Xie Huainan for him to see.”

Yu Jiuling made a sound of agreement. “That should put his mind at ease.”

Li Chi pulled open a drawer and took out a tablet from inside. “Pass this along to him as well.”

Yu Jiuling took it, glanced at it, and his eyes went wide. “That’s quite substantial.”

The status symbolized by that tablet was that of Yuzhou’s Chief Administrator. In terms of the official ranks of Dachu, it corresponded to the First of the Third Rank.

The Yuzhou Jiedushi served as the supreme authority over both military and civil affairs, with subordinate officials overseeing military and civilian matters respectively.

The Chief Administrator — by the official system of Dachu — was also known as the Regional Prefect.

To elevate Xie Huainan, who had been with them barely a month, directly to a Third Rank official — that was bound to make more than a few people underneath green with envy.

So Yu Jiuling’s concern wasn’t unfounded — he simply worried that people below might start making trouble.

Li Chi said, “It’s not that substantial. He’ll be the Jingzhou Jiedushi in the future.”

Yu Jiuling went wide-eyed again.

The Xie Family’s ancestral stronghold was in Jingzhou. By conventional logic, granting a position as important as the Jingzhou Jiedushi to Xie Huainan was a serious taboo.

Seeing Yu Jiuling’s reaction, Li Chi smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. But it’s precisely because he is a member of the Xie Family, and the Xie Family is rooted in Jingzhou, that I would consider having him serve as Jingzhou Jiedushi in the future.”

Yu Jiuling didn’t understand — but he wasn’t particularly curious either.

He knew his own abilities and understood his own limitations. There were plenty of things beyond his comprehension.

If every move in this contest for the realm was something he could understand, then contending for the realm probably wouldn’t be much different from children playing house.

He took Li Chi’s victory report and the tablet to the Jiedushi yamen, while Li Chi seemed too lazy to go out himself. He stayed at Plum Garden, wrapped in a thick cotton robe and sitting beside the lotus pond that had frozen over, even though the weather past the first month of the year was still quite cold.

When Gao Xining returned and saw him there, she instructed that no one was to disturb him.

When Li Chi behaved this way, it meant he had encountered something he needed to think through slowly in a quiet place that could also clear his head.

When Yu Jiuling arrived at the Jiedushi yamen, he didn’t seek out Xie Huainan first — he went to see Mr. Yan first.

He might not have been that curious, but he did have a loose tongue.

So he asked anyway: why did their lord trust someone who had only been with them for just over a month, and was even planning to give him the important position of Jingzhou Jiedushi in the future?

Mr. Yan listened, thought for a moment, then smiled and said to Yu Jiuling, “It’s almost sunset, and I still haven’t eaten lunch. Help me find a bowl of hot soup dumplings with broth, and I’ll tell you why.”

Yu Jiuling held out his hand. “Pay up. Give me money, and I’ll get you not just hot soup dumplings — I could get you a hot soup ox.”

Mr. Yan sighed. “I don’t want them anymore. You can go.”

Yu Jiuling said, “A dignified Jiedushi… trying to take advantage of me.”

Mr. Yan said, “Think of it this way — our lord is older than me, isn’t he? Consider how many people of my station would be able to take advantage of you. People like me are just the starting point. Isn’t that something to be proud of, when you think about it? Doesn’t that make sense?”

Yu Jiuling thought about it — if Jiedushi-level figures were only the starting point for people who could barely get one over on him, then above Mr. Yan there was only their lord — just those two.

When he put it that way…

Yu Jiuling looked at Mr. Yan and said earnestly, “What’s there to be proud of in that? Besides, only an idiot would believe only two people can take advantage of me…”

As he was speaking, he waved his hand behind his back, and the trusted attendant who had followed him immediately turned and left.

Yu Jiuling was still bickering with Mr. Yan when one of Yu Jiuling’s people came back carrying a food container.

Opening it, the first layer held a plate of sliced cooked meat. The next layer held a large bowl of steaming hot soup ox — pfft, soup dumplings.

Mr. Yan looked as though he had fully expected Yu Jiuling to produce them somehow. He was laughing with real delight.

Even though Yu Jiuling had been in the room with him the entire time, talking nonsense, without even stepping out the door once — he just knew Yu Jiuling would get them.

Because this was Yu Jiuling. Did anything more need to be said?

Mr. Yan spoke between bites of dumpling, his words coming out a little muffled from the heat.

“What do you think Xie Huainan’s greatest virtue is?”

Yu Jiuling shook his head — if he knew, he wouldn’t have needed to ask.

Mr. Yan said, “Xie Huainan’s greatest virtue is that he is clever enough. He knew how to save the Xie Family — do you think he wouldn’t know how to destroy it?”

Yu Jiuling turned this logic over carefully in his mind. After roughly the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, he had untangled it.

When he looked up again, Mr. Yan was already deep in work.

Without another word, Yu Jiuling slipped out quietly, pulled the door shut behind him, and beckoned to a guard standing not far away.

He asked the guard, “What’s your name?”

The guard, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, answered immediately, “In reply to General Yu — my name is Yu Xiaobao.”

Yu Jiuling broke into a grin at once. “What a coincidence — you share my family name. Then let me tell you about a task I need you to handle right now. You must see it done properly. Don’t bring shame on our Yu family.”

Yu Xiaobao straightened up. “General Yu, please give your orders.”

Yu Jiuling pointed toward the side room nearby. “Go find some people, convert that room into a kitchen, then hire a cook. Not one who needs to make all manner of elaborate dishes — just someone who can cook simple, everyday food well and in generous portions. Things like noodles, soup dumplings, steamed buns, that sort of thing. The funds come from me. If anyone asks, you tell them it’s my instruction. If anyone refuses to cooperate, have them come find me. This cook’s only responsibility is one thing: whenever the Jiedushi is hungry, there must be food ready immediately. Can you handle that?”

“Yes!”

Yu Xiaobao nodded vigorously.

Yu Jiuling dug through everything he had on him — silver coins and silver notes combined, over a hundred taels in total. He looked back at his personal attendants. “Did any of you bring silver?”

His people immediately turned out their pockets and pooled together everything they had.

Yu Jiuling handed it all to Yu Xiaobao. “Go take care of it. From now on, I’ll have someone bring the cook’s monthly wages to you each month.”

Yu Xiaobao asked one more question. “What if the Jiedushi refuses?”

Yu Jiuling snorted. “He wouldn’t dare.”

Then he walked off. Utterly imperious.

Once he was out the door, Yu Jiuling couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Mr. Yan was far too exhausted. He didn’t have to be — but he insisted on doing as much as he possibly could, and doing it well.

The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. He turned around. “Go find me whoever is in charge of the security detail outside Mr. Yan’s study.”

Before long, a company officer who appeared to be in his thirties came hurrying over.

Yu Jiuling looked him over and asked, “Is it true that Mr. Yan often goes without regular meals and only thinks to eat when he’s starving?”

The company officer nodded. “That’s true. We’ve urged him many times, but he won’t listen…”

Yu Jiuling kicked him squarely in the rear. “You’re only responsible for urging him? Listen to me carefully: I’ve already made arrangements. If Mr. Yan ever goes hungry again, even if I’m no longer a general, I’ll still make your lives miserable. You don’t even know what your own duty is — what the hell are you good for? Get out of my sight!”

When Yu Jiuling returned to Plum Garden, he could see from a distance that Li Chi was sitting motionless by the pond. From afar, he looked more like a stone sculpture than a person.

He had half a mind to tell their lord about Mr. Yan being overworked — but in the end he held back and didn’t disturb Li Chi.

The next day. The Tingwei Office.

Gao Xining had finished breakfast in the morning and returned to the study to prepare for the day’s work when Qian Ban Supervisor Yu Hongyi came in from outside and bowed. “Just now, an officer came in — says he wants to lodge a complaint.”

Gao Xining was taken aback. A company officer coming in to lodge a complaint was something entirely unprecedented.

“Against whom?”

“Against Yu Jiuling, General Yu.”

Gao Xining was even more curious. “Bring him in.”

In roughly the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, Gao Xining had gotten the full story from beginning to end. The officer apparently felt wronged.

He felt he hadn’t done anything wrong, yet had been kicked by General Yu for no reason, and had been threatened besides. Worried that Yu Jiuling would actually follow through, he had run here hoping that Lady Tingwei would see justice done on his behalf.

The Tingwei Army had oversight authority over the military. Yu Jiuling held a military position, so he had come here.

The Tingwei Army had personnel stationed in many places, but specifically not beside the senior figures like Mr. Yan. This arrangement was deliberate — placing people beside the inner circle would feel like a sign of distrust.

But now Gao Xining was thinking about changing that.

“Do you feel wronged?”

Gao Xining asked.

The officer, who was called Wang Bin, nodded. “It’s not so much feeling wronged — I’m just afraid General Yu will punish me further…”

Gao Xining looked toward Yu Hongyi. “Go and invite General Yu here.”

Yu Hongyi acknowledged and left, and before long she had brought Yu Jiuling over. Yu Jiuling strolled in, looked around, and found the officer’s face somewhat familiar.

Gao Xining walked up to Yu Jiuling. “I’m going to kick you. And you’re going to take it.”

Yu Jiuling thought to himself — I’d take a thousand kicks from you no problem. Not to mention you’ve already given me plenty…

After saying that, Gao Xining kicked Yu Jiuling squarely in the rear.

She looked at the officer. “We’re even now. Go collect three months’ pay and go home. You won’t be serving by Mr. Yan’s side anymore.”

The officer stood there completely dumbfounded.

Gao Xining stepped out and headed to the rear courtyard, where she saw Li Chi had moved to a different spot — sitting on top of the wall, lost in a daze. Whatever had been on his mind yesterday, he clearly still hadn’t worked it out.

Gao Xining walked up to the base of the wall and tilted her head up toward Li Chi. “From now on, the Tingwei Army will take over the personal guard details of all officials at the First of the Third Rank and above.”

Li Chi nodded. “All right.”

Gao Xining said, “You’re not going to ask why?”

Li Chi shook his head. “No need.”

Gao Xining turned and walked away.

Li Chi suddenly tilted his head. “Who was wronged?”

Gao Xining said, “Not quite wronged… but somewhat.”

Li Chi asked, “Who?”

Gao Xining said, “Mr. Yan.”

Li Chi jumped down from the wall. “I’ll go with you.”

Gao Xining asked, “What were you thinking about before? It’s been two days now. Must be something important.”

Li Chi shook his head. “Not important.”

Just a matter of moving on Jingzhou. Nothing compared to the people he cared about.

—