It felt as though a very long time had passed since he had last returned to Jizhou City — and yet it also felt as though he had only just left.

Because in his heart it felt so extraordinarily familiar, and yet there was that touch of excitement he’d felt when he first came to Jizhou all those years ago, Li Chi’s feelings were rather complex.

For Li Chi, Jizhou City held a meaning that was anything but ordinary. This was where his life had turned.

Ten years of hardship with his master had culminated in a set of academy robes in Jizhou City.

Seeing Jizhou City from afar, he thought back to that time on the road halfway here, when he had asked his master where they were going, and his master had said: Jizhou. He had asked what they were going to Jizhou for, and his master had said: to buy your life.

He had replied that his life was very easy to buy — braised meat, soy-glazed duck, roast pig trotters — those were what constituted his life.

In what felt like a daze, so many years had passed already.

When they were still more than ten li from Jizhou City, people had already gathered along the roadside to wait.

When they saw the Ning Army column approaching, the people all began to cheer — not because anyone had forced them to come. They had come on their own.

The moment they saw the Ning King’s banner appear, the reverence and excitement on every face was so genuine and so fervent.

Li Chi leapt down from his horse. These last ten-odd li, he would walk the rest of the way back on foot.

The people called out “Long live the Ning King,” over and over — perhaps without even knowing why. It seemed as though their hearts held countless words, yet when they reached their lips they all became these four characters.

Perhaps those four characters were simply the most fitting summation of all their devotion to the Ning King.

The same familiar city walls. The same familiar streets. The same familiar flowers and trees.

When Li Chi entered Jizhou City, he felt something he never felt in any other place… he was home.

The first true home he and his master had ever known was right here in Jizhou City.

That small courtyard Li Chi had scraped and saved to buy — it had been the safest and warmest shelter they had ever known. After more than a decade of wandering from place to place, sleeping outdoors wherever they found themselves, suddenly having a home of their own — even on cold nights when they had no money for firewood to light the stove, the warmth in their hearts still left them unafraid of winter.

Returning to Jizhou, after meeting with all the officials of Jizhou, Li Chi went with his master and the others to that small courtyard.

Though it stood empty now, someone came every day to sweep and tidy it. When he asked who had given the order, he was told it was on the instructions of Jizhou Governor Xu Ji.

One had to say — Xu Ji was a thoughtful man.

He sat down on the front steps and exhaled a long breath. The feeling was exactly like spending a long, exhausting day out in the world and then coming home, sitting down in your own chair — perhaps not the most comfortable chair, perhaps a bit old and worn — and releasing that breath at last.

That long breath, with all its exhaustion and contentment, could only be released at home.

The divine eagle circled excitedly around the courtyard, running to one spot and craning its neck to look for where the dog was, then barking a few times — probably meaning: look, I dug this hole.

Running to another spot, barking excitedly again — it was showing off to the dog: and I dug this one too.

All this time had passed, and the holes were still there. Such enduring work — worthy of something I dug myself.

The dog, as always, had that cool, detached air, with a touch of helplessness toward its own foolish child.

Back at the northern frontier, an amusing incident had taken place.

Black Wu’s Southern Court Grand General Yefu Lie kept a large eagle — a white-headed eagle native to the Black Wu lands, of an exceptionally enormous size.

One of Xiahou Zuo’s men had asked at the time whether the eagle that the Ning King kept was equally massive.

Xiahou Zuo had replied that the Ning King’s bird was roughly the size of a white-headed eagle’s head. The man had seemed slightly disappointed upon hearing that.

But before long, when Li Chi and his men arrived at Beishan Pass, the moment the dog spotted that white-headed eagle circling in the sky, a single piercing cry launched it straight up into the air.

The instant it shot up on its wings, the great white-headed eagle clearly faltered — it turned a circle high in the sky and then began flying back.

The dog gave chase, flying directly above the white-headed eagle. From a distance, it really did look roughly the size of the white-headed eagle’s head.

Yet the white-headed eagle was so unnerved it kept dodging and swerving, twisting and spinning in sharp turns through the air to evade the dog.

Because the white-headed eagle knew perfectly well: it could not catch that falcon, but that falcon could tear open its skull.

Though the white-headed eagle ultimately managed to escape, from that day forward — no matter how Yefu Lie commanded or drove it — that white-headed eagle never again dared fly in the direction of Beishan Pass.

Especially when the dog took to the air and circled overhead — that enormous, fearsome white-headed eagle no longer even dared to take flight.

At the time, this had given the defenders at Beishan Pass enormous encouragement, and everyone said it was an auspicious omen.

The slightly smaller-looking falcon was the symbol of the Ning Army; the great white-headed eagle was the symbol of the Black Wu people.

And so every time the Ning Army soldiers saw the dog take flight, they would burst into cheers.

What the soldiers did not know was that the very first time the white-headed eagle and the dog had clashed, the dog had gouged out one of the eagle’s eyes.

And that was why the eagle was so terrified.

The white-headed eagle was indeed enormous and powerful — but it was nowhere near as nimble as the dog, and nowhere near as ferocious.

Inside the small courtyard.

Li Chi watched the divine eagle rooting around in the ground again, and found himself wondering whether he ought to have an iron nose ring made for it.

Yu Jiuling sat beside Li Chi. Noticing that Li Chi’s gaze was fixed on the divine eagle, he asked, “Boss, what are you thinking about?”

Li Chi said, “That divine eagle rooting around in the ground with its nose — I wonder if it hurts. It’s still so cold, and the ground is frozen solid and hard. It doesn’t seem to mind at all. If it had a nose ring of some kind, would that help?”

Yu Jiuling looked at that pig-like nose, then glanced down at himself, and muttered under his breath, “A ring?”

Then he shook his head repeatedly. “Boss, I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Li Chi asked, “Why not?”

Yu Jiuling said with great seriousness, “You ask — why does a pig like to root in the ground?”

Li Chi truly had never thought about this question. He suddenly thought that if Li Xiansheng were here, he would probably understand. But then again, it was Yu Jiuling who had truly inherited Li Xiansheng’s expertise in the raising of pigs — so Yu Jiuling would certainly know.

He asked, “You know?”

Yu Jiuling nodded. “Of course I do… Let us first make a logical inference. If rooting in the ground was uncomfortable for a pig’s nose, would it still root?”

Li Chi said, “Presumably it would stop.”

Yu Jiuling said, “And so from this we can deduce: the reason pigs like to root in the ground with their noses is because it feels good.”

Li Chi heard this and immediately felt something was off. His eyes narrowed slightly.

Yu Jiuling continued, “It uses its nose to root in the ground because it feels good. If you put a ring on it, would it still feel good?”

Li Chi raised his hand and began to applaud. “Reasonable and well-argued.”

Yu Jiuling said, “Alas… I had a sudden moment of empathy just now, which is how I came to understand all of this.”

Li Chi didn’t catch on — he genuinely didn’t understand what “empathy” meant in this context. After all, he was not the sort of person as shameless as Yu Jiuling.

Yu Jiuling was quite pleased with himself. Finally, something the boss himself hadn’t caught onto — how could he not be pleased?

But the three old men sitting not far away, leisurely sipping tea and chatting, had caught on perfectly. The three of them looked at each other, then all raised their eyes to gaze at the sky.

“Hold on…”

Gao Yuanzhang suddenly realized something and looked toward Old Zhenren Zhang. “How is it that you understand?”

Old Zhenren Zhang said, “Understand what, exactly?”

Gao Yuanzhang raised his teacup. “Drink tea, drink tea.”

Old Zhenren Zhang said, “Ah, yes — drink tea, drink tea.”

Daoist Changmei gazed at the sky, seemingly lost in thought — though clearly not in wholesome thoughts, for his expression was gradually drifting toward something that should not be described.

Old Zhenren Zhang lowered his voice and asked, “What in the world are you mulling over?”

Daoist Changmei lowered his voice as well and said, “Speaking purely on an academic level — if you were to put some sort of thing on the divine eagle’s nose, would it get bigger?”

Old Zhenren Zhang said, “This… you… I… I’m past that age.”

Daoist Changmei gave a sound of agreement. “Indeed… why didn’t I think of that back then.”

Gao Yuanzhang was a man of letters, a great Confucian scholar. He sat there, sipped his tea, sipped his tea, sipped his tea — though the picture of serene detachment he painted was not entirely convincing.

“Military dispatch.”

Xiahou Zuo came in from outside, carrying a military report that had just arrived from Yanzhou.

Tang Qingyuan had sent word, reporting on recent developments in Yanzhou.

After the Bohai forces had withdrawn, Tang Qingyuan had sent men to survey the mountain pass route that Dantai Qijing had used — and it had been destroyed by the Bohai forces on their way out.

There had originally been a deep gorge along the route. At the narrowest point between the cliff faces on either side, the gap could be crossed with a running leap.

At precisely this spot, the Bohai forces had apparently mobilized enormous manpower and resources to pry away a great section of the cliff face on their side.

Now it was impossible to cross there by any means.

This passage was now blocked, but the mountain pass on the other side had been damaged — so that side could still be used.

From among the large number of prisoners, Tang Qingyuan selected a group, offered them benefits, and arranged for them to return to the Bohai state posing as troops who had broken ranks and scattered in the chaos.

These men had only one task to carry out: keep bribing others.

Among the Bohai prisoners, there were no shortage of high-ranking Bohai officials. Tang Qingyuan had them returned home, told them what to do, and assured them that the Ning Army would back them fully.

Once these men returned home, they genuinely found reason to act.

When the Bohai King Shi Zaikun had marched against Yanzhou, Dantai Qijing had seized and ransacked their estates — the Bohai royal clan had been swept up in a single net.

All of them were still being held under supervision in Yanzhou — including Shi Zaikun’s mother and senior members of the royal clan.

The men Tang Qingyuan had released, citing Shi Zaikun’s reckless military campaigns and his disregard for the lives of the people, had quietly united a considerable number of allies.

Among those released, one man already held considerable prestige within the Bohai military. His name was Li Xiaowanhe.

He carried with him a letter bearing the personal seal of Shi Zaikun’s mother — written under Tang Qingyuan’s coercion, of course — declaring that Shi Zaikun was unfit to remain Bohai’s king, that the Empress Dowager had decided to strip Shi Zaikun of his position and pass the throne to Li Xiaowanhe.

Without such an inducement, Li Xiaowanhe would never have dared to move openly against Shi Zaikun upon his return.

After two months of secret planning, Li Xiaowanhe struck while Shi Zaikun was drunk — and cut him down with a single blow.

He launched a coup, announcing dozens of Shi Zaikun’s crimes, and produced the Empress Dowager’s personal letter stating that even Shi Zaikun’s own mother had taken his side.

After the coup, Li Xiaowanhe swiftly seized control of the court, and proclaimed his intention to do everything possible to bring the Empress Dowager and the others safely home.

Li Xiaowanhe sent men to petition Tang Qingyuan, and Tang Qingyuan demanded that he make restitution for the war crimes committed in the invasion of Yanzhou — crimes that had caused incalculable casualties.

In order to establish his legitimacy, Li Xiaowanhe had almost entirely emptied the national treasury to pay the Ning Army in reparations.

And Tang Qingyuan was true to his word. Once the enormous sum of reparations was received, he released those who had been held.

Shi Zaikun was already dead. With the Shi royal clan alive, they would have served no purpose in captivity — but released back to Bohai, they would serve a great purpose.

Upon returning to Bohai, the convoy was ambushed on the road before it had traveled far, and every last one of them was killed.

When the newly crowned Bohai King Li Xiaowanhe received this news, he wept and wailed, declaring that he never could have imagined that Shi Zaikun’s men could be so vicious — that he had spent every resource he had to bring the Empress Dowager safely home, only for her to be murdered in such a fashion.

And so Li Xiaowanhe used this as his pretext to mount a sweeping campaign of arrest and execution against Shi Zaikun’s remaining loyalists within Bohai.

When Li Chi had finished reading through the military report, he couldn’t help but laugh.

This Tang Qingyuan — how could he not be put to important use?