Li Diudiu couldn’t even figure out himself why, after hearing everything Xiahou Zuo had told him, he made the decision he did. His master had spent years teaching him to be the kind of person who minds his own business and keeps out of trouble—and he had always found that thoroughly sensible.
Yet every time he faced a choice, he seemed to get it wrong.
And it shouldn’t have been this way—he had reflected on it more than once, and somewhere in the depths of his nature he was absolutely the kind of person who yearned to stay out of conflict and live in peace with the world.
Yet after making his decision, he didn’t feel any regret.
Once Xiahou Zuo had gone outside, Changmei grabbed Li Diudiu by the arm and looked him straight in the eye. “What exactly are you going to do?”
Li Diudiu had no desire to deceive his master, so he answered truthfully: “I want to go to the Yanshan Camp’s Green Brow Army and warn Yu Chaozong that someone wants him dead.”
The expression on Changmei’s face changed at once—shifting from stunned astonishment to full-blown fury, and not slowly.
“Absolutely not!”
“Why not?”
“You’re asking *why not?!*”
“But…”
Li Diudiu looked at his master. “Yu Chaozong isn’t an especially bad person. Master, surely you’ve seen it by now—at the very least, he’s not the same as the other rebel leaders. Because of the Yanshan Camp’s presence, the people living for a hundred li in every direction are actually able to live in peace.”
“Before we came here, I’d heard about it—that everywhere in this area, there are Yanshan Camp informants. The truth is the Yanshan Camp people don’t even need to send people out to gather intelligence, because they protect the surrounding hundred li, and every person living within that hundred li has become one of their own.”
Li Diudiu said earnestly: “If such a person dies, the Yanshan Camp will become no different from any other rebel force—and all the people around it will suffer.”
Changmei frowned. “And what does any of that have to do with you? You’re going back to Jizhou. And however you look at it, the Yanshan Camp are still outlaws.”
“Master…”
Li Diudiu said, “The Left Vanguard Guard army has arrived. The Jizhou City garrison has arrived. The ordinary people are terrified—they’re not afraid of the Yanshan Camp, they’re afraid of the government troops. That…”
Changmei shook his head. “Even so—they’re still outlaws, and government forces are still government forces.”
Li Diudiu said, “I’m going regardless.”
“Give me a reason that actually concerns you personally.”
Changmei said with equal gravity: “You’re twelve and a half years old. I have no wish for you to start thinking about saving all the people of the world just yet. But if it genuinely involves you, and the reason is proper and sound, then I’ll agree.”
He said this because he was certain Li Diudiu could have no proper justification.
“I’ve heard that two of my schoolmates from the academy may both be in Xinzhou.”
Li Diudiu racked his brains and finally found a reason—strained, but at least plausible.
“One is Liu Yingyuan and one is Zhang Xiaolin. If something big happens here—if the Yanshan Camp falls into chaos and fighting breaks out—the people of Xinzhou will all suffer. I don’t want my classmates, who only just arrived, to have to flee for their lives again. Or worse, lose them.”
Changmei asked, “Liu Yingyuan—is that the child who disguised herself as a boy?”
Li Diudiu nodded. “Yes.”
Changmei nodded slowly. “In that case…you still cannot go.”
He looked at Li Diudiu. “Do you know what that place is? That is a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair!”
Li Diudiu and his master argued for a very long time.
And while they were arguing, in Prince Yu’s tent, one of the guards assigned to watch over Xiahou Zuo knelt before Prince Yu and said: “That one called Li Chi—he rescued Yu Chaozong up on the mountain.”
“What?”
Prince Yu was taken aback. “Why would he rescue Yu Chaozong?”
The guard shook his head. “This subordinate does not know. He stumbled into the situation by chance. Yu Chaozong was surrounded on all sides at the time—certain to die if nothing changed—but Li Chi drew his bow and shot several of the assassins, which allowed Yu Chaozong to escape.”
Prince Yu rose and began pacing back and forth across the room, thinking it through. This Li Chi fellow should have had no connection to the Yanshan Camp whatsoever. So what was his purpose in intervening?
“This person and Zuo are growing closer and closer…”
Prince Yu paced and said: “Perhaps sooner or later he’ll drag Zuo into trouble. Yu Chaozong must die—yet he saved Yu Chaozong. Is it possible he’s been concealing himself all along, and was actually an informant planted by Yu Chaozong in Jizhou City from the very beginning?”
He turned and gave an order: “Keep a close watch on him. If he returns to Jizhou together with Zuo, don’t move against him for now. But if he makes an excuse to leave on his own—he may well be heading to the Yanshan Camp to meet with Yu Chaozong… In that case, dispose of the master and disciple both.”
The guard bowed. “My Prince—we are occupied with our duties. The Young Master, he…”
Prince Yu acknowledged this. “None of you need to act—otherwise, if Zuo finds out, it will cause its own complications. I will arrange for others to handle it.”
“Yes, my Prince.”
The guard acknowledged the command and withdrew with a bow.
Before long, Jizhou Military Governor Zeng Ling was summoned by Prince Yu. He walked in and immediately asked: “My Prince, what urgent matter brings me here?”
Prince Yu said, “Just now the guard I had posted near Zuo told me—it was Li Chi who rescued Yu Chaozong on the mountain. Could this child be a spy Yu Chaozong planted inside Jizhou City?”
Zeng Ling thought it over carefully, then shook his head. “Probably not. The Daoist Changmei is something of a local figure across seven counties of Jizhou—wherever he goes, word tends to follow. There’s been no word of him visiting the Yanshan mountains before. Moreover, my Prince—didn’t you ask me to look into that master and disciple pair? I investigated carefully. There’s nothing suspicious.”
Prince Yu nodded. “Even if there’s nothing suspicious, this child’s behavior is strange enough. Have your people keep a discreet watch on him—use capable men. Young as he is, his martial skills are not to be underestimated.”
Zeng Ling said, “If there’s any unusual movement, do we eliminate him?”
Prince Yu looked at Zeng Ling. “At the first hint of any risk—he cannot be left alive.”
Zeng Ling assented: “I’ll go arrange it now. Best not to use the men from the Blue-Clothed Formation—if Xiahou finds out, he would…”
Prince Yu said, “Choose skilled fighters from your own army.”
“Yes, my Prince.”
Zeng Ling bowed and said, “I will go immediately.”
On the other side, Li Diudiu finally managed to persuade his master—on the condition that he would not enter the Yanshan Camp itself, but only find a way to make contact with someone from the Yanshan Camp. Only then did Changmei reluctantly agree. The difficulty, however, was: how to make contact with the Yanshan Camp?
The two of them discussed it for quite some time. Finally, Changmei said: find where the Yanshan Camp is located, then write a note, tie it to an arrow, shoot it in, and leave immediately—whether it worked or not.
Li Diudiu understood that his master was worried for him, so he agreed.
The two of them packed up their things and readied their equipment. Li Diudiu told his master to hide somewhere once they entered the mountains and wait for him while he went to the Yanshan Camp alone—but of course Changmei refused to hear of it.
Both of them promised the other something they never intended to keep, with perfectly serious and solemn expressions. It was, in that moment, genuinely and thoroughly a hollow charade of master-and-disciple sentiment.
Once they had finished packing, they borrowed two warhorses and rode out of camp heading north into the Yanshan mountains.
Before long, word that the two had left camp reached Prince Yu’s ears. Prince Yu immediately had Zeng Ling dispatch men to follow them, with orders: the moment those two entered the Yanshan mountains, kill them at once.
A group of more than ten men also rode out from the camp. At first they held back their pace—the Military Governor’s orders were clear: wait until they entered the Yanshan mountains before acting, then push the blame onto the Green Brow Army. This way, it would also cut off Xiahou Zuo’s suspicions.
Prince Yu was genuinely afraid—afraid that his own son might have some entanglement with the Green Brow Army’s side.
As Li Diudiu urged his horse forward, he turned his head and said to his master: “Coming out like this, we’ve probably already been noticed. If the one behind the plot against the Green Brow Army really is Prince Yu, then we’re both in mortal danger.”
Changmei was already no experienced horseman, and his face had gone pale with fear to begin with. Hearing Li Diudiu finish, his color deteriorated even further.
“You *knew* this! And you still came out!”
“So we have to take a roundabout route.”
“Where to?!”
“Qianlie County!”
Changmei was baffled. He called out loudly: “Why did you just say you were going to the Yanshan mountains? You told Xiahou Zuo we were going to the Yanshan mountains too!”
Li Diudiu said, “I didn’t want to lie to Xiahou Zuo—but the people around Xiahou Zuo are all Prince Yu’s men. When I told you we were going to the Yanshan mountains, and told Xiahou Zuo we were going to the Yanshan mountains too, it’s because… I only just thought all of this through now.”
Changmei said, “You absolute genius!”
Li Diudiu said, “It’s not too late—there’s still another way.”
With the wind roaring past their ears as they galloped, he shouted: “That medical clinic in Qianlie County—there’s a good chance the people there are Yu Chaozong’s people.”
Changmei thought about it—it did make sense. A man like Yu Chaozong wouldn’t just walk into any random medical clinic. And the clinic’s physician wouldn’t dare treat someone with injuries like his unless there was a prior connection.
Changmei shouted: “You mean to say—that physician at the clinic might be a spy Yu Chaozong planted in Qianlie County?”
Li Diudiu called back: “Exactly! We gamble on it!”
Changmei hollered: “Stop talking! Galloping with your mouth open funnels the wind straight in—my lips are flapping all over the place.”
Li Diudiu called back: “Neither of us has any experience with this. I knew I should have brought a scarf—would’ve blocked out the wind and dust.”
Changmei: “Tear off a strip of your clothes for a scarf.”
Li Diudiu: “I’m not willing to do that. You tear off a strip of yours!”
Changmei: “I’m not willing either!”
Li Diudiu: “You tear off mine, I’ll tear off yours!”
Changmei thought it over, then nodded. “Good idea!”
And so master and disciple steered their warhorses side by side, tore strips from each other’s clothing to use as makeshift scarves and wind-masks, and both felt rather pleased with the arrangement—and both felt that this way, neither had to grieve the loss of their own clothing.
People who are truly close to each other almost certainly share the same level of intelligence.