In the days that followed, Tang Pidi circled Yunlai Island every day looking for some weakness he might exploit.

But after many days of observation, the island’s terrain was simply too unusual — there truly was no second route onto it.

Meanwhile Master Wu was busy trying to requisition vessels. After seven or eight days he had managed to gather only two or three hundred small boats — far too few to mount anything like an assault.

“Grand General,” Master Wu said, seeking Tang Pidi out and sharing his thoughts.

“Han Feibao is not the kind of man who would be content to hide on an island forever. I lay awake last night thinking it through. My guess is that Han Feibao is only sheltering here temporarily. He knows he cannot match the Grand General in battle, and he knows the Grand General cannot stay here indefinitely. This is a strategy of avoidance.

“Once the Grand General’s army withdraws, Han Feibao will scheme for somewhere else — and that somewhere, I believe, is Yanzhou.”

Tang Pidi nodded. “Master is correct. This one island cannot hold Han Feibao’s ambitions. But he has guessed right about one thing — I cannot afford to spend too long here.”

Master Wu said, “So rather than waiting, why not lead the army to Yanzhou first? Since General Shen Shancoral departed, Yanzhou has been severely undermanned, and banditry has been on the rise again throughout the region. The Grand General arriving in Yanzhou to suppress the bandits and overawe the Bohai would be useful — and you might even find Han Feibao waiting for you when you get there.”

Tang Pidi replied, “You need not have come to find me — I had already been meaning to find you. I do indeed intend to move to Yanzhou first.”

He looked at Master Wu. “But I am uneasy about leaving things here. Han Feibao still has tens of thousands of troops, and now they have been driven to desperate banditry. Once I lead the army away, they will raid the coastal towns for supplies. Your forces here will be stretched thin…”

He left the sentence unfinished. Master Wu said, “Grand General, go to Yanzhou without worry. For Qingzhou — I have spent the past two or three years not only training the Trapper Battalion to fight the pirates, but also drilling civilian militias all along the coast. The local people have considerable experience at self-defense by now. Han Feibao need not be taken too seriously.”

Tang Pidi said, “In that case, I will take the army to Yanzhou first. Once I have cleared out the bandits, I will advance against the Bohai.”

“His Highness sent me a message recently saying that the Bohai had been quiet for a spell, but now that they sense we are occupied elsewhere, they have started to grow bold again. His Highness’s meaning was that since I am already in the northeast, I should take the opportunity to strike — to deal the Bohai a blow that keeps them from daring to cross the border for at least thirty years.”

Master Wu said, “Grand General, leave everything here to me.”

Tang Pidi clasped his fists in salute. “Then I will have the troops make ready. I will also need Qingzhou to supply grain, and perhaps some civilian laborers.”

Master Wu said, “Give me ten days. Grain and provisions will all be prepared for the Grand General.”

Tang Pidi thought: ten days gave him one more look at the situation on Yunlai Island. If an opening appeared in those ten days, he would attack. If none did, he would have to wait for another time.

The ten days passed quickly. Han Feibao’s side showed every sign of digging in — never moving more than a step from the island, and continuing to build ever sturdier walls.

Tang Pidi accepted that there was no chance of breaking through Yunlai Island in the short term, and led his army toward Yanzhou.

Master Wu arranged for a large number of battle flags to remain displayed along the shore, and kept the size of the camp unchanged, sending militia members dressed in soldiers’ uniforms to patrol back and forth each day. This left Han Feibao unable to determine whether Tang Pidi’s main force had truly departed, and too cautious to venture off the island.

Master Wu kept a vigilant watch and deployed his forces along the coast, ordering every city to assemble its militia and stand ready against a surprise raid by Han Feibao.

Things went on like this for more than two months — until at last Han Feibao’s side could hold out no longer.

The grain and provisions they had brought were nearly exhausted. The island had water, and they could fish, but that was plainly not enough to feed tens of thousands, let alone enough to feed Han Feibao’s restless ambitions.

So Han Feibao sent one of his generals, a man called Yang Dong, out with three or four thousand Yongzhou troops in boats to patrol the Qingzhou coastline — to scout which points were weakly defended and find a chance to break inland and plunder supplies.

As they say, it is easy enough to change one’s circumstances; it is rather harder to change one’s nature. In truth, a man’s nature changes remarkably easily once the environment changes.

The Yongzhou troops had always been savage, and as pirates they proved no less brutal to the people of Qingzhou than the Sang raiders. When they spotted a lightly defended spot, they came ashore and plundered — taking women, taking grain, killing as they went, leaving no survivors in the villages and towns they struck.

These men gradually became beasts. Their greatest prize was no longer gold and silver but women.

A few more months passed, and the Yongzhou troops had grown fully accustomed to the pirate life — and had even come to enjoy it.

The Ning Army had no large vessels to storm the island, and even if they had, Yunlai’s terrain made it a nearly impregnable fortress. Han Feibao had ordered the island’s trees felled and catapults built, positioned to command the only water approach. The channel into Yunlai was already narrow; under catapult fire, a small boat could be sunk with a single strike.

These days Han Feibao even found a certain ease in this life.

Yuanzhen, however, grew heavier in spirit with each passing day. The very change he had feared most in the Yongzhou troops was now unfolding before him. These men had grown accustomed to this life and had begun to love it — and with that, they had lost the courage and the will to go anywhere else and fight for something more.

If another half a year or a year passed, Yuanzhen knew, these men would simply refuse to leave. They would tell themselves it was good here, that there was no reason to go.

Yuanzhen was a man who looked to the future, not the present.

The Ning Army might have no means of dealing with them now — but would that always be true? Once Prince Ning Li Chi finished with Shuzhou, the very first thing he would do would be to prepare an assault on Yunlai Island.

So Yuanzhen raised the matter with Han Feibao several times. Han Feibao only said the time was not yet right — but Yuanzhen could see that Han Feibao, too, had changed.

He thought back to what Han Feibao had said when they first reached the island: telling him to forget he had ever been a man of Black Wu, that he himself would forget who he had once been. Yuanzhen’s unease grew heavier every day.

From Han Feibao down to the soldiers, every last one of them had lost his fighting spirit. Only Yuanzhen still wanted to go to Yanzhou and fight for the realm.

And so it was that Yuanzhen’s inner state shifted once more.

He, who had never cared for drinking and idle entertainment, began to seek out Han Feibao’s generals and officers, getting thoroughly drunk with them every day. Little by little, his relations with these men became warmer and warmer.

Through them, Yuanzhen tried to persuade them to speak to Han Feibao — but when the moment came, the men he had thought he knew well enough refused him to a man. They, too, were content to stay on this island forever.

That realization made Yuanzhen feel worse than anything.

So he began making other preparations.

He had no personal followers of his own — the men who had come with him had all been killed by Han Feibao long ago. He therefore began deliberately cultivating the company of lower and mid-ranking officers within Han Feibao’s army.

These were the men who did all the hard work while their superiors reaped all the rewards. Finding common ground with them was not difficult; from there it was only a matter of taking their side in small grievances.

Because of his unusual standing, when he spoke up for someone, the generals tended to at least give him a measure of face.

After several more months, Yuanzhen had built a modest circle of trusted men within the army.

But before he could take the next step, Han Feibao grew suspicious.

Han Feibao summoned Yuanzhen to the newly-built wooden hall. Because there were no lacquers or paints available, the hall was plain and unfinished — the moment one stepped inside, the smell of raw timber was overwhelming.

Han Feibao sat in the seat of honor; ranged on either side of him were all of his key generals.

The moment Yuanzhen stepped in and saw the scene, his heart went cold.

“Please be seated, Master,” said Han Feibao, gesturing to the place beside him.

Outwardly Han Feibao still treated Yuanzhen as his most trusted strategist, and had given him the position of second-in-command on the island. In reality, the generals who had followed Han Feibao out of Yongzhou had never truly regarded Yuanzhen as anything.

After Yuanzhen sat, he asked, “My lord has called for me, and all the generals are here as well — is there something of importance?”

Han Feibao said, “Master has been bringing up the matter of Yanzhou for some time, and I have been saying all along that the moment has not yet come.”

Yuanzhen nodded. “My lord’s judgment has been entirely sound.”

Han Feibao smiled. “However, over this past half-year and more we have rested and regrouped on Yunlai Island, and our scouts have brought word that Tang Pidi’s army has in fact long since withdrawn. So I thought the matter of Yanzhou that Master keeps raising might finally be worth discussing.”

Yuanzhen’s instincts sharpened immediately. Just two days ago when he had raised the matter, Han Feibao had still said the time was not right. How could the time have come in just two days?

At that moment General Yang Dong rose and said, “My lord, I have always believed that Master’s talents are extraordinary — if we are to advance on Yanzhou, we simply cannot do without Master’s overall planning…”

Han Feibao rose from his seat. “You are right. That we have settled here safely is entirely thanks to Master’s planning.” He descended from the dais and walked to stand before Yuanzhen, smiling warmly. “So for an undertaking as great as taking Yanzhou, the decisions must rest with Master.”

Yuanzhen quickly bowed his head. “My lord overpraises me — it is entirely my lord’s correct decisions that have brought us to where we are. I have only been useful in the minor details.”

Han Feibao said, “How can Master speak so humbly of himself? I feel that I simply cannot do without you, especially for something as great as taking Yanzhou.” He smiled and said, “To take Yanzhou, we must first understand its situation. Someone must be sent ahead to gather intelligence, and I think that task should fall to Master.”

He looked at Yuanzhen: “Master may select any men from the army as he sees fit. Anyone who refuses Master’s orders will be beheaded on the spot.” He looked around at the assembled generals. “Did you all hear that?”

The generals answered in unison, “We heard.”

Han Feibao smiled warmly at Yuanzhen. “Master, the sooner you select your men and set out for Yanzhou personally to prepare the way for our army, the better.”

Inside, Yuanzhen laughed coldly.

Going to Yanzhou to prepare the way — what a story. They simply wanted him off the island, so they could kill him on the road.

Yuanzhen swept his gaze across the assembled faces. Behind every smile he saw barely concealed satisfaction at his coming downfall.

He took a deep, slow breath.

“How dull…” he said, as if to himself.

—