Changmei Daoren looked at Tian Zhanyuan, his face showing reluctance: “Gentleman, this isn’t a matter of money. This is a heavenly secret — if I reveal too much, I will truly face a life-and-death danger. Please spare me, gentleman.”
Tian Zhanyuan was clearly growing angry. He gave a cold grunt and said: “If you speak, you may not necessarily face any life-and-death danger. But if you don’t speak, I can guarantee you won’t live to see tomorrow.”
Changmei’s face changed with fright, and he pleaded piteously: “Gentleman, you cannot force me like this.”
Tian Zhanyuan, with his violent nature, was already itching to act. But in broad daylight, in a bustling part of Jizhou City, he truly didn’t dare to casually kill people.
After thinking for a moment, Tian Zhanyuan produced two banknotes, each with a face value of one hundred taels. He handed the banknotes to Changmei Daoren and said: “You two look destitute and helpless. Two hundred taels is enough for your father and daughter for five years — even ten years of comfortable living. Tell me, and I’ll give you the banknotes. Don’t tell me, and I’ll follow you home and pay you a visit.”
Changmei Daoren appeared to have been left with no choice. He reluctantly took the banknotes, then said: “Gentleman… for a person to encounter one great benefactor in their fate is already extraordinarily rare. Yet in your fate-picture there are two great benefactors, and moreover they are at odds with one another.”
Changmei paused, then continued: “Actually, as to which one ultimately wins — it may or may not lie with you, gentleman. Your choice is extremely critical to both of them. Whichever side you stand on, that side’s odds of victory become greater.”
Tian Zhanyuan thought: this old man is truly a remarkable person — not a single word he said was wrong.
If he stood on the side of his elder brother Yu Chaozong, Second Brother Bi Datong would certainly lose. If he stood on Bi Datong’s side, Yu Chaozong would also have several points of uncertainty.
“Just tell me which side I should choose!”
“Wait and see.”
Changmei Daoren said with an air of deep mystery: “In these coming days there may be some upheaval. Gentleman, you must not stir up any trouble while in Jizhou City. In truth, the gentleman should not have come to Jizhou — this great city still holds considerable imperial energy, which will clash with the gentleman’s fate-number.”
Tian Zhanyuan asked: “So I should return the way I came?”
Changmei gave an affirmative sound: “That would be best. These days, do nothing — simply observe from a distance. Unless I’m mistaken, the turning point of the gentleman’s life is coming soon. But fortune and misfortune each take half.”
Tian Zhanyuan said: “These words of yours are deliberately ambiguous — I couldn’t make out anything from them.”
Changmei Daoren sighed and said: “Then let me be more direct. The gentleman is a tiger, while those two are dragons. When two dragons fight they will inevitably harm those around them. Yet the gentleman already bears the bearing of a ruler — a tiger taking on the aspect of a dragon… What if both dragons are defeated?”
Tian Zhanyuan’s expression changed again. He thought — how had he not considered this?
Among Yanshan Camp’s seven strongholds, his elder brother Yu Chaozong’s forces were not the most numerous, but their fighting strength was the most ferocious. Second Brother Bi Datong’s stronghold had the most men. The two were probably fifty-fifty.
And among the remaining chiefs, he himself was the strongest. Third Brother Zhou Dao had only over a thousand cavalry, and he was Yu Chaozong’s man with no ambition to dominate. Fourth Brother Wu Xiong’s forces were only half of his. Sixth was his man. Seventh — that fellow had only a few hundred men and couldn’t cause any significant waves.
So if he could drive the Second and First into fighting each other, with the Third getting drawn in too, and all three of them ended up dead — who would be left to stop him from becoming the top chief?
He immediately looked toward Changmei Daoren and asked: “So I should go back and observe from a distance? Do nothing?”
Changmei Daoren nodded: “Don’t complicate things unnecessarily. The gentleman’s opportunity is coming.”
Tian Zhanyuan nodded: “Then I’ll finish my business here and head back as quickly as possible.”
Changmei thought to himself: finish your business, damn it. I’ve been persuading you for half a day to leave, and you’re still saying you’ll finish your business first — what was the point of all these words I just wasted?
He urged: “It really would be better to go back as soon as possible. No business is more important than your future prospects, gentleman. Besides, this Jizhou City clashes with your fate-number — the longer you stay, the greater the chance of some mishap.”
Tian Zhanyuan asked: “What kind of mishap?”
Changmei thought: you stubborn mule! You fool!
But he could only patiently continue: “Delay breeds trouble — and trouble starts close to home. Has the gentleman not considered that someone nearby may also be unstable and unreliable?”
This had been said as a casual off-the-cuff remark, purely to use words to pressure this mountain bandit chieftain into going back to Yanshan sooner, thus avoiding further trouble. Being able to drive someone away without fighting — in the art of war, this was what was called subduing the enemy without battle.
Changmei had good intentions, but this Tian Zhanyuan was truly a stubborn one. After all those words, he still intended to finish his business before leaving. Changmei thought to himself — if you finish your business, won’t I be dead?
Yet what he hadn’t anticipated was that this line — “someone nearby may not be fully reliable” — struck precisely at Tian Zhanyuan’s anxiety. He genuinely suspected there was a spy from Yu Chaozong’s camp among his own people. Even though he had carefully hand-picked everyone he’d brought, he couldn’t be certain of their absolute loyalty.
If Bi Datong could bribe trusted aides of elder brother Yu Chaozong, could Yu Chaozong not bribe aides close to them?
Tian Zhanyuan thought: if there really was a spy among those he’d brought out, it was quite possible Yu Chaozong had already been informed. And Yu Chaozong’s quick agreement might well have been seizing the opportunity to eliminate him in Jizhou City.
What kind of person you are shapes what kind of thoughts you have.
With this thought, a measure of fear rose in Tian Zhanyuan’s heart.
“Then, what if I were to leave tomorrow?”
he asked.
Changmei Daoren inwardly let out a breath of relief, thinking: if you’d just leave right now that would be even better — but of course he couldn’t say that.
He nodded: “The sooner the better — as I said, delay breeds trouble.”
Tian Zhanyuan gave an affirmative sound, exhaled a long breath, stood up to stretch, and said: “Sing a few little songs then. My wife likes what you sang just now. I’ll go rest. The reward money I gave you is enough to pay for a few more songs.”
“Of course, of course…”
Changmei Daoren quickly nodded: “If the madam enjoys listening, we’ll stay here a little longer. We’ll leave at lunchtime.”
Tian Zhanyuan gave an affirmative sound and turned to go back into the inn. As soon as he stepped inside he beckoned his trusted aide Wei Ye over and, lowering his voice, gave an instruction: “Once those two fortune-tellers leave, take some men and follow them. Don’t be in a rush to act — wait until they go inside their own home, then act. Keep it clean and neat. Bring my silver back.”
Wei Ye immediately bent in acknowledgment: “Don’t worry, Chief. I’ll take care of it cleanly.”
Tian Zhanyuan gave an affirmative sound and slowly climbed the stairs.
He returned to his room. Outside the window, that old man’s singing had already started up again. There was an inexplicable melancholy in the melody, the kind that made listeners feel restless. Yet his wife was leaning by the window listening with eyes that had grown a little moist.
Seeing this only made him more irritated, so he turned and left again, had someone fetch wine from the proprietor, and went to drink with his men.
—
Outside the inn, Li Diudiu looked toward his master Changmei and said in a low voice: “Master, do you think it worked?”
Changmei finished the song before answering in an equally low voice: “It didn’t work.”
Li Diudiu nodded: “I thought so too. Though we’ve frightened that fellow enough to have second thoughts about leaving, he clearly wants to take back the silver he gave you, and moreover he’s already realized he said things he shouldn’t have.”
Changmei Daoren sighed: “Didn’t account for this, didn’t account for this…”
Li Diudiu said: “Master, leave this matter to me. Your approach won’t work anymore.”
Changmei Daoren looked at Li Diudiu: “Don’t do anything rash.”
Li Diudiu gave an affirmative sound — somewhat perfunctory.
—
By the time it was nearly noon, the two gathered their things. Li Diudiu helped his master up and they took their leave.
Li Diudiu could sense that someone was following behind them, so his judgment hadn’t been wrong — that fellow truly didn’t want to spend money. He intended to take the silver back.
And it wasn’t merely about taking the silver back. The mountain bandit chieftain had talked far too much with his master. Fearing some accident, he would surely silence them.
This really had been something they hadn’t accounted for. When you came down to it, both Li Diudiu and his master had underestimated how brutal these mountain bandits were.
“We can’t head home now either.”
Changmei Daoren said as he walked: “Who knows what those people are planning. If it implicates Mr. Yan that would be a grave offense. Shall we loop around for a few turns?”
Li Diudiu said: “Follow me, Master.”
Changmei Daoren asked: “Where to?”
Li Diudiu said: “Let’s go ask about our own future.”
Changmei was taken aback and instinctively asked: “Who are you going to ask?”
Li Diudiu said: “The Master.”
Though the great Zhou Dynasty had been gone for many years, the world had changed vastly, yet there was still only one figure universally known as “the Master” — though no one paid that Master any reverence anymore.
There was more than one Confucian Temple in Jizhou City, and every one of them was partially in ruins. Li Diudiu led his master into that same temple where a pool of blood had once covered the ground.
On that day in this Confucian Temple, the assassin Yao Wuhen had killed many people single-handedly. He should have died but didn’t, because for someone like him, encountering someone like Prince Yu was enough to change one’s fate entirely.
Li Diudiu and his master entered the Confucian Temple one after the other. The place had been the scene of a killing, and many had died there — an already desolate location that no one came to visit had become even less frequented.
Changmei Daoren walked in and saw the half of the clay Confucian statue lying on the ground. He stopped, then murmured: “What a sin.”
He asked Li Diudiu: “When do you think they’ll make their move?”
Li Diudiu replied: “Not in daytime — even without anyone coming here, they won’t dare.”
Changmei Daoren nodded: “Then there’s still time.”
Li Diudiu asked: “Time for what, Master?”
Changmei Daoren pointed to the broken half of the clay statue and said: “Go and find some dry straw, and find some water. We’ll repair the clay statue of the Master. Master Kong lived his whole life in upright integrity — we cannot leave him degraded like this. A sage such as he — even as a clay statue — must stand steady and tall.”
In another’s eyes, what Changmei was doing would seem utterly pointless, idle beyond measure. But Li Diudiu didn’t think so at all. He gave an affirmative sound and went out to gather straw. Before long he returned, carrying some water in a broken half-tile he’d found.
The two worked in the Confucian Temple, mixing the clay and setting the half-statue back in place, using straw-reinforced mud to patch the break.
Once it was repaired, they found wooden sticks to prop it up, then built two small fires to dry it.
“Are you hungry?”
His master asked Li Diudiu naturally.
Li Diudiu pulled a cloth bundle of steamed buns from his pack and held it up. He smiled: “Things aren’t what they used to be — we don’t have to go hungry anymore.”
His tone as he said these words sounded calm, but Changmei heard three parts killing intent within it.
They had worked so hard to reach this kind of life — how could they allow others to destroy it at will?
Li Diudiu gently patted that pack. Only then did Changmei understand — his disciple had long since anticipated that this master’s approach wouldn’t work.
—