Li Chi examined the wooden tower of Blood Floating Tower’s stronghold with great care. One had to admit that to build something this fine on the desolate northern steppes… it had surely taken many deaths, much plunder, and many sins.

Every column, every beam, every brick paving this floor — all of it was stained with blood.

“The Blood Floating Tower people burned the Black Wu army’s grain and supplies. Word is more than half of it was destroyed.”

Li Chi looked to Tang Pidi. “What do you make of these people, in your estimation?”

Tang Pidi answered, “Bandits who deserved to die. Never mind that they burned Black Wu’s supplies — even if they had killed every last Black Wu soldier, they would still be bandits who deserved to die.”

Li Chi grunted and stepped closer to Tang Pidi, looking him in the eye: “You were a bandit too.”

Tang Pidi immediately dropped his gaze. “Your Majesty… please calm your anger.”

Li Chi let out a short laugh. “Forcing my hand in front of everyone like that — you and I aren’t done with this, not by a long stretch.”

Tang Pidi said, “Your Majesty should know that what your subject said was not wrong — I spoke for Your Majesty’s sake, for the sake of the Great Ning’s thousand-generation legacy.”

Li Chi said, “Put aside whether what you said was right or wrong — you’ve just won a great battle and you’re already pressing me to strip your princely title. Have I been too easy to deal with all these years?”

Tang Pidi stepped back two paces and was just about to kneel when Li Chi caught his sleeve: “That routine again?”

Tang Pidi: “Then am I to kneel or not?”

Li Chi: “Kneel later. Skip it for today — watching you kneel makes me furious.”

Tang Pidi laughed. “Today or any other day — if Your Majesty doesn’t take this title from me, sooner or later I’ll find a way to make sure it’s gone.”

He raised a hand and pointed to his own head. “This princely title is too heavy — it presses on my head, makes it ache unbearably. If Your Majesty truly has any regard for your subject, you should…”

Li Chi shot him a withering look: “…kick you, that’s what. If I didn’t think you’d probably beat me in a fight, I’d have done it long ago.”

Tang Pidi: “Your Majesty may kick if you wish.”

He turned and offered his backside to Li Chi: “Your Majesty, please.”

Li Chi: “Your great-uncle’s backside!”

Tang Pidi laughed and found himself a place to sit, exhaling a long, heavy breath.

“Your Majesty knows this is not entirely for your sake, or for the Great Ning’s sake — your subject has his own selfish reasons. After all, I have a wager with Your Majesty.”

Li Chi: “Which one?”

Tang Pidi said, “The one about children — who produces more. Your subject has been competitive his whole life and doubts that will change, so I intend to win that wager, no matter what. And to win, I plan to have quite a few children. My fear is that Your Majesty, in later years, will be too generous — and when you see how many children and grandchildren your subject has accumulated, you’ll insist on enfeoffing them all.”

Li Chi blinked.

Tang Pidi said, “Your Majesty, your subject plans to have many children. Some of them are bound to be unruly. And if they have a princely title to hide behind, a father’s military record to lean on — who knows what sort of arrogance they might display. For your subject, the weight of this title is bearable — but why should my descendants be made to bear it? On what grounds?”

Li Chi said, “By the same grounds you just named — that you, Tang Pidi, can bear it, your descendants all have the right to bear it too!”

Tang Pidi smiled wryly. “Your Majesty, do not torment your own nephews and nieces, your grand-nephews, your great-grand-nephews…”

Li Chi was so exasperated he couldn’t help laughing.

He thought for a moment, then walked over to where Tang Pidi sat, squatted down before him like a child trying to persuade a friend to accept a gift — all earnest, genuine sincerity.

*Come on, I have something good here, let me give it to you, don’t say no, just try it, if you like it you can keep it, what do you say?*

“Then let your Emperor suggest a compromise: keep the princely title for now, and let’s see how things go. If your descendants all turn out well, this hereditary title stays; if some turn out poorly, we’ll revisit it at that time…”

Tang Pidi: “No.”

Li Chi: “Who is the Emperor here — you or I?”

Tang Pidi: “Your Majesty, of course.”

Li Chi: “Then why should I listen to you?”

Tang Pidi: “Because Your Majesty crouched down and proposed a negotiation. In a negotiation, both sides get a say — yes or no both have to be on the table. Your Majesty decides everything else; let your subject decide this one thing.”

Li Chi: “Nonsense. Being Emperor means I don’t have to be reasonable — since when does ‘deciding things’ work like that?”

Then he added: “Come to think of it, that’s one thing being Emperor is good for — you can win the argument whether you’re in the right or not.”

It was a bit like two children haggling, and the one whose gift was being refused suddenly remembered — I’m the elder here, I outrank you, so I’ll pull that card.

Tang Pidi sighed. “I can delay raising this matter a little longer. But this battle’s military merits — Your Majesty must not add them to my record.”

Li Chi: “Not give them to you? Am I supposed to hold onto them and earn interest?”

Tang Pidi: “Depends on the rate…”

Li Chi: “Absurd. You’re the Grand Marshal-Prince of the Great Ning, and if the ready silver in your household exceeds five hundred taels, I’ll give you another five hundred thousand.”

Tang Pidi: “Your subject dares not claim five hundred taels — your subject fears Your Majesty would actually hand over five hundred thousand.”

Li Chi: “Then I’ll give it.”

Tang Pidi said, “If it’s a cash reward, I can take that — what if Your Majesty gave me sixty thousand taels instead, but stripped the title?”

Li Chi: “Is a Great Ning princely title worth a mere ten thousand taels?”

Tang Pidi: “Then what is it worth?”

Li Chi: “Priceless — which is why I can’t afford to trade it away. Give up that hope of yours.”

He glanced toward the doorway. “I’ll go see what’s keeping Nine Younger Brother — he went to scrounge up wine and he still hasn’t come back. Has he started brewing it himself?”

Tang Pidi laughed. “Does Your Majesty not know? There are two things in this world that Nine Younger Brother can locate faster than any living soul: a pleasure house, and good wine. If he hasn’t come back, it is because he does not wish to disturb Your Majesty’s conversation with your subject.”

Li Chi: “You and I have nothing left to say. Nine Younger Brother should be back by now.”

He stepped to the wooden tower’s doorway and looked out — sure enough, Yu Jiuling was pacing back and forth at a distance, hugging a wine jug in both arms, seemingly unable to be bothered to put it down before walking.

Li Chi waved. Yu Jiuling trotted back immediately.

“Aren’t your arms tired? If you want to pace, put the jug down.”

Li Chi said it with a laugh.

Yu Jiuling said, “It’s cold out here, and the wine’s gone cold too — I figured if I kept holding it, I might warm it up a little.”

Li Chi froze. So did Tang Pidi, who had just reached the doorway.

Li Chi reached out and patted Yu Jiuling’s shoulder: “That piece of flattery… I’m not sure I can handle it. If it makes me cry, I’ll dock your pay.”

Yu Jiuling grinned and walked in with the jug: “That wasn’t flattery — if Your Majesty cries, that’s just your heart being warmed.”

Tang Pidi laughed, slung an arm around Yu Jiuling’s shoulders: “The second half of that, though — a little overwrought. Not as good as the first two lines.”

Yu Jiuling: “What, like… gilding the lily?”

Tang Pidi laughed heartily and looked back — the food on the table hadn’t been touched. They’d been so caught up in talking they’d forgotten to eat.

There wasn’t much in the way of provisions to be had here, and this was hardly the moment to have the camp cooks stir-fry a few dishes. But a plate of peanuts — raw — and a large platter of braised meat — cold, of course — sat there looking genuinely decent.

“Your subject is hungry,” Tang Pidi said, looking at Li Chi.

Li Chi gave him a look: “Your Emperor is hungry too — you scolded me until I built up an appetite.”

Yu Jiuling: “Your Majesty, your talent for scolding could use some work. Look at me — I’ve gone out there and scolded people for three, five hours straight without getting tired once.”

Li Chi: “You go scold Old Tang, then.”

Yu Jiuling made a deep bow: “Your subject has certain ailments, but they’re not terminal… there’s no need, no need at all…”

Li Chi burst out laughing.

The three sat down. Yu Jiuling poured three bowls. The wine had come from Blood Floating Tower’s cellar — the smell alone was enough to know it was the good stuff.

“The Black Wu forces have been defeated, but they won’t abandon the White Mountain line. The battles ahead may be harder than what we just came through.”

Li Chi raised his wine bowl: “You’ll have to shoulder that burden again.”

Tang Pidi said, “Let the men rest a few days, recover their strength — then I’ll lead them to attack the White Mountain line.”

Li Chi turned to Yu Jiuling: “I’d like to drink to you too, but I haven’t got the words for it — don’t wait to be toasted. Come on — down it goes.”

Yu Jiuling grinned; the three raised their bowls and drained them.

Tang Pidi said, “Your Majesty, you can already dispatch men back to the passes — as many craftsmen as can be recruited. And the eighty ten-thousand-strong labor contingents I brought back from Bohai — a portion of them can be mobilized and brought up.”

Li Chi understood Tang Pidi’s meaning: the moment White Mountain was cleared of Black Wu forces, construction of a frontier pass would begin immediately.

When Black Wu had been dominant, they had pushed the Chu army all the way back to the Yan Mountains, and the old fortifications on the White Mountain side had mostly been left to ruin. Not long after Black Wu had first seized this territory, someone at the Black Wu court had suggested to the Great Khan that funds be allocated to rebuild the fortifications along White Mountain.

The assembled civil and military officials of Black Wu had laughed. So had the Great Khan himself.

Build a fortress at White Mountain — to what end? Surely the men of the Central Plains wouldn’t have the nerve to attack?

Looking back now: if the Black Wu had actually rebuilt those long-abandoned fortifications on their side of White Mountain, Tang Pidi would have had essentially no chance of taking it back.

White Mountain was naturally far more rugged terrain than the Yan Mountains — and Black Wu always built big, bigger the better. If they had finished those fortifications, they would have been stronger and taller by far than anything Chu had originally built.

In such a scenario, Tang Pidi would have had no good options.

A direct assault? Black Wu would have welcomed nothing more. They had lost seven hundred thousand men, yes — but seven or eight hundred thousand were still here. And most of those remaining were tribal levies from the various Black Wu clans; the elite had been among the seven hundred thousand fallen.

But did that mean they feared the Ning army storming a fortified pass?

Thirty-odd thousand Ning soldiers throwing themselves against a fortress held by that many defenders — that truly would be dying in vain.

Even now, with White Mountain still lacking proper fortifications, Li Chi had just said that the battles ahead would be harder still.

“Now we wait for the supply trains to catch up,” Tang Pidi said. “Once the catapults are all brought up, we take White Mountain — the key is the mountain passes. With catapult cover, we fight and build at the same time on the southern side of the passes. Given enough time, Black Wu will have no choice but to watch us raise our fortress.”

The words came out easy and smooth — but all three of them knew perfectly well how far from easy and smooth it would be.

Li Chi nodded and stood, filling Tang Pidi’s and Yu Jiuling’s bowls himself. Both men rose immediately; Yu Jiuling reached for the jug.

“I’ll pour,” Li Chi said, taking the jug, filling Old Tang’s bowl and Nine Younger Brother’s while he spoke: “Didn’t I say once that when we take White Mountain, I would drink with the three armies together?”

Yu Jiuling: “Your Majesty said so.”

Li Chi sighed: “Then go rummage around later — see how much wine is left in this bandit den, make use of whatever we can. Does that make me sound a bit stingy?”

Tang Pidi: “Your Majesty — ‘a bit’ is not quite the right phrase.”

Li Chi: “What would you replace it with?”

Yu Jiuling: “Your Majesty is being modest, that’s all — just drop those two words and it scans perfectly…”

Li Chi burst out laughing: “The wine is already sorted — Nine Younger Brother, that errand falls to you: first thing tomorrow, head back to the passes and bring it here!”

“Yes, sir!” Yu Jiuling answered, grinning from ear to ear.

—