Yu Jiuling sighed. “What was it Old Tang said to describe you the other day — that thing about what the Westerners use for money?”

Li Chi shot him a sideways look. “Get lost.”

Yu Jiuling burst out laughing. “I thought you were just trying to fleece those Yuzhou medicine merchants — we needed the carriages anyway, so why not pay a bit extra to get theirs too.”

He grinned. “I was so pleased with myself, thinking I’d grasped your plan right then and there, convinced I was rather clever — and all along you were setting a trap for the Yuzhou army’s men.”

Li Chi said: “If I go to the trouble of scheming against someone, and all I’ve schemed against are a handful of medicine merchants, then my skills have truly deteriorated.”

He sat down, pouring tea as he spoke. “Meng Kedi is one of the great warriors of this age. The fact that Prince Wu has relied on him all along is proof enough of the man’s capabilities.”

“This buying expedition had three purposes: first, to stockpile supplies for his northern campaign; second, to cut off our medicines; third, to use the opportunity to probe our strength.”

Yu Jiuling said: “That brain of yours… are you sure there isn’t a thousand-year-old fox spirit living in it?”

Li Chi said: “I am a youth of remarkable talent.”

Yu Jiuling said: “One day when I get the chance, I’m going to buy myself a Western coin to keep as a souvenir.”

Li Chi said: “If I recall correctly, someone just spent four or five times the going rate buying carriages these past couple of days. That kind of business — do you have any idea how much silver you’ve burned through for us?”

Yu Jiuling: “You can’t do this to me… you’re the one who told me to.”

Li Chi said: “I’m the head of the family. I can acknowledge that or I can not acknowledge that, as I see fit.”

Yu Jiuling: “Head of the family — a once-in-a-thousand-years youth of remarkable talent!”

Master Ye, seated to one side, laughed softly. “I thought you had this great unyielding dignity — turns out you’re a pushover.”

Yu Jiuling straightened his back. “Master Ye actually looks down on people? I, Yu Jiuling, am naturally unyielding in dignity — but as for wealth and prosperity, I will most certainly…”

The rest of the sentence, even with his thick skin, he couldn’t bring himself to say aloud.

Li Chi smiled and said: “Back to serious matters. Barring anything unexpected, those merchants will go find their backers. Tonight should be quiet — but tomorrow will definitely bring trouble.”

Yu Jiuling understood this time.

When Li Chi had told the driver they would only be staying three days, he hadn’t been saying it for the driver’s benefit at all — it had plainly been said for the Yuzhou medicine merchants.

So now Yu Jiuling finally grasped it: this fellow Li Chi, just how deeply he could dig a pit for someone. You think he’s dug one pit, but the pit has a pit inside it.

And so Yu Jiuling couldn’t help but admit, inwardly, that it was Old Tang who had always seen the head of the family most clearly.

He couldn’t help but voice a sigh of admiration: “Daoist Changmei, that old man — he’s the real old fox.”

Li Chi said: “I’ll be sure to pass that along to him.”

A chill ran through Yu Jiuling’s groin.

Daoist Changmei had produced that monstrous thing called the Flowing Cloud Formation — of course that chill had to go somewhere, and it naturally went straight to the groin, as a sign of proper respect.

Li Chi looked toward Master Ye and said: “Master, tomorrow night you and I will take turns on watch.”

Master Ye nodded. “Agreed.”

Li Chi continued: “Jiuling, take half the men to the inn’s rear courtyard. If they want to vent their anger, they might try to burn our carriages and cargo.”

Yu Jiuling replied: “Leave it to me.”

Li Chi looked toward Chen Dawei and Gang Gang. “First thing tomorrow morning, go find the inn’s owner and ask him to have the other guests leave. We’ll compensate them.”

Chen Dawei and Gang Gang both nodded.

Li Chi thought for a moment, running through his own side’s strength in his head. The only thing he wasn’t entirely at ease about was Shen Rujian’s group.

He had just glanced in her direction when Shen Rujian — sitting off to one side reading, her gaze not turned toward Li Chi — gave a faint shake of her head. “Don’t worry about us.”

Everyone was gathered in the sitting room, but Shen Rujian sat at some distance, still maintaining a certain reserve from the rest of the group.

Only now did Yu Jiuling fully realize: someone like Shen Rujian was a formidable presence in her own right.

The middle-aged man who had always stood behind Shen Rujian said: “Head of the family, rest assured — the mistress’s side will have us watching over her.”

Li Chi had never seen Lu Qingluan act, but he was certain this person was a master among masters. Shen Rujian never brought many people when she went out, yet she invariably brought Lu Qingluan — from that alone you could draw conclusions about his strength.

The man was exceptionally self-contained. He looked as plain and unassuming as a farmer, but if anyone truly took him for a farmer, they would probably die without ever knowing why.

By comparison, Yu Jiuling looked boisterous enough to seem like a formidable fighter, yet against Lu Qingluan he likely wouldn’t survive a single exchange.

Since Lu Qingluan had said what he said, Li Chi knew there was no need to worry about Shen Rujian’s safety.

“Then everyone get some rest. If they’re bold, they’ll come in daylight. If they’re cautious, it’ll be sometime deep in the night tomorrow.”

Li Chi rose. “I’ll take the watch tonight. Tomorrow during the day, I’ll rest.”

With that he left the sitting room, returned to his own room, and took out the bundle he had prepared. He stripped off his outer robe, put on a soft armor beneath, strapped on his short blade and crossbow, and picked up the heavy saber in his hands before heading out.

Li Chi slipped out through the back window and within moments was on the rooftop.

The nights at this time of year were extraordinarily pleasant — the evening breeze blew without a trace of cold, only a clean freshness.

Li Chi sat down on the roof. In his hands was the demon-face mask he hadn’t worn in a long while.

He reckoned tonight would be uneventful, yet he was the head of the family — he had to take responsibility for everyone.

Sitting there, glancing in all directions from time to time, the image of that young girl rose in his mind unbidden.

He thought to himself: that girl’s greatest love was eating. If she’d had some other fondness, things would be simpler — every time he went out he could bring back something she liked. But food… things you brought back from a long journey mostly went bad. There was no way to preserve them.

Maybe he should become a master thief.

Li Chi pondered: every time he was out and came across a cook who made something exceptional, he could just abduct the person and bring them home…

Then it suddenly struck him that he’d been rather lazy about this. If he truly put in the effort to learn properly, he probably wouldn’t be half-bad.

She only loved eating — if he became the finest cook in the world, wouldn’t that be perfect? Dishes and pastries alike, whatever she could think of he could make it well — what could possibly be more impressive than that?

Nothing at all.

Conquering the realm?

Conquering the realm was certainly impressive-sounding, but in Li Chi’s estimation, it genuinely ranked only second most impressive.

Li Chi thought: I’m already doing the second most impressive thing in the world — what’s stopping me from doing the first one too?

Just then, he suddenly turned his head. Several zhang behind him, a dark silhouette.

Seeing Li Chi turn, the figure smiled. “The head of the family really is perceptive.”

It was Lu Qingluan.

He walked over to Li Chi and handed him a bundle. “This is from our mistress for the head of the family.”

Li Chi asked: “What is it?”

“Pastries. Fruit wine.”

Lu Qingluan said: “The head of the family surely hasn’t yet tasted fruit wine brewed by our mistress’s own hand… it is the finest wine in all the world.”

Li Chi smiled. “Since it’s something so fine, why don’t the two of us split it?”

Lu Qingluan smiled a little bashfully. “How could that be right — that is our mistress’s gift to you…”

Even as he said so, he sat down.

Lu Qingluan said: “Truly, it isn’t that I’m greedy for wine. Our mistress has said herself that commerce is only her second greatest talent — what she takes the most pride in is brewing wine.”

Li Chi asked curiously: “Why does she enjoy brewing wine?”

Lu Qingluan said: “Our mistress once said she loves a light, pleasant state of intoxication — but no matter whose wine she tried, she found the taste lacking. So she brewed her own.”

Li Chi grew more curious. “Then I absolutely must try it.”

When Li Chi took his first sip, he wasn’t particularly amazed.

But several breaths after the wine went down, the lingering sweetness that bloomed in his mouth made his eyes brighten.

“Truly remarkable.”

Seeing Li Chi’s praise, even Lu Qingluan couldn’t help looking a little proud.

He smiled and said: “This wine is gentle, yet it bears a grand name. There are three varieties of fruit wine in all, called respectively: One Glance, One Step, and Mountain Sea.”

He pointed to the flask in question. “This is the most full-bodied of the three. Its name is Mountain Sea.”

Li Chi paused. Those were rather unusual names.

One Glance, One Step, Mountain Sea?

He asked: “Is there a story behind these names?”

Lu Qingluan answered: “Hanging in our mistress’s study is a piece of calligraphy: ‘A single glance and we might meet — a single step and it is a fortress wall… the one I love lies beyond mountains and seas, and mountains and seas cannot be leveled.'”

Something in Li Chi’s chest constricted. Those lines carried a particular kind of ache.

He tasted the fruit wine again, and the ache deepened.

He couldn’t quite say why, but those lines suddenly made him afraid.

He found himself, involuntarily, imagining what it would be like if he could never see Gao Xining again.

Even in the moonlight, the fear on Li Chi’s face was plain to see. Lu Qingluan gave a soft sigh.

Li Chi looked at him. Lu Qingluan said: “Our mistress says — a person without feeling will have nothing to fear.”

He smiled gently. “Our mistress says: to fear losing something is to love it.”

“As for me,” Lu Qingluan said, “I only find this wine delicious.”

He rose. “So the rest is yours to drink — for me, drinking more would only be a waste.”

Li Chi asked: “Has no woman ever moved your heart?”

Lu Qingluan thought for quite a long while, then smiled. “Depends on what you live for.”

The remark didn’t quite follow from what came before, yet Li Chi felt, dimly, that he understood it.

Lu Qingluan left. Li Chi sat there, looking at the fruit wine in his hand, thinking: could a woman like Shen Rujian truly feel something like inferiority?

If not inferiority, then why would she not dare to meet someone?

The distance between two people in the heart of a man and a woman — the sea that was hardest to cross, the mountain that was hardest to climb — was, in the end, self-doubt.

The person she dared not approach was of course not Li Chi, but that figure who stood behind every locked door. And what manner of man could plant such a feeling in a woman like her?

After a long while, Li Chi slowly exhaled and smiled to himself, thinking: at least she and I are not like this.

What a relief.

What a relief.

—

At the same time, in another inn.

Du Qingteng was bowing with a deferential face toward a middle-aged man who had just walked in the door. This middle-aged man carried about him an air of ferocity that could not be concealed.

He was not especially tall, and did not appear especially imposing, yet there was something in this man’s eyes that inspired dread.

“We pay our respects to General Ding!”

The feeling this man gave off could be summed up in a single word: cold.

As Du Qingteng bowed low, every medicine merchant in that room bent at the waist.

The man addressed as General Ding walked in and went directly to the seat of honor, his face still as still water, commanding without a show of temper.

His name was Ding Shengjia — the foremost combat commander under Meng Kedi, garrison general of Anyang City. He had served in the army for fifteen years without a single defeat.

It was said he had personally killed at least a thousand men with his own hands — soaked in the blood of a thousand, if not a butcher then what was he?

If one counted those he had killed in command, the number was beyond reckoning. Just in a pacification campaign two years past, he led five thousand troops against an enemy force of over thirty thousand and fought them to a rout — sixteen thousand killed, sixteen thousand buried alive.

“I know what happened.”

Ding Shengjia said: “From this moment forward, all matters are mine to decide.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

The assembled men bowed in immediate acquiescence.

Ding Shengjia continued: “Assemble everyone in your retinues who can fight. I want to review them first thing tomorrow morning.”

“As you command.”

Ding Shengjia’s third statement was: “Prepare food and wine for me. I’m hungry.”

The fourth: “We kill people tomorrow night. The morning after, I leave. Have dry rations ready for me and my men.”

Having said these four things, he rose. “Where am I sleeping?”

Du Qingteng immediately bent down. “I’ll take the general there.”

Ding Shengjia gave a grunt and strode toward the door. At the threshold he paused and looked back at the merchants.

“Tonight, vacate all your rooms for my soldiers.”

—