The northward-bound column stretched out in a long, winding procession, advancing in full force along the imperial road.

The Ning Army had already been fitted with new uniforms, giving them a particularly imposing and formidable appearance. When this great host of soldiers marched forward en masse, they projected a momentum capable of overturning mountains and seas.

Sometimes even Li Chi himself could hardly believe how much he had changed — and how profoundly.

A few years ago, when he and his master had first come to Jizhou, he could never have imagined that things would turn out like this.

The same flat-bed cart as always. The same familiar scent of rice straw.

Li Chi lay on his back gazing up at the sky, a dry stalk of grass dangling from the corner of his mouth. Rather than dwelling on the campaign ahead in the northwest, his thoughts drifted back to the time before he and his master had come to Jizhou.

Back then, Li Chi had asked his master: why did you want to buy my life?

*Master, were you trying to hire someone to kill me?!*

The memory made him smile involuntarily. He really had been a bit of a fool back then.

Just at that moment, several dozen zhang away, another carriage rolled along.

This carriage was nothing like Li Chi’s. It was properly comfortable — the interior was tastefully appointed, the seats cushioned with soft padding. Inside sat a small brazier for brewing tea. On one side, sandalwood incense had been lit, filling the compartment with a pleasant fragrance. The window was kept open, though, since otherwise the incense would have been stifling.

Ye Celeng sat there in quiet composure, reading. Beside him, his wife’s younger brother Xu Ji lay draped over the window frame, peering out with wide-eyed curiosity at the world outside. He was only about fourteen or fifteen years old — still at the age when everything was novel and interesting.

“Why does Prince Ning prefer to ride in a cart like that?”

Xu Ji asked.

Ye Celeng glanced up at him, clearly not wishing to be disturbed, and gave a perfunctory reply: “Whatever Prince Ning prefers, you mustn’t go around voicing idle opinions about it.”

Xu Ji pouted. “It’s not like I’m saying it to anyone else — I’m saying it to you.”

Just as Ye Celeng had been sinking into his book, his train of thought was now disrupted.

He set the volume down and said with a touch of resignation: “Prince Ning’s preference for that kind of cart reflects his broad and open nature. Inside a carriage, you are confined to one corner; outside lies all of heaven and earth.”

“But it doesn’t befit Prince Ning’s station,” Xu Ji replied. “Brother-in-law, you’ve said yourself that different people must embody different status. You also said that matters of propriety are rules the ancestors devised for good reason — a prince must observe a prince’s decorum. When common people see a prince carry himself like that, it diminishes their reverence. They begin to think the prince’s dignity is less than it should be.”

Ye Celeng said: “What is written in books is rigid principle. You must learn to be flexible.”

He paused in thought for a moment, then continued: “When Dachu’s founding ancestor launched his conquest in the beginning, he slept with his men on piles of firewood, slept out in the open fields, ate spoiled food alongside them, endured cold and hunger with them, and once shared a single jug of wine among seven or eight men—”

He said this with quiet earnestness: “How is Prince Ning’s situation now any different from that of the Dachu founding ancestor’s then?”

Xu Ji nodded. “I see — so it’s a means of winning hearts.”

Ye Celeng let out a small sigh. “Prince Ning is not doing it for that reason. He was born into humble circumstances, his character is open and unencumbered, his conduct is unpretentious — this is his genuine nature.”

Xu Ji thought to himself: *but he is a prince now. A prince should still set a prince’s example.*

Ye Celeng added as a reminder: “If you’re in front of others, you absolutely must not talk such nonsense.”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

Xu Ji gave a casual acknowledgment and went back to leaning out the window, still watching the distant figure of Prince Ning.

Ye Celeng said: “Rather than letting your mind wander like this, you’d do better to review your studies. Prince Ning’s northern expedition this time is aimed at suppressing the heretical cult of the northwest — what do you know about it?”

“Quite a bit, actually.”

Xu Ji replied from his slouch: “It’s merely the Eastern Mausoleum Path — formerly a sect that once flourished in several northwestern counties — being rekindled from dead ashes.”

He then recounted the Eastern Mausoleum Path’s entire history in a leisurely, unhurried manner, in detail that was both thorough and accurate.

Ye Celeng was taken aback. “When did you come to know all this?”

“Two days ago.”

Xu Ji replied: “While you were busy verifying various records and documents, I chatted with people in the army. Two days — I talked to more than a dozen old soldiers, compiled what they told me, filtered out the exaggerations and inaccuracies, and what remained was a portrait of the Eastern Mausoleum heretical cult.”

He turned to look at Ye Celeng: “Brother-in-law, *you’re* the one who learns only from dead books.”

Ye Celeng shook his head in helpless defeat. He said: “Even so, you should think more about how to handle the enemy situation when we get there — and how to govern the region once victory is secured. If Prince Ning were to ask—”

He hadn’t finished speaking before Xu Ji shook his head with equally weary resignation.

“Brother-in-law, the outcome of this battle doesn’t ultimately depend on the battle itself. It depends on how to make the northwestern people stop following the heretical cult. Otherwise, why would Prince Ning have brought along Little Zhang Zhenren from Dragon-Tiger Mountain?”

Ye Celeng froze again.

Xu Ji continued: “And have you thought about why Prince Ning brought *you* along? So it’s not for me to think about what you were describing — it’s for you, brother-in-law, to think carefully about how you’ll answer when Prince Ning puts the question to you.”

Without waiting for Ye Celeng to respond, he sighed softly: “I’ve heard the northwest is far harsher than Jizhou, and there are so many new and interesting things in Jizhou city that I haven’t seen or enjoyed yet…”

Ye Celeng fell into thought, and then it dawned on him.

Before this expedition, Prince Ning had spoken with him, naming him as a traveling military adviser, to assist with military affairs. He had assumed this meant devising strategy for the campaign — but Xu Ji’s reminder had made it clear. Prince Ning had brought him along intending to leave him in the northwest.

Xu Ji said: “Brother-in-law, let me give your own words back to you — rather than thinking about all that, rather than staring dry-eyed at your books, you’d be better served right now going to have a talk with Little Zhang Zhenren.”

He added with a hint of regret: “Jizhou is actually quite a lot of fun… I wonder if those little county towns over there will have anything interesting.”

Seeing Ye Celeng staring at him wide-eyed, Xu Ji continued: “Why are you still looking at me? To stabilize the northwest, Prince Ning must first win the people’s hearts and root out the heretical cult’s influence. So he will certainly leave Little Zhang Zhenren behind to preach and spread doctrine through the northwestern counties. You should go to him now — ask what his plans are, and what he needs you to do in coordination.”

He seemed to have tired of sitting upright and found himself a spot to recline sideways.

He said to Ye Celeng: “Don’t make the mistake of thinking Little Zhang Zhenren is just some minor Daoist. If Prince Ning one day wins the realm, he will become the National Preceptor — do you believe me?”

“And you, brother-in-law — you have the talent of a high frontier official. In time you may well be left to hold the northern frontier. The Military Commissioner of Jizhou… it may not even be called that anymore by then, but the meaning will be about the same.”

“Little Zhang Zhenren, however, will remain at Prince Ning’s side. Cultivating closeness with him now would be greatly to your benefit in the future.”

When Xu Ji finished, he closed his eyes and said with a precocious air: “I keep going on about these things — you must be getting tired of me.”

Ye Celeng smiled. “You say Little Zhang Zhenren will one day be the National Preceptor, and I will be a high frontier official. What about you yourself?”

Xu Ji smiled. “Me?”

He paused for a moment, the corner of his mouth curling upward slightly: “I possess the talent to govern a nation, and the capacity to govern a nation. Barring any unexpected turns, state authority will rest in my hands — second only to one, above ten thousand. I shall serve as Prime Minister.”

Ye Celeng burst out laughing. “Ambition is admirable enough, but don’t be so idle and so flippant about things.”

Then, with a smile, he added: “Prince Ning is a genius born of heaven, a man upon whom fate has settled. Even if you become Prime Minister one day, you must never harbor so much as a trace of disrespect toward him.”

Xu Ji scoffed: “Brother-in-law, worry more about yourself. My own affairs are mine to manage.”

He opened his eyes and looked at Ye Celeng: “Still not going?”

Ye Celeng let out a quiet sigh — equal parts exasperated and impressed by this younger brother-in-law of his.

He climbed down from the carriage, asked after Little Zhang Zhenren’s whereabouts, and went to find him.

—

That evening, at the overnight encampment.

Little Zhang Zhenren sought out Li Chi where he sat beside a bonfire, and settled down next to him.

With his broad-sleeved robes billowing around him, he sat down and immediately flung the hem of his garment open in every direction.

Li Chi noticed the smile playing across the Zhenren’s face and couldn’t help but ask with amusement: “Little Zhenren, you’re looking positively spring-like — is it that time of the month?”

Zhang Yuxu sighed: “Your Highness, please… have some dignity…”

Li Chi burst out laughing.

He asked: “Something on your mind?”

Zhang Yuxu said: “A few things. This afternoon, Master Ye Celeng came to speak with me at some length.”

Li Chi thought it over. Ye Celeng had suddenly spent a long time talking with Zhang Yuxu — most likely on account of the northwest situation.

So he asked: “Master Ye was probably asking how he can support your work?”

Zhang Yuxu’s eyes went wide. “Your Highness — how did you know?”

Li Chi shrugged: “A minor deduction.”

Zhang Yuxu recounted in full detail the circumstances of Ye Celeng’s visit, then added: “Ye Celeng said it was his wife’s younger brother, Xu Ji, who prompted him.”

“Xu Ji?”

Li Chi said: “That young boy?”

Zhang Yuxu nodded: “Yes. Xu Ji told Ye Celeng that Prince Ning would in all likelihood be leaving him behind in the northwest, and that he should go ahead and seek out Little Zhang Zhenren to discuss matters of governance and winning the people’s hearts…”

He looked at Li Chi: “That young man — he has quite a sharp mind.”

Li Chi made a sound of assent: “When we reach the northwest, we’ll see more of him.”

He turned to Zhang Yuxu: “Day to day, you don’t need to wear robes this wide-sleeved and voluminous. Except for important occasions, there’s no need.”

Zhang Yuxu said with gravity: “One — I am here to preach and spread doctrine in Prince Ning’s name. Two — I am here to spread doctrine in Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s name. So maintaining one’s bearing and presenting one’s station with proper dignity is essential—”

Li Chi waved a hand: “But don’t you feel something is off?”

Zhang Yuxu asked: “Off in what way?”

Li Chi pointed: “Those robes of yours really are quite oversize. The hem on that side has practically burned away in the fire, and you haven’t noticed at all.”

Zhang Yuxu: “Yikes!”

He leapt to his feet with a start.

He stamped out the smoldering hem and asked Li Chi: “You — when did you first see that?”

Li Chi said: “When I asked whether I should speak first or you should — at that point it was just scorched. By the time it was actually on fire… I was rather anxious, but you just kept talking and wouldn’t give me an opening—”

Zhang Yuxu sighed: “Your Highness’s anxiety — I felt it. So anxious you were nearly laughing out loud.”

Li Chi said with a grin: “Nonsense. Clearly I *had* been laughing out loud.”

Zhang Yuxu thought to himself: back on Dragon-Tiger Mountain, his master, the Old Zhenren, had told him that he’d read the Emperor Star in the north — a man of benevolence and righteousness, a truly virtuous ruler.

*Master, he thought, you got half of it right.*

*Benevolent and righteous my foot.*

Zhang Yuxu said: “I spent two or three months’ worth of my stipend having this ceremonial robe made to order.”

Li Chi said: “Try tearing off the long hem into a shorter robe — that might actually look pretty good. Might draw even more attention than the long one.”

Zhang Yuxu held out his hand: “Compensate me.”

Li Chi sighed. “It was clearly your own carelessness…”

Zhang Yuxu just looked at him, steadily, for a good long while — until Li Chi’s nerve broke, and he fished out the silver and handed it over.

Zhang Yuxu turned to leave.

Li Chi called after him: “Why don’t you stand there and burn a little longer — I paid for it.”

Zhang Yuxu stumbled.

Li Chi smiled, though his thoughts had turned to the young man called Xu Ji.

*Youth has never been a reason to be looked down upon.*

If he was clever, then he should be given a chance to put that cleverness to use.

After all, who among us was not once underestimated?

—