Due to the military recruitment, the already declining Linan Town became even less bustling than before. The marketplace no longer retained its former liveliness.
The New Year had passed, and aside from weddings and funerals, hardly any household would slaughter pigs. Fan Changyu suddenly found herself with plenty of free time.
Business at the meat market was poor, with many butcher shops temporarily closed. Since Qingping County was not far from Lu City, many people felt anxious. Some well-informed wealthy merchants had already sold their properties and fled southward.
These past few days, Fan Changyu had been at home taking care of the two children. Although she wasn’t highly educated, she knew “Three Character Classic” and “Thousand Character Text” by heart. She had intended to teach Chang Ning and Yu Bao’er to recognize characters.
Unexpectedly, despite her young age, Yu Bao’er already knew quite a few characters. When she wrote on the ground with a charcoal pen, her characters looked quite proper.
Chang Ning was better than Yu Bao’er in other aspects and usually led Yu Bao’er in play. Suddenly discovering that this seemingly slow-witted child was better at reading and writing than herself, Chang Ning felt quite disgruntled. She stopped playing and kept pestering Fan Changyu to teach her characters.
Yu Bao’er was very enthusiastic: “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”
Chang Ning tugged at Fan Changyu’s skirt and snorted, “I won’t learn from you. I have my elder sister to teach me. Once my elder sister has taught me all the characters she knows, and my brother-in-law teaches me too, I’ll recognize more characters than you!”
Fan Changyu was just opening the “Three Character Classic” to teach Chang Ning today’s characters when she suddenly heard her mention Yan Zheng. For a moment, she lost focus.
So many days had passed, and she wondered if the recruited soldiers had reached Lu City yet. This time, several tens of thousands of soldiers were recruited. Carpenter Zhao had gone as a veterinarian and carpenter. If Yan Zheng was assigned to the infantry, Carpenter Zhao’s chances of meeting him would be slim.
If he was selected for the cavalry, Carpenter Zhao’s odds of finding out about him would be slightly better.
Chang Ning noticed that Fan Changyu had been holding the book without speaking for a while. She gently tugged at her sleeve: “Elder Sister, what’s wrong?”
Fan Changyu gathered her thoughts and said, “It’s nothing. Come, let’s start with these five characters today…”
Paper, ink, brush, and inkstone were precious, so Fan Changyu didn’t let the two children waste them. Instead, she had them write on a clean slate with charcoal sticks.
While Chang Ning was engrossed in practicing characters, Fan Changyu slowly opened the Four Books that Yan Zheng had meticulously annotated. She started with the “Analects” because Yan Zheng had previously taught her two passages and made detailed annotations throughout, making it not too difficult for her to read.
At noon, someone knocked on the gate of the Fan family’s courtyard.
Fan Changyu went to open the door and saw it was Yu Qianqian. She eagerly invited her in.
Yu Qianqian wore a dark cloak. Though she smiled, she looked somewhat haggard. She said, “Sister Changyu, I’m in a hurry today, so I won’t come in. I’m here to take Bao’er away.”
When Yu Bao’er heard Yu Qianqian’s voice, she had already run out from the courtyard, hugging Yu Qianqian’s legs and looking up happily, calling “Mother.”
Yu Qianqian patted the child and said to Fan Changyu, “Thank you so much for taking care of Bao’er these past days, Sister Changyu. It’s been a real trouble for you.”
Fan Changyu hurriedly said it was no trouble.
Not seeing Xie Zheng, Yu Qianqian asked, “Did your husband also go to Lu City for military recruitment a few days ago?”
Fan Changyu nodded and once again invited Yu Qianqian to come in and sit, but Yu Qianqian declined again.
She looked at Fan Changyu, hesitated slightly, and said, “To be frank with you, Sister Changyu, all the wealthy merchants in Qingping County are now pulling strings to move their fortunes southward. I’ve also sold off my two Yixiang Pavilions at a discount. I’ve already arranged everything at the city gate, and we’ll be leaving for Jiangnan at the Hour of You. We don’t know if Lu City can hold out, so why don’t you come with me to Jiangnan, Sister Changyu? If you’re worried about your husband, you can always return to Qingping County after the war is over.”
Fan Changyu finally understood why Yu Qianqian seemed in such a hurry. She hesitated for a moment and politely declined, “Thank you for your kind offer, Madam Yu, but I still have many things to arrange at home. If I leave abruptly and the government issues any more taxation or grain requisition orders, the nine households linked to mine in this alley would suffer.”
Ten neighboring households couldn’t relocate at will. Even if they wanted to move, they had to go to the government office to process relocation documents, which was an extremely complicated process.
Previously, when several murder cases occurred in her family, she had planned to take Chang Ning elsewhere to lay low. It took several days to deal with the family property and process the documents. Even then, she couldn’t get the paperwork done before the officials concluded the case. Later, when they decided not to live in hiding elsewhere, the matter was temporarily shelved.
Yu Qianqian certainly knew how difficult it was for ordinary families to process these documents at this critical time, with the city lockdown still in effect. Even as merchants, they had to give considerable benefits to the officials to get the documents approved under the pretext of sending merchant caravans to purchase goods.
She gripped Fan Changyu’s hand tightly and said, “I’m just a merchant, I can’t take others with me, but if you’re willing to come with me, come to the city gate at the Hour of You today.”
Fan Changyu nodded and said, “I understand your kind intentions, Madam Yu.”
However, she really couldn’t leave at the moment. Aside from the complicated relocation process, Carpenter Zhao had already been conscripted, leaving only Madam Zhao behind. She couldn’t abandon Madam Zhao.
Madam Zhao was like half a grandmother to her and Chang Ning.
Seeing that she couldn’t persuade Fan Changyu, Yu Qianqian didn’t press further. She lowered her head and said to Yu Bao’er, “Bao’er, say goodbye to Aunt Changyu and Sister Chang Ning.”
Yu Bao’er knew Yu Qianqian had come to pick him up, but he hadn’t expected they would be leaving Qingping County altogether. He turned to Fan Changyu and said, “Goodbye, Aunt Changyu.”
Then he looked at Chang Ning, who was clutching Fan Changyu’s skirt, and said, “I’ll teach you to recognize characters in the future.”
Chang Ning was quite indignant: “I’ll recognize more characters than you!”
The two children were just bickering, which made Fan Changyu and Yu Qianqian laugh, somewhat easing the sadness of parting.
Fan Changyu held Chang Ning’s hand and walked Yu Qianqian and her son to the carriage outside the alley.
As Yu Bao’er was about to get into the carriage, he suddenly ran back, took off the jade pendant hanging around his neck, and gave it to Chang Ning: “This is for you.”
Fan Changyu hurriedly said it was too precious, telling Yu Qianqian, “This is too valuable.”
Yu Qianqian smiled gently and said, “Let Ning’er keep it. This child is too lonely. Every time he meets a playmate and has to part, he can’t bear it and gives away his favorite things. It’s the child’s way of showing affection.”
Seeing Fan Changyu nod, Chang Ning accepted the jade pendant.
She tugged at her clothes and looked at Yu Bao’er, saying, “But I don’t have anything to give you.”
Yu Bao’er pointed at the grass-woven cricket hanging on her small pouch and said, “I want this.”
Chang Ning was raised by Fan Changyu and was often very straightforward. She had never seen jade before and didn’t know how precious it was, though it looked pretty and white.
But she also really liked the grass-woven cricket. Chang Ning hesitated a little, feeling that Yu Bao’er seemed to genuinely like the grass-woven cricket, so she untied it and gave it to him.
She said, “Uncle Zhao made this cricket for me before he was taken away. Uncle Zhao has gone to the army, and no one will make crickets for me anymore. You should keep it well. If you don’t want it in the future, bring the cricket back and exchange it for your little pendant.”
Yu Bao’er said, “I’ll keep it.”
He was too small to climb into the carriage by himself. As Yu Qianqian lifted him, her wide sleeves slid down a bit, and the pair of wide jade bracelets on her hands also slid down slightly.
Fan Changyu noticed what looked like binding marks on Yu Qianqian’s wrists.
She guessed these were left from Yu Qianqian’s time in prison, and her brows furrowed with concern for Yu Qianqian.
When Yu Qianqian turned back to bid farewell to Fan Changyu, she saw Fan Changyu staring at her wrist. The smile on her face faltered slightly, and she instinctively used her sleeve to cover the marks on her hand before continuing, “Well, we’ll be going then.”
Fan Changyu didn’t notice and just smiled, saying, “Have a safe journey.”
After Yu Qianqian got into the carriage, the driver finally drove the carriage away.
As Fan Changyu was walking home with Chang Ning, she noticed that Chang Ning kept her head down, occasionally kicking small stones on the road with her toe, seeming a bit downcast.
When Fan Changyu crouched down, she saw that Chang Ning’s eyes were red.
Fan Changyu asked, “Do you miss Bao’er?”
Chang Ning nodded and shook her head, saying sadly, “Sun’er is gone, brother-in-law is gone, Uncle Zhao is also gone. Ning’er misses them…”
Fan Changyu hugged her sister, gently patting her back, feeling a bit melancholic herself.
She said, “When the war is over, they’ll all come back.”
Hundreds of miles away in Lu City.
He Jingyuan had just arrived at the city gate with the newly recruited soldiers when he encountered a group of troops from Yan Prefecture. The leader of the troops saw him from afar and smiled, bowing with his hands clasped. His fox-like eyes looked cunning no matter how you looked at them: “Lord He.”
Seeing this person in all white, as handsome as a young actor on stage, He Jingyuan frowned slightly.
The general of Lu City who came to welcome He Jingyuan said, “This is Master Gong Sun, the military strategist under the Marquis of Wu’an. He arrived in Lu City not long ago, saying that Yan Prefecture has weakened its defenses and wants to borrow troops from Lu City.”
He Jingyuan’s face suddenly darkened: “The rebels have fifty thousand troops surrounding Lu City. How can Lu City spare any troops to lend to Yan Prefecture?”
The general of Lu City broke out in a cold sweat and said, “People say this Master Gong Sun is a genius, but I don’t know what he’s up to. I’ve already used Lu City’s siege as an excuse to refuse, but Master Gong Sun said he only wants to borrow a thousand men from your newly recruited soldiers.”
Hearing this, He Jingyuan was also greatly puzzled.
In this short moment, Gong Sun Yi had already walked gracefully to He Jingyuan in his white Daoist robe: “I’ve come hoping that Lord He can lend me a hand.”
Gong Sun Yi worked for Xie Zheng and held no military position, but he was full of schemes, and no one dared to underestimate him.
Although He Jingyuan was the Governor of Ji Prefecture and directly reported to the court on political matters, he had to obey Xie Zheng’s orders in military affairs.
Therefore, after Gong Sun Yi approached, he dismounted and said carefully, “If Yan Prefecture is in trouble, Ji Prefecture should indeed help. But Master Gong Sun must also see the current situation in Ji Prefecture…”
Gong Sun Yi smiled and said, “I’ve come on the Marquis’s orders to break the siege of Lu City.”
He Jingyuan heard him make no mention of borrowing troops and became even more confused: “What do you mean?”
Gong Sun Yi said, “The incident where Wei Xuan killed people while requisitioning grain in Tai Prefecture has caused quite a stir, and the rebels may have had a hand in fanning the flames. The rebels chose to besiege Ji Prefecture because of its salt lake, but if they couldn’t take Ji Prefecture quickly, they might turn to attack Tai Prefecture instead. The Marquis’s idea is to have Yan Prefecture appear weak, and for me to come to Ji Prefecture to ask for reinforcements. If the rebels see that Ji Prefecture can still lend troops to Yan Prefecture, they will surely doubt Ji Prefecture’s true military strength and won’t dare to act rashly in the short term.”
He Jingyuan asked, “Will Prince Changxin be so easily fooled by this plan? What if he turns to attack Tai Prefecture?”
Gong Sun Yi’s smile didn’t diminish: “The Marquis has already sent someone to Tai Prefecture to borrow troops.”
Hearing this, He Jingyuan didn’t speak for a moment, only pondering the plan in his mind.
Both Tai Prefecture and Ji Prefecture had scandals about grain requisition, and the people’s hearts were scattered. But the rebels chose to attack Ji Prefecture, no doubt because of its salt lake.
The Marquis of Wu’an sending people from Yan Prefecture to seek aid from both Tai Prefecture and Ji Prefecture was undoubtedly telling the rebels that Yan Prefecture was currently the easiest to take, while Ji Prefecture and Tai Prefecture could still lend troops to Yan Prefecture, apparently having far more troops than Yan Prefecture.
In the past, Prince Changxin might have worried it was a trap, but now Jin Prefecture to the north of Yan Prefecture was engaged with the Northern Yue people, so it wasn’t impossible that Yan Prefecture’s defenses were indeed weak.
Finally, He Jingyuan called his deputy: “However many troops Master Gong Sun needs, you go and allocate them to him.”
Gong Sun Yi made a deep bow: “I thank Lord He for this.”
He Jingyuan said, “If you can break the siege of Lu City and protect Ji Prefecture, it is I who should thank Master and the Marquis.”
Gong Sun Yi exchanged a few more pleasantries with him before leaving.
Half an hour later, Gong Sun Yi, in his snow-white clothes, led the thousand recruits he had obtained back to the camp area of the Yan Prefecture soldiers he had brought.
As soon as he entered the tent, he could no longer contain his schadenfreude. Looking at the person reclining on the couch, with bruises still visible at the corner of his eye and on his face, he asked with a mischievous expression: “Well, well, who in this world could beat you up like this?”