Zhu Yu – Chapter 69

Fan Changyu had been digging earth and stones in the camp for three days. Because they were closely guarded by soldiers during the excavation, they couldn’t move around freely. The only terrain she could explore was the stretch from their confinement quarters to the mountain.

For every ten people, there was a soldier specifically watching them. They also implemented a collective punishment system: if one person in the group escaped, regardless of whether the others knew or not, all would be punished if they didn’t report it. So not only were they watched by soldiers, but the refugees also kept an eye on each other, escaping no easy feat.

Apart from this, the soldiers maintained strict discipline. They didn’t withhold food from the refugees, nor did they harass the women in the quarters.

However, some of the single men among the refugees often leered at the women, whistling and making lewd remarks.

Fortunately, the men’s and women’s quarters were separate, and they only had contact during the early morning assembly for mountain excavation and at mealtimes.

Among the women, those with husbands, fathers, or brothers among the refugees were rarely bothered by the ruffians. The single women, whether young girls or married women, were all targets for the ruffians’ crude jokes and harassment.

Some ruffians even tried to entice the single women to join their teams for digging, promising less hard work and enough food, but inevitably subjecting them to unwanted advances.

Fan Changyu, being attractive, had been targeted since her arrival, though she was completely unaware of it.

At first, no one wanted to team up with her. The ruffians had planned to let her suffer for half a day, thinking that once she realized how difficult it was to get enough food while digging, she would obediently listen to them when they extended an olive branch.

To their surprise, Fan Changyu turned out to be an oddity. Not only did she not rely on them for food as they had hoped, but she became their fiercest competitor in getting extra rations.

For the first two days, Fan Changyu had diligently dug earth and stones, consistently getting two extra steamed buns at each meal. But when she saw a burly man in their group receive a chicken leg, she suddenly felt that her steamed buns and plain porridge were a bit bland. She couldn’t help but inquire why the big man could get a chicken leg.

A woman whose bed was next to Fan Changyu explained, “That man is incredibly strong. Every day, besides digging earth and stones, he also carries the stones he excavates. It seems a military officer above has taken a liking to him and wants him to join the army. But the man has a wife and children here, so he keeps digging to ensure they all have enough to eat.”

Fan Changyu, biting into a steamed bun, asked, “So if you do more than just dig, like carrying stones, you can eat meat?”

The woman nodded and added, “You’ve seen how big those baskets are. When filled with earth and stones, they weigh nearly three hundred jin. Even the soldiers need two people to carry one. Among us, only that man can move one by himself.”

When Fan Changyu returned to the old man with her porridge bowl, after listening to his new lesson on the Analects, she suddenly said, “How about we eat meat tomorrow?”

The old man’s face darkened, and he snorted through his nose, “I teach you the ways of Confucius and Mencius, and all you can think about is your appetite?”

Fan Changyu scratched her head, a bit embarrassed, “I was listening. You said, ‘If one is strict with oneself and lenient towards others, one will keep resentment at bay.’ It’s about self-reflection and being less critical of others, right? Did I remember correctly?”

She couldn’t help but ask again, “Don’t you want to eat meat at all?”

The old man’s throat moved with difficulty, and he closed his eyes, scolding, “How vulgar.”

Fan Changyu wasn’t angry at being reprimanded. In the afternoon, while digging, she was full of energy. Previously, she had worked based on her appetite, slacking off once she could get two extra steamed buns. Now, for the sake of meat, she dug fifteen baskets in one afternoon and told the soldiers she wanted to carry them herself.

The soldier in charge of supervising them thought she had gone mad. Pointing at the basket full of stones, he said, “Do you know how heavy this is? One basket on your back could break your legs!”

The old man finally realized what Fan Changyu had meant at noon when she asked if he wanted to eat meat. Worried that something might happen to a young girl like her, he came over with a long face, calling out, “Stop this nonsense! Aren’t two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge enough for you? If it’s not, I’ll give you my portion too.”

Fan Changyu didn’t respond to the old man’s words, only asking the soldier, “If I carry these fifteen baskets of stones down the mountain, can I have a chicken leg tonight?”

This commotion caught the attention of the officer in charge of all the refugees. After hearing Fan Changyu’s question, he thought she was dreaming, and said, “Forget fifteen baskets. If you can carry just one basket to the foot of the mountain, I’ll reward you with a whole chicken!”

Fan Changyu was visibly stunned. Was there such a good deal?

With this incentive, the refugees who had been digging with their faces to the yellow earth and backs to the sky all stopped their work and looked over, leaning on their hoe handles and discussing among themselves.

The woman who had spoken to Fan Changyu at noon looked worried, probably not expecting Fan Changyu to have such intentions, and fearing she had inadvertently caused her harm.

The old man’s wrinkled brow was almost knotted into a lump as he glared at Fan Changyu, “Girl, stop this nonsense!”

The officer in charge initially didn’t think Fan Changyu would dare to carry the basket. Seeing her silence, he thought she had been frightened and taunted, “Well? Are you going to carry it or not?”

Fan Changyu said to the old man, “Don’t worry about me, sir.”

She put down her hoe and walked over to the officer, saying, “I’ll carry it. Just keep your word, sir.”

Lifting three hundred jin with one hand was still a bit strenuous for her, but carrying it on her back wasn’t a difficult task.

Everyone watched some frowning, others with an attitude of watching a show. They saw the tall but slender girl firmly plant her feet on the flat ground, distributing the basket’s straps across her shoulders. Gripping the straps tightly with both hands, her shoe soles sinking slightly into the ground, she lifted the basket of earth and stones weighing nearly three hundred jin onto her back.

A wave of gasps rose from the crowd. The ruffians leaning on their hoes with their chins propped up stood there with their mouths agape, looking as if they had seen a ghost. They were also relieved that they hadn’t said anything untoward to this woman on her first day, otherwise they might have been beaten to a pulp.

The officer in charge was also dumbfounded. He had heard from his subordinates that there was a woman who worked diligently at digging earth and stones, able to get two extra steamed buns at every meal.

But digging earth and stones only required technique and endurance; anyone could do it. However, lifting such a heavy basket of stones was something only a few generals in the entire military camp could do.

Fan Changyu hardly used a cane for support, just holding the basket straps on her shoulders with both hands, walking steadily step by step down the mountain. She didn’t look comfortable, but she didn’t seem particularly strained either.

Even after Fan Changyu had walked far away, the entire excavation site remained silent.

The old man, watching Fan Changyu’s receding figure, seemed lost in thought. He stroked the few white whiskers on his chin, muttering softly, “With such physique, if she were a man, she would surely achieve great things…”

In the evening, when the soldiers distributed food, Fan Changyu indeed received a whole roast chicken. She found a quiet spot with the old man, squatted down with her porridge bowl, and tore off a large chicken leg to offer him. The old man didn’t take it, instead looking at her with a complex expression, “How’s your reconnaissance going?”

Fan Changyu looked up at the old man, “How did you know I was scouting?”

The old man’s wrinkled eyelids drooped, but his aged eyes were clear, “For the past few days, whenever you went up the mountain to dig, you were discreetly observing the terrain and troop deployments in this area, asking all sorts of questions to everyone you met. You’ve seen others eating meat before, so why couldn’t you resist today and have to make such a spectacle? It must be because you’ve already got a good grasp of the nearby terrain and defenses, and now you want to see the troop deployments elsewhere.”

They spoke in very low voices, and there was no one nearby. Seeing that the old man had figured out her plan, Fan Changyu said, “Don’t worry, sir. I won’t run away and cause trouble for you all. Carrying stones to the embankment was also to see how the construction was progressing and how much longer we’d be stuck there. The embankment looks like it’s almost complete, so we should be released soon.”

If they were to be kept here for a year or more, she wouldn’t be able to wait that long.

The old man snorted and said, “Using such a stupid method to check the progress of the embankment construction. Let me tell you, the embankment must be completed before the first heavy rain of spring.”

Fan Changyu asked, puzzled, “Why?”

The old man glanced at her sideways, “You haven’t paid me tuition, nor have you kowtowed and offered tea to take me as your master. It’s one thing to ask me about the rigid contents of the Four Books, but why should I teach you these things?”

Fan Changyu made an “Oh” sound and sincerely stopped asking, starting to gnaw on the fat, oily chicken leg she had offered to the old man, which he had refused.

Seeing this, the old man glared at her angrily, “You silly pig, is this all the wit you have!”

Fan Changyu was bewildered by his scolding but didn’t want to argue with a white-haired, skinny old man with a strange temper. She pressed her lips together and moved a step away, continuing to eat her chicken leg without responding to him, silently expressing her displeasure at being scolded.

The old man grew even angrier, his entire chest heaving as he shouted, “Without tea, you don’t even know how to kowtow?”

Fan Changyu finally realized that the old man’s earlier words were meant to suggest that she should take him as her master.

Fan Changyu knew her limitations. After pondering for a moment, she politely declined, “I’m not cut out for studying, but my mother used to say that reading more is never wrong, which is why I’ve been trying to understand those books. I feel bad about you teaching me for free. There’s some silver in the bag the soldiers took from me. If they return our belongings when they let us go, I can pay you the tuition fee then.”

The main reason was that if she took him as her master, she would have to take care of this old man from then on. Fan Changyu had heard him cursing his student for so long, and she figured he had probably been counting on that student to support him in his old age, but the student had been ungrateful. That’s why he wanted to find someone new to take care of him.

But she still had to find her sister and couldn’t stay here for too long, so she naturally couldn’t take care of this old man indefinitely.

Hearing that his offer to take her as a disciple had been rejected, the old man glanced at Fan Changyu. His stubborn temper flared up, and he snorted with laughter, “Do you know how many people would throw away thousands of gold to become my disciple, yet I don’t accept them?”

Fan Changyu had finished gnawing on the chicken leg and was holding the bone, shocked, “Is being a teacher that lucrative?”

The old man: “…”

His wrinkled old face turned red with anger. He closed his eyes and said furiously, “Enough, enough! Truly, rotten wood cannot be carved!”

Fan Changyu thought of the equally lonely Zhao couple and realized that the old man was so angry only because she refused to take him as her master. She then felt that this strange-tempered old man was quite pitiful. With his bad temper and no children of his own, it would be difficult for him to find someone to take care of him in his old age.

She inappropriately thought of Yan Zheng, suddenly feeling that Yan Zheng’s nasty temperament was exactly like this strange old man’s.

If Yan Zheng ended up alone for life because of his sharp tongue, wouldn’t he be just like this old man when he got old?

Fan Changyu stopped her bizarre train of thought and looked at the strange old man who was now coldly refusing to speak to her. She tore off half of the roast chicken and put it in his bowl of steamed buns, sighed, and returned to the women’s quarters with the remaining chicken.

That night, spring thunder roared, and heavy rain poured down.

The rainwater on the ground was accumulating. Fan Changyu looked at the blindingly bright lightning flashing through the cracks of doors and windows, listening to the thunder outside that drowned out everything else and the chaotic crying of children in the barracks. She felt uneasy.

As she sat up and put her feet on the ground, she felt them sink into a puddle. Even the floor of the barracks had collected rainwater.

Recalling the old man’s words about the levee being repaired before the spring flood, Fan Changyu remembered what she had seen when she went to check the levee that afternoon, carrying soil and stones on her back. It seemed to match what the old man had said.

She hoped that tomorrow, these soldiers would let them go. But beneath the cover of the heavy rain and thunder, there seemed to be other faint noises outside.

After a moment’s hesitation, Fan Changyu decided to put on her clothes and go to the door to check.

Fearing their escape, the place where they were detained wasn’t a tent, but a tiled house with earthen walls that had been requisitioned by the soldiers after the original inhabitants had fled south.

At night, the main door was always locked.

Fan Changyu waded through the rainwater to the main door. In the flash of lightning, she discovered that the soldiers who had been guarding outside were nowhere to be seen. Not far away, near the house where the male refugees were detained, it seemed someone was using a hard object to smash the door lock from inside.

She quickly realized that something must have happened in the military camp, and this stormy night was their perfect opportunity to escape.

There were no hard objects in the room except for the beds. Fan Changyu thought for a moment, then stepped back two paces, charged forward, and kicked the door panel hard. The wooden door immediately collapsed outward.

Ignoring the women in the room with their varied expressions, Fan Changyu rushed out into the heavy rain, heading straight for the barracks where their belongings were stored.

Soon, others reacted and hurried out as well.

The men in their barracks saw this and stopped trying to break the lock. A moment later, the main door, along with its frame, was knocked flying. The big man who had done it couldn’t stop his momentum and fell into the rainy ground. After getting up, he went to the opposite barracks to find his wife and children.

In an instant, the camp where the refugees were detained was in chaos, with everyone calling out names, and searching for their relatives.

Fan Changyu, being alone, quickly found her bundle. She struggled against the crowd to squeeze out of the storage barracks and saw the old man coming out of his detention quarters, trudging through the rain with uneven steps.

His wet clothes clung to his body, making him look even more gaunt.

Fan Changyu initially wanted to leave without a word but remembered that despite his eccentric temperament, he had earnestly taught her the Four Books. There was a saying among the common people: “One day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father.” His teaching of these texts made him at least half a teacher to her.

Fan Changyu bit her lip and finally rushed into the rain with her bundle, saying to the old man, “I’ll carry you on my back as we escape.”

Before the old man could speak, Fan Changyu had already slung him onto her back. Drenched like a long-necked wild chicken, he still stubbornly insisted, “This old man can walk on his own, no need for you to carry me!”

Fan Changyu knew his strange temperament and didn’t argue with him at that moment. Having memorized the layout of the military camp in the past few days, she quickly carried the old man on her back and escaped to the main road.

Occasionally, when lightning struck, Fan Changyu, with raindrops weighing down her eyelids, saw the corpses of many soldiers lying scattered on the ground. The rainwater on the ground had a faint rouge tint.

In the distance, through the pouring rain, tents were burning, and it seemed two forces were engaged in battle.

The old man said with a grim expression, “We’re in trouble. I fear the rebels have discovered the dam construction here to block the water.”

Fan Changyu, struggling to keep her eyes open in the heavy rain to find her way, asked, “Were these soldiers killed by the rebels?”

The old man replied, “Since the dam construction began, the scouts sent by the rebels to this area have never returned. The rebels must have become suspicious and sent a troop for a surprise attack. They aim to protect their scouts and let them bring back the information!”

Fan Changyu didn’t understand, “What does this have to do with building the dam?”

The old man’s expression turned cold as he explained, “Have you ever seen a large dam completed in just ten days or half a month? This dam was hastily built just to temporarily block the water. The rebels have 50,000 troops surrounding Lu City. If the water accumulated by the dam rushes downstream, Lu City can defeat the rebels’ 50,000 troops without losing a single soldier. If the rebels learn in advance that the upstream has blocked enough floodwater to drown their entire army, do you think they would still fall into the trap and be lured into the river valley?”

Fan Changyu finally understood why the soldiers had detained them.

But given the current situation, survival was the priority. To avoid being discovered, she apologized and then took the armor from two dead Jizhou soldiers, putting it on herself and the old man.

Further ahead, she saw a horse. The animal was lowering its head, using its nose to nudge a fallen general on the ground.

Fan Changyu hurried over to lead the horse, thinking that since her horse had been taken by the soldiers and not returned, this could be considered compensation from the military camp.

As she turned to leave, the hem of her clothes was grabbed by the bloodied man on the ground. He seemed to recognize the Jizhou soldier’s uniform she was wearing. With blood clogging his throat, he struggled to speak, “Three scouts escaped through the Lu Mouth Road. Quickly… quickly pursue them…”

With those words, he breathed his last.

Despite having experienced many life-and-death situations, Fan Changyu still felt a chill run down her spine on this rainy night.

The old man stood silently in the rain with his hands behind his back. Fan Changyu led the horse over to him and hesitated for a moment before asking, “Will you still come with me?”

The old man looked at Fan Changyu through the rain and sighed deeply, “If you were a man, I would certainly have you cross the Wu Ridge and intercept those three rebel scouts at the necessary passage to Lu City through the Lu Mouth Road. Their life or death concerns the fate of the entire Lu City and even the whole of Jizhou. But despite your martial skills, you are still a woman. The rise and fall of the world is not the responsibility of women. You should flee for your life. I will take this information back to the military camp.”

Fan Changyu said, “Then let us part ways here.”

She mounted the horse, dug her heels into its belly, and galloped towards the distant official road. The rain slid down her cheeks from her jaw, and the lightning striking from the sky revealed the struggle in her eyes.

She wanted to find Changningg and live a simple life with him as before.

War and such matters were supposed to be the concerns of high officials. The responsibility for the fate of a city or a region should never fall on the shoulders of a small commoner woman like her.

But the tragedies of Qingping County and Linan Town were still fresh in her memory. If even mountain bandits could turn those two places into ghost towns, what would happen to the people of Lu City if the plan to flood the Chongzhou army failed because the military camp’s pursuers didn’t catch up with the scouts?

Fan Changyu fiercely cracked the whip, and the warhorse ran wildly through the heavy rain. The rain and cold wind stung her face.

At that moment, many faces flashed through her mind: the deceased Constable Wang and his wife, the neighbors in the western alley of the city, Carpenter Zhao and Yan Zheng who were still in Lu City…

She had already killed many people, but the bloodshed in Qingping County and Linan Town still made her heart tremble when she thought about it.

Perhaps… if she went after them, she could stop those three scouts from bringing back the message?

Fan Changyu took two deep breaths and finally pulled the reins to stop the warhorse. She didn’t take her bundle, only the few butcher knives from inside it. She fastened her wrist guards and, like a leopard going out to hunt in the heavy rain, abandoned the warhorse and ran towards Wu Ridge-

Lu City.

Unlike the torrential rain in the upstream of Jizhou, only a drizzle fell in the night sky over Lu City.

He Jingyuan stood on the city wall, looking at the faintly visible outline of the mountain range in the distance, and asked, “Where have the rebels been lured to now?”

A deputy commander beside him answered, “According to the scouts’ report, the rebels have reached the river mouth, but they are very cautious and refuse to advance further.”

He Jingyuan pondered for a moment and then said, “Hang my commander’s flag and continue to lure the enemy.”

Immediately, someone passed down the order. The city gate opened a crack, letting out a scout on horseback to deliver the message.

He Jingyuan glanced in the direction of the upstream of the Wu River. Although his face revealed nothing, his hand resting on the battlement clenched into a fist.

If this plan failed, Lu City would be left with only 30,000 troops to defend against the enemy, and more than 10,000 of them were recruits conscripted just recently, who couldn’t even complete a full set of spear techniques-

In the wilderness of Yan State, a soft rain was also falling.

Xie Zheng sat on horseback on a low slope, his expression cold as he watched the battle below. Torches intertwined into a sea of light, and only occasionally could one distinguish whether it was the Yan State flag or the Chong State flag swirling in the wind and rain within the firelight.

Raindrops formed by the fine rain slid down his jaw, but he only focused intently on the progress of the Yan State flag advancing segment by segment in the firelight, his eyelashes never even trembling.

Gong Sun Yin used a feather fan to block the slanting rain and asked, “If you don’t go down there, the Chong State army won’t enter One Line Gorge.”

But Xie Zheng said, “We’ve set an ambush in One Line Gorge, and Uncle Sun and his son must have set ambushes elsewhere too. Let’s wait for them to throw out their bait first.”

Gong Sun Yin raised his fox-like eyes, “You want to take their bait and then lure them into One Line Gorge?”

Xie Zheng neither confirmed nor denied.

As Gong Sun Yin pondered what Xie Zheng meant by “bait,” his eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to speak, a small climax occurred in the battle below.

A young commander emerged from the Chong State army, riding a white horse and wielding a silver spear. He was handsome and devilishly charming, carrying a little girl in his arms who was crying incessantly, terrified by the battlefield slaughter. He arrogantly shouted at the Yan State army engaged in the melee ahead, “Where is the Marquis of Wu’an? Come out and face death!”

Gong Sun Yin frowned as he looked at the figure standing in front of the Chong State army in the firelight and said, “He does resemble you from the past a bit.”

Xie Zheng’s phoenix eyes glanced over indifferently, “When did your eyesight deteriorate?”

Before Gong Sun Yin could react, Xie Zheng had already picked up the halberd stuck in the ground, spurred his horse, and leaped down the gentle slope. The dark cape behind him billowed high in the fine rain as if it were a powerful black cloud.