Fengyang.

“Master, Wei Qishan claims to have found a Former Jin princess and raised the banner of restoring Jin. He also wasn’t provoked by our instigation to attack Xiao Li, but instead took him as an adopted son.”

“The Rongque’s attacking momentum was pushed back by their great Youzhou victory and they haven’t yet launched a second round of strong attacks. The Wei camp has now gained thirty thousand volunteer troops, greatly increasing their strength. They’re currently deploying troops southward, intending to recover the two provinces and seven commanderies we seized. They’ve already retaken three commanderies and twelve counties…”

The henchman knelt below. The further he spoke, the lower his voice became. He no longer dared look at Pei Song’s expression, keeping his head bowed as he awaited Pei Song’s fury.

Unexpectedly, this time Pei Song was rarely angered. All his attention seemed focused on tuning the ancient zither before him. “The Rongque tribes will soon launch a second round of surprise attacks. Those sixteen northern border prefectures were meant to be ceded to them anyway. Since Wei Qishan is eager to retake them, let him.”

The ancient zither was tuned to some string, producing an especially dull “zheng” sound.

Pei Song’s well-defined five fingers pressed on the strings, stopping the string’s trembling. His expression was very calm and indifferent, yet the words he spoke were chilling. “This way, the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun has nothing whatsoever to do with my Pei clan.”

The henchman’s spine went cold. He bowed his head in flattery. “Master is wise.”

Yet sweat appeared faintly at his temples. He also understood why Pei Song had transferred Gongsun Chou to the southern border battlefield.

Ceding territory to foreign tribes to achieve cooperation—if Gongsun Chou were still in the northern border, he would certainly dissuade him.

This thought had just emerged in his mind when he heard Pei Song ask, “How goes the southern border battle situation?”

The henchman’s heart tightened. He hurriedly replied, “The news that Southern Chen honored the Wen clan woman as sovereign has already spread among the common people. Moreover, that Zhou clan youngster Zhou Sui has traveled among the major academies engaging in clear discourse and debate, inciting the scholars to support the Liang woman. Now the Liang woman has extremely high popular support among the people, and the Liang camp from top to bottom also has greatly boosted morale. This time Chen Wei personally commands. The current Liang army is unstoppable. The military advisor and General Han can only first avoid their sharp edge, taking defense as offense in roundabout warfare.”

Pei Song’s long fingers plucked the zither strings, testing the tones of several other strings. His eyelids lowered slightly in the light and shadow from the window as he said, “With Wei Qishan restoring Jin, the one who should fear is not this Minister, but that Wen clan Hanyang. The fire at Ma Family Ridge went awry and didn’t thoroughly ignite the enmity between the Liang and Wei camps—then let’s add another fire.”

A bird attracted by the zither’s sound had just landed on the windowsill when it was startled away by the harsh sound of a breaking string.

Pei Song looked at the broken string, his eyes showing some regret. He nonchalantly wiped away the blood trace the broken string had cut on his fingertip. “The Wen clan woman’s maternal clan, the Hengzhou Yang family—didn’t they pledge to Wei Qishan? Since Wei Qishan has become a Jin subject again, massacring her entire maternal clan wouldn’t be surprising, would it?”

The henchman’s heart went cold. He hurriedly clasped his fists. “This subordinate will immediately send word to Lord Fifteen.”

As the henchman rose and hurried outside, another henchman rushed in to report, “Master, the former Liang ministers imprisoned in Hongen Temple have been abducted!”

—

Several carriages sped through streets covered with thin frost. When Pei Song captured Fengyang early this year, it had become a dead city. Common people died or fled. Nearly a year had passed, yet the shops along the street remained tightly closed.

Those now residing in the city, aside from Pei clan soldiers, were just some laborers forcibly kept to serve them.

As the carriages nearly reached the city gate, a woman emerged from inside. Facing the biting cold wind, she pressed a dagger against her own neck. Inside the carriage a young girl wailed calling for her mother, but she paid no heed. The cold wind swirled her robes, revealing her extremely thin frame—truly deserving the phrase “withered to skin and bones.”

Jiang Yichu’s reddened eyes stared at the tightly closed city gate ahead. She shouted, “Open the city gate!”

The rows of black-armored soldiers above and below the city tower remained unmoved.

Jiang Yichu pressed the dagger slightly deeper, cutting a blood line on her neck exposed by wind-blown strands of black hair. On such a cold day, she wore thin clothing, her slender white neck exposed like a crane extending its neck. When the blood color seeped from her neck, it was particularly shocking. She again shrieked at the Pei troops below the city gate, “I carry your Minister Pei’s child in my womb! If you don’t open this city gate today, I’ll slit my own throat right here!”

The black-armored troops below the city tower finally stirred, parting to both sides like a tide. Pei Song, wearing a dark blue wide-sleeved robe, walked out from behind, calmly looking at Jiang Yichu. “Elder Sister has truly given me a great surprise.”

When Jiang Yichu saw him, fear seemed to appear in her eyes, only to be quickly replaced by death-defying resolve. Her other hand moved to her lower abdomen, looking at Pei Song with fierce determination. “Let us go, or today I’ll die here together with this evil spawn!”

Pei Song lowered his head and laughed coldly. A moment later, he took the crossbow from an armored soldier beside him and aimed it directly at Jiang Yichu, the ruthlessness in his eyes not a bit less than Jiang Yichu’s. “Why should Elder Sister do it herself? I’ll fulfill Elder Sister’s wish!”

Jiang Yichu looked at the cold gleaming arrow in the crossbow groove. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes, yet the ruthless determination in her eyes didn’t diminish at all. Her elbow raised—just as she was about to forcefully slash at her neck, the crossbow arrow in Pei Song’s hand also shot forth.

Jiang Yichu cried out in pain. The arrow struck her right arm. The dagger in her hand fell away. Her entire person also fell backward with the arrow’s momentum. In that instant, Pei Song rushed forward urgently, charging straight toward Jiang Yichu.

At the same time, the death warriors hidden in the carriage all broke out through the walls. Several cold arrows flew toward Pei Song.

The henchmen rushing forward with Pei Song hurriedly drew their swords to block, striking down all the cold arrows. The only one not blocked, Pei Song avoided by slightly turning his head. Finally, that arrow only scraped a shallow bloody mark on his face.

Jiang Yichu ultimately didn’t fall to the ground but tumbled into his embrace.

The death warriors from the carriages also clashed in battle with the henchmen behind Pei Song.

Seeing that those rushing from the several carriages were all Former Liang death warriors, Pei Song’s brow furrowed.

Soon soldiers on horseback came from the long street ahead to report, “Report—a group of laborers broke through the East City gate and escaped!”

Pei Song realized something, his expression suddenly ugly.

Blood seeped from Jiang Yichu’s arrow-struck shoulder, already staining that area of her clothing red. She looked at Pei Song and laughed extremely happily. Though labored, she still said word by word, “Pei-Song, you also have today? How does it feel to be toyed with?”

She no longer called him Qin Huan, because Qin Huan had died long ago on the exile road fifteen years past.

Pei Song held Jiang Yichu up, his expression cold and hard. He didn’t acknowledge her sarcastic provocation, only instructing the Pei generals present, “Dispatch two thousand troops to pursue. Let them have the life to escape Fengyang city, but not the life to flee back to the Liang camp!”

The appointed Pei general clasped his fists once, then hurriedly left with a squad of iron-armored guards.

A Great Liang death warrior, struck by a blade, was hacked down by henchmen and fell to the ground, blood gurgling from his mouth. Still trying to crawl up, when Pei Song walked past holding Jiang Yichu, he stepped on that death warrior’s throat as if he were nothing, forcibly crushing the throat bone. The death warrior stopped struggling. His five fingers with bulging tendons that had propped against the ground attempting to rise also went limp.

The bitter wind blew Pei Song’s hanging wide sleeves. He looked ahead indifferently, his voice cold and steep. “These insects—leave not one!”

Young A’yin was initially held in a death warrior’s arms with eyes covered, not letting her see these bloody scenes. But as that death warrior was surrounded and beaten down, A’yin was also seized by henchmen under Pei Song’s command. Seeing Jiang Yichu held by Pei Song with half her shoulder bloody, the young child’s eyes filled with terror. Initially she couldn’t even make a crying sound. After making two “he” sounds in her throat, she burst out with a cry like a fledgling bird’s blood-curdling wail, “Mother—Mother—”

A henchman held her around the waist. No matter how she flailed her hands and feet, she couldn’t get close to Jiang Yichu even a fraction. Only her wailing was shrill and heart-wrenching.

Jiang Yichu had already been carried by Pei Song to the front of the carriage. Hearing her daughter’s cries, the cold hard resolve on her face finally showed a crack. She turned her eyes to look at her daughter controlled by the henchman, tears falling. “A’yin…”

Pei Song stopped, a mocking arc floating at the corner of his mouth. “To help that group of old fools escape their predicament, Elder Sister brought along this Wen clan evil spawn as bait. I thought Elder Sister no longer cared about her life or death!”

The henchmen, seeing Jiang Yichu and her daughter both on the carriage, had determined they intended to exit the city together with the abducted Liang ministers through the south city gate. Who would have thought it was a diversion tactic?

Jiang Yichu’s eyes were so red it pierced the heart. Tears streamed down her cheeks stained with scattered black hair. Looking at Pei Song, she gently smiled. “You know—if anything happens to A’yin, I absolutely won’t live alone.”

Pei Song’s expression suddenly turned ice-cold. The hand with which he held Jiang Yichu showed protruding veins. Yet the motion of placing her in the carriage remained gentle and slow. As the carriage curtain gradually fell amid A’yin’s heart-rending cries, amusement returned to his tone, unconcerned. “I know. So Elder Sister just rest easy and nurture the pregnancy—don’t think about seeing that evil spawn again.”

Jiang Yichu’s face paled, but the carriage curtain had already completely fallen, thoroughly blocking her view of the outside. Only A’yin’s cries remained young and shrill.

She endured the severe pain in her shoulder, lying alone on the carriage’s soft couch. Finally, large tears fell.

—

The sky was nearly dusk. The double-horse carriage drove through a pine forest. Under the trees, among the withered needles, accumulated some thin snow not yet completely melted.

Wen Yu woke from the carriage’s jolting, her face slightly pale, her brow unconsciously drawn lightly together. She raised her hand to press her temple, seeming somewhat weary.

Bronze Sparrow handed Wen Yu the damp cloth warmed on the stove cover to wipe her hands, worriedly saying, “Did Your Highness have a nightmare?”

Wen Yu gave a light “Mm.” She had again dreamed of the tragic scenes when Luodu and Fengyang were breached. Her faintly swollen and aching forehead, after being covered with the hot cloth, finally felt somewhat better.

She asked, “Where is Zhao Bai?”

Bronze Sparrow answered, “We’ve reached Hengzhou territory. Sister Zhao Bai went to discuss with Commander Jiang about having him keep the main army on standby outside the city.”

After turning back from Dingzhou, they hadn’t directly returned to the southern border but instead detoured to Hengzhou.

The Hengzhou Yang clan was Wen Yu’s maternal family. The Songya Academy, which enjoyed high reputation in the northern border, was founded by the Yang clan’s ancestors. Now Wen Yu’s uncle Yang Yuanting had become the fifth-generation master of Songya Academy.

But starting from when her maternal grandfather managed the academy, he vigorously promoted clear discourse. After her uncle inherited the academy, he was even honored as a “Worthy Scholar” in clear discourse circles. He ordered academy tutors not to teach any state policy or current affairs discussions, considering them all vulgar. Only debating Zhuangzi’s Daoist philosophy was truly elegant.

Over the years, any students with ambition left to study elsewhere. Songya Academy’s influence in the northern border was far less than before.

After Fengyang fell, Wen Yu feared Pei Song would turn Hengzhou into another Fengyang. She wrote from Yongzhou advising her uncle to lead Hengzhou to first pledge to Wei Qishan. This way, they could receive Northern Wei’s military protection.

But now that Wei Qishan had publicly declared himself restored to Jin service, if their Yang clan remained in Hengzhou, it would be quite dangerous. When the two armies crossed swords, whether they’d be treated as battlefield captives was even harder to say.

Therefore, this journey was to secretly bring the Yang clan members back to the Liang camp.

Hengzhou had Northern Wei troops garrisoned there. Their two thousand troops entering the city would certainly alert the local Wei army. They could only select a dozen or so elite soldiers to accompany them into the city.

Before long, Zhao Bai lifted the curtain and boarded the carriage, her expression not very good. Seeing Wen Yu had awakened, she restrained her expression somewhat. “Your Highness is awake?”

Wen Yu nodded and asked, “How are arrangements for entering the city?”

Zhao Bai said, “I wanted to have the Southern Chen troops remain with the main army outside the city. That man surnamed Jiang wouldn’t agree. He insists on entering the city together with you.”

Wen Yu raised the carriage curtain and saw Jiang Yu standing with arms crossed under a snow pine not far away. His horse was nuzzling in the thin snow beside the road searching for remaining tender grass to eat. He raised his hand to touch the horse’s mane, then suddenly seemed to sense something and raised his eyes to look toward the carriage.

Wen Yu lowered the carriage curtain. She knew he followed Empress Dowager Jiang’s orders and couldn’t possibly let her leave his sight. After closing her eyes for a moment, she uttered two words: “As he wishes.”

—

At dusk, the dozen or so selected elite soldiers disguised as a merchant group, escorting Wen Yu’s carriage into Hengzhou city.

Perhaps because Hengzhou had been too peaceful recently, the soldiers at the city gate didn’t check entering and exiting people very strictly. As Wen Yu’s carriage passed through the city gate, she slightly raised the carriage curtain and saw the defense on the city tower was also lax.

After lowering the curtain, she frowned. “Wasn’t it said that Wei Qishan dispatched heavy troops to guard Hengzhou?”

Zhao Bai said, “Scouts have already investigated. Recently the Wei army has been recovering the two provinces and seven commanderies seized by Pei’s army. Pei’s army, not knowing what they’re scheming, only retreats without defending. When withdrawing troops, they also plundered commanderies and counties all along their route. One Pei army force seems to be coming toward Hengzhou. The garrison here dispatched quite a few troops to protect surrounding commanderies and counties.”

Wen Yu closed her eyes and said, “The future Northern Wei will indeed be an even more difficult opponent than Pei Song.”

Pei Song and the soldiers under his command were all jackals starved for a long time. They only knew plunder and conquest, never thinking of long-term governance.

But Wei Qishan was different. He had operated in the northern border for decades, deeply winning the people’s hearts. Any policy decision he made also considered the people’s livelihood below.

This would be a formidable opponent, and also a respectable opponent.

The group found a courier station to lodge at. Zhao Bai had already dispatched people to patrol the entire city. Finding nothing unusual, only after nightfall did Wen Yu take a carriage silently into the Yang residence.

At her sudden visit, everyone in the Yang residence was terrified. They wanted to light all the stone lamps in the courtyards to show respectful welcome, yet feared outsiders would notice the oddity and invite disaster.

The dozen or so elite soldiers secretly guarded various places in the Yang residence to prevent any disloyal servants from leaving to report.

Scattered snowflakes drifted in the night sky. Wen Yu wore a dark-colored cloak, the wide brim concealing most of her face. Followed by Zhao Bai and Bronze Sparrow, led by the Yang residence steward, they passed through the central courtyard to Yang Yuanting’s study.

Yang Yuanting had already retired but hurriedly dressed again upon hearing of Wen Yu’s visit.

When he entered, he saw Wen Yu had already removed her hood and was slightly tilting her head to observe the calligraphy and painting his father had inscribed while alive on the wall.

Frost from the night still soaked her cloak. The gold-embroidered patterns on her robes beneath gleamed faintly in the candlelight. Her cloud-like black hair was piled and bound with elaborate hairpins into an elegant coiffure. Though possessing a uniquely pure and refined beauty like a lotus in clear water, her entire being held an imposing authority that unconsciously made people bow.

Yang Yuanting frowned. He had never particularly liked this niece who seemed outwardly obedient but was full of rebellion in her bones.

When Prince Changlian tacitly allowed her to secretly listen to the great scholars’ lessons on statecraft taught to the heir Heng, he found it even more absurd. But Prince Changlian always doted on his daughter, and Wen Heng had no objections to it, so he couldn’t openly say anything.

When Grand Marshal Ao sought Prince Changlian’s permission to marry Wen Yu for his son, the Prince Consort Changlian had also sought help from her natal family, hoping he would claim externally that Wen Yu and her cousin were already betrothed.

This was certainly a foolish move—not only representing that his Yang family would also participate in court factional struggles, but also openly breaking with Grand Marshal Ao and the Empress Dowager. The Prince Consort Changlian had just proposed it when a group of advisors in the prince’s residence vetoed it. But because of this matter, when Yang Yuanting looked at his niece with the eyes of selecting a daughter-in-law, he became increasingly displeased.

The warmth, magnanimity, and virtue that a noble clan wife should possess—his niece had none of them. Under that obedient façade beat a heart that questioned everything about worldly rules and restraints with ambition.

What’s more, her parents and elder brother had never stopped this, as if already determined that even if she didn’t submit to propriety and ritual throughout her life, they could keep her safe.

But worldly affairs always had deviations. The Prince Changlian residence and the Great Liang imperial house all collapsed in one night.

Initially he had also worried—with his niece’s beauty, if she became a seductress like Baosi, then his Yang clan would also lose all face.

Now that she had used forceful methods that made the whole world take notice to firmly establish herself in both Great Liang’s southern border and Southern Chen beyond the passes, in Yang Yuanting’s view, this was only slightly better than becoming like Baosi.

Before today, he had never imagined seeing his niece again. Thus when he spoke, his tone was somewhat cold and hard. “What are you doing in Hengzhou?”

Wen Yu still looked at the calligraphy and painting her maternal grandfather had made while alive on the wall. She didn’t answer Yang Yuanting’s question but instead recited a line from the poetry: “‘Zhuang Sheng’s dawn dream was confused about butterflies; Wang Di’s spring heart entrusted to cuckoos'[1]—Maternal Grandfather’s painting of Zhuangzi Dreaming of Butterflies has hung in this study for over ten years, hasn’t it? Uncle, facing this painting daily—do you truly believe the current Songya Academy with its prevailing clear discourse culture is what Maternal Grandfather desired?”

—

[1] From Li Shangyin’s “Untitled” poem