At the end of the third month, Wen Yu returned to Liang territory.
Grand Tutor Yu led the ministers to welcome her outside the gates of Hundred Blades Pass. The common people who had spontaneously come to welcome Wen Yu back to Liang could no longer fit along both sides of the official road and even stood on the hilltops flanking it.
When Wen Yu’s carriage entered the pass, those calls of “Princess” shouted out with tears and earnest devotion came from all directions, truly like mountain calls and ocean roars.
Wen Yu lifted the carriage curtain during the journey to look outside. In an instant, her eyes reddened.
Zhao Bai and the Cloud Guards rode horses alongside the carriage. Seeing this scene and recalling how years ago when Wen Yu had traveled far to Southern Chen for the marriage alliance, the people within the pass had also stood along the official road just like this, following her carriage for dozens of miles to bid farewell, their eyes also became somewhat sore.
Zheng Hu rode with Xiao Li at the front of the carriage convoy. Hearing the calls of the Liang territory people and knowing the hardships Wen Yu had endured when circumstances forced her to travel far to Southern Chen for the marriage alliance, his heart was filled with mixed emotions, yet he also felt quite honored. He said to Xiao Li: “The Great Liang people have never forgotten sister-in-law!”
He had remained at Tiger Gorge Pass to recover from his injuries for two months. Once his injuries improved, he had set out again for Chen kingdom, only now returning to Liang with the group.
Xiao Li didn’t respond.
He silently looked ahead. The completely black warhorse beneath him clip-clopped along the official road crowded with people on both sides, the sound of hoofbeats mixing with the rumbling of wheels behind into a single rhythm.
The Great Liang people would naturally not forget Wen Yu.
When the dynasty was collapsing, she had shouldered this diseased and broken land all by herself.
When foreign tribes invaded, she had personally entered a death trap to secure that thread of survival for the people of both territories.
Moreover, with achievements in pacifying Western Ling, subjugating the barbarian tribes, and annexing Southern Chen—when recorded in the imperial annals, even Great Liang’s founding Emperor Wen Shi’an would have to bow his head before her.
The wind whipped the banners. All manner of past events appeared before Xiao Li’s eyes one scene after another amid the mountain-shaking, sea-like cheers of the common people.
There was their first meeting after the snow in Yongzhou City cleared, their life-or-death trust on New Year’s Eve when each carrying half an account book, they turned their backs and rushed into the wind and snow, their mutual dependence in life and death rushing six hundred miles to Pingzhou, the rupture after she wore her wedding gown on that thunderstorm night and laid everything bare to him, and also the reunion in the Northern Territory’s wind and snow, the half-truth forced out in the mountain hermitage, the pursuit thereafter across ten thousand miles of passes and mountains…
Three years ago when Wen Yu left the pass, he had not been in Pingzhou.
But fortunately, three years later, he had personally brought her back.
Henceforth, whether in the historical records or in the tomb epitaphs a hundred years later, his name would be written together with hers.
—
After entering the pass, Xiao Li led the Northern Territory troops to proceed first to their temporary encampment. Wen Yu’s carriage went directly to Pingzhou Prefecture.
Lady Chen and Lady Yang with her daughter, having received the news early, waited outside the prefecture gates with the officials’ wives. Bronze Sparrow stood among them holding A’Li.
A’Li was extremely active and didn’t understand why the adults were holding her and standing outside.
She turned her head looking around in all directions. Finding nothing interesting, she twisted around while grasping her chubby hands and let out a “yiya” sound toward Bronze Sparrow, as if asking why they had to just stand here.
Bronze Sparrow held A’Li more securely and asked with a smile: “We’ll be able to see the Princess soon. Is the young Princess happy too?”
A’Li still couldn’t understand long sentences. Though she had been coaxed and taught daily and could vaguely mumble some simple words, most of the time she still used “yiya” sounds to express her needs.
Just as Bronze Sparrow finished speaking, Wen Yu’s carriage and honor guard appeared on the street ahead. All the officials’ wives became more solemn. Bronze Sparrow also quickly descended the steps with A’Li, following the officials’ wives.
This section of road to the prefecture office had been sealed off early by soldiers, so there were no common people along both sides of the main road welcoming Wen Yu back to Liang.
After the carriage stopped, a Cloud Guard lifted the curtain for Wen Yu. Wen Yu, holding Zhao Bai’s hand, bent and walked out of the carriage. Her first glance fell on A’Li being held by Bronze Sparrow.
She immediately couldn’t help the soreness in her eyes.
Half a year unseen, A’Li had grown some, but still looked like a small bundle. Her chubby little hands clutched Bronze Sparrow’s shoulder as she stared with grape-sized eyes examining her, as if trying to recognize who she was.
“A’Li?” Wen Yu descended from the carriage, eyes slightly reddened as she called out with a smile.
Hearing her voice, A’Li obviously froze, then very quickly her little mouth turned down, immediately bursting into ear-splitting wails. Tears pattered down like broken beads as both hands and feet struggled forcefully, reaching toward Wen Yu wanting to be held.
Wen Yu took her daughter from Bronze Sparrow’s hands, feeling the solid weight in her arms and the force with which her daughter clutched her shoulder. Her face pressed against her daughter’s soft hair, the soreness in her eyes intensifying. She softly coaxed: “A’Li don’t cry, Mother has come back…”
The officials’ wives naturally knew how perilous Wen Yu’s defense of Gele City had been. Her ordering A’Li sent back to Liang territory undoubtedly meant she had prepared for the worst.
Seeing this scene of mother and daughter reuniting, all of them reddened their eyes along with her.
Lady Chen wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and stepped forward saying: “Princess, the journey by boat and carriage must have been exhausting. You must be weary—please enter the prefecture first.”
A’Li had stopped crying but was still hiccupping from tears. Her strong chubby hands firmly hugged Wen Yu’s neck, as if afraid of being transferred to someone else.
Wen Yu, holding her daughter, gave a slight nod to acknowledge the officials’ wives waiting nearby, then said to Lady Chen and Lady Yang: “During this time, I’ve troubled Lady Chen and Aunt.”
Lady Chen quickly said: “I’m ashamed. The Princess personally went to the front lines for the people of both territories. This wife remained in the inner quarters, merely fulfilling her duties. How can I bear the Princess’s word ‘troubled’?”
Lady Yang, supported by Yang Baolin, kept wiping tears with her handkerchief: “It’s good the Princess has returned safely…”
Seeing that the officials’ wives were about to cry again, Yang Baolin quickly said: “Let’s go inside to talk!”
Only then did everyone cluster around Wen Yu to enter.
Lady Chen had already prepared quarters for Wen Yu. After Wen Yu spoke with the officials’ wives in the central hall for a while, she dismissed everyone and returned to her quarters first.
Lady Yang had originally wanted to follow along to help settle in, but from the moment she saw Wen Yu, her tears hadn’t dried. Wen Yu, fearing she would cry herself sick, had someone send her back to rest first.
Yang Baolin accompanied Wen Yu to her quarters to help organize things. As Wen Yu placed A’Li, who had cried herself to sleep, back in the cradle, she suddenly remembered A’Yin was also in Pingzhou and asked Yang Baolin: “Why haven’t I seen A’Yin?”
Yang Baolin was about to speak when a Cloud Guard entering with a porcelain vessel suddenly said: “Whose child is this? Why is she here?”
Wen Yu looked out following the sound and only saw half a head of a young girl peering in while clutching the doorframe. Like a startled fawn, she ran off without looking back.
“A’Yin!” Just as Yang Baolin called out, Zhao Bai had already chased after her.
As Bronze Sparrow helped Wen Yu up to go outside together, Yang Baolin explained: “During the half year we’ve been back in Pingzhou, A’Yin has been like this—running away when she sees strangers. Lady Chen and the maid caring for A’Yin said that when A’Yin was first brought back from Luodu by the Cloud Guards, she would even hide in cabinets. That time when the maid couldn’t find her and was so frightened she reported it to Lady Chen, Lady Chen led a group of servants searching all over the prefecture without success and was also quite alarmed.”
Wen Yu frowned as she hurried along, asking: “Has a physician examined her?”
Yang Baolin said: “A physician enters the prefecture monthly to examine A’Yin, but the results have been minimal. The physician said… A’Yin may have suffered prolonged fright in the past, which caused her current behavior of hiding from people and unwillingness to speak.”
Wen Yu thought of the two years A’Yin and her sister-in-law were imprisoned by Pei Song, only feeling great pain in her heart.
Yang Baolin, seeing Wen Yu’s distress, continued: “However, A’Yin really likes A’Li. Once when Mother brought A’Li to A’Yin’s courtyard to see her, A’Yin was originally hiding in a cabinet, but hearing A’Li’s voice, she unexpectedly came out from the cabinet for the first time. Though she’s still very afraid of strangers, she stayed by A’Li’s side constantly. Later when Mother carried A’Li away, A’Yin became quite anxious.
“Mother and I thought perhaps A’Li could help A’Yin’s condition gradually improve. Since then, we’ve often brought A’Li to see A’Yin. Over time, A’Yin would also slip over to see A’Li on her own. A’Yin must have come to see A’Li today.”
As they spoke, the group had already reached the artificial mountain rock forest in the prefecture. Zhao Bai and several Cloud Guards were crouching at the cave entrance coaxing: “Young Princess, it’s dark inside. Please come out first…”
Noticing Wen Yu’s arrival, Zhao Bai stood up saying: “Princess, the young Princess she…”
Her expression was full of distress.
Wen Yu said: “I know everything.”
She crouched down, the soft smoke-colored fabric of her dress trailing on the grass. She called gently into the artificial mountain cave: “A’Yin, I’m your aunt. Do you still remember your aunt?”
As the words left her mouth, her eyes grew somewhat red.
No one inside responded.
Wen Yu continued: “You used to love being held by your aunt most. Back then you were only this tall…”
She gestured A’Yin’s former height with her hand. Though her voice was gentle with a smile, sorrow flowed from her eyes.
Three years ago when she left Luodu to travel far to Chen kingdom seeking aid, A’Yin had only been three years old.
That day when her brother carried her out of the residence, Mother and sister-in-law stood under the eaves crying to see her off. A’Yin was held in her sister-in-law’s arms. Seeming to understand from the adults’ reactions that she was going somewhere very far away, she cried until her face was red, calling “Aunt” over and over in tender, hoarse cries.
Fearing she would make Mother and sister-in-law even more heartbroken, she had shed tears silently without sound, never daring to look back.
Who would have thought that when aunt and niece met again, three years had already passed with everything changed.
The cave still gave no response.
The soreness in Wen Yu’s eyes intensified. Warm moisture slid from her eyes, falling on the grass. She said hoarsely: “Doesn’t A’Yin want Aunt anymore?”
Yang Baolin couldn’t bear to watch and wanted to persuade Wen Yu to get up first, but a thin, pale, weak little hand slowly extended from inside the artificial mountain cave, hesitantly grasping a section of her dress hem hanging by the cave entrance, stammering: “Au…nt, don’t… cry…”
Everyone was shocked.
Looking at her little niece huddled in the artificial mountain cave, clearly so frightened yet still tremblingly extending her hand to grasp her hem and comfort her, Wen Yu felt her heart clench into a knot, her eyes also aching terribly.
She extended her hand toward A’Yin, saying: “A’Yin, come, let Aunt hold you.”
Though A’Yin’s eyes still held some panic, she finally slowly crawled out from inside the cave, allowing Wen Yu to embrace her.
Wen Yu paid no attention to the grass blades and mud on her, tightly embracing her niece in her arms, eyes completely red as she said: “A’Yin don’t be afraid. From now on you have Aunt. Aunt won’t let anyone hurt A’Yin again.”
A’Yin opened her mouth slightly. Large tears fell, but her throat made no sound.
She had been crying like this for a very long time.
In her memories there seemed to be a terrifying shadow that had coldly warned her that once she cried out loud, she would never see Mother again.
This embrace gave her the security she had long lacked. A’Yin’s throat finally produced an extremely hoarse crying sound, choking out word by word: “Au…nt, I… miss… Mo…ther…”
These words made Wen Yu’s heart ache again. She gently patted A’Yin’s back, not letting her see the tears in her eyes: “Aunt has always had people searching for your mother. A’Yin must be good, eat well, sleep well. That way when your mother comes back, she won’t be sad seeing you.”
A’Yin continued choking: “My… bro…ther…”
Wen Yu asked: “What?”
Having not spoken for too long, A’Yin could no longer form proper sentences. She pointed in the direction Wen Yu had come from, anxiously saying through tear-blurred eyes: “Ro…om, bro…ther, I… fou…nd… him…”
Wen Yu vaguely understood something. At three years old, A’Yin already had memories. She remembered having a one-year-old brother. Was she mistaking A’Li for Jun’er who had been killed by Pei Song’s people?
Wen Yu only felt the suffocating pain in her heart worsen. She said hoarsely: “That’s not Jun’er. That’s little sister A’Li. From now on, you’ll have little sister A’Li to grow up with you.”
A’Yin still couldn’t quite understand why her brother had become a sister. She only remembered her brother had been about that size before.
After her brother disappeared, Mother cried every day. Now that she had found her brother, when Mother came back, would she stop crying?
But Wen Yu said it was a sister. She didn’t understand the difference between the two terms “brother” and “sister,” and only awkwardly changed her words: “Sis…ter?”
Wen Yu used her handkerchief to wipe away the dirt on A’Yin’s face bit by bit, tears in her eyes as she gently hummed acknowledgment, saying: “Yes, your little sister A’Li.”
—
A’Yin was brought back to the quarters by Wen Yu. After personally bathing and grooming A’Yin, she had someone take A’Yin to rest in the room next to A’Li’s.
Later when Xiao Li returned, seeing Wen Yu handling documents at her desk with somewhat red eyes, he frowned slightly, walked over and asked: “What’s wrong?”
Wen Yu pressed her temples and briefly told him about the day’s events, saying with some dejection: “The Cloud Guards have been searching for sister-in-law all along, but up to now still haven’t sent back any news.”
Xiao Li said: “No news is the best news.”
He saw that the documents Wen Yu had finished reviewing were already piled high on the desk. He kissed the top of her head saying: “It’s very late. Review them tomorrow.”
Having handled various matters since returning to Liang today, Wen Yu was indeed somewhat weary. She obligingly set down her brush. As her long sleeve swept past the pile of unfinished documents beside her, she inadvertently knocked one to the floor where it unfolded.
When Wen Yu picked it up, she had only glanced casually at the contents, but her gaze suddenly froze.
Xiao Li noticed and looked over as well, also frowning: “Grand Tutor Yu wants to retire?”
—
The next day when Wen Yu’s carriage arrived at Grand Tutor Yu’s residence, the estate manager was extremely flustered, hurriedly welcoming Wen Yu into the estate and sending someone to notify Grand Tutor Yu.
Passing through the central courtyard, a servant carrying medicinal soup also quickly stepped aside and bowed in salute.
Wen Yu noticed the medicinal soup on the maid’s tray and asked: “How long has the Grand Tutor been taking medicine?”
The manager answered with trepidation: “Since before the new year, the Grand Tutor’s health has been failing. The medicinal soup hasn’t stopped. Recently he may have caught a cold—the symptoms have worsened…”
Wen Yu’s brow furrowed slightly.
Reaching the courtyard where Grand Tutor Yu resided, Grand Tutor Yu had just finished changing clothes with great effort, but his entire face including his lips was somewhat gray-white. Seeing Wen Yu arrive, he quickly tried to get down from bed to bow in salute: “This old minister… pays respects to the Princess…”
“The Grand Tutor is ill and need not be overly courteous.” Wen Yu signaled those nearby to support Grand Tutor Yu, having him half-recline back on the bed to rest: “This Palace only heard the Grand Tutor was unwell and came to visit.”
She looked at Grand Tutor Yu’s white-haired, emaciated appearance, lowering her eyes to hide the trace of redness welling up beneath them, saying: “These two years have been hard on the Grand Tutor.”
Grand Tutor Yu sat leaning against the headboard. Having encountered the wind, he coughed and wheezed continuously. When he finally caught his breath, his throat choked up several times: “It’s… this old minister… who is useless, unable to continue watching the road ahead for the Princess…”
Wen Yu’s motion to take the medicinal soup from the maid’s hand paused, sourness surging in her eyes.
In the past, sovereign and subject had climbed together to the tower of Ziyang Pass. She had said: “Yu hopes even more that the Grand Tutor will enjoy long life and good health. With an old minister like you watching over things for Yu, Yu won’t fear stumbling on the road ahead.”
At that time, Grand Tutor Yu had answered: “Princess, you just proceed forward with confidence. This old minister… is watching over things for you!”
Now, when Grand Tutor Yu said these words, the implication was self-evident.
Wen Yu forcefully suppressed the bitter emotions rising in her heart, took the medicinal soup the maid offered, stirred it with the spoon, and said: “It’s just a minor illness. The Grand Tutor should rest and recuperate with peace of mind. This Palace has already ordered renowned physicians from Luodu summoned to examine the Grand Tutor. Luodu is still being rebuilt as well. When the Grand Tutor recovers, returning to Luodu at that time would be perfect…”
Hearing this, old tears streamed from Grand Tutor Yu’s eyes, but he said with difficulty: “This old minister’s fate… this old minister… knows in his heart…”
His eyes full of grief, he said with a smile: “In the past… this old minister said… if unable to properly assist the Princess and secure this realm, in the future upon reaching the Yellow Springs… this old minister would fear being mocked by Minister Li. But now, the Princess has already eliminated the treacherous and wicked, and… pacified Western Ling, with achievements in subjugating the barbarian tribes and annexing Southern Chen. Among emperors of all dynasties, you could compete for rank. Though this old minister’s contribution was slight, upon going below, he can also tell His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and Minister Li with joy…”
“Grand Tutor…”
The sorrow in Wen Yu’s eyes could no longer be hidden. Her five fingers holding the medicine bowl tensed until the knuckles turned white. Many words caught in her throat, but what came out was only one sentence: “The realm has just been settled, everything needs reviving. Yu still has much that requires the Grand Tutor’s support.”
She was like that student in the academy least skilled at wheedling, thinking that as long as she said she still didn’t understand the lessons, the teacher would continue teaching.
Grand Tutor Yu looked at Wen Yu. In his aged eyes, the sorrow grew layer upon layer heavier. He slowly said: “Before the victory reports came from Gele City, this old minister also feared these old bones couldn’t hold out… failing the Princess’s trust, unable to assist the young Princess in managing the realm. Fortunately, this old minister found a candidate of great use for the Princess…”
—
Several days later, Zhang Huai was quite surprised when invited by Grand Tutor Yu to go together to the city outskirts to observe the spring plowing.
A heavy rain had fallen not long ago. The mud on the road still held some dampness. The carriage jolted slightly as it passed. Green grass grew new along the roadside, and farmers busy with spring plowing filled the fields.
When the carriage stopped, attendants lifted the curtain. Zhang Huai was first to descend from the carriage, then turned to help Grand Tutor Yu inside.
Grand Tutor Yu held his cane with one hand and was supported by Zhang Huai with the other. When stepping on the stool, his feet still trembled somewhat.
Zhang Huai saw everything but didn’t mention Grand Tutor Yu’s serious illness at all. After Grand Tutor Yu stood steady with his cane, he said: “After last night’s spring rain, today’s weather is just right. It’s rare for the Grand Tutor to have the refined interest to come outside the city to observe spring plowing.”
Grand Tutor Yu gazed dimly at the expanse of new green in the fields, walking slowly forward with his cane, reciting: “This year rainwater fills the western fields, fathers and elders all predict a good autumn…”①
Zhang Huai followed behind Grand Tutor Yu and picked up the second half: “As long as plowing and harrowing come in season, we’ll wrap tea and buy cakes to rent oxen.”①
Grand Tutor Yu smiled and nodded, seeming very pleased.
He continued walking forward tremblingly with his cane. Zhang Huai followed half a step behind him. Several attendants followed even further behind them.
The two descended from a small path to the field ridge.
Spring came early to Pingzhou. The early rice planted at the beginning of the third month was already growing quite promisingly.
Grand Tutor Yu looked with warm eyes, saying: “In the past when the Late Emperor was still in Fengyang, he placed great importance on spring plowing. Every year at this time, he would personally go to the estate with the Crown Prince and Princess to transplant seedlings. The diligence of plowing and farming relates to the livelihood of the state and people…”
Zhang Huai listened without speaking.
In the distant seedling fields were bare-chested men transplanting rice, women laboring with young children on their backs, and even half-grown children helping in the fields.
Grand Tutor Yu’s eyes seemed to take on some bitterness. He said: “During the past two years of warfare, common people fled everywhere seeking refuge. Good fields lay abandoned, and when autumn came there was no harvest. When rebel armies passed through they plundered everything clean. On the southern flight roads, starving corpses lay everywhere…
“Those who managed to escape alive to other prefectures were cruelly refused outside the city gates. For no other reason—the prefecture granaries were empty and couldn’t support so many refugees… Thus some became bandits, some rose in rebellion. The people who had previously been plundered by rebel armies also became bandit soldiers plundering the people within the prefectures…”
Speaking to this point, Grand Tutor Yu sighed, tears already glimmering in his eyes: “The war was fought for three years, and among the common people nine of ten households were empty for three years. Who knows how many able-bodied men died. Last year at this time, those laboring in the fields were all women and children…”
He gazed long at those farming shadows in the fields and sighed deeply: “Worthy nephew, this peace we have now did not come easily…”
Zhang Huai said: “Huai understands.”
Grand Tutor Yu turned to look at the refined and elegant young man before him.
Wind rose in the fields, the grain waves rolling like ocean swells, becoming one color with his long-sleeved blue robe.
Zhang Huai looked into the distance, saying: “To be honest with the Grand Tutor, on the way here, Huai was still thinking that if the Grand Tutor’s purpose this trip was to be a matchmaker for the Princess, Huai had a whole carriage full of arguments to debate with the Grand Tutor. But the one the Grand Tutor is being matchmaker for is not the Princess—it’s the common people of the realm. Before Huai uttered a single word, he had already lost completely.”
Grand Tutor Yu’s eyes held vicissitudes and sorrow: “Great Liang… the people’s livelihood has been difficult. First there was the foreign relative Ao faction disrupting the government, then the traitor Pei Song’s rebellion. The realm was fragmented for several years, ultimately even drawing foreign tribes to press at the borders. Under the crushing weight of one hundred fifty thousand troops, the Princess and Lord Xiao, for the sake of the realm’s common people, willingly entered a dead end to resist foreign enemies. To have these two as masters is the fortune of us ministers and also the fortune of the realm’s common people!
“This is precisely the time to establish peace for all generations. This old man and worthy nephew… though our acquaintance is shallow, our words run deep. Today this old man will speak frankly.
“Though worthy nephew is young in years, your conduct is already quite resolute and mature. Previously when you hastened to repair the Great Wall as a final plan to resist the enemy, after the Princess learned of it, she praised you highly. This old man… knows his days are numbered and can no longer assist the new dynasty much. After this old man departs, are you willing to take up the burden of the court?”
Zhang Huai fell silent. Though he prided himself on clear-sightedness and had long seen through this world’s cold and warm treatment, at this moment an indescribable flavor rose in his heart.
When Chen kingdom agreed to unite with Great Liang and move back within the passes, to show fairness, Chen kingdom must occupy one of the two prime minister positions.
The other candidate for prime minister should naturally be borne by an old minister of Great Liang.
But Grand Tutor Yu now wanted to push him up, which meant handing that other portion of fairness to the Northern Territory.
The ultimate intent was nothing less than to thoroughly promote the unification of north and south.
He suddenly recalled how when Song Qin led elite cavalry rushing to Gele City, the Liang army’s campaign against Western Ling was already entering its final phase, yet Wen Yu still had Song Qin bring troops to assist.
Though the Northern Territory troops’ long march was arduous, they ultimately hadn’t caught up to a single battle. Without military merit was simply without military merit.
Zhang Huai thought, if it had been the Xiao camp controlling the battle situation at that time, he definitely would not have let the Liang camp share even a single cup of the spoils.
What great achievement was pacifying Western Ling?
If one could claim it entirely, in future north-south confrontations, one would occupy an enormous advantage.
But Wen Yu didn’t.
What she saw was only that the Northern Territory troops, knowing the journey was a dead end, still rushed thousands of miles to provide aid, so she didn’t begrudge giving them opportunities to establish merit.
Zhang Huai had once presumptuously speculated that perhaps at that time Wen Yu was making a bold gamble for north-south unification, though this action was absolutely foolish.
Using an achievement that could allow north and south to stand as equals to gamble on winning hearts—how was that not foolish?
But everything afterward proved to him that such benevolent actions could indeed win hearts.
Now rumors of the two territories unifying already circulated in the military, yet the soldiers didn’t reject it, only quietly awaiting Xiao Li’s final decision.
For no other reason than that before north-south unification even had a shadow, Wen Yu had already treated them with sufficient fairness and impartiality, with no distinction between north and south.
The troops currently existing in the Northern Territory were built up by Xiao Li himself. Besides seeking wealth and status, what the soldiers wanted to seek from this world was fairness.
Though Zhang Huai held an important position in the Xiao camp, the only one the men below truly respected was still Xiao Li.
When aristocratic families schemed and plotted, Xiao Li was the first to give those soldiers of rough origins absolute fairness.
And now Wen Yu had also done it.
So Xiao Li’s final decision would also be their decision.
By now, Zhang Huai could no longer distinguish whether letting the Northern Territory troops share in the achievement of pacifying Western Ling was Wen Yu’s benevolence or Wen Yu’s calculation.
But whether the former or the latter, it no longer mattered.
Whether benevolence or calculation, if imperial statecraft had either one, it was sufficient to create a prosperous age.
Only what he hadn’t expected was that when the Liang camp, having annexed Southern Chen and already firmly outranking the Xiao camp, with north-south unification also being the general trend in the near future, Grand Tutor Yu, this important Liang camp minister, would still painstakingly persuade him to ascend to that high court position.
He thought, if this was an act, wasn’t the Liang camp overdoing it a bit?
Grand Tutor Yu, seeing him silent for so long, called out sorrowfully: “Worthy nephew?”
Zhang Huai habitually wanted to curve up a slightly mocking smile: “If the Grand Tutor entrusts me thus, will Hanyang Princess agree?”
Grand Tutor Yu’s next words caused Zhang Huai’s lip corners to completely lose their curve.
“This old man already consulted the Princess before coming. This is precisely the Princess’s intention.”
Zhang Huai felt his consciousness struck hard as if by a whip. Though his awareness remained clear, a sense of dazed bewilderment suddenly arose.
This Princess of the Wen clan truly dared hand both left and right prime minister positions to people not of her direct lineage?
“This burden—is worthy nephew willing to take it up?”
When Grand Tutor Yu inquired again, Zhang Huai replied: “Aren’t the Grand Tutor and the Princess afraid of entrusting the wrong person?”
Grand Tutor Yu looked deeply at him, saying: “The Princess trusts Lord Xiao. This old man trusts worthy nephew.”
The phrase “trusts” suddenly caused sourness to rise in Zhang Huai’s eyes.
How weighty were these three characters?
He finally bowed solemnly to Grand Tutor Yu: “Huai… will certainly bend every effort until death, not failing the Grand Tutor’s and Princess’s trust.”
Grand Tutor Yu helped Zhang Huai up, seeming to have fulfilled some wish as he smiled with relief.
Wind blew the rice waves, turning up green swells in the fields.
He looked toward the distant plowing fields, saying: “Let us hope this year brings a bountiful harvest.”
—
When Wen Yu received Grand Tutor Yu’s memorial again, she was momentarily dazed, then sourness slowly welled up in her eyes.
Xiao Li came over with medicine and saw this. Seeing her distress, he deliberately changed the subject: “Chen territory has been entrusted to Chen Wei and Mu Youliang to manage. The candidates for left and right prime ministers have also been selected. Are there prospects for candidates to guard Tiger Gorge Pass and Hundred Blades Pass?”
Wen Yu said: “Yang Shuo originally let Pei Song leave the pass privately, nearly causing great disaster, but in the end sacrificed his entire household to block Western Ling from entering the pass. Considering his many years guarding the border pass, repeatedly repelling strong enemies, and when Luodu fell it was also he who kept the Western Territory from descending into chaos, ultimately his merits outweigh his faults—he should receive posthumous honors. His wife was wise and loyal—she should receive separate posthumous honors, and his clan members should be rewarded accordingly. His son is still young and can be brought back to Luodu to study at the Imperial Academy.
“As for the new commanding general at Tiger Gorge Pass, I’m thinking of sending General Fan. What do you think?”
Xiao Li pondered briefly and nodded: “General Fan has merit in helping Tiger Gorge Pass repel Western Ling’s great enemy. Sending him there couldn’t be more appropriate.”
“As for Hundred Blades Pass…” Wen Yu took out a memorial from the pile stacked on the desk: “How about having General Tan Yi and your sworn brother Song Qin jointly guard it?”
Xiao Li said: “Elder brother only wants to live like drifting clouds and wild cranes. He’s already requested leave from me to return to Peony Slope.”
Wen Yu’s brow took on several traces of loneliness. She slowly said: “I had wanted to keep Xi Yun in Luodu. Now it seems I can’t keep him.”
From Li Yao dying in battle at Tile Kiln Fort, to Jiang Yichu falling from a cliff with her remains never found, to Grand Tutor Yu seriously ill and retiring—those close to her departed one by one. She often felt lonely.
Xiao Li noticed. As Wen Yu continued discussing rewards for other ministers with her brow slightly furrowed, he turned her face to make her look at him. His intensely heroic brows and eyes were handsome and deep as he half-joked: “You’ve mentioned everyone with merit and without, round and round. Shouldn’t you also consider what title to give me?”
The melancholy between Wen Yu’s brows dissipated somewhat with his interruption. She slowly revealed a rare smile from these past days, saying: “Would Lord Xiao accompany me into Luodu to jointly rule this realm?”
Xiao Li bent down to kiss her lips and answered: “It would be discourteous to refuse.”
—
When news spread that the northern and southern territories wished to form a marriage alliance and reunify, the common people were uniformly jubilant.
The only Chen kingdom ministers with some complaints had already received news early on, knowing that Wen Yu would establish A’Li as heir and that north-south unification was an unstoppable trend, so they also fell silent.
After Wen Yu consulted with the hundred officials, they set the dynastic name as “Qian.”
Matters of rewarding merit and posthumous honors had also been determined, only awaiting return to Luodu to hold the enthronement ceremony before announcing to the realm.
The Cloud Guards at this time sent back news that Jiang Yichu was still alive, only she seemed to no longer remember past events. In a mountain hermitage within Luzhou Prefecture downstream from Luodu, she had shaved her head to become a nun and converted to Buddhism.
Wen Yu could sit still no longer. That very day she and Xiao Li set out for Luzhou. Lady Yang, learning Jiang Yichu was still alive, cried with extreme joy, then insisted on going along no matter what. Thus Lady Yang and her daughter also followed.
—
In these past years Luodu had suffered cumulative warfare. Common people in surrounding counties were all affected. Those who migrated south with entire households were everywhere, so hermitages and temples within the territory had no incense offerings.
Last year when north and south joined forces to campaign against Pei Song and recaptured Luodu, various places only then began to have peace. Common people returned home and rebuilt their homeland. Only after that did temples in various places gradually have incense pilgrims going to offer incense.
Initially to search for Jiang Yichu, Wen Yu had ordered Cloud Guards to post portraits of Jiang Yichu at city gates throughout various prefectures. Unfortunately a year passed with no news whatsoever.
Recently a merchant’s wife returning to her ancestral home to visit relatives had on a whim gone to an obscure hermitage temple in the mountains to offer incense. Seeing a nun interpreting divination slips for pilgrims looked quite familiar, she couldn’t help but look a few more times.
Several days later when the merchant’s wife returned to the city and saw the government’s portrait seeking Jiang Yichu at the city gate again, she was shocked to realize wasn’t that nun in the hermitage the Crown Princess the government was seeking? She quickly reported this matter to the local authorities.
—
The day Wen Yu’s party arrived at Tuyun Hermitage, the rain that had fallen for several days in late spring finally stopped.
The hermitage’s abbess, learning that a large number of soldiers were coming up the mountain, was quite flustered and led the hermitage’s bhikshunis and shramanerikas hurrying to the mountain gate to welcome them.
“This poor nun did not know noble guests were visiting and failed to welcome you from afar.”
The mountain path was steep and inconvenient for carriages and horses. When the mountain palanquin landed, the abbess quickly led the nuns in joining palms in salute.
Some young shramanerikas had never seen such a grand spectacle on the mountain. They secretly raised their eyes to observe the noble guests descending from the mountain palanquin.
They saw a simply-dressed female guard about to step forward to assist, but a tall, handsome man preempted her, supporting the woman in the palanquin. His hand grasped her jade-like fingertips without the slightest avoidance, while his other hand almost half-circled around the woman’s waist supporting her elbow joint.
It was an intimate and domineering posture that wouldn’t allow anyone else to come close.
As the young shramanerika marveled secretly, her view was blocked by his tall form. She could only see the section of the woman’s skirt hem dragging on the green stone brick pavement as she descended from the mountain palanquin, the complex and exquisite brocade embroidery patterns seeming to have flowing light moving in the early sun after the rain.
“Abbess, no need for courtesy. This Palace has come suddenly to visit seeking someone in the hermitage.”
The woman spoke gently. The young shramanerika only felt this noble guest’s voice was also extremely pleasant. Unable to help being more curious, she peered over to look, and saw the morning sunlight filtering through tree shadows falling scattered on the woman’s face. It was truly a countenance only immortals should have. Her expression was as gentle as this spring sun, yet her eyes seemed to hold a compassion.
The young shramanerika stared transfixed, the two characters “Bodhisattva” almost escaping her lips. But perhaps her examining gaze was too bold—unexpectedly that man suddenly cast a cold glance backward. The young shramanerika was startled into a shiver, and the words at her lips also stuck.
Over there the abbess was still saying to Wen Yu: “Last year at this time, disciples from the hermitage went down the mountain to give alms and rescued a woman by the riverside. That woman has now converted to Buddhism with the dharma name Jingchen. Has the benefactor come for this?”
Wen Yu nodded.
The abbess chanted a Buddhist invocation, saying: “Ultimately there is still one worldly connection unfulfilled. Benefactor, please follow me.”
Only after everyone followed through the mountain gate did the young shramanerika finally let out a long breath with lingering fear.
A nearby shramanerika whispered reprimands: “How could you be so confused when receiving noble guests? If you offended the noble person, how could you bear the responsibility?”
The young shramanerika only murmured to herself: “…Bodhisattva…”
“What?”
The young shramanerika chanted a Buddhist invocation, reverently joining palms with hands, the corners of her mouth curving up very happily: “I glimpsed the Buddha’s decree—Bodhisattva descended to the world, with Ming King as dharma protector…”
—
The abbess led Wen Yu’s party toward the sutra lecture hall. From afar they could already hear chanting voices.
The abbess said: “Recently the hermitage has held the Three Platform Great Precepts ceremony. Disciples who newly entered Buddhism these two years are all receiving precepts here.”
As they spoke, they had already reached outside the sutra lecture hall. A shramanerika guarding outside the hall saw the abbess leading a group of guests with distinguished bearing approaching and quickly joined hands in Buddhist salute.
The abbess instructed her a few words. That shramanerika hurried inside the hall, leaning close to whisper something to the precept-transmitting abbess lecturing inside.
Very quickly the chanting inside the hall stopped. The disciples receiving precepts in the hall also filed out one after another.
Wen Yu’s gaze searched among those dozens of nuns wearing monk robes and monk hats. In a few instants she found Jiang Yichu, and moisture immediately uncontrollably spread over her eyes.
Compared to the appearance in her memory, Jiang Yichu was much thinner. Walking outside with fellow shramanerikas, her expression was light and peaceful, as if she truly no longer remembered the past.
When the abbess called out to her, Jiang Yichu looked over here with surprise, but her gaze didn’t linger much on Wen Yu and the others, clearly only taking them as pilgrims who had come to the mountain to worship Buddha. Walking closer, she joined palms in salute to the abbess: “The abbess called for me?”
Since coming up the mountain, Lady Yang’s tears hadn’t dried. Now seeing that Jiang Yichu truly didn’t remember them at all, she covered her face with her handkerchief, choking so much she couldn’t speak, relying entirely on Yang Baolin’s support to stand steady.
Jiang Yichu noticed Lady Yang’s unusual state and also perceived that the woman whose appearance was beautiful enough to rival divine consorts and immortal maidens looked at her with eyes suppressing heavy redness, as if wrapped in heart-piercing pain. She avoided meeting her gaze and looked somewhat hesitantly toward the abbess: “This is?”
The abbess said: “Your worldly relatives have come seeking you. Whether to go or stay, you may decide for yourself.”
Having said this, she raised her palm and chanted a Buddhist invocation.
Jiang Yichu’s face showed a moment of bewilderment.
“Sister-in-law.” Wen Yu spoke with difficulty.
Lady Yang also called out choked with tears “Yichu.” Jiang Yichu seemed frightened and retreated two steps, then her gaze became peaceful and resolute again. She raised her palm and chanted a Buddhist invocation to them, saying:
“Arising of connections and extinction of connections are all predetermined. This poor nun no longer remembers past events. Perhaps the Buddha’s compassion has already helped this poor nun fulfill worldly connections. This poor nun’s dharma name is Jingchen. I am no longer the person the benefactors seek. I also hope the benefactors will understand early and not persist in attachment.”
Having said this, she saluted the abbess again and caught up with the queue of shramanerikas who had finished receiving precepts and were leaving.
In great sorrow, Wen Yu was about to chase after her again but was stopped by the abbess.
The abbess sighed: “Benefactor’s status is noble. If today you insist on taking Jingchen away, this poor nun naturally cannot stop you. However, regarding some matters before Jingchen shaved her head, this poor nun thinks it would be better for the benefactor to know.”
Lady Yang had already cried almost to the point of fainting. Wen Yu had Yang Baolin take Lady Yang to rest in a meditation room first, while she herself went with the abbess to the side hall of the sutra lecture hall.
At the junction of spring and summer, ancient trees towered outside the hall, casting large expanses of dense shade covering the temple buildings.
The abbess personally poured Wen Yu a cup of clear tea and slowly began speaking amid the curling tea mist: “When Jingchen was rescued back to the hermitage, it happened not long after the warfare. Common people down the mountain had all fled with their families. Within a hundred miles radius of Tuyun Hermitage, not a single physician could be found. Her injuries were severe. At that time we all thought she couldn’t survive…”
The abbess seemed to sigh: “But relying entirely on a few mouthfuls of nourishing medicinal soup to sustain her, she actually lived. Though she was unconscious for half a year, she eventually awakened. At that time she still couldn’t get out of bed. When the hermitage’s shramanerikas went again to bring her food and medicinal soup, she refused even a drop of water. This poor nun went to see her. Her eyes were lifeless. She only said she was someone who should have died and shouldn’t still exist in this world.”
Hearing this, tears were already rolling down from Wen Yu’s eyes, obscured by the tea mist.
A yellow sparrow landed on an ancient tree branch outside the hall chirping.
The abbess looked outside the hall and sighed again, saying: “This poor nun tried to persuade her many times, but with life already extinguished in her heart, all external force was ultimately futile. It happened that day there was heavy rain. A bird’s nest in a large tree outside was blown down by the wind. A nest of chicks was knocked to the ground in the rain. When discovered, only one unfledged chick still had life, stretching its neck crying in the rain. The parent birds, seeing the nest already destroyed, had long abandoned the tree.
“This poor nun said to her, if one determines one’s own life, death, sin and karma, then what of that chick beneath the tree? Since breaking from the shell, it had never stolen a grain of millet nor fed on a single mayfly—why should it die?
“Jingchen brought that chick back to her room. Though she still wouldn’t eat, she carefully tended that chick. Several days later, that chick whose down feathers were soaked in rain and should have died miraculously survived.
“Jingchen looked at that chick, laughed and cried, cried and laughed. Finally with disheveled hair and bare feet, she prostrated step by step to the great hall, saying she had forgotten the past and begging this poor nun to shave her head for ordination.”
Having heard all this, Wen Yu was somewhat dazed. When another tear fell on the tea table, she said hoarsely: “What the abbess has said, this Palace understands.”
When she rose supporting herself on the table, she even stumbled slightly, fortunately Zhao Bai with reddened eyes timely supported her.
The abbess watched her lonely figure draped in a shawl walking from the hall door toward the ancient tree shade, joined palms, lowered eyes and chanted: “Amitabha.”
—
Now speaking of Yang Baolin accompanying Lady Yang to rest in the meditation room, halfway there Lady Yang thought of how Jiang Yichu no longer remembered them and A’Yin was still so small. Her heart grew increasingly distressed. At one point she cried so much she couldn’t catch her breath.
The shramanerika leading the way, seeing she was advanced in years and fearing something might happen, led them first to the nearby sutra repository to rest temporarily.
Reaching the sutra repository, Lady Yang heard the chanting of the bhikshuni guarding the tower and cried into a tearful mess again. Seeing the stone walls inside the tower enshrined with countless eternal lamps, and hearing these could pray for blessings for the departed, she wanted to offer lamps for everyone from the Changlian Prince’s estate.
After she spoke the birth dates and names, when the young shramanerika lit lamps and wrote memorial tablets to place deep in the Buddha tower, she suddenly said with surprise: “These benefactors’ eternal lamps have already been offered!”
Lady Yang and Yang Baolin both started in shock. Going over to look, they saw the memorial tablets behind those several eternal lamps offered on the stone wall above were precisely the several people from the Changlian Prince’s estate. Even the name of the young prince less than one year old who had been killed—Wen Shijun—was prominently listed, though outsiders didn’t know his name.
Lady Yang stared transfixed, tears immediately rolling down.
Who else in this hermitage could light eternal lamps for the deceased of Changlian Prince’s estate?
Yang Baolin also had tear-moistened eyes, saying: “I’ll go find the Princess.”
She was about to step outside but was stopped by Lady Yang: “Come back.”
Yang Baolin looked uncomprehendingly at her mother.
Lady Yang still only looked at those several memorial tablets engraved with names from Changlian Prince’s estate on the stone wall. Tears already overflowed past her lips. Only then did she say with completely red eyes: “If this is the Crown Princess’s choice, then let us follow her wishes. Don’t let the Princess know and add to her grief…”
—
Xiao Li waited outside the hall. Seeing Wen Yu emerge from inside with even more redness in her eyes and exhaustion in her face showing a fragility, he frowned and walked close to ask: “What did the abbess say?”
Wen Yu only shook her head lightly, saying: “Let’s go.”
If sister-in-law had truly left home without remembering past events, she could still urge sister-in-law to return.
But this was a decision sister-in-law made while remembering everything. What could she still urge?
Wen Yu looked at this solemn temple obscured by tree shade, listening to the rustling sound of wind passing through the forest canopy, only feeling an indescribable desolation suddenly rising in her heart.
Xiao Li, seeing her like this, frowned even tighter. He glanced at the great hall behind, but ultimately didn’t pursue questions.
The two hadn’t walked far when they encountered Lady Yang and her daughter who were supposed to be going to rest in the meditation room. However both had severely swollen red eyes, and their reactions upon seeing Wen Yu were also very strange.
“Isn’t Madam unwell and going to the meditation room to rest temporarily?” Seeing the mother and daughter in such a state coming over, Zhao Bai feared they would mention Jiang Yichu and cause Wen Yu more heartache, so quickly changed the subject to ask.
“Mother… just fell…”
“My head hurts…”
Lady Yang and her daughter spoke simultaneously. The two froze, then Yang Baolin quickly added: “Her head was also knocked.”
“Ah… I see…” Lady Yang used her hand to support her head. The redness beneath her eyes couldn’t be faked at all. As she spoke she nearly shed tears again: “A’Yu, I want… I want to go down the mountain first…”
Unexpectedly what Wen Yu said desolately was: “Then let’s go down the mountain together.”
The mother and daughter froze again, looking at Zhao Bai. From Zhao Bai’s silent half-lowered eyes yet still seeping a trace of redness, they understood something and immediately could no longer suppress the tears in their eyes.
Jiang Yichu was unwilling to see them again.
The party had come up the mountain hastily and descended hastily.
When news reached the sutra lecture hall where shramanerikas continued receiving precepts in the afternoon, Jiang Yichu’s rhythm of striking the wooden fish while chanting slowed a beat. In a trance she also seemed to turn her head slightly, eyes reddening as she cast a glance outside the hall.
Only that thread of worldly grief was quickly submerged in the solemn and vast chanting.
—
The waterway on the return journey led directly to Luodu. The local government had arranged a blessing boat to wait early.
Before boarding, Wen Yu instructed the county magistrate: “Funds will be allocated from the court very soon. Properly repair and restore Tuyun Hermitage. Add stationed soldiers to guard the mountain. You must ensure the safety of the abbesses in the hermitage. Henceforth whenever the hermitage has difficulties, help them more. If you can’t decide, report directly to Luodu.”
The county magistrate naturally knew Wen Yu was doing all this for someone. Not daring to be the slightest bit careless, he bent at the waist repeatedly acknowledging.
The blessing boat set off, traveling upstream along the waterway. Passing a mountain bend, it revealed behind the mountain a stone-carved giant Buddha almost as tall as the mountain itself. However, clearly carved in distant antiquity, the Buddha statue faced the water—not only covered with moss-green but also showing traces of wind erosion accumulated over many years.
The ministers on deck couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder. One minister who knew the origin of this giant Buddha sighed: “This was carved during the former Chen dynasty’s Jiayong reign period by Prince Yu to pray for blessings for his deceased mother. Later after over seventy years of internal chaos, it was once abandoned. After the former Jin replaced Chen, Duke Wen of Jin traveled here and saw this giant Buddha had only been carved halfway. Considering it damaged heavenly virtue, he ordered carving to continue. After another fifty-some years, this giant Buddha was finally completed. However before the temple building to cover the giant Buddha could be constructed, the former Jin dynasty again entered a hundred years of chaos…”
Hearing this account, the other ministers on deck couldn’t help but sigh as well. But not seeing Wen Yu speak, thinking perhaps their openly discussing former dynasties was too presumptuous, they dared not linger on deck and found excuses to scatter like birds and beasts.
Before long, only Wen Yu and Xiao Li remained on deck.
Wen Yu stood long at the bow, looking sideways into the distance. The shawl draped over her arms was blown backward by the river wind, as if she were a divine maiden flying in a mural.
Xiao Li walked close and asked her: “What are you looking at?”
Wen Yu’s eyes were sore and red. She said: “Looking at these mountains, this water, this giant Buddha.”
Wind stirred the stray hairs at her temples. Her expression also took on a sense of vicissitudes: “The fires of war in the human world rise and fall, dynasties change. Among these eternal mountains, rivers and stones, it’s but a moment’s flower. In the historical records passed to later generations, it’s also merely turning another page.
“If even dynasties are thus, what of people? Coming and going, ultimately like that torrential eastward flowing water, rushing to the sea with no return…”
Speaking the last sentence, the sorrow in Wen Yu’s eyes deepened several more layers.
The wind was strong on deck. Xiao Li unfolded his cloak to shield her from some wind. Looking with her at the ceaselessly flowing river between the green mountains on both shores, he said: “The river waters may all depart but I will not depart.”
Amid that indescribable grief and loneliness, Wen Yu suddenly felt a sense of peace that made her want to cry.
She was like a heron separated from its flock, having flown with wings spread for too long. When exhausted thinking she would fall into the boundless deep lake, beneath her feet there was always a shore waiting for her.
Wen Yu rested her head on Xiao Li’s shoulder. In her sore reddened eyes reflected the distant river waves and sky.
This hasty half-life, they had always been losing. But they had become an inseparable part of each other’s destiny and would never be scattered apart again.
The great boat broke through layer after layer of clear waves, continuing forward among the layered spring mountains.
Carrying those returning home.