Before dusk completely descended, Xiao Li brought the grandfather and grandson pair of Doctor Tao to find shelter in a dilapidated farmhouse.

The farmhouse seemed to have been vacant for quite some time. The broken pottery jars in the courtyard were already covered with a thick layer of dust.

The owners didn’t know whether they had taken their families to flee the calamities of war, or whether they too had been forcibly conscripted by Jincheng to serve as soldiers or laborers. Inside the house, aside from some large pieces of furniture that hadn’t been moved, it could truly be called bare to the four walls. The cabinet doors were wide open. With the illumination of a torch, one could see that everything inside was empty.

The bed was also clean to the point where only a few bed planks riddled with wormholes remained. After Xiao Li pressed his hand against the bed planks to test their sturdiness, he searched the house inside and out. Forget about bedding—he couldn’t even find half a chi of cloth scraps. He went to the woodshed. Fortunately, the woodshed was piled with much dried grass for starting fires, all bundled up neatly with straw rope.

Xiao Li carried several bundles of dried grass to the room and spread them on the bed planks so they wouldn’t be too hard on the body, then gestured for A’niu to place Doctor Tao on top.

The kitchen stove could still be used, but there was simply nothing to cook in this farmhouse. Doctor Tao was not only covered in injuries but also bone-thin. If he wanted to recover from his injuries, nourishment was indispensable.

Xiao Li thought for a moment, had A’niu stay at the farmhouse, and took his bow and arrows out himself. When he returned half an hour later, he had two wild rabbits tied up with straw rope in his hands.

A’niu was very happy to see the rabbits. From the moment Xiao Li entered the door, he kept circling around him like a frolicking calf.

Or rather, from the time he was being pursued and encountered Xiao Li, he had already regarded Xiao Li as someone like his grandpa and grandma. But Xiao Li was much more powerful than his grandpa and grandma. Being by Xiao Li’s side, he no longer felt even a bit of the terror he had experienced since being conscripted as a soldier.

Xiao Li tossed the rabbits to him and asked: “Do you know how to prepare them?”

A’niu nodded: “A’niu used to set traps to catch rabbits before! Helped Grandma… kill them!”

As he spoke, he gestured with the rabbits. In the past, when he went into the mountains with Doctor Tao to gather medicinal herbs, he would also make traps to catch small game. Either Doctor Tao would take them along to the market when selling medicine, or they would be killed and made into cured meat by Granny Tao, which could be stored for a long time.

So Xiao Li said: “Kill both rabbits.”

A’niu weighed the two rabbits in his hands and seemed to want to keep one alive. In the past, Granny Tao was very frugal when preparing meat. A’niu knew that meat was a good thing, but one couldn’t eat it with an open belly—the family was poor.

However, these rabbits were caught by Xiao Li, Grandpa needed nourishment, and they were still being pursued by soldiers. There was no way to carry a live rabbit on the road. A’niu himself wrinkled his round plate-sized face in indecision for a little while, but still did as Xiao Li said and went to the well to kill both rabbits properly.

When he carried the two prepared rabbits to the kitchen to find Xiao Li, he saw that Xiao Li had already washed clean the pot on the stove that was full of rust and had also cleaned out some usable bowls and basins.

There were no seasonings. Doctor Tao was covered in injuries and also needed to eat blandly. But to avoid the stewed rabbit meat being too gamey, Xiao Li had dug up several stalks of wild ginger he had seen by the river on his way back.

One rabbit was chopped into small pieces and thrown into the pot to cook. Xiao Li whittled a pointed wooden stick and skewered the other rabbit to roast by the fire, occasionally squeezing some seasoning herb juice onto it.

A’niu squatted beside him, his nose constantly sniffing due to being enticed by the fragrant aroma. After swallowing his saliva countless times, Xiao Li finally cut off a small slice for him to taste.

A’niu couldn’t care about the heat. He put it in his mouth, chewed it roughly twice, and swallowed it down, even licking his fingers clean of every bit of oil: “Delicious…”

Xiao Li saw that it was almost done roasting. He wrapped a rabbit leg in washed reed leaves, tore it off and handed it to A’niu, telling him to eat first. He also ladled a bowl of the thoroughly stewed rabbit meat from the pot and carried it to Doctor Tao.

The grandfather and grandson pair hadn’t touched any meat since being taken from Tao Family Village. Although the rabbit meat stewed with wild ginger was bland and slightly gamey, Doctor Tao still finished the entire bowl, soup and all.

Xiao Li had Doctor Tao write out a prescription for internal nourishment. He would go into the city tomorrow to purchase some things and also get the medicine from a pharmacy while he was at it.

After explaining all this, Xiao Li returned to the kitchen and saw that A’niu still had more than half of the rabbit leg in his hand. His other hand was holding something. He would take a bite of rabbit meat himself, then extend the rabbit leg toward that object, muttering: “One bite for A’niu, one bite for little dog…”

When he saw Xiao Li come in, he showed him what was in his hand like presenting a treasure: “The little dog you carved for A’niu—A’niu has kept it very well!”

In the firelight, one could see that the wooden dog carving had been handled until it was extremely smooth, clearly something he carried with him constantly throughout the years.

Some memories that Xiao Li deliberately didn’t let himself recall seemed to be suddenly and obscurely opened up because of this little wooden dog.

He fell silent in an abnormal way, only humming in acknowledgment as a response to A’niu, and sat down to use his dagger to cut off a slice of rabbit meat and put it in his mouth.

A’niu had a child’s disposition. Xiao Li’s cold response neither dampened his enthusiasm nor made him perceive anything amiss. Instead, while gnawing on the rabbit leg, he muttered: “Big Sister has a little fish, A’niu has a little dog…”

At this point, A’niu seemed to finally remember something and asked Xiao Li: “Where is Big Sister?”

Xiao Li’s motion of cutting rabbit meat with his dagger paused slightly. He only said: “She’s doing very well now.”

Hearing him say this, A’niu felt relieved. However, he soon became confused and pressed with another question: “Why isn’t Big Sister together with you?”

The knife came down a bit too forcefully, and a large amount of oil oozed out from the rabbit meat. Xiao Li shook the oil sticking to his dagger toward the fire, his tone calm: “She has her own things to do.”

A’niu held the rabbit leg, his expression becoming conflicted. After scratching his ears and head for a long while, he finally asked: “Isn’t Big Sister your wife? Why don’t you go help her?”

Xiao Li had been about to wipe the oil from his blade with a cloth. Upon hearing this, his motion paused again. Only then did he remember that when he and Wen Yu had been saved by Doctor Tao’s family, to avoid drawing attention, Wen Yu had falsely claimed they were husband and wife.

His brief daze and silence were understood by A’niu as him not understanding why he should help the other person, so A’niu began teaching him with complete seriousness: “My grandma said that once you marry a wife, you have to dote on her, coax her, yield to her, scramble to do all the dirty and tiring work, and also hand over all the money you earn to your wife to save…”

A’niu counted on his fingers one by one. As if to add credibility, he even gave an example: “Big Brother Dazhu and Sister-in-law Lianqiao were just like this. Grandma also said that men who marry wives but don’t cherish them will have their wives run away later…”

After saying this, he suddenly froze and used a pair of round large eyes to carefully peek at Xiao Li.

But Xiao Li didn’t say another word. He only put away his dagger, placed the remaining rabbit meat on a bamboo sieve lined with reed leaves, stood up and said: “After you finish eating, go back to your room and rest. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

A’niu watched his departing back, stared blankly for a while, then picked up his wooden dog carving and said in a small voice: “Oh no, Big Brother seems to have lost his wife…”

—

There was wind tonight, blowing away layer after layer of black clouds in the sky. That silver moon hanging high in the firmament seemed colder and more desolate than usual.

Xiao Li lay on the roof ridge with his arm as a pillow, gazing at the moon in a daze.

After leaving Pingzhou, he had traveled north all the way. He hadn’t heard much news concerning Pingzhou, but Xin and Yi Provinces had no longer sealed the passages going south. The alliance between the Great Liang and Wei Qishan had obviously been achieved.

That Pei Song chose to amass troops in Jinzhou to block the Chen Kingdom’s army from advancing north didn’t surprise him much either.

The Great Liang’s current border was at Bairen Pass, but during the previous dynasty when Wei Qishan pledged loyalty, the border was an iron wall formed by the connection of Xin and Yi Provinces with the two prefectures of Tao Commandery. When the Chen Kingdom dominated the Central Plains, the border was Jinzhou where the old Great Wall was built.

That Pei Song’s subordinates were frantically capturing surrounding refugees and displaced people was presumably to repair Jinzhou’s old Great Wall. Even if in the end they couldn’t withstand the Chen Kingdom’s cavalry, as long as they could drag things out until winter when Wei Qishan needed to withdraw troops to focus on the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Pei Song’s side would have a chance to catch their breath.

However, at present, the remnants of the Great Liang, the Chen Kingdom, and Wei Qishan’s forces in the southern territory had already twisted together into one rope. Breaking through Pei Song’s defensive line set up at Jinzhou would be effortless.

Pei Song might still have backup plans, but victory already clearly leaned toward Wen Yu.

Xiao Li thought that her resolute choice of Southern Chen was probably correct.

It was just that he hadn’t necessarily lost.

Those eyes that seemed calmly gazing at the cold moon also revealed ambition in the gray misty clouds under the moonlight.

—

Pingzhou.

When Tongque brought in a bowl of white fungus soup to the study, Wen Yu had just finished reviewing the last memorial.

Tongque had only recently come to Wen Yu’s side and didn’t know that she used to toil like this every day. When she set down the soup bowl, she even advised: “You’ve been reading from afternoon until now. Be careful not to tire out your eyes.”

The white fungus soup had been chilled. After Wen Yu drank two mouthfuls, the heat and fatigue immediately dissipated quite a bit. She said: “After dividing many affairs among Governor Chen and Lord Li and the others, I’ve already become much more idle.”

Although she had Zhaobai properly settle Tongque and the others and promised that those who had hearts set on living in seclusion could be given generous wealth, not a single one of the Zhou Manor guards was willing to leave. Moreover, after a brief rest and reorganization, they all took on their respective assignments.

Tongque had already served Wen Yu for a period of time during their previous escape journey and knew her habits regarding food, drink, and daily life. She had voluntarily requested to continue staying by her side. At this moment, hearing Wen Yu say this, she couldn’t help but sigh: “This servant worries about your health…”

Wen Yu raised her hand to rub her slightly sore neck, didn’t respond to that, and only asked: “Has Zhaobai sent back any news?”

Tongque still didn’t know that Xiao Li had already left. She only knew that Zhaobai had gone to handle affairs for Wen Yu. She shook her head, hesitated slightly, then said: “However, that envoy from the Chen Kingdom has gone to the military camp several times recently to find people to spar in martial arts. He specifically asked when General Xiao… when General Xiao would return from suppressing bandits. No one in the military camp matches him in martial arts, and they’ve already lost several matches in a row. Lord Chen is quite worried about this and originally wanted to request your permission on whether to first summon General Xiao back, but Elder Li Yao declined on your behalf.”

Wen Yu’s dark lashes lifted slightly in the candlelight. She only said one sentence: “I understand.”

—

The next day, at the crack of dawn, after Xiao Li instructed A’niu to guard Doctor Tao at the farmhouse, he went into the city alone to purchase supplies and gather information.

All the Jinzhou soldiers who had seen his appearance had already died by his blade. Xiao Li surmised that it should have been because the first squad of soldiers he killed didn’t return to report for duty, making the Jinzhou military camp sense something was amiss. They had captured and interrogated the refugees he had saved that day, and only after learning of his existence did the subsequent several pursuit and assassination attempts occur.

The current situation was chaotic. There were many commoners who had been pushed to desperation and turned to banditry or revolted. A few small squads of soldiers dispatched from the military camp dying was not a major matter. Moreover, he had been wearing a bamboo hat that day, so the refugees probably hadn’t seen his appearance clearly. It was just that the Miao saber he used was quite eye-catching and easily recognizable.

This time when Xiao Li went out, he didn’t bring that Miao saber.

Later he would need to take A’niu and Doctor Tao with him. According to what that military officer said yesterday, the Grand Protector of Jinzhou City seemed to have already met A’niu and quite appreciated his abilities. After dispatching his direct subordinates to pursue them without success, he didn’t know what other moves that Grand Protector might make. He needed to first test the waters and gather information.

When entering the city, the guards at the city gate weren’t conducting strict inspections. There were quite many commoners coming and going in and out of the city.

The villages south of Jinzhou were basically already nine out of ten houses empty. Jinzhou City benefited from being the second prefecture to surrender after Yongzhou surrendered. Whether Pei Song’s subordinates were putting on appearances or not, they at least wouldn’t openly make things difficult for the local commoners on the surface. Therefore, when conscripting soldiers and laborers, most were forcibly conscripted from elsewhere. After the local commoners paid sufficient money or grain, they could barely scrape together enough to save their lives by tightening their belts.

Xiao Li made a round through the market in the outer city and bought everything he needed, including Doctor Tao’s medicine.

Doctor Tao seemed to also know that during these chaotic times of war and famine, medicinal materials were precious. Some medicinal herbs couldn’t even be bought with money. The prescription he wrote only contained the most ordinary common herbs. Since they weren’t for stopping bleeding or treating external wounds, the military hadn’t purchased them in large quantities, so the pharmacy wasn’t short on supply.

Seeing that the sun had already risen quite high and having not gathered any useful information from the market, Xiao Li planned to return first. Not long after walking out of the pharmacy, he suddenly saw quite a crowd bustling around the street corner ahead.

He could vaguely hear a clear voice ring out: “…Since ancient times, the great trends of the realm have always been thus—after long division comes union, after long union comes division. The current Great Liang should be called Northern Wei, Southern Liang, and Central Pei the Jackal. Northern Wei need not be elaborated upon by this humble scholar. The famous general of the previous dynasty, Wei Qishan, has long been known as the Tiger of Youzhou, but this tiger is now old and feeble. As for Southern Liang, the Wen Clan’s descendant, the orphaned daughter of Prince Changlian holds power. Now it seems she has quite some achievements. After forming a marriage alliance with the Chen Kingdom that was defeated by the previous dynasty, she gained another supporting force, but what will happen afterward is still hard to say. As for Central Pei the Jackal…”

That person paused, seeming to tap some metal object: “This humble scholar has spoken for so long that my mouth is truly parched and my tongue dry. If any of you have money, support with money; if you don’t have money, support with your presence. Once this humble scholar gathers enough for a cup of tea, I’ll continue explaining for all of you…”

The onlooking crowd immediately made sounds of disdain and dispersed with a flick of their sleeves.

“Hey, hey, don’t leave! How is it that every time I mention money, everyone leaves?”

The young man in plain cloth clothes futilely tapped his copper bowl twice. Seeing that the people gathered in front of his stall had all left, he was already accustomed to it and sat back down, propping his chin with his hand as he continued to call out lazily in a drawn-out voice: “Storytelling—fortune telling—”

When his gaze swept across the street opposite, it caught sight of a tall and slender figure. The young man looked twice more, and the laziness in his eyes suddenly vanished completely. Like a weasel, he urgently darted out: “Benefactor! Benefactor, please wait!”

When that person in the crowd had spoken only halfway, Xiao Li had already lost interest in continuing to listen. He turned to walk away a few steps but heard an urgent shout from behind. Sensing someone approaching, he sidestepped to avoid them. The young man couldn’t brake in time and crashed headfirst into a pillar at a shop entrance.

After the young man got up clutching his forehead and grimacing in pain, he faced Xiao Li and said: “Benefactor, you were so hard to find!”

Xiao Li frowned slightly, looked the young man over twice, and recognized him as the scholar he had previously saved.

Wasn’t he intending to go to Pingzhou?

Why had he appeared in Jincheng again?

Recalling the past several days of pursuit and assassination attempts by soldiers, Xiao Li’s eyelids lifted slightly. After calmly surveying the surroundings for any ambushes, his words were also such that one couldn’t detect any underlying edge: “What do you seek me for?”

The other party was extremely perceptive, however, and sensed the flash of killing intent from Xiao Li. He reined in the smile on his face somewhat, bowed to him respectfully, and said seriously: “Naturally to be at benefactor’s disposal, to scheme what benefactor schemes.”

“This humble scholar knows the purpose of benefactor’s journey here.”