A’Luo leaned on the couch reading the Record of the Five Kingdoms’ Customs. The book said: “On the day of great snow, the Han River mists in confusion. From west to east, white fog rolls across the river’s surface, as if a heavenly dragon leaps and soars; three zhang from the river, the fog fades from view. All the kingdoms along the river release rafts in sacrifice.”
She frowned, glanced at the sky outside—the snow was falling heavily—and her heart stirred. Walking to the window, she was startled to see the whole courtyard’s begonias blooming amid the snow, spots of vivid red set dazzlingly against the white. Did the begonias here bloom in the twelfth month?
The maid, seeing A’Luo gazing at the begonias in the courtyard, couldn’t help but blurt out, “The General had them covered with cotton paper two months ago, with incense braziers placed underneath, kept warm day and night without stop, coaxing them into bloom. Look, young lady, the fire basin under that tree still hasn’t been removed.”
“Is today the Great Snow festival?” A’Luo gazed at the begonias, an unconscious touch of tenderness rising in her smile.
“Yes indeed. Did you know, young lady, that starting from the Zi hour, thick fog rises off the Han River, dozens of zhang high. Tomorrow people will go to Tianlong Mountain, ten li outside the city, to look down—the whole river will look like a white dragon rolling in the snow, a truly beautiful sight. Every year at this time, carriages and sedans stream to Tianlong Mountain in lively crowds.”
“With Chen forces attacking now and the city gates closed, does anyone still go to Tianlong Mountain?”
“No one can cross the river on a day like this—once in the water, you can’t see a person three chi away. Chen surely wouldn’t be able to attack.”
A’Luo thought to herself that Chen must have devised some method, intending to use the fog to cross the river. Once their forces reached the city, it would be a fierce battle. With such thick fog on the river, how could they defend against it? She asked casually, “Does the Han River freeze over?”
“The Han River doesn’t freeze, but along the banks a thin layer of ice does form. In this weather, it’s bitterly cold.”
“Go and paste together a small box with thick cotton paper,” A’Luo instructed.
Before long, the maid brought the paper box. A’Luo looked it over and said, “Help me pick a begonia blossom.”
She poured the still slightly warm water from the teapot into the box, tied the flower with cotton thread, and placed it inside. “Help me put this outside in the courtyard, have someone keep an eye on it, and let me know once it’s frozen solid.”
Growing a little weary of reading, A’Luo noticed the zither resting on the low table nearby and couldn’t help but smile—it had been so long since she’d played, she didn’t know if her hands had gone rusty. She lightly touched the strings, playing a leisurely melody, humming softly: “Birds skim the river’s edge, the jade dragon lies across the mountain’s waist, all under heaven blanketed white with jade. Thinking of the begonia’s red blush, it was only that I was drunk on longing for you.” Finishing, she smiled broadly, joy plain on her face. She turned her eyes, pushed the zither aside, and stood, walking to the dressing table—her own face and eyes were both brimming with smiles. Slowly she undid her braid. “Help me put my hair up—I haven’t had it done properly in ages.”
The maid smiled. “The young lady will look so lovely all dressed up, I can’t imagine.”
A’Luo looked at her reflection in the mirror. “No need to fuss too much—just don’t leave bangs across my forehead this time.”
The maid agreed, carefully lifting the loose strands from A’Luo’s forehead, smoothing them with scented oil, and coiling them into a flowing-cloud bun, fixed with a hairpin. A’Luo’s full, smooth forehead was completely revealed. She looked at herself, delighting more the longer she looked, and laughed, “Look at me, I might really become vain.”
The maid, dazzled by A’Luo’s radiant beauty, had a distant, entranced look in her eyes just like Xiao Yu’s. “Young lady, don’t smile anymore—I already can’t look away as it is.”
A mischievous impulse rose in A’Luo. Her eyes rippling, she smiled faintly at the maid, who froze on the spot, stunned. A’Luo said gently, softly, “Let’s go for a walk in the courtyard.” The maid nodded blankly.
A’Luo held back a burst of laughter, opened the door, and glanced at the two Black-Clad Knights standing by the door—both froze as well. A’Luo had already taken two steps out before coming back to her senses and bowing in courtesy.
“Young lady, please return to your room. The Lord ordered that the young lady is not to step outside the room even one pace!”
A’Luo sighed—so this smile could only last two steps after all. In novels, when beauties appeared, weapons clattered to the ground everywhere and everyone stood dumbstruck—she’d need to be far more beautiful than that to pull it off. She pouted slightly, hearing one of the Black-Clad Knights say gently, “Once the Lord returns, if the young lady asks him, he may lift the restriction.”
A’Luo returned to her room, still smiling. Just then, an attendant carried in the paper box. “Young lady, it’s frozen solid.”
She took it, peeled away the paper, and lifting it by the string, revealed a crystal-clear block of ice with a red begonia frozen inside—very beautiful. The maid couldn’t help exclaiming, “What a lovely ice pendant!”
A’Luo smiled. “Would you deliver this to your General for me? Tell him I found it fun to make, so I made it to send to him. It only took an hour to make. Send it right away, don’t delay.”
The attendant, delighted, took the ice pendant and cradled it out the door as if it were a treasure.
Liu Jue, Gu Tianxiang, and the other officers were in the midst of discussing military affairs. It was already the You hour. If A’Luo hadn’t misheard, Chen forces would certainly cross the river once the fog rose. How exactly they meant to cross the river in the fog remained unknown. Gu Tianxiang said gravely, “If the Chen army manages to cross the river safely, they’ll certainly split off a portion of troops to seal off our naval camp, and send two more forces to attack the city from different directions.”
“General Tianxiang is right. Currently we have only forty thousand troops in the city; reinforcements from the various prefectures would take at least three days to arrive at Linnan, and even the nearest, Yancheng, has only ten thousand men. Farther cities would take several more days after that. And the Chen attack will surely be with the full strength of their nation. Yesterday when the fighting broke out, an urgent message was already sent by fast horse to Fengcheng, but a reply won’t arrive for at least ten days. With such thick fog on the river, even if our navy deploys and forms battle lines on the water, since the Chen army isn’t afraid to cross in the fog, they must have some countermeasure, and our navy in the fog would only take a beating. Given this situation, does anyone have any thoughts?” Liu Jue summarized the situation simply.
The officers in the camp exchanged glances. The sudden Chen attack had already been unexpected; that they might cross the river through fog at the Zi hour tonight was even more inconceivable. Even if the naval fleet lined up on the river’s surface, Chen ships passing nearby might not even be spotted. Chen’s forces were far smaller than Ning’s, but if they had come prepared, twenty or thirty thousand troops could easily be mustered. In that case, the force bearing down on the city would far exceed Linnan’s own numbers several times over. Three days—no one knew if they could hold that long.
After long thought, Gu Tianxiang answered, “Our navy will empty the main camp and lie in wait on the river before the fog rises. If the Chen army manages to cross safely before the fog clears, the safety of the city will depend entirely on General Pingnan and all of you.”
“That’s the only way. The navy will focus its arrangements on striking after the fog clears; the army will hold the city, and no matter what, we must hold out until after the fog clears at the Zi hour tomorrow night,” Liu Jue quickly divided the tasks with Gu Tianxiang. Gu Tianxiang left the camp in a hurry to return to the navy for deployment. As he stepped out of the great tent, he couldn’t help glancing back at Liu Jue. Their eyes met, both showing a look of concern. Liu Jue couldn’t help but say, “Since the Chen army dares to cross in the fog, Tianxiang, you’d best be careful.”
Gu Tianxiang didn’t answer, his eyes showing firm confidence; he looked at Liu Jue once more, then turned and strode away.
Liu Jue grumbled inwardly—why was it always him who couldn’t help speaking up, while the other played it cool? Setting the thought aside, he asked, “Does anyone have a good strategy for defending the city?”
One officer answered, “Linnan is built against the mountains, its walls sturdy. With naval support, it would be genuinely difficult for the Chen army to reach the base of the walls. But now that the navy can’t fight them on the river, with such numbers, they’re likely to break through somewhere.”
Another officer added, “We’ve already gathered all the arrows and stones and logs from across the city, and mustered nearly twenty thousand able-bodied townspeople. As the General knows, Linnan is a hub of trade, so the local population itself isn’t large. And we must also guard against enemy spies who may have infiltrated disguised as merchants long ago, ready to act when the moment comes.”
Liu Jue sat, unconsciously tapping his fingers on the table. Last night, Chen had sent in a squad of skilled fighters—the leader’s identity was certainly no ordinary one. This group knew the western mountain terrain like the back of their hand; the city must already have scouts who had mapped out the terrain. Linnan, built against the mountains, had sturdy walls but also a very extended defensive line. Troops would inevitably have to be spread thin to defend the whole city. Natural barriers could be relied upon, but from another angle, they also became a difficulty in defense.
At this moment Liu Ying took the ice pendant A’Luo had sent from the attendant’s hands, feeling rather torn. Inside, serious military discussions were underway, yet she’d sent over a child’s plaything. At another time, his lord would surely have been delighted to admire and play with it, but how could he deliver it now? He paced outside the tent, hearing the attendant relay A’Luo’s words, caught between two difficult choices.
After thinking it over for a long while, he finally made up his mind and entered the tent. The air inside the command tent was tense; after decades without war, none of the officers could settle on a decision. Aside from fighting to the death defending the city, there was, for the moment, no better idea.
Seeing Liu Ying rush in urgently, Liu Jue’s gaze sharpened—why was he coming in at a time like this? Since joining the southern army, the Black-Clad Knights served only as his personal guard; during military discussions like this, the Black-Clad Knights never participated. If Liu Ying had come in without urgent military business, it would mean forty strokes of the military rod. The assembled officers looked at Liu Jue, already showing displeasure.
Liu Ying entered and, steeling himself, said, “Someone has offered a strategy—please, General, step outside the tent to hear it in detail.”
The officers’ faces showed a flicker of renewed hope. Liu Jue, expression unmoved, walked out of the tent, saying with a cold laugh, “What matter requires such an excuse? If there’s no real strategy, where does that leave your master!”
Liu Ying broke into a cold sweat, dropping to his knees, offering up the ice pendant with both hands. “The Third Miss urgently sent an attendant with this. The attendant said the Third Miss said it mustn’t be delayed. Liu Ying thought, my lord, my lord…”
Liu Jue kicked him aside, saying furiously, “You think your master has the mind for such things right now?”
Liu Ying kept knocking his head to the ground. “Liu Ying was rash—I’ll take my punishment of the rod!” His hands still held out the ice pendant.
The ice pendant glinted in the pale sunlight, the red begonia inside strikingly vivid. Something stirred in Liu Jue’s mind. “Wait. Give it here, let me see.”
He picked up the ice pendant and studied it for a long while, then suddenly asked, “What exactly did the Third Miss say?”
Liu Ying replied, “The Third Miss said she found it fun to make and made it to send to the General, said it only took an hour to make, and instructed that it be delivered to the General right away, without delay!”
A faint smile slowly spread across his face. A sweetness rose in Liu Jue’s heart—had she finally understood his feelings? Had she seen the begonias he’d forced into bloom for her? He held the ice pendant up to the light again, gazing for a long while at the red flower, turning over A’Luo’s words in his mind again and again. A flash of inspiration struck, and he strode swiftly back into the tent, saying coldly, “No need for the rod—I’ll deal with you later!”
Liu Ying looked at him in confusion; though his tone was cold, it couldn’t quite hide the smile beneath it. Wiping his brow, he thought to himself that everyone was going to be driven half-mad by that young lady.
Liu Jue returned to the tent, holding up the ice pendant. “Everyone, take a good look at this ice pendant—does it give you any ideas?”
The officers were puzzled. In Liu Jue’s hand, the ice pendant held a red flower embedded at its center, much like the toys children play with in winter. In this weather, cold water could freeze into ice in no time, and freeze quite solidly—even after being brought into the tent’s warmth, the pendant showed no sign yet of melting.
Liu Jue laughed heartily. “Order every soldier in the city to find large pots at people’s homes and boil water, then carry it up to the city walls—pour water over the walls, inside and out, starting now. We must turn the whole of Linnan City into a city of ice!”
The officers erupted in astonishment, their faces lighting up with delight, and rushed off to carry out the order.
The three main gates opened wide, and soldiers and townspeople together began pouring water starting thirty zhang from the city wall. Scalding hot water was carried out to the walls and the top of the wall; by the Xu hour, the ground outside Linnan’s walls had already frozen into a thick half-meter layer of ice, slick and treacherous. A squad of soldiers who tried stepping onto the ground outside the wall slipped and staggered comically, drawing bursts of laughter.
Liu Jue stood smiling atop the city tower. With this wall of ice, holding out for a day would be no problem at all.