In mid-March, a lush green spread across the vast and broad fields of Hexi, and the weather had truly begun to warm.

The steward of the Military Governor’s residence had been up and bustling since early morning.

The day after the mistress departed, the underfloor heating channels in the residence had been shut off. As was custom every year after the shutdown, workers were called in to clear the passages and furnace openings, lest accumulated ash block them and affect the following year’s heating.

This task should have been done some time ago, but the steward had been occupied with many things in recent days, and on top of that the weather had been poor, and his old ailment of back pain had flared up, leaving him bedridden. He had applied the moxibustion method the young mistress had taught, and only after several days of treatment had he recovered enough to get about. So the matter had been put off again and again, delayed by a month or two, until the weather improved over the past few days, and he had finally called in workers to get it done.

Yesterday, taking advantage of the Military Governor’s absence, he had cleared all the passages in the back quarters. Today, once the furnace openings were dealt with, the job would be finished.

“Move quickly! Dump the ash over here!”

“Keep it down! The master returned today, he’s in the back — don’t disturb him!”

The steward was busy directing the workers when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind him, as though someone came rushing over. He turned to see the Military Affairs Adjutant Cao Gui arrive. Something had clearly happened to throw him into such a state — his expression was anxious. The steward went over to meet him.

“Adjutant Cao, what has happened?”

Cao Gui grabbed the steward by the sleeve, breathing hard, and asked: “Where is Military Governor Xie — has he returned from outside?”

Xie Changgeng had been away from the city for some days, having gone to the border areas.

The steward said: “The master returned in the small hours of last night. What is the matter, Adjutant Cao?”

“Something serious has happened! Extremely urgent! The tribal people have gathered in a mob and surrounded Jiao City, threatening to set fire to it!”

Jiao City was no more than fifty li from Guzang — not a large place, but a subordinate settlement of Guzang and a critically important one. The city contained a large granary that supplied provisions for over a hundred thousand troops across Hexi. If it truly went up in flames, that was no small matter. The Jiao City magistrate, by the name of Xu Ke, had always been reliable in his conduct and fiercely loyal to Xie Changgeng.

The steward drew a sharp breath. He asked Cao Gui to wait, then immediately turned and hurried into the main inner courtyard at the back. Reaching the entrance, he looked in, and seeing the bedchamber’s doors and windows still shut, asked a servant woman who was sweeping just outside the courtyard gate.

The servant woman said in a low voice: “The master only came back from the study to his room at the fifth watch — he has barely been asleep long.”

The matter was too serious to delay. The steward dared not hesitate. He walked briskly to the door, knocked several times, and called out: “Master, Adjutant Cao Gui has come. Something has happened!”

The inner room was utterly still. The bed curtains hung low, and within the heavy drapes the light was dim.

The sound reached him, and Xie Changgeng was startled awake from sleep. The lashes of his lowered, closed eyes moved faintly, but he did not immediately open them, nor did he stir. He continued to lie with eyes shut for a moment longer, waiting until the sensation — which had followed him from his dream, tightening his body until it ached with pressure — had eased somewhat. Only then did he open his eyes, turn over, and sit up.

He glanced at the faint bulge still showing beneath his lower garments, pushed aside the bed curtains and got up, went into the bathing room, and came out a short while later, put on an outer robe, and walked over to open the door.

The steward saw him appear in the doorway, his brows carrying a faint shade of displeasure, and quickly bowed: “I know you are weary, master, and you had barely been asleep at all — but Adjutant Cao Gui just arrived and said something has happened. I dared not delay and took the liberty of waking you.”

“What is it?”

Xie Changgeng turned back, continuing to dress as he walked inward, and asked as he went.

“The tribal people have gathered in a mob and are threatening to burn down Jiao City!”

Xie Changgeng stopped abruptly and turned his head.

“Tell him to go to the front hall. I’ll be there immediately.”

The steward acknowledged and hurried back to deliver the message.

Cao Gui had been waiting in the front hall of the Military Governor’s residence, looking around anxiously, as agitated as an ant on a hot pan. Seeing Xie Changgeng’s figure appear, he dashed forward in a single bound.

“Master, something has happened! A short while ago word came in — large numbers of tribal people have set out and are heading for Jiao City. I was afraid trouble would break out. Please go and have a look, quickly!”

“What would cause the tribal people to suddenly attack Jiao City, completely out of the blue?”

Xie Changgeng stepped out with swift strides, asking as he went.

Cao Gui hurried after him, explaining the circumstances as he went.

The Jiao City magistrate Xu Ke’s son had secretly carried on with a tribal woman, and the two had eloped some days ago and vanished without a trace. Yesterday, the woman’s family had come demanding her return. Words had been exchanged, and then blows. The other party was outnumbered and was driven off on the spot. But what no one expected was that overnight, this very morning, tribal people had come pouring in from all four directions, all heading toward Jiao City.

Xie Changgeng’s brow knit tightly as he stepped out through the main gates.

Outside, a detachment of cavalry was already waiting. Xie Changgeng took the reins from an attendant, mounted, and rode out of the city, galloping hard toward Jiao City.

Fifty li of road — he covered it in a quarter of an hour. From a distance, he could see outside the city gates a dense, swarming crowd of at least a thousand tribal men, some clutching swords and axes, others wielding clubs, and some holding torches aloft, every face filled with fury and indignation.

Xie Changgeng reined in his horse and surveyed the distance. He could see that more tribal people were still streaming in from all directions, joining the crowd laying siege to the city. The numbers kept growing.

The city gates of Jiao City were shut tight. Atop the walls, soldiers stood with bows drawn and arrows nocked, in a state of tense readiness.

The atmosphere was extraordinarily fraught — a single spark would set it off.

“Military Governor Xie has arrived! Will you not disperse! Do you intend to openly rebel?”

Cao Gui spoke the tribal language; he shouted at the crowd ahead.

The tribal people gathered before the city gates heard the voice and turned around one after another. They saw a party of horsemen approaching along the road. Leading them was a man seated upright on horseback, dressed in official robes — though he appeared to be only in his mid-twenties and was quite young, his eyes were like lightning and his bearing utterly imposing.

The clamor gradually died away, and the surroundings grew still.

Xie Changgeng, under the gaze of countless furious eyes directed at him from across the way, dismounted.

With blades and axes on either side, he kept his gaze forward, his expression composed, and strode in great steps through the crowd until he stood beneath the city gate. He stopped, did not look back, and barked out: “Jiao City Magistrate Xu Ke, come out!”

When the tribal people had come to start trouble yesterday, the Jiao City magistrate Xu Ke had not been home. Knowing what a disaster had been made, with his son and the tribal girl still nowhere to be found, and seeing from early morning that the city was surrounded and the number of tribal people growing ever larger, he had not dared make any rash moves. A moment ago he had seen the Military Governor arrive, and while he felt some relief, he was all the more terrified. Standing just inside the city gate, he heard the shout of his own name, stumbled in a panic to throw open the gate, rushed out, and knelt beside Xie Changgeng, weeping bitterly, kowtowing and begging forgiveness: “I deserve to die! First I failed to raise my son properly, then I failed to restrain my household, bringing about this great catastrophe! Even if you take my head, master, I would not dare utter a single word of complaint. I only beg that you, considering I have been diligent and without fault in my daily work, might spare me this once!”

Xie Changgeng’s expression was dark. He fixed Xu Ke with a stare, then turned to look across at a powerfully built tribal man who appeared to be their leader.

Since taking up his post as Military Governor here, he had always sought to bring the tribal people under his authority, to benefit the military campaigns against the north. Though that plan had yet to be achieved, he had long since come to know the situation of the several dozen tribal villages within his borders inside and out. He recognized this man as one called Bai Long, who held considerable standing among the tribal people.

Xie Changgeng held the other man’s gaze for a moment, then said a few words to Cao Gui.

Cao Gui stepped forward and said: “Bai Long, the Military Governor says: the person is not here, but he will send men to find them. Once found, the Xu family will be made to take your woman as a proper wife. As for the quarrel yesterday — the master has looked into it, and both sides were at fault. Though your people were injured, the Xu family were the same. Taking into account that your side was outnumbered and indeed came off worse first, the master is willing to serve as a mediator: he will have the Xu family offer you an apology, and whatever compensation you wish, you need only name it. With that, the matter is laid to rest.”

Bai Long said: “It is not that I am unwilling to show the Military Governor face — it is simply that even if I agreed, I would still need to ask my brother whether he agrees.”

He looked toward a man beside him.

This man was the elder brother of the woman who had eloped. His head was wrapped in a strip of cloth, still bearing dried bloodstains from the previous night. He said furiously: “Your people seduced my sister and have hidden her away. Yesterday I brought men to demand her return, and not only did you refuse to give her back, you beat several of my brothers. How can I let this pass? You want me to marry my sister off to your people? Dream on! If you don’t hand over the person today, I’ll burn this place to the ground!”

As the last word left his mouth, the people behind him erupted in a wave of loud noise, the crowd surging forward in a swell of shared outrage toward the city gate.

Cao Gui was furious and was about to shout back, but Xie Changgeng stepped forward and spoke himself, addressing the crowd in the tribal tongue: “I have already said — the person is not in the city! Even if you burned the city to ashes, it would be useless — nothing but an act of mindless venting! Utterly foolish!”

His gaze swept across the faces before him, and his expression hardened into severity.

“Besides — do you truly believe there is no law here, that you may do whatever you please? I may as well have someone open the city gates and let you go in and search. But I tell you this: if you dare set a single fire, burn a single house, harm a single innocent person — I will repay you tenfold. Your eighteen tribal settlements and thirty-six territories — from this day forward, not one of them will know a moment’s peace!”

“Open the gates! Stand down the archers!”

Having said his piece, he gave a sharp command.

Cao Gui and the others were alarmed. They glanced at the dense throng outside the city gate, hesitated for a moment, but in the end dared not disobey the order. They commanded the soldiers to do as instructed: the gates were thrown wide open, and the rows of drawn bows were lowered.

Xie Changgeng stepped aside. “Go ahead then. Enter.”

The space beneath the gate — which had been so deafeningly loud just a moment before — fell still once more.

The tribal people looked at one another, and finally turned their eyes to Bai Long.

Bai Long was uncertain and wary. He glanced at the wide-open city gates, then looked Xie Changgeng up and down, and seeing him standing calmly to one side — composed and unhurried — raised his hand to halt the crowd and said: “Do you think I don’t know? There must be an ambush set inside your city, to catch us all in one net! You want me to walk into your trap — I refuse!”

Xie Changgeng offered a faint smile: “Bai Long, you are very clever — but have you considered this? When a man and a woman elope, can the blame fall on one side alone? The man is certainly at fault, but your brother’s sister — can she truly be said to bear no fault at all? The Xu family was wrong to strike out, and I have ordered them to prepare gifts and offer their apologies. Your injured men will be treated by my military physicians. The one who ran — I will go and find them. Once found, whether to separate or stay, whether to fight or exact punishment, all shall be as you see fit. What further grievance do you have?”

Bai Long stiffened for a moment, then said: “Why should I trust your word?”

Xie Changgeng said: “I am the Hexi Military Defense and Pacification Commissioner, the Prefect of Liangzhou, a second-rank official of the imperial court. When I give my word, I do not go back on it.”

As his words settled, Bai Long let out a cold laugh: “Enough. Every single one of you court officials is rotten to the core! If we believe you, we would truly be the fools. We have all come today, so we cannot leave empty-handed. If the person is not in the city, then hand over the ones who beat us yesterday! We won’t use numbers to bully — however many of us they beat, we’ll take the same number. However they broke our arms yesterday, we’ll break theirs right back!”

As his words fell, the tribal people behind him all chimed in, the shouts rising one after another.

Xu Ke trembled and shook, furious and terrified at once, prostrate on the ground, not daring to lift his head.

Things had come to this point — never mind handing over those who had struck first yesterday, even if they had to kill those men, he dared not refuse.

What he feared was that Xie Changgeng would be put in an impossible position.

The matter had gone this far, and these tribal people were still making such a demand.

It seemed fair on the surface, but in truth it gave him not a shred of face.

Cao Gui was furious: “Bai Long, don’t be ungrateful! The master has already been more than generous with you — do you think there is truly nothing to be done with you?”

Bai Long gave a snort: “Nothing more than an eye for an eye! Once we’re square, we’ll leave!”

“Men — protect the master!”

Cao Gui shouted the order.

The main body of soldiers immediately came surging forward.

“Master, have these people arrested! See if they dare cause trouble then!”

Cao Gui urged, waiting for Xie Changgeng to give the final command.

The tribal people raised their weapons in turn.

Xie Changgeng did not speak immediately.

Every pair of eyes was fixed on him.

The scene, which had eased somewhat moments before, grew tense once more.

Just then, one of the tribal people pushed aside a companion and forced his way to the front, leaning close to Bai Long’s ear and murmuring a few words in a low voice.

Bai Long listened, and a reluctant expression crossed his face. But the man who had spoken appeared to hold considerable standing, and Bai Long hesitated for a moment, then at last sheathed his sword, signaled the crowd to step back, and with a sidelong glance at Xie Changgeng, said: “Very well. Out of respect for the kindness the mistress once showed our people, we will trust you this once! We’ll take this loss. Consider it settled!”

He gave the command, and it passed from one to ten, from ten to a hundred. The tribal people, having received the order, whispered among themselves, and amid the murmuring, turned and departed.

Very quickly, the space outside the city gate — which moments before had been at the edge of drawn swords — was empty and deserted.

Cao Gui let out a long breath of relief, dismissed the soldiers, and seeing Xie Changgeng still standing in place, his gaze resting on the direction in which the tribal people had departed, went over to flatter him: “Today, all thanks to the master’s decisive command! Even when you told them to enter, they did not dare! I am filled with the deepest admiration!”

Having finished his flattery, he noticed Xie Changgeng’s expression was dark and grim, and promptly held his tongue.

Xie Changgeng turned to face Xu Ke, fixing him with a cold stare.

“Keep your son and your household in order! If there is ever a next time, I will not be lenient!”

Having said this, he mounted and galloped back toward Guzang. In an instant, his retreating figure had vanished along the road.

Xu Ke felt as though he had received a pardon. His legs gave out completely beneath him — he could not even crawl to his feet.

Cao Gui had always been on decent terms with him and, seeing the frightened state he was in today, went over to help him up. He said quietly: “Brother Xu, count yourself lucky. At least those tribal people still had some conscience and remembered the young mistress’s past kindness to them. If not — the master would have been put in an impossible position, let alone the fact that if things had truly blown up, would it all have ended with just a word from you?”

Xu Ke’s fright had not yet subsided. He wiped his sweat and said: “You don’t need to tell me — I know it full well. The next time the young mistress comes, I’ll have my wife prepare gifts and thank her properly!”

Xie Changgeng galloped back to Guzang. The sun had not yet passed noon. He arrived at the entrance, dismounted, and went in, whereupon the steward hurried out to meet him and said: “Master, word has just come in from the South District Guard that Changsha has sent people here, and they have already arrived. They request an audience with you!”

Xie Changgeng was full of barely restrained anger. Without turning his head, he said coldly: “Tell them their young mistress went back long ago! Have them turn around and get out too! I won’t see them!”

The steward gave a sound of acknowledgment and was just about to go relay the message, when Xie Changgeng suddenly stopped and turned his head to ask: “Who leads the party?”

“They say the leader is named Yuan Handing.”

Before Xie Changgeng’s eyes rose the image of the young man he had encountered outside the ancestral temple during his visit to the Kingdom of Changsha. He considered for a moment, then changed his mind: “Go — bring them to the inn and settle them in. Do not tell them anything; simply say that when I have the time, I will come and see them.”