Lang Jiuchuan was in the middle of reading through the regional gazetteer when she heard Fuyi’s words and jolted in sudden shock. A ghost?
Where? How had she not noticed?
She lifted her head and looked around — where was there any ghost?
“That student holding the book in his hand.” Fuyi indicated for her to look over — there was a student standing just ahead of her, in front of that very bookshelf, holding a book and standing on his tiptoes to watch Xue Shi “lecture.”
That book — with its familiar cover — was it not the very copy of Master Liufeng’s book collection she had just been leafing through?
And indeed, a faint trace of yin aura was emanating from that book, with an extremely pale ghostly form hovering indistinctly upon it — a spirit on the verge of complete dissolution.
She stood up and walked over, gently tapping the person’s hand. “That book — give it to me.”
The student had been listening to Xue Shi’s lecture with rapt concentration and was suddenly interrupted. He had just begun to feel irritated, but when he turned and saw a slight and slender young woman with eyes black as concentrated ink, his face went red and he instinctively held the book out to her.
“Thank you.” Lang Jiuchuan took it and walked straight back to her previous spot. She opened the book, and there, curled among the pages of the top-scholar examination essay, was a spirit even more translucent and faint than Fuyi.
It was the ghost of a scholar. Judging by his clothing, the style did not resemble present-day garments — they were somewhat antiquated, more like fashions from many years past.
“Who are you?” Lang Jiuchuan asked softly.
The ghostly scholar seemed not to hear. His spirit was extremely faint and bore the appearance of great agony.
Lang Jiuchuan could see at once that something was wrong.
“Has this spirit been beaten?” Jiang Che drifted out and looked at the ghostly scholar, whose spirit seemed to be in such torment it was on the verge of complete disintegration. “Either he has been severely beaten, or he is in the process of being beaten.”
“His soul is incomplete — only one soul and two spirit-shades remain.” Lang Jiuchuan had already identified the deficiency.
Jiang Che fell immediately silent, not wanting to inadvertently touch on a sore subject.
“General, please allow him to keep you company for a time. May I trouble you to rein in your presence a little and look after him.” With practiced ease, Lang Jiuchuan guided this weak and broken remnant spirit into the Xiao Jiu Pagoda to recuperate within.
Fuyi was quiet for a moment as he looked at the feeble ghostly scholar. Fellow wanderers in a hard world, both after their time — it was only right to look after him. But still —
“I was actually only thirty when I died. Not exactly old,” Fuyi remarked, with a subtle hint.
Lang Jiuchuan: “……”
She looked again at the top-scholar examination essay, studying the lingering yin aura still clinging to the page, her expression contemplative.
“I distinctly saw that little girl come in here — she should be around… heh, there you are.” Xue Shi’s excited voice pulled Lang Jiuchuan’s attention back to the present.
He spotted her and beckoned.
Lang Jiuchuan got to her feet, gathered her things, and walked over.
“I thought I glimpsed you in the crowd earlier and assumed these old eyes were playing tricks on me — turns out it really was you,” Xue Shi said, beaming with delight.
Lang Jiuchuan gave him a respectful bow, then offered the same junior’s courtesy to the Grand Tutor standing at his side.
Xue Shi said to Grand Tutor Fang, “Grand Tutor, this is a young friend I have made recently, across the difference of generations — Lang Jiuchuan, the ninth young lady of the Lang Family. Her father was the late Anbei General Lang Zhengfan, from the already-gone Marquis Kaiping household.”
Grand Tutor Fang looked at Lang Jiuchuan — her frame was slight and thin, her complexion rather pale, but her eyes held an extraordinary sharpness and vitality. He smiled and nodded. “A fine young lady.”
Xue Shi glanced at all the students craning their necks to look over, then said, “This is no place for a proper conversation. Let us go to the Garden Tea House across the way for a hot cup of tea.”
Lang Jiuchuan raised no objection. It occurred to her that these two, having read widely through countless books, would surely know the situation of the former Fenghuo Pass — which would spare her the trouble of poring through maps and gazetteers herself.
The group made their way to the tea house.
Once the tea server had brought the tea and refreshments, Xue Shi gave Lang Jiuchuan a looking-over and said, “A new year has turned and you’ve grown a little taller, but I don’t see you’ve gained any weight, and your complexion is still unremarkable. Should I arrange for an imperial physician to come and take your pulse and prescribe a tonic regimen?”
“I know medicine myself. You need not trouble yourself,” Lang Jiuchuan said, declining with a smile.
Xue Shi frowned. “Then why are you still not gaining any weight? Could it be the longevity spirit tablet is not enough? I’ll go to the temple and have one erected for you…”
Lang Jiuchuan gave a quiet cough, rendered speechless. Have you forgotten there is still an outsider present?
Grand Tutor Fang held his teacup, looking at Xue Shi with rare astonishment. Had he just heard correctly — was this man talking about a longevity spirit tablet? Was this not the same person who always had the Confucian precept against speaking of the strange and supernatural on his lips? When had he changed so thoroughly? Had he not just been accusing Sheng Huai’an of being possessed by a ghost moments ago?
Xue Shi felt the awkwardness and laughed sheepishly, explaining to Grand Tutor Fang, “As one gets on in years, one starts to focus on preserving one’s health. I have embraced the Daoist way.”
Grand Tutor Fang let out a soft snort, lowered his head to blow on his tea, and took a sip. Clearly a cobbled-together lie — who would believe that?
Xue Shi also raised his teacup and looked at Lang Jiuchuan. Say something quickly.
Lang Jiuchuan took the hint and said, “There is something I wished to look into, which is why I came to the bookshop to find regional gazetteers and historical records. I had not expected to encounter two such great scholars here — truly this is my good fortune. I wonder if the two of you might be able to help resolve my uncertainty.”
“What sort of matter?” Xue Shi asked.
Lang Jiuchuan then said, “During the former Liang Dynasty, there was a renowned general by the name of Fuyi. In the thirteenth year of the Late Emperor Luzong’s reign, at Fenghuo Pass, he led the Fuyi Family Army in a bitter month-long battle against the barbarian Kangju forces. Ultimately, with supplies exhausted and reinforcements long overdue, he and the remaining three thousand soldiers of his family army doused themselves in burning oil and gave their lives to hold the city. I wish to know — where is Fenghuo Pass today, and does it still bear that name?”
Inside the Xiao Jiu Pagoda, Fuyi’s ears perked up as well.
Xue Shi and Grand Tutor Fang exchanged a glance, clearly taken aback. After a long pause, Xue Shi said, “I am not as well-read as the Grand Tutor — though I have also read historical records, was there truly such a heroic and harrowing battle at Fenghuo Pass?”
Lang Jiuchuan’s expression shifted, and her grip on the teacup tightened.
What did that mean? Was there no such record?
Grand Tutor Fang set down his teacup, furrowed his brow, and said, “General Fuyi is indeed a real historical figure, but the historical records’ final account of him is not as you have described…”
“Grand Tutor, just call her Xiao Jiu Niang — ‘Lang Jiuchuan’ is too formal.”
Grand Tutor Fang shot him a look of exasperation. People who care for their health must above all avoid an excitable temper — and here he was, jumping in with a remark just to divert the flow of conversation.
Lang Jiuchuan pressed urgently, “Grand Tutor — what do you mean? Is it that the battle at Fenghuo Pass was never recorded, or is it something else?”
Grand Tutor Fang glanced at the book she had left on the table and said, “This historical record only covers the history of our Da Dan since its founding — it does not address the Liang Dynasty’s history. For that, one would need to find the Liang Dynasty historical records, or the Pre-Founding Chronicles of Da Dan, which contain some limited records of that era.”
“General Fuyi came from a distinguished Liang Dynasty military family — generation after generation had served in the army, and generation after generation had fallen in battle. But as for Fuyi himself — his final battle against the Kangju forces at the source city of Fenghuo Pass was not, as you describe, a last stand where he led his family army to give their lives for the city. Rather, it is recorded that he was reckless in his battle conduct, made critical errors of judgment, defied imperial orders, and ultimately brought about the fall of the city to the enemy. He was slain by a Kangju warrior in the rout, and the city of Yuancheng was burned to the ground.”
Grand Tutor Fang frowned deeply and continued. “When Fenghuo Pass fell, Fengyang fell ten days later. Some attributed this to Fuyi having prolonged the engagement through passive and disengaged fighting, delaying military intelligence — and on top of that, refusing counsel and acting in stubborn arrogance, which led to five consecutive cities falling afterward. The emperor, in fury, refused the Fuyi family’s petition to retrieve the bodies. He even moved to exterminate three generations of the Fuyi clan. Lady Fuyi, the family’s elderly matriarch, took the women and children of the household, carrying the memorial tablets of all the Fuyi family’s fallen sons across the generations, and knelt before the palace gates crying their grievances aloud — until, at the end, she took her own life with a blade before the palace gates to proclaim their loyalty and innocence…”
Boom—