The scout cavalry soldier sent by Little General Leng was startled by the warm and welcoming smile on General Ruan’s face!

Flattery given for no reason — sure sign of villainy or deceit.

Little General Leng and Yao Chen Ying had met and discussed things between them, and their conclusion was that Zhù Ying’s coming was a good thing for them. First, she was one of their own people. Second, she was outstandingly capable. Third, she was easy to get along with. Among people of their own side there were still difficult ones to deal with — in encountering Zhù Ying, they had been fortunate.

But there were also drawbacks: Zhù Ying was meticulous in how she handled things, and she was not easy to deceive. They were going to have a hard time of it.

This scout had been following Little General Leng for some years and had also seen Zhù Ying during the northern campaign. So it was the general who sent him. When he set out, the scout had braced himself to full alertness, wanting to make a show of sharp spirit and good bearing in front of Zhù Ying — because Generals Leng and Yao had suffered minor setbacks before, and face had to be maintained.

The scout made himself stand rigidly upright, took long strides, followed General Ruan into the command tent, and opened his voice fully: “Reporting to the Commander in Chief! This subordinate, Ren Mu, by order of General Leng, has come to welcome the Commander in Chief!”

Zhù Ying asked, “How is General Leng?”

“In reply to the Commander in Chief — our general and Magistrate Yao have gathered their troops and are holding firm against the tribal king!”

Zhù Ying asked him, “Where is General Leng now?”

“The general is thirty li from the western tribal border, holding his camp.”

Zhù Ying then asked about the situation in the army, the losses from successive battles, the combat capability of the tribal soldiers, the ability of their generals, the supply of provisions in the western territories, and the lives of the common people.

Ren Mu answered all of it, but answered simply throughout: “This subordinate is only a scout — I only know this much. For more detailed questions, Commander in Chief, please speak directly with our general.”

Zhù Ying expected as much, and pointed to a folding chair nearby for him to sit: “All right. The official business is done — no need to stay at attention. Sit.”

Ren Mu thanked her for the seat. Tea and refreshments were brought up. Only after watching him drink two cups of tea and eat three pieces of pastry did Zhù Ying say, “In the blink of an eye, years have passed. You are able to handle things on your own now.”

Ren Mu had a mouthful of rice cake in his mouth. He craned his neck urgently to swallow it: “Commander in Chief… you actually remembered me? Ahem, ahem, ahem…”

He raised the teapot and poured a large mouthful of tea straight into his mouth, hoping to wash the cake down into his stomach. Instead he choked even more badly, and tea came spurting out of his nose, dragging tears along with it.

Zhù Ying said, “Get him some more water. No need to rush — take your time.”

After the commotion settled, Ren Mu’s cheeks were bright red with embarrassment: “I really didn’t think you would remember me.”

Zhù Ying said, “How could I just forget people at random? You must be tired and hungry from the journey — where are the men who came with you? Someone go attend to them — give them water and food as well.”

Over the course of a meal, Ren Mu found that Zhù Ying had drawn most of the information out of him —

Little General Leng and Yao Chen Ying were not under each other’s command, but they were in contact and had some degree of coordination, although it was not particularly close. Little General Leng had a small grievance with Yao Chen Ying: Yao Chen Ying had a certain natural talent for fighting, but he was set on pursuing the path of a civil official and tried to avoid military affairs as much as he could. Little General Leng, watching this, grew anxious and privately said that Yao Chen Ying was wasting a perfectly good set of abilities.

There had recently arrived a fresh set of reinforcements. These reinforcements nominally fell under Little General Leng’s command, but in day-to-day dealings they were not particularly close.

Beyond that, the supply of provisions was managing to hold — but barely. The quantities were tight, and the timing was tight as well.

Because of all this, Generals Leng and Yao had been looking forward to Zhù Ying’s arrival.

Zhù Ying also asked, “What about military discipline?”

Ren Mu said, “We’re the official army — of course it’s good.”

Zhù Ying said, “Good.” Based on her experience, “official army” and “benevolent army” were not interchangeable. Good or not good — she would have to observe for herself.

Still, there was only so much a scout could know. The specific details would truly have to be asked from Little General Leng and Yao Chen Ying directly — and then she would scatter her own people out to do their own investigation and assessment.

Ren Mu also took stock of this camp, and made an effort to note the civil and military subordinates of the field headquarters. When Zhù Ying had Jin Biao escort him away to rest, Ren Mu kept trying to strike up a conversation with Jin Biao even then. Through Jin Biao’s armor he identified Jin Biao’s background, and the two found they had a connection — the Leng and Zheng families had always been on close terms. Before long, Ren Mu had even found out that Jin Biao had been hauled off to attend lessons.

The next day, the great army broke camp. Ren Mu watched from horseback, observing their striking of camp and their march, giving a silent nod of approval. He was an old soldier — he could see the discipline in it. The truth is that no march or encampment can look as neat and square as a textbook diagram. At a glance, it might even look somewhat irregular. But that kind of irregularity is entirely different from the chaos of a rout. Only an insider can see the logic in it, rather than jumping to a conclusion: “Both are disorderly — one just a little less so.”

Ren Mu could count himself as something of a connoisseur by this point.

When he had set out, Little General Leng had given him a piece of advice: the Imperial Guards were full of display troops. Even with the Commander in Chief, her role in the northern territories had been primarily one of coordination and supervision rather than personally commanding troops on the battlefield. Whether her military leadership was good or not was still an open question — watch carefully and assess.

Ren Mu thought to himself: With this, the general can rest easy. These Imperial Guards are not just display troops — in fact, looking at them, they seem cleaner and more disciplined than the men in our own camp.

After two more days of marching, Zhù Ying stopped advancing — Yao Chen Ying was just up ahead, and Zhù Ying decided to establish her field headquarters near his prefecture city first, rather than heading straight to the border to link up with Little General Leng.

……

Yao Chen Ying only resembled Zheng Xi by about two parts. He was also in his forties, and though well-preserved, his full beard made him look ten years older than Zhù Ying.

The two exchanged greetings and introduced their main subordinates to each other. Yao Chen Ying then invited Zhù Ying to enter the city. Zhù Ying said, “I need to make camp first.” She left General Ruan in charge, first to find a suitable location outside the city to accommodate the ten thousand troops, and took only a few dozen light cavalry herself into the city with Yao Chen Ying.

This city, though it had seen the ravages of war, was in noticeably better shape than the border towns of the northern territories during that earlier campaign. The faces of the townspeople still carried a trace of anxiety and longing, but there was far less terror and resentment in those expressions. The number of white funeral banners hanging at doors was not trivial, but it was nothing like the number in the border towns of the north.

Zhù Ying took note of all this, and knew that Yao Chen Ying was doing his job well.

At the prefectural offices, Zhù Ying produced Zheng Xi’s letter and handed it to him. Yao Chen Ying received it: “The seventh one is just like this — loved to fuss over people ever since he was a child.”

Zhù Ying said, “He only worries for the people he cares about. For everyone else he can’t be bothered.”

Yao Chen Ying smiled slightly, put the letter away, and said, “Where does the Commander in Chief wish to establish the field headquarters? There are still two suitable locations in the city — one is on the east side of this street, the other to the south. Both have already been swept and cleaned and are ready for use at any time.”

Zhù Ying said, “Which one is closer to you?”

“The eastern one.”

“Then that one it is. However, I can’t be away from the camp for long — the camp needs people. The various reinforcements are also beginning to arrive one after another and all need to be coordinated.”

The court had assembled reinforcements from several sources: ten thousand from the Imperial Guards, two separate local garrisons of twenty thousand each, totaling fifty thousand. These were three columns of reinforcements. Together with Little General Leng’s own existing forces and the earlier reinforcements, the grand total came to somewhere around seventy or eighty thousand — roughly equivalent to Kun Da Chi’s actual force.

Yao Chen Ying did not press the matter, only saying, “I’ll leave the location available. Please station one of your people in the city for easy transmission of messages at any time.”

“Agreed.”

Yao Chen Ying also moved to arrange a banquet. Zhù Ying said, “Simple is fine — no wine in the army.”

“I understand.”

This banquet was very formal, and without wine — and yet Zhù Ying and Yao Chen Ying were entirely at ease with each other and talked with great pleasure!

Zhù Ying asked Yao Chen Ying about provisions, levies, and related matters. Yao Chen Ying, for his part, wanted to ask Zhù Ying how she had coordinated things during the northern campaign. Zhù Ying said, “They are all ordinary matters, and there are rules to follow.”

Yao Chen Ying said, “Still, it’s not the same! What matters does the court not have rules and regulations for? But even among those who are willing to do the work and have the people in their hearts, the results of following those rules look different from person to person. Some people can do it well, and others — I really don’t know how they manage to get such results!”

Yao Chen Ying let something slip before he could catch himself: “Take leading troops, for instance. From the Six Strategies to the present day, how many military works have there been? Literate people have all read them. Those who lead troops well — they are few and far between. I watched your approach just now when you marched here, and it was quite disciplined…”

Yao Chen Ying had been watching from the city tower as Zhù Ying’s troops marched in, and had already taken Zhù Ying’s measure before they even met. He had figured: Zhù Ying had certainly distinguished herself in the northern territories, but she had gone north as “pacification commissioner,” and the position of regional military governor had only come later. Moreover, Zhù Ying had primarily overseen coordination and logistics — she had not personally led troops in charge and battle.

He had reservations about Zhù Ying’s actual command abilities.

His conclusion was: coordination and logistics — Zhù Ying was excellent at these, and these one could follow her arrangements on without worry. As for actual deployment and battle formations, he would need to observe further and assess. If she turned out to be all talk and no action, then he would not blame himself for giving the appearance of compliance while doing as he pleased in practice.

Having seen her arrangements, he felt they were capable. He set aside the military question and instead wanted to take the opportunity to ask for guidance on practical governance and civilian administration.

Zhù Ying heard this, pretended not to have heard it, and said offhandedly, “Only a matter of being a little more careful.”

Yao Chen Ying said, “With a thousand threads to manage, being careful is not a simple thing at all. The several columns of troops are arriving — as for military discipline…”

“I will restate it clearly — absolutely no harassment of the people.”

Yao Chen Ying was reassured. He invited Zhù Ying into his study, where there was a large map: “It will also be easier to assign positions to the other columns of troops. I only know they are arriving within the next few days, but I do not have the exact dates. Though now that you have arrived, they should be close behind.”

Zhù Ying said, “That is only natural.”

The two bent over the map and worked through things together. At present, Little General Leng was holding the forward position. Zhù Ying had no intention of immediately swapping the new reinforcements in to relieve Little General Leng. She wanted to take time to get the newly arrived reinforcements in order first, and then arrange their deployment.

Yao Chen Ying expressed his agreement.

The two reached their decisions. Zhù Ying ordered Ren Mu back to Little General Leng’s camp: “Ask General Leng to arrange his camp duties and come to the headquarters for a meeting.” She also sent people to contact the other two columns of reinforcements to ask their arrival dates.

That evening, Zhù Ying returned to her main camp to spend the night, but left Chen Zhi behind in the city.

……

Ren Mu rode through the night. By the time the sun was high in the sky, he had arrived at Little General Leng’s camp.

The camp was very quiet — it was evident that over these past two days Kun Da Chi’s side had also been still. Ren Mu was a little uneasy, worried that the western tribal people were brewing something sinister. He hurried to see Little General Leng.

Little General Leng had his arms folded, staring at the map. He turned his head sharply and saw it was Ren Mu. He asked, “How is it?”

Ren Mu said, “I can’t tell whether the Commander in Chief can fight a war. But I can tell she knows how to run an army. These Imperial Guards — against all expectation — are not just display troops. They do seem to listen to the Commander in Chief.”

Little General Leng said, “That’s good.”

Little General Leng and Yao Chen Ying had, without having consulted each other, arrived at the same opinion: for pacification work and the like, there was virtually no one who could do it better than Zhù Ying — these you could defer to her on without concern. As for field deployment and battle? That needed to be assessed further. The strategy for the northern territories had been laid down by General Zheng, modified by General Leng. Zhù Ying in that regard could only be said to have “not gotten in the way” and “knowing when to stay one’s hand — which is itself a kind of wisdom.”

“The Commander in Chief requests that you come to the field headquarters for a meeting!”

Ren Mu asked, “As for the other side — could they take advantage of your absence to attack again?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Yes.”

Even so, Little General Leng knew that Ren Mu had a point — he had to go quickly and come back quickly! He still wanted to ask Zhù Ying for more troop replacements, plus logistical supplies and so on — these were things he had to go in person for.

Zhù Ying could not very well come to the front lines herself right now — she needed to integrate the reinforcements with the local troops and civilian population.

Little General Leng said, “I’ll go and be back before long.”

He rode day and night. He arrived at Zhù Ying’s main camp in the second half of the night. He had expected to wait two more days for the reinforcements — but the other two columns had actually arrived half a day ahead of him. The other two columns were also marching to the standard of Zhù Ying’s central army, not wanting to fall too far behind the Commander in Chief.

They worked through half the night just to finish making camp. When they were just about to lie down and sleep, Little General Leng arrived.

Though he had been on a long march, Zhù Ying did not let Little General Leng rest right away. She pulled him along and questioned him for half the night on military matters — including an assessment of Kun Da Chi’s forces, the characteristics of the enemy, the local climate, what Little General Leng’s own suggestions were, and what he hoped the reinforcements would do.

Little General Leng hoped that they could take advantage of the instability among the enemy ranks and launch an active strike — at least destroy a portion of the enemy’s main strength, and only then would there be lasting peace at the frontier.

By the time everything had been said, a faint line of light was showing at the edge of the sky — it was time for breakfast.

Breakfast was eaten inside Zhù Ying’s command tent. She introduced the other two column commanders to Little General Leng.

One of the other two columns of reinforcements was led by a general named Ye, the other by a general named He. Both were about the same age as Yao Chen Ying. Little General Leng’s brow furrowed again. As matters stood, the central army — the Commander in Chief — had ten thousand troops in hand. The other two columns each had twenty thousand, one per commander. And himself? Including the first batch of reinforcements who were not completely under his authority, he had about twenty thousand as well.

The Commander in Chief had the fewest?

The dark circles under Little General Leng’s eyes deepened in color.

Zhù Ying said, “Come, let’s eat together.”

Despite everything, everyone’s faces bore the joy of having their forces united. They sat down together for breakfast. They had just drunk one bowl of porridge when, outside, a commotion suddenly broke out. Fan Sheng said, “I’ll go and have a look.”

Zhù Ying finished two meat buns and another bowl of meat porridge. Fan Sheng came back: “Minister, outside the camp gate there are civilians crying out their grievances. They say that… ” He glanced at General He, “… someone in the right-column camp has… killed a member of their family.”

General Ruan was delighted. He didn’t even bother finishing the half-bun in his hand.

This was genuinely wonderful news! The lord only knew how frightened he had been all the way here! Zhù Ying was going to enforce military discipline — didn’t that mean she would kill a chicken to warn the monkeys? He had genuinely been terrified that some ignorant young fool among his own men might decide to seek out death! Fortunately, the Imperial Guards not only knew that Zhù Ying would pay their wages — they also knew she was a person who would genuinely act. So all the way here, they had been fairly well-behaved.

General Ruan was a man of many years in office. He understood that “establishing authority” required a target. Without a major offense, you found someone who had committed a minor one. A man with a background in the Court of Judicial Review who wants to find grounds to bring someone to trial — it was all too easy.

He had been on edge the entire journey.

But now it was all right!

His Imperial Guards could simply act like the monkeys and watch — they would not need to serve as the chicken.

The chicken had delivered itself to the door.