“My thanks, friend.” The bodyguard returned the oiled-paper umbrella and clasped his hands once more.

Li Wu returned the gesture with a casual nod.

“Where do you people come from?” The young man in brocade robes spoke, and Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but look up — her gaze landing squarely on his probing eyes.

She quickly pulled the quilt tighter and lowered her head again.

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before asking about others?” Li Wu said, unhurried and unruffled.

Someone at the young man’s side raised an eyebrow and glared. “Our Young Master is honoring you by asking — you should be—”

“It’s no matter.” The young man in brocade robes seemed to smile yet not quite smile, and raised a hand to stop his man from throwing his weight around. “My surname is Han, my given name Fengyue. I hail from Changsha in Tanzhou. I am passing through Dengzhou on my way to the Northern Capital to join my elder brother. The world is vast and its people countless — that you and I should shelter from the rain in the same abandoned temple today, how is that not fate? With nothing better to do, I have good wine and food right here — why not share a cup with me, friend?”

“Why not — so long as you don’t mind our rough-and-ready ways,” Li Wu said, entirely at ease.

“You’re plain-spoken and direct — what would I have to mind?” Han Fengyue smiled. “Someone bring two more stools, and warm up some wine — bring out the food —”

Li Wu stood and pressed a hand on Li Kun’s shoulder, stopping him from scrambling to his feet the moment food was mentioned. With his back to Han Fengyue and the others, Li Wu bent close to Li Kun’s ear and murmured: “Keep watch over your sister-in-law. I’ll make up for this meal later.”

Though Li Kun’s face was full of longing, he planted himself back on the straw mat.

“When this brother first walked through the door, his bearing and presence gave me quite a start — and yet here he is, so warm and hospitable,” Li Que said, walking toward Han Fengyue’s bonfire alongside Li Wu. “Even the most distinguished young gentleman in our county — this young master makes him look like they’re worlds apart.”

Han Fengyue smiled. “Where are you all from?”

“We’re from Baitou County in Huangzhou. My surname is Jia, given name Que — and this is my elder brother, given name Ya, and that big fellow over there is my second elder brother, given name Diao. The county magistrate’s son back home spends his days boasting he’s the most dashing man in Jinzhou — pfft —” Li Que said, “Today, having met you, Elder Brother Han, I finally understand what shameless really means.”

“You flatter me, you flatter me.” Han Fengyue said it, yet his face wore an expression of one who entirely deserved the praise. “You two still have companions who haven’t come over — are they too proud to share my humble wine and food?”

The fine wine and delicacies displayed on the short table, paired with his false humility, only made the words “humble wine and food” ring all the more sardonically.

Li Wu said: “My wife can’t hold her drink, and she’s shy around strangers — please don’t trouble yourself on her account, Young Master Han. As for my second brother, he ate a whole pot of vegetable congee this evening and his stomach is so full right now that all he wants to do is sleep.”

“That’s your wife?” Han Fengyue’s voice jumped up in pitch.

…What was he so startled about?

Shen Zhuxi, who had been listening in on the conversation, held down her curiosity and kept her gaze fixed on the bonfire in front of her.

“Indeed,” Li Wu said, his eyes meeting Han Fengyue’s directly. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“…No, nothing. I’d originally thought the four of you were three brothers and a younger sister — blood relatives traveling together,” Han Fengyue said, composing himself, his smile returning. “Once a sister-in-law marries in, she’s family, naturally.”

“Sister-in-law married into our family — so of course she’s our closest kin.” Li Que raised his cup in a toast. “In times like these, with grain short everywhere, Young Master Han still invites us to drink and feast — little brother raises a cup to you —”

Li Wu also raised his cup. Han Fengyue smiled and raised his in return, taking a sip — and then went to set it down, only to find the two brothers across from him staring back at him, their cups turned upside down without a single drop remaining.

“…”

Han Fengyue paused, then tipped his head back and drained the cup to the last drop.

“Well done! Young Master Han is a man of straightforward character — that was a fine cup!” Li Wu called out in approval, then took the slender-necked wine flask from the short table and filled three cups to the brim. “I was too bold in my manner earlier — I hope Young Master Han won’t take it to heart. When common folk like us travel, we can’t help being wary of all manner of bad characters.”

“And you’re not worried I might be one of those bad characters?” Han Fengyue looked at the wine brimming to the cup’s edge and managed a strained smile.

“A man as forthright as Young Master Han — how could he be a bad character? We country folk are simple — when it comes to making friends, there’s only one thing we look for —”

“And what’s that?”

Li Wu picked up Han Fengyue’s cup and handed it to him: “True feeling — one swallow; shallow feeling — slow sipping. Young Master Han, are you willing to make friends with plain folk like us?”

The “I can’t hold my drink” that had been rising to Han Fengyue’s lips was swallowed back down. He studied the full cup in Li Wu’s hand for a moment, then ultimately reached out and took it.

“Han would be more than glad to.”

In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the flask on the short table had been emptied and refilled several times. Han Fengyue’s cheeks had flushed a vivid red and his speech was beginning to slur — while the two men across from him remained as lively as ever, without the faintest trace of intoxication.

Han Fengyue, thick-tongued, said: “I’ve enjoyed talking with both of you Jia brothers this evening, and I’d like to know — where are you heading next? If it’s along the way, why don’t we travel together?”

Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help pricking up her ears.

This was something they had already discussed in the carriage, and the conclusion they had reached was to head toward the Huguang region — the breadbasket of the realm. Now, what would Li Wu say?

“Chance meetings are the truest kind — making arrangements ahead of time is far too prosaic! Far too prosaic! Nothing beats just drinking!” Li Wu raised his cup. “I drink to Young Master Han!”

“I can’t drink anymore…” Han Fengyue waved his hand, face flushed a deep crimson, and toppled backward onto the tiger hide.

Li Wu made to press him further, but a warning look from the bodyguard behind Han Fengyue stopped him.

He set his cup down and turned instead to ask:

“That tiger hide of Young Master Han’s is truly impressive. I heard just now that he killed it today?”

“That’s right — passing through Xiangzhou, I came across… a female tiger. Nothing better to do, so I hunted it for sport.” Han Fengyue reached out and rubbed the dried bloodstains at the hide’s edge, speaking in a drunken drawl. “First time… skinning one… didn’t do it well. Doesn’t matter, though — just practice. That female tiger was already injured to begin with — the hide was never going to look good.”

Having drunk too much, Han Fengyue had become far more talkative.

“There was also a tiger cub… nice coloring. Pity it got away. Such a pity, such a pity…”

Han Fengyue said this and then went quiet for a long moment, his breathing growing slower and slower, until a soft, quiet snoring came from his direction.

“Both of you gentlemen — our Young Master has no head for drink, so we’ll leave it here for this evening.” A bodyguard stepped forward.

“We leave early tomorrow to get back on the road. If we’re gone before your Young Master wakes, please pass along our thanks on our behalf — we’re grateful for his hospitality,” Li Wu said, clasping his hands.

“It’s nothing.” The bodyguard returned the gesture.

Li Wu and Li Que went back to their own bonfire. Li Wu added the remaining firewood to the flames, and the bonfire, which had been flagging, immediately brightened. The firelight fell across Li Wu’s serious expression as he sat there, making no move to sleep. Li Que was the same.

Shen Zhuxi wanted to ask what he had noticed — but Han Fengyue’s group was right there, and she didn’t dare.

“Get some sleep — we’re back on the road early tomorrow,” Li Wu said.

His words were like a draught of reassurance, and Shen Zhuxi pushed her unease aside and lay down as she was told. For the second half of the night she kept tossing and turning, and she didn’t know whether she ever actually fell asleep. Before dawn, with the wind and rain just dying down, Li Wu woke the soundly-sleeping Li Kun.

“Up — we’re moving.”

Shen Zhuxi hadn’t slept to begin with, and she climbed up eagerly — spending another moment in the same space as that strange, unsettling group was agony, and she would far rather hit the road early. The carriage was bumpy, but at least it was their own.

The four of them packed up swiftly and slipped out of the abandoned temple, stepping through the chorus of sleeping breaths without a sound.

Once Li Wu and Shen Zhuxi had boarded the carriage, Li Que urged the horses forward without delay. Li Kun rode on horseback alongside.

Shen Zhuxi finally had the chance to ask: “Was there something off about that group?”

“False names, false identities,” Li Wu said.

Shen Zhuxi thought: your Jia Ya from Baitou County is hardly in a position to say that.

“I happen to know of a man connected to the Changsha Han Clan who serves in the Northern Capital.” Li Wu said. “The Wuying Military Commissioner Chunyu An has a trusted aide who is from the Changsha Han Clan — his name is Han Fengnian. Fengnian has a younger brother named Han Fengyue.”

He laughed with contempt: “Han Fengyue… Han Fengyue. What a coincidence. A scion of a great family goes out of his way to cultivate our acquaintance — do you think he has the eye to recognize genuine talent, or do you think it’s suspicious? When someone shows you kindness for no reason, they’re either scheming against you or they want something from you. Regardless of what he has in mind, slipping away first is the right move.”

Shen Zhuxi had never heard of either Han brother, but she had some passing knowledge of Chunyu An, the Wuying Military Commissioner who guarded the frontier. Palace rumor held that he harbored ambitions of disloyalty, and her Imperial Father had often been troubled by the problem of the Wuying Army’s unwieldy power.

Because of this, she had no warm feelings toward Chunyu An or his Wuying Army — and by extension, these newly-learned Han brothers sank considerably in her estimation as well.

“Elder Brother, are we still heading in the direction of the Eastern Capital?” Li Que called from outside the carriage.

“If Han Fengyue is going to find his brother, he’ll also have to go through the Eastern Capital.” Li Wu paused. “We change course — we go through Xuzhou instead.”

“Hyah!”

The whip fell lightly on the horse’s flank, and the carriage surged forward.

“Idiot!”

A teacup was hurled at the head bodyguard. He suppressed the instinct to dodge and braced himself as the cup struck his forehead.

A crack rang out, and the cup shattered against his head before falling to the ground in fragments.

A hot stream ran down from his brow. He had no time to wipe it — he dropped to one knee with a thud.

“This subject begs your pardon!”

“I spent all last night drinking with them — what for? So you could keep them here! And you turn around and just let them walk out the door!” Han Fengyue was livid. He grabbed another cup from the short table and hurled it at him — this time his aim was off, and it sailed over the head bodyguard’s head.

“This subject knows his fault! Please, Young Master, calm your anger!” He bent his head forward and kowtowed heavily.

The bodyguards watching from the side all wore expressions of silent grievance: the Young Master had given no instructions to keep an eye on the others — they weren’t mind-readers who could know that inviting those men for drinks was his way of detaining them. Could they be blamed for this?

“Get the horses ready immediately. I’ll take twenty men and go ahead — the rest follow with the carriage!” Han Fengyue stormed toward the temple door.

“Second Young Master, this is far too dangerous!” The head bodyguard stepped forward. “Right now, with soldiers and bandits everywhere on these roads, if the Young Master travels with only half the men, we cannot guarantee your safety — if anything were to happen, the First Young Master would —”

“Don’t use my brother to pressure me!” Han Fengyue flew into a rage and drove a kick into the head bodyguard’s abdomen.

The head bodyguard let out a stifled grunt and went down on one knee.

“I have my own plan — just do what I say!” Han Fengyue took a step, then stopped, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the kneeling head bodyguard, his voice turning cold. “The twenty men I’m taking won’t include you. When I get to the Northern Capital, you can report to my brother — this little shrine of mine is too small to house a great Buddha like you!”

“Second Young Master!” the head bodyguard called out in alarm, but Han Fengyue was already walking out of the abandoned temple without so much as a backward glance.

With the earlier example before them, no one dared to speak up again.

Twenty fast horses were untethered from the convoy. Han Fengyue, leading his twenty chosen bodyguards, immediately set off in pursuit, following the tracks left by the carriage wheels.

Fortunately, last night’s heavy rain meant that the carriage’s trail was impossible to conceal.

Han Fengyue rode hard, his heart surging with the excitement and elation of a triumph soon within his grasp.

He had searched far and wide without finding her — and now the prize had fallen into his hands without any effort at all. That woman, with her face half-concealed by the quilt — who else could she be but the Princess of Yue? Just imagining the expression on that haughty Fu Xuanmiao’s face when he discovered his betrothed had become another man’s wife — it was delicious to contemplate.

To crush Fu Xuanmiao’s dignity and score a great merit with Chunyu An all at once — this was a windfall he could not afford to let slip through his fingers!

“Second Young Master, which road should we take?” The man at the front pulled up as the road before them split into three.

Three roads, and all three bore the fresh tracks of a carriage that had just passed through.

Han Fengyue’s expression darkened. “Is there any way to tell from the wheel-rut width which carriage is the one we’re after?”

One of the bodyguards rode forward and studied the tracks carefully for some time before shaking his head. “All the wheel-ruts are the most common size — there’s no way to distinguish which one was last night’s carriage.”

Han Fengyue’s horse snorted and pawed the ground in impatience at the sudden halt. Han Fengyue himself was even more impatient — he could not accept watching his chance at advancement vanish before his eyes.

“Where does each of these three roads lead?” Han Fengyue asked.

“One goes to the Eastern Capital, one to Ruzhou, and one through to Xuzhou.”

Last night he had already mentioned that he was heading to the Northern Capital by way of the Eastern Capital. If they wanted to avoid him, they would surely not choose the road to the Northern Capital. Yet after last night’s exchange, Han Fengyue was well aware that the two brothers who called themselves Jia were crafty in the extreme — it was entirely possible they would do the opposite of what was expected and take the Eastern Capital road after all.

Three roads, and only one of them led to his promotion and fortune.

Han Fengyue gritted his teeth, drew the sword at his waist, and threw it into the air.

The sword — encrusted with gold and silver, magnificently ornate — spun high into the sky, then plunged down heavily, its tip burying itself in the ground and pointing straight at the middle road.

Han Fengyue nudged his horse forward, bending low as he passed the sword and snatching it up in one smooth motion.

“To Xuzhou!”