Just as those villains’ expressions darkened and their hands tightened on their sword hilts, ready to strike, Su Luoyun lifted the carriage curtain and leaned out with warm enthusiasm, saying: “Since there are bandits who have stolen something, it would be safer to find the soldiers. You heard them, didn’t you? Behind that hill, the troops from the Qianxi Grain Transport Camp are out there drilling — my husband is leading over a hundred men in training right now, every single one of them worth ten ordinary fighters. Why don’t you… give a shout, and call them over to help catch your bandits?”
The villains caught sight of Su Luoyun’s breathtaking beauty and froze for a moment. Then, hearing her say there were over a hundred men behind the hill, they involuntarily turned to look — but only the dark, shadowed silhouette of the small hill was visible, with no one in sight.
They listened carefully… and sure enough, there was indeed the sound of people calling out rhythmic chants — “Heave-ho, heave-ho.” Perhaps the people behind the hill were practicing thrusting spears at targets or something of the sort; the sounds gradually grew from faint to loud, and there was no telling how many soldiers lay beyond the hill.
Of course, what those villains had no way of knowing was that the hired laborers firing bricks and digging earth had just finished their midday rest and had gathered together behind the earthen mound to call out work chants as they resumed their labor.
Luoyun traveled this road often, and naturally knew the workers’ daily routine — her timing had been calculated to perfection.
She had deliberately guided these villains into interpreting the sounds of laborers at work as soldiers drilling. These villains, upon hearing it, fell into exactly the misapprehension she had intended.
The assassins dispatched by Qiu Zhen had no knowledge of what lay on the other side of the hill, and their hearts involuntarily grew cold — if it were truly as this woman said, with soldiers drilling there, then if they were to forcibly inspect the carriage, or if a fight broke out, would they not expose themselves and draw those soldiers to the scene?
Moreover, if the carriage carried such a strikingly beautiful noblewoman, a complete stranger to them — she would surely never allow some wounded man to board her carriage and compromise her reputation!
With these thoughts in mind, those men swiftly exchanged glances, then wheeled their horses around and charged off in a hurry along the small river that ran beside the road.
Su Luoyun’s carriage, without the slightest hesitation, skirted around the mountain path circling the hill and continued on its way.
Yuan Xi peered through the gap in the carriage window and saw the people behind the hill — they were absolutely nothing like soldiers! They were no more than a dozen white-haired old men, stripped to the waist and calling out work chants as they dug earth and tamped the ground…
These gaunt, bony old fellows had somehow frightened off over a dozen first-rate assassins!
He could not help but look at the woman beside him with a mixture of astonishment and admiration.
This woman’s eyes seemed unable to see — could she possibly be the blind wife that Han Shizi had married?
He recalled the time when he had heard that Shizi had taken a wife — a blind merchant’s daughter, utterly mismatched — and had felt tremendous pity, cursing that wretched emperor in his heart for such a waste.
To pair such a man of brilliant talent and valor with a crippled merchant woman!
So much so that when he had prepared a wedding gift, he had done it perfunctorily, casually buying a set of porcelain from a roadside stall to send over.
Who could have imagined that today he would finally lay eyes upon Han Linfeng’s wife — and under such a life-or-death circumstance as this.
And this woman, who appeared so delicate and gentle, had in such a brief span of time cleverly made use of everything in her surroundings, driving away those ferocious assassins and pursuers without a single miscalculation…
Could this woman truly be afflicted with blindness?
With that thought, Yuan Xi, forgetting even the pain in his back, reached out his hand and waved it in front of Su Luoyun’s face.
Xiangcao had already been somewhat displeased with this large, broad-shouldered man sitting pressed up against her young mistress.
Seeing him now behave so rudely as to test her mistress in this manner, Xiangcao’s temper flared at once, and she shoved him with her hand, saying: “Hey — what do you think you’re doing!”
But that shove of hers drove the arrow in Yuan Xi’s back in just a little deeper. He went white with pain, his eyes rolling back in his head, and this time he fell completely unconscious…
Xiangcao was frightened out of her wits as well, her voice trembling in a hushed cry: “M-Miss… I’ve k-killed someone!”
Luoyun reached out and felt for the breath at his nose, then called out clearly: “Don’t be afraid — there should still be hope! Quickly! Go to the military camp and find Shizi, then bring a physician…”
When Yuan Xi next awoke, he was lying inside the small residence at Fengwei Village.
The arrow in his back had been extracted by the physician whom Han Linfeng had summoned, and while he had been unconscious, medicinal decoctions had already been administered.
However, given his identity, it would not do for him to appear at the military camp, so Han Linfeng had temporarily housed Yuan Xi at Fengwei Village.
Han Linfeng was sitting at the bedside. Seeing Yuan Xi open his eyes, he asked: “How do you feel? Does the wound still hurt?”
The moment Yuan Xi set eyes on Han Linfeng, he was so agitated that he reached out and seized him by the wrist: “Han Shizi — I have finally found you!”
Heedless of whether his wound might tear open, he immediately and urgently lowered his voice to recount the desperate straits in which his elder brother Cao Sheng currently found himself.
Han Linfeng had known early on that Cao Sheng had been wounded, but he had not imagined that his elder brother had by now completely lost his freedom, utterly under the control of his subordinate Qiu Zhen — the situation was this precarious.
After finishing the account of Cao Sheng’s circumstances, Yuan Xi reached for the travel bundle placed nearby, and from the hidden lining of the clothing within, withdrew an account ledger stuffed thick with bank notes. He handed it to Han Linfeng.
Han Linfeng lowered his head and leafed through it, then slowly raised his gaze: “This is the lifeblood of the righteous army’s finances. Are you certain you wish to place it in my hands?”
Yuan Xi said: “Elder Brother once spoke with me about the righteous army’s future path. Elder Brother raised his banner only to recover the homeland seized by foreign tribes. But as the ranks grew, the cause drifted further and further from his original intent. He often lamented — if the righteous army one day fell beyond control, might it not be exploited by those with ulterior motives, becoming a weapon that ravages the common people of the realm… Now Elder Brother’s fears are coming true step by step, and he has instructed me to deliver this ledger to a descendant of Emperor Shengde. It is also his hope that Shizi, you can turn the tide and prevent this worst possible outcome. Among those who originally came to join the righteous army, there were many hot-blooded young men of sixteen or seventeen, carrying in their hearts the dream of saving the nation and reclaiming the homeland. Elder Brother does not wish for their lives to be used as stepping-stones by others seeking to proclaim themselves king and emperor — to die without understanding why, and then be reviled as rebels and traitors…”
At that point Yuan Xi paused, then continued: “There is also the matter that Elder Brother cannot rest easy about his sister-in-law and his daughter Cao Pei’er. Especially that child Pei’er — she has been utterly bewitched by Qiu Zhen, refusing to marry anyone but him!”
Han Linfeng raised an eyebrow: “Oh? Is this Qiu Zhen particularly handsome in appearance?”
Yuan Xi looked at Han Linfeng’s face, paused a moment, then said: “He is the illegitimate son of Qiu Kun, the Vice Minister of Personnel who was executed along with his entire clan… His mother was also one of the beautiful women presented as tribute by the Kingdom of Bo in those years…”
At this point Han Linfeng understood, for his own mother had also been one of the beauties presented as tribute by the Kingdom of Bo.
So it turned out that this Qiu Zhen, like himself, carried some foreign blood — and naturally had also been born with sharply defined features and an uncommon handsomeness.
In those years, Emperor Hui of Wei had received the beautiful women presented by the Kingdom of Bo, but wishing not to muddy the bloodline of the legitimate imperial succession, the Emperor — having admired them once — had kept none, distributing them all as gifts to his various ministers to demonstrate his favor.
In those days Qiu Kun had also received one, but the child she bore, deemed of insufficiently pure blood, had been sent away to the countryside.
Later, Qiu Kun became entangled in the Ling Wang Rebellion, thereby committing the crime that condemned his entire clan to extermination. What no one had anticipated was that the child sent away to the countryside escaped the catastrophe, and eventually grew into a force to be reckoned with — none other than Qiu Zhen, the current deputy commander of the righteous army.
It was said that Qiu Zhen, after the destruction of the Qiu family, had fled to other regions, even throwing in his lot with mountain bandits, and relying on his innate cunning and daring, had built his way up from the forests and roads — recruiting soldiers and buying horses until he gradually grew powerful.
This Qiu Zhen now flew the banner of national enmity and family grievance, exploiting the corruption that had plagued the Great Wei court these past years and the people’s suffering under misrule, with a singular ambition to overturn and remake the world.
Once Cao Sheng ceased to have any further use, he would inevitably be eliminated by this ruthless deputy commander Qiu Zhen!
At these words, Yuan Xi let out another long, mournful sigh.
In his view, from a certain angle, Qiu Zhen’s life experiences bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Han Linfeng’s own.
In the years when Han Linfeng had roamed the northern frontier, he had made a name for himself in one stroke through his ferocity in battle and his mastery of long-range rapid strikes over a thousand li.
Yet Han Linfeng, constrained by his identity and unwilling to reveal his true face in public, had him and his subordinates all wearing iron-cast masks, earning them at the time the name “the Iron-Masked Army.”
Han Linfeng himself was called “the Iron War God.”
It was a pity that this valiant Iron-Masked Army had been but a fleeting bloom — appearing in the northern frontier for less than two years before vanishing overnight without a trace.
Only Cao Sheng, Yuan Xi, and a very small number of others knew the truth behind the Iron War God, and knew moreover that not long afterward that Iron War God would be entering the capital as a hostage — which was precisely why he had been compelled to leave the northern frontier.
However, after Qiu Zhen had established his reputation within the righteous army, word had also reached him of the Iron-Masked Army’s glorious exploits of years past.
Feeling that the former name of the “Iron War God” carried resounding prestige, he had ordered iron-black cast masks to be made.
In the most recent battles to kill enemies, Qiu Zhen and his subordinates had all put on their masks before joining the fight.
As a result, many soldiers who had heard of the Iron-Masked Army’s renown had misidentified him — assuming Qiu Zhen to be the same fearless war god who, years before on the battlefield, had again and again driven back the Tiefu people.
Wearing the Iron War God’s reputation as a crown, Qiu Zhen’s ability to command universal compliance within the righteous army grew with each passing day.
In Yuan Xi’s words, that scoundrel Qiu Zhen was worthy of his bandit origins — not only did he rob people of their goods, he could even seize and claim another man’s battle merits and hard-won reputation!
Han Linfeng had previously known only a rough outline of Qiu Zhen without much detail; now, having heard Yuan Xi’s account, he could not help but raise his eyebrows.
He had not anticipated that those carefree and unfettered years when he had led his trusted personal guard across the northern frontier — driving back the Tiefu people in those reckless and unbounded days — would in the end have served to tailor a fine garment for this fellow Qiu Zhen, who had exploited every bit of it to the fullest.
But when Yuan Xi mentioned that Qiu Zhen somewhat resembled himself, both of them bearing traces of exotic, foreign charm in their features, Han Linfeng’s thoughts suddenly stirred — and he recalled the ordeal Su Luoyun had experienced at the fragrance shop.
So he asked: “There was once a man wearing the uniform of Great Wei soldiers who purchased large quantities of elk grass in Liangzhou. Could that man be Qiu Zhen?”
Yuan Xi gave a nod: “He is skilled at winning hearts, and he acts with extraordinary audacity — he has done things like personally penetrating deep behind enemy lines countless times. It is precisely this that has made him so popular with the soldiers in the righteous army. Such conduct is indeed befitting of the Iron War God’s reputation for boldness!”
Han Linfeng understood now: the reason Qiu Zhen had been able to so swiftly seize military power in the righteous army was precisely this combination of audacious daring and an adeptness at manipulating the hearts of men.
Such a flamboyant style — just hearing of it stirred the blood; it was exactly the kind of thing that won the love and blind adulation of young men.
Cao Sheng, though fierce and valiant in his youth, was after all growing old.
A young, strikingly handsome general carrying a blood-soaked vendetta — Qiu Zhen was practically the sort of figure conjured by a storyteller’s imagination.
And now this young and dashing war god was telling them he would lead them to storm city after city, all the way to the capital, where they would live in the mansions of princes and lords and bed the beautiful daughters of nobles and ministers.
What manner of dizzying, bewitching dream was this? It was the kind that would make men hurl themselves into fire and flood, willing to die ten thousand deaths!
At these words, Yuan Xi said with shame: “It is a pity that your identity is sensitive and cannot be revealed — otherwise, Brother Cao and I would never have allowed him to so brazenly usurp your name and prestige…”
Han Linfeng smiled faintly, not taking such matters particularly to heart.
But he at last accepted the account ledger from Yuan Xi’s hands, and then said: “Elder Brother Cao hopes that I might rescue the righteous army’s future — to claim I could would be rather presumptuous. However, rescuing Elder Brother Cao and his family is a matter that I am bound by honor to undertake. This affair requires careful and thorough planning. You bear serious injuries and still need to recover. This place is the temporary residence of my wife — you may stay here with peace of mind, with no need to fear that anyone will come again seeking to take your life.”
Yuan Xi nodded repeatedly, and then said with some embarrassment: “To think that at the time of your wedding, I assumed this woman was no match for you and had a dismissive heart — the gift I sent was rather thin. Had I known earlier that Shizi’s consort was such a remarkable woman, I would not have dared show such disrespect… She even asked me earlier what gift I had sent at the time… I trust she is not still holding it against me in her heart?”
Han Linfeng had not expected Yuan Xi to be troubled over this matter, and at that moment let out a hearty laugh, rose, invited Luoyun into the room, and recounted Yuan Xi’s words to her.
Su Luoyun shook her head with a helpless smile: “Master Yuan, you are overthinking it. At the time of my wedding with Shizi, I did not even ride a bridal sedan — it was merely a formality. How could I possibly hold anyone’s gift in judgment? I must also apologize on behalf of my maidservant — her hands are heavy, and she very nearly caused a grave mistake!”
Yuan Xi, his nerves now settled, finally had the leisure to take a proper look at Shizi’s consort — but after only two glances, he immediately looked away in mortification. To have made a woman of such breathtaking beauty sacrifice her reputation and share a carriage with him as a cover — he deserved to go and knock his head against the wall at once, in order to preserve the honor of this young woman’s good name.
But before he had barely begun to express his shame, Luoyun casually interrupted: “A great man does not trouble himself over trifles. If one’s conscience is clear, why bind oneself to rigid convention? Shizi is not the sort to fuss over petty, trivial matters. Master Yuan is a man who has weathered the storms of the rivers and lakes, a man of gallant bearing. I, Luoyun, am unworthy of much — yet though I am a woman, I have something of the spirit of that gallantry too. Since we are all people of the rivers and lakes, let us set aside these cumbersome formalities.”
Han Linfeng smiled gently as well, taking the hand of his little gallant wife and saying: “My wife is different from ordinary women. Her breadth of spirit and magnanimity — there are times it puts even me to shame.”
Yuan Xi could see it clearly now: this woman, though blind, had a heart as sharp and luminous as a mirror. She was truly a remarkable woman!
He solemnly clasped his fists in a formal salute — as the saying goes, great kindness needs no words of thanks. The life-saving grace of Shizi’s consort: Yuan Xi had received it with full gravity and would not forget it.
Yet Han Linfeng had not fully set his mind at ease.
He had originally thought that Fengwei Village, situated in the deep rear, should present no security concerns. But the fact that Luoyun, while delivering a meal today, had encountered assassins sent by Qiu Zhen was a genuine wake-up call.
So Han Linfeng called up capable guards from the Prince’s manor and from among his own men to watch over the courtyard at Fengwei Village, and also set checkpoints on every road leading into the village, interrogating the identity of all who sought to enter.
Furthermore, the reason Qiu Zhen had pursued with such relentless tenacity was precisely because Yuan Xi carried an account ledger that could cost lives. It was apparent that although Qiu Zhen had won men’s hearts, he had not managed to grasp the vital financial power.
Fighting a campaign devours money like flowing water. The reason Cao Sheng had been able to build such a formidable force was that countless subjects of Great Wei, who dreamed of recovering their homeland, had rallied to him. Moreover, Cao Sheng — as a man who had cast aside everything for the sake of recovering the homeland — had accumulated a long-established reputation, becoming in effect the very banner of the reclamation cause.
Given Qiu Zhen’s current standing, deceiving those hot-blooded young men was still within his reach, but winning the generous donations of powerful gentry and influential families from all quarters — that was not yet within his capacity.
This was also the reason Qiu Zhen was so eager to marry Cao Pei’er and legitimize himself — only by becoming a member of the Cao family could he operate under Cao Sheng’s banner.
When that day came, even if Cao Sheng were dead, he could assume the mantle of Cao Sheng’s successor as a matter of course.
Now with the account ledger and its silver gone, and with no grain provisions immediately at hand, watching resources dwindle with nothing coming in — what could Qiu Zhen do?
He could only fall back on his old trade from the forests and roads — either storm a city or go on a plundering raid.
With this in mind, Han Linfeng knew that if his own grain provisions were disturbed, this Qiu Zhen would very likely make his move at the first opportunity.
With all sides stirring restlessly — if one did not throw out a fat piece of bait, how could one draw the wolves out in force from their lair?
Su Luoyun, upon later hearing Han Linfeng’s account, also vaguely sensed the shape of things to come. She could not help but reach out, groping until she found the large hand of the man beside her, and held it.
He and the Qianxi Grain Transport Camp were now rich and tempting prey — it was only a matter of wondering when those wolves and tigers intended to come surging in to tear into what they saw as utterly unguarded flesh.
In the distance, a mass of dark cloud loomed — it seemed that before long, wind and snow would come bearing down…
When the news of Yuan Xi’s escape reached the righteous army’s main camp in the northern frontier, Qiu Zhen could not restrain himself from crushing the wine cup in his hand.
Those two old things had actually pulled off a shell-swapping escape right under his nose!
Had it not been for the little errand boy who fed Cao Sheng his meals — who happened, without intent, to notice the cut marks on Cao Sheng’s palm and reported them to Qiu Zhen — there was every chance the ruse might truly have worked.
When Qiu Zhen pressed Cao Sheng for answers, Cao Sheng only gave a cold, contemptuous laugh, and no matter how much Qiu Zhen struck him across the face until his mouth was full of bloody foam, not a single word passed his lips.
It was a pity the discovery had come too late — Yuan Xi had already fled with the ledger, gone without a trace. There was just no knowing whom he might seek out for help.
The position Qiu Zhen had built for himself within the righteous army — turning from guest to master — had not been won without great difficulty. If he truly wished to settle the soldiers’ hearts, he could not let his men go hungry.
Fortunately, however, that newly arrived pampered young official in charge of grain transport supervision was the weakest link in the entire grain transport operation. When it came to seizing those provisions, Qiu Zhen harbored boundless confidence.
According to intelligence, the Qianxi Grain Transport Camp had already begun to muster. This time, Han Linfeng was preparing to transport an exceptionally large quantity of grain — it appeared that this good-for-nothing intended to ship all the winter reserve provisions in a single run.
This shipment was of a considerable magnitude; if it could be seized in one fell swoop, he could rest easy through the entire winter and, taking advantage of the Tiefu people’s seasonal migration, drive back the Wei army’s interference and consolidate his territory.
Once Jia Yong Prefecture was seized by surprise and the troops’ morale was roused, a few raids on wealthy households in surrounding prefectures and counties that had not yet had time to withdraw would be more than sufficient to make up for the missing silver.
With these thoughts in mind, Qiu Zhen resolved to put aside any further concern over Yuan Xi’s escape, and said in a grave voice: “Send more scouts and operatives — keep a constant watch on every movement of the grain transport camp. This shipment of provisions must end up in my hands!”
In an instant, the small Qianxi Grain Transport Camp had captured the attention and calculation of all sides. The hungry wolves had already whetted their sharp teeth, preparing to sink them into what they believed to be a piece of utterly unguarded, succulent prey.
Meanwhile, Han Linfeng — the newly appointed supervisor of transport at the Qianxi Camp — carried on with the air of a man entirely at his leisure, and having dealt with a group of unruly subordinates, installed his own people within the grain transport camp. With trusted left and right hands now in place, his affairs flowed along smoothly. It seemed his days had become a touch too comfortable — for he had actually had his beautiful wife transferred over from Liangzhou to join him.
From that point forward, this new supervisor would from time to time retire to the elegant little courtyard in Fengwei Village for the night, spent lavish sums on having the courtyard renovated, had been recently placing orders from the southern regions for great quantities of household goods, bolts of cloth, and large shipments of fragrant spices — with carts coming and going day after day, hauling things in.
Word of this also reached the Prince Beizhen manor.
Even the consort of the Prince’s manor — who had made up her mind not to concern herself any further with those two — could not help but complain to the Lord: “And this is the wonderful daughter-in-law you have always defended! She has practically taken the Beizhen manor’s rule of modesty and restraint and dashed it against our faces! I hear she is afraid that her personal belongings might go missing, and has paid a premium to hire three escort agencies to guard her goods in transit. Truly — having a bit of stinking money and not knowing how to show it off!”
Nanny Xi at the side also rushed to pile on: “These past few days, many of the military families in Liangzhou city have been talking behind everyone’s backs, saying that when a man takes a wife, he should take a virtuous one. But this new wife of Shizi’s — not only is she blind in her eyes, she is blind in her heart as well, carrying on like this and tarnishing Shizi’s reputation so. Shizi has just punished a group of corrupt subordinates, making many powerful enemies — and yet he is making such a lavish display on the front and in the rear like this. Does he not realize this gives his enemies a weapon to use against him?”
Hearing this, the consort’s ire also ignited: “Feng’er was already spoiled by you in his youth until he had no sense of proper conduct. If it were merely eating, drinking, and carousing — nothing but disgracing the family name — I, as his mother, would simply accept it! But now he is simply courting death, and I fear he will ultimately implicate those dear to the manor as well. Are you going to deal with this or not?”
Han Yi took a sip of hot tea and said evenly: “And how am I to deal with it?”
The consort slapped the table: “First bring that blind woman back, of course — we cannot let her sit beside the Qianxi Camp playing the role of a Su Daji! Then you go petition His Majesty, saying that your son is unequal to the task, and that for the sake of not obstructing affairs of state, it would be best to relieve him of his post!”
The Lord replied, cool and indifferent: “That is an easy scheme you have devised. If I could command the Emperor at will, I would not be stuck here in Liangzhou — I would have long since found a land of good fortune and feng shui for you to rest and care for your complexion.”
The consort was vain about her looks and could not endure Liangzhou’s biting, bitter cold winds. She had complained no small number of times about it over these decades.
The Prince of Beizhen had long grown weary of hearing it, and had seized this occasion to give the consort a retaliatory jab.
The consort loathed above all else her husband’s insufferably slippery obstinacy. She said coldly: “The reason I agreed, back in those days, to acknowledge this child born of a concubine was because you said that becoming the heir came with the original sin of being the holy sage’s descendant — that his life would not be easy. If he were to conduct himself well, I would of course accept it and let him inherit your lordship’s title. But now he is preparing to drag every person in this manor down with him — to have my children be buried alongside him — I will absolutely not allow this bastard’s machinations to bring harm upon my children!”
These words carried great weight and bitterness, and the Lord’s expression darkened utterly. He suddenly hurled the teacup in his hand to the ground: “Was I the one urging you to recognize the concubine’s son as heir? I simply told you the facts as they were — it was plainly you who feared your own son would be put at a disadvantage, and so it was you who had Feng’er inherit… Rest assured: if the day truly comes when this manor crumbles, I will be the first to write you a letter of divorce, and you may take your children wherever you please. I will absolutely not drag you down with me!”
The consort leaped to her feet: “If you were going to say such cruel words, you should have said them years earlier! If we had possessed such understanding twenty years sooner, we could have made a clean break of it — neither one holding the other back! You go and sleep with your beautiful concubines — and I return to the capital!”
Nanny Xi, seeing the consort’s words growing increasingly beyond propriety, hastened to mediate, begging the consort to refrain from speaking in anger and harming the harmony between husband and wife.