Civil uprising of a thousand people in Zicao Commandery, Ling Province, Nande!
In the eleventh month, over a thousand farming households oppressed by corrupt officials to the point of having no way to survive, wielding hoes and sickles, attacked the commandery’s county yamen. They killed the yamen runners, officials, and the county magistrate’s family members on the spot, captured the magistrate alive, flayed his skin and extracted his bones, and displayed him at the yamen entrance. Then these thousand people formed themselves into the Grass Righteousness Army, swore an oath on the spot, raised the banner of rebellion, and vowed to kill all of Nande’s corrupt officials.
The Ling Province Governor urgently deployed ten thousand government troops to suppress them. Common people throughout the entire commandery joined the Grass Righteousness Army, actually fighting to a standstill, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Governor submitted a memorial to the Nande Emperor—the entire court was shocked. The new Emperor and the Empress Dowager were furious, dispatched another thirty thousand reinforcement troops, and issued an edict to level Zicao Commandery, leaving not even noses or mouths alive.
The news was transmitted by Yuan Cheng’s informants in Nande. After Yuan Cheng read the letter scroll that Ming Nian brought in, he had no choice but to set aside the river gang matters. He hurriedly sent off Xu Jiu and the others, taking only Mo Zi and Li Yan to the inner garden study.
The visitor wore a tattered gray jacket, his face frozen in patches of blue and purple, his hands covered with chilblains.
Upon seeing Yuan Cheng, he trembled as if afflicted with epilepsy, his mouth twisting and contorting like a caterpillar. His knees struck the ground as he kowtowed heavily. After straightening up, he excitedly called out “Prime Minister Yuan.”
To Mo Zi’s eyes, he looked like he desperately wanted to embrace Yuan Cheng’s thighs.
“Zhang Zhen?” Yuan Cheng rarely showed surprised expression. “I thought you had already left Nande.”
“Though the world is vast, it’s difficult to find a single patch of pure land. Prime Minister Yuan once told Zhen that while it’s true the pure remain pure, when the entire world is turbid, what use is one drop of clean water’s persistence? Back then, Prime Minister Yuan saved Zhen’s life, yet I not only failed to say a word of thanks but said those unbearable words. Only after I escaped with my life and lived in seclusion at a temple these two years did I understand Prime Minister Yuan’s words. When Prime Minister Yuan suffered calamity, I wanted to help, but arrived a step too late. Later hearing Prime Minister Yuan had escaped, I kept searching for your whereabouts. One day I met a Great Zhou scholar traveling in Nande who mentioned his teacher—surprisingly sharing the same name as Prime Minister Yuan. I thought how could there be such a coincidence in the world? Just as the court was panicking over the Zicao Commandery uprising, I hurriedly fled into Great Zhou. Upon inquiry, I firmly believed this Official Yuan was indeed the former Prime Minister Yuan, and rushed to see you. The jade token Prime Minister Yuan gave me then was still useful—the gatekeeper let me in upon seeing it.” Zhang Zhen called out “Prime Minister Yuan” again. “Nande is at the end of its rope, terminally ill. Does Prime Minister Yuan have any plans in mind?”
Zhang Zhen had originally been the Ling Province Governor of Nande, of noble character and upright conduct. Two years ago, he executed the evil nephew of Grand Preceptor Wu, was charged with fabricated crimes, lost his official position, was imprisoned, and sentenced to execution after autumn. Zhang Zhen’s family scraped together a sum of silver and bribed Yuan Cheng. Yuan Cheng accepted it, changing the sentence from execution after autumn to exile, then later arranged for people to rescue him during the exile journey.
“I am no longer Nande’s Prime Minister. From now on, just call me by name.” Though Yuan Cheng was surprised to see Zhang Zhen again, his nature was indifferent—he wasn’t at all as excited as the other party. “Looking at your condition, I imagine you haven’t eaten or slept well along the way. Why not go down and rest first? After recovering your strength, we can discuss future matters. How about that?”
“Prime Minister Yuan… Your Excellency, other matters need not be mentioned. Zhang Zhen now has nowhere else to go and wishes to stay by Your Excellency’s side to repay the debt of saving my life. Please grant your permission.” Zhang Zhen refused to rise.
Mo Zi’s gaze tightened—was this yet another retainer?
Yet Yuan Cheng gave no definite answer, still putting it off, having Ming Nian take the guest to rest.
After Zhang Zhen left, Li Yan looked at Yuan Cheng and said, “Your Excellency should know—time waits for no one. Once chaos arises, who can escape the strife? Yet clearly possessing such great talent without displaying it—wouldn’t that be advantageous to those mediocre people? Whether restoring Yuling or toppling Nande, both are paths for a great man to achieve dominion over the realm. I hope Your Excellency will reconsider carefully.”
Yuan Cheng merely smiled without speaking.
Li Yan shook his head, sighed, and left.
Yuan Cheng looked toward Mo Zi and saw her slightly furrowed brow, her lips pressed into a straight line. He asked, “What are you thinking?”
Mo Zi heavily exhaled. “Yuan Cheng, if my comprehension is poor, don’t laugh at me. That Zhang Zhen, and Li Yan—are those two trying to promote you as a chaotic-era hero?”
Candlelight danced in Yuan Cheng’s eyes. “Mo Zi, can heroes be promoted just because someone wants to promote them? Before I was imprisoned in Nande, I thought about how to seek justice for the several hundred members of the Yuan family. After imprisonment, I only thought about how to escape with my life. However, all along, aside from revenge, everything has been quite capricious. By my hand, I’ve taken many lives and spared many lives, but good and bad mixed together. When good people die, I don’t feel sad. When bad people die, I don’t clap in celebration either. No matter how I look at it, I’m not the material for being a hero.”
Mo Zi discovered he was being modest and answered with a smile, “A hero, like Cao Cao—I’d rather betray the world than let the world betray me. A hero, like Liu Bang—a gentleman on the surface, but actually everything must go according to his thinking. You have both qualities. How could you not be hero material? You’re clearly natural-born excellent material.”
Yuan Cheng lifted the tea on the table. “Seeing off guests, seeing off guests. Miss Mo Zi, take care.”
Mo Zi laughed outright and actually walked outside, yet still had something to say. “Actually, whether others promote you or not isn’t important. What’s important is what you yourself want to do. As for me, I only remember one thing you said—that when the time comes, I can follow you. I think your meaning should be that you can preserve this small life of mine, right? For me, that’s enough. Everything else, I don’t care about.”
Yuan Cheng watched her leave through the door, gazing at that slender shadow climbing past the window lattice grid by grid. He gently withdrew his smile, his expression becoming completely calm.
Mo Zi exited through the north gate to her carriage. Endless pitch-black darkness grayed the heavily falling snow.
“A Hao, A Yue, are you blood relatives with the Yuan clan?” That night, Lady Fu’s actions at the banquet had no effect on Mo Zi whatsoever, but the news of Nande’s uprising that Zhang Zhen brought left her thoughts unsettled.
If a nation had already reached the point where officials forced the people to rebel, how much farther could it be from dynastic change?
She had once thought chaotic times were merely talk, that for real chaos to arise would require a very long transitional period.
Now, Yuling had been destroyed, Nande suffered fatal internal troubles, Great Qiu watched like a covetous tiger, and the only counterbalance—Great Zhou—was strong on the outside but weak within. Could it be that the principle of “unite after long division, divide after long unity” was truly being fulfilled, and this fragmented land was beginning to move toward unification?
A Hao and A Yue exchanged glances. Though they didn’t understand the reason, A Hao answered on their behalf: “No. We’re orphans, raised by Aunt Jiao since childhood. However, even without blood ties, we still feel grateful for the Yuan clan’s nurturing grace and will certainly repay with our lives.”
Then whether Yuan Cheng sought revenge or not didn’t have much to do with them, Mo Zi thought to herself, her smile involuntarily becoming somewhat relaxed. Though she had no qualification to advise others to let go of hatred, having one fewer person living for revenge was quite good.
A Hao and A Yue, seeing Mo Zi had no follow-up, felt it strange but couldn’t ask, so they let it drop. Naturally they didn’t know that Mo Zi felt Yuan Cheng’s attitude toward revenge seemed dispensable now, while those around him all helped him set his goals ever higher, so she feared they might be upset and thus indirectly probed them.
The heavy snow that night continued for several days. The entire capital looked as if sculpted from snow—crystal clear and translucent. The river surface outside Hongyu even froze over with a layer of ice.
“The ice on our river surface isn’t that thick. You haven’t seen the one at Risheng Bay—this thick.” Min Song had just returned from visiting Old Master Min Yu, gesturing while talking to Mo Zi. “It’s so cold that work is completely impossible—everyone’s on holiday. The old master heard we work in single-layer shirts and kept saying he wanted to come to Hongyu to see. I told him we had no time to entertain him. Back then, when I told him about the boat shed matter, he said Brother Mo ultimately lacked experience and spent too much capital. Now he wants to come learn?”
Mo Zi laughed heartily. “A Song, from inside to out, you’re completely a Hongyu person now.”
Wei Qing happened to enter and heard this. “Why doesn’t Brother Mo mention that he admitted coming to steal techniques?”
“Who’s stealing techniques?” Min Song countered Wei Qing. “I’m learning openly and aboveboard—Brother Mo knew from the start.” These two bickering whenever they met was one of Hongyu’s greatest features.
Mo Zi saw Wei Qing holding an envelope and asked, “What matter?”
Wei Qing spoke seriously, “A letter from the Ministry of Works.”
Mo Zi opened it and looked. “The Ministry of Works wants me to go to the capital shipyard tomorrow, saying they want to ask about some details of the sunken ship.”
Xiao Er’s soldiers had been picked up by ships from other water fortresses three days after the ship sank. Xiao Er had told her to salvage the ship, but afterward he never came to ask her about it—perhaps Yuan Cheng had communicated through the Secretariat. Later, the capital shipyard sent a large ship to remove the wreckage.
“The matter is already concluded—what more is there to ask?” Wei Qing found it strange.
Min Song was also very puzzled. “We only rescued people. The ship sank—what does it have to do with us?”
“Perhaps because we were present at the time, we can give them more clues. After all, a warship leaking and sinking is no small matter.” Mo Zi put away the document. “A Song, has the date for your Master Craftsman examination been set?”
Min Song had originally planned to return to his home region to take the local Master Craftsman examination, but with the envoy delegations from Great Qiu and Nande coming, the Ministry of Works incorporated this examination into the welcoming festivities, inviting the most promising craftsmen from each province to come to the capital for testing. Min Song was one of those invited.
“The tenth day of the first month—tested over four days, with results posted at the Lantern Festival.” Mentioning this matter, Min Song became very excited. “Old Master Yu told me my parents and younger brothers are all coming—they’re already halfway here.”
Wei Qing came to sing a contrary tune. “What if you don’t pass? Not only will the festival turn into a day of mourning, but you’ll lose all face in front of your family. I think you shouldn’t participate this year—you can’t even match Brother Mo’s technical skills.”
Min Song’s face darkened. Indeed, his shipbuilding skills were far inferior to Mo Zi’s.
“You can’t say that. The craftsman examination tests workmanship, which can be completely unrelated to shipbuilding.”
Mo Zi had heard Min Song mention some things—it involved carving, polishing, manufacturing, and other techniques, with materials ranging from wood to various metals. According to candidates’ different areas of expertise, different test subjects were assigned. Master Craftsman was a general title that was actually subdivided.
“Brother Mo!” Zan Jin ran in, also holding something in his hand.
“Didn’t you say you’d come back after dinner?” Recently Zan Jin had been following her like a shadow—too exhausting. She’d given him a day off, which he used to visit Cen Dalang at Wangqiu Tower.
“Brother Mo, it seems something terrible has happened.” Zan Jin’s dark, handsome face revealed anxiety. “Quickly look at what’s written on this paper.”
It was a crudely made gray-textured paper with a sentence written in neat regular script—a deadly sentence.