After Zhao Su departed for the capital, Zhao Feng and his wife had taken it upon themselves to spend much of their time in the county seat. Zhù Ying had always treated the couple with generous consideration, and when Tong Li went to fetch them, they came promptly.
On their way to the county yamen, the two of them had some guesses but could not quite settle on any of them. They ranged from thinking it might be about planting wheat to wondering if there was some news from Zhao Su in the capital, or perhaps another opportunity to advance their family. But neither felt any of those quite fit — the wheat matter had already been set in motion and wasn’t especially new or worth making a special summons over. The young official Xiao Wu had only just departed a couple of days ago; they had just entrusted him with some things to bring to Zhao Su and asked him to bring back a reply. As for advancement — had anything significant even happened recently?
They guessed back and forth and got nowhere, and then the yamen was already right before them.
Tong Li led the way, announced their arrival at the study door, and called inside: “Magistrate, Young Master Zhao and Zhao Niangzi have arrived.”
Zhù Ying pressed her hands against the desk, rose, and walked to the door. By the time she reached it, a faint, composed smile already rested on her face. “A’Jie. Brother-in-law.”
Zhao Feng clasped his hands in greeting. Zhao Niangzi smiled. “Little brother has been so busy, and now there’s something more — what is it that we can help with?”
Zhù Ying made a welcoming gesture. “Of course there’s something — quite a few things, actually, that I’m counting on A’Jie and Brother-in-law to help with. Please, come in.”
She led the two of them to a seat inside. Tong Li brought tea. Zhù Ying looked the couple over once more and was struck by the fact that their faces showed not a trace of anxiety or worry — which she found very strange. Her reason for inviting them had nothing to do with any great matter; it was simply to see whether Zhao Niangzi could actually come.
If something had happened to the lord of the Asu settlement, and its effects had already shown at the trading post, then Zhao Niangzi, as his blood sister, would certainly have received word. If it was something as momentous as the lord’s death, she would have gone back to the mountains by now. Whether or not she showed up would tell Zhù Ying a great deal.
And yet here she was.
But the state of the trading post was clearly not right. As a rule, when a trade relationship deteriorates, it does so gradually; if it collapses suddenly, something must have happened. Even if the Asu family had suddenly found a new channel, or if the mountain goods had declined in supply for some other reason, they might at least have sent word. But as far as Zhù Ying knew, the weather had not changed, there was no epidemic, and she had not heard anything about the Asu family conducting another round of capturing people, severing heads, and drawing blood as sacrifices — because if that had happened, the mountain settlement would have come to her requesting support of some kind, at least asking to buy some weapons.
Zhù Ying’s mind spun through eight hundred possibilities, but her words were: “There’s something I’d like to raise, though I don’t know if it’s workable.”
Zhao Niangzi smiled. “When has anything our little brother set his mind to not worked? Just say it, and we’ll see to it.”
Zhù Ying said, “Now that I also oversee Sicheng County, I’ve noticed they also have some orange trees. Some time ago, the liaison office mentioned that other places were already counterfeiting our oranges and selling them at a premium. I thought — we can’t afford to neglect our grain fields, so the number of oranges we can produce is limited. Rather than letting others pass off fakes as ours, why not go in ourselves?”
Zhao Niangzi was not quite sure she followed, but Zhao Feng understood. “We go plant oranges on their land? What about the land itself?” His mind had leapt ahead — Zhù Ying was going to use her authority over Sicheng County to make them a profitable offer, giving them some land to plant oranges and profit from.
That would be quite generous indeed! They’d need to build a storehouse… Zhao Feng had already gone from oranges to what came after, even imagining whether they might build a fellow-townspeople’s guild hall in the capital. Zhao Su was there right now and could manage it. That would make communication with Zhao Su much more convenient too — instead of relying as they did now on hitching a ride with some document carrier or official courier, which was thoroughly inconvenient.
Zhù Ying said, “We buy their oranges from them.”
“Ah?” This was nothing like what Zhao Feng had imagined. He had not quite caught up.
Zhù Ying said, “We buy from them and sell on. Buy at ten coins a jin, sell at fifty — that’s a rough figure, of course; if we can sell for more, all the better. But naturally we can’t squeeze the price too hard on the buying end either; if people can’t make anything from it, they’ll stop growing. We select only the better fruit to buy. We have storage facilities, and into spring and summer there would be another wave to sell. It saves them the trouble of having to venture out and find buyers themselves. And as for the oranges we sell — who would dare say they aren’t Fulu oranges?”
Zhao Niangzi said, “What a brilliant idea, little brother! Is it for him?” She rested her hand on Zhao Feng’s shoulder.
Zhao Feng shifted slightly with a trace of discomfort. Seeing that Zhù Ying had no reaction at all to Zhao Niangzi’s gesture, he moved a little and then settled back into his seat.
Zhù Ying said, “That’s something for the gentry to work out among themselves in a public discussion. Brother-in-law can bring it up when the time comes — just do some preliminary preparation first. A venture this large, if you can’t swallow it alone, find a partner early.”
Zhao Feng smiled. “With that word from you, I can move ahead with confidence.”
“Don’t try to take too big a bite all at once — if you end up sitting on unsold stock, that’ll only make things worse.”
“Understood.”
Zhao Niangzi, finding that her husband was not performing well enough in front of Zhù Ying, decided to take over herself. “Little brother — can the oranges be sold all the way to the capital?”
Zhù Ying said, “The timing isn’t right for that yet.”
“Two years ago you said our own oranges weren’t enough in quantity to sell that far. Now with extra ones from other people coming in, surely there’d be enough? Your nephew is in the capital right now — a guild hall there would be so convenient.”
Zhù Ying blinked. “He still needs to focus on his studies and not give people the impression he’s too flighty.”
Zhù Ying had not had the heart to say: you have no idea what property costs in the capital. A guild hall would need at least a two-courtyard compound, wouldn’t it? Plus some kind of annex. If you wanted to sell regional goods, you’d need a storage room — granted you could rent rather than buy one immediately, but Fulu County’s specialty goods were mostly low-value, high-volume items, and you’d have to move large quantities just to break even. Oranges in particular were demanding to store properly, and the costs were not trivial.
“What a pity…”
Zhù Ying smiled. “If A’Jie is interested in another kind of business, there’s actually another possibility.”
Zhao Niangzi asked with interest, “What’s that?”
“This region is full of mountains, and the mountain slopes grow some decent oranges — I’ve noticed some orange trees even in the mountain settlements. And there’s also tea up there. Last time the prefect visited, I gave some to his attendants, and they said it was quite passable. We could start by building up a name in the prefecture. That wouldn’t be bad at all.”
Zhao Niangzi said frankly, “Mountain tea — for casual drinking it’s fine, but compared to the tea you gave me last time, it doesn’t even come close.”
“That was tribute tea — of course it’s better. What we’re after here is volume. I’d originally planned to wait a few days and discuss it directly with Little Sister, but she hasn’t been free to come down lately. I suppose I’ll just have to go up and see her before the wheat planting. Ah — and I don’t know how Elder Brother is getting on these days.”
Zhao Niangzi’s brow clouded lightly. “Yes. Last I heard, still the same as before. Ah…”
Zhù Ying looked at her from one angle and then another. She thought: Have I guessed wrong? Or is it that even she doesn’t know?
She said, “You think it over for now. Whatever we do, let’s not stake everything at once — take it slowly, test things out, and when it’s clear something works, commit to it properly.”
Zhao Feng said, “I’ll look into it when I get home. I won’t deceive you, Magistrate — I’d had this same thought in the back of my mind before, but when I looked at my own storage capacity, I…” Opening new markets was tremendously difficult work. But Fulu County had a magistrate who got things done and could help smooth the path — which made things considerably easier. Whenever this particular county magistrate left, who could say what the next one would be like? But oranges had to be grown, and only one crop a year; storage space was limited; and grain still had to be kept in reserve.
Now seeing that Zhù Ying had this in mind, the idea he had pushed down before rose up again, and he was already turning over how to make it work. The father and son corresponded, and though Zhao Su rarely complained or asked for money, reading between the lines of his expressions of admiration for Zhù Ying, Zhao Feng had picked up something else: life in the capital was exceptionally expensive — housing, provisions, everything.
The fact that Zhù Ying had managed to acquire property in the capital on her own was quite remarkable.
Zhao Feng had sent a sum of gold and silver to his son to buy a house, and had immediately appreciated the truth of what Zhao Su had written.
While Zhao Feng was turning over thoughts of money, Zhù Ying had already made an arrangement with Zhao Niangzi: “Then once I’ve finished distributing the wheat seeds, let’s go together tomorrow to look in on your elder brother.”
Zhao Niangzi said, “Wonderful!”
After seeing Zhao Feng and his wife off, Zhù Ying’s mind did not relax. The lord of the Asu settlement, at his age and in his condition, could die at any time unless a divine immortal descended from the heavens to rescue him. Zhù Ying had long had a plan in mind.
She first sent Xiang Le to find Captain Ding and ask about his state of readiness. If there was unrest, the hundred or so men under Captain Ding’s command would need to serve as squad leaders and unit commanders — not as merely a hundred soldiers, but as leaders who could mobilize the able-bodied men of the entire county. Fortunately the autumn harvest was now over and the grain in storage, so there was nothing to worry about on that front.
Hou Wu was also summoned. Zhù Ying told him, “I’m going up the mountain. If anything happens here, these people are in your hands.”
Hou Wu said, “How can you go in person again, Magistrate? Let me go!”
“Inside there’s no knowing what may have happened — you might not be able to make the necessary decisions.”
“Then let me go and take a look first?”
“Do you know how to speak the Ying tribe’s language?”
Hou Wu fell silent. He knew the local dialect well enough, but the Ying tribe’s language was quite beyond him.
Xiang An said, “I understand it. I could go.” She added, “Brother and I could go together — a sister and brother pair would be better than a man going alone.”
Zhù Ying shook her head. She had a theory, and she believed it to be the one that best fit the current situation — there had been a change in the mountain settlement, and Su Mingluan had not succeeded in taking over smoothly, and was now in the middle of an internal power struggle.
Su Mingluan’s personality, Zhù Ying had come to know well. Thinking of her as a “spirited and beautiful young woman from an ethnic minority” was exactly the wrong lens — anyone who took that view would come to regret it. Zhù Ying’s assessment was that Su Mingluan was probably not badly positioned, because otherwise she would have sent word — to herself, and to Zhao Niangzi. The opposing side, whoever they were, would certainly not want someone who was broadly supportive of Su Mingluan to receive any information.
If it was a stalemate, she needed to get there quickly in order to do anything useful.
She first put the county’s affairs in order, then sent instructions to Sicheng County to hold fast and clear the area of anything that could be exploited.
Captain Ding arrived quickly. Zhù Ying did not reveal the full extent of her suspicions; she simply said, “The orange harvest is coming up soon — please help train some able-bodied men in advance to escort the goods.”
Captain Ding agreed at once.
Zhù Ying also settled things at home, telling them she was going out on an inspection tour. Zhang Xiangu said, “You’re going to be away from home again.” Zhù Ying said, “Just a few days — I’ll be back to check on the wheat.” Zhù Da said, “You still have to go back and fix the irrigation channels — can’t you stay home and spend a few days properly with your mother and father? How old are you now?”
Whenever her age came up, it troubled him. “If you keep going on like this, you’ll be past the right age and never be able to have children.”
“Why bring that up again?”
Zhang Xiangu counted on her fingers: “First it was, it’s not convenient while we’re in the capital; then it was, too busy here. Shouldn’t things finally be settling down a bit? I see you’ve got this whole collection of children you’ve picked up — and I’m happy to look after a few for you, Shitou and Hammer are both lovely children — but your mother here still wants to hold one of your own.”
Zhù Ying rolled her eyes and fled.
The next day, Zhù Ying set out with the Xiang siblings, ten constables, and Zhao Niangzi. Zhao Niangzi showed no sign of having received any news of something happening. They all rode on horseback, carrying gifts. Zhù Ying had confiscated quite a few fine items from Huang Shier’s household; cash and grain she did not touch, but she selected some of the more finely crafted decorative pieces and jewelry, packing them into several boxes to serve as gifts. This portion was something she could formally account for — dealings with the Asu family were legitimate official business.
At this time of year, the air was crisp and clear. The journey moved considerably faster than the first time she had gone into the mountains, and was far less hurried than the time she had gone to see the lord of the Asu settlement. Zhù Ying paid close attention to the mountain landscape as they traveled. The fields at lower elevations had already been harvested, while higher up the mountain, patches of gold still swayed in the wind.
They planned to stop and rest at a small settlement along the way — to water the horses and eat. Zhao Niangzi knew the route by heart. She glanced at the boxes and chests Zhù Ying had brought along and thought: Little brother really does make everything go so smoothly.
She pointed to that settlement and said, “The wine there is the sweetest. What a pity you can’t drink — but on the way back you can bring some for Father.”
By “Father,” she meant Zhù Da — the two families had formalized a kinship bond, and Zhù Da had gone up a generation as a result.
Zhù Ying smiled. “That sounds good.”
When they arrived at the settlement gate, everyone’s expression grew grave — it was too quiet inside.
Zhao Niangzi sent someone forward to inquire. After a short while, the messenger came stumbling and rolling back toward them, shouting, “This is terrible! The old lord of the settlement has passed away!”
Zhao Niangzi said, “What?”
Zhù Ying watched her sit perfectly still, as though nothing had happened. She kept a close eye on everything, her gaze moving carefully over the surroundings, one hand resting on the small leather shield strapped to her horse. She waited for the messenger to repeat his words, and only then did Zhao Niangzi say, “Oh! Wait — let me ask.” She and Zhù Ying rode side by side to the settlement gate, where Zhao Niangzi called out for someone. A young settlement chief came out; the two of them spoke in a normal tone.
Zhao Niangzi’s face went cold. She verified it again and again. “My brother truly passed away?”
The young chief said, “Yes. Word came several times from the main settlement. First calling my father over, then two more messengers came, both telling us not to say anything to those down the mountain.”
So the news had been concealed from Zhao Niangzi — or rather, kept from the outside world. Zhù Ying had already suspected as much, and now it was confirmed. She pushed her theory a few steps further, increasingly certain that this journey was likely to fulfill a great many of her purposes. Compared to her own composure, Zhao Niangzi could not keep her feelings in check. “Who? Who gave the order? Who told you to keep it from me?”
“There have been several messengers — the nearby settlements all received the same order,” the young chief said. He explained that messengers had come from the shaman, from Su Mingluan, and from Su Mingluan’s eldest brother.
Zhù Ying advised gently, “A’Jie — perhaps they’re preparing our brother’s funeral rites, and waiting until everything is ready before inviting us.”
Zhao Niangzi said, “They’re treating me like a stranger!” Her face flushed white and then red with fury.
Her theory had been confirmed another degree. Zhù Ying spoke to the young chief: “Could you arrange for us to rest here a while and water the horses?”
The young chief glanced at Zhao Niangzi, his expression slightly uncertain. “Please, come inside.” Then, lowering his voice, he added a few words to the effect that he himself did not know what was going on up in the main settlement.
Zhao Niangzi was furious at first, but once inside the settlement began to curse openly. “I gave them my whole heart, and now they don’t even tell me when my own brother passes away!”
Zhù Ying said, “But you know now, don’t you? Let’s not let our brother’s spirit be unsettled in death. What do you say?”
Zhao Niangzi said, “Little brother — I feel like something is not right about all this. Even if they didn’t tell me, why aren’t the people here weeping?”
Zhù Ying said, “We’ll understand once we go back and see.” She settled Zhao Niangzi and then, under the pretext of getting ready for an early start the next day, asked Zhao Niangzi to be moved to the room next to hers.
With Zhao Niangzi pacified, she immediately summoned the Xiang siblings. “Your skills haven’t gotten rusty?”
“No.”
“Eat well, get your clothes in order — tighten your cuffs and trouser hems, don’t let your blades leave your hands.”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow, follow my lead.”
“Yes.”
The next morning, the whole party set out in haste. There was no time to admire the scenery along the way. Zhao Niangzi’s face was iron-grey; she kept urging her horse forward. Zhù Ying said, “A’Jie — we should at least stock up on food and water before we ride straight through to the main settlement.”
Zhao Niangzi said, “No need! I’m going now — I want to see what they have to say!” The closer she got to the main settlement, the angrier she appeared, her lips pressed shut and trembling. “My brother raised me himself. And they had the nerve — the nerve not to let me see my brother one last time. How dare they?!”
Zhù Ying said, “You really do need to stop and rest.”
“I don’t!”
“Very well. But when we get home, don’t act impulsively — all right? I will stand with A’Jie no matter what.”
Zhao Niangzi tried to force the corners of her mouth upward, but her face had gone rigid. She said, “Alright. Alright, dear little brother.”
Before the sun had set, the whole party arrived before the main settlement. The gate was shut tight, the whole place giving off a grim, tense air. The sentries had spotted the approaching party from a distance. Zhù Ying’s group numbered a little over ten; Zhao Niangzi’s party was about the same; altogether it was not a small number. The settlement’s guards were extremely alert — everyone was on horseback, and they were traveling at no small speed, with an air about them that said they had not come in goodwill.
When they reached the foot of the settlement walls, a shout came from above. “Halt! One more step and we release arrows! Who goes there?”
Zhao Niangzi erupted: “Are you blind? Just wait until I get up there — I’ll gouge out every last one of your eyes one by one!”
Zhù Ying knew she was entirely capable of doing exactly that, but made no move to stop her, and said nothing to identify herself either. Chaos reigned above as voices called out, “Coming right away! Coming right away!”
It was a long wait before the settlement’s great gate finally swung open. Inside, a sea of torches blazed, and in their light, Zhù Ying caught sight of Tree Elder.
Zhao Niangzi raised her riding crop and charged forward. Zhù Ying did not dismount; she rode after her, with the Xiang siblings close behind. Zhao Niangzi lashed out at anyone near her. “Who gave you the right to keep me from seeing my brother?”
Tree Elder took several strokes of the riding crop, then reached up and grabbed Zhao Niangzi’s wrist. He said in a low voice, “Something has happened. They’ve started fighting.”
Zhao Niangzi went still. Zhù Ying came up alongside them and said, “Ask where our brother is, and where his wife and children are. Go there!”
Zhao Niangzi asked, “Where are my brother and sister-in-law? Where are my nieces and nephews?”
Tree Elder’s mouth was filled with something that was both sour and bitter. “They’re still fighting. If you cause more trouble, just go back.”
Zhù Ying said, “Why are they fighting? Who against whom? Who started it?”
Tree Elder noticed her and said, “You’ve come too?”
“I was accompanying A’Jie home to see our brother. We only found out on the way…”
Zhao Niangzi had already lost patience. “Let’s go!” She spurred her horse forward and swept ahead. Zhù Ying followed without hesitation. To those on either side of the settlement’s main pathway, she appeared to be merely Zhao Niangzi’s attendant from down the mountain, and no one paid her particular attention. Their whole party rode straight to the front of the great hall.
In the great square before the hall, the two factions stood facing each other, clearly drawn, weapons leveled. When the women arrived, people on both sides turned to look. Zhao Niangzi said, “Who do you all belong to?! Your own people fighting your own people — what do you think you’re doing?! Every last one of you is despicable!” Her words were fierce, but her heart was frightened. She had already grasped that this was not simply a case of family members shutting her out — her own family was tearing itself apart.
Zhù Ying said quietly, “Quickly — go inside and find out what’s happening.”
Both sides had already begun quarreling, and a general brawl seemed imminent. Zhù Ying looked at the marks on the ground — not yet fully turned dark brown — and put her hand on the hilt of her blade.
Listening carefully, she picked out the words:
One side called out, “The old lord passed down the settlement to our new lord! Who does A’Hun think he is?! What right does he have to set up someone else?”
The other side replied, “That man is the old lord’s son — is he not closer kin than a daughter?”
“Sons and daughters are equally dear! We must heed the old lord’s command!”
“If you listen to her, you’ll be handing everything over to the mountain people!”
“Nonsense! All the fine things the mountain people have sent up here, you’ve eaten your share of it too — and now you say this? May your belly rot, may your guts turn black.”
Zhù Ying urged Zhao Niangzi, “Quickly — go and mediate between the siblings. Otherwise your own people will be the first to run with blood.”
Zhao Niangzi said, “Let’s go!”
She cleared the way ahead, and Zhù Ying plunged in behind her. Both sides assumed she was simply one of Zhao Niangzi’s attendants from the lowlands, and paid her no particular mind.
Their whole party made it through and into the great hall.
The atmosphere inside the great hall was even more tense.
The interior was full of armed people as well, and the situation was more complex than outside. On one side stood Su Mingluan’s people; on the other, the forces of her eldest brother and A’Hun. Zhao Niangzi walked straight down the center; Zhù Ying followed, holding herself upright. At the firepit at the center of the hall, the two factions stood in confrontation. The wife of the lord of the Asu settlement sat in her husband’s former place. To her left stood Su Mingluan, the second son, the shaman, and others; to her right stood the eldest son, the third son, and their followers, along with A’Hun. Around the lady herself stood a circle of armed warriors serving as her personal guard.
When she saw Zhao Niangzi, the lady of the Asu settlement said, “You’ve come.”
Zhao Niangzi said, “And did you wait for me to be invited? What are you all doing?! My brother has passed away and you didn’t tell me! Tell me — what is going on here?”
Su Mingluan saw that Zhù Ying had also come, and thought: She’s arrived too soon.
On the other side, A’Hun was already shouting out, “You see? This is the official from down the mountain — and the younger sister has been conspiring with him. She’s trying to surrender the settlement to him, to please him! So she can live with him!”
This was truly shameless.
Zhù Ying spoke to the lady: “Sister-in-law, A’Jie was worried about our brother and I came to accompany her. We only learned the news on the way here.” She signaled with a wave, and the constables behind her brought the gift boxes forward. Two of the lady’s warriors came down and carried several of the boxes over for the lady to inspect.
The lady said, “Dear brother-in-law, we have a small matter to deal with among ourselves. Would you and your sister please rest a while first? Once we’ve settled things, we’ll properly see our brother off together.”
Zhao Niangzi said, “How can I leave looking like this?”
Zhù Ying glanced at Su Mingluan. Su Mingluan gave a measured nod. Zhù Ying had already taken in the scene — to call it a confrontation was too generous; in truth Su Mingluan held the advantage. But above them still sat the lady, and by the look of things, this lady was no ordinary figure kept to the inner chambers — she had a modest power of her own that balanced the children’s factions.
Zhù Ying spoke to the lady: “Sister-in-law, I am not an outsider here.”
A’Hun was whispering in the eldest brother’s ear. Zhù Ying saw him and said, “If you have something to say, say it in the open. What kind of man speaks behind people’s backs?”
A’Hun raised his voice. “Don’t play the good person! As soon as the old lord passed away, the younger daughter tried to kill her own brother!”
Zhù Ying looked toward Su Mingluan. Su Mingluan said gravely, “I was protecting our father.”
Zhù Ying said to the lady: “Sister-in-law, where is our brother now? I’d like to see him. And it’s not right to let him lie like this — we still need to hold a proper funeral.”
The lady said slowly, “My family…”
“The last time I came to see our brother, he called everyone else out and told me alone: let me protect his sons. Let me protect his sons’ lives.”
The faction around A’Hun quietly exhaled. The lady also nodded.
Zhù Ying looked toward Su Mingluan. Su Mingluan said earnestly, “I have no intention of killing my brothers.”
Zhù Ying looked toward the eldest nephew and asked, “What has happened to you?”
The eldest nephew said, “Father passed away. We were dressing him. A’Hun — A’Hun found — found an ambush.” His heart was in deep grief.
Zhù Ying took a step toward the eldest nephew. A young man drew his blade and stepped in front of him, the edge pointing toward Zhù Ying, his eyes full of menace. Zhù Ying tilted her head and looked at him: he was A’Hun’s son.
“Did anyone attack you?” Zhù Ying continued to ask the eldest nephew. “Before A’Hun said anything, did anyone attack you?”
The eldest nephew hesitated. “Well…”
Zhù Ying felt one knot in her chest loosen.
“Killing your own brother is a very grave crime. You are standing at A’Hun’s side right now — which means you are accepting what A’Hun says as truth, which means you want your sister charged for that crime, which means you want her to die. Tell me now: did she strike you? Did you hear her give the order to attack you? Or — was it all A’Hun’s telling?”
A’Hun shouted out, “The lowlanders are the best at deceiving…”
Zhù Ying gave a small smile and slowly shook her head. Then she suddenly drew her blade and brought it down in a single stroke across the neck of the young man standing before her. Blood sprayed across the ground. The young man convulsed for a moment on the floor and went still. Zhù Ying held her blade steady and said, slowly: “Can we talk properly now?”
A’Hun stared with wide eyes. “You — “
Zhù Ying directed her gaze toward the eldest nephew. The eldest nephew startled, and his blade swung reflexively toward her. Zhù Ying raised both hands and parried — her palms and arms were jarred numb to the bone by the force. The eldest nephew’s blade was far inferior to hers, and when sparks flew from the impact, his blade acquired a large nick.
The entire hall was in an uproar. Every weapon in the room was drawn at once.
The lady of the Asu settlement stood up and called out at the top of her voice: “Everyone, hold your weapons!”
Zhù Ying stepped back two paces, blade still raised, and said: “Did your sister do any of that to you?”
The eldest nephew was also a fierce and brave man. He said, “Are you trying to intimidate me?”
Zhù Ying said, “Why would I want to intimidate you? You are grown and a warrior of your settlement — intimidation would be useless. I showed you an example, so you could see: if I truly wanted to kill you, I would not have given A’Hun the chance to say ‘your sister wants to harm you.’
Once you become lord of the settlement, what do you plan to do? Come down the mountain to kill me? Or close the gate, never deal with the lowlands again, keep your aunt locked out? Spend every day seizing each other’s captives, severing heads, drawing blood as offerings — that constant fighting with the Suoning family and the Liji tribe?”
The eldest nephew said quietly, “Of course not. You are my sworn father — my father’s sworn brother.”
“So you will go on being my friend, trading with the people below — is that right?”
Su Mingluan’s heart tightened. The lady of the Asu settlement herself did not know whether to feel glad or sorrowful.
The eldest nephew said, “Yes.” These past years of contact with the lowlands had brought no small improvement to life up in the mountains — he acknowledged this, and he also felt that the two sides should not return to the intermittent way of things as before.
Zhù Ying asked: “And how will the trading be done? Who will run it?”
“Before it was A’Hun helping my father. In the future he can go on helping me.” As he said it, he himself felt something was strange.
Zhù Ying smiled. “A man who says ‘lowlanders are nothing but liars’ in one breath, stirs up trouble inside the settlement with the next, and then turns around to do business with the lowlands? You believe that? Or are you saying — if I won’t accept him, you won’t trade with me?”
Zhù Ying moved closer to the lady: “Our brother has passed away. With the younger daughter taking over, this is precisely the moment when troublemakers want to cause chaos — and heightened vigilance is absolutely right. All the trade with the lowlands was originally in his hands alone. The money passed through him; your brother had to eat whatever scraps he left. Your brother was unwilling to accept that and came to deal with me directly. Now A’Hun wants to keep eating from his monopoly, and toss you a bone. For his own profit, A’Hun wants the children of our brother to tear each other apart — while you all bleed, he reaps the gains. And the more gains he reaps, the stronger he grows, until one day the question of who this settlement truly belongs to may not be so clear. Look at his clothes, his bracelets, his necklace, his blade…”
A’Hun listened with a mixture of shock and fury. “You lie, you lie! I am exposing your conspiracy! You and the younger daughter — “
“Very well, then. From this day forward, the lowlands will never do exclusive business with you.”
“No!”
Zhù Ying told Tong Li and Tong Bo to step forward. They took up positions at the front; she stepped behind them, first cuffing Tong Li on the head and then pinching Tong Bo on the shoulder. Then she spoke to the lady: “A child’s trick — it’s this simple to make two people start fighting each other. Tell the adults, and those two children get beaten; the adult says he’s the good one and gives him candy.”
The lady had heard her son say “in the future he can go on helping me” and had already settled back down into her seat. Now she called out to her children: “Those of you who are still my sons and daughters — come to me.”
Su Mingluan smoothed her hair and walked forward with long strides. The eldest nephew also moved to go; A’Hun grabbed at his sleeve. “Don’t go over there!”
Zhù Ying held her blade in her right hand and extended her left hand toward the eldest nephew. “Do you trust your father?”
The eldest nephew hesitated for just a moment — then stepped forward. A’Hun’s face changed completely. He turned and made to run.
Su Mingluan stood at her mother’s side. She pointed her hand downward: “Seize him!”
The eldest nephew shouted: “Little Sister! We cannot kill our own people!”
A’Hun as he backed away said, “That’s right…”
Zhù Ying said, “Xiang Le! Xiang An!”
The siblings had been tracking A’Hun’s every movement from the moment they stepped through the door. At the command, they moved in unison. “Here!”
“Take him down!”
“Yes!”
Zhù Ying said to Su Mingluan: “I’ve brought you someone to deal with him. You don’t have to be the one to kill your own people.”
A’Hun kept moving; Xiang Le and Xiang An lunged at him. A’Hun’s son was already dead, but he still had several guards. Su Mingluan made a gesture, and her own people surrounded the guards. The eldest nephew’s faction made to intervene; Xiang Le and Xiang An, seizing the moment when the two sides clashed again, pressed A’Hun down to the ground.
Xiang Le’s blade was at A’Hun’s throat.
Zhù Ying called out once: “Xiang Le.”
Everyone in the room, locked in struggle, froze, their eyes fixed on the blade resting against A’Hun’s neck. Xiang Le wanted nothing more than to draw the blade across A’Hun’s throat right then and there. He was breathing hard, his eyes crimson, yet with great effort he held back, and looked toward Zhù Ying.
“Sworn Father,” the eldest nephew called out again, “A’Hun is my father’s sworn brother.”
“He wanted to kill your father’s daughter — and let your father’s son be the one to do it. Without lifting his own hand, all he needed was to say the word: your sister wants to harm you, and your sister would have had no path left. Between A’Hun and your sister — who is closer to you?”
The lady called to her son again: “Who is closer to you?”
Zhao Niangzi said, “What are you all still dragging your feet for? Outside they’ve already killed plenty of people! If you keep killing, never mind waiting for the Suoning family to come — you’ll have killed each other off first!” In ordinary circumstances she would have said none of this with such measured reasoning — fighting or killing, she would not bat an eye. But right now her own nieces and nephews were involved, and they were equally flesh of her flesh. Better not to fight at all.
Su Mingluan said, “Brother, I swear I never meant to harm you! It was A’Hun who was sowing discord. The reason I prepared to seize him is because he was plotting to cause trouble!”
Zhù Ying said, “You two are blood siblings, but because of a schemer’s manipulation you have come to this. Come — let me oversee a blood oath between you: neither of you may harm the other. Punish the one who has done wrong; then sit down together as a family and talk things over properly. Sister-in-law, A’Jie — what do you say?”
The lady and Zhao Niangzi both said, “Yes! Let it be so!”
A’Hun broke and ran. Xiang Le and Xiang An threw themselves at him, pressing him down. The lady at once called for wine, cattle, and horses to be brought — they were already in the midst of preparing for a funeral, and all of these things were readily at hand. There and then, with Zhù Ying presiding and the shaman serving as her assistant, the lady’s four sons and two daughters drank blood wine together, each taking an oath: “I will not harm my own brothers and sisters.”
Zhù Ying smiled. “Now that’s settled. And let the people outside stop fighting.”
Su Mingluan and the eldest nephew both remained unmoved for a moment. Zhù Ying beckoned to Xiang Le: “Bring him forward!” Xiang Le and Xiang An gripped A’Hun’s arms tightly and dragged him before the assembled crowd.
Zhù Ying said, “In the past, he alone controlled all business dealings with the lowlands. The old lord, wishing to make life better for the settlement and allow everyone to trade with the lowlands, made that possible. To sabotage the old lord’s work, he killed the father of these siblings — wanting to bring the trade to an end. The old lord, rather than harming him, still treated him as a brother. Then, for the sake of his own profit, he tried to make the old lord’s children bleed. He has committed crimes. But — I made a covenant with the old lord, and there is also a sworn agreement: the guilty among those of the mountain, the mountain people judge. I hand him to you now.”
Though he said “you,” he meant Su Mingluan.
Su Mingluan said without hesitation, “There is no place for someone like this in the settlement! Anyone who does as he has done — harms my family — will meet the same end!”
Zhù Ying watched as Su Mingluan calmly gave her command: “Drain his blood! Use it to offer sacrifice to our father!”
Xiang Le and Xiang An wept aloud.
A’Hun’s blood was drained. The shaman, with practiced skill, cut his throat and then drove a blade through his heart — and the ritual was complete.
The shaman set down the knife, led Su Mingluan to take the high seat, placed the lord’s coronet upon her head, and handed her a blade and a staff in turn.
The entire settlement broke into resounding cheers.
The two factions that had just been on the verge of killing one another were brothers once more. The eldest nephew, a little sorrowful and a little ashamed, said, “We’ve let Father’s funeral fall behind.”
Su Mingluan said, “Father must have wanted to stay home a few more days before going to meet the ancestors. Now that A’Hun is dead, Father can go in peace.”
“That’s true.” The eldest nephew was still a little unsettled.
Su Mingluan said, “Big Brother — I understand everything.”
She issued the first command of her rule as new lord: confiscate A’Hun’s household. Execute A’Hun’s family members and those who had sided with him; drain their blood as an offering to the heavens.
Her second command: divide A’Hun’s property. Distribute A’Hun’s wine, meat, and grain among her own forces and her eldest brother’s — every person to receive a share. Those who had died in the fighting would be given proper burials. The great hall was given to her eldest brother. The livestock was divided among her other three brothers; some of the jewelry was given to her sisters. All remaining property was taken under her own control, with her mother to choose first from among it.
She also distributed rewards to the shaman and others, and appointed her several “reading companions” to take charge of key positions. When all assignments had been made, she sat down with her eldest brother and third brother to speak privately.
Zhù Ying said to the lady: “Sister-in-law, I’d like to go and see our brother.”
The lady said, “I’ll take you.”
Zhù Ying patted the shoulders of Xiang Le and Xiang An. Tears still on their faces, the two of them followed Zhù Ying into the great hall.
Su Mingluan turned her head and glanced back, and thought: I am in the magistrate’s debt once again.
She had known that her ascension to the lordship would face opposition, and she had made advance preparations — axes and blades at the ready, for anyone who dared make trouble, she would show no mercy. She had never considered asking Zhù Ying for help in this matter. She needed to establish herself by her own abilities alone. If she always relied on someone else, she would forever be a puppet. Only by seizing full control of the mountain settlement herself could she negotiate with the court in the lowlands from a position of strength. Otherwise, if she only reached her seat because of someone else’s support, how could she hold her head up when speaking to others?
A’Hun — a man of no great skill, but a very quick tongue — had turned it around and told her eldest brother: “Your younger sister wants to kill you so she can become lord. She’s afraid that, as a woman, others won’t submit to her, so she wants to kill you first. You see those people in ambush — aren’t they hers?”
The eldest nephew had thus found himself surrounded by A’Hun’s faction, while A’Hun shouted out: “The old lord wanted his son to be the next lord! What family would have a son and pass things to a daughter?!”
Su Mingluan had already positioned her people. At their own father’s funeral, she did not hesitate — she directly ordered A’Hun and her eldest brother surrounded, and called on her brother to come over to her side. Or to kill A’Hun and bring the head to her as proof. The eldest nephew, having lost his trust in his own sister, trusted what he saw with his own eyes.
At that moment, the lady of the Asu settlement had arrived, accompanied by her own personal guards. The sons and daughters stood in two factions, each presenting their case to the mother. Su Mingluan said, “Mother — when have I ever done anything without thinking it through first?”
But her mother wavered at that critical moment. The eldest nephew was older, a proven warrior, and had built up considerable prestige and followers within the settlement over many years. There were those who would answer to him. So the standoff in the square outside the great hall had come about as well.
It was Zhù Ying’s arrival that had broken the stalemate — when the lady called her son to her side, the deadlock was broken, and things arrived at an outcome that could, at least, be accepted.
Su Mingluan looked at the subdued expressions of her brothers and thought: There’s no hope for that now. A’Hun is too detestable!