From Kun Da Chi’s main camp to Zhù Ying’s command headquarters, the route passed through a battlefield and through the defensive zone of any one of the three military columns. The envoy chose the shortest path — leading directly into Little General Leng’s encampment.

Upon hearing that an envoy had arrived at the camp, Little General Leng immediately grew alert and asked, “Is this real or a ruse? How many people? How many troops did they bring?”

The gate officer replied, “One principal and one deputy, with two interpreters, two guides, and several figures who appear to be attendants. No troops were spotted. The one leading them is an old man — looks like he’s about to lose his teeth.”

Little General Leng said, “Do not let your guard down. Dispatch scouts to probe behind them, and pass my order — all encampments are to be on alert!”

“Yes, sir!”

The scouts galloped out, while Little General Leng donned his helmet and armor, buckled on his saber, and ordered that Kun Da Chi’s envoy be brought to the main tent to speak.

The envoy had already anticipated less-than-courteous treatment. The old man kept his temper well in check and, following the soldiers, was “escorted” between two columns of troops all the way to the entrance of the main tent. His attendants were kept at a distance; only the principal envoy, the deputy, and the interpreter were permitted entry.

Little General Leng had every intention of making a show of force. By this point, they had all reached a shared understanding — this entire battle had come about purely because of internal turmoil among the western barbarians. They had effectively been dragged into someone else’s mess, nearly made stepping-stones for another. Small wonder he was in no mood to be pleasant.

Little General Leng wore a stern expression and opened with a challenge: “Are you truly an envoy?”

The envoy produced the token given by Kun Da Chi: “This was a gift bestowed upon us by the late Emperor when we came to pay tribute at court years ago.”

Little General Leng examined it, noted the palace workshop’s markings, gave a cold snort, and said, “What is your purpose here?”

The envoy replied, “By my lord’s command, I have come to negotiate peace.”

Little General Leng showed not the slightest respect for the man’s age and began to mock him: “Oh? Kun Da Chi no longer wishes to fight? I was still waiting to fight him to the death! Hmph! It was his treachery that caused the court to mobilize so many troops and so much grain and silver — and now he simply wants to stop, just like that?”

The envoy remained unruffled. He offered a slight smile, yet his words were composed and orderly: “This war was never my lord’s wish. He was forced into it by the treacherous rebels and had no choice but to comply. Fortunately, Heaven’s armies demonstrated their divine might, striking fear into the traitors, and only then was my lord able to seize control and command me to come and negotiate peace.”

Little General Leng wore his cold expression a little longer and said things to the effect of “you’ve cost us many brothers — how is that account to be settled.” Then, knowing when to stop pressing, he held himself back. This matter was not his to decide — not even Zhù Ying’s to decide alone. It had to be reported to the court. After much deliberation, Little General Leng did not dare scuttle the proceedings, and instead ordered that the envoy be temporarily housed within his camp.

That night, the scouts reported back: “No sign of enemy troops lying in ambush behind them.”

Only then did Little General Leng dispatch someone to inform Zhù Ying and prepare an escort to “accompany” the envoy to the command headquarters.

The courier arrived at the headquarters first and relayed the matter in full. Everyone at the headquarters felt both pleased and somewhat unsatisfied. Chen Mei muttered, “We’re already talking peace? I haven’t had my fill yet!”

Lu Danqing and Sang Daniang also nodded quietly in agreement — they felt deeply wronged. Their plan had been perfectly sound, yet they had been punished for it and missed out on the last great battle!

Zhù Ying glanced at him: “War is a grim business. When it can be avoided, it should be. At your age, you have no business being so impulsive — you must learn to value human life.”

“I only meant that if we don’t beat them hard enough to feel the pain and fear us, they’ll likely come right back later to raid and extort the border,” Chen Mei quickly explained.

Zhù Ying said, “Do you think I don’t want the same? It’s simply not that simple. The western barbarians are not yet spent, yet the court is beginning to show signs of exhaustion in sustaining this effort. Even if we pressed on and conquered them by force, dealing with the aftermath would be a tremendous headache. We can’t simply kill and leave — someone has to manage what comes next.”

Chen Mei had grown up reading the classics and understood this reasoning. He grumbled for a moment, then stopped pressing for battle, and only said: “You mentioned before that any future dealings with the envoy would be handed to me.”

“Of course,” Zhù Ying replied. In this regard, she trusted Chen Mei quite well. He had grown up in a Chief Minister’s household, and through years of constant exposure had naturally absorbed a sense of how many things should be handled — something no one else in the entire headquarters could match.

Sang Daniang gave Lu Danqing a gentle poke in the back. Lu Danqing said, “Adoptive Father, what about us then? Just like this? Even if peace talks are underway, they won’t be settled in a day or two. Let us go to General Leng’s camp and relieve A’Fa?”

Lang Rui and the others had been sent to the front lines and were acquitting themselves admirably. Lu Danqing felt more than a little envious.

Zhù Ying said, “You don’t need to worry about them. I have other tasks for the two of you.”

Sang Daniang stepped forward: “This subordinate can also assist Commander Lu!” She enjoyed using Lu Danqing’s official title, just as she herself liked being addressed as “Your Excellency” or “Official.”

Zhù Ying said, “I was just about to put the two of you to use. Take your troops to General Leng’s position and tell him to exercise every caution and guard against surprise attacks.”

Chen Mei said, “Kun Da Chi would dare try something underhanded?!”

Zhù Ying said, “It’s not just him. If I were his elder brother, knowing that once Kun Da Chi makes peace with the court he’ll have his hands free to deal with me, I would absolutely try to sabotage the whole thing. So this envoy must arrive safely and make it all the way to the capital.”

Chen Mei said, “How convenient for Kun Da Chi — not only did we devastate the rival factions for him, but now we have to protect him as well.” Just thinking about having his outer robe torn off made his teeth itch with rage.

Zhù Ying said, “It’s not for his sake — it’s for the court and for peace along the border. After this battle, his vitality is sapped. There’s no shortage of people within western barbarian territory who oppose him, and even with diligent effort, he won’t recover for a good ten to twenty years. Danqing, you two take a thousand troops to General Leng’s position and wait there. When Erlang passes through, escort him to Kun Da Chi’s camp — General Leng has been fighting day and night, and I fear his forces are exhausted.”

“Hm?” Chen Mei let out a puzzled sound.

Zhù Ying said, “Even if we’re sending the envoy to the capital, we still have to send a reply to Kun Da Chi. You wanted this assignment yourself, so naturally you should be the one to go. The situation is different now. Last time, when the two armies faced each other on the battlefield, the danger fell on the soldiers. As an envoy, you were not particularly targeted. Now that peace talks are underway, the battlefield has shifted to the envoys themselves. With people watching from the sidelines and waiting for an opportunity, safety must be foremost.”

“Ah, right!” Chen Mei nodded repeatedly. “The circumstances are different, and so is the danger.”

“Alright, all of you go and prepare. As for you three — if you act on your own initiative again, it won’t be twenty strokes of the military rod. Your heads are only temporarily resting on your shoulders.”

All three instinctively drew their necks in and answered obediently: “Yes.”

After the three of them left, Wu Pei sidled over, gazing at Zhù Ying with hopeful eyes. Zhù Ying said, “What are you looking at me for? When the envoy arrives, you will accompany them. In the next two days, go find me a capable interpreter.”

“Yes!” Wu Pei answered loudly.

……

Five days later, Little General Leng dispatched three hundred troops to escort Kun Da Chi’s envoy to the headquarters. Chen Mei held his head high, with Wu Pei at his side, grinning crookedly as he waited for the old man: “My dear elder, how have you been since we last met!”

The one who had torn off his robe that day had not been this old man — the old man had actually tried to intervene, and when he failed, he had sighed with grief before letting the matter go. Chen Mei did not tear anything off the old man in return, and even came out to receive him, making for a polite young man overall. Only his expression lacked any particular sincerity.

The interpreter translated his words.

The old man assumed an expression of shame, saying, “Honorable envoy, I am deeply embarrassed, deeply embarrassed.”

Chen Mei did not trade barbs with him at the gate but said, “The Marshal is awaiting your distinguished arrival. Please, this way!”

The party arrived at the main tent. Two rows of halberds were displayed before it, and the old man, feeling uncertain, put on a half-genuine, half-performed look of alarm and followed Chen Mei inside. Within the tent, two rows of people were seated on either side — civil and military officials alike, most of them young, their faces radiating a kind of vitality.

The envoy made his bow, then looked up at Zhù Ying and exclaimed in surprise: “Could it be that the one seated above is the Zhù official from years past?”

Before the interpreter could speak, Zhù Ying had already nodded: “It is I. My dear envoy, it has been a long time. In those days, Kun Da Chi had not yet become the barbarian chieftain — he was direct and agreeable. How has he come to be like this now? You were at his side all those years ago, esteemed envoy. Did you truly not counsel him at all during this time?”

The envoy still spoke in the barbarian tongue: “Shameful, shameful. I failed to serve my lord well enough, and allowed him to be coerced into becoming an enemy of the Heavenly Dynasty.” He then repeated the same account he had given to Little General Leng.

Zhù Ying said, “So you are saying that the chieftain can now make his own decisions?”

The two conversed without using the interpreter, each speaking their own language, yet somehow understanding each other perfectly. Chen Mei pulled the interpreter aside and quietly translated for him. Not only Chen Mei, but also the students of Yang Jing whom Zhù Ying had brought along were astonished. In the months they had spent here, they had known Zhù Ying to excel at military and civil administration alike — but this was completely unexpected.

On the other side, the two had finished their pleasantries. Zhù Ying first arranged for the envoy to rest, and she herself needed to send word to the capital.

The envoy was escorted away to rest. Chen Mei, burning with curiosity, asked Zhù Ying, “Marshal, you know the barbarian tongue?”

Zhù Ying said, “I served in the Court of State Ceremonial and managed affairs with the four outer peoples — how could I not have picked up at least a little of their language?”

She truly understood it! Chen Mei’s mouth fell half open. Feeling that was rather dim of him, he quickly closed it. Zhù Ying said, “Go and attend to him — keep a close watch. Don’t let him go nosing around.”

“Yes! I guarantee he won’t be able to pry into anything!”

The young officials of the headquarters also needed a moment to absorb the news that “the Marshal actually knows the barbarian tongue.” But Zhù Ying would not let them all rest: “Now that the envoy is here, this war won’t drag on much longer. You few — what are your plans?”

The officials exchanged glances and all said, “We await the Marshal’s orders.”

“What orders? When I return to the capital, I will be relinquishing the post of Military Commissioner. Naturally, you cannot remain at the headquarters either. Speak frankly — what are your aspirations?”

They pushed forward the eldest among them to speak on their behalf: “To serve the nation and its people, and to follow whatever arrangements are made.”

Zhù Ying said, “Speak honestly.”

“We wish to do something of real substance,” they said. They were all people who had suffered slights in the capital. Reflecting on those experiences, and then looking at their present circumstances, the perceptive ones understood: returning to the capital now would be no different from before. Better to do something genuinely meaningful — something that served the nation and the people, and also served as capital for their own protection.

Zhù Ying said, “Not bad. You haven’t disappointed Master Yang’s expectations of you. He wrote to me a while back asking me to find a place for you. Having taken that on, I cannot leave the matter half-finished. For the lot of you, a term of local office will be more grounding than the capital. Very well — this I will arrange.”

“We are entirely at your disposal.”

“In that case, don’t sit idle now. Go at once and continue practicing. Go to Governor Yao’s office and see what arrangements he may have. Over these past months, you should have observed that he is a capable man. Follow him and learn what you can.”

Zhù Ying’s thinking was this: once the battle was over, some local officials would be promoted and transferred away, and the vacancies could be filled by placing these men here. In these past months, she had already smoothed the path for them, so they would not be thrown into a completely unfamiliar environment without any bearings, left to be taken advantage of.

After her conversation with the young officials, Zhù Ying set to writing her memorial.

She sent it by the fastest courier route. Her memorial contained her own opinion — negotiate peace, and yield as little as possible on the terms. Because Kun Da Chi likely still needed to free up his forces to stabilize his own rear and therefore needed peace himself. The border on their own side likewise needed time to recover, and for that, certain arrangements had to be made.

The imperial decree from the capital arrived swiftly: “Approved. Escort the envoy to the capital.” But Zhù Ying still could not move lightly. She had to first see to the aftermath, to confirm that the western barbarians had truly withdrawn, before she could return to the capital with the envoy.

She first sent Chen Mei to deliver word to Kun Da Chi.

Lu Danqing and the others led their troops and escorted the reply all the way to Kun Da Chi’s main camp. Kun Da Chi sent his son out to receive them. Chen Mei finally stood tall with vindicated pride, put on a slight air of dignity, made a show of accepting Kun Da Chi’s claim of having been coerced, and conveyed the court’s intentions.

Kun Da Chi was relieved as well. The opposition forces had been depleted during the war, and he himself was too exhausted to fight on. This was the perfect moment to free his hands so he could return home and deal with the rebels. He sent many gifts for Chen Mei and Zhù Ying. Chen Mei accepted none of them, and instead smiled and said, “These are small matters. What I wonder is whether the envoy you’ve dispatched has the authority to make binding decisions. If we talk it all through and then you disavow the agreement on your end, we’d all have to fight it out again — wouldn’t that be a nuisance? Far better to settle it in one decisive battle right now.”

Kun Da Chi felt a flash of displeasure but still said, “What is the honorable envoy’s meaning?”

“Surely it cannot be that you fight when you feel like it and stop when you feel like it? You worked yourselves into a fury, charged across the border to vent your rage at us, and now after all that, we’re expected to wine and dine you lavishly? So in your mouths, the ‘Heavenly Dynasty of a Superior Nation’ — the ‘Superior Nation’ part is the title, but the role you actually assign us is that of a ‘put-upon wife who must endure everything’? You need to show something — to demonstrate your sincerity to the Emperor. That’s only right, isn’t it?”

Kun Da Chi had his own expectations. Among those who filled their mouths with talk of benevolence and righteousness, there were fools and there were schemers. The fools genuinely believed in it — say the word “tribute” and they would exchange enormous benefits for a nominal gesture. The schemers used benevolence and righteousness as a pretext, and when it came time to act, they were more ruthless than anyone.

The man before him was likely the latter. Yet toward the court as a whole, things would not be taken to extremes — that was something they had already discussed among themselves.

He said reluctantly, “But of course. Our kingdom’s Chancellor has been dispatched to the capital to conduct negotiations.” The specific terms he preferred not to discuss with Chen Mei.

Chen Mei tested the waters briefly, then did not press further.

Kun Da Chi again wished to host Chen Mei, but Chen Mei, eager to return and report, politely declined — though he did accept some of Kun Da Chi’s gifts.

The following day they set out, and Chen Mei’s spirits lifted considerably. He chatted and laughed with Lu Danqing and Sang Daniang: “Smooth sailing from here…”

Halfway through the journey.

“Wuuu—” The sound of a horn rang out, and a detachment of ambushing soldiers charged out from the flank! At that moment, they were positioned squarely between the two camps. Because peace talks were underway, both sides had restrained their troops, and these several dozen li had become something of a no-man’s-land.

Sang Daniang shouted, “Form ranks!”

Lu Danqing also shouted, “Archers!”

Chen Mei commanded, “Send up a signal!”

“Swoosh!” An arrow was shot into the sky. It soared upward and burst into a flare of smoke and light in midair!

Half a day later, Little General Leng personally led a large force and arrived on the scene, forcing the troops surrounding Chen Mei and the others to retreat. Jin Yu rubbed her hands together eagerly: “General, do we pursue?!”

From the opposite direction came another round of horns and battle cries — Kun Da Chi had also dispatched troops in response. The two sides faced off, and battle seemed about to erupt at any moment.

Chen Mei, his face covered in sweat and his hat knocked askew, straightened his hat and cried out, “Hold on! This may all be a misunderstanding!”

Sang Daniang translated his words, her voice sharp as she shouted it out — the interpreter had been killed by a stray arrow earlier in the fight, and as she had some knowledge of the barbarian tongue, she served temporarily as translator.

Both sides warily sized each other up. Little General Leng then interrogated the prisoners, had them beaten thoroughly, and at last extracted the truth — it had indeed been the doing of Kun Da Chi’s elder brother. Having seized his eldest brother’s position, the other brothers resented it too: if not the eldest, why should it be you? They had acted against him under their eldest brother’s name.

Seeing that he was about to negotiate peace, they had naturally dispatched troops to ambush and kill the envoy. They had not moved when Chen Mei went to deliver the reply, but upon seeing that only a thousand troops accompanied the return journey — and that the one leading them was a woman — they decided to strike on the way back.

How does one make two parties with poor relations become more amicable? Give them a common enemy, and then unite them in beating that enemy together. Little General Leng’s expression eased somewhat, and Kun Da Chi became noticeably more courteous. Little General Leng reinforced the escort and accompanied Chen Mei back to the headquarters. Zhù Ying then demanded that Kun Da Chi withdraw his forces before she would escort the envoy back to the capital.

She was experienced in this sort of thing: once Kun Da Chi pulled back, reassembling such a large force would be very difficult. The peace talks would then be a settled matter.

She kept close watch on the military dispatches. Only after the scouts personally witnessed Kun Da Chi leaving a small garrison on the border while the remaining tribal forces gradually dispersed — with Kun Da Chi himself leading his troops back — did she set out with the envoy for the capital.

……

The arrangements before departing for the capital need not be recounted in detail. Yao Chenying’s new appointment had not yet been issued, and with him present, the western frontier could be trusted. Zhù Ying arranged for troops from each column to gradually return to their posts, and the memorial recommending commendations had already been written.

After a long and dusty journey, they finally arrived back in the capital before the year’s end — just in time for the year-end evaluations from the various prefectures.

Fifty li from the capital, people had come ahead to wait. Lang Rui had been glancing around with the proud air of a young general returning in triumph, but when he saw who had come to meet them, he gave a start: “Uncle, what happened to your face? Who gave you that? Never mind — Grandfather is back! He’ll make them pay for it!”

Lin Feng was dragged before Zhù Ying by Lang Rui. Chen Mei got his own look and was surprised: “What happened to your face?”

Zhù Ying looked at Lin Feng’s face — a black eye, a bruised cheekbone, and a corner of his mouth that had only just scabbed over. This was a fight, and a recent one at that.

What had she said to Su Zhe and Zhao Su before leaving the capital?

“Don’t be surprised when the time comes.”

She hadn’t even reached the city gate yet, and Lin Feng had already rushed out to deliver the first surprise.