“The situation in the Central Plains has changed dramatically. Though it was expected, the concrete response still requires major adjustments. The Propaganda Ministry has been extremely busy lately…”

It was some hour of the night, and in the courtyard at Moist Pond, occasional voices could be heard drifting over from not far away. In the study, Shishi spoke with a fair degree of casualness.

Yu Hezhong thought it over and said in a low voice, “How does this connect to your Propaganda Ministry…”

“Propaganda work has now entered an entirely new phase. In the past, many people’s attitudes were still somewhat ambiguous, but this time two major events have sharpened the divide. One is the initial rollout of the new land policy, which made the Huaxia Army’s stance unmistakable. The other is Dai Mengwei’s move, which, at this critical juncture, has made him and Zou Xu the key figures standing against the Huaxia Army. From now on, complex public opposition won’t stay at the level of mere talk…”

“…Those who support the Huaxia Army will earnestly consider the possibility of land redistribution, of building a new era. Those who oppose the Huaxia Army must be prepared to bleed and sacrifice for their family land. Public opinion under these circumstances is different from before. Even many people within the Propaganda Ministry are re-examining what this all means. You know, many of us who were selected to write dramatic scripts still have decent relationships with the old Confucians and scholars—some of us even studied under them as teachers. These past two years, everyone in Chengdu argued back and forth, but the disputes really came down to whether they’d acknowledge the Huaxia Army’s achievements, whether they could let go of the matter of the regicide. But recently, everyone seems to have realized—going forward, over the land, people are going to die…”

Perhaps it was the private setting, or perhaps because she’d spoken of this too much lately, Shishi’s words came calm and fluent, and Yu Hezhong’s tangled emotions settled somewhat—but then he was struck with alarm at the implications of the latter half of what she’d said.

He hesitated for a moment. “Is the Huaxia Army really going to go this far? Is Ning Yi really going to destroy Confucianism to this extent?”

“…What does Brother Yu think?” Shishi asked, smiling as she looked at him.

Yu Hezhong considered it. “…I still don’t quite feel it as real yet. But if it’s as dangerous as you say, Shishi… then yes—these past two years, many old Confucians, even while cursing aloud, seemed almost ready to reconcile with the Huaxia Army in private. But if the land redistribution keeps being pushed forward like this, everyone outside who owns land will probably end up standing behind Zou Xu and Dai Mengwei, fighting the Huaxia Army to the death. Is it… truly necessary?”

“That question has been asked every day in Chengdu these past two years, and yet things have still come to this point today. The answer, really, has been there all along—what’s needed now is some resolve.” Shishi smiled and looked at him. “Brother Yu, what will you do going forward?”

“I…” Faced with this question, Yu Hezhong fell silent. He lowered his head, took a breath, then drew another deep breath, his lips parting several times before he finally said quietly, “…What can I do? I’m no… important figure. And now that Lord Liu is dead, what could I possibly accomplish? I’m… out of the game, aren’t I?”

He raised his head to look at Shishi. She looked back at him, her gentle gaze carrying a trace of regret. As old friends of many years, Yu Hezhong wasn’t dull-witted—he could sense what lay beneath her words—but he too felt helpless. After a moment he opened his mouth again. “Actually… the events in the city these past few days, you… you already know about them, don’t you? I… I…”

“Brother Yu, when a man faces great matters, he needs a calm heart. Actually, Liheng has a saying I find quite interesting—he says men, in the end, only endure through sheer stubborn persistence. There’s no such thing as a great man, only someone who simply refuses to give up.” As she spoke, Shishi reached out and straightened the papers on her desk. “Think about it this way, Brother Yu—when the news reached Chengdu that Dai Mengwei and Xiao Zheng had killed Liu Guangshi, it was chaotic, of course. But what’s the actual state of things in the Central Plains and the Chu region right now? With Liu Guangshi dead, is the coalition of warlords he’d cobbled together really going to obediently hand over all its power to Dai Mengwei and Zou Xu just like that?”

“That…”

“Right now in the Central Plains, heavy snow has sealed off the mountains, the coalition has scattered. A few of the major leaders may be starting to negotiate terms with Zou Xu, but the various middle and lower ranks are probably in total chaos. Those without real strength are scheming for petty advantage; those with strength are waiting to see who offers the best price. Some people favor Dai Mengwei and Zou Xu; others are thinking, this is even worse than the old Wu Dynasty—might as well just surrender to the Huaxia Army instead… Brother Yu, you’ve spent over a year in Chengdu, with real standing. How many people have you come to know, sought you out, spoken with you? You already know so many people—why is it that the moment something goes wrong, you think you’re useless, that you’re out of the game?”

“I… but…” Yu Hezhong’s eyes widened, his mouth parting slightly. “I… I’d assumed the Huaxia Army didn’t care about… that sort of thing out there…”

“The Huaxia Army isn’t in the business of squandering resources,” Shishi said with a smile.

“But… Ning Yi himself hasn’t even come back…”

“Ning Yi hasn’t come back because, compared to the land policy, this matter isn’t a big one. But when something worthwhile presents itself, the Huaxia Army isn’t going to push it away either. You have no idea—back when we needed to settle those two accounts of yours, Ning… heh, never mind that. Brother Yu, the Huaxia Army genuinely doesn’t keep idle hands around. When the news from the Central Plains first came in, I actually considered whether this should be the end of it—whether to release your ties here as well. But…” Here Shishi paused for a moment. “Whether there’s anything more you can do, in the end, depends on what you yourself want.”

“I… you mean, Shishi, you want me to recruit, for the Huaxia Army, those people who might want to come over…”

“To recruit useful people. The Huaxia Army has its own standards.”

“But… my abilities…” Yu Hezhong hesitated. “I… I’m afraid of botching something important…”

“Brother Yu.” Shishi called to him, looked at him steadily for a moment, then spoke slowly. “If you don’t do this, someone else will. But if you can do it, then from now on it could very well be you who does it, again and again.”

She looked at the silent Yu Hezhong. “Actually, these past two years, after I joined the Propaganda Ministry, my earlier responsibilities have gradually been handed off one by one. You, Brother Yu, are the last intelligence contact I’ve personally kept. To be honest, we anticipated early on that Liu Guangshi might fail, which is why we reminded you to bring your sister-in-law over… Now that Liu Guangshi’s great ship has sunk, pulling chestnuts from the fire in his and Zou Xu’s territory would be dangerous. If, after thinking it over, Brother Yu, you feel you can’t do this, then I’ll simply close out this intelligence line and let it go…”

Shishi’s temperament had always been perceptive and transparent; in the past, toward the handful of people close to her, she rarely tried to force anyone into anything. Having said this much, she said no more, but rose and went to the door, having Xiaoling bring in the cooked noodles.

Yu Hezhong’s thoughts were in turmoil. He had certainly suffered some grievances these past few days, but by now he understood the nature of what Shishi was calling him to “join.” Liu Guangshi was dead, his own exalted position in Chengdu was gone. If he wanted to preserve anything at all, his only option was to leave here and go recruit people for the Huaxia Army in the Central Plains.

But his own abilities were mediocre—could he actually do this well? Standing in direct opposition to Dai Mengwei and Zou Xu, if he were caught, would he suffer a fate worse than death? And once he took on this task, if he ever betrayed the Huaxia Army, they would certainly deal with him eventually.

The Central Plains had fallen, and he too had drifted through years of hardship, witnessing many things too painful to speak of. In his year and more in Chengdu, he’d also heard of many such perils and stakes. Once he chose a side, there would be no more room for ease and leisure.

But what other path was there to take?

He hesitated for a while.

He’d enjoyed over a year of comfort in Chengdu without even preparing himself mentally for it all to suddenly end. In truth, ever since the tenth of the month, when he’d started coming to see Shishi, he’d still harbored some faint hope in his heart—he simply didn’t want this life to end, hoping Shishi’s boundless capability could arrange for him some equally comfortable path once more.

But just as with those old Confucians who’d seen the Huaxia Army’s iron resolve to redistribute the land, some things, sooner or later, simply become reality.

He picked up his noodles, and amid the rising steam, thought again of Gao Wenjing and Wei Rou, who had accompanied him this past year and more…

Suddenly they seemed to have grown very distant.

“There’s no other path, is there?” he said quietly.

“Not necessarily,” Shishi sighed. “You could find somewhere to go and keep being a salted fish, if you like…”

“But then… you, Shishi, would look down on me, wouldn’t you?”

Shishi sat down across from him, raised her head, and smiled faintly. “In the past… I could tolerate anyone, took everyone lightly, I suppose that’s what you’d call a Buddha-like temperament. That disposition let me get along quite happily even at Fan Tower. But over these years… maybe I’ve been corrupted by Liheng, but sometimes I’ve grown rather harsh. Liheng says he wants everyone to awaken. How could everyone possibly awaken?… But watching those who strive, who push forward, who fight with everything they have—so many of them have died—sometimes I simply don’t feel much like befriending the mediocre and the idle anymore. Brother Yu, you… if you quietly went off somewhere and lived a comfortable life, I’d probably be glad whenever I thought of it, but I’d also feel there wasn’t much left to talk about with you…”

She paused. “Liheng, on his end, is dead set on scaling a great mountain. He doesn’t want to be emperor, doesn’t want three hundred years of dynastic rise and fall for himself. He genuinely… wants to bring about a state of affairs completely different from anything before. So many people are gritting their teeth and racing forward with him. Brother Yu, you once dreamed of helping the world and saving its people too, didn’t you? When you were with Chen Sifeng, the two of you talked about doing great things. Back then I knew so many people, and sometimes I thought, it would be fine if the two friends beside me didn’t do anything great. But now, Brother Yu, it would be such a waste not to do something great. Because back then it was an age of prosperity, and in an age of prosperity, some people can afford to be salted fish. But now is a chaotic age of dynastic upheaval—you can’t afford to be a salted fish anymore. And besides, watching Liheng do something this magnificent, how could you bear to stand outside of it? This is land equalization, this is giving the tillers their own fields, this is establishing village schools, this is letting tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of common people learn to read—this is surpassing something even Confucius himself never managed. Brother Yu, how could you stand apart from this? This is an opportunity that comes once in three hundred years, even a thousand.”

Her words were gentle, but by the end her tone had grown genuinely impassioned—another side of herself she’d never shown Yu Hezhong before. Only at this moment did Yu Hezhong finally understand: Shishi wasn’t merely infatuated with that regicidal, domineering, exceptionally capable Ning Liheng. She had truly been won over by his ideals, and it was because of this that she adored him with her whole heart.

A bitter ache rose in his chest, yet it felt different from before. In the past he had once fantasized about accomplishing some great deed himself, making Shishi look at him with new eyes, winning her favor—because all women in this world adore the strong. But the idea of Shishi coming to genuinely believe in the greatness of someone’s ideals, and thus falling in love with him for that reason—such a thing had never even occurred to him in his wildest fantasies. Perhaps this was what real love actually looked like.

He gave a bitter smile amid the steam rising from his noodles. “Shishi, you really are Propaganda Ministry material—quite the talent for stirring people’s hearts. But… just like they say, something Confucianism itself never managed to accomplish in thousands of years—enlightenment, land redistribution—so many people in this world have tried and never once succeeded. What makes the Huaxia Army think they can actually pull it off? And if they can’t…”

“Whether something can be done or not depends on what concrete problems you run into. When there’s a concrete problem, you discuss the problem, and find a way to solve it. Isn’t that exactly what the Huaxia Army has been doing in all its great debates in Chengdu these past two years? If you refuse to discuss concrete problems and just say, no one’s ever managed this before, so it can never be done—how is that any different from talking nonsense? Across a thousand years, ten thousand years, there always comes a moment when something that couldn’t be done before, can finally be done today…”

“And the most important thing is—if someone, somewhere, has to solve these problems eventually, then why shouldn’t that someone be us?”

Across the rising steam, Shishi suddenly reached out and gripped Yu Hezhong’s arm. In the dim light, her eyes shone brilliantly.

Watching this, Yu Hezhong suddenly felt a sharp ache behind his nose. He understood, in that instant, that in all their years of acquaintance, he had perhaps never once truly drawn close to the heart of the woman before him. And such a vivid, vital light in her eyes—even back at Fan Tower, in those days when they’d debated the affairs of the realm and poured out passionate words, in the very height of her youth—he had never once seen it.

What exactly had Ning Yi done to her…

Not enough sleep—here’s one more short chapter.