“Do you know what you’ve done!”
“I know—”
On the streets of Jin Territory, the spring chill had not yet lifted, patches of snow scattered here and there. The various sides, tense and hardened, faced off in an atmosphere thick with menace. The Lady Chancellor, tall and upright in her plain black gown, closed in on Xue Guangcheng, whose own sharp intensity was aimed squarely at Zou Xu. Behind the carriage, Zou Xu’s response showed not the slightest hesitation or timidity.
Further down the road, still more onlookers watched this scene unfold, weighing the caliber of the various factions that had branched off from the southwest—including the woman rumored to have countless ties to that Mister Ning of the southwest, and how she would carry herself, with what authority, in the face of such an incident.
That he had once betrayed and broken away from the Huaxia Army was the greatest stain on Zou Xu’s reputation. Now, faced with this accusation, his response made Zhan Wu frown, caught Xue Guangcheng slightly off guard, and even made Lou Shuwan turn to look back at him, a cool spring breeze passing over her.
“A few years back, Mister Ning ordered the Fifth Army under Liu Chengzong to march north; along the way, they absorbed some fifty thousand troops. Because of supply and combat readiness issues, we couldn’t bring them across the Yellow River, so I was ordered to reorganize and train them right there on the south bank… With no supplies, no rations, no resources, we had to live off the surrounding areas. Later, in Ruzhou, I fell deeply in love with a woman, and I killed twenty-nine members of her husband’s family. Two years ago, in the first month of Year One of the Wuzhenxing era, the eight-person work team at Funiu Mountain fell apart—they wanted to kill me, so I killed them too, and from that point on, I left the Huaxia Army!”
“So you admit you did all this—”
“But do you know how that woman’s husband’s family used to treat her? Do you know how they oppressed the ordinary people around them? Xue Guangcheng, use your head, exercise a bit of imagination! Think about what a landowner in the Central Plains at that time, one who could still live comfortably, was capable of doing!”
“That’s not the point at all!”
“Fine, then let’s get to the point! Xue Guangcheng, think about it again—a Huaxia Army unit of two hundred-odd men had to absorb fifty thousand men from the old Wuchao army, with no money and no food around us—how were we supposed to manage that!? After all Liu Yu’s years of upheaval, the Central Plains was left with almost nobody in ten households. Of the remaining landowners who could still feed themselves, was I supposed to go house to house killing them, turning my men into an uncontrollable band of bandits? Or was I supposed to go about it properly—negotiating door to door, even begging for food if I had to!”
Zou Xu’s voice from behind the carriage remained calm and firm. “I brought my men and went door to door begging, yes! Some of the big landowners wanted to turn us into their private army—it was I who protected the Huaxia Army’s dignity and independence! For all that time, was I supposed to smile and bow to them? Did I have to kowtow to them! They gave me gifts privately, and I turned around and handed it all over to the army—but did the work team listen to my explanation? Xue Guangcheng, this world isn’t a fairy tale, what group doesn’t have internal power struggles? There were always a few who thought I was just eating and taking more than my share! By that January, when the work team called their meeting, did they want to talk? They’d already set a trap to kill me—smashing a cup as the signal, planning to seize me first and question me after! Playing that game with me—what was I supposed to do!?”
“So that’s your excuse!”
“This isn’t an excuse—don’t flatter yourself!” Zou Xu said resolutely. “Xue Guangcheng, Zhan Wu, you wanted to ask what I did—I’ll tell you plainly, that’s exactly what I did! I have a clear conscience. But now let me tell you something. Whatever the reasons, by today, you and I have become enemies. In the past I killed men who were supposedly my own comrades in the Huaxia Army—having become enemies now, there’s no going back, and I’ll fight for my own life! But what about you, Xue Guangcheng? You ask me what I’ve done—I’ve answered. Now I ask you—what have you done!?”
Xue Guangcheng’s brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.
Zou Xu continued from the other side: “Since we both already know I’m your enemy, since you’re still convinced I’m a traitor who must be eliminated—Xue Guangcheng, as a soldier, what kind of ambush did you set up today!? Jumping out from the front, firing two shots at me—and what about the men behind you? What about a flank on the left and right? Where were they? Did you actually plan this out? Did you have any plan at all? With the assassination failed, surrounded by men closing in, you pull out grenades—for what, to show off, counting on the fact that they won’t dare kill you? Are you fighting a war, or throwing a tantrum! For someone who’s sat in on the teacher’s lectures at the Huaxia Army, I find this shameful—”
“No skill in your forehand! No polish in your backhand! You people! An embarrassment—”
Zou Xu’s words came fast and hard, and by the end, the entire street seemed shaken by them. For a moment, some of the onlookers felt as though they were witnessing Ning Yi himself.
The atmosphere grew nearly suffocating. Behind Xue Guangcheng, one Huaxia Army soldier was on the verge of pulling the pin on his grenade out of sheer provocation.
Zou Xu let out a low laugh from where he stood, speaking each word deliberately.
“Let me tell you what you’re really doing here. You just want to make your presence felt—staging a farce of an assassination to embarrass my dear Aunt Lou in front of everyone, to make her realize just how important you are, so she’ll coddle you, hold you close, coax you along… Pathetic. Standing here, you don’t look like soldiers at all. You look like a bunch of babies…”
Lou Shuwan turned back. “I. Have. No. Nephew. Like. You.”
“Aunt Lou, calm down—your nephew will always stand by your side… They’re just trying to fool you, and I couldn’t stand by and watch…”
From Xue Guangcheng’s side: “Let’s see who’s a real soldier once we’re on the battlefield!”
Zou Xu’s tone suddenly shifted from soft and humble to sharp as flint: “—Am I afraid?”
“Enough, all of you!” Lou Shuwan shouted, then pointed at Xue Guangcheng and the others. “You’ve committed a crime here in Jin Territory! I’ve said it—today I’m arresting you! Either pull the pins on those grenades, or put them away right now, all of you!”
The men exchanged glances. Xue Guangcheng looked toward Zhan Wu in the distance, and once he saw Zhan Wu nod, he finally put the grenade away.
The surrounding soldiers immediately closed in.
Zou Xu stepped out from behind the carriage.
From a distance, Zhan Wu, who had been observing all along, stepped forward a few paces. “Zou Xu. Here in Bian Liang, the woman you fell for isn’t the only one in your life, is she.”
“The teacher has seven.”
“Ning Yi never indulged himself after coming to power. But you, since taking power, have added a fair number of comforts for yourself…”
“Water too clear has no fish. My generals have all added various comforts for themselves as well—but there are rules governing all of it, higher than the Huaxia Army’s standard, lower than that of the old Wuchao dynasty. I strictly forbid corruption or anything that would harm our fighting strength, but I’ve also given them something to look forward to. As for the Huaxia Army, you emphasize incorruptibility, and you have your own standards too—but as things stand now, in Chengdu, I imagine the teacher has his hands quite full as well…”
Zhan Wu had raised two questions, and Zou Xu answered both without the slightest hesitation, his responses coming fluidly. At this, he suddenly waved a hand. “A thousand jun weighs the same as a single feather—balance is everything. In this world, choosing the right degree of moderation in all things matters more than anything else. In this era, no one truly knows what degree is best. The teacher didn’t follow old Niutou’s approach—he chose his own standard. But outsiders say Chengdu is too rigid, too easily broken, and that’s exactly why. As for me, I didn’t follow Chengdu’s approach either—I loosened things just a little more. Whether that will hold up, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
He half-sat on the edge of the carriage, appearing entirely at ease. “Fifth Brother, if you’d like to talk about this further, you’re welcome to come by where I’m staying tonight—I’ll speak with complete candor, holding nothing back. But for now, unfortunately, we’ve become enemies. Since we’re already enemies—the teacher once taught me that even a lion facing a rabbit gives it everything it has—the next time you try to kill me, please, do it properly…”
His tone turned severe: “—If I see another farce like this from you, embarrassing the Huaxia Army’s name, I. Will. Laugh.”
For just a fleeting instant, his teeth showed, cold and sinister, before his expression settled back into calm.
Zhan Wu studied his complicated expression, leaned back slightly, then began to laugh as well, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect.
“Duly noted.”
The standoff came to an end there. Lou Shuwan’s soldiers led Xue Guangcheng and the others away; Zhan Wu and the rest, having taken the measure of Zou Xu, withdrew to the roadside, gradually disappearing into the crowd.
After giving a few more orders, Lou Shuwan finally returned. “General Zou answered every question without missing a beat—very much the hero, wasn’t he.”
Zou Xu smiled, humble and helpless. “Well, Aunt, with so many people watching, I had to say something impressive to save face, didn’t I? I nearly got killed just now—very dangerous, really, this…”
“Nonsense—General Zou spoke well enough. It was nothing but a farce, and you came out of it looking better than Xue and Zhan, and now everyone knows how formidable you, Zou Xu, really are. That was quite a haul for you, wasn’t it.”
“Wasn’t it Aunt Lou who always said Xue and Zhan weren’t good sorts, always throwing around the Huaxia Army’s weight to bully you? Your nephew simply couldn’t stand by and watch…”
“Don’t give me pretty words.” Lou Shuwan’s gaze turned cold as she looked at him. “What do you mean, a farce of an assassination to embarrass me in front of everyone. You came out of this looking good, and cost me face. Zou Xu, you stepped on my face and the Huaxia Army’s to climb up—do you have any idea what that means?”
Zou Xu blinked. “Aunt, well… I can explain this. What I said just now, it wasn’t at all…”
“…You’ll. Pay. More.” Lou Shuwan looked at him, spacing out each word.
“Well, then…” Zou Xu stood there dumbfounded, spreading his hands, hesitating for a moment before spreading them again. “This… you…”
“…”
Finally, he said, “Then let’s… discuss this properly…”
The negotiations between Zou Xu’s delegation and Jin Territory had only just begun, but not long after, his display of prowess during this standoff became a much-talked-about tale among onlookers on all sides. The Huaxia Army had been made to look bad, and the reputations of Zou Xu and Dai Mengwei in Bian Liang shot up. As for how much the Lady Chancellor Lou Shuwan managed to extract in the following negotiations, that was something outsiders had no way of finding out.
And so it was that Zou Xu gained fame, and the Lady Chancellor gained profit—on the surface, a win-win outcome. Only the Huaxia Army came out of this poorly conceived assassination attempt looking, to some extent, rather embarrassed. And so, two days later, just as Lou Shuwan was in the middle of thoroughly enjoying herself in negotiations, driving a hard bargain and demanding an exorbitant price, someone came to report to her:
“General Xue—General Xue refuses to leave the prison, and… and the Huaxia Army in Dongcheng has gone on strike.”
“…Strike?”
Faced with such a trendy new term, Lou Shuwan had a moment of difficulty accepting it. It wasn’t anything too serious, of course, and she soon sent people out to negotiate with Zhan Wu, Xue Guangcheng, and the others.
The negotiations went nowhere. No results at all.
Two more days passed. At noon, Lou Shuwan sighed, sent for Zhan Wu, then took a food box and went with him to the prison of Jin Territory. Dismissing the guards, with only Shi Jin standing guard, she sat down with Xue Guangcheng and Zhan Wu to share a meal and negotiate.
“The day you tried to assassinate Zou Xu, you two clearly hadn’t thought it through, and Zou Xu caught you off guard and made you look bad. Why blame me, a woman, for that? Whether your assassination succeeded or failed, I’d have had to arrest you either way, just to keep up appearances. As it stands, you failed, Xue Guangcheng—if you’d succeeded, I’d still have arrested you and then let you go. You won’t even come out—are you going to sit here throwing a tantrum at me, a woman, Xue Guangcheng!”
“…But we warned you long ago about your dealings with Zou Xu. Chancellor Lou, the Huaxia Army has its dignity too. You went ahead anyway, without any regard for our face, so naturally we had to act. We admit the assassination was poorly planned—we’ll review that internally. But if you think you can just get me to walk out of here, it’s not going to be that simple. If you make too much noise about this, you’ll have gotten your face back along with Zou Xu’s, but the Huaxia Army certainly won’t have no reaction. Dongcheng absolutely will not resume work. You need to handle this properly.”
The two sides faced each other, grim and serious.
Lou Shuwan looked at the two of them. “Zou Xu told me he’d be willing to cooperate with Jin Territory on a plan to take the northwest—if we succeed, Xiaocang River goes to him. Zou Xu is no pushover. Don’t push me too far—if it really comes to that, the Huaxia Army will lose all face…”
She played her trump card. Xue Guangcheng hesitated for a moment; beside him, Zhan Wu tucked his hands into his sleeves. “Keep the people, lose the land, and both people and land remain; that’s our conclusion on this matter. Chancellor Lou, go right ahead. It would be best if Zou Xu builds up Xiaocang River nicely—it’ll save us the trouble later.”
Xue Guangcheng nodded immediately. “Yep! Take it and have fun with it.”
“…You shameless people.” A smile suddenly broke across Lou Shuwan’s face. She turned her head. “Brother Shi, tell them how I answered Zou Xu.”
Shi Jin said, “The Chancellor turned Zou Xu down immediately.”
Lou Shuwan turned back and stood up to pour wine.
“Brother Xue, Brother Zhan—no matter what, we’re family, aren’t we.” A warm smile spread across her face, her manner growing sincere—a rare display of humility from her. “Zou Xu seized Bian Liang, cleared out the assets of Yin Zong and Chen Shiquan, and has now swallowed up Liu Guangshi too. He’s very well-off these days. It would be a shame to let a piece of meat that fat sit right there and not take a bite. We’ve been brothers and sisters, cooperating for so many years now—we squabble sometimes, but to the outside world we’re always one family, aren’t we. This whole matter is complicated, but behind closed doors, among ourselves, we should be able to have a frank conversation. The Huaxia Army’s dignity does matter, and it should be restored. Tell me what you want—as long as it’s not excessive, I’ll agree to almost anything. I’ll cooperate. All right?”
She poured wine attentively, served them food, and the two men across from her seemed somewhat uncomfortable, even a bit embarrassed by it. Xue Guangcheng waved a hand. “Chancellor Lou, there’s no need for this…”
Zhan Wu, when she poured his wine, raised his cup respectfully, looking almost overwhelmed by the honor. Then, after a moment, he lifted his plain, honest face.
“Since… Chancellor Lou is being so sincere, and has already turned down Zou Xu on the matter of Xiaocang River, then let’s put the question of face aside for now, as a small matter.”
He said.
“…We’d like a slightly bigger cut.”
“…”
Lou Shuwan set down her chopsticks and let her smile fade, sitting back. Her gaze turned cold as she looked at Zhan Wu, who returned her look with a sincere smile of his own.
The two of them stared at each other in silence for a good while, like a pair of old friends…
“So in the end, it comes down to something this vulgar after all.”
“…That’s right… a bit more money.”
“…How much?”
“…Twenty percent more, if you would…”
“…How exactly is that twenty percent calculated…”
“…Of the total, of course…”
…
“…To hell with the lot of you sons of bitches, you can just live in this prison until you die, and Zhan Wu, you might as well move in here too—I’ll keep feeding you both until you die, until you’ve eaten through every last bit of that twenty percent, you shameless bastards—”
“…We can talk about it, we can talk about it, we can absolutely talk about it—”
Negotiations were always complicated.
The prison erupted into a storm, a full-blown battle. It wasn’t until much later that the three of them, in a conversation too shameful to recount in detail either way, finally settled on how to divide the spoils. Xue Guangcheng and Zhan Wu promised to resume production in Dongcheng, and then ate the food the Lady Chancellor had brought—laced beforehand with a laxative—and, thoroughly satisfied, left the prison at last.
These stories of power, some fit to be told and some not, spread with great relish among the upper ranks of Jin Territory throughout that second month. By the time the month reached its final stretch, as You Hongzhuo and Liang Siyi’s wedding date approached, at a family gathering held by the Luan Shi, they too heard all sorts of discussion arising from these very events…