Jin and Wu were locked in confrontation, and from the northern lands to the lands south of the river, the realm had already split into several factions. As one of the three legs nominally holding up the world in a tripod stance, the news of Liu Yu’s defection sent an imaginable, enormous shock through the surface calm that had settled over the realm. In the grand contest for the world, it was admittedly hard to say who this news benefited and who it harmed, but the awareness that the strings had suddenly gone taut was now plainly laid before everyone’s eyes.
Much like the Princess Imperial of the southern kingdom upon hearing this news, in Weisheng City north of the Yellow River, after several days spent piecing together the changes surrounding Liu Yu’s abduction, Lou Shuwan’s face had, in that first stretch of time, gone deathly pale — of course, from long exhaustion her complexion had always tended toward pallor — but this time, the shock and wavering in her eyes were unmistakably visible to anyone looking.
Less than a year had passed since the coup that killed the Tiger King and seized power, and the newly planted grain was nowhere near harvest season; a future in which not a single grain might be reaped was already bearing down on them.
“Summon the guards, go and invite Fifth Master Zhan over.” After a brief arrangement, Lou Shuwan ordered her subordinates to bring in the representative of the Huaxia Army. “If he won’t come… have him executed by slow slicing.”
Since the overthrow of Tian Hu’s regime, the new Tianshi regime had carried out a series of collaborations with the Huaxia Army — crossbows, iron cannons, gunpowder, blades and spears, even books of knowledge, whatever could be obtained, Lou Shuwan traded for it all with the southwest. In the course of this trade, Lou Shuwan had also been actively gathering skilled craftsmen in preparation for reproducing much of the Huaxia Army’s equipment — if the situation had stayed calm, this was something that would have gotten properly underway in the second half of the year.
These under-the-table dealings were not small in scale. Zhan Wu, who had originally been the Huaxia Army’s man in charge on Tian Hu’s territory, had become the secret coordinator between the two sides. This middle-aged man, who had once partnered with Fang Chengye, had an honest, solid look about him; perhaps he had already learned how things stood, for after receiving Lou Shuwan’s summons he came along obediently enough.
Lou Shuwan sat in the reception hall, her frame slight yet somehow fearsome, her gaze fixed straight on the man who entered, as though she meant to kill him with her eyes before anything else — over the years, her hands had not gone unstained by blood; a woman who had lost her father and brother, who could almost be said to have lost everything and yet risen to such a high position, was, compared to the Lou Jinlin once famed throughout Hangzhou, a far more frightening thing to behold. Still, Zhan Wu merely bowed respectfully, met her gaze, and said nothing.
After a long silence like this, realizing that the man before her would not be shaken, Lou Shuwan rose to her feet. “In spring, I planted a little patch of ground out in the courtyard. All sorts of things, planted every which way. I was pampered as a child, and though I’ve eaten plenty of bitterness since, I never picked up the habit of farming — I doubt I’d have harvested much come autumn anyway. But as things stand now, it looks like there won’t be a chance to reach autumn at all.”
Her words were simple and cold, and she turned her gaze on Zhan Wu again. “I only killed Tian Hu last year. The people out there planted a great many things, and haven’t harvested a single one yet — because of your Black Banner’s actions, now none of it will ever be harvested. Fifth Master Zhan, you’ve farmed before too. What do you make of that, in your heart?”
Zhan Wu was silent for a moment. “No one wants times like these. But I think Miss Lou is mistaken.”
“Oh? Is that the excuse Ning Liheng taught you, to save your skin?”
“It’s my own thinking. Mr. Ning may be a man who plans for every contingency, but he wouldn’t waste thought on matters like this.” Zhan Wu cupped his hands and smiled earnestly. “For Miss Lou to lay this whole affair at the feet of our Huaxia Army — that’s really rather unfair.”
“Are you trying to tell me it was those useless fools of the Wu Dynasty who snatched Liu Yu away? That this had nothing to do with you people?” Lou Shuwan gave a cold laugh, killing intent already showing in her chilly eyes.
Zhan Wu, facing her, only shook his head. “No — this time it was indeed our Huaxia Army’s doing. The Wu Dynasty has no such means yet. And as for what happened years ago at Xiaocang River, when our comrades infiltrated Liu Yu’s palace during the retreat and wounded him — that was part of a long-laid plan: to expose the news of our large-scale infiltration, to make every power in the Central Plains jump at shadows and turn on one another in suspicion, and also to quietly maintain our Huaxia Army’s reputation and influence, so that after stirring up chaos in Liu Yu’s court we could infiltrate as deeply as possible, with the aim of killing or abducting Liu Yu when the moment came. This should have been a contingency laid down from the very start, and now, it seems, it has indeed succeeded.”
Zhan Wu spoke frankly, and Lou Shuwan’s expression turned colder still. “Hmph. So by your own account, you can’t even be certain it was your so-called Huaxia Army, and yet you still insist only the Huaxia Army could have done it. How impressive.”
“But Miss Lou shouldn’t blame our Huaxia Army for this, for two reasons.” Zhan Wu said. “First — with two armies locked in a standoff, does Miss Lou truly hope for mercy from her adversary?”
Lou Shuwan shook her head and said sharply, “I never hoped for mercy from you people! Which is exactly why, if you can strike on the first of the month, I can strike back on the fifteenth!”
“Then let me offer the second reason. If our Huaxia Army’s move this time served only our own interests while leaving the whole realm to suffer, then Miss Lou is welcome to kill me. But as I see it, this affair was in truth a win-win outcome forced upon us both.” Zhan Wu paused under Lou Shuwan’s gaze. “I would ask Miss Lou to consider the Jin dogs’ actions over this past year. If our Huaxia Army had not acted this time, would Jin have given up its assault on the Central Plains?”
“At least it wouldn’t be this urgent.”
“I don’t think so.” Zhan Wu shook his head. “When the Tiger King staged his coup last year, the Jurchen didn’t make a great show of demanding justice, but there were already faint signs of a reckoning to come later. Early this year, Wuqimai suffered a stroke and took to his sickbed; Zongfu and Zongbi, seeking to counterbalance Zonghan, have already begun making moves to march south. At present in the Central Plains, Zonghan holds the largest share, while Zongfu and Zongbi control only a small patch of land to the east. Once Zongfu and Zongbi march south to take Jiangnan, has Miss Lou considered what the simplest move for Zonghan would be?”
He did not wait for Lou Shuwan’s answer. “Zonghan’s first step would be to consolidate his hold on the Central Plains, and to do that, he need only reclaim the power in Liu Yu’s hands. Early this year, the puppet-Qi envoy Chen Jumei went north to persuade the various Jurchen factions to march south against the Wu Dynasty — this being an annual activity ever since Liu Yu declared himself emperor. This affair was delayed because of Wuqimai’s stroke; for those in the south, when a monarch falls ill, what naturally follows is internal strife over the succession. But who would have guessed the Jurchen would be different. Zongfu and Zongbi, thinking to seize Jiangnan and use the achievement to overawe Zonghan — and when Chen Jumei set out south from Datong, the Jurchen, in an unprecedented move, assigned him an escort. On the surface, this escort’s identity was listed as Wanyan Xiyin’s household guard.”
Zhan Wu paused, and Lou Shuwan said, “And that alone struck you as unusual?”
“Intelligence work is built up bit by bit, and unusual details, accumulated one by one, often turn into real problems. To be frank, word came from the north asking me to watch closely for anything unusual during Chen Jumei’s journey south. I assumed at first it was routine surveillance, and I never gave a firm answer afterward. But as it turned out, our comrades to the north arrived in Bianliang a step ahead of Chen Jumei, and the man in charge there made the call and set the whole operation in motion.”
Lou Shuwan narrowed her eyes. “Not a decision Ning Yi made himself?”
“North and south lie a thousand miles apart, and circumstances shift by the moment. Mr. Ning had of course made many arrangements in advance for when the Jurchen made their move, but the execution of matters in each place has always been left to the judgment of the man in charge there.” Zhan Wu admitted candidly. “Miss Lou, as to whether the timing chosen for abducting Liu Yu was truly the right one, I dare not say for certain. But if Liu Yu had in the end fallen into the hands of Wanyan Xiyin, or even Zonghan, the situation for the whole Central Plains might well have turned out very differently.”
He spread his hands. “Ever since the Jurchen came south and drove the Wu Dynasty out of the Central Plains, resistance in every region has never truly stopped, all these years. Even within Liu Yu’s own court, there have always been countless officials whose hearts still lay with the Wu Dynasty. Outside it, there are people like Miss Lou, unwilling to bow to foreign invaders, and people like Wang Juyun, who openly took up arms in open defiance — there are no shortage of such people even now. You’ve all been waiting for the best possible chance. But forgive my bluntness, Miss Lou — where is such a chance ever going to come from? Are you going to be given another ten years to drill your troops here, until your army is strong and your horses are fed, and then you raise your arm and call out, and the whole realm rallies to your side? By then the whole realm will likely already belong to Jin.”
“A person’s fighting spirit wears away bit by bit. Liu Yu’s defection is the best possible moment — one that can bring together, once more, everyone in the Central Plains whose heart refuses to submit. We too wished we could have dragged this out longer, but there will be no better opportunity than this — not even for the Jurchen themselves. They too wished for a better chance; at least as far as we know, the timetable the Jurchen had set for their southern campaign — the campaign meant to finally destroy the Wu Dynasty — was originally meant to come two or three years from now. We weren’t going to let them wait that long. Wuqimai’s illness has also forced them to move south in haste. So I say, this is the best moment, and it is also the last moment. There will never be a better one.”
Zhan Wu paused again. “Of course, Miss Lou is still free to choose for herself. Either Miss Lou can continue to play along and bow to the Jurchen, watching as Wang Juyun and the others are swept away by them, only to have the reckoning settled against her afterward, losing forever the chance to resist — our Huaxia Army’s own strength lies a thousand miles from Miss Lou’s territory, after all, and if you make that choice, we will pass no judgment, and our relationship afterward will remain confined to the business dealings before us now. Or, Miss Lou can choose to honor the small, stubborn conviction in her own heart and prepare to stand against the Jurchen — in which case, our Huaxia Army will of course choose to support Miss Lou with everything we have.”
“You want me to take the bullet for you. Very prettily put.” Lou Shuwan tilted her head and gave a cold laugh; something seemed to cross her mind, and a faint flush rose to her cheeks.
Zhan Wu nodded. “Just as Miss Lou says — after all, Miss Lou is in the north and the Huaxia Army is in the south. If you can hold your own before the Jurchen, that’s a win-win outcome for us as well.”
“This is something Ning Liheng left behind for you to say, isn’t it? If we choose to resist Jin, what benefits would you offer us?”
“It is indeed something Mr. Ning mentioned before he left.” Zhan Wu nodded. “Should Miss Lou’s side choose, this time, to stand against Jin… support — whatever is within our power as the Huaxia Army, we will support you fully.”
“…Anything at all?” Miss Lou studied Zhan Wu for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
“As long as it can be done, it can be negotiated.”
“Once I’ve gotten what I need out of it, I’ll sell you all out.” Lou Shuwan’s smile at this moment had taken on a faint, seductive edge; Zhan Wu shifted his gaze slightly away.
“Miss Lou wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh? You’re so certain I don’t want to surrender to the Jurchen?”
“…That’s what Mr. Ning said, before he left.”
The moment Zhan Wu’s words left his mouth, the smile faded from Lou Shuwan’s face; all the color drained from it as well. She looked at Zhan Wu, her eyes turning to ice, and seemed for a moment about to fly into a rage, only to grow calm again, her chest heaving heavily twice. She walked back to the table, turning her back to him. “I’ll think about it.” Then, with a backhanded sweep, she sent the teacup on the table flying.
“Get out,” she said.
A flicker of something thoughtful passed through Zhan Wu’s eyes; he then cupped his hands and took his leave.
…
Like molten lava fermenting and boiling beneath the surface of the Central Plains.
Shouzhou. Night had already fallen, and because of the turmoil of the times, the government had sealed the city gates on all four sides; amid the scattered lights, patrolling soldiers walked the streets.
Inside the inner courtyard of the prefectural residence, in the study, a rather unusual conversation was underway. Prefect Jin Wenkang studied the burly man before him, dressed in the garb of a constable, his gaze holding both wariness and a kind of dawning realization. This tall, sturdy man was named Bian Xingmao, a fairly well-known constable in the Shouzhou area, open-handed and chivalrous by nature, meticulous in his casework; though his rank was not high, he enjoyed real standing among the common people of the prefecture, known to outsiders as “Bian the Tiger’s Head.” What had brought him here today was a rather presumptuous act indeed: urging the prefect to follow Liu Yu’s lead and defect back to the Wu Dynasty.
“Tiger’s Head, oh Tiger’s Head. We’ve worked together so long, and I never once guessed you were one of the Black Banner.”
“This humble servant is by no means one of the Black Banner.” Bian Xingmao cupped his hands. “It’s only that when the Jurchen first came on so fiercely, years ago, there was never a chance to fight the Jin dogs to the death. These past years, I’ve long known that my lord’s heart lies with the common people, that his character is noble and pure, only the Jurchen’s strength was too great, and he had no choice but to play along outwardly. This time is the last chance. I’ve come specially to inform my lord — this humble one is unworthy, but I am willing to stand and fall together with my lord, and one day fight the Jurchen to the death.”
“And you’re so certain that I want to drag this whole city’s people into a fight to the death with the Jurchen?”
“Among the tens of millions in the Central Plains, how could there be only one whose heart lies with the Wu Dynasty? This time, Liu Yu has sent out his blood letter summoning us all — if only the Wu Dynasty answers, countless people are bound to rise up in response… Miss this chance, and there won’t be another.”
Jin Wenkang was silent for a moment. “…I’m only afraid the Wu Dynasty won’t answer.”
“Even if the Wu Dynasty is weak, with a chance like this, they absolutely cannot afford to let it slip. If they do, the Central Plains will truly belong to the Jurchen from then on, and there’ll be no taking it back… My lord, this chance cannot be missed.”
Jin Wenkang looked at him. “You’re just a constable, and suddenly you’re saying all this to me, while also claiming you’re not with the Black Banner…”
“My lord…”
Similar scenes, similar arguments, appeared one after another in these days among officials and local gentry of good repute in various places who leaned toward the Wu Dynasty. In Xuzhou, a storyteller claiming to be a Huaxia Army member walked brazenly into the government office to seek an audience with and persuade local officials. In Yingzhou, a suspected Black Banner member was likewise pursued and nearly killed while trying to canvass support along the way. In Chenzhou, meanwhile, a flood of leaflets appeared, spreading word that Jin’s occupation of the Central Plains was imminent and the moment had come…
In Lin’an, Zhou Junwu lingered at the Princess Imperial’s residence, talking with his sister, whose face was composed and cold — in their earlier conversation, the siblings had already had an argument. Over the Huaxia Army’s latest move, Zhou Pei felt as though she herself had been stabbed, unable to forgive it; Jun Wu had felt the same at first, but after listening to various analyses elsewhere, he had come to change his view.
“…In the end, there are only two possibilities here. If the Jin dogs had never intended to move against Liu Yu, then what the southwest has done is simply setting two snipe and clam to fighting so the fisherman profits. But if the Jin dogs had already decided to invade the south, then the southwest simply seized the moment — in war, how can anyone afford to move slowly! If we wait until Liu Yu is recalled to Jin, we won’t even have the chance we have now. As things stand, we can at least raise our arms and call on the people of the Central Plains to rise up and resist! Sister, after all these years of fighting, the Central Plains isn’t what it once was, and neither are we. Throwing everything into one more fight with the Jurchen, or ten more, or a hundred more — it’s not impossible that we could win…”
“You’re always so ready to speak up for him.” Zhou Pei looked at him coldly. “I know we have to fight. At this point, what else is there to do but fight? I’ll support fighting on. But Jun Wu, don’t let your guard down about how ruthless Ning Liheng is. Never mind the knife he’s just driven into the Wu Dynasty’s back — in Bianliang alone, how many officials whose hearts lay with the Wu Dynasty did he stir into rebellion, just to smoke out Liu Yu? Every one of those people was used as bait. After they seized Liu Yu, the whole city was left behind to face the consequences — do you have any idea what’s about to happen there? That debt belongs squarely on his head!”
Although Ning Yi had earlier, through the puppet-Qi’s large-scale conscription drive, gotten a number of Huaxia Army members embedded in the enemy’s upper ranks, seizing Liu Yu was still no simple matter. On the day the operation was launched, the Huaxia Army had used nearly every channel at its disposal; many of the upright officials who had been incited to act didn’t even know that the people who had been stirring them up all these years weren’t actually Wu Dynasty agents at all. This entire operation had all but exhausted the Huaxia Army’s foundation left in Bianliang; though it had scored a point against the Jurchen in full view, many of those who took part afterward had no time to escape, and their fates would hardly be good ones.
“Er… in matters of war, how can one afford a woman’s soft-heartedness…”
“That’s right, one can’t afford soft-heartedness. I’ve already given the order to spread word of this — that the people who died in Bianliang this time had their hearts set on the Wu Dynasty, threw their lives on the line to rise up, and in the end were deceived. This blood debt is to be laid at the feet of the Black Banner Army, at the feet of Ning Yi—” Zhou Pei’s eyes reddened faintly. “Brother, I’m not trying to tell you how vile this is. It’s just that I know how you see him, and I only want to remind you — one day, when your master decides to move against the Wu Dynasty, he won’t show us any mercy either. Don’t… die at his hands.”
“Er…” Hearing Zhou Pei say all this, Jun Wu was stunned for a moment, then finally sighed. “It’s war, after all. What can be done, in wartime… Ugh. I know, Sister… I know…”
His expression turned bitter.
Few people knew that, at that very same moment, in the southwest, in the three counties of Heideng, Bulai, and Jishan, a rather grim atmosphere hung in the air as well. For the past while, assassination attempts targeting Ning Yi and the senior leadership of the Black Banner, along with restlessness among the nearby Yi people, Wu Dynasty soldiers, and even some skilled fighters from the martial world, had already begun stirring a month or two earlier. The Black Banner’s move against Liu Yu had come at the end of April; Wanyan Xiyin’s persuading Zonghan to decide on reclaiming the Central Plains had come in early April. And the clash of moves separated by thousands of miles had likely begun even earlier than that — perhaps as soon as word of Wuqimai’s stroke got out, Xiyin’s deployments toward the southwest had already been given the order to launch.
In one assassination attempt at the end of April, Jin’er had stumbled while fleeing to safety, and the child she had just conceived had miscarried. As for her pregnancy, no one had even known about it beforehand…
Yet compared to the people who died in these clashes, it was hard to know quite where, in one’s heart, to place this particular loss.
Bianliang city was now blanketed in terror and deathly silence.
After days of manhunts and interrogation ultimately failed to recover the abducted Liu Yu, a massacre ordered by Ali Gua was about to unfold.
The banner of the Huaxia Army appeared outside the gates of Bianliang.
Only one man came — a middle-aged man clad in black banner colors. Xue Guangcheng, the man in charge of the Huaxia Army’s puppet-Qi network, once the commander of the puppet-Qi’s palace guard, had returned to Bianliang. He carried no blade, and stepped forward to meet the mountain of blades and sea of swords pouring out of the city.
“I request an audience with General Ali Gua.”
The Jurchen general leading the troops out, Tong Ao, who happened to know Xue Guangcheng personally, drew his blade and spurred his horse forward. “Give me one reason not to hack you to pieces right here!”
“Tell General Ali Gua a name. I represent the Huaxia Army, and I wish to trade it for some lives of little consequence.” Xue Guangcheng looked up at Tong Ao and paused.
“…Wanyan Qingjue.”