In a relatively quiet courtyard, in a shabby little room, Tang Minjie sat in a chair, looking at the crumpled letter in his hands. Across the table sat a man dressed in rags like a beggar — the Huaxia Army contact who now met with Tang Minjie in Lu Mingfang’s place.
The letter was written in code, and decoding it took some time. Tang Minjie read it through once, his brow furrowing, before slowly tearing it to pieces.
“The fighting in the south has already begun. Jin Wuzhu is attacking Yangzhou ferociously… What’s most surprising right now is the siege equipment he’s using. Hollow stone shells, ten to a bundle, launched over the walls by trebuchet, pounding down on the battlements — considerable force behind it. The Jin side had been mass-producing stone shells before this, and we assumed they were meant for landmines or some other purpose. We also thought their control over delayed detonation still wasn’t good enough. We didn’t expect they’d more or less solved the problem on their end. That’s an oversight on our part.”
The man across from him nodded. “At least the trebuchets aren’t easy to assemble — they’re only suited to siege warfare.”
Tang Minjie shook his head. “If Zongbi had used this on the assault on Xuzhou, caught us off guard, a lot of our men would have been hurt too. Of course, he spent the entire winter regrouping north of Xuzhou, building hundreds, maybe over a thousand trebuchets — that was enough for the job, which is why General Liu’s forces weren’t chosen as the primary target…”
His gaze moved, thinking it through. “Right, so — one, the delayed fuse; two, the timing on the trebuchet launch has to be extremely precise. The trebuchets can’t have been assembled in a hurry. And even with ten shells launched per machine, it’s anyone’s guess whether even one or two of them actually land on the wall and detonate properly. Just the battle at Tianchang alone probably used up around five thousand rounds. Neither Zongbi in the east nor Zonghan in the west can keep fighting like this indefinitely. We need to investigate and estimate just how many of these stone shells Xiyin has secretly produced over these past years. It would help the people in the south to have some idea of the numbers.”
“Right, I’ll see what I can find out about the figures from the Great Foundry Institute. As for how many of these shells the entire Jin state has produced over the years — that might be difficult to pin down precisely… I suspect even Wanyan Xiyin himself might not have an exact count.”
“A rough number will do. Also, there’s something strange about this — that person close to Xiyin never leaked a hint of this beforehand. Xiyin’s kept this remarkably well hidden this time. The assembly of the shell components must have been done somewhere else entirely… either that person has turned against us, or…”
“That lady turning traitor — that doesn’t seem likely, does it?”
“I don’t think it’s likely either.” Tang Minjie nodded, his eyes moving. “Which means she was kept entirely in the dark by Xiyin as well — which is interesting in its own right. To catch someone off guard when they’re paying attention takes real deception — that lady shouldn’t have missed something this important… Did Xiyin know about this from the start? How deep does his awareness go? Are we still safe on our end?”
Tang Minjie glanced at his companion across the table, who also looked taken aback for a moment. “Our contact with that lady isn’t especially close. If… I mean, if she’s been exposed, we shouldn’t be dragged into it…”
He said this without much certainty himself, and Tang Minjie’s face took on a thoughtful smile. “Never mind. Stay alert from now on regardless. Either way, it’s unlikely that lady has turned traitor — once she gets word of the battle reports from Yangzhou, she’ll probably be more anxious than we are… These past years, the Wu Dynasty has been trumpeting Huangtiandang as a defeat of Wuzhu everywhere, and now Wuzhu’s attacking Yangzhou with pent-up fury — I doubt Han Shizhong can hold out against it. With Old Lu gone, we need to find a way to meet with that lady in the next few days, and feel out where she stands…”
The man across from him nodded, and Tang Minjie went on. “Also, this incident needs a proper review. Something this straightforward — if it had landed on Xuzhou’s walls instead of Yangzhou’s, we’d all bear responsibility for it.”
“Understood.”
“Anything else, then?”
“The brothers Wanyan Chang sent up from the south — word is they’ll arrive in the next couple of days…”
“I know about that already. You go confirm the details on the shells.”
Tang Minjie nodded and said no more. The man across from him nodded as well, and likewise fell silent.
This meeting came to an end there. Tang Minjie left the room, and the sunlight in the courtyard blazed fiercely — it was the afternoon of the fourth of July. The news from the south had come by urgent dispatch, and though the request from the north had focused mainly on that “Heavenly Maiden Scattering Blossoms” business, the full picture of the south now engulfed in war still took clear shape in Tang Minjie’s mind.
The failure weighed on him with a certain resentment. Reflecting on it in his head, he realized that over the past year in Yunzhong, so absorbed in plotting acts of sabotage, he had paid too little attention to matters right under his own nose. It was something to guard against from here on.
He stood in the courtyard for a moment, and once his companion had left, he too stepped out, heading toward the chaotic crowds of the marketplace at the other end of the road.
Before him lay one of the mixed, chaotic slum districts within Yunzhong Prefecture. Past the market and one more street beyond lay Qingying Ward, where every manner of person, high and low, gathered. In the early afternoon, Lu Mingfang drove a large cart down the street, glancing once toward Qingying Ward as he passed.
He did not go in.
In a teahouse serving as cover within Qingying Ward, Mandu Dalu, one of the chief constables of Yunzhong Prefecture, sat with his hat brim pulled down slightly, sipping tea with an air of idle ease. His deputy came over from across the way and sat down at the table.
“Something’s off. The word on the street isn’t right,” the deputy said. “This morning, someone spotted ‘Dog-Eater’ Long Jiuyuan. Over by the south of the city, near Yegai, someone’s been borrowing passage through there.”
Mandu Dalu held his teacup, murmuring to himself. “Is there something big happening in the city lately?”
“The Black Banner Army being escorted into the city?”
“That business with the Black Banner Army — they’re not allowed into the city. We already told the Qi family, if anything needs handling, it has to be handled outside the walls. If something really does happen, by rights it should happen outside the walls too. This word going around inside the city — is someone trying to stir up trouble in the confusion, or is it a deliberate lure…”
“Could be both, couldn’t it?”
“And the Qi family?”
“Still hosting banquets these past couple of days, throwing their doors open. Looks like they’re trying to gather a crowd of young nobles together.”
“But the city guard hasn’t made a move.” Mandu Dalu smiled. “Strange.”
The afternoon sun was still dazzling, and even as Mandu Dalu sensed something uncanny in the air on the street, a gathering was already underway in Qingying Ward. Among those present were Xiao Shuqing and Zou Wenhu, who had held their earlier discussion; “Dog-Eater” Long Jiuyuan, the most lawless and notorious figure in the Yunzhong underworld; and several other desperate outlaws already on the government’s wanted lists.
Off to one side of the group stood a pale, gaunt young nobleman — a Jurchen aristocrat. Introduced by Zou Wenhu, this young man stood among the crowd and exchanged greetings with the assembled outlaws, none of whom looked the least bit friendly.
He was the descendant of a Jurchen duke, named Wanyan Wenqin. His grandfather had been a fierce general who had followed Aguda in the early uprising, though he had died young. With only a single heir in each generation, Wanyan Wenqin’s family had lived off the legacy his grandfather had left behind — better off than most, perhaps, but looked down upon by the many noble relatives within the city of Yunzhong.
If it had been possible, Wanyan Wenqin would have loved nothing more than to follow the army south and take part in the campaign against the Wu Dynasty. But he had been frail since childhood, and though he believed his spirit was every bit as fierce as his ancestors’, his body could not carry the weight of such fearless resolve. While the southern expedition marched on and the other young nobles spent their days idling away in the city of Yunzhong, Wanyan Wenqin’s own life had grown unbearably stifling.
Faced now with this band of desperate outlaws, men who bore deep grudges against the Jin court, he showed no fear at all — if anything, an excited flush had risen to his cheeks. He cupped his hands in greeting, neither servile nor arrogant, and addressed each of them by name, one by one, drawing a flicker of genuine surprise from the group, before laying out his reasons for supporting their plan.
“…The Qi family are arrogant and shallow. That old patriarch of theirs — his son was killed by men of the Black Banner Army, so he went and requested more than ten Black Banner prisoners from Wanyan Chang. The prisoners arrive tomorrow, but they won’t be held in the city — they’ll be kept at the Qi family’s country estate at Xinzhuang, south of the city. That old man doesn’t just want to kill these prisoners — he means to use them as bait to draw out Black Banner spies hiding in Yunzhong. He truly does bear a deep, personal grudge against the Black Banner Army.”
Wanyan Wenqin drew a deep breath as he spoke. “Because of this, everyone’s attention is fixed on the estate outside the city. As for inside the city — it’s not that no one’s paying attention, it’s just… hah, no one much cares if something happens to the Qi family. If we’re going to strike at them, we don’t need to do it outside the walls — we can do it right in the city. Seize Qi Yan, his three sons, five grandsons, and four great-grandsons, and carry them out of the city… as long as we’re careful about it, it won’t cause much of a stir.”
He paused. “The Qi family has no shortage of wealth — a great many precious treasures, some kept in the city, but plenty more that the old man has hidden away in various places across the realm… The Han place the greatest value on bloodline. Once we have Qi Yan and his line in hand, if the rest of you handle them properly, the old man will surely tell us everything he has. Whatever you’re able to get out of him, you’re free to go and claim it by whatever means you have — I’ll help you move it, whatever the rest of you agree on. Of course, all of you are seasoned in this trade and already have your own methods. As for what’s here in Yunzhong Prefecture, if you can carry it off on the spot, take it on the spot. If not, I have ways of handling it on my end. What do the rest of you think?”
“If something happens inside the city, we might have a hard time getting out,” Long Jiuyuan said darkly from the front.
Wanyan Wenqin merely laughed. “There’s no need to deceive me, gentlemen — this isn’t your first time coming and going from Yunzhong, and you must have your own ways of keeping yourselves safe, or you’d never have dared come to this gathering at all — you’d already be dead…”
His words carried an edge, and a flash of menace crossed the faces around him, but Wanyan Wenqin showed no fear whatsoever. “Second, I understand perfectly well that there’s risk in this — any other assurance I offer would be hard for you to trust. But I, Wanyan Wenqin, have only this one worthless life, and I’m willing to stake it alongside all of you. Tomorrow, when this is carried out, I’ll go to the Qi household banquet first. Once you’ve confirmed I’m inside, then move — take me as your hostage. If I’ve deceived any of you, you’re free to kill me at any time. And even if something does go wrong, with me and a whole crowd of noble sons as hostages, what is there to fear? You couldn’t get out? Shall I lead you out myself, cutting a path through?”
As Wanyan Wenqin said this, his face broke into a contemptuous, almost manic smile. The Wanyan clan had once swept across the realm, and a fierce, imperious bearing had always run in their blood. Though Wanyan Wenqin had been frail since childhood, he had watched the edge of his ancestors’ spirit all his life, and now, this fearless bearing rising within him took the whole group by surprise, and won their genuine respect.
Indeed, no matter what assurances were offered for a plan like this, it was always hard for the group to fully trust one another — but with someone of his standing willing to stake his own life on it outright, there was really nothing left to say. Once the safeguards had been laid this far, the rest was simply a matter of seeking fortune amid danger, as the saying went. Even the most defiant and unruly of the outlaws present could not help offering Wanyan Wenqin a few words of flattery, and looked upon him with new respect.
They then discussed the steps for the following day in more detail, and Wanyan Wenqin revealed a certain amount of information of his own — though the affair looked, on the surface, like something Xiao Shuqing had arranged through Zou Wenhu, Wanyan Wenqin’s side had already gathered a considerable amount of intelligence of their own, such as the situation of the Qi family’s household guards, which of them could be bribed. Xiao Shuqing and her people, meanwhile, had already gathered information on the families of the household stewards and guards within the Qi residence, and had even made preparations to seize some of their family members as leverage. After a brief exchange, they had also gained a fairly clear understanding of where much of the Qi household’s precious treasures were stored. And according to Wanyan Wenqin, once the operation began, with the Black Banner prisoners already brought to Yunzhong, unrest would naturally break out outside the city, and the city guard’s full attention would be fixed there — any minor disturbance from the Qi family inside the city would simply be overlooked.
Hearing this, the group understood well enough that Wanyan Wenqin had already tied a number of other people into this affair — no wonder he was so eager to swallow the entirety of the Qi family’s hoarded treasures within Yunzhong Prefecture in one go.
No one pressed further into these particulars. If it had only been this band of desperate outlaws, dividing up the Qi family’s wealth would have been beyond their means — but with these powerful Jurchen figures above them also wanting the Qi family brought down, taking a share of the scraps for themselves was more than good enough.
With the plan settled, the group exchanged parting words and dispersed, laughing and joking among themselves. But as they left, more than a few of them glanced, more or less deliberately, toward one wall at the side of the room, though none of them said anything further about it. Once they had all gone, Wanyan Wenqin waved Zou Wenhu out as well, then walked over and pushed open a hidden door.
Inside the room sat three Jurchen men. Judging by their appearance, even the eldest among them could not have been much past forty. As Wanyan Wenqin entered, all three regarded him with newfound respect. “We never would have guessed it — Wenqin looks so delicate, and yet has such resolve.”
“My grandfather once swept across the realm, staking his life to carve out his future, and I’ve admired that since I was a child. It’s just a pity… heaven never gave me the chance to fight on a battlefield of my own. This southern campaign will settle the realm for good. I may not have the wealth and standing the rest of you gentlemen have, but I still have several dozen mouths to feed, and there will only be more in the future. My own life means little enough, but I won’t let this family fall apart on my watch. The world is a cruel place, where the strong devour the weak. The Qi family is a good piece of business. I’m staking my life on it — do any of you gentlemen have objections?”
He wore something between a smile and no smile at all, his face utterly without fear. The three men exchanged glances, and the eldest among them poured two cups of tea, one for himself and one for his guest, and then all four raised their cups. “Done.”
They all drank. With the matter settled, Wanyan Wenqin smiled again. “Actually, I’ve been thinking — surely you gentlemen wouldn’t be satisfied with just this one score from the Qi family?”
The three men looked faintly startled. “Wenqin surely isn’t thinking of striking at that band of reckless outlaws themselves?”
“Killing and killing, back and forth, across the realm — there’s no meaning in it. It’s too small a vision.” Wanyan Wenqin shook his head. “In the court and the army, you gentlemen are great figures. But among the common folk, there are heroes too. As I said — after this southern campaign, the realm will be settled for good, and the situation in Yunzhong Prefecture will gradually settle as well. By then, you gentlemen will be the white path, and they the black — but the white path and the black don’t always have to be at war. If the two joined hands, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing at all… gentlemen, it might be worth considering…”
The three exchanged glances. Wanyan Wenqin clasped his hands together, his voice taking on a persuasive edge. “In the past, men from such different worlds as these would never have come together — and even if they did, it would rarely last. But this is a good opportunity. If this deal goes well, in the future, we could bring all these figures together under one roof — every outlaw of standing in Yunzhong Prefecture’s underworld, all working with us. With the three of you gentlemen’s connections, and no obstacles from the underworld side, is there anything we couldn’t profit from? I’ve heard that among the outlaw circles of the Wu Dynasty, there’s something called an ‘Alliance Leader of the Martial World’ — where there’s an alliance leader, there must be an alliance… heh. In this world, the thing to fear is an alliance. Once people band together, it’s an entirely different matter from a disorganized mob…”
“The thing to fear in this world is an alliance?” The eldest of the three studied Wanyan Wenqin. “I never expected someone so young to have such insight. This is an interesting proposition.”
He glanced at the other two. “As for this matter of an alliance — shall we discuss it further?”
Everyone knew the resolve and ambition with which the Jurchen had launched this southern campaign, carrying the banner of the Wu Dynasty’s total destruction. Once the realm was settled, opportunities to rise through military merit would grow scarcer and scarcer, and those left behind in the north felt this sense of anxious foreboding all the more keenly. Wanyan Wenqin’s persuasive words had struck a real spark of hope in the group, and they went on discussing the matter further.
By the time they had all exchanged farewells and departed, Wanyan Wenqin’s body swayed faintly, visibly weakened — yet the flush on his face had only deepened, evidence of the tremendous excitement this day’s affairs had stirred within him.
Born into a ducal household, Wanyan Wenqin had carried lofty ambitions since childhood, only to have his frail body and his grandfather’s early death stand in the way of them. Never satisfied since his youth, his heart had long been filled with resentment — until, a little over a year ago, an opportunity to change all of that had suddenly presented itself…