"Hmph! If you refuse to write it, don't blame the marshal for disregarding old ties!" Wei Changxian said.
Fang Yun sighed softly and said, "It's only a memorial asking forgiveness. Ordinarily, that would be nothing. But since the fighting isn't particularly pressing right now, keeping me confined to South City serves little purpose. If the marshal agrees to let me roam outside Pearl City-perhaps fish on Lingding Ocean, bask in the sun by the sea, or inspect the Zhang Household's properties-I would be deeply grateful."
"No wonder you dared write that poem, 'Lady Xi.' So this was your plan all along. You call it roaming, but it's really for the sake of your Personal Guard Army! Since you've proposed terms, I'll go back and relay them to the marshal, to prove we aren't deliberately making things difficult for you. Of course, whether the marshal allows you out of the city isn't for me to decide. Farewell!"
Wei Changxian turned and left.
Four hours later, Wei Changxian sent a message.
"As long as you submit a memorial asking forgiveness, the marshal will give you a waist token allowing you to move within ten li of Pearl City. Once you leave that boundary, the marshal will execute you on the spot for intending to defect to the enemy!"
"Thank the marshal for me!"
Fang Yun put away his Official Seal and smiled faintly. His mental state was crucial to breaking through to Grand Academician. He had been far too tense these past few days. If he could spend a few days wandering among mountains and waters, gaining insight into heaven and earth and experiencing nature, it would benefit him immensely.
*Only recently did I realize that the Chu Kingdom's National Fortune has been suppressing me all along! The Ninth Mountain's trial has