Liu Acheng had no idea that his closeness to Liu Jili had led people to identify him as belonging to one particular branch of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng. As before, even if he had known, he would not have cared... so long as no one suspected him of being an impostor!
Besides, Liu Acheng had run into a small snag just then-not really a snag, but one of those damned situations where you arrived somewhere only to find you could not get anything done and had to wait a while longer.
As it turned out, in Jingkou's commercial district beside the canal, the other shops were one thing, but the few that dared trade in gold, silver, and copperware all belonged to local military officers' families. Those officers were connected through marriage, kinship, or common ancestry, which explained something that had kept happening over the past few days: whenever troops withdrew from the north, many shops would close, and almost every precious-metal shop would shut its doors, because their owners had to go meet people at the ferry landing by the military families' quarter east of Beigu Mountain.
Or rather, see whether there was anyone for them to meet.
Today, as Xun Xian, chief secretary of the Grand Commander-in-Chief's Office, returned from wrapping up affairs in Pengcheng, the last batch of troops had also withdrawn from the front. Of course they had to close up shop and go wait for their people.
"Chief Secretary Xun is actually a direct descendant of Xun Wenruo, the famous statesman of the late Han?" Liu Acheng asked with his usual curiosity. "And he's only twenty-seven this year?"
"Indeed." The cloth vendor outside the gold-and-silver shop was naturally well informed, though his patience was rather surprising. "Who here below Iron Urn City doesn't know that Chief Secretary Xun handles all the business of the Grand Commander-in-Chief's Office?"
"If you want to hear about Xun Lingze, Acheng, I'll tell you at leisure tonight." Liu Jili, however, was growing impatient. "Not because he isn't worth talking about, but because there's simply too much to tell-from his ancestry to his marriage, from his childhood to his youth and right up to the present... he truly has been the most brilliant, keen-edged young gentleman south of the Yangtze these past twenty years. None of the sons of the Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xi could compare."
Liu Acheng's interest was finally piqued. He nodded repeatedly, then hurried back to the matter at hand. "Brother, if these people have closed their shops to meet their families, they must be worried about whether they're alive. You said earlier that three thousand troops were defeated at Daibei. Were the losses heavy?"
"Not really." The cloth vendor outside the gold-and-silver shop remained patient. "This is the last trip. They've already come back in seven or eight separate batches, and very few families have had anyone killed or wounded!"
Liu Acheng found that strange. Very few casualties... how could there have been very few casualties?
After all, Daibei was far away in Qing Province, and those three thousand relief troops had come under attack by twenty thousand men under Li Nong. An isolated force penetrating deep into enemy territory, then struck by nearly ten times its own strength-it would have been perfectly normal for the entire army to be wiped out. Moreover, the Jingkou garrison, the Northern Command's field army, was clearly a tangled web of connections. If one man died, four or five households ought to mourn him together. Surely that should have made the losses feel even greater?
But on second thought, everyone in Jingkou said it had been three thousand against twenty thousand-who knew whether it had actually been three thousand against two thousand? Besides, there were so many troops in this northern expedition, and they had returned in so many batches. Perhaps some clever hand in the military office had deliberately spread the casualties thin.
Seeing the two of them fall silent, the vendor finally lost patience. "If you're not in a hurry, someone will certainly be back before dark. The whole fleet arrived before noon; they're only checking the men now. You're welcome to sit here with me. If you are in a hurry, go straight to Tupuli, due east of Beigu Mountain, just across a bay from Iron Urn City. Then ask for Saltwater Alley and Captain Zhao's house... just give my name, Sun Yunu. Sister-in-law Zhao will certainly exchange it for you if she's home."
Clearly, exchanging gold and silver was extremely profitable-even someone who referred customers stood to gain, hence all this patience. The shopkeepers would certainly not deliberately hide from business, either. The two of them had simply been unlucky.
After a brief discussion, the two Lius decided to go to the military families' quarter and find Captain Zhao. It was not that they were especially invested in Liu Sheng and his brother's affairs. Liu Huzi, as a Garrison Commander, could still be relied upon for help, and if Liu Rengong became an official, they could attach themselves to him, but they truly expected nothing from Liu Sheng or Liu Pei... it was simply Liu Acheng's nature. Whenever he had a chance to broaden his horizons, he would never let it slip... he had seen Jingkou's bustling prosperity, but not yet the living quarters of Iron Urn City's garrison. Even Liu Jili was a little curious.
They were already here, after all, weren't they?
With their minds made up, the two Lius led their mule along the streets to the east, heading for Tupuli beside the Yangtze.
Truth be told, they had not previously had any opportunity to take in the scenery with easy hearts... it was not just that Liu Acheng had been in a bad mood; chiefly, he had been too tired to have the energy for sightseeing on the hoof. Only now, with their bellies full, their thirst quenched, their spirits restored, and the situation proving less dire than expected, could they settle down and look at this famous Beigu Mountain.
This place, surrounded by the river on three sides and blessed with a canal outlet into the sea besides, had once inspired, "Sun and Liu forged their bond at Ganlu Ferry; from here the realm was divided into three." In later times, it would be, "Where can I gaze upon the heartland? From Beigu Tower, scenery fills my eyes." And for the present, there was, "Golden spears and iron steeds won only a panicked glance back north."
Political, military, economic, and cultural significance-all piled high.
Yet as Liu Acheng and Liu Jili approached the mountain from the southeast, across the bay, it looked every bit an ordinary little hill. There was no particularly lofty tower, either-at least none visible from a distance-and little scenery to speak of. Iron Urn City below its southern flank was heavily guarded, a military fortress through and through... apparently the mountain had simply been born lucky, finding itself on the Golden Horn of this Chinese Constantinople.
Of course, if they could stand on the summit and look around, with the heartland to the north, the Three Wu to the south, and rivers and mountains on either side, the view would surely be different. But they could not get up there, could they?
Not only could they not get up there, even leaders of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng such as Liu Rengong and Lord Liu Ying, whose own fathers had served as commandery governors, had to stake their old lives on waiting in line-and might still not make it up.
Amid these wandering thoughts, the closer the two came to the military families' quarter beside the Yangtze, across the ferry landing east of Beigu Mountain, the more clearly they seemed to hear people crying. They could not tell whether it was their imagination; perhaps the wind over the river was simply strong, conjuring terror in the wind's howl and the cranes' cries decades before the Battle of Fei River... of course, once they reached the bay beside this military ferry east of Beigu Mountain, they immediately realized that was not the case.
Because people really were crying at the ferry landing-and quite a few of them!
Their cries had merely been masked by the noise of the commercial district behind them, making them seem faint and intermittent.
Still, knowing what they did, they could guess that this final fleet carrying the withdrawing troops had brought a great deal of dreadful news about the northern expedition.
At the sight, the two Lius dared not continue along the ferry landing. Instead, they turned early into the military families' quarter to the east and headed farther in... yet as they went deeper, whether because they were moving away from the commercial district behind them, or because that district too had fallen into fearful silence at the sound of weeping, the cries gradually grew louder.
Eventually, they began to blanket the streets and alleys, rising everywhere, as though pressing in from every direction.
They even drowned out the roar of the river.
The two Lius exchanged looks, inwardly cursing their predicament. They stopped in the alley, not daring to take another step.
After a moment's hesitation, Liu Acheng suddenly asked, "Brother Jili, that descendant of Xun Yu you mentioned-what was his name again? You said he was the most brilliant, keen-edged man south of the Yangtze?"
Liu Jili's face was deathly pale, and he swayed as though about to collapse.
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