Chirp, chirp, chirp~~~
Deep in the still night, a few insect calls from the wild grass became the only sounds in the darkness.
Several carriages stood in the camp. The Empress Dowager, Fan Qinghe, and the others had already retired, while the accompanying Black Bureau chief constables bedded down on the Gobi Desert, taking turns patrolling and keeping watch.
A bonfire burned at the edge of camp. Yang Chao, She Long, and Jiang Laojiu sat on the ground around it, with a small basin in front of them warming a flask of wine. Shang Jianli was very scrupulous about the rules and dared not drink, resting alone against a carriage.
Like Pei Yuanfeng, Yang Chao loved wine. Already slightly tipsy, he said woozily:
"The Imperial Court's rules are strict, sure, but a couple of mouthfuls won't interfere with anything. Brother Shang won't touch a drop. Are you afraid of getting caned?"
"He won't get caned, but he'll lose his monthly pay. Jianli's only in his early thirties and hasn't married yet. He's saving up for a wife, so having his pay docked by Her Highness is what he fears most... Speaking of which, I hear the girls of the Western Sea Tribes are all pretty. Jiang, you're from there. Know any suitable girls you could introduce him to?"
Jiang Laojiu looked like a kindly middle-aged merchant in his early forties, but his position was anything but simple.
If the Dongming Tribe was a small foreign kingdom and Fan Qinghe its queen, then Jiang Laojiu was its minister of both rites and revenue, overseeing diplomacy and finances. Factions such as the Hongshan Gang and Black Banner Gang all had to go through him to contact the Dongming Tribe. His martial skills certainly could not be poor.
However, in a party of