A fine tale of the martial world had begun well and ended well. Just as the dozens of riders were about to turn back, mount up, and set off into the night, Li Shu suddenly turned his head, stopped beneath the tree, and gazed far to the southeast.
"It's a Brocade-Clad Patrol Unit from the Six Fan Gate!"
A moment later, the sharp-eyed Xu Shiying also made out what was coming, his smile unchanged. "When the Brocade-Clad go on patrol, there's bound to be a Red-Sash Patrol Inspector in command, with one or two Black-Sash Supervisory Inspectors or Deputy Patrol Inspectors... Mr. Li, Brother Xiong, what should we do?"
"What's there to fear?!"
Xiong Bonan stood with his hands behind his back and sneered. "Leave the Red Sash to me. Young Xu, you handle the Black Sashes. We have the numbers to swamp them. We won't let anything happen to you, sir!"
"There's no need!" Li Shu glanced at Zhang Xing, who had sat back down beneath the tree holding his horses, and spoke calmly, circulating his qi as usual. "With so few men, they can't be coming for me. This should only be a coincidence... Get ready and wait for them. If they don't make trouble, neither will we. But if they strike first, they can't blame us."
Xiong and Xu immediately nodded.
Zhang Xing, however, remembered the men he had killed. Hearing Li Shu's analysis, he guessed a little of what was happening and could not help frowning slightly, preparing to wait and see-if this really was trouble he had caused, he would not let these people suffer for nothing. What worried him was that the ones who suffered might not be on this side, leaving him indebted to these people again.
"Patrol Inspector!"
Seeing the crowd on the riverbank from afar, with men forming up to meet them, Hu Yan immediately sought instructions from his superior beside him. "There must be twenty or thirty men and thirty or forty horses. The Eastern Territories used to belong to Eastern Qi and have been under the court's rule for only a few decades. The people have never been loyal, and both the martial world's bold adventurers and the local strongmen have always been lawless. We're outnumbered. Should we give them a little room and proceed cautiously?"
"Ride up and take a look."
The female patrol inspector decided without hesitation. "We're a Brocade-Clad Patrol Unit dispatched by the Jing'an Directorate, specifically to patrol the Eastern Border's Northern Six Commanderies. We're now within Jizhou's jurisdiction and have discretionary authority. Bandits should be giving way to us. Since when do we give way to bandits?"
Hu Yan said no more. He immediately opened up the distance between his horse and Bai Yousi's, while the mere dozen or so riders behind them also spread out in tacit coordination, forming an inverted V. Without slowing, they rode to within a hundred paces of the riverbank before abruptly reining in. The Brocade-Clad patrolmen let their horses canter lightly out to either side, maintaining the pressure of a half-encirclement across the open ground.
Then Bai Yousi went further, dismounting with Hu Yan and Qin Bao and walking straight toward the great tree on the bank.
"We law-abiding folk have just crossed the river and are taking a short rest before continuing on to visit relatives. May I ask why the officers of the Jing'an Directorate are stopping us?" Beneath the tree on the bank, Xu Shiying stepped boldly forward, smiling broadly as he questioned them from above. "Is this how you officers wield the state's authority?"
"It's Xu Dalang of Caozhou!"
Qin Bao recognized him at a glance, immediately lowered his head, and spoke quietly behind Bai Yousi. "His family are the largest landowners in Caozhou. His father..."
Xu Shiying's ears were as keen as his eyes. Hearing this, he laughed again. "Isn't that Qin Erlang of Dengzhou? It's only been half a year since we parted at the Deng Prefecture Martial Arts Hall, and you've already joined the Jing'an Directorate? Why haven't they given you a Brocade-Clad uniform?"
"Young Master Qin is accompanying us temporarily because of a case." Bai Yousi, who had already reached the bank, stopped, her voice calm and her expression unchanged. "As for Xu Dalang of Caozhou, he's also on the Jing'an Directorate's books. His father loves playing the honest man, while he loves playing the scoundrel. They're the foremost local tyrants in Caozhou... Under orders to inspect the Eastern Border's Six Commanderies, how could I not know?"
Xu Shiying's gaze settled on her face, then shifted to the vermilion sash she wore. At last, his expression changed slightly, though he still forced a smile. "Could you be the Marquis of Ji'an's daughter? The Jing'an Directorate's only Vermilion-Sash Female Patrol Inspector?"
Bai Yousi neither confirmed nor denied it. She walked straight past Xu Shiying and stood with her sword held behind her back. Her gaze swept the crowd, lingered briefly on the incongruous Zhang Xing, then finally settled, unexpectedly, on Mr. Li Shu.
"Is that Sisi?" Just then, Li Shu suddenly stepped forward openly to meet her, and his words astonished everyone. "I'm Li Shu of Daxing in the Western Capital. Our families are old friends, and I'm a good friend of your father's. I still remember when you were three, just before your family moved to the Eastern Capital. Your family held a banquet in Dingchun Garden, and I even held you. When you joined the Three-One Orthodox Church at twelve to study martial arts under Daoist Chonghe, I happened to be there too. Who would have thought that, far from home today, uncle and niece would meet by the roadside..."
At the mention of his name, the others remained bewildered. Deputy Patrol Inspector Hu Yan alone, who had been staring down Xiong Bonan, whipped around as though struck by lightning, then kept his eyes fixed on Li Shu throughout.
"My respects, Uncle." After a moment, Bai Yousi finally saluted calmly with her sword. "I thought just now that I must have mistaken you for someone else. But why have you come here instead of resting comfortably in the Western Capital?"
"To visit relatives and friends," Li Shu answered composedly.
"Your relatives and friends should be mine as well, Uncle. May I ask whom, exactly?" Bai Yousi pressed.
"You misunderstand, Sisi." Li Shu remained unruffled. "As you know, our Li Clan of the Western Capital originally came from the Northern Wasteland's Liaodong... On this journey, I intend to visit our clansmen and blood relations in the Northern Wasteland. But it's a long way, and as a frail scholar, I cannot endure the journey. So I came first to these six commanderies in the Eastern Territories to find heroes like Xu Dalang and ask for a little protection. Then I can sail north, hoping for a safe journey."
"In that case, I've been rash." Bai Yousi looked thoughtful, then suddenly raised a sensitive question. "But Uncle, on your journey, weren't you stopped by the rebels near the Eastern Capital?"
"Rebels?" Li Shu appeared puzzled.
"Yes." Watching him, Bai Yousi spoke slowly. "The court sent two hundred thousand elite troops on another expedition against Dongyi, but Yang Shen, the former Supreme Pillar of the State who oversaw supplies for the entire army, suddenly rebelled in Bianliang. Joining with the governors of Zhengzhou, Liyang, Dong Commandery, Huaiyang, and Liang Commandery, he cut off the army's grain supplies ahead and attacked the Eastern Capital behind. Though the court swiftly quelled the rebellion in just twenty-seven days, almost the entire army at the front was lost because of it. The Three Rivers heartland surrounding the Eastern Capital and the more distant Huai Region-seventeen commanderies in all-were ravaged by war... Coming from the Western Capital, Uncle, did you truly hear nothing of such an enormous affair?"
Everyone else remained silent, but Zhang Xing, who had been watching while holding his horses, suddenly grew animated, then fixed his eyes on the two speakers.
"Such a thing actually happened?" Li Shu immediately spread his hands on horseback, looking rueful. "I came through Jinyang and Red Mountain. I truly knew nothing of it."
"I see." Bai Yousi nodded, and the dagger emerged as the map unrolled. "Then you must also be unaware that after Yang Shen rose in rebellion, he falsely invoked your name, publicly claiming you were his chief strategist... And after his capture, he told my father that he regretted not following your plan: concentrating on the east, using the grain in his possession and his late father's military prestige to easily rally the two hundred thousand elite soldiers at the front, then occupying the thirty commanderies of the Eastern Territories and the Central Plains before taking Hebei's twenty commanderies. With people's loyalties wavering then, the realm could easily have been his for the taking. Instead, he let the Eastern Capital and His Majesty blind him."
At this point, there seemed no room left for either side to turn back. Xiong Bonan and Hu Yan each reached for the weapon at his waist, and the followers on both sides grew tense. Xu Shiying, young though he was, remained smiling and composed, looking around like a child who had never grown up. When he inadvertently caught sight of Zhang Xing staring coldly their way, he even gave a dry chuckle.
"I thought Yang Shen merely fierce in appearance but timid at heart, full of schemes but short on resolve. I never expected him to have such a petty heart, sowing discord even on the brink of death." Li Shu sighed on the spot. "Still, our families have been friends for generations, and your father and I are practically blood brothers. He would never let me suffer an injustice... Otherwise, surely a nationwide arrest warrant would already have been issued?"
Bai Yousi said nothing.
Stroking his beard, Li Shu pressed her. "My dear niece, do you have a nationwide arrest warrant?"
Bai Yousi slowly shook her head.
"In that case, I won't delay your official duties, my dear niece." Seeing this, Li Shu cupped his hands slightly, then simply brushed past her, went to a horse nearby, mounted, and rode past her, moving ahead alone.
Seeing this, Xiong and Xu followed his example, one stern and the other smiling. Each mounted and rode boldly forward. The dozens of riders behind them then took their places and slowly followed, passing to either side of Bai Yousi, Qin Bao, and Hu Yan.
The dozen or so mounted Brocade-Clad constables on either flank all looked toward the center. Hu Yan's eyes positively blazed, but Bai Yousi never uttered a word.
Only once the two parties had finished passing each other did the young female patrol inspector turn her horse around and cup her hands slightly. "Uncle, dangerous storms await on your journey to the Northern Wasteland. I hope you'll remember the sights of home and country, and travel safely."
"And you as well, my dear niece." Li Shu halted his horse and looked back, his voice distant. "When you see your father, pass along a few words for me... Tell him that in this tumultuous world, a useless man like me is willing to accept his loss and content to wander the martial world. There's nothing much to quibble over in that. But a man of his talents and wisdom, seated high at court-if he cannot properly assist an enlightened sovereign and restore peace to the realm, I'm afraid the people of the world will look down on him someday."
The female patrol inspector nodded, still showing no sign of discomposure or change of expression.
But just when everyone thought the dust had settled, someone suddenly spoke again:
"Mr. Li, please wait!"
Everyone turned toward the voice. It was none other than the routed soldier they had all overlooked, now walking over with two horses in tow. "I'm afraid I can't accept these two horses. Please take them back, sir, you and Xu Dalang!"
Xiong Bonan's face darkened at once, and even Xu Dalang looked unusually sheepish.
Li Shu alone remained unruffled. "Have you come to resent me over affairs of the army and the state, my good man?"
"Nothing of the sort." Leading the horses straight past the female patrol inspector, Zhang Xing approached Li Shu and spoke composedly. "In great affairs of war and state, the winds and clouds keep shifting. If I really wanted someone to resent, there would be far too many. What reason would I have to resent you? Besides, people are the foundation of all things. You clearly understand that better than Yang Shen..."
"People are the foundation-well said!" At this, Li Shu could not help throwing back his head on horseback and heaving a long sigh, his voice resounding across the fields. "Even an ordinary soldier of the Central Rampart Army understands that. Yet how many princes and nobles of Guanlong, with their towering ambitions and meager talents, remain utterly oblivious! Only decades ago, they had the vigor of tigers that could swallow ten thousand miles!"
"But if you don't resent him, why return the horses?" Xiong Bonan grew increasingly agitated and could not help interrupting.
"I'm alive, so of course I can choose not to resent him." Zhang Xing glanced back beneath the tree, then calmly met the man's eyes. "But my companion was a blunt, stubborn bastard when he was alive. Now he's dead, and it's hardly easy for him to mend his ways and learn. I'm afraid he might harbor resentment... I'm worried he wouldn't want to ride a horse Mr. Li gave us."
Li Shu shook his head repeatedly, then nodded and rode straight off.
Xiong Bonan was momentarily furious as well, but merely flicked his riding whip and hurried after him.
Xu Dalang, however, could not help looking down with a smile. "Why can't you tell kindness from ill will, soldier?... These are horses from my Xu family, after all. Your brother may resent Mr. Zhang, but surely he wouldn't resent me?"
"Xu Dalang." Zhang Xing released the reins and solemnly cupped his hands. "Thank you for your kindness... Let me offer you a few words too. Golden scales are no pond-dwelling things; once wind and cloud meet, they become dragons. With your gifts, why keep belittling and degrading yourself just because you come from a powerful local family? Keep it up long enough, and the false may well become true... Even if you have no choice but to cast your lot among the outlaws of the martial world, you should still cherish yourself a little."
With that, he turned and went back empty-handed.
Xu Dalang stared blankly at the retreating back of this soldier he had met by chance, seemingly wanting to say something. Only after Zhang Xing had returned to sit beneath the tree did he give a dry laugh, turn his horse, and lead the others away.
In a few moments, the band of martial-world heroes had departed without a trace, leaving only the Brocade-Clad riders, one filthy soldier, and a corpse.
And, of course, half the river shimmering green, half the river red.
PS: Thanks to reader All Living Is Suffering for the donation. This is the book's twenty-second Alliance Leader.
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