Jingning Year Five, the seventh day of the fourth month.
Three-Fork Ridge, Wei Prefecture.
Frostlike moonlight spilled over the hills. A party of over twenty traveled south along the official road. The accompanying guards and constables clustered around the carriage, listening to the clear voice, laden with sorrow, drifting out from within:
"My wrathful hair thrusts up my cap! Here by the railing..."
"Coo-coo, cheep-cheep..."
"I raise my eyes! Throw back my head and cry to heaven..."
"Cheep-cheep-cheep-cheep..."
Lamplight shone inside the carriage. A plump, fair-skinned middle-aged official clutched the window with one hand and gazed at the Central Plains receding into the distance. Listening with tears streaming down his aging face, he could not help saying:
"Enough, enough. Your father's being transferred to Ruizhou, not exiled to Lingnan..."
"Ruizhou is Lingnan, and Lingnan is Ruizhou!"
The white-robed boy of fifteen or sixteen teased a little black bird, his eyes full of lament:
"Old man, what kind of official career is this? Over a decade without climbing any higher, and now you've fallen instead! The Capital City's crawling with beauties. I finally managed to grow up, only to leave without marrying a single wife. What am I supposed to do in Lingnan? They're all Witch Cult Demonesses there..."
The middle-aged official lowered the window and picked up his little wine cup for a sip:
"Demonesses have their good points. With what my son has to offer, he's destined to have a woman on each arm wherever he goes. Isn't that right, old bird?"
"Coo-cheep!"
The boy looked rather pleased:
"True enough. Raise a son for a thousand days, call on him for one moment. I've accomplished something with my studies now. I may not excel at anything, but I know how to do everything. Just let me meet a