Lu Ming

Late September.

After morning court ended, Xiao Lin asked Kong Wu to stay behind.

A map of the northern frontier covered half a wall in the imperial study, marked with every route the Northern Di cavalry had taken on their raids south over the past few years. Standing before it, Xiao Lin used a vermilion brush to draw an arc north of Shuofang City, extending deep into the grasslands to the upper reaches of the Onon River. The Northern Di main camp was in that area. Every autumn, their cavalry followed this route south, coming and going like the wind, while the frontier army could only defend passively. To eliminate this hidden danger completely, they needed an elite cavalry force beyond the frontier wall that could take the offensive.

"I have considered this for a long time. Sun Jingtang worked out the figures for me. Once this year's autumn taxes enter the treasury, the Ministry of Revenue can allocate an additional two hundred thousand taels specifically for training troops on the northern frontier."

Xiao Lin set down the vermilion brush and turned to look at the man before him.

"I intend to establish a cavalry camp in Shuofang City, select the best riders from the frontier army, and train them together. The horses will come from the Longxi horse ranches, and the men will be selected from the various frontier garrisons. As for the commander-" He paused. "I want someone new."

"What does Your Majesty have in mind?"

"I want someone without a powerful background, someone who can endure hardship and remain out on the grasslands. Kong Wu, look through the lists of military examination graduates from the past three years. Preferably someone who has served on the northern frontier and knows the terrain of the grasslands."

Three days later, Kong Wu submitted a list containing only three names. All had passed the military examinations within the past three years and ranked among the best in mounted archery. The first name was Lu Ming, the top military examination graduate in the seventh year of Jianxi. He had placed first in archery and horsemanship, excelled at mounted archery, and spent three years guarding the Longxi frontier. After being transferred back to the capital, he had been given an idle post in the Imperial Guard. He spoke little, formed no cliques, and spent every day doing nothing but drilling and sleeping. His Ministry of War evaluation read, "Aloof by nature, disinclined to socialize." What others saw as shortcomings, Xiao Lin saw as a letter of recommendation.

"This Lu Ming. Summon him to see me." Xiao Lin placed the list at the corner of his desk.

When Lu Ming entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Xiao Lin was sitting at the imperial desk reviewing memorials. Kong Wu came in to announce him.

"Your Majesty, Lu Ming has arrived."

Xiao Lin nodded and glanced sideways at Xiao Huaijin.

"Stay seated and listen carefully. I will have questions for you afterward."

The hall doors opened, and a lean young man walked in. He wore the robes of an ordinary Imperial Guard officer, his cuffs worn pale, his boots still flecked with mud from training. Clearly, he had been summoned straight from the drill ground. His brow and cheekbones were prominent, the contours of his entire face seeming to have been honed by the wind and sand of the northwest. Yet his gaze was calm, and he stood in the middle of the hall and bowed, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Your subject Lu Ming pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Xiao Lin dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Tell me, do you know the terrain north of Shuofang City?"

"I do. I served on the frontier there."

"If I ordered you to lead cavalry beyond the frontier wall now, what would you do first?"

Lu Ming considered for a moment.

"I believe we must first locate water sources. Without water, the horses would collapse before the cavalry could travel far. If we truly intend to pursue the Northern Di deep into the grasslands, we must first establish where all the water sources along the route are. Wherever there is water, that is where the cavalry should make camp."

Xiao Lin nodded slightly.

Lu Ming continued his answer.

"After that, I believe we should devise plans for night raids and train our cavalry to carry them out. The Northern Di cavalry are indeed highly mobile, but their nighttime security is weak. An elite cavalry force familiar with the terrain could raid their main camp under cover of darkness, seeking not to annihilate them, but only to disrupt the rhythm of their defenses."

His voice was quiet, but his reasoning was clear. Xiao Huaijin listened so intently beside them that his brush remained still for a long time, ink bleeding into a small black spot on the paper.

"Do you think Great Liang can defeat the Northern Di now?" Xiao Lin leaned back in his chair, his tone flat and unreadable.

"Yes. But it depends on how we fight. We cannot chase them head-on. The Northern Di have many cavalrymen, all skilled in archery and horsemanship. Our chances in a frontal engagement are poor; it would be better to contain them from the flanks. There are also conflicts between the Northern Di tribes. If we can divide and rule them, winning over several tribes to cut off supplies to the main camp, the camp will fall without an assault."

Xiao Lin was silent for a while.

"I intend to establish a cavalry camp in Shuofang City. That camp needs a commander."

He looked at Lu Ming. "I choose you. Do you dare accept?"

Lu Ming dropped to one knee, his voice showing a distinct change for the first time.

"I dare. I am willing to spill my liver and brains upon the ground for Your Majesty."

Xiao Lin motioned for him to rise.

"Once you reach Shuofang City, everything in the cavalry camp will be under your direct command. The funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue are to be used solely for their designated purpose. If anyone dares reach for them, submit a secret memorial directly to me. The Ministry of War will issue your transfer orders tomorrow, and you will depart the day after. I will send men from the Ministry of Works with you to survey canal routes in preparation for future military farming settlements."

After Lu Ming accepted his orders and withdrew, Xiao Lin rose from behind the imperial desk and walked over to Xiao Huaijin.

"You listened all that time. Any thoughts?"

Xiao Huaijin set down his brush and thought for a moment.

"I think this man says very little, but every sentence is useful. As Grand Tutor Zhou once said, 'Few words, full meaning.'"

"Do you know why I chose him?"

"Because he is capable?"

"Not just that. He has no powerful background. Someone like him is more likely to give his all when an opportunity comes."

"Father, should I look for people like him when I appoint men in the future?"

Xiao Lin shook his head.

"Someone like Lu Ming is suited to warfare. Governing a region requires another kind of person, someone who can deal with different people, reconcile local conflicts, and settle problems. A ruler must have all kinds of people at his disposal. The key is knowing which kind belongs in which position." Xiao Lin looked at his son. "And as emperor, you must balance all sides."

Xiao Huaijin nodded, committing each of these words to memory.

At morning court the following day, the Ministry of War formally issued the transfer order: Lu Ming was appointed commander-in-chief of the Shuofang Cavalry Camp, with eight hundred elite cavalrymen to be selected from the various frontier garrisons and sent to Shuofang for concentrated training. The Ministry of Revenue allocated two hundred thousand taels for this designated purpose, and the Ministry of Works dispatched personnel to Shuofang to survey canal routes.

Two days later, Lu Ming left the capital. Standing atop the palace wall, Xiao Huaijin watched from afar as the party rode through the northern city gate. He had listened to that brief audience, and now, watching that figure disappear beyond the gate, he felt something he could not quite describe. Turning to Kong Wu, he asked, "General Kong, how long will it be before Lu Ming returns?"

"Half a year at the least, two or three years at the most. Making the cavalry camp battle-ready is not the work of a single day."

Kong Wu paused. "Your Highness, are you particularly interested in this man?"

Xiao Huaijin nodded without explaining why.

He simply had an inexplicable sense that this man would become very important to Great Liang.

Before long, Shen Mingzhu's birthday arrived. No one mentioned the date. She had been ordered to die as a condemned consort, and no one dared touch such ill fortune. Besides, few people in the palace still remembered this once-supremely favored consort.

Except Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu did not come out all day. He ate breakfast with Noble Consort Jing and Xiao Lan that morning, said he wanted to return to his room to read for a while, and then remained in his own chambers. He kept the door closed and turned away the palace maid who brought his lunch. After hearing the maid's report, Noble Consort Jing waved her away, sat in the main hall for a while, then went to the small kitchen herself to make a plate of osmanthus cakes. She walked to Xiao Yu's door and knocked softly.

"Yu'er, it's Mother. May I come in?"

There was no sound from within. Only after a long while was the door pulled open a crack. Xiao Yu stood behind it, his eyes red, clutching a gold bracelet. This bracelet was his treasure. He kept it beneath his pillow every day, and today he had taken it out and held it all day long. Noble Consort Jing said nothing. She merely pushed the door open gently, walked inside, and set the osmanthus cakes on the table.

"Today is your mother's birthday. You miss her, don't you?"

Xiao Yu lowered his head. Tears circled in his eyes several times before finally rolling down and striking the bracelet in his hand. He cried very quietly, his shoulders trembling.

"I miss Mother." He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes hard with its back. "I remember her sewing rabbit-fur cuffs for me. I remember the sweet-and-sour ribs she made. But her face-I don't know why, why it grows blurrier the harder I try to remember. Last night I tried desperately, but I couldn't remember it at all."

Every portrait of Shen Mingzhu in the palace had been burned. Xiao Yu desperately tried to recall his mother's appearance, but it was always veiled behind a thin mist.

He was afraid.

Noble Consort Jing drew him down to sit beside her and reached out to wipe the tears from his face.

"Yu'er, don't be afraid. Your mother has never left. She is simply staying beside you in a different way. Have you forgotten what I told you before? Your mother has always been here. The brightest star in the sky is her. She is watching you grow, little by little." Noble Consort Jing's voice was very soft and gentle, utterly unlike her usual manner when handling palace affairs.

Xiao Yu lifted his head to look at her.

"Was Mother... was she really a bad person?"

Noble Consort Jing shook her head slightly.

"She did something wrong, that is all. Perhaps to others, she was a bad person, because what she did might have hurt them. But she loved you. No one can deny that, can they? Yu'er, don't concern yourself with other people's judgments and opinions. You will become a very good child."

Xiao Yu pressed the bracelet against his cheek. His body heat had warmed it, and his tears left fine trails across its surface.

"Then can she still hear me speak?"

"Of course she can." Noble Consort Jing gently covered the hand holding the bracelet with her own.

"She can hear you. The things you say, the way you miss her-she knows it all. But I think what she wants most is not to see you grieving because of her. She wants you to grow up well and always be happy."

Noble Consort Jing drew him a little closer, letting his face rest against her shoulder.

"Yu'er, don't grieve all alone anymore. You can lean on me too, all right?"

The fragrance of osmanthus drifted in through the window. Watered by the rain a few days earlier, the old osmanthus trees were blooming even more profusely. Xiao Yu cried against Noble Consort Jing's shoulder for a long time, until his voice grew hoarse, before finally quieting little by little. He picked up an osmanthus cake from the plate on the table and took a bite, chewing for a long time before swallowing.

"The osmanthus cakes Mother used to make tasted like this too."

"Then from now on, I will make a plate of osmanthus cakes every year on your mother's birthday. We will eat them together and remember her together. She is gone, but I am still here. Since you call me Mother, I will always be your mother. Whether or not you remember her face, you have two mothers-one watching over you from heaven, and one staying beside you."

Xiao Yu turned and buried his face in her embrace, both hands tightly clutching the front of her robes, just as he had clutched his mother's robes when Shen Mingzhu fed him medicine that year. His hands were still trembling, but his sobs slowly grew quieter.

"Mother, will you leave me?" His voice was hoarse and muffled.

"No. I still have to watch you grow up, marry, and establish your own household." Noble Consort Jing lowered her head and kissed the crown of his head. "I'm not leaving."

Outside the hall, osmanthus blossoms carpeted the ground. The setting sun spilled through the window lattice, stretching their shadows very, very long.