Chapter 121: Three Teams Otherwise, how could his father have so quickly devised a stratagem of sowing discord tonight?
This old man truly refuses to settle for mediocrity. In Yuan’s current chaos, many minor officials in the backwater areas had long since abandoned ambition, content to eat and drink their days away. Their motto had long since become: Retreat into your little tower and make it your whole world. Why worry about spring, summer, autumn, or winter?
Once, that had been He Lingchuan’s own thoughts as well. He sighed inwardly at the thought. Why, then, did he find himself straying further and further from it?
As soon as He Chunhua set down his brush, an aide hurried forward to collect the letter. From here on, it would fall to swift-footed scouts to see the matter through.
He Chunhua could not resist patting his eldest son on the shoulder again, praising warmly, “Chuan’er, today you’ve opened my eyes like a man waking from a dream. Very good, very good!”
He Lingchuan laughed, tossing out a few modest words. “If I can be of some help to Father, I’m content.”
Ah, well, when calamity presses at the gates, there’s no room left to hide one’s hand. “See? Even if the Water Spirit’s omen may well point to this very hour, if we join forces and weather it, all will turn for the better. That so-called calamity of yours will be broken apart!”
He Lingchuan smiled back. “I hope so.”
But could it really be so simple? Still, what exactly was the line about a cuckoo taking the magpie’s nest referring to? Could it be the brigands seizing a mountain village and masquerading as its people? He Chunhua turned once more to confer with his men. Every moment was precious now; he had to race the clock.
He Yue drifted over to his older brother. “Well done.”
He Lingchuan asked, “By the way, what was that commotion by the lake earlier?”
“Nothing much.” He Yue exhaled. “Tonight’s skirmish at the lakeshore, I was the one who triggered it. In the end, it cost us a chance, and now we’ll have to patch things up.”
“So it was you, brat!” He Lingchuan had been wondering about this since earlier. Their father was always cautious, planning every move, so he could just not see their father being the one who had launched a rash attack on Lu Yao.
“I was too impatient,” He Yue admitted with guilt.
“Well, that’s just part of being young.” For all his precocious composure, He Yue was still only fourteen.
The age of fourteen was the very age of recklessness and adolescent bravado. That he only slipped on occasion already spoke well of him.
* * *
On the western side of Immortal Spirit Mountain.
Wu Shaoyi marched with a grim face behind the guide, torches stretching out behind him, creating an image akin to a long, flickering dragon from afar.
Originally, his men had camped at the foot of the mountain to rest and regain their strength before ascending at dawn. Who could have expected that scoundrel Lu Yao to send a guide in the middle of the night, inviting them up at once to a banquet of fresh-caught fish? His exact words were: “Fish should be eaten while fresh—boiled, fried, or stewed. Wait until morning, and they’ll lose all flavor.”
The real trouble was that the guide had practically shouted the words aloud, loud enough for forty or fifty men around the tents to hear. Wu Shaoyi had gathered a thousand and a hundred men. Their rebellion had failed, morale was already low, and he had strictly forbidden them from plundering along the way, and these orders had naturally bred simmering resentment. Now, with this temptation dangled before them, voices all around him urged: Why not, General Wu? Let the men indulge themselves once or twice; how much harm could it possibly do?
For the sake of safety, Wu Shaoyi had refused to indulge his men before. But when Lu Yao’s guide shouted the words “banquet of fresh fish,” his soldiers’ eyes all but turned green. For the past ten days, they had not even had proper grain porridge. At best, the officers could scrounge up a few flatbreads to share among them. The rank and file were digging up wild herbs and gnawing on mushrooms. At least seven or eight had already died from eating poisonous fungi by mistake.
Seeing the way they gulped hungrily at the thought, Wu Shaoyi knew this time it would be utterly unwise to say “no.”
And so, they marched up the mountain in the dead of night.
The guide also told Wu Shaoyi that Pei Xinyong’s forces were ascending as well. Wu Shaoyi naturally took it with caution, but Pei’s army was indeed camped on the opposite side. He sent scouts to confirm, and their reports came back affirmative.
Before the uprising, Wu Shaoyi and Pei Xinyong had been comrades-in-arms. Wu Shaoyi had even saved Pei Xinyong’s life once, so their bond was solid. If Pei Xinyong was coming too, then the triangle remained stable.
After weighing it over, Wu Shaoyi finally waved his hand and gave the order for their army to march up to the village!
The thought of good wine and fresh fish waiting at the top quickened the entire army’s pace. Still, one of Wu Shaoyi’s advisers, uneasy, pressed the guide again, “Why would Lu Yao summon us in the middle of the night just to eat? Is there really no other reason?”
The guide laughed. “Come now, what else could there be? Immortal Spirit Village is no bigger than a fingernail, tucked away in the mountain. Do you really think there’s some hidden immortal’s cave dwelling here?”
Wu Shaoyi thought on it and found the reasoning sound. He said nothing more, focusing on the climb.
The mountain was pitch dark. Owls hooted, wolves howled, and the night pressed in deep.
The deeper they went, the heavier his heart grew. There was neither moon nor stars, just the wavering glow of torches. A moonless night with high winds; it was a night made for murder.
In such a forest, if there were an ambush, how could it possibly be resisted?
Just then, behind them, a burst of flapping wings erupted into the air. Birds had been startled from their roosts, with a few crows shrieking loudly and hoarsely. The sound prickled the scalp.
Everyone turned instinctively. At that instant, an arrow hissed from the darkness ahead and thudded into a birch trunk within five meters of Wu Shaoyi!
His personal guards surged forward, closing around him as they roared, “Enemy attack!”
Weapons rang out as the army braced for battle.
But Wu Shaoyi raised a hand. “Bring me that arrow.”
By torchlight, he saw the shaft trailed a strip of crimson silk.
A message had been carried by the arrow.
At this hour, who would be lurking in the forest? Who could have known his army was climbing the mountain right now?
The mountain forest soon fell silent again. No more arrows came, and no other movement was made. Wu Shaoyi sent some men to search around, but they returned empty-handed.
That did not surprise him. He ordered for the silk to be unfurled under the firelight.
A glance was enough to chill his marrow. Three short lines, yet every word made his heart leap:
“Lu Yao has surrendered.
He is lying in ambush with state troops at Immortal Spirit Village.
Seven hundred more lie in wait beneath Whistle Rock.”
Deep into the night, every breath Wu Shaoyi drew now felt icy cold.
Has Lu Yao really defected to the royal court? His adviser crowded close, reading the lines as well. Their gazes met in mutual shock.
Wu Shaoyi whispered, “Could it be true? His name is cursed across the land. The court loathes him to the bone.”
The adviser steadied himself quickly. His master needed calm judgment now. He thought it over, then said cautiously, “If he turns his sword on us, the royal court would welcome it. They might even grant him rank and wealth. You know as well as I do that Lu Yao never wished to become an outlaw. It’s possible that the two sides have struck a deal.”
“I’d always heard he still dreamed of raising banners again.”
“He would need to recover his strength first,” the adviser reasoned. “And it would be better for him to become the claws and fangs of the royal court than be a st... wanderer with nowhere to call home and be hunted by every local army.”
He had nearly said “stray dog,” but caught himself in time. After all, was Wu Shaoyi himself not in the same straits?
Wu Shaoyi’s eyes flickered with displeasure. The adviser hurried to amend, pointing to the silk. “It’s not hard to verify. We can simply send some scouts to Whistle Rock.”