Villagers of the stronghold

Xia Yunhe’s voice carried a trace of helplessness. “My mother spent every last coin of the family fortune to save my life, so how could the Xia family have any money left? In all my years in the capital, I haven’t saved up any silver either. I only have this much; if you don’t want it, I’ll just take it back.”

She briskly gathered the copper coins one by one, unwilling to raise her eyes to look at him, and muttered, “My official travel permit is about to expire, and I cannot afford any delays on the road. I will leave tomorrow.”

Shen Fujian blinked, squatted down beside her with a mischievous grin. Knowing something was amiss, Xia Yunhe tried to stand up, but he firmly caught her sleeve and pressed her back down into the chair. Smiling, he tried to persuade her, “Alright, alright, your elder brother was in the wrong; I won’t make things difficult for you.” Then, shifting his tone, he slowly added, “Brother has a favor to ask of you.”

Knowing full well that Shen Fujian had been leading up to this, Xia Yunhe gave a disgruntled chuckle and played along, asking, “What is it?”

Clapping his hands together, the man stood up with a smile and peered outside. The courtyard was quiet and deserted, and as darkness had fallen, he beckoned to her, saying, “Follow me.”

The bright moon hung high in the sky, the river of stars was scattered across the firmament, and the mountain trail was clear and easy to navigate.

After walking for about half an hour, they climbed to a desolate peak and discovered a dilapidated temple. Beside the door hung a pair of faded antithetical couplets: the upper line read, “The winding mountain path leads to true ease,” while the lower line answered, “The clear breeze through grass and trees dusts the worldly heart.” The horizontal plaque above the door had long since vanished without a trace.

Shen Fujian said, “Wait for me right here.” With that, he leaped over the courtyard wall alone, startling a huge flock of bats that fluttered up with a great commotion, chittering noisily for a long while.

Suddenly, a chill crept up Xia Yunhe’s back, and she involuntarily pulled her sleeves tighter around herself. With not a soul in sight across the wilderness, she looked into the distance and saw not a single spark of light—only the boundless, dark blue night. Yet, all nature was full of sound: a long, rippling river flowed afar, distant and obscure, lonely and resonant.

Suddenly, someone slapped her hard on the back!

With a start, every hair on her body stood on end. Shen Fujian hopped out in front of her with a grin and said, “Are you really that easily frightened?”

Xia Yunhe clutched her chest, taking a long moment to recover her breath. “Don’t scare me like that. What are you doing in the temple?”

Shen Fujian pulled out an envelope, handed it to her, and said, “Since you’re leaving tomorrow, take this to Prefect Mi.”

“Prefect Mi?”

“Yes, Mi Su, the Prefect of Yinjun.”

Xia Yunhe took the letter and noticed the envelope was still unsealed. Feeling rather puzzled, she asked, “What is this? Why must I take it to Prefect Mi?”

“This is a deposition.”

“A deposition?” The more Xia Yunhe listened, the more confused she became, and she asked, “Whose deposition?”

Shen Fujian sighed and said, “This year, the Bian River overflowed, and Qianlangkou breached, flooding more than half of Luoxia County. Banditry has been rampant, and the prefect ordered severe punishment. Later, Magistrate Wang asked my father to dispatch troops. However, after coming to Luoxia Stronghold, I discovered that they are all dispossessed farmers who lost their lands and grain and had no other way to survive, which is why they took to the mountains as bandits. They must by no means be classified as vicious criminals. What is recorded in this letter is what I personally questioned them about.”

Xia Yunhe furrowed her brow slightly, looking somewhat unconvinced. Shen Fujian explained, “Yue’e cleans my bedroom three times a day, so this letter could only be hidden in this ruined temple. I originally intended to wait until Magistrate Wang suppressed the bandits before presenting it, but they have delayed coming. I was just looking for an excuse to leave the stronghold when you happened to arrive. Do this favor for your brother first, and after the matter is settled, I’ll treat you to wine.”

She said, “Since they lost their land due to natural disaster, the county naturally has relief grain. How could they be reduced to occupying the mountains as bandits and harassing the locals?”

“Heavy taxes and cheap grain: there are those who lost their land and couldn’t pay the grain tax, only to be drafted into corvée labor, forcing whole families to flee; and there are those whose lands were defrauded and sold by wealthy gentry, who, having no place to stay and no way to survive, took to the mountains.”

“Heavy taxes? With all the rain this year and the bursting of river dikes in many places, His Majesty issued an imperial decree to reduce taxes. Why is it like this in Yinjun?” Xia Yunhe tucked the letter into her sleeve, feeling a vague sense of unease, and said, “I’m afraid there is more to this than meets the eye.”

Just as her voice trailed off, the sound of rustling footsteps drifted into their ears.

Someone asked in a disguised voice, “Chieftain, are you the son of the veteran General Shen?”

Xia Yunhe and Shen Fujian were startled. Shen Fujian looked toward the direction of the voice and shouted, “Who’s there!”

Against the moonlight, two figures emerged from the broken wall: Old Lian and Yue’e.

Old Lian said, “Chieftain, you really are the only son of veteran General Shen!”

Yue’e patted Old Lian and smiled, saying, “Father, it must be true. ‘A single silver spear, shaking all directions’—other than the Shen family, who else wields a silver spear?”

“Right, right, right! Look at my brain. I always said the chieftain was either noble or wealthy—” Old Lian looked at Xia Yunhe and asked, “May I ask this young master’s honorable name?”

Xia Yunhe cupped her hands in a salute and stated her name.

Hearing her surname, Old Lian paused to think and asked, “Was your ancestor the Honorable Xia of Yinjun?”

“Yes.”

Old Lian asked again, “The Honorable Xia possessed a wooden thumb ring back then, I wonder—” He hesitated, stopping short until Xia Yunhe drew out the black sandalwood thumb ring from her bosom.

The burly man carefully received it, examined the seal-script character for “Xia” earnestly under the moonlight, stroked it gently, and handed it back to her with both hands.

Suddenly, Old Lian dropped to his knees, gripped the cuff of Xia Yunhe’s robe, and wept aloud. As he wiped his tears with the back of his hand, looking utterly aggrieved, every trace of the arrogance he had shown during the afternoon highway robbery had vanished.

Xia Yunhe hurriedly exchanged a glance with Yue’e, signaling her to help Old Lian up. The group hurried down the mountain peak and returned to Shen Fujian’s quarters.

Yue’e supported Old Lian as he sat on the edge of the bed, wiping the man’s tears with her sleeve.

Seeing that Old Lian had calmed down slightly, Xia Yunhe cautiously asked him why they didn’t go to the county office for relief, but instead chose to take such a desperate risk and become bandits on Luoxia Mountain.

After a long sigh followed by another, Old Lian said, “Young Master, you do not understand. For us farming folk, aside from depending on the whims of the heavens, we also have to depend on the whims of the granary officials. In a bountiful year, the grain stored in the righteous granary is entirely good grain. This year, the river flooded the fields, and while they promised to distribute grain for survival based on the grain-tax records of previous years, what actually reached our hands was moldy, stale rice, short on weight and measure. Our whole family was starving to death.”

Hearing this, Xia Yunhe asked, “Just how bold are these granary officials to dare act like this? Is Magistrate Wang completely unaware?”

Shen Fujian remarked, “You have it wrong. Wang Yanyu is no immortal; how could he possibly know about everything?”

Old Lian chimed in, “Magistrate Wang is a good man; he came to the county and punished several bullies and rascals. But alas, the iron-clad yamen sees flowing prefects; those people kept things from Magistrate Wang, and with nowhere to voice our grievances, how could he possibly know?”

After pausing for a moment, Old Lian continued, “Later, I heard that the Black Cloud Stronghold was distributing porridge and recruiting men. Wherever you go, you have to live, but once we got there, we found out they only wanted able-bodied men and women. For the men to join, they had to commit highway robbery and murder, using human heads as an initiation pledge. Selling daughters for a single catty of millet—those heartless, conscience-less demons drive people onto a path of death. No matter how poor we are, we would never sell human beings.”

Yue’e hugged Old Lian’s arm tightly, shedding a few tears.

“The leader of the Black Cloud Stronghold has murder cases on his hands and kills without blinking. We were originally just farmers; how could we ever mess with those people? So we plotted to break away and establish our own stronghold here on Luoxia Mountain. Gradually, many people just like us arrived, and the stronghold’s influence slowly grew.” Old Lian sighed. “Although the stronghold looks powerful now, our actual grain reserves won’t last half a month. In half a month, I don’t know where we’ll procure food.”

Shen Fujian gave a light cough and said, “Since I am the chieftain, you don’t need to worry about procuring grain.”

Hearing these words, Xia Yunhe felt a complex mix of emotions in her heart—neither purely sour nor purely painful. In her past life, she had spent most of her time in Shangdu, and her border expedition had lasted merely half a year. While she generally knew of the hardships of the people’s livelihood, she had never understood the specifics. What she had seen and heard today made her deeply ashamed in both lifetimes.

First, she was ashamed of having read the sages’ books in vain; second, she was ashamed of her own ignorance of ordinary sufferings.

The room fell silent for a time. Old Lian and his daughter did not linger, standing up to leave the room. Shen Fujian followed the two of them out, repeatedly admonishing them that not a single word of what was discussed tonight must be leaked. Old Lian hurriedly agreed, and the two of them departed somewhat sheepishly.

When Shen Fujian returned to the room and saw Xia Yunhe’s heavy expression, he said, “Brother Yun, stop thinking about it.” With that, he kicked off his shoes on his own accord, lay down on the bed, and leisurely sized the other person up.

Seeing Xia Yunhe sitting in the chair with a furrowed brow, Shen Fujian chuckled, raised a hand to trace the outline of her face in the air, and said, “If I hadn’t grown up playing with you and known your background through and through, the way you look right now would really make one suspect whose young lady you actually are.”

Yet he did not know that the person before him was indeed a young lady.

“Where are Zhenniang and the others? Take me to find them.” Xia Yunhe pulled herself together, cast a sideways glance at him, and spoke.

“Aiyah!” Shen Fujian let out an exaggerated cry, sat up, and said, “Oh no, I forgot to ask Yue’e.” After pondering for a moment, he hopped out of bed without his shoes, pattered hurriedly over to the table, and deliberately teased her, “It’s so dark out, how could I have the face to go trouble Yue’e again? After all, a young lady’s reputation must be considered.”

He paced back and forth in front of Xia Yunhe with his hands behind his back, coughing a few times to fake a heart-wrenching expression. “Alas, I’ll make a sacrifice and reluctantly give up half the bed to you.”

Xia Yunhe stood up, ignored him entirely, and headed straight for the door. “I’ll go find Yue’e myself.”

Seeing that Xia Yunhe was truly angry, Shen Fujian hurriedly blocked the doorway and said, “Zhenniang and the others are all female attendants; don’t be impatient, I’ll go ask Yue’e where Eunuch Qian and the others are staying.” With that, he reached to open the door.

Xia Yunhe suddenly snapped to her senses. For her to go look for Zhenniang and the others dressed in men’s clothing would indeed be improper in the eyes of outsiders, inevitably leading to gossip behind her back. Yet she had no desire to live in the same quarters as Qian He’er and his rowdy gang of boisterous lads—especially Lin Cang, whose gossipy tongue and habit of staring at her like an interrogating prison guard was annoying beyond belief. Her eyes darted about, and with a long face, she grabbed Shen Fujian’s sleeve and said slowly, “I am not used to sharing living quarters with a crowd of people.”

Hearing this, Shen Fujian patted her shoulder with a smile and said, “Don’t pull such a long face; I’ll give you half the bed.”

Xia Yunhe: “I do not like sharing a sleeping mat with others.”

Shen Fujian froze. “What do you mean? You weren’t like this when we were children. Ever since you fell into the water, your health has been poor, and your temperament has grown increasingly eccentric.”

It would be a lie to say she had no guilty conscience. Xia Yunhe deliberately coughed a couple of times, feigning anger. “I sleep on the bed, you sleep on the floor. There is no room for negotiation.”

Shen Fujian wrinkled his nose in frustration. “How can you be so overbearing, stealing the magpie’s nest? You just slapped me earlier, and I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet!”

Left speechless, Xia Yunhe watched as Shen Fujian let out a “hmph,” sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled his shoes back on, and said with an indignant huff, “I’ll leave the bed to you then. Who cares to share a sleeping mat with you anyway? If my father hadn’t strictly ordered me to yield to you, I wouldn’t let you have it at all.”

“Hmph!” Shen Fujian let out a heavy snort of disgust in her direction, gritting his teeth as he spat out four words: “You’re getting stingier by the day!”

He pulled the door open, his figure flickering as he vanished into the night.

...

Early the next morning, Xia Yunhe was awakened by a commotion.

She had slept fully clothed the previous night. Hearing the disturbance, she quickly straightened her garments and was about to open the door to see what had happened when the bedroom door was slammed open with a loud crash. Armored soldiers wielding blades surged in all at once, instantly filling the small bedroom to capacity.

The soldiers escorted Xia Yunhe out of the room and straight to the stronghold’s Hall of Loyalty and Justice.

This was the place where the stronghold usually held its meetings. Now, elite soldiers stood in formation on either side, while a man sat upon the dais wearing a gauze cap and round-collared robe, dressed in the formal attire of a county magistrate.

A soldier reported, “Lord Wang, the bandit leader has been brought here under arrest.”

The magistrate lifted his eyelids slightly, paused for a moment, and tapped his fingertips impatiently against the floor. “Xia Yizhi? Is it you?”

“It has been many years, Brother Zizhao. Trust you have been well?” Xia Yunhe stood with her hands cupped in front of her, a polished and appropriate smile on her face.

The soldiers exchanged glances, not daring to speak out of turn, their eyes repeatedly darting toward Xia Yunhe.

Wang Yanyu slowly rose to his feet and asked, “Why are you here?”

Just as she was about to open her mouth to reply, someone cut in ahead of her.

“Sir, it has been a long time.”

The clear, melodious voice came from behind her, sounding slightly familiar. Instinctively, she turned around to see Xie Yi clad in dark black armor, standing tall and straight. One hand firmly gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, while the other was loosely clenched into a fist, exuding an imposing and robust aura.

He smiled as he looked at Xia Yunhe, his dark eyebrows raised slightly, and a pair of amber eyes glowing brilliantly.

Wang Yanyu stepped forward and bowed. “Your Highness, the Prince of Qin.”

As their gazes met, Xia Yunhe swept back her sleeves, bowed deeply, and said, “Your Highness, it has been a long time.”