Guotu Village

Xia Yunhe walked over, tapped the trunk, and raised her eyes to look at Wei Sizhao, a hint of inquiry in her voice, "By order of the Prince?"

At this moment, the sunlight filtered through the tall, withered willow outside the wall, casting a mottled shadow of interlacing branches over the plain chest.

Wei Sizhao bowed slightly and explained, "Lord Xia may not know this, but the Shenfeng Escort Agency was established by the Prince himself."

"Oh?" Xia Yunhe froze in place.

Wei Sizhao continued, "Therefore, the Prince was well aware of the consignment Lord Xia entrusted to the Shenfeng Escort Agency."

A tremor of shock ran through Xia Yunhe's heart. She exchanged a glance with Zhen Niang, recalling that night outside the Prefect's residence when the Prince of Qin had not uttered a single word about the Shenfeng Escort Agency. She could not help but feel a growing admiration for Xie Yi's conduct—so young, yet possessing such depth of mind.

Mu Xiunian gave Wei Sizhao a gentle nudge, frowning as he said, "Eunuch Qian specifically warned us not to tell outsiders."

Everyone in the courtyard laughed, and Wei Sizhao smiled as well, saying, "How could Lord Xia possibly be considered an outsider?"

Mu Xiunian fell silent for a moment, scratched the back of his neck, and gave an embarrassed chuckle.

The two men directed the others to carry the chests indoors. Xia Yunhe quickly thanked them, and amidst the conversation, she asked, "What has the Prince been busy with lately?"

Mu Xiunian replied, "As the weather grows colder, a thin layer of ice has formed over the river. A small patrol of Rong cavalrymen has been lingering on the opposite bank. Fearing trouble, Elder General Shen took the Prince with him to inspect the borders beyond the pass. Before his departure, the Prince instructed the two of us to accompany the escort caravan all the way to Shangdu."

Wei Sizhao glanced around at the group before cupping his fists and saying politely, "Lord Xia, we must return to report on our mission."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yunhe thanked them once more, and Wei and Mu led their men away.

Seeing this, Third Master Fu also took his leave to attend to Zheng Mian's affairs.

Feeling her way around, Zhen Niang opened the large wooden chests one by one, pulled out a white fox fur cloak wrapped in dark blue cloth, and stood up to find Xia Yunhe. "Thank heavens, His Highness the Prince of Qin really sent these just in time."

Sanniang also crowded over to rummage through the contents, only to fish out a white fox-feather hand fan. Picking up the fan, she twirled the handle a few times, lazily covered her mouth with it to stifle a yawn, and remarked with considerable regret, "In the dead of winter, who has any use for a fan? The wind and sand here are so fierce in the summer; such a fine fan face will be ruined by the sand."

Zhen Niang poked Sanniang in the waist. "Enough of that, come help tidy up."

Sanniang let out a soft huff, then got up to sort the garments.

Xia Yunhe picked up the ink-black cloak from the chair, mentally calculating when she should personally go and thank Xie Yi. In her previous life, she had always worried over the Crown Prince, only for him to lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong, ultimately raising an ungrateful wolf. In this lifetime, living up to the present, she had not helped Xie Yi very much; instead, this child frequently remembered her as his teacher, saving her a great deal of worry.

With this thought, a trace of gratified warmth unconsciously spread across her face.

Seeing this, Sanniang asked, "What is My Lord smiling about all by himself?"

Xia Yunhe reined in her smile, pondered for a moment, and said, "With these garments to keep out the cold, we've saved ourselves a tidy sum of silver. Shouldn't I smile?"

She walked away with a smile, leaving Sanniang standing in place, biting her finger in thought.

...

In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed.

Third Master Fu settled Zheng Mian in a secluded residence in Ruize, urging the Zheng family to be cautious and avoid unnecessary contact with outsiders. Naturally, Zheng Mian agreed repeatedly, and the family kept a low profile, exercising twelve times more vigilance than before.

Upon hearing the news, Physician Zhang Su also rented a place in the southern part of Yinjun County and opened a medical clinic. Everyone in the city rejoiced upon hearing the news; any household afflicted by illness only needed to invite Physician Zhang, and once the patient heard the physician give a single cough from afar, a large part of their ailment would instantly vanish. Prefect Mi also paid a personal visit, asking why the physician had descended the mountain. Physician Zhang replied, "The mountain grew cold early this year, and in my old age, I can no longer endure the freezing temperatures."

During this period, Shen Fuujian dragged Xia Yunhe off to Physician Zhang's clinic. After taking his pulse, Physician Zhang merely stated, "Congenital deficiency; best treated with warming and nourishing remedies." Shen Fuujian was startled. "Sir, his health was fine when he was a child. It only became like this after he fell into the water and suffered a severe fright."

With a puzzled look, Physician Zhang checked the pulse a second time, then said with absolute certainty, "It is indeed a congenital deficiency."

Shen Fuujian glanced at Xia Yunhe, slapped his palm against his leg in sudden enlightenment, and deduced aloud, "That explains it! To be frightened into such a state by falling into water—it turns out he had a congenital deficiency all along. While we were running wild together as kids, it wasn't obvious, but after you went through such ordeals, your postnatal foundation was damaged, which is why you've ended up in this frail and sickly state."

Xia Yunhe coughed a few times on the side, inwardly letting out a sigh of relief, only to watch Shen Fuujian anxiously ask Physician Zhang, "What kind of prescription should we use to recuperate?"

Zhang Su replied, "Excessive worry and grief, stagnation in the liver, yin deficiency with blazing fire, heart-fire rising upward." As he spoke, the old physician brushed a few quick strokes across the prescription paper, laid his brush aside, folded the paper in half to conceal what he had written, and handed it over. Shen Fuujian reached out to take it, but the physician pulled his hand back, motioning for Xia Yunhe to take it instead, and told her to read it only after returning home.

Back at home, Xia Yunhe unfolded the prescription paper and saw written upon it:

"Close the door and ignore the moonlight before the court; let the plum blossoms follow their own will."

This was telling her to live the life of an idle person.

Unfortunately, she could not truly be an idle person.

Using the coals in the brazier, she burned the slip of paper to ashes, flicked her hand, and scattered the ashes into the air.

Third Master Fu walked in and said, "My Lord, the carriage is ready."

Xia Yunhe stood up, straightened her robes, and said, "Let's go to Guoqiu Village."

The carriage left the city, heading south. After crossing the Bin River, vast expanses of reed beds came into view. Straight poplar trees lined both sides of the road, and patches of snow still lingered on the exposed yellow earth, while withered leaves tumbled across the ground in the wind. Near the village entrance stood a slanted earthen slope crowned by a persimmon tree, its branches bare yet adorned with bright red fruit.

Xia Yunhe stepped down from the carriage. Third Master Fu tied the horses to a hitching post not far away and came over to lead the way.

Ascending the earthen slope, Third Master Fu faced the Bin River and pointed to the distant surface of the water for Xia Yunhe to see. "The Bin River flows down from the Western Mountains, takes a bend, and spreads out right here at Guoqiu Village. This summer, the rains came fiercely and suddenly, and the upper reaches accumulated twice the usual volume of water, pouring entirely into Guoqiu Village and flooding all the fields."

Pointing to the opposite bank, Xia Yunhe asked, "Is that land also part of Guoqiu Village?"

"No, that belongs to Biangan Village. Ah, more than half the county is flooded, let alone two tiny villages."

The two descended the slope and walked into the village. They crossed paths with a young woman wearing a headscarf. Catching sight of them, she rubbed her eyes, waved excitedly, and called out, "Lord Xia!"

The young woman removed her headscarf, revealing a familiar face.

Recognizing her as the young woman from Luoxia stronghold, Xia Yunhe remained silent for a moment before recalling her name. "Lian—Lady Yue'e."

The young maiden was overjoyed. "Lord Xia has such a good memory." But as Yue'e looked toward Third Master Fu, the smile on her face faded. She looked Xia Yunhe and Third Master Fu up and down, then asked pointedly, "How is it that Lord Xia has the leisure to visit our village?"

Third Master Fu retorted, "Where is your father?"

Yue'e wrinkled her nose, tilted her head, and said huffily, "Third Master has always been so well-informed, do you really need to ask me?"

"Hey, you—!"

Xia Yunhe stopped Third Master Fu and confessed honestly to Yue'e, "To tell you the truth, I have come precisely for the sake of the 'Night-Watchers'."

Yue'e lowered her head in silence. Each time words reached her lips, she swallowed them back. Gripping her headscarf tightly, she gritted her teeth and said, "Lord Xia, follow me."

...

Guoqiu Village possessed a large open space containing an ancient, towering locust tree with a trunk so thick it took twenty people joining hands to barely encircle it. Ten paces to the right of the giant tree stood the village ancestral hall.

Some villagers had already noticed Third Master Fu and Xia Yunhe. News spread quickly from one to ten, and ten to one hundred; the moment Xia Yunhe's figure appeared at the entrance of the ancestral hall, the villagers swarmed over out of curiosity. Children crouched near the edge of the nearby stage, stretching their necks to peer inside.

Xia Yunhe raised her eyes to sweep over them: patched coarse-cloth jackets, some wearing coiled hair-knots, clothes old and varied in style, blending seamlessly with the desolate yellow earth—it was truly impossible to tell whether their garments were dirtier or the yellow earth thicker.

As she observed the crowd, the people of Guoqiu Village curiously observed her as well.

Compared to them, Xia Yunhe wore a plain, long robe that was far too clean, utterly out of place in this grimy environment.

A burly man with a thick beard and brows resembling Zhang Fei leaned on a carrying pole and asked Yue'e, "Yue'e, why are you bringing just anybody into the village? How come you didn't bring the young master from Elder General Shen's household this time?"

Another, leaner man chimed in from the side, "Her heart flutters when she meets her lover, so she scared him off! Today she's swapped him for someone even handsomer—careful she doesn't scare this one away with her singing, too!"

A blush crept onto Yue'e's face as she glared fiercely at them, gritting her teeth. "This is Vice-Prefect Xia. Show some respect!"

The burly man laughed, shifting the carrying pole to his other shoulder, and asked, "How is it another Vice-Prefect has come? Are there so many Vice-Prefects in the city?"

As Yue'e tried to defend him, Xia Yunhe stepped forward and made a deep, sweeping bow to the assembly. "I am Xia Yunhe, styled Yizhi, of the Xia lineage. I have come here today for the sake of the rebuilding of the Night-Watchers and for all you men of ambition."

Someone let out a snort. "What do the lords of the Xia family care about us poor military households? Since ancient times, officials do not bow to commoners. If you ask me, he's just someone Third Master Fu specially found to put on a show!"

This sentiment struck a chord with the majority of the villagers, and instantly, a chorus of agreement rose around them.

Unable to contain his anger, Third Master Fu stepped forward to explain, but Xia Yunhe held him back with a gesture. At that moment, someone shouted loudly, "The Village Chief is coming!"

The crowd hurriedly cleared a path as a lean, white-haired elder approached, accompanied by several militia leaders; old man Lian, Yue'e's father, was among them.

Catching sight of Xia Yunhe, old man Lian said to the Village Chief, "It's Lord Xia!"

Only then did the crowd believe it. Realizing how rude they had been, a sudden uproar of weeping and wailing broke out, which the Village Chief promptly silenced. Old man Lian and the other leaders drove the idle troublemakers away.

Once the crowd had thinned out, old man Lian subtly signaled for Yue'e to leave. She re-wrapped her headscarf and scurried off unnoticed.

Those remaining entered the ancestral hall, paid respects to the spirit tablets, and lit incense. Following local custom, Xia Yunhe also bowed before the tablets.

The Village Chief carefully appraised Xia Yunhe, finding this Lord Xia to be exceedingly delicate—not at all like the lords in the city, but resembling a scholarly tutor.

He cupped his fists and asked Xia Yunhe politely, "This humble person's surname is Jian. May I ask what brings Your Honor here?"

Xia Yunhe replied, "First, for the rebuilding of the Night-Watchers; second, for the old walled granary." Pausing briefly, she asked Village Chief Jian, "Do you happen to know Jian the Humpback?"

Taken aback, Village Chief Jian sighed, a trace of sorrow crossing his face as he answered honestly, "He was my brother. His mind was muddled, and he passed away last night. My second son was adopted by my brother in his early years, and we are currently discussing arrangements for the funeral."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yunhe offered her condolences, then went to take a brief look at Jian the Humpback's home—a collapsed house and ruined courtyard. Emerging from that dilapidated dwelling, the group was invited to Village Chief Jian's home. Along the way, all they saw were earthen walls and mud huts that would crumble at the first onslaught of rainwater.

Hesitating for a moment, she caught sight of old man Lian and, turning the thought over in her mind, asked, "Did young General Shen's promised grain provisions reach you?"

Village Chief Jian nodded. "They reached us."

"Show me."

Old man Lian lifted the lid of the flour vat, revealing red grains. Xia Yunhe pinched a few, rubbed them between her fingers, and asked, "What is this?"

"Sorghum."

Xia Yunhe asked, "Why are you eating this?"

Everyone fell silent. Third Master Fu leaned in and whispered to her, "The common folk all eat this. Fine millet and white flour are hardly seen once a year."

Xia Yunhe then fished out half of a reddish flatbread from a steamer. She broke off a piece to taste it, swallowed it with difficulty while repressing her discomfort, and found the texture exceptionally coarse and harsh on the throat.

After a moment, she raised her eyes to look at the cobwebs hanging in the corner of the room. A faint ray of light spilled through a fracture in the roof, with dust dancing wildly in the beam. The walls, built of yellow earth mixed with chaff—ten years of military farming reduced to peasant hardship. Looking at all this, she no longer raised the matter of funds for the Night-Watchers.

She only asked, "Why not exchange it for millet?"

Village Chief Jian replied, "One shi of millet costs two hundred and ninety coins at the place of origin, three hundred coins in the capital, and four hundred coins by the time it reaches our border prefecture. General Shen tried every possible means and could only procure sorghum; millet was simply unavailable."

"What about the grain distributed by the county?"

Another person chimed in, "The lords simply said there was no surplus grain this year, and it will be distributed to us together with the seeds next spring."