Futile Devices Scans

Wang Xu brought along the squad of soldiers who had been patrolling with him and escorted Zhang San and Li Si to the post station.

Kuiyuan was divided into an outer and inner city. The inner city lay enclosed within the outer one, somewhat like the Imperial City within the capital. Ordinary residences and military camps filled the outer city, while the inner city housed the prefectural yamen, the Great Preparedness Granary, the post station, and other government buildings.

The three walked from the southern gate of the outer city toward the inner-city post station. Along the way, Zhang San saw clean, orderly streets and alleys. Compared with before the siege, there was simply more defensive equipment and fewer scattered market stalls. There was no sign whatsoever of ruin or decline.

He praised, “Brother Xu, from what I can see, Kuiyuan’s defenses are arranged perfectly. The city has held this long thanks to the Chief Commander.”

Wang Xu was Chief Commander Wang’s eldest son and served as a subordinate general. For the past four years, he had been Zhang San’s direct superior, and the two had fought side by side throughout that time. Yet Wang Xu had never put on airs. He had always admired Zhang San and treated him as a brother.

Because the two were close enough to speak frankly, Wang Xu did not bother putting on a polite front. He shook his head. “It’s not all Father’s doing. Father handles military supplies, the walls, and troop training. But preparing materials, managing the civilians in the city, and keeping the people calm—that all depends on Prefect Zhang.”

At the mention of Prefect Zhang, Zhang San’s expression paused. He looked back at the soldiers following them.

He wanted to say something.

But held his tongue.

——

The inner city stood in the northwest corner of the outer city, very close to the western gate. That was why the report that General Sun had arrived to reinforce them had reached Prefect Zhang’s yamen first.

Wang Xu originally intended to take Zhang San and Li Si straight to the post station, but when Zhang San heard they were so close to the western wall, he insisted on going up to see what had happened to the two thousand cavalry.

In truth, the battle had been extremely brief. Not long after Zhang San and Li Si escaped wounded, it ended. The Xiao army had surrounded the relief force with several times its number and slaughtered them all.

Although the defenders on the wall had eventually seen enough to verify General Sun’s loyalty, the night had been pitch-black and the fighting hopelessly tangled. They could not distinguish Xuan from Xiao well enough even to loose arrows or throw stones in support, much less open the gate while enemy troops swarmed thickly beneath it. They could only stare helplessly into the darkness and listen as the hope that had traveled so far to reach them vanished beneath one desperate cry after another.

When Wang Xu brought Zhang San and Li Si onto the wall, many defenders had bloodshot eyes shadowed with exhaustion. Though they themselves had not fought in the battle, panic and exhaustion showed clearly on every face. Morale was very low.

Wang Xu found one of the projecting mamian bastions. Zhang San leaned over the crenellated parapet and looked down. The night was dark and moonless. Below the three-zhang wall, he could make out only vague, uneven black shapes—probably the bodies of soldiers and horses. Nothing could be seen clearly.

Li Si leaned out beside him. As an archer, his eyesight was better than either older man’s. After studying the darkness for a while, he pointed.

“General Sun’s spear.”

Zhang San narrowed his eyes. Among the black shapes was one faint glimmer of silver. He blinked, and darkness swallowed it again.

Zhang San sighed and pulled Li Si back. “Let’s go.”

Wang Xu had also been watching silently. He led them down from the wall.

Zhang San exchanged a look with him, swept his peripheral vision over the surrounding soldiers, and once again swallowed whatever he had wanted to say.

——

Once they reached the post station, Wang Xu sent someone to wake the post-station keeper and arrange sleeping rooms for them.

Kuiyuan was a prefectural city, so its post station was far larger than the one in Ant County. To Zhang San and Li Si, it practically looked like a mansion. There were halls, courtyards, and twenty or thirty rooms behind them. In peacetime, envoys from various states and officials of every rank passed through. Banquets and receptions had once been frequent, lavish, and lively. Now, because of the war, everything was deserted and empty.

The three stood in the empty front courtyard. With no one else nearby, Zhang San finally lowered his voice. “Brother Xu, tonight we originally meant to enter through the western gate too…”

Wang Xu said, “When I saw the two of you injured, I guessed. I was patrolling the northern wall then, while Father was stationed in the east. By the time I reached the west, it was already too late. Father was even farther away, so he was probably the last person to hear.”

Zhang San sighed. “Two thousand cavalry…”

Wang Xu sighed too. “Yes. Right now, even counting newly recruited local troops, we only have about five thousand men in the whole city. Barely a thousand are cavalry, and we only have eight hundred horses. Ah… What Prefect Zhang did tonight really was…”

He stopped abruptly, realizing he had said too much, and glanced at Li Si standing quietly nearby.

Zhang San said, “He’s fine. He’s one of us.”

Then he added, “Very obedient.”

Only then did Wang Xu relax. “A’Xiao, we can say these things between ourselves, but never mention them to anyone else. You saw the western defenders tonight. Kuiyuan has been under siege for almost a month. Everyone’s already frightened and anxious. We absolutely cannot shake morale any further.”

Wang Xu still had duty early the next morning and needed to return to camp for some sleep. Once the post-station keeper had taken charge of Zhang San and Li Si, he hurried away.

——

In the brick-and-stone room beneath the southern city wall, Kuiyuan’s two senior civil and military leaders were also speaking privately late into the night.

Prefect Zhang ordered everyone else out of the courtyard. Then he poured tea himself and respectfully offered a cup to Chief Commander Wang. “Brother Zhengchen, you and I have worked together for many years. Now we defend the city side by side. We have long been friends who entrust life and death to one another. Young Officer Zhang may have left his army without authorization, but he is clearly loyal and righteous. If you wish to protect him, I agree completely. Why did you need to put on that whole performance?”

Chief Commander Wang accepted the tea with both hands and remained silent for a long time.

Watching his expression, Prefect Zhang sighed again. “Brother Zhengchen, have you heard what happened with General Sun tonight? Are you blaming me?”

Chief Commander Wang looked displeased. He seemed to want to speak, then restrained himself.

Prefect Zhang continued, “Brother Zhengchen, you and I have known each other for many years…”

Chief Commander Wang finally set his cup down. “Yongxi, it is precisely because we have known each other for so many years that I cannot bear to wound you with harsh words. But regarding General Sun—you were muddleheaded! That was a fierce general with two thousand cavalry who came here with one purpose: to reinforce us. And he died miserably beneath our walls! How undeserved! How tragic! Worse, if word of this spreads, what army will ever dare come to reinforce Kuiyuan again? Yongxi! A moment of fear has created a disaster!”

Prefect Zhang lowered his eyes. His face looked exhausted beyond measure.

Chief Commander Wang continued, “I know you were thinking of Kuiyuan’s safety and that you are cautious in everything. But at the very least, you should have sent someone for me! General Sun and I once fought on the same battlefield. If I had been allowed to exchange even a few words with him, perhaps I could have judged whether he was genuine.”

Prefect Zhang said, “The situation was urgent. The western gate is closest to the prefectural yamen, so I arrived first. You were far away at the eastern wall, and the Xiao reinforcements arrived almost immediately. There truly was no time left to send anyone to find you…”

Chief Commander Wang sighed. He said nothing more.

The two sat in silence for a long time. At last, Chief Commander Wang rose. “Forget it. The man is already dead. More words are useless. I still need to return to the eastern wall to hold command. Prefect, farewell.”

Prefect Zhang hurried after him. “Brother Zhengchen! There is also His Majesty’s secret decree…”

“Since His Majesty sent the decree to you, you should read it first! If there is anything in it requiring my service, tell me afterward!”

Still carrying resentment, Chief Commander Wang gave a clasped-fist farewell and quickly left.

Prefect Zhang remained seated alone.

Candlelight flickered across his ashen, defeated face.

——

Zhang San and Li Si were each assigned a sleeping room. For the first time since meeting three days earlier, the two slept separately.

Zhang San’s shoulder hurt badly. Lying on his back pulled at the wound. So did lying on either side. He could only strip off his upper clothes and lie bare-chested on his stomach. Fortunately, charcoal burned in the heated alcove, so the room was not cold.

He could not sleep.

His thoughts kept returning to that faint flash of silver in the darkness.

Those two thousand men never needed to die. If the first person summoned had been Chief Commander Wang, who knew the battlefield… if the two sides had possessed some reliable way to verify identity… if there had been somewhere around Kuiyuan besides the Xiao encirclement where an army could maneuver and hide…

Zhang San had spent many years in Grand Preceptor Tong’s army, fighting one pointless defeat after another and watching countless soldiers die for nothing. He had long since become numb to death. He had long since grown used to injustice. He was no longer like Sisi, innocent enough to shed hot tears so freely. Yet all the resentment and suffocation accumulated through those years had piled inside his chest like a mountain.

Precisely because he knew anger solved nothing, each helpless, irreversible tragedy left him feeling even emptier and more exhausted.

Forget it. Leave it for now.

Then he thought of Sisi sleeping next door.

Once Sisi received Prefect Zhang’s reply tomorrow, he would probably have to leave. The capital was another thousand li away.

What if he runs into the Xiao army marching south? What if he meets bandits on the road? Or worse—what if this Little Fool walks out of the gate and charges straight into the Xiao main camp?

Brother Xiao grew even more worried and even less able to sleep. With his injured shoulder, he could not even toss and turn properly. He lay facedown against the pillow while his thoughts wandered.

Maybe I should ask Chief Commander Wang to let me escort Sisi south first, then come back north afterward. A round trip would only take ten days or so. Kuiyuan looks orderly enough—it shouldn’t fall in ten days. I could ask the Chief Commander for a token too, so I won’t have trouble getting back in…

Zhang San was still planning when he suddenly heard the faintest, slowest creak from the door.

He struggled to turn his head.

A tall figure stood in the doorway like a ghost.

Zhang San’s breath caught in fright. He immediately tried to rise and reach for the weapon by his bed—only to remember he had no weapon. The movement also pulled his shoulder wound, and he let out a pained howl.

The ghost took one swift step forward and caught him before he nearly rolled off the bed. “Brother Xiao.”

“Who are you trying to scare to death in the middle of the night?!” Zhang San smacked Li Si on the forehead.

Li Si said nothing. He helped Zhang San sit up, then sat beside him, quietly pressing shoulder to shoulder.

“What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”

Li Si nodded.

After thinking for a moment, he explained, “The room is too big. Cold.”

It was larger than the room he had shared with Second Uncle and Grandma combined.

Empty.

Hollow.

There was clearly charcoal burning in the heated alcove, yet for some reason it felt colder than the ruined village at dusk.

Li Si pressed closer.

Zhang San was bare-chested. Li Si’s outer coat was still in the room next door, so he wore only an inner shirt. Familiar body heat passed through the thin fabric. Familiar breathing sounded beside his ear.

At last, Li Si felt warmer.

Safer.

After sitting that way for a while, his head tilted onto Zhang San’s uninjured right shoulder.

He said nothing.

He simply stared blankly ahead.

They were nearly the same height, so the position was somewhat awkward. Zhang San straightened his back to make it more comfortable for him, his chest shaking with laughter. “Little colt, you’re getting pretty good at acting spoiled.”

“Big tiger,” Li Si replied.

He did not think he was acting spoiled at all.

Of course, if this was not acting spoiled, he had no idea what it was.

“Something you want to tell me?” Zhang San asked.

Li Si thought for a long time.

Then he shook his head.

His heart was packed full of things.

But he could not see any of them clearly.

He could not untangle even one sentence.

If he had to try, he wanted to talk to Zhang San about Ant County, Kuiyuan, Second Uncle, the Commander, Chief Constable Liu, Madam Zhang, General Sun, Chief Commander Wang, Brother Wang… even the two men who had kept watch at the abandoned fortress, the two cavalrymen who had carried them part of the way, the personal guard who had given them beans for the horse.

All those people whose names they had never known, but whose lives had crossed theirs.

In only three days, Zhang San and Li Si had met so many people together.

Compared with the dull, repetitive life Li Si had lived for more than ten years, these three days felt as long as thirty years.

He wanted to talk about every one of them with Zhang San.

He wanted to hear what Zhang San thought of them too.

But what should I say?

Tomorrow, Prefect Zhang would give his answer.

Perhaps Li Si would have to leave.

Before leaving, he should say something properly.

But he was clumsy of tongue and few of words.

Where could he even begin?

Earlier, when he had been sad, Zhang San had pressed his head into the hollow of his shoulder. It had made him feel warm and safe. He had calmed down quickly.

So Li Si tilted his head and took the initiative to bury his face in the hollow of Zhang San’s shoulder, taking a deep breath of familiar warmth.

He hoped dawn would not come too quickly.

And he hoped the night would not end so soon.

Zhang San went completely rigid.

His face flushed hot.

The Little Fool’s slightly cool nose and lips rested softly against the hollow of his shoulder.

His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed.

Mother of heaven. I really have been abstinent too long! I really don’t like men! And this is only a nineteen-year-old kid!

Afraid of letting his thoughts wander somewhere improper, Zhang San turned and cupped Li Si’s face, deliberately making his voice sound casual. “If you have nothing to say, then don’t say anything. Tomorrow we still need to see Prefect Zhang. Sleep early. Get inside.”

Li Si obediently climbed onto the bed.

It was wide, large, and soft, more than enough for two.

He rolled inward and pulled one corner of the quilt around himself.

Zhang San lay down beside him on his stomach, carefully adjusted his injured shoulder until he found a comfortable position, then closed his eyes.

The two shared one quilt, their shoulders pressed together.

Heat passed through the thin shirts between them.

As though some spell had settled over the room, both of them calmed almost immediately.

Their wandering thoughts vanished.

Exhaustion from days on the road finally caught up with them, and before long, both were asleep.

——

At the first faint light of dawn, the energetic Wang Xu arrived with the two best physicians in the city. One specialized in external injuries, and the other specialized in treating internal weakness.

Wang Xu strode ahead in armor with the vigor of a bear. Behind him, his personal guards escorted the two physicians carrying medicine chests. The group crossed halls and courtyards, heading noisily toward Unit Commander Zhang’s room.

No one expected Subordinate General Wang to boldly push the door open, let out a startled “Aiya!” and immediately slam it shut again, blocking everyone behind him.

“Back! Back, all of you!”

The guards and physicians had no idea what had happened. Wang Xu drove every last one of them back into the courtyard.

Then he opened the door again and poked half his body inside. “A’Xiao? Are you two awake?”

Zhang San and Li Si had slept only an hour or two. Both were groggy. With dazed expressions, they emerged from beneath the same quilt.

Zhang San was bare-chested. After spending the entire night sleeping on his stomach, his neck had twisted painfully, and he frowned as he rubbed it. Li Si’s clothes were disheveled. Half one shoulder was exposed. His hair knot had come loose. His face was flushed from sleep.

Both looked up at Wang Xu simultaneously.

Zhang San mumbled, “Brother Xu, why are you here?”

Wang Xu slipped inside and immediately shut the door.

“Didn’t I tell you I’d bring physicians to treat your injury? But you two… this… this is…” He stared. “You’re injured! And you were exhausted last night! You still had energy for bedroom business?!”

Wang Xu slapped his palm. “Good thing I brought a physician for internal weakness too. Perfect timing!”

Li Si had no idea what he was talking about. He simply lowered his head and straightened his clothing.

To Wang Xu, this looked exactly like bashfulness.

Zhang San, however, sensed something was wrong. “Brother Xu, what are you talking about?”

Wang Xu convinced himself almost instantly. He sat beside the bed, wrapped an arm around Zhang San’s shoulders, and whispered, “Don’t worry. Brother Xu doesn’t care about that sort of thing, and I won’t tell Father. No wonder Father tried to arrange a marriage for you once you came of age and you refused again and again, saying you fought away from home all year and didn’t want to neglect a wife. So it turns out you like handsome young men…”

Zhang San shoved him. “Brother! I do not like men!”

Wang Xu became angry too. “Fine! You took advantage and now you won’t admit it? Such a young little brother, and you’ve ruined him! He’s even an Envoy—you’re offending your superior!”

“I didn’t ruin him! He said he was cold and came to sleep with me himself!”

“Tsk! Now you’re blaming the little brother!”

The two older men began shoving and arguing.

Li Si did not understand. He only vaguely grasped that it had something to do with “the male style.”

The male style is the male style, I suppose. It must mean some sort of masculine bearing—like a woman’s bearing or a scholar’s bearing. It doesn’t sound like anything bad.

Elio’s Notes: 男风 (nanfeng, literally “male wind/style”) was a euphemism for male-male desire. Li Si does not know this and interprets 风 literally as “style” or “bearing,” which is the joke.

So Li Si ignored their fight.

He slipped away from them, climbed off the bed from the corner, and opened the door to fetch his outer coat from the room next door.

Wearing only a thin shirt, with his hair loose and his face still red, he stepped outside.

The personal guards and physicians in the courtyard all stared.

Everyone instantly understood why Subordinate General Wang had refused to let them enter.

Their expressions became wonderfully complicated.

——

After putting on his coat, Li Si returned to Zhang San’s room. The guards waiting outside silently opened a path for him.

Inside, the two physicians surrounded Zhang San. One examined the wound behind his shoulder. The other took his pulse. Wang Xu sat to one side straightening his appearance. His armor had been shoved askew by Zhang San, and Zhang San had pulled his hair loose as well.

Zhang San had clearly suffered the greater loss. His shoulder was weak, and he could not truly beat his superior and older brother. The righteous and indignant Wang Xu had therefore landed one punch on each cheek. Two swollen red marks bloomed like rouge across Zhang San’s face. He snorted angrily through his nose like a furious tiger cat trying not to roar.

Li Si’s heart tightened at the sight of his injuries. He walked over, ignored everyone else, leaned close to inspect Zhang San’s face, and even rubbed the swollen marks with his fingers.

The expressions of the physicians and Wang Xu became even more complicated.

Zhang San shoved him away. “Stop making trouble! You already got me beaten once!”

Li Si obediently sat beside him.

Seeing Zhang San’s domineering manner and Li Si’s meek obedience, Wang Xu gave another disapproving snort.

Zhang San said, “I really didn’t touch him! Pull his trousers down and look!”

Wang Xu exploded. “You still want to humiliate him?! I’ve known you all these years and never knew you handled private matters like this!”

Zhang San shook with anger.

The physician taking his pulse released his wrist. “Young Officer Zhang has excessive liver fire and deficient kidney water…”

Wang Xu immediately pointed at him. “See!”

Zhang San: “…”

Elio’s Notes: In traditional Chinese medicine and popular Chinese health discourse, “kidney deficiency” is commonly associated with reduced sexual function or virility. Wang Xu immediately takes the diagnosis as proof of his completely mistaken theory.

Awooo! Awooo! Awooo! I’m so mad I could die! Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!

——

The physicians treated Zhang San’s wound and prescribed medicine for his supposed kidney deficiency. Zhang San also recited the formula for his own wound powder and asked the physician specializing in external injuries to prepare two more bottles as quickly as possible—one for him and one for Li Si.

Then he tried to drive Wang Xu and the physicians away together. Subordinate General Wang still had to inspect all four sides of the city.

But before Wang Xu reached the door, someone hurried in from the courtyard. “General! There’s enemy activity outside the western gate. Prefect Zhang and the Chief Commander have already been informed. Are you going to take a look too?”

Wang Xu grabbed his weapon and left immediately.

Hearing that it was the western gate, Zhang San and Li Si both felt their hearts tighten.

They followed him out.