Futile Devices Scans

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

Kuiyuan was divided into an outer city and an inner city. The inner city was enclosed within the outer city, similar to the Imperial City in the capital. The outer city held ordinary residences and military camps, while the inner city contained the prefectural yamen, the Great Preparedness Granary, the relay station, and other official buildings.

The three walked from the south gate of the outer city to the relay station in the inner city. Along the way, Zhang San saw that the city’s streets and alleys were clean and orderly. Compared to before the siege, there were only more defensive equipment and fewer scattered stalls; there was not the slightest sign of ruin or decline.

He praised, “Brother Xu, from what I see, Kuiyuan’s defenses are all properly arranged. The fact that Kuiyuan has held firm until now is all thanks to the Chief Commander’s arrangements.”

Wang Xu was Chief Commander Wang’s eldest son and held the post of subordinate general. For the past four years, he had been Zhang San’s direct superior, and the two had fought side by side for four years. Yet he had no airs of a superior at all. Instead, he had always admired Zhang San and addressed him as a brother.

Wang Xu and Zhang San were close friends who could speak from the heart, so he did not put on any false front with Zhang San. He shook his head and said directly, “It’s not only Father’s achievement. Father oversees military supplies, city defenses, and troop training, but as for preparing materials, managing the lives of the people in the city, and settling civilian morale, all of that relies on Prefectural Lord Zhang’s efforts.”

At the mention of Prefect Zhang, Zhang San’s expression paused. He turned to look at the soldiers following behind them, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

——

The inner city was in the northwest corner of the outer city, close to the western gate. That was why the earlier report that “General Sun has come to reinforce us” had first reached Prefect Zhang’s prefectural yamen. Wang Xu had originally intended to send the two directly to the relay station to rest, but when Zhang San heard that the western gate was nearby, he insisted on going up the city wall to look at the state of those two thousand cavalry.

In truth, that battle had been extremely short. Not long after Zhang San and Li Si fled with injuries, it had already ended. With several times the number of Xuan cavalry, the Xiao army had surrounded the reinforcements and slaughtered them all.

Although the defenders on the wall had verified General Sun’s loyalty and bravery, amid the dark night and chaotic battle, they could not distinguish friend from foe at all. They could not even loose arrows or hurl stones to help, much less open the city gate amid the Xiao army’s dense encirclement to let the Xuan cavalry in. They could only watch the darkness helplessly and listen as the hope that had come from so far away vanished amid one mournful cry after another.

When Wang Xu led Zhang San and Li Si up onto the wall, many of the defending soldiers’ eyes were bloodshot and shadowed. Though they had not personally fought in that battle, each of them showed panic and exhaustion, their morale extremely low.

Wang Xu found a protruding horse-face wall. Zhang San leaned out over the battlement and looked down. The night was dim and moonless. Beneath the three-zhang-high wall, only some rising and falling black shadows could be vaguely seen, seeming like the bodies of soldiers and warhorses. Nothing could be seen clearly.

Li Si also leaned out after Zhang San. He had been trained as an archer, and his eyesight was better than both older brothers’. After looking for a while, he pointed in one direction and said softly to Zhang San, “General Sun’s spear.”

Zhang San stared closely and saw a faint point of silver light among the dark shadows. In the next blink, it was swallowed by the darkness again.

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

Wang Xu had also been quietly watching from the side. Hearing this, he led the two of them down from the city wall. Zhang San exchanged a glance with Wang Xu, swept his peripheral vision over the surrounding defenders, and once again swallowed his words.

——

After entering the relay station, Wang Xu sent someone to wake the relay station official and arrange sleeping quarters for the two.

The three stood in the empty front courtyard. Seeing no one around, Zhang San finally lowered his voice and said, “Brother Xu, tonight we originally also meant to enter through the western gate…”

Wang Xu said, “When I saw you injured, I guessed as much. At that time, I was patrolling the northern wall, and Father was stationed at the eastern wall. By the time I arrived, it was already too late. Father was farthest from the western gate, so he was probably the last to receive the news.”

Zhang San sighed. “Two thousand cavalry…”

Wang Xu sighed as well. “Yes. Right now, even including newly recruited village soldiers, there are only about five thousand troops in the city altogether. Among them, there are only a thousand cavalry, and only eight hundred horses. Ah! What Prefectural Lord Zhang did this time truly was…”

He stopped halfway through, realizing he had spoken out of turn, and glanced at Li Si, who was standing silently to the side.

Zhang San said, “He’s fine. One of us.” Then he added, “Very obedient.”

Only then did Wang Xu relax and sigh. “A’Xiao, this sort of thing is fine for the two of us to say privately, but you must never mention it to anyone else. You saw the morale of the western gate defenders tonight. Kuiyuan has been besieged for nearly a month, and people are already anxious and frightened. We absolutely cannot shake the army’s morale further.”

Wang Xu still had duty early the next morning and needed to hurry back to the barracks to rest. Once the relay station official took charge of the two, he left in a rush.

——

In the brick-and-stone room beneath the southern city wall, Kuiyuan’s two civil and military superiors were also having a nighttime conversation.

Prefect Zhang ordered everyone around them to withdraw outside the courtyard, then poured tea himself and respectfully offered a cup to Chief Commander Wang. He sighed and said, “Brother Zheng Chen, you and I have worked together for many years, and now we are fighting the enemy together. We have long been friends who entrust life and death to one another. Though that Young Officer Zhang left his army without authorization, he is a man of loyalty and righteousness. If Brother wishes to protect him, this foolish younger brother agrees completely. Why did Brother need to put on that extra performance?”

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

Observing his expression, Prefect Zhang sighed again. “Brother Zheng Chen, have you learned of General Sun’s attempt to break through tonight? Are you blaming this foolish younger brother?”

Chief Commander Wang’s expression was displeased, and he seemed to want to speak but held back.

Prefect Zhang continued persuading him. “Brother Zheng Chen, you and I have known each other for many years…”

Chief Commander Wang set down the teacup and finally could not help speaking. “Yong Xi, it is precisely because you and I have known each other for many years that I cannot bear to wound you with my words… But with General Sun’s matter, you were muddled! That was a fierce general, two thousand cavalry, who came single-mindedly to reinforce us, yet died miserably beneath the city wall! How innocent! How regrettable! Moreover, if this matter spreads widely, which army will dare come to reinforce our Kuiyuan again? Yong Xi! Your momentary fear has brewed a great disaster!”

Prefect Zhang lowered his eyes and said nothing, his face haggard beyond endurance.

Chief Commander Wang continued, “I know you care about Kuiyuan’s safety and are cautious in all things, but at the very least you should have sent someone to inform me! If I had been allowed to exchange a few words with General Sun then, since he and I were once comrades on the battlefield, perhaps I could have judged whether he was sincere or false.”

Prefect Zhang said, “The situation was urgent at the time. The western gate was closest to the prefectural yamen, so this foolish younger brother went there first. Brother was far away at the eastern wall, and the Xiao reinforcements arrived in the blink of an eye. I truly no longer had time to send someone to find you…”

Chief Commander Wang sighed and said nothing.

The two fell silent for a long while. Chief Commander Wang rose and sighed. “Forget it. The man is already dead. More words are useless. This old man still needs to return to the eastern wall to hold command, so I will not stay. Prefectural Lord, farewell.”

Prefect Zhang chased after him. “Brother Zheng Chen! There is also the Emperor’s secret decree…”

“Since it is the Emperor’s secret decree to Prefectural Lord, Prefectural Lord should read it first! If there is anything that requires this old man’s service, Prefectural Lord may tell this old man then!”

Chief Commander Wang still carried resentment in his heart. He clasped his fists in farewell and quickly left the courtyard, leaving Prefect Zhang sitting alone in the room.

The candlelight flickered and swayed. Only his ashen, defeated face shifted in and out of the firelight.

——

Kuiyuan was a prefectural city, so its relay station was far larger than the county relay station in Ant County. To Zhang San and Li Si, it could practically be called a mansion. This prefectural relay station had halls, courtyards, and twenty or thirty rooms behind the courtyard. In times without war, the people who came and went here were envoys from various states and officials great and small. Banquets and receptions were frequent, luxurious and lively. Now that war had broken out, however, it had become desolate and empty.

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

The wound on Zhang San’s shoulder hurt badly. Lying on his back or his side both pulled at the injury, so he could only remove his upper clothes and lie bare-chested on his stomach. Fortunately, the room’s heated alcove had charcoal burning, so it was not cold.

He could not sleep. His mind kept returning to that faint trace of silver light in the darkness.

Those two thousand soldiers need not have died in vain. If the first person notified had been Chief Commander Wang, who had rich battlefield experience; if both sides had possessed some way to verify identity in advance; if around Kuiyuan there had been not only the besieging Xiao army, but also some place where a force could shift and hide…

He had spent many years in Grand Preceptor Tong’s army and fought countless meaningless defeats, witnessing countless soldiers die in vain. He had long since grown indifferent toward matters of life and death, and he had long since grown used to injustice. He no longer had Sisi’s innocent nature, shedding hot tears so freely. Yet the resentment and suffocation accumulated over all these years had piled into a heavy mountain in his heart.

Precisely because he knew that anger was useless, every time he encountered such helpless and irreversible things, he felt all the more empty and exhausted.

Forget it. Set this matter aside for now.

But then he thought of Sisi sleeping next door.

Once Sisi received Prefect Zhang’s reply tomorrow, he would probably have to leave. The journey from Kuiyuan back to the capital was another thousand li. What if he encountered the Xiao army marching south on the road? What if he encountered vicious bandits blocking the way?

Or even worse, what if this little idiot ghost stepped out of the city gate and foolishly charged straight into the Xiao army’s main camp?

That made Brother Xiao even more worried and unable to sleep.

With his injured shoulder, he could not toss and turn. He lay on his stomach against the pillow, his thoughts wandering restlessly.

Maybe he should tell Chief Commander Wang and first escort Sisi south, then come north again afterward. In any case, a round trip would take only ten days or so. Looking at how orderly Kuiyuan was now, it would not fall in just ten days. He could also ask Chief Commander Wang for an identity token, so when he returned, he would not need to worry about entering the city.

Zhang San was still making plans in his heart when he suddenly heard an extremely faint, slow creak at the door. Lying on the pillow, he struggled to turn his head and looked back.

A tall figure stood at the doorway like a ghost! He was so startled that his breath hitched. He quickly tried to get up and reach for the blade by the bed—only to remember he had no weapon with him now, while also pulling at the wound behind his shoulder. He let out a pained howl.

The ghostly figure took one swift step forward and hurriedly supported him before he nearly rolled off the bed. “Brother Xiao.”

“Who are you scaring in the middle of the night!” Zhang San slapped Li Si on the forehead.

Li Si did not answer. He helped Zhang San sit up on the bed, then sat down by the bed as well, silently squeezing shoulder to shoulder with him.

“What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”

Li Si nodded. After thinking for a while, he explained, “The room is too big. Cold.”

It was bigger than the room he had shared with his Second Uncle and Grandma combined, empty and hollow. There was clearly a heated alcove burning charcoal inside the room, but for some reason, it felt colder than the abandoned village at dusk.

He pressed close against Zhang San. Zhang San was bare-chested, while Li Si’s outer coat remained next door and had not been brought over; he wore only an inner shirt. Feeling the familiar body heat come through the thin fabric, and hearing the familiar breathing so close beside his ear, he finally felt much warmer and much more at ease.

After sitting there for a while, his head tilted, and he rested it on Zhang San’s uninjured right shoulder. He did not speak, merely stared blankly.

The two were about the same height, so this position was actually somewhat awkward. Zhang San straightened his back a little so Li Si could lean more comfortably, his chest shaking with laughter. “Little colt, you’re pretty good at acting spoiled.”

“Big tiger,” Li Si replied, not feeling that he was acting spoiled at all. Of course, if it was not acting spoiled, he did not know what else it was.

“Is there something you want to say to me?” Zhang San asked again.

Li Si thought for a while, then shook his head. His heart was packed densely with many things, but he himself could not see any of it clearly, nor could he untangle even one sentence.

If he had to say it, it seemed that… he wanted to talk to Zhang San about Ant County, about Kuiyuan, about Second Uncle, the Command Envoy, the little constable, Madam Zhang, General Sun, Chief Commander Wang, Brother Wang…

He even wanted to talk about the two sentry brothers in the earthen fortress, the two cavalry elder brothers who had carried them for part of the road, the personal guard who had given them a bag of horse beans… to talk about all those people whose names they did not know, but who had still passed through each other’s lives.

In these short three days, the two of them had met so many people together. Compared to the dull, repetitive life he had lived for more than ten years, these three short days felt as long as thirty years.

Every person, he wanted to speak of with Zhang San, and he wanted to hear Zhang San speak of them too. But what should he say?

Tomorrow, Prefect Zhang would give his reply, and perhaps Li Si would have to leave. Before leaving, he should properly say something.

But he was so clumsy of tongue and few of words. Where should he begin?

Earlier, when he had been sad, Zhang San had pressed his head into the hollow of his shoulder. That action had made him feel very warm and safe, and he had calmed down quickly. So he tilted his head slightly and took the initiative to bury his face in Zhang San’s shoulder hollow, breathing in a deep breath of familiar warmth.

He hoped the sky would not brighten so quickly, and that this night would not pass so soon.

Zhang San went stiff all over from being buried against like this. His face flushed rapidly. The little idiot ghost’s slightly cool nose tip and lips were lightly pressed into the hollow of his shoulder. Zhang San’s Adam’s apple moved soundlessly as he swallowed dryly.

Mother of heaven, I really have been abstinent for too long!

I really don’t favor men! Besides, this is only a nineteen-year-old little kid!

Not daring to indulge his improper thoughts, he turned and cupped Li Si’s face, speaking in a deliberately casual tone as if nothing had happened. “If you have nothing to say, then don’t say it. Tomorrow we still have to go see Prefect Zhang. Sleep early! Sleep inside!”

Li Si obediently climbed onto the bed. The bed was wide, large, and soft, more than enough to fit two people. Li Si rolled inward, pulling a corner of the blanket around himself. Zhang San lay down beside him on his stomach, carefully shifting his wound until he found a comfortable position, then closed his eyes.

The two shared the same blanket, each with one shoulder pressed close to the other. Their skin burned hot through the thin shirts between them. As if some spell had been cast on them, both settled down at once. All their wandering thoughts vanished like smoke, and no longer able to resist the exhaustion of days on the road, they both soon fell asleep.

——

At the first dim light of dawn, the spirited Wang Xu arrived, bringing the two best physicians in the city. One was skilled in treating external injuries, and the other was skilled in regulating internal deficiency.

Wang Xu wore armor and strode at the front with bear-like vigor. His personal guards escorted the two physicians carrying medicine boxes, following neatly behind him. The group passed through halls and courtyards, heading noisily toward Squad Leader Zhang’s sleeping chamber.

Who would have expected that when Subordinate General Wang boldly pushed open the door, he would let out a startled “Aiya!” and immediately turn around to shut the door again, blocking everyone behind him.

“Back, back, back! Everyone back!”

The personal guards and physicians had no idea what was happening and were all driven into the courtyard by him.

Wang Xu opened the door again and poked half his body inside, looking around awkwardly.

“A’Xiao? Are you two up?”

Zhang San and Li Si had only slept for one or two hours and were both groggy. With dazed expressions, the two emerged from under the same blanket. Zhang San was bare-chested, having slept on his stomach all night, his neck twisted painfully, and he was frowning as he rubbed it. Li Si’s clothes were disheveled, half his shoulder exposed, his hair bun loose from sleep, and his little face flushed.

Both of them raised their heads toward Wang Xu at the same time.

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

Wang Xu slipped into the room and quickly shut the door tight.

“Didn’t I say I’d bring physicians to treat your wound? You two, this, this is… You’re still injured! And after being so tired last night! You still had the strength for this kind of cloud-and-rain business…”

Wang Xu smacked his palm.

“Good thing I brought a physician for internal deficiency. Just in time!”

Li Si did not understand what this older brother was talking about. He quietly lowered his head and straightened his clothes—which, in Wang Xu’s eyes, was exactly the picture of bashfulness.

Zhang San, however, sensed something was off and frowned.

“Brother Xu, what are you talking about?”

Wang Xu quickly convinced himself entirely. Sitting by the bed, he wrapped an arm around Zhang San’s shoulder and whispered,

“Don’t worry! Brother Xu doesn’t mind this sort of thing, and I won’t tell Father either. No wonder—last time Father saw that you were already of age and wanted to arrange a marriage for you, you refused again and again, saying something about fighting away from home year-round and not wanting to neglect a wife. So it turns out you like this kind of handsome young man…”

Zhang San shoved Wang Xu hard.

Angrily, he said, “Brother! I do not favor men!”

Wang Xu was angry too.

“Fine! You took advantage and still 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 was cold at night and came to sleep with me himself!”

“Tsk! You’re actually pushing the blame onto the little brother!”

The two older brothers shoved and argued inside the room. Li Si did not understand, but vaguely knew it had something to do with favoring men. Favoring men was favoring men; he had heard Zhang San mention it several times now, and assumed it must have something to do with men’s character, like women’s character or a scholar’s character. It did not seem like a bad thing.

So Li Si ignored their struggle, avoided the two of them, climbed quietly off the bed from the corner, and opened the door to go next door and find his outer coat to wear.

Wearing only a thin shirt, his hair bun loose and his little face flushed, he stepped outside. The personal guards and physicians in the courtyard all stared at him wide-eyed. Everyone instantly understood why Subordinate General Wang had refused to let them enter, and their expressions each became wonderfully complicated.

——

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

When Li Si entered, he saw the two physicians surrounding Zhang San, one checking the wound behind him, the other taking his pulse in front. Wang Xu sat to the side, his armor pushed askew by Zhang San and his hair also tugged loose, tidying his appearance by himself.

Zhang San had clearly suffered the greater loss. His shoulder lacked strength, and he could not truly beat his superior and elder brother, so the righteous and indignant Wang Xu had punched him twice, once on each cheek. Two red marks had swollen up on his face like bright rouge, making him snort repeatedly through his nose in anger, like a big tiger cat suppressing its fury.

Li Si’s heart tightened over Zhang San’s injury. He walked forward and, ignoring everyone else, leaned close to Zhang San’s face to examine him carefully. He even rubbed the red marks with his fingers.

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

Zhang San shoved him away with one palm.

“What are you adding trouble for? You’ve already gotten me beaten once!”

Li Si obediently sat down beside him. Seeing Zhang San’s tyrannical manner and Li Si’s wronged obedience, Wang Xu gave another dissatisfied snort through his nose.

Zhang San said,

“I really haven’t touched him! Pull down his trousers and look!”

Wang Xu snapped,

“You still want to humiliate him! After knowing you all these years, I never realized you handled private matters in this sort of way!”

Zhang San trembled with anger.

The physician taking his pulse released his wrist and said,

“Young Officer Zhang has excessive liver fire and kidney-water deficiency…”

Wang Xu said,

“See that!”

Zhang San: “…”

Awooo, awooo, awooo!!! I’m so angry I could die!!! Awooo, awooo, awooo!!!

——

The physicians treated the wound and prescribed medicine for kidney deficiency. Zhang San also recited the formula aloud and entrusted the physician skilled in external injuries to prepare two more bottles of wound medicine and send them over as quickly as possible, one bottle each for him and Li Si. Then he wanted to send Wang Xu and the physicians away together—Subordinate General Wang still had to patrol all four sides of the city.

But before Wang Xu could even step out the door, someone hurried in from outside the courtyard to report,

“General! There is enemy commotion outside the western gate. Prefectural Lord and Chief Commander have already been informed. Do you also wish to go take a look?”

Wang Xu picked up his weapon and left at once. Hearing that it was the western city gate, Zhang San and Li Si both felt their hearts tighten and followed him out.

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