Futile Devices Scans

Everyone welcomed the Imperial City Directorate subordinates into the county yamen, lit the lamps, and gathered in the main hall to talk.

These two subordinates had remained at their original post the entire time, guarding the dozens of horses in the forest every day. Exposed to the elements, sleeping under open skies, they had practically become horse handlers. For more than ten days straight, they had failed to see the soldiers return, and the unease in their hearts had grown heavier by the day.

Three days earlier, the two yamen runners had reached Jiao County while scouting the route. The moment they emerged from the forest, they unfortunately ran into a patrol of Xiao cavalry and were nearly killed. The Imperial City Directorate subordinates had been hiding nearby and could not bear to watch them die for nothing, so they intervened and saved them.

After talking, the Imperial City Directorate men learned that the runners had come from Ant County, and that more than twenty soldiers from the capital, an “Envoy Li,” and a “strongman” were all currently in the county. Xiao cavalry patrols frequently wandered through the area, and they no longer felt it was safe to remain hidden in the woods with the horses, so they followed the runners to Ant County.

Because the two runners were injured, and because the mountain paths had long been abandoned and overgrown with thorny underbrush that made travel difficult for horses, they were delayed several days along the way and only arrived at the North Gate tonight. They had also brought more than forty horses with them, all of which had now been settled in temporary stables beside the North Gate—the very pig and cattle sheds that had previously been half demolished.

However, the “Envoy Li” they had imagined was completely different from Li Si—because the Commander had also borne the surname Li.

The two subordinates had mistaken this “Envoy Li” for that “Envoy Li,” which was why they had been so shocked and confused upon seeing Li Si’s face.

Only now did they learn from Li Si that their superior, Envoy Li, had died on the very night he departed. The news stunned them into silence for a long while.

But since their superior had ordered Li Si to succeed him as Envoy, they could only ask, “Envoy Li, what are our plans now?”

⸻

The moment those words were spoken, Zhang San lifted his eyes as well and looked steadily at Li Si.

Li Si’s heart suddenly sank.

After resting for five or six days, his injuries had improved. Although he still needed medicine changed regularly, he had already been able to help everyone kill enemies the previous night. Now that the Imperial City Directorate subordinates had arrived and Xiao Qiao—the person the Emperor wanted found—had already been located, he truly had no excuse left to remain in Ant County.

Only moments ago, he had still been immersed in the brief peace of holding Brother Xiao’s hand. He had not realized at all that separation would come so quickly.

His expression froze, and for a moment he could not answer. Beside him, Zhang San suddenly spoke. “Envoy Li has already completed the task entrusted to him by the Emperor and found the person you were searching for. He was injured some days ago. After another two days of recuperation, he should be able to return with you.”

Two days?

Li Si immediately looked at Zhang San, panic filling his eyes. But Zhang San avoided his gaze and looked only at the two Imperial City Directorate subordinates.

Upon hearing this, one of them said happily, “That would be excellent.”

The other, however, said, “However, Envoy Li, our journey back will be extremely dangerous. We won’t be able to take the horses with us. They’ll have to remain in Ant County and be gifted to Commander Zhang.”

Zhang San asked, “Why?”

“Jiao County has already fallen to the Xiao army. The official road south has been cut off. We’ll have to travel south through the mountains in secret the entire way,” the subordinate replied.

Zhang San’s brows immediately knitted together as he looked toward the two runners, who both nodded.

“When did this happen?” Zhang San asked.

The subordinate replied, “Five or six days ago. A force carrying the banner of the She Family Army came to reinforce the area and fought a major battle against the Xiao army north of Jiao County. The She Family Army was defeated and forced to retreat, and the Xiao army took Jiao County during the chaos. The two of us remained hidden in the forests outside the city and drove the horses into the mountains, which was the only reason the Xiao army didn’t discover them.”

Zhang San was startled. “The She Family Army? Where did they come from? Tianmen Pass has already fallen, so they couldn’t have come from the west. Did they make a long detour around the Lüliang Mountains and come up from Fenzhou in the south?”

The subordinate nodded. “Exactly. They came from Fenzhou, and after their defeat they retreated back toward Fenzhou.”

Zhang San asked, “Do you know the commander’s name? Which General She was it?”

The subordinate shook his head. “We only saw the character ‘She’ on the banner from afar. We couldn’t tell which General She it was. We had duties to fulfill and didn’t dare risk getting close.”

Zhang San turned to Liu Wu. “I’m going to ask the General She we rescued. Perhaps he’ll know which clansman it was. Have Chen Lu write a letter tonight and report everything to Chief Commander Wang.”

⸻

Zhang San and Liu Wu took the two Imperial City Directorate subordinates and hurried back to the training grounds on horseback to question General She and arrange accommodations for the two men. Li Si had wanted to go with them, but Zhang San saw how late it had become and didn’t want him exhausting himself running errands over such a minor matter, so he firmly ordered him to remain behind at the county yamen and rest.

Li Si could only obediently wash up and climb onto the large bed in the main room alone.

Thinking about Brother Xiao’s earlier words—“two days before returning”—filled him with even greater panic. Though he firmly believed they would meet again soon, though Brother Xiao had promised to visit him after the war ended, though he intended to confirm Grandmother’s safety and settle her affairs before begging the Emperor to send him back to Ant County… now that separation truly loomed before him, his heart could not stop trembling.

Wrapped quietly in the tiger-fur cloak, he curled himself into a ball atop the large bed and remained motionless, allowing anxiety and reluctance to tear at him. Yet he forced himself to endure it and did not secretly cry as he had before.

Crying did not seem to be a good thing. Brother Xiao was always telling him, “Don’t cry.”

Every time Brother Xiao saw him crying, Brother Xiao’s mood seemed to sink as well.

Brother Xiao already had enough worries weighing on him. He should not cry anymore. He should not make Brother Xiao worry about him anymore.

⸻

The door suddenly opened softly, bringing in a small gust of cold air before quickly closing again.

Zhang San had assumed he was asleep and entered as quietly as possible. But Li Si sat up and called softly, “Brother Xiao,” before hurrying from the bed to light the lamp for him.

Zhang San quickly said, “Get back into bed. Don’t catch cold. I’ll do it myself.”

Both their hands reached for the lamp at the same time, touching in the darkness.

Zhang San caught his fingers and rubbed them lightly in his palm before letting go. His voice softened even further. “Go back to bed.”

After lighting the lamp, Zhang San performed a simple wash using the basin and tea water nearby. Then he extinguished the lamp and climbed onto the bed, lying down in the usual way.

The two of them were once again shoulder to shoulder.

Feeling how cold Brother Xiao’s body was, Li Si shifted closer and took hold of Brother Xiao’s equally cold hand, hoping to warm it.

Held within Li Si’s warm grasp, Zhang San let out a long, relaxed sigh.

Li Si did not ask any questions.

Instead, Zhang San spoke first.

“We figured it out. The General She who retreated toward Fenzhou is most likely this General She’s elder brother, She Ke Qiu, Prefect of Fuzhou and commander of the She Family Army. My guess is that he brought troops to reinforce the area, but with Tianmen Pass cut off, he had to detour through the south. Unfortunately, he was defeated by the Xiao army, and even Jiao County fell to the Xiao…”

Zhang San lifted the hand not being held by Li Si and covered his face in exhaustion.

“North of us is the Xiao army’s main base. Tianmen Pass in the west is gone. Jiao County in the south is gone too. Now only the east remains, and we don’t even know what’s happening there—or whether the Xiao army has already cut that route off as well.”

At this point, he felt that Kuiyuan was surrounded on all sides.

Chief Commander Wang had sent him to Ant County, yet he had provided no real help. What use were the two newly discovered secret passages? No matter how loyal and courageous Kuiyuan’s defenders were, how much longer could an isolated city like that endure?

Zhang San’s spirits sank to their lowest point as he tightly gripped Li Si’s hand.

For eight years he had served in the army, fearless and fierce. Even General She Ke Cun, whom he had met only a few times, knew him as one of the capable warriors under Chief Commander Wang’s command.

Yet beyond leading a few hundred men in battle, he possessed no experience as a commander or marshal, no strategic insight, no ability to reverse a desperate situation.

Faced with Kuiyuan’s hopeless circumstances, he could not see a way to break the deadlock. He was not even sure whether he could preserve tiny Ant County amid the coming chaos.

If he were a heaven-sent general, a legendary hero, one who could calculate every move and win every battle, perhaps things would be different.

But he was only an insignificant common man.

An insignificant Zhang San who had come from insignificant Ant County.

Even his name was as plain and rough as the roadside weeds.

Within the torrent of a troubled age, he felt more insignificant and powerless than an ant.

⸻

The Li Si beside him suddenly moved.

Turning over, he reached out and tugged at him.

Still trapped in self-reproach and self-contempt, Zhang San was pulled over in confusion. His head was pressed down as well.

He wanted to murmur, “Hm?” in puzzlement, but Li Si held him too tightly. With his face buried in Li Si’s warm shoulder hollow, only a muffled sound escaped.

One of Li Si’s hands held him against his shoulder.

The other gently stroked his hair, rubbed his cheeks, and kneaded his ears—just as Zhang San always did to him.

Zhang San froze for a long moment.

Then, with his face still buried against Li Si’s shoulder, he laughed softly.

“You little fool. You’ll copy anything. Just don’t learn my bad habits,” he said quietly.

⸻

Outside, a fierce wind rose, and great goose-feather snowflakes began to fall.

The snow and ice came hard and fast, striking the eaves with soft thudding sounds. Thin currents of freezing wind squeezed through cracks in the windows, tugging at the frames and making them creak harshly.

Yet on such a night of raging snow and violent wind, Zhang San’s heart gradually settled.

Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.

⸻

The blizzard raged throughout the night and only began to ease shortly before dawn.

Faint morning light filtered through the paper-covered windows, dimly illuminating the two figures who were still sleeping in each other’s arms.

Cook Wu and her husband had risen before daybreak. They had already cleared the snow from the courtyard. She was busy preparing breakfast, while her husband was carrying firewood.

Chen Lu suddenly came sprinting from the side courtyard, clutching a carrier pigeon and panting heavily. He nearly collided with Cook Wu’s husband.

The man tried to steady him.

Chen Lu waved his hand frantically. “S-sorry!” he stammered, before hurrying onward again.

He burst through the door and shouted, “Commander! The pigeon returned overni—”

Before finishing, he abruptly took two steps backward, retreated outside, shut the door with a snap, then stumbled several more steps back into the courtyard.

Standing there, clutching the pigeon in his arms, he froze like a wooden pigeon himself.

The husband of Cook Wu, seeing him looking utterly frightened out of his wits, tried to go over and steady him. Chen Lu shuddered, then suddenly turned and bolted away!

Panting for breath, he ran out of the rear courtyard, through the main hall, and straight to the yamen runners’ quarters in the front courtyard. He slammed open a small single room in the farthest corner and shook awake County Commandant Liu, who was sleeping soundly on the bed wrapped up like a bundle!

“Wu—Wu Zhi! Brother Wu Zhi!”

Liu Wu felt as though his brains were about to be shaken out of his skull. Dazed and muddle-headed, he asked, “Wh-what? Wh-what happened?!”

Clutching the pigeon in his arms, Chen Lu stammered, “I—I just—I just saw—I just saw Commander Zhang and Envoy Li! They were sleeping in the same bed! And they were holding each other like this…” Trembling all over, he hugged the pigeon up against his own face.

Liu Wu hurriedly covered both his mouth and the pigeon at once. “Shh, shh, shh!”

Chen Lu was thoroughly frightened. From within Liu Wu’s palm, he whispered, “Th-they… they are…?”

With an upright expression, Liu Wu declared, “They are not! Colleagues from the capital are simply that close with one another! Don’t go imagining things!”

Only then did Chen Lu calm down slightly. Thinking back on what he had seen, he still felt it had been rather shocking and asked doubtfully, “Really?”

Liu Wu replied firmly, “Really!”

Chen Lu trusted him without reservation and had always believed whatever he said. He finally let out a breath of relief. “Then I was being presumptuous…”

Only then did Liu Wu notice. “The pigeon came back?”

“Yes, yes, yes! We have to deliver it to the Commander immediately!”

Liu Wu climbed up and threw on his clothes. The two of them hurried back to the rear courtyard together. Chen Lu no longer dared push open the main room’s door; he did not even dare knock. Though Liu Wu’s face remained righteous and resolute, after walking a few steps he started coughing. He simply stood outside the room coughing without knocking either.

Cook Wu came over carrying a tray. On it were stacked several steamed flatbreads and a few small dishes. Looking puzzled, she asked, “County Commandant Liu, have you caught a chill? Come inside and eat with them.” As she spoke, she raised her hand to knock.

Liu Wu hurriedly stopped her. “Sister Wu, I think they’re still sleeping…”

So Cook Wu softly called through the door, “Boss, are you awake?”

Zhang San’s voice answered from inside, “We’re up. Sister Wu, please come in.”

Cook Wu pushed open the door and entered. Liu Wu cautiously stretched his head inside for a peek and saw that Commander Zhang and Envoy Li were both fully dressed, still wearing the same open and composed expression and the same clear and innocent one. He finally relaxed, turned back, and beckoned to Chen Lu. “Come in.”

Hugging the pigeon, Chen Lu stepped inside trembling.

⸻

As soon as the steaming hot flatbreads were placed on the table, Li Si sat up straight and began eating seriously.

Even if the sky fell, eating still came first.

The other three people in the room lacked his composure. They hurried to remove the message tied to the pigeon’s leg and gathered around it. Sitting at the table with the cipher book before him, Chen Lu began deciphering the coded message one character at a time.

Junior Clerk Chen was meticulous in his work. Even in the dead of winter, a fine sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead. Comparing every symbol carefully against the cipher book, he wrote out the characters stroke by stroke. Liu Wu and Zhang San stood to either side of him like two mountains hemming him in. Each held a flatbread in his mouth, but neither had any appetite to chew.

Before Li Si had even finished his meal, the coded message had been deciphered.

Junior Clerk Chen let out a sigh of relief, casually set down his brush, and stood to stretch his stiff limbs. Liu Wu stuffed a flatbread into his hand. Unaware that his fingers were stained with ink, he took it and bit into both the bread and the ink while reading aloud through puffed cheeks, “Order She to find She, detour to Tianmen, you open the secret passage, seize Tianmen in a pincer attack.”

After reading it aloud, he raised his head, his mouth smeared with ink—only to find Commander Zhang and County Commandant Liu, these two superiors who had never read even half a book between them, staring at him with four wide illiterate eyes.

The three sides stared at one another for a moment. Unable to bear it any longer, Liu Wu used his thumb to wipe the corner of Chen Lu’s mouth and coughed before asking, “What does that mean?”

Chen Lu translated it into plain language. “Order She to go find She, take a detour to Tianmen, you connect the secret passages, then work together to recapture Tianmen. Those are the words, but I don’t understand them either.”

Zhang San, however, understood immediately. “Chief Commander Wang wants us to send She Ke Cun south to Fenzhou to find his elder brother She Ke Qiu, order the She Family Army to detour north and rush to Tianmen Pass! Then he wants us to connect the secret passages and coordinate with the She Family Army from both inside and outside, attacking from both sides to retake Tianmen Pass!”

He continued his analysis. “Jiao County is just a small county without natural defenses. The She Family Army is weaker than the Xiao army and can’t hold Jiao County, so retreating south was their only option. But if the She Family Army can retake Tianmen Pass and use its natural defenses, they may be able to hold it for a long time. At the very least, that would reopen a route west of Kuiyuan. The She Family Army could then advance or retreat as needed.”

Liu Wu slapped his palm in approval. “An excellent plan!”

Zhang San knew it was an excellent plan too, and his heart surged with excitement. Holding the flatbread with a bite already taken out of it, he paced around the room several times before saying thoughtfully, “Sending She Ke Cun south is actually the simple part. Envoy Li, you happen to be heading south to return to the capital. Could I trouble you to look after General She and escort him to Fenzhou along the way?”

Li Si had been concentrating on eating his flatbread. Hearing those words, he immediately lifted his head.

His eyes fixed on Zhang San. Zhang San, Liu Wu, and Chen Lu all looked back at him.

Li Si suddenly realized that the person speaking to him was not only Brother Xiao, but also Commander Zhang—the highest-ranking official in the county.

No matter how reluctant he felt to part, military affairs had to come first.

He swallowed the bite of flatbread in his mouth, lowered his head to wipe the crumbs from the corner of his lips, tidied himself up, and then answered seriously, “Understood.”

Zhang San looked at him and said, “You are an Envoy from the capital, not my subordinate. This is not an order. It is a request.”

Li Si met his gaze seriously. “All right. I will make sure he reaches there safely.”

Zhang San nodded. “When you handle something, I’m at ease. Keep eating.”

Seeing Li Si pick up his flatbread again, Zhang San turned to Liu Wu and continued, “As for connecting the secret passages, that will be difficult. We’ll need to find a way to reconnect that iron chain bridge. I want to personally inspect the cliff today.”

Suddenly someone tugged at his padded jacket.

Puzzled, Zhang San looked down.

Li Si was holding a flatbread in one hand and tugging on his sleeve with the other.

“What is it?”

“I’m going with you.”

“What would you go for?” Zhang San frowned. “Stay here and rest for another two days, then head south immediately.”

Li Si answered seriously, “The mountain path is dangerous. I can climb. I can help you. After we come back in two days, I’ll head south.”

Zhang San’s brow remained furrowed. He knew how dangerous the mountain path was, and he also knew that bringing along a Li Si who could practically “fly” would be the most useful choice. But such a journey would be exhausting and grueling. How could he possibly continue recovering if he spent all that time scrambling through mountains? One of the scouting runners had even broken his leg.

“No!” he said.

Li Si refused to give up. He continued looking up at him. His eyes were dark and luminous, like two radiant jewels shining with flowing light.

Zhang San nearly lost his resolve on the spot!

He had already made up his mind to treasure the little time he had left with Li Si, to treat him gently and kindly, and never again say things that would make him sad. But this involved Li Si’s safety…

His brow knitted tighter and tighter. Secretly gritting his teeth and summoning every ounce of self-control, he forced out a harsh answer.

“No—”

Li Si suddenly took hold of his hand.

Warm fingers wrapped tightly around it.

In a low, soft voice, he pleaded, “I’ll be very careful and won’t get hurt again. Let me help you, Brother Xiao.”

Zhang San: “…”

⸻

Liu Wu and Chen Lu each carried a flatbread as they emerged from the rear courtyard, both with official duties awaiting them.

Liu Wu held his flatbread in his hand but could not bring himself to take a bite. Walking along, he sighed in admiration.

“Wow.”

Envoy Li looked so clear and innocent, yet struck swiftly and mercilessly when he acted. Commander Zhang looked imposing and unyielding, yet one gentle knife thrust had pierced straight through his heart…

Beside him, Chen Lu munched on his flatbread with puffed cheeks and asked, “Brother Wu Zhi, are colleagues in the capital really that affectionate with one another?”

With a face full of conviction, Liu Wu continued deceiving him. “Absolutely.”

Chen Lu said, “Then…”

Liu Wu interrupted, “What are you doing? Your hands are covered in ink!”

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