Futile Devices Scans

Before Second Uncle left, he had nagged a few times, urging Grandma to be more careful at night and not fall to the ground in the dark. A filial son’s unlucky mouth had spoken a prophecy with one phrase.

–

Not long after uncle and nephew left, the Xiao army besieged the city, and grain, firewood, and charcoal all became scarce. The capital had a large population, and the trees in the surrounding countryside had all been chopped down. To gather firewood, one had to go very far out into the wilds, so most residents used charcoal. After the siege began, even charcoal was in short supply. The imperial palace, high officials, and wealthy households all complained endlessly, and ordinary common families could only suffer through the bitter winter.

Fortunately, uncle and nephew knew Grandma was old and it was inconvenient for her to move around, so they had always been diligent about stockpiling firewood and charcoal, and before they left, they had also left quite a lot for Grandma. After the two of them were gone, Grandma had enough to burn by herself. Knowing that her neighbor Madam Yao was a widow, and that Madam Yao’s young son had been transferred to the city walls to stand guard, leaving no one at home to look after her, Grandma also gave some of her family’s charcoal to Madam Yao and often called her over to eat at her house.

Madam Yao also had a bitter fate. Her husband had died young, and she had taken her son with her, unwilling to remarry, relying on a meager compensation stipend and working for others to raise her son to adulthood. She had finally endured until her son grew up and could receive a soldier’s pay, only to encounter the Xiao bandits besieging the city. Her son was young and weak. After guarding the city for barely two days, he was struck by a stray arrow. When his corpse was carried back to the camp, she cried until she nearly stopped breathing and was about to end her own life on the spot, but Grandma stopped her. Afterward, Grandma accompanied and comforted her every day.

One night a few days earlier, the night wind blew open the courtyard gate. Hearing the sound, Grandma mistakenly thought uncle and nephew had returned, and hurriedly got out of bed to welcome them. Carelessly, she fell to the ground, breaking her leg and foot, and also hit her head, which was why bloodstains had been left beside the bed.

Grandma lay unconscious on the ground. Fortunately, the bedding had fallen over her, and the heated kang was warm enough, allowing her to endure through the night. Early the next morning, Madam Yao came to visit her and hurriedly saved her, then invited a physician to treat her.

Grandma had broken one leg and was running an intermittent fever. She had slept in a daze for several days and had never fully woken. The physician could not say for certain whether the old woman would recover or worsen, and could only instruct Madam Yao to feed her medicine on time, turn her body frequently, and take extra care of her, doing all that human effort could before leaving the rest to Heaven’s will. In order to make it easier to look after her, Madam Yao brought her to her own home.

Madam Yao’s family was poor, and even her charcoal had depended on Grandma’s aid, so naturally she had no money to pay the medical fees. Because she had been anxious to bring Grandma’s bedding and clothes over, and also had to find money to pay the physician, she had rummaged through Grandma’s home and made it somewhat disorderly.

–

With tears in his eyes, Li Si knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to Madam Yao. Madam Yao kept saying she could not accept such a great courtesy, and she too, with tears in her eyes, kept helping him up. In truth, her own life had also been continued by Grandma. If she had not worried that after she died, this blind neighbor Grandma would have no one to look after her, she would long since have followed her husband and son.

Li Si thanked her again and again, taking out the money the Commander had “lent” him and trying to stuff it all into her hands. How could Madam Yao have ever seen so much money? She was so frightened that she forcefully pushed it back.

“Little Brother Li, listen to me,” she said, pushing the money away with tears in her eyes. “I’m not looking after your grandma without any selfish thoughts. For all these years, your grandma kept urging me to remarry to your Second Uncle. I knew your Second Uncle was a good man, but I was afraid that if there were younger brothers and sisters later, my eldest son would suffer grievances, so I never agreed. Now my son is gone, and I originally wanted to follow him. It was your grandma who saved me and persuaded me to keep this life, saying the days ahead were still long. I originally thought that when your Second Uncle returned, if he was willing, I would marry into your family. But now even he…”

She choked up. The moment Li Si heard her mention Second Uncle, his eyes were already filled with tears, and he too began to choke up.

The two of them choked back sobs together as they wiped their tears, looking truly like family.

Madam Yao said through her tears, “Little Brother Li, at my age, I am no longer willing to marry anyone else. You had no mother since you were little, and I watched you grow up too. If you do not mind, then call me ‘Godmother,’ and let me count as having one more person left behind. I will look after Grandma as my own mother, and when I am old, I will rely on you to collect my remains…”

Li Si stared blankly for a moment. Ever since he could remember at five years old, he had lived muddled and dazed, not knowing he had a mother. After Brother Xiao slapped him awake, he had vaguely remembered the tune his mother had hummed when he was young, yet he still could not remember her blurred face…

Could he still have a mother again?

He was dazed for a moment, then knelt to the ground again, kowtowed, and called, “Godmother!”

Madam Yao’s tears poured down like a spring. She helped him up from the ground, saying again and again, “Good! Good!”

–

After Li Si acknowledged his godmother and comforted her for a while, he first returned to his own little house.

He did not sleep the entire night. Lighting a candle, he cleaned and tidied up everything inside and outside the little house. Early the next morning, he went out, exchanged that one-hundred-tael silver note entirely into strings of cash, and rented a small courtyard in the inner city. He brought Godmother and Grandma out of the poor and shabby military camp and settled them in a new house with better conditions, which also made it more convenient for him to go back and forth for duty at the Imperial City Directorate and to look after Grandma.

After finishing all these matters, he hurried again to report for duty at the Imperial City Directorate. Seeing that he had pulled himself together, Administrator Li, the old eunuch, was greatly comforted and taught him all the affairs of the Imperial City Directorate with all his heart.

The Imperial City Directorate’s main duty was to guard the palace city, and beneath it was also an Investigation Office, which carried out secret tasks of investigation, surveillance, and spying for His Majesty. The late Commander had belonged to the Investigation Office and had originally led more than ten of its patrol soldiers north to Kuiyuan. Now, only two had come back alive.

Because there were not enough personnel, at Li Si’s recommendation, Administrator Li also promoted and transferred Tao Shi and the others into the Imperial City Directorate. These soldiers had run around for nothing, and had not even seen the shadow of the three thousand strings of reward money, so they felt deeply aggrieved and resentful. But with this transfer and promotion, they had still obtained a great benefit, and barely managed to suppress their complaints.

–

On the third day after Li Si and the others returned to the capital, early in the morning, the Xiao army pulled up camp and broke their encampment, finally withdrawing from the capital.

The capital was filled with lively celebration. The common people all poured onto the streets, and some even crowded onto the western and northern city walls, gazing into the distance as that vast mass of black clouds receded like the tide.

At noon that day, after the Xiao army had completely withdrawn, True Master Shen Xiao opened a sacred altar beneath Fengqiu Gate in the northern outer city, intending to publicly perform a purification jiao ritual to drive away demons and evil spirits and pray for Heaven to send down “immortal fire” to bless and protect Great Xuan’s national fortune. The common people crowded together even more densely to watch.

His Majesty was weak and ill and could not attend in person, so he ordered the civil and military officials to come instead. As an important participant in the ritual, the “Duke Protector of the State,” Qiao Shen, was naturally among them. Li Si, Tao Shi, and the others were all in the escort team accompanying and protecting Qiao Shen.

Tao Shi whispered softly to Li Si. This was also news he had heard from the army—this True Master Shen Xiao had originally been a lowly Imperial Guard soldier, always speaking in a mystical, deranged way and claiming that he had learned “Daoist arts” from a master when he was young. Before the Xiao army marched south, the camp where he lived had suffered a night fire. The soldiers there had either died or been injured, but he alone had walked out through the flames completely unharmed. He said that he was protected by “Daoist immortal fire,” and that after breaking through this calamity, he had risen to a new realm and transformed himself into a “True Master.” Later, no one knew how, but he managed to climb into the good graces of the Supervisor of the Imperial City Directorate, muddled his way into the imperial presence, and displayed some “immortal arts” before the Emperor Emeritus, who was still the Emperor at the time, after which he was transferred into the Directorate of Astronomy. Later, when the Xiao army marched south, the Emperor Emeritus fled the capital, and the new Emperor had barely taken the throne when he was frightened into a serious illness and lost consciousness; it was also through Shen Xiao’s ritual and medicine that His Majesty finally woke.

–

Li Si watched as that false True Master, with his snake-like face and purple robe, solemnly set out the ritual space, murmuring words and leaping about in dance. After a round of “praying for blessings,” he led the Duke Protector of the State, Qiao Shen, onto the altar. First he chanted for a while, then suddenly grabbed Qiao Shen’s arm, lifted his sleeve, and slashed down heavily with a knife.

Li Si’s face darkened, and he was about to rush out of the formation at once, but Tao Shi held him back tightly.

Qiao Shen trembled all over from the pain, yet did not dare struggle. True Master Shen Xiao raised his blood-soaked arm over the incense altar, letting the blood drip into the incense ash, then swept his arm with a flick of his fly whisk.

A great ball of fire suddenly burst from the incense altar, shooting into the sky like a fire dragon piercing the sun.

Qiao Shen was so startled that he kept retreating, but True Master Shen Xiao pressed him down firmly. The two knelt together before the altar, their faces blackened by the firelight. The officials and the surrounding common people also hurriedly knelt with them, crying out, “Immortal fire protects the state!” “Immortal fire protects the state!”

Li Si did not kneel. He stood straight, brows furrowed, staring fixedly at that fake Daoist playing tricks and invoking spirits. In a daze, it was as though he once again saw Daoist Ma’s mad figure setting fires to burn people in the mountain forest.

Among the officials flinging themselves to their knees and crying out wildly, there were still a few people who, like him and Tao Shi, remained standing upright. Among them, he saw Defense Commander Li, as well as several other officials, some dressed as civil officials and some as military officials. They only stood straight alongside Defense Commander Li, silently watching the altar.

–

After the ritual, Li Si, Tao Shi, and the others escorted Qiao Shen and True Master Shen Xiao back into the palace, where they first had to go pay respects to His Majesty.

When His Majesty heard that with the help of the State-Protecting Fire Vein, the State Preceptor had truly invited down “immortal fire,” he was extremely delighted, and immediately granted the State Preceptor and the Duke Protector of the State many more rewards—of course, anything involving gold or silver was nothing but empty words.

His Majesty instructed Li Si and the others to send the Duke Protector of the State back and let him rest properly, and also summoned an Imperial Physician to treat the Duke Protector of the State’s wound.

–

While the wound was being treated, Li Si remained by Qiao Shen’s side the entire time. After the Imperial Physician left, he sat down lightly by Qiao Shen’s couch, lowered his eyes to look at the thick layer of blood-seeping medicinal cloth on Little Brother’s arm, and asked softly, “Does it still hurt?”

Qiao Shen’s face was pale, and there was still some incense ash on his forehead that had not been wiped clean. He glanced outside the room again and saw that several palace maids and young eunuchs were all waiting outside. He withdrew his gaze and said in a low voice, “It doesn’t hurt anymore, Brother Sisi. Don’t worry.”

Li Si swept his eyes left and right again, carefully looking over the furnishings in the room. Qiao Shen had been settled in a side chamber in the inner palace. According to the regulations, it had originally been a residence for an underage imperial prince, with redwood and yellow beams all around, and looked exquisitely refined. But the windows were damaged, the tables and chairs were dusty, the teacups all had small chips in them, and the bedding also gave off a faint smell of mildew and rot. One look was enough to tell that it had been hastily tidied up.

Li Si asked again, “Are you living well here?”

Qiao Shen nodded repeatedly. “I’m living very well. These past two days, His Majesty has had me go keep him company. He cares about me very much, asked me many questions, and even said that in the future, I should study together with the Crown Prince.”

In truth, the Crown Prince was only nine years old, while Qiao Shen was already fourteen. The two of them could not truly study the same books together; Qiao Shen was merely going to serve as a study companion.

A smile appeared on Qiao Shen’s face as he excitedly told Li Si how well His Majesty treated him, and how prosperous the capital was, and how magnificent the palace was—the clothes he had worn and the food and fruit he had eaten these past two days were things he had never even seen before in Kuiyuan.

But his eyes were wandering and uncertain, and his voice also trembled slightly. He no longer had the clever, quick, bright-eyed look from before.

Li Si saw his fear and unease and only felt his heart ache. He held Qiao Shen’s wrist and lowered his head without speaking.

Qiao Shen could also see that he was unhappy, so he asked him, “Brother Sisi, did you go home? Did something happen at home?”

Li Si nodded. “Grandma was injured.”

Qiao Shen quickly asked, “Is it serious? I’ll beg His Majesty to have an imperial physician treat her!”

Li Si shook his head again. Yesterday, he had asked Godmother to invite the best physician in the city to come and look at her once more. The prescription that physician left was almost the same as the previous one, and both said that Grandma was old and weak, and could only be slowly nursed back to health. “I’ve already invited two physicians.”

He asked Qiao Shen, “Little Brother, do you know that His Majesty ceded Kuiyuan?”

Qiao Shen’s hand trembled. He gripped Li Si’s wrist in return and hurriedly glanced outside the room. Seeing that the palace maids and young eunuchs did not seem to have heard, he lowered his voice and said, “Fourth Brother, this matter must not be spoken of.”

Seeing his expression, Li Si knew that he already knew. In pain, he said again, “Then what will happen to the common people? What will happen to Brother Xiao, Elder Sister, Brother-in-law, and your old steward?”

Qiao Shen covered his mouth, not letting him continue, and his own voice also began to tremble. “Fourth Brother… after you left the day before yesterday, Defense Commander Li argued with His Majesty over the matter of ceding the three military towns. His Majesty was furious, and when he returned to his sleeping hall, he fainted. If True Master Shen Xiao had not hurried over to treat him, His Majesty might have fallen ill and never risen again… His Majesty did not punish Defense Commander Li for this matter, which was already his benevolence… I—I do not dare mention this matter again either…”

Li Si truly did not know that a His Majesty who could cede the nation’s territory and abandon the common people could still receive the word “benevolent.”

He frowned and still wanted to speak, but Qiao Shen quickly covered his mouth even more tightly and said urgently in a low voice, “Fourth Brother, listen to me. This matter cannot be rushed, and it is not a dead end. That day, I heard His Majesty say with his own mouth that agreeing to cede the three towns was only a temporary expedient to coax the Xiao bandits away. Once the siege of the capital is lifted, he will naturally send reinforcements to aid Kuiyuan…”

Qiao Shen coaxed and persuaded him with every good word and bad before finally settling Fourth Brother down. Tao Shi also coughed loudly outside, reminding Li Si that he ought to return to the Imperial City Directorate to carry out his duties, so Li Si could only take his leave and go.

When he left the room, the little palace maids and young eunuchs guarding outside the door all secretly lifted their eyes to look at him. This Deputy Commander Li and the Duke Protector of the State had argued for a few sentences inside. Although they could not hear clearly what it was about, it was enough to make them curious. But seeing Deputy Commander Li’s stern face and icy gaze, they were so frightened that they hurriedly lowered their heads again.

In truth, Li Si was not throwing his official weight around, nor was he deliberately threatening them. He was purely so angry that he could not calm down, and his expression happened to be cold and indifferent, making him look intimidating—yet unintentionally, this had a good effect, and no one dared gossip carelessly about the matter.

–

Administrator Li knew that Li Si’s grandma was injured and recuperating, so he deliberately did not arrange for him to stay overnight in the palace. During the day, Li Si served as a palace guard, and at night he hurried home to look after Grandma. Guard duty was strict and exhausting, and superiors and subordinates schemed against one another. Although he did not take part, he was still often disturbed by it. Fortunately, he worked seriously and carefully, with Administrator Li protecting him above and Tao Shi helping him below, so he did not make any mistakes or take blame for anything.

At night, when Grandma needed to be turned over or wiped clean, he also helped Godmother serve her. Whenever there was hard labor at home—moving charcoal, repairing the house, sweeping and cleaning—he would return at night, stop Godmother, tell her to go rest, and then lower his head and do each task one by one himself. Before dawn, he would get up and race Godmother to make breakfast. After eating early, he would hurry back to the Imperial City Directorate.

Busy and exhausted, he endured through the final days of that chaotic winter. After the Spring Equinox came the Cold Food Festival. The weather gradually warmed, the ice on the defensive moat vanished without a trace, green buds sprouted from the willows along the Bian River, and the flowers and grasses by the river also flourished.

–

For Cold Food and Qingming, there were three consecutive days off, and it happened to coincide with Li Si’s rest rotation. As usual, he rose before dawn, ate breakfast, swept the courtyard once, then helped Godmother turn Grandma over and wipe her clean.

After the two of them changed Grandma into clean, dry clothes, Li Si carried the dirty clothes into the courtyard and sat on a little wooden stool with his head lowered, scrubbing them. Suddenly, he heard Godmother urgently calling him from inside the room.

Li Si threw down the clothes and hurriedly rushed into the room.

Godmother pointed at Grandma’s hand and said joyfully, “It moved! Just now, it moved once! Hurry and call her!”

Li Si lowered his head and looked. He saw a strand of morning light leaking in through the window, flowing to the head of the bed like a living stream. Grandma’s withered, wrinkled fingers, hanging down at the edge of the bed, were immersed in that warm faint light, and suddenly moved again.

Li Si hurriedly knelt beside the bed, vigorously wiped his wet hands dry on his padded jacket, grabbed Grandma’s fingers, and called urgently, “Grandma!”

The old woman’s brows and eyes trembled. Although her eyelids were still tightly shut, her lips also moved slightly.

Li Si called again and again, “Grandma, it’s me, I’m back. Grandma, wake u—”

His voice caught. He saw a clear tear slide down from the corner of Grandma’s eye.

She had heard him.

–

On Qingming, Li Si set up a cenotaph for Second Uncle in the outskirts of the capital. Together with Godmother, he went out for a spring outing, swept the graves of her son and Li Si’s parents, then brought back willow branches and placed them on the gate of the little courtyard.

The weather grew warmer day by day, and Grandma also improved day by day. She could open her eyes and gaze hazily in Li Si’s direction, and she could grip Li Si’s hand in return. Gradually, she could also open her mouth and force herself to say a few words.

At the end of the second month, news from the north returned to the palace and also reached Li Si’s ears—it turned out that Kuiyuan had not given up resisting, and neither had Zhongshan and Hejian. These three important military towns resisted to the death and refused to surrender. Not only did they not open their gates to the Xiao army, even the land-ceding envoys sent by the Great Xuan court to negotiate were smashed back by the defenders with stones.

In court, the officials also continued arguing endlessly. His Majesty also knew the principle that once the three towns were lost, Great Xuan would sooner or later lose the nation, and he began to waver. He sent envoys to negotiate with the Xiao army, wanting to use even more annual tribute payments to redeem the three towns. However, on the Xiao state’s side, how could they refuse to eat fat meat that had already reached their mouths? They simply paid him no attention at all.

Since the Xiao state paid no attention, Xuan could not simply sit and wait for death either. The pro-war ministers led by Defense Commander Li and Commissioner Zuo all urged His Majesty to issue an edict taking back the three towns and send a great army north to support them. His Majesty feared that this action would offend the Xiao state, that they would accuse him of going back on his word and tearing up the peace agreement, and he delayed for a long time, unwilling to agree.

How to embellish this matter so that they could send troops to support the towns while still appearing to have a justifiable cause, and not leave the Xiao state with any handle to seize upon—because of this, the court once again argued endlessly.

–

On this day, Li Si was once again standing guard outside the quiet chamber. Spring had returned with warmth, and he had also taken off his heavy winter clothes and changed into the spring and autumn uniform of the Imperial City Directorate. He wore an imperial sword at his waist, a narrow-sleeved red robe, a belly wrap and waist guard, and a black futou and black shoes. They made his shoulders appear even broader and his waist narrower, his figure tall, straight, handsome, and clear.

He stood beneath the corridor among red blossoms and green willows with a wooden, indifferent expression, like a divine general who had fallen into the mortal world and transformed into a human, yet had not lost the last trace of immortal air that made him unlike ordinary mortals.

This quiet chamber, where he had first met His Majesty, was near the imperial study. Originally, it had been the place where the Emperor Emeritus calmed his mind and cultivated the Dao. After the Emperor Emeritus abdicated, although the new Emperor was not as proficient in or obsessed with Daoist arts as his father, he did believe in them somewhat. Since being saved by True Master Shen Xiao’s ritual, he had come to trust the True Master even more deeply and invited True Master Shen Xiao here to chant scriptures day and night.

His Majesty had been made dizzy and feverish by the officials arguing in court, and his old illness of heart palpitations and fainting had flared again. True Master Shen Xiao invited the Duke Protector of the State, Qiao Shen, to accompany him, chanting scriptures together and performing rituals to “treat” His Majesty.

Li Si had stood guard outside the room and listened to the chanting for an hour. He already greatly disliked True Master Shen Xiao, and as he listened, his own heart palpitated and his head grew dizzy. Irritated, he shook his head, wanting to shake True Master Shen Xiao’s sharp, grating chanting out of his ears.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called softly, “Deputy Commander Li, long time no see.”

Li Si turned his head and saw that it was the Strongman, whom he had not seen in a long time. His belly was no longer large now, and his face was no longer as fat and broad as before. He wore an official robe that looked proper enough, but there was a belly wrap and waist guard tied around his waist—not like a civil official of the Directorate of Astronomy, but rather like a military official’s uniform.

The Strongman came forward and exchanged salutes with him. He had originally wanted to find the True Master and make a report, but hearing that the True Master was currently performing a ritual for His Majesty inside, he temporarily did not dare enter, and could only stand outside with Li Si.

Seeing Li Si staring at his belly wrap, he explained in a low voice, “I’m not in the Directorate of Astronomy now. His Majesty ordered the Immortal Master to establish an ‘Immortal Fire Army’ of his own, and I’m the deputy general…”

Li Si looked at him again in shock—what did it mean, establish an army of his own? He knew every word, but put together, it made no damn sense.

Seeing his confusion, the Strongman explained again in a low voice, “His Majesty is worried that the Xiao bandits will be angered by his regretting the cession of the three towns, and he’s afraid the Xiao bandits will come south to the capital again. So the True Master said he could train an elite force of immortal fire soldiers, have them cultivate the ‘Five-Armor Military Method’ under him, and assist in protecting the city. You should have heard of this military method too. It’s what Daoist Ma used back then in Ant County…”

When the Strongman saw Li Si’s gaze turn furious and sharp, he hurriedly grabbed him. “Deputy Commander Li, don’t get angry, don’t get angry.”

The Strongman shot Tao Shi a look to the side, signaling for him to continue standing guard, then dragged Li Si farther away from the room. The two hid behind a corner of the wall, and seeing that there was no one around, the Strongman finally hurriedly let go of Li Si.

Li Si was so angry that he set his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Is he also going to learn from Daoist Ma and practice demonic arts to deceive people?”

—Was he going to find another group of people whose Five Phases belonged to fire and use them as soldiers, making them sit in meditation and practice breathing every day, cultivating fake Daoist arts?

Of course the Strongman knew the fake trick behind Daoist Ma spitting fire. He had also personally seen Daoist Ma fail to protect his body with immortal fire and be chopped to death by Li Si in a single strike. He himself also knew how absurd this “immortal fire” and “Five-Armor Military Method” were, and only sighed. “It isn’t that the True Master learned from Daoist Ma. The True Master is Daoist Ma’s teacher. It was Daoist Ma who learned from the True Master…”

Li Si said angrily, “You’re serving as his deputy general, so are you going to help him deceive people too?”

The Strongman hurriedly threw himself onto Li Si’s hand and covered the inch of blade he had drawn back into its sheath, his face going pale with fright. “Deputy—Deputy Commander Li, what are you doing? You—you know too, I had no choice! If I don’t serve as this deputy general and defy the Immortal Master, I’m afraid even my life will be gone…”

The Strongman hurriedly looked left and right again, and only after confirming that no one was passing by did he continue, “Besides, isn’t it better for me to be this deputy general than someone else? At least I’m truly leading them in martial training. Aside from sitting in meditation and practicing breathing every day to deal with the Immortal Master, I haven’t let them abandon saber techniques or archery. I was even thinking of finding time to ask you to teach me how to train soldiers…”

“Teach my ass!” Li Si said furiously.

He was so angry that he rolled up his sleeves, wanting to give the Strongman another violent beating. The Strongman covered his head and begged for mercy again and again, saying that he was about to meet His Majesty and absolutely could not have his face injured. Li Si grabbed his exposed pig ear in one hand.

“Eek! Eek!” the Strongman cried out in pain. “Why are you just like Commander Zhang? Why are you pulling people’s ears too?”

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