Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter 26
After leaving the Prince Wei’s residence, Gu Yu glanced up at the sky; the sun was already tilting westward. Today was a ten-day holiday—rare free time indeed. When he left, Bai Yun and Cai Yun had fibbed to Qi Yaoyao, saying that Yang Wenhua had come to his house to coax him out. If Qi Yaoyao ever encountered Yang Wenhua and asked about this, the lie would fall apart on its own. After a moment’s thought, Gu Yu decided it would be better to visit Yang Wenhua’s home and see him in person. So, he turned his horse’s head and rode toward Yang Wenhua’s residence.
Yang Wenhua lived in the Duke’s mansion. Having recently transferred from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Works, he was somewhat of a latecomer in his new field. He had procured a copy of the “Wood Classic” and another book, “Building Regulations,” and was using the holiday to study them at home. Just as he stepped out from his study to stretch in the garden, he suddenly saw Gu Yu approaching. Delighted, he hurried over, grasped Gu Yu’s hand, and said, “You’ve come at the perfect time! Come with me to the study. I’m reading a book filled with many perplexing questions and was just about to come to your house to seek your advice.”
Gu Yu asked, “What kind of questions?”
“Let’s have some tea in the study and talk,” Yang Wenhua replied.
The two entered the study, where a maid served them each a cup of tea. Yang Wenhua picked up the “Building Regulations,” flipping to the page where he had placed a bookmark, and invited Gu Yu to take a look before asking for guidance.
Gu Yu took the book and read carefully. The passage explained the principles of dougong, the intricate interlocking wood brackets used in building construction. Being a layman, Gu Yu found the text increasingly obscure and complicated. Shaking his head, he said, “Brother Wenhua, you’ve invited the wrong person today! Reading this book is like reading an alien language—I just can’t understand it!”
Yang Wenhua chuckled, “Yu Sheng, do you really not understand it, or are you pretending? You are the ‘Double Top Scholar’ after all!”
“I honestly don’t understand it,” Gu Yu admitted. Yang Wenhua suddenly laughed heartily, tossed the book onto the desk, and remarked, “Who in heaven wrote such an abstruse book that even the ‘Double Top Scholar’ can’t comprehend? How could I, a mere roughneck who only knows how to wield a sword, possibly understand it? I’m done with it!” Sitting back on the long bench, he shook his head at the book.
Yang Wenhua sipped his tea and then asked, “Yu Sheng, since today is a holiday, why didn’t you stay home to keep your wife company? Why come all the way to my residence?”
Gu Yu explained, “You once told me when you left the Ministry of War that during leisure I should visit the Prince Wei’s residence, where someone I wish to see awaits. Today was a holiday, so I went there this morning!”
Yang Wenhua beamed, “You really went? Did you meet Ba... them?”
Gu Yu nodded, “I met them all! They even invited me to a lotus root banquet at noon!”
Yang Wenhua said, “Yu Sheng, you truly have good fortune! So my suggestion wasn’t bad, was it?”
“Brother Yang, your advice was excellent,” Gu Yu gratefully replied.
Yang Wenhua continued, “Actually, they have quietly returned to the Prince Wei’s residence for over two months now. The Princess of Bashu is truly a heroine. Recently, she has been frequently and secretly visiting the imperial harem, mainly negotiating with the Empress Dowager on the matter of the crown prince’s succession.”
Gu Yu remarked, “I heard that the Empress Dowager, responsible for deciding the heir, is a cunning old woman, difficult to deal with. Is that true?”
“Yes, it is,” Yang Wenhua confirmed. “The Empress Dowager is the current emperor’s biological mother. She was captured by the Beizhen forces for years before being ransomed back. Recently, rumors in the palace say that although Prince Zhao Yuan is related to the emperor, his bloodline is beyond the fifth degree of kinship, while the other candidates are within the fifth degree. It seems he has no chance of becoming crown prince.”
Gu Yu said, “At noon in the Prince Wei’s residence, the Princess of Bashu told me that the Empress Dowager recently sent many people to investigate whether Zhao Yuan and I had ever been to Beizhen, and also to probe if Zhao Yuan and I had any connection with Princess Zhao Rouya. She warned me to be extremely cautious in dealing with their inquiries at the Ministry of War.”
Yang Wenhua said, “Those people have already come to the Ministry of Works to ask if I knew the whereabouts of Princess Zhao Rouya or if I knew whether the leader of Zhao Chuo Yun’s group had any ties to Zhao Rouya. I honestly told them I knew nothing, so they left obediently.”
Gu Yu asked, “Brother Wenhua, I’ve always wondered why the Empress Dowager is so intent on tracking down Princess Zhao Rouya?”
Yang Wenhua smiled, “Want to know?”
Gu Yu nodded.
Yang Wenhua laughed, “Then tomorrow I shall go to the palace and ask the Empress Dowager myself.”
By the time Gu Yu returned to Osmanthus Garden, the lamps were already lit. Qi Yaoyao busied herself ordering Bai Yun and Cai Yun to prepare dinner. Gu Yu said he had already eaten at Yang Wenhua’s place before coming back.
“Dear husband, where did you and General Yang go today?” Qi Yaoyao asked.
“Nowhere. I stayed at his house all day,” Gu Yu replied.
Qi Yaoyao said, “Then he must have treated you to some fine meat and dishes today?”
Gu Yu groaned, “Madam, Yang Wenhua is a miser. I had two meals there, both vegetarian—except for the pork rib soup, everything was vegetarian dishes and wine. Had I known he’s such a tightwad, I wouldn’t have gone out with him this morning. It would have been better to stay home and enjoy your cooking!”
Qi Yaoyao laughed heartily, “I don’t believe it! Such poor fare yet you stayed there all day?”
Gu Yu lamented, “He somehow found two architecture books—one called ‘Wood Classic,’ the other ‘Building Regulations’—and wanted me to explain them to him.”
“Do you know about architecture too?” Qi Yaoyao asked.
“Of course! How else could I teach?” Gu Yu answered.
***
Jingnan.
In due time, the Southern General and his retinue arrived at the command post of Jingnan, a small stone town on the southern bank of the Yangtze River.
This town was once famous for its long history, beautiful scenery, and abundant resources. However, due to the Beizhen invasion, war had ravaged everything. The city walls were dull and damaged; nearly no building was intact. The ruins and crooked broken walls cast a somber mood.
Gu Yuru looked at the lush weeds growing at the base of the walls and said to the Southern General, “This place is too desolate!”
The Southern General reined his horse, turned back to Gu Yuru, and said, “General Gu Yu, don’t always sigh! Tell me, what position do you think I’ve come to assume here?”
Gu Yuru, habitually furrowing and relaxing her brow, did so again on hearing this and loudly replied, “General Southern, His Majesty has appointed you as Commander of the Jingnan Command Post.”
The Southern General glared at her without blinking. “General Gu Yu, how can the Commander assume office today so quietly? What kind of propriety is that?”
Gu Yuru said “Oh!” and turned to her soldiers behind her, shouting, “Brothers, what are you waiting for? Ride to the front ranks, raise the banners, beat the drums, and shout loud! Let us have the Southern General make a grand and glorious entrance to take his post!”
“Yes, sir!” the soldiers shouted in unison.
Immediately, the street resounded with the booming of drums. People, hearing the long-missed sounds, peeked out from windows, behind fences, and through door cracks, crowding onto the street, eager to catch a glimpse of the new Commander. They had long heard he was the newly crowned military champion and a youthful hero.
An old man in tattered clothes stood in the front row. Seeing the Southern General astride a horse, heroic and radiant, his dim eyes lit up, and his toothless mouth muttered, “Now Jingnan has hope! This old man won’t have to beg anymore!”
A middle-aged man standing beside him scoffed, “Old father, do you plan to starve to death instead of begging?”
The old man grinned, “With the Southern General here, the streets will be peaceful! I’ll set up a stall to sell paintings and calligraphy, earning my own living!” The old man was a painter.
The middle-aged man, once a cook skilled at fine dishes, had been unlucky. First came the Beizhen invasion, then the postwar desolation. Ordinary townsfolk had long been impoverished; who could afford to dine out? The cook had no choice but to give up the ladle and seek manual labor for a few coins to buy rice. Though from Jingnan himself, he had no home or property and couldn’t marry—a solitary man. Though the work was hard, it earned some copper coins, and he could barely feed himself and his family. But year after year, his body aged prematurely. When there was no work, he had to beg with the old man.
Hearing the old man’s words, the middle-aged beggar seemed moved. He stood firmly with legs apart, body leaning slightly forward, hands naturally opened as if chopping vegetables—though his mind was empty. His eyes fixed on the old man; his lips buzzed as he tried to argue, but found no point or evidence. Eventually, he joked, “Old father, if you set up a stall, I might open a small eatery!”
The old man smiled and smashed his broken bowl on the ground. The middle-aged man blinked, then tossed his bamboo staff skyward, “Damn your dog-whacking stick!”
The Jingnan Command Post had over three thousand troops. Without capable leadership, they had long been a disorganized mass.
After the Southern General took command, only three months passed before this ragtag group became a fierce cavalry.
Their chief training was realistic combat drills.
One day, dark clouds gathered above the Yangtze, and winds swept the city walls. A storm was approaching.
At the riverside training ground, banners fluttered fiercely in the wind. Beneath them, the cavalry galloped like the wind, warriors wielded swords and crossbows, their battle cries shaking the sky.
On a spirited steed sat a deputy general, clad in armor, handsome and heroic, commanding the combat drill with a long sword. This deputy general was Gu Yuru.
***
At this very moment, by chance,
A young man in white robes stepped out of Jingnan’s city gate, heading toward the riverbank. He had no horse, no sedan chair, no escort, and no umbrella. He was going to inspect the embankment.
The riverside was turbulent with dust.
Heavy raindrops pelted his face like steel balls, sharp and numbing. His white robe was soaked through. The pouring rain blinded his eyes, but he pressed on slowly toward the sound of battle, looking like a fool.
But he was no fool; he was the newly appointed magistrate of Jingnan, Zhang Dong, a former top scholar.
The storm had long subdued the swirling dust, but the sounds of combat persisted. Zhang Dong arrived at the training ground just as the rain ceased. The cavalry thundered past, soldiers fiercely engaging “mock” enemies, splashing mud everywhere.
A scholar at heart, Zhang Dong found the fighting dull and stopped to watch by the reeds, thinking: training like this is how an army wins battles. If such a force had existed twenty years ago, our Southern Han would not have fallen to Beizhen, the capital would not have been lost, and countless Southern Han sons and daughters would not have been enslaved and humiliated in Beizhen...
A rider galloped past him, splattering him with mud. His white robe had long turned muddy. Wiping his face, Zhang opened his eyes wider as a red figure entered his vision. The figure wielded a long sword, commanding armored troops in swift maneuvers. Zhang’s eyes grew wider and wider. The red figure wore a red battle robe, wrapping a lithe and handsome body; on the robe was a beautiful large peach blossom. His feet moved involuntarily forward, muttering, “That deputy general looks more and more like a woman.”
“Stop! Who are you? How dare you trespass into this military zone?”
“I am the Jing—”
“So you’re a spy! Seize this Beizhen agent spying on military secrets!”
A group of warriors swarmed and pinned the white-robed man to the ground.
“Take him back to camp for interrogation by the Southern General!”
“Yes!” The warriors dragged the man away without protest.
The deputy general waved his sword. “Resume the drill.”
The troops shouted, “Yes!”
After the drill, Gu Yuru returned to camp to surrender her command baton. Just as she was about to leave, the Southern General called her back.
“Anything else, General Southern?” Gu Yuru asked.
The Southern General left his desk, walked down, and looked at Gu Yuru with a cold smile.
Gu Yuru’s scalp tingled; she composed herself and said, “Please speak plainly, General Southern.”
The Southern General’s lips curled into a smile. “General Gu Yu, you’re in big trouble today!”
Gu Yuru’s face showed an unfathomable expression.
The Southern General’s smile faded. “Do you know who you caught today?”
Gu Yuru felt relieved. “That person was acting suspiciously on the drill ground. I suspected he was a Beizhen spy, so I brought him to camp for interrogation. Where is he? Has he been questioned?”
The Southern General frowned and cursed, “You fool! That was Zhang Dong, the newly appointed magistrate of Jingzhou!”
Gu Yuru’s eyes lit up. “Really? Then why was he skulking alone on the drill ground?”
The Southern General spat and said sternly, “It was pouring rain, the river was rising. He was conducting a covert inspection of the embankment’s safety.”
Gu Yuru shuddered respectfully, shamefaced. “I was wrong to capture him. He must have been very angry.”
The Southern General roared, “Not just angry! He said you wrongly detained a royal official, obstructed official duties, and threatened to report you to the court!”
Gu Yuru’s face darkened. “What should I do?”
The Southern General suddenly laughed heartily. “My silly eldest sister, you’re so honest! I was teasing you. Magistrate Zhang was not angry at all. He said he shouldn’t have rashly entered a military restricted area and deserved to be questioned. He praised your discipline and skill, said you are a good general. But...”
Gu Yuru asked, “But what?”
The Southern General said slowly, “When he left, he requested that the next time he visits the camp to represent the people of Jingnan, you must accompany him for a bowl of wine!”
Gu Yuru smirked, narrowing her eyes. “Only one bowl? I thought it’d be ten or eight bowls!”
The Southern General made a silly face at her.
***
Yangcheng.
Coincidentally, Zhao Rouya and Xiao Tianjian left the salt fields last year on the Dragon Boat Festival. This year, Gu Datong also left the salt fields on the Dragon Boat Festival.
Since Zhao Rouya and Xiao Tianjian left the salt fields last year, Gu Datong had been both boss and security, overseeing the salt transport day and night. Fortunately, the salt harvest workers had long experience and worked methodically—those releasing water did so, those plowing plowed, those washing washed, and those stacking stacked. Gu Datong was busy but orderly.
Time passes swiftly, and the Dragon Boat Festival arrived again. That morning, Gu Datong rode a fast horse toward Yangcheng.
He stopped in the street, leading his horse slowly, intending to buy some rice dumplings.
At a small stall, he paused and asked the elderly woman behind it, “Madam, how much for each rice dumpling?”
The old woman, focused on washing the dumpling leaves, lowered her head and pointed to a red paper menu hanging at the stall, saying, “Sir, please look there.”
Gu Datong read aloud the menu: “Reed leaf triangular dumpling one coin each; bamboo shoot skin square dumpling two coins each... Hey, this handwriting? It’s the Daliang script!”
He looked up at the old woman and asked, “Madam, who wrote this red paper menu?”
The woman asked in return, “Why? Are there mistakes in the writing?”
Gu Datong hastened, “No mistakes! It just resembles the handwriting of an old acquaintance.”
The woman stopped her work and stared at Gu Datong, then asked, “Sir, what’s that person’s name?”
“Surname Mu, given name Mingxuan, courtesy name Yi’an Feizi.”
The woman straightened up and scrutinized Gu Datong from head to foot. “What relation is she to you?”
“She is my aunt.”
The woman burst into tears. “Are you my nephew Gu Datong? How have you grown so old and dark?”
Gu Datong immediately recognized her as his aunt. He stepped forward and grasped her hand, saying, “Aunt, I am indeed your nephew, Datong.”
She wept loudly and eventually calmed down.
Gu Datong suddenly thought of his uncle. “Aunt, is uncle here too?”
Tears welled again in Mu Mingxuan’s eyes. Gu Datong handed her a handkerchief; she wiped her eyes and said, “Datong, shortly after the capital fell, your uncle fell ill and passed away.”
Hearing of his uncle’s early death, Gu Datong also felt sorrow and wept. After a while, he asked, “Aunt, when did you come to live here?”
Mu Mingxuan tidied her frosted hair and said, “After burying your uncle that year, the Central Plains were engulfed in chaos. I fled south with the refugees and ended up here in Yangcheng. It’s been over twenty years.”
Gu Datong was stunned.
Mu Mingxuan continued, “On the journey, I was cheated by a villain out of all my money. I was so distraught I tried to drown myself!”
Gu Datong suddenly clasped her rough, worn hands tightly and asked, “Who saved you?”
Mu Mingxuan said, “A young couple pulled me from the river and saved my life.”
Gu Datong released her hands and clasped his own, saying, “Thank heaven! Aunt, you have survived great misfortune and will surely have a blessed future!”
Mu Mingxuan gratefully said, “Yes, that young couple also fled from the Central Plains. Since then, the three of us have traveled south together, caring for one another.”
Gu Datong smiled with relief.
Mu Mingxuan went on, “After arriving in Yangcheng, the couple accepted me as their foster mother. We settled here. We run this small stall to make a living. Though not wealthy, we never go hungry.”
Gu Datong looked around the stall and nodded. Mu Mingxuan’s face darkened. “But the good times did not last. In less than a year, my foster son died from illness, leaving only me and my foster daughter. She is a woman of deep loyalty who has never remarried, caring for this old woman.”
Gu Datong’s mind lingered on the words “a foster daughter.” “She must be an extraordinary woman!”
Mu Mingxuan suddenly realized she had been recounting her own hardships and forgot to ask about Datong. She said, “Datong, when did you come to Yangcheng?”
Still thinking of the foster daughter, Gu Datong answered simply, “During the great famine in the Central Plains.”
Mu Mingxuan exclaimed, “The great famine year? That year, the streets of Yangcheng were plastered with imperial wanted posters for the three fugitives who dared to infiltrate the Beizhen Prince’s mansion and abduct his concubine: Lou Mingxuan, Gu Datong, and Xiao Tianjian! Datong, are you one of those fugitives?”
Gu Datong nodded, “Yes, the three of us.”
Mu Mingxuan asked, “How did you evade capture and hide?”
Gu Datong replied, “With the help of junior brother Qi Wei’s family, we changed our names and built a salt field by the coast to live in hiding.”
Mu Mingxuan continued, “Is your wife Lou Mingxuan still at the salt field?”
Gu Datong lowered his voice, “During the great famine, to prevent my children and me from starving, she sold herself for half a bag of grain and fifty taels of silver.”
Tears filled Mu Mingxuan’s eyes again. She stopped paying attention to Gu Datong and paced the stall’s walkway, murmuring, “She truly is an extraordinary woman! A great and extraordinary woman!”
Gu Datong, knowing his aunt was a poetess, had entered a state of flow. He glanced toward the back room where shadows moved and smoke rose in the courtyard. He guessed the figure was his aunt’s foster daughter and longed to meet her.
He softly asked, “Aunt, is the foster daughter home?”
Mu Mingxuan widened her eyes, lost in her thoughts, and replied, “You mean Hui’er? She’s cooking dumplings in the back courtyard. I’ll call her out to meet you.” She turned toward the door leading to the courtyard and called, “Hui’er, Hui’er, come out here.”
A beautiful young woman emerged and asked, “Mother, what is it?”
Mu Mingxuan pointed to Gu Datong and said, “Hui’er, this is your mother’s nephew, Gu Datong, your cousin. Come greet him.”
Hui’er stepped forward, slightly bent at the waist, clasped her hands before her chest, and bowed to Gu Datong, saying, “Greetings, cousin!”
Gu Datong hastened to return the bow, saying, “Thank you, Hui’er, for your careful care of my aunt all these years.”
Hui’er replied, “Cousin, no need to say that. Your aunt is my mother; it is natural for a daughter to care for her mother.” She turned to Mu Mingxuan and asked, “Mother, am I right?”
Mu Mingxuan wiped her eyes with her sleeve and smiled, “Right! When has your Hui’er ever spoken wrongly?”
Hui’er embraced her mother.
Mu Mingxuan looked at Hui’er’s face, then at Gu Datong, and said, “Datong, since you two are meeting for the first time, talk more. I’ll go back to the courtyard to cook dumplings.” With that, she walked into the yard and closed the door behind her.
Hui’er took a large bamboo shoot skin dumpling from the stall, unwrapped the string and leaf, placed it on a porcelain plate, and brought it over. “Please try our glutinous rice dumplings, cousin.”
Gu Datong, already eager, took the plate, sat down, and began devouring the dumplings greedily.
Hui’er brought a bowl of seaweed soup and placed it before him, then sat nearby watching him eat.
Gu Datong’s cheeks puffed with dumplings as he mumbled, “Thank you.” He glanced at Hui’er repeatedly, thinking this woman bore some resemblance to Lou Mingxuan, especially in her eyes and nose. For over twenty years, this fragile woman had borne heavy responsibility, caring for his aunt selflessly—it was deeply moving. Now that he had met her, Gu Datong felt he ought to do something for this strong-willed literary woman.
What should I do for her?
Gu Datong swallowed the last bite of dumpling and drank the seaweed soup in one gulp. Hui’er took out her handkerchief and handed it to him. He accepted it, wiping his mouth, and said, “Hui’er, I am also your aunt’s close kin. From now on, let us share the duty of filial piety together and take care of Aunt. What do you say?”
Suddenly, Hui’er’s eyes widened. She understood what Gu Datong meant by “sharing the duty of filial piety.” For many years, she had hoped for a man to share this responsibility, but twenty years had passed without him appearing. With over 7,000 lonely, sleepless nights, how many women could endure that? Now he was here! Yet they had just met!
“What should I do? What should I do?”
Hui’er touched her cheeks, tears streaming down. Gu Datong was frightened, took the handkerchief, wiped her tears, and apologized, “Don’t cry! Cousin spoke without thinking and offended you. Please forgive me!”
Hui’er finally stopped crying. “I have a question.” Her voice trembled.
Gu Datong’s voice also trembled. “Ask, please.”
Hui’er said, “I heard from my mother that you risked your life to rescue a princess from Beizhen. Is that true?”
Gu Datong sincerely replied, “It is true! But I was not alone; two others helped me.”
Hui’er smiled, “Then there’s no need to say more. I agree to what you just proposed!”
Gu Datong asked happily, “Really?”
Hui’er stood up, glancing sideways at him. “Just kidding!” Then she went back to the courtyard.
After a few steps, she turned back and said, “You watch the stall ahead. I’ll return to help mother cook dumplings.”
“Okay!” Gu Datong called out loudly.
Looking at the red paper menu in Daliang script, Gu Datong shouted, “Fresh dumplings for sale! Our dumplings are fragrant and large. Reed leaf triangular dumplings one coin each, bamboo shoot skin square dumplings two coins each...”