Chapter Three
That night, Qiyao rested in a guest room at the Gu family residence.
Gu Yuru had just returned from visiting Zhao Rouya. Since she had to rise early the next day, she came to the guest room to bid Qiyao good night. Qiyao was removing her makeup and, recalling how Zhao Rouya had left dinner in tears, asked, “Aunt Rouya—is she alright now?”
Gu Yuru nodded and replied, “She’s often like that. She went straight to bed after returning.”
Qiyao then asked, “Junior Sister Yuru, how terrible was the great famine in Central Plains eighteen years ago?”
Gu Yuru said, “I was still an infant then, so I don’t know the details. But I heard my eldest brother and father say many people starved to death.”
Qiyao said, “I see! No wonder Master Gu has been continuously purchasing grain in bulk recently!”
Gu Yuru smiled, “It’s better to be prepared than caught off guard.”
After dinner, Gu Datong returned to his room, sitting on the edge of the bed, taking puff after puff from his water pipe.
After Gu Yuru left the guest room, she brewed a strong cup of tea and entered. “Father, you’ve worked hard all day—rest early.”
Gu Datong asked, “What about Aunt Rouya?”
Gu Yuru placed the tea on the table. “She’s alright now.”
With a Henan accent, Gu Datong said, “If she’s alright, then all’s well! Has Sister Yao rested yet?”
“Not yet! She’s still removing her makeup,” Gu Yuru replied.
Gu Datong exhaled smoke slowly, looking at his daughter. “Daughter, lately I’ve been making you work from dawn till dusk. You must be exhausted.”
Gu Yuru looked gratefully at her father. “No, Father. This is the busiest season at the salt fields—everyone is tired. It’s only right that I work hard.”
Gu Datong took several deep puffs, then looked up at his daughter. “Hang in there, after this period, things will calm down.” He leaned the pipe against the wall corner, took a sip of tea, and said, “I’ll rest now. You should go back and rest too.”
“Good night,” Gu Yuru said and returned to her room.
Gu Datong closed the door, bolted it, blew out the candle, and lay down.
But sleep eluded him.
Memories from the past played in his mind again and again…
His family was of imperial blood; his father was a loyal and brave general. He grew up carefree. When he was eight, his father arranged for him to apprentice under the famed swordsman Lou Sanfeng. From then on, he always carried a Lou family sword at his side, practicing martial arts and swordsmanship.
Lou Sanfeng was an eccentric swordsman, taking only six disciples—three boys and three girls: the boys were Gu Datong, Sima Xi, and Qi Wei; the girls were Lou Mingxuan, Zhao Chuoyun, and Yin Yuanyuan. Lou Mingxuan was his only daughter; Zhao Chuoyun was a princess, already titled Duchess of Bashu before becoming a disciple.
After graduation, Qi Wei and Yin Yuanyuan became a couple and returned to Qi Wei’s hometown, Yangcheng, to sell salt; Sima Xi and Zhao Chuoyun married in Bashu. Gu Datong had long been in love with Lou Mingxuan, but Lou Sanfeng disapproved. Obsessed with royal ambitions, Lou Sanfeng forced Mingxuan into the palace, hoping she might become a consort so he could become the imperial father-in-law. However, Mingxuan was assigned to the Phoenix Pavilion and became the personal attendant to Princess Zhao Rouya.
Gu Datong could have inherited the title of loyal and brave general, but according to court succession laws, the new general had to serve three years on the frontier. Since Mingxuan was already in the palace, Gu Datong didn’t want to be far from her, so he passed the title to his younger brother and stayed in the capital as a commoner. Soon after, the court issued a decree to select imperial guards. As a royal relative, Gu Datong took the exam and was selected as an imperial guard. Mingxuan often accompanied Princess Zhao Rouya to pay respects to the emperor, and Gu Datong frequently accompanied the imperial carriage, so they had many chances to see each other from afar.
But soon, the Beizhen people began invading the Southern Han. Both Gu Datong and his master Lou Sanfeng volunteered for the front lines. The battles were fierce, and Lou Sanfeng was gravely wounded. On his deathbed, he told Gu Datong, “Datong, don’t hate your master! I knew you and Xuan’er loved each other but separated you. Now I realize my mistake. When you return, tell Xuan’er I agree to your marriage…” His words cut off as he passed away.
Gu Datong buried his master with tears and continued fighting. However, the Southern Han court favored civil over military affairs, weakening the army, while the Beizhen forces were strong. The Southern Han was defeated; the capital fell. The imperial palace was occupied by the Beizhen, and Princess Zhao Rouya was captured and taken to the Beizhen imperial city as a slave. Fortunately, Lou Mingxuan’s martial skills allowed her to escape. She vowed to rescue Zhao Rouya in the north.
Lou Mingxuan found Gu Datong and recounted their master’s last words. Together, they visited Lou Sanfeng's grave, where Lou Mingxuan knelt, weeping silently. She said, “Our country is broken; soldiers dying in battle are to be expected. Princess Zhao Rouya is now a double slave in the Beizhen imperial city. As her former attendant, I swear to rescue her. Master Gu, will you help me?”
Gu Datong replied, “We are fellow disciples, always helping each other. Besides, I have always loved you and am willing to do anything for you—even die.”
Lou Mingxuan smiled, “Wonderful! After rescuing my lady, I will marry you.” They disguised themselves as hunter brothers and went into the northern mountains to search secretly for Zhao Rouya.
Zhao Rouya, after being taken to the Beizhen palace, suffered inhuman treatment, passed among the powerful as a plaything, and eventually fell into the hands of the cruel Prince Wugu, who tortured her mercilessly. She had once wished for death but learned that Prime Minister Qin and the Empress Dowager were Beizhen spies. Filled with rage, she hated these traitors and resolved to escape back to Southern Han to expose their crimes.
Time flew. Gu Datong and Lou Mingxuan had lived in the Beizhen capital for three years, scouring every street for clues of Zhao Rouya, but found nothing. Gu Datong told Lou Mingxuan, “From what I’ve heard, many women sent from Southern Han have died from the torture. It’s said Princess Rouya might have been among them.”
Lou Mingxuan said, “Don’t lose hope, Master Gu! Though Princess Rouya seems weak, her spirit is strong. I feel she’s still alive.”
One day, while selling mountain goods at the morning market, a burly man approached Gu Datong quietly and said, “If you want to rescue Zhao Rouya, meet me tomorrow afternoon at Yunju Temple outside the city.”
Gu Datong looked up and recognized the man despite his unkempt beard: his sworn brother, Xiao Tianjian, Zhao Rouya’s betrothed. After Xiao Tianjian left, Gu Datong closed his stall and hurried home to share the good news with Lou Mingxuan.
The next afternoon, Gu Datong, Lou Mingxuan, and Xiao Tianjian met at Yunju Temple outside the city to discuss the rescue plan.
Xiao Tianjian had arrived at the Beizhen capital three years earlier and had secretly contacted Zhao Rouya, but lacked the strength to rescue her alone, needing help.
Soon after, Prince Wugu’s mansion caught fire during the night, killing several people. Zhao Rouya, Wugu’s concubine, was burned beyond recognition.
After more than a year of hiding and evading pursuit, Gu Datong, Lou Mingxuan, Zhao Rouya, and Xiao Tianjian finally returned to Southern Han. But a strange thing happened: wanted posters for the fake Princess Zhao Rouya were posted everywhere. The four dared not enter the capital, so they settled near a salt field in Central Plains.
Gu Datong married Lou Mingxuan, and Zhao Rouya married Xiao Tianjian. They all changed their names and lived as neighbors. Gu Datong and Xiao Tianjian worked as salt workers; Lou Mingxuan and Zhao Rouya stayed home. To be safe, Zhao Rouya rarely left the house.
Years passed. Gu Datong and Lou Mingxuan’s eldest son Gu Yuren was six; second son Gu Yusheng was four; three months ago, Lou Mingxuan gave birth to a daughter, Gu Yuru. The family of five lived contentedly. Zhao Rouya had been weak but, with Xiao Tianjian’s care, had regained health over the past two years and was now six months pregnant.
However, that year, drought ravaged the land; crops withered and died everywhere. Yet the salt fields yielded abundantly, piled high with white salt blocks.
But no salt merchants came to buy. Salt workers hadn’t been paid for a whole year; the salt field owners had gone bankrupt and fled.
That autumn, Gu Datong and Xiao Tianjian returned home empty-handed. People on the streets began frantically scrambling for rice and grain, but their families had no money to compete.
Soon, grain stores were emptied and closed; the entire Central Plains had no harvest, and grain merchants had no stock to sell.
People began eating wild vegetables and grass. Leaves were stripped from trees, bark peeled off and consumed.
Starvation soon claimed lives.
People fled famine, heading south, though they didn’t know where exactly—just followed the crowds. Many collapsed along the way, never to rise again. The roads were littered with corpses.
Gu and Xiao families had been without food for days.
Early one morning, Lou Mingxuan went out. Gu Datong sat on the doorstep holding three-month-old Gu Yuru, waiting for his wife. Adults hadn’t eaten for so long that the baby’s milk supply had dried up, leaving her weak and barely breathing.
Gu Yuren sat on a small stool, weakly crying, “Dad, I’m so hungry…”
Gu Yusheng curled up at his brother’s feet, also crying, “Dad, Yusheng is hungry too…”
Hearing their cries, Gu Datong turned his blurry eyes toward them. Too weak to speak, he looked away, head bowed toward the street.
At noon, Lou Mingxuan returned—by carriage—with half a sack of grain!
This was half a sack of life-saving grain!
Adults and children rejoiced. Zhao Rouya, heavily pregnant, quickly lit a fire to cook; Gu Datong washed rice; Xiao Tianjian chopped firewood; Gu Yuren and Gu Yusheng helped wash dishes. No one asked where the grain came from.
When the meal was ready, both families ate ravenously.
Only Lou Mingxuan sat on a small stool, tears flowing as she fed baby Yuru rice soup.
Gu Datong paused chewing and asked, “Junior Sister, why aren’t you eating?”
Lou Mingxuan wiped her tears, “I was already full at the Li family’s before coming back.”
Gu Datong nodded and buried his head in his bowl—he was starving.
Lou Mingxuan set down the bowl and teased her daughter, “Little one, are you full? Don’t cry now. Be good… Mom has to go!” Then she handed the baby to Zhao Rouya.
She took a pouch of silver from her bosom and approached Gu Datong. “Yuren’s father, I’ve sold myself.”
Gu Datong raised his head from the bowl. “Junior Sister, what did you say? I don’t understand.”
Lou Mingxuan pointed to the grain sack. “Master Gu, this half sack of grain and these fifty taels of silver are my price for selling myself. Take it as travel money. Tomorrow, you, Uncle Xiao Tianjian, and Aunt Rouya should bring our three children to Yangcheng to seek refuge with our junior brothers Qi Wei and Yin Yuanyuan.”
Gu Datong put down his bowl, “And you, Junior Sister?”
Lou Mingxuan wiped her tears. “I am now the fifth concubine of Lord Li at the salt office…”
“What?” Gu Datong’s face darkened. “Damn it!”
He grabbed the bowls off the stove, stood up, snatched the money pouch from Lou Mingxuan, and rushed toward the carriage parked nearby.
But after a few steps, his vision blurred, and he collapsed unconscious.
He awoke late at night.
Upon opening his eyes, he asked Xiao Tianjian, “Where is Lou Mingxuan?”
Xiao Tianjian said, “After you fainted, a group of ruthless servants from the Li household came and forcibly took Sister-in-law Mingxuan away.”
Gu Datong angrily asked, “You couldn’t fight them?”
Xiao Tianjian said, “I wanted to rescue her, but she forbade me.”
Gu Datong cursed, “She’s a wretched woman—let her be.”
At cockcrow the next day, Gu Datong, Xiao Tianjian, Zhao Rouya, and the three children rose. Each adult carried a large bundle. They fled south toward Yangcheng.
They planned to take the land route but found the roads packed with refugees, strewn with bodies of the starved, while packs of wild dogs tore at the corpses. Seeing this, Zhao Rouya fainted and had to walk with her eyes closed. Gu Datong bit his lip, took out the silver—Lou Mingxuan’s selling money—and gave it to Xiao Tianjian to rent a boat.
Many boats were docked along the canal but had no boatmen.
Xiao Tianjian spent three taels to buy a half-used boat.
Gu Datong and Xiao Tianjian loaded the half sack of grain and bundles onto the boat, with Zhao Rouya and the children sitting in the cabin. They took turns rowing and steering, later joined by Gu Yuren and Gu Yusheng.
The boat sailed down the canal, but Yangcheng was too far, and the grain was soon consumed. The famine caused grain prices to skyrocket, and the fifty taels were spent midway. To buy more food, Gu Datong had to sell the boat and proceed by land, but the money from selling the boat quickly ran out. They resorted to begging along the way.
After half a year, they finally reached Yangcheng.
At dawn, Gu Datong awoke, having not slept all night.
After breakfast, the salt caravan set off for Yangcheng.
When Qiyao came to bid farewell to Gu Datong, Zhao Rouya, and Xiao Tianjian, the lead carriage was already on the salt road. Gu Yuru held the reins of her chestnut thoroughbred, standing at the road entrance waiting for her.
Qiyao took the reins and whip from Gu Yuru, then mounted her horse. Sitting atop, she said, “Junior Sister Yuru, farewell!”
“Be careful on the road!” Gu Yuru shouted from the ground.
Gu Yusheng ran over. “Little Sister Yuru, don’t worry too much. Big Brother is with you on the road.”
“Brother, where are you going?” Gu Yuru asked.
“Brother has to enter the city for a while,” Gu Yusheng whispered.
“What for?” Yuru asked softly.
“Brother has something to discuss with Big Brother,” Gu Yusheng replied quietly.
Gu Yusheng approached Qiyao’s horse and, in a Central Plains child’s accent, said, “Sister Yao, may I ride with you into the city?” He carried a small bundle.
Qiyao recognized the accent as the Central Plains dialect Yusheng had when he first came to Yangcheng. As a child, Qiyao was easily annoyed. Seeing her frown, Yusheng anxiously spoke rapidly in that dialect. Though Qiyao didn’t understand a word, she thought his accent was funny and stopped being angry.
Turning to look at Yusheng, she saw his amusing attire, especially the small pouch hanging from his belt, and wanted to laugh. Imitating his accent, she said, “Brother Yusheng, why do you want to go into the city now?”
“Just bored and want to stroll around,” Yusheng replied in Central Plains dialect.
“Strolling? No way! The salt fields are busy now,” Qiyao suppressed her laughter.
Yusheng stared into Qiyao’s beautiful eyes and said, “Sister Yao, Brother Yusheng has an important matter to discuss with Big Brother Yuren.”
Qiyao avoided his gaze. “Looking for my brother-in-law? Then go sit in the three-horse carriage up ahead!” She switched back to the Yangcheng dialect for the last sentence.
“Thanks!” Yusheng ran to the carriage, jumped up, and hung his small bundle containing spare clothes.
“Wait for me!” A girl approached—Xiao Guimu.
Qiyao still on horseback asked, “Miss Guimu, are you going into the city too? May I give you a ride?”
Xiao Guimu stopped beside Qiyao. “Yes, Second Miss! May I ride with you?”
Qiyao pointed to the three-horse carriage ahead. “Of course. Go sit in that carriage.”
Xiao Guimu asked, “Second Miss, is that the carriage Brother Gu just climbed on?”
Qiyao nodded. “Yes, Miss Guimu. That carriage is tall and large—very comfortable.”
Xiao Guimu clasped her hands in thanks and lightly jumped onto the carriage.
Yusheng teased, “Hey, Miss Guimu, why are you everywhere?”
Xiao Guimu spread a grass mat over the salt bags, sat down, spat twice outside the carriage, then turned back and said, “Shameless! Today you ride your own carriage, mind your own business, okay?”
Yusheng noticed she had brought two grass mats. “Alright. But give me one of the mats.”
Xiao Guimu pulled one from beneath her and tossed it to Yusheng, cursing, “You deserve your sore butt!”
Yusheng caught the mat, spread it on the salt bags, and said, “Thanks! Are you going to open a restaurant in Yangcheng?”
Xiao Guimu scowled, “Stop guessing!”
The morning sun shone on the fields flanking the salt road, painting a colorful scene. Dew glittered on the green leaves of crops and shrubs. The moist, soft earth echoed with the clatter of the carriage.
Yusheng and Guimu sat in the carriage, one behind the other, silent. The grass mat kept slipping over the salt bags, so Yusheng repeatedly lifted his buttocks, pulled the mat back, then sat down again.
Guimu grew impatient. “Is your butt sore?”
Yusheng sensed the hostility—she was still upset because he refused her last night. He smiled gently, “No.”
Guimu angrily retorted, “If not sore, why can’t you sit still? You keep lifting and lowering your butt like a monkey jumping!”
Yusheng dared not reply.
The carriage rattled forward. Guimu eventually stopped venting, sat quietly on the salt bags, eyes closed to rest.
Yusheng breathed a sigh of relief. He gazed into the distance where misty mountains met the sky, hoping one day to cross those mountains and reach the capital. The capital was said to be full of beauties, but the one he loved was Qiyao, a true beauty herself.
Thinking of Qiyao, Yusheng turned his gaze ahead—Qiyao rode the chestnut horse at the front of the caravan. Seeing her gallant silhouette, his heart fluttered. He thought, “She’s probably thinking of that masked hero right now!”
“A foolish girl—he’s on your carriage and you don’t even know!” Yusheng muttered.
Before noon, the caravan reached the East River ferry.
Upon arrival, Qiyao and the steward Chen Ren acted as if facing an enemy, directing men, horses, and carriages with full effort to board the ferry.
Yusheng sat on the carriage observing. He realized Qiyao was applying military strategy to command the ferry crossing—she was truly a commander of talent.