Chapter 728: Grass Snake Grey Line

Upon entering Jizhou territory, Xu Fengnian donned a lifelike mask, a creation of Shuxiu, the witch from Southern Xinjiang. Such ingenious items had been invaluable during his previous infiltration of Beiliang. As their four horses crossed the border, Fushui Bureau agents had already prepared four impeccable household registers and travel permits. At that time, wealthy gentry from Beiliang Dao were fleeing abroad like an ant colony whose nest had been disturbed by children, so Xu Fengnian’s small group of four attracted no attention. Fan Xiaochai knew he was heading to Hengshui City in Jibei to meet Yu Luandao and Wei Jingtang. However, despite their horses traveling day and night without stopping, they did not take the shortest route. Instead, they headed directly into the heart of Jizhou, eventually arriving at Dazhan City, which was built in the late Baohua era of the Great Feng Dynasty.

Xu Fengnian was not in a hurry to enter the city. He reined in his horse on the official road outside the city, looking with a complex expression at the silent, tall city. As the former secondary capital of the Old Northern Han Dynasty, it was once filled with officials and nobles. When Xu Xiao, then one of the 'Conquering' generals, led his army to attack Northern Han, the entire Jizhou was trampled to ruins by the Xu family's iron cavalry. Only Dazhan City managed to escape. When the army slowly approached the city, facing imminent disaster, countless scholars that night sang and drank. It was said that the strong scent of wine could be smelled three li outside the city, leading to the later unofficial historical anecdote: "Three hundred Han officials, drunk to death in one night." Fan Xiaochai had been displaced since childhood due to the collapse of her country and family. However, as a descendant of the loyal and heroic Fan family, even in exile, she generally lived a relatively stable life for over a decade. She had also lived in Dazhan City for more than half a year, well-fed and well-clothed, enjoying lantern festivals and spring outings. At that time, she still harbored many innocent thoughts: if Northern Han still existed, she might have lived an even more luxurious life, married a handsome scion of a prominent family of equal standing, lived a life of mutual devotion, raised children, and grown old together. Her grandfather, father, and many uncles would not have died on the battlefield, leaving only her. If she hadn't later been recruited by Zhao Gou, the Fan family would have been left without anyone to perform ancestral rites during Qingming.

Mi Fengjie, who was devoted to martial arts, had no such melancholic sentiments. The sword box on his back was covered with cotton cloth. Just by his posture, this master of the Sunken Sword Cave, who had been away from the orthodox jianghu for too many years, showed no grandmaster demeanor; he merely resembled a rigid old servant unfamiliar with the ways of the world. Xu Fengnian lightly said, "Enter the city," and the four riders galloped towards the city gate. Apart from Fan Xiaochai, whose beautiful appearance drew several extra glances from the city guards, no trouble arose. After entering the city from the south, Xu Fengnian, familiar with the route, led them towards the north, walking through streets, alleys, and lanes. Fan Xiaochai was inevitably surprised; by all accounts, Xu Fengnian should not have been so familiar with Dazhan City's layout.

The four eventually rested at a bustling intersection in the north of the city, at an establishment called Qingzhu Wine House. The wine house was thriving, and it was hard to find an empty chair on the first floor. The waiter welcoming guests was also quite rude, clearly obsessed with money. He carelessly led the four's horses to the stables and then ignored the customers' needs. To eat or drink, they were told to wait, as he didn't believe these four foreign guests would bother to find another place. The four had no choice but to wait by the counter, which was piled with bamboo slips, for a table to clear. Xu Fengnian, bored, picked up a bamboo slip. It had dish names and prices carved on it, which were surprisingly expensive, almost reaching the astonishing level of the stables. It seemed the entire establishment was full of easy marks, and now they were four more sheep ready for slaughter.

Xu Fengnian admired the elegant regular script on the bamboo slip. From the corner of his eye, he saw the clever young waiter go up to the second floor. Xu Fengnian smiled knowingly; the waiter had likely figured out the origin of their four horses. Before leaving Youzhou, the Fushui Bureau had swapped their four Youzhou warhorses for Hezhou post horses. Before entering Jizhou, the Fushui Bureau agents who met them secretly had swapped them again for four superior Jinnan military horses. Xu Fengnian noticed the waiter's suspicious behavior. Besides Yu Dilong, Mi Fengjie and Fan Xiaochai naturally also sensed the unusual nature of Qingzhu Wine House. Especially Fan Xiaochai, who had just been promoted to the Xuan-rank Grand Eunuch of the Fushui Bureau due to her merits, exuded a well-hidden bloodthirsty aura beneath her seemingly timid exterior. Mi Fengjie glanced at her with disgust. A woman of such stunning beauty, serving as a death sworn or a spy was one thing, but how could she genuinely enjoy killing, often torturing her victims? Fan Xiaochai defiantly returned Mi Fengjie's gaze, which further intensified the killing intent of the Sunken Sword Cave Master, who had long harbored resentment towards this "madwoman." If the Prince of Beiliang had not been by his side, and if Mi Fengjie's sword box hadn't contained eight meticulously selected peerless famous swords, he wouldn't have hesitated to dismember her.

Many of the wealthy patrons who came to the wine house to spend lavishly were actually quite shrewd. They intentionally spoke "truths" after drinking, shouting things like: "Madam! Come pour a drink for me, don't worry, I'm a gentleman, I only drink wine, I don't devour people!" "Madam Xu, why have I never seen your husband show his face? He's a real bastard; in this freezing weather, isn't he afraid you'll suffer at night?" "Shopkeeper, I've eaten over a dozen meals at Qingzhu Wine House, enough to win over the courtesan of a second-rate brothel in Dazhan City. But you, you won't even let me touch your hand. What kind of business is this?"

The first floor wasn't entirely filled with these crude men spewing vulgarities. There were also elegant scholars in green robes, mostly just coming of age, who tried their best to endure the offensive language. The current situation in Jizhou was unstable, and the prospects for scholars were worsening, becoming increasingly bleak. A few years ago, they would have slammed the table and cursed these ruffians to hell; now, not only would they not dare to fight, they wouldn't even dare to retort. Jizhou had been plagued by continuous turmoil. First, General Yang Shenxing, the "stabilizing force" of Jizhou, took all the old Jizhou soldiers. Then, Yuan Tingshan, a "dragon crossing the river," came to Jizhou and became a mountain king. Not only was he the son-in-law of Grand Pillar State Gu Jiantang, but he also abducted a woman from the Li family of Yanbao in Jizhou to be his concubine, and he held military power. All jianghu sects and gangs in Jinnan and Jibei deferred to General Yuan. In the blink of an eye, Yuan Tingshan subdued several uncooperative local powers in Jizhou, leaving them in a state worse than death. Now, there were rumors that tens of thousands of Beiliang cavalry had attacked the passes and moved south, and Silver Falcon City on the Jibei border had already been lost. The only good news in Jizhou was that the Han family's injustice had been redressed. The current emperor personally decreed a posthumous title for the Han family's old patriarch, Han Beidu, as "Wuxiang." This was not, as people had speculated, a second-rank title beginning with "Zhong" (Loyal), such as "Zhongding" or "Zhonglie" (Loyal and Valiant), but rather the character "Xiang," ranked fifth among the eight first-rank "Wu" (Martial) honorifics. Leaving aside the proliferation of posthumous titles before Liyang conquered the world, the Zhao imperial family of Liyang, since the Yonghui era, had always shown a preference for civil over military officials in the awarding of posthumous titles. Excluding the extreme exception of Xu Xiao, the Prince of Beiliang, the posthumous titles of several veteran generals who served with distinction during the Spring and Autumn periods all began with "Zhong," supplemented by characters like "Jian" (Simple) or "Jing" (Respectful). Perhaps only Grand General Gu Jiantang was expected to reach the pinnacle after his death, receiving the posthumous title of "Wuning." This demonstrated the extraordinary commendation and reward the new Liyang Emperor bestowed upon the Han family, who had exemplified "If the sovereign wishes his subject to die, the subject will die heroically."

Even more encouraging was the astonishing news that circulated in Jizhou before the Han family's vindication by the imperial court: a Han family orphan who had survived the disaster years ago had appeared. With his sudden emergence, a poignant and praiseworthy story began to spread among the common people of Jizhou. It was said that the Han family patriarch's legitimate eldest grandson had not died back then because the Han family harbored no selfish desire to preserve their lineage. Instead, a loyal family retainer, in collaboration with a jianghu martial arts grandmaster who had received the Han family's benevolence years earlier, forcibly took the young child, against the family's wishes. The retainer, who unfortunately died during their escape, left a dying wish: "The Han family treated me as a national scholar; I shall repay them as a national scholar." Although this person's name remained obscure, the martial arts grandmaster was a renowned jianghu figure in Jizhou twenty years ago, his strength extremely close to the First-Rank realm, and he was known as an unrivaled expert among Second-Rank minor grandmasters. His name was Hou Wanhu, nicknamed "Marquis Wanhu." Before the fall of Northern Han, he served as a military captain and was hailed as Jizhou's "vanquisher of ten thousand men." After the country fell, he rallied over two thousand nomadic cavalry bandits at Jibei border. This man had vowed to one day cut off Xu Xiao's head and use it as a wine flask. Unexpectedly, he soon disappeared. It turned out he had saved the Han family's legitimate eldest grandson out of gratitude. Rumor had it he was now imprisoned in the underground iron dungeon of Yanbao, which showed that for as many years as the Han family endured humiliation, this Jizhou hero had not seen the light of day. During this period, countless people visited the Li family of Yanbao under various pretexts. If Yuan Tingshan had not personally dispatched a detachment of bright-bladed cavalry to deliberately station themselves on the main road leading to Yanbao, the family would likely have had no hope of even a moment's peace.

A graceful figure appeared at the top of the stairs, but for some reason, it immediately turned and vanished. Downstairs, sharp-eyed men immediately erupted in jeers, slapping tables and tapping bowls with their chopsticks. It turned out that Madam Xu, the proprietress, had given the downstairs patrons a "half-hidden pipa" glimpse. These men, whose purses were never short of silver, were unwilling to give up, howling repeatedly and booing mercilessly. This made the young scholars, who could no longer tolerate it, glare angrily at their neighboring tables. The more good-tempered rough men rolled their eyes, while the more ill-tempered ones spat directly on the ground, some even making gestures to insult the scholars' ancestors. It was strange to say, the proprietress was indeed remarkably beautiful, though certainly not a "country-toppling" beauty. Yet, whether it was the rough men or the refined scholars, even if they didn't fall in love at first sight, they somehow grew fonder of her the more they looked. The former, being shallow, coveted her ample bosom, round and firm buttocks, her captivating, foxy eyes, and her unique charm of being able to trade insults and vulgarities with them. The latter had a variety of reasons: some said Madam Xu, the wine seller, looked very charming when she occasionally stared blankly behind the counter; some said they perceived the proprietress's inherent nature as a strong and virtuous woman; and others even suggested she had a natural affinity for scholars, perhaps being a noble lady from an old Northern Han aristocratic family who had fallen into common life.

But there was only one true reason why the patrons only dared to make lewd remarks and never laid a hand on her, and why Qingzhu Wine House's business boomed, surpassing all others in Dazhan City: the Han family's legitimate eldest grandson, who had now been exceptionally promoted by the court to Captain of Nanlu Pass, was Madam Xu's sworn brother!

The waiter, with a bright smile masking his suspicion, ran downstairs and respectfully invited Xu Fengnian and his three companions to take a seat upstairs. Xu Fengnian took out a piece of silver and tossed it to him. The waiter's smile widened as he exclaimed, "Thank you for the tip, young master!" The waiter wasn't surprised that these four were going upstairs, but heading directly to a private room on the third floor was indeed very strange. None of the many renowned wealthy patrons in Dazhan City, whose intentions were not merely to drink wine, had ever received such a privilege on their first visit. The waiter led the four to the door of the room on the third floor and stopped. Xu Fengnian pushed the door open. Mi Fengjie stood at the doorway. Fan Xiaochai followed Xu Fengnian across the threshold. She glanced at the woman who stood still, her face filled with surprise. The woman did possess a certain enchanting charm, especially her cleavage, which would make any ordinary man want to cup her breasts to relieve the burden. However, that was about it. Fan Xiaochai's own beauty surpassed that of the woman, and their styles were completely opposite. Broadly speaking, each had her own merits, and they did not interfere with each other.

After Xu Fengnian calmly sat down, he smiled faintly and said, "Qingzhu Niang, why are you standing there idly? Pour the wine! Even if you're returning to your old trade of making 'human meat' buns, you still have to get the customers drunk first, right?"

The woman, whom Xu Fengnian (wearing the lifelike mask) called Qingzhu Niang, covered her mouth, unsure whether to cry or laugh.

She was indeed Qingzhu Niang, whom Xu Fengnian had met in Juzi Province, Beiliang, where she ran a shady establishment selling illicit wine. If not for a drunken confession she unwittingly made at the foot of the mountain that night, Xu Fengnian would not have become involved with Han Fang, the leader of Zhongyi Village, nor would he have fought his way up to the Shen family's thatched cottage on Changle Peak of Mount Liuyi. In that scenario, the Han family's legitimate eldest grandson might not even have been able to become a mountain king at the Shen family's cottage, only able to swap mountains with Zhang Xiucheng and raise a new banner. Then, Jizhou would not have had the Han family's grandson willingly fall into a trap and await execution, nor would there have been the subsequent dramatic changes. Han Fang suddenly transformed from a prisoner to a first-class loyal and heroic figure of the Liyang Dynasty, becoming the final straw that crushed Grand Secretary Zhang Julu. It could be said that for the past two years, the Fushui Bureau's death sworn and spies hidden throughout Jizhou had been engaged in complex, covert, and cautious activities revolving around one person: Han Fang, the fortunate one who led twenty-one riders back to Jizhou! Even though the Fushui Bureau expended vast amounts of effort, manpower, and resources, Han Fang's ability to consistently emerge successfully from numerous tests probably owed something to the protection of his Han family ancestors spanning dozens of generations. Even Xu Weixiong and Chu Lushan, who remotely managed Jizhou's intelligence affairs from Beiliang, marvelled at this.

This chess piece was personally placed by Xu Fengnian. While it was still too early for it to bear fruit, for Beiliang, which was already suffering under immense pressure, Jizhou with or without Han Fang would undoubtedly represent two vastly different situations.

Xu Fengnian's trip to Dazhan City in Jizhou was not to meet Han Fang himself, but Zhang Xiucheng, who claimed to be an outer disciple of the Daoist Sect. At that time, when Zhongyi Village disintegrated, only Zhang Xiucheng firmly bet on Han Fang, seeing him as a "realized immortal" who could elevate himself and his family. Facts proved that this Daoist, a scholar from the Southern Dynasty of Beiliang, not only gambled correctly but also profited handsomely. He now held a legitimate official position in Liyang, assisting Captain Han Fang at Nanlu Pass. Xu Fengnian would naturally not rashly meet directly with Han Fang. Even though Liyang's Zhao Gou intelligence agency, significantly weakened after several consecutive heavy blows, was no longer as effective in Jizhou as before, and the departure of old general Yang Shenxing and the arrival of new powerful figure Yuan Tingshan had led to severe reductions in Zhao Gou's personnel in Jizhou. Han Fang was lucky, but Xu Fengnian had little confidence in his own luck.

After Qingzhu Niang sat down, she poured Xu Fengnian a cup of aged Huadiao wine. The fragrance quickly filled the air. After her initial excitement, she was clearly a bit flustered and asked softly, "Xu Lang, why have you come to Dazhan City?" Qingzhu Niang only realized Han Fang's identity as a Han family orphan after he had been imprisoned. As for Xu Fengnian's identity, even Han Fang was only informed by an old Fushui Bureau spy who sought him out after he had settled in Jizhou. Han Fang, of course, would not reveal such a secret to Qingzhu Niang, a woman with no familial ties to him. This time, when Xu Fengnian came to Dazhan City to meet Zhang Xiucheng, the latter dared not reveal anything either. Han Fang's circumstances had changed drastically, and Qingzhu Niang's status naturally rose with them. She opened this wine house in a prime, expensive location in Dazhan City. At the foot of Mount Jiuyi, her life had been so miserable that she didn't even use a name; probably even the lowest-ranking Beiliang spy in Juzi Province hadn't heard of her, let alone Zhao Gou in Jizhou. To this day, Qingzhu Niang still only regarded him as a noble scion from Longyao Province or Gusai Province. As for "Xu Lang"'s martial arts skills, she had no idea from beginning to end. That night, both at Zhongyi Village and the Shen family's cottage, she had been dead drunk at an outdoor table. Later, the Daoist Zhang Xiucheng had casually mentioned a few words, only saying that Young Master Xu's martial arts were unlike anything he had ever seen, if not First-Rank, then not far off. But what she truly wanted to know, Zhang Xiucheng didn't say; what she truly wanted to hear, Zhang Xiucheng didn't mention.

She didn't even know if she would ever see him again in this life.

Now that she had finally seen him today, she was surprisingly wishing he would leave Dazhan City quickly. After all, this was a military stronghold of Liyang. As a noble young master from Beiliang's Southern Dynasty, wasn't he afraid of losing his head?

Xu Fengnian teased, "What's wrong? Can't I come? Are you afraid I'll freeload?"

Qingzhu Niang said nothing, subconsciously reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, fearing that some flaw in herself might be pointed out. Although she hadn't engaged in a prolonged gaze with the delicate woman, the fleeting exchange of glances had already made her feel deeply inferior. What a beautiful young lady, with an excellent demeanor, clearly a refined young woman from a scholarly family. Crucially, that woman was younger than her!

She suddenly seemed to awaken, lowering her voice and saying, "True Man Zhang actually stayed in the inn yesterday. He ate, drank, and slept in the innermost room by the window on this floor. He saw young master earlier than I did. Just now, he said he'd arrive shortly, and asked me to convey to you that he hopes Young Master Xu will be understanding, as he needs to pick a time when no guests are entering or leaving."

Xu Fengnian grunted in response.

Arriving at Qingzhu Wine House in Dazhan City and about to personally connect with Zhang Xiucheng, who now used the alias Zhang Fuling, made Xu Fengnian recall another hidden thread, not in Jizhou, but outside Daoma Pass, just beyond Gourd Mouth!

The reason he said he was first going to Hengshui City in Jibei to meet Yu Luandao and Wei Jingtang was that his true intention was to consolidate these two long-standing hidden threads. Compared to Han Fang in Jizhou, the other hidden piece named Song Diao'er could come into play even sooner. At that time, when Xu Fengnian accompanied Liu Nirong's Yu Long Gang on a cross-border escort mission, Song Diao'er was one of the bandit forces invited by Deputy Gang Leader Xiao Qiang to "borrow a knife to kill." Xu Fengnian was drawn to Song Diao'er's decisive character and ruthless methods. He instructed Song Diao'er to ask Huangfu Ping, then only an Ardent Colonel of Youzhou, for money and provisions afterward. As Xu Fengnian expected, Song Diao'er, aside from his mediocre martial arts and pitiful background, actually lacked nothing. Had he been in the central plains or Jiangnan of Liyang, it would not have been difficult for him to pass the imperial examination or become a celebrated scholar. Thus, with the full support of an influential Ardent Colonel, Song Diao'er quickly ruthlessly expanded his influence on the border, gathering three hundred fierce bandit cavalrymen. By the time Huangfu Ping became General of Youzhou, Song Diao'er, whose power continuously expanded, had virtually become one of the top bandit leaders outside Youzhou Pass. Ostensibly, he commanded over a thousand able-bodied men. While this number might seem small compared to various regional armies, perhaps even less than a ghost-payrolling captain, it must be remembered that Song Diao'er initially roamed freely outside the pass with just thirty-six bandits. The thousand bandits under Song Diao'er, who had not yet been equipped with superior gear, could probably already match the combat strength of three thousand Jizhou cavalry.

If Beiliang already had a clear understanding of Yu Luandao's more than ten thousand cavalry in Jibei and had made preparations to counter them, then Song Diao'er's thousand swift-moving bandits, and the "Song Family Bandits" who could suddenly expand, could stab the Beiliang eastern front army anytime and anywhere. As for whether it would be a stab to the vital points or a slash to the shoulder, Xu Fengnian would personally orchestrate the deployment this time. Furthermore, at the very moment Beiliang's intelligence network and jianghu forces were infiltrating Youzhou, Xu Fengnian also used this opportunity to discreetly disperse many of his men outside the pass. As True Man Cui Wazi, the disciplinarian of the Daoist Sect, believed, the claim that half of Tide-Listening Pavilion's "hawks and hounds" were hidden in Gourd Mouth Fortress was merely a smokescreen; they had long since merged with Song Diao'er's bandits.

That day, in the stele forest behind Qingliang Mountain, when faced with Mi Qiong, who was pointing at his nose and cursing him, Xu Fengnian did not refute anything. He only said that he had not done well enough.

Perhaps he, as the Prince of Beiliang, had not performed exceptionally well, but what Xu Fengnian had done was certainly far more than what the outside world imagined.

Xu Fengnian took a sip of the Huadiao wine that Qingzhu Niang had just warmed. He, who had been smiling moments before, suddenly fell silent.

Fifteen-year-aged Huadiao wine had been one of the tribute items from Jiangnan Dao since the first year of Yonghui. Its place of origin had a unique custom since the Great Feng Dynasty: when a wealthy family gave birth to a daughter, several jars of wine would be brewed within days of her birth. The wine jars, painted with colorful designs, would mostly be buried under old osmanthus trees. When the daughter grew up and married, this wine would be used as her primary dowry. That year, when the Grand Princess of Beiliang married far away in Jiangnan, Xu Xiao, the Prince of Beiliang, declared he would prepare a thousand jars of Huadiao wine as his daughter's dowry. In his haste, he only managed to gather over eight hundred jars. Originally, this wasn't something particularly shameful. At that time, when the Human Butcher married off his daughter, who dared to gossip? Everyone knew that no matter how fiercely Xu Xiao was cursed, he would just listen and let it pass. But if any idle talk about his two daughters reached his ears, unless it came from thousands of li away, even the Emperor couldn't protect those who spoke it. In the end, it was the Crown Prince, who had initially been the most opposed to his elder sister's marriage, who personally led the princely guards and spent an entire day forcibly entering almost every noble and wealthy household in Liangzhou City. Only then, in the early morning of Xu Zhihu's wedding day, did the Crown Prince, with bloodshot eyes, finally return with the last jar of top-grade Huadiao wine.

Xu Fengnian remained silent, and Qingzhu Niang also made no sound.

Zhang Xiucheng, no longer wearing a Daoist robe but dressed in plain clothes, gently pushed the door open and entered. He had intended to kneel and perform a grand salutation, but seeing Qingzhu Niang still in the room, he was momentarily conflicted.

After regaining his composure, Xu Fengnian raised his wine cup and smiled faintly, "We're old friends meeting again, please sit and talk."

Zhang Xiucheng's trepidation was not feigned. Good heavens, the person before him was none other than the Prince of Liyang's Northwest! The hand holding the wine cup also commanded a full three hundred thousand border cavalry! This young man, bearing the titles of Prince of Beiliang and Grand Pillar State, was risking his life to fiercely contend with Beiliang's million-strong army and the entire Beiliang Dynasty! To put it mildly, the man who took the heads of Xu Huainan, the Great King of the Northern Court, and Fifth He of Tibing Mountain, the one who killed Wang Xianzhi – hadn't Zhang Xiucheng, a Daoist who masqueraded as a deity, just encountered a true immortal?

Zhang Xiucheng glanced at Qingzhu Niang, who was still in the dark, and cautiously asked in a clear Jizhou accent, "Your High... Young Master Xu, is it alright?"

Xu Fengnian nodded, "It's fine."

Zhang Xiucheng breathed a sigh of relief, sat up straight, and said solemnly, "I dare not speak of official matters first. The chief asked me to do something on his behalf. He will make it up when you meet later."

After saying this, Zhang Xiucheng stood up, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed three times, producing loud thumps.

Xu Fengnian did not stop him.

Zhang Xiucheng, his forehead slightly red, sat back down, quickly composed himself, and continued, "Under Your High..." Zhang Xiucheng couldn't help but curse, then slapped himself hard across the face before saying, "At Young Master Xu's instruction, General Yu led his troops on the way to Jibei, passing near Nanlu Pass. The chief also led three thousand troops overnight to intercept them, and a fierce battle ensued. As expected, Yuan Tingshan, with his dozens of escorts, showed up afterwards and was less wary of the chief. General Yu's northward journey, only we at Nanlu Pass drew our swords. The other dozen or so armies completely cowered. This isn't me bragging, the Beiliang Iron Cavalry truly live up to their reputation as the greatest army in the world! Even with Hezhou separating them, the Jizhou army is still scared to death."

Xu Fengnian chuckled, "If Yang Shenxing, the backbone of Jizhou, were still here, it might not be like this. Perhaps."

Zhang Xiucheng felt parched after speaking only a few sentences. He glanced at the wine cup on the table but didn't dare to pick it up. Xu Fengnian poured him a cup, and only then did he lower his head, bend his waist to take it, turn slightly, and drink it all in one gulp.

Qingzhu Niang was dumbfounded by the sight.

What play was this? General Yu? Beiliang Iron Cavalry? She had heard of Yang Shenxing, that old man who lorded over Jizhou but immediately struggled when he went elsewhere, reportedly suffering a great defeat in a place called Guangling Dao in Liyang, a classic example of not preserving one's integrity in old age. She was relatively more familiar with Yuan Tingshan. There was no avoiding it; this Lord Yuan was known to every man, woman, and child in Jizhou, a legendary figure of mixed reputation. Those who approved of him worshipped him wholeheartedly, praised him endlessly, elevating him to the heavens. Those who disapproved of him gnashed their teeth in hatred, cursing him as a mad dog—and a mad dog that had once been beaten senseless by the Prince of Beiliang, achieving his current status not by fighting on horseback but by riding women.

As Zhang Xiucheng was about to speak, someone gently knocked on the door outside. Zhang Xiucheng abruptly stood up like a startled bird, startling Qingzhu Niang.

Xu Fengnian lowered his hand, signaling Zhang Xiucheng to calm down, and calmly said, "Come in."

After Mi Fengjie entered the room, the old man coldly glanced at Fan Xiaochai with extreme annoyance and disdain, then quietly said, "That fellow named Ruan has come knocking."

Xu Fengnian chuckled, "Should I say this guy is a persistent ghost, or utterly infatuated?"

It turned out that after their four riders entered the Jizhou border, they accidentally encountered a forty-man private cavalry escorting a young master from an aristocratic family. The cavalry's setup was no worse than Jizhou's elite riders. That fellow had barely caught a glimpse of Fan Xiaochai as their horses brushed past, and his soul seemed to follow her horse. Ignoring everything else, he immediately turned his horse and galloped madly, desperately trying to catch up with Xu Fengnian's four riders. It turned out that the young man named Ruan Gang had seen Fan Xiaochai when she was still a girl in Dazhan City and had been stunned by her beauty. After Fan Xiaochai left, this lovesick fellow, using the excuse of traveling for study, almost scoured half of Jizhou. For all these years, he had never married. He now believed that their reunion was fate. Fan Xiaochai initially said she didn't know any Ruan Gang and had never stayed in Dazhan City. Ruan Gang's gaze towards Xu Fengnian at that moment was one of deep resentment, mistakenly believing that Miss Fan had married and become someone else's beautiful wife. Interestingly, Ruan Gang showed no intention of abusing his power from beginning to end. He only pleaded with "Xu Qi" to be a gentleman and help them reconcile, to let him and Miss Fan mend their broken relationship. In the end, this legitimate son of a Jizhou deputy general even dismounted and knelt on the post road, his face covered in tears. Fortunately, he couldn't see Fan Xiaochai's ferocious expression on horseback at the time; the Fushui Bureau's third-ranked Grand Eunuch truly harbored thoughts of dismembering him.

Fan Xiaochai looked at Xu Fengnian and said expressionlessly, "I'll find an opportunity to kill him. Don't worry, it'll be done without anyone knowing."

Xu Fengnian shook his head and chuckled, "For you women to have a man who cares about you this much, even if you don't end up together, you shouldn't hurt him too much. After all, good men like him are truly rare in this world."

Fan Xiaochai still kept a straight face and asked, "Or I could bring him into the Fushui Bureau's 'side branch'? He is, after all, the most favored son of a Jizhou deputy general; he could be useful."

Xu Fengnian retorted, "You don't like him, and besides, you're already one of the top ten figures in the Fushui Bureau. What do you care about a small merit like this?"

Xu Fengnian smiled, then shook his head, saying, "If Fushui Bureau women do such things where I can't see, I won't interfere. But you're standing right in front of me. Forget it."

Fan Xiaochai simply said, "Oh," and offered no further comment.

Xu Fengnian said to Mi Fengjie, "Just casually inform Ruan Gang that I will visit his home tomorrow. Tell him to prepare good wine and dishes. Let him keep waiting. Having a thought to cling to, even for a lifetime, is probably better than a heart filled with ashes."

No one in the room responded. Zhang Xiucheng dared not, Mi Fengjie was indifferent, and Fan Xiaochai had begun to rest with her eyes closed. Only Qingzhu Niang gently said, "That's how it is."

Xu Fengnian inexplicably thought of Shuxiu, another retainer of the princely estate and a chess piece for Beiliang, who wore that lifelike mask.

His intuition told Xu Fengnian that this particular chess piece had not only taken root beside the prince in Xiangfan City, Qingzhou, but had also changed its colors.

His teacher, Li Yishan, had always considered Go a minor art, primarily because he believed Go was divided into black and white, and always would be. But human hearts were most prone to change; how could they be categorized by mere black and white?

Even thousands of li away from Beiliang, and even though the Beiliang Iron Cavalry were currently preoccupied, the Fushui Bureau could still, at some cost, make Shuxiu, who operated in the shadows of Qingzhou, die suddenly overnight. But there was no meaning in doing so.

Instead, the owner of the other lifelike mask, the hidden chess piece who went to Beiliang, was finally thriving.

As for Chen Shaobao, Chen Wang, who held the high position of Left Sanqi Changshi in the Secretariat Bureau of Taian City, and Sun Yin, the close friend of Wang Luting, the director of Jinhu Weaving in Lingzhou.

Xu Fengnian didn't particularly view them as chess pieces obligated to obey Beiliang; he preferred to let nature take its course.

Xu Fengnian was more anticipating Cao Wei. Under the "cover" of Yu Luandao's nearly ten thousand Youzhou cavalry, Cao Wei's even more elite cavalry might truly become a decisive, surprise force. Of course, the prerequisite was that Beiliang's three lines of defense could grit their teeth and withstand the southern invasion of Beiliang's iron cavalry.

Xu Fengnian stood up with his wine cup and walked to the window, watching the bustling street with its endless flow of people, and took a sip of Huadiao wine.

You, the Grand Councilor of Peace, in the Beiliang imperial palace, pieced together a picturesque and magnificent landscape of two dynasties from a hundred large pieces of satin, to buy peace for that old woman with black and white.

A skillful feat, worthy of commendation.

However, this "commendation" comes from my three hundred thousand Beiliang iron cavalry. It remains to be seen if you, Beiliang, can stomach it. Be careful, lest it burn a hole through your guts.