Qiu Deyao departed under the cover of night, his immense grievances stifled and left unspoken. Xin Yi stood with the other three before the tents, watching the men and horses of Shangjin vanish into the distance. As the night thickened, he turned his gaze toward Wu Yu.
"From what Lord Qiu implied just now, is Brother Wu still doing business with Xu Hang?"
Wu Yu stood with his hands behind his back, treading upon the short grass beneath his feet. He merely smiled. "Just putting food on the table."
Last autumn, floods had swept through the granaries of Jiangtang. The Prince of Tang had purchased three shiploads of grain from Xu Hang, an act that caused an uproar in the capital during the New Year celebrations and led to the death of Prince Qin. Now that this grain trail had been traced back to its source in Xiajin, Xin Yi understood the situation perfectly.
He offered a small smile in return. "A good venture."
The matter was moved past with a tacit understanding.
Inside the tent, Jibai Yue asked, "Will the Young Heir return to Lijin with me?" Although the Yan Prince’s Manor was uninhabited, it remained the seat of their power. It was the most appropriate place for Xin Yi to stay upon his return to Beiyang.
However, Xin Yi shook his head. "At dawn tomorrow, Uncle Meng and I will head for the border." He paused before continuing, "To see my eldest and third brothers." When he left Beiyang, Xin Jing and Xin Li had only just been buried, and he had already been taken to the Prince of Ping’s manor. Four years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet he had not been able to visit them even once.
Jibai Yue nodded, then added, "But you returned under the pretext of resolving disputes. If you go to the border so abruptly, how will we account for it to the capital?"
"With the instability in Shangjin and Xiajin, the border is naturally the most critical area," Xin Yi said with a smile. "General, rest assured. Someone in the capital will provide the answer."
Jibai Yue recalled Bai Jiu’s narrow, lingering eyes and fell silent, questioning no further.
Early the next morning, Xin Yi and Meng Chen set out for the border. Jibai Yue struck camp to return to Lijin, while Wu Yu had to return to Xiajin to resume his watch. They rode without pause for three days before reaching the place in Beiyang closest to Dayuan—a town called Rouhui. Originally, it had been nothing more than a relay station, but the late Prince of Yan had invested heavily to build it into a major frontier stronghold. The rows of heavy crossbows lining the battlements alone represented a staggering fortune.
Both Xin Jing and Xin Li were buried here.
At the city gates, Xin Yi reined in his horse. They had kept a low profile throughout the journey, arriving travel-worn and appearing no different from ordinary passersby. However, Meng Chen had been stationed here for several years, and as they reached the walls, an old friend emerged from the gate.
The burly man was a full head taller than Meng Chen. In terms of sheer physique, even the Lion King Arslang would have been overshadowed. This was the man known as the "Tiger of Rouhui," Xu Hu.
"Brother Meng!" Xu Hu laughed heartily beneath the walls, his stride as powerful as a gale. He walked over quickly, grinning. "Which mountain nook have you been idling in? It’s been too long, brother!"
Meng Chen had already dismounted. The two men embraced fiercely, thumping each other's shoulders. When they pulled back to look at one another, both broke into loud laughter. Meng Chen said, "I figured you’d get word, but I didn't expect you to be this fast!"
"Of course! With a messenger hawk from Deputy General Jibai, how could I be slow?" Xu Hu was built like a bear. As he stood by the horses, Meng Chen’s steed actually shivered. He gave a soft click of his tongue, his eyes first landing on the other horse—a crimson stallion that remained perfectly still—before shifting to Xin Yi. "The Young Heir?"
Xin Yi smiled.
Xu Hu took a few steps forward. This massive man’s eyes actually reddened in an instant. He asked hoarsely, "Is it truly the Young Heir?" He looked Xin Yi up and down, then rubbed his own face vigorously. "It really is the Young Heir!"
Meng Chen took the reins of the horses. "Of course it is. Don't just stand there gaping; let’s talk inside."
Xu Hu hurriedly agreed, and the three of them entered the city. Even after they were indoors, Xu Hu’s excitement did not fade. Once the door was shut, he was the first to drop to his knees at Xin Yi’s feet. Seeing Xin Yi move to decline the gesture, he immediately said, "The Young Heir must accept this kowtow!" He wiped his eyes. "Before the Eldest Young Master departed, he strictly charged me to keep the Young Heir in Beiyang at all costs. But I failed him, allowing the Young Heir to fall into the hands of those murderous curs! If not for the command of the Rouhui Army given by the Young Master still resting on my shoulders, I would not have hesitated to die for such a great sin!"
Xin Yi’s step back faltered. "It was not the General’s fault."
Xu Hu struck the ground, his voice full of resentment. "The Young Heir does not know. When the Princess Consort passed away in the capital, the Eldest Young Master was determined to bring her back. But the war was critical then, and all the brothers were consumed by the battlefield. Only I remained stationed at Rouhui; I should have had the best chance to go and bring the Princess Consort home. Who knew that old dog Qiu Deyao would get there first, only to lose his courage before the gates of the capital! Leaving the Princess Consort in that sunless place is another of my great crimes!"
If the first matter had some connection to him, the second was entirely the fault of Qiu Deyao. This was Xin Yi’s only lingering grievance against the old guard of Beiyang—that the party sent to retrieve the Yan Princess Consort’s ashes had reached the capital but turned back out of fear of political fallout. To this day, her ashes remained in the capital.
Xin Yi’s lips pressed into a thin line. "General, please rise." He continued, "You have guarded Rouhui without a moment’s negligence, steadfastly following my eldest brother’s military orders. This is loyalty to the country. As for the rest, the page has been turned. You need not blame yourself."
Xu Hu said, "This is the Young Heir’s magnanimity. I... I—" This mighty, heroic man suddenly let out a sob and began wiping away tears, unable to stop.
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from outside, accompanied by the crisp jingle of bells. A woman’s sharp voice rang out, "Hu-zi! Why are you crying again? A grown man with no shame! Shut your trap!"
Xu Hu wiped his tears and said to Xin Yi with a sob, "Young... Heir... Grandpa, this is my wife."
Before "Young Heir Grandpa" could speak, the woman kicked the door open with a bang, intending to scold Xu Hu. To her surprise, she saw her "Tiger" kneeling beside a pale, delicate youth, sobbing so hard he could barely catch his breath. The curses at the tip of her tongue rolled back down. The beautiful woman, still clutching her skirt, froze as her bells jingled. "What are you doing?" she asked blankly.
Xu Hu whimpered like a child seeing his mother, "Wife!"
Xu Qingniang awkwardly lowered the skirt she had hiked up to her calves. Her face flushed, and seeing Xin Yi looking over, she blurted out, "This lad is quite handsome..."
Meng Chen gave a low cough.
Xu Hu was a giant of a man, but he had married a sharp-tongued, pretty wife. During his years in Rouhui, he relied entirely on her to manage their affairs, and she kept him thoroughly under her thumb. Speaking of Xu Qingniang, she was a legendary woman in the town of Rouhui. Originally named Qingniang, she was a daughter of the Jiangtang water country. She had lost her father young and followed her grandfather, a traveling physician, all the way to Beiyang. Within a few years, her skill at pulse-reading and medicine was so great that the old man retired. When the grandfather and granddaughter first arrived in Rouhui, the Beiyang and Shanyin armies were stationed there together in a tense standoff. A plague broke out, and she, a young girl, had waded into the camps, cursing a crowd of grown men into following her orders to save lives.
Xu Hu had been one of those men. He had fallen for her at first sight, pestering her relentlessly and refusing to leave despite a hundred scoldings until they finally wed. It was said that when Xin Zhenxiao attempted to leave with Xin Li’s remains, it was Qingniang who stood at the city gate and cursed the Prince of Ping for two full hours. She cursed him until he was paralyzed, standing stiffly and gloomily at the gate for two hours until Xu Hu returned with his troops. It was through this that Xin Li’s body was kept here.
Once she realized who Xin Yi was, Xu Qingniang showed no fear. She spoke without restraint and was very cheerful. Because she was quick-witted and eloquent, Xin Yi felt no sense of distance from her.
By then it was dusk. This courtyard belonged to Xu Hu, and it already had a place for Meng Chen to stay. Xu Qingniang had long since prepared a room for Xin Yi. That evening, they all shared dinner in the hall, and afterward, they bathed and retired early.
Despite the exhaustion of the journey, Xin Yi found he could not sleep. He turned over, clutching the jade pendant against his chest. As soon as he closed his eyes, the faces of his brothers appeared, followed by the image of Bai Jiu. It was a chaotic, crowded jumble. He kept his eyes shut for over half an hour before finally drifting off.
The next day, before dawn, Xu Hu and Meng Chen were already waiting for him. Xin Yi changed into clean, plain-colored clothes and stepped out. The three did not ride; they walked out of the city and followed the undulating hills to a high slope.
From a distance, one could see a pavilion on the slope, with a monument of merit standing beneath it. A few steps behind it was the place where Xin Jing and Xin Li slept their eternal sleep.
Xin Yi brushed away every speck of dust from his clothes before entering the pavilion. He first stopped before the monument, seeing the name "Xin" engraved at the very top, followed by a dense list of heroes' names. But these heroes had all turned to ash; even if their names remained on the stone, they were lost to the earth.
Xin Yi looked through them one by one. Meng Chen said from the side, "These are the Beiyang soldiers up until the Battle of Wanze. We feared the wind, sand, and loneliness of Rouhui would erase the souls of these heroes, so we simply erected tablets for everyone here." He reached out to stroke the stone. "Brothers are one family; it’s livelier when we’re together."
The three of them offered a toast of wine together before Xin Yi moved toward the back.
Offerings were laid before both graves, showing that people often came to clean and remember them. The headstones were wiped clean, and the ink in the inscriptions was bright. Yet, such cleanliness and brightness in this place could not help but make a kinsman’s heart ache.
Meng Chen and Xu Hu both withdrew from the pavilion. Xin Yi sat cross-legged between the headstones of his two brothers.
He reached out to touch the stone of his third brother, Xin Li; he did not dare do the same to his eldest brother, Xin Jing. As he touched it, he thought about what he should say, but the years of pain and longing had been compressed into a thin line through suppression. He did not dare touch it lightly, nor did he dare let it loose. Even here, before his brothers, he wanted to maintain the composed appearance of a man.
The wind stirred his hair, like his eldest brother’s broad hand. His third brother had always been a fiery rascal and would never have offered such a gentle touch. Only his eldest brother, though often silent and stern, always possessed a quiet tenderness for his younger siblings.
Xin Yi lowered his head, feeling a wave of sorrow.
"Second Brother isn't here," he began slowly after a long silence, as if chatting about family matters. "Eldest Brother, don't let that scoundrel Third Brother fool you. He once traded me some worthless crickets from the yard for my real gold and silver, calling it a 'favor between businessmen.' What kind of business is that? He was always playing tricks. Little Li, who cleaned the outer courtyard, hid a few jars of wine under the stairs; Third Brother not only swapped them for plain water but even wrote a poem mocking him. He promised to give me a sip, but then said I was too young and drank it all himself."
He continued, "Father doesn't lead troops anymore. Eldest Brother, keep an eye on him and tell him to spend more time with Mother. When Mother passed, he was so pathetic; the great Prince of Yan cried like a helpless child. But he wasn't at home; separated by thousands of miles, he cried with a broken heart as if he’d forgotten he still had sons, wanting only to follow her. But in the end, he remembered he was a Prince and forced himself to stay on the battlefield."
Xin Yi paused, trying to smile, but the expression he pulled was more painful than weeping. He said, "You’re all reunited down there, watching me all alone. I suppose since I was pampered like a lucky mascot back then, I have to pay back that debt of kindness now."
"Third Brother, I saw Sister Yan in the capital. Though I call her sister, it’s more appropriate to call her sister-in-law." He touched the corner of his mouth and gave a bitter smile. "This is just great. You were the one supposed to carry on the family line, and now it’s fallen to me, but I can't do it either. Look at me—I’ve become a 'cut sleeve' quite thoroughly. How am I supposed to father a child to continue our lineage? Besides, privately, I don't want to continue it."
"Starting from Father, the five of us were meant to shoulder our lives to guard Beiyang. Now only I am left. Carrying this burden for one lifetime is enough. Every generation has its own talents; why must we take everything upon ourselves? The Yan Prince lineage has fulfilled the word 'loyalty' for two generations. I don't want another generation to be crushed under this weight, unable to move or act."
"If Father heard this, he’d surely hit me."
"Eldest Brother." Xin Yi leaned gently against Xin Jing’s headstone. "I want to go home, yet I’m afraid of entering the house and finding no one there. If it’s just me, how can it be called a home? When you see Second Brother, just say thank you to him for me."
Thank him for leaving behind a thread of good karma that had become his protection.
"Even though I’m a cut sleeve, I don't have the guts to say so to Father’s face. I only just stopped pretending to be a mute; I don't want to become a cripple next."
"I don't know how much longer I can stay in Beiyang." Xin Yi sighed. "The thought of the title 'Prince of Yan' falling on me makes me fear that when I go down there, Father will chase me around to beat me. I was never cut out for this, yet fate played its tricks and made me take this title. Fortunately, there is someone willing to teach and guide me. I’ve stumbled along, but I’ve finally made it this far."
"I’ll go see Second Brother again when I return." Xin Yi straightened his back. "If there’s anything you’re too embarrassed to say to Second Brother in front of Father, just tell me. I’ll say it for you."
As he finished, the wind swirled suddenly, as if patting him for his nonsense.
Xin Yi showed a hint of a youth’s bashfulness and said softly.
"I know."
***
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