Chapter 878

When Gao Jiong's pigeon landed in the pigeon coop in the backyard of the Xia Prefecture Governor's Office, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Hongye untied the copper tube from the pigeon's leg, used a fire starter to inspect the sealed wax under the corridor, and turned to walk quickly toward the main hall.

Chen Yan stood in front of the sand table that occupied half the wall of the main hall, holding a wooden horse-shaped chess piece in his hand; the piece spun twice between his fingers but did not fall.

Hongye handed over the copper tube.

"Pillar of State, a pigeon letter from Chief Clerk Gao."

Chen Yan took the copper tube, unscrewed the lid, and pulled out the cowhide piece rolled into a thin tube inside.

He spread the cowhide on the wooden frame at the edge of the sand table, his gaze resting on the two lines of cipher for three breaths, his fingers restoring it word by word along the substitution table of the cipher codebook.

Two thousand horses acquired, Qifu tamed, trade route can be relayed, please let the Pillar of State decide the ownership of the stallions.

Chen Yan folded the cowhide and handed it to Hongye.

"Burn it."

Hongye took it without asking further, turned to the copper basin at the corner of the corridor, and with a flick of the fire starter, the cowhide curled up in the basin and burned into a small ball of black ash.

Chen Yan placed the horse-shaped chess piece in his hand onto the sand table at the location marked Xia Prefecture, then pinched six identical horse-shaped pieces from the chess box, lining them up one by one beside Xia Prefecture.

Zhang Wenqian's footsteps came from the courtyard entrance, his boot soles dragging twice on the stone slabs; when he entered the hall, he was holding a bowl of steaming millet porridge, which he placed on a low stool by the threshold before walking to the front of the sand table.

"Pillar of State, three more groups of grassland herdsmen entered the trade fair yesterday; the total number of horses exceeded sixty, and there were over forty cattle."

Chen Yan placed the last piece and flicked its head with his finger.

"Sit down and speak."

Zhang Wenqian brought over a bench and sat down at the side of the sand table.

"On Gao Jiong's side, the two thousand warhorses have already been handed over."

Chen Yan's finger traced from Xia Prefecture on the sand table to a canyon location marked with a red dot in the northwest.

"I ordered him to bring the horses via the secret path, not the main road; enter Xia Prefecture territory from the abandoned salt road on the south slope of Heifeng Valley. Arrange for people to go and meet them."

Zhang Wenqian's eyes swept across the sand table.

"Pillar of State, if two thousand warhorses take the salt road, the path is narrow and steep; at most three hundred can pass in a day, and it will take at least six or seven days to deliver them all to the Xia Prefecture horse farm."

Chen Yan took another flag-shaped chess piece from the box and inserted it at the location of Heifeng Valley.

"They aren't entering Xia Prefecture City."

Zhang Wenqian shifted his weight on the bench.

"Not entering the city?"

Chen Yan's finger traced a line south from Heifeng Valley on the sand table; the end of the line was a long, narrow valley surrounded by mountains.

"I had Gu Yuci build a secret arena in the South Valley last year, you know that."

Zhang Wenqian nodded.

"I know, but this subordinate always thought that place was for storing military grain."

Chen Yan picked up the bowl of millet porridge from the low stool and took a sip; the porridge was no longer hot, just warm. He gulped down half the bowl and put it back.

"Storing military grain is the surface; underneath, twelve rows of horse stable pits were dug, capable of holding two thousand five hundred horses. The water troughs and fodder granaries were all prepared last autumn."

Zhang Wenqian slapped his palm on his knee.

"The Pillar of State intends to hide these two thousand warhorses in the South Valley to secretly train cavalry."

Chen Yan did not respond to this; he walked to the other side of the sand table and pointed at three locations in sequence.

"The Xia Prefecture Left Martial Guard originally had one thousand two hundred cavalry, plus the four hundred horses collected from the previous trade fair. Now that these two thousand have arrived, the foundation of the cavalry in my hands can be expanded to three thousand six hundred."

His finger paused on the sand table for a beat.

"Three thousand six hundred elite cavalry—placed in the entire Northwest of Great Zhou, that's enough to rank third."

Zhang Wenqian calculated in his mouth.

"Pillar of State, the horses are here, but where do the riders come from? Two thousand new horses need two thousand soldiers who can ride; among the existing infantry of the Left Martial Guard, those who can ride and fight would barely scrape together seven or eight hundred."

Chen Yan flipped out an already opened letter from the secret compartment under the chess box and threw it in front of Zhang Wenqian.

"Take a look."

Zhang Wenqian unfolded the letter; it was in Gu Yuci's handwriting.

"Han Zhu, a cavalry commandant of the old Jingzhou troops, followed the army into Xia Prefecture last autumn and currently leads six hundred cavalrymen relocated from Jingzhou, three hundred of whom have over three years of cavalry combat experience. Additionally, there are four hundred elite herdsman youths selected from the surrendered Jingzhou camp, all descendants of Rouran border people, skilled in riding since childhood, currently receiving training in the South Valley secret arena."

Zhang Wenqian put down the letter.

"Six hundred plus four hundred, one thousand ready-made riders."

Chen Yan picked up the porridge bowl, finished the remaining porridge, and tapped the bottom of the bowl upside down.

"Added to the one thousand two hundred original Left Martial Guard and the four hundred from the trade fair, the total number of cavalry in my hands is three thousand; the remaining six hundred horses will be used for replacement and reserves."

Zhang Wenqian stood up, walked to the sand table, and drew a circle at the location of the South Valley.

"Three thousand elite cavalry hidden in the South Valley, invisible to anyone outside; when to bring them out is just a matter of the Pillar of State's word."

Chen Yan placed the empty bowl on the low stool and clapped his hands.

"Today, dispatch two hundred piculs of millet and five hundred loads of dry grass fodder into the South Valley. Once the horses arrive, they go directly into the arena; they are not allowed to stay outside for more than half an hour."

Zhang Wenqian acknowledged.

Chen Yan shifted his gaze back to the location marked as the Qifu Tribe's new pasture on the sand table.

"Gao Jiong's letter says Qifugu tried to sit on the ground and raise the price, demanding one thousand horizontal sabers."

Zhang Wenqian's mouth twisted to the side.

"Was he pressed back by Chief Clerk Gao?"

Chen Yan tapped his finger twice on the Qifu Tribe's location.

"Pressed back, but this is a bad signal."

Zhang Wenqian sat down on the bench, hands resting on his knees.

"The Pillar of State means that Qifugu is starting to inflate."

Chen Yan pinched a black circular chess piece from the box and placed it beside the Qifu Tribe.

"After taking down the Helan Clan, he suddenly gained ten thousand cattle, thirty thousand sheep, and six thousand horses. He was a poor chief for twenty years; suddenly becoming wealthy, the string in his brain can no longer hold."

He flicked the black piece between his fingers.

"For this kind of person, the greater the sweetness given to him, the faster his appetite grows. The day his appetite grows to the point where I can no longer contain it, he will think about biting back."

Zhang Wenqian crossed his fingers on his knees.

"How does the Pillar of State intend to deal with it?"

Chen Yan walked behind the desk in the main hall and pulled an iron pen and a piece of cowhide from the secret drawer at the corner of the desk.

"No rush to deal with it. Let him inflate; the faster he inflates, the greater the friction between him and the surrounding tribes. The greater the friction, the more he cannot leave my grain and sabers."

He dipped the pen in ink and wrote a few lines on the cowhide.

"I am replying to Gao Jiong, telling him to do three things next."

Zhang Wenqian leaned over to look.

Chen Yan's pen moved rapidly across the cowhide.

"First, continue to supply grain to Qifugu, but gradually downgrade the quality of each batch—from fine millet to coarse millet mixed with husk grain. Keep the quantity the same but change the quality, making him accustomed to Great Zhou's supply but never full."

Zhang Wenqian's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Boiling the frog in warm water."

Chen Yan ignored him, the pen tip continuing to move.

"Second, report the matter of the fourteen stallions. The stallions cannot be left with Qifugu; if he uses the stallions to breed with the local mare herds, in two or three years he will be able to breed warhorses himself, and at that point, the reliance on Great Zhou will be broken. The stallions must be recovered."

Zhang Wenqian nodded.

"How to recover them?"

Chen Yan put down the pen and wrote the third point on the last line of the cowhide.

"Third, release news in the Qifu Tribe's territory that one of the new policies of the Great Zhou trade fair allows grassland tribes to exchange top-tier stallions for Great Zhou's blacksmithing services—one stallion can be exchanged for fifty newly forged curved sabers and twenty sets of iron armor plates."

Zhang Wenqian slapped his knee.

"The Pillar of State is making Qifugu send the stallions over himself."

Chen Yan let the cowhide dry for two breaths, and once the ink was dry, rolled it into a thin tube and stuffed it into the copper tube.

"It doesn't matter if he's reluctant to send them; I'm giving him three paths to choose from."

He screwed on the lid of the copper tube and stamped the secret seal on the wax.

"First path: Hand over the stallions in exchange for Great Zhou's weapon blacksmithing—he gets the benefit, I get the stallions, everyone is happy."

"Second path: If he keeps the stallions and doesn't hand them over, then I will have the Mingjing Si leak the news that the Qifu Tribe is using horizontal sabers from the Great Zhou Weaponry Bureau to the Rouran Royal Court."

Zhang Wenqian leaned his back against the chair.

"And the third path?"

Chen Yan handed the copper tube to Hongye, who was waiting at the door.

"The fastest pigeon, fly to Gao Jiong."

Hongye took it and turned to leave.

Chen Yan returned to sit behind the desk, tapped three times on the table, his voice lowered to a range only Zhang Wenqian could hear clearly.

"The third path doesn't need to be told to him."

His gaze fell on the black chess piece of the Qifu Tribe on the sand table.

"The third path is reserved for myself."

Zhang Wenqian did not pursue the question.

Chen Yan stood up, walked to the sand table, and pushed the triangular chess piece marked as the trade fair forward by half an inch.

"Keep a close eye on the numbers at the trade fair; summarize the number of horses and cattle entering the market every day and report it to me every five days."

Zhang Wenqian stood up from the bench.

"Pillar of State, this subordinate has one more thing to report."

Chen Yan looked at him.

"Early this morning, the checkpoint east of the trade fair intercepted a person."

Chen Yan's hand hovered over the sand table.

"What kind of person?"

Zhang Wenqian pulled a scrap of cloth from his bosom.

"Wearing herdsman's clothes, but hiding a gilded dagger at his waist; the pattern on the hilt is the standard issue only possessed by the personal guards of the Rouran Royal Court. He had a hollow copper tooth in his mouth, wrapped in a strip of silk paper."

Chen Yan took the cloth scrap, looked at it, and returned it to him.

"What was written on the paper strip?"

Zhang Wenqian's voice lowered by half.

"Rouran script; translated, it's roughly four characters."

He looked up at Chen Yan.

"Investigate the trade fair."

Chen Yan pulled his hand back from the sand table and tucked it into his sleeve.

The wind outside the hall poured in through the door crack, blowing over a few loose papers beside a paperweight on the desk.

Chen Yan walked to the door and poked his head out to look at the old locust tree in the courtyard, which had already lost its branches.

"Where is the person locked up?"

Zhang Wenqian followed to the door.

"In the cellar of the trade fair checkpoint; I didn't let him have contact with anyone."

Chen Yan pulled his hand out from his sleeve and tapped the door frame.

"Send him to the secret room of the Mingjing Si Xia Prefecture station tonight; I will interrogate him personally."

He turned around and walked back to the front of the sand table.

"Zhang Wenqian."

"This subordinate is here."

Chen Yan pinched another small red flag chess piece from the box and inserted it in the direction of the Rouran Royal Court on the sand table.

"Yun Geti's tentacles have reached over."

Zhang Wenqian looked at the small red flag.

Chen Yan flicked the flagpole with his finger, and the piece wobbled twice on the sand table.

"It's good that they reached over."

His voice faded to a level the wind in the courtyard couldn't carry away.

"What I've been waiting for is for him to reach out."

A burst of rapid hoofbeats came from outside the hall; it was a messenger from the South Valley direction.

Hongye walked quickly from the corridor, holding an unopened urgent letter sealed with wax.

"Pillar of State, an urgent report from Commander Gu in the South Valley."

Chen Yan broke the wax, unfolded the letter, and looked at it, his voice rising by half.

"The first batch of six hundred horses has already entered the valley."

He folded the letter and tucked it into his lapel.

The sound of hoofbeats outside the hall had not yet dissipated when another burst of hoofbeats sounded from the streets to the east, more urgent and dense than the previous one.

Hongye tilted her head to listen for a breath and rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Not a messenger, it's a cavalry troop."

Hongye's hand slid from the hilt to the middle of the scabbard, her body turning half a step to block in front of the corridor pillar.

Zhang Wenqian walked to the door and poked his head out, his expression changing.

"Pillar of State, it's people from the trade fair checkpoint; four or five riders ran over, and the one leading is the squad leader of the personal guards Commander Gu left at the checkpoint."

Chen Yan walked to the door and stood on the threshold.

"Four or five riders? Did something happen on Commander Gu's side?"

Zhang Wenqian shook his head.

"Commander Gu's urgent report just arrived; if something happened in the South Valley, they wouldn't have sent a second batch of people in such a short time."

Those few horses reined in on the street outside the courtyard wall; the squad leader flipped off his horse, his armor stained with the white ash of the alkaline land, and when he ran into the courtyard gate, his boots slipped on the stone slabs.

"Pillar of State!"

Chen Yan did not move, standing on the threshold looking at him.

"Catch your breath before you speak."

The squad leader leaned on his knees and took two breaths; when he looked up, his face was covered in red marks scraped by the wind and sand.

"Pillar of State, a large troop has entered from the north of the trade fair!"

Chen Yan's gaze shifted from the squad leader's face to the layer of alkaline ash on his armor.

"How large a troop?"

"Over a hundred people, not herdsmen; they are the remnants of the Helan Clan."

The squad leader's voice still carried an urgency he couldn't suppress.

"The one leading claims to be the young master of the Helan Clan, Helan Du; he's covered in blood, they ran two horses to death, and as soon as he reached the checkpoint gate, he collapsed off his horse!"

The wind in the courtyard scraped across the bare branches of the old locust tree, emitting a dry, sobbing sound.

Chen Yan's fingers rested on the door frame, not speaking immediately.

Zhang Wenqian moved half a step from behind him, his voice lowered to a volume only the two of them could hear.

"This subordinate reported the matter of the Rouran Royal Court cutting thirty percent of the Helan Clan's pastures last month."

Chen Yan nodded.

"You reported it."

"But Helan Du bringing remnants and running south, not going to the Royal Court to plead guilty, but instead rushing to Xia Prefecture..."

Zhang Wenqian did not finish his sentence.

Chen Yan turned around to look at him.

"You think it's suspicious?"

Zhang Wenqian did not avoid his gaze.

"Pillar of State, first intercepting a spy from the Rouran Royal Court, and then the young master of the Helan Clan rushing to the trade fair gate with over a hundred people—putting these two things together, this subordinate cannot help but think more."

Chen Yan pulled his hand back from the door frame and rubbed the edge of his sleeve.

"You suspect Helan Du was sent by Yun Geti."

"This subordinate dares not assert, but the timing is too coincidental."

Chen Yan did not respond to his words, turning to look at the squad leader.

"Have you seen the wounds on Helan Du's body?"

The squad leader was stunned for a moment.

"This subordinate took a look; there are two knife wounds on his back, and he was hit by an arrow in his left arm, with half the arrow shaft broken and still stuck in the flesh, and blood has soaked through half his clothes."

"What is the standard of the arrow?"

The squad leader recalled for a breath.

"Black-feathered short shaft, iron-boned three-edged head."

Chen Yan's gaze fell on Zhang Wenqian's face.

Zhang Wenqian's mouth twitched.

"The standard arrow of the Rouran Royal Court personal guards."

Chen Yan nodded, walked back to the front of the sand table, and his gaze rested on the location of the Helan Clan for two breaths.

"Zhang Wenqian, if Helan Du were acting, he wouldn't use the arrows of the Rouran personal guards on himself."

Zhang Wenqian followed and stood beside the desk.

"The Pillar of State means Helan Du really escaped?"

"Arrow wounds can be faked, knife cuts can be made, but an arrow shaft broken and stuck in the flesh—that cannot be faked."

Chen Yan pinched a white chess piece from the box and spun it twice in his palm.

"Running two horses to death and rushing to the trade fair with over a hundred people—this commotion cannot be hidden from the eyes and ears of the Rouran Royal Court; if Helan Du were Yun Geti's man, he wouldn't dare to make such a scene."

Zhang Wenqian thought for a moment.

"Then why didn't he go to the Royal Court?"

"To plead guilty to the Royal Court?"

Chen Yan placed the white chess piece beside the original location of the Helan Clan on the sand table.

"He is the young master of the Helan Clan, not the clan leader; he couldn't make the decision about the pastures being cut last month—the one who could make the decision was his father, Helan Shi."

Zhang Wenqian's brow furrowed.

"The Pillar of State is saying something happened inside the Helan Clan?"

Chen Yan did not answer him directly, turning to look at the squad leader.

"Did Helan Du say anything after arriving at the checkpoint?"

The squad leader recalled for a breath.

"He said one sentence, this subordinate remembers it clearly."

"What words?"

"He said, 'Requesting to see the Great Zhou Xia Prefecture Guardian, there is an urgent matter to present in person; one day later and the Helan Clan will be gone.'"

The hall was silent for a breath.

Zhang Wenqian looked at Chen Yan's profile.

"Helan Du is here to seek reinforcements."

Chen Yan tapped his finger twice on the frame of the sand table.

"Not seeking reinforcements."

He pushed the white chess piece half an inch toward the Xia Prefecture direction.

"He is here to surrender."

A flash of something indescribable passed across Zhang Wenqian's face.

"Although the Helan Clan had its pastures cut, it still has a foundation of three thousand tents; the young master directly running to the Great Zhou side with remnants, did he not think about going back?"

"It's precisely because he can't go back."

Chen Yan's voice sank by half.

"Think again: Helan Shi is the clan leader, Helan Du is the young master; the young master running south for his life with over a hundred remnants, with the arrows of the Rouran personal guards stuck in him—what does this explain?"

Zhang Wenqian's breathing paused for a beat.

"Helan Shi turned to Yun Geti, and Helan Du refused to surrender and was chased out by his father's people."

Chen Yan did not say he was right, nor did he say he was wrong.

He stepped back from the sand table, his gaze sweeping over the small red flag just inserted in the direction of the Rouran Royal Court.

"Hongye."

Hongye, who was in the corridor, walked to the door.

"Arrange two things."

Chen Yan held up one finger.

"First, have the checkpoint handle Helan Du's wounds first; the person cannot die, if he dies, this trip was for nothing."

He held up a second finger.

"Second, I want to see two people tonight: one is the Rouran spy in the cellar, and the other is Helan Du. Stagger the times; interrogate the spy first, then see Helan Du, with an hour in between."

Hongye nodded and turned to go out.

Zhang Wenqian stood beside the desk for a breath, his voice lowered.

"Pillar of State, if Helan Du is really here to surrender, whether to accept this person is a major matter."

"I know it's a major matter."

Chen Yan walked back behind the desk and sat down, tapping his fingers silently on the table.

"Accepting him is equivalent to sticking a thorn in the ribs of the Rouran Royal Court; Yun Geti will not sit idly by."

"Then what is the Pillar of State's intention?"

Chen Yan's gaze fell on the urgent report from the South Valley still tucked in his lapel, his voice lowered to a range only Zhang Wenqian could hear clearly.

"Helan Du didn't go to the Royal Court."

His fingers lifted from the table and landed on the edge of the Mingjing Si iron plaque in his sleeve.

"He came to Xia Prefecture."

Zhang Wenqian looked at him.

Chen Yan's gaze passed through the hall door and landed on the old locust tree in the courtyard that had lost its branches.

"Since he's here, don't let him leave."