Chapter 27: Holy Maiden, You Wouldn't Want Others to Know About Your Affairs, Would You?

"Holy Maiden, what instructions do you have for me today that you've summoned me here?"

After freeloading for several days in a row at the Dugu tribe, Li Shuang and Du Gu Ru met again.

Only this time, inside the tent, a warm, fragrant breeze drifted.

Unlike last time when she wore shaman's robes, today's young girl had changed into an exquisite set of Han clothing.

A pale purple-piped pleated long skirt, painted with auspicious ruyi mountain-and-bird patterns, a short jacket wrapped around her waist, making her figure look even more slender. A green sash tied artfully, cloud pendants inlaid with gold, layer upon layer, every movement displaying elegance and grace.

"I wouldn't dare accept the word 'instructions.' It is only thanks to the Commander's kind words before Liang Jungong that we were able to take shelter here. Today I've specially prepared wine, to thank the Commander!"

Wine had long been set out in the tent. Du Gu Ru swept her wide sleeve lightly and made an inviting gesture.

"Then it would be rude to refuse!"

Beside Li Shuang sat a bronze crane incense burner, at this moment sending up curling wisps of fragrant smoke.

"This incense smells quite nice!"

"The northern frontier has many insects and rodents. The incense we keep on hand to repel them is naturally crude and shabby — I'm afraid it's given the Commander a laugh."

Du Gu Ru had become the Great Shaman from a young age, and in the ways of dealing with people, she had her own well-honed set of methods.

A lone man and a lone woman sharing one room, yet Du Gu Ru kept control of the rhythm the entire time — neither letting things between them grow overly ambiguous, nor letting the atmosphere cool down.

After three rounds of wine, Li Shuang gradually began to look dazed and sluggish in his expression.

Seeing this, Du Gu Ru gave a faint smile, walked forward, and gave him a light push.

"Commander?"

Seeing that Li Shuang gave no response at all, a triumphant smile appeared on Du Gu Ru's face.

"I don't believe you can hold out against my Soul-Bewitching Incense!"

Du Gu Ru covered her mouth and nose, opened the bronze crane incense burner, extinguished the Soul-Bewitching Incense inside, then returned once more to Li Shuang's side and asked:

"Did General Er Zhu Rong send you to the northern frontier to deal with Yuan Shen?"

"I…"

"What?"

Li Shuang's voice was a little soft. Du Gu Ru leaned in closer, wanting to hear clearly, but a puff of white smoke suddenly shot from his mouth.

"You… how could you…"

Affected by this puff of white smoke, Du Gu Ru's expression grew somewhat dazed. When she looked again at Li Shuang, where was even a trace of sluggishness on his face?

"How come I'm not unconscious?"

Li Shuang let out a sly chuckle.

"Holy Maiden, the Soul-Bewitching Incense you used is the outdated stock I stopped using two years ago. This one here is freshly refined just last month."

Li Shuang pulled a glazed bottle from his sleeve, admired the faint sheen inside it, and said leisurely:

"Colorless, odorless, hard to detect, easy to use and easy to store, quality carefully selected. — Made at Taipingzhuang, winter of the fourth year of Zhengguang!"

The moment he finished speaking, Du Gu Ru had completely lost her will and become sluggish.

Li Shuang walked up to her and asked:

"Who are you?"

"Du Gu Ru!"

"What do you think of Da Ye Shuang?"

"A thorough and complete little scoundrel!"

Li Shuang clenched his teeth, a little unwilling to accept it.

"Then what are his good points?"

"Aside from being not bad-looking, he has no other good points."

Li Shuang looked at the expressionless yet oddly honest Du Gu Ru, and very much wanted to flick her on the forehead.

He thought about it and decided to forget it — waking her up wouldn't be worth it.

"Why have you come here?"

"Since Zhuolu City was destroyed, my tribe migrated to the Hetao region. After the Six Garrisons uprising, the situation grew turbulent and the Hetao region fell into great chaos. I led a contingent to Hengzhou to avoid the war, attaching ourselves under General Er Zhu Rong's command."

"Zhuolu City — why does that sound so familiar?"

"After the usurper Cao Pi seized the Han, he relocated the remnants of the Han imperial house to Shanyang Kingdom. Zhuolu City was the capital of Shanyang Kingdom."

"Does this mean you and the people of your tribe are all Han people?"

"After two hundred years, the boundary between Hu and Han has long since blurred. Because my tribe was skilled in craftsmanship, we were taken in by the Xiongnu. Over all these years, the Five Hu and assorted barbarians have regarded us as Xiongnu, and even many of the people within my tribe themselves believe they are Xiongnu!"

"What is the purpose of all your actions in Hengzhou?"

"My elder sister is still in the hands of Po Po Liuhan Kong Que. He wants me to turn Hulü Jin against the Northern Wei official army to crush their morale. He promised that as long as I accomplished this, he would release my sister and the troops under her."

"But what you've been doing here seems to go beyond what Po Po Liuhan Kong Que assigned you?"

"Though Po Po Liuhan Baling is strong, his foundations are shallow. My sister and I perceived that he was bound to fail and didn't want to be dragged down with him, so we split the household, each acting on our own, to keep the tribe from being wiped out entirely. To let the tribe take root in Hengzhou, I wanted to find a reliable ally and build an intelligence network. But after I arrived, I discovered there was already someone else in Hengzhou doing the very same thing."

"Who?"

"The shaman Liu Lingzhu beside the Prince of Guangyang!"

"What does he want to do?"

"I don't know, but this man is very dangerous!"

Just then, within the puppet-like Du Gu Ru's body, a powerful will surged, trying to break through its shackles.

Seeing this, Li Shuang sighed in admiration.

"What a strong will — waking up after only this short a time!"

Li Shuang took a basin of water and poured it over Du Gu Ru's face.

The awakened Du Gu Ru was panic-stricken, and instinctively began to check her own dress.

Then she looked at Li Shuang and instinctively roared out.

"What did you do to me?"

Li Shuang propped up his own chin, a subtle smile surfacing on his face.

"Holy Maiden, you don't want the Hu Ren to learn your identity as a remnant of the Han court, do you!"

"..."

"In that case, I'm still very interested in your plan to build an intelligence network."

Du Gu Ru looked at Li Shuang, brimming with wariness. She realized that this little rascal already knew every detail of her background.

"My tribe has endured for two hundred years and managed to survive in these chaotic times. Does the Army Commander truly think we can be threatened?"

"How could that possibly be a threat?"

Li Shuang took a piece of cloth and handed it to Du Gu Ru, letting her wipe the water stains from her face.

The other party was very stubborn.

"No need!"

"Suit yourself, it's your tent's water anyway."

Du Gu Ru heard this, thought of something, her face changed, and she let out a great shout.

"Give it to me!"

After taking the cloth, Du Gu Ru quickly wiped herself down. Only when not a single water stain remained did she look at Li Shuang, thoroughly annoyed.

"Then what do you want to do?"

"You're Han, I'm Han, everyone wants to survive in these chaotic times. So, why not join forces?"

"Really?"

"A Han person doesn't deceive a Han person!"

Du Gu Ru thought it over, leaned against the table, and asked:

"Do you have a concrete plan for cooperation?"

"The surrounding Hu Ren tribes — the ones that can't be bought with money, use your sorcery to trick them..."

Seeing Du Gu Ru's unfriendly gaze, Li Shuang swapped in a different word.

"Convert!"

After a pause, Li Shuang continued:

"From now on, you build your intelligence network, I run my trade routes, and we secretly share information with each other. As long as you can extend your reach into Take Pingcheng and plant a spy beside Yuan Shenshen, the entire Heng Prefecture will be ours to decide."

Du Gu Ru thought it over, somewhat hesitant.

"But Liu Lingzhu beside Yuan Shenshen isn't easy to deal with. If he stirs up trouble in the middle, I have no way to handle it either."

"I'll take care of him!"