Chapter 109

At dawn, a few wisps of mist drifted across the river surface; in the rice fields on both banks of the Honggou Canal, dew on the seedlings glistened, about to fall; in the morning mist on the main road, the creaking of cart wheels could be heard far off, along with occasional panting and neighing, the sound of susu approaching from afar. Hearing this, the crowd gathered at the gate of Daliang City immediately stirred.

"Daliang City has arrived." Zhou Shuo sat on the carriage shaft, gazing at the distant city, and instinctively called out to those behind; the carriage curtain behind him was flung open, revealing half of Nongyu's body in her martial attire, and besides Nongyu, Lady Hu's eyes showed both alarm and anticipation.

"He's over there." Zhou Shuo turned his head to glance at Lady Hu's gaze, then pointed toward a few wisps of mist in the distance, at a figure standing among the crowd at the gate—a rather heroic middle‑aged man, tall and straight, save for a sword scar slicing across his nose bridge; though it marred his face, it also added an intangible masculine charm.

"……" Facing Zhou Shuo's finger, Lady Hu's gaze, under psychological effect, could pierce the mist, faintly seeing that man's face; her mouth opened but no sound came out, while a few drops of crystal light welled up at the corners of her eyes and fell first.

"Sister…" Hu Beauty lifted the carriage curtain, looked at the distant figure, gently patted her sister's back, and Nongyu beside her also whispered comfort.

Zhou Shuo watched Lady Hu silently weeping, gave a slight shake of his head; the carriage had already crept up with a susu sound, and in the distance Li Kai had already rushed forward. Seeing him stare fixedly at Lady Hu, Zhou Shuo felt it inappropriate to step forward as a third wheel, so he jumped down from the carriage and faced the sturdy man in black approaching him—the first challenger in this world and his first subordinate, former leader of the Qingzhu Gang, Ye Jiujie.

"Chief." Ye Jiujie looked at the youth who had jumped down from the carriage shaft, his chest swelling with some emotion; after several years, he felt a hint of steady respect toward this youth who had once challenged him.

It's been a while, not bad—are these all new brothers?" Zhou Shuo reached out and patted the shoulder of his subordinate, then scanned the crowd behind him and Li Kai, noting several who stood out.

Yes, come, Chief, let me introduce you: this is Dianqing, a brother I met with Mr. Li in Wei; those are his fellow disciples." Ye Jiujie nodded firmly, guiding Zhou Shuo forward to meet a giant over two meters tall, arms as thick as a person's legs, eyes covered with a black cloth, and the retinue beside him.

"Pijia Men?" Zhou Shuo looked at the giant indicated by Ye Jiujie, his eyes widening slightly—a great general under the Zhu family, actually recruited into his own door?

Not bad, it's indeed Pijia Men, Chief, you know? Elder Dianqing, this is our chief." Hearing Zhou Shuo's words, Ye Jiujie beamed, nodding repeatedly, and introduced Zhou Shuo to the giant.

"Chief." The giant tilted his ear, hearing Ye Jiujie's words, then gave a somewhat clumsy salute; as he moved, the few people beside him all raised their fists in salute together.

"Truly a formidable general; it seems you and Mr. Li Kai have handled affairs well in Daliang." Zhou Shuo looked at the giant's address and realized this commander was indeed his subordinate.

"We've been through some things, but we haven't disappointed expectations; Mr. Li still commands well, though… regarding Han." Ye Jiujie's face showed pleasure; after a modest remark, he suddenly thought of Han, and his expression darkened.

"Han is already gone; Guan Rang died, and many other brothers perished as well. This time I brought all the brothers willing to follow me out; only Tie Lao Cai and a few brothers voluntarily stayed in Xinzheng." Zhou Shuo looked at Ye Jiujie's darkened face, gave his shoulder a firm pat, then glanced back at the large entourage of wagons and people behind him—Han, well, should be Yingchuan Commandery, which had stabilized quickly, but he didn't want to linger; it felt too restrictive.

"Then Chief, what are your plans next?" Ye Jiujie looked at the men and women behind Zhou Shuo, his eyes widening slightly, and asked cautiously.

"This isn't the place to talk." Zhou Shuo glanced at the wary Ye Jiujie, looked left and right around, and shook his head.

"Zhou, Chief, thank you." As Zhou Shuo and Ye Jiujie spoke, Li Kai, who had reunited with his wife and daughter nearby, stepped forward with a grateful expression, clasped his fist toward Zhou Shuo, and used an unfamiliar title—this also signified his acknowledgment of Zhou Shuo's leadership.

"No need, this is your due; lead us into the city! Nongyu, go inform everyone to prepare to rest in Daliang for a few days." Zhou Shuo waved his hand, then glanced at Nongyu, who had changed into martial attire.

"Yes." Nongyu bowed slightly, then swiftly moved with light lotus steps to deliver the notice to the crowd in the convoy.

All the way into Daliang City, everyone went to their assigned lodgings to rest, while Zhou Shuo began discussing with Ye Jiujie and Li Kai; he had no intention of staying in Daliang, but planned to take those willing to follow him northward, beyond Qin's jurisdiction, to a place where the heavens are high and the emperor far away.

Regarding Zhou Shuo's idea, neither Li Kai nor Ye Jiujie had much to object, for Qin's people were indeed ferocious; Han had already been annexed, and Qin was now concentrating its main force to attack Zhao. Zhao's king had recently replaced the generals Li Mu and Sima Shang with Zhao Zong and Yan Ju; any veteran could see the outcome was sealed—Zhao would fall after Han.

Zhao's fall is only a matter of time; after Zhao, Wei, as the sole remaining of the Three Jin, will inevitably be Qin's next target, so staying in Daliang is unsafe. The Fangsheng Pavilion's withdrawal from Wei has become inevitable; the only question is where to retreat to.

Li Kai suggested retreating east to Qi, while Ye Jiujie, like Zhou Shuo, advocated a northern withdrawal, though he believed pulling back to Yan would be safe; in his view Qin, though formidable, could not stay strong for long, and with Han and Zhao falling successively, the remaining Qi, Chu, Yan, and Wei would surely join forces to check Qin, and even Han might have a chance to restore itself.

"You're overthinking it." Zhou Shuo looked at Ye Jiujie, who knew nothing of Qin's people, and couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth; Han's chance to restore itself would probably have to wait until Ying Zheng's death.

"There's no chance; Chief, you decide!" As a military commander, Li Kai saw things more clearly than Ye Jiujie, shook his head, and tossed the decision to Zhou Shuo.

"How about this: Li Kai, you take some brothers east by land to Qi, while I'll lead people north by water; I don't even want to stay in Yan—let's go straight to the northern wolf tribe's territory." Zhou Shuo looked at Li Kai, who had tossed the multiple‑choice question, and gave his answer.

"Good." Li Kai had no reason to object; not putting all one's eggs in one basket isn't wrong, and he now believed Zhou Shuo's earlier words—that the six states would cease to exist and Qin's iron hooves could not be stopped.

"And you? Have you made up your minds, and will you still follow me?" Zhou Shuo glanced at the nodding Li Kai and Ye Jiujie, tilted his head slightly, then looked toward Yan Lingji and Mingzhu Lady listening by the side door; Yan Lingji remained as before, while Mingzhu Lady had changed into a fish‑tail curved skirt—these two women had followed him all along.

"I'm a helpless woman with nowhere to go; I can only beg Chief Zhou to take me in!" Mingzhu Lady narrowed her phoenix eyes, her gaze full of allure, while Yan Lingji raised her eyebrows and nodded; whether it was her or Mingzhu Lady, Han was gone, Baiyue was gone, Bai Yifei had died, Tian Ze had died, and now there was nowhere left to go.

"Jiujie, go fetch Dianqing, and also the leading brothers on your side who can take charge; our Fangsheng Pavilion has existed this long—it's time to set a roster." Zhou Shuo looked at the two women and said to Ye Jiujie.

"Yes." Ye Jiujie nodded at Zhou Shuo's words and then left.

"You two, who will go fetch Nongyu so she can act as a representative for the ladies of Zilanxuan?" Zhou Shuo watched Ye Jiujie depart, turned his gaze to Yan Lingji and Mingzhu Lady; the maidens of Zilanxuan had also come out with him this time and needed a representative.

"Hmm, Nongyu, that's not right!" Li Kai blinked upon hearing Zhou Shuo's words; Nongyu was his daughter, and if she spoke thus, his authority in the Fangsheng Pavilion would become substantial.

"Nothing wrong with that; it's just a representative—later have her explain things to those Zilanxuan ladies." Zhou Shuo looked at the reserved Li Kai, couldn't help rolling his eyes, and Li Kai, hearing this, gave an embarrassed smile.

Soon, Ye Jiujie brought Dianqing and a man named Suoyi over, while Yan Lingji also fetched Nongyu; thus the first officer meeting of the Fangsheng Pavilion after its establishment was convened. Zhou Shuo naturally deserved the chief's seat, and then he appointed his subordinates to four halls, named after the Four Spirits: the Azure Dragon Hall oversees personnel, the White Tiger Hall commands troops and slaughter, the Vermilion Bird Hall handles adaptability, and the Black Tortoise Hall manages logistics.

After the halls were established, Zhou Shuo began bestowing titles on his subordinates—well, it was really just a matter of assigning duties so future work could coordinate; Li Kai took the Azure Dragon Hall, the White Tiger Hall went to Dianqing, the Vermilion Bird Hall was placed under Ye Jiujie's charge, and the Black Tortoise Hall was led by Suoyi.

Dianqing and Suoyi were both men Li Kai had recruited in Liang; Dianqing came from Liang's Pijia Men, trained in external hard arts, nicknamed "Bronze Wall, Iron Barrier", capable of both striking and withstanding; Suoyi had a knack for mercantile tricks, handling finances and accounts well. Besides these four, Nongyu, Yan Lingji, and Mingzhu Lady—three persons—Zhou Shuo waved his hand and jokingly made them guest officials, to follow his directives thereafter.

"All right, we've divided the four halls like this; as for personnel, let the Azure Dragon Hall chief assign them." Zhou Shuo set up the four halls, then tossed the matter straight to Li Kai, and looking at the roomful of men and women he had appointed, he felt a hint of leader's accomplishment; his tone made Yan Lingji roll her eyes, while Mingzhu Lady flushed with embarrassment—she had thought she and Yan Lingji would be left behind, at least one could become an officer, but the result was… well, they were officers too, just a bit too much of a joke.