Chapter 105: By the Roadside

"Does the Central Terrace raise chickens too?" He Jin was dumbstruck.

"Indeed!" Gongsun Xun chuckled softly. "It was my first time seeing it as well, and finding it curious, I used it as a pretext to invite you, my worthy brother, for a drink. To be honest with you, my wife had the same reaction earlier when she saw me bring back a few eggs."

Hearing the other speak so directly, He Jin couldn't help but laugh. He understood perfectly well that the eggs from the Central Terrace were merely a talking point — the key was that the other man's wife had moved from the Gou family estate into the city of Luoyang. According to Han dynasty etiquette, when hosting a banquet at home, if the two parties were of roughly equal status, or if the host's status was slightly higher, the lady of the house could come out to receive the guest.

In fact, he had specifically brought his own wife, Lady Yin, on this visit, precisely intending to take advantage of the time when both sides still held only the rank of black ribbon and bronze seal to establish a mutual understanding — what is called "ascending the hall and meeting the wife." And after going through this occasion, in a few days he could then leisurely invite the other to his own home and stage a proper "ascending the hall and paying respects to the mother."

After one round back and forth, they would naturally be the closest of friends, able to entrust their families to one another.

Once the ladies of both households had come out, completed the formal greetings, and withdrawn into the inner chamber for private conversation, Gongsun Xun and He Jin drank and talked in the outer hall. Inside, they teased the cat; outside, they brought out the "Three Bowls and You Shall Not Pass." For a time, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

However, while the "Three Bowls and You Shall Not Pass" produced by the Anli Company was indeed satisfying, its aftereffects were considerable. The two had been drinking since the afternoon, and with Gongsun Xun also dropping hints of conversation that greatly broadened He Jin's horizons, they drank more and more deeply. In the end, before it was even dark, each was already dead drunk.

Left with no choice, Lady Yin and Zhao Yun, who had just begun to grow familiar with each other in the inner chamber, had to stop their meal. They came out with their maidservants, calling for the household servants, and each had someone support their husband. Then, one had her husband helped up and taken out, while the other had her husband supported and settled into the inner room. One bid farewell, the other saw her off, and at the gate they arranged a time for the next meeting — only then did they part reluctantly.

And as she watched the He family's carriage disappear beyond her field of vision, Lady Gongsun, Zhao Yun, also turned and re-entered her own small courtyard.

"You're a picky eater?"

"This is an egg from the Central Terrace!"

"Do you know how many poor people in this world can't even get a single egg to eat?"

"Are you going to eat it or not?!"

Zhao Yun listened at the door for a long while, truly helpless, and finally had no choice but to push the door open and enter: "My lord, why must you bully a cat?"

"This cat has already been spoiled rotten by you." Gongsun Xun, who moments ago had been as drunk as mud, was now brimming with energy. In one hand he held a half-eaten egg, and with the other he gripped the scruff of his wife's beloved cat, swaying unsteadily as he insisted on forcing the cat to eat the half-eaten "Central Terrace egg." "Look at that big cat my mother keeps — plump and sturdy, lazy and easygoing, eats whatever you give it. So straightforward. How come this one is so finicky?"

Zhao Yun helplessly reached out and snatched the cat back: "That big cat at Mother's place has been neutered, so naturally it's docile..."

"Neuter this one too, save the trouble." Gongsun Xun eyed the young cat, now nearly full-grown, with ill intent.

"Doesn't my lord have proper business to attend to outside the city?" Zhao Yun, increasingly exasperated, could only hug the cat and nudge him again with her elbow. "The sky is already growing dim; you may go now."

"In a few days I'll go to White Horse Temple and find a whole litter. We absolutely cannot let this cat monopolize the favor." Gongsun Xun's mouth still refused to relent, but he had already risen and begun changing his clothes.

A moment later, he finally donned a heavy winter traveling cloak of roe deer skin, strapped on his personal short blade, and taking advantage of the dusk, went straight to pick out a yellow-maned horse and rode all the way out through Luoyang's western gate.

At the same time, several dozen li west of Luoyang, outside a post station located between Gucheng and Hangu Pass, something that could almost be called a commonplace occurrence naturally unfolded.

"My master bids you all to get out!" A man dressed as a household servant, speaking with the local accent of Wan and Luo, strode into the courtyard of the post station. Looking at no one, he raised his head expressionlessly and barked at the air. "This post station will not house outsiders!"

Among those already lodged in the post station, most cursed their bad luck, but even though night was falling and the weather was cold, not one was willing to court trouble. Instead, they all rose one after another, preparing to head back toward Gucheng in the dark to find lodging there for the night. After all, this was a post station before Hangu Pass; such incidents were simply too common. Who knew which powerful family it was this time?

If it turned out to be the household of some Regular Palace Attendant, and they drew their blades at the slightest delay, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

"If I may have a word." Just then, a man with a fair complexion, resembling a scholar, suddenly emerged from a side room with two burly attendants and offered a slight cupped-hand salute to the servant. "We are of the household of Grand Master of the Palace, Lord Duan, traveling back to our old home in Xiliang..."

"Grand Master of the Palace, Lord Duan?" The servant was momentarily taken aback. "Could it be the former Grand Commandant, Lord Duan?"

"Exactly." The middle-aged man immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He could see that the other party was clearly a servant of a powerful family long established in the capital, and thus should understand the gravity.

"You lot, hold still!" The servant, evidently also wary of Duan Jiong's fearsome reputation, shouted to halt everyone's movements with a show of fierce authority, then scurried off outside the station, clearly to report to his master.

However...

"My master says!" When the servant returned, he not only brought several sturdy servants with him but was even more insolent than before. "What bullshit household of Lord Duan? They're clearly criminals who've broken the law! Aren't they just those two, Tian and Xia, who previously lost the army and disgraced the state? Did you really think he wouldn't know?"

The fair-faced middle-aged man — Xia Yu — grew even paler at these words, and for a moment was utterly speechless.

"The rest of you don't need to move!" The servant continued to bellow. "My master will only take the rooms of these two, Tian and Xia, today! Where is the post chief? Our family is the Chenliu Gao clan, related by marriage to the Yuan clan. We are on orders to go to Shu Commandery to seek our clan head, the Grand Administrator... Quickly, drive these two commoners, Tian and Xia, out! Especially that Tian Yan — my master says this man is a base wretch who clings to eunuchs, and he absolutely forbids this man from lodging under the same roof!"

At these words, the ordinary merchants and minor clerks traveling on official business around them all secretly sighed in relief, while the post chief could only curse his own bad luck.

Having long served as a clerk in such a place, how could the post chief not understand the stakes?

He knew the name of the Chenliu Gao clan — they were legitimate in-laws of the Yuans, a family that had produced Three Excellencies in four generations. As for the affairs of these two, Tian and Xia, he had also heard them thoroughly discussed by officials traveling north and south; he knew they were Duan Jiong's bona fide trusted men, now stripped to commoner status and returning to their old home in Xiliang because of a military defeat. And he knew even better that one faction belonged to the eunuchs' claws and teeth, while the other belonged to the genuine elite of the scholar-officials — neither could be offended!

Of course, no matter what, just as the servant had shouted, Tian Yan and Xia Yu were now both commoners stripped of all rank. At this moment, he could only choose to urge these two to leave the post station.

"This is bullying beyond all endurance!" But before the post chief could open his mouth, someone suddenly burst out of a room with a blade in hand. By the torchlight in the station courtyard, everyone could see clearly: this man, the complete opposite of Xia Yu, was a short, stout man with a great beard. "Back in the day, when I, your father, had committed a crime and was being carted into Luoyang in a cage cart, no one dared forbid me from staying at a post station..."

However, the threat from this short, stout, bearded man had little effect. The several sturdy servants of the Gao household on this side reacted swiftly as well, likewise drawing their blades without any sign of backing down. And though Tian and Xia's attendants were somewhat fewer in number, they were all elite soldiers sent by Duan Jiong from the army, and they too stood fearless, each drawing their blade in confrontation!

For a moment, in the now fully darkened courtyard of the post station, illuminated by the newly lit torches, blades flashed and glinted as if on a battlefield.

The surrounding merchants and clerks gasped sharply at the sight, then each retreated, hiding inside their rooms, clearly preparing to steer clear of this trouble spot. Even the post chief, who had been about to speak, hurriedly turned back to call for his station soldiers, station father, and thief-catchers to ready their weapons and horses, preparing... preparing to clean up the mess afterward.

"Tian Ayan!" At that moment, Xia Yu, who had been speaking gently all along, suddenly turned sternly toward his companion. "Haven't you caused us enough trouble already?!"

The blade-wielding bearded man — Tian Yan — was momentarily thrown off by these words and couldn't help but look embarrassed.

"Let's go!" Xia Yu urged helplessly. "Will you listen to me just this once? Let's go back to Gucheng to rest. Don't bring more trouble upon Lord Duan. We've already caused him enough problems..."

The bearded Tian Yan let out a sigh, then somewhat listlessly sheathed his blade.

"You are of the household of Grand Administrator Gao of Shu Commandery, correct?" Xia Yu offered a slight cupped-hand salute. "We shall leave. We only ask that you sheathe your blades and clear a path..."

The servant sneered twice in the twilight but did not make things any more difficult for them.

And so, Xia Yu, Tian Yan, and their few attendants swiftly packed their belongings, led their horses out the gate, and headed east toward Gucheng. The Gao party waited until the others had departed, then triumphantly clustered around a young scholar with a Wan-Luo accent as he moved into the vacated rooms.

The post chief felt almost faint with relief and hurried to shut the station's main gate. No matter what, a storm had finally passed.

"Ayu, why have you become so timid now?" Leading his mount toward Gucheng, Tian Yan, who had given Xia Yu full face back at the post station, could no longer hold back his stream of complaints. "Over a decade ago, when we faced life and death together, you were far bolder than me. I remember at Huang Valley, it was clearly you who proposed recruiting a group of vanguard climbers to scale the Qiang camp by rope. The whole army dared not move; I was the only one who stood up to second you... To put it plainly, aren't they just a local powerful clan? Never mind that they outnumber us..."

"In broad public view, what exactly did you want to do?" Xia Yu stopped in his tracks and asked coldly. "Don't just think of yourself. Think of Lord Duan! This is Luoyang!"

Tian Yan immediately shut his mouth.

"Stop here." Xia Yu suddenly waved his hand. "We'll make do for the night right in this grove."

"We're not going to Gucheng?" Tian Yan was dumbstruck, his beard seeming to lift in the wind. "In this cold weather, with the wind blowing..."

"Can it be worse than the hardship when we fought the Qiang back then?" Xia Yu sneered. "And if we go to Gucheng, what do we do if we lose track of this group the next day?"

Tian Yan's expression flickered slightly: "Ayu, you mean...?"

"East of Hangu Pass is Luoyang, the feet of the Son of Heaven." Xia Yu stamped his feet on the broad official road. "Here, the brute courage of you and me isn't worth a single copper, and even Lord Duan can only tread carefully... But once we cross Hangu Pass and reach Guanxi, that is the domain of us Guanxi warriors!"

"I understand." In the winter night wind, Tian Yan couldn't help but shake his head in admiration. "I knew you were still that ruthless man from back then, Ayu. Once we're past Hangu Pass, we'll quietly tail them, then find some secluded spot — white blade in, red blade out... That'll vent today's foul anger!"

Xia Yu shook his head slightly: "I was watching those sturdy servants earlier; they didn't seem like empty bluster either. They're probably battle-hardened warriors sent by Grand Administrator Gao Gong of Shu Commandery. We're outnumbered and may not be their match... Once past Hangu Pass, let's first find a few former comrades from the army before we act."

"That works too!"

"And besides..." Xia Yu suddenly clapped his old comrade on the shoulder. "What angers me more, in truth, is the way that Gao clan showed no regard for Lord Duan."

Tian Yan also let out a sigh, then couldn't help clutching his own great beard in the evening wind.

But in the very next instant, although nothing could be seen clearly in the twilight, from Tian Yan and Xia Yu on down to the several battle-hardened elite attendants sent by Duan Wei, nearly every man's expression changed, and in unison they reached for their weapons... because in the darkness, from the direction of Gucheng ahead, the sound of a great formation of hoofbeats suddenly arose.

"No need to panic." Xia Yu was the first to react, then couldn't help laughing at himself. "This is Luoyang; so many cavalry must be urgent military dispatches heading for Guanxi. This party should be on its way to spend the night at Hangu Pass. We need only withdraw to the roadside, light torches, and stand still..."

"Indeed, nine times out of ten the barbarians in Hanzhong and Bazhong have rebelled again." Tian Yan also caught on, and immediately spoke with endless mockery. "That lot rebel every year, yet never manage to make anything of it, but because they repeatedly cut off the southwest routes, the court is constantly forced into major military campaigns. It's laughable... Still, who's to say this isn't an opportunity for us to be reinstated?"

"Just in time to intercept that party from the Gao clan heading to Shu Commandery earlier." A guard, who had been ordered to raise a torch and climb a large boulder nearby to look out, couldn't help chiming in. "But the leader of those envoys is a wastrel too... all white horses — isn't he afraid of being too conspicuous before the battle lines?"

"Not so!" Tian Yan laughed again upon hearing this. "If they are all white horses, then they are not conspicuous at all — it's just that night raids become inconvenient..."

Hearing this exchange, Xia Yu suddenly thought of something and his expression changed drastically: "Put out the fires at once!"

No one understood his meaning, but before the words had faded, as the hoofbeats rumbled, an arrow suddenly tore through the wind from the white-horsed cavalry formation appearing ahead, and shot the torch-bearing guard dead by the roadside.

Tian Yan and Xia Yu had no time to react before they were completely surrounded by this troop of white-horsed cavalry.

In the blink of an eye, it was the third watch of the night. The winter night's cold wind howled; the road was empty of people, yet from the woods beside the road, a faint flicker of firelight could dimly be seen.

"That fellow Lou Gui won't mess things up, will he?" Gongsun Xun, draped in a great cloak of roe deer skin, asked the people around him with a smile as he stepped on dead branches and fallen leaves into the woods, surrounded by his trusted followers and loyal companions. "Let's hope he didn't run into some village chief with eyes as sharp as Teacher Lu's, who simply seized him on the spot."

"I thought you weren't coming?" Hearing this voice, before the conversation could continue, Xia Yu, who bore several wounds on his body yet was still bound at the limbs and pinned down firmly by two riders, suddenly raised his head.

Beside him, Tian Yan, in almost exactly the same posture, also looked toward the newcomer by the torchlight upon hearing these words.

"How could I not come?" Gongsun Xun stood there rubbing his hands together and answered calmly. "Ever since returning from Mount Danhan, not a single day has passed that I haven't thought of you, Captain... I won't hide it from you, Sir Xia — in the parlance of the Buddhist school, so long as you live, you are a demon of my heart."

"I don't understand your meaning — why not speak plainly?" Tian Yan, gasping for breath beside him, interjected.

"Then I shall speak plainly." Gongsun Xun couldn't help smiling faintly. "So long as Sir Xia lives a single day, my heart will know no peace for a single day!"

"Since it's that fellow Xia Yu you're after," Tian Yan suddenly laughed, "why not let me go? How about it? I'm nothing but a commoner now, already a useless wreck..."

"A-Yan, keep some dignity!" Xia Yu rebuked him again. "Do you truly think this White Horse Zhonglang is a fool?"

"Who knows, it might work?" Tian Yan couldn't help laughing again, then immediately grew despondent. "I only pity myself. After all, half a life spent in the saddle — I've known glory for a time, been renowned across the land, been tried and sentenced for my crimes, and been a laughingstock. To tell the truth, if you had found a crowded place and hacked me to pieces, I would have accepted it... but I never imagined that I, Tian Yan, would die like a wild dog by the roadside in the end, covered by wild grass and fallen leaves."

"That is exactly what I sought!" Gongsun Xun let out a long sigh. "Tens of thousands of soldiers, tens of thousands of conscript laborers — because of you, and Duan Wei, and Wang Fu, and your selfishness, they died like wild dogs by the roadside! You at least have leaves; they had only wild grass!"

"You intend to go after Lord Duan as well?" Xia Yu, who had already resigned himself to his fate, suddenly flared with indignation, and heedless of his draining strength, immediately began cursing. "What do you think you are?! A mere Army Major who has achieved some minor battle merits... Do you even know how great Lord Duan's service to the Han house has been?"

"I've heard of it, but never witnessed it." Gongsun Xun rubbed his hands together again. "Sir Xia, at this point, show some dignity yourself!"

The loyal companions beside him, hearing these words, each gripped their sword hilts and looked toward their lord.

"After all, there was the Battle of Fengyi — they can be counted as having served the state." Ignoring Xia Yu's loud shouting, Gongsun Xun quietly instructed Han Dang beside him. "Leave their corpses intact!"

Han Dang understood. He immediately took the bow from his back and went directly behind Tian Yan. First he planted a foot on the man's back, then hooked the ox-sinew bowstring around the neck of this former General Who Defeated the Xianbei, twisted the bow, and the latter began thrashing violently.

Seeing this, Xia Yu cursed all the more frantically.

At this sight, before Han Dang could finish dealing with them one by one, Lu Fan, who had been silent all along, also took a bow from one of the loyal companions beside him. Without a word, he went behind Xia Yu, and following the same method, used the bowstring to strangle the neck of this eastern route commander of the expeditionary army... who was, of course, also the patron who had recommended that Gao Heng of Bohai, the man who had taken his own life after his dispute with Lu Ziheng.

The time spent struggling was actually very short, but the bowstrings remained hooked around their necks for a full quarter-hour before anyone dared truly release them, to ensure the two men were thoroughly dead.

Gongsun Xun said not a word. He stood still for a long time, then suddenly threw off his great cloak and draped it over Xia Yu's corpse.

Without waiting for Lu Fan and the others to catch up and ask questions, he turned and walked out of the woods onto the official road. Without the great cloak, the winter day's biting wind cut to the bone, but at this moment, Gongsun Xun felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and even his spirit and soul grew clear and bright.

One must admit, the eggs from Zhongtai are truly nourishing!

———————I am a dividing line that cannot afford eggs—————————

"In former times, the Grand Ancestor of this dynasty resented Xia Yu and Tian Yan for the Gao Heng affair and the great deterioration of the border situation. When Yu and Yan were dismissed to commoner status, they knew they had lost the army and incurred the enmity of heroes, so they lodged in the residence of Grand Commandant Duan Wei, not daring to move. Only when winter came did they set out, relieved, to return home. When the Grand Ancestor heard of this, he swiftly dispatched Lu Fan, Han Dang, and Lou Gui, along with several dozen ambush soldiers, to lie in wait by the roadside, and they calmly seized them. When they were brought before the Grand Ancestor, Yan begged with a smile: 'Yan is a discarded man; why must I be bound?' The Grand Ancestor also smiled: 'Since you are a discarded man, keeping you is useless.' And had him swiftly killed. He then addressed Yu, and Yu composed his expression: 'I beg to be granted an intact corpse and some dignity.' The Grand Ancestor nodded, and had him swiftly killed with a bowstring, then took his cloak and covered the corpse. When he returned, not a single person knew of it!" — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Deceit

PS: There is also a new book group; interested students can join: 684558115.

(End of Chapter)