BEGW C53

Chapter 53

The official road to Zherou was strewn with sand and gravel driven by the raging wind.

The carts laden with silk and medicinal herbs were already slow; now they inched along like snails.

The steppe only turns green in early summer; at present, the view outside was a dull gray, with nothing that could be called “scenery.”

Yet Jiang Yuxun kept his eyes on the window, carefully observing the surroundings.

Near noon, the party finally reached Zherou’s domain.

Tang Yimeng, who shared a carriage with Jiang Yuxun, had slept from the moment he got on until now.

Waking and seeing Jiang Yuxun still staring out the window, he couldn’t help asking curiously, “Lord Jiang, what have you been watching all along the way?”

He couldn’t help letting out a tremendous yawn after speaking.

Jiang Yuxun turned back, smiled at him, and said, “I wanted to see what the environment is like along the road.”

Tang Yimeng composed himself and looked out as well, recalling: “I really didn’t pay much attention to the views along the way, only remember that the areas around the royal court are full of meadowland and grassland, very convenient for horse-breeding and herding.”

Between the Zherou royal court and Great Zhou’s border city lay a long, narrow band of sandy ground.

Beyond this sandy stretch was the boundless Yiyan steppe, where the Zherou royal court sat.

After the sandstorm, the sky was as blue as if washed; from where Jiang Yuxun and the others were, one could see at a glance the royal court standing at the far edge of the heavens, and the low hill behind it.

Jiang Yuxun nodded and added, “Directly north of the royal court there’s also a stretch of forest; most of the timber the Zherou use for making bows and pitching tents comes from there.”

In addition, later archaeology uncovered an iron ore deposit near the royal court site.

Nine times out of ten, the city’s birth had something to do with these.

Once away from the sandy ground, the road underfoot was clearly much easier.

As they spoke, the carriage reached the outskirts of the royal court.

Tang Yimeng, who had been here before, immediately lowered his voice: “The ‘barbarians’ mostly esteem the east; unlike our Great Zhou sitting north-facing-south, the Zherou royal court sits west-facing-east in its layout. Livestock and horses are penned in the outermost ring of the royal city.”

Here his tone unavoidably grew solemn: “It is said the city walls of the Zherou royal court are extremely solid; you can even sharpen blades upon them…”

Though Great Zhou and Zherou were at present in a friendly posture, each in secret regarded the other as an enemy state.

As “envoys of a hostile state,” they naturally could not stroll about the royal court; what Tang Yimeng said had all been told to him by Princess Lianyi, who had lived here for over twenty years.

As they spoke, the white rammed-earth walls came into view before the pair.

Tang Yimeng did not know how these walls were built, but modern people had already found the answer during excavation of the site.

The walls before them were made of clay, sand, and lime, with straw and the like added within—one of the earliest surviving “sanhetu” constructions.

Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help peeking at them again through the window slit.

After the carriage rolled through the city gate, a buzz filled Jiang Yuxun’s ears.

Commerce flourished in the Zherou royal court, and many along the street were driving cattle and sheep to trade.

Besides this, at a street corner Jiang Yuxun also saw several shops selling bits, reins, and saddles and pads.

He had just wanted to look more closely when, lifting his eyes, he saw everyone along the street looking toward them, staring unabashedly into the carriage.

Zherou carriages had no canopy; at a glance they recognized the rider of this carriage as a foreigner.

Jiang Yuxun and Tang Yimeng exchanged a look, then tacitly lowered the carriage curtain.

With a soft creak, Tang Yimeng lowered his voice and said, “See that, Lord Jiang. Half the buildings in this city are terrace-and-timber structures similar to those of our Great Zhou, and the other half are tents.”

Something seemed to occur to Jiang Yuxun. “In that case, the people in the Zherou royal court seem rather easily influenced by Great Zhou’s fashions.”

“Yes. Though the Zherou are closed off, aside from pastoralism and raiding, they sometimes also conduct trade with us in private, and many in the city make their living by such,” saying this, Tang Yimeng lifted the curtain to a narrow slit again, pointing for Jiang Yuxun as he said, “These houses were built by that group imitating us.”

“I see…” Jiang Yuxun slowly sat straighter, his eyes brightening.

That would make things easy!

Under the original plan, “spirits” would be introduced to the Zhou–Zherou border soon, along with the migrants.

Previously, Jiang Yuxun had worried whether the liquor would really catch on quickly in Zherou.

Now it seemed there would be no problem at all.

The city was not large; in no time the carriage reached the end of the long street.

The hawkers’ cries in the market gradually grew faint, when suddenly a horn sounded in the distance and filtered through the curtain to Jiang Yuxun’s ears.

Tang Yimeng gently reminded, “We’re here.”

No sooner had he spoken than the carriage slowed to a halt.

The gale worried the curtain, and the atmosphere suddenly grew tense.

The Zherou guards responsible for the gate came forward to question them.

After a while, the accompanying soldiers were left in the outer ring of the royal court, and the carriage moved on again.

With the wail of the horn, the envoys from Great Zhou finally stepped bit by bit into the heart of Zherou.

Not a single tree grew within the Zherou royal court.

With no barrier of yellow sand, the sunlight beat down on the earth without restraint.

The Zherou paid little heed to this “routine diplomatic activity,” which was in fact a boon to Jiang Yuxun, who disliked humoring people.

The open space within the royal court lay silent, with only a few soldiers waiting there.

They were tall, long blades in hand, their gazes sharp and icy.

After dismounting from the carriage, Jiang Yuxun lifted his eyes to glance at the eagles circling in the sky, then, under the soldiers’ scrutiny, made for the main tent straight ahead.

But as he had just set out, a sudden rush of hoofbeats sounded at his ear.

Clip-clop-clop—

A gale blew out of the west, and the sand and dust on the open ground sprang up to dance at once.

Instinctively, Jiang Yuxun turned his head to avoid the gust.

“Look out, Lord Jiang!” Tang Yimeng’s voice came from behind him.

Jiang Yuxun looked back and saw—

Beyond the blowing sand, a black-maned warhorse was galloping straight toward where he stood.

There seemed to be a person on its back…

Jiang Yuxun reflexively wanted to raise his hand to shield himself or cry out, but the subconscious hidden in his heart stopped him from moving.

The horse was too fast; there was no time to dodge!

Jiang Yuxun’s heart pounded fiercely.

Realizing this, he forced himself not to close his eyes, gritted his teeth, stood his ground, and raised his gaze to the black-maned warhorse like a ghost.

Ten paces…

Five paces…

One pace.

The hooves rose high; for a moment, sand and gravel whirled like a storm.

Jiang Yuxun’s heart plunged hard.

“Whoa—”

At the instant before it would have trampled Jiang Yuxun, the rider finally yanked the reins, wrenching the horse to a halt on the spot.

A few breaths later, a dozen or so horses pulled up behind.

The riders glanced at Jiang Yuxun, then gathered together and began chattering.

They spoke Zherou; Jiang Yuxun understood not a word.

But the disdain, disappointment, and scorn in their tone carried plainly to his ears.

Sneers drifted down from horseback.

The owner of the warhorse looked no more than seven or eight, dark-skinned and sharp-featured, with a defiant air.

After laughing, he muttered a few lines in Zherou, then spurred his horse to race off to the other side of the clearing, a dozen riders laughing as they followed.

The gale kicked up the sand again, and this time Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help coughing.

Everything had happened too quickly. By the time the other envoys reacted, the group had already vanished without a trace.

Tang Yimeng ground his teeth and lowered his voice: “That child is the new king of Zherou. On my last trip he couldn’t even ride a horse that tall. Now that he’s just learned… he’s set on bluffing people!”

The other envoys chimed in:

“Only a king in name, yet he dares treat Great Zhou’s envoys thus.”

“That child came deliberately to throw his weight around!”

“Heh, isn’t it just so? All rudeness can be excused by ‘he is still young.’”

After speaking, someone, still shaken, looked to Jiang Yuxun: “Lord Jiang, are you all right? Ah—why not dodge just now?”

Jiang Yuxun’s heart was still hammering.

He exhaled long and lightly dusted the grime from his ceremonial robes.

The tension had not fully ebbed; his fingers still trembled a little.

Yet Jiang Yuxun kept his back straight. “He wouldn’t dare kill us; he only wanted to see us panic and flee in embarrassment. If one dodges, isn’t that playing right into his hands?”

If he had truly fled in fright, this would spread through Zherou in a few months, perhaps even be recorded in the histories and laughed at for thousands of years…

That was not a face he could afford to lose!

Besides…

Once upon a time, “Zhou” had felt an unfathomably distant era to Jiang Yuxun.

Yet from the instant he stepped into Zherou’s domain and heard an unfamiliar tongue, the identity of “a man of Zhou” suddenly seared itself hard into his heart.

“If I came alone, naturally I could dodge. But as an envoy representing Great Zhou, how can one dodge?” he said softly.

“Y-yes…” The officials beside him were stunned a moment, then nodded rapidly.

The dust on the hem of his green robe was brushed clean by Jiang Yuxun.

He spread his sleeves, smiled, and turned back to the crowd. “Come, let us not keep Her Highness waiting.”

The dust on the open ground had not yet settled, but Jiang Yuxun’s person was already spotless.

These officials were not professional “diplomats,” but all clerks under the Lesser Treasury.

Yet now, they suddenly understood the import of Jiang Yuxun’s words.

“Yes, Lord Jiang—”

There was no welcome ceremony upon the open space of the royal court, only scattered soldiers on guard, and eagles and vultures circling ceaselessly in the sky.

But the envoys of Great Zhou kept their backs straight and gazes firm as they walked, step by step, toward Princess Lianyi, who had been away from Great Zhou for twenty years.

※

Before seeing the person, they first heard her voice.

“In a year or so, Lord Tang has grown even more composed.”

Zherou did not have so many formalities as Great Zhou. Once Jiang Yuxun and the others had finished their salutes, Princess Lianyi, clad in a red skirt, emerged from behind the screen before them.

She first smiled and returned the courtesy to the group, then let her gaze fall upon the most unfamiliar face—Jiang Yuxun.

With a touch of curiosity, Princess Lianyi asked Tang Yimeng, “Lord Tang, and this one by your side?”

As she spoke, Jiang Yuxun also lifted his eyes toward the front.

Princess Lianyi was just over forty this year, but with good care she looked no more than around thirty.

Although she dwelled in the Zherou royal court, she still wore the attire of Great Zhou.

Princess Lianyi was Ying Changchuan’s maternal aunt.

Thinking of this connection, Jiang Yuxun could not help looking at her more closely.

The princess was tall and striking, her features vivid… yet apart from the same smoke-gray eye color, there seemed little similarity in their features?

Seeing the arrivals, Tang Yimeng hurried forward and bowed. “In reply to Your Highness, this is Lord Jiang Yuxun, Minister of Works, who also serves at His Majesty’s side as Attendant-in-Ordinary.”

Princess Lianyi could not help repeating, “Attendant-in-Ordinary?”

Her tone carried puzzlement and a hint of shock.

Evidently, Ying Changchuan’s “record” of executing three Attendants-in-Ordinary had long reached her ears in far-off Zherou.

Guessing at her doubts, Tang Yimeng hurried to explain, “Lord Jiang is deeply valued by His Majesty, a pillar of state for Great Zhou.”

“To be valued by His Majesty, one is certainly no ordinary person,” Princess Lianyi said, looking at Jiang Yuxun with some surprise. After a moment, she lifted her face to regard the sky outside and said, “It’s getting late; let us first take our luncheon.” With that, she smilingly invited them into the tent.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Unlike Great Zhou, the Zherou practiced “communal dining.”

The palace ladies beside Princess Lianyi led the group to the back of the main tent, where a carpet covered in gold and silver vessels was laid.

Once the princess had taken her seat, the others sat in a circle upon the carpet with her.

They had been delayed somewhat on the road; after a few pleasantries, they began their luncheon.

Among the envoys, it seemed only Jiang Yuxun was visiting Zherou for the first time.

Worried he might not know how to eat, the palace lady who had come in marriage along with Princess Lianyi carefully explained, “Lord Jiang, the dish in the dish is cheese; you can simply steep it in your bowl for eating.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Aunt.” Jiang Yuxun nodded quickly.

Zherou and Great Zhou did not share a language, and their social customs were also quite different.

Princess Lianyi smiled as she ate. “The Zherou eat with their hands; in twenty years I still haven’t gotten used to it, so I simply don’t follow local customs.” There was a faint regret in her words.

Tang Yimeng hastened to say, “You will always be our princess of Great Zhou; your attire and diet are naturally to differ from others.”

They had also brought spirits on this trip; with that, Tang Yimeng had people open the liquor and pour for Princess Lianyi, then asked Jiang Yuxun to speak of the drink’s origins.

As they spoke, a strong wind rose again outside the royal court.

After noon passed, it seemed the surroundings were not so hot.

Princess Lianyi took a light sip, and her eyes brightened. “I have never tasted liquor this strong.”

Then she murmured, “The aroma is mellow and sweet—a truly rare fine drink.”

Jiang Yuxun smiled and told her, “Spirits come in many varieties; what Your Highness just tasted is only one of them. For this trip, we have prepared a cartload of spirits for Your Highness. When you have time, you can taste a jar at a time.”

Before coming, he had heard from Lord Tang that Princess Lianyi was forthright and outgoing; though a woman of a foreign people, she navigated the royal court with ease.

The Zherou nobility loved feasts and revelry and would gather every few days, and the princess never missed them.

The liquor he had prepared was not for Lianyi alone to drink.

It was for her to invite other Zherou nobles and even people of the Western Regions to taste together.

Princess Lianyi seemed to understand Jiang Yuxun’s intent.

After a few breaths, she suddenly smiled lightly. “Lord Jiang is most thoughtful.”

Perhaps because she had seen old friends and drunk a little,

As the luncheon neared its end, Princess Lianyi could not help reflecting: “When I came to Zherou, His Majesty seemed to be only three or four. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed… Not to mention father and mother—even my brothers and sisters are all gone.”

She paused for a long while and sighed heavily. “Now, in this world, it seems I have only His Majesty left as kin.”

A light breeze lifted her long hair, and the gray streaks well concealed beneath her coiled tresses suddenly showed.

Twenty years had indeed left their traces upon her.

Perhaps from having spent long in Zherou, Princess Lianyi spoke more plainly than the imperial nobility of the Central Plains.

She lifted a golden cup, paused a moment, and suddenly asked, “I’ve always been curious—what does His Majesty look like now?”

In the next instant, all eyes turned in unison to Jiang Yuxun.

Wait… why look at me?

Have you not seen the emperor yourselves!

Before Jiang Yuxun could toss the question to someone else, Princess Lianyi also turned to look at him. “Since Lord Jiang is Attendant-in-Ordinary, he must be most familiar with His Majesty.”

Called upon, Jiang Yuxun had to set the cheese back in the plate. “In reply to Your Highness, His Majesty now—”

As a minister who also wished to keep his post, Jiang Yuxun naturally had to praise Ying Changchuan at this moment.

But though the words reached his lips, he could not get them out.

…Damn, this is too hard!

With a deep psychological shadow, Jiang Yuxun instinctively glanced back at the tent.

Once he was sure Ying Changchuan would not suddenly appear, he worked hard to marshal his words under everyone’s gaze. “His Majesty now has extraordinary bearing, is mature and steady, calm and unflappable, er… unshaken in the face of change.”

Heaven knew how hard Jiang Yuxun had worked to pick these positive yet not overly effusive words.

Hearing this, Princess Lianyi frowned.

Jiang Yuxun thought she found him perfunctory, but the next moment he heard…

“Mature and steady, is it…” Princess Lianyi, who had drunk no small amount, couldn’t help laughing. “So twenty years truly have passed. When I left home, His Majesty had nothing to do with ‘sedate.’”

Jiang Yuxun: “!”

Before Lianyi, the princesses in history who married abroad all ended their days in foreign lands.

Perhaps thinking she would never return to Great Zhou, Princess Lianyi spoke with few scruples.

The other envoys exchanged glances and tacitly did not respond.

But after two cups, Jiang Yuxun suddenly felt his heart itch with curiosity.

He couldn’t help tightening his grip on the wine cup and asked, “Why does Your Highness say so?”

Princess Lianyi took a light sip of spirits and said, her voice slightly husky, “Before I came to Zherou, I kept a white cat. His Majesty often came to my courtyard to see it.”

…That Ying Changchuan would take an interest in animals?

Jiang Yuxun felt a flicker of doubt, but thinking of his age then, it did not seem incomprehensible.

“That cat loved meat; usually I just let it eat its fill. But once His Majesty came, he always liked to tease it with meat. When it opened its mouth, he would lift the meat high so it bit empty air.”

Thinking of the past, a barely suppressed amusement colored Princess Lianyi’s voice.

As she spoke, Jiang Yuxun also seemed to return to the past with her, seeing that scene of twenty years ago.

“For this he was scratched by the cat several times, and it left scars on him, yet he could never change the habit of teasing it.” After saying this, Lianyi gave a rather helpless sigh.

Jiang Yuxun: “?!”

Though a bit outrageous, this was indeed something Ying Changchuan could have done as a boy…

Seeing his odd expression, the princess couldn’t help asking, “Does Lord Jiang have some question?”

Jiang Yuxun paused, then casually grabbed at a topic. “In reply, Your Highness, this minister has never seen any scars and so was a little surprised.”

He thought the topic could end there, but Princess Lianyi, misunderstanding his meaning, actually tried to recall in detail.

“This… it’s been too long; I can’t quite remember where the scars were,” having drunk a bit, she sighed somewhat regretfully, then offered offhand, “If Lord Jiang is curious, on returning you can ask him.”

Surely not—a question one could ask?!

The princess’s suggestion sounded truly outlandish.

—Perhaps she had been away from Great Zhou too long and still regarded Ying Changchuan as a child, as in those days.

Not wishing to puncture this, Jiang Yuxun silently griped while answering glibly, “Yes, Your Highness.”

After this recollection, Princess Lianyi drained her spirits, and could not help smiling and shaking her head. “Plainly he liked it so much, yet he had to bully a little cat. If that’s not childishness, then what is?”

As Tang Yimeng had said before they came, though the Zherou did not attach weight to this event, they kept a close eye on the envoys and gave them no chance to move about freely.

It was only three or four in the afternoon after luncheon.

Jiang Yuxun and his party were taken by Zherou soldiers to their lodgings, and thereafter found it hard to go out again.

Having had a bit to drink and with nothing to do, he could only bury his head in sleep.

When he woke from this sleep, it was the dead of night.

In the area of the Zherou royal court, rain was scant all year.

Their tents also differed from those of Great Zhou.

—For instance, there was an oculus at the top for ventilation.

The weather was fine today; lying on the couch, one could see a sky full of stars.

Jiang Yuxun rubbed his eyes and couldn’t help counting the stars one by one through the oculus.

“Ah…” If only there were a cellphone right now.

Who knew what Ying Changchuan was doing now?

…Nine times out of ten, annotating memorials.

Lying on the couch and dazing off, Jiang Yuxun couldn’t help letting his thoughts wander.

The nightlife of antiquity was truly impoverished.

If one did not sleep, it seemed there really was nothing to do.

At this, Jiang Yuxun’s eyes suddenly lit up. “I’ve got it!”

Ying Changchuan slept so little; at night, he could only rely on handling affairs of state to pass the time.

—No wonder he became a workaholic famed through the ages!

Night was deep on the steppe, but the clepsydra had only just pointed to the Xu hour.

In modern terms, even the dinner hour had not yet passed.

Having reviewed the war chariots under the North-Pacifying General’s escort, Ying Changchuan returned to the command tent.

He had always been diligent; memorials did not pile up.

In no more than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he had handled everything at hand.

Seeing this, the soldier standing in the tent finally stepped forward, bowed, and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty, before Lord Jiang left, he recorded the commandery’s garrison-farming situation in a register. He said when you have time, he would present it to you.”

At the familiar name, Ying Changchuan felt a stir in his heart.

“Very well.”

No sooner had he spoken than the soldier presented the booklet with both hands before Ying Changchuan. “May Your Majesty peruse.”

The oil lamp in the tent flickered, lighting the familiar “Jiang” signature on the title page.

Ying Changchuan took the booklet in hand, and the soldier bowed again and resumed his place in the corner of the tent.

By lamp light, Ying Changchuan casually opened the register.

But upon seeing the contents of the first page, he could not help frowning.

“Second month, sixth day, Chen hour—go to His Majesty to fetch the memorials he has approved, and deliver them to the Grand Coachman.”

“Second month, eleventh day—remember to write a letter to inquire about the distillery.”

“Second month, twelfth day—go dine at Lord Zhuang’s residence.”

The Son of Heaven’s finger paused; he couldn’t help flipping ahead a few pages.

“Why is this meeting still not over at this hour?”

“=-=”

“I’m starving to death…”

At this, Ying Changchuan finally could not help but laugh.

Jiang Yuxun’s desk was piled high with notebooks; the soldier just now was illiterate and had inadvertently brought to the throne the booklet Jiang Yuxun used to record his schedule and doodle at random.

Unlike the neat writing on the memorials of everyday, the characters on this sheet were not only wildly scrawled but many were missing strokes; it was only by effort that Ying Changchuan could make out what he had written.

Once he recognized what the booklet was, Ying Changchuan did not continue flipping ahead.

But as he was about to close it, he inadvertently caught sight of the next page, which was filled with the names of common dishes in the palace.

With nothing better to do, Jiang Yuxun had not only recorded the daily fare, but had even left commentary beside it, marking right and wrong to show his likes and dislikes.

At this, Ying Changchuan could not help pausing.

…In the end, he could not resist reading through it line by line.

Footnotes:

1. Rammed-earth “sanhetu”: A traditional composite of clay, sand, and lime (often with straw) used for walls and fortifications; renowned for strength when compacted in layers.

2. Communal dining: A Zherou custom of sharing dishes seated in a circle on carpets, often eating with hands, distinct from Zhou table service.

3. Timekeeping terms: The Xu hour corresponds roughly to 19:00–21:00; the “time to burn a stick of incense” is a conventional span of approximately 10–30 minutes depending on context.