Xu Fengnian dismounted, while Yang Shenxing took the opportunity to step down from his carriage, and the two walked side by side. Xu Fengnian casually introduced the group of people to the newly appointed Deputy Military Commissioner—they were local officials led by the governor of Tongshan County, essentially dragged out to witness the occasion. After all, while Xu Fengnian might not take Yang Shenxing seriously, to the officials of Tongshan County, the reputation of this “local emperor” of Jizhou was thunderous, especially since Yang Shenxing’s elite Jizhou infantry were renowned as unparalleled in the world and had been itching to compete with Yan Wenluan’s Youzhou army for years. Getting to meet the old general Yang today was undoubtedly prime material for future dinner conversations.
Xu Fengnian exchanged pleasantries with the old man about his journey westward, and Yang Shenxing responded warmly, creating an atmosphere so harmonious that the Tongshan officials were utterly baffled. In truth, though Yang Shenxing appeared to be hitting it off with the young prince, inwardly, he was sweating bullets. After all, Northern Liang had once even refused imperial decrees. With the region in chaos, what did a corpse or two matter in these desolate wilds? Blame it on bandits—would the court really dig deep? The friendlier Xu Fengnian acted, the more uneasy Yang Shenxing became. Just as Yang Huchen had speculated earlier, given the dire straits the Yang family was in, having the Youzhou governor receive them would already be the highest honor. Yang Shenxing wasn’t so deluded as to think he warranted the Northern Liang King leaving the frontlines to greet him personally.
Fortunately, Xu Fengnian didn’t keep him in suspense. He first dismissed the Tongshan officials back to their posts, then stopped at a small roadside tea stall, waking the dozing proprietress with a smile and ordering three bowls of tea. Once seated, he got straight to the point: “My trip to Youzhou was just a detour. After this tea, I’ll be heading northeast to the Helan Mountains. Wang Sui and his tens of thousands of Northern Mang cavalry are still lurking at Youzhou’s doorstep. If I’m late, I might miss the famous Prince Consort of Eastern Yue.”
Yang Shenxing maintained his composure with a nonchalant hum, but his mind raced. This time, he had left the capital under the hollow title of Deputy Military Commissioner of Northern Liang, dismissed as a spent force. With no correspondence along the way and no contact with outsiders, he was completely in the dark about the state of affairs. All he knew were the tidbits before his departure—the fall of Hutou City, Dong Zhuo’s forces spreading their lines, leaving the first line of defense outside Liangzhou precarious. He had even expected to see refugees fleeing Northern Liang en masse by the time he reached Youzhou. But Xu Fengnian’s casual mention of confronting Wang Sui’s cavalry at Helan Mountains shocked him. Was Northern Liang planning to abandon the entire battlefield beyond Liangzhou? Half a year ago, reports about Northern Liang’s battles had still been flooding the capital from the Huai regions, and Northern Liang hadn’t bothered to suppress them. But since the start of Xiangfu’s second year, the imperial spies and Huai officials had struggled to obtain firsthand intelligence on Northern Liang’s military movements. Yang Shenxing had heard that several spy outposts had been uprooted, and agents posing as martial artists who had followed Xuanyuan Qingfeng to Northern Liang were quickly detained by the Fushui Bureau, much to the fury of the imperial military and justice ministries.
When Xu Fengnian took the tea bowl from the woman, Yang Huchen couldn’t help but roll his eyes. The woman had unceremoniously plopped the bowls on the table for him and his father, but for the young prince, she carried it over with both hands, swaying her thick waist like a serpent. She didn’t set it down immediately, and when Xu Fengnian reached for it, she naturally took the chance to brush fingers. Unfazed, she even flirted, “Handsome lad, are you married? If not, our village has a lovely girl—I’ll play matchmaker!” Yang Huchen was stunned. Were Northern Liang women this bold? Stranger still, Xu Fengnian didn’t take offense but bantered back with the ease of a street rogue, leaving the woman blushing for once. Yang Huchen’s dislike deepened. As a seasoned warrior, he already had a poor impression of this new Northern Liang King, and witnessing his frivolity only made him frown harder. Yet, oddly, he caught his father smiling genuinely, as if an old rake admiring a rising star. Yang Huchen was baffled.
Xu Fengnian took a sip of tea, then dropped a bombshell that nearly made Yang Huchen drop his bowl: “Dong Zhuo’s central army failed to take Huaiyang Pass and has retreated. Liuzhou saw the bloodiest fighting—only one in ten of the 30,000 Longxiang troops survived. Liu Gui fled to Longyao Province with his remnants. As for Youzhou’s Hulu Pass, Yang Yuanzan is dead. Zhong Tan and Hong Jingyan’s whereabouts are unknown.”
Yang Shenxing lowered his head to drink, his expression unreadable, but the ripples in his tea bowl betrayed his agitation.
Yang Huchen blurted out, “That’s impossible!”
Yang Shenxing snapped his head up, furious. “Huchen, mind your manners!”
Setting down his bowl, Yang Shenxing turned to Xu Fengnian apologetically. “Your Highness, my son’s insolence is unforgivable. I beg your mercy.”
Xu Fengnian smirked. “What mercy? I’m not the emperor—how could I punish a Jizhou deputy general?”
Sweat beaded on Yang Shenxing’s forehead.
Yang Huchen clenched a fist under the table, ignoring his father’s scolding, and stared at Xu Fengnian. “Did Northern Liang truly defeat a million Northern Mang cavalry?!”
Xu Fengnian sidestepped the question. “Northern Liang lost many lives.”
Yang Shenxing barked, “Yang Huchen! Shut your mouth!”
Yang Huchen, who had earned the emperor’s praise for being “loyal and filial,” now had veins bulging on his neck, deaf to his father’s reprimand. He glared, as if ready to stake his life on challenging the young prince.
Xu Fengnian smiled. “You, Yang Huchen, or your father—do you think you’re worth lying to?”
The stubborn Yang Huchen pressed, “Your Highness, how did Northern Liang win three battles at once?”
Before Xu Fengnian could answer, Yang Shenxing stood and smacked his son’s head. “Brat, shut up before you dig your own grave!”
The deputy general of Jizhou, hair disheveled from the blow, gritted his teeth and persisted. “Your Highness, did Northern Liang really defeat the Northern Mang savages?!”
Xu Fengnian nodded. “We did.”
Yang Shenxing nearly kicked his son away, but Xu Fengnian waved him off. “Let it go, Lord Yang.”
Yang Shenxing stamped his foot in frustration. “Your Highness, I don’t mean to boast, but if not for his damned stubbornness, Huchen’s command skills would’ve earned him a general’s rank in the capital long ago. I just can’t trust him to deal with those oily courtiers! Look at him—he dares to be this insolent even before you. If he went to the capital, he’d lose his head before his rank!”
Xu Fengnian chuckled. “General Yang is suited for local command. In the capital, he’d be outmatched by those seasoned foxes. Even as a general, he’d be miserable.”
Yang Shenxing sighed. “True. That’s why I didn’t stop him from returning to Jizhou. Would’ve been pointless anyway.”
Yang Huchen muttered, dazed, “We won? Really won?”
Xu Fengnian teased, “What, General Yang didn’t want Northern Liang to win? Worried your father would arrive to find Northern Mang cavalry roaming freely?”
Yang Huchen, regaining his senses, absently touched his empty sleeve. “Losing an arm never bothered me. But it’s a shame it was cut off by our own people on the battlefield, not by Northern Mang blades.”
He grinned suddenly and stood, startling his father. Yang Shenxing, fearing another outburst, gripped his son’s shoulder. “Sit down!”
Yang Huchen shook his head, raised his tea bowl, and said solemnly to Xu Fengnian, “Your Highness, no wine here, so I’ll dare to toast you and all Northern Liang soldiers with tea! My life’s greatest wish—Northern Liang fulfilled it. No matter what happens between the court and Northern Liang, I owe you a bowl of wine. If you die on the battlefield, I’ll lead troops to toast you there. If the court kills you, I’ll toast you at the execution ground!”
Yang Shenxing closed his eyes. His son was courting death with such treasonous words.
But to his surprise, Xu Fengnian also stood and raised his bowl. “This tea toast, I’ll drink. And if you ever come to Northern Liang, bring good wine—one bowl isn’t enough.”
Bowls clinked, and both drank deeply.
From afar, the woman, unable to hear clearly, glanced at the three men and muttered as she tidied, “Men and their theatrics over cheap tea. Pretentious!”
After tea, Yang Huchen, once Jizhou’s fiercest general, took his leave. Yang Shenxing, relieved, chuckled, “Get lost already!”
Xu Fengnian and Yang Shenxing sat back down. The woman hurried over to refill their bowls. Xu Fengnian teased, “Boss, don’t just add water—throw in some leaves too. One bowl was two coins; these two should count as one.”
She pinched his arm lightly. “Fine, one coin it is. Handsome as you are, you’re too fussy for a husband. My rough man’s better.”
Xu Fengnian grinned. “Strong and sturdy, huh?”
She blushed. “Cheeky brat! Talking like a failed scholar!”
Hesitating, she asked, “Sure you don’t want me as matchmaker?”
Xu Fengnian laughed. “Already married.”
Watching this, Yang Shenxing mused—Northern Liang was different from the empire.
Xu Fengnian’s smile faded. “Poor folks here have hard lives, but many refuse to accept fate.”
Yang Shenxing nodded. “The empire’s finest troops come from Liaodong and the Long regions—there’s truth in that.”
Xu Fengnian asked, “Lord Yang, two paths lie ahead. One—be a idle deputy commissioner, retire peacefully at Qingliang Mountain.”
Before he could mention the second, Yang Shenxing said calmly, “I’ll take that one. Too old for adventures, and Huchen’s still in Jizhou.”
Xu Fengnian smiled. “Northern Liang’s small, scenery can’t match the heartland, but Wudang Mountain’s cool in summer, and Lingzhou’s warm in winter. Wander when you’re bored.”
Yang Shenxing hesitated, stunned by Xu Fengnian’s generosity—tolerating Huchen’s insolence, even letting him live comfortably in Northern Liang.
Xu Fengnian gazed into the distance. “Had it been anyone else as deputy commissioner, they’d never have entered Youzhou. Yang Huchen has a father he’d willingly serve as a groom. I, too, have a father. Xu Xiao had debts—some repaid, some not. He owed some, repaid some, some forever unpaid.”
He glanced at the old man, who’d forgotten the past. “Once, a minor officer, after losing to Eastern Yue’s Wang Sui, couldn’t buy troops even with silver. Only one man, Yang Shenxing, didn’t mock him—even chatted once outside the ministry. Years later, that officer, now old, told his son: ‘Remember grudges, but also kindness.’ He mentioned Yang Shenxing—‘lousy general, decent man.’”
Yang Shenxing smiled wistfully. “I’d forgotten. That the Grand General remembered… and told you.” Stroking his beard, he added, “For him to call me ‘decent’—I’m honored. Though as a general, being called ‘lousy’ stings, even from him.”
Xu Fengnian chuckled. “An escort will take you to Liangzhou. I won’t see you off.”
Yang Shenxing nodded. “Of course. Mustn’t delay Your Highness.”
After paying, riders arrived. Yang Shenxing mounted, saluting. “Your Highness, farewell!”
Xu Fengnian nodded. “See you in Liangzhou.”
The woman, awed by the cavalry, gaped. Catching “Your Highness,” she whispered, “Your name’s ‘Prince’? Bold parents. Your father’s a general, right? Want your coins back?”
Xu Fengnian, actually bound for Lingzhou, shook his head. “If in two years you’re still here selling tea and I return, give me a discount?”
She laughed. “Deal! My man can call me wasteful. Pity I won’t dare grope you then.”
Xu Fengnian sighed. “Still bold.”
Sunlight filtered through leaves, dappling the table, bowls, and stools—peaceful, serene.
From horseback, Yang Shenxing looked back at the scene.
For some reason, the old man in Northern Liang thought:
*The heartland is useless.*
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