Mo Sang – CH 255

Chapter 255. Good News, Bad News

Old Ye, the messenger, carefully calculated the journey. He hurried along the road, and on the evening of the fourth day, at the inn in Meihua Town, he met the second group of messengers from Shezhou heading to Tongling to pick up a letter.

Hei Ma and Xiao Lu followed closely behind Old Ye, sitting at the same table with the two messengers from Shezhou, one old and one young, who were also heading to Tongling. They ate and talked.

After the meal, Xiao Lu found an opportunity to whisper to Li Sangrou what the old and young messengers had said: In Jiande City, everything was the same as before; they had not heard or seen anything unusual along the way.

They felt that this place was nothing but mountains, and war would not reach them.

“Boss, could it be that they did not take the Jiande route?” Xiao Lu asked, frowning.

Li Sangrou lowered her eyes, silently calculating the Shizi’s journey. When the old and young messengers were in Jiande City, the prince’s army might have just passed through or perhaps had not arrived yet; they must have missed it.

“Tell this to Old Meng,” Li Sangrou whispered to Xiao Lu.

Meihua Town was large enough that Meng Yanqing and his group could split up, forming small groups. They then found an inn in town, washed up, had a good meal, and got a good night’s sleep.

They traveled all day, setting off at dawn the next day. After about an hour, when they were still a li from Longmen Pass, they saw a long queue along one side of the mountain road.

“What’s going on?” Hei Ma craned his neck to look ahead.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I will go ask.” Old Ye looked around, then squatted down next to an old man squatting between two baskets of vegetables by the roadside and asked, “What’s going on? What happened?”

“How should I know?! You did not see that I just arrived! You did not see that I’ve only just gotten to this point in the queue! I have not even reached the front yet!” the old man snapped irritably.

He was in a bad mood. It was market day, and his wife had been urging him to go early and come back early this morning. He thought he had enough time, so he watered the vegetable garden before picking the vegetables and heading out. Now, he was stuck in line like this, wondering when he’d even get to town. These vegetables would probably wilt before they could even be sold.

“I will go ask at the front,” Hei Ma said, craning his neck to look ahead. He looked at Old Ye but spoke to Li Sangrou.

Li Sangrou lowered her eyes.

Hei Ma patted Old Ye and pushed his way forward through the crowd.

“Excuse me, excuse me! I am not cutting in line; do not worry, I just want to say something to my second uncle. He’s at the front; I need to ask him something. Excuse me, excuse me, Second Uncle!” Hei Ma shouted incoherently as he pushed forward, craning his neck to call out every so often.

After squeezing to the front, there were still about a dozen people before the checkpoint. Hei Ma stopped and craned his neck to look ahead.

Beneath the gate stood twenty or thirty soldiers in gleaming armor. Antler bars blocked most of the entrance, leaving only two gaps, one for entering and one for exiting, each just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Those entering and exiting were checked one by one.

At each entrance and exit, five or six soldiers stood, two of them appearing to be junior officers, each holding a portrait. One looked at those entering, the other at those exiting, examining each person against their portrait.

Hei Ma’s heart tightened. He ducked back, but had only taken a few steps when a soldier behind him called out, “Hey! The one with the flowered headscarf! Stop!”

Everyone around Hei Ma turned to look, instinctively stepping back to let him pass.

“We are talking to you!” Two soldiers, one carrying a spear, the other gripping a sword hilt, strode over.

“Me? You are talking to me?” Hei Ma pointed to himself, looking utterly bewildered.

“There’s another headscarf here? Look at yours; it is really eye-catching!”

“Why are you running back?” The soldier with the spear nudged Hei Ma with the barrel of his spear.

“I just arrived. I should be at the back of the line, but this line is over a li long. I do not know what happened, so I squeezed in to take a look. I thought someone had died!

I was just asking around to see what was going on ahead, and I’d go back once I’d seen it all. Now that I’ve seen it all, should I not go back? Do you think I’d say I was just asking for light, and then I went into town first? That would make me a liar!

That will not do. Besides, my second uncle is still behind us!

And there are a few other people behind me who told me to tell them what happened when I went back, and I promised,” Hei Ma explained carefully in fluent Chizhou dialect.

“What kind of language is that? It is awful. What do you do? Where’s your second uncle?” The soldier with the knife spoke fluent Mandarin, sizing up Hei Ma.

“Chizhou dialect! I am from Chizhou! My second uncle is from Xiuning County. Can you not even recognize the Chizhou dialect? Where are you from? Your Mandarin is quite good, very pleasant to hear!” Hei Ma gave the soldier a thumbs-up.

“Chizhou and Xiuning, what are you doing here?” The soldier looked at Hei Ma with disdain.

“My second uncle is a letter carrier. I learned to be a letter carrier from him. We travel from Xiuning to Chizhou and back to Xiuning, every month, once a month,” Hei Ma gestured with his hand in a large circle.

“Alright, go to the back and line up. Do not wander around anymore, or I will arrest you!” The soldier with the spear tapped Hei Ma with the end.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Hei Ma responded repeatedly, quickly turning around and squeezing back into the crowd. At the back of the line, Old Ye stood in line. Li Sangrou looked ill, her head hunched, arms crossed, sitting on a roadside stone. Xiao Lu squatted beside her, glancing at her every so often, a layer of sorrow shrouding him from head to toe.

Hei Ma squeezed back and told Old Ye about checking people against portraits earlier. He then squatted down next to Li Sangrou and, in a low voice, carefully recounted what he had seen at the checkpoint and what had just happened.

Li Sangrou listened intently, then said softly, “Ask Old Ye if there’s a shortcut we can take. Even if the portrait is not of us, with this kind of search, if we get through, Old Meng and the others will not be able to.”

“Hmm,” Hei Ma responded, about to stand up, then asked softly, “The portrait? Should I stand in line here and go check it out?”

“No need for now; let’s get through safely first,” Li Sangrou said softly.

Hei Ma responded softly, squatted for a moment, then stood up, walked to Old Ye’s side, and said softly, “Second Uncle, I just remembered, none of us three siblings have travel permits. If we are in trouble, that could be a real problem. Can we take a detour?”

“There’s a small path, but it is not easy to walk. Alright, let’s take it.” Old Ye nodded.

“Then let’s be quiet, so as not to disturb those ahead,” Hei Ma said, craning his neck to look ahead.

Seeing three or four people emerge from the pass and walk by, Hei Ma gestured for Old Ye to follow them while he waited until more people came before catching up.

Xiao Lu helped Li Sangrou, who looked frail and sickly, and they turned back.

Among the people behind, groups of two or three occasionally turned back, making the four of them unremarkable.

They walked back six or seven li, then, near a small village, they left the post road and entered the mountains.

There were few paths in the mountains, but Old Ye walked quickly, explaining to Hei Ma as he went, “There’s a small village in these mountains, mostly hunters, about forty or fifty families. Occasionally, there will be a letter or two; I’ve delivered them three or four times. Just over that hill, down there, past the village, and over two more small hills, and you will reach Xiantang Town, right behind Longmen Pass.

If we hurry, we can reach Xiantang Town before dark.”

Sure enough, just as darkness fell, Li Sangrou and her group emerged from the mountains. Ahead lay Xiantang Town.

Xiantang Town was a small town, almost deserted after dark.

Old Ye led the three into the town’s only inn.

A moment later, Meng Yanqing, along with Mazha and Datou, also checked into the inn.

Finding an opportunity, Meng Yanqing approached Li Sangrou and asked in a low voice, “Something happened?”

“Yes, Longmen Pass has set up a checkpoint, with people going around comparing portraits.

“Hei Ma said there are twenty or thirty men at the pass, all strong and well-dressed, with bright armor. They do not speak the local accent; they speak Mandarin very well. Hei Ma said he could only tell they were not from this area; he could not tell where their accent came from. These people probably are not the local garrison,” Li Sangrou said, her eyes lowered. Meng Yanqing’s expression changed. “Then the Shizi…”

“Hmm, I am afraid it is not good. However, since they are still setting up checkpoints and searching, that’s good.” Li Sangrou’s voice was low.

“They’ve already tracked us down this far, so how are we supposed to find him?” Meng Yanqing was anxious.

If something were to happen to the Shizi…

“Let’s head towards Jiande first. If the two armies really clashed, there must have been at least one major battle. Let’s start by searching the battlefield,” Li Sangrou said, her eyes lowered.

“Alright.” Meng Yanqing took a deep breath.

“Do not rush. The more critical the situation, the more composed we must be. Better slow than fast,” Li Sangrou said gently, pausing before continuing, “The Shizi is a lucky man; he will be fine.”

“Alright,” Meng Yanqing responded softly.

……………………

Beyond Longmen Pass lay a flat area nestled among mountains, with four or five towns. Hei Ma, following Old Ye, had traveled for two days, delivering about ten letters, and arrived at Xianming Town, where they met up with Li Sangrou and Xiao Lu. Over dinner, they recounted their experiences over the past two days in hushed tones.

“Every checkpoint was guarded by soldiers, very heavily guarded,” Old Ye said, glancing around occasionally, his fear barely concealed.

“Yesterday afternoon, a letter arrived from the county scholar’s ​​family. He happened to be home and called me in, asking about Tongling, the journey, and whether I had heard anything.

He asked me, and I asked him; we just inquired about a few things.

The scholar said, ‘Those soldiers all came from Hangzhou. He said their commander used to be an imperial servant, someone who served before the Emperor. But when I asked him further, he would not say, saying it was not my place to know.’

Later, when I left, his old steward warned me to be careful, saying his master said these people came with imperial edicts, their faces cold and their hearts ruthless; they’d kill anyone, no matter who they were.

By the way, these soldiers arrived the day before we reached Longmen Pass. We crossed Longmen Pass the second day after the checkpoints were set up—quite a coincidence.

Sigh, that girl…sigh.”

Old Ye wanted to say that the girl’s husband was probably in grave danger, but the words stuck in his throat.

“Let’s rest early, get up early tomorrow, and see what’s ahead. Maybe there’s nothing to worry about.

Do not worry, everything will be alright,” Old Ye said listlessly, looking at Li Sangrou, who was downcast.

After dinner, Hei Ma approached Li Sangrou and whispered, “I spoke with the soldiers a few times.

They said it is a thousand-man unit coming. They’ve never fought a war. They said they were originally stationed at Great Qingxi, not far from Hangzhou. They received an urgent order and set off in the middle of the night, rushing here at breakneck speed.

Also, I saw that portrait. It looks a lot like the Shizi.

Those soldiers only know they are investigating this person; they do not even know who he is.”

When Hei Ma mentioned “looks a lot like the Shizi,” he glanced at Li Sangrou subconsciously, paused, and then continued, “I’ve already told Old Ye that firstly, we should hurry to Jiande City as quickly as possible; and secondly, we should take a shortcut, avoiding checkpoints.

Old Ye said there are tigers and leopards in the mountains, and wolves too. We need to be careful on the road. I told him that Xiao Lu and I both have some martial arts skills, so we are not afraid.”

“Alright, go and tell Old Meng to be careful on the road, and also, tell them to stay close.” Li Sangrou lowered her eyes and gave a brief instruction.

……………………

A few days later, the group encountered a letter carrier on his way to Tongling again in Baitang Town.

The old letter carrier was from Shexian County, which bordered Xiuning County. He knew Old Ye well, and the two sat together, talking for over an hour. Hei Ma sat beside them, listening and occasionally asking questions.

Jiande City had indeed been ravaged by war. First, the Northern Qi Army attacked and occupied the county seat, but only for a little over a day. In the middle of the night, the Southern Liang Army surrounded it, saying that by dawn they had driven Jiande City back.

The old letter carrier was not in Jiande City at the time; he arrived two days later. He said things were alright in Jiande City, but it was a great fright.

Currently, many soldiers were stationed in Jiande City, and they were constantly searching, especially outside the city; the searches were very strict. They said they were purging the scattered Southern Liang soldiers, and they had even offered a reward: five taels of silver for capturing a Southern Liang soldier alive, and five hundred coins for a dead one, provided the body was intact, not just the head.

Li Sangrou listened intently, then slowly exhaled.

The Shizi’s army and General Wu’s army had indeed met on a narrow path, and perhaps with the support of the Hangzhou army, they were also under attack. The Shizi’s army was defeated, and Southern Liang had drawn a portrait of the Shizi, searching all the way to Longmen Pass. It seemed that the Shizi had, at least, not fallen into the hands of the Southern Liang.

“Boss, should we not hurry over there? Old Ye needs to deliver a letter; not only will he take a detour, but passing through towns and villages will also waste half a day or a day. Why do we not go ourselves?” Hei Ma looked at Li Sangrou, frowning as he suggested.

“First, the road is difficult to travel; it is easy to get lost in the mountains.

Second, what will we do after we get there? How will we find them? So many people from Southern Liang have not found them. How are we supposed to find them?” Li Sangrou took a deep breath.

“We cannot rush. Follow Old Ye.

The Shizi and his men are unfamiliar with this place. They are used to a life of luxury, unlike us. Right now, we are most likely still stuck around Jiande City. Once we get there, we will have to rely on Old Ye and the others to find us.”

“Yeah, that’s true. If it were us, we would have run away by now.

Boss, where do you think we should run to? Anyway, no matter where we run, we will definitely be long gone, right?” Hei Ma clicked his tongue.

“Tell Old Meng about this. Get some rest as soon as you get back.” Li Sangrou was silent for a moment, then gave a low instruction.