Mo Sang – CH 260

Chapter 260. Eat, Eat!

Sailing north from Poyang Lake with favorable winds and currents, the warships arrived outside Jiangzhou City the next day.

Outside Jiangzhou City, the main fleet of ships from Jingzhou, arriving an hour or two earlier, had already rounded Shizhong Mountain and anchored in Poyang Lake.

Seeing Gu Xi’s warships arrive, General Cao, commanding the Jingzhou army, hurriedly boarded to request an audience with Gu Xi.

Qiao An’s troops, traveling downstream from Xiazhou, had not yet arrived.

Wen Cheng, traveling day and night, arrived in Jiangzhou City from Yangzhou almost simultaneously with Gu Xi.

Gu Xi, upon receiving the report that Master Wen had arrived, breathed a long sigh of relief.

With Shouzhen here, he no longer needed to constantly oversee the myriad and complex logistics and supplies. His health had not fully recovered; the past few days had been too strenuous, and after noon, he felt drowsy and needed an hour’s rest before resuming his duties.

Wen Cheng, travel-worn, entered the cabin. He looked at Gu Xi and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, his throat tightened. After a long pause, he finally managed to utter a word.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”

“It’s good you’re here. I’m still a bit exhausted. These numbers are too tiring to look at.” Gu Xi’s face was pale, and his forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat; he was clearly very tired. He put down the thick military equipment book in his hand and leaned back against the cushions.

“I’ll check it.” Wen Cheng reached for the military equipment book, sat down in the chair in front of the couch, and carefully examined Gu Xi.

“I ran into Ru-Yi at the door and asked him a few questions. I can’t even imagine how you survived that month!” Wen Cheng lifted the gauze covering Gu Xi’s legs, looking at the wound around his eye.

“At first, we didn’t dare light a fire. Ru-Yi and the others caught pheasants and rabbits and drank their blood,” Gu Xi sighed, then laughed, “It’s all in the past now. When I get to Runzhou, I’ll definitely get my revenge on Wu Huaiguo for that arrow attack.”

“A while ago, Ah Yue was very worried. She said the Emperor had clearly lost weight, looked unwell, and was in a bad mood. She said he even lost his temper with her once, just because she mentioned that you were going to send her spring tea from Hongzhou, and that it was almost summer, but she still hadn’t received it. The Emperor got angry.

I thought things might not be going well on your end, but I didn’t expect it to be like this. Sigh, you were too reckless. The Emperor must have been worried sick these past months!” Wen Cheng said, frowning.

From the moment he heard the name Ah Yue, Gu Xi glanced sideways at Wen Cheng. After he finished speaking, he slowly uttered, “Oh. Ah Yue, ha, ha!”

“I remember ever since Ah Yue came to us when she was six or seven, you’ve been talking about proper etiquette between men and women, about hierarchy and status. From then on, she’d always been Princess Ninghe, Your Highness, so formal and proper.

Now, why is Ah Yue in the spotlight again? Is Ah Yue growing in reverse, getting smaller and smaller?”

“Your injury is indeed healed.” Wen Cheng’s expression was serious. “Since it’s healed, let me tell you about the situation with General Huang and General Wen.”

……………………

Two days before docking in Jiangzhou, Gu Xi had been so busy that she barely had time to rest, and Li Sangrou hadn’t been on the ship since.

Wen Cheng crossed the river from the opposite bank of Jiangzhou by boat. When he boarded the ship, Li Sangrou was on her own boat, comparing which type of tea made the best tea eggs, sitting in front of a row of five or six small red-clay stoves.

Wen Cheng went straight to see Gu Xi. Before Bai-Cheng even boarded the ship, he saw Hei Ma fishing on a small boat and quickly called out to him. He wasn’t on duty, so he had the small boat dock next to Li Sangrou’s boat. He first directed the servants to carry two large boxes onto the boat, then followed. After greeting Li Sangrou, he pointed to the boxes and explained:

“This box was sent by the princess to his master, who then entrusted it to deliver to the Boss. This box was entrusted by Seventh Master Pan to Princess Ninghe, who then sent it to his master, who then entrusted it to deliver to the Boss.”

Bai-Cheng rattled off a string of cryptic remarks with remarkable fluency, making Li Sangrou laugh. “How is Master Wen? I heard he’s been in Yangzhou. “

“He’s been in Yangzhou, but not in the city itself; he’s been in the main camp outside the city.

Our master is doing alright, but he’s very tired. He’s been extremely worried for the past month or two. He only stopped worrying after receiving news from the Shizi a while ago,” Bai-Cheng replied with a smile.

“You’ve been working very hard, too. I just made some tea eggs; take a few back and try them,” Li Sangrou said, scooping out about ten tea eggs with a small strainer and placing them in a bowl, handing them to Bai-Cheng.

“Thank you for the gift, Boss.” Bai-Cheng bowed and accepted.

“Could you please ask your master when he’s free? Tonight, tomorrow noon, tomorrow evening, the day after tomorrow—anytime is fine. I’ll treat him to dinner, firstly to thank him for passing these on and secondly, as a welcome-back dinner,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

Bai-Cheng laughed, agreeing as he listened.

The Boss was hosting a welcome dinner for his master; it seemed whoever arrived first was the host.

Bai-Cheng boarded the ship and seized the opportunity to relay the Boss’s invitation. Wen Cheng quickly asked Bai-Cheng to tell Li Sangrou that he was free that evening.

……………………

When Wen Cheng arrived, Gu Xi immediately relaxed. After Wen Cheng left, he slept for almost two hours, waking up feeling refreshed.

After reviewing a pile of military reports and meticulously analyzing the sand table for a long time, seeing that evening was approaching, Gu Xi instructed, “Have the kitchen prepare some dishes that Shouzhen likes, and then invite the Boss over. Tonight will be a welcome dinner for Shouzhen.”

Ru-Yi agreed and returned a moment later with a beaming smile. “Reporting to Master, Master Wen has gone to the Boss’s ship, saying that the Boss is hosting a welcome dinner for Master Wen tonight.”

Gu Xi hummed in agreement, then snorted, and continued looking at the sand table. After looking at the sand table for a short while, Gu Xi leaned back against the cushions, gesturing for it to be removed. He grabbed a military report, glanced at it, and then slapped it back into the pile of reports.

“Go take a look,” Gu Xi said, bracing himself on the low couch and trying to stand up.

“Master, you can’t stand up! If you exert yourself, the wound will reopen!” Ru-Yi exclaimed, startled, and quickly stepped forward to stop him.

“Call Physician Liu in and bandage it tightly,” Gu Xi ordered, not daring to force himself to rise.

“Yes,” Ru-Yi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sent for Physician Liu.

Physician Liu entered and tightly bandaged the long wound on Gu Xi’s thigh, carefully instructing, “General, this wound heals faster if left to air out, and it won’t easily become red and swollen. Bandaging it like this can’t be left for too long; the General’s official duties need to be handled as quickly as possible.”

Gu Xi gave a vague, ambiguous reply.

Ru-Yi had already directed the small sedan chair to be brought over. He helped Gu Xi sit on it, and using a long gangplank, they first disembarked from the warship onto the shore, then boarded Li Sangrou’s warship, which was much shorter and smaller than the commander’s warship.

Li Sangrou and Wen Cheng came out to greet them. Li Sangrou looked at Gu Xi’s legs, which were wrapped tightly, and said to Ru-Yi, “The chairs on this ship are all small; we have to bring a couch from your ship.”

Ru-Yi smiled and nodded, pointing behind her to indicate that it had already been brought over.

“This morning, I heard you would arrive today, so I had the kitchen prepare some of your favorite dishes, but who knew…”

Gu Xi glanced at Wen Cheng and spoke to him first.

“The kitchen started preparing this morning. I couldn’t let their efforts go to waste, so I came over and brought the dishes they specially prepared for you.”

Wen Cheng looked at Gu Xi speechlessly.

Li Sangrou took a step back, glancing at Gu Xi, then at Wen Cheng.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” Wen Cheng said, stepping aside when Li Sangrou remained silent.

“Are you treating the Boss to dinner, or is the Boss hosting a welcome dinner for you?” Gu Xi asked detachedly as he gestured for them to come in.

“You’re seriously injured and ill; your legs are weak. I didn’t dare disturb you,” Wen Cheng replied, even more speechless.

“Princess Ninghe asked Master Wen to bring me a lot of good things. Did she bring you anything?” Li Sangrou’s question went off on a tangent.

“No!” Gu Xi replied, turning to Wen Cheng, “Are you still pretending I don’t know you’ve been secretly writing letters to Ah Yue?”

Wen Cheng walked straight forward, sat down in his previous seat, and gestured to the two of them. “Let’s eat quickly; it won’t taste good if it gets cold.”

……………………

The next day, Qiao An’s troops sailed downstream to Jiangzhou, crossed Shizhong Mountain, and anchored in Poyang Lake to rest and prepare.

Qiao An met with Gu Xi and gave a detailed account of the situation in Shu.

“First, I received a secret order jointly signed by Privy Councilor Pang and the three ministers, transferring me to Yangzhou. A few days later, I received a secret edict from the Emperor, ordering me to garrison Xiazhou, remaining vigilant and ready to launch a long-distance raid at any moment. Privy Councilor Pang’s order arrived three days after the secret edict.

I remained stationed in Xiazhou until I received the Commander-in-Chief’s order.

Two months ago, I received a letter from General Wen, saying that messengers from Jiuxi Shidong had gone to his army, and he wanted to allocate half of his infantry and cavalry to accompany me eastward.

Since there were so many infantry and cavalry coming, I had to go to Jingzhou to borrow boats from Commander Pan. Commander Pan didn’t have enough boats either, so he’s now transferring some from Xiangfan. Thanks to Commander Pan’s efforts, otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have arrived for several more days.”

Qiao An paused, noticing Gu Xi’s severely injured thigh and his extremely thin face.

“What happened, Commander?”

“I personally led men around Raozhou, intending to launch a surprise attack on Yuezhou. The plan failed, and I was caught in a pincer attack by Wu Huaiguo. I narrowly escaped death.” Gu Xi chuckled.

Qiao An hesitated, then paused, instinctively saying, “Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war…”

Before he finished, realizing his mistake, she quickly stopped, feeling awkward for a moment, then sighed, “The Emperor’s secret decree, preparing for a thousand-mile raid, is it just to rescue the Commander-in-Chief?”

“It’s in preparation for things getting even worse. You’d have had to make the thousand-mile raid and hold Hongzhou in case the situation deteriorated rapidly.

It was the Boss, along with Meng Yanqing and the others, who brought me back. Meng Yanqing and the others are on the boat next to ours; they’re all there. When you’re done with your work, go see them. I remember you once said that you and Meng Yanqing were like father and son.”

“Yes.” Hearing Gu Xi mention Meng Yanqing, Qiao An’s throat tightened inexplicably.

“The Boss and the others have been with us on the march all the way to Runzhou. You’ve spent quite a bit of time together along the way; you can see each other several times.

Go see Master Wen. Hand over the ships and supplies to him in person. He’s a meticulous man, so be careful during the handover,” Gu Xi instructed.

Qiao An agreed and rose to take his leave.

……………………

After two busy days, Qiao An had handed over and settled the infantry and cavalry he had brought, and then properly handed over the ships, provisions, and supplies to Wen Cheng. Only then did he have some free time. He quickly took a bath, changed his clothes, and, along with about ten commanders, boarded a boat and sailed around half the lake to visit Meng Yanqing and the other masters near the Louchuan area.

Li Sangrou wasn’t on the boat; early that morning, she, Da Chang, and Hei Ma had gone to Jiangzhou City to buy groceries.

It was the height of the heat. Meng Yanqing, shirtless, his shorts half-soaked, and half his face covered in colorful confetti, was playing cards with Dong Chao and four or five others under the deck shelter. A larger group of people stood around, pointing and giving nonsensical instructions.

A wide gangplank stretched out on the shore. Qiao An called out a few times, but when no one paid him any attention, he boarded the boat, frowning at the group of tanned, shirtless, rough-looking men.

This group looked like boatmen, but what kind of boatmen were so brazen?

“Excuse me!” Qiao An suddenly raised his voice, “Is the Boss here?”

He’d find the Boss first.

“Whoa!” Meng Yanqing, facing the bow of the ship, brushed aside the colorful paper strips and spotted Qiao An. He exclaimed with delight, “Little Yi’s here! Wait a minute, wait a bit! I’ll finish this hand of cards! I finally got a good hand!”

Qiao An still didn’t recognize Meng Yanqing, but he recognized his voice. He stared at Meng Yanqing, his mouth agape, from the colorful paper strips covering his face to his bare arms and then to the hairy leg and bare foot perched on the chair.

From the first time he met this chief, he had always been meticulous, regardless of the heat or cold, the night or day, or the torrential rain or fierce winds; nothing could disrupt his chief’s strict military bearing.

His chief always taught them:

They were secret guards, operating in the shadows, so they had to be even more rigorous and strict. They had to always remember that they were the most elite of the imperial guards, and this eliteness included their appearance.

If one day they were to step into the light, they would make sure everyone witnessed the sharpness of the Yunmeng Guard.

Though the Yunmeng Guard had always walked in the shadows, they were not afraid of scrutiny. From the inside out, they were the empire’s most elite.

But before them…

The dozen or so commanders behind Qiao An were even more shocked than Qiao An himself. Each of them stared blankly at the group of shirtless, unrefined seniors in circles, straining to recognize them.

“Slap another one!”

Meng Yanqing, despite having a rare good hand, still lost. Dong Chao, opposite him, unceremoniously leaned forward and slapped another large red paper strip onto Meng Yanqing’s face.

Hearing “slap another one,” Qiao An and the dozen or so men finally dared to confirm that the man opposite their leader, squatting on a chair with seven or eight chopsticks haphazardly stuck in his hair, was indeed their taciturn, meticulous Second Master, just like their leader. Qiao An raised both hands and rubbed his face vigorously.

“Xiaoyi…”

“Little Qiao!” Dong Chao interrupted Meng Yanqing.

Behind Qiao An, a dozen or so people stared blankly at Meng Yanqing and Qiao An.

No one had ever dared to interrupt their leader before.

“Yes, yes, Little Qiao, Little Qiao!”

“Little Qiao, I heard you’ve been making great contributions all the time; you’re already a first-rank general. That’s great; you’ve really made us men proud!” Meng Yanqing stood up from his chair and pulled out a large palm-leaf fan from behind him, fanning himself.

“Hey! Little Qiao and the others are here; come out, come out!” Several people shouted, and from a nearby boat, a group of almost identical shirtless card players jumped over, yelling and surrounding Qiao An and the others.

“Look at our boy, so spirited and handsome!”

“He’s handsome! I knew it, Old Meng only picked good-looking people!”

“Has your wife said anything?”

“Is nobody taking care of their wives’ affairs? Old Meng! Old Dong!”

…

Qiao An and the others were surrounded, each chiming in with their own opinions, from talking about wives to how the chubby boy wasn’t as good as the girl to how pitiful the child was, his clothes soaked with sweat. They listened, their faces growing increasingly dazed.

Qiao An and his group of about ten were each fed three or four bowls of various soups, all quite delicious, and each stuffed with six or seven bags of all sorts of snacks, from spiced melon seeds to dried venison. Full of their spoils, they disembarked and boarded their own boat. Once the boat was in the middle of the lake, Qiao An finally let out a long sigh, completely snapping out of his daze.

“Brother Meng and the others, I really didn’t recognize them. They’re quite good, though.” A leader pulled a handful of walnuts from a white linen bag, carefully ate one, and laughed.

“Master Dong is really glib,” a commander nearby muttered dejectedly.

His Master Dong had earnestly advised him to find a wife quickly instead of relying on his hands all the time; it wasn’t good.

“Master Wei looks much younger than before, even younger than Boss Qiao,” another commander said, leaning over to Qiao An.

“Didn’t you hear Master Dong say that it’s because Master Wei’s wife is so radiant?” the commander who had been criticizing Master Dong for his glibness chimed in.

Qiao An sighed, wanting to say something but unsure what to say. He sighed again, opened a bag, picked up a piece of peach, and handed the bag to the others, saying, “Eat, eat.”