The night in Qingshi Village never truly settled into peace.
In several empty houses in the eastern part of the village, there were braziers, hot water, and thin porridge temporarily distributed to everyone. The elderly and children could finally lean against the walls and close their eyes for a while. The wounded had also been bandaged again. At the very least, they were no longer lying on the cold ground waiting to die as they had the night before.
But Xiao Yuan knew that this was not the end.
Qingshi Village had merely been pulled back from the edge of the fire.
What had truly been cut off was the Northern Outpost.
After nightfall, the first batch of swift riders sent from Hanchuan finally arrived. They brought a small amount of supplementary grain, firewood, several veteran soldiers who knew medicine, and a military report personally written by Qin Feng.
The letter stated that Hanchuan City was temporarily stable. The first batch of supplementary grain had already been sorted according to the warehouse division and rationing method Su Dafu had previously left behind, and two more batches could be sent afterward. The city had also begun gathering usable mules and sleds in preparation for supporting Qingshi Village.
The final line had been written with considerable force.
—Hanchuan will not fall into chaos. Your Highness, please rest assured and head north.
After reading it, Xiao Yuan folded the letter.
Qin Feng understood.
He had not rushed to follow them, nor had he been resentful about being left behind in Hanchuan. He had held the position he was supposed to hold.
That was enough.
Xia Lanshi sat inside the carriage. After hearing the contents of the letter, he nodded lightly.
“Qin Feng is dependable.”
Xiao Yuan said, “Mm.”
Chi Banyue leaned against the carriage door, twirling a short knife in her hand.
“Hanchuan can remain stable, and Qingshi Village can hold out for the time being. So next is the Northern Outpost?”
Xiao Yuan raised his eyes toward the depths of the night.
“Yes.”
The Northern Outpost was a key sentry post north of Qingshi Village, as well as a grain-route junction between Hanchuan and the deeper northern frontier. If the Northern Outpost fell, it would be difficult for the supplementary grain sent from Hanchuan to continue farther north. If the Crown Prince’s men and the bandits of Heisong Ridge took control of the Northern Outpost, Qingshi Village would once again have its throat squeezed shut.
More importantly, the messenger from last night had fled toward Heisong Ridge, which indicated that there had to be a connection between Heisong Ridge and the Northern Outpost.
That line could not be severed.
Xia Lanshi spread out a newly drawn rough map.
With Qingshi Village at the center, the map showed a mountain road heading north toward the Northern Outpost, while Heisong Ridge lay to the west. Heisong Ridge had high terrain, dense forests, and narrow paths, and bandits had occupied it for many years. From there, they could overlook the Northern Outpost’s grain route and also cut off communication between Qingshi Village and Hanchuan.
“If the messenger fled toward Heisong Ridge, there must be someone there to receive him,” Xia Lanshi said. “But he may not have been able to meet the true mastermind directly. The bandits of Heisong Ridge are merely the blade. The one handing them the blade may not be on the mountain.”
Chi Banyue said, “Then should we eliminate the bandits first?”
Xia Lanshi shook his head.
“Not yet. The bandits can be wiped out, but if we eliminate them too quickly, the person behind them will retreat.”
Xiao Yuan looked at the map.
“Investigate the Northern Outpost first.”
Xia Lanshi nodded.
“Yes. If anyone at the Northern Outpost is still alive, we can learn how the fire oil got out, how the grain route was cut off, and who exactly dragged the people of Qingshi Village toward the north. If the Northern Outpost has already fallen, then it is even more important to first determine what was left behind there.”
Chi Banyue frowned. “But if Your Highness takes people to the Northern Outpost, what about Qingshi Village?”
Xia Lanshi coughed lightly and said, “Your Highness cannot take too many people. Qingshi Village needs guards left behind, otherwise the people rescued last night may still be attacked by Heisong Ridge. Only an elite light cavalry unit needs to go ahead to the Northern Outpost first. After confirming the situation, we can decide whether to send reinforcements.”
“I’ll take ten men,” Xiao Yuan said.
Chi Banyue immediately said, “I’ll go.”
Xia Lanshi also raised his eyes. “I’ll go too.”
The carriage fell silent.
Chi Banyue turned to look at Xia Lanshi.
“Why are you going?”
Xia Lanshi’s tone was gentle. “The Northern Outpost concerns the grain route and the source of the fire oil. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“Do you need to see it with your own eyes, or do you need to personally collapse in the wind and snow and make Su Dafu write another three pages scolding you?”
Xia Lanshi: “……”
After saying this, she looked toward Xiao Yuan.
She had thought Xiao Yuan would speak on Xia Lanshi’s behalf, but Xiao Yuan merely said calmly, “Xia Lanshi stays in Qingshi Village.”
Xia Lanshi froze.
Xiao Yuan looked at him.
“Qingshi Village needs someone to arrange everything. The grain records, the wounded, the able-bodied men in the village, the reinforcements from Hanchuan—you need to keep an eye on all of them. I’ll go to the Northern Outpost.”
Xia Lanshi fell silent for a moment.
He understood that Xiao Yuan did not distrust him.
Rather, he trusted him too much.
Precisely because he trusted him, he was entrusting Qingshi Village to him.
Chi Banyue added from the side, “Su Dafu said that division of labor is also part of saving lives.”
Xia Lanshi looked at her.
Chi Banyue smiled brightly. “I said that for him.”
Xia Lanshi helplessly lowered his head and sighed. “Fine. I’ll stay.”
Xiao Yuan said, “Chi Banyue stays too.”
Chi Banyue’s smile froze.
“Your Highness?”
“You stay and protect Xia Lanshi, and protect Qingshi Village as well,” Xiao Yuan said. “You showed yourself last night, and the villagers recognize you now. You will be more useful staying here than coming with me to the Northern Outpost.”
Chi Banyue frowned. She really wanted to argue.
However, Xiao Yuan was right.
Qingshi Village had just been rescued, and the villagers’ emotions were still unstable. Many of the young men were also injured. If the bandits came back for another attack, Xia Lanshi needed a blade fast enough at his side.
She could only reluctantly put away her short knife.
“Understood.”
Xia Lanshi looked at her and said softly, “Thank you.”
Chi Banyue glanced at him.
“Don’t thank me yet. If you secretly stay up late checking the accounts, I’ll tie you to the carriage.”
Xia Lanshi: “……”
Xiao Yuan stood up.
“Set out before dawn.”
Xia Lanshi nodded, reorganized the rough map of the Northern Outpost and several inferred clues, and handed them to Xiao Yuan.
“Your Highness, if the Northern Outpost has already been occupied, remember not to rush inside. First check the flagpole, stables, well, and grain room. If there is a smell of fire oil, avoid open flames. If you see bodies gathered together, first check whether there are signs that they were moved.”
Xiao Yuan accepted them.
Xia Lanshi paused, then said, “Also, the injury on Your Highness’s hand.”
Xiao Yuan’s movement stopped.
Chi Banyue immediately looked over.
“The injury on his hand?”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment.
Xia Lanshi said gently, “I saw it. Was it cut when you closed the door?”
Xiao Yuan did not deny it.
Chi Banyue’s eyes instantly lit up.
“I definitely have to tell Su Dafu about this.”
Xiao Yuan looked at her.
Chi Banyue smiled innocently.
“Your Highness, this isn’t tattling. It’s a report on his condition.”
Xiao Yuan: “……”
Xia Lanshi lowered his head and drank some water, hiding a trace of a smile at the corner of his lips.
◆◇◆◇◆
Inside Guichen Studio.
When Su Muchen had written the “Great Sheng Long-Term Support Plan” onto its third page, his phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
He glanced at it but did not answer immediately.
Xiao was sitting beside the counter checking some information. He glanced at the screen and asked, “Not answering?”
Su Muchen said, “Unknown number. Record it first.”
He pressed answer, turned on the recording, and did not speak first.
The other end of the phone was silent for a second before the voice of an unfamiliar man came through.
“Hello, Mr. Su. We’re from the Yunjing City Folk Culture Preservation Association. We heard that Guichen Studio has recently been organizing old objects and folk-culture materials. We were wondering whether you might be interested in cooperating with us?”
Su Muchen looked at Xiao.
Xiao also raised his eyes.
Yunjing City Folk Culture Preservation Association.
It sounded very much like the public-interest cover they had just discussed.
Too coincidental.
So coincidental that it felt as though someone had delivered bait straight to their mouths.
It gave them an instinctive feeling of being watched.
Su Muchen’s tone remained calm.
“May I ask how you learned that Guichen Studio is organizing old objects?”
The other party chuckled.
“Industry news. Guichen Studio is an old shop, and there have recently been records of old objects being consigned for sale. Our association has always paid close attention to this kind of folk cultural property.”
“Who is in charge of your association?”
“We can send you the official information later. We’d like to set up a time to discuss it in person first.”
Su Muchen lowered his eyes toward the documents on his laptop.
The Guichen Studio public-interest cover plan.
He suddenly found it rather amusing.
He had just thought of using a legitimate name as a cover, and the other party had immediately delivered what appeared to be a suitable shell.
The people behind the Sheng family, or Sheng Chengxiu himself, were truly becoming more impatient.
“Sure,” Su Muchen said. “Please first send your association registration documents, cooperation proposal, previous projects, and the person in charge’s business card to Guichen Studio’s email. After I review them, I’ll have our lawyer respond.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“Mr. Su, actually, there’s no need to be so formal. We just wanted to first—”
“Sorry,” Su Muchen interrupted him. “All cooperation will go through written procedures for the time being.”
The other party’s smile faded somewhat.
“Mr. Su, you’re very cautious.”
Su Muchen’s tone did not change.
“When someone is keeping an eye on my shop, I have no choice but to be cautious.”
The other end of the phone fell completely silent.
After two seconds, the man finally said, “Then we’ll send the materials shortly.”
“Okay.”
Su Muchen hung up, saved the recording, and marked the time.
Xiao looked at him.
“You’re learning quickly.”
“I was trained by Sheng Chengxiu.” Su Muchen said coldly, “He’s more effective than a schoolteacher.”
Xiao laughed.
“This association is probably problematic.”
“There’s no need for ‘probably.’” Su Muchen opened the search page and entered the association’s name. “If it’s too clean, that’s also a problem.”
Xiao raised an eyebrow.
“What are you planning to do?”
Su Muchen stared at the screen.
“Have Lawyer Liang investigate. If it can be used, we’ll turn around and use it ourselves. If it can’t, we’ll keep it as evidence of the Sheng family’s attempt to reach in.”
Xiao looked at him.
Su Muchen continued, “They want to know why I’m purchasing supplies, organizing the warehouse, and reopening the shop. So I’ll give them an answer.”
“What answer?”
“Guichen Studio is going to conduct public-interest displays for folk-culture preservation, old-object restoration, and disaster-preparedness supplies.” Su Muchen’s expression remained blank. “Doesn’t that sound perfectly legitimate?”
Xiao laughed so hard his shoulders shook.
“Muchen, you’re really getting good at this.”
Su Muchen did not even raise his head.
“Guichen Studio can’t keep looking like an underground organization forever.”
Having said that, his fingers paused.
Then he added, “At least not on the surface.”
Xiao’s smile deepened.
As he laughed, he looked at Su Muchen again.
This Su Muchen was different.
He was beginning to learn how to use rules, how to bite back, how to turn the forms, procedures, documents, and labels he had once disliked into walls against the Sheng family.
Xiao suddenly felt somewhat dazed.
Perhaps things really were different now.
Perhaps this time, both behind the door and before the door, another path could be found.
◆◇◆◇◆
Before dawn, Xiao Yuan left Qingshi Village with ten personal guards.
There were no drums, and the villagers were not disturbed.
Everything was quiet and kept simple.
They traveled north along the mountain road at the village’s northern edge, the sound of their horses’ hooves muffled almost completely by the snow. The scouts had checked part of the road the previous night and confirmed there were drag marks ahead, as well as depressions left behind by rolling barrels of fire oil. Farther ahead, the mountain road narrowed, with snow-covered pine forests on both sides. In the distance, the high slope where the northern outpost stood could be faintly seen.
The northern outpost had been built at a bend in the mountain road. It was originally a sentry post between Qingshi Village and the grain route farther north. The outpost was not large, but its location was critical. Whoever controlled the northern outpost would effectively hold the throat of Qingshi Village’s route to the north.
Xiao Yuan did not approach directly.
He stopped two li away from the northern outpost and ordered two scouts to advance and investigate, while the others dispersed into the forest and waited.
The wind and snow had stopped for an entire night, and the traces on the ground were consequently much clearer.
Xiao Yuan dismounted and crouched down to examine the snow.
There were hoofprints.
There were drag marks.
There was also blood.
The bloodstains had been covered by a layer of snow, their color darkened. Clearly, they had not been left just now.
A personal guard said quietly, “Your Highness, there are signs of a fight here.”
Xiao Yuan looked at several disorderly footprints in the snow.
“It wasn’t a large-scale battle.”
There were not many footprints, and the blood was not spread over a large area. It looked more as though someone had been intercepted here, knocked down, and dragged away.
If the northern outpost had truly been attacked, the fighting should have taken place inside or around the outpost, not here.
This place looked more like someone had tried to escape from the northern outpost, only to be caught by their pursuers.
Before long, the scouts returned, their expressions grim.
“Your Highness, there are no sentries outside the northern outpost. The flagpole has fallen. The outpost gate is half-open, and there is no sign of fire inside. There is blood outside the grain storehouse, and corpses beside the well.”
Xiao Yuan stood up.
“How many?”
“At least five from what I could see from a distance.”
“Any sounds of survivors?”
“None.”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment before saying, “Don’t enter through the main gate. Go around the back.”
The personal guards immediately dispersed.
The rear of the northern outpost backed onto a steep slope. Ordinary people would not be able to climb up from there, but the personal guards Xiao Yuan had brought were all elite soldiers. Using ropes and tree roots, climbing up was not difficult.
Half a quarter of an hour later, they climbed over the rear wall and entered the outpost.
The northern outpost was unnaturally quiet.
The snow in the courtyard had been trampled into chaos. Several bloodstains had been hastily covered with snow, but the concealment was crude. The fallen flagpole lay against the corner of the wall, while half of the Great Sheng military flag had been torn away and trampled into the muddy snow.
There were indeed corpses beside the well.
Five northern outpost soldiers.
Four had been killed by knives, while one had an arrow through his throat.
Xiao Yuan crouched down and glanced at the wounds.
The knife work was crude, resembling that of bandits.
But the arrow was different. The arrowhead was narrow and slender, and it had struck the throat with extreme precision.
That was not an arrow used by mountain bandits.
A personal guard said quietly, “Your Highness?”
Xiao Yuan said, “Record it.”
The guard immediately took out a notebook and recorded the wounds, their locations, the shape of the arrowhead, and everything else.
This was also one of the habits Su Muchen had brought with him.
Leave evidence of everything.
Do not rely solely on memory, and do not rely solely on testimony.
The dead could not speak, but their wounds could.
Xiao Yuan pulled the arrow from the corpse’s throat and placed it inside a cloth bag.
“Search the grain storehouse.”
The bloodstains outside the grain storehouse were heavier.
When they pushed the door open, a damp, moldy smell mixed with the scent of fire oil rushed toward them. Most of the grain sacks inside had been removed. Only a few torn sacks remained, collapsed in a corner. Two empty fire-oil barrels stood against the wall, traces of oil still remaining around their openings.
A personal guard frowned.
“The fire oil was transported from the northern outpost to Qingshi Village.”
Xiao Yuan looked at the ground.
There was a drag mark in the corner of the grain storehouse that extended all the way to a hidden door in the rear wall.
That hidden door was originally supposed to be a passage for the northern outpost soldiers to escape or transport grain. Now it was half-open, with a crushed military identification token caught beside it, apparently trampled underfoot.
Xiao Yuan picked it up.
Written on it were the words: Northern Outpost Commandant Zhao Ping.
A personal guard said quietly, “The commandant isn’t among the corpses.”
Xiao Yuan closed his hand around the token.
“Someone is still alive.”
◆◇◆◇◆
The passage behind the hidden door led down toward the slope.
The path was extremely narrow. The snow had been packed solid by footsteps, and there were still drops of blood along the edges. Less than a hundred paces farther on, the personal guards discovered a bloodstained piece of cloth beside a crack in the rocks.
Farther ahead was a low cave entrance concealed by dead branches.
Extremely faint breathing came from inside the cave.
Just as a personal guard was about to approach, Xiao Yuan raised his hand to stop him.
“Who’s inside?”
There was complete silence within the cave.
After a long time, an extremely hoarse voice finally sounded.
“…Who?”
“Prince Su Xiao Yuan.”
A burst of chaotic movement suddenly came from inside, as though someone had tried to get up but had aggravated his wounds and fallen back down.
The personal guard pushed aside the dead branches.
Three people were huddled inside.
Two northern outpost soldiers.
And a very young boy wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket belonging to a Qingshi Village villager. His leg was injured, and his face was as pale as paper.
One of the soldiers was covered in blood, his chest wrapped in cloth. He barely raised his head to look at Xiao Yuan. The moment he saw Xiao Yuan’s face, his eyes instantly reddened.
“Your Highness…”
Xiao Yuan bent down and entered the cave. It was as cold as an ice cellar inside.
The three of them had only one empty waterskin, half of a frozen-hard flatbread, and a knife with a rolled edge.
Xiao Yuan asked, “Where is Zhao Ping?”
The soldier swallowed.
“The commandant… led them toward Black Pine Ridge.”
Xiao Yuan’s gaze darkened.
“Explain clearly.”
The soldier described what had happened at the northern outpost in broken sentences.
Three days ago, the northern outpost had received an urgent order from the Transport Office, stating that displaced refugees were rioting in the direction of Qingshi Village and ordering them to transfer a batch of fire oil and grain to the village to suppress them. Zhao Ping felt that something was wrong and refused to open the storehouse.
That night, the deputy officer of the northern outpost suddenly brought men inside as collaborators and let the bandits from Black Pine Ridge into the outpost.
The grain storehouse was opened.
The fire oil was carried away.
Zhao Ping led his men in resistance, but was ambushed by the collaborators.
More than half of the northern outpost’s soldiers died.
In the end, Zhao Ping took several soldiers and a boy who had escaped from Qingshi Village to deliver a message and fled through the hidden passage. However, the mountain bandits pursued them too closely. He hid the three seriously wounded people inside this stone cave, then took the pursuers toward Black Pine Ridge himself.
“The commandant said… if someone came, tell Your Highness… the fire oil isn’t the most important thing.”
The soldier coughed out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.
“Over at Black Pine Ridge… there are people from the Transport Office… and a shipment of grain… grain that was supposed to be delivered to the northern border military camps.”
A chill slowly sank into Xiao Yuan’s eyes.
Grain for the northern border military camps.
Not grain for Qingshi Village.
Nor grain for Hanchuan.
But grain that was supposed to be sent to the armies farther north.
This meant that what the Crown Prince and the Transport Office had cut off was not merely the supply line of one village or one city, but the entire northern border military supply route.
Qingshi Village was merely one piece of evidence they had pushed forward to be burned away.
Xiao Yuan asked in a low voice, “How much?”
The soldier shook his head, his complexion growing worse and worse.
“I don’t know… a lot… The commandant said, if this shipment is sent to Black Pine Ridge and then passed from hand to hand until it disappears… the northern border military camps won’t make it to the end of the month…”
When he reached this point, his breathing suddenly became rapid.
The personal guard immediately looked toward Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan took out the wound medicine and fluid replacement pack Su Muchen had prepared from inside his robes.
This time there was no one else present, only the personal guards and the surviving northern outpost soldiers. He did not need to conceal it as much, but he still remembered Su Muchen’s instructions.
The fluid had to be administered slowly.
Stop the bleeding first.
Do not randomly add medicine when there was a fever.
He immediately lowered his eyes and began treating the soldier’s wounds.
The personal guards watched from the side, and none of them dared to make a sound.
Prince Su personally stopping a soldier’s bleeding—if this had happened in the past, it might have shocked them.
But at this moment, they merely felt that this was something Doctor Su would have ordered His Highness to do.
And His Highness really was doing it.
◆◇◆◇◆
In the afternoon, Guichen Studio received a reply from Lawyer Liang.
That so-called Yunjing City Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation Association was indeed a legally registered organization, but it had only been established recently. Two people on its board of directors had connections to cultural investment companies under the Sheng family. In the past, they had carried out several folk-culture collection projects before old urban districts were renovated. In the end, most of those areas had entered commercial development processes.
After reading the information, Su Muchen let out a cold laugh.
“Folk-culture preservation. Preserved all the way into demolition and development.”
Xiao approached with a cup of coffee.
“The Sheng family has reached out?”
“Mm.” Su Muchen said, “They’re not directly snatching it. They’re disguising it as cultural cooperation, asset inventories, and valuations of old objects. As long as I agree to let them in, they’ll have a legitimate reason to inspect every inch of Guichen Studio.”
Xiao leaned against the counter.
“Then refuse?”
“No rush.” Su Muchen said, “Lawyer Liang suggested that we first demand a complete written proposal, the sources of their information, the scope of cooperation, confidentiality clauses, and a conflict-of-interest declaration. If they back down, it proves they have a guilty conscience. If they don’t, we’ll have even more written evidence.”
Xiao smiled.
“You’re becoming more and more like a shopkeeper who knows how to bite.”
Su Muchen remained expressionless.
“Hmph. I’ve always known how to bite. Before, I only bit when I was pushed to the brink. Now I bite in advance.”
Xiao was amused by him.
Su Muchen did not smile.
He opened the “Guichen Studio Public-Welfare Cover Plan” and added a new section.
Cooperation Risk Assessment.
He then listed several items beneath it.
Verification of the cooperating party’s ownership structure and related parties.
Restrictions on access to information.
Unauthorized personnel prohibited from entering non-public areas of the shop.
Separate authorization required for photographing and appraising old objects.
All meetings to be audio- and video-recorded.
No private contact with suppliers.
When he finished writing, he paused for a moment before adding another line:
Sheng-related parties to be placed on the high-risk list.
Xiao looked at that line, his brows lifting slightly.
“You’re preparing to treat the Sheng family as an enemy.”
Su Muchen raised his eyes.
“Weren’t they already?”
Xiao looked at him without immediately answering.
Su Muchen lowered his head and continued writing.
“Before, I simply didn’t have the ability to resist, so it looked as though I didn’t regard them as enemies.”
Those words made Xiao fall silent for a moment.
After a while, he said softly, “You’ve changed very quickly.”
Su Muchen’s fingers stopped.
He thought about it, then said, “Maybe it’s because there are people on the other side who have it much worse.”
Xiao froze.
Su Muchen continued, “Hanchuan, Qingshi Village, the northern border. The people there have pitifully few choices. No matter how much Sheng Chengxiu pressures me, at least I can still find a lawyer, make recordings, investigate information, and follow the rules. They can’t.”
He looked at the densely packed planning table on the screen.
“So I can’t just focus on being afraid.”
Xiao said nothing.
After a long time, he smiled.
“If the old master could see you like this now, he would probably be very happy.”
Su Muchen lowered his eyes.
“He’d probably scold me first for not eating properly.”
Xiao thought about it.
“That’s true.”
The two fell silent for a moment, and both ended up smiling.
But their smiles soon faded.
Because the door still had not moved.
And neither of them knew whether Xiao Yuan had reached the northern outpost by now.
◆◇◆◇◆
Inside the stone cave at the northern outpost, the seriously wounded soldier finally managed to catch his breath.
The fluid replacement and bleeding control had taken effect. Although they could not make him recover immediately, they had at least temporarily pulled him back from the brink of unconsciousness.
The Qingshi Village boy was also given warm water.
The wound on his leg was not particularly deep. What was truly dangerous was the frostbite and exhaustion. Xiao Yuan had a personal guard wrap him in a blanket, then gave him a small amount of dry food and instructed him to eat slowly.
The boy clutched the flatbread, and tears suddenly fell from his eyes.
“Can I go back to the village?”
Xiao Yuan looked at him.
“Yes.”
The boy cried even harder.
“My father and mother are still at the ancestral hall…”
“The people at the ancestral hall have already been rescued.”
The boy suddenly raised his head, as if he could not believe it.
Xiao Yuan said, “Qingshi Village has not perished.”
The flatbread fell from the boy’s hands onto the blanket.
He stared blankly at Xiao Yuan. After a long time, he suddenly collapsed onto the ground and burst into tears.
The sobs were suppressed and broken, echoing inside the stone cave.
Xiao Yuan did not stop him.
Sometimes, a person had to cry it all out before they could realize that they were still alive.
After the personal guards settled the three of them properly, one of them asked in a low voice, “Your Highness, what next?”
Xiao Yuan walked out of the stone cave.
In the distance, toward Black Pine Ridge, the mountain forest was covered in gray-white snow. It was impossible to tell how many people, how many blades, or how much stolen grain were hidden inside.
Zhao Ping had gone that way.
The messenger had also fled that way.
The grain belonging to the northern border military camps was very likely there as well.
Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at the shattered northern outpost identification token in his palm.
He knew that this was no longer a matter of saving a single village or a single outpost.
This was the entire northern border grain supply line, the blade the Crown Prince had buried in the northern border, and the first lifeline he had to reclaim next.
A personal guard asked quietly, “Your Highness, should we return to Qingshi Village and bring more men?”
Xiao Yuan was silent for a moment.
“No rush.”
The guard was startled.
Xiao Yuan looked toward Black Pine Ridge.
“Since Black Pine Ridge is hiding grain, it won’t be guarded by mountain bandits alone. Zhao Ping lured the pursuers away, and he may not have done so simply to escape with his life. He may be trying to find where the grain is hidden.”
He paused.
“We’ll follow them first.”
The guard’s heart tightened.
“Your Highness, isn’t that too dangerous?”
Xiao Yuan did not answer.
He simply took out the contingency plan Su Muchen had written and glanced at the final line.
Stay alive. Do not gamble with your life.
After reading it, he put the paper away again.
“We’re not charging in head-on.”
His voice was calm.
“We’ll see things clearly before we act.”
The guard was slightly stunned, then lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Xiao Yuan turned and walked toward the horses. Black Pine Ridge lay ahead.
There might be Zhao Ping there, the messenger, the northern border military grain, and the true hand the Crown Prince had extended into the northern border.
This time, he would not hurry.
He would not enter the game in anger.
But neither would he let that hand withdraw so easily.
◆◇◆◇◆
By evening, the people of Qingshi Village finally erected a wooden sign again at the village entrance.
The place where the bloodstained cloth had originally hung was cleaned up.
The village chief personally had someone carve the wooden sign.
The characters were very rough, even somewhat crooked, but every stroke had been carved deeply.
—Qingshi Has Not Perished.
Beneath the wooden sign was another line of small characters.
—Thanks to His Highness Prince Su, and Doctor Su of the Guichen Medical Sect.
The village chief had originally wanted to write, “Divine Doctor Su.”
When Xia Lanshi heard this, she had someone change it.
“Doctor Su is a doctor, not a god.”
And so, in the end, only these words remained on the wooden sign.
Doctor Su of the Guichen Medical Sect.
When the wind and snow began falling again, the wooden sign stood at the village entrance, replacing the bloodstained cloth from the previous night.
One was a death notice the enemy had forced them to write.
The other was a path to survival that they had carved themselves.
Xia Lanshi looked at the wooden sign through the carriage curtain, her expression very calm.
Chi Banyue sat outside the carriage and asked with a smile, “What do you think Doctor Su would say if he saw it?”
Xia Lanshi thought for a moment.
“He’d probably say the characters are too ugly.”
Chi Banyue burst out laughing.
“That really does sound like him.”
After laughing, she said quietly, “But he should be happy too, right?”
Xia Lanshi gazed at those characters.
After a long while, she finally said softly, “He would be.”
Even if Su Muchen refused to admit it.
Even if he frowned and said not to give all the credit to him, and said that the people who truly saved everyone were all those who carried out the work.
But when he saw this wooden sign, he should understand.
On this unfamiliar land of Great Sheng, people had already begun to remember him.
Not as a shadow behind a door.
Not as a nameless person from another world.
But as Doctor Su.
Amid the wind and snow, the wooden sign did not stand particularly firmly, yet it did not fall.
Like this village that had just survived a desperate situation.
And like a name that, for the first time, had truly put down roots in the snowy land of the northern border.