Three days later, an unusual commotion came from the direction of the city gates.
The Registrar, Xu Wenshan, was the first to hear the news. He hurried into the council hall, not even having time to catch his breath. “A merchant caravan has arrived outside the city.”
The Grain Officer, Qian Younian, had been looking down and calculating the grain supplies. When he heard those words, he raised his head as though he had not heard correctly.
Xu Wenshan added breathlessly, “More than two hundred carts.”
The entire hall fell silent for a moment.
It was not because the number was too large, but because it was winter.
And this was already the coldest stretch since the beginning of winter.
Wind and snow had blocked the official road for more than ten days. Even Linbei City’s scouts had said that they would have to wait at least another month before the trade routes became passable again.
Not to mention that news of the Northern Di raiding the grain supplies had already spread.
No merchant caravan would choose to travel north at a time like this.
Jiang Zechen’s brush stopped above the paper, not falling.
He glanced at Xia Lanshi.
Xia Lanshi was looking down at the documents on the table, as though he had already known that this merchant caravan would come.
Xiao Yuan sat in the seat of honor and said only one word: “Invite them in.”
Jiang Zechen engraved that word into his mind.
The Prince of Su had ordered them to enter the city without even asking who they were, which meant he had known about this merchant caravan long ago.
◇◆◇◆◇
Outside the council hall, the winter wind of the northern frontier swept through the long streets.
The city gates had already been opened, and the caravan was slowly making its way down the main road.
Jiang Zechen stood at the entrance of the council hall.
He saw a banner appear at the end of the street.
The banner was white, embroidered with a six-pointed snowflake pattern. Its lines were extremely simple, as though drawn in a single stroke.
The snowflake was dark blue-green. It was inconspicuous against the snow, yet impossible to overlook.
It possessed a quiet sense of presence, like a frozen lake on a winter night. It said nothing, yet made everyone aware that it was there.
The banner bore no words. It did not need any, because the caravan itself already explained the matter better than any signboard could.
The scale of the caravan was larger than he had expected. More than two hundred carts stretched into a long line along the snowy road. The front had already reached the Administrative Office, while the rear had not yet completely entered the city.
He saw cloth sacks, wooden crates, and neatly bundled fodder loaded onto the carts. There were also several carts covered with thick cloth, making it impossible to see what they contained.
Qian Younian had somehow come to stand beside him. He said quietly, “That is Madam Liu’s caravan.”
Jiang Zechen did not turn his head. He merely repeated the surname.
“Liu.”
Qian Younian said no more, but that surname was enough.
In the middle of the caravan was a dark-gray horse, with a person sitting on its back.
She rode with a steady posture, as though she was accustomed to traveling long distances.
She wore a white fox-fur cloak over a dark green dress. Her hair was arranged in a neat bun, with a plain silver hairpin inserted into it.
She wore no veil, leaving her face clearly visible. She appeared to be around thirty years old. She was not breathtakingly beautiful, but her features were proper and refined, and her eyes were calm and gentle, as though they could smile at any moment.
If there was anything about her that made it impossible to ignore her, it was those eyes.
As she swept her gaze across the people on both sides of the long street, she paused on each person for just long enough to make them feel seen, but not long enough to make them feel offended.
It was a precise, calculated composure.
When she dismounted, her movements were smooth, and she did not wait for anyone to help her.
The attendants beside her did not step forward to support her either.
She handed the reins to someone nearby, brushed the snow from her sleeves, and then walked toward the entrance of the Administrative Office.
The soldiers at the entrance of the council hall did not stop her, as though they already knew her.
When she entered the council hall, Jiang Zechen was standing by the window, silently watching.
She stopped at the doorway and first performed a proper women’s formal curtsy toward the seat of honor.
Her movements were neither hurried nor slow. Her back was straight, as though she had performed the gesture countless times. Every aspect of her posture was measured perfectly—not overly humble, yet not overly casual.
Then she straightened and spoke in a gentle but clear voice.
“Your humble daughter, Liu Tingxue, pays her respects to Your Highness the Prince.”
She paused.
“I have delivered the things Your Highness requested.”
She did not deliberately belittle herself, nor did she make the form of address seem overly familiar.
It was exactly the right distance for a merchant speaking to a long-standing client—not servile, not arrogant, neither excessive nor lacking.
Xiao Yuan sat in the seat of honor.
“Good.”
The council hall was silent for a moment.
Jiang Zechen finally turned around and looked at the person who was gathering her skirts and coming to a stop beside the long table.
Liu Tingxue.
She had not come merely to deliver goods. She had not even brought account books with her.
The tone in which she spoke did not sound like someone completing a transaction. It sounded more like she was confirming that an already agreed-upon promise had been fulfilled.
Jiang Zechen noticed that among all the officials in the room, not one showed a surprised expression.
This was not the first time they had seen her.
Liu Tingxue gave a slight nod.
She turned sideways, her gaze sweeping across everyone in the hall before pausing on Jiang Zechen for an instant—very briefly.
Then she looked away, her tone remaining gentle.
“Your Highness, we’ll settle the accounts later.”
Xiao Yuan nodded and instructed Xia Lanshi to arrange accommodations for Liu Tingxue.
◆◇◆◇◆
The sky gradually darkened.
Jiang Zechen stood by the window, looking down at the few lines he had recorded that day.
Liu Tingxue of the Liu family. Familiar with the Prince of Su. Proper in etiquette. Not an ordinary merchant.
A woman who could stand so calmly before the Prince of Su could not have come merely to deliver goods.
When speaking to the Prince of Su, she did not address him as “Your Highness.” She called him “Prince.”
Xiao Yuan’s title was that of a prince, but few people in the northern frontier addressed him this way.
The people of the northern frontier all called him “Your Highness” or “His Highness the Prince of Su.” Those forms of address carried a certain distance.
But “Prince”…
That form of address carried a hint of familiarity from the past.
When he closed the notebook, he silently repeated the name in his heart.
“Liu Tingxue.”
A merchant whom the entire city of Linbei knew.
Her presence here meant that Xia Lanshi had already placed a much longer thread into this city.
He put down the notebook and walked outside the tent, looking toward the Administrative Office.
He knew that beginning tomorrow, more people would tell him about Liu Tingxue.
The Grain Officer would say, “That batch of grain was sent by Madam Liu.”
The Ministry of Works would say, “Madam Liu paid for it.”
The carpenters would say, “The timber was sent by Madam Liu.”
Like piecing together a puzzle, he would slowly reconstruct this person.
But what he pieced together would be exactly what Xia Lanshi wanted him to see.
Xia Lanshi did not need to explain anything. He only needed to let Jiang Zechen discover it for himself.
And that process of discovery would make him more certain than any explanation could.
Liu Tingxue was not a merchant.
She was the blood vessels of the northern frontier.
All the supplies and information flowed from there, and that blood had been flowing for a very long time.
So long that everyone in the northern frontier automatically made way for her.
Only he had just begun to chase after it.
◇◆◇◆◇
Jiang Zechen asked about every trace Liu Tingxue had left behind.
The people he questioned included craftsmen, grain officers, military supply officers, the women cooking porridge at the soup kitchens, and soldiers repairing the city walls.
Everyone he questioned gave similar answers.
“Madam Liu. Listening Snow Pavilion. Everyone in the northern frontier knows.”
In the end, he found a shop assistant who had worked at Listening Snow Pavilion for three years.
The assistant was young, but he spoke with great experience, as though he had already grown accustomed to being asked these questions.
Jiang Zechen sat on a wooden bench in the back courtyard of a grain shop.
The shop assistant squatted on the steps, folding the cloth bag in his hands as he spoke, as though organizing the leftover edges of a shipment.
“Madam Liu is a widow. Her husband died young, and she supported the family business on her own. She started traveling around for business when she was just over twenty, building it up from a small shop to what it is now.”
He gestured with one hand.
“Listening Snow Pavilion has branches in the capital, Jiangnan, and Linzhou. The northern frontier is its main territory. Rouge and cosmetics, spices, tea, jewelry, cloth, wine, exotic goods from overseas—she sells everything. Many people say she is the biggest female merchant in the northern frontier, but very few people truly know her. People often call her Madam Listening Snow or the Pavilion Master of Listening Snow.”
Jiang Zechen was silent for a moment.
“You’ve met her?”
“Seen her from a distance a few times.”
The shop assistant spoke frankly.
“She rarely shows herself. Most of the shop’s affairs are handled by the managers. She personally negotiates only the major deals. Not many people have seen her, but everyone knows her goods, and everyone knows there will never be a problem with her accounts.”
“Her accounts are never wrong?” Jiang Zechen asked.
“Never wrong,” the shop assistant said. “They say she never signs a contract unless she’s certain of it, and never lends money unless she’s certain of getting it back. She doesn’t fight, argue, or snatch other people’s business. She only does what she can do. But once she finishes, other people discover that they can no longer do without her.”
“Can’t do without her?”
“It’s just… without realizing it.”
The shop assistant said, “You think you chose her, but in truth, she made you feel as though you chose her.”
“This Madam, if you say she’s doing business, she’s actually more like someone raising a long rope.”
When Jiang Zechen left the back courtyard of the grain shop, there was nothing written in his hands.
He no longer needed to write anything down.
Those fragments were slowly piecing themselves together in his mind, forming a complete picture.
◇◆◇◆◇
After Liu Tingxue left the council hall, Jiang Zechen had originally thought she would rest.
The caravan had traveled such a long distance, and two hundred carts of goods needed to be inventoried. It should have taken at least several days for her to recover.
But that afternoon, when he passed the soup kitchen in the eastern part of the city, he saw that the rice jar was full—nearly twice as full as it had been that morning.
He stood outside the soup kitchen, watching the common people in line move forward with their bowls.
Although the line was still long, it was noticeably faster than in the morning, and quieter as well.
Steam rose from the pot of porridge. The rice was thicker than it had been the previous day, and the smell of dried vegetables and salt spread through the wind.
He recognized several faces that had still been standing near the back of the line that morning, looking around anxiously. Now they were holding bowls and standing against the wall, lowering their heads as they drank the hot porridge.
A woman squatted nearby, blowing on the porridge to cool it before feeding it to the child in her arms.
The child took a sip and did not cry, merely keeping his eyes open.
Jiang Zechen did not walk over.
He simply stood there, looking at the steaming pot of porridge.
The Grain Officer, Qian Younian, happened to pass by.
When he saw Jiang Zechen standing there, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“There were a hundred carts of grain among Madam Liu’s shipment. Her people were already unloading it during this morning’s council meeting.”
Jiang Zechen did not turn around.
He asked only one question.
“When did she transport it in?”
“She started preparing it several days ago,” the Grain Officer said. “The grain was already on the road before she even arrived.”
Jiang Zechen was silent for a while before turning and walking away.
He did not write it in his notebook.
Because he no longer needed to.
Three more days passed.
When Jiang Zechen returned from outside the city, he discovered that the section of road that had originally been blocked by snow had already been cleared.
It was a branch road leading toward the northern outpost. Several days earlier, the accumulated snow had been more than half a person tall, making it impossible for carts and horses to pass.
Now the snow had been pushed to both sides of the road, revealing the gravel surface underneath. Freshly turned earth remained along the edges.
He walked along the road for a while and saw several workers wearing the gray clothing of Listening Snow Pavilion, using shovels to level the road.
A flatbed cart loaded with sand and gravel was parked by the roadside, as though preparing to fill the next pothole.
He stopped and asked one of the workers, “Did you repair this road?”
The worker looked up at him.
“Madam Listening Snow ordered it repaired. This road curves, and once the snow stays for too long, carts can’t get through.”
Jiang Zechen stood by the roadside for a while without saying anything more.
He remembered that during this morning’s council meeting, the Grain Officer had still been saying, “The road to the northern outpost is temporarily impassable.”
Now that road was open.
He did not know when Liu Tingxue had issued the order, nor did he know how she had managed to gather workers and materials within three days.
He only knew that by the time he saw the road, it had already been repaired.
He had not even seen the matter happen before the Grain Officer mentioned it.
Merchants needed roads to travel.
But when the roads maintained by the government were impassable, merchants simply repaired them themselves.
He was no longer certain whether this counted as a method faster than the government.
He did not write that sentence into his notebook, because he no longer knew how to classify this matter.
Fifth day.
A group of displaced people infected with a contagious disease appeared inside the city.
There were not many of them, around a dozen, scattered among several abandoned sheds in the western part of the city.
When the news reached the council hall, Jiang Zechen was present.
The military physician said they needed isolation, medicinal supplies, and a place to house them.
But the city’s medicinal supplies were already insufficient, and finding a place at short notice was also very difficult. It would take time.
The officials discussed the matter for roughly half an hour without reaching a conclusion. They were still determining how many medicinal supplies remained.
But that afternoon, when Jiang Zechen passed through the western part of the city, he discovered that the infected displaced people had already been settled.
In a cleared-out shed in the eastern part of the city, more than a dozen people had been arranged separately. Each person had a thick blanket beside them and a bowl of medicinal broth.
Someone was walking around inside the shed, bending down to inspect them. Their movements were neither fast nor hurried, but they never stopped.
A shop manager wearing Listening Snow Pavilion’s gray clothing stood at the entrance of the shed, speaking quietly with a soldier.
Jiang Zechen walked over and asked, “Who arranged this?”
The manager looked up at him.
“Madam Listening Snow told us to bring them here. The medicinal supplies and blankets were all taken from the shops.”
Jiang Zechen asked no more questions.
He stood outside the shed for a long time, watching the displaced people being settled and watching their trembling gradually stop beneath the blankets.
He realized that he was thinking about something.
What would happen to these people if Liu Tingxue did not exist?
That question was like a fine needle, gently piercing some unnamed place within his heart.
The council hall had discussed the matter for half an hour without reaching a conclusion.
Liu Tingxue had resolved it that same afternoon, without even needing to consult anyone.
It was quieter than he had expected.
And more convincing.
Seventh day.
While checking the accounts, Jiang Zechen discovered a large new entry in the ledger.
The item was listed as:
“City Wall Repair Expenses.”
The note attached to it read:
“Donated by Liu Tingxue, Pavilion Master of Listening Snow Pavilion.”
He stared at that line for a moment before asking the Registrar, “Why did Madam Liu pay to repair the city?”
The Registrar answered, “Madam Listening Snow said that if the city walls collapsed, her goods wouldn’t be able to get in.”
Jiang Zechen knew that was one reason, but not the whole reason.
Someone willing to spend that much money repairing a city that did not belong to her would not do so merely to make it easier for her goods to enter.
But he did not ask further, because he already understood.
She was raising that rope, raising it until the entire city could no longer do without her.
Behind that number was no explanation, no request for approval, no report to the authorities.
It was simply a sum of money, used to fill a gap.
He had once believed that merchants only knew how to calculate profit.
And Liu Tingxue indeed knew how to calculate profit.
But the way she calculated it was by making herself indispensable.
She stood before him without saying a single word, yet within seven days she had made him repeatedly realize the same thing.
—Linbei City no longer needed the imperial court to come and save it, because someone was already saving it.
And that person was a merchant.
On the evening of the seventh day, Jiang Zechen sat before his desk and opened his notebook, but did not put pen to paper.
He lowered his head and stared at the blank page, not knowing where to begin.
He remembered what had happened over these seven days.
On the first day, the grain was already being distributed.
On the third day, the road had already been repaired.
On the fifth day, the infected displaced people had already been settled.
On the seventh day, another entry for city wall repairs had appeared in the ledger.
Every matter had happened before the imperial court could react.
There had been no delays, no requests for approval, and no official documents.
He was not sure what he should write these things as.
Praise?
Questioning?
Or silence?
He remembered that when he had first arrived in Linbei City, he had thought this city was fragile and would collapse without supplies from the imperial court.
Now he realized that perhaps the truly fragile thing was not this city, but the imperial court’s importance to this city.
The people of the imperial court said that the Prince of Su was building up his own military power.
But what he had seen was this:
The Prince of Su, Xia Lanshi, and Liu Tingxue were each using different methods to keep the northern frontier alive.
He slowly closed the notebook and did not open it again.
Outside the window, the wind and snow gradually subsided.
More lanterns illuminated Linbei City than when he had first arrived, like a road that was slowly being lit, leading toward a direction he had not yet fully seen.
He had thought he was standing still.
In truth, without realizing it, he had already begun to walk.