"By the way, I've been meaning to ask—why did you want to kill Song Xian?"

Ning Yi hadn't brought this matter up before, only asking now that they were somewhat more familiar. Lu Hongti's eyes narrowed slightly. Outside the window the sky hung dark, and on the charcoal stove in the room the roasting chicken dripped oil with soft sizzling sounds. Ning Liheng stood there blinking innocently. After what seemed like a moment's consideration, Lu Hongti's gaze softened slightly and looked away.

With a crash, rain began falling outside, instantly engulfing all of Jiangning.

"My family used to live west of Yanmen Pass, near Lüliang Mountains¹." After a long while, Lu Hongti finally spoke these words.

"Since the Sixteen Prefectures of You and Yun were lost, the barbarians come raiding for provisions². Year after year they come, killing and plundering. There's never a peaceful day—nine out of ten homes stand empty. Those who remain to farm move back and forth between mountain valleys each year, like wandering ghosts. But the older generation says it's hard to leave one's homeland... You might not understand what it feels like to be born there..."

Ning Yi was silent for a moment: "Joyful and merry by the Fen River banks, muddling through in central-southern Shanxi, weeping and wailing in Lüliang Mountains, better dead than past Yanmen Pass..."³

"Heh." She nodded with a smile. "In earlier years, everyone had actually already gone into the mountains. We kept moving south, but couldn't go very far. The young people who went up the mountains became the Lüliang bandits that have persisted for centuries. We're all Han people. The Wu Dynasty armies don't come, the barbarians raid south every year, and they don't treat us as human. Every year we fight with the barbarian troops—when we encounter small groups, we swarm them; when we meet large forces, we quickly hide. We also rob barbarian merchants. Any merchants passing through there, we rob them all. We might leave Han people alive, but barbarians we kill completely..."

"The Wu Dynasty doesn't consider us their own people either. Sometimes an official comes by, saying they want to grant amnesty. After granting amnesty a few times, we still end up fighting barbarians—they just want us to sell our lives without giving anything in return. Sometimes they turn around and call us bandits, coming to suppress us..."

Lightning flashed outside the window as the rain grew heavier. Ning Yi turned the roasting chicken, sprinkling seasonings on it.

"When I was six, father was killed by barbarians. I followed my master to learn martial arts and roam the jianghu. When I returned to Lüliang at thirteen, mother had also died. I went into the mountains, following my master to fight every year... Should heroes serve the country and people? I never thought about it. Everyone lived... not like humans..."

She paused slightly: "Later... a few years ago, Song Xian led troops into Lüliang Mountains. At first he said he wanted to grant amnesty, speaking very nicely. He gathered people from several nearby villages, surrounded them, and killed them all... Liao said the Lüliang bandits were within Wu Dynasty borders, so Wu should handle it. Song Xian used these heads as military merit to present to his superiors! To curry favor with Liao! Not sparing the elderly or children, then claiming they were all murderous bandits... He got promoted because of it. Some people in the mountains had relatives who died there. People I knew from villages all died. Some people... came out seeking revenge on him and were killed. Their blood was spilled for nothing, yet more wanted to come out. I forbade it, so I could only come myself..."

"So I must kill him. During the Lantern Festival, my first strike missed, though I originally had some confidence. A few days ago when I went to plan his assassination again, I fell into his trap instead. At that time I thought, going on like this, I might not be able to kill him... One person's strength is limited after all..."

"You want to learn martial arts. I followed my master for so many years, then fought in battles every year, killing countless people. Several times I crawled out from piles of corpses, not knowing if I was dead or alive. Now trying to kill Song Xian, I'm still injured like this. Scholars with real talent can outmatch ten thousand men—that's worth more than anything. Why bother being some Bloody Butcher..." She said this, smiling with pursed lips.

Ning Yi thought for a moment on that side, but still shook his head with a smile: "I'll still maintain my curiosity... We'll discuss this matter later. The chicken's ready."

He took down the roasted chicken as he spoke, cutting it open with a knife. Immediately an even richer aroma filled the entire room. He added sauce and passed it over.

"How is it?"

"The taste is very good..."

"A new product we're preparing to launch. My technique is still amateur—these seasonings are well-matched."

"Doesn't your family sell cloth?"

"A friend's... If one day you can eat roasted chicken with this flavor in Lüliang Mountains, I'll give you some things..."

"Heh, what?"

"Unorthodox tricks... like summoning wind and rain, scattering beans to become soldiers⁴, things like that..."

"Then it's a promise?"

"Mm."

The casual conversation in the room was drowned in the thundering rain. At the other end of Jiangning city in a restaurant, Li Pin was also watching the curtain of rain outside at this moment, talking with Shen Miao beside him.

"...Yanzhen has been making preparations these past few days. Probably within half a month, he'll leave Jiangning for Raozhou."

"Didn't they say he'd depart in the seventh month?"

"There's quite a journey to travel. Probably better to go early to avoid unexpected delays on the road... Also, after arriving at Leping, he'll probably need to make arrangements in advance to smoothly take over his duties."

"That's good." Li Pin smiled and nodded.

Shen Miao took a deep breath: "Some time ago, I heard you and Yanzhen had some disagreements, so I came to ask. After all, we've all been friends in the past. It's nothing major—I don't want you both keeping things in your hearts."

Li Pin thought for a moment: "This matter isn't really any disagreement or grudge. I fully understand Zishan's good intentions. It's just that I'm not angry at him—rather, he himself has some unresolved concerns."

Shen Miao frowned in thought: "I see... By the way, what does Dexin think of Yanzhen as a person?"

"Speaking behind someone's back isn't very good."

"Haha, no matter. He's about to depart, and we probably won't see him for many years after. If he had issues with others, I wouldn't be so concerned. But I've always trusted Dexin's character, and your judgment of people has always been extremely accurate, so I truly want to know. Let's just chat casually about it—I absolutely won't pass it on to a third person."

Li Pin thought for a moment and shook his head: "It's not anything major. We've all known Yanzhen for many years. He has learning, ability, and vision. If we compare, both you and I fall short of him in some ways. But in all these years, have you ever seen him truly suffer a loss in anything?"

"Uh, suffering losses... there have actually been several incidents, but Yanzhen is also a magnanimous person who doesn't take them to heart..."

"What if I said... he's never suffered a loss?"

"Hmm?"

"Brother Zishan, Gu Hong is... proud. Of course he has the reasons and talent to possess this pride. Over these years, his demands on himself have been extremely high. Many times he truly makes one feel amazed—this is what a gentleman's bearing should be. It's just that sometimes his views are somewhat extreme, excessively pursuing his goals. But whether this is good or bad is hard to say."

Shen Miao smiled and nodded: "Dexin truly judges people accurately. Yanzhen indeed has such tendencies. A few days ago he told me that people should face their true hearts directly. Actually I think it makes sense. He's also said that when he becomes a county magistrate in the future, what he needs is to solve immediate problems. In these matters, he should be coldly impartial, seeking only results. Compared to virtuous officials who are inwardly kind but bound by various rules, he'd rather be a capable official who doesn't seek superficial good or evil but only proper completion of tasks. This thinking of his is actually admirable..."

Li Pin looked at him and paused, then smiled: "Indeed so. In today's world, there are many pedantic scholars but few who get things done. If Yanzhen has such principles, it's truly a blessing for the common people..."

He actually somewhat admired Gu Yanzhen. Having vaguely sensed certain things, he'd cut them off on his end—that was sufficient. To bring up baseless matters as criticism would truly be going too far. Shen Miao hadn't actually come today to debate but just to play peacemaker, though he didn't understand that this time, it was indeed Gu Yanzhen who harbored resentment. This resentment might not be about his concealment, but because of that phrase "I know your character." Though Gu Yanzhen had been aggressive that day, perhaps he indeed shouldn't have said those words.

Outer kingliness versus inner sagehood—which was more important, the "king" or the "sage"? Both forms and methods had been debated for years. Of course, the doctrine of the mean doesn't embrace extremes, and judging all things is actually quite complex. Over these years, capable officials had indeed been much more useful than pedantic scholars. If Gu Yanzhen proved himself to truly be a capable official in the future, he should visit to apologize for those words... Hopefully that would be the case.

The conversation naturally followed Shen Miao's lead afterward. At the same moment the two were conversing in the restaurant, in Zhu's main shop several streets away, Gu Yanzhen was sitting with a servant, quietly sampling various dishes. The servant beside him was tall with a fierce scar across his face—his trusted follower called Old Liu, who essentially served as his bodyguard. In nearly three months, this was his first time actively approaching a place related to Nie Yunzhu, though of course not to bring people to smash the shop. At this moment he just waited quietly for her appearance.

Due to the rain outside, business in the shop wasn't very good. The heavy rain also dimmed the light, so oil lamps had been lit, their flames flickering throughout the shop.

Nie Yunzhu was actually in the shop at this time, but as a woman, she had no need to be magnanimously straightforward about such matters. In this era, there really wasn't much straightforwardness between men and women anyway—though in dealing with Ning Yi, she'd somewhat applied a double standard. Remembering how he'd forcefully grabbed her hand last time, she didn't want to go out again. Him grabbing her hand was wrong, her slapping him in return was also wrong, so she just quietly waited for time to pass. However, when it approached evening and the dishes in front had completely cooled, Gu Yanzhen still sat there steadily. She had no choice but to finally walk out, keeping the table between them as she performed a bow: "Young Master Gu."

Gu Yanzhen raised his head to look at her, revealing a smile. He'd always been refined and elegant, and his smile at this moment could indeed give a good impression—relaxed and magnanimous.

"In probably a few more days, I'll be leaving for my post in Leping, Raozhou. So I felt I should come bid you farewell."

Nie Yunzhu thought for a moment: "Yunzhu has nothing else to give, only wishes Young Master smooth sailing and a prosperous official career."

"Your words remind me of three years ago..." He lowered his head, smiling easily, then stood up and looked at her, taking a deep breath: "If I... if I sincerely say once more that I'm willing to marry Yunzhu and take you with me to Leping, would you be willing to think it over carefully, or perhaps nod your head?"