Chapter 132
After leaving the county yamen, all Qianjin Stronghold‘s men had changed into the leather armor of prefectural troops, with standing-force identity tokens hanging at their waists.
This unmistakably sent a message to the outside world:
Heaven was high and the emperor far away. Even a magistrate could rule like a king. The realm’s laws wouldn’t be strictly enforced. With a few tricks, one could join the standing forces early without even delivering the full hundred shi of coal.
Another loophole to exploit!
The bandit chiefs with coal-bearing mountains promptly began itching to act.
If they obtained standing-force tokens now, they could legitimately accompany local troops to suppress bandits. Then they could take the captured bandits to their own territory to mine coal. Not only would they pay no wages, but once the required days were up, they could put them into their own standing squads and strengthen their forces!
Two birds with one stone!
Thus, the strongholds that hadn’t found coal suddenly became irresistible prizes to the coal bandits.
The prizes themselves had clearly realized that their lives were at stake too.
One group of bandits wailed and cursed:
“Boss, if we don’t surrender soon, Green Saber Stronghold will bring the local troops to wipe us out! They’ve got a grudge against us. They won’t go easy on us!”
“That’s right, Boss! Strike first or suffer later! Robbing people is hard in the middle of winter anyway. Why not join these standing forces for now? At least we’ll get monthly pay! We can always run away afterward!”
“Even if we pretend to be ordinary people and volunteer to mine coal, we’ll get wages! Letting them destroy our stronghold and then working for free would be stupid!”
Another group eagerly rubbed their hands:
“Heh, damn it, this is our big chance, brothers! Come accept recruitment with me, and we’ll wipe out Axe Stronghold for stealing our territory!”
“Ironblood Stronghold has twenty men, right? Get them all to dig coal for us! We’ll save money and settle our score!”
“Let’s go! What are we waiting for? Once we’re in the standing forces, I’ll have an official post and money. Then I’ll make sure all our brothers’ wives are taken care of!”
Their shouts shook the mountain wilderness.
Liaozhou’s bandits stood ever closer to disaster.
“Things are about to change.”
Atop Mount Qiantai, a distinguished young man in red fur admired the increasingly dense, dark clouds above the distant mountains. He gently tapped a gold-threaded red fan against his palm. As he chatted and smiled, the bandits were brought to ruin.
The snow fell harder and harder.
Heaven and earth became a chessboard. Countless snowflakes became white pieces, falling onto its intricate grid. Like towering waves, they pressed toward the black pieces amid the thick mist, seeking to swallow them up and sweep them away, restoring the board to spotless white.
–
Lately, the coal bandits had been so busy they were losing their hair, vomiting blood, and suffering stress-induced constipation.
By day, they accompanied local troops into the mountains to suppress bandits. At night, they hurried back to inspect their mines. When they finally lay on their heated brick beds, they shut their eyes and plunged into a dizzying sleep, with no time to think of anything else. Waking the next morning, they began another “wonderful” day of working like beasts of burden.
Yet the sense of accomplishment was unparalleled.
Before becoming bandits, they too had been ordinary people. Oppressive taxes and other pressures had driven them into the mountains, where they lived with death always at their heels.
Now they had profitable coal mines under their command and standing-force tokens at their waists. With no worries about food or clothing, they found this life quite good after all.
On one mountain, after binding the last fleeing bandit, a chief raised a hand to catch the falling snow and asked the local soldier beside him, “Brother, does it seem to you that the snow’s getting heavier?”
“Yes. There was already snow on the ground when we came. Now it’s nearly a handspan deep.” The local soldier wiped blood from his face. Days of fighting side by side had forged a deep bond between them. “Who knows how long it’ll keep falling? Let’s stop here today. If it gets deeper, we might not get back.”
“Just what I was thinking.”
The standing troops cleared up the aftermath and headed down the mountain with what they’d taken in the operation.
The snow on the ground grew deeper, while great feathery flakes fell from above. Winter’s bone-cutting wind rose, pouring into their leather armor and making them yearn for the warmth of coal burning at home.
They wanted to go home.
At that thought, everyone quickened their pace.
The bandits weren’t the only ones who noticed the heavier snow. Xie Chengze did too. Time was growing short. He had to arrange all the men and horses before the first blizzard arrived.
In Qianjin Stronghold, he crouched before a bucket and gently touched the cylindrical block of ice frozen inside.
It was crystal clear. He had boiled the water, stirred it from time to time, and watched it constantly, finally producing this transparent, gleaming ice.
But he couldn’t get it out.
“Shen – Daqiang!!!” Tilting his head back, Xie Chengze bellowed.
Before long, Shen Yuan came through the snow from a distance, carrying a wood-colored scroll he hadn’t finished reading. His serene, luminous bearing made him seem like a noble plum blossom amid the snow, in sharp contrast with the beautiful young man squatting gracelessly on the ground, awkwardly clutching a great bunch of red fur-coat hem in his arms.
Looking down at the young man’s deliberately innocent face, he curled his lips and teased, “It seems you badly want me to call you Little Yuanyuan, Your Highness. But that hint was so subtle, I almost failed to catch it.”
Xie Chengze: Don’t talk nonsense. I do not!
“Help me hollow out part of the middle, then take the ice out.” Xie Chengze gave instructions, rubbing his hands with excitement and anticipation. “In a moment, I’ll make you something ugly~”
Shen Yuan: … “You’re certainly honest, Your Highness.”
He put the scroll into Xie Chengze’s hands, crouched, and drew a finely made dagger from his boot. He began carving a square hollow in the center of the ice. When it was nearly ready, he slowly sent a thin layer of internal energy into the bucket, melting a little water around the ice so it detached and became slippery.
Then he gently tipped the clear block out.
Xie Chengze hurriedly turned and rummaged among the pots and bowls beside him, finding a red candle and a fire striker. He lit the candle.
Its flame swayed in the wind, threatening to go out. Shen Yuan stood and changed position, shielding it completely. Xie Chengze set the candle into the hollow in the ice and packed snow around it to hold it firmly in place.
The orange-yellow flame trembled gently, sending faint, soft light through the crystal-clear ice. It was as though summer’s dazzling sunlight had been drawn into delicate strands, frozen and stored in winter ice, weaving a dreamscape of ice, snow, light, and shadow through this silver-clad world.
“This is called an ice lantern. Not bad, is it?”
Xie Chengze’s fingertips glided lightly over the clear lantern. His eyes shone, as though he could already see the scene in his imagination. “If we could carve it into a rabbit, it would be beautiful.”
Shen Yuan lowered his gaze to the gleaming ice lantern.
A rabbit ice lantern…