Under the pressure of the seven states, Wey struggled desperately to survive, yet there had once been a time when the state had known great prosperity.
In its early years, Wey’s capital was Chaoge. By the Spring and Autumn period, it had been moved to Diqiu. At that time, the feudal lords often gathered at Qi, a city of Wey, to hold their alliances. Thanks to the advantages provided by the Yellow River’s waterways, Wey’s agriculture and economy flourished. Its textile, leather, bamboo and timber, and metalworking industries were among the most advanced of their time.
By dusk, they arrived at Puyang, where thirty thousand troops set up camp outside the city. Longgu Qing entered the city with more than two thousand men, and Song Chuyi was among them.
Night was approaching in Puyang, and the streets were gradually emptying. Only a handful of taverns still glowed with the dim, yellow light of their lamps.
When the townspeople saw the army, they lowered their heads and stepped aside. Their faces were all expressionless. No one whispered among themselves or showed any surprise, as though battered soldiers and broken armor were nothing out of the ordinary.
The accompanying troops could only wait outside the palace while Longgu Qing went in alone to pay his respects to the Marquis of Wey.
Guards stood in rows throughout the palace, with one stationed every few yards. On either side of the steps leading to the main hall stood stone lanterns about waist-high, carved in the shape of little pavilions. Inside each was a butter lamp, its four sides covered with thin silk, casting a faint glow.
Longgu Qing stood silently at the foot of the steps for several breaths. He reached down and gripped the cold hilt of the sword at his waist, suppressing the sudden surge of sorrow and desolation in his heart before stepping upward.
When he reached the entrance to the main hall, a eunuch came forward to take his weapon.
Longgu Qing removed his shoes and stepped into the hall. The senior ministers of Wey had yet to return home and were still there, accompanying the Marquis of Wey as they waited.
Longgu Qing looked up at the ruler seated in the place of honor. Marquis Cheng of Wey was already extremely old, and he seemed to have aged several years since Longgu Qing had last seen him.
“Greetings, Your Highness.” Longgu Qing bowed.
“No need for formalities. General, tell me the state of our army.” How could the Marquis of Wey not be anxious? Thirty thousand troops might not amount to much to any of the Seven Warring States, but for Wey, it was an enormous force. Apart from the garrison at Puyang, they had effectively mobilized most of the troops in the entire state.
“Yes.” Longgu Qing immediately replied, “Your Highness, of our thirty thousand troops, more than four thousand were lost in the fighting with Song. We then waited for Wei’s main attacking force for a long time, but they never arrived, so I ordered our troops to withdraw. However, we were surrounded by the Song army. It was early winter at the time, and we endured two days of rain and snow, on top of the injuries we had sustained in battle with the Song army. We lost another two thousand men. On the journey back to Wey, more than a hundred more were lost. Of the original thirty thousand, just over twenty-three thousand have now returned safely to Puyang.”
As the commander of the army, Longgu Qing had done everything he could to preserve his forces. Had he not ordered a decisive retreat and handled the withdrawal so well, all thirty thousand men might have perished in Song.
Marquis of Wey coughed several times, his face filled with grief. “The King of Wei has treated me far too cruelly. Far too cruelly…”
The ministers likewise covered their faces with their sleeves and burst into anguished sobs. For a time, cries of grief rose and fell throughout the hall.
“Your Highness.” Longgu Qing was deeply distressed himself, but after years of campaigning on the battlefield, he was not one to lose his composure.
At the sound of his voice, the weeping in the hall subsided considerably. He cupped his hands and said, “Our successful escape from this predicament was entirely thanks to the two envoys. Wey is surrounded by powerful enemies, yet our own state is weak. We truly cannot afford another war. Rather than that, we should recruit such talented men and have them safeguard our state.”
The Marquis of Wey was taken aback. “Two?”
“Indeed.” Longgu Qing had also been paying close attention to Song Chuyi during their time together. He was not particularly skilled at strategy himself, but his age had given him considerable experience in judging people. He felt that Song Chuyi was the sort of scholar who could be put to good use. Thus, he told the Marquis of Wey and the other ministers exactly how Ji Yu had happened to encounter Zhang Yi and Song Chuyi, and how he had subsequently asked Song Chuyi to go to Song as a diplomatic envoy.
“Are you saying, General Longgu, that my retainer took the gifts and diplomatic letter from Wey to sue for peace, but in the end, everything depended on that scholar’s abilities?”
An old man in his fifties or older stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking calmly at Longgu Qing. His voice was utterly even, as though he were merely seeking confirmation. He gave a cold snort. “If that is truly the case, then there is no need to keep such a retainer. I shall throw him out myself another day.”
“Senior Official, you are being too harsh.” Longgu Qing turned back to the Marquis of Wey and continued, “As for what happened in Song, I do not know the details. However, based on my decades of experience judging people, I believe Master Song Huaijin is also a man of considerable ability and may be worth putting to use.”
The Senior Official sneered inwardly. He had nearly a hundred retainers under his own patronage, yet even he would not dare claim to be an expert at judging people. What experience could a mere military man possibly have? Still, Longgu Qing’s words had preserved his dignity, so he chose not to nitpick any further.
“In that case, have them settled in your residence for now. I shall summon them for an audience when I have the time. That will be all for today.” Marquis of Wey rose with the support of two attendants.
Even though he had prepared himself mentally long ago, and even though the news was already several times better than he had anticipated, hearing that such a large portion of the state’s forces had been lost made him look, in an instant, even more haggard and aged.
Longgu Qing watched the Marquis of Wey’s unsteady figure as he walked away. He stood there in silence for a moment before following the others out.
As Song Chuyi was Longgu Qing’s retainer, she was naturally placed under his arrangements. The Long clan was a wealthy landowning family with extensive estates and considerable resources. Moreover, he had fewer than ten retainers, so each of them was treated fairly well. At the very least, they did not have to share a room with anyone else.
The quarters assigned to Song Chuyi consisted primarily of a stone-slab house four bays wide. There were several smaller rooms on either side of the courtyard, but they had no flooring and could only be used to store less important items. They were certainly not fit for habitation.
So, of the two rooms assigned to her, Song Chuyi gave one to the Wei sisters and kept the other for herself.
Dark clouds gradually gathered over Puyang, and fierce, howling winds swept through the city. The temperature suddenly dropped, and the steward of the Longgu household hurriedly stuffed some supplies into Song Chuyi’s room. After exchanging a few perfunctory courtesies, he hurried away.
It was not yet particularly late, but Song Chuyi had no desire to sleep, so she tidied the room by touch in the darkness.
The Longgu household’s attitude toward Song Chuyi was fairly indifferent, but they were quite generous when it came to her provisions. For her, that was more than enough.
Song Chuyi was sorting through her clothes when she suddenly heard the sound of a qin coming from outside. She paused and listened carefully for a moment before opening the door and stepping outside.
Following the sound, she saw a scholar in plain robes sitting cross-legged beneath the corridor. His limbs were long and slender, and his neck was slightly longer than most people’s, though not to the point of looking strange. Instead, it gave him an elegant, crane-like grace. His black hair was left unbound, whipped about by the fierce wind, with strands half-concealing a handsome, refined face. Every movement carried an effortless, unrestrained elegance. His eyes were closed, as though completely absorbed in his own music.
Song Chuyi stood in the doorway with her hands tucked into her sleeves and listened for a while.
Yet the man’s qin abruptly fell silent. He suddenly opened his eyes and fixed them on her, seemingly with a flash of anger. Then he picked up his qin and turned to walk back inside.
Song Chuyi parted her lips slightly, utterly baffled. If you came out here to play the qin, wasn’t it so that people could listen? I was even kind enough to stay and listen, so why are you making such a sour face at me?
