Chapter 19#
Awa (1)#
The courtyard fell so silent you could hear a pin drop, with only the lamb on the spit sizzling and sputtering on its own.
Balonger stood up clutching half a lamb leg, then immediately dropped to his knees before he’d even steadied himself. “General, I was wrong.”
Helan Jinying asked gently, “Good Zhuozhuo, who told you there was a lema in the Huixin Courtyard?”
“Balong,” Zhuozhuo answered. “Balong told Second Brother that your lema was there.”
Helan Feng: “…”
Helan Jinying asked again, “Then does Zhuozhuo know what lema means?”
“I know!” Zhuozhuo held up a piece of meat and shouted. “Hundaer and Duze have taught me lots of times—lema is the most delicious dried pear!”
Hundaer and Duze: “…”
Helan Jinying handed Zhuozhuo to Ruan Buqi and had her take the child back to sleep. Seeing Ruan Buqi leave, Helan Feng immediately shot a meaningful glance at Jin Yue. Jin Yue hurriedly lowered his head and followed closely behind Ruan Buqi, distancing himself from the courtyard where the situation was rapidly shifting. His free hand waved behind his back in a small gesture—a farewell and encouragement to Helan Feng.
Helan Jinying stared expressionlessly at Jin Yue’s little movements. Helan Feng stood ramrod straight, pretending he’d seen nothing. Only when Zhuozhuo and the others had disappeared behind the courtyard wall did Helan Jinying slowly turn back, repeating Zhuozhuo’s words. “The Huixin Courtyard’s, my lema…”
He nodded, then abruptly asked, “Is Zhu Ye the most beautiful woman in the world?”
Hundaer shook his head. Duze nodded. Helan Feng and Balonger didn’t move at all.
“Duze, run fifty laps around the courtyard.” Helan Jinying paused, then asked, “Is Zhu Ye’s qin pleasant to listen to?”
Hundaer had learned his lesson. He shook his head together with Balonger.
“Dishonest. Fifty laps,” Helan Jinyed said.
Hundaer was furious. He pointed at Helan Feng. “What about him?! Why doesn’t he have to run? If you’re going to punish someone, at least be fair!”
“Very well.” Helan Jinying’s tone was gentle and intimate. “I was just about to make him run a hundred laps.”
Hundaer turned ashen, swaying on his feet.
After a night of chaos and uproar, Helan Feng didn’t lie down until morning, his face white as a sheet. He was so exhausted he fell asleep without even taking off his clothes, shoes, or socks. But he didn’t rest for long. By the time Jin Yue brought lunch, he had already gotten up, changed his clothes, put on his outdoor robes and hat, and was pulling an empty bow open again and again.
“Big Brother wants me and Hundaer to go hunting,” he said. “If we don’t bag thirty rabbits, we can’t come back.”
Jin Yue: “That many?!”
Helan Feng: “And there are no rabbits near the Northern Capital.”
Jin Yue felt immediately sympathetic. She packed the leftover half of the pork-oil pancake from last night into the bowl as well, letting Helan Feng wolf it all down with a slurp alongside his oil tea and congee.
This time, only General Hu and Helan Jinying slipped home under cover of night. The Northern Rong army was still deployed north of the Liexie River—there was no opportunity to retreat yet. The two had returned to the Northern Capital ahead of time specifically to report the peace negotiations with Great Yu to the Celestial Sovereign, and so they headed straight for the Royal City at dawn.
In the council hall, sovereign and ministers listened carefully as General Hu and Helan Jinying reported on the situation at the front lines. The Northern Rong Celestial Sovereign was never a man of many smiles, but on this day even he couldn’t help showing his delight. “Ha! Great Yu!”
However, the terms of the alliance had yet to be finalized. General Hu and Helan Jinying had a second objective in returning to the Northern Capital: to escort the Celestial Sovereign’s most trusted envoy, Long Tuqin, to Bishan City to discuss the details of the treaty with Great Yu.
“The one Great Yu will likely send is Grand Preceptor Liang Anchong. This man is deeply calculating—cunning and shrewd. Long Tuqin, you must be careful.”
Long Tuqin stepped forward and struck his fist to his chest. “Long Tuqin accepts the command.”
The council hall was filled with jubilant air. Zhewen asked about several other matters, though his mind remained fixed on the alliance with Great Yu. He kept General Hu, Helan Jinying, and Long Tuqin behind, and ordered fine wine and delicacies to be brought out—a clear toast of celebration.
He studied Helan Jinying repeatedly, and only after General Hu’s reminder did he recall that the young man before him was the one who had handled the Great Yu hostage years ago.
Zhewen suddenly grew interested. “That Great Yu hostage—he’s still alive?”
“He is,” Helan Jinying replied. “He’s a thoroughly and completely Northern Rong slave now.”
Zhewen asked further, “Where is he?”
“In the Northern Capital. He came along with General Hu’s and my families,” Helan Jinying said. “After all, he’s a slave. Serving his masters is the only thing he has to do.”
Long Tuqin asked, “If I remember correctly, that hostage is the son of Loyal and Illustrious General Jin Mingzhao?”
Zhewen nodded, swirling the wine cup in his hand as he pondered for a moment. “Bring him here. I want to see him.”
The only four people Helan Jinying intended to punish were, in fact, only four. Balonger and Duze were sent to the city walls to assist the garrison soldiers, while Helan Feng and Hundaer were assigned to hunt snow hares.
But there were no snow hares near the Northern Capital. In the vast white forests, all they could spot were one or two small deer darting between the trees.
Hundaer grew bored along the way and turned his head to ask, “So what’s the deal between your brother and Zhu Ye? Did you ask?”
Helan Feng: “No.”
He still hadn’t found a chance to speak privately with Helan Jinying. This time, his brother had returned home looking utterly exhausted, and Helan Feng had been scolded on top of it. He didn’t dare bring up anything related to Zhu Ye.
The two rode farther and farther. The sky, which had been blazing with sun, filled with dark clouds at some unnoticed point. Hundaer lifted his head and sniffed the scent in the wind, then uneasily warned, “This snow’s going to be bad. Let’s head back?”
No sooner had he spoken than a plume of white smoke rose from the woods in the distance. The two rode toward it, but before they could get close, a voice called out sharply. “Who goes there!”
A small group of people were resting in the forest. Their campfire had been doused, wisps of white smoke still curling upward. A rugged and handsome Northern Rong young man, dressed in noble attire, was rising from the ground with a book in his hands. Several servants stood beside him, all pointing their swords at Helan Feng and Hundaer. Helan Feng also detected two more people hidden in the trees, bows already drawn.
Hundaer, seeing these people with even more of a show of force than his own, immediately bristled. “I’m the son of General Hu, chief of the Yetai tribe! Who do you lot of mutts think you are, daring to point your swords at me!”
The young man’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. “General Hu’s son? You’re Hundaer?”
Hundaer was taken aback. “And what the hell are you?”
At his words, the surrounding servants bristled with fury. The young man, however, was entirely unfazed. “I’ve shared a table and drinks with your father. He knows me too. I’m Awa, a scholar of the Yuntian Observatory. Word has it that a star fell on this mountain two days ago, so I came specially to investigate.”
The Yuntian Observatory was an institution controlled by the grand shamans of Northern Rong, responsible for divining fates and charting the ley lines of the earth—filled with mathematicians and spirit workers. The spirit workers held exalted status, so Helan Feng and Hundaer hastily dismounted and apologized to Awa.
“You should head back soon,” Hundaer’s demeanor changed immediately. “It’s about to snow.”
“Don’t worry—the snow won’t fall tonight. Are you two continuing onward?” Awa warned. “It’s getting dark.”
“We’ll turn back once we reach the summit,” Helan Feng said. “Would you like us to escort you?”
Awa politely declined his offer. After watching Awa and his retinue depart, Hundaer sidled closer to Helan Feng. “That man is very wealthy.”
Helan Feng: “How do you know?”
Hundaer: “That yellow jade on his hat. I’ve never seen one that big.”
Helan Feng yawned, urged him onto his horse, and pressed on.
This low mountain near the Northern Capital was the tail end of the Kudulin mountain range. When the two rode to the summit, the wind suddenly intensified. The massive bank of clouds overhead was blown far away. The young man Awa had been right—there would be no snow tonight.
Suspended over the distant mountains hung an enormous full moon. The stars were hushed, the moonlight crystalline, and the snow on the ground gleamed like silver.
In that instant, fragments of things Helan Feng had long forgotten came rushing into his mind. He saw Jin Yue writing his name in the dirt—at that time, this man from Great Yu was still happy. He would marvel at tasting dried meat and crack jokes with Helan Feng.
The bright moon rises from the Heavenly Mountains, vast and boundless among the sea of clouds—the boy who had given him a fox fur cloak to warm his journey home pointed at his own name as he spoke and laughed.
“You’ve never seen the moon before?!” Hundaer called from up ahead. “Let’s go! I’m starving!”
Helan Feng sat atop Feixiao, gazing quietly at the bright moon overhead. The moonlight illuminated many things with startling clarity, including certain hazy, half-formed things he had never stopped to examine. Helan Feng’s heart stirred with an abrupt, unfamiliar feeling. He turned his horse’s head and headed back down the mountain, gradually picking up speed until he overtook Hundaer.
Two horses galloped across the snowy plain at night. They plunged back into the forest they’d come through, and suddenly Helan Feng caught sight of flickering firelight deep among the trees ahead.
Someone was riding toward them at full gallop, torch held high. “Helan Feng! Hundaer!”
“Duze?” Hundaer was startled. “What are you doing here? You came to pick us up?”
“Something’s happened!” Duze was out of breath, the torch in his hand dripping spattering droplets of burning oil. “Your big brother came back and took Jin Yue. He said the Celestial Sovereign wants to see him.”
Helan Feng’s heart clenched. “The Celestial Sovereign?”
“There were palace troops with him. They dragged Jin Yue into a carriage and left. Big Brother Balong and I saw the whole thing when we got home. He told me not to tell you, but I figured this doesn’t seem right. After all, Jin Yue is someone who came here with us, and this… Helan!”
Helan Feng, irritated by his rambling, squeezed his horse’s flanks and shot forward.
Hundaer and Duze followed close behind, three horses at full gallop.
As they burst through the forest, Helan Feng—the sharpest-eared of the three—faintly caught the clash of steel coming from another direction deep within the woods. A jolt of alarm made him slow his pace. And just as he did, a tremendous shout truly did erupt from the darkness of the forest—
“Protect Awa! Get him out of here, quickly!”
Hundaer and Duze heard it too, but neither stopped. They urgently urged Helan Feng onward. “Forget about those people! Just get back!”
Helan Feng followed them for a stretch, but the sounds of fighting and shouting continued without pause. He cursed under his breath, sharply wheeled his horse around, and charged at full speed into the depths of the dark forest.
The full moon climbed steadily higher, becoming a suspended lantern that illuminated nearly every corner of the Northern Capital. A silent procession of carriages entered the Royal City, winding along its path. Helan Jinying had already dismounted and stopped along the way. He watched the convoy disappear around the bend in the road from a distance, his face drawn with a rare, visible anxiety.
Jin Yue sat with his eyes closed, resting, inside the narrow, swaying carriage. He knew only that the Northern Rong Celestial Sovereign wished to see him, but not why. According to what Helan Feng had said, Helan Jinying had been grateful to Jin Mingzhao, which was why he had found a way to save him back then. If this was true, then when he faced the Northern Rong Celestial Sovereign, he would have to help conceal Helan Jinying’s involvement in all of this—after all, his life at the Helan household had not been that of a slave.
Jin Yue heard the heavy sound of palace gates closing behind him.
He had already foreseen that he would not walk out of this place alive.
If this was to be his end, then the last thing he would do in this world was protect Helan Jinying, Helan Feng, and Zhuozhuo—protect the people of the Yetai tribe, protect the people of the twelve cities north of the river who might be slaughtered by Zhewen.
The carriage finally stopped. A soldier pulled aside the curtain and ordered him to get out.
Jin Yue straightened his robes and stepped down. When he looked up, he froze in genuine surprise.
Before him stood a tall stone tower, its peak crowned with an eternal flame—the highest stone tower in the Northern Capital.
Before him was an open iron gate, its surface engraved with countless patterns of interconnected stars. A line of Northern Rong characters was carved into the stone wall beside it:
Yuntian Observatory.