Chapter 27
After much thought, Mo Shuihan gave the Ninth Princess one last instruction before he left: “As soon as I am gone, you are to immediately and quietly send a message to the Fourth Prince Consort. Tell him to lead his troops here as reinforcements, but do not alert anyone else.”
The Fourth Prince Consort’s family held military power in Yizhou, which served as a check against Jingzhou. This was one of the reasons the Left Minister had not dared to act rashly until now. Yizhou was not far from Jingzhou, and it was clear that the local generals in Jingzhou could no longer be trusted. Once Mo Shuihan uncovered the truth, they would certainly not cooperate and might even sabotage his efforts. Furthermore, Mo Shuihan now suspected they were secretly colluding with the bandits. For his own safety and the Ninth Princess’s, and to ensure he could successfully eliminate the Marquis of Qing’an and sever one of the Left Minister’s arms, Mo Shuihan had to be thoroughly prepared.
Mo Shuihan and An Feng made an excuse to slip away. When they reached the foot of the mountain, An Feng asked, “Prince Consort, how do you plan to get up the mountain?”
Mo Shuihan turned and asked in return, “Do you have any ideas, An Feng?”
An Feng surveyed their surroundings. The landscape was bare, and the bandits, to prevent anyone from hiding, had thinned out the trees. If they went up like this, they would easily become targets.
“Why don’t you wait here, Prince Consort? I’ll go see if there are any lone bandits nearby. We can capture two of them and change into their clothes.”
Mo Shuihan smiled and shook his head. “Let’s wait a little longer.”
An Feng frowned, looking at him with dissatisfaction. “If you don’t trust me, then why did you ask me to come up the mountain with you?”
Mo Shuihan waved a hand. “Be patient. To me, there is no one more trustworthy than you right now.”
Seeing An Feng’s disbelieving expression, Mo Shuihan asked with a smile, “I hear that the Left Minister values his eldest son above all else? For you to be sent away on this trip, it seems the rumors are true. Your most important task on this journey must be to protect your young master, correct?”
“You…” An Feng’s eyes widened as he glared at him. “Are you threatening me?”
Mo Shuihan hadn’t mentioned Xiao Heng by chance. An Feng thought back to how, before they left, Mo Shuihan had used the Ninth Princess’s noble status and fear for her safety as a pretext to demand that Xiao Heng move into her courtyard. Now, how could he not understand? Mo Shuihan had planned this from the very beginning: hold the emperor hostage to command the nobles. As long as Xiao Heng was in the Ninth Princess’s hands, forget one An Feng—the entirety of Jingzhou wouldn’t dare to make a move!
Mo Shuihan smiled nonchalantly. “Threatening is too strong a word. Let’s just call it mutual restraint.”
An Feng silently considered the collusion between the Left Minister and the Marquis of Qing’an. How much did Mo Shuihan know? Was his move intentional, or was this a case of a blind cat catching a dead mouse?
With this new concern in his mind, An Feng no longer pressed Mo Shuihan about his plans. The two of them waited at the foot of the mountain until dark. When he saw Mo Shuihan gathering firewood, seemingly preparing to spend the night, An Feng finally asked, “Are we just going to wait here?”
Mo Shuihan didn’t hide it from him. “The supplies on the mountain are limited, so someone brings them provisions every few days. We are waiting here for that person.”
An Feng understood. Only now did he realize he had underestimated this Prince Consort. “It seems you are a man of hidden depths, Prince Consort. Those officials back there have truly misjudged you.”
Mo Shuihan poked the fire with a stick, placing their rations on it to warm them. Only then did he take the time to reply, “To eat the king’s grain is to share the king’s worries. I am merely fulfilling my duty.”
Silence fell between them again. As sitting there was dull, Mo Shuihan started another topic. “You have always been so loyal to the Left Minister. Is it because he raised you?”
An Feng replied without expression, “It’s more than that. The Minister also saved my life. If he hadn’t given me a chance to live, with my status, I would have long ago been reduced to the lowest class.”
Mo Shuihan gave a sarcastic smile. “Is that what the Left Minister told you?”
An Feng looked up, puzzled. “Is there something wrong with that?”
Mo Shuihan stared at him with clear eyes, his gaze seeming to pierce right through to his soul. “Have you never had any doubts about your own identity?”
An Feng was about to shake his head, but for some reason, he hesitated for a moment before saying in a muffled voice, “No.”
Mo Shuihan stood and walked to the edge of a nearby cliff. He took a deep breath of the cold, clean air, and only after he had cleared his mind did he beckon to An Feng. “Look down there. They are all common people, and many are innocent children. But while they worry about foreign invasions, what they fear even more now are their own people. An Feng, you have tasted the bitterness of this world since you were a child. Surely you don’t wish for more children to end up like you?”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Mo Shuihan turned back. “Let’s not mince words. For the past two days, that Lord Qi has been trying his hardest to make us understand one thing: Jingzhou is under the Left Minister’s protection. Your purpose in accompanying me up this mountain isn’t simple either, is it? But what have these people done to deserve this? The ambitions of officials should not be paid for with their lives.”
“And you still dare to speak so frankly with me?”
Mo Shuihan smiled. “Because I believe your conscience is not yet lost. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have spared Governor Yang’s life that day.”
Seeing An Feng remain silent, Mo Shuihan continued, “You can put all the blame on me. Your duty is to protect your young master, but your young master is now in my hands. Your hands are tied, are they not?”
An Feng was still silent, and Mo Shuihan said no more.
Mo Shuihan had timed their arrival perfectly. Sure enough, the next morning, they saw a middle-aged man in rough cotton clothes driving a horse-drawn cart, followed by two young helpers, nervously making their way up the mountain. When they came down, Mo Shuihan and An Feng followed them quietly, first figuring out where they were based. Then, in the middle of the night, they captured the man and interrogated him about the situation on the mountain, the timing of their supply deliveries, and so on.
On the next trip up the mountain, Mo Shuihan and An Feng disguised themselves as helpers and followed the middle-aged man. They weren’t worried about his betrayal; his entire family was in the Ninth Princess’s hands.
The man, trembling with fear, unloaded the goods. The moment he was out of the fortress gates, he quickly parted ways with them. Then, under the cover of night, Mo Shuihan and An Feng, using the map they had gathered, slipped back into the fortress.
To call it a fortress was an understatement; it encompassed the entire mountain. Aside from the houses built of bamboo in the center, the rest of the area was filled with tents. Only the large, sturdy building in the very middle, made of blue bricks, was used to store the bandits’ daily supplies.
This was no bandit’s den; it was clearly a military camp!
The mountain was huge. The two of them traveled all night without stopping and had only explored the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, this was the largest and strongest of all the bandit fortresses. They had to get inside to find out what was really going on.
Just before dawn, the two of them withdrew and hid at the foot of the mountain again. An Feng asked, “What do you plan to do now?”
Mo Shuihan thought for a moment and said, “We’ll go up in disguise. The situation in this fortress is complex. We can’t see the problem from the outside. We have to start from within.”
An Feng saw him take out a spare set of clothes, clearly having planned this in advance. He asked, “Are you planning to pose as a patient?”
“Yes. This fortress has a doctor with excellent medical skills; that’s no secret in these parts. It’s the least suspicious method. A rich young master coming up the mountain with a great deal of gold… they shouldn’t refuse so readily, should they?”
An Feng stopped him. “It may not be suspicious, but you won’t get in. Those bandits are extremely vigilant. The most likely outcome is that they’ll kill you and take your money.”
Mo Shuihan paused. “Then do you have a better idea?”
An Feng looked him up and down. “Why don’t you disguise yourself as a woman?”
Mo Shuihan choked and shot him a look. “Right. So the bandits can take one look at me and I can become their madam right on the spot!”
A rare smile touched An Feng’s lips. “It’s the simplest way.”
Mo Shuihan scoffed. “It would be easier for me to just go to a brothel and buy a girl.”
An Feng asked, “Then what do you suggest?”
Mo Shuihan slowly sat down on a rock, tapping his head as he thought for a long time. Suddenly, he remembered a conversation he had overheard between two bandits when they were scouting the fortress at night: the weather was getting colder, and because the court had sent an imperial envoy to suppress them, the bandits couldn’t go down the mountain for fear of causing trouble. The surrounding area was all tents, and they couldn’t burn branches inside their rooms, so charcoal was in desperately short supply. Many had already fallen ill from the cold.
“I’ve got it! A scholar with nowhere else to turn. They’re in desperate need of charcoal right now, and I know how to make it. I’ll use this method to trade for their protection!”
An Feng also remembered the two bandits’ conversation and nodded in agreement.
To make the act convincing, Mo Shuihan made a trip down the mountain to investigate the recent movements of the local populace. He learned of a wealthy family with the surname Wang. The husband and wife had met with an accident, leaving only their bookish son. The husband’s cousin, coveting the family’s wealth, colluded with the local county office to seize the Wang family’s property. Fearing that the son, Wang Gongzi, would one day pass the imperial examinations and return for revenge, he secretly hired assassins to kill him. Now, Wang Gongzi’s whereabouts were unknown.
Mo Shuihan would play the part of Wang Gongzi, driven to desperation by his uncle and forced to seek refuge with the bandits. An Feng would be his servant.
They hired a few men. As the bandits were coming down the mountain, Mo Shuihan and An Feng pretended to be pursued, running right into them. The bandits, of course, had no interest in helping. They stood in the distance, laughing and watching the show, betting on when the two of them would be killed.
Mo Shuihan cowered and scrambled, shouting to the bandits, “I have money! I’m the son of a rich family in the city! I’ll give you money if you help me! I’ll give you all my money!”
The moment the bandits heard there was money, they straightened up and walked over, their broadswords held with menacing smiles. The pursuers, seeing they were outnumbered, supported each other and quickly fled. The bandits laughed heartily, pointing at the fleeing men. “Cowards!”
Then they turned to Mo Shuihan, holding out a rough hand. “Where’s the money?”
Mo Shuihan, trembling, took out a stack of silver notes from his robes. A bandit snatched it, counted it, and then looked at Mo Shuihan with ill intent. “Is there any more hidden?”
Mo Shuihan quickly shook his head. The bandit didn’t believe him and was about to search him. An Feng quickly stepped in front of Mo Shuihan. The bandit’s expression turned hostile, and he tightened his grip on his broadsword. Mo Shuihan quickly peeked out from behind An Feng. “Big brothers, I thought I heard you say you were looking for someone who knows how to make charcoal?”
The bandit raised an eyebrow. “Your ears are quite sharp, boy. What, you know where to find someone who can make charcoal? If you tell us, we might spare your life!”
Mo Shuihan gave a shaky smile. “I… I’ve read about how to make charcoal in a book. Big brother, if you let us go, I’ll tell you the method, alright?”
The bandit pulled Mo Shuihan out from behind An Feng. “You know how?”
Mo Shuihan nodded. The bandit looked him up and down, then glanced at An Feng before turning to consult with the others. “It’s so cold. This saves us the trouble of going down the mountain to look. Let’s take this kid back and have him make it.”
Another bandit hesitated. “But didn’t a lot of imperial envoys just arrive in the city? What if this kid is a spy? That would be trouble.”
The first bandit laughed disdainfully, pointing at Mo Shuihan’s slight frame. “Him? I could kill two of him with one punch. If the court sent a spy like this, they must be blind!”
Seeing the other bandit was still uneasy, Mo Shuihan chimed in at the right moment, his voice laced with tears. “Big brother, I… I can’t… I’ll tell you the method, please, just let me go. I don’t want to go up the mountain!”
The bandits looked at his cowering, frightened, yet-too-scared-to-run appearance and all burst out laughing. The other bandits also jeered, “With a gutless look like that, an imperial envoy? Haha, don’t make me laugh!”
The hesitant bandit, seeing Mo Shuihan’s face scrunched up as if he were about to wet himself in fear, also felt he had been overly cautious. “Then let’s take him back!”
Mo Shuihan pretended to struggle for a bit, but after a few threats from the bandits, he quieted down, his face a mask of misery.
As they neared the fortress, the hesitant bandit, seeing Mo Shuihan’s look of despair, even offered a word of comfort. “Don’t be afraid. As long as you make good charcoal, everyone will be grateful to you. They won’t kill you. They might even help you get your revenge!”
“Really?” Mo Shuihan’s eyes lit up.
The bandit was momentarily stunned by the sight and nodded, blushing. He thought to himself, How can a young master from the city be so captivating?
The leader of the group, seeing them return so quickly, asked what had happened. They reported everything as it was. The leader looked at Mo Shuihan and An Feng for a long moment before saying he had to report to the boss.
After a long while, three burly men walked over. The one in the middle’s eyes lit up the moment he saw Mo Shuihan, and he froze on the spot. Mo Shuihan, frightened, tried to hide behind An Feng, but the man grabbed him and pulled him out. “This little guy is really good-looking!”
The bandit from before nodded in vigorous agreement. The sub-leader repeated the story, and before the other two bosses could speak, the one holding Mo Shuihan laughed first. “With a weakling look like that, the court must be stupid to send him here.”
Then he turned to the terrified, cowering Mo Shuihan. “It’s a waste for such a pretty face to be making charcoal. Why don’t you be my madam? I’ll make sure you eat well and live well, and no one will ever bully you again. How about it?”
“Huh?” Mo Shuihan looked up, dumbfounded. “But… but I’m a man!”
The man didn’t care in the slightest. “So what if you’re a man? I’ve taken a liking to you!”
Mo Shuihan was on the verge of tears. “Big brother, I beg you, please let me go. I didn’t mean to trespass on your mountain. I was just lost. I’ve given you all my money, please just let me go!”
Another boss beside him, who was slightly more handsome, smiled. “If you weren’t lost, you wouldn’t have dared to come in here!”
The first boss looked Mo Shuihan up and down. “What are you so afraid of? Haven’t been fancied by a man before? It’s fine, we’re all men here. You’ll get used to it! Of course, if you agree to be with me now, the others won’t dare to bother you!”
Now, Mo Shuihan was truly on the verge of tears. How can it be this dangerous to be a man?
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