Chapter 19

The young woman stood a little way off, chanting; her voice neither grieved nor glad, level and even without a rise or a fall, yet clear as clear, crisp and bright — and it chanted the onlooking soldiers to tears.

Every man of them was wiping his eyes; all around was a look of grief.

Founding Earl Chang Mianshen was watching too, from a distance, but his face slowly turned peculiar. Eight generations of ancestors, he was thinking — how could that little beast not keep his mouth shut? How had he gone and told her everything? I only said it in passing, and now look — shamed to the bone. With that young woman shouting it out in front of a thousand soldiers, well now, am I some old warmonger who snatches common girls by force? That business can't be mentioned again.

Who wanted to bring it up anyway? It was just father-and-son idle talk! But this little beast had taken it for earnest. Vexing — all his life he'd carried himself open and aboveboard in everything he did, and today he'd landed himself in such an awkward corner...

Ashamed and angry both, he then saw his own little beast slowly bringing the young woman over.

Was he to meet her, or not?

Led by Chang Lianfang toward the earl, Qi Qian'er asked him on the way: "Tell me, uncle — does your father have a courtesy name?"

Chang Lianfang, curious: "What does sister-in-law ask that for?"

Qi Qian'er said: "Your father's a great man now — when I go over, am I to kneel or not?"

Chang Lianfang gave a light laugh: "You're no stranger! My father doesn't care about that — whatever suits sister-in-law is fine."

But Qi Qian'er said: "Whatever suits you is fine, but not for me. You may be on friendly terms with our Scabby, but the elders above you may not back it. Scabby holds a seventh-grade office now, true, but I still happen to be two rites short of him — I don't count as family yet. Meet the elder in a moment and I'll not know how to pitch it, awkward on both sides. With you I'm familiar enough to say 'your father,' but if I go over and talk like that, it'll make a joke of things — it's disrespectful."

Ah, so that was it.

Chang Lianfang halted, thought a moment, and nodded: "My father's courtesy name is Jiecheng."

Hearing the courtesy name, Qi Qian'er laughed at once and nodded: "The uncle was born in the shen hour, wasn't he? But it was reckoned that shen, for all its promise, is a bound and hampered sign; drawn out, it runs afoul of the law and officialdom, and though all things come to fruit under it, they come to ruin as well. So they named him Mianshen — 'sparing him the shen' — asking only for a safe and quiet life. Only the uncle's nature was too lively by half, a headache to the family's elders; and so, once he was grown, the only name that would do for him was Jiecheng — 'all come to fruit.'"

Chang Lianfang stopped and looked at Qi Qian'er, his face now full of open admiration, and laughed: "Sister-in-law's read more than one book, right enough — that's just how it is. The ninth of the twelve earthly branches, the shen: my father was born in the shen hour, and my grandfather knew at the time that the shen hour was a touch wanting — high at birth but declining bit by bit — so he named him Mianshen, giving up the 'high' to ask only for smooth and peaceful days. Later my father... mm, I mustn't say more, but that's the meaning of it! To make up for my father's name, my grandfather brought in a great master — and it cost five hundred cash and five jin of mutton, no less."

At that the two of them laughed together, and were still all smiles as they came up before Earl Chang.

Earl Chang, awkward inside, had his chair brought out and sat himself solemnly and upright upon it.

Since being made an earl, the one bit of dignity he'd added was a round-backed armchair carried along wherever he went, with the skin of the very tiger he'd once beaten to death spread over it, hauled about everywhere.

Qi Qian'er came up before him, stopped at ten paces' distance, first patted the loose dust off herself, straightened her clothes, and tidied her stray hair; only when she was in order did she stand straight and grave, her right hand pressed over her left and held level before her, take three steps forward, raise her hands to brow height, and bend low from the waist — this was the "heaven-salute" bow paid to an elder.

Any common person, meeting someone like a Founding Earl, ought to kneel; but Qi Qian'er now wouldn't kneel, no matter who it was.

"This junior pays her respects to Lord Jiecheng."

This had at first been a man's salute, but the rite-books nowhere said a woman might not use it; so women of high family who'd read the great books used it first, and later it spread about and became a salute used by men and women alike on solemn occasions.

In ordinary places you'd never see it.

Qi Qian'er's bearing as she made the salute was dignified and handsome, her movements smooth and pleasing to watch, elegant and proper and grave, her manner respectful and deferential — enough that Earl Chang, sitting there, gradually drew his back up straight, and at last coughed a few times, putting that awkward business out of his mind after all.

Chang Lianfang introduced her with a smile: "Dad! This is the wife of my sworn brother Chen Dasheng — Madam Huo."

Earl Chang was quite pleased, warm toward her already, and laughed aloud, reaching out to raise her up with a token gesture: "No need, no need, no need for that — you're no stranger, why stand on empty ceremony? Up you get, quick now! You're too formal, miss. A pity your aunt isn't here — it's truly not convenient — but come to the house another day and visit; for now let's just call it the family elders meeting, and be freer with each other, easier, easier..."

Inside he was thinking: I really can't take all this — let me be at my ease too.

Qi Qian'er ended the salute, stepped back a pace, bent again in a half-curtsy, lowered her head slightly, and said: "As is only right."

That said, she raised her head, proper and gracious, and smiled at the Founding Earl.

To the world the Founding Earl was a rough man, blunt and direct in all his dealings; before the Emperor he never hid his coarseness — the moment he saw him, hot tears would well up and down he'd plop to his knees, bang, bang, bang, three resounding kowtows, and it was the same whatever the occasion.

Even now that he was titled, a high court minister, it was all the same: a few days without seeing the Emperor and he'd fret; coming off court he'd take a turn round to the back just to pay his respects; and all the messy little troubles of his household he loved to jaw about to the Emperor, and beg him to settle them for him.

When the Emperor told him to keep his wife in check, he went home and did it in earnest — the two of them brawled clear up onto the rooftop, trampling half a street's worth of grey tiles to bits, and next day he came to court with a black eye and a swollen nose, was reported by the censor, and, beaming all over his face, told the Emperor: that ruinous woman was a good deal more biddable now, right enough...

In the field he was brave and skilled in battle, and by his merits should by rights have been made a marquess; but no one wanted to yield one of the twenty-five marquessates, and the Emperor's second wife, Madam Cao, made a great fuss on her eldest brother's account — so he gave up the marquess's seat and stepped back to an earl's.

The Emperor, feeling guilty, granted his two elder sons viscountcies; so the Chang house now had four great roof-beams: one Founding Earl, two Founding Viscounts, and Chang Lianfang besides — a genuine fifth-grade general, whom the Emperor liked to keep by him wherever he went, treating him as one of his own nephews, and even encouraging him to mix and play with the imperial princes, with no wariness at all.

The Chang house had gained its advantages, but there were drawbacks too: because he was coarse and crude, he got no proper respect abroad — most people he dealt with, coming and going, never stood on ceremony with him, and the younger set naturally followed suit.

Earl Chang felt warm and content inside. True, the young woman before him was in coarse cloth and a plain skirt, her hair thin and yellow, her eyes round and her brows heavy, her nose neither high nor flat, her mouth no cherry — a half-size shy of a wide mouth — her skin waxy-sallow, and her frame all sharp ribs, the sort a gust of wind would knock over. But no matter — here was a girl who knew how to behave!! Once she'd pleased the eye, a closer look found her rather delicate and dear after all.

Seeing Qi Qian'er smile at him, Earl Chang pointed at his son and said: "This little beast has given you no end of trouble, hasn't he? I'd meant, once things settled, to invite your old lady round to the house to visit and get to know the family! But who'd have thought we'd run into a business like this now — no help for it, I had to come first. You children, none of you know how weighty a thing can be; charging in headlong, doing just as you please — what do you know of the danger in all this? Lucky it's our own folk. I got word and came straight over like this; and though it's short on the proprieties, at least you're no stranger, so there's no harm in our meeting."

Qi Qian'er nodded: "Yes — the elders at home are always going on about you too; whenever they mention you it's nothing but praise. We'd long wanted to call on you, but with the war and no fixed place to live, it couldn't be managed. Now it's all worked out — and meeting you, uncle, you really are just as Granny said!"

At that the Founding Earl was more delighted still; he sat up, and then, breaking into an odd smile, pressed her: "Oh? Your elders are always praising me?"

Qi Qian'er looked briefly caught out, but quickly composed her expression and said sincerely: "That's so."

The provoking man still wouldn't let it drop: "Since your granny says so often, then... ahem~ we're no strangers — tell me, now, just how does she put it?"

Chang Lianfang was dying of shame and could only cry out: "Dad!"

Qi Qian'er blinked, thinking: where had this shameless old thing sprung from, fishing for praise right in front of everyone? Mm — praise, was it? That she could do.

So she said, very earnestly: "Mm, there's no end of good words — I've forgotten some of the finer details, but the things Granny says, mm: that you've always been loving and deeply filial, and above all open-handed and generous in your giving, propping up the weak and relieving the poor, never once holding back whether the need was pressing or slow; the whole village and neighborhood praise you and call you a good man."

Had he really got such a fine name among the common folk? Earl Chang felt so good — like drinking iced water in the dog days of summer, so refreshing the bubbles fizzed from the soles of his feet up through the crown of his head. The man was shameless, plain and simple. He slapped the armrest of his chair: "Ai-ya! Ai-ya! So even folk over your way have heard of it! That's right, that's right — that's just how they talk of me! Heh, and I'd told them not to bring it up, but who'd have known you lot would hear of it anyhow — well, what's a man to say to that!"

Off to the side, Chang Lianfang wanted to die, while Qi Qian'er kept a solemn face and even took him to task, all earnest: "You mustn't talk that way~. I'll not hide it from you, uncle — down the ages there's been no end of fine reputations, but those were all written up by sour scholars, and heaven knows how much filth lay behind them! You're not like that. Yours is a name the whole countryside praises, passed from mouth to mouth. What are we, to count for anything? Just women of the inner quarters, with no great knowledge of the world — and yet even so it reached our ears. That shows how far and wide your good name has spread..."

Ai-ya, ai-ya-ya! What comfort! What joy! What bliss! What a marvel!

Earl Chang, so praised he'd gone a little bashful, patted himself all over meaning to reward her with something — only his old woman had been quicker off the mark and gone through his things three times already; in the end all he turned up was a dagger in his sleeve, which he reckoned wouldn't do, so he said awkwardly: "Well... girl, it's all been such a rush today, I've nothing to give you — don't hold it against me. Tomorrow when I get back I'll have your aunt make you up a set of gold jewelry, and give you something to hold your own with when you wed."

Now that was something solid — hand it over and she'd take it.

Qi Qian'er made a bow at once: "Wonderful — then I'll be greedy and take the elder's fine gift. Thank you, uncle."

Earl Chang, delighted, stood and gave her a token hand up: "Hai~ya! It's nothing, only right, only right! Now then — it's all a rush today, and I can't abide empty talk, so I'll not go on at you. Girl, I've heard about your business; go on home for now, and I'll see to it your younger brother settles it all up properly — I'll not have you come off the worse."

That said, he glanced at the sky and added warmly: "So — is there anything else you'd say to your uncle? Set your mind at ease; I'm nothing special, but so long as it's not too much, you go right ahead and say it."

Hearing him say so, Qi Qian'er really did think it over a moment: "Well — there is one thing, as it happens."

Father and son both fell silent an instant; but Earl Chang, a man of wide experience, still smiled: "Oh? Say on?"

Qi Qian'er dropped a curtsy: "Though I'm a wedded wife now, what with the times being in chaos before and the fighting so hard-pressed up front, husband and wife have never been able to meet — my husband doesn't even know there's such a person as me. So now I'd ask a small favor of you, uncle: could you give me paper and a brush? I'd like to send my husband word."

Only this, was it? Earl Chang warmed to her sincerely all over again. He called for brush and ink, and offhandedly told his own son: "Come here, get down on all fours! Your sister-in-law needs to write her letter, and there's no table here — it's awkward."

Poor Chang Lianfang — the fifth-grade, city-breaking, jade-faced young general — afraid of both sides and rattled out of his wits by now, actually came over at the word; he didn't get down flat, but squatted with his back to Qi Qian'er.

Earl Chang had only said it in passing — how could he really make his son lie down? But now the boy had squatted, and there was nothing he could say about it.

All at once he was mortified again; he glanced about. But he was used to carrying on like this, and his men, one and all, tipped their heads back and gazed at the sky — a fine day today, the earl had struck it rich, and they'd each come away with a new coat...

Qi Qian'er paid no mind to the father-and-son show. She took up the brush, thought a moment, and quickly, on Chang Lianfang's back, sketched a rough map of the salt well, then handed it to Earl Chang.

Earl Chang didn't so much as look; he gave the paper a shake and laid it carelessly on his chair to let the ink dry.

When he turned back, he saw Qi Qian'er had already finished a second sheet and was holding it up in both hands for him to see: "Sorry to trouble you, uncle — we truly have no way of seeing him."

That quick?

Earl Chang took the xuan paper, looked down, and saw two names written on it in a fine, neat hand: above, Chen Dasheng; below, Huo Qiqian.

Puzzled, he said: "Just this? And what's the meaning of it?"

Qi Qian'er explained with a smile: "He can't read either; write too much and it'll only muddle him. I just want to tell him: Chen Dasheng has a wife now, called Huo Qiqian, and she's waiting at home — so he's to keep himself safe and sound, and come back whole and entire..."

So that was it. It left the listener all unsettled and stirred; Earl Chang, a man of deep feeling, even sniffed and nodded: "True enough, true enough — good, that's good! That's good. Girl, don't you fret. Others I can't speak for, but the Tan army, well..."

He left the sentence unfinished and said no more. In truth he badly wanted to tell Qi Qian'er, but it touched on too many things — dark dealings and hidden schemes, ghosts and goblins, every kind of creeping evil... The child had a clean nature, and to say it would only befoul her ears.

The realm was mostly settled now; however much the Emperor still needed men, with Tan the Second gone he'd likely have no more use for the Tan army — so this Chen Dasheng, so long as he came through alive with all his limbs, would be safe from here on.

Only, worse luck, things were delicate just now, and His Majesty had many tangles with the Tan family; with that knot in his heart, the earl couldn't simply reach a hand into the Tan army and ask for a man.

Best to wait a while; once they'd come back from the next campaign, quietly getting the man out could still be managed — it only wanted the right moment. To have risen to a seventh-grade captain in the Tan army, the fellow was no ordinary man; the fear was that the Tan side would sooner do him harm than hand him over.

For the Tan house's upper ranks, mind, had rotted past all reason; and this Chen Dasheng was a poor bitter child by origin — had he not won some enormous merit that made it impossible not to reward him, then with that pack of skinflints, hmph!

Qi Qian'er nodded: "Understood. I'll not keep you any longer — I'll take my leave now. The old lady at home is still fretting for me."

Earl Chang nodded: "Off you go, off you go — mustn't keep an old body worrying."

That said, he charged Chang Lianfang further: "I've brought today's grain and fodder along at the back — go and get a few hundred jin of the better stuff to send with your sister-in-law. What's short right now is a mouthful to eat, and we can't have the old lady go hungry. We're all one family; whoever else goes without, you can't stint your own elder's mouth. Off you go — see your sister-in-law safely home, and give the old lady my regards... Another day... when we're back, we'll have the two families meet, and have that sworn brother of yours kowtow to the old lady and to your mother."

This time Chang Lianfang cheered up for real at last, and answered happily: "Ai! Understood, Dad! We'll be off now."

Earl Chang laughed and pointed a finger at him. He was the youngest son after all, and the one who worried him most, so a little more fondness crept into the way he spoke to the boy.

"You worthless little pup — if it were your elder brothers, I'd have kicked them to death long ago. Ai-ya, so it takes getting your own way before you'll give your father a smile, does it? Ai-ya, get lost, quick! Off you go~ once you've seen the elder, hurry straight back — there's pressing business right now, and I don't trust it to anyone else."

Just like that, he'd handed over a few hundred jin of grain to eat?

Qi Qian'er was taken aback; this time her bow was truly sincere — she'd taken this uncle for kin.

Grain could buy lives; a few hundred jin of grain could buy a good many Huo Qiqians. She was grateful.

Watching the two youngsters go off with the three carts already picked out, Earl Chang didn't bother asking what they'd taken; even if it were a whole cartload of grain now, he thought nothing of it — at least it hadn't gone to line an outsider's pockets.

He watched a long while before he drew his gaze back and sighed: "Ai, never mind — a foster son's wife is a daughter-in-law all the same! Sharp little thing, this girl." Chuckling, he walked over to the round-backed chair, picked up the map and gave it a glance, then tucked it into his sleeve-pocket and said, a touch smug: "Can't help taking a liking to her..."

As Qi Qian'er and Chang Lianfang headed back, this time Chang Lianfang knew she was taking a roundabout way, and asked, a little curious: "Why doesn't sister-in-law take the main road?"

Qi Qian'er thought a moment: "There are refugees on the main road."

Was it that she couldn't bear the sight? A young woman's heart was soft after all.

Never mind — if she didn't want to see it, then she needn't. They doubled back the way they'd come, and when they neared the Plague God's temple again, Qi Qian'er once more called the cart to a halt.

Chang Lianfang brought his horse round, his face truly peculiar.

Qi Qian'er, half-abashed and half-cross, said: "Don't let your mind wander, uncle. That's a temple to the Plague God over there. When I was starving badly before, I often ate the offering-fruit there to keep alive; so every time I pass it I have to go in and tidy it up a little."

Ah, so that was it. Since there was a true god there, Chang Lianfang said: "Then shall I go in with sister-in-law and make an offering too?"

At that Qi Qian'er scolded him fondly: "You silly boy, off your mother's lap too soon — you know nothing! You're forever handling blades and spears, uncle; you mustn't go barging into a temple. I've food now, so I'm going to pay the Plague God back his offerings. Wait here a bit — I'll be there and back... quick this time."

That said, she got down from the cart, and from the sacks of grain Chang Lianfang had just given her she picked out a packet of the army's dry marching-cakes and tucked it away to take over.

From far off she saw the temple gate standing wide; going in, she found the few of them gone, sure enough, and her donkey cart gone with them, of course.

Having earnestly set out the offering to the Plague God, Qi Qian'er worked the hidden mechanism and went down into the secret chamber; and this time, at least, she remembered to take the two books the eunuch Liao had given her...

---

Outside the sick-and-wounded camp at Quanqian Manor, the old lady and Meng Wanquan sat on a millstone and waited, and waited, until Madam Qiao came over carrying a bowl of hot noodle soup.

She set the bowl down and said to Meng Wanquan, all smiles: "Look how late it's got — quick, let the old lady have something hot. That Qian'er really doesn't know any better... I don't like to say it, old lady, but you're awfully trusting — it's a whole pack of unmarried soldier-men out there, and our girl's not even wedded yet..."

Before she'd got the words out, she felt a heat across her face — that bowl of noodle soup she'd carried over, the old lady had flung the whole of it, full in her face.