After the Immortal Disappeared

Prominent figures were gathered, and everyone was listening intently—exactly the environment Hee Chunhua needed. He didn’t decline, taking a seat and speaking with eloquence. He made no mention of Zhu Xiu’er’s role at Immortal Spirit Lake, saying only that some villagers had secretly reported the situation, giving the Supporting Army a heads-up.

The onlookers noted his appropriate wording and dignified demeanor, nodding in silent approval.

Hee Lingchuan, however, was watching Ke Jihai.

When speaking with Hee Chunhua, his eyes were fixed solely on him, and he laughed and talked as if no one else was there. When the other nobles couldn’t help but cheer and applaud at crucial points in the story, Ke Jihai grew impatient and turned to rebuke them.

The true stars of tonight’s banquet were supposed to be the Zhu Family and Zhu Xiu’er. As the saying goes, a guest should defer to the host, yet he had usurped the host’s role from the moment he arrived, completely oblivious. It seemed Grand General Ke had a blunt personality and didn’t care about offending people.

Zhu Xiyan chuckled, paying it no mind, but the younger generation of the Zhu Family were pouting and frowning, their displeasure clear.

Ke Jihai questioned him in detail about the battle strategy and its execution. He was particularly interested in the part where the Supporting Army led the village’s old and weak in their escape to the west. Upon hearing this, he immediately raised a question, "Mr. Hee, you are benevolent, but women and children move slowly. To have put more and more distance between yourselves and the Rebel Army, you must have left a rearguard. What were your losses in that unit?"

"The rearguard from the Supporting Army consisted of thirty-five men and seventeen horses, along with fourteen village men who stayed behind to help." Having lived through that harrowing night, Hee Chunhua knew these numbers by heart. "They held back the Rebel Army for nearly three double-hours."

"Thirty-five men held them for three double-hours!" Ke Jihai was visibly moved. "Excellent. There must be some fierce warriors among them. Mr. Hee, you must give them important positions."

Hee Chunhua smiled faintly and beckoned Hee Lingchuan forward. "At the time, my son volunteered to lead the rearguard. I was very reluctant to let him go. But who would have thought the boy would command them so capably and complete the mission perfectly?"

He heaved a long sigh. "During the retreat, he was shot by Lui Yao and fell from a cliff. That arrow is said to strike three times with a single shot. We all thought he was a goner, and my wife fainted from crying on the spot. Who knew... Hah. Not only did he survive, but he also rescued Wu Shaoyi, who was on his last breath. Otherwise, that rascal would never have surrendered. This was truly a blessing from the heavens."

"Heaven helps those who help themselves. Lui Yao’s bow and arrow set is something special. It’s one of the rebel leader Hong Xiangqian’s greatest treasures, called the ’Ghost Eye Bow.’ If the first shot misses, it automatically follows up with a double strike. The Official Army has experienced its deadliness on the battlefield; two of my own generals have died by the Ghost Eye Bow. For Lui Yao to use that bow on you and for you to survive... you’re no simple lad."

Ke Jihai turned to Hee Lingchuan. "You’re young, yet you have both strategy and courage. A rare combination! A man isn’t a true hero until he’s been on the battlefield. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to prove your mettle up north. You must focus on honing your skills and become another tiger general for our Da Yuan!"

As a wily old veteran of the battlefield, he understood the Royal Court’s intention in transferring Hee Chunhua to Xiazhou at a single glance. It was to bolster their military strength against Xunzhou Governor Nian Zanli and the Northern Demon Kingdom. The Hee Family’s eldest son would be following his father, so there would be no shortage of battles for him.

Hee Lingchuan nodded, his voice firm and resonant. "I will heed the Grand General’s teachings, without fail!"

Ke Jihai appreciated this kind of straightforward young man who didn’t waste words. He immediately untied the saber from his waist and offered it to Hee Lingchuan. "A fine blade for a worthy hero."

"How could we possibly accept this!" Before his son could speak, Hee Chunhua immediately tried to refuse.

Ke Jihai ignored him, pushing the saber directly into Hee Lingchuan’s hands. "This blade is named ’Hundred Defying.’ It has been with me for twenty-two years. I hope you will make good use of it."

Hee Lingchuan was overjoyed. He accepted it with both hands and said solemnly, "I humbly accept and will not disappoint the General’s hopes."

For Ke Jihai to show such high regard for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old country boy—praising him as a hero and gifting him a saber while completely disregarding everyone else—did not sit well with the other nobles present. Those in their early twenties, in particular, found his comment "A man isn’t a true hero until he’s been on the battlefield" especially grating.

Hex Shu, who had chatted with the Hee Brothers earlier, spoke up. "I heard that General Wu Di’s eldest son, Wu Heh, went to the battlefield at thirteen and led troops to capture an enemy general alive at sixteen. He is now in the northwest with his father, campaigning against Dongg Haoming. He happens to be two years older than Brother Hee. Could it be that our Yuan Kingdom is about to produce another pair of peerless tiger generals?"

The few young men who usually surrounded him chimed in with agreement, but the other nobles merely smiled without saying a word. Ke Jihai glanced at Hex Shu. "And who are you?"

"My surname is Hex. My father is Hex Liwen of the Imperial Censorate." To avoid any appearance of impropriety, his father had not attended the Zhu Family’s evening banquet.

Someone from the Zhu family added from the side, "This is Hex Shu, the third son of the Imperial Censor."

"Have you any accomplishments?"

Hex Shu’s face flushed, and he could only shake his head.

"Have you ever submitted strategic memorials or admonitions?"

For any other seventeen or eighteen-year-old, submitting a proposal to the Royal Court would be an incredibly difficult feat. But for the son of the Imperial Censor, it was a different story; he had privileged access.

Hex Shu’s face grew redder. He stammered, "I have submitted a few to the Saint."

But they had been sent back with a single word written on them: "Read."

Ke Jihai gave a dry laugh. "No accomplishments, and your counsel has never been accepted. That makes you a spectator, fit only to watch from the sidelines."

He was telling him to shut up, and in front of so many people! Hex Shu’s face went from red to purple. He forced himself to swallow his anger, clenching his fists secretly inside his sleeves.

Ke Jihai’s bluntness left the banquet in a stunned silence. You could have heard a pin drop.

It was Hee Chunhua who broke the silence. "I heard the front line at Wuzhou is at a stalemate. General Ke, why have you returned to the capital at this time?"

He had gotten a sense of Ke Jihai’s temperament and decided to be direct.

"Sigh. What else could it be but to press for grain and provisions?" The smile on Ke Jihai’s face slowly faded into a solemn expression. "I heard the tax officials the Royal Court sent to the Southern Four States returned with full coffers, collecting several million taels of tax silver."

"Dongg Haoming has implemented a scorched-earth policy in Wuzhou, not leaving us a single grain. The autumn harvest in the Wu Realm was plentiful this year, but they’d already made arrangements for it all. There’s no surplus grain in the fields. To request provisions, General Wu and I have sent twelve urgent dispatches to the Royal Court, but in the past three or four months, we’ve only received two shipments of supplies. Thankfully, after we broke through Baiding City, we were able to get some food and drink to keep us going."

"If the situation weren’t critical, why would I have to shamelessly come back to the National Capital to beg for money and grain?" He sighed faintly. "The front line has been without pay for over three months. One day’s rations now has to last for three. If they don’t send more, the soldiers won’t even have the strength to fight."

An official present spoke up, "It’s not that the Royal Court doesn’t want to send supplies; this year has been incredibly difficult. Woling Pass first suffered from rebels, then was hit by a flood. There was almost no harvest through spring, summer, or autumn. That vast area has always been one of our breadbaskets, accounting for thirty percent of the nation’s grain harvest. This year, not only can it not contribute any grain, but the nation has to send disaster relief there instead."

The Rebel Army and the Official Army fought back and forth at Woling Pass for months, a messy war of attrition. Then, it was slammed by floods. The grain-producing region became a disaster zone, giving the Royal Court a massive headache.

Zhu Xiyan also sighed. "The price of grain in Shihuan City has already risen by forty percent. When grain prices rise, everything else follows. My servant says that even candles are more expensive."

"What a coincidence. All I hear at the Royal Court is a litany of complaints." Ke Jihai shook his head. "We are responsible for fighting on the front lines. Logistics and provisions are the officials’ duties. If I don’t ask the Royal Court for money, who can I turn to? The soldiers can fight on empty stomachs, but what about the horses? They can’t run fast or carry heavy loads just by grazing on grass; they need bran and bean cakes."

The official looked grim. "Actually, the people of Shihuan are also tightening their belts to support the front line. Lord Cao, who is in charge of transporting supplies to the front, I hear he hasn’t slept in days."

Hee Lingchuan subconsciously glanced at the exquisite delicacies on the table.

Hee Yue couldn’t help but say, "Dongg Haoming was well-prepared. His own troops are strong, his horses are well-fed, his city is fortified, and his granaries are full. He’s planning to fight a war of attrition with the Official Army. Once the Official Army can’t hold out any longer and begins to retreat, he’ll switch from defense to offense."

"That’s the long and short of it." Ke Jihai nodded. "Dongg Haoming has dominated the battlefields for decades; he knows all of this. Once the roles of attacker and defender are reversed, if the Official Army fails to hold Chicken Heart Ridge to the north, Dongg Haoming can board ships there and sail straight into the Hongchuan River. Shihuan City and the National Capital will be in peril once more."

Everyone’s expression changed. The last time the rebel forces captured Woling Pass, it had scared the residents of Shihuan City badly. If the rebels boarded ships at Fengling Ferry and sailed down the Hongchuan River, they could reach Shihuan within days and begin a massacre. There was nothing to stop or block them along the way.

Some of the nobles present had fled the city with their entire families upon hearing the news. They only returned to Shihuan after learning that Wu Di and Ke Jihai had decisively defeated the rebel forces.

It was a heart-stopping terror that no one wished to experience again.

Someone asked Ke Jihai, "General, you returned to the capital. What were the results?"

"What I managed to get is just a drop in the bucket." Ke Jihai sighed heavily and shook his head. "Dongg Haoming’s forces are not like Hong Xiangqian’s rabble. Their Elites are even better than the Official Army’s. They can’t be wiped out overnight. Cutting off supplies is the biggest blow to morale, and with the severe winter, we don’t have enough clothing or blankets in the army. People are freezing to death or suffering from frostbite every day. I’m not afraid to speak the truth: if this continues, we will have to retreat to Chicken Heart Ridge by early spring next year at the latest."

That was less than three months away.

"Defenses are already being constructed at Chicken Heart Ridge—deep trenches are being dug, and high walls are being built. But from what I know, the terrain there cannot accommodate an army of over a hundred thousand."

Zhu Xiyan looked at everyone’s faces and knew the time was right. He cleared his throat. "The soldiers on the front line are fighting for their lives. My family must also do its small part. So, the Zhu Family is willing to raise and donate fifty thousand shi of military grain and five thousand shi of horse fodder. We’ll deliver it to the Royal Court’s quartermasters for urgent dispatch to the front!"

Hee Yue secretly pinched his fingers, his mind racing. The current price of grain was eight hundred wens per shi. That meant the Zhu Family would have to spend about forty thousand taels of silver to buy and donate the grain to the front, and that didn’t even include the cost of the fodder.

A buzz of discussion erupted all around.

The host, Zhu Xiyan, had made his position clear. The others clutched their chests, doing some quick mental math. They realized that spending a little money on the soldiers at the front, to help them hold back Dongg Haoming’s iron-hoofed cavalry, was a much better deal than having their families destroyed and homes ruined later.

And so, a few of the most respected members of the Royal Family also opened their purses.

Their status was even more revered than Zhu Xiyan’s, so their contributions couldn’t be less impressive than his. The most generous family pledged to donate 120,000 shi, while others promised amounts ranging from 60,000 to 90,000 shi, along with horse fodder, clothing, shoes, and bedding.

With them leading the way, the other Noble Families and officials present had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow suit, cursing their bad luck under their breath. They had already brought a gift to attend the Zhu Family’s welcoming banquet tonight. They never expected that Grand General Ke would be lying in wait here to collect a second payment from them.

’With so many families about to buy grain, wouldn’t the grain prices around Shihuan skyrocket?’