Chapter Eighty-Two: In a State of Utter Disarray

Tell Second Brother that everything is settled, and all is well.

What sounded like a simple sentence caused Zhang Wu to think of far too many things at once. Beside him, Lu Dachi could not stop praising Ding Li’s loyalty. From the earlier words, he had already learned that Ding Li had once been saved by Zhang Mingzhi, and that was why he now risked his life to repay that debt with everything he had.

To Lu Dachi, those final words only made Ding Li seem like a true man of honor. Looking at the empty painted boat, he felt a sudden, nameless admiration rise in his heart, and he came to believe more deeply that a man ought to be just such a man.

But to Zhang Wu, the words were far more complicated. They seemed to conceal too much. Especially Ding Li’s final line about missing the willow flute at home made Zhang Wu even more certain that the words had been meant for Zhang Mingzhi to hear, or perhaps for Zhang Yurou. Yet he would never dare bring it up, whether for Ding Li’s sake or for the sake of the Zhang siblings.

“A true man! A real hero!” Lu Dachi kept nodding in admiration at the now vanished Ding Li, his face alight with excitement, as if he were delighted simply to have met such a man.

“Come on, let’s go. We should be heading back to the manor too.” Zhang Wu came back to himself and saw the expression on Lu Dachi’s face; though he could not help wanting to laugh, he only smiled faintly and shook his head, giving the man a light push as he reminded him softly, “Don’t forget, Second Brother has already prepared a banquet for us at the manor. The wine and meat there won’t be any worse than what you have.”

“Of course, of course. Back to the manor we go!” The more Lu Dachi heard, the more excited he became. His tone grew so familiar it was as though he were returning to his own home, and he was nearly ready to leap in place. After taking only a few steps, he suddenly reached out and stopped Zhang Wu, pointing at his own tattered clothes. Then he scratched his head, his face full of awkwardness, and asked with a sheepish grin, “Brother Wu, this is the first time I’ve ever had a drink with someone as important as Second Brother. This, this outfit of mine—isn’t it a little, a little too much of a letdown?”

“No, no, you’re overthinking it. Second Brother has already prepared everything at the manor. Besides, tonight you’re the great hero. How could he possibly care about such a minor detail?” Zhang Wu smiled and patted his shoulder, reassuring him seriously. “I guarantee you, when Second Brother sees you alive and kicking, he’ll be too happy to care about anything else.”

“Then let’s go. Since Brother Wu says so, that’s how we’ll go.” Lu Dachi was naturally an open and forthright man. Seeing that Zhang Wu was not joking with him, he immediately thumped his chest, his spirits rising at once, and strode forward with his head held high.

By the time Zhang Wu and the others returned to the Zhang manor in the eastern city, they found they had been at it for an entire night. The final quarter of the Tiger Hour had already passed, and the soldiers stationed in the Eastern Camp beside the Zhang residence had begun their morning roll call. The troops who had patrolled and stood guard around the camp all night returned with faces bright with excitement, finally having endured another dull and tedious night.

Even as he passed the gate of the Eastern Camp, Zhang Wu could not help glancing inward and vaguely made out Fan Ying, who had appeared at the Sea Hall Pavilion the night before. Yet the man seemed somewhat exhausted. Beneath his armor his back was slightly bent, and with several personal guards beside him, his stride no longer seemed as steady as usual. It was clear enough that the men brought back to camp the previous night had given Fan Ying no small amount of trouble.

In the rear courtyard of the Zhang manor, inside a room already prepared with fine dishes and delicious wine, Zhang Mingzhi’s normally composed face was marked with fatigue. He too had not slept all night. Although more than an hour earlier he had already learned from the yamen soldiers sent by Governor-General Yang Hongwen that Little South Sea had been utterly cleared out, the fact that Ding Li and the others still had not returned left him uneasy.

As for what Zhang Mingzhi was thinking, one need only look at Zhang Yurou, who had likewise remained at the first table on the left without leaving the room all night. Her lovely face showed some weariness, but more than that there was worry and anxiety.

Knowing his sister’s mind all too well, Zhang Mingzhi did not dare to speak rashly. Last night Zhang Yurou had learned from her personal maid that Ding Li had departed without a word, and for that reason Zhang Mingzhi had remained troubled the entire night, from time to time shooting fierce glares at the talkative servant girl standing behind Zhang Yurou.

In truth, Zhang Yurou did not believe Ding Li would simply leave like this either. As for why, she had spent the entire night asking herself, yet she could not arrive at any answer. She only trusted her instinct, believing Ding Li was not that sort of person. Even his leaving without a word yesterday, she understood well enough that he may have had some hardship hidden in his heart.

“Second Brother! They’re back, and we’ve won a great victory!”

Without waiting for the household servants to announce them, Zhang Wu led several key members of the Zhang family, together with Lu Dachi and a few of his capable men, bursting into the room with faces full of excitement.

“Good, good!” Zhang Mingzhi rose at once, walked quickly around the desk, and moved toward Zhang Wu. His gaze kept sweeping over Zhang Wu and the others, and at the same time Zhang Yurou also rose from behind the desk and hurried after Zhang Mingzhi. Yet as her eyes, still filled with joy, moved among Zhang Wu and the others, they gradually turned to astonishment, until at last a thick panic spread rapidly across her face.

“Second Brother, Sister Yurou!” Before Zhang Mingzhi, who was also beginning to panic, could even ask what had happened, Zhang Wu lowered his voice and gave an awkward shake of his head. Frowning slightly, he explained, “That, that Brother Li, he, he...”

“What happened? Did something happen to Ah Li?” Zhang Mingzhi’s whole body jolted. He seized Zhang Wu’s shoulders tightly, his face filled with disbelief. Zhang Yurou beside him suddenly felt the room spin before her eyes and nearly fell backward. Fortunately, the maid at her side reacted quickly enough to catch her, and only then did she slowly regain her composure. Her beautiful eyes, full of mixed and complicated emotions, fixed themselves tightly on Zhang Wu.

“It’s nothing, Brother Li wasn’t hurt!” Seeing this, Zhang Wu immediately realized the two had misunderstood him. He hurriedly waved his hands to steady their nerves, then added in a somewhat embarrassed tone, “It’s just that Brother Li, he, he said he’d go back to the provincial capital first. He was worried that after such a huge incident in Fuxu Town, only Brother Sai would be left in the provincial capital, and feared he might not be able to hold things down...”

An excuse. It was nothing but an excuse.

Even Zhang Wu, who had no stake in this matter, could think of it. The Zhang siblings, being directly involved, understood it all the more clearly. Especially Zhang Mingzhi: he subconsciously turned to look at his sister, and seeing that lovely face drenched in exhaustion and robbed of all light, his own heart ached. With a hard sweep of his sleeve, he snorted coldly, “Too much! This is far too much! Does he not know to report back to the manor first? Does he not know there are people here, that I am here, all worrying about him?”

Halfway through, Zhang Mingzhi suddenly changed his words. After all, besides Zhang Wu there were outsiders like Lu Dachi present, and he did not want to lay bare Zhang Yurou’s thoughts before them. Especially seeing Zhang Yurou already looking somewhat dazed and unsteady, Zhang Mingzhi could only force down the anger burning in his chest. After taking a few deep breaths, he restrained himself as much as possible, turned around, and in a calm but pointed voice, softly comforted Zhang Yurou: “Sister, since Awu and the others have returned safely, you should go back and rest first. As for everything else, once you are rested, we can discuss it then.”

With those words, Zhang Wu on the opposite side became even more certain of his suspicion. Earlier, seeing Zhang Yurou still in the room had already seemed strange to him, and now, with Zhang Mingzhi’s reaction as well, he was deeply convinced that Ding Li’s two departures must have something to do with the siblings before him.

Zhang Yurou did not answer, nor did she even look at Zhang Mingzhi. Like a soul stripped from her body, she slowly turned and walked out the door.

Seeing this, Zhang Mingzhi quickly turned and glared at the maid beside her. The girl gave a start, hurriedly bowed to Zhang Mingzhi and the others, and quickly followed after her mistress.

Though the morning sun could still not yet be seen at the edge of the sky, daylight had already fully broken. But for Zhang Yurou, standing in the courtyard, everything before her was black. To her in this moment, it was as if heaven itself had collapsed; all she saw had gone dim and colorless.

The distraught Zhang Yurou did not even know how she made it back to Xi Yun Courtyard. Along the way, even the maid who usually never ran out of words dared make no sound, fearing she might disturb her mistress’s thoughts. She simply escorted Zhang Yurou back to her room with the utmost care.

Sitting on the bed, Zhang Yurou felt a chill that seeped straight into her bones. Without thinking, she grabbed the quilt beside her and wrapped it tightly around herself. She did not care about the maid busily moving about the room, and her eyes remained vacant, her face devoid of all expression.

The maid wanted to say something to comfort and console her mistress, but after thinking for a long while she still did not know how to begin, nor how to persuade her. After brewing a pot of hot tea, she shut the room’s windows tightly as well. At once, the chirping birds and rustling wind from the courtyard were completely shut out. When the maid finally withdrew and the door closed, Zhang Yurou suddenly felt as though she had been sealed away from the world by some merciless hand.

She felt nothing, yet two crystal-clear tears could no longer bear the restraint of their owner and surged forth without care. Then came two more, until they became two streams of hot tears, sliding softly down her lightly powdered cheeks and gathering at her chin before dripping one by one onto the pale pink long dress she wore, leaving behind blossoms that looked bleak and forlorn.

In Little South Sea, Hua Laowu, who had stood in open opposition to the Zhang merchant association, was wiped out in a single night. Not only was Hua Laowu himself sunk beneath the waters of the place on which he had depended for his livelihood and even his glory, but among his four trusted henchmen, Dragon, Tiger, Panther, and Old Wolf, three were slain by Ding Li, and the remaining one died at Zhang Wu’s hands. In all of Fuxu Town’s Little South Sea, there was no longer any force left to stand against the Zhang merchant association.

The Mongol gang’s Lu Dachi had not suffered in vain. The final reward Zhang Mingzhi gave him was more than Lu Dachi had ever dared dream of. His former forces could enter Little South Sea’s painted boats, but the business of those painted boats would be taken over by men sent by the Zhang merchant association. Even so, Lu Dachi would receive twenty percent of the profits, and his only task would be to maintain order in the area.

Because Zhang Mingzhi had intended to promote A Gu Da, he immediately made it clear to Lu Dachi that A Gu Da would henceforth develop his own power in Little South Sea, effectively taking over the position once held by Hua Laowu. Moreover, A Gu Da would also be entitled to twenty percent of all income from the painted boats.

Zhang Mingzhi’s decision was very clear in Lu Dachi’s heart: it was really a way of telling him that A Gu Da was no longer merely helping him. The two of them had now become equal in Zhang Mingzhi’s eyes, and A Gu Da, too, would become a force of the Zhang merchant association in Little South Sea.