Shimen Fan (VI)
The two constables hurriedly thanked the passersby. Song Ninghai was so shocked that his face turned pale. I asked him, panting, "This ladder is tilted wrong. Did someone push you just now?"
Song Ninghai shook his head: "It seems like it is, but it also seems like it isn't."
"Definitely." I rubbed my aching arm, somewhat helplessly. "That Dong La is truly ruthless."
Song Ninghai straightened his clothes and said indignantly, "Dong La must be at home. If he hadn't given instructions, his servants wouldn't dare to mistreat me like this."
I looked at him, and he looked at me. We both said in unison, "What should we do next?"
Behind Song Ninghai, the yamen runner who always asked him if he needed a "prepared horse" opened his mouth, then closed it again.
I exclaimed "Eh?" and asked, "Young man, what do you want to say?"
"I—" The constable stammered, "I...I don't know if I should speak..."
Song Ninghai turned to the two constables: "What time is it? Stop hiding things. You've seen my difficulties and Qing Niangzi's difficulties. If you have any ideas, just say them!"
“Yes, sir,” the constable who was “preparing the horses” replied, mustering his courage. “We are from Lujiaodong.”
Song Ninghai interrupted him impatiently: "I know that, Abu is your leader. Abu?!" His eyes suddenly lit up, "You mean—we're asking Leader Abu to be the middleman?"
“Yes,” the constable explained, “Lord Song, Lady Qing, our leader—Abu Wengweng’s mother—is from the Nan Guang tribe. The Abu family has intermarried with the Nan Guang tribe for generations. Abu Wengweng is a kind-hearted man; if you go and find him, he should be willing to help you!”
Song Ninghai waved his hand: "Prepare the horses, prepare the horses, let's go to Lujiaodong!"
I smiled and bowed to the constable, saying, "Thank you, young man!"
The constable returned my salute with a single fist: "No, no need to thank me! Zhajia is grateful to Qingniangzi and Huaixu. If it weren't for you, Abuwengweng wouldn't have abolished the 'returning the bone seed' rule of Lujiaodong, and Zhajia's wife would still have to marry her crippled cousin."
There's an old saying among the Liao people: "News with wings flies in the sky, and people with two legs chase it on the ground."
He rushed back to the prefectural government office, where several clerks were gathered under the corridor whispering among themselves. Upon seeing their superior enter, they immediately fell silent.
Song Ninghai said nonchalantly, "Zha Jia, take Qing Niangzi to pick out a fast horse." As he passed the clerk, he glanced at the crowd and said, "You all continue chatting, I'll come back and change my clothes."
An old official hurriedly asked, "Is Your Excellency going out again?"
"Yes, let's go to Huangmaoshan."
"Be careful, sir. There are many wild animals on Huangmao Mountain. Let's go get to work."
Upon reaching Lujiaodong, Zhajia suggested abandoning the horses and continuing on their way.
Song Ninghai remained silent, and I asked, puzzled, "Why? There's still a road ahead."
Zhajia replied, "There's a checkpoint at the intersection ahead; we can't get through."
I found it even stranger: "Even people from the government offices can't get through?"
Zha Jia hesitated, and Song Ninghai looked embarrassed: "They... were blocking the people from the yamen."
Zhajia led the way to a shady cliff, grabbed a thick vine, tugged at it, and handed it to me, saying, "Qingniangzi, go first, Zhajia will follow behind you."
This cliff was over three zhang high, and the mountain was almost vertical. Climbing it wasn't a problem for Zha Ga and me, but for Song Ninghai… well…
Zha Jia seemed to see through my concerns and pointed at Song Ninghai, saying, "It's alright. Let's go up first, and then work together to hoist the commander up."
I couldn't bear to look at Song Ninghai's face any longer, so I took the vine and started climbing up the cliff.
Zhajia followed, shook the vines, and said to Song Ninghai below the cliff, "Sir, tie yourself up, and we'll pull you up."
Song Ninghai wrapped the vines around his waist, tied the knot, and waved to indicate that he was ready.
Zha Jia earnestly instructed, "Sir, you must tie it tightly. If you fall, you'll be crippled even if you don't die."
Song Ninghai tied another knot, his face stern, and said, "That's enough!"
After taking Song Ninghai with me, we rested for a while and were about to get up and continue our journey when a sharp whistle rang out from the dense forest. The next moment, several children wearing hemp blankets and carrying bamboo bows and arrows leaped out from all around and surrounded the three of us.
They recognized Zha Ga at a glance, and the two boys pulled him over, cursing, "Abu Zha Ga, you traitor, the lackey of the government, how dare you come back to Lujiaodong!"
"Speak! Who are these two? You secretly brought them up here, what are you trying to do!" Before he finished speaking, a slap landed on Zha Jia's face.
"Stop!" Song Ninghai stood up and shouted, "I am Song Ninghai, the acting prefect of Xunzhou! I have important matters to discuss with you, Chief Abu, upon entering the cave. Go and inform him immediately!"
"Song Ninghai?" The boy who had hit the man walked over, grabbed Song Ninghai by the collar, and dragged him towards the cliff edge. "So you're the corrupt official who sent people to smash up our shacks and force us to come down the mountain to farm! Believe me or not, I'll throw you off right now!"
Song Ninghai struggled to say, "You, you, you, don't slander me! The shacks were demolished to build roads for the mountain people, and the compensation money was paid by the government!"
"Where's the money?!" the boy shouted angrily. "We haven't seen a single copper coin. In this freezing weather, more than a dozen people are crammed into this cave, almost freezing to death!"
"Cough cough—" Song Ninghai said with difficulty, "It won't be long... once the government approves it, it will be given to me..."
"You dare to play tricks on me when I'm about to die?!"
"Stop!" I said in a deep voice. "You kids only bring bows and arrows when patrolling the mountains, but you don't use your brains! I think Chief Abu has gone senile, entrusting a matter of life and death for the entire tribe to a bunch of incompetent fools!"
"Who are you?" The kid abandoned Song Ninghai and rushed up to me, shouting, "I, Abuerji, am no fool, I'm a man as eagle-like as a mountain eagle!"
“In terms of seniority, you should at least call me ‘Auntie’.” I sized him up coldly. “Aburji, have you ever walked through a sinkhole or beaten a bronze drum? You call yourself a mountain eagle? You’re more like a pheasant.”
The other children burst out laughing, and Aburji, his face flushed, said, "Don't talk nonsense! I'm not a pheasant, it's not like you've walked through sinkholes or beaten bronze drums..."
I proudly said, "Although I have never walked through the sinkhole or beaten the bronze drum, my mother and my daughter have done it."
Aburji looked on incredulously: "You, who are you?!"
Zhajia stepped forward: "Erji, this is Qingniangzi from the Nanguang tribe. She and Lord Song have urgent business with Abuwengweng and cannot be delayed. Please take them there quickly!"
With a loud "smack," Erji slapped himself hard across the face. "How shameless I am! Aunt Qing, Lord Song, come with me quickly!"
After following Erji for a while along the mountain road, the view suddenly opened up ahead.
As the winter solstice approaches, many Dong people are drying fermented soybeans and pounding rice cakes on the open ground. Suddenly, someone starts humming a folk song, and the working people begin to dance the lively Luosuo dance to the rhythm of the wooden pestles.
"Aunt Yinghua!" Erji waved his arms. "We have guests in the village! Is Abuwengweng home?"
A tall woman pushed her way through the crowd and walked towards us with a smile: "Grandpa is home. And who are these two—?"
Erji pointed at me and Song Ninghai and said, "Qingniangzi of Nanguang Prefecture, and Lord Song of the Prefectural Government."
Just as I was about to bow, Yinghua grabbed my hands and said, "Hello, sister from my hometown! I married into this family from Qingling. I heard from my brothers that life is much better than before since the reopening of the Yuezhou market!"
I smiled and said, "Yes, that's right."
"Lord Song, this way please!"
"Please, please."
In the Mahu area, it is customary for families to remain together as long as the elders are alive, regardless of the number of children. Abutou, nearing seventy, already has four generations living under one roof.
The Mahu border is long, and much of the mountainous terrain is unsuitable for the imperial army to station. Therefore, the leaders of each tribe in Mahu keep a large number of "local men" to prevent foreign invasion. Abu's tribe is no exception.
Abu's estate stretches across almost half a mountain. Yinghua led Song Ninghai and me into the main hall.
In front of the hearth, more than a dozen children ran and played, their shouts rising and falling. Abu, the headman, leaned back in a recliner, his eyes slightly closed, seemingly dozing off.
Yinghua called out loudly, "Father, look who's here!"
"Hmm?" Old Abu opened his eyes, suddenly sprang up from the recliner, and walked towards us while pulling at the straw roll in his ear. "Prefect Song, Lady Qing! How did you find this place?"
Song Ninghai hastily clasped his hands and said, "Abu, something has happened in Yuezhou. We've come specifically to ask for your help."
Yinghua's expression changed drastically: "Something's happened in the Southern Guang Department? Lord Song—"
Old Abu waved his hand to interrupt his daughter-in-law: "Yinghua, take the child outside and stand guard at the door. Don't let anyone in for now." He then pointed to the bamboo mat by the hearth and said to me and Song Ninghai, "You two sit down and talk slowly."
I recounted in detail how the Shimen Fan army was about to arrive in Nanguang, and how I rushed to Mahu overnight to see Dong La, only to be repeatedly rebuffed, omitting the matter of Luo Chong detaining Wei Ji.
Old Abu listened attentively to my story, then pondered for a moment before saying, "Qing Niangzi is exceptionally courageous. Her journey to Mahu to deliver the message was a noble act. However, given the circumstances at the Yuezhou government office that day... it's hard for the chief not to harbor resentment towards you."
"On another note, the Mahu and Nanguang tribes were once allied brothers. It's not that Old Abu is looking down on Qingniangzi, but when tribes seek help from each other, they value equality. As long as Luo Zhong hasn't died in battle, he should come; if that's not possible, then his son should come."
“Isn’t Lord Wei of Yuezhou supposed to be the most particular about etiquette? Why didn’t he think of this? He let Qing Niangzi come to his door and suffer this humiliation, and he even made things difficult for Lord Song as well.”
"This—" I was speechless for a moment.
Song Ninghai made an "uh" sound and took over the conversation, "Chief Abu, this is what happened. The Shimen Fan sent people to Yuezhou to induce surrender, coerce Chief Luo, and harm Prefect Wei."
"After learning of this, Prefect Wei decided to turn the tables and act with Chief Luo to lull the bandits into a false sense of security and extract information. In order to leave no trace and alert the bandits, he entrusted Qing Niangzi to secretly deliver the message to Mahu."
His attempt to cover up the mistake was flawless, and I glanced at him admiringly, nodding repeatedly.
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