Chapter 12
The autumn wind still howled against the window paper, and Li Rong was awakened by the noise. He slipped into bed, donned his outer robe, and opened the window, which had been half-closed the night before. His fatigue hadn't completely dissipated, but he felt much better than he had in the past few days. Daybreak had arrived, and the city of Linyi was busier than when they first arrived. While the streets weren't as crowded with shrimp and crab vendors as in Xuzhou, it was still peak fishing season. Fishermen carried their nets to sell their freshly caught fish, and the stench of fish mixed with the river's mud drifted faintly into the inn.
Li Rong sat by the window, combing his long hair in the mirror, tying it up with a pale ribbon between his fingers. Su Si, as usual, rose early and entered with the innkeepers, carrying a basket of pastries. Linyi food was much lighter than Xuzhou's, which suited their tastes better. Su Si unwrapped a pastry and tasted it first, while Li Rong cleaned up before sitting down and picking up his chopsticks.
"Sir, when do you plan to leave this time?" He asked, swallowing his gruel and a choking snack. Li Rong then remembered that he had made an agreement with Xue Heng yesterday and had yet to tell his servant. "There's no rush. After mid-autumn, we'll take the Yingchuan route and head straight for Chang'an. Zhuozhi will also come with us."
Su Si continued to savor the snacks and took out a small piece to push in front of Li Rong. "Young Master and Young Master Xue really hit it off right away. Everything is fine. Young Master, you've been traveling for days and it's time to rest up. You just recovered from the cold you caught last time."
"Young Master, please try the snacks in Linyi City. The ones sold in the shops here are much less sweet than those in Jiangnan. I don't like them, but they should suit your taste." Li Rong followed his instructions and tried the snacks that Su Si had bought early in the morning. They were indeed not as sweet as those in Jiangnan. He needed to chew them carefully after putting them in his mouth. The light sweetness was just what he liked.
Li Rong wiped the fallen snack crumbs from the table with a handkerchief. He calculated that they would need to stay in Linyi for more than half a month. With this in mind, he had Su Si consult a doctor. Sure enough, it was the wind evil that had entered his system; the fever he had felt the night before was a sign of it. However, the city doctor only prescribed some Qi-boosting medicine, a far cry from the previous prescriptions specifically for treating the wind and cold.
Su Si was also worried about this, and simply advised him to rest well and recuperate so that he wouldn't be weak and contract a new illness when he set out on his journey at the end of the month. Li Rong had no choice but to agree politely, comforting his servant. The journey from Luzhou to Linyi took many days, and even though they were nearing the north, it wouldn't be a big deal if they didn't notice the huge temperature difference and contracted an illness.
With just over half a month to spare, he had time to rest and recuperate. The autumn wind in Linyi grew stronger, and the sobbing sounds heard in the middle of the night were caused by the cold wind blowing through the streets. On the days Li Rong took his medicine, he stayed indoors all day, occasionally allowing Su Si to follow him and chatter while he walked around the inn.
The full moon hanging over Linyi City gradually waned. He took the last of his potion and drank tea to dull the lingering sourness in his mouth. Perhaps it was approaching late autumn, as it had been raining for days. Whenever he opened the window, he could feel the dampness between the wooden bars. Li Rong rose and refilled the lamp, which finally illuminated the room considerably. A quarter of a second later, the clepsydra ticked by, and the sun had just set. The cloud-covered sky was as dark as midnight.
He opened the window to let in the cool breeze, but couldn't tell from the sound whether it was raining outside. Su Si's voice happened to ring out from outside the door. "Sir, are you free now? Look who I brought with you?" After thinking for a moment, he realized that Xue Heng was the only person he knew in Linyi City. Li Rong responded and opened the door to welcome the guest. "Are you free today?"
He led Xue Heng inside and sat him down. After Su Si brought him in, he disappeared, and it was unclear whether he carried the fish to the kitchen or the restaurant. Li Rong didn't have time to ask, and Xue Heng bowed and answered Li Rong's question lightly, "I am a humble man, not busy as a busy man. Seeing that it seemed that there would be no rain today, I went out for a walk and happened to meet Brother Su. Just now, the clouds gathered and the rain fell, so I hurried to Ziqu to take shelter."
Li Rong said nothing was wrong, then noticed a few wet spots on Xue Heng's blue shirt. He poured him some hot tea and sat down. "Is everything okay? I haven't seen you in a while. I've been sick for a while now. I wonder how everything is going in and around the city?"
Xue Heng drank his hot tea, a worried look on his face. "I didn't know Ziqu was ill. Has his condition improved?" Li Rong shook his head and replied, "It's just a temporary illness. It's just a few deficiencies. I'll be fine after taking the medicine. The room is simple, and I don't think the rain in the city will stop for a while. If you have time, why not play a game of chess with me?"
Xue Heng refilled his tea and replied, "Zi Qu, you can go down. Playing chess in the rain is also a beautiful thing in the world." Li Rong cleaned up the table and asked the shopkeeper to find a chessboard and spread it on it. Xue Heng played with black pieces first.
He hesitated for a moment as the jade-like chess piece spun between his fingers, but in a moment he was trapped. Xue Heng's moves were incredibly fast and deft, and it was only now that he could discern the general trend. He could only hastily place his moves, never having thought of a way out.
Outside the window, the sound of rain grew louder, drowning out the pedestrians and falling across Linyi City. Li Rong sipped his tea amidst the sound, watching Xue Heng make another move before he took the white piece from the cup and continued to stroke it, lost in thought. Su Si knocked on the door and came straight in, carrying a plate of freshly grilled fish and placing it on the table. Seeing the two men playing chess, he didn't interrupt, but sat down and watched from a distance.
Li Rong watched the chessboard unfold. While the white pieces looked impressive, the black pieces hovering around them seemed like castles in the air, teetering on the brink of collapse. Finally, with a sigh, he dropped his piece at a random spot, conceding defeat. "My skill is lacking, but I'm just not as good as you." Xue Heng simply chuckled, slipped the piece into the bowl, and collected it. "It was just a stroke of luck. Zi Qu, coming from the south, surely hasn't seen the flourishing of chess in Yimeng. Perhaps it's just a temporary lapse in my skills. Don't underestimate me."
Su Si took over the conversation and put away the chessboard. "You two gentlemen have worked hard. Why don't you have a meal first and then talk slowly." Then he went out and asked the shopkeeper to warm up the plate of wild vegetables and bring it over. He then handed the chopsticks and bowls to the two men.
Li Rong only picked up the fish with his chopsticks after Xue Heng said yes. The roasted fish had a faint river fishy smell, and the rice wine and spices sprinkled on it gave it a unique flavor. He then put some bitter wild vegetables into his mouth to ease the discomfort caused by the spiciness, and found that the mixed flavors were just right to whet his appetite.
Xue Heng, on the other hand, was wolfing down his food, seemingly having chewed the fish and spat out the bones from the same journey as Su Si. Perhaps having spent so much time in Linyi, he'd gotten used to the strong flavors, so he seemed to be enjoying his food even more. Su Si, on the other hand, was no different from when he'd been in Xuzhou. He went downstairs and fetched a pot of warm tea for himself, quaffing it while he soothed the spiciness in his mouth while continuing to savor the fish, meat, and vegetables.
"Fortunately, Master and Master Xue have agreed to go to Yingchuan after Mid-Autumn. I just passed by a restaurant and happened to hear some merchants coming from the Central Plains say that they were a group of people and were not in Yingchuan city yet. They just took a detour. Unexpectedly, it has rained heavily since the beginning of autumn this year. Not only is the road difficult to travel, but the Ying River has also broken its dike. I heard that Yingchuan and many surrounding villages and counties were flooded. They didn't care about the goods and hurried to Linyi to rest overnight." Su Silian told the news he had just heard, feeling fortunate.
Li Rong was silent for a moment. Although Jiangnan was a water town, dam breaches were rare in the summer. Even in autumn, high tides only flooded a few dozen homes in the surrounding villages. He had never expected such a situation in the north. Yingchuan was a hub in the Central Plains, a hub for merchants and travelers. Hearing this today was a cause for regret.
Xue Heng continued to eat and comforted the two that heavy rains in autumn were common. However, he was also puzzled by the flooding of Yingchuan City. He thought that it was just a road blockage like in previous years, and there were no casualties among people and animals.
The three of them sat opposite each other at the table, finishing their meal in silence. As for what had happened in Yingchuan, since they hadn't seen it themselves, they decided to leave it for now and, as agreed that day, set out for Yingchuan in three days to see what was going on.
The rain outside the window also eased. Li Rong couldn't force Xue Heng to stay, nor could he lend him an umbrella. Xue Heng just said it was no big deal. His figure melted into the rain and walked away through the long street. Hearing about the incident in Yingchuan, Li Rong felt uneasy and reached out to close the window to block out the sound of raindrops.
A long sigh escaped his lips, leaving no one around. Autumn rains bringing disasters were not uncommon for him, but he had only just heard about the flooding of the city today. Even if Si Ding might have exaggerated the merchant's drunken talk, he couldn't help but feel worried.
He seemed to have completely escaped the lingering tranquility of Jiangnan. Having first experienced the profoundness of Xuzhou and then the simplicity of Linyi, today's news had struck him as a sobering blow. Though he wasn't familiar with the perils of the mountains and rivers of the north, he had a good idea of the magnitude of the flooding. He also gained a practical understanding of the affairs of government. This was very different from the conversations he had had with his father in Luzhou, and also very different from the discussions he had had with Xue Heng some time ago.
Li Rong regretted that he did not know hydrology and could not help with the affairs far away in the Central Plains. He could only sigh like this in Linyi City where it was still raining.
He sighed long and mournfully, feeling no rejoicing at having to hurry on; he simply sighed in obedience to his own heart. It was a vague sigh, and it was unclear whether it was a sigh for the aforementioned utilitarianism of seeking political office, or a sigh for his own inability to face up to his own limited talent.
Li Rong sighed as he reflected on two things: first, if he were in his position, he would have no choice but to blame the heavens and send down rain as punishment. Second, he was no longer in his position, yet he would eventually have to pass through Yingchuan. He began to feel a deep sense of uncertainty. It seemed that being an official meant more than just reciting from bamboo scrolls. If he were in his position, he would have an absolute responsibility to the local people, even the birds, beasts, fish, and insects, and to the city under his jurisdiction. This responsibility would not only ensure the protection of those under his jurisdiction during natural and man-made disasters, but also maintain a long-term atmosphere of peace.
This peaceful atmosphere can be the same as the peace in the south of the Yangtze River. No matter whether there are hidden worries underneath, or whether this peace is a layer of window paper that can be punctured at any time, he must pursue this peace, a peace that may be false and perhaps short-lived.
So he sighed in advance and tossed and turned in bed tonight, not knowing what kind of explanation he would give to the path he was about to take - an explanation he had never imagined.
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