56. To Tangshan

It turned out that most of the preparations which had been made in the days before Yanli had been kidnapped by Jiang Fengmian were never fully unpacked, so one day later, at the break of dawn, Yanli stood before a large, comfortable carriage with Meng Shi and their hand maiden Liu Peng as two doctors and Nie Popo helped a pale, weakened, and obscenely pregnant Madam Jiang into it. She and Meng Shi shared a glance. It would be a miracle if the child held out for the whole trip, and a second miracle if the young mother lived through it.

Over the years, Yanli had humored a number of childish, silly revenge fantasies centering on Jiang Fengmian, usually focused on publicly humiliating him instead of actually doing him physical harm, but until that moment she wanted to put her hands around his neck and throttle him. Meng Shi’s dark glower suggested she was of like mind.

Fortunately, A’Yao, Ying’er, and Nie Huaisang were assigned the carriage ahead of them and would not be bothering the sickly Madam Jiang with their antics. Given the number of books Sang’er and Nie Zonghui were loading into it, she suspected they would all be studying (and arguing) about how to solve the Nie Saber Problem (as Ying’er had taken to calling it) the whole trip north.

It was not going to be a fast trip, either. Their travel train was long with ten pack wagons and two other carriages holding Nie elders, and surrounded by a contingent of over 100 disciples and soldiers who had forgone the chance to fight the Wen in order to volunteer to serve as protectors. The support staff and cooking wagons were another whole caravan of their own, following behind.

Yanli saw many people giving tearful goodbyes to each other. A significant number of families were planning to follow once they had packed up their own houses, but a larger number of the inhabitants of the Unclean Realm were simply going to melt into the landscape. Merchants would travel north and east; craftsmen would head to Lanling, or find mid-sized towns in need of their skills; those with livestock would take to the hills.

When Wen Ruohan’s forces arrived, not even ghosts would be in the massive fortress city.

Ying’er walked over once Madam Jiang had disappeared into the carriage, then whipped out a talisman paper and pressed it into the frame of the carriage body with enough qi that it fused into it. The carriage master frowned at him and opened his mouth, but Ying’er flapped a hand at him and started chattering excitedly.

“It’s new! I’m working on it! It’s a feather-light charm, to make the ride softer,” he said, gesturing at the door. “Nie Zonghui said some of the roads are worn and rocky.” He shrugged.

Yanli reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her meekly.

“We appreciate your thoughtfulness, Ying’er.”

“Maybe ask first, next time, hmmm?” Meng Shi said with a wry twist of a smile while the carriage master huffed behind her.

Lan Qiren, who had wandered over with Nie Popo, harrumphed and stroked his beard, but stayed mercifully quiet.

“Yes! I will, Second Mother! I promise!” Ying’er bowed energetically at her. When she waved him off, he dashed away, trying not to look like he was expressly avoiding his future uncle-in-law.

“Kid has more brains than sense,” Nie Popo scoffed, examining the sigil burned into the wood. “This should make the ride feel like you’re gliding on a boat over smooth waters.” She tapped it with a long, sharp, silver-gilded fingernail. “Don’t worry, Yu’er, it won’t harm the frame or axles,” she said, glancing at the carriage master, who looked like he was at least sixty years old. With a blush and a muttered “thank you, Nie Popo” he scuttled back to tend his horses.

Meng Shi stepped aside to talk with the doctor assigned to Madam Jiang, Du Zhili, a sturdy middle-aged woman who would be riding a horse next to the carriage for most of the trip.

Nie Popo followed her gaze. “Aiya, it will be a hard trip for Madam Jiang. In truth, I don’t envy you having to share the carriage.”

Yanli was not looking forward to it at all, but she put away the uncharitable thought. “She’s scared and alone. I cannot imagine leaving her to suffer without companionship to comfort her,” she said, which was true enough.

“You do your clan proud, Sect Leader Wei,” Lan Qiren said. “You have a noble and righteous spirit, a beacon of light for your disciples to follow.” His own gaze was directed to where Ying’er had dashed away.

Nie Popo snorted at that, but bowed politely to Yanli. “This one wishes you safe and speedy travel. I hope when we meet again, it will be at a victory banquet in the Xuanwu of Triumph Hall.” She smirked as she said the new name of the old training hall that had been renovated for the turtle.

Lan Qiren looked like he wanted to roll his eyes as he huffed at the name.

“This one wishes you many successful battles, Nie Popo,” Yanli said, bowing in return. Nie Popo gave her a wistful, kind smile and then punched Lan Qiren in the arm.

“Ack!” He looked at her in shock.

“Don’t dilly-daddle, RenRen. There are no purple-tufted rabbits here for you to chase!” She spun around and just walked off.

“It was a brown desert hare and I was five!” He shouted in affront, then realized he was shouting and snapped his mouth shut, a blush rising over his cheeks. He refused to look at Yanli, staring off in the distance as if he could will his impropriety away.

Yanli managed not to laugh, though, and bowed to him politely. “Thank you for your guidance, Grandmaster Lan. I wish I could have followed your advice more closely.”

He sighed and finally turned to face her. “This is war, Sect Leader Wei. I still have my concerns about Wei Ying’s use of resentful energy, but in light of…events…” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, clearly thinking of Cloud Recesses and his nephews, and how few elders were left to even object to anything Ying’er did or did not do.

“I hope we received good news about both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji soon,” she offered, because the hope was genuine, even if thin. No one wanted to admit how high the chances were that both Jades of Lan were dead.

“Thank you.” He straightened up, then bowed to her as he would any sect leader. “Travel safe, Wei Yanli. May we meet again in peaceful times.”

She bowed in return and watched as he slowly walked away, still with a slight limp. Then, with a final look around, she gathered her skirts and took the hand of a Nie guard to help her into the carriage.

“Sect Leader Wei, if this humble one may request your time?”

She stopped short at Jiang Wu’s question. He was standing off to the side, and next to him was Jiang Yimin and the third Jiang whom she did not know, all three of them bowing. Of the five Jiang who had traveled with them from Mt. Muxi, one had simply decided to become a rogue cultivator and left the Unclean Realm with only the clothes on her back, while the fifth one had dashed off after Jiang Fengmian as soon as the Unclean Realm (and Wen Xu’s forces) had appeared on the horizon. These three were the only Jiang left. She had not seen much of them since Jiang Wu’s apology to her and Liu Peng, but A’Cheng had mentioned he was sparring with them regularly.

He turned and bowed to Liu Peng. “Miss Peng.”

To Yanli’s surprise, the girl blushed a little and curtsied. “Disciple Jiang.”

Yanli cleared her throat. “Jiang Wu. How is your shoulder?”

“Ah, Young Mistress—er, Sect Leader Wei is kind to ask. Much better, thank you.” He lifted his arm in proof.

“I am glad to hear it. What can I do for you?” She walked over and they bowed again. The Nie guards assigned to her settled behind her, ostentatiously shifting in their armor to make it clear they were ready to protect her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw A’Yao shuffling his way toward her quickly, his cane poking the ground.

“We would like to petition Sect Leader Wei to join the Yiling Wei sect.” All three of them bowed low and proper.

She just stood there, blinking at them, as they held their bows. Finally, she gathered herself together enough to ask incredulously, “Why?”

They stood up, and the other two looked expectantly at Jiang Wu. He glanced over her shoulder at A’Yao, but then focused on her again.

“Things have been unsettled with Yunmeng Jiang for a while. It was not just your, ah, departure, although that was hideous blow to morale. The new Madam Jiang is a kind girl but has not been up to running the sect as the wife of a sect leader should, and Sect Leader Jiang has not been making the wisest of choices with trading partners. Moreover, when the Wen came, he surrendered immediately, despite the small show of force the Wen brought. I dared not say anything outright, at the time, but many of us felt like he had been expecting them.”

A’Yao narrowed his eyes. “What Sect Leader would send away his pregnant wife if he was not expecting a pitched battle?”

“That’s just it!” Jiang Yimin, who was much younger than Jiang Wu, piped up. “He told us to stand aside while Wen wrecked Lotus Pier, and burned much of Lotus Cove.”

Yanli’s blood boiled at that, thinking of all the people in the city whose livelihoods and homes had been destroyed for no reason. “He wanted to look like he had been chased out of Lotus Pier,” she said.

Jiang Wu nodded. “I think it was planned from the start. There was strong division among the ranks between capitulating to the Wen immediately, or fighting them to the death. We all knew he was in correspondence with Wen Ruohan, but no one knew the content. I informed Sect Leader Nie of all of this previously.” He took a deep breath before continuing.

“I do not want to be sworn to such a sect. He endangered his wife and unborn child, stood by while the city we had sworn to protect was needlessly destroyed, and willfully negotiated with a tyrant who is also a demonic cultivator.” Then he kowtowed all the way to the ground, and the other two scrambled to follow him. “We have shamed the honor of our ancestors by our compliance with such unrighteous actions! We disavow our oath! We make no claims of or rights to Yunmeng Jiang! This one disavows!”

“This one disavows!” The other two chanted with him, then they all went silent. In fact, the whole area around them was silent, and even Nie Popo had stopped to watch from afar.

“Did you know of Sect Leader Jiang’s intentions to kidnap Sect Leader Wei?” A’Yao snapped. Yanli was grateful for his words, because she was at a loss. Jiang Wu had claimed he didn’t when asked before, but the other two were unknown quantities.

“No, Seneschal Meng! The ones he picked to go with him had no idea what was in the trunk until we landed to meet Wen Chao! This one swears to you this is true!”

“It’s true!” Jiang Yimin echoed, sounding a little panicked. “He told us it was part of his plan to spare the Yunmeng Jiang sect from the wrath of the Wen and secure our future as a sect! We thought it was a chest of gold or treasures!”

Yanli glanced over at A’Yao. He looked contemplative, but she could see the distrust in his eyes, and knew what he was thinking: that one or all of them could have decided to “join” Yanli and her nascent sect as spies.

“Who are you?” She asked the eldest of them, the unknown disciple, who was old enough that Yanli should have known her from Lotus Pier.

“I am Jiang Minhao, Sect Leader Wei. I am a cousin of the previous Jiang Daifu. I trained at Lotus Pier, but I graduated to senior disciple when you were about three or four years old, and was sent out to serve on the Jiang trade ships.”

That was plausible. There were a few Jiang disciples who almost never set foot on land, once assigned to a ship. It was often joked that they married the river.

“Why would you leave the ships?”

“Trade dropped off for two years in a row, and Sect Leader Jiang retired three vessels, including mine.” Jiang Minhao sat back up, and shrugged. “Until a space opened up on another ship, I was grounded. Then the Wen came.” She scrunched up her face unpleasantly.

At the moment, all three could likely still return to Sect Leader Jiang with minimal, if any, punishment. Yanli also found it hard to believe that they had all decided to become spies. At least one of them probably was, but Yanli would let Meng Yao ferret that out. It was his job, after all.

“You cannot remain Jiang,” she said to them. “Once you have sworn your oath to Yiling Wei, you must take the name Wei.”

A’Yao’s face didn’t move a muscle, but he saw the surprise in his eyes. Yunmeng Jiang, as a sect, had never required disciples to adopt the surname, although many did anyway. Based on looks, it was possible both Jiang Wu and Jiang Minhao were actually Jiang by blood, even.

They all glanced at each other, but Jiang Minhao was the one to shrug, then rolled her shoulders and sat up proudly. “I was going to take my maternal grandfather’s surname anyway. I will not remain Jiang, either way.”

Yanli turned to A’Yao. He nodded thoughtfully before speaking.

“You will accompany us to Tangshan. Consider this a trial period, to see if we are a good fit together. Yiling Wei is very different from other sects, so if by the time we reach Tangshan you have decided to remove yourself from consideration, we will respect your decision with no further obligations by either party. Do you agree?”

They all kowtowed again and exclaimed their thanks for the opportunity. Yanli bid them to stand back up, then bowed slightly, surprising them.

“This one is honored by your faith in me as a sect leader.”

She wasn’t sure their faith was wisely placed, given the almost-certain annihilation the jianghu was facing from Wen Ruohan, but she was truly honored by it.