"...What? You want to split the troops?" Bai Jianping was dumbfounded.
Dai Li nodded, "Qinian and Rongrong will head back to Yuyang first, while Zhouzhou and I will take our time. We have four hundred men; we'll split them in two. Send two hundred soldiers to accompany them ahead."
"But..." Bai Jianping hesitated. He wanted to say it wasn't very safe.
Dai Li continued, "When the Marquis and I traveled south from Yuyang to receive the title, we only had three hundred escorts. We even took a detour to Chunmiao Mountain to wipe out bandits along the way, and didn't we still arrive in the capital safely? Now, two hundred is indeed less than three hundred, but the entire North has been settled and is our own territory, so what is there to fear? Not to mention that the Xuan Cavalry are all brave and battle-tested, the most elite soldiers."
Bai Jianping opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. He was completely speechless.
The mistress's words were reasonable, but for some reason, his heart felt like a piece of linen blown into the sky by the wind, unable to settle down.
Taking in his micro-expressions, Dai Li added, "Don't worry, Garrison Commander Bai. I have already sent a message to the Marquis, and he will know about this very soon."
Bai Jianping first breathed a sigh of relief, but then suspicion arose in his heart, "You sent someone to deliver a message?"
Four hundred soldiers naturally couldn't be accommodated in one relay station, so they were scattered among various stations in the city. But Bai Jianping recalled the events of yesterday and today, and no one was missing, nor had he heard anyone mention that someone had been sent to deliver a letter.
"Yes, the soldier who came from the North yesterday to deliver a letter to me, I sent him to Chang'an. Since he came from Yuyang, he must know other news, so I conveniently had him go and report to the Marquis," Dai Li said.
Bai Jianping let out an "Oh" and said no wonder.
Dai Li smiled and said nothing.
After handling Bai Jianping, the team was quickly split in two. The other half of two hundred men was led by Qin Qinian, while the rest remained with Dai Li.
Dai Li actually wanted Bai Jianping to go back with Qin Qinian, but this Garrison Commander Bai refused no matter what and insisted on following her. Going too far is as bad as not going far enough, so she didn't try to persuade him anymore after being rejected.
Since there was an "emergency at home," they naturally couldn't delay, so the luggage was quickly separated and they were ready to go.
Dai Li looked at the little girl with her hands resting on the window sill of the carriage, sticking her head out, and the young boy riding on the horse. "Qinian, Rongrong, I wish you a safe and smooth journey."
Qin Qinian: "You too, Mother."
"Take care, Second Aunt." Shi Rongyue looked at Qin Yanzhou and held the furball up to the window. "Brother Chongle, you also take care. Xiaobai and I will come play with you next year."
"Woof!" The puppy wagged its tail.
Qin Yanzhou curled his lips, but that slight arc quickly fell again.
"Let's set off. The sooner you leave, the sooner you get home," Dai Li urged.
The team set off, gradually walking away in the morning light.
Dai Li watched from afar, a similar yet slightly different melancholy rising in her heart again. Barring any accidents, she would never see Qinian and Rongrong again in this life.
The sun sets after noon, and the moon wanes after it is full. There is no perfection in life. It's good enough if everyone can be safe and sound in the future...
Letting out a long breath, Dai Li stopped looking at the receding convoy. "Zhouzhou, let's go back."
*
After staying in the small town of Tianchi for another two days, Dai Li finally continued her journey. According to the original itinerary, she should have traveled all the way north, passing through Bingzhou to get to Yuyang in Youzhou.
But in reality, after only passing through two small counties, Dai Li ordered a change of route. No longer taking the land route, she wanted to take a boat east from the ferry crossing and enter Sizhou.
This seemed like a sudden whim, shocking Bai Jianping so much that his voice rose two pitches. "Mistress, you want to change to the water route?"
Dai Li nodded and said of course. "The great river flows from west to east. Traveling east by boat is faster than taking a carriage, and since we said we were going to enjoy the scenery, how can we not take a boat? Besides, Sizhou is now also in the Marquis's hands. Although he hasn't had it for long, it has been consolidated, and the heads of some important towns have been replaced. The officials of the counties, large and small, all recognize our token. Switching to the water route, apart from taking a slightly longer way, is perfectly fine."
After the "Imperial Army" led by Dong Zhou was defeated, the leaders of the Si, Yu, and Xu provinces died one by one, and their territories were quickly divided up by Qin Shaozong and Nangong Xiong, with the former taking the lion's share.
Not to mention Sizhou, even the eastbound route through Yuzhou and Xuzhou would be unimpeded for them.
Bai Jianping listened in a daze.
What the mistress said was correct. The major forces in the north had basically been wiped out by the Marquis and were no longer able to pose a threat to them, but deep down, he still didn't want to change to the water route...
Bai Jianping tried to persuade her, "Mistress, many of our soldiers from the North get seasick. Changing to the water route, I'm afraid many brothers won't be able to adapt. If there's any unexpected situation then, it might be difficult to respond to the emergency."
How could Dai Li not know that some people couldn't travel by boat? "How about this: the seasick soldiers will take the land route. It just so happens that we have many carriages, and it's not realistic to bring them all on the boat, so it's best to leave them to them. Those who can't take the boat will drive east, and those who can will come with me. We'll meet up later, and the final destination will be Chen County."
The Chen County she mentioned was a small county in Yuzhou.
Hearing that she had even decided on the meeting place, Bai Jianping's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly tried to persuade her again, "Mistress, although the Si and Yu regions have largely been pacified, the death of a major force does not mean that all the small bandits have scattered. If we split the troops again, it would be like a blind man riding a blind horse, approaching a deep pool in the middle of the night—extremely dangerous. Please reconsider!"
Dai Li remained unmoved. "Garrison Commander Bai, you're worrying too much. Yuzhou has been settled, and a few hidden small bandits are nothing to fear. When the Marquis left the city, he told you to follow my instructions and that if I wanted to travel, you shouldn't stop me. Why is it that after only ten days, Garrison Commander Bai has forgotten what he promised back then?"
Her tone wasn't particularly angry, just very cold, but Bai Jianping, who was used to her normal way of speaking, knew that she was very unhappy.
Seeing his miserable expression, Dai Li suddenly took a step "back." "Let's put aside the matter of how to allocate the soldiers for the water and land routes for now. I must trouble Garrison Commander Bai to count how many of the remaining two hundred soldiers can travel by boat. If the number is small, I will send another letter to the Marquis explaining the situation and see if he can dispatch some more people over."
These words were logical and well-thought-out in every aspect, but Bai Jianping just felt that something was off.
"Garrison Commander Bai?" Dai Li asked when he didn't respond for a long time.
Bai Jianping suddenly snapped back to reality and had to agree.
Dai Li smiled. "I leave this matter to you. Zhouzhou and I will go out first to inquire about the boats at the ferry crossing."
Looking at Dai Li's back, Bai Jianping suddenly realized where the strangeness just now came from:
Was the mistress really this lively and fond of traveling?
He recalled the past, remembering the winter hunt last year. At that time, they accompanied the Marquis to hunt, but the mistress stayed in the camp and didn't go along.
There was also the journey south to the capital. Once, when passing by Qifeng, he accidentally heard that the Marquis wanted to take the mistress to climb high and look far, but she refused, saying she had no interest.
Could it be that at that time, she was burdened by the matter of receiving the title and worried about the various things after arriving in the capital, so she was in no mood to play?
Bai Jianping couldn't figure it out, nor did he have an answer.
A shallow cloud of suspicion enveloped him.
And the result of his suspicion was that Bai Jianping worked incredibly slowly. When Dai Li asked him to count how many of the remaining two hundred soldiers did not get seasick, he spent three whole days on the task before finally reporting the number to her.
"Madam, there are forty-two people who can travel by boat, including myself." Bai Jianping observed Dai Li. Seeing that she wasn't the least bit angry at his dawdling, the doubts in his heart grew even deeper.
Dai Li noticed his scrutiny and guessed that he was suspicious.
This was normal. After all, her current style of doing things was vastly different from the past. If he wasn't suspicious, he would have to be incredibly careless, and such a careless person could never have fought his way out of a thousand Xuanxiao Cavalrymen to secure the position of a garrison commander.
Dai Li concealed the dark gleam in her eyes. Now was not the time. She had to wait until Bai Jianping's suspicion reached its peak before making her next move. "Forty-two people isn't a lot, but it isn't a small number either. A small tower ship couldn't even hold forty-two people."
Bai Jianping choked.
A small boat indeed could not hold forty-some people, but was that really the right point of reference?
Dai Li continued, "Previously, Zhouzhou and I went to the ferry crossing to investigate. This Min River is not as large as the major rivers, so the largest ships that appear here are medium-sized tower ships; there are no large vessels. Speaking solely of medium-sized ships, about ten pass through the ferry every day, over ninety percent of which are cargo ships, with the occasional painted pleasure boat. And those merchant fleets doing business are the easiest to negotiate with, as long as you offer them enough silver."
Bai Jianping stammered slightly, "Y-you even found all that out?"
And that wasn't all. Dai Li had even made a decision. "I plan to divide those forty-two people into three teams of a dozen or so each, taking three separate boats."
Bai Jianping immediately felt a headache coming on.
Dai Li acted as if she couldn't see his silent resistance. "The rest of the men will take the carriages and travel by land. Traveling downstream by boat is faster than riding horses, so the boat unit will definitely be ahead. Every time the boat fleet stops at a town to rest, they will wait for the land unit to arrive, briefly reunite, and then part ways again."
Bai Jianping's brows had not relaxed since a moment ago. "Madam, this matter is of great importance. I hope you will allow me to go back and study the map first."
Dai Li agreed.
Dai Li returned to her quarters, but instead of going to her own room, she went to Qin Yanzhou's.
"Mother, did Commander Bai agree?" The young man stood by the desk, and spread out upon it was the very map Bai Jianping had just said he was going to study.
Dai Li closed the door. "He didn't agree immediately. He said he needed to go back and look at the map. Actually, this is just right. If we rush through this journey, the Green Lotus Sect might not have time to organize their forces and catch up, which would be truly troublesome later on."
She had never forgotten the Green Lotus Sect, that colossal entity hiding in the shadows. Since the North and the Imperial Court were successively consolidated by Qin Changgeng, the Green Lotus Sect seemed to have shifted toward the Bashu region.
Thinking of how the Green Lotus Sect had "invited" her before, Dai Li guessed that they would likely want to "invite" her again this time.
Her escort was only two hundred men—no, once they took the waterway, she would only have a few dozen Xuanxiao Cavalry by her side. It was true that the Xuanxiao Cavalry were outstanding in combat, but this number was far fewer than usual.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; if missed, who knew when the next one would arise.
Of course, given the time Qin Changgeng attacked Xuzhou and played the "oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada," she guessed the Green Lotus Sect would be very cautious and would thoroughly check for ambushes in the vicinity.
If the soldiers traveling by land were excluded, there truly were no ambushes. Because Qin Changgeng was completely unaware of this matter from start to finish, the only people she had at her disposal were these two hundred men.
Dai Li confirmed with her son again, "Zhouzhou, are you sure that very few of the Green Lotus Sect's followers have exceptional martial skills?"
"Yes." Qin Yanzhou recalled the past. "When I was still in the mountains, following Liudao, the place we lived only had two martial arts training grounds, neither of which was large. One was for young children, and the other for adults. There were less than fifty children training with me, and the number of people in the adult arena next door was even smaller."
Dai Li looked thoughtful.
She had heard her son mention "the mountains" before; that was where they lived during the year of the great famine. "The mountains" was considered a fairly important stronghold for the Green Lotus Sect, yet in such an important place, the scale of the training grounds was surprisingly inadequate.
Qin Yanzhou said in a low voice, "Mother, Liudao is actually quite a conceited man. When he used to teach Diting and White Elephant, what he mentioned most was the strategy of killing three warriors with two peaches. Rather than using brute force, he reveres strategy and takes pride in being the mastermind behind the scenes."
Dai Li suddenly smiled and shook her head. "Perhaps it's not entirely out of his own genuine desire; there must be some degree of helplessness involved. I heard that fifty years ago, the Green Lotus Sect supported a rebel prince's usurpation of the throne, but it ended in failure. Afterward, the rebel prince was executed, and the Green Lotus Sect also suffered heavy losses. After such an ordeal, their vitality was definitely severely damaged, and it's hard to say how much of their capital remains."
Pausing for a moment, the brightness between Dai Li's brows deepened a bit. "As the saying goes, poverty breeds scholars while wealth breeds warriors. Few of them practice martial arts to begin with, let alone achieve any significant results."
For the common people at the bottom of society, "martial arts" was very expensive.
High-intensity training inevitably increased one's appetite. Originally, a bowl of wheat rice could fill the stomach, but after practicing martial arts, one had to eat two bowls. Practicing martial arts sporadically wouldn't work, and as the time spent on martial arts increased, the time available for farming or making a living would inevitably shorten. This equated to only investing without producing, not to mention that buying weapons and hiring martial arts instructors both required silver.
Money was needed everywhere, and many people at the bottom simply couldn't afford it. And the followers of the Green Lotus Sect overwhelmingly came from the bottom rung of society.
Worry flickered in Qin Yanzhou's eyes. "Mother, this opportunity is indeed rare for them, and the Green Lotus Sect will definitely go all out. I'm worried that if they see no hope of capturing you alive in the end, they might simply decide to kill you."
The difficulty of capturing someone alive versus just bringing back a corpse was not on the same level at all.
Dai Li patted her son's shoulder, her heart not heavy in the slightest. With Zhouzhou's martial arts skills, those cultists certainly wouldn't be able to hurt him. "Don't worry, we still have time to think of a few more countermeasures to ensure absolute safety. We have to go through this eventually after leaving Qin Changgeng. Using the North as a borrowed knife to strike at the Green Lotus Sect now is much better than trying to resist them alone in the future."
When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits.
She wanted to fish in troubled waters and be that profiting fisherman.
If the Green Lotus Sect didn't come, well, then she would just have to initiate another, very troublesome plan.
Bai Jianping tossed and turned in his room all night with the map, thoroughly studying the vicinity of the Min River. The next day, he went to find Dai Li with dark circles under his eyes.
Bai Jianping said earnestly, "Madam, we will proceed eastward in two groups just as you suggested earlier. However, we don't have many soldiers on our side who can travel by boat. To be safe, I recommend hiring a group of armed escorts in the small towns to accompany us on the water journey. Oh, and we also need to send a letter to the Marquis."
If they didn't have enough manpower, then they would just hire a group of martial artists, or simply charter an entire ship. It wasn't as if the Marquis couldn't afford that bit of silver anyway.
Dai Li froze.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Bai Jianping felt that the way Dai Li was looking at him right now was very strange. "Madam?"
Dai Li coughed lightly. "Commander Bai, you truly are a fascinating person."
This sounded like a compliment, but it made all the hairs on Bai Jianping's body stand on end.
The Madam was praising him! But why did it make him feel so uneasy?