Isolated town in northern border region

Jiang Min stood before the carriages, her gaze shifting from Luo Daniu's face back to the still-smoldering village on the hillside. She paused for a moment, then spoke, her voice neither loud nor soft, as if reciting a prepared verdict: "Luo Daniu, a general under the Northern Frontier King, led his troops in suppressing bandits, indiscriminately slaughtering dozens of innocent civilians, including the elderly, women, and children. After the incident, he showed no remorse and instead attempted to evade responsibility. In the name of the Northern Frontier King's consort, I temporarily exercise the authority to handle this matter; his military command is hereby revoked, and he is to be escorted back to the capital to await further judgment."

After she finished speaking, she glanced at the aristocratic officials behind her. The official in purple robes immediately understood, took a step forward, took out a scroll from his sleeve, unfolded it and read it aloud. The content was similar to what Jiang Min had said, except for a few added details—"killing innocent people to claim credit," "indiscriminately killing the innocent," "disgracing the national prestige"—each point was firmly stated, as if it had been written long ago and was just waiting to be used on this occasion.

Luo Daniu stood there listening to the entire document. He loosened and tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles making a series of soft cracking sounds. He looked down at his boots, which were stained with mud and fallen leaves from the hillside, and a few drops of blood that hadn't dried yet—he didn't know if it belonged to the people or himself.

He looked up at Jiang Min and said, "Your Highness, you say I killed innocent people and claimed credit for it, I admit that. I did fall into the trap, I did lead the troops in, and some people did die. But what I don't admit is—you say I did it all by myself."

Jiang Min looked at him without saying a word.

Luo Daniu stepped aside, clearing the hillside behind him so the mountain path stretched from his feet all the way to the village entrance. Pointing to the still clearly visible footprints and hoofprints on the path, he said, "You said I came to suppress bandits. I really did come to suppress bandits. Those people who ran down from the mountain told me there were bandits on the mountain, so I went up. When I entered the village and saw something was wrong, I shouted 'Stop!' The arrows hadn't even come yet when I shouted 'Stop!' After I shouted 'Stop,' the people in the village were still alive, and then the arrows started shooting down from the hillside."

He turned to face the aristocratic officials, his voice growing increasingly somber: "Where are the archers? Who shot those arrows? You say you're going to convict me, are you going to investigate those who shot the arrows?"

The official in purple robes moved his lips, about to speak, but Jiang Min raised his hand, and he immediately shut his mouth.

Jiang Min said, "Who shot the arrows will be investigated. But the fact that you led your troops to storm the camp is undeniable, as are the bodies of the dead and wounded. Did the arrows arrive before you shouted to stop, or did you shout to stop after the arrows arrived? Who can testify to that?"

Luo Daniu opened his mouth, only to find that those words had sealed his fate. The soldiers had all heard him shout to stop, and so had the villagers crouching in the village. But those people were either dead or wounded, and the survivors were terrified. Who could testify for him? Who would dare to testify for him?

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Then let's all go back. Back to the capital. Back to the Imperial Academy. Let the Prince investigate personally. If the Prince says I'm guilty, I'll admit it. If you say I'm guilty, I won't."

Jiang Min narrowed her eyes: "You're going to disobey orders?"

Luo Daniu removed his hand from the hilt of his knife, then took a step forward and stopped less than three feet away from Jiang Min. He was more than a head taller than her, and when he looked down at her, he resembled a stone tower leaning forward, his shadow enveloping her entirely.

He began, "Your Highness, I will not disobey. I am asking you to return to the capital with me. Didn't you say you were going to punish me? Then go and tell the Prince yourself. You recount today's events in front of the Prince, and I will also recount today's events in front of the Prince. The Prince will know who is lying at a glance."

Jiang Min's expression changed slightly, like a ripple on water's surface after a breeze, but it quickly returned to calm. She looked into Luo Daniu's eyes and said, "Are you taking the Princess hostage?"

Luo Daniu shook his head: "I'm not holding you hostage. I'm protecting you."

He turned to his adjutant behind him and said, "Pass down the order. Surround the Princess's carriage. From now on, wherever the Princess goes, we follow. When the Princess returns to the capital, we return to the capital too. If the Princess wants to rest, we'll guard outside her tent. Anyone who dares to touch a hair on the Princess's head, I guarantee with my head—I'll chop him down."

The lieutenant accepted the order and left. In no time, three hundred elite northern border soldiers spread out to form a loose encirclement, trapping Jiang Min's carriage and the aristocratic officials in the middle. No one drew their swords, no one fired arrows, but the soldiers' positions and angles blocked any escape routes, like a rope that hadn't been tightened but whose boundaries were already defined, waiting for someone to walk into the center of the loop.

The purple-robed official behind Jiang Min had a livid face, and his finger pointing at Luo Daniu trembled slightly: "You...you're committing treason!"

Luo Daniu glanced at him: "What rebellion am I making? I'm taking the Princess back to the capital. She's been traveling outside the palace for over five months; it's time for her to go back and see the Prince. Aren't you all members of parliament? Perfect, let's go back together. Let's go back together and explain what happened today."

The official in the green robe tried to step back, but was silently blocked by two soldiers. The head of the Sun family wanted to say something, but after glancing at the swords at the soldiers' waists, he swallowed his words. The head of the Zhao family lowered his head and gripped the folding fan in his hand so tightly that it creaked. The fan ribs bent and then snapped back, like a piece of brittle bone still hesitating whether to break.

Jiang Min looked at Luo Daniu, remained silent for a long time, and then said, "Okay. I'll go back with you."

After saying this, she turned and got into the carriage. When the curtain fell, her expression was hidden by the moon-white silk, making it impossible to see clearly. Luo Daniu stood beside the carriage, tilting his head to listen for a while. It was quiet inside the carriage; there wasn't a sound.

He turned to the officials from the powerful families and said, "Gentlemen, please get in the carriage. I'll send someone to escort you."

The officials from the powerful families exchanged glances. Some wanted to say something, but seeing Luo Daniu's square face and the unsheathed cleaver at his waist, they ultimately said nothing, lowered their heads, and climbed into their respective carriages. As the carriage curtain fell, someone slammed the corner of it down heavily, making a dull thud.

Luo Daniu mounted his horse and said to his deputy, "Let's go. Back to the capital. Take the main road."

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment: "General, take the main road...through the city?"

Luo Daniu nodded: "Yes. Passing through cities and towns. Let the people along the way see—see how our princess and those officials are returning to the capital with the general who's suppressing the bandits."

He spurred his horse forward at the head of the caravan, his back ramrod straight, like a man re-measuring the chosen path with his own spine. The caravan behind him slowly began to move, the three hundred cavalrymen splitting into two flanks, flanking the magnificent carriages in the middle. The horses' hooves kicked up dust on the official road, leaving a long, yellowish-brown trail in the afternoon sunlight, like a flag being dragged across the fields.

They arrived in the first county town at dusk.

The city gate guards were startled by the sight and were about to close the gate when Luo Daniu flashed his badge. After seeing the five characters, the guards pushed the gate open again, stood by the roadside watching the convoy pass through the city, and stared with their mouths agape for a long time.

Luo Daniu neither ordered the caravan to speed up nor slow down. He simply allowed the convoy to proceed at a normal pace through the town's streets. The horses' hooves clattered rhythmically on the cobblestones, like the sound of a drum being struck, sending vibrations into the alleys and doorways on either side. Hearing the commotion, people along the way peeked out of their houses. When they saw the golden dragon patterns on the carriages and the embroidered robes peeking through the curtains, some whispered, "Are those the Princess's carriages?"

"Not just the princess, look at those cars behind her—the Cui family, the Zhao family, the Sun family… they're all important figures."

"Why are you surrounded by soldiers?"

"Are you blind? Those are the soldiers of the Northern Frontier King. General Luo Daniu is leading them."

Someone recognized Luo Daniu and waved to him from the roadside. Luo Daniu didn't respond, nor did he urge his horse to go faster. He simply maintained his pace and continued forward, ensuring that everyone could clearly see who was in the caravan.

Jiang Min sat behind the carriage curtain, her fingers resting on her knees, her fingertips gently tracing the embroidered edge of her sleeves. She could hear the whispers of the people outside seeping in through the gaps in the curtain, each word landing in her ears—"That's the Princess Consort," "That one next to her is from the Zhao family," "Why are they surrounded by soldiers?" "What is General Luo doing?"—the voices were neither loud nor soft, like a thin veil slowly being unfurled, casting layers of still-undefined interpretations over the convoy.

Luo Daniu's voice came from outside the carriage curtain: "Your Highness, if you're tired, just let me know, and we'll rest for the night at the next post station. If you're not tired, we'll continue on our way."

Jiang Min did not answer.

Without waiting for her reply, Luo Daniu urged his horse forward.

The next day at noon, they entered the second county town. This time, there were even more onlookers on both sides of the street than the day before. Some people who had set up stalls by the roadside stopped doing business and just stood there watching. An old woman selling tofu tugged at the sleeve of a young man next to her and asked, "What's going on?"

The young man said, "I heard that the princess and several high-ranking officials committed a crime and were escorted back to the capital by General Luo."

The old lady was taken aback: "The princess has committed a crime? What crime?"

The young man scratched his head: "What I heard wasn't very clear... It seemed to be that they were oppressing the people in the south, killing innocent people indiscriminately, or something..."

Another person chimed in, "You know nothing. General Luo was clearly set up. Those people killed dozens of civilians and then pinned the blame on him. The Princess and those high-ranking officials are here to convict him. General Luo disagreed and took them all back to the Prince for judgment."

The old woman was even more confused: "Then who killed him?"

The chatter of the people in front was drowned out by the sound of horses' hooves. Luo Daniu rode his horse, steadily maneuvering the carriages between the ranks as they passed through the main street. The rhythm of the horse's hooves on the bluestone slabs remained constant, like a straightening ink line cutting through unmarked squares, leaving an indeterminate mark on each stone surface it trod.

Someone shouted from the roadside, "General Luo, tell us what exactly happened!"

Luo Daniu didn't turn back, but he slowed his horse and turned to the people by the roadside, saying, "I won't tell. When we get back to the capital, the Prince will tell us. He'll explain it more clearly than I can."

Someone nearby muttered, "Your Highness can speak freely, but you should at least give us a heads-up first."

Luo Daniu paused, glanced back at the carriages, and said, "Those powerful officials in the south have seized the land and grain of the common people, and even killed people trying to pin the blame on me. I'll take them back to the Prince and let him decide who is good and who is bad."

After he finished speaking, the streets were quiet for a moment, and then the murmurs surged out like a water bladder that had been punctured. They spread from the alleyway in the east to the eaves in the west, from the old woman selling tofu to the peddler carrying his load, from the idle man squatting on the steps to the woman leaning against the door frame. It was like a ripple spreading outward from the center. It hadn't reached the shore yet, but you could already see which direction the ripples were spreading.

Luo Daniu urged his horse to continue.

On the afternoon of the third day, the convoy left Qingzhou and entered the main road leading to the capital. The fields on both sides of the road were being blown into a gray-yellow by the early winter wind. The crops had been harvested, leaving only neat stubble like rows of pen nibs that had not yet been put away, pointing obliquely to the sky.

Luo Daniu was estimating the distance on horseback when he suddenly heard the rapid sound of hooves coming from the official road ahead. He reined in his horse and stopped for a moment, looking up to see a cloud of yellowish-brown dust rising from the bend in the road, like a flag being unfurled. The dust grew closer, and the figures on the horse became clearer—a troop of cavalrymen dressed in northern frontier armor, about fifty riders in total. The leader was tall and thin, without armor on his shoulders, wearing only a dark blue cloth robe, with a slender sword hanging at his waist.

Luo Daniu recognized the slender silhouette, dismounted, and stood by the roadside to wait.

Zhou Xun reined in his horse and stopped in front of him. He jumped down, his boots landing firmly. Then he looked up at Luo Daniu's face, which had been dark for three days and had stubble growing out by half an inch, and said, "Luo Daniu! The whole world says you've fucking rebelled!"

His voice was louder than usual, still catching from the rush of the journey. The fifty riders behind him also reined in their horses and stopped, some jumping off before they were even properly seated to form a line.

Luo Daniu looked at Zhou Xun, the redness in his eyes not completely gone, but the taut line at the corner of his mouth that had been tense for three days finally loosened, like a shrapnel that had been pressed down for a long time and then released, making a small but crisp trembling sound as it bounced back.

He began by saying, "I'm not rebelling at all. I'm just taking the princess and those gentlemen back to let the prince judge the matter."

Zhou Xun stepped forward, sized him up, then his gaze swept over the man's shoulder to the carriages behind him, before finally landing on the elite Northern Frontier troops surrounding them. He frowned slightly, then walked over and lowered his voice, saying, "Do you know what's being said outside?"

Luo Daniu said, "Go ahead."

Zhou Xun held up three fingers, counting them off one by one: "First, they say you killed innocent people and claimed credit for it, slaughtering dozens of people in a village, and refused to confess after being caught by the princess. Second, they say you kidnapped the princess and several state councilors, and even said you would return to the capital to force the prince to back you up. Third—" He paused, lowering his voice even further, "several bandit groups have suddenly emerged in the southern states, all using your banner, saying something like 'The Mischievous Demon King Luo Daniu is acting on behalf of Heaven,' and the powerful families in those states are cooperating with these bandits, transporting supplies and provisions even more diligently than the government troops. Now the whole world is saying—the Northern Frontier King's general Luo Daniu has rebelled, and the southern states have all followed suit."

After hearing these three points, Luo Daniu stood there in silence for a long time. A gust of wind blew from the end of the official road, swirling a few dry leaves that struck his armor with a soft crackling sound, like a shell peeling away. He raised his hand to touch the back of his head, then lowered it again, and said, "Zhou Xun, I have a question for you. Do you believe I'm rebelling?"

Zhou Xun looked at him but didn't answer immediately. He stared at Luo Daniu's square, unshaven face with red eyes for a full three breaths.

Then he said, "Believe my ass. You're rebelling? You can't even swear properly, what kind of rebellion are you talking about?"

Luo Daniu's shoulders slumped an inch, as if a string that had been stretched for three days and three nights had finally been cut in the middle. He squatted down and sat on a roadside stone for a while, burying his face in his palms, his shoulders still and his mouth silent.

Zhou Xun stood beside him, looking down at the back of his hairy head, and after a moment of silence, said, "Get up. Don't squat. The Prince sent me to help you, not to watch you squat by the roadside crying."

Luo Daniu lifted his face from his palm, sniffed, and said, "I didn't cry."

Zhou Xun asked, "So what have you been doing these past few days?"

Luo Daniu stood up, dusted himself off, glanced back at the several carriages parked quietly behind him, then looked at the darkening sky in the distance along the official road, and said, "I'm taking the Princess back to the capital."

Zhou Xun followed his gaze to the carriages, his eyes lingering for a moment on the golden dragon embroidery on the curtains before returning to their own. He muttered, "Your move was reckless, but it worked out by accident. With the Princess and those councilors under your control, those powerful families won't dare to act rashly."

Luo Daniu said, "I didn't think that much about it. I just wanted to take them back to show the Prince."

Zhou Xun nodded: "Then let's keep going. I'll go with you. I'll handle anything unusual along the way."

After he finished speaking, he mounted his horse and rode to Luo Daniu's side. The two horses stood side by side in the middle of the official road, one tall and strong, the other lean and wiry, their hooves treading on the same patch of dust, heading in the same direction.

Luo Daniu glanced back at the convoy to make sure everyone was still in place, then spurred his horse toward the capital.

The sound of horses' hooves landing on the official road was neat and rhythmic, like a longbow being slowly drawn back. There was no arrow on the string yet, but you could already see the taut bow arm bending slightly in the direction it was meant to go.

The carriages followed behind, their curtains occasionally lifting a corner in the wind before falling back down. Through the gaps, sometimes a livid face could be seen, sometimes a finger clutching a sleeve, and sometimes nothing at all.

The wind blew in from the north, carrying the dry chill of early winter. It passed through the bare branches of the trees on both sides of the official road and made a low, mournful sound above the caravan, like a warning that was not yet fully formed, slowly spreading along their direction of travel, waiting to tighten into a trap at some uncertain corner.

Luo Daniu rode his horse against the gust of wind without dodging.

His figure grew smaller and smaller in the twilight, but he never bent down.