Song Wushen set out for the prefectural city with the medicines, and everything went rather smoothly.
However, problems had already begun within the prefectural administration when the plague first broke out. The officials were all consumed by fear for their own safety, and their negligence in preventing and controlling the disease meant that by the time Song Wushen arrived, both the city and the surrounding areas had already been infected. The entire western region had become a wasteland of sickness.
The plague had erupted early, and many commoners who had no medicine to treat them were hastily isolated outside the city. People died every day.
More than half the officials in the prefectural administration had fallen ill. The prefect was the first to contract the disease. After lingering for over a month, he died despite treatment. The deputy prefect and the other senior official who had been in close contact with him likewise fell bedridden. Though they were both on the verge of death, they were fortunate enough to receive Song Wushen’s aid and barely managed to pull through.
During his recovery, the surviving official did everything he could to assist Song Wushen in containing the plague.
Before long, the medicine brought from the eastern region had all been used up. Fortunately, there was a large apothecary outside the prefectural city. It was where Duan Yan had purchased medicine some time ago. The apothecary had not escaped infection either, but its people cooperated fully with the authorities, providing medicinal supplies to help fight the plague.
After the most difficult month passed, the plague in the prefectural city gradually stabilized. Thanks to Song Wushen’s efforts, both the officials and the people inside and outside the city supported him wholeheartedly.
In June of that year, eastern and western Qianzhou were finally united, and the entire region of Qianzhou came under a single authority.
“The plague in the western region is basically under control now. But Father says the prefectural city has been deeply affected by the disaster, so he won’t be able to return for the time being. He needs to restore order and resume farming and production.”
Duan Yan brought the letter Song Wushen had sent back from the prefectural city to the household.
“The people’s loyalty still needs to be consolidated, so he can’t leave too quickly. Still, his letter says that everyone under him reports Father is in good health. Aside from being somewhat exhausted from combating the plague recently, there’s nothing else to worry about.”
He had been gone for one or two months, and he had gone straight into a plague-stricken area. Even though he had brought remedies with him, Mu Linghui could not help worrying.
But after hearing that things were proceeding smoothly, she felt somewhat relieved.
“As long as he’s safe and healthy, the affairs of the government are important. There’s no need to urge him to come back.”
After retaking the prefectural city, Duan Yan and Song Fengsui had also considered whether the entire family should move again and take up residence there.
After carefully weighing the matter, however, they decided that Fuyang County, where they were currently settled, was already an excellent location. The county town was no less prosperous than the prefectural city, and it was connected by roads in every direction. Whether they wanted to leave the region or travel to any other part of Qianzhou, it occupied a central position and was, in fact, much more advantageous than the prefectural city in the west.
Taking advantage of the upheaval, they could make the necessary adjustments and shift Qianzhou’s center to Fuyang. That would make it easier to govern the region and maintain contact with the outside world.
With that in mind, they put aside the thought of moving once more.
Summer had arrived in June, and the cicadas sang without pause.
Song Fengsui was reclining in a cool chair in the pavilion, turning the pages of a book. Whenever he looked up, he could see the large and small figures seated at the other end, eating chilled melon.
Duan Yan picked the seeds from the melon and fed the pieces to Little Ji. The little fellow chewed with puffed-out cheeks, making his round face look even fuller. He stretched out his arms, picked up a melon seed, and stuck it beneath Duan Yan’s chin.
“I’m giving Papa a beard!”
The two of them stuck seeds on each other, laughing so happily that they could barely contain themselves.
Song Fengsui smiled and closed his book, gazing at the dazzling sunlight outside.
“The weather is clearly not as hot as it was the past few years.”
The midday sun was still fierce, but it was nothing compared to the blazing days of previous years, when it had felt as though they were living atop Flaming Mountain.
“After four consecutive years of disasters, if the weather doesn’t improve now, the whole world truly will become an inferno,” Duan Yan said.
With Qianzhou united, order restored, and the weather beginning to improve, Song Fengsui felt more relaxed than he had in years.
He asked Duan Yan, “Now that we’ve settled in Fuyang County, does that mean we won’t have to move again?”
Duan Yan’s brows shifted slightly. Now that Qianzhou was united, it would naturally become the center of their administration. In principle, they were already located at the heart of Qianzhou, so there was indeed no reason to move elsewhere.
After several years of disasters, the plague had finally come to an end. Of the calamities brought about by nature and by men, the former had nearly passed. Only the latter remained.
The last problem was the turmoil outside their borders. By Duan Yan’s calculations, the five years of upheaval had less than a year left to run. Even without knowing what the situation was like beyond Qianzhou, he estimated that the time was about right.
Looking at Song Fengsui, Duan Yan said, “I feel that we may still have to move once more.”
The easy smile on Song Fengsui’s face vanished at once, replaced by a hint of tension.
“Hadn’t we already agreed on this? Qianzhou lies on the border and has difficult terrain. Now that it’s united, we’ll close the gates and live our lives in peace. No matter how much turmoil or warfare there is outside, we’ll simply guard Qianzhou and avoid stirring up trouble.”
Hearing what Duan Yan meant, he assumed that Duan Yan had changed his mind. With Qianzhou united and its army strong, perhaps he had developed ambitions of expanding beyond its borders.
Even if Duan Yan did harbor such ambitions, Song Fengsui could understand them. A man should aspire to travel the world, and Duan Yan was no ordinary person. He truly had the ability to venture beyond Qianzhou.
But over the past four or five years, they had exhausted themselves planning every step and proceeding with extreme caution. They had endured countless battles and lost countless people before finally arriving at the peaceful life they had now. After all that, he had only just managed to find a little stability.
He truly felt too weary to face another life of upheaval.
He was only in his twenties, yet after all the rises and falls he had endured, he often felt as though his heart belonged to a man several decades older.
Thus, when he heard Duan Yan speak so ambiguously, his emotions inevitably began to fluctuate.
Duan Yan carried Little Ji over and gently squeezed Song Fengsui’s hand.
“Sui Sui, I have no intention of raising an army and going to war. Don’t worry. If I’d had a choice from the very beginning, I would have preferred to live peacefully in some small corner of the world, like that little nook in Yanzhen. But I was pushed forward despite myself, and through a series of coincidences, I ended up where I am today.”
“The wars may soon end, just as Qianzhou has settled down. When that day comes, do you want to return to the capital?”
Song Fengsui fell silent at the question. It seemed he had never truly considered it.
After a moment, he raised his head and looked at Duan Yan.
“Since we’re speaking hypothetically, then yes. I’d like to take you to see the place where I grew up.”
Duan Yan smiled and gently rubbed the top of Song Fengsui’s head. Qianzhou was certainly not a bad place, but in his heart, he felt that a noble-born young master who had suffered such hardship should ultimately return to the place of jade-inlaid splendor and jeweled luxury that had once been his home.
Now that he knew what Song Fengsui wanted, he had a clearer idea of what to do.
Others might not know it, but he understood that the wars would soon end and the realm would be reunited.
He wanted Young Master Song to return to the capital in glory. While the wars were still at their fiercest, he would make preparations and secure a path for their future.
In July, Second Uncle Song returned to the residence with a letter. His eyes were red, frightening the entire household. Everyone hurried to ask what had happened.
“After being separated for so many years, we finally have news from the capital.”
Song Xuemu choked out those words before covering his eyes and beginning to cry.
Seeing that there was no way to get a clear answer from him, Song Fengsui quickly took the letter and read it through with Duan Yan.
Mu Linghui was extremely anxious as well. Judging from Song Xuemu’s expression, she feared that the capital had suffered some terrible misfortune.
After reading the letter, Song Fengsui furrowed his brows tightly. It was not entirely bad news, but neither was the situation particularly promising.
After Qianzhou had been stabilized, they began actively reaching out to the Song family's old connections. The first, naturally, was Second Aunt's side.
After passing through many twists and turns, the Wu family's letter finally reached them.
The letter said that the three main forces driving the unrest were, respectively, the Emperor and Consort Lian's faction, the Empress and her maternal relatives' faction, and the Qin army, which had risen in the east.
Over the past few years, the three forces had continuously fought over territory. The land was thick with the smoke of war. Yet during these years of turmoil, disasters and famine had struck one after another. By this year, all three sides were desperately short of food and could barely hold on any longer.
Then, in the middle of the year, the Emperor suddenly passed away, and all the power that had once been in his hands fell into Consort Lian's faction.
The three forces knew they could delay no longer and threw everything they had into one final battle.
“Consort Lian's faction has always been cruel and utterly unscrupulous. When His Majesty was alive, they showed at least a little restraint. Now that they hold supreme power, they have been plundering, burning, and slaughtering without the slightest regard for the common people in order to strengthen their army.
“Yet by employing such brutal methods, they have gained the upper hand. If the Empress's faction cannot withstand them, the realm may well fall into Consort Lian's hands…”
The Song family had been exiled to Qianzhou because of the slander spread by Consort Lian's faction. If the realm were unified under Consort Lian's rule, the Song family would not only have no hope of ever rising again—even in Qianzhou, they might not be able to preserve their lives.
For the Song family, this news was nothing short of a calamity. The only thing worth celebrating was that the Wu family still survived and had not perished in the war.
After hearing about the situation in the capital, Duan Yan hissed softly.
He had assumed that the Qin army had already turned the tide and gained a considerable advantage. He had not expected that, now that the conflict was nearing its end, it would actually be the weakest of the three forces.
He pondered this and decided that, apparently, the protagonist's path was one of rising after first being suppressed—a desperate struggle followed by a miraculous reversal.
When all was said and done, this was still a feel-good power fantasy novel~
Duan Yan soothed the uneasy Song Fengsui. “Don't panic. Things haven't reached the final moment yet, and no one knows how they will turn out. Since there is still one decisive battle to come, as long as we make the right move, the worst outcome won't happen.”
The Song family had never intended to take sides at court in the first place. Their becoming victims of factional strife was mainly due to Grandfather Song's unyielding integrity as a loyal subject. With Consort Lian's faction stirring up trouble in the court, the two sides were bound to become enemies.
Now that the Song family was living in seclusion in Qianzhou, with grain, troops, and weapons at their disposal, they likewise had no intention of taking sides.
But times had changed. If they did not make a decision and place their bet now, and Consort Lian's faction truly secured the throne, then all the effort the Song family had put in over the past few years would have been for nothing. Worse, they would be branded traitors and condemned to certain death.
In other words, they had to support either the Empress or the Qin army. If they bet correctly, the charges that had once been brought against them would naturally be overturned, and they would gain merit besides. But a wager of this sort, if lost, would send them straight into a bottomless abyss.
Otherwise, Grandfather Song would never have insisted on remaining neutral and refused to support any faction.
Because of this matter, Song Wushen had even made a special trip back from the prefectural city.
“The Crown Prince was persecuted by Consort Lian's faction and died after being poisoned. In the end, the Empress's faction is the legitimate one. Although the Crown Prince is gone, the Fourth Prince is still here.”
“Though they are the legitimate faction, the Fourth Prince is weak and ineffectual. Didn't you say before that, when he studied under Father, he was practically a blockhead? In terms of ability alone, he isn't even as capable as the Fifth Prince, who was raised by Consort Lian. How could he shoulder such a great responsibility?”
No matter how capable the Fifth Prince of Consort Lian's faction might be, he was already outside the Song family's range of choices. But objectively speaking, although the Fifth Prince had some talent, he had been taught by Consort Lian and was extremely sinister by nature—a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
“Father, Eldest Brother! This isn't about choosing which prince is fit to shoulder the responsibility. It's about leaving the Song family a way out. Whoever ascends the throne isn't something we can decide. The important thing is to judge their strength and determine whether they can resist Consort Lian's faction.”
Duan Yan listened quietly as the elders argued. From what he heard, their dispute ultimately came down to the question of legitimacy. In other words, their considerations all centered on the Empress's faction.
That was understandable. For one thing, there was the matter of legitimacy; for another, the Empress's faction was ultimately deeply rooted and powerful. Compared to it, the Qin army, which had risen from rebellion, was indeed weaker.
But—
“The Qin army has fought all the way from a small region in the east to the capital. It has continued to grow stronger over the past few years without vanishing like the other minor forces. That shows they must possess abilities beyond the ordinary.
“Besides, the people I sent out to investigate learned that the Qin army treats civilians well and values its soldiers. As a result, many common people have supported them along the way to the capital. Every new emperor brings a new set of ministers. If we are planning for the Song family's long-term future, the Qin army is actually the better choice.”
Duan Yan kept a straight face as he repeated what he had read in the book. The people he had sent out to gather information had not yet returned. For now, he could only rely on the descriptions in the novel's synopsis and use the protagonist's admirable qualities to persuade his elders.
The room fell silent.
“We, too, came all the way from Rock Town. From the most obscure place in all of Qianzhou, the distant, impoverished corner everyone looked down upon, we reached the point of reclaiming the entirety of Qianzhou. Looking back, who would have taken us seriously at the beginning? Who would have believed we were capable of anything?”
Duan Yan continued, “For the Qin army to have reached where it is today, it must possess abilities we don't understand. Even if everything had gone smoothly, no one could believe that, amid this chaotic age and these natural disasters, it had all been achieved through luck alone.”
The three men of the Song family fell silent after hearing Duan Yan's words, but they were indeed beginning to feel that the Qin army was no ordinary force.
Taking their own experience as an example, they could better understand the hardships behind the Qin army's rise, as well as the wisdom behind each of its decisions.
“If only we could place our bets on both sides, then we wouldn't have to agonize over the decision.”
Song Xuemu sighed slowly. But this was war, not a matter of taking on two students. They could not raise two competing enemies at the same time.
Once one side prevailed, the kindness shown by the Song family today would become a thorn lodged in the victor's heart every time it was mentioned. Sooner or later, it would bring disaster. Such cleverness was absolutely not worth attempting.
The debate lasted for most of the night. In the end, Duan Yan prevailed.
“So we've decided on the Qin army?” Song Fengsui asked Duan Yan afterward. Seeing how earnest and resolute he had been when persuading the whole family to choose the Qin army, Song Fengsui had assumed the two of them must have known each other in the past.
“Mm.”
Duan Yan lay awake in bed. “I can't say anything too strange in front of Grandfather, Father, and Second Uncle. But I don't mind telling you.”
“The Qin army is the will of Heaven.”
Lying in his arms, Song Fengsui burst out laughing. “Mm~ You really sound like some solemn wandering Daoist priest.”
“If we fall on hard times in the future, you won't have to worry about going hungry. You can put on a robe, hold up a flag, and tell fortunes for people beneath the bridge.”
Duan Yan pinched him around the waist when he heard the teasing. “For the sake of that remark, I'll become a Daoist priest after all.”
The two of them laughed and playfully tumbled together.
Song Fengsui's face flushed as he murmured weakly, “…What kind of Daoist priest does things like that?”
“An expert in a wide range of fields!”
…
Now that the matter had been decided, Duan Yan busied himself for quite some time. At the end of August, he finally established contact with the Qin army.
When they learned that Qianzhou was willing to offer its support, the other side attached great importance to the matter. Qin Zhitian sent a trusted aide to negotiate with them and even entrusted him with an important letter. They paid their respects to the Song family with great courtesy.
Qianzhou prepared abundant salt, grain, and sophisticated weapons for them as supplies, transporting them to the army through Nine-Beard and the others’ private salt routes.
At the end of the year, the three-way struggle for the realm reached its final battle!
Song Xuemu had sent a secret letter to the Wu family, telling them that Qianzhou was now stable and that they could come there to take refuge if they wished.
The Wu family was willing enough to come, but the capital’s defenses were too strict. With their status, they were being watched closely and could not extricate themselves.
The Song family wanted to hint to the Wu family at the choice they had made, but they feared exposing something important. They were also afraid that, if everything ultimately failed, the Wu family would be dragged into it. In the end, they sent no word.
That winter, Qianzhou enjoyed a mild season. The weather was gentle, with only occasional rain; the sweeping snowstorms never came. The people of Qianzhou lived and worked in peace, as though an age of peace had already descended upon the realm.
Amid such tranquil scenes, the Song family’s hearts remained tightly strung, waiting for the outcome as if a blunt knife were slowly cutting into their flesh. They spent the entire New Year festival in restless unease.
At one point, they even replenished Qin Zhitian’s supplies once more.
The following April, in a month when drifting catkins filled the air, a spring rain fell to nourish the earth.
Four years ago today had been a day of great joy. The town of Yan had rung with gongs and drums as a wedding celebration was held.
Duan Yan had married Song Fengsui.
And today, the festivities were even grander. The entire city rang with gongs and drums, filled with cheers and delighted cries.
The Qin family army had won the great war and proclaimed Qin the Emperor in the capital. The realm was united, and the five long years of war had finally come to an end. Peace had returned to the people.
Yet beneath the joy lay a trace of sorrow.
“Please take care, my lord.”
“Take care, Lord Song!”
Everyone from the office, along with some of the townspeople who knew the truth, lined the road to see the Song family’s carriage and horses out of the city.
Inside the carriage, the Song family watched the spring rain falling outside and the townspeople who had come to see them off despite the weather. Their eyes reddened before they even realized it.
Their hearts were filled with a thousand tangled emotions.
When they had first stumbled into this land, they had been utterly wretched, their hearts full of humiliation and despair. They had never dared imagine that they might one day leave Qianzhou alive.
Five years had passed, full of reversals and turbulent changes. Who would have thought they would one day depart with such honor?
People said the world was unpredictable. This was proof enough.
“Where are we going, Papa? Where are we going?”
Little Ji could not sit still for even half a moment. He poked his head out through the carriage window and saw Papa riding a tall horse, rain falling outside and many people standing along the roadside.
“Are we going to see the lantern festival?”
Song Fengsui pulled the restless little boy into his arms. Looking at Duan Yan riding close beside the carriage, he said, “We’re going home.”
Duan Yan looked at the father and son inside the carriage, his smile warm and gentle. He answered softly, “Going home.”
This time, we were truly going home together.
—The End—
