Chương 91: Chapter 89 Interlude 16

Emperor Sun Hao's study was sunk in a silence broken only by the scratch of a brush on paper. The Emperor's mind, however, was not really on the report he held in his hands, since he had spent much of the day with his thoughts divided between the obligations of the throne and what had taken place that morning. Every time he tried to focus on administrative matters, his attention drifted inexorably back to the same thing.

The wave of Qi covering the sky like a cloud and the horizon with a column linking heaven and earth. A sharp knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, and Sun Hao, without lifting his gaze from the report, made a gesture with his hand that caused it to open, revealing the tall, thin figure of Jiangjun Han Xin, whose great moustache framed a face that, as usual, combined the seriousness of the soldier with an expression suggesting he might say something entirely inappropriate at any moment.

Han Xin entered the study and closed the door behind him, his boots echoing on the floor as he approached the desk behind which the Emperor sat. Without any preamble, he addressed him directly.

"If you've sent for me, then you have some order", Han Xin said, stopping before the desk with his arms crossed.

"And I'd wager my right arm it has to do with the wave of Qi that started this morning." Sun Hao raised his gaze from the report and fixed it on Han Xin for a moment before nodding with a slow movement of his head.

"Indeed", Sun Hao replied, setting the brush on its rest and pushing the report aside with the back of his hand.

"I called you because I have privileged information about what we can expect from the wave and how long it will take, approximately, to arrive." At hearing Sun Hao's words, Han Xin raised an eyebrow, and the expression on his face shifted from attention to a curiosity tinged with skepticism.

"It's unusual for the Sect to provide information exclusively", Han Xin said in a tone that exuded the distrust of someone who had spent decades dealing with the maneuvers of the Sect of the Celestial Sun.

"They usually leak it everywhere just to remind us all how indispensable they are." Sun Hao sketched a smile, the kind of smile Han Xin had known for decades and which always meant the Emperor knew something the others didn't yet, before answering him.

"Actually, the information doesn't come from the Sect", Sun Hao said, leaning slightly back in his chair and folding his hands on his lap.

"The Sect is probably still trying to work out the consequences of the wave, since Elder Feng, the moment he saw it, burst out of the seclusion he'd been in ever since my daughter's master started hanging around the palace and headed straight for the Sect's headquarters as though the heavens themselves were chasing him." Han Xin processed Sun Hao's words and frowned slightly as he asked, in a tone now carrying more curiosity than skepticism "If the Sect knows nothing, who gave you the information?"

Sun Hao's smile widened a little more, as though the question were precisely the one he had been waiting for.

"It was none other than Mu Fei, the envoy of the Tower of the Five Dragons", Sun Hao replied, savoring every word like someone revealing a hidden card.

"She gave the information entirely gratuitously to Guifei Xiang, and it was she who passed it on to me exclusively." The silence that followed Sun Hao's words lasted barely an instant before Han Xin let out a snort strong enough to make his moustache quiver.

"If one of those greedy rats is giving out information for free, then the heavens really are falling", Han Xin said in a tone that blended disbelief with something that came dangerously close to humor. Sun Hao didn't bother to respond to the comment, merely keeping his smile as he watched Han Xin process the information. And indeed, Han Xin didn't take long to leave his surprise behind and get to the point, as was his custom.

"So, when will it arrive and what can we expect from the wave?" he asked directly, his tone now having shed all trace of humor to adopt the seriousness of the Jiangjun of the Army of the Left. Sun Hao straightened in his chair before answering, and his expression also grew serious.

"According to the information Mu Fei provided, the wave will take between a year and a half or two years to reach our territory", Sun Hao said in a measured and precise tone.

"And the consequences will be a considerable rise in temperature for as long as the effect lasts." Han Xin listened to Sun Hao's words and his brow furrowed progressively, not from surprise but because his mind was already calculating the implications.

"For cultivators with the Fire Gate open, that won't be much of a consequence", Han Xin said in an analytical tone that contrasted with the gravity of the subject.

"But for the common people, the harvests, and the livestock, it could be a serious problem. If the temperature rises high enough for long enough, the water reserves will begin to dwindle, the smaller rivers could dry up, and without enough water to irrigate, next year's harvests could be disastrous." Sun Hao nodded at Han Xin's words with the expression of someone who had already reached the same conclusions.

"Exactly", Sun Hao replied.

"And that is why I'm ordering you to mobilize the Imperial Army and begin creating a series of water reserves." He paused briefly before adding, in a tone that indicated he had thought carefully about the details.

"Underground, if possible, to try to protect them from the heat so they don't evaporate before we need them", Sun Hao continued.

"The goal is to ensure there is no water shortage during the period of the wave, or at least that we have enough to mitigate the worst of it." Han Xin nodded slowly, as though memorizing every word while simultaneously tracing in his head the plans necessary to carry out the order. Seeing that Han Xin had understood the first part, Sun Hao continued with the second.

"Furthermore, I've already ordered Taijian Lu Jianjun to discreetly begin creating reserves of long-lasting food to face a more than likely reduction in the harvests", the Emperor added.

"Dried grain, rice stored under proper conditions, salted meat, and anything that can be preserved for a prolonged period." Han Xin listened to the Emperor's measures and nodded with a firm movement of his head that conveyed his approval, but then he asked a question that demonstrated he was already thinking beyond the immediate logistics.

"When are you going to inform the Sect?" Han Xin asked, and the way he said it suggested he already had an inkling of the answer. Sun Hao didn't respond immediately. He took a moment to choose his words with the precision of someone who had spent years playing political chess with the Sect and the great families, and when he spoke, his tone carried the calculated coldness of the strategist.

"I'll wait until the food reserves are as complete as possible", Sun Hao replied.

"The moment I inform the Sect, the elders who belong to the great families will leak it immediately, as they always do. And half the nobility will know right after." Here Sun Hao paused in a way that served both to emphasize his words and to give Han Xin time to reach the same conclusion as him.

"And when that happens, it's almost certain they'll begin speculating on food in secret", Sun Hao continued, his voice acquiring a note of contained disdain he rarely showed.

"They'll start hoarding grain and raising prices despite the Sect's orders to maintain the stability of the Empire. They've done it before for less reason and they'll certainly do it again." Han Xin listened to Sun Hao's words and nodded with a gesture that indicated not only that he agreed, but that he would have suggested the same thing if the Emperor hadn't thought of it first.

"It's a good measure", Han Xin said approvingly.

"If there's no leak from Taijian Lu Jianjun's side, you've got a good chance of it working. The key is that the grain purchases are small enough and spread out enough not to draw attention." Sun Hao made a gesture with his hand that dismissed the concern as something he already had under control.

"I don't expect any trouble on that front", Sun Hao replied.

"Lu Jianjun has proven himself to be competent and, more importantly, discreet. He wouldn't have taken Li Ming's position if he weren't." Han Xin accepted the answer with a nod, and for a brief moment it seemed the conversation about the wave of Qi was over. But then, instead of making a move to leave or asking if there were any more orders, Han Xin did something Sun Hao didn't expect, he began to smile. And it wasn't just any smile.

It was that particular smile Han Xin reserved for the occasions when he had something amusing to share and was already savoring his interlocutor's reaction.

"Since I'm here, it's worth informing you that Qi Jiguang, Liu Yan, and I have been talking about your daughter", Han Xin said in a tone that had abandoned the Jiangjun's seriousness for something closer to amusement. The mention of his daughter made Sun Hao raise his chin slightly, a gesture that in anyone else would be imperceptible but which Han Xin knew him well enough to detect.

"And we're still debating whether we should grant her a medal or give her a few lashes", Han Xin continued, his smile widening. Sun Hao raised an eyebrow and his expression shifted to one of questioning. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Why the devil would you be giving my daughter lashes?" Sun Hao asked, and although his tone tried to be neutral, there was a protective edge he couldn't entirely hide. Han Xin, instead of responding immediately, gave him an inquiring look in return.

"Haven't you been informed about the chaos that has erupted in the Office of Military Affairs?" he asked in a tone suggesting the answer should be obvious. Sun Hao frowned and seemed to search his memory as he replied "I vaguely recall something being mentioned, but since there's always some department with some kind of problem, I didn't pay it much attention. It's hard to pay attention to every little crisis when you get a new one every morning."

Han Xin nodded with the understanding of someone who dealt with similar problems daily in the military realm, and then, with deliberate calm, he dropped his words like someone placing a stone on a weiqi board.

"Then I'll tell you something interesting", Han Xin said, looking directly at Sun Hao.

"All the chaos in the Office of Military Affairs is little Wen's fault." Sun Hao's frown deepened at Han Xin's words, and his expression shifted to reflect a disbelief he didn't bother to conceal.

"How the devil is a ten-year-old girl with mobility issues supposed to have brought something like the Office of Military Affairs into chaos?" Sun Hao asked, and the way he said it made clear the idea struck him as utterly absurd. Han Xin laughed a genuine laugh, the laugh of someone who had been saving a good story for days and finally had the chance to tell it.

Without answering immediately, he walked with a relaxed pace toward the small table in a corner of the study where various bottles of liquor were arranged, took one of them, uncorked it, and poured himself a cup with the familiarity of someone who had repeated that gesture in that same study hundreds of times over the years.

"That's the amusing part", Han Xin said as he poured, without turning back to Sun Hao yet.

"The girl was actually doing the Office of Military Affairs and the entire Imperial Army a favor. But the Vice-Secretaries in charge of the military supplies department started the whole mess because of, precisely, that favor." Sun Hao, who had been watching Han Xin pour with the patience of someone who knew his general had the habit of stretching out stories as long as humanly possible, stopped frowning and replaced the expression with one of exasperation.

"If you're going to tell something, tell it properly", Sun Hao told him in a tone that left no doubt about his lack of interest in roundabout approaches.

"Drop the preambles and get to the point." Han Xin turned around with the cup in hand, took a sip he appeared to enjoy enormously, and then, with the attitude of a storyteller who knew he had his audience hooked even if they pretended otherwise, began to speak.

"From what I've been able to find out, it all began in the city of Xi'An", Han Xin said, approaching the desk again with slow, measured steps.

"Before your daughter's handmaiden entered the Celestial Fragment of the Sands." He stopped to take another sip, savoring both the liquor and Sun Hao's attention, and continued.

"Apparently, little Wen invented something she called a backpack", he said, and the word sounded slightly strange on his lips, as though the name were as peculiar as the object.

"It's an ingenious modification of the typical bamboo baskets the peasants use, but designed in a way that makes it far more flexible and useful for carrying provisions and miscellaneous objects, since it fits against the back and waist with straps, making it harder for it to fall off during sudden movements."

Sun Hao listened attentively, and although his expression remained one of exasperation, Han Xin noticed the flash of interest that appeared in his eyes when he mentioned the practical applications of the invention.

"That backpack, in turn, caught the attention of Nei Baihu Liang Xue", Han Xin continued.

"She asked your daughter's handmaiden, after testing the backpack in the Celestial Fragment, to give her a detailed report on its usefulness under real conditions. Something the handmaiden did the moment she came out of the Fragment." Here Han Xin paused again to drink a little more from his cup, and Sun Hao, who was well aware of his general's tendency to turn any report into an epic saga, simply waited with his jaw slightly clenched.

"The report impressed Nei Baihu Liang Xue", Han Xin continued after his sip.

"Which meant that when they returned to the Imperial Palace, she passed the report on to Neingjun Liu Yan." The Neingjun's name made Sun Hao tilt his head slightly, since if Liu Yan had taken an interest, the matter carried more weight than it had initially appeared.

"Liu Yan was also interested in the invention, so she decided she wanted it for her soldiers' use", Han Xin went on.

"Which led her to pass an order to the Office of Military Affairs to contact the Zhāohuán about the possible use of her invention by the Imperial Army." Han Xin paused dramatically, looking at Sun Hao over the rim of the cup with an expression anticipating the best part of the story.

"Can you guess what your daughter did next?" he asked Sun Hao in a tone overflowing with contained amusement. Sun Hao returned a look that could cut through steel.

"Drop the guessing games and get to the point", the Emperor replied in a tone of exasperation he no longer bothered to conceal.

"Or I shall find myself obliged to remind you that wasting the Emperor's time also has consequences." Han Xin, entirely immune to the threat as he had been for the last few decades, took another sip from his cup and continued.

"Little Wen ignored what everyone else would have done, which is negotiate usage rights, fees, payments, and similar matters as befits any invention with military potential", Han Xin said, and his tone acquired a note of genuine admiration mingled with disbelief.

"Instead, she simply sent them the backpack she had made along with the instructions to build it." Here Han Xin raised a finger, as if to indicate that the matter didn't end there.

"On top of that she sent them a guide of possible improvements drawn up by her handmaiden based on actual usage experience", he added.

"And as the final touch, she added the request that once they manufactured the improved version, they send her a few." Sun Hao blinked once. It was a minimal gesture, but in someone with his control over his expressions it was practically the equivalent of another person's jaw dropping. Han Xin, upon seeing Sun Hao's reaction, continued in a tone that now had a distinctly more amused edge than before.

"Doing that was like throwing a juicy piece of meat to a pack of wolves", Han Xin said, and the metaphor landed with the forcefulness of someone who knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Every Vice-Secretary immediately realized that backpack had the potential to become standard equipment for the entire Imperial Army, the same way, for instance, the uniforms are." He paused to let the magnitude of that statement settle in the air of the study.

"And since the Zhāohuán had granted free permission for its use and manufacture without asking for anything in return, whoever managed to secure the permit for mass production was going to be sitting on a genuine gold mine", Han Xin continued.

"So, as was to be expected, they started plotting against each other to secure that permit." Sun Hao, who had been listening to the explanation with an expression that had gradually evolved from exasperation to something closely resembling the weary resignation of someone who knew his own bureaucracy all too well, interrupted Han Xin with a gesture of his hand.

"That's nothing new", Sun Hao said in a tone that conveyed a deep and long-standing weariness.

"Plots of that kind existed before I became Emperor, and will continue after the Sect has chosen my successor. It's the nature of the rats that infest any administration." Han Xin took another sip from his cup and nodded, conceding the point to Sun Hao.

"You're right", Han Xin replied.

"But the magnitude of the profits those Vice-Secretaries calculated they could extract from the backpack made them lose their heads. They were more or less discreet at first, conspiring with the usual subtlety of those who believe no one is watching as they move their pieces." Here Han Xin's tone shifted, growing more serious, as though the amusement of the story had reached a turning point.

"Until three days ago", Han Xin continued, lowering the cup.

"Which was when one of them died after falling, supposedly accidentally, from the top of the Phoenix Tower." Sun Hao narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Phoenix Tower, since he knew the height of that structure perfectly well.

"A height sufficient that even a cultivator who has completed the Tempering of Bones and Tendons would die from the fall", Han Xin added in a deliberately neutral tone. Silence followed those words, and Sun Hao didn't need Han Xin to tell him that the fall had been anything but accidental.

"That set off every alarm", Han Xin continued.

"Clearly, it wasn't accidental. So some of my subordinates set about investigating and managed to piece the entire story together, from the backpack to the Vice-Secretary's death, passing through every intermediate plot along the way." Han Xin finished what remained in his cup with one last swallow and set it down on the liquor table with a soft but definitive tap, like someone closing a chapter.

"And that's why we have that debate", Han Xin concluded, turning back to Sun Hao.

"Whether to reward her for the invention of the backpack, which really is useful and has enormous potential for the Army, or to give her a few lashes for not following the proper procedures and ending up, however involuntarily, causing all that chaos."

The silence that followed Han Xin's words stretched for a few moments during which Sun Hao processed the whole story, from the invention of the backpack to the death of a Vice-Secretary, passing through the generosity of a ten-year-old girl who apparently had no interest whatsoever in the monetary value of her own ideas. And then, slowly, a smile appeared on Sun Hao's lips.

It was not the Emperor's smile nor the strategist's smile, but the amused smile of a father who knew his daughter and her situation well enough to think of that solution.

"I know the solution to your problem", Sun Hao said, and his tone carried the certainty of someone who already had the answer before the question was even asked. Han Xin looked at him expectantly, though with a certain caution, since his solution could turn out to be too exaggerated, considering it concerned his daughter.

"Send her a monetary reward", Sun Hao continued, and raised a finger before Han Xin could interrupt.

"But include a letter explaining that, because she did not follow the proper procedures, she caused problems in the Office of Military Affairs, and that therefore the reward is smaller than it would have been if she had done things correctly." Han Xin, upon hearing Sun Hao's proposal, raised an eyebrow with an expression that blended surprise with disbelief.

"Why the devil would a ten-year-old child care about a monetary reward?" Han Xin asked in a genuinely puzzled tone.

"And even more so, why would it bother her that it wasn't larger? At that age, the difference between one hundred Tael and a thousand is purely theoretical." Sun Hao returned his gaze with an expression that combined amusement with the firmness of someone who had no intention of giving more explanations than necessary.

"I know the reason", Sun Hao replied simply.

"Don't go looking for more explanations." Han Xin looked at the Emperor for a moment, as though weighing whether it was worth insisting, but in the end he decided that some battles were not worth fighting, especially when they concerned the relationship between Sun Hao and his only daughter.

"You are the Emperor", Han Xin replied with a shrug that accepted the order without further questioning.

"And of course we'll follow your orders." After saying that, Han Xin adopted a posture Sun Hao recognized as the soldier who was about to bring a meeting to a close in order to get to work.

"Do you have any more orders for me?" Han Xin asked.

"Because if not, I need to start mobilizing the Army, and moreover do it discreetly so the families don't start growing suspicious immediately. Moving troops without anyone asking questions requires more creativity than a military campaign." Sun Hao shook his head at Han Xin's words.

"I have no further orders", the Emperor replied.

"But be discreet. If the families find out before their time, all of Lu Jianjun's work with the food reserves could go to waste." Han Xin nodded with a firm movement of his head that conveyed understanding, and without further ceremony or formal farewells, he turned to head for the study's door with the same decisive step with which he had entered. Han Xin went out the door and closed it behind him while Sun Hao remained seated behind his desk, motionless and with his gaze fixed on the closed door.

The report he had been reviewing before Han Xin's arrival still lay pushed aside, completely forgotten. And as his thoughts jumped between the wave of Qi, the water reserves, and the nobility's speculation, the image of a ten-year-old girl in a wheeled chair who had brought chaos to a centuries-old military institution simply by being too generous brought an amused smile to his lips.

A smile that remained even when he took up the brush again and resumed his work, as though the memory of his daughter were one of the few things capable of making the weight of the crown feel, if only for a moment, a little lighter.