novelSusiti Chapter 73 A Bag of Black Beans Under the Pillow—The Second Fish Bit the Hook
Chapter 73 A Bag of Black Beans Under the Pillow—The Second Fish Bit the Hook
Supply Battalion.
From noon to dusk. Five two-hour periods.
The search brochure for the White Feather Soldiers has been delivered.
Chen Dao held it himself. Seven scrolls of bamboo slips. Each note was written with meticulous care.
"Between noon and 5 pm, forty-seven people entered and exited the west side of the supply camp."
Liu Shan opened the first volume.
Name. Position. Time of entry. Time of departure. Reason for departure.
The supply battalion itself had the most people. There were those who carried grain, those who counted it, and those who kept accounts. Twenty-three of them.
Next were the kitchen staff. They collected salt and firewood. Nine in total.
From the engineering battalion. Borrowing tools. Four.
From the scout camp. Changing hay for the horses. Three.
Messengers in the central command tent. Delivering documents. Two.
The remaining six were odd jobs, water carriers, horse manure collectors, and temporary helpers sent by various battalions.
Forty-seven people.
Liu Shan flipped through the seven bamboo scrolls twice, from beginning to end. His finger stopped on the fourth scroll.
Engineer battalion. Receiving nails. A name.
Zhao An.
Squad leader of the engineer battalion. Arrival time: 3:45 PM (1:45 PM). Departure time: 1:15 PM (3:55 PM). Stayed for 45 minutes.
It takes less than 15 minutes to get the nails.
"This man," Liu Shan pointed to Chen Dao, "how many iron nails he received."
Chen Dao pulled out the material requisition book of the supply camp.
"Thirty iron nails. Signed for in the register."
Thirty iron nails. Went to the warehouse. Counted. Signed. Carried away. A quarter of an hour at most.
Where did he go during that extra fifteen minutes?
"Check. Zhao An. Where is he from? When was he assigned to the engineering battalion?"
Chen Dao left the tent.
Liu Shan didn't have to wait long.
Half an hour later, Chen returned, carrying a thin booklet in his hand.
"Zhao An. A native of Wugong County, Yongzhou. He was assigned to the engineering battalion of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the fifth year of Jianxing. His ancestral home was Zhao Family Village, Wugong County."
Liu Shan's gaze lingered on the word "martial arts" for a moment.
Martial arts. Guanzhong. Territory of Cao Wei.
"How did the Shu army enter the capital in the fifth year of Jianxing?"
"It was written in the booklet—'Seeking refuge.' He crossed the mountains from Guanzhong into Sichuan, claiming that his family had been destroyed and he had nowhere to go."
They crossed the mountains to enter Sichuan. They sought refuge there.
Liu Shan placed the thin book on the table and rested his hands on his knees.
Many people sought refuge with him. One cannot judge a person solely based on their birth.
He took the black bean from the hidden compartment and placed it on the table.
Things from Guanzhong.
"Chen Dao".
"Your subject is here."
"Go check Zhao An's berth. See if he has any black beans among his personal belongings."
Chen Dao frowned slightly. Liu Shan waved his hand.
"Don't flip it. Don't move. Just walk by. Just glance at it. Don't startle him."
Chen left.
Liu Shan leaned back in his chair, turning the black bean over and over in his hand, squeezing it several times.
Zhou Fu is the messenger. Zhao An is the contact. Is there anyone else above him?
The chain isn't long. But you have to figure out each link before you pull it.
They pulled too early. The people above shrank back.
Too late. Military intelligence has leaked out.
The tent flap moved. Chen Dao's voice came from outside.
"Your Majesty. Zhao An's bed—there's a cloth bag stuffed under his pillow. It feels granular to the touch. Hard."
Black beans.
Liu Shan put the grain in his hand back on the table.
"What is Zhao An doing today?"
"The engineering battalion is continuing its routine camp construction. There are no unusual movements."
Liu Shan nodded.
"Don't touch him."
Chen waited.
"Have the White Feather Soldiers keep an eye on him. Record everything: where Zhao An goes each day, who he meets, and what he says."
Chen accepted the order.
"besides--"
Liu Shan pulled out a strip of silk from under the table.
"The silk strip inside the bamboo tube. Zhou Fu's—The Shu Emperor is at Wuzhang."
He picked up his pen and wrote two characters on the new silk strip.
"Read."
The brushstrokes are still left-handed, with a curved hook. It's similar to Liu An's handwriting.
"Put the bamboo tube back in. Let Zhou Fu and Zhao An both see it—the one that's online will reply."
Chen Dao accepted the silk strip and left the tent.
-
Day 11.
Wei Yan's urgent message.
It was sent over the mountains from the western route of Longyou. Two horses of the scouts died in the process.
The silk strip contained only one line of text.
"Passed the middle section. No obstacles. All three thousand cavalrymen passed through. The valley will be traversed the day after tomorrow."
Liu Shan placed the silk strip under the paperweight.
The second letter. From Zhuge Liang.
Bamboo tube. Sealing wax intact. The handwriting is neater than the last letter—the busy period is over.
"Guo Huai's forces numbered 20,000. I attacked from the flank. Guo Huai's vanguard of 5,000 was intercepted between the pass and the valley. 1,300 surrendered. The remaining troops retreated to forty li northeast of Qishan."
Turn it over.
"I will not pursue him hastily. Guo Huai's retreat is narrow. If we push him too far, he will flee to Chang'an. Let him be, and let him block us northeast of Qishan. He will neither be able to save Chang'an nor return to Luoyang."
Turn it over again—there's another line of small print on the back.
"Has Wei Yan passed the middle section?"
Liu Shan looked at the words. A slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The Prime Minister is physically in Qishan, but his heart is in Puban Ferry.
I picked up my pen to reply. Three words.
"It's done. Don't worry."
After thinking about it, I added another sentence.
"Has the Prime Minister eaten yet?"
Seal it. Hand it over.
-
Changan.
Sima Yi's command tent.
Day 11.
The grain official no longer needs to report. Sima Yi can calculate it himself.
Four days' worth of rations are gone. Eleven days left. The grain carts from the east bank of the river are still on their way.
Zhang He sat in his tent, his helmet resting on his knees. His complexion was somewhat better than the day he entered Chang'an. He had eaten his fill for three days, but his energy and spirit had not returned.
"Grand Tutor. Chencang is lost. Mei County is empty. Guo Huai is trapped in Qishan. All three roads are blocked."
Sima Yi didn't reply. His fingers tapped on the table.
"That batch of grain from Hedong. It'll take us through Puban Ferry. Six hundred li. Nine more days—"
"Nine days." Zhang He's voice was hoarse. "We have eleven days' worth of rations left. Nine days are up. Only two days of buffer time left. What if something goes wrong on the way—"
"Nothing will go wrong."
Sima Yi's voice was flat.
"Puban Ferry was garrisoned by a thousand soldiers. There was a beacon tower every thirty li along the way. From Hedong to Chang'an, there were twenty-one beacon towers."
Zhang He did not respond.
Sima Yi stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and looked west.
In the direction of Wuzhangyuan, nothing can be seen. It's 240 li away.
But he knew that person was sitting there.
Just sit. Don't move. Don't attack. Don't harass. Just sit.
It was even more painful than for Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang knew how to make moves. Every move he made had a weakness.
The emperor isn't making a move. He's waiting for you to make a mistake.
"Junyi".
Zhang He stood up.
"Take five thousand cavalry. Set off tomorrow. Go to Puban Ferry to collect grain."
Zhang He frowned slightly.
"Go in person?"
"I am concerned about the beacon towers along the route. You go and keep an eye on the grain carts. Not a single one can be missing."
Zhang He clasped his hands in a fist salute. He accepted the order.
I walked to the tent entrance. I paused for a moment.
"Grand Tutor, those ten thousand men at Wuzhang Plain—could they have crossed the river while I was gone?"
"Won't."
Sima Yi returned to his desk and sat down.
"He wanted to cross the river. He crossed it three days ago. He didn't cross it. That means he's waiting for something else."
Zhang He glanced at him.
"What is that?"
Sima Yi's fingers stopped on the table.
"If I, the Grand Tutor, knew, I wouldn't be losing sleep."
-
Wuzhangyuan.
into the night.
Chen's daily routine.
"Zhou Fu did not go to the supply camp today. However, he spoke three sentences with Zhao An at the stables this afternoon."
Liu Shan put down the silk strip.
"What did you say?"
"The White Feather Soldiers were far away. I only heard one sentence clearly—the third word was 'go'."
go.
Who's leaving? Which way are they going?
"Zhao An's reaction."
"He shook his head and walked away."
Shaking his head. No.
Zhou Fu suggested they leave. Zhao An disagreed.
The two disagreed. Zhou Fu wanted to run away. Zhao An felt it wasn't the right time yet.
Liu Shan folded the silk strip and pressed it into the third draft of the strategy.
It can't be escaped. But we can't rush it either.
He pulled a geomantic map from under the table. His finger landed on Puban Ferry.
Wei Yan emerged from the valley the following day.
Zhang He will set off tomorrow to collect the grain.
Five thousand cavalry. Heading east.
Three thousand cavalry emerged from the mountains to the west.
Time difference – three days.
When Wei Yan arrived at Puban Ferry, Zhang He was either still on his way or had just arrived.
The tent flap was lifted. Zhao Yun entered, carrying the cool night air and the smell of horse sweat.
"On the north bank of the Wei River, there are twenty more bonfires tonight."
"add?"
"No one was added. The original campfire was dismantled and rearranged."
He was bluffing. He made the people at Wuzhang Plains think that he had reinforced his troops.
Liu Shan didn't pay attention.
"General Zilong."
Zhao Yun stopped.
"Zhang He is to lead 5,000 cavalry to Puban Ferry to collect grain tomorrow."
Zhao Yun tapped his hand on the shaft of his spear.
"How did you know?"
"Sima Yi has only eleven days' worth of provisions left. The carts from Hedong will take another nine days. He can't just wait idly. He'll definitely send someone to fetch them."
He paused for a moment.
"The only one we can send is Zhang He."
Zhao Yun didn't press further. Having fought for decades, he knew some judgments didn't require scouts; calculation was sufficient.
"What should I do?"
Liu Shan pointed to the line on the south bank of the Wei River on the geomantic map.
"Do nothing. Stay here. Let Sima Yi see your flag every day."
Zhao Yun rested his spear on his shoulder.
"Your Majesty, I am here. The flag stands."
The curtains fell.
Liu Shan lay down. A dagger was pressed under his pillow, digging into the back of his head. He was used to it.
I did some calculations before I closed my eyes.
Wei Yan led three thousand cavalry. They emerged from the valley the following day.
Zhang He has 5,000 cavalry. They will depart tomorrow.
Puban Ferry. Two groups of people. One group was burning grain. The other group was receiving grain.
Whoever arrives first wins.
[End of Chapter]