Sun Ce also wore a set of night-travel clothes and led dozens of men standing guard within the forest west of the city. Fei Yu sped over, landing on Sun Ce’s shoulder. Sun Ce pursed his lips and whistled gently a few times, and the white falcon rose into the air again as the group passed silently through the grove.
The messenger’s steed rushed into the secret road through the forest. As the ambushers’ tripwire shot up, the man and horse careened forward, sprawling to the ground. Sun Ce’s soldiers rushed in, blades falling together in the quiet of the night. They hacked down the messenger where he lay before swiftly dragging his body into the depths of the grove.
“General Sun!”
One of his subordinates ran over holding a torch, shining its light upon Sun Ce. His forehead furrowed deeply as he hastily glanced over the letter they’d intercepted.
Xu Gong had penned a message to Yuan Shu, and its contents, unsurprisingly, requested Yuan Shu send troops to aid them or send a messenger with orders to dispatch Sun Ce away—otherwise, it was likely Sun Ce would attack.
Sun Ce laughed coldly. He finished reading the letter and sealed it before tying it to Fei Yu’s leg and sending the falcon back into the city.
✦ ✦ ✦
From the moment Fei Yu launched into the sky, less time passed than it took to brew a pot of tea before Zhou Yu appeared once more in front of Zhu Zhi.
Zhu Zhi produced his collected waist tallies.
“Come with me.”
Mounting a horse, Zhou Yu followed Zhu Zhi, passing through the main street in the silent night. They arrived at the governor’s men’s barracks in the east of the city.
“The guards in Xu Gong’s manor are highly skilled,” Zhou Yu said, “and he stationed hidden sentries on all sides. I didn’t dare sneak in without thought.”
Zhu Zhi replied in a quiet voice, “Xu Gong’s wife is from the Jianghu, and she has a good number of retainers under her command. Gongjin, I have something to discuss with you, and you must take these words to heart.”
Zhou Yu nodded, dismounting outside the barracks. He retrieved the sky lantern Zhu Zhi prepared for him, lighting it up with a wave of a match.
“Though Yan Baihu is a bandit,” Zhu Zhi said, “at the heart of it, he is also a local hero.”
“I understand.”
Zhou Yu nodded, the lamp casting its light over his handsome features. With his black outfit and the sky lantern in his hand, Zhou Yu drew quite a few sidelong glances from the soldiers in the barracks.
“If it’s possible, we will do our best not to kill him,” Zhou Yu said. “But before the city falls, we may need to lure Yan-xiong into our trap at least once. I can, however, promise his life will not be in danger.”
Zhu Zhi nodded. Zhou Yu loosened his grip and let the sky lantern go.
✦ ✦ ✦
A single dim sky lantern wobbled as it flew through the light rain toward the horizon of the dark sky.
The assassins hidden throughout the city raised their heads and looked toward it, coming from all sides to gather by Zhou Yu. Fei Yu spread its wings once more and glided down, bringing with it Xu Gong’s letter.
It felt like a lifetime had passed since Zhu Zhi last saw Fei Yu, and he was filled with emotion as he reached a hand out to stroke its feathers. Fei Yu still remembered him, and it tilted its head, affectionately rubbing against his finger. Zhou Yu took the letter before returning to the barracks with Zhu Zhi. Zhou Yu opened up the letter, glanced quickly over it, and then lifted his brush to dip it in some ink.
“General Zhu, General Huang, General Cheng Pu…after you all left,” Zhou Yu said solemnly, spreading a piece of paper out, “Bofu spent his days as if his spirit left his body, stumbling about in a daze, and his sole wish has been to return to Jing Province to avenge the old general.”
“Who among us does not wish to seek revenge?” Zhu Zhi said. “If we can successfully gain Wu Commandery today and set down roots here, I imagine Wentai-xiong’s spirit up in the heavens will rest a little easier.” Zhou Yu sighed, and Zhu Zhi continued, “After Wentai-xiong died on the battlefield, us brothers have wandered like wild dogs without a home. Now, you have come, and so has Bofu, which is among the luckiest encounters in my life.”
As they spoke, Zhou Yu used Xu Gong’s written characters as a guide to write a new letter.
Zhu Zhi smiled as he watched. “With you to complement Bofu, what can stop you both?”
“My dad would scold me for a mischievous trick like this…”
Zhou Yu rewrote the letter in Xu Gong’s handwriting, keeping most of the original phrasing. Only at the end did he add the matter of Yan Baihu, and he mentioned that soon he would capture Yan Baihu and send him out of the city, handing him over to Sun Ce.
“I originally expected to find General Zhu and request a sample of Xu Gong’s handwriting, but instead it provided itself.”
Zhou Yu borrowed the light of the lamp to study Xu Gong’s personal seal and the imprint of the prefect’s signet. Every prefect’s official seal was almost the same, and only the personal seal would need to be carefully copied. He chopped off a length of wood, pulled out his seal-crafting chisel, and under the dim yellow light of the lamp, he began to forge the seal.
Zhu Zhi prepared the wax. After quickly carving the seal, Zhou Yu pressed it upright against the paper and then folded up the letter. Using the wax, Zhu Zhi sealed it before placing a corner of the letter in some water and allowing it to soften, opening it up just a little.
“This is to be sent to Yan Baihu, correct?”
Zhou Yu nodded. “I imagine General Zhu knows what to say.”
“I will simply say my men intercepted this messenger who was heading out of the city,” Zhu Zhi said. “Upon seeing the letter, they knew this was no trivial matter, so they hurried here to notify me.”
“Exactly.”
Zhou Yu flicked his sleeve, turning the Chijun Sword sideways and pulling it gently over his forearm, letting a bit of blood splatter on the letter. He then rose.
“We’ll also need to send someone to notify Xu Gong.”
“I will take care of that,” Zhu Zhi replied.
After the two of them finished arranging their next steps, they split up to do their parts, sinking into the dark night.