Chapter 57
“YOU THINK this is a pleasure trip?” Wu Du asked, frowning.
“I want to go with you,” Duan Ling said. “I’m staying by your side; I won’t go anywhere without you.”
Duan Ling’s earnest declaration stumped Wu Du. He pressed his hand to his forehead, then flapped a hand at Duan Ling and went inside without another word. Duan Ling gazed after Wu Du’s back as he walked away.
Wu Du had no idea what to do with him.
“Aren’t you trying to work your way up the ladder?” he asked a few minutes later. “Why do you want to run off to Tong Pass with me instead of cherishing this golden opportunity to study with the young master at home?!”
“I… Well, isn’t this also a way to climb the ranks?” Duan Ling asked. He seemed to be keeping something to himself, talking around it. Wu Du sat in the main hall and studied him, looking for the source of the unusual tension roiling beneath this boy’s surface.
“What are you hiding from me?” Wu Du asked.
He’d always felt there was something off about Duan Ling, but had never been able to put his finger on it—this was the nearest he’d ever come to unearthing the truth.
Faced with such a direct question, Duan Ling almost blurted out the truth. But in the end, he settled for a simpler excuse: “I want to try to find my dad.”
Understanding dawned on Wu Du, and his furrowed brow relaxed slightly. He nodded at Duan Ling to continue.
“The last time I saw him was outside Tong Pass. Even if it’s impossible, I…still want to try,” he said.
“If you’re going, then you have to listen to everything I say while we’re traveling,” Wu Du said. “Don’t act on your own.”
Upon seeing him nod, Wu Du seemed to be mollified. “Pack the bags,” he ordered.
Duan Ling went about packing their things, musing that he’d escaped death once again. Once he left the city, he’d be out of range; even if Lang Junxia wished to kill him, he wouldn’t be able to find him. As for what he’d do after they returned—he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
As Wu Du watched Duan Ling packing, he abruptly said, “No matter what happens, you mustn’t take your own life, got it?”
Duan Ling turned to face him with a smile. “I won’t. If you’re here, I’ll live.”
Standing in their remote courtyard surrounded by the brilliantly blooming flowers in the garden he tended daily, this handsome young man and his brightly smiling face seemed like something out of a painting. The sight stunned Wu Du into silence.
Later that afternoon, another reward arrived: new travel robes, fine brocade fabrics, money for their journey, and a dagger with which Duan Ling might defend himself. The pair planned their trip through the evening. Duan Ling was particularly excited; it would be his first time going on a proper journey like this.
“When we’re out there, you shouldn’t speak too much,” Wu Du said. “If everything goes as planned, I’ll be disguised as your servant. A young master shouldn’t do too much for himself.”
Duan Ling nodded. He allowed another minute to pass before asking, casually, “What’s ‘the Guardian’?”
Of course he already knew the answer. When he’d heard the legendary sword passed down through the dynasty was lost, he knew it must have happened when Shangjing fell. If he could locate the sword, could he command the Four Great Assassins?
“An important weapon of the state,” Wu Du said. “The crown prince is looking for it too.”
“Does Bian Lingbai have it?”
“Not necessarily,” Wu Du said. “But he was with the last group of reinforcements that reached Shangjing.”
Privately, Duan Ling suspected it had more likely fallen into the hands of the Mongols or the Khitan army—but since it was missing, he might as well keep an eye out.
They talked well into the night. Just as they were about to go to bed, Mu Kuangda summoned them again. As this was a sensitive mission, the prime minister gave them instructions personally when they arrived in the study.
“Chang Pin has already set out for Jiang Prefectural City, so it’s too late to consult him on strategy,” Mu Kuangda said. “I’ve arrived at a rough plan, but it may not be entirely suitable—he should’ve been the one to plot this. We’ll discuss the plan together, and you let me know if anything seems flawed.”
Mu Kuangda’s proposed plan was for them to present Duan Ling to Bian Lingbai as Zhao Kui’s nephew, who hoped to call on Zhao Kui’s former troops to avenge his uncle. This way, Wu Du wouldn’t need to disguise himself, which significantly reduced their chances of exposure. Duan Ling’s mission would be to win Bian Lingbai’s trust while gathering intelligence, such as any correspondence between Bian Lingbai and Western Liang. He could thus provide Mu Kuangda with more information about what Bian Lingbai was planning, and any hard evidence they collected would kill off any chance of him crowning himself emperor.
After all, the Tanguts and Han could help one another. Western Liang had been a wholly independent country until it was swallowed up by Liao. Now it wavered between the Liao and Chen empires. If all went to plan, Mu Kuangda might win Western Liang’s support to his own side.
Western Liang had its own factions as well. After Helian Bo and his mother had returned to the country last year, the court had split into two groups: One supported the Helian family in throwing off Liao’s control and establishing their independence, while the other believed it was better to bide their time.
Hearing all this gave Duan Ling a headache. He’d volunteered in the interest of preserving his own life; now that he was really thinking about traveling all this way to deceive a high-ranking general he’d never met… It wouldn’t be easy. He hadn’t been exposed in the Mu residence as of yet—Mu Kuangda had never even inquired about his origins—so he hadn’t had to elaborate much on his background. If he hoped to fool Bian Lingbai, however, he would need to fabricate a whole new set of lies, which was a whole new level of difficulty.