(1) The Crowd Gathers

At the hour of Si on the twelfth day, Guo Huilian finally arrived at Yueyue Manor.

Yueyue Manor stood on a low hillside just outside the western wall of Daming Prefecture—the hill was not high, sitting close beside the prefecture itself, a pocket of quiet tucked right at the edge of the bustle.

Following the main thoroughfare out through Daming Prefecture's western gate, about half an hour's ride would bring one to Yueyue Manor. Coming back from Chang'an, there was no need to enter the city at all—partway along the road there was a three-way fork, and taking the leftmost path led straight to Yueyue Manor. This road, too, had originally been carved out by Yueyue Manor itself; given its close ties to Tian Chengsi, what was there in Weizhou that Yueyue Manor could not have?

Now, Daming Prefecture had originally been called Weizhou; Tian Yue himself had elevated its status to Daming Prefecture, and though the imperial court refused to formally recognize the change, Tian Yue and the people of Weibo were perfectly content regardless. Under the Tang administrative system, a "prefecture" ranked above an ordinary "zhou," and the military governor of Weibo was, in effect, the uncrowned emperor of his own domain—the court had no power to rein him in, so he did as he pleased. The people of Weibo were content calling it either Weizhou or Daming Prefecture, but since Tian Xu was, in name at least, a member of the Tian clan, he always referred to it as Daming Prefecture rather than Weizhou, as a mark of respect toward Tian Yue.

The mountain road leading to Yueyue Manor wound gently without ever growing rough or steep. Years before, Tian Chengsi had dispatched his own elite garrison troops to help carve the path, paving it with blue-grey flagstones running all the way from the foot of the hill up into the manor itself; the sound of hooves striking that stone carried far and clear, so that people within the manor always knew someone was coming up the mountain long before they arrived. And precisely because Tian Chengsi had thrown his garrison troops so fully behind the project, rumors had spread among the people of Weizhou, speculating that this Chu Mingxi must be some favored mistress Tian Chengsi kept on the side, for whom he had built Yueyue Manor as a private love nest hidden away from the world; and since Chu Mingxi's own child had, upon birth, been given the Tian surname, this speculation seemed all but confirmed, and the story passed from mouth to mouth until it had become something close to settled fact among the people of Weibo. Chu Mingxi hadn't minded in the least—she'd even considered it something of a blessing, since it meant the soldiers of Weibo, whether toward the manor's shops or its traveling caravans, always behaved with careful courtesy, never daring to cause trouble or provoke conflict. And since Lady Tian herself knew the real truth of the matter, there was no risk of her causing difficulties either, so Chu Mingxi simply let the people of Weibo believe whatever they liked.

The road itself was not especially wide, but for a mountain path it was hardly narrow either, since with ample manpower available at the time, it had been widened to the fullest extent possible. After all, the manor's merchant caravans traveled in considerable numbers, and their carriages, whether carrying people or goods, ran larger than the ordinary standard—so it was no exaggeration at all to say this mountain road had been built expressly for the caravans' comings and goings.

Guo Huilian lifted the curtain and gazed curiously out at the scenery beyond the window. The hillside was thick with pine trees, lush and dense, their boughs heavy with foliage, and as the wind passed through the branches it made a sound like rolling waves. Guo Huilian had never heard the sound of wind through pines before, and her eyes were full of wonder and curiosity. She turned back to ask Wang Qiugui, "Auntie Gui! What is that sound? It's lovely."

Seeing Guo Huilian's curiosity, Wang Qiugui couldn't help but smile. "That's the sound of the wind passing through the pine forest—like the sound of waves, people call it 'pine surf.' There's a place in our manor called Songlan Court, Pine Surf Court, where Uncle Heng lives—I've heard that's the finest spot of all to listen to it."

"Really?" Guo Huilian's whole face lit up with delight at this, her eyes shining.

Seeing Guo Huilian's spirits lifted so, Wang Qiugui felt pleased too, and went on. "That's what people say, at least, but everyone at the manor is rather in awe of Uncle Heng, so no one really dares to linger at Songlan Court just to listen to the pines. So whether it's truly the finest spot for it, we honestly couldn't say. You could ask Xu'er, though, Fourth Sister—he's the only one who visits Songlan Court regularly."

"Is that so? Then... then who named it? Was it Tenth Brother? If no one even knows whether it's true, how could anyone have come up with such a name in the first place?" It was a rare thing to see Guo Huilian this animated—over these past dozen or so days she had mostly stayed quiet, speaking little, and prone to nightmares at night. Wang Qiugui's heart ached for her, though there was little she could do about it. Now, seeing the little girl grow lively for once, her gloom briefly lifted, Wang Qiugui was only too glad to keep the conversation going.

"No, that wasn't it—Xu'er was still in his mother's womb at the time, so of course it couldn't have been him. Everything about Yueyue Manor came from Madam's own clever mind and skillful hands. Madam was the most remarkable woman I've ever known—there are precious few men in this world who could even measure up to her."

Guo Huilian listened with great interest. She let the curtain fall, shifted her seat, and turned to face Wang Qiugui directly.

"Is the 'Madam' Auntie Gui speaks of Tenth Brother's mother? The one who built Yueyue Manor with her own two hands, and who owns all those thriving shops in Chang'an too?"

"Isn't that the truth?" Wang Qiugui smiled again and went on. "And not just Chang'an, either! Luoyang, Daming Prefecture, Yangzhou, Chengdu—even out in the great desert. Madam led the manor's caravans the length and breadth of the empire, deep into the desert too, doing business with Sogdians, with Persians, with the Japanese... all of them."

"Wow..." Guo Huilian listened in open-mouthed astonishment, a swelling admiration for Chu Mingxi rising in her heart. Here was a woman who had not only refused to be confined behind the walls of her own household, but had gone out and made her mark upon the world, building a vast commercial empire with her own two hands. Guo Huilian thought of herself, endlessly climbing that tree just to gaze out over Chang'an and imagine the world beyond its walls—and that had already been the very limit of what she could reach toward, of what she had dared to long for. Who could have imagined there was a woman in this world so truly remarkable? And with that thought, her longing for Yueyue Manor grew deeper still.

"Then... is Uncle Heng frightening? Why is everyone so in awe of him?" Now that the conversation had opened up, Guo Huilian found herself curious about why everyone held Yue Heng in such awe, and so she pressed on with another question. In truth, these past few days she had mostly kept to Wang Qiugui and Yuelan's company, sunk in her own low spirits and quiet withdrawal—how would she ever have noticed the nearly silent Yue Heng at all?

"That's not so easy to say..." Wang Qiugui tried hard to think of how to describe Yue Heng's overwhelming presence, that natural authority he carried without ever needing to raise his voice. Apart from Chu Mingxi, Tian Xu, and Zhou Mengda, who could possibly not be afraid of him? And Zhou Mengda, after all, was the very man who had once healed Yue Heng after every tendon in his hands and feet had been severed—practically a savior to him—so of course he had no need to tread carefully around Yue Heng.

"Your Uncle Da and Xu'er aren't afraid of him either. He's Xu'er's adoptive father, and Xu'er reveres him the way a son reveres his own true father, not out of fear at all. You'll have plenty of time in the future to be around Uncle Heng yourself—best to judge for yourself how you feel about him. No one else's opinion can really be trusted on that." Wang Qiugui thought it over and over, but still felt at a loss for the right words, and besides, it wasn't really proper to speak of others behind their backs, so she simply patted Guo Huilian's head and left it at that.

"Mm!" Guo Huilian nodded obediently in agreement.

Talking and laughing together, the two of them found, before they quite realized it, that they had already reached the front gate of Yueyue Manor. A great plaque reading "Yueyue Manor" hung high above, paired with broad vermilion-lacquered gates, the whole scene magnificent and imposing. These gates were wider by far than those of any noble household or ministerial residence in Chang'an. The manor had already known the Manor Lord would return that day, and having caught the distant sound of hoofbeats, had opened the vermilion gates wide and stood waiting.

Four horses and two carriages passed through the vermilion gates and drove straight on, the ground still paved with the same blue-grey flagstones. Green pines lined both sides, plum trees stood in bud, and cherry trees stood scattered among them—though with winter upon the land, the cherry trees had lost their brilliant blossoms for the season. Yet with the pines and plum blossoms to cover for them, their bare, wilted state went largely unnoticed, and once the east wind returned come spring, they would trade places with the plum trees in glory, so that the garden's beauty never truly faded at all.

The carriages gradually slowed, and the horses came to a stop in the broad, level front courtyard. Everyone dismounted or climbed down from the carriages in turn. Guo Huilian saw ahead of them yet another vermilion-lacquered gate, somewhat smaller than the first, with a plaque above reading four characters: "Benevolence and Righteousness, Passed Down Through Generations."

Tian Xu and Yue Heng climbed down from the carriage, and once they saw that Wang Qiugui and Guo Huilian had gotten down as well, Tian Xu led the way up the steps, while the six Yue-disciples, still on horseback or driving the carriages, turned off along the blue-grey flagstone path to the left, heading toward the stables and carriage house.

Before Tian Xu's foot had even crossed the threshold, he saw Han Qian standing just inside, leading Yueming, Han Jin, and a group of matrons, older women, and young servant boys, all waiting there. Han Qian pulled Yueming along and called out, "We welcome the Manor Lord and Uncle Heng!" A moment later everyone else began calling out too, some crying "Master!" and others "Lord Yue!", all out of time with each other, the whole scene rather chaotic. Tian Xu felt a headache coming on—he suspected this whole crowd was really just curious about the young girl who had come to the manor, and that the Manor Lord himself had brought her back in person, and every one of them wanted a look at her, using the pretense of welcoming the Manor Lord and Lord Yue while their eyes kept darting straight to Guo Huilian instead, hardly paying any real attention to him or Yue Heng at all.

"What kind of brother goes off on a trip and doesn't even bring me along?" Han Jin burst out from the crowd. He'd meant to put on a show of taking a swing at Tian Xu, but seeing Yue Heng behind him shoot a cold glance his way, he sheepishly drew back his half-raised hand and, instead, immediately dashed toward Wang Qiugui, calling out loudly, "Mother, you're finally back! Jin'er has missed you to death."

Han Jin spread his arms wide as if to embrace Wang Qiugui, and the sudden movement so startled Guo Huilian, whose hand had been held in Wang Qiugui's, that she flinched back and hid a good distance behind Wang Qiugui. Han Qian, unable to bear watching this any longer, shot a glance to Yueming to haul Han Jin back. Yueming closed the distance in a flash, seized Han Jin by the collar, and yanked him backward, warning him at the same time to stop making a spectacle of himself.

Han Qian hurried forward as well to help Wang Qiugui soothe Guo Huilian, explaining that Brother Han Jin was simply a bit mischievous by nature, and asking Fourth Sister to bear with him and not take him too seriously.

Guo Huilian had generally been fairly bold-hearted back at home, but having just been through such a catastrophe, and now finding herself in an unfamiliar place, she startled more easily than before. Wang Qiugui and Han Qian spent a good while calming her down before she would take hold of Wang Qiugui's arm again and walk forward. Meanwhile, Yueming dragged Han Jin off to where Wang Qiugui couldn't see, and kicked him hard in the leg. Han Jin, stung by the pain, was about to cry out, but Yueming, quick-eyed and quick-handed, clapped a hand over his mouth before he could make a sound, leaving him only able to glare at Yueming, looking very much like he wanted to curse him out.

"If something's wrong with you, go find Auntie Wan to fix it. Didn't you see the young lady go pale with fright because of you?" Yueming got the first word in, laying into Han Jin.

Han Jin wanted to talk back, but with his mouth clamped firmly shut by Yueming's hand, all that came out were muffled, incoherent noises. He waved his arms about but didn't dare actually try to pry Yueming's hand away, knowing full well that would only end worse for him. It was common knowledge that he was no match for Yueming in a fight; Yueming was his senior in the sect, and if a junior stepped out of line and got disciplined by a senior for it, Yue Heng generally wouldn't intervene either way. With Han Qian backing her up, and their master staying out of it, why would Yueming ever hold back? Han Jin might have been mischievous, but he wasn't stupid—as the saying went, a wise man doesn't fight a battle he can't win right in front of him—so all he could do was glare fiercely at Yueming a few times in silent protest.

The "Auntie Wan" Yueming had spoken of was Zhou Mengda's fellow disciple from their days studying medicine together at Yaowang Valley. Zhou Mengda had originally come to Yueyue Manor to treat Tian Xu's chronic illness, which had afflicted him since birth, while also traveling with the manor's caravans to handle any injuries or illness among the group. A few years back, Zhou Mengda had volunteered to take up his post at Mochou Hall in Chang'an, and so he had remained in the capital overseeing all of Mochou Hall's affairs, while he and Chu Mingxi had gone up to Yaowang Valley together to request that Hu Yiwan, the fellow disciple on close terms with him, take over his former duties.

On top of this, Chu Mingxi had also helped Hu Yiwan set up her own branch of Mochou Hall in the streets of Weizhou. On ordinary days, with nothing pressing to attend to, Hu Yiwan would see patients there; on occasion, she would also be called upon by the military governor himself for treatments and acupuncture. If anything came up at Yueyue Manor, or if she needed to travel with the caravans, her other disciples could hold down Mochou Hall in her absence, so she never had to worry on that account. In her regular travels between Yueyue Manor, Mochou Hall, and the governor's residence, she always brought along one disciple and one herb-boy attendant, and when traveling with the merchant caravans, the three of them—master and two apprentices—served as a single team. On such journeys, the whole company was made up of rough, hardened men, with Chu Mingxi as the only woman among them; being a female physician herself, Hu Yiwan was naturally best suited to attend closely to Chu Mingxi's needs, and this, along with her medical skill, was precisely why Chu Mingxi had come to value her so highly. What was more, she could endure real hardship—she bore the exhaustion of the long road without complaint, put up with the sweat and unwashed odor of rough men who might go ten days or half a month without bathing, and paid no mind at all to Yue Heng's perpetually cold expression. And so, while she had still been alive, Chu Mingxi had always praised Hu Yiwan as a truly remarkable woman among women.