Lanke Chess Edge

Chapter 449: Encountering a Deity

Ji Yuan said he was about to break his promise, but he showed no remorse.The general couldn’t help but stand up from his seat, walk up to Liao Zhengbao, and pat him heavily on the shoulder. The latter nodded back to his general.

Ji Yuan weighed the small wooden sword in his hand, thought for a moment, and then said to Liao Zhengbao:

“The wooden sword is a keepsake given to us by your parents. You should also leave something with us so that your parents know you are still alive.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right, that’s right!”

Liao Zhengbao carefully folded the talisman in his hand twice and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he rubbed his hands together, pondering what kind of keepsake he should give his parents, but he couldn’t think of anything suitable for a long time.

“I don’t have anything suitable here…”

Liao Zhengbao looked to the general for help, but the general couldn’t think of anything either. They lacked everything here, and there were no local specialties. He couldn’t very well send home a broken weapon.

“How about this: write a letter home. A verbal message is fine, but it’s not as good as a letter, which you can read anytime to relieve your worries. You can keep this wooden sword too.”

Ji Yuan suggested, returning the wooden sword to Liao Zhengbao. The latter scratched his head, accepted the sword, and spoke, somewhat embarrassed.

“Although I can read some characters, I can’t write very well. Why don’t you write it for me, sir?”

In the past, when sending letters home, they had always been written by some of the literate individuals in the army, such as the military commander of the North Gate. This time, with Ji Yuan and Chang Yi present, they didn’t need to trouble two more people for the same task.

“Okay, I’ll write it for you.”

Ji Yuan readily agreed.

A soldier brought a brush and paper right there on the table in the council hall, and Ji Yuan wrote on Liao Zhengbao’s behalf.

After learning that his family hadn’t received any letters in all these years, Liao Zhengbao simply recounted his experiences over the years, from the confusion when he first joined the army, to the fear that followed, to the numbness, until he finally developed a strong sense of responsibility.

Even though Ji Yuan’s handwriting was small, the letter to his family still filled five pages. Every stroke on the paper looked like a work of art to the onlookers.

After finishing each page, Ji Yuan would set it aside and blow on it to dry the ink quickly. Before that, he would flick his wrist to switch back to the military brush, tucking the wolf-hair brush he had been using to write back in his sleeve. Chang Yi clearly noticed this detail.

“Okay, check if anything is missing.”

Ji Yuan stepped aside, and Liao Zhengbao, the general, and the soldiers beside him quickly moved closer to take a look. The neat and orderly handwriting over the five pages brought them a sense of ease.

The general couldn’t help but comment to Ji Yuan and Chang Yi.

“Now I understand why you two gentlemen, without any bureaucratic airs, were able to obtain travel documents and be escorted to this dangerous border region, and even dared to boast that you could help Commander Liao return home. Judging by your handwriting alone, you two gentlemen must be of extraordinary learning. There must be no shortage of people in the official and scholarly circles who want to curry favor with you.”

Chang Yi shook his head and smiled.

“General, you have a good eye for talent. But I dare not compare myself to Mr. Ji. Although my calligraphy is not bad compared to the average person, it is far inferior to Mr. Ji’s.”

Liao Zhengbao held the paper with a joyful yet careful expression, examining the text on it closely. He wasn’t very literate, only able to decipher basic military terminology, but reading these few pages was surprisingly smooth, and he could understand the meaning of each word.

“Excellent, really well written, truly great!”

Liao Zhengbao then picked up a brush and wrote his name. Although he tried to write neatly, it was still a bit crooked. Compared to Ji Yuan’s handwriting, it looked significantly worse, but it made the letter feel surprisingly genuine.

A long letter home, eighteen taels, and six zhu1 of silver was all that Liao Zhengbao had saved up and wanted Ji Yuan and Chang Yi to take back. He knew that this opportunity might not come again, so he borrowed some money from the general.

When Ji Yuan and Chang Yi left, the general and Liao Zhengbao saw them off at the North Gate and dispatched a squad of soldiers and a carriage to escort them on their journey, or at least to the border of the area under their jurisdiction.

Once the carriage carrying Ji Yuan and Chang Yi disappeared outside the North Gate, Liao Zhengbao felt a little lost, but he quickly composed himself and regained his usual resolute demeanor.

At that moment, the North Gate Military Commander was writing documents in his barracks, compiling a record of the soldiers and patrols under his command over the past few days. When he came to the two visitors today, he couldn’t remember the name of the official who approved the document. So he dragged over a wooden box, opened it, and searched for the official document, intending to copy it.

But after searching high and low, he still couldn’t find that official document.

“That’s strange, I definitely put it here, how come I can’t find it… Huh? What’s going on?”

Suddenly, the military commander of the North Gate pulled out a blank sheet of paper from a stack of official documents. He examined it from all angles and confirmed that there was not a single word on it. Coupled with the fact that he couldn’t find Ji Yuan’s document no matter how hard he looked, the officer couldn’t help but have a slightly absurd thought.

When he mentioned his idea to the general and Liao Zhengbao, they were both astonished. They held the piece of Xuan paper, which was clearly not the high-quality Xuan paper that was available to the army, and examined it for a long time, turning it over and over in their hands…

“General, should we bring the two gentlemen back?”

The North Gate Military Commander asked, and both the general and Liao Zhengbao looked at him. The former shook his head.

“The Liao family must have found some extraordinary person to help them. Do not do anything unnecessary and incur displeasure.”

…

As soon as Ji Yuan and Chang Yi left the border territory, they naturally took to the air and flew northwest. They had told Liao Zhengbao that they would soon deliver the letter and silver to the Liao family, but Liao Zhengbao and those soldiers who were aware probably never expected that it would be so soon.

That day, before nightfall, a government official on horseback arrived at Maotan Village. This was someone that Ji Yuan and Chang Yi had specially hired, disguised as a person of “importance,” and ordered him to deliver the message.

The sound of hooves thundered all the way to the village entrance, then slowed down. The rider inquired about the location of the Liao family in the village, and finally, Old Zhang, who was strolling around the village, led the way to Liao Daqiu’s house.

The official followed behind Old Zhang, leading his horse.

“Officer, it’s just ahead, just ahead!”

“Lead the way, lead the way.”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Old Zhang quickly approached Old Liao’s house and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Old Liao, Old Liao! There’s a letter from your family. It says it’s from Xiao Bao in the army, Old Liao…”

“What?”

Liao Daqiu rushed out of the house in a panic and looked at the constable holding the horse on a lead. The constable asked Lao Zhang to help him hold the reins, took two steps forward, and bowed slightly to Old Liao.

“You must be Mr. Liao, correct? Your son Liao Zhengbao has sent a letter, along with a package of accompanying items. They’re all here, but I haven’t opened them!”

As he spoke, the constable took out a tightly tied cloth bag from his pocket and handed it to Liao Daqiu. The latter carefully took it, and then eagerly began to untie it, but suddenly stopped and quickly beckoned the constable into the courtyard.

“Officer, officer, please come in and have some tea!”

The constable quickly waved his hand.

“No, no, I have official business to attend to, so I won’t bother you any longer. This plague is too severe, and many people have died. I’m busy too… It’s quite a miracle that not a single person in your village is sick. It seems that the god and spirits will still look after you if you do good deeds.”

“Yes, yes, I wouldn’t dare disturb you, sir. Please take care, sir!”

The constable waved to indicate that they didn’t need to see him off any further. He mounted his horse and prepared to leave. However, just before leaving, he remembered something and quickly turned back to Liao Daqiu.

“By the way, Mr. Liao, my name is Du Kun, and I am a constable from Dahe County.”

Old Liao was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and spoke.

“Don’t worry, sir. Next time I go to the county, I will definitely visit you with my best wishes. I…”

“No, no, no… no, that’s not what I meant…”

The constable was both amused and exasperated.

“What I mean is, Mr. Liao, just don’t forget me. I’m not asking for any favors or money from you, and even if you offered them to me, I wouldn’t dare take them…”

Having said this, the constable did not linger any longer, and slowly rode his horse out of the village. Then he spurred it on and rode away.

As soon as the constable left, Old Zhang immediately called out.

“Old Liao, what are you standing there for? Read the letter!”

“Oh, right, right, but… but I can’t read either…”

“Oh, dear, husband, stop worrying so much! Let’s see it first!”

“Okay, I’ll take a look first!”

The group sat down in the courtyard, quickly untied the bags, and took out the contents. One of the small bags was quite heavy. When Mrs. Liao opened it, she found that it contained quite a few silver taels and pieces of silver.

“Wow… so much money…”

“Read the letter, read the letter!”

Liao Daqiu carefully untied the envelope, reluctant to tear it, and then took out five sheets of paper.

Amazingly, he could actually “read” the letter. Even though he didn’t recognize the large characters, he could clearly understand what was written on the letter and read it aloud Mrs. Liao, Old Zhang, and his youngest son, who had also come out to join in.

“To my dear parents, your unfilial son, Liao Zhengbao, has asked Mr. Ji to write this on my behalf: I have served in the army for nine years, traveling thousands of miles, and have had no news of you for nine years. I feel extremely ashamed… I have not yet repaid your kindness in raising me. Today, seeing this wooden sword, tears stream down my face…”

Over a quarter of an hour had passed since they finished reading the five pages. The Liao couple’s faces were covered in tears, and even Old Zhang’s eyes were red from listening.

Since Xiao Liao was still young and had never met this older brother before, he wasn’t deeply moved. Instead, he leaned against his mother’s lap and asked innocently.

“My brother said he’s in a very, very far place, and it would take several months for the letter to come back. This letter was written by Mr. Ji, but didn’t Mr. Ji and Mr. Chang just leave this morning?”

The three adults were all stunned.

“Yes, those two gentlemen haven’t been gone for long! Could it be that he wrote a letter a long time ago and it only arrived at the village today?”

Old Zhang was surprised, then thought of some reasonable explanations. The Liao couple were about to nod in agreement, but then the innocent-looking Xiao Liao spoke up again.

“No, no, Father just gave that the wooden sword that my brother mentioned in his letter to Mr. Ji this morning!”

Now, the adults in the courtyard just looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

After a long silence, Old Liao finally murmured a sentence.

“This is like encountering a deity…”

24 zhu = 1 tael, about 1.56 grams of metal

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