Theblackfeatherwaskeptinthea。XieZhenghadorderedthesoldierstosearchthesouthernroadagain,butbyafternoontheyreturnedwithnothinguseful。Themertshadvahehorsesweregone,andwhoeverhadlefttheblackclothbehindhadtakencarenottoleaveenoughtrackstofollow。
Suyuanstoodbesidethemap,studyingtheroadsinsilehesouthernvillagesaretooexposed,”shesaid。
XieZhenglookedather。“Iknow。”
“Ifanothercaravandisappearsthere,thevillagerswillbeblamedfirst。”
“Thereheroad。”
Suyuanshookherhead。
“Notonlytheroadbutthepeople。”
Shepoiowardthreevillagesmarkedonthemap。“Thesevillagesdependonthesameroad。Ifmertsstoping,theywilllosefoodandsupplies。Ifsoldiersbegintakingeverythingfromthevillagestosupporttheborder,thevillagerswillsufferfromusinstead。”
Xiestudiedthemap。
“Soyouwantseparatesupplies。”
“Enoughemergencygrainforeachvillage。Notenoughtomakethemwealthy。Enoughthattheywontpaniciftheroadclosesforseveraldays。”
Henodded。
“Thatbearranged。”
Suyuanmovedherfingerfarthernorth。
“Andthesetwovillagesshouldhaveasedroutetotheriver。”
“Why?”
“Incasethesouthernroadbeesunsafe。”
Xielookedather。
Beforetheycouldtinue,amessengerehetent。
“General。”
Xiestraightened。
“Amessagefromthecapital。”
Suyuanshandstoppedoverthemap。
Themessengerloweredhishead。
“TheEmperorhaseneralSuXieZhengtoreturntothecapitalonceareplatanderreachesthefrontier。”
Silencefilledthetent。
SuyuanslowlylookedtowardXie。
“When?”
“Withinthemonth。”
Xietooktheletterandhiseyesmovedacrosstheimperialsealandtheinstrusbehit。Theborderstillhadunansweredquestionsbutnowthecapitalwascallinghimback。Suyuanloweredhergazetothemap。Forsomereason,thenewsmadeheruneasy。ShehadspentmonthssurvivinginYounis,thenweeksrecattheborder。Shehadfinallybeguntouandthisunfamiliarpladnoweverythingwasabouttogeagain。
Xiefoldedtheimperialorder。
“Wellfinishthevillagedefensesfirst。”
Suyuanlookedup。
“Andthen?”
Hemethereyes。
“Theurntothecapital。”
herofthemknewyetthatthejourneywouldgeSuyuanslifeandafterhermothersdeath,shewouldbegoinghome。