Chapter 309: Bitter Wind, Warmth Abound

Although the three northeastern provinces became renowned granaries in later generations, the lands of Baishan and Heishui during the Ming Dynasty were a dangerous place for both the imperial court and the common people. Coupled with the vast northern territories having sparse populations and insufficient grain production, the emperor made Beijing his residence, bringing tens of thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of troops to the north. As a result, the canals connecting the north and south became the busiest areas in the depths of winter. Fortunately, despite the cold, the canals did not freeze, and grain ships, civilian boats, and merchant vessels traveled back and forth continuously.

In such a frigid season, it was common for ships to travel from the south to the north, with few going the reverse. Thus, the four giant ships on the canal stood out sharply. On the wide river surface, the four ships were arranged two in front and two behind—all large six-masted vessels with a row of more than a dozen oar holes on each side. The oars moved in unison, splashing waves as they dipped in and out of the water. While wealthy merchants could certainly afford such ships and labor, the flags on those vessels were enough to make all other official and civilian ships keep their distance.

At that moment, a sailor on one of the merchant ships looked up at the towering ships, brushed the snow off his clothes, and shouted at the shipmaster, “Boss, can you read? I recognize that dragon flag, but what’s written on the other two?”

The shipmaster, in his early thirties, seemed to have a deeply tanned face from years of working on the canals. Despite the bitter cold, he wore only a thin vest, unafraid of the howling wind. After standing up and staring at the large ships for a while, he calmly replied, “One says ‘Lu,’ and the other says ‘Zhang.’ Likely the emperor has sent some high-ranking official to the south again.”

“Tsk tsk, usually those officials go to the south when spring arrives, but this time they’re setting off in the dead of winter—how strange!” The sailor gazed at them with envy before quickly rubbing his hands, numb from the cold wind, and grumbled, “Sailing in such cold weather is truly miserable. Those ships must have a dozen stoves aboard—nothing like ours… Well, except for you, boss. With your physique, you could swim around effortlessly…”

Though the sailor continued to complain, the shipmaster’s eyes remained fixed on the flags. A hint of resentment appeared on his tanned face, but it was quickly hidden as he crouched and went back into the cabin.

The bitter cold on the canal had little impact on those on the official ships. On the lead ship, aside from the sturdy doors in the cabin, there was also a red-and-blue checkered cotton shawl lined with plywood hanging there. Though there weren’t really a dozen stoves placed in the cabin, coal basins burning silver frost charcoal were set up in each of the four corners. Lu Feng, dressed in a lynx fur robe, sat in an armchair with a stove beneath his feet, and thanks to his thick deer skin boots, he felt no chill at all. This was his second time being sent out of the palace by imperial order, this time to oversee the storage of summer grain, still under the title of Deputy Supervisor of the Imperial Surveillance Agency.

Hearing Lu Feng sigh softly, Cheng Jiu hurried over and said with a smile, “Elder Lord, are you still worried about your title this time?”

“How could I be so superficial!” Lu Feng gave him a disdainful glance before lazily adding, “The Eastern Depot hasn’t even been built yet. What’s the point of rushing to establish a title and drawing suspicion? At most, I’ll have a few fewer sycophants and less money to spend. Anyway, I can get it back eventually—there’s no need to rush! That old fool Huang Yan has forced several people to come this time; he definitely has ulterior motives. Keep a close eye on them and make sure they don’t ruin things. If we handle this task well, I’ll promote you properly later.”

Cheng Jiu was overjoyed and quickly knelt down to kowtow. “Thank you, Elder Lord!”

Contrastingly, on Zhang Yue’s ship, everyone sat around warming themselves by the fire. In the center, a large copper plate was supported by a stand over the coal basin, with glutinous rice cakes sizzling inside, emitting an enticing aroma that stirred appetites. Seeing that one of the cakes was nearly done, Zhang Yue quickly reached for it with his chopsticks—but ended up picking it up from the porcelain dish held by an amber holder. Qiu Hen, who had been worried, was surprised to see another piece added to the dish, revealing a look of both shock and joy.

Ling Xi took her portion from the porcelain dish before smiling and saying, “Young Master is really resourceful—keeping warm while still eating, and sitting together makes it more lively. Qiu Hen thought sitting on a ship in such cold weather would be boring, but why isn’t it cold today?”

“You can only stay cooped up in the cabin in the cold, so it’s naturally boring,” Qiu Hen said, her face red from the hot glutinous rice cake, making her speech a bit slurred. After finally swallowing it, she said with regret, “It’s a shame the young mistress and Xiao Wu left first; otherwise, wouldn’t the ship be even more lively?”

Amber counted on her fingers and then said, “Just now they said that we should reach Jining Prefecture in another half day. After all, the young mistress set off three days earlier than us, so she should be near Xuzhou by now. Speaking of which, last Spring Festival was spent in Qingzhou. This year, with the young master and his parents together, maybe they can spend a reunion New Year in Nanjing!”
Hearing Amber’s words, Zhang Yue immediately remembered the time when they celebrated the New Year sitting around the kang in Qingzhou. Back then, Du Wan was still a guest, but now, half a year had passed unnoticed, and she had already become his wife. As he recalled what he had said during that reunion dinner by the kang, there was a knocking at the door.
“New Year’s Day!”
Recognizing it as Fang Ling’s voice, Lingxi quickly stood up to open the door. As soon as she pulled back the curtain and opened the door a crack, the cold wind rushed in immediately. The sudden cold hit her warm body, causing her to shiver involuntarily. After letting him in, she hurriedly closed the door. Fang Ling, covered in snowflakes, saw the state of the room and snapped, “You’re really lucky—warm by the fire, accompanied by pretty maids, with delicious food to fill your stomach, while ignoring everything outside. Eunuch Lu ordered that we stop at Jining Prefecture tonight. Do you have any plans?”
At that moment, Amber poured tea from a silver bottle and retreated to the inner room with Qiuhen and Lingxi. Zhang Yue casually handed Fang Ling a silver-furred half-sleeved cloak. Hearing this, Fang Ling laughed and said, “You, as a hundred-household officer, are really diligent. But of course, it’s Eunuch Lu who decides such things. We don’t need to worry about anything now.”
Taking off his snow-soaked cloak and putting on the warm cloak, Fang Ling felt that his recent experiences were quite strange. A mere insignificant person like him had been granted the emperor’s favor, making him a key figure in the family—going from being neglected by his father and grandparents to becoming someone important. He was almost stunned at first. It wasn’t until Marquis Anyuan Liu Sheng summoned him and ordered him to accompany Zhang Yue and Lu Feng that he finally understood.
As a younger son, he had always worked harder than his brothers since childhood, and his skills in both literature and martial arts were no exaggeration. Yet, with just one casual remark from Li Maofang, all his years of effort were dismissed. Though he had been in a desperate situation, he managed to stand up again thanks to a chance. Although he didn’t know how Zhang Yue had caught the emperor’s attention, he was convinced that it was all thanks to Zhang Yue’s help, so he was even more determined to make the most of this opportunity.

“Yuan Festival—have you really intended to let that eunuch Lu stand in front the whole time? These eunuchs have always been pretentious and hypocritical. The more gentle you appear, the more they take advantage of you. Since you have the Emperor’s Sword, you need to show yourself in front of others at some point, at least to let them know it’s not just Lu Feng who makes the decisions.”
Zhang Yue didn’t reply either. He cheerfully pulled Fangling to the window and suddenly pushed open the window covered with rough Korean paper. Instantly, cold wind mixed with snowflakes hit them in the face. Fangling was caught off guard and sneezed three times in a row. After finally adjusting to the sudden shift from warmth to cold, he asked angrily, “What are you doing?”
“Staying in a warm room for too long makes one unaware of how biting the outside wind can be. So when the window is opened, one might sneeze like you did, or worse, catch a cold or even fall seriously ill. The same principle applies here. That eunuch Lu always thinks I’m sensible and understanding. If I were to fight with him over every little thing, he would definitely be on guard around me all the time, just like wearing a thick coat when standing by the window. There’s no point in fighting over pride now; there’s plenty of time later.”
Although the cold wind kept blowing in from outside, Fangling had forgotten the chill and was focused on pondering Zhang Yue’s words, gradually grasping their meaning. His feud with Marquis Fuyang Li Maofang had been accidental, but upon reflection, it might have been because he had lost his temper back then. Just now he had advised Zhang Yue not to be suppressed by others, yet he still hadn’t figured it out!
Fangling was naturally straightforward. After realizing this, he tapped his head and laughed, “No wonder the Emperor views you differently. I could never learn such a mindset, let alone gain such insight. Alright, I’ll follow your advice from now on.”
In the evening, four official ships stopped at the dock in Jining Prefecture. For this trip out of the capital, Zhu Di had ordered 500 elite soldiers to be dispatched from the military camp, led once again by Zhou Bailing, the thousand-household commander who had previously escorted Zhang Yue and Lu Feng to Qingzhou. As before, each group of 100 included swordsmen, pikemen, gunners, and archers, each under the command of a hundred-household commander. Aside from Fangling, a son of a meritorious official with no military experience, the others were all experienced veterans, so the arrangements were naturally thorough and reliable.

Although there was enough food, meat, and vegetables on the ship, since they had landed, Lu Feng ordered extra provisions to be fetched for dinner and invited Zhang Yue to his own ship. Before long, Cheng Jiu brought in a food tray and filled the entire table with dishes. Aside from a plate of Weishan mandarin ducks in the center, there were also stir-fried carp in vinegar, preserved eggs, braised mutton, and golden needle bean sprouts. The most rare item was a plate of lotus roots, which should normally be available only in summer—likely a rare off-season treasure hidden in someone’s ice cellar. Seeing the dishes still steaming, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity. Cheng Jiu quickly smiled and revealed the hidden layer beneath, which turned out to be hot coals. Noticing Zhang Yue’s surprise, Lu Feng remembered how he had once envied Zhang Yue’s tray from a British noble family and felt extremely proud. Only after the meal was finished and all the dishes were cleared away did he dismiss everyone. “I heard that because of the incident in Qingzhou earlier, the Crown Prince interceded on behalf of Lord Zhang?”