"Very well!" Housekeeper Wu said gravely. "Mister Sun was remarkably insightful and offered the master many stratagems, which the master praised endlessly. When Mister Sun tendered his resignation and left, the master even sighed, lamenting how hard it is to find talent."
He swallowed hard. "Once, I even heard the master say that Generals Wu and Ke fighting on the northwest front ended up on the back foot only because they didn't follow Mister Sun's stratagem. One wrong move, and every step after went astray."
He Lingchuan recalled that Sun Hongye had once offered Ke Jihai a plan on how to take Gucheng and Luyun Lake on the Wuzhou front.
Fortified with high walls and deep moats, Gucheng was the first major obstacle the government army encountered when advancing into Wuzhou.
Sun Hongye's suggestion back then had been to bypass Gucheng, turn to attack Bao Pass to the west, and blow up the Qing Embankment!
It was a brilliant plan, but a ruthless one as well, because breaching the embankment would inevitably submerge countless fields and homes, bringing disaster to well over a hundred thousand common folk across the surrounding counties.
War was always a dilemma.
Neither Ke Jihai nor Wu Di dared use it.
Although Gucheng was eventually captured later on, the government army paid a horrific price—not only suffering heavy casualties, but also taking four months longer than Sun Hongye's plan would have required.
Over more than a hundred and thirty days, the losses and consumption sustained by Wu and Ke's army—from men and horses to grain and fodder—reached staggering figures.
With those four months of ample time, the Grand Marshal was able to make extensive deployments, making every subsequent battle an uphill struggle for Wu and Ke's army.
It could be said that the Battle of Gucheng cast a long shadow, and even today, the government army's decline was inextricably tied to it.
The Grand Marshal not only recaptured Gucheng, but also pushed more than a hundred li further south.
Every time He Chunhua spoke of that pivotal campaign, he would sigh and wring his hands in regret.
"So, from the time Sun Hongye arrived in the Yuan capital until his departure, was there anything unusual?"
"Unusual?" Housekeeper Wu furrowed his brows and pondered for a long while before shaking his head. "I didn't notice anything."
"All right." He Lingchuan patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks for your trouble."
Seeing him walking outside, Housekeeper Wu asked, "Where is Eldest Young Master headed? I can arrange a carriage."
He Lingchuan smiled. "No need. I'm just taking a walk."
Housekeeper Wu watched him leave, and only after quite a while did he turn back to his chores.
***
The next person He Lingchuan looked up was Shan Youjun.
No sooner had the man set foot into the He Manor than He Lingchuan caught him and asked, "Where does Sun Hongye live?"
"Ah?" Shan Youjun was taken aback. "Sun... hasn't he left?"
"Where did he live before he left?" He Lingchuan said impatiently. "Surely not back in Shihuan City?"
Sun Hongye had once owned a small cottage in Shihuan City, but he had sold it off before traveling north to Xiazhou with He Lingchuan last year.
"I've been there." Shan Youjun was as sharp as ever. "I'll take you."
He Lingchuan remarked offhandedly, "You two seem to have gotten quite familiar."
"Hardly," Shan Youjun said with a laugh. "We both serve under Lord He. Seeing each other every day for the past year or so, we at least had to get acquainted."
"Did he tell you why he suddenly left?"
Shan Youjun paused, then shook his head. "No. I only found out two days after he was gone."
He led He Lingchuan out of the He Manor. Skipping the carriage, they walked seven or eight hundred paces to the east, turned through two alleyways, and stopped before a doorway. "Here we are."
Shan Youjun knocked, and a plump middle-aged man answered the door.
He was the landlord from whom Sun Hongye had rented a place.
"Oh, that tenant named Sun?" Hearing their purpose, the fat landlord scowled with displeasure. "That fellow wasn't honest! Before moving in, we clearly agreed on a minimum six-month lease, yet he wanted to pack up and leave after just eleven days! So I didn't refund his deposit."
He Lingchuan handed over a piece of broken silver. "May I take a look at his lodgings?"
The landlord was accommodating enough. Taking the silver, he pushed open the wooden door across the way. "Right in here. Feel free to look around."
He Lingchuan and Shan Youjun went inside and found a small, single-courtyard compound. Its layout was remarkably simple: a courtyard of less than fifty square meters, and three and a half rooms—a bedroom, a sitting room, a kitchen, and a half-room used as a woodshed.
The interior was clean, with barely any grease or soot on the kitchen stove. Since the place had not yet found a new tenant, it remained just as Sun Hongye had left it.
The landlord looked rather indolent, and as he admitted himself, he hadn't bothered to sweep up again.
The quarters were tiny, taking only a few strides to pace back and forth.
He Lingchuan inspected every corner thoroughly without missing a spot, asking the landlord at the same time, "Did you see Sun Hongye in the days before he left?"
"He was always out early and back late. In eleven days, we barely exchanged ten words. Besides, I run my own business, so I'm not home often either."
He Lingchuan asked while continuing his search, "Did he leave any message?"
"None." The landlord sneezed. "He just said he was leaving, and then he left."
"Just like that?"
"That's right. He knocked on my door with a bundle on his back, saying he was checking out right away," the landlord recalled. "I told him neither the rent nor the deposit would be refunded, and he just said it didn't matter, then walked off without looking back."
"Did he seem in a great hurry?"
"Very hurried! Like a ghost was chasing him from behind," the landlord said, rubbing his nose. "In weather this cold, sweat was beading on his nose."
He Lingchuan nodded. "Thank you."
With that, he took Shan Youjun and left.
On their way back, Shan Youjun asked, "Eldest Young Master, is something amiss?"
"Sun Hongye moved out and left of his own accord, but in a terrible rush," He Lingchuan mused. "Did he discover something?"
"Discover something?" Shan Youjun asked, bewildered. "We only just arrived in the Yuan capital. What could he have found out?"
"Where has he been these past few days?"
"Ah, you'd have to ask Housekeeper Wu about that."
He Lingchuan glanced at him. "Did he not have any close friends in the manor or in the Auxiliary Army?"
"He got along well with everyone, but as for particularly close friends, well, none that I know of." Shan Youjun considered for a moment. "How about I go back and ask around?"
"All right, I leave it to you."
Before He Lingchuan even stepped inside the manor, a servant rushed out to announce:
"Eldest Young Master, Lord Wang is here!"
Lord Wang, the Director of Reception, had come in person to the He Manor. He Chunhua had gone out on official business long before, so Madam Ying had received him.
Ordinarily, whenever the Director of Reception granted an audience to foreign envoys, he summoned them to his own doors. Yet this time, he had actually come in person.
Madam Ying was dignified in bearing and graceful in her conduct. Upon seeing He Lingchuan, her face blossomed into a radiant smile, with evident pride showing between her brows.
"Chuan'er, the monarch wishes to see you."
Strictly according to protocol, He Lingchuan's status as the Special Envoy of Mount Rong would never have granted him an audience with the monarch of Yuan. Just like when he had served as the special envoy of Chiyan, he had likewise never been granted an audience with the Emperor of Beijia. Back then, Beijia had summoned him up Mount Xu under the pretext of offering condolences, but they had harbored ulterior motives; once the celestial god's judgment concluded, they promptly dismissed him, so from start to finish he had never caught a glimpse of His Imperial Majesty.
The monarch of Yuan's decision to summon He Lingchuan to the palace for an audience this time showed just how seriously he regarded the funds.
That was why Lord Wang had come in person to fetch He Lingchuan.
As he headed out, Madam Ying quietly reminded her eldest son, "Chuan'er, mind your manners before the monarch."
He Lingchuan smiled faintly. "Your son understands."
Chapter 784