"Master, we've reached Yingtian Prefecture."
At Fu Shou's call, Xu Da lifted the curtain of the carriage window and looked out.
Red towers shimmered over green water. Willow branches draped along the avenues. Carriages passed in dense streams, their lacquered frames glinting, while distant horns echoed in layered notes. The capital stood before him in full grandeur.
He lowered the curtain again.
"Fu Shou," Xu Da said quietly, "why is it that every time I return, Yingtian feels like a different place?"
Fu Shou kept the horses steady as he replied,
"Master returns only at year's end and leaves again for the north once the new year begins. A full year of campaigning passes each time. Naturally the capital changes."
That was true enough.
Still, Xu Da knew his remark had not really been about the city.
In earlier years, whenever he returned to the capital, Hu Weiyong's servants would already be everywhere, watching and waiting. This year Hu Weiyong was gone, and Xu Da had thought the capital might finally feel quieter.
Instead, a letter from the Emperor had unsettled him more than any court intrigue.
The message had been brief, yet excitement practically spilled from the words. The Emperor had urged him again and again to return south with all speed.
Xu Da could not remember the last time His Majesty had sounded so eager.
To him, the explanation was simple.
Something significant had happened. Something he did not yet know.
His carriage entered the city without escort, soon swallowed by the crowds. Fu Shou had long grown used to his master's preference for such unremarkable arrivals.
Without ceremony, the carriage of the General Who Pacifies the North passed through Hongwu Gate and headed straight toward the imperial city.
The routine after returning to the capital had long been fixed.
First, enter the imperial city and return the command tally and seals.
Then enter the palace to pay respects to the Son of Heaven.
After that, a banquet would be granted, followed by several days' rest.
Xu Da knew every step.
Returning the seals passed uneventfully. The audience with the Emperor, however, was never predictable.
Sometimes they shared a simple meal. Sometimes the Emperor would pull him aside to talk about the bitter winds of the northern frontier. On difficult days they might even play chess together to clear the mind.
This time, though, the Emperor pressed a book straight into his hands.
It was titled Tale of Liangshan.
Xu Da stared at it, baffled.
He was not unfamiliar with storybooks. They were harmless enough for idle reading. But producing one in the middle of an imperial audience felt deeply out of place.
After all, such tales were also called minor writings. And what were minor writings if not scattered gossip and reckless speculation?
Still, since the Emperor had handed it to him, there had to be a reason. Xu Da opened the book and began to read.
The opening about Taoist rituals and wandering demons felt ordinary enough. Ghostly beginnings were common in such tales. Nothing special there.
But when Shi Jin, the Nine-Patterned Dragon, entered the story, Xu Da found his thoughts drifting unexpectedly back to his youth, when he had been nothing more than a farmer's son training day and night, hoping to carve out a future.
He turned another page.
The moment the three bandit leaders appeared, commanding several hundred followers, that faint warmth vanished instantly.
"Divine Strategist Zhu Wu. Leaping Ravine Tiger Chen Da. White Flower Snake Yang Chun."
Xu Da shut the book halfway and looked up.
"If we must appear in such a tale as bandits, could Your Majesty not at least have given us better names?"
Zhu Yuanzhang shot him a sideways glance.
"Brother, do you think I wrote this thing?"
Seeing Xu Da still stiff with formality, the Emperor waved a hand.
"Sit. I'll tell you why I showed it to you."
Xu Da did not interrupt again.
Zhu Yuanzhang leaned back slightly, his tone growing more deliberate.
"It started on my birthday. Your sister-in-law was still ill then. I went to her chambers."
Xu Da's gaze sharpened. He remembered hearing the Empress had been unwell.
"There was a folding screen in the hall," the Emperor continued. "At first it looked ordinary enough. But later, palace maids came whispering that something strange had appeared on it."
"You went to see it yourself?" Xu Da asked.
"How could I not?" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted softly. "By the time I arrived, the screen was already glowing."
He paused, as if the memory still unsettled him.
"And then a curtain of light opened across it."
Xu Da's fingers tightened slightly around the book.
"It showed history," the Emperor said. "Not legends. Not rumors. Real events. Dynasties rising and falling. Battles fought centuries ago. Men long dead, speaking as if alive again."
Xu Da frowned.
"And Your Majesty thought Heaven's secrets had been revealed?"
"At first I thought it was some trick," Zhu Yuanzhang admitted. "But the more I watched, the harder it became to dismiss. So afterward I ordered people to investigate."
"And that led you to Luo Guanzhong?"
"Yes. Him, and Liu Sanwu as well." The Emperor gave a faint laugh. "I wanted someone learned enough to judge whether what we saw matched the records."
Xu Da nodded slowly.
"In the end," Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I could not treat it as illusion. That screen spoke of things that have not yet happened. And it said it would appear again in the third month."
He looked directly at Xu Da.
"That's why I summoned you back early. Three days from now, it should show itself again."
Xu Da let out a quiet breath.
"Your Majesty's experience," he said at last, "is more extraordinary than this storybook."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in agreement.
"In truth, the next morning I almost thought I had dreamed it. I even went to confirm it again with your sister-in-law."
He tapped the book in Xu Da's hand.
"This Tale of Liangshan was found by the Yiluan Office at Luo Guanzhong's residence. He claims it was written by his teacher, Shi Nai'an."
A crooked smile tugged at his mouth.
"That Shi Nai'an is amusing. He sided with Zhang Shicheng and lost. So instead he stuffed the three of us into his tale. And still he wouldn't give us decent titles. Stingy fellow."
He snorted.
"His writing is passable, I'll grant him that. But his grasp of military matters is nonexistent. No wonder I'd never heard his name before."
Xu Da flipped a few more pages and soon understood what the Emperor meant.
The routes in the story made no sense. Distances were wildly exaggerated. People wandered across half the realm for no reason. Yet later, when the Liangshan army fought Fang La, the battles suddenly became precise, almost eerily familiar.
The more he read, the more it resembled the Emperor's own campaign against Zhang Shicheng.
At last Xu Da asked bluntly,
"Does Your Majesty intend to punish them?"
Zhu Yuanzhang waved a hand.
"The man is already dead. Punish him how? Dig up his bones and whip the corpse? That is not what a ruler does."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Besides, I worry Luo Guanzhong may share his teacher's weakness in military matters. So I've summoned him to watch the screen with us in three days."
"He wants to write that grand Ming book, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, doesn't he? If he has questions, he can ask Emperor Zhaolie himself. Wouldn't you say that shows a broad heart on my part?"
Xu Da could not help feeling doubtful.
It was indeed extraordinary favor.
But if Liu Bei was about to capture Cao Cao…
Were there not suddenly rather a lot of Three Kingdoms involved?
Still, he said nothing.
When they parted, the Emperor repeated the instruction more than once.
"Three days from now. A banquet at Huagai Hall. You must come."
Xu Da had no intention of refusing.
If such a supernatural thing existed, it was worth seeing with his own eyes.
What he did not expect was that three days later, as he approached Huagai Hall, he could already hear the Emperor shouting inside.
"You there. You are all skilled painters. When the screen appears, do not speak. Just draw exactly what you see."
"And you two. Since you write quickly, record every word spoken by the figures on it. Not one character missed."
"Biao'er, stop carrying little Bai. If the Marquis Wu sees that, what will it look like? Stay with Xiongying and explain things properly."
"Fourth son, hold your brother carefully. Don't let him cry. What, you can't manage him? Then step outside until he stops. And you are not allowed to hit him. Crying is not an excuse!"
"Sixth son, turn around. Why are you wearing armor under your robes? Do not imitate your fourth brother. Go change immediately."
Xu Da had just reached the steps when the Prince of Chu rushed past him, cheeks puffed in frustration.
Looking into the hall, he saw utter disorder.
Princes moving everywhere. Officials gathering. Servants hurrying back and forth.
Xu Da hesitated for a brief moment.
Hopefully that mysterious curtain of light would not be frightened into disappearing altogether.