Simply Trading

The Second Ducal Prince turned to stare at the Old Marquis. Who simply shrugged when he saw the question in the younger man"s gaze. He had no intention of hiding it, or in making the young man wait:

"Your Eldest Uncle has reported an increase in activity, among the Barbarians to the Southwest. It seems they are gathering to launch yet another attack on the Kingdom. And it is likely to be in next Spring or Summer. We had best be ready for it."

"The Barbarians are going to attack? Are you sure?"

The Old Marquis shrugged again. "Who can be certain about things like this? But my eldest son, your uncle, has seen all of the signs of another intrusion, so we should prepare for the worse. Your father has already been notified by the way. He and your older brother are already on their way to the Western Border."

Li Changhai nodded absently at his maternal grandfather, as his brain struggled to grasp the ramifications of what he had just heard. The King, and the rest of the Kingdom for that matter, was not going to move until there was confirmation of a real intrusion. But by the time that the Barbarians did launch an attack, it would take close to three months for the reinforcements to arrive at the Western Border.

Which meant that the army led by his father and his older half-brother would have to face close to three times their number of Barbarians on their own, until the reinforcements could arrive. That was, after all, his father"s responsibility, as Duke of the Westlands.

And he was rather certain that there would be a few n.o.bles from the High Council who would take this chance to pursue some of their private agenda, while pretending to gather up their own forces. And who knows what sort of tricks they would play then!

His face turned black without his noticing, before a snort from the Old Marquis suddenly broke him free of his revelry. And the Old Marquis seemed more than a little annoyed, as he smacked the Second Ducal Prince on the back of his head.

"What are you worried about? Did you think that your father lasted this long without having a few plans in place? Besides, aren"t I still here? I have already gotten Laixue to mobilize half of the standing army, and to bring them out for exercises at the Southern Woods. It would only take them three days to get from there to the Black Dragon Forts at the Border.

"So what are you making that face for? Just concentrate on what you are supposed to be doing and leave the fighting to those of us who really know War."

"You are sending Eldest Uncle Laixue out there already? Isn"t that going to make the King ... a little more cautious?"

The Old Marquis smiled. And patted his grandson Li Sanlang on the shoulder. "Your uncle Feng Laixue is the Marquis now, remember? And it is entirely up to him where he wishes to hold his military exercises on his own fief. So if he decides to play at the Southwestern edges of his field, who is going to stop him?

"And it is a good thing for the King to pay a little more attention in this direction too. That way, he wouldn"t be caught by surprise, when the Barbarians come raiding across the Border," he sn.i.g.g.e.red.

Li Sanlang nodded back at his maternal grandfather, and shrugged his shoulders at the older man. No matter how much he thought he had learned, he was still no match for the Old Marquis. Or his uncle, the new one.

"So what do you want me to do then? Head back to Yanyun City? To tell my father and brother about this? So that they can ... adjust their plans?"

The Old Marquis laughed, and threw his arm around his grandson"s shoulders. "No need for that! I"ve sent him six messenger pigeons already, from six different sites. So he should know all that he needs to know."

"Then what do I do?"

"Well, I was about to suggest that you stay here, so that I can guide you on your martial arts. It makes for a good excuse, and you can send word to your father about reaching the Initial Realm. That should make him happy enough not to ask too many questions.

"And it should keep you from having to avoid that stupid cousin of yours, after he completely embarra.s.sed himself in the Medicine Hall down in the City! If I didn"t know any better, I would have thought that he was just looking to have his face smacked!"

Li Sanlang grinned as he remembered that. "Well, I wish you had been there, to see just how green his face was, when he realized that his precious Protectors weren"t able to do a single thing to help him. I think he was really afraid that he was going to end up a corpse, the way that the stranger was looking at him.

The white-haired old man laughed, as he shook his head. "Oh no. If I was there, I would have had to do something, wouldn"t I? What would be the fun in that? This way, I can poke fun at the Zhou Family"s woes, if the King dares to invite me to the Capital City for the New Year!"

"I think it"s highly unlikely that he would do that. Especially when Uncle Laixue has already taken over all of your duties. It means you can face-smack all of those high-ranked civilian officials who insult you with impunity, doesn"t it? Without worrying about the ramifications? I don"t think the King would like that very much."

Both of them shared a laugh at that, but the Old Marquis suddenly caught him by the shoulder again. "You might not like what I have in mind for you though, if we are going to be staying here for a while. After all, you can"t be cooped up in here, doing nothing but practice your martial arts," he declared in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Of course, it means you"ll need to get out of my Palace now and again, so that I can have a chance to introduce some of my friends" granddaughters to you. What do you say?"

Then the Old Marquis grinned at him. "Interested in giving me a great-grandson?"

* * *